This paper discusses Swift observations of the g-ray burst GRB 050315 (z = 1.949) from 80 s to 10 days after the onset of the burst. The X-ray light curve displayed a steep early decay (t super(-5)) ...for 6200 s and several breaks. However, both the prompt hard X-ray/g-ray emission (observed by the BAT) and the first 6300 s of X-ray emission (observed by the XRT) can be explained by exponential decays, with similar decay constants. Extrapolating the BAT light curve into the XRT band suggests that the rapidly decaying, early X-ray emission was simply a continuation of the fading prompt emission; this strong similarity between the prompt g-ray and early X-ray emission may be related to the simple temporal and spectral character of this X-ray-rich GRB. The prompt (BAT) spectrum was steep down to 615 keV and appeared to continue through the XRT bandpass, implying a low peak energy, inconsistent with the Amati relation. Following the initial steep decline, the X-ray afterglow did not fade for 61.2x 10 super(4) s, after which time it decayed with a temporal index of a- 0.7, followed by a second break at 62.5 x 10 super(5) s to a slope of a 6 2. The apparent "plateau" in the X-ray light curve, after the early rapid decay, makes this one of the most extreme examples of the steep-flat-steep X-ray light curves revealed by Swift. If the second afterglow break is identified with a jet break, then the jet opening angle was f sub(0) 65, implying E sub(g) 10 super(50) ergs.
OBJECTIVES Disturbances of cognition and emotion are common in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Most previous studies of psychopathology in Parkinson’s disease have focused on a single psychiatric ...diagnosis or condition. The objective of this study was to describe the range of neuropsychiatric symptoms in a representative sample of patients with Parkinson’s disease. METHODS The sample of 139 patients was drawn from an epidemiological study of Parkinson’s disease in Rogaland county, Norway, and represented 93% of those who had survived during the 4 years since the initial assessment. The diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease was based on published criteria. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were assessed using the neuropsychiatric inventory, a caregiver based structured interview, which assesses severity and frequency of 10 psychiatric symptoms present during the past month. RESULTS At least one psychiatric symptom was reported in 61% of the sample. The most common behaviours were depression (38%) and hallucinations (27%), and the least common symptoms were euphoria and disinhibition. The highest mean scores were found for depression, apathy, and hallucinations. Factor analysis showed that hallucinations, delusions, and irritability clustered into one factor, and apathy and anxiety constituted another factor. Psychiatric symptoms were more common among patients living in nursing homes compared with home dwelling patients, and correlated with stage of disease and cognitive impairment, but not with age or duration of disease. No relation to left or right sided parkinsonism was found. CONCLUSION This study emphasises the importance of psychiatric symptoms in Parkinson’s disease, which were present in most patients. Clinicians should focus on the emotional and cognitive disturbances in addition to the motor manifestations of the disease.
We examined the prevalence of comorbid medical illnesses in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients at different severity levels. We also examined the effect of cumulative medical comorbidity on cognition ...and function.
Analyses of data from 679 AD patients (Mini-Mental State Exam score range 0-30, mean +/- SD = 11.8 +/- 8) from 13 sites (four dementia centers assessing outpatients, four managed care organizations, two assisted living facilities, and three nursing homes) prospectively recruited using a stratification approach including dementia severity and care setting. Medical comorbidity was quantified using the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale-Geriatric.
Across patients, 61% had three or more comorbid medical illnesses. Adjusting for age, gender, race, and care setting, medical comorbidity increased with dementia severity (mild to moderate, p <.01; moderate to severe, p <.001). Adjusting for age, educational level, gender, race, and care setting, higher medical comorbidity was associated with greater impairment in cognition (p <.001) and in self-care (p <.001).
Despite the limitation of a cross-sectional design, our initial findings suggest that there is a strong association between medical comorbidity and cognitive status in AD. Optimal management of medical illnesses may offer potential to improve cognition in AD.
The 22 Month Swift-BAT All-Sky Hard X-ray Survey Tueller, J; Baumgartner, W. H; Markwardt, C. B ...
The Astrophysical journal. Supplement series,
02/2010, Volume:
186, Issue:
2
Journal Article
In 2022, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and an update of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5 TR) were released for implementation worldwide and now ...include the new Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). The newest definition of PGD is based on robust clinical research from the Global North yet until now has not been tested for global applicability.
The current study assesses the new PGD ICD-11 criteria in a large international sample of 1393 bereaved adults. The majority of the sample was included from the USΑ. Additionally, we conduct a sub-sample analysis to evaluate the psychometric properties, probable caseness of PGD, and differences in network structure across three regions of residency (USA, Greece-Cyprus, Turkey-Iran).
The psychometric validity and reliability of the 33-item International Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale (IPGDS) were confirmed across the whole sample and for each regional group. Using the strict diagnostic algorithm, the probable caseness for PGD for the whole sample was 3.6 %. Probable caseness was highest for the Greece-Cyprus group (6.9 %) followed by Turkey-Iran (3.2 %) and the USA (2.8 %). Finally, the network structure of the IPGDS standard items and cultural supplement items (total of 33 items) confirmed the strong connection between central items of PGD, and revealed unique network connections within the regional groups.
Future research is encouraged to include larger sample sizes and a more systematic assessment of culture.
Overall, our findings confirm the global applicability of the new ICD-11 PGD disorder definition as evaluated through the newly developed IPGDS. This scale includes culturally sensitive grief symptoms that may improve clinical precision and decision-making.
•This is the first research to systematically assess ICD-11 prolonged grief disorder in a large international sample (n=1393).•Our findings confirm the psychometric validity of the IPGDS, newly developed for the ICD-11 PGD.•The network analysis confirmed the strong associations between core symptoms of grief.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Inhibition of the growth of the human ovarian cancer cell line A2780 by organometallic ruthenium(II) complexes of the type (η6-arene)Ru(X)(Y)(Z), where arene is benzene or substituted benzene, X, Y, ...and Z are halide, acetonitrile, or isonicotinamide, or X,Y is ethylenediamine (en) or N-ethylethylenediamine, has been investigated. The X-ray crystal structures of the complexes (η6-p-cymene)Ru(en)ClPF6 (5), (η6-p-cymene)RuCl2(isonicotinamide) (7), and (η6-biphenyl)Ru(en)ClPF6 (9) are reported. They have “piano stool” geometries with η6 coordination of the arene ligand. Complexes with X,Y as a chelated en ligand and Z as a monofunctional leaving group had the highest activity. Complexes 5, 6 (the iodo analogue of 5), 9, and 10 (ethylethylenediamine analogue of 9) were as active as carboplatin. Hydrolysis of the reactive Ru−Cl bond in complex 5 was detected by HPLC but was suppressed by the addition of chloride ions. Complex 5 binds strongly and selectively to G bases on DNA oligonucleotides to form monofunctional adducts. No inhibition of topoisomerase I or II by complexes 5, 6, or 9 was detected. These chelated Ru(II) arene complexes have potential as novel metal-based anticancer agents with a mechanism of action different from that of the Ru(III) complex currently on clinical trial.
Objectives: To identify independent risk factors for first hip fracture over 10 years of follow‐up.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Four U.S. clinical centers.
Participants: A total of ...6,787 women aged 66 and older in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.
Measurements: Total hip bone mineral density (BMD) using dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry and a comprehensive set of potential risk factors were collected. Incident hip fractures were identified prospectively and confirmed using radiographic report.
Results: Six hundred two women (8.9%) had a hip fracture during a mean ±standard deviation (SD) follow‐up of 10.1±3.2 years. Older age, previous self‐reported fracture after age 50, maternal history of hip fracture after age 50, greater height at age 25, impaired cognition, slower walking speed, nulliparity, type II diabetes mellitus, Parkinson's disease, and depth perception each independently predicted a 1.17‐ to 1.83‐fold increase in hip fracture risk, whereas each SD (0.13 g/cm2) decrease in hip BMD was independently associated with a 1.84‐fold increase in risk. Lower body mass index also was associated with an increased risk of hip fracture, although lower hip BMD largely explained this association.
Conclusion: Although hip BMD is strongly related to hip fracture risk in elderly white women, other clinical risk factors also are independent predictors of long‐term risk and provide additional insight into the prevention of fracture in high‐risk women. Clinicians should be alert to factors other than BMD that place older women at a high risk of hip fracture.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Timely and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in clinical practice remains challenging. PET and CSF biomarkers are the most widely used biomarkers to aid diagnosis in clinical research ...but present limitations for clinical practice (i.e., cost, accessibility). Emerging blood-based markers have the potential to be accurate, cost-effective, and easily accessible for widespread clinical use, and could facilitate timely diagnosis. The EU/US CTAD Task Force met in May 2022 in a virtual meeting to discuss pathways to implementation of blood-based markers in clinical practice. Specifically, the CTAD Task Force assessed: the state-of-art for blood-based markers, the current use of blood-based markers in clinical trials, the potential use of blood-based markers in clinical practice, the current challenges with blood-based markers, and the next steps needed for broader adoption in clinical practice.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The natural steroids estradiol-17β (E2) and estrone (E1) and the synthetic steroid ethynylestradiol-17α (EE2) have frequently been measured in waters receiving domestic effluents. All of these ...steroids bind to the estrogen receptor(s) and have been shown to elicit a range of estrogenic responses in fish at environmentally relevant concentrations. At present, however, no relative potency estimates have been derived for either the individual steroidal estrogens or their mixtures in vivo. In this study the estrogenic activity of E2, E1, and EE2, and the combination effects of a mixture of E2 and EE2 (equi-potent fixed-ratio mixture), were assessed using vitellogenin induction in a 14-day in vivo juvenile rainbow trout screening assay. Median effective concentrations, relative to E2, for induction of vitellogenin were determined from the concentration−response curves and the relative estrogenic potencies of each of the test chemicals calculated. Median effective concentrations were between 19 and 26 ng L-1 for E2, 60 ng L-1 for E1, and between 0.95 and 1.8 ng L-1 for EE2, implying that EE2 was approximately 11 to 27 times more potent than E2, while E2 was 2.3 to 3.2 times more potent than E1. The median effective concentration, relative to E2, for the binary mixture of E2 and EE2 was 15 ng L-1 (comprising 14.4 ng L-1 E2 and 0.6 ng L-1 EE2). Using the model of concentration addition it was shown that this activity of the binary mixture could be predicted from the activity of the individual chemicals. The ability of each individual steroid to contribute to the overall effect of a mixture, even at individual no-effect concentrations, combined with the high estrogenic potency of the steroids, particularly the synthetic steroid EE2, emphasizes the need to consider the total estrogenic load of these chemicals in our waterways.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
We present observations of GRB 060124, the first event for which both the prompt and the afterglow emission could be observed simultaneously and in their entirety by the three Swift instruments. ...Indeed, Swift-BAT triggered on a precursor similar to 570 s before the main burst peak, and this allowed Swift to repoint the narrow field instruments to the burst position similar to 350 s before the main burst occurred. GRB 060124 also triggered Konus-Wind, which observed the prompt emission in a harder gamma-ray band (up to 2 MeV). Thanks to these exceptional circumstances, the temporal and spectral properties of the prompt emission can be studied in the optical, X-ray and gamma-ray ranges. While the X-ray emission (0.2-10 keV) clearly tracks the gamma-ray burst, the optical component follows a different pattern, likely indicating a different origin, possibly the onset of external shocks. The prompt GRB spectrum shows significant spectral evolution, with both the peak energy and the spectral index varying. As observed in several long GRBs, significant lags are measured between the hard- and low-energy components, showing that this behaviour extends over 3 decades in energy. The GRB peaks are also much broader at soft energies. This is related to the temporal evolution of the spectrum, and can be accounted for by assuming that the electron spectral index softened with time. The burst energy ( E_{\rm iso} \sim 5 \times 10 super(53) erg) and average peak energy ( E_{\rm p} \sim 300 keV) make GRB 060124 consistent with the Amati relation. The X-ray afterglow is characterized by a decay which presents a break at t_{\rm b} \sim 10 one fourth s.
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