Microangiopathy is retarded by improved blood glucose control in patients with IDDM. Whether or not this is true for macroangiopathy (atherosclerosis) has remained unclear. A total of 59 patients (44 ...+/- 1.5 years, previous HbA1C 9.4 +/- 0.2%, mean +/- SE) with IDDM were investigated. Of the 59 patients, 31 had been randomized to long-term intensified conventional insulin treatment (ICT), and the remaining 28 had received standard insulin treatment (ST). Blood glucose control was significantly better in the ICT patients with an HbAlc value (mean of 29 values during 10 years) of 7.1 +/- 0.1% compared with the ST patients' 8.2 +/- 0.2% (P < 0.0001). With high-frequency ultrasound, endothelial function was measured as flow-mediated dilation of the right brachial artery. The carotid arteries were scanned for plaques, intima-media thickness was measured, and arterial wall stiffness was calculated in the right common carotid artery. These measurements correlate with manifest and/or risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis. The patients in the ST group had stiffer arteries (P = 0.011) and thicker intima-media in the left common carotid artery (P = 0.009) than those in the ICT group. Patients with lower HbA1c generally had better endothelial function (P = 0.028) and less stiff arteries (P = 0.009). Better blood glucose control in patients with IDDM is related not only to less microangiopathy but also to a slower development of atherosclerosis.
We present a total of 4784 unique broad absorption line quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Third Data Release. An automated algorithm was used to match a continuum to each quasar and to ...identify regions of flux at least 10% below the continuum over a velocity range of at least 1000 km s super(-1) in the C super(IV) and Mg super(II) absorption regions. The model continuum was selected as the best-fit match from a set of template quasar spectra binned in luminosity, emission line width, and redshift, with the power-law spectral index and amount of dust reddening as additional free parameters. We characterize our sample through the traditional "balnicity" index and a revised absorption index, as well as through parameters such as the width, outflow velocity, fractional depth, and number of troughs. From a sample of 16,883 quasars at 1.7,z,4.38, we identify 4386 (26.0%) quasars with broad C super(IV)absorption, of which 1756 (10.4%) satisfy traditional selection criteria. From a sample of 34,973 quasars at 0.5,z,2.15, we identify 457 (1.31%) quasars with broad Mg super(II) absorption, 191 (0.55%) of which satisfy traditional selection criteria. We also provide a supplementary list of 39 visually identified z > 4.38 quasars with broad C super(IV) absorption. We find that broad absorption line quasars may have broader emission lines on average than other quasars.
We report on a search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) using 278.8 days of data collected with the XENON1T experiment at LNGS. XENON1T utilizes a liquid xenon time projection chamber ...with a fiducial mass of (1.30±0.01) ton, resulting in a 1.0 ton yr exposure. The energy region of interest, 1.4,10.6 keV_{ee} (4.9,40.9 keV_{nr}), exhibits an ultralow electron recoil background rate of 82_{-3}^{+5}(syst)±3(stat) events/(ton yr keV_{ee}). No significant excess over background is found, and a profile likelihood analysis parametrized in spatial and energy dimensions excludes new parameter space for the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent elastic scatter cross section for WIMP masses above 6 GeV/c^{2}, with a minimum of 4.1×10^{-47} cm^{2} at 30 GeV/c^{2} and a 90% confidence level.
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Grand Challenges in Migration Biology Bowlin, Melissa S.; Bisson, Isabelle-Anne; Shamoun-Baranes, Judy ...
Integrative and comparative biology,
09/2010, Volume:
50, Issue:
3
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Peer reviewed
Open access
Billions of animals migrate each year. To successfully reach their destination, migrants must have evolved an appropriate genetic program and suitable developmental, morphological, physiological, ...biomechanical, behavioral, and life-history traits. Moreover, they must interact successfully with biotic and abiotic factors in their environment. Migration therefore provides an excellent model system in which to address several of the “grand challenges” in organismal biology. Previous research on migration, however, has often focused on a single aspect of the phenomenon, largely due to methodological, geographical, or financial constraints. Integrative migration biology asks ‘big questions’ such as how, when, where, and why animals migrate, which can be answered by examining the process from multiple ecological and evolutionary perspectives, incorporating multifaceted knowledge from various other scientific disciplines, and using new technologies and modeling approaches, all within the context of an annual cycle. Adopting an integrative research strategy will provide a better understanding of the interactions between biological levels of organization, of what role migrants play in disease transmission, and of how to conserve migrants and the habitats upon which they depend.
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We report on a search for nuclear recoil signals from solar B-8 neutrinos elastically scattering off xenon nuclei in XENON1T data, lowering the energy threshold from 2.6 to 1.6 keV. We develop a ...variety of novel techniques to limit the resulting increase in backgrounds near the threshold. No significant B-8 neutrinolike excess is found in an exposure of 0.6 t x y. For the first time, we use the nondetection of solar neutrinos to constrain the light yield from 1-2 keV nuclear recoils in liquid xenon, as well as nonstandard neutrino-quark interactions. Finally, we improve upon world-leading constraints on dark matter-nucleus interactions for dark matter masses between 3 and 11 GeV c(-2) by as much as an order of magnitude.
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The XENON1T experiment searches for dark matter particles through their scattering off xenon atoms in a 2 metric ton liquid xenon target. The detector is a dual-phase time projection chamber, which ...measures simultaneously the scintillation and ionization signals produced by interactions in target volume, to reconstruct energy and position, as well as the type of the interaction. The background rate in the central volume of XENON1T detector is the lowest achieved so far with a liquid xenon-based direct detection experiment. In this work we describe the response model of the detector, the background and signal models, and the statistical inference procedures used in the dark matter searches with a 1 metric ton×year exposure of XENON1T data, that leads to the best limit to date on WIMP-nucleon spin-independent elastic scatter cross section for WIMP masses above 6 GeV/c2.
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We report on WIMP search results of the XENON100 experiment, combining three runs summing up to 477 live days from January 2010 to January 2014. Data from the first two runs were already published. A ...blind analysis was applied to the last run recorded between April 2013 and January 2014 prior to combining the results. The ultralow electromagnetic background of the experiment, ∼5×10−3 events/(keVee×kg×day)) before electronic recoil rejection, together with the increased exposure of 48 kg×yr, improves the sensitivity. A profile likelihood analysis using an energy range of (6.6–43.3) keVnr sets a limit on the elastic, spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section for WIMP masses above 8 GeV/c2, with a minimum of 1.1×10−45 cm2 at 50 GeV/c2 and 90% confidence level. We also report updated constraints on the elastic, spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross sections obtained with the same data. We set upper limits on the WIMP-neutron (proton) cross section with a minimum of 2.0×10−40 cm2 (52×10−40 cm2) at a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c2, at 90% confidence level.
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