BACKGROUND: The pathophysiology of complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS 1) is still a matter of debate. Peripheral afferent, efferent and central mechanisms are supposed. Based on clinical ...signs and symptoms (e.g. oedema, local temperature changes and chronic pain) local inflammation is suspected. Aim: To determine the involvement of neuropetides, cytokines and eicosanoids as locally formed mediators of inflammation. Methods: In this study, nine patients with proven CRPS 1 were included. Disease activity and impairment was determined by means of a Visual Analogue Scale, the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the difference in volume and temperature between involved and uninvolved extremities, and the reduction in active range of motion of the involved extremity. Venous blood was sampled from and suction blisters made on the involved and uninvolved extremities for measurement of cytokines interleukin ( IL) -6, IL-1β and tumour necrosis factor-a (TNF-α), the neuropetides NPY and CRGP, and prostaglandin E_2 . Results: The patients included in this study did have a moderate to serious disease activity and impairment. In plasma, no changes of mediators of inflammation were observed. In blister fluid, however, significantly higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the involved ex tremity were observed in comparison with the uninvolved extremity. Conclusions: This is the first time that involvement of mediators of inflammation in CRPS 1 has been so clearly and directly demonstrated. This observation opens new approaches for the succesful use and development of immunosuppressives in CRPS 1.
Aims: We present the first in-depth study of the kinematic properties and derive the structural parameters of NGC 4372 based on the fit of a Plummer profile and a rotating, physical model. We explore ...the link between internal rotation to different cluster properties and together with similar studies of more GCs, we put these in the context of globular cluster formation and evolution. Methods: We present radial velocities for 131 cluster member stars measured from high-resolution FLAMES/GIRAFFE observations. Their membership to the GC is additionally confirmed from precise metallicity estimates. Using this kinematic data set we build a velocity dispersion profile and a systemic rotation curve. Additionally, we obtain an elliptical number density profile of NGC 4372 based on optical images using a MCMC fitting algorithm. From this we derive the cluster's half-light radius and ellipticity as r_h=3.4'+/-0.04' and e=0.08+/-0.01. Finally, we give a physical interpretation of the observed morphological and kinematic properties of this GC by fitting an axisymmetric, differentially rotating, dynamical model. Results: Our results show that NGC 4372 has an unusually high ratio of rotation amplitude to velocity dispersion (1.2 vs. 4.5 km/s) for its metallicity. This, however, puts it in line with two other exceptional, very metal-poor GCs - M 15 and NGC 4590. We also find a mild flattening of NGC 4372 in the direction of its rotation. Given its old age, this suggests that the flattening is indeed caused by the systemic rotation rather than tidal interactions with the Galaxy. Additionally, we estimate the dynamical mass of the GC M_dyn=2.0+/-0.5 x 10^5 M_Sun based on the dynamical model, which constrains the mass-to-light ratio of NGC 4372 between 1.4 and 2.3 M_Sun/L_Sun, representative of an old, purely stellar population.
This study aimed at evaluating the sensitivity, specificity, reliability and repeatability of observer assessment of thermographic images taken from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) type 1. A ...computer program was developed to let observers rate the difference between randomly presented thermographic images of pairs of hands of individuals. The sensitivity and specificity, and potential learning effects were measured. Effects of the colours and rank number of the images were analysed. The sensitivity was 71% and the specificity 85%. The repeatability was 0.5267 and the reliability was 0.4967. No significant relation was found between the rank number and the rating. There was a significant correlation between the colour pallet and the rating (r = 0.76). Although the colour pallet used partly explained the variance in the rating scores, this study shows that observer assessment of thermographic images may distinguish between CRPS1 patients and healthy controls. However, the reliability and repeatability of this assessment was rather low.
MHONGOOSE is a deep survey of the neutral hydrogen distribution in a representative sample of 30 nearby disk and dwarf galaxies with HI masses from 10^6 to ~10^{11} M_sun, and luminosities from M_R ~ ...-12 to M_R ~ -22. The sample is selected to uniformly cover the available range in log(M_HI). Our extremely deep observations, down to HI column density limits of well below 10^{18} cm^{-2} - or a few hundred times fainter than the typical HI disks in galaxies - will directly detect the effects of cold accretion from the intergalactic medium and the links with the cosmic web. These observations will be the first ever to probe the very low-column density neutral gas in galaxies at these high resolutions. Combination with data at other wavelengths, most of it already available, will enable accurate modelling of the properties and evolution of the mass components in these galaxies and link these with the effects of environment, dark matter distribution, and other fundamental properties such as halo mass and angular momentum. MHONGOOSE can already start addressing some of the SKA-1 science goals and will provide a comprehensive inventory of the processes driving the transformation and evolution of galaxies in the nearby universe at high resolution and over 5 orders of magnitude in column density. It will be a Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey that will be unsurpassed until the advent of the SKA, and can serve as a highly visible, lasting statement of MeerKAT's capabilities.
(1) Increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition has shifted plant dominance from ericaceous plants to grass species. To elucidate the reduced competitiveness of heather, we tested the hypothesis that ...additions of nitrogen reduce the concentrations of phenolics and condensed tannins in ericaceous leaves and retard mycorrhizal colonisation in ericaceous plants. We also tested the negative effects of reduced light intensity on carbon-based secondary compounds and mycorrhizal colonisation in ericaceous plants. (2) We performed a field inventory at three heathland sites in the Netherlands varying in nutrient supply and light intensity. Leaves of ericaceous plants and grasses were collected and analysed for concentrations of tannins, phenolics and nutrients. Similarly, we took root samples to record mycorrhizal colonisation and soil samples to measure the soil mineralisation. In addition, we conducted two-factorial experiments with Calluna vulgaris plants, in which we varied fertiliser and shade levels under greenhouse and field conditions. (3) The field inventory revealed that nitrogen addition and shading both negatively affected the concentration of total phenolics. The total phenolics and condensed tannin concentrations were positively correlated (P < 0.001), but in the field experiment, the condensed tannins were not significantly affected by the treatments. Our results provide the first evidence that the carbon nutrient balance can be used to predict the amount of total phenolics in the dwarf shrub C. vulgaris. (4) In the field experiments, shading of plants resulted in significantly less mycorrhizal colonisation. Only in the greenhouse experiment did addition of nitrogen negatively affect mycorrhizal colonisation. (5) Our results imply that increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition can depress the tannin concentrations in ericaceous plants and the mycorrhizal colonisation in roots, thereby reducing the plants’ competitiveness with respect to grasses. Additionally, if ericaceous plants are shaded by grasses that have become dominant due to increased nitrogen supply, these effects will be intensified and competitive replacement will be accelerated.
We present X-ray spectral analysis of 20 point-like X-ray sources detected in Chandra Planetary Nebula Survey (ChanPlaNS) observations of 59 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the solar neighborhood. Most of ...these 20 detections are associated with luminous central stars within relatively young, compact nebulae. The vast majority of these point-like X-ray-emitting sources at PN cores display relatively "hard" (\(\geq0.5\)~keV) X-ray emission components that are unlikely to be due to photospheric emission from the hot central stars (CSPN). Instead, we demonstrate that these sources are well modeled by optically-thin thermal plasmas. From the plasma properties, we identify two classes of CSPN X-ray emission: (1) high-temperature plasmas with X-ray luminosities, \(L_{\rm X}\), that appear uncorrelated with the CSPN bolometric luminosity, \(L_{\rm bol}\); and (2) lower-temperature plasmas with \(L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm bol}\sim10^{-7}\). We suggest these two classes correspond to the physical processes of magnetically active binary companions and self-shocking stellar winds, respectively. In many cases this conclusion is supported by corroborative multiwavelength evidence for the wind and binary properties of the PN central stars. By thus honing in on the origins of X-ray emission from PN central stars, we enhance the ability of CSPN X-ray sources to constrain models of PN shaping that invoke wind interactions and binarity.
We present results from the most recent set of observations obtained as part of the Chandra X-ray observatory Planetary Nebula Survey (ChanPlaNS), the first comprehensive X-ray survey of planetary ...nebulae (PNe) in the solar neighborhood (i.e., within ~1.5 kpc of the Sun). The survey is designed to place constraints on the frequency of appearance and range of X-ray spectral characteristics of X-ray-emitting PN central stars and the evolutionary timescales of wind-shock-heated bubbles within PNe. ChanPlaNS began with a combined Cycle 12 and archive Chandra survey of 35 PNe. ChanPlaNS continued via a Chandra Cycle 14 Large Program which targeted all (24) remaining known compact (R_neb <~ 0.4 pc), young PNe that lie within ~1.5 kpc. Results from these Cycle 14 observations include first-time X-ray detections of hot bubbles within NGC 1501, 3918, 6153, and 6369, and point sources in HbDs 1, NGC 6337, and Sp 1. The addition of the Cycle 14 results brings the overall ChanPlaNS diffuse X-ray detection rate to ~27% and the point source detection rate to ~36%. It has become clearer that diffuse X-ray emission is associated with young (<~5x10^3 yr), and likewise compact (R_neb<~0.15 pc), PNe with closed structures and high central electron densities (n_e>~1000 cm^-3), and rarely associated with PNe that show H_2 emission and/or pronounced butterfly structures. Hb 5 is one such exception of a PN with a butterfly structure that hosts diffuse X-ray emission. Additionally, of the five new diffuse X-ray detections, two host WR-type CSPNe, NGC 1501 and NGC 6369, supporting the hypothesis that PNe with central stars of WR-type are likely to display diffuse X-ray emission.
We present an overview of the initial results from the Chandra Planetary Nebula Survey (ChanPlaNS), the first systematic (volume-limited) Chandra X-ray Observatory survey of planetary nebulae (PNe) ...in the solar neighborhood. The first phase of ChanPlaNS targeted 21 mostly high-excitation PNe within ~1.5 kpc of Earth, yielding 4 detections of diffuse X-ray emission and 9 detections of X-ray-luminous point sources at the central stars (CSPNe) of these objects. Combining these results with those obtained from Chandra archival data for all (14) other PNe within ~1.5 kpc that have been observed to date, we find an overall X-ray detection rate of ~70%. Roughly 50% of the PNe observed by Chandra harbor X-ray-luminous CSPNe, while soft, diffuse X-ray emission tracing shocks formed by energetic wind collisions is detected in ~30%; five objects display both diffuse and point-like emission components. The presence of X-ray sources appears correlated with PN density structure, in that molecule-poor, elliptical nebulae are more likely to display X-ray emission (either point-like or diffuse) than molecule-rich, bipolar or Ring-like nebulae. All but one of the X-ray point sources detected at CSPNe display X-ray spectra that are harder than expected from hot (~100 kK) central star photospheres, possibly indicating a high frequency of binary companions to CSPNe. Other potential explanations include self-shocking winds or PN mass fallback. Most PNe detected as diffuse X-ray sources are elliptical nebulae that display a nested shell/halo structure and bright ansae; the diffuse X-ray emission regions are confined within inner, sharp-rimmed shells. All sample PNe that display diffuse X-ray emission have inner shell dynamical ages <~5x10^3 yr, placing firm constraints on the timescale for strong shocks due to wind interactions in PNe.
Successful treatment of CRPS 1 with anti-TNF Huygen, Frank J P M; Niehof, Sjoerd; Zijlstra, Freek J ...
Journal of pain and symptom management,
02/2004, Letnik:
27, Številka:
2
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