Synchronous acceleration and thinning of southeast (SE) Greenland glaciers during the early 2000s was the main contributor that resulted in the doubling of annual discharge from the ice sheet. We ...show that this acceleration was followed by a synchronized and widespread slowdown of the same glaciers, in many cases associated with a decrease in thinning rates, and we propose that ice sheet–ocean interactions are the first‐order regional control on these recent mass changes. Sea surface temperature and mooring data show that the preceding dynamic thinning coincides with a brief decline in the cold East Greenland Coastal Current (EGCC) and East Greenland Current. We suggest this decline was partly induced by a reduction in ice sheet runoff, which allowed warm water from the Irminger Current to reach the SE Greenland coast. A restrengthening of the cold waters coincides with the glaciers' subsequent slowdown. We argue that this warming and subsequent cooling of the coastal waters was the cause of the glaciers' dynamic changes. We further suggest that the restrengthening of the EGCC resulted in part from cold water input by increased glacier calving during the speedup and increased ice sheet runoff. We hypothesize that the main mechanism for ice sheet mass loss in SE Greenland is highly sensitive to ocean conditions and is likely subject to negative feedback mechanisms.
To assess the genetic and nongenetic correlates of circulating measures of vitamins K and D status in a community-based sample of men and women.
A cross-sectional study of 1762 participants of the ...Framingham Offspring Study (919 women; mean age 59 years). Vitamin K status was measured as plasma phylloquinone and serum percent undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC), and vitamin D was measured using plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). Associations between vitamin K status and vitamin D status with biologically plausible nongenetic factors were assessed using stepwise regression. Heritability and linkage were determined using Sequential Oligogenic Linkage Analysis Routines (SOLAR).
Nongenetic factors accounted for 20.1 and 12.3% of the variability in plasma phylloquinone in men and women respectively, with triglycerides and phylloquinone intake being the primary correlates. In men 12.2% and in women 14.6% of the variability in %ucOC was explained by nongenetic factors in our models. Heritability estimates for these vitamin K status biomarkers were nonsignificant. Season, vitamin D intake, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and waist circumference explained 24.7% (men) and 24.2% (women) of the variability in plasma 25(OH)D. Of the three vitamins examined, only 25(OH)D was significantly heritable (heritability estimate=28.8%, P<0.01), but linkage analysis of 25(OH)D did not achieve genome-wide significance.
Variability in biomarkers of vitamin K status was attributed to nongenetic factors, whereas plasma 25(OH)D was found to be significantly heritable. Further studies are warranted to investigate genetic loci influencing vitamin D status.
Methanol masers are often detected in regions of intense star formation. Several studies in the last decade indicate that they may even be the earliest signpost of a high-mass star-forming region. ...Their powerful emission make them very good candidates for observations using both single-dish telescopes and interferometers, the latter allows detailed structural and dynamical studies of these objects. We have prepared a catalogue of all known 6.7-GHz methanol masers, discovered both by surveys that targeted possible associated objects and unbiased surveys covering a large fraction of galactic longitudes across the Galactic plane (-0.5 degree less than or equal to b less than or equal to 0.5 degree for most of the regions). The catalogue contains 519 sources which are listed with their kinematic (galactocentric and heliocentric) distances as well as possibly associated IR objects. We find that 6.7-GHz methanol masers clearly trace the molecular ring of our Galaxy, where most of the OB associations are located. The present list of masers also reports detections of other masing transitions of methanol as further information for the study of the maser phenomenon. In a further publication we will address some statistical considerations.
Endometrial polyps have a reported prevalence from 7.8% up to 30% and are one of the most cost-consuming gynecological conditions for our specialty. There are strong practitioner beliefs that ...surgical removal of endometrial polyps is highly beneficial, particularly for those with abnormal uterine bleeding and infertility. Additionally, polypectomy is indicated to reduce the risk of malignancy. Transvaginal ultrasound is the first-line diagnostic option for detection of endometrial polyps, while sonohysterography has similar accuracy as hysteroscopy in the diagnostic confirmation. Blind dilatation and curettage is not recommended for polyp removal; rather, hysteroscopy in the operating room and office setting using small-diameter hysteroscopic equipment is the standard approach. This can be performed without anesthesia in most women. While hysteroscopy is an effective method for polypectomy with a low complication rate, it is unknown whether this is truly beneficial for reproductive-age women with infertility and prior assisted reproduction therapy. The risk of malignancy in women with postmenopausal bleeding justifies the necessity of polypectomy with histologic tissue examination. In asymptomatic women, the risk of malignancy is low, and there are no known benefits of polyp removal in the prevention of malignant transformation. Cost-effective studies remain to be done to provide us with the optimal approach to endometrial polyps including the management of asymptomatic and/or infertile women, ideal location including office-based or the operating room setting, complication prevention including intrauterine adhesions, and recurrence issues.
Pediatric obesity and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are on the rise in industrialized countries, yet our ability to mechanistically examine this relationship is limited by the lack of a ...suitable higher animal models. Here, we examined the effects of high-fat, high-fructose corn syrup, high-cholesterol Western-style diet (WD)-induced obesity on NASH and cecal microbiota dysbiosis in juvenile Ossabaw swine. Juvenile female Ossabaw swine (5 wk old) were fed WD (43.0% fat; 17.8% high-fructose corn syrup; 2% cholesterol) or low-fat diet (CON/lean; 10.5% fat) for 16 wk ( n = 6 each) or 36 wk ( n = 4 each). WD-fed pigs developed obesity, dyslipidemia, and systemic insulin resistance compared with CON pigs. In addition, obese WD-fed pigs developed severe NASH, with hepatic steatosis, hepatocyte ballooning, inflammatory cell infiltration, and fibrosis after 16 wk, with further exacerbation of histological inflammation and fibrosis after 36 wk of WD feeding. WD feeding also resulted in robust cecal microbiota changes including increased relative abundances of families and genera in Proteobacteria ( P < 0.05) (i.e., Enterobacteriaceae, Succinivibrionaceae, and Succinivibrio) and LPS-containing Desulfovibrionaceae and Desulfovibrio and a greater ( P < 0.05) predicted microbial metabolic function for LPS biosynthesis, LPS biosynthesis proteins, and peptidoglycan synthesis compared with CON-fed pigs. Overall, juvenile Ossabaw swine fed a high-fat, high-fructose, high-cholesterol diet develop obesity and severe microbiota dysbiosis with a proinflammatory signature and a NASH phenotype directly relevant to the pediatric/adolescent and young adult population.
The spatio-temporal and polarisation properties of intense light is important in wide-ranging topics at the forefront of extreme light-matter interactions, including ultrafast laser-driven particle ...acceleration, attosecond pulse generation, plasma photonics, high-field physics and laboratory astrophysics. Here, we experimentally demonstrate modifications to the polarisation and temporal properties of intense light measured at the rear of an ultrathin target foil irradiated by a relativistically intense laser pulse. The changes are shown to result from a superposition of coherent radiation, generated by a directly accelerated bipolar electron distribution, and the light transmitted due to the onset of relativistic self-induced transparency. Simulations show that the generated light has a high-order transverse electromagnetic mode structure in both the first and second laser harmonics that can evolve on intra-pulse time-scales. The mode structure and polarisation state vary with the interaction parameters, opening up the possibility of developing this approach to achieve dynamic control of structured light fields at ultrahigh intensities.
We report on the selective acceleration of carbon ions during the interaction of ultrashort, circularly polarized and contrast-enhanced laser pulses, at a peak intensity of 5.5 × 1020 W/cm2, with ...ultrathin carbon foils. Under optimized conditions, energies per nucleon of the bulk carbon ions reached significantly higher values than the energies of contaminant protons ( 33 MeV / nucleon vs 18 MeV), unlike what is typically observed in laser-foil acceleration experiments. Experimental data, and supporting simulations, emphasize different dominant acceleration mechanisms for the two ion species and highlight an (intensity dependent) optimum thickness for radiation pressure acceleration; it is suggested that the preceding laser energy reaching the target before the main pulse arrives plays a key role in a preferential acceleration of the heavier ion species.
Eight new class II methanol masers selected from the 6.7 GHz Methanol Multibeam survey catalogues I and II were monitored at 6.7 GHz with the 26 m Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory radio ...telescope for three years and seven months, from 2011 February to 2014 September. The sources were also observed at 12.2 GHz and two were sufficiently bright to permit monitoring. One of the eight sources, namely G358.460-0.391, was found to show periodic variations at 6.7 GHz. The period was determined and tested for significance using the Lomb-Scargle, epoch-folding and Jurkevich methods, and by fitting a simple analytic function. The best estimate for the period of the 6.7 GHz class II methanol maser line associated with G358.460-0.391 is 220.0 plus or minus 0.2 d.
Micraspis discolor (Fabricius, 1798) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a widely studied complex of externally similar species, is known to be distributed in all the major rice growing countries of the ...Oriental region. It consists of disjunct populations that have been treated as a single taxonomic entity, but these are not conspecific and show disparities in their morphology. In this paper, we establish the identity of the true M. discolor based on Fabricius's type material from Tamil Nadu, Southern India, and redescribe it with illustrations of the diagnostic characters and the life stages. A lectotype is designated for M. discolor from Fabricius's type material (lectotype designation). Coccinella tenuilinea Walker, 1859, a sympatric species closely related to M. discolor and omitted from Korschefsky's World Catalogue of Coccinellidae, is transferred to Micraspis (new combination) and a lectotype is designated for it. It is found to be the most predominant species in South India and redescribed with illustrations of the genitalia and the life stages. COI sequences of M. discolor, M. tenuilinea and M. yasumatsui Sasaji based on the material collected in India are given. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI sequences of Indian M. discolor and other Asian 'M. discolor' sequences confirm that the Indian M. discolor is a distinct species and all Micraspis spp. from South and southeast Asian countries not matching the true M. discolor described here need to be re-examined and renamed if necessary. Brief illustrated accounts of other Micraspis spp. known from the paddy ecosystems of India are also given. Alesia guerini Mulsant, 1850, currently placed in Micraspis, is transferred to Oenopia Mulsant (new combination) and Coelophora walteri Sicard, 1913 is a new junior synonym of O. guerini (new synonym).
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