Variations in climate have been associated with a greater risk of surgical site infections, urinary tract infections, and changes in the skin microbiome; however, limited data exist on the impact of ...climate on inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) infections.
We sought to evaluate the impact of climate on the risk of IPP infections in a large international, multicenter cohort.
We performed a multi-institutional, retrospective study of patients undergoing IPP surgery. We then evaluated whether the month or season, during which surgery was performed, affected device infections. Implant infections were defined as infections requiring device explantation. A univariate logistic regression analysis was undertaken.
Our primary outcome was implant infection.
A total of 5289 patients with a mean age of 62.2 ± 10.8 years received IPP placement. There was a fairly even distribution of implants performed in each season. A total of 103 (1.9%) infections were recorded. There were 32 (31.1%) IPP infections in patients who underwent surgery in the summer, followed by 28 (27.2%) in the winter, 26 (25.2%) in the spring, and 17 (16.5%) in the fall. No statistically significant differences were recorded in terms of season (P = .19) and month (P = .29). The mean daily temperature (P = .43), dew point (P = .43), and humidity (P = .92) at the time of IPP placement was not associated with infection.
These findings provide reassurance to prosthetic urologists that infection reduction strategies do not need to be tailored to local climate.
Climate data were not directly recorded for each hospital, but rather based on the monthly averages in the city where the surgery was performed.
The climate at time of IPP placement and time of year of surgery is not associated with IPP infection risk.
Multifrequency observations from the Very Large Array, Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), and Owens Valley Radio Observatory Millimeter Array of a major radio outburst of Cygnus X-3 in 2001 September ...are presented, measuring the evolution of the spectrum of the source over 3 decades in frequency, over a period of 6 days. Following the peak of the flare, as the intensity declines the high-frequency spectrum at frequency nu steepens from nu super(-0.4) to nu super(- 0.6), after which the spectral index remains at this latter terminal value, a trend previously observed but hitherto not satisfactorily explained. VLBA observations, for the first time, track over several days the expansion of a sequence of knots whose initial diameters are approx8 mas. The light-crossing time within these plasmons is of the same order as the timescale over which the spectrum is observed to evolve. We contend that properly accounting for light- travel time effects in and between plasmons that are initially optically thick but that after expansion become optically thin explains the key features of the spectral evolution, for example, the observed timescale. Using the VLBA images, we have directly measured for the first time the proper motions of individual knots, analysis of which shows a two-sided jet whose axis is precessing. The best-fit jet speed is beta approx 0.63, and the precession period is approx5 days, significantly lower than that fitted for a previous flare. Extrapolation of the positions of the knots measured by the VLBA back to zero separation shows this to occur approximately 2.5 days after the detection of the rise in flux density of Cyg X-3.
Abstract
The origin and distribution of stellar-mass black hole spins are a rare window into the progenitor stars and supernova events that create them. Swift J1728.9-3613 is an X-ray binary, likely ...associated with the supernova remnant (SNR) G351.9-0.9. An NuSTAR X-ray spectrum of this source during its 2019 outburst reveals reflection from an accretion disk extending to the innermost stable circular orbit. Modeling of the relativistic Doppler shifts and gravitational redshifts imprinted on the spectrum measures a dimensionless spin parameter of
a
= 0.86 ± 0.02 (1
σ
confidence), a small inclination angle of the inner accretion disk
θ
< 10°, and a subsolar iron abundance in the disk
A
Fe
< 0.84. This high spin value rules out a neutron star primary at the 5
σ
level of confidence. If the black hole is located in a still visible SNR, it must be young. Therefore, we place a lower limit on the natal black hole spin of
a
> 0.82, concluding that the black hole must have formed with a high spin. This demonstrates that black hole formation channels that leave an SNR, and those that do not (e.g., Cyg X-1), can both lead to high natal spin with no requirement for subsequent accretion within the binary system. Emerging disparities between the population of high-spin black holes in X-ray binaries and the low-spin black holes that merge in gravitational wave events may therefore be explained in terms of different stellar conditions prior to collapse, rather than different environmental factors after formation.
Accreting black holes are known to power relativistic jets, both in stellar-mass binary systems and at the centres of galaxies. The power carried away by the jets, and, hence, the feedback they ...provide to their surroundings, depends strongly on their composition. Jets containing a baryonic component should carry significantly more energy than electron-positron jets. Energetic considerations and circular-polarization measurements have provided conflicting circumstantial evidence for the presence or absence of baryons in jets, and the only system in which they have been unequivocally detected is the peculiar X-ray binary SS433 (refs 4, 5). Here we report the detection of Doppler-shifted X-ray emission lines from a more typical black-hole candidate X-ray binary, 4U1630-47, coincident with the reappearance of radio emission from the jets of the source. We argue that these lines arise from baryonic matter in a jet travelling at approximately two-thirds the speed of light, thereby establishing the presence of baryons in the jet. Such baryonic jets are more likely to be powered by the accretion disk than by the spin of the black hole, and if the baryons can be accelerated to relativistic speeds, the jets should be strong sources of gamma -rays and neutrino emission.
Tembusu virus (TMUV; Ntaya serocomplex) was detected in two pools of mosquitoes captured near Sangkhlaburi, Thailand, as well as from sera from sentinel ducks from the same area. Although TMUV has ...been isolated from several mosquito species in Asia, no studies have ever shown competent vectors for this virus. Therefore, we allowed mosquitoes captured near Sangkhlaburi to feed on young chickens that had been infected with TMUV. These mosquitoes were tested approximately 2 weeks later to determine infection, dissemination, and transmission rates. Culex vishnui developed high viral titers after feeding on TMUV-infected chicks and readily transmitted virus to naïve chickens. In contrast, Cx. fuscocephala seemed less susceptible to infection, and more importantly, zero of five fuscocephala with a disseminated infection transmitted virus by bite, indicating a salivary gland barrier. These results provide evidence for the involvement of Culex mosquitoes in the transmission of TMUV in the environment.
This review arose from the European Radio Astronomy Technical Forum (ERATec) meeting held in Firenze, October 2015, and aims to highlight the breadth and depth of the high-impact science that will be ...aided and assisted by the use of simultaneous mm-wavelength receivers.
Recent results and opportunities are presented and discussed from the fields of: continuum VLBI (observations of weak sources, astrometry, observations of AGN cores in spectral index and Faraday rotation), spectral line VLBI (observations of evolved stars and massive star-forming regions) and time domain observations of the flux variations arising in the compact jets of X-ray binaries.
Our survey brings together a large range of important science applications, which will greatly benefit from simultaneous observing at mm-wavelengths. Such facilities are essential to allow these applications to become more efficient, more sensitive and more scientifically robust. In some cases without simultaneous receivers the science goals are simply unachievable. Similar benefits would exist in many other high frequency astronomical fields of research.
To examine diurnal salivary cortisol rhythms and plasma IL-6 concentrations in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), persons not fulfilling a diagnosis of CFS (we term them cases with ...insufficient symptoms or fatigue, ISF) and nonfatigued controls (NF). Previous studies of CFS patients have implicated the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the immune system in the pathophysiology of CFS, although results have been equivocal.
Twenty-eight people with CFS, 35 persons with ISF, and 39 NF identified from the general population of Wichita, Kansas, were admitted to a research ward for 2 days. Saliva was collected immediately on awakening (6:30 AM), at 08:00 AM, 12 noon, 4:00 PM, 8:00 PM and at bedtime (10:00 PM) and plasma was obtained at 7:30 AM. Salivary cortisol concentrations were assessed using radioimmunoassay, and plasma IL-6 was measured using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
People with CFS demonstrated lower salivary cortisol concentrations in the morning and higher salivary cortisol concentrations in the evening compared with both ISF and NF groups indicating a flattening of the diurnal cortisol profile. Mean plasma IL-6 concentrations were highest in CFS compared with the other groups, although these differences were no longer significant after controlling for BMI. Attenuated decline of salivary cortisol concentrations across the day and IL-6 concentration were associated with fatigue symptoms in CFS.
These results suggest an altered diurnal cortisol rhythm and IL-6 concentrations in CFS cases identified from a population-based sample.
Abstract We reviewed adverse events following receipt of inactivated mouse brain-derived Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine reported to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from ...1999 to 2009. During this period, VAERS received 300 adverse event reports following JE vaccination (24 per 100,000 doses distributed); 106 (35%) were classified as hypersensitivity reactions (8.4 per 100,000 doses) and four (1%) were classified as neurologic events (0.3 per 100,000 doses). Twenty-three (8%) reports described serious adverse events (1.8 per 100,000 doses distributed). There were no reports of encephalitis, meningitis, or Guillain-Barré syndrome. As reported previously, hypersensitivity reactions were common among persons receiving inactivated mouse brain-derived JE vaccine.
Abstract Accreting white dwarfs in binary systems known as cataclysmic variables (CVs) have in recent years been shown to produce radio flares during outbursts, qualitatively similar to those ...observed from neutron star and black hole X-ray binaries, but their ubiquity and energetic significance for the accretion flow has remained uncertain. We present new radio observations of the CV SS Cyg with Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array, which show for the second time late-ouburst radio flaring, in 2016 April. This flaring occurs during the optical flux decay phase, about 10 d after the well-established early-time radio flaring. We infer that both the early- and late-outburst flares are a common feature of the radio outbursts of SS Cyg, albeit of variable amplitudes, and probably of all dwarf novae. We furthermore present new analysis of the physical conditions in the best-sampled late-outburst flare, from 2016 February, which showed clear optical depth evolution. From this we can infer that the synchrotron-emitting plasma was expanding at about 1 per cent of the speed of light, and at peak had a magnetic field of order 1 G and total energy content ≥1033 erg. While this result is independent of the geometry of the synchrotron-emitting region, the most likely origin is in a jet carrying away a significant amount of the available accretion power.
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