Left in the Midwest Looker, Benjamin; Izzo, Amanda L
2022, 2023, 2022-12-30
eBook
Despite St. Louis’s mid-twentieth-century reputation as a conservative and sleepy midwestern metropolis, the city and its surrounding region have long played host to dynamic forms of social-movement ...organizing. This was especially the case during the 1960s and 1970s, when a new generation of local activists lent their energies to the ongoing struggles for Black freedom, lesbian and gay liberation, feminist social transformations, environmental protection, an end to the Vietnam War, and more. This volume, the first of its kind, offers fifteen scholarly contributions that together bring into focus the exceptional range of progressive activist projects that took shape in a single midwestern city during these tumultuous decades.
In contrast to scholarship that seeks to interpret the era’s social-movement initiatives in a primarily national context, the works presented in this expansive collection emphasize the importance of locality, neighborhood, community institutions, and rooted social networks. Documenting wrenching forces of metropolitan change as well as grassroots resilience, Left in the Midwest shows us how place powerfully shaped agendas, worldviews, and opportunities for the disparate groups that dedicated themselves to progressive visions for their city. By revising our sense of the region’s past, this volume also expands our sense of the possibilities that the future may hold for activist movements seeking change in St. Louis and beyond.
This study investigated whether an angiotensin-receptor blocker (olmesartan) would delay microalbuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes and normoalbuminuria. Olmesartan was associated with a ...delayed onset of microalbuminuria, even though blood pressure control in both groups was excellent.
Diabetic nephropathy is an increasingly common cause of end-stage renal disease,
1
and the development and rate of renal deterioration are most closely related to the patient's blood pressure. Guideline committees worldwide concur that the blood pressure in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease should be kept at 130/80 mm Hg or less.
2
Microalbuminuria is predictive of diabetic nephropathy and premature cardiovascular disease
3
–
5
; therefore, European and American guidelines recommend that patients with diabetes be tested for microalbuminuria.
6
,
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Overactivity of the renin–angiotensin system has been implicated in the deterioration of renal function in patients with diabetic nephropathy and . . .
ABSTRACT—The National High Blood Pressure Education Program presents the complete Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood ...Pressure. Like its predecessors, the purpose is to provide an evidence-based approach to the prevention and management of hypertension. The key messages of this report are thesein those older than age 50, systolic blood pressure (BP) of greater than 140 mm Hg is a more important cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor than diastolic BP; beginning at 115/75 mm Hg, CVD risk doubles for each increment of 20/10 mm Hg; those who are normotensive at 55 years of age will have a 90% lifetime risk of developing hypertension; prehypertensive individuals (systolic BP 120–139 mm Hg or diastolic BP 80–89 mm Hg) require health-promoting lifestyle modifications to prevent the progressive rise in blood pressure and CVD; for uncomplicated hypertension, thiazide diuretic should be used in drug treatment for most, either alone or combined with drugs from other classes; this report delineates specific high-risk conditions that are compelling indications for the use of other antihypertensive drug classes (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers); two or more antihypertensive medications will be required to achieve goal BP (<140/90 mm Hg, or <130/80 mm Hg) for patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease; for patients whose BP is more than 20 mm Hg above the systolic BP goal or more than 10 mm Hg above the diastolic BP goal, initiation of therapy using two agents, one of which usually will be a thiazide diuretic, should be considered; regardless of therapy or care, hypertension will be controlled only if patients are motivated to stay on their treatment plan. Positive experiences, trust in the clinician, and empathy improve patient motivation and satisfaction. This report serves as a guide, and the committee continues to recognize that the responsible physician’s judgment remains paramount.
The physical mechanism driving mass ejection during a nova eruption is still poorly understood. Possibilities include ejection in a single ballistic event, a common-envelope interaction, a continuous ...wind, or some combination of these processes. Here, we present a study of 12 Galactic novae, for which we have premaximum high-resolution spectroscopy. All 12 novae show the same spectral evolution. Before optical peak, they show a slow P Cygni component. After peak, a fast component quickly arises, while the slow absorption remains superimposed on top of it, implying the presence of at least two physically distinct flows. For novae with high-cadence monitoring, a third, intermediate-velocity component is also observed. These observations are consistent with a scenario where the slow component is associated with the initial ejection of the accreted material and the fast component with a radiation-driven wind from the white dwarf. When these flows interact, the slow flow is swept up by the fast flow, producing the intermediate component. These colliding flows may produce theγ-ray emission observed in some novae. Our spectra also show that the transient heavy-element absorption lines seen in some novae have the same velocity structure and evolution as the other lines in the spectrum, implying an association with the nova ejecta rather than a preexisting circumbinary reservoir of gas or material ablated from the secondary. While this basic scenario appears to qualitatively reproduce multiwavelength observations of classical novae, substantial theoretical and observational work is still needed to untangle the rich diversity of nova properties.
ABSTRACT
Multimessenger astronomy received a great boost following the discovery of kilonova (KN) AT2017gfo, the optical counterpart of the gravitational wave source GW170817 associated with the ...short gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A. AT2017gfo was the first KN that could be extensively monitored in time using both photometry and spectroscopy. Previously, only few candidates have been observed against the glare of short GRB afterglows. In this work, we aim to search the fingerprints of AT2017gfo-like KN emissions in the optical/NIR light curves of 39 short GRBs with known redshift. For the first time, our results allow us to study separately the range of luminosity of the blue and red components of AT2017gfo-like kilonovae in short GRBs. In particular, the red component is similar in luminosity to AT2017gfo, while the blue KN can be more than 10 times brighter. Finally, we exclude a KN as luminous as AT2017gfo in GRBs 050509B and 061201.
Arterial Stiffness: Going a Step Beyond Gavish, Benjamin; Izzo, Joseph L
American journal of hypertension,
11/2016, Letnik:
29, Številka:
11
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Interest in arterial stiffness has been fueled by the scientific and clinical implications of its “vicious cycle” relationship with aging and systolic blood pressure. In physical terms, stiffness is ...the slope of the relationship between an artery’s distending pressure and its cross-sectional area or volume. Pulse wave velocity (PWV, in m/s), the most common arterial stiffness indicator, is usually measured by the foot-to-foot time and distance method and is proportional to stiffness × area (or volume)1/2 at a given pressure. Its intrinsic pressure dependency and other flaws in current PWV methods limit its utility. In contrast, the arterial stiffness–arterial pressure relationship is near-linear, with a slope β, the exponent of the curvilinear arterial pressure–arterial volume relationship. The concept of arterial stiffening is related to β and describes a more functionally relevant aspect of arterial behavior: the change in stiffness for a given change in pressure. Arterial stiffening can be estimated from the variability of within-individual BP measurements (24-h ambulatory, home BP, or BP measured at different arm heights) and can be expressed as the pulse stiffening ratio (PSR) = systolic stiffness/diastolic stiffness or the ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI or its symmetric form, sAASI). High arterial stiffness (PWV) and stiffening (β, stiffness index, cardio-ankle vascular index, AASI, and PSR) are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk, but it remains unclear whether these indicators are useful in improving medical care quality; the standard of care remains stringent BP control.
This critique is intended to provide background for the reader to evaluate the relative clinical utilities of brachial cuff systolic blood pressure (SBP) and its derivatives, including pulse ...pressure, central systolic pressure, central augmentation index (AI), and pulse pressure amplification (PPA). The critical question is whether the newer indicators add sufficient information to justify replacing or augmenting brachial cuff blood pressure (BP) data in research and patient care. Historical context, pathophysiology of variations in pulse wave transmission and reflection, issues related to measurement and model errors, statistical limitations, and clinical correlations are presented, along with new comparative data. Based on this overview, there is no compelling scientific or practical reason to replace cuff SBP with any of the newer indicators in the vast majority of clinical situations. Supplemental value for central SBP may exist in defining patients with exaggerated PPA ("spurious systolic hypertension"), managing cardiac and aortic diseases, and in studies of cardiovascular drugs, but there are no current standards for these possibilities.
Observations of gamma-ray bursts up to z ∼ 9 are best suited to study the possible evolution of the universe equation of state at intermediate redshifts. We apply the Combo relation to a sample of ...174 gamma-ray bursts to investigate possible evidence of evolving dark energy parameter w(z). We first build a gamma-ray burst Hubble's diagram and then we estimate the set ( m, Λ) in the framework of flat and non-flat ΛCDM paradigm. We then get bounds over the wCDM model, where w is thought to evolve with redshift, adopting two priors over the Hubble constant in tension at 4.4 , i.e., H0 = (67.4 0.5) km s−1 Mpc−1 and H0 = (74.03 1.42) km s−1 Mpc−1. We show our new sample provides tighter constraints on m since at z ≤ 1.2 we see that w(z) agrees within 1 with the standard value w = −1. The situation is the opposite at larger z, where gamma-ray bursts better fix w(z) that seems to deviate from w = −1 at 2 and 4 level, depending on the redshift bins. In particular, we investigate the w(z) evolution through a piecewise formulation over seven redshift intervals. From our fitting procedure we show that at z ≥ 1.2 the case w < −1 cannot be fully excluded, indicating that dark energy's influence is not negligible at larger z. We confirm the Combo relation as a powerful tool to investigate cosmological evolution of dark energy. Future space missions will significantly enrich the gamma-ray burst database even at smaller redshifts, improving de facto the results discussed in this paper.
The effects of cadmium and lead were investigated in Cynara cardunculus L. Plant uptake by root and shoot, changes in cell ultrastructure and photosynthetic efficiency, photosynthetic key protein ...levels, as well as regulation of stress-induced Hsp70 were examined. Cynara cardunculus accumulated Cd and Pb in their tissue, with a different trend for the two metals. The prompt translocation of Cd to the shoot may justify the ultrastructural injuries, especially observed in chloroplasts. However, Cd- treated plants did not show any decline in photochemistry; it is likely that Cd in shoot tissue triggers defense mechanisms, increasing the level of proteins involved in photosynthesis (i.e., Rubisco and D1 increased 7 and 4.5 fold respectively) as a compensatory response to neutralize chloroplast damage. The accumulation of Pb mainly in root, can explain the increase in Hsp70 level (23 folds) in this tissue. Pb reached the shoots, even at low amounts, causing an overall significant change in some photochemical parameters (QY and NPQ decreases and increases of 25%, respectively). The results suggest a higher sensitivity of C. cardunculus to Pb than Cd, although maximal photochemical efficiency suggests that this species seems to tolerate Pb and Cd and hence, it is a suitable candidate for phytoremediation.
•Effects of Cd and Pb on uptake and photochemistry were studied in C. cardunculus.•Cd-treated plants showed ultrastructural injuries, but no decline in photochemistry.•Pb induced an increase of Hsp70 in root and a decrease of photochemistry.•The overall results suggest a higher sensitivity of C. cardunculus to Pb than Cd.
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