We present a measure of the hard (2-8 keV) X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of AGNs up to image. At high redshifts, the wide area coverage of the Chandra Multiwavength Project is crucial to detect ...rare and luminous AGNs. The inclusion of samples from deeper published surveys, such as the Chandra Deep Fields, allows us to span the lower L sub(X) range of the XLF. Our sample is selected from both the hard and soft energy band detections. Within our optical magnitude limits, we achieve an adequate level of completeness (>50%) regarding X-ray source identification (i.e., redshift). We find that the luminosity function is similar to that found in previous X- ray surveys up to image with an evolution dependent on both luminosity and redshift. At image, there is a significant decline in the numbers of AGNs with an evolution rate similar to that found by studies of optically selected QSOs. Based on our XLF, we assess the resolved fraction of the cosmic X-ray background, the cumulative mass density of SMBHs, and the comparison of the mean accretion rate onto SMBHs and the star formation history of galaxies as a function of redshift. A coevolution scenario up to image is plausible, although at higher redshifts the accretion rate onto SMBHs drops more rapidly. Finally, we highlight the need for better statistics of high- redshift AGNs at image, which is achievable with the upcoming Chandra surveys.
To assess the safety of the newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy.
The study population was pregnant women who enrolled in the North American AED Pregnancy Registry between 1997 and 2011. ...Data on AED use and maternal characteristics were collected through phone interviews at enrollment, at 7 months' gestation, and postpartum. Malformations were confirmed by medical records. The risk of major malformations was calculated among infants exposed to specific AEDs in monotherapy during the first trimester of pregnancy and among an unexposed group. Risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated with logistic regression.
The risk of major malformations was 9.3% (30 of 323) for valproate, 5.5% (11 of 199) for phenobarbital, 4.2% (15 of 359) for topiramate, 3.0% (31 of 1.033) for carbamazepine, 2.9% (12 of 416) for phenytoin, 2.4% (11 of 450) for levetiracetam, and 2.0% (31 of 1,562) for lamotrigine. Compared with lamotrigine, the RR was 5.1 (95% CI 3.0-8.5) for valproate, 2.9 (1.4-5.8) for phenobarbital, and 2.2 (1.2-4.0) for topiramate. The proportion of women with epilepsy who had seizures during pregnancy ranged from 23% for valproate to 31% for lamotrigine. Valproate was associated with a higher risk of neural tube defects, hypospadias, cardiac defects, and oral clefts and phenobarbital with a higher risk of cardiac defects and oral clefts; 5 infants exposed to topiramate (1.4%) had a cleft lip.
AEDs such as valproate and phenobarbital were associated with a higher risk of major malformations than newer AEDs such as lamotrigine and levetiracetam. Topiramate was associated with an increased risk of cleft lip compared with that of a reference population.
Partitioning space into cells with certain extreme geometrical properties is a central problem in many fields of science and technology. Here we investigate the Quantizer problem, defined as the ...optimisation of the moment of inertia of Voronoi cells, i.e., similarly-sized 'sphere-like' polyhedra that tile space are preferred. We employ Lloyd's centroidal Voronoi diagram algorithm to solve this problem and find that it converges to disordered states associated with deep local minima. These states are universal in the sense that their structure factors are characterised by a complete independence of a wide class of initial conditions they evolved from. They moreover exhibit an anomalous suppression of long-wavelength density fluctuations and quickly become effectively hyperuniform. Our findings warrant the search for novel amorphous hyperuniform phases and cellular materials with unique physical properties.
Plasma discharges with a negative triangularity (δ=-0.4) shape have been created in the DIII-D tokamak with a significant normalized beta (β_{N}=2.7) and confinement characteristic of the high ...confinement mode (H_{98y2}=1.2) despite the absence of an edge pressure pedestal and no edge localized modes (ELMs). These inner-wall-limited plasmas have a similar global performance as a positive triangularity (δ=+0.4) ELMing H-mode discharge with the same plasma current, elongation and cross sectional area. For cases both of dominant electron cyclotron heating with T_{e}/T_{i}>1 and dominant neutral beam injection heating with T_{e}/T_{i}=1, turbulent fluctuations over radii 0.5<ρ<0.9 were reduced by 10-50% in the negative triangularity shape compared to the matching positive triangularity shape, depending on the radius and conditions.
Little is known about the course of chronic pain in the community. Such information is needed for the prevention and management of chronic pain. We undertook a 4-year follow-up study of 2184 ...individuals living in Grampian, UK to describe patterns and predictors of change in chronic pain over time. In October 2000, participants completed a postal questionnaire including case definition questions, the chronic pain grade questionnaire, the SF-36 and socio-demographic questions. Information from this questionnaire was compared to information collected from a similar questionnaire in 1996. A response rate of 83% was achieved for the follow-up study. The overall prevalence of chronic pain (pain or discomfort present either all the time or on and off for 3 months or longer) increased from 45.5% at baseline to 53.8% at follow-up. Seventy-nine percent of those with chronic pain at baseline still had it at follow-up. The average annual incidence was 8.3% and the average annual recovery rate was 5.4%. Individuals in the study samples who are in lowest quartile of SF-36 domains--physical functioning, social functioning and bodily pain at baseline--were more likely to develop chronic pain at follow-up, and respondents who were retired were less likely to develop chronic pain. Individuals in the study samples in the lowest quartile of SF-36 domains, bodily pain and general health at baseline, were less likely to recover from their chronic pain, as were those aged 45-74 compared with those aged 25-34. We concluded that chronic pain is a common, persistent problem in the community with relatively high incidence and low recovery rates. The lack of association between onset or recovery from chronic pain and most traditional socio-demographic factors, highlights the need to broaden the range of factors included in studies of chronic pain aetiology.
Chronic pain is recognised as an important problem in the community but our understanding of the epidemiology of chronic pain remains limited. We undertook a study designed to quantify and describe ...the prevalence and distribution of chronic pain in the community.
A random sample of 5036 patients, aged 25 and over, was drawn from 29 general practices in the Grampian region of the UK and surveyed by a postal self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire included case-screening questions, a question on the cause of the pain, the chronic pain grade questionnaire, the level of expressed needs questionnaire, and sociodemographic questions.
3605 questionnaires were returned completed. 1817 (50·4%) of patients self reported chronic pain, equivalent to 46·5% of the general population. 576 reported back pain and 570 reported arthritis; these were the most common complaints and accounted for a third of all complaints. Backward stepwise logistic-regression modelling identified age, sex, housing tenure, and employment status as significant predictors of the presence of chronic pain in the community. 703 (48·7%) individuals with chronic pain had the least severe grade of pain, and 228 (15·8%) the most severe grade. Of those who reported chronic pain, 312 (17·2%) reported no expressed need, and 509 (28·0%) reported the highest expressed need.
Chronic pain is a major problem in the community and certain groups within the population are more likely to have chronic pain. A detailed understanding of the epidemiology of chronic pain is essential for efficient management of chronic pain in primary care.
The nucleus accumbens is a major input structure of the basal ganglia and integrates information from cortical and limbic structures to mediate goal-directed behaviors. Chronic exposure to several ...classes of drugs of abuse disrupts plasticity in this region, allowing drug-associated cues to engender a pathologic motivation for drug seeking. A number of alterations in glutamatergic transmission occur within the nucleus accumbens after withdrawal from chronic drug exposure. These drug-induced neuroadaptations serve as the molecular basis for relapse vulnerability. In this review, we focus on the role that glutamate signal transduction in the nucleus accumbens plays in addiction-related behaviors. First, we explore the nucleus accumbens, including the cell types and neuronal populations present as well as afferent and efferent connections. Next we discuss rodent models of addiction and assess the viability of these models for testing candidate pharmacotherapies for the prevention of relapse. Then we provide a review of the literature describing how synaptic plasticity in the accumbens is altered after exposure to drugs of abuse and withdrawal and also how pharmacological manipulation of glutamate systems in the accumbens can inhibit drug seeking in the laboratory setting. Finally, we examine results from clinical trials in which pharmacotherapies designed to manipulate glutamate systems have been effective in treating relapse in human patients. Further elucidation of how drugs of abuse alter glutamatergic plasticity within the accumbens will be necessary for the development of new therapeutics for the treatment of addiction across all classes of addictive substances.
In a hierarchical Universe clusters grow via the accretion of galaxies from the field, groups and even other clusters. As this happens, galaxies can lose and/or consume their gas reservoirs via ...different mechanisms, eventually quenching their star formation. We explore the diverse environmental histories of galaxies through a multiwavelength study of the combined effect of ram-pressure stripping and group ‘processing’ in Abell 963, a massive growing cluster at z = 0.2 from the Blind Ultra Deep H i Environmental Survey (BUDHIES). We incorporate hundreds of new optical redshifts (giving a total of 566 cluster members), as well as Subaru and XMM–Newton data from LoCuSS, to identify substructures and evaluate galaxy morphology, star formation activity, and H i content (via H i deficiencies and stacking) out to 3 × R
200. We find that Abell 963 is being fed by at least seven groups, that contribute to the large number of passive galaxies outside the cluster core. More massive groups have a higher fraction of passive and H i-poor galaxies, while low-mass groups host younger (often interacting) galaxies. For cluster galaxies not associated with groups we corroborate our previous finding that H i gas (if any) is significantly stripped via ram-pressure during their first passage through the intracluster medium, and find mild evidence for a starburst associated with this event. In addition, we find an overabundance of morphologically peculiar and/or star-forming galaxies near the cluster core. We speculate that these arise from the effect of groups passing through the cluster (post-processing). Our study highlights the importance of environmental quenching and the complexity added by evolving environments.
A software package for the calibration and processing of powder X‐ray diffraction and small‐angle X‐ray scattering data is presented. It provides a multitude of data processing and visualization ...tools as well as a command‐line scripting interface for on‐the‐fly processing and the incorporation of complex data treatment tasks. Customizable processing chains permit the execution of many data processing steps to convert a single image or a batch of raw two‐dimensional data into meaningful data and one‐dimensional diffractograms. The processed data files contain the full data provenance of each process applied to the data. The calibration routines can run automatically even for high energies and also for large detector tilt angles. Some of the functionalities are highlighted by specific use cases.
The Powder Calibration and Processing packages implemented in DAWN 2 provide an automated diffraction‐geometry calibration and data processing environment for two‐dimensional diffraction experiments. The customizable processing chains permit the execution of data processing steps to convert raw two‐dimensional data into meaningful data and diffractograms. The provenance of the processed data is maintained, which guarantees reproducibility and transparency of the data treatment.
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