It takes years of effort employing the best telescopes and instruments to obtain high-quality stellar photometry, astrometry, and spectroscopy. Stellar evolution models contain the experience of ...lifetimes of theoretical calculations and testing. Yet most astronomers fit these valuable models to these precious datasets by eye. We show that a principled Bayesian approach to fitting models to stellar data yields substantially more information over a range of stellar astrophysics. We highlight advances in determining the ages of star clusters, mass ratios of binary stars, limitations in the accuracy of stellar models, post-main-sequence mass loss, and the ages of individual white dwarfs. We also outline a number of unsolved problems that would benefit from principled Bayesian analyses.
To report our single-center experience with patients who had cardiac and multiorgan transplantation for end-stage congenital heart disease (CHD).
We reviewed records for all patients with CHD who had ...undergone heart transplantation at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, from November 1, 1990, through June 30, 2012. Patients with cardiomyopathy were excluded, unless CHD was present.
Overall, 45 patients had cardiac transplantation for end-stage CHD (mean age, 26.1±18.4 years; range, 1 month to 65 years). Two patients (4%) had combined heart/liver transplantation; 1 (2%) had heart/kidney transplantation. Six patients (13%) had no previous cardiac operation; the remaining 39 patients had a mean of 3 (range, 1-8) previous cardiac operations. Patient survival (95% CI) at 1, 5, and 10 years was 89% (80%-98%), 89% (80%-98%), and 72% (56%-87%), respectively, while graft survival at 1, 5, and 10 years was 89% (80%-98%), 89% (80%-98%), and 61% (44%-78%), respectively. During the same era, the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation reported that survival in patients undergoing transplant for non-congenital diagnoses was 85%, 72%, and 56%, respectively. Over a mean follow-up of 8.7±6.2 years, rejection requiring treatment was documented in 35 patients (78%). Eleven patients (24%) have been diagnosed with neoplasia (8 skin, 1 blood, 1 lymph, and 1 other), and 3 patients (7%) have required retransplantation. Four patients (9%) have developed significant coronary vasculopathy; 1 successfully underwent retransplantation, and 3 died 6, 8, and 14 years after transplantation.
With appropriate patient selection and posttransplant monitoring, survival has improved for patients with complex end-stage CHD. Multiorgan transplantation is an option for selected patients with CHD.
The sensitivity of unhydrated Haemoccult II has been examined in the context of a randomized controlled trial of faecal occult blood screening for colorectal cancer in Nottingham, UK.
Both ...traditional and proportional incidence methods were used to calculate sensitivity separately for both sexes, for two age groups at entry to the trial, for first screen and repeat screens and for three subsites within the large bowel.
The traditional method of estimation yielded a sensitivity of 59% whereas the corresponding figure obtained using the proportional incidence method was 54%. The difference between the estimates using the two methods was greatest in subjects aged > or = 65 at entry to the trial and in cancers of the distal colon.
The results suggest that there may be a higher proportion of slower growing tumours in subjects aged > or = 65 and that cancers occurring in the distal colon may have a longer mean sojourn time than cancers proximal to the sigmoid colon.
This study investigated the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of the selegiline transdermal system (STS) administered in a dose range of 6 mg/24 hours to 12 mg/24 hours for treating major depressive ...disorder (MDD).
Patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for MDD (N = 265) were randomly assigned to blinded treatment with STS or a matching placebo patch for 8 weeks. Patients failing to meet or maintain protocol-defined therapeutic response criteria at predetermined time points had their STS (or placebo) dose increased. Assessments were conducted at weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8. Patients were not required to follow a tyramine-restricted diet. The study ran from September 2001 through August 2002.
Selegiline transdermal system treatment resulted in significantly greater improvement (p < or = .05) compared with placebo treatment on the 3 depression rating scales: the 28-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D28) (primary outcome measure), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and the Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology-Self Rated. The treatment effect measured by the HAM-D28 was modest, primarily due to insomnia side effects. The antidepressant efficacy of STS was substantiated further by the significantly greater improvement in core depression symptoms (HAM-D Bech-6 subscale). The side effects of highest incidence were application site reactions and insomnia. There were no safety concerns based on routine clinical laboratory and electrocardiogram monitoring, and there were no occurrences of hypertensive crisis.
Results of this double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose titration trial provide evidence of short-term efficacy, safety, and tolerability of STS in the dose range of 6 mg/24 hours to 12 mg/24 hours for treatment of MDD. Selegiline transdermal system has an improved margin of safety compared with oral monoamine oxidase inhibitors and represents a useful addition to the existing array of antidepressants.
General paradigms of species extinction risk are urgently needed as global habitat loss and rapid climate change threaten Earth with what could be its sixth mass extinction. Using the stony coral ...Lophelia pertusa as a model organism with the potential for wide larval dispersal, we investigated how the global ocean conveyor drove an unprecedented post-glacial range expansion in Earth׳s largest biome, the deep sea. We compiled a unique ocean-scale dataset of published radiocarbon and uranium-series dates of fossil corals, the sedimentary protactinium–thorium record of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) strength, authigenic neodymium and lead isotopic ratios of circulation pathways, and coral biogeography, and integrated new Bayesian estimates of historic gene flow. Our compilation shows how the export of Southern Ocean and Mediterranean waters after the Younger Dryas 11.6kyr ago simultaneously triggered two dispersal events in the western and eastern Atlantic respectively. Each pathway injected larvae from refugia into ocean currents powered by a re-invigorated AMOC that led to the fastest postglacial range expansion ever recorded, covering 7500km in under 400 years. In addition to its role in modulating global climate, our study illuminates how the ocean conveyor creates broad geographic ranges that lower extinction risk in the deep sea.
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•AMOC spin-up powered deep-sea species recovery after the last glacial cycle.•The southwest Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea were key refugia for corals.•AMOC lowers extinction risk in deep-sea species by maintaining broad connectivity.•Marine protected area networks in the deep sea must span international waters.
The big (Raja binoculata), California (R. inornata), longnose (R. rhina), and sandpaper (Bathyraja kincaidii), skates are commonly found on soft-bottom regions of the central California continental ...shelf and upper slope. The feeding ecology of this assemblage was compared to evaluate the degree of trophic separation among species, based on the results of previous species-specific diet studies. Specimens were collected from fishery independent trawl surveys conducted during September 2002-March 2003 at depths of 9-536 m. Using single and compound measures, diet composition of small (<=60 cm TL) and large (>60 cm TL) individuals were compared within continental shelf (<=200 m) and slope (>200 m) regions using traditional, multivariate, and novel techniques. Diet compositions within size classes were similar in both regions. Diet compositions between size classes generally differed, however, with fishes more important and crustaceans (especially shrimps and euphausiids) less important in the diets of large individuals. Crabs contributed substantially to skate diet compositions on the shelf, but were uncommon prey items at deeper depths, probably because of their relative scarcity in slope waters. Conversely, cephalopods were common prey items at slope depths, but were rarely ingested at shelf depths. The studied skate assemblage appears to consist primarily of generalist crustacean and fish predators that exhibit high dietary overlap at similar sizes. It is possible that resource competition among skates and groundfish species has been reduced because of considerable recent declines in the biomass of upper trophic level groundfishes. Skates may therefore play important roles in contemporary benthic food web dynamics off central California.
Nuclear-recoil energy scale in CDMS II silicon dark-matter detectors Agnese, R.; Anderson, A.J.; Aramaki, T. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2018, Volume:
905, Issue:
C
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment aims to detect dark matter particles that elastically scatter from nuclei in semiconductor detectors. The resulting nuclear-recoil energy ...depositions are detected by ionization and phonon sensors. Neutrons produce a similar spectrum of low-energy nuclear recoils in such detectors, while most other backgrounds produce electron recoils. The absolute energy scale for nuclear recoils is necessary to interpret results correctly. The energy scale can be determined in CDMS II silicon detectors using neutrons incident from a broad-spectrum 252Cf source, taking advantage of a prominent resonance in the neutron elastic scattering cross section of silicon at a recoil (neutron) energy near 20 (182)keV. Results indicate that the phonon collection efficiency for nuclear recoils is 4.8−0.9+0.7% lower than for electron recoils of the same energy. Comparisons of the ionization signals for nuclear recoils to those measured previously by other groups at higher electric fields indicate that the ionization collection efficiency for CDMS II silicon detectors operated at ∼4V/cm is consistent with 100% for nuclear recoils below 20keV and gradually decreases for larger energies to ∼75% at 100keV. The impact of these measurements on previously published CDMS II silicon results is small.
•The phonon collection efficiency of nuclear recoils is ∼95% that for electron recoils.•The effect on the WIMP-nucleon cross-section exclusion curve is small.•Nuclear-recoil ionization collection decreases from 100% above 20 keV.
The control of hydroxyapatite crystal initiation and growth during enamel development is thought to be mediated via the proteins of the extracellular matrix. However, the precise nature of these ...matrix-mineral interactions remains obscure. The aim of the present study was to use a combination of atomic and chemical force microscopy to characterize developing enamel crystal surfaces and to determine their relationship with endogenous enamel matrix protein (amelogenin). The results show regular and discrete domains of various charges or charge densities on the surfaces of hydroxyapatite crystals derived from the maturation stage of enamel development. Binding of amelogenin to individual crystals at physiological pH was seen to be coincident with positively charged surface domains. These domains may therefore provide an instructional template for matrix-mineral interactions. Alternatively, the alternating array of charge on the crystal surfaces may reflect the original relationship with, and influence of, matrix interaction with the crystal surfaces during crystal growth.
The effects of relative humidity on polymer photodegradation have been studied using a closed loop photoreactor which allows measurements of evolved CO2. Two different polymers which were expected to ...have different responses to relative humidity were studied; PVC and polyethylene, both containing photoactive TiO2 pigment. Relative humidity was controlled in the photoreactor by means of salt solutions and bypass control. With both polymers, there was an initial CO2 evolution rate which was less dependent on humidity. After a short incubation time, the CO2 evolution changed to a higher secondary rate which was more sensitive to the relative humidity. For the polyethylene, the secondary rate increased with relative humidity, though above a humidity of 58%, the CO2 evolution rate was constant. This is consistent with an increase in the formation of hydroxyl radicals. The PVC photodegradation was more complex; with very low humidity, the CO2 evolution rate was low, but increased significantly to a peak at around 35% RH. At higher humidity levels, the CO2 evolution rate decreased. This effect is attributed to the catalytic effect of hydrochloric acid. This explanation was confirmed by studying the effects of hydrotalcite additions on PVC degradation. The hydrotalcite replaces the hydrochloric acid with carbonic acid and reduces the CO2 evolution rate and the effects of humidity. The results clearly demonstrate that the CO2 evolution method is a very effective way of studying the effects of humidity in a fairly rapid manner.
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