Purpose To compare the effectiveness of buddy strapping and aluminum orthosis for treatment of proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint hyperextension injuries. We also evaluated the effect of age on the ...outcome by comparing our results in adults and children. Methods One hundred twenty-one consecutive patients with a PIP joint hyperextension injury of the index, middle, ring, or little finger and without fracture were evaluated. Patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups. In the first group, treatment included buddy strapping of the injured finger to its neighbor noninjured finger for a week. In the second group, immobilization was secured with an aluminum extension blocking orthosis for a week in 15° flexion. Assessment of motion, edema, pain, and strength were performed weekly for the first month and then at 3, 6, and 12 months after injury. Results The patients treated with buddy strapping exhibited similar outcomes compared with those treated with aluminum orthoses. In patients with full recovery, buddy strapping allowed earlier recovery of motion and resolution of edema and pain compared with aluminum orthosis immobilization. Furthermore, PIP injuries appear to have better outcomes in children than in adults. Conclusions Buddy strapping is easy and effective treatment for PIP joint hyperextension injuries. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic I.
On 25 January, 2000, we observed active region NOAA 8844 with the Flare Genesis Experiment (FGE), a balloon-borne observatory with an 80-cm solar telescope. FGE was equipped with a vector polarimeter ...and a tunable Fabry-Pérot narrow-band filter. It recorded time series of filtergrams, vector magnetograms and Dopplergrams at the Cai 6122.2 Å line, and Hα filtergrams with a cadence between 2.5 and 7.5 min. At the time of the observations, NOAA 8844 was located at approximately 5° N 30° W. The region was growing rapidly; new magnetic flux was constantly emerging in three supergranules near its center. We report on the structure and behavior of peculiar moving dipolar features (MDFs) in the emerging flux, and we describe in detail how the FGE data were analyzed. In longitudinal magnetograms, the MDFs appeared to be small dipoles flowing into sunspots and supergranule boundaries. Previously, dipolar moving magnetic features (MMFs) have only been observed flowing out from sunspots. The FGE vector magnetograms show that the MDFs occurred in a region with nearly horizontal fields, the MDFs being distinguished as undulations in these fields. We identify the MDFs as stitches where the emerging flux ropes were still tied to the photosphere by trapped mass. We present a U-loop model that accounts for their unusual structure and behavior, as well as showing how emerging flux sheds entrained mass.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
We study the evolution of electric currents during the emergence of magnetic flux in the solar photosphere and the differences exhibited between solar active regions of different Hale complexity ...classes. A sample of 59 active regions was analyzed using a method based on image segmentation and error analysis to determine the total amount of non-neutralized electric current along their magnetic polarity inversion lines. The time series of the total unsigned non-neutralized electric current, \(I_{NN,tot}\), exhibit intricate structure in the form of distinct peaks and valleys. This information is largely missing in the respective time series of the total unsigned vertical electric current \(I_z\). Active regions with \(\delta\)- spots stand out, exhibiting 1.9 times higher flux emergence rate and 2.6 times higher \(I_{NN,tot}\) increase. The median value of their peak \(I_{NN,tot}\) is equal to \(3.6\cdot10^12\) A, which is more than three times higher than that of the other regions of the sample. An automated detection algorithm was also developed to pinpoint the injection events of non-neutralized electric current. The injection rates and duration of these events were higher with increasing complexity of active regions, with regions containing \(\delta\)-spots exhibiting the strongest and longest events. These events do not necessarily coincide with increasing magnetic flux, although they exhibit moderate correlation. We conclude that net electric currents are injected during flux emergence, but are also shaped drastically by the incurred photospheric evolution, as active regions grow and evolve.
Aims. We assess the validity of the free magnetic energy - relative magnetic helicity diagram for solar magnetic structures. Methods. We used two different methods of calculating the free magnetic ...energy and the relative magnetic helicity budgets: a classical, volume-calculation nonlinear force-free (NLFF) method applied to finite coronal magnetic structures and a surface-calculation NLFF derivation that relies on a single photospheric or chromospheric vector magnetogram. Both methods were applied to two different data sets, namely synthetic active-region cases obtained by three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulations and observed active-region cases, which include both eruptive and noneruptive magnetic structures. Results. The derived energy-helicity diagram shows a consistent monotonic scaling between relative helicity and free energy with a scaling index 0.84 + or - 0.05 for both data sets and calculation methods. It also confirms the segregation between noneruptive and eruptive active regions and the existence of thresholds in both free energy and relative helicity for active regions to enter eruptive territory. Conclusions. We consider the previously reported energy-helicity diagram of solar magnetic structures as adequately validated and envision a significant role of the uncovered scaling in future studies of solar magnetism.
We perform a tentative comparison between the statistical properties of cellular automata statistical flare models including a highly variable non-linear external driver and the respective properties ...of the WATCH flare data base, constructed during the maximum of solar cycle 21. The model is based on the concept of Self-Organized Criticality (SOC). The frequency distributions built on the measured X-ray flare parameters show the following characteristics: (1) The measured parameters (total counts, peak count-rates and, to a lesser extent, total duration) are found to be correlated to each other. Overall distribution functions of the first two parameters are robust power laws extending over several decades. The total duration distribution function is represented by either two power laws or a power law with an exponential roll-over. (2) By sub-grouping the peak count-rate and the total counts as functions of duration and constructing frequency distributions on these sub-groups, it is found that the slope systematically decreases with increasing duration. (3) No correlation is found between the elapsed time interval between successive bursts arising from the same active region and the peak intensity of the flare. Despite the inherent weaknesses of the SOC models to simulate realistically a number of physical processes thought to be at work in solar active regions and in flares' energy release, we show that the model is able to reproduce the bulk of the above statistical properties. We thus underline two main conclusions: (i) A global, statistical approach for the study of rapid energy dissipation and magnetic field line annihilation in complex, magnetized plasmas may be of equal importance with the localized, small-scale Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, and (ii) refined SOC models are needed to establish a more physical connection between the cellular automata evolution rules and the observations.
Using vector magnetograms from the HMI/SDO and a magnetic connectivity-based method, we calculate the instantaneous relative magnetic helicity and free magnetic energy budgets for several days in two ...solar active regions (ARs), AR11890 and AR11618, both with complex photospheric magnetic field configurations. The ARs produced several major eruptive flares while their photospheric magnetic field exhibited primarily flux decay in AR11890 and primarily flux emergence in AR11618. Throughout much of their evolution both ARs featured substantial budgets of free magnetic energy and of both positive and negative helicity. In fact, the imbalance between the signed components of their helicity was as low as in the quiet Sun and their net helicity eventually changed sign 14-19 hours after their last major flare. Despite such incoherence, the eruptions occurred at times of net helicity peaks that were co-temporal with peaks in the free magnetic energy. The losses associated with the eruptive flares in the normalized free magnetic energy were in the range 10-60%. For the helicity, changes ranged from 25% to the removal of the entire excess helicity of the prevailing sign, leading a roughly zero net helicity, but with significant equal and opposite budgets of both helicity senses. The removal of the slowly varying background component of the free energy and helicity timeseries revealed that all eruption-related peaks of both quantities exceeded the 2\(\sigma\) levels of their detrended timeseries. There was no eruption when only one or none of these quantities exceeded its 2\(\sigma\) level. Our results indicate that differently evolving ARs may produce major eruptive flares even when, in addition to the accumulation of significant free magnetic energy budgets, they accumulate large amounts of both negative and positive helicity without a strong dominance of one handedness over the other.
Solar Orbiter is the first space mission observing the solar plasma both in situ and remotely, from a close distance, in and out of the ecliptic. The ultimate goal is to understand how the Sun ...produces and controls the heliosphere, filling the Solar System and driving the planetary environments. With six remote-sensing and four in-situ instrument suites, the coordination and planning of the operations are essential to address the following four top-level science questions: (1) What drives the solar wind and where does the coronal magnetic field originate?; (2) How do solar transients drive heliospheric variability?; (3) How do solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere?; (4) How does the solar dynamo work and drive connections between the Sun and the heliosphere? Maximising the mission’s science return requires considering the characteristics of each orbit, including the relative position of the spacecraft to Earth (affecting downlink rates), trajectory events (such as gravitational assist manoeuvres), and the phase of the solar activity cycle. Furthermore, since each orbit’s science telemetry will be downloaded over the course of the following orbit, science operations must be planned at mission level, rather than at the level of individual orbits. It is important to explore the way in which those science questions are translated into an actual plan of observations that fits into the mission, thus ensuring that no opportunities are missed. First, the overarching goals are broken down into specific, answerable questions along with the required observations and the so-called Science Activity Plan (SAP) is developed to achieve this. The SAP groups objectives that require similar observations into Solar Orbiter Observing Plans, resulting in a strategic, top-level view of the optimal opportunities for science observations during the mission lifetime. This allows for all four mission goals to be addressed. In this paper, we introduce Solar Orbiter’s SAP through a series of examples and the strategy being followed.
A crucial challenge to successful flare prediction is forecasting periods that transition between "flare-quiet" and "flare-active." Building on earlier studies in this series in which we describe the ...methodology, details, and results of flare forecasting comparison efforts, we focus here on patterns of forecast outcomes (success and failure) over multiday periods. A novel analysis is developed to evaluate forecasting success in the context of catching the first event of flare-active periods and, conversely, correctly predicting declining flare activity. We demonstrate these evaluation methods graphically and quantitatively as they provide both quick comparative evaluations and options for detailed analysis. For the testing interval 2016-2017, we determine the relative frequency distribution of two-day dichotomous forecast outcomes for three different event histories (i.e., event/event, no-event/event, and event/no-event) and use it to highlight performance differences between forecasting methods. A trend is identified across all forecasting methods that a high/low forecast probability on day 1 remains high/low on day 2, even though flaring activity is transitioning. For M-class and larger flares, we find that explicitly including persistence or prior flare history in computing forecasts helps to improve overall forecast performance. It is also found that using magnetic/modern data leads to improvement in catching the first-event/first-no-event transitions. Finally, 15% of major (i.e., M-class or above) flare days over the testing interval were effectively missed due to a lack of observations from instruments away from the Earth-Sun line.
Solar flares are extremely energetic phenomena in our solar system. Their impulsive and often drastic radiative increases, particularly at short wavelengths, bring immediate impacts that motivate ...solar physics and space weather research to understand solar flares to the point of being able to forecast them. As data and algorithms improve dramatically, questions must be asked concerning how well the forecasting performs; crucially, we must ask how to rigorously measure performance in order to critically gauge any improvements. Building upon earlier-developed methodology of Paper I (Barnes et al. 2016), international representatives of regional warning centers and research facilities assembled in 2017 at the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Japan to, for the first time, directly compare the performance of operational solar flare forecasting methods. Multiple quantitative evaluation metrics are employed, with the focus and discussion on evaluation methodologies given the restrictions of operational forecasting. Numerous methods performed consistently above the "no-skill" level, although which method scored top marks is decisively a function of flare event definition and the metric used; there was no single winner. Following in this paper series, we ask why the performances differ by examining implementation details (Leka et al. 2019), and then we present a novel analysis method to evaluate temporal patterns of forecasting errors in Paper IV (Park et al. 2019). With these works, this team presents a well-defined and robust methodology for evaluating solar flare forecasting methods in both research and operational frameworks and today's performance benchmarks against which improvements and new methods may be compared.
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