29 research outputs found
Root joint involvement in spondyloarthritis: A post hoc analysis from the international ASAS-PerSpA study
No full textObjectives: The primary objective was to compare the clinical characteristics of SpA patients with and without root joint disease (RJD+ and RJD-). The secondary objectives were to compare the prevalence of RJD across various SpA subtypes and in different world regions, and to compare the SpA axial severity and SpA burden between RJD+ and RJD-. Methods: This is a post hoc analysis of the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society PerSpA study (PERipheral involvement in SpondyloArthritis), which included 4465 patients with SpA [axial (axSpA), peripheral (pSpA), PsA, IBD, reactive and juvenile] according to the rheumatologist's diagnosis. RJD was defined as the 'ever' presence of hip or shoulder involvement related to SpA, according to the rheumatologist. Patient characteristics were compared between RJD+ and RJD-. Multivariable stepwise binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with 'RJD', 'hip' and 'shoulder' involvement. Results: RJD was significantly associated with the SpA main diagnosis (highest in pSpA), a higher prevalence of HLA-B27 positivity, enthesitis, tender and swollen joints, CRP, conventional synthetic DMARDs, loss of lumbar lordosis and occiput-wall distance >0. RJD was more prevalent in Asia, and occurred in 1503 patients (33.7%), with more hip (24.2%) than shoulder (13.2%) involvement. Hip involvement had a distinct phenotype, similar to axSpA (including younger age at onset, HLA-B27 positivity), whereas shoulder involvement was associated with features of pSpA (including older age at onset). Conclusion: RJD+ SpA patients had a distinctive clinical phenotype compared with RJD-. Hip involvement, based on the rheumatologist's diagnosis, was more prevalent than shoulder involvement and was clinically distinct. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved
Arterial-hypertension in the elderly
No full textThe authors review the epidemiology, the etiological factors, the effect of the treatment in the evolution of the cardiovascular disease in arterial hypertension in elderly, and the use of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors such as a treatment option
Arterial-hypertension in the elderly
No full textThe authors review the epidemiology, the etiological factors, the effect of the treatment in the evolution of the cardiovascular disease in arterial hypertension in elderly, and the use of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors such as a treatment option
Quantifying direct and indirect contacts for the potential transmission of infection between species using a multilayer contact network
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Brill via the DOI in this record.Detecting opportunities for between-species transmission of pathogens can be challenging, particularly if rare behaviours or environmental transmission are involved. We present a multilayer network framework to quantify transmission potential in multi-host systems, incorporating environmental transmission, by using empirical data on direct and indirect contacts between European badgers Meles meles and domestic cattle. We identify that indirect contacts via the environment at badger latrines on pasture are likely to be important for transmission within badger populations and between badgers and cattle. We also find a positive correlation between the role of individual badgers within the badger social network, and their role in the overall badger-cattle-environment network, suggesting that the same behavioural traits contribute to the role of individual badgers in within- and between-species transmission. These findings have implications for disease management interventions in this system, and our novel network approach can provide general insights into transmission in other multi-host disease systems.Data collection was funded by Defra. MJS is funded by a Natural Environment Research Council grant (NE/M004546/1) awarded to RAM, DJH, DPC, MB and RJD
Arterial-hypertension in the elderly
No full textThe authors review the epidemiology, the etiological factors, the effect of the treatment in the evolution of the cardiovascular disease in arterial hypertension in elderly, and the use of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors such as a treatment option.UNIV ESTADUAL PAULISTA JULIO MESQUITA FILHO,FAC MED BOTUCATU,DEPT CLIN MED,BR-18610 BOTUCATU,SP,BRAZILUNIV ESTADUAL PAULISTA JULIO MESQUITA FILHO,FAC MED BOTUCATU,DEPT CLIN MED,BR-18610 BOTUCATU,SP,BRAZI
Author Correction: The impact of the initial COVID-19 outbreak on young adults’ mental health: a longitudinal study of risk and resilience factors
No full textCorrection to: Scientific Reportshttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21053-2, published online 05 October 2022. The original version of this Article contained an omission in the Methods section, under the subheading ‘Risk factors’. “A detailed list of pandemic-related questionnaire items is provided in Supplementary Materials 2.” now reads: “The pandemic-related risk factors were adapted from questionnaire items developed as part of the COVID-19 Social Study (for more information, visit www.covidsocialstudy.org/), with a detailed list of items provided in Supplementary Materials 2.” In addition, the Funding section was incomplete. The Funding section now reads: “Data collection was supported by a strategic award from the Wellcome Trust (095844/Z/11/Z) to the University of Cambridge (IMG, ETB, PBJ) and University College London (RJD, PF). Data management was supported by the NIHR Cambridge Bioresource and data analysis by the NIHR ARC East of England. These funders had no role in determining our study design, hypotheses, interpretation, or the writing of this report. AW, JP, and PBJ were supported by the NIHR ARC East of England at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. JF was supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre; ETB by an NIHR Senior Investigator award. SRC role in this study was funded by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship (110049/Z/15/Z & 110049/Z/15/A) which also co-supported data collection for the fourth assessment. The NSPN COVID-19 2020 follow-up survey included a collection of items derived from questionnaire material developed as part of the COVID-19 Social Study, which was supported by the Nuffield Foundation (WEL/FR-000022583), the MARCH Mental Health Network funded by the Cross-Disciplinary Mental Health Network Plus initiative supported by UK Research and Innovation (ES/S002588/1), and the Wellcome Trust (221400/Z/20/Z and 205407/Z/16/Z).” The original Article has been corrected.</p
Investigations of the Destruction Mechanism of High Pressure Water Jetting
No full textAs the demand for green energy is growing, geothermal energy will play an important part in the future energy mix. Geothermal energy is widely used for both direct-use and electricity generation. A viable geothermal reservoir must have a sufficiently high temperature, a fluid pathway through the rock (permeability) and a fluid that can collect and transport the heat to the surface. Deeper reservoirs often have high temperatures and a low permeability, whereas shallow reservoirs often have a high permeability but low temperatures. When the permeability is too low, the reservoir can be stimulated. This is conventionally done by fracking the reservoir rock; that is, creating fractures to enhance the flow. This is a very expensive and potentially hazardous operation. Another technique is Radial Jet Drilling (RJD), which uses a high pressure focused fluid jet in order to drill small diameter horizontal holes (laterals) from the vertical borehole. Laterals can be drilled in multiple directions of the borehole and can be as long as 100 metres, potentially increasing the production 3-8 times (Blöcher et al. 2016). However, the destruction mechanism of rocks during jetting is not yet fully understood. Experiments and simulations were conducted in order to investigate the destruction mechanism of a rock during jet impingement. First, experiments and simulations were carried out which had the aim to find a relation between stagnation pressure (exerted pressure on the rock by a water jet) and jetted cavity depth. The experiments provided information about the maximum jettable depth (with a static nozzle), while the simulations provided a continuous pressure depth relationship. Combining the simulation and experimental results leads to the conclusion that pressure fluctuations are key for the destruction process, which is consistent with the theorem of hydraulic fracturing. Furthermore, a Finite Difference Method (FDM) solver was developed in order to investigate the pore pressure inside a porous rock during jet impingement. The solver was used to investigate (1) the difference in pressure between the first layer of pores (adjacent to impinged area) and the fluid pressure of the jet and (2) the influence of an increased pore pressure in the whole sample (i.e., back pressure). It became clear that the pressure fluctuations in time between the pores and jet are significant and sufficient enough to induce hydraulic fracturing. Increasing the back pressure resulted in higher pressure fluctuations, but only when the back pressure is higher than the average jetting pressure. There are still some doubts in the literature in whether or not cavitation erosion is the governing destruction mechanism. Cavitation is the formation of vapour bubbles in a fluid due to fluid pressure drop below the vapour pressure. Once the bubbles travel to a higher pressure regime, they implode, creating either a shock wave or a mini jet, resulting in erosion of material. Hahn et al. (2019) and (Kumagaiet et al. (2011) evaluated the location of cavitation erosion on a flat surface and concluded that cavitation erosion is not the governing erosion mechanism as there was no damage at the impinged area. But those studies did not prove that cavitation erosion does not occur inside a hole. Experiments and simulations were therefore performed to investigate cavitation erosion inside a cavity. It is found that cavitation erosion does occur inside a cavity, even at cavity depths of >25mm. However, experiments on one of the rocks showed that the maximum jetting depth was 25mm. From these results, it was concluded that although cavitation erosion occurs inside a cavity, it cannot be the governing destruction mechanism. Based on the results in this study, it is concluded that hydraulic fracturing is the governing erosion mechanism, because of the proved dependency of destruction on pressure fluctuations and the disprove of surface erosion due to shear forces (in literature, Buset et al. (2001)) and cavitation erosion being the governing mechanism. Another, in literature, proposed mechanism is pore-elastic tensile failure, which is partly interconnected with the theorem of hydraulic fracturing and not further investigated in this study. Based on this conclusion, a 'jetting correlation' was developed which is able to predict whether a rock is jettable or not. Combined with the pressure-depth relationship, it can also predict the maximum jetting depth. The correlation matched with the experimental results, which is another indication that hydraulic fracturing is the governing destruction mechanism.SUR
CHANG-ES XXXI—A Decade of CHANG-ES: What We Have Learned from Radio Observations of Edge-on Galaxies
No full textCHANG-ES (Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies—an EVLA Survey) is an ambitious project to target 35 nearby disk galaxies that are edge-on to the line of sight. The orientation permits both the disk and halo regions to be studied. The observations were initially at 1.5 GHz (L-band) and 6.0 GHz (C-band) in a variety of VLA array configurations, and in all four Stokes parameters, which allowed for spatially resolved images in total intensity plus polarization. The inclusion of polarization is unique to an edge-on galaxy survey and reveals the galaxies’ halo magnetic fields. This paper will summarize the results to date, some of which are new phenomena, never seen prior to CHANG-ES. For example, we see that ‘X-type’ fields, as well as rotation measure reversals, are common features of spiral galaxies. Further observations at 3.0 GHz (S-band) as well as future scientific opportunities will also be describedThis research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Discovery Grant RGPIN-02456 to the first author. RJD, CM, and MS acknowledge funding from the German Research Foundation DFG, within the Collaborative Research Center SFB1491 “Cosmic Interacting Matters–From Source to Signal”. TW acknowledges financial support from the grant CEX2021-001131-S funded by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, from the coordination of the participation in SKA-SPAIN, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU). A.M. is supported by the project “Big Bang to Big Data (B3D)” funded by MKW/NRW, PROFILNRW-2020-038eWith funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2021-001131-S).Peer reviewe
Seasonal variation in daily patterns of social contacts in the European badger Meles meles
No full textThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Social interactions among hosts influence the persistence and spread of infectious pathogens. Daily 20 and seasonal variation in the frequency and type of social interactions will play an important role in 21 disease epidemiology, and alongside other factors may have an influence on wider disease dynamics 22 by causing seasonal forcing of infection, especially if the seasonal variation experienced by a 23 population is considerable. We explored temporal variation in within-group contacts in a high-24 density population of European badgers Meles meles naturally-infected with bovine tuberculosis. 25 Summer contacts were more likely and of longer duration during the daytime, while the frequency 26 and duration of winter contacts did not differ between day and night. In spring and autumn within-27 group contacts peaked at dawn and dusk, corresponding with when they were of shortest duration 28 with reduced potential for aerosol transmission of pathogens. Summer and winter could be critical 29 for bovine tuberculosis transmission in badgers, due to the high frequency and duration of contacts 30 during resting periods, and we discuss the links between this result and empirical data. This study 31 reveals clear seasonality in daily patterns of contact frequency and duration in species living in stable 32 social groups, suggesting that changes in social contacts could drive seasonal forcing of infection in 33 wildlife populations even when the number of individuals interacting remains similar.MJS is funded by NERC grant NE/M004546/1 awarded to RAM, DPC, DJH and MB, with RJD and the 386 APHA team at Woodchester Park, UK as project partners. Data were collected for NW’s PhD, funded 387 by Defra. We thank Jared Wilson-Aggarwal and two anonymous reviewers for useful comments and 388 Keith Silk for providing the photograph for Figure 1
Visualization and investigation of the erosion process for natural gas hydrate using water jet through experiments and simulation
No full textNatural Gas Hydrate (NGH) and Hydrate-bearing Sediments (HBS) are emerging as an important potential energy resource. Radial Jet Drilling (RJD) technology, turning sharply in the casing and drilling laterals by using water jet, is a valid approach to solve problems of high cost, low efficiency during the exploitation of NGHs. The performance of water jet drilling remains unclear, and traditional finite element methods cannot accurately depict the water jet drilling ability due to mesh distortion. This paper analyzes the water jet erosion process of NGH and HBS. Experiments on the erosion of reconstituted gas hydrates are conducted and visualized in both submerged and submerged confining pressure conditions. Subsequently, two coupled nozzle-target models are solved by Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) and Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) methods. The flow field, the deformation and erosion of the hydrates induced by water jet are simulated. The experimental results show that there are specific shapes of cylindrical erosion pits for NGH and HBS. The numerical results are consistent with the experiments, which proves the effectiveness of water jet exploring hydrate resources. The submerged condition and the confining pressure condition will hinder the erosion efficiency, and the critical erosion velocities for both HBS and NGH are obtained. ALE method has superior accuracy in modeling the damaged area and erosion pit characteristics; while SPH method, has advantages in showing the motion state of the single particles and unstable and discontinuous flow field. This paper provides a good guidance for understanding the water jet drilling performance and selecting the appropriate simulation method in NGH reservoirs development. (C)& nbsp;2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.& nbsp
