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The zeta ring is the innermost component of the Uranian ring system. It is of scientific interest because its morphology changed significantly between the Voyager 2 encounter in 1986 and subsequent Earth-based observations around 2007. It is also of practical interest because some Uranus mission concepts have the spacecraft pass through the inner flank of this ring. Recent re-examinations of the Voyager 2 images have revealed additional information about this ring that provide a more complete picture of the ring's radial brightness profile and phase function. These data reveal that this ring's brightness varies with phase angle in a manner similar to other tenuous rings, consistent with it being composed primarily of sub-millimeter-sized particles. The total cross section of particles within this ring can also be estimated from these data, but translating that number into the actual risk to a spacecraft flying through this region depends on a number of model-dependent parameters. Fortunately, comparisons with Saturn's G and D rings allows the zeta-ring's particle number density to be compared with regions previously encountered by the Voyager and Cassini spacecraft. Finally, these data indicate that the observed changes in the zeta-ring's structure between 1986 and 2007 are primarily due to a substantial increase in the amount of dust at distances between 38,000 km and 40,000 km from Uranus' center., 28 Pages, 12 Figures, Accepted for publication in PSJ, fixed a few small issues found in the proofs

Objectives: We examined the association between obesity and early-onset cryptogenic ischemic stroke (CIS) and whether fat distribution or sex altered this association. Materials and Methods: This prospective, multi-center, case-control study included 345 patients, aged 18-49 years, with first-ever, acute CIS. The control group included 345 age- and sex-matched stroke-free individuals. We measured height, weight, waist circumference, and hip circumference. Obesity metrics analyzed included body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-stature ratio (WSR), and a body shape index (ABSI). Models were adjusted for age, level of education, vascular risk factors, and migraine with aura. Results: After adjusting for demographics, vascular risk factors, and migraine with aura, the highest tertile of WHR was associated with CIS (OR for highest versus lowest WHR tertile 2.81, 95%CI 1.43-5.51; P=0.003). In sex-specific analyses, WHR tertiles were not associated with CIS. However, using WHO WHR cutoff values (>0.85 for women, >0.90 for men), abdominally obese women were at increased risk of CIS (OR 2.09, 95%CI 1.02-4.27; P=0.045). After adjusting for confounders, WC, BMI, WSR, or ABSI were not associated with CIS. Conclusions: Abdominal obesity measured with WHR was an independent risk factor for CIS in young adults after rigorous adjustment for concomitant risk factors. © 2022 The Author(s)

Background/Aim: Dilatation of the main pulmonary artery (mPA) is a common incidental finding in chest imaging and often leads to consultation. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of mPA dilatation in a coronary artery CT angiography (CCTA) population. Patients and Methods: The study investigated 985 consecutive patients scheduled for diagnostic CCTA. The transverse axial diameter of the mPA was measured. The prevalence of mPA dilatation was estimated using different reference values (Framingham Heart Study: 28.9 mm for males and 26.9 mm for females, Bozlar: 29.5 mm for both genders and Karazincir: 32.6 mm for males and 31.9 mm for females). Results: The patient mean age was 53.0±9.7 years (66.5% were women). Body surface area (BSA) correlated moderately with the mPA diameter (r=0.423, p

The development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in health care contexts is a concurrent research and management question. Especially for hospitals, the expectations regarding improved efficiency and effectiveness by the introduction of novel AI applications are huge. However, experiences with real-life AI use cases are still scarce. As a first step towards structuring and comparing such experiences, this paper is presenting a comparative approach from nine European hospitals and eleven different use cases with possible application areas and benefits of hospital AI technologies. This is structured as a current review and opinion article from a diverse range of researchers and health care professionals. This contributes to important improvement options also for pandemic crises challenges, e.g., the current COVID-19 situation. The expected advantages as well as challenges regarding data protection, privacy, or human acceptance are re-ported. Altogether, the diversity of application cases is a core characteristic of AI applications in hospitals, and this requires a specific approach for successful implementation in the health care sector. This can include specialized solutions for hospitals regarding human–computer interaction, data management, and communication in AI implementation projects. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Enceladus is the first planetary object for which direct sampling of a subsurface water reservoir, likely habitable, has been performed. Over a decade of flybys and seven flythroughs of its watery plume, the Cassini spacecraft determined that Enceladus possesses all the ingredients for life. The existence of active eruptions blasting fresh water into space, makes Enceladus the easiest target in the search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. Flying again through the plume with more advanced instruments, landing at the surface near active sources and collecting a sample for return to Earth are the natural next steps for assessing whether life emerges in this active world. Characterizing this habitable world also requires detailed mapping and monitoring of its tidally-induced activity, from the orbit as well as from the surface using complementary platforms. Such ambitious goals may be achieved in the future in the framework of ESA large or medium-class missions in partnership with other international agencies, in the same spirit of the successful Cassini-Huygens mission. For all these reasons, exploring habitable ocean worlds, with Enceladus as a primary target, should be a priority topic of the ESA Voyage 2050 programme.

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Objectives: To clarify the prevalence and risk factors of ascending aortic (AA) dilatation according to ESC 2014 guidelines. Methods: This study included 1000 consecutive patients scheduled for diagnostic coronary artery computed tomographic angiography. AA diameter was retrospectively measured in 3 planes: sinus valsalva, sinotubular junction, and tubular part. The threshold for AA dilatation was set to > 40 mm which has been suggested as an upper normal limit for AA diameter in ESC 2014 guidelines on aortic diseases. Aortic size index (ASI) using the ratio between aortic diameter and body surface area (BSA) was applied as a comparative measurement. The threshold for AA dilatation was set to the upper limit of normal distribution exceeding two standard deviations (95%). Risk factors for AA dilatation were collected from medical records. Results: The patients’ mean age was 52.9 ± 9.8 years (66.5% women). The prevalence of AA dilatation was 23.0% in the overall study population (52.5% males) and 15.1% in the subgroup of patients with no coronary artery disease or bicuspid (BAV)/mechanical aortic valve (n = 365). According to the normal-distributed ASI values, the threshold for sinus valsalva was defined as 23.2 mm/m2 and for tubular part 22.2 mm/m2 in the subgroup. Higher BSA was associated with larger AA dimensions (r = 0.407, p

The main goal of the project was to develop online corrosion sensors in pulverised (PF) and circulating fluidised bed (CFB) combustion systems in order to fire biomass and other low-grade fuels safely at high portions in power plants. Another important goal was to find protective effects from coal in power plant furnaces during co-firing biomass and other low-grade fuels. The obtained results helped significantly to understand the information derived from corrosion sensors, which is essential to their integration for power plant process control. The studied sensors already in their present form have potential for power plant control. Due to the complicated character of signal formation and some needs to change particular details in the sensor construction, further development work would be useful. Optimising the sensitivity and availability to long-lasting reliable operation in very difficult environments would be key issues. The project results can also be utilised to re-consider the role of coal in energy production. The new idea to use coal as a protective agent ensuring biomass firing at very high portions instead of considering coal only as a co-firing fuel, can improve acceptance and public opinion to the use of coal in biomass power plants. The addition of coal in many biomass power plants has been forbidden so far due to fossil CO2 formation, which can prevent the utilisation of many potential biomass fuels in those plants. Experimental work was first conducted with pilot-scale pulverised fuel and circulating fluidised bed reactors with various sizes. The obtained results, refined further with modelling tools, were successfully used to conduct the power plant tests.

This paper presents conclusions from the just-completed Pre-Decadal Ice Giant Mission study (commissioned by NASA), and discusses how those results feed into a vision for where planetary science can be in 2050 and the technologies to get us there.

The Voyager 2 Radio Science Subsystem occultations of the Uranian alpha and beta rings exhibit quasi-periodic optical depth variations with radial wavelengths that vary with longitude. These patterns may be wakes from small moonlets orbiting exterior to these rings. Based on the observed structures in the rings, we estimate that the moonlets would need to be located about 100 km exterior to the rings' semimajor axes and be 2-7 km in radius. Such moonlets could help keep the rings confined. Due to their small radii and presumed low albedo, the expected brightness of these moonlets is on the order of the noise in Voyager 2 images., Accepted for publication in AJ. Fixed typos to match published article