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PubMed1999

New signs characteristic of myocardial bridging demonstrated by intracoronary ultrasound and Doppler.

BACKGROUND: Large discrepancies exist concerning the incidence of myocardial bridging. This has been reported to be 0.5%-2.5% following coronary angiography but 15%-85% following autopsy. The purpose of the study was to use intravascular ultrasound and intracoronary Doppler to study the morphology and flow characteristics of myocardial bridging in order to find feasible parameters of this syndrome. METHODS AND RESULTS: Intravascular ultrasound was performed in 62/69 patients in whom typical angiographic 'milking effects' were present. In 48 patients, intracoronary Doppler was performed. A specific, echolucent 'half moon' phenomenon surrounding the myocardial bridge was found in all the patients. The thickness of the half moon area was 0.47 +/- 0.19 mm in diastole and 0.52 +/- 0.23 mm in systole. There was systolic compression of the myocardial bridge with a lumen reduction during systole of 36.4 +/- 8.8%. Using intracoronary Doppler, a characteristic early diastolic 'finger tip' phenomenon was observed in 42 (87%) of the patients. All patients showed no or reduced antegrade systolic flow. Coronary flow velocity reserve was 2.03 +/- 0. 54. After intracoronary nitroglycerin injection, retrograde systolic flow occurred in 37 (77%) of the 48 patients, with a velocity of -22. 2 +/- 13.2 cm. s(-1). Intravascular ultrasound revealed atherosclerotic involvement of the proximal segment in 61 (88%) of the 69 patients, with an area stenosis of 42 +/- 13%. No plaques were found in the bridge or distal segments in the 62 patients in whom it was possible to introduce the ultrasound catheter throughout the bridging segment. CONCLUSION: Myocardial bridging is characterized by the following morphological and functional signs: a specific, echolucent half moon phenomenon over the bridge segment, which exists throughout the cardiac cycle; systolic compression of the bridge segment of the coronary artery; accelerated flow velocity at early diastole (finger-tip phenomenon); no or reduced systolic antegrade flow; decreased diastolic/systolic velocity ratio; retrograde flow in the proximal segment, which is provoked and enhanced by nitroglycerin injection.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMed1998

The role of binocular viewing in a spacing illusion arising in a darkened surround.

A study is reported of the binocular-oculomotor hypothesis of the moon illusion. In a dark hall, a pair of light points was presented straight ahead horizontally, and another pair was presented at the same distance but 50 degrees upward. Twenty subjects compared the spacings of these two pairs. Half of the subjects viewed the stimuli first monocularly and then binocularly, and the other half viewed them in the reverse order. Eye position was also systematically varied, either level or elevated. A spacing illusion was consistently obtained during binocular viewing (with the upper spacing seen as smaller), but no illusion arose during monocular viewing unless it was preceded by binocular viewing. Furthermore, an enhancement of the illusion due to eye elevation was found only during binocular viewing. These findings replicate the report of Taylor and Boring (1942 American Journal of Psychology 55 189-201), in which the moon was used as the stimulus, and support the binocular-oculomotor hypothesis as a partial explanation for the moon illusion.

Depth Perception↗
PubMed1989

Diel biting activity of Culex (Melanoconion) caudelli in Trinidad, West Indies.

The diel biting periodicity of the arbovirus vector Culex (Melanoconion) caudelli Dyar and Knab (Diptera; Culicidae) in the Aripo-Wallerfield forest, Trinidad, was studied by collecting mosquitoes attracted to mouse-baited traps at 2-hourly intervals during eight 24 h periods. Biting females of Cx caudelli were collected during all night-time hours, 18.00-06.00 hours, with an overall unimodal pattern, i.e. one well-defined peak between 22.00 and 04.00 hours. This contrasts with previous reports that Cx caudelli is diurnally active. During the four moon phases, the period of peak biting activity varied from 22.00 to 24.00 hours at fullmoon, from 22.00 to 04.00 hours at first quarter, and from 24.00 to 02.00 hours at new moon and last quarter phases. The number of mosquitoes collected varied significantly with moon phases, the highest (152/24 h) being collected in the first lunar quarter and the lowest (71/24 h) in the last lunar quarter. Cloud cover and rainfall had no significant effect on the diel biting periodicity of Cx caudelli.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Forced resonant migration of Pluto's outer satellites by Charon.

Two small moons of Pluto have been discovered in low-eccentricity orbits exterior to Pluto's large satellite, Charon. All three satellite orbits are nearly coplanar, implying a common origin. It has been argued that Charon formed as a result of a giant impact with primordial Pluto. The orbital periods of the two new moons are nearly integer multiples of Charon's period, suggesting that they were driven outward by resonant interactions with Charon during its tidal orbital expansion. This could have been accomplished if Charon's orbit was eccentric during most of this orbital evolution, with the small moons originating as debris from the collision that produced Charon.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Evidence for a past high-eccentricity lunar orbit.

The large differences between the Moon's three principal moments of inertia have been a mystery since Laplace considered them in 1799. Here we present calculations that show how past high-eccentricity orbits can account for the moment differences, represented by the low-order lunar gravity field and libration parameters. One of our solutions is that the Moon may have once been in a 3:2 resonance of orbit period to spin period, similar to Mercury's present state. The possibility of past high-eccentricity orbits suggests a rich dynamical history and may influence our understanding of the early thermal evolution of the Moon.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Are patient falls in the hospital associated with lunar cycles? A retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Falls and associated negative outcomes in hospitalized patients are of significant concerns. The etiology of hospital inpatient falls is multifactorial, including both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Anecdotes from clinical practice exist in which health care professionals express the idea that the number of patient falls increases during times of full moon. The aim of this study was to examine in-hospital patient fall rates and their associations with days of the week, months, seasons and lunar cycles. METHODS: 3,842 fall incident reports of adult in-patients who fell while hospitalized in a 300-bed urban public hospital in Zurich, Switzerland were included. Adjusted fall rates per 1'000 patient days were compared with days of the week, months, and 62 complete lunar cycles from 1999 to 2003. RESULTS: The fall rate per 1000 patient days fluctuated slightly over the entire observation time, ranging from 8.4 falls to 9.7 falls per month (P = 0.757), and from 8.3 falls on Mondays to 9.3 falls on Saturdays (P = 0.587). The fall rate per 1000 patient days within the lunar days ranged from 7.2 falls on lunar day 17 to 10.6 falls on lunar day 20 (P = 0.575). CONCLUSION: The inpatient fall rates in this hospital were neither associated with days of the week, months, or seasons nor with lunar cycles such as full moon or new moon. Preventive strategies should be focused on patients' modifiable fall risk factors and the provision of organizational conditions which support a safe hospital environment.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Trajectory analysis for the lunar flyby rescue of AsiaSat-3/HGS-1.

On May 13, 1998, the Hughes Global Services 1 Spacecraft (HGS-1, originally known as AsiaSat 3) became the first commercial spacecraft to fly by the Moon on a trajectory to reposition it into a useful geosynchronous orbit. This was necessary due to the failure of the last stage of the launch vehicle that left it in a high inclination, eccentric, and unusable orbit. The spacecraft did not have enough propellant to perform the maneuvers required to place it into its intended geostationary orbit via a standard transfer trajectory. However, it did have enough propellant to place it on a trajectory that flew by the Moon twice to finally achieve a useful low inclination geosynchronous orbit. In addition to being the first commercial operation in the vicinity of the Moon, it was the last successful lunar mission of the twentieth century. We discuss of the events leading up to the start of the rescue operation that included contributions from external organizations. We also describe the analytic estimates used to construct the trajectory and provide an overview of the details of the actual mission.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1982

The relationship of fibroblast translocations to cell morphology and stress fibre density.

Translocation of human fibroblasts in culture was studied using techniques of time-lapse cinemicrography, indirect immunofluorescence, and computer analysis. An inverse relationship between the velocity of cells during the last hour of life and the density of stress fibers seen by immune staining was demonstrated. Translocating cells generally assumed one of two interconvertible morphologies: a triangular tailed shape or tailed fibroblast (TF), and a tailless form that resembled a half-moon, which we call a half-moon fibroblast (HMF). The tail of TFs formed only on regions of substrate that had been previously traversed by cells. The half-moon morphology developed either on previously used or on virgin substrate. Cells adopted the HMF rather than the TF morphology with a four-fold greater frequency. HMFs translocated slightly faster than TFs. The foregoing observation suggest that the fibroblast tail is not an organelle essential for translocation. Since our technique allowed us to distinguish between cells which were cycling and those which had left cycle, we compared their velocities and found them to be similar. Also the average velocities of cells of different population-doubling levels (10th, 30th, 40th) were approximately equal.

Cell Division↗
PubMed2006

Crepuscular and nocturnal illumination and its effects on color perception by the nocturnal hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor.

Recent studies have shown that certain nocturnal insect and vertebrate species have true color vision under nocturnal illumination. Thus, their vision is potentially affected by changes in the spectral quality of twilight and nocturnal illumination, due to the presence or absence of the moon, artificial light pollution and other factors. We investigated this in the following manner. First we measured the spectral irradiance (from 300 to 700 nm) during the day, sunset, twilight, full moon, new moon, and in the presence of high levels of light pollution. The spectra were then converted to both human-based chromaticities and to relative quantum catches for the nocturnal hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor, which has color vision. The reflectance spectra of various flowers and leaves and the red hindwings of D. elpenor were also converted to chromaticities and relative quantum catches. Finally, the achromatic and chromatic contrasts (with and without von Kries color constancy) of the flowers and hindwings against a leaf background were determined under the various lighting environments. The twilight and nocturnal illuminants were substantially different from each other, resulting in significantly different contrasts. The addition of von Kries color constancy significantly reduced the effect of changing illuminants on chromatic contrast, suggesting that, even in this light-limited environment, the ability of color vision to provide reliable signals under changing illuminants may offset the concurrent threefold decrease in sensitivity and spatial resolution. Given this, color vision may be more common in crepuscular and nocturnal species than previously considered.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Gerrit de Veer's true and perfect description of the Novaya Zemlya effect, 24-27 January 1597.

The first recordings of the Novaya Zemlya (NZ) effect were made during Willem Barents' third Arctic expedition. Ray-tracing analyses of the three key observations, on 24-27 January 1597, show that all the reported details can be explained by adopting one common and realistic type of temperature inversion. In particular, the Moon-Jupiter conjunction could have been visible over the central mountain ridge of the island. We show that the NZ effect distorts the relative positions of Jupiter and the Moon in such a way that the looked-for fingerprint of the conjunction occurred almost 2 h after the true conjunction. The quoted direction for the apparent Moon-Jupiter conjunction is then found to be accurate to within 1 degree. This delay of the apparent conjunction largely explains the error of 29 degrees in their longitude determination. The truthfulness of these observations, debated for four centuries, now appears to be beyond doubt.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Spectral matching factors between Super S25 and New S25 photo cathodes and reflective radiation of objects.

According to the response of photoelectric device to a light source, the formula of spectral matching factor of photo cathode-object combination is deduced. The spectral matching factors of Super S25 and New S25 photo cathodes for green vegetation and rough concrete are calculated and compared. For Super S251, the spectral-matching factors for green vegetation and rough concrete are 0.707 and 0.743, respectively, under the full-moon radiation and are 0.504 and 0.577, respectively, under the clear-star radiation. For Super S252, the full-moon factors are 0.561 (green vegetation) and 0.732 (rough concrete), and those for clear-star radiation are 0.338 (green vegetation) and 0.471 (rough concrete). For New S25, the full-moon factors are 0.741 (green vegetation) and 0.762 (rough concrete), and those for clear-star radiation are 0.603 (green vegetation) and 0.657 (rough concrete). An analysis of results shows that the spectral-matching factor has influence on the performance of a low-light level night vision system and is essential for evaluating the visual range of a night-vision system.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Ecological aspects of phlebotomus of the Parque Nacional da Serra dos Orgãos, Rio de Janeiro. I. Monthly frequency in human baits (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae)].

During two full years--from October 1980 to September 1982--we captured sandflies in the National Park of Serra dos Orgãos, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The captures, with human bait, were carried out weekly, each with a duration of two hours, and at three different times (6 to 8 a.m., 5 to 7 a.m. and 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.). In every capture, we recorded the phase of the moon and, at each hour, the temperature, relative humidity, wind and rain. In 586 hours 4,834 sandflies of ten species were captured, all belonging to genus Lutzomyia França, 1924. L. ayrozai and L. hirsuta represented 92% of the total species captured. However, they were dominant at different times, the former being more frequent in the warm and wet months, and considerably declining in the cold and dry months, in which the latter gradually prevailed. L. fischeri and L. shannoni were shown to be the most resistant to unfavourable weather conditions. Whenever there was any rain or wind, they were, in general, the only species captured. With regard to lunar cycle, we observed that new moon was the most favourable phase for the capture of sandflies and full moon the one with the smallest yield, except for L. shannoni which occurred more frequently during this period.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Climatologic parameters and myocardial infarction].

535 patients admitted to hospital with myocardium infarct which was confirmed in a determined period and within a 80 kilometers radius from a city of the East of France were compared to the meteorological parameters of the day when the infarct occurred and of the day preceding its occurrence. On one hand, climatic parameters were selected: atmospheric pressure, temperature of the air under shelter, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction, hydrometeors and electrometeors; on the other hand, parameters of solar and planetary activity: daily flare index, AA index, Ap index or daily planetary index, phases of the moon. The analytic study concerning all acute vascular accidents (infarcts and cerebral accidents all together) enabled to us to notice a higher frequency of vascular accidents in various meteorological circumstances: atmospheric pressure lower than 990 mb, temperature lower than 12 degrees, wind of sector North to South-South West, hoar-frost with fog, rain, snow, first quarter of the moon, daily flare index lower than 530, magnetic activity lower than 6. A factorial analysis of correspondence enabled to us to understand the problem better and to determine "an infarct area" in which main meteorological factors appeared: low or decreasing atmospheric pressure, relative or increasing humidity, clear or increasing solar activity, steady magnetic activity; other factors could play an apparently less important role: low temperature, snow, decrease of wind speed, full moon, wind of sector East to North-East, South-South West. Consequently it appeared in that study that the occurrence of myocardium infarct corresponded to a climatic tendency corresponding to cold, bad or deteriorating weather.

Atmospheric Pressure↗
PubMed1997

[Evaluation of the clinical usefulness of the New Aniseikonia Tests].

PURPOSE: We performed the following experiments to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the New Aniseikonia Tests (NAT). METHODS: 1. Aniseikonia was induced artificially by wearing a spectacle lens on the right eye and a contact lens on the left eye in myopic but otherwise normal subjects. The amount of aniseikonia detected was compared between the NAT and the Phase Difference Haploscope (PDH). Three different conditions were used with the PDH in order to study whether the fusional background affects the amount of the aniseikonia. 2. The size of aniseikonia was measured by the NAT in normal subjects. We presented the NAT in two ways in order to study if the method of presentation affects the result. One was the regular NAT which consists of 6 pairs of half-moons on each page, and the other one was one pair of half-moons on each page. RESULTS: The degree of aniseikonia measured was 1.4% smaller in the NAT than with the PDH. Backgrounds did not affect the amount of aniseikonia. Normal subjects showed essentially no aniseikonia regardless of the presentation technique of half-moons. CONCLUSIONS: NAT may underestimate the degree of aniseikonia, but the difference is too small to contraindicate clinical usage.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

A double-blind, controlled clinical trial of homeopathy and an analysis of lunar phases and postoperative outcome.

OBJECTIVE: To use scientific methods to evaluate 2 claims made by practitioners of alternative medicine. DESIGN: A placebo-controlled, double-blind study of homeopathy in children with warts, and a cohort study of the influence of lunar phases on postoperative outcome in surgical patients. SETTING: Outpatients of a dermatology department (homeopathy study) and inpatients evaluated at an anesthesiology department (lunar phases). SUBJECTS: Sixty volunteers for the homeopathy study and 14,970 consecutive patients undergoing surgery under general anesthesia for the lunar phase study. INTERVENTIONS: Treatment of children with warts with individually selected homeopathic preparations (homeopathic study); surgical procedures including abdominal, vascular, cardiac, thoracic, plastic, and orthopedic operations and assessment of the lunar phase at the time of operation (lunar phase study). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Reduction of area occupied by warts by at least 50% within 8 weeks; death from any cause within 30 days after surgery. RESULTS: Nine of 30 subjects in the homeopathy group and 7 of 30 subjects in the placebo group experienced at least 50% reduction in area occupied by warts (chi 2 = 0.34; P = .56); the mortality rate was 1.20% in patients operated on during waxing moon and 1.33% in patients operated on during waning moon (chi 2 = 0.49; P = .50). CONCLUSIONS: Statements and methods of alternative medicine--as far as they concern observable clinical phenomena--can be tested by scientific methods. When such tests yield negative results, as in the studies presented herein the particular method or statement should be abandoned. Otherwise one would run the risk of supporting superstition and quackery.

Double-Blind Method↗
PubMed2005

The night-time temporal window of locomotor activity in the Namib Desert long-distance wandering spider, Leucorchestris arenicola.

Even though being active exclusively after sunset, the male Leucorchestris arenicola spiders are able to return to their point of departure by following bee-line routes of up to several hundreds of meters in length. While performing this kind of long-distance path integration they must rely on external cues to adjust for navigational errors. Many external cues which could be used by the spiders change dramatically or disappear altogether in the transition period from day to night. Hence, it is therefore imperative to know exactly when after sunset the spiders navigate in order to find out how they do it. To explore this question, we monitored their locomotor activity with data loggers equipped with infrared beam sensors. Our results show that the male spiders are most active in the period between the end and the beginning of the astronomical twilight period. Moreover, they prefer the moonless, i.e. darkest times at night. Hence, we conclude that the males are truly-and extremely-nocturnal. We further show that they are able to navigate under the very dim light conditions prevailing on moonless nights, and thus do not have to rely on the moon or on moon-related patterns of polarised light as potential compass cues.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Lunar rhythms of the meal and alcohol intake of humans.

Lunar variations in the nutrient intakes and the meal patterns of humans were investigated by reanalyzing the data previously collected by paying 694 adult humans to maintain a 7-day diary of everything they ate, when they ate it, and their subjective state of hunger. A small but significant lunar rhythm of nutrient intake was observed with an 8% increase in meal size and a 26% decrease in alcohol intake at the time of the full moon relative to the new moon. This effect was present for meals ingested either during the daytime or the evening, indicating that nocturnal illumination level was not the critical variable. The results suggest that there is a true internal lunar rhythm which influences nutrient intakes of normal humans free-living in their natural environments.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Human roles in future space operations.

Mankind has evolved in the biosphere from essentially another animal to the level that his industries and societies are powerful components of the life-cycles of Earth. Terrestrial industrial experience can be extended to the use of matter from the Moon and other non-terrestrial sources to create permanent habitats and industry in space. Space stations in low Earth orbit and small bases on the Moon can be the foci of early space industries for learning how to grow in space with local resources. Several near term and long range research topics appropriate to permanent human occupancy of space are reviewed.

Biological Evolution↗