Our findings support the hypothesis that clinical varicoceles can be predicted with high accuracy based only on the diameter of testicular veins using cut-point values of >2.45 mm in rest or >2.95 mm during Valsalva maneuver in the supine position.

The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission described herein has been selected for flight to Venus as part of the NASA Discovery Program. DAVINCI will be the first mission to Venus to incorporate science-driven flybys and an instrumented descent sphere into a unified architecture. The anticipated scientific outcome will be a new understanding of the atmosphere, surface, and evolutionary path of Venus as a possibly once-habitable planet and analog to hot terrestrial exoplanets. The primary mission design for DAVINCI as selected features a preferred launch in summer/fall 2029, two flybys in 2030, and descent-sphere atmospheric entry by the end of 2031. The in situ atmospheric descent phase subsequently delivers definitive chemical and isotopic composition of the Venus atmosphere during an atmospheric transect above Alpha Regio. These in situ investigations of the atmosphere and near-infrared (NIR) descent imaging of the surface will complement remote flyby observations of the dynamic atmosphere, cloud deck, and surface NIR emissivity. The overall mission yield will be at least 60 Gbits (compressed) new data about the atmosphere and near surface, as well as the first unique characterization of the deep atmosphere environment and chemistry, including trace gases, key stable isotopes, oxygen fugacity, constraints on local rock compositions, and topography of a tessera.

Highlights  The Venus International Reference Atmosphere (VIRA) model developed from results of the Venera and Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multi-Probe missions in early 1980s has been very useful in Venus atmospheric studies for the last several decades. The recent long term monitoring of the Venus atmosphere from Venus Express mission has added a lot of new information about the atmospheric structure above about 40 km altitude and up to nearly 200 km from passive infrared remote sensing, occultation at radio, infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths and in-situ atmospheric drag data from the orbiter. New results from ground based measurements have also provided new information. This paper examines these new results to evaluate the agreements and disagreements between them as a step towards updating the VIRA model. Despite the different techniques, spatial resolutions and temporal coverage, a consistent picture of the thermal structure emerges and shows considerable variability above 100 km, and presence of warm and cold layers not characterized before. Some differences in the density profiles from the three occultation experiments where their respective altitude coverage ranges are nearly overlap. Abstract The Venus International Reference Atmosphere (VIRA) model contains tabulated values of temperature and number densities obtained by the experiments on the Venera entry probes, Pioneer Venus Orbiter and multi-probe missions in the 1980s. The instruments on the recent Venus Express orbiter mission generated a significant amount of new observational data on the vertical and horizontal structure of the Venus atmosphere from 40 km to about 180 km altitude from April 2006 to November 2014. Many ground based experiments have provided data on the upper atmosphere (90-130 km) temperature structure since the publication of VIRA in 1985. The "Thermal Structure of the Venus Atmosphere" Team was supported by the International Space Studies Institute (ISSI), Bern, Switzerland, from 2013 to 2015 in order to combine and compare the ground-based observations and the VEx observations of the thermal structure as a first step towards generating an updated VIRA model. Results of this comparison are presented in five latitude bins and three local time bins by assuming hemispheric symmetry. The intercomparison of the ground-based and VEx results provides for the first time a consistent picture of the temperature and density structure in the 40 km -180 km altitude range. The Venus Express observations have considerably increased our knowledge of the Venus atmospheric thermal structure above ~40 km and provided new information above 100 km. There are, however, still observational gaps in latitude and local time above certain regions. Considerable variability in the temperatures and densities is seen above 100 km but certain features appear to be systematically present, such as a succession of warm and cool layers. Preliminary modeling studies support the existence of such layers in agreement with a global scale circulation. The intercompar...

To determine the local gastrointestinal absorption of a new synthetic somatostatin analogue (SMS 201-995 = Sandostatin), an intestinal tube was passed in eight healthy volunteers and on different days an aqueous solution was administered at four different locations: stomach, proximal duodenum, ligament of Treitz and jejunum. In a follow-up study, an oro-ileal tube was passed in six of the original volunteers and the drug solution was administered in to the terminal ileum. The aqueous solution of SMS was rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract after local application, and it was well tolerated. Absorption of the drug from the different sites was comparable, although there was a tendency to decreased peptide absorption after ileal administration. Absorption of the drug was quite variable between the subjects and the different locations. The dose-corrected systemic availability relative to subcutaneous administration in another study was 0.28%. However, significant plasma SMS concentrations were achieved, suggesting that oral delivery of the polypeptide may eventually be possible for long-term treatment of a variety of disorders.

The present study was designed to determine whether somatostatin is released into the circulation in sufficient amounts to regulate exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function and to evaluate the possible role of somatostatin as a hormonal regulator of the pancreas. Mean plasma somatostatin levels (SLI) increased from 11±2 pmol liter-' to peak concentrations of 18±2 in six healthy male volunteers after a steak meal (P < 0.05). Infusion of somatostatin inhibited hormone-induced exocrine pancreatic secretion and suppressed cerulein-stimulated pancreatic polypeptide (PP) secretion, but did not significantly change arginine-stimulated insulin and glucagon release at mean plasma somatostatin concentrations within the range seen after a meal. The amount of somatostatin released after a meal thus was of sufficient magnitude to inhibit exocrine pancreatic function and PP release. On the other hand, basal and arginine-stimulated glucagon and insulin secretions were not significantly affected by these plasma concentrations of intravenous somatostatin suggesting that the exocrine pancreas might be more sensitive to somatostatin than the islet cells. We conclude that somatostatin in concentrations within the range seen after a meal is a potent inhibitor of stimulated acinar cell function in man. The findings support the hypothesis that somatostatin acts as a true hormonal regulator.