76 research outputs found
A mini review focused on the proangiogenic role of silicate ions released from silicon-containing biomaterials
Angiogenesis is considered an important issue in the development of biomaterials for the successful regeneration of tissues including bone. While growth factors are commonly used with biomaterials to promote angiogenesis, some ions released from biomaterials can also contribute to angiogenic events. Many silica-based biomaterials have been widely used for the repair and regeneration of tissues, mainly hard tissues such as bone and tooth structure. They have shown excellent performance in bone formation by stimulating angiogenesis. The release of silicate and others (Co and Cu ions) has therefore been implicated to play critical roles in the angiogenesis process. In this short review, we highlight the in vitro and in vivo findings of angiogenesis (and the related bone formation) stimulated by the various types of silicon-containing biomaterials where silicate ions released might play essential roles. We discuss further the possible molecular mechanisms underlying in the ion-induced angiogenic events
Recommendations for SARS-CoV- 2/ COVID-19 testing: a scoping review of current guidance
Background Testing used in screening, diagnosis and
follow-up
of COVID-19 has been a subject of debate.
Several organisations have developed formal advice about
testing for COVID-19 to assist in the control of the disease.
We collated, delineated and appraised current worldwide
recommendations about the role and applications of tests
to control SARS-CoV-
2/COVID-19.
Methods We searched for documents providing
recommendations for COVID-19 testing in PubMed,
EMBASE, LILACS, the Coronavirus Open Access Project
living evidence database and relevant websites such as
TRIP database, ECRI Guidelines Trust, the GIN database,
from inception to 21 September 2020. Two reviewers
applied the eligibility criteria to potentially relevant
citations without language or geographical restrictions.
We extracted data in duplicate, including assessment of
methodological quality using the Appraisal of Guidelines
for Research and Evaluation-II
tool.
Results We included 47 relevant documents and 327
recommendations about testing. Regarding the quality of
the documents, we found that the domains with the lowest
scores were ‘Editorial independence’ (Median=4%) and
‘Applicability’ (Median=6%). Only six documents obtained
at least 50% score for the ‘Rigour of development’
domain. An important number of recommendations
focused on the diagnosis of suspected cases (48%)
and deisolation measures (11%). The most frequently
recommended test was the reverse transcription-PCR
(RT-PCR)
assay (87 recommendations) and the chest
CT (38 recommendations). There were 22 areas of
agreement among guidance developers, including the
use of RT-PCR
for SARS-Cov-
2 confirmation, the limited
role of bronchoscopy, the use chest CT and chest X-rays
for grading severity and the co-assessment
for other
respiratory pathogens.
Conclusion This first scoping review of recommendations
for COVID-19 testing showed many limitations in the
methodological quality of included guidance documents
that could affect the confidence of clinicians in their
implementation. Future guidance documents should
incorporate a minimum set of key methodological
characteristics to enhance their applicability for decision
making.Instituto de Salud Carlos III
2017/CD17/00219European Social Fund 2014-2020, 'Investing in your future'Spanish Governmen
Super-solar Metal Abundances in Two Galaxies at z ~ 3.57 revealed by the GRB 090323 Afterglow Spectrum
We report on the surprisingly high metallicity measured in two absorption
systems at high redshift, detected in the Very Large Telescope spectrum of the
afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 090323. The two systems, at redshift
z=3.5673 and z=3.5774 (separation Delta v ~ 660 km/s), are dominated by the
neutral gas in the interstellar medium of the parent galaxies. From the singly
ionized zinc and sulfur, we estimate oversolar metallicities of [Zn/H]
=+0.29+/-0.10 and [S/H] = +0.67+/- 0.34, in the blue and red absorber,
respectively. These are the highest metallicities ever measured in galaxies at
z>3. We propose that the two systems trace two galaxies in the process of
merging, whose star formation and metallicity are heightened by the
interaction. This enhanced star formation might also have triggered the birth
of the GRB progenitor. As typically seen in star-forming galaxies, the
fine-structure absorption SiII* is detected, both in G0 and G1. From the
rest-frame UV emission in the GRB location, we derive a relatively high, not
corrected for dust extinction, star-formation rate SFR ~ 6 Msun/yr. These
properties suggest a possible connection between some high-redshift GRB host
galaxies and high-z massive sub-millimeter galaxies, which are characterized by
disturbed morphologies and high metallicities. Our result provides additional
evidence that the dispersion in the chemical enrichment of the Universe at high
redshift is substantial, with the existence of very metal rich galaxies less
than two billion years after the Big Bang.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA
Euclid preparation: XXVI. the Euclid Morphology Challenge: Towards structural parameters for billions of galaxies
The various Euclid imaging surveys will become a reference for studies of galaxy morphology by delivering imaging over an unprecedented area of 15 000 square degrees with high spatial resolution. In order to understand the capabilities of measuring morphologies from Euclid-detected galaxies and to help implement measurements in the pipeline of the Organisational Unit MER of the Euclid Science Ground Segment, we have conducted the Euclid Morphology Challenge, which we present in two papers. While the companion paper focusses on the analysis of photometry, this paper assesses the accuracy of the parametric galaxy morphology measurements in imaging predicted from within the Euclid Wide Survey. We evaluate the performance of five state-of-the-art surface-brightness-fitting codes, DeepLeGATo, Galapagos-2, Morfometryka, ProFit and SourceXtractor++, on a sample of about 1.5 million simulated galaxies (350 000 above 5σ) resembling reduced observations with the Euclid VIS and NIR instruments. The simulations include analytic Sérsic profiles with one and two components, as well as more realistic galaxies generated with neural networks. We find that, despite some code-specific differences, all methods tend to achieve reliable structural measurements (< 10% scatter on ideal Sérsic simulations) down to an apparent magnitude of about IE = 23 in one component and IE = 21 in two components, which correspond to a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 1 and 5, respectively. We also show that when tested on non-analytic profiles, the results are typically degraded by a factor of 3, driven by systematics. We conclude that the official Euclid Data Releases will deliver robust structural parameters for at least 400 million galaxies in the Euclid Wide Survey by the end of the mission. We find that a key factor for explaining the different behaviour of the codes at the faint end is the set of adopted priors for the various structural parameters
Euclid preparation. XXV. The Euclid Morphology Challenge -- Towards model-fitting photometry for billions of galaxies
The ESA Euclid mission will provide high-quality imaging for about 1.5
billion galaxies. A software pipeline to automatically process and analyse such
a huge amount of data in real time is being developed by the Science Ground
Segment of the Euclid Consortium; this pipeline will include a model-fitting
algorithm, which will provide photometric and morphological estimates of
paramount importance for the core science goals of the mission and for legacy
science. The Euclid Morphology Challenge is a comparative investigation of the
performance of five model-fitting software packages on simulated Euclid data,
aimed at providing the baseline to identify the best suited algorithm to be
implemented in the pipeline. In this paper we describe the simulated data set,
and we discuss the photometry results. A companion paper (Euclid Collaboration:
Bretonni\`ere et al. 2022) is focused on the structural and morphological
estimates. We created mock Euclid images simulating five fields of view of 0.48
deg2 each in the band of the VIS instrument, each with three realisations
of galaxy profiles (single and double S\'ersic, and 'realistic' profiles
obtained with a neural network); for one of the fields in the double S\'ersic
realisation, we also simulated images for the three near-infrared ,
and bands of the NISP-P instrument, and five Rubin/LSST optical
complementary bands (, , , , and ). To analyse the results we
created diagnostic plots and defined ad-hoc metrics. Five model-fitting
software packages (DeepLeGATo, Galapagos-2, Morfometryka, ProFit, and
SourceXtractor++) were compared, all typically providing good results. (cut)Comment: 29 pages, 33 figures. Euclid pre-launch key paper. Companion paper:
Bretonniere et al. 202
Euclid preparation XXVI. The Euclid Morphology Challenge. Towards structural parameters for billions of galaxies
The various Euclid imaging surveys will become a reference for studies of
galaxy morphology by delivering imaging over an unprecedented area of 15 000
square degrees with high spatial resolution. In order to understand the
capabilities of measuring morphologies from Euclid-detected galaxies and to
help implement measurements in the pipeline, we have conducted the Euclid
Morphology Challenge, which we present in two papers. While the companion paper
by Merlin et al. focuses on the analysis of photometry, this paper assesses the
accuracy of the parametric galaxy morphology measurements in imaging predicted
from within the Euclid Wide Survey. We evaluate the performance of five
state-of-the-art surface-brightness-fitting codes DeepLeGATo, Galapagos-2,
Morfometryka, Profit and SourceXtractor++ on a sample of about 1.5 million
simulated galaxies resembling reduced observations with the Euclid VIS and NIR
instruments. The simulations include analytic S\'ersic profiles with one and
two components, as well as more realistic galaxies generated with neural
networks. We find that, despite some code-specific differences, all methods
tend to achieve reliable structural measurements (10% scatter on ideal S\'ersic
simulations) down to an apparent magnitude of about 23 in one component and 21
in two components, which correspond to a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately
1 and 5 respectively. We also show that when tested on non-analytic profiles,
the results are typically degraded by a factor of 3, driven by systematics. We
conclude that the Euclid official Data Releases will deliver robust structural
parameters for at least 400 million galaxies in the Euclid Wide Survey by the
end of the mission. We find that a key factor for explaining the different
behaviour of the codes at the faint end is the set of adopted priors for the
various structural parameters.Comment: Accepted by A&A. 30 pages, 23+6 figures, Euclid pre-launch key paper.
Companion paper: Euclid Collaboration XXV: Merlin et al. 2022 Minor
corrections after journal revie
Global overview of the management of acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic (CHOLECOVID study)
Background: This study provides a global overview of the management of patients with acute cholecystitis during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: CHOLECOVID is an international, multicentre, observational comparative study of patients admitted to hospital with acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on management were collected for a 2-month study interval coincident with the WHO declaration of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and compared with an equivalent pre-pandemic time interval. Mediation analysis examined the influence of SARS-COV-2 infection on 30-day mortality. Results: This study collected data on 9783 patients with acute cholecystitis admitted to 247 hospitals across the world. The pandemic was associated with reduced availability of surgical workforce and operating facilities globally, a significant shift to worse severity of disease, and increased use of conservative management. There was a reduction (both absolute and proportionate) in the number of patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 3095 patients (56.2 per cent) pre-pandemic to 1998 patients (46.2 per cent) during the pandemic but there was no difference in 30-day all-cause mortality after cholecystectomy comparing the pre-pandemic interval with the pandemic (13 patients (0.4 per cent) pre-pandemic to 13 patients (0.6 per cent) pandemic; P = 0.355). In mediation analysis, an admission with acute cholecystitis during the pandemic was associated with a non-significant increased risk of death (OR 1.29, 95 per cent c.i. 0.93 to 1.79, P = 0.121). Conclusion: CHOLECOVID provides a unique overview of the treatment of patients with cholecystitis across the globe during the first months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The study highlights the need for system resilience in retention of elective surgical activity. Cholecystectomy was associated with a low risk of mortality and deferral of treatment results in an increase in avoidable morbidity that represents the non-COVID cost of this pandemic
Bezlotoxumab for Prevention of Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection
BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitalized patients. Recurrences are common after antibiotic therapy. Actoxumab and bezlotoxumab are human monoclonal antibodies against C. difficile toxins A and B, respectively. METHODS We conducted two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trials, MODIFY I and MODIFY II, involving 2655 adults receiving oral standard-of-care antibiotics for primary or recurrent C. difficile infection. Participants received an infusion of bezlotoxumab (10 mg per kilogram of body weight), actoxumab plus bezlotoxumab (10 mg per kilogram each), or placebo; actoxumab alone (10 mg per kilogram) was given in MODIFY I but discontinued after a planned interim analysis. The primary end point was recurrent infection (new episode after initial clinical cure) within 12 weeks after infusion in the modified intention-to-treat population. RESULTS In both trials, the rate of recurrent C. difficile infection was significantly lower with bezlotoxumab alone than with placebo (MODIFY I: 17% [67 of 386] vs. 28% [109 of 395]; adjusted difference, −10.1 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], −15.9 to −4.3; P<0.001; MODIFY II: 16% [62 of 395] vs. 26% [97 of 378]; adjusted difference, −9.9 percentage points; 95% CI, −15.5 to −4.3; P<0.001) and was significantly lower with actoxumab plus bezlotoxumab than with placebo (MODIFY I: 16% [61 of 383] vs. 28% [109 of 395]; adjusted difference, −11.6 percentage points; 95% CI, −17.4 to −5.9; P<0.001; MODIFY II: 15% [58 of 390] vs. 26% [97 of 378]; adjusted difference, −10.7 percentage points; 95% CI, −16.4 to −5.1; P<0.001). In prespecified subgroup analyses (combined data set), rates of recurrent infection were lower in both groups that received bezlotoxumab than in the placebo group in subpopulations at high risk for recurrent infection or for an adverse outcome. The rates of initial clinical cure were 80% with bezlotoxumab alone, 73% with actoxumab plus bezlotoxumab, and 80% with placebo; the rates of sustained cure (initial clinical cure without recurrent infection in 12 weeks) were 64%, 58%, and 54%, respectively. The rates of adverse events were similar among these groups; the most common events were diarrhea and nausea. CONCLUSIONS Among participants receiving antibiotic treatment for primary or recurrent C. difficile infection, bezlotoxumab was associated with a substantially lower rate of recurrent infection than placebo and had a safety profile similar to that of placebo. The addition of actoxumab did not improve efficacy. (Funded by Merck; MODIFY I and MODIFY II ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01241552 and NCT01513239.
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