Application of non-invasive methods of assessment of steatosis and fibrosis in chronic diffuse liver diseases of various etiologies

Background. The aim of the study is to analyze the parameters of liver steatosis and fibrosis based on shear wave elastography (SWE) and steatometry data in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases, taking into account the etiological factor, and determine the diagnostic accuracy of SWE in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. ­Materials and methods. Three hundred and sixty-four patients with chronic diffuse liver disease aged (48.00 ± 1.84) years were examined, 159 (43.7 %) were male, and 205 (56.3 %) female. The patients were divided into groups: 108 people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), 143 with chronic hepatitis C (HCV), 56 with alcoholic liver disease (ALD), and 57 with drug-induced toxic hepatitis. In all patients, SWE and steatometry were performed by Soneus P7 device (Kharkiv, Ukraine) with the liver stiffness and ultrasound attenuation coefficient measurement. Results. According to SWE data, 270 (74.2 %) patients with chronic liver disease had fibrotic changes in the liver. A significant increase in liver stiffness by 1.9 times (p < 0.05) according to Young’s modulus was found in HCV patients and by 1.4 times (p < 0.05) in ALD patients compared to the control group, by 1.7 (p < 0.05) and 1.3 times (p < 0.05), respectively, compared to the group of patients with NAFLD. According to steatometry data, an increase in ultrasound attenuation coefficient by 30.2 % (p < 0.05) in patients with NAFLD, by 27.5 % (p < 0.05) in those with ALD and by 22 % (p < 0.05) in people with toxic hepatitis was found compared to the control group. In patients with liver fibrosis, the median liver stiffness was 6.70 kPa (6.35, 7.56), while in those without liver fibrosis, this parameter was 1.2 times lower (p < 0.01). Histological evaluation of liver samples obtained through percutaneous biopsy in 75 patients with chronic liver disease demonstrated the absence of fibrosis in 14 (18.7 %) cases. According to the results of the ROC analysis, the cut-off value of the liver stiffness determined by SWE was 5.79 kPa, confirming the presence of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease regardless of etiology (AUC = 0.901, p < 0.001). Conclusions. The liver stiffness determined by SWE in HCV and ALD patients was higher than in NAFLD patients (p < 0.05), as well as the frequency of F3–4 stages of liver fibrosis (p < 0.05). The threshold value of the liver stiffness for liver fibrosis diagnosis in chronic liver disease regardless of etiology was 5.79 kPa (sensitivity 100.0 %, specificity 85.7 %), which allows the family doctor to form a risk group of patients who needed dynamic monitoring with a further investigation of the etiological factor of liver fibrosis

Screw dynamo in a time-dependent pipe flow

The kinematic dynamo problem is investigated for the flow of a conducting fluid in a cylindrical, periodic tube with conducting walls. The methods used are an eigenvalue analysis of the steady regime, and the three-dimensional solution of the time-dependent induction equation. The configuration and parameters considered here are close to those of a dynamo experiment planned in Perm, which will use a torus-shaped channel. We find growth of an initial magnetic field by more than 3 orders of magnitude. Marked field growth can be obtained if the braking time is less than 0.2 s and only one diverter is used in the channel. The structure of the seed field has a strong impact on the field amplification factor. The generation properties can be improved by adding ferromagnetic particles to the fluid in order to increase its relative permeability,but this will not be necessary for the success of the dynamo experiment. For higher magnetic Reynolds numbers, the nontrivial evolution of different magnetic modes limits the value of simple `optimistic' and `pessimistic' estimates.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure

Large negative velocity gradients in Burgers turbulence

We consider 1D Burgers equation driven by large-scale white-in-time random force. The tails of the velocity gradients probability distribution function (PDF) are analyzed by saddle-point approximation in the path integral describing the velocity statistics. The structure of the saddle-point (instanton), that is velocity field configuration realizing the maximum of probability, is studied numerically in details. The numerical results allow us to find analytical solution for the long-time part of the instanton. Its careful analysis confirms the result of [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 (8) 1452 (1997) [chao-dyn/9609005]] based on short-time estimations that the left tail of PDF has the form ln P(u_x) \propto -|u_x|^(3/2).Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX, 10 figure

Decoherence and wave function collapse

The possibility of consistency between the basic quantum principles of quantum mechanics and wave function collapse is reexamined. A specific interpretation of environment is proposed for this aim and applied to decoherence. When the organization of a measuring apparatus is taken into account, this approach leads also to an interpretation of wave function collapse, which would result in principle from the same interactions with environment as decoherence. This proposal is shown consistent with the non-separable character of quantum mechanics

Bottom Production

We review the prospects for bottom production physics at the LHC.Comment: 74 pages, Latex, 71 figures, to appear in the Report of the ``1999 CERN Workshop on SM physics (and more) at the LHC'', P. Nason, G. Ridolfi, O. Schneider G.F. Tartarelli, P. Vikas (conveners

First Measurement of pi e -> pi e gamma Pion Virtual Compton Scattering

Pion Virtual Compton Scattering (VCS) via the reaction pi e --> pi e gamma was observed in the Fermilab E781 SELEX experiment. SELEX used a 600 GeV/c pi- beam incident on target atomic electrons, detecting the incident pi- and the final state pi-, electron and gamma. Theoretical predictions based on chiral perturbation theory are incorporated into a Monte Carlo simulation of the experiment and are compared to the data. The number of reconstructed events (9) and their distribution with respect to the kinematic variables (for the kinematic region studied) are in reasonable accord with the predictions. The corresponding pi- VCS experimental cross section is sigma=38.8+-13 nb, in agreement with the theoretical expectation sigma=34.7 nb.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, 25 references, SELEX home page is http://fn781a.fnal.gov/, revised July 21, 2002 in response to journal referee Comment

B decays

We review the prospects for B decay studies at the LHC. Contributing authors: J. Baines, S.P. Baranov, P. Bartalini, M. Beneke, E. Bouhova, G. Buchalla, I. Caprini, F. Charles, J. Charles, Y. Coadou, P. Colangelo, P. Colrain, J. Damet, F. De Fazio, A. Dighe, H. Dijkstra, P. Eerola, N. Ellis, B. Epp, S. Gadomski, P. Galumian, I. Gavrilenko, S. George, V.M. Ghete, V. Gibson, L. Guy, Y. Hasegawa, P. Iengo, A. Jacholkowska, R. Jones, A. Khodjamirian, E. Kneringer, P. Koppenburg, H. Korsmo, N. Labanca, L. Lellouch, M. Lehto, Y. Lemoigne, J. Libby, J. Matias, S. Mele, M. Misiak, A.M. Nairz, T. Nakada, A. Nikitenko, N. Nikitin, A. Nisati, F. Palla, E. Polycarpo, J. Rademacker, F. Rizatdinova, S. Robins, D. Rousseau, W. Ruckstuhl, M.A. Sanchis, O. Schneider, M. Shapiro, C. Shepherd-Themistocleous, P. Sherwood, L. Smirnova, M. Smizanska, A. Starodumov, N. Stepanov, Z. Xie, N. Zaitse

Carboniferous and Permian Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) from West Spitsbergen

The rugosochonetid brachiopod species Lissochonetes geinitzianus from the Kazimovian of the Nordenskioldbreen Formation, and Dyoros (Dyoros) mucronata sp. nov., Dyoros (Dyoros) spitzbergianus and Lissochonetes superba from the Artinskian to latest Permian Kapp Starostin Formation in West Spitsbergen are described and figured. Dyoros is generally restricted to the Boreal Realm, whereas Lissochonetes is mostly distributed in the Boreal Realm, but occasionally present in the Palaeoequatorial and Gondwanan Realms<br /

Recovery of dialysis patients with COVID-19 : health outcomes 3 months after diagnosis in ERACODA

Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related short-term mortality is high in dialysis patients, but longer-term outcomes are largely unknown. We therefore assessed patient recovery in a large cohort of dialysis patients 3 months after their COVID-19 diagnosis. Methods. We analyzed data on dialysis patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from 1 February 2020 to 31 March 2021 from the European Renal Association COVID-19 Database (ERACODA). The outcomes studied were patient survival, residence and functional and mental health status (estimated by their treating physician) 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis. Complete follow-up data were available for 854 surviving patients. Patient characteristics associated with recovery were analyzed using logistic regression. Results. In 2449 hemodialysis patients (mean ± SD age 67.5 ± 14.4 years, 62% male), survival probabilities at 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis were 90% for nonhospitalized patients (n = 1087), 73% for patients admitted to the hospital but not to an intensive care unit (ICU) (n = 1165) and 40% for those admitted to an ICU (n = 197). Patient survival hardly decreased between 28 days and 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis. At 3 months, 87% functioned at their pre-existent functional and 94% at their pre-existent mental level. Only few of the surviving patients were still admitted to the hospital (0.8-6.3%) or a nursing home (∼5%). A higher age and frailty score at presentation and ICU admission were associated with worse functional outcome. Conclusions. Mortality between 28 days and 3 months after COVID-19 diagnosis was low and the majority of patients who survived COVID-19 recovered to their pre-existent functional and mental health level at 3 months after diagnosis