Strong existence and uniqueness of the stationary distribution for a stochastic inviscid dyadic model

We consider an inviscid stochastically forced dyadic model, where the additive noise acts only on the first component. We prove that a strong solution for this problem exists and is unique by means of uniform energy estimates. Moreover, we exploit these results to establish strong existence and uniqueness of the stationary distribution

Large deviations for Markov jump processes with uniformly diminishing rates

We prove a large-deviation principle (LDP) for the sample paths of jump Markov processes in the small noise limit when, possibly, all the jump rates vanish uniformly, but slowly enough, in a region of the state space. We further discuss the optimality of our assumptions on the decay of the jump rates. As a direct application of this work we relax the assumptions needed for the application of LDPs to, e.g., Chemical Reaction Network dynamics, where vanishing reaction rates arise naturally particularly the context of mass action kinetics

Um aplicativo iPhone para a rastreabilidade da ferrugem asiática da soja no Brasil.

RESUMO: A soja é, no Brasil, um dos principais itens da produção agrícola, sendo o país o segundo maior produtor mundial deste grão. Devido ao grande crescimento da produção nas últimas décadas, a soja, tornou-se o foco dos principais órgãos relacionados ao agro-negócio brasileiro. Com a introdução da ferrugem asiática da soja no Brasil, um melhor gerenciamento no combate a essa doença se tornou necessária, sendo assim, criado em setembro de 2004, o Consórcio Antiferrugem surgiu com a finalidade de trazer soluções de manejo e controle da dispersão desta doença no Brasil. Este artigo descreve o desenvolvimento de um aplicativo iPhone, criado para dar suporte ao sistema Web do Consórcio Antiferrugem, como uma ferramenta móvel auxiliando o monitoramento da dispersão e a rastreabilidade da ferrugem asiática da soja no Brasil. ABSTRACT: Soybean is one of the major items of agricultural production in Brazil, being the country the second largest producer of this grain. Due to the large increase in production in recent decades, soybean has become the focus of the main organs related to brazilian agribusiness. With the introduction of Asian soybean rust in Brazil, a better management of this disease became necessary, therefore, created in September 2004, the Consortium Antirust emerged with the purpose to bringing solutions to help manage and control the spread of this disease in Brazil. This article describes the development of an iPhone application, designed to support the Antirust Consortium Web System as a mobile tool to assist on monitoring and tracking the dispersion of soybean rust in Brazil.Trabalho apresentado no III Simpósio de Computação Aplicada, Passo Fundo, 2011

Evaluation of Androgen Receptor in Relation to Estrogen Receptor (AR/ER) and Progesterone Receptor (AR/PgR): A New Must in Breast Cancer?

Steroid nuclear receptors are known to be involved in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition process with important roles in invasion and metastasis initiation. Androgen receptor (AR) has been extensively studied, but its role in relation to breast cancer patient prognosis remains to be clarified. AR/ER ratio has been reported to be an unfavorable prognostic marker in early primary breast cancer, but its role in the patients with advanced disease has to be cleared. We retrospectively analyzed ER, PgR, and AR expression on a case series of 159 specimens of primary BC samples by using immunohistochemistry and 89 patients of these had luminal tumors for which AR and ER expression and survival data were available. For twenty-four patients both primary and metastatic tumors were available. A significantly shorter overall survival was observed in primary tumors with AR/PgR ratio 65 1.54 (HR = 2.27; 95% CI 1.30-3.97; p = 0.004). Similarly OS was significantly shorter when ER/PgR ratio 652 in primary tumors (HR = 1.89; 95% CI 1.10-3.24; p = 0.021). The analysis of the 24 patients who had biomarker determinations both in primary tumors and metastasis showed a better OS when AR/ER ratio in the metastasis was 65 0.90 (p = 0.022). Patients with a high AR/ER ratio in primary tumor that remained high in the metastasis had better prognosis in terms of OS (p = 0.011). Despite we suggested that the ratios AR/ER and AR/PgR could be used to identify patients with different prognosis, their real value needs to be better clarified in different BC settings through prospective studies

Mobilidade e a rastreabilidade da ferrugem asiática da soja no Brasil.

A ferrugem asiática da soja, causada pelo fungo Phakopsora pachyrhizi possui fácil disseminação e pode causar perdas de 30% à 75% na produção. O monitoramento da ferrugem e sua identificação nos estádios iniciais são essenciais para um controle eficiente (YORINORI, 2005). Afim de permitir uma rápida visualização sobre a dispersão desta doença no Brasil, foi desenvolvida uma versão móvel para a plataforma iOS do sistema Web do Consórcio Antiferrugem. O usuário, com o uso do aplicativo em um iPhone, iPod Touch ou iPad, pode ter acesso às informações sobre a dispersão da doença diretamente no seu dispositivo, a qualquer hora e lugar, podendo perceber a aproximação dos focos da doença na sua região e adiantar-se na procura por sinais de infecção na sua lavoura, evitando grandes perdas na produção. O aplicativo traz como diferencial, além da sua mobilidade, a possibilidade de apresentação de informações completas sobre as ocorrências da doença, registradas por laboratórios conveniados ao consórcio. Permite, também, a rastreabilidade sobre a evolução da doença no decorrer das safras, apresentando pontos geolocalizados para os focos da doença. O aplicativo foi desenvolvido sob uma arquitetura de serviços disponíveis na plataforma Web do Consórcio Antiferrugem. Desde que foi disponibilizado, o aplicativo já foi baixado centenas de vezes por usuários do mundo todo, deixando claro o interesse pelas informações não só por produtores e técnicos brasileiros, mas também pelo mercado comprador de soja. Objetivando proporcionar maior agilidade na disseminação das informações, suporte a tecnologia push, para notificações automáticas, está sendo implementado e disponibilizado na loja de aplicativos da Apple (APPLE, 2011).SBIAGRO

Value of a short non-contrast CMR protocol in MINOCA

ObjectivesTo evaluate the diagnostic performance of a short non-contrast CMR (ShtCMR) protocol relative to a matched standard comprehensive CMR (StdCMR) protocol in patients with myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA).MethodsThis multicenter retrospective study included patients with a working diagnosis of MINOCA who underwent a StdCMR between January 2019 and December 2020. An expert and a non-expert reader performed a blinded reading with the ShtCMR (long-axis cine images, T2w-STIR, T1- and T2-mapping). A consensus reading of the StdCMR (reference standard) was performed at least 3 months after the ShtCMR reading session. Readers were asked to report the following: (1) diagnosis; (2) level of confidence in their diagnosis with the ShtCMR; (3) number of myocardial segments involved, and (4) functional parameters.ResultsA total of 179 patients were enrolled. The ShtCMR lasted 21 & PLUSMN; 9 min and the StdCMR 45 & PLUSMN; 11 min (p < 0.0001). ShtCMR allowed reaching the same diagnosis as StdCMR in 85% of patients when interpreted by expert readers (rising from 66% for poor confidence to 99% for good, p = 0.0001) and in 73% (p = 0.01) by non-expert ones (60% for poor vs 89% for good confidence, p = 0.0001). Overall, the ShtCMR overestimated the ejection fraction, underestimated cardiac volumes (p < 0.01), and underestimated the number of segments involved by pathology (p = 0.0008) when compared with the StdCMR.ConclusionThe ShtCMR was found to be a debatable alternative to the StdCMR in patients with MINOCA. Nevertheless, when an experienced reader reaches a good or very good diagnostic confidence using the ShtCMR, the reader may choose to stop the examination, reducing the length of the CMR without affecting the patient's diagnosis

Oral and anal high-risk human papilloma virus infection in HIV-positive men who have sex with men over a 24-month longitudinal study: Complexity and vaccine implications

BackgroundFew studies focused on longitudinal modifications over time of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) at anal and oral sites in HIV+ men who have sex with men (MSM).MethodsWe described patterns and longitudinal changes of HR-HPV detection and the prevalence of HR-HPV covered by the nonavalent HPV vaccine (vax-HPV) at oral and anal sites in 165 HIV+ MSM followed in an Italian hospital. The samples were collected at baseline and after 24months (follow-up). The presence of HPV was investigated with Inno-LiPA HPV Genotyping Extra II.ResultsMedian age was 44years (IQR 36-53), median CD4+ cell count at nadir was 312 cells/mm(3) (IQR 187-450). A total of 120 subjects (72.7%) were receiving successful antiretroviral therapy (ART). At baseline and follow-up, the frequency of HR-HPV was significantly higher in the anal site (65.4% vs 9.4 and 62.4% vs 6.8%, respectively). Only 2.9% of subjects were persistently HR-HPV negative at both sites. All oral HR-HPV were single at baseline vs 54.6% at baseline at the anal site (p=0.005), and all oral HR-HPV were single at follow-up vs 54.4% at anal site at follow-up (p=0.002). The lowest rate of concordance between the oral and anal results was found for HR-HPV detection; almost all HR-HPV positive results at both anal and oral sites had different HR-HPV.The most frequent HR-HPV in anal swabs at baseline and follow-up were HPV-16 and HPV-52.At follow-up at anal site, 37.5% of patients had different HR-HPV genotypes respect to baseline, 28.8% of subjects with 1 HR-HPV at baseline had an increased number of HR-HPV, and patients on ART showed a lower frequency of confirmed anal HR-HPV detection than untreated patients (p=0.03) over time. Additionally,54.6 and 50.5% of patients had only HR-vax-HPV at anal site at baseline and follow-up, respectively; 15.2% had only HR-vax-HPV at baseline and follow-up.ConclusionsWe believe that it is important testing multiple sites over time in HIV-positive MSM. ART seems to protect men from anal HR-HPV confirmed detection. Vaccination programmes could reduce the number of HR-HPV genotypes at anal site and the risk of the first HR-HPV acquisition at the oral site

Androgen receptor in advanced breast cancer: Is it useful to predict the efficacy of anti-estrogen therapy?

none16noBackground: Androgen receptor (AR) is widely expressed in breast cancer (BC) but its role in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors is still controversial. The AR/ER ratio has been reported to impact prognosis and response to antiestrogen endocrine therapy (ET). Methods: We assessed whether AR in primary tumors and/or matched metastases is a predictor of efficacy of first-line ET in advanced BC. Patients who had received first-line ET (2002-2011) were recruited, while those given concomitant chemotherapy or trastuzumab or pretreated with > 2 lines of chemotherapy were excluded. ER, progesterone receptor (PgR), Ki67 and AR expression were assessed by immunohistochemistry, and HER2 mainly by fluorescent in-situ hybridization. Cut-offs of 1 and 10% immunostained cells were used to categorize AR expression. Results: Among 102 evaluable patients, biomarkers were assessed in primary tumors in 70 cases and in metastases in 49, with 17 patients having both determinations. The overall concordance rate between primary tumors and metastases was 64.7% (95% CI 42%-87.4%) for AR status. AR status did not affect TTP significantly, whereas PgR and Ki67 status did. AR/PgR ≥0.96 was associated with a significantly shorter TTP (HR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.05-2.61, p = 0.028). AR status in primary tumors or metastases was not associated with progressive disease (PD) as best response. In contrast, Ki67 ≥ 20% and PgR < 10% showed a statistically significant association with PD as best response. Conclusions: AR expression does not appear to be useful to predict the efficacy of ET in advanced BC, whereas Ki67 and PgR exert a greater impact on its efficacy.openBronte G.; Rocca A.; Ravaioli S.; Puccetti M.; Tumedei M.M.; Scarpi E.; Andreis D.; Maltoni R.; Sarti S.; Cecconetto L.; Fedeli A.; Pietri E.; De Simone V.; Asioli S.; Amadori D.; Bravaccini S.Bronte, G.; Rocca, A.; Ravaioli, S.; Puccetti, M.; Tumedei, M. M.; Scarpi, E.; Andreis, D.; Maltoni, R.; Sarti, S.; Cecconetto, L.; Fedeli, A.; Pietri, E.; De Simone, V.; Asioli, S.; Amadori, D.; Bravaccini, S