Prednisone and azathioprine in patients with inflammatory cardiomyopathy: systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: Chronic non-viral myocarditis, also called inflammatory cardiomyopathy, can be treated with immune suppression on tops of optimal medical therapy (OMT) for heart failure, using a combination of prednisolone and azathioprine (IPA). However, there has been inconsistency in the effects of immunosuppression treatment. This meta-analysis is the first to evaluate all available data of the effect of this treatment on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the combined clinical endpoint of cardiovascular mortality and/or heart transplantation-free survival. Methods and results: All trials with using IPA vs. OMT in this syndrome were searched using OVID Medline and ClinicalTrials. gov, following the PRISMA guidelines. Missing data were retrieved after contacting the corresponding authors. All data was reviewed and analysed using and standard meta-analysis methods. A random effect model was used to pool the effect sizes. A total of four trials (three randomised controlled trials and one propensity-matched retrospective registry) including 369 patients were identified. IPA on top of OMT did not improve LVEF [mean difference 9.9% (95% confidence interval -1.8, 21.7)] with significant heterogeneity. When we limited our pooled estimate to the published studies only, significant LVEF improvement by IPA was observed [14% (1.4, 26.6)]. No cardiovascular mortality benefit was observed with the intervention [risk ratio 0.34 (0.08, 1.51)]. Conclusions: At the moment, there is insufficient evidence supporting functional and prognostic benefits of IPA added to OMT in virus negative inflammatory positive cardiomyopathy. Further adequate-powered well-designed prospective RCTs should be warranted to explore the potential effects of adding immunosuppressive therapy to OMT

A datamining approach to identifying spatial patterns of phosphorus forms in the Stormwater Treatment Areas in the Everglades

The Everglades ecosystem in Florida, USA, is naturally phosphorus (P) limited, and faces threats of ecosystem change and associated losses to habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem function if subjected to high inflows of P and other nutrients. In addition to changes in historic hydropattern, upstream agriculture (sugar cane, vegetable, citrus) and urbanization has placed the Everglades at risk due to nutrient-rich runoff. In response to this threat, the Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) were constructed along the northern boundary of the Everglades as engineered ecological systems designed to retain P from water flowing into the Everglades. This research investigated data collected over a period from 2002 to 2014 from the interior of the STAs using data mining and analysis techniques including (a) exploratory methods such as Principal Component Analysis to test for patterns and groupings in the data, and (b) modelling approaches to test for predictive relationships between environmental variables. The purpose of this research was to reveal and compare spatial trends and relationships between environmental variables across the various treatment cells, flow-ways, and STAs. Common spatial patterns and their drivers indicated that the flow-ways do not function along simple linear gradients; instead forming zonal patterns of P distribution that may increasingly align with the predominant flow path over time. Findings also indicate that the primary drivers of the spatial distribution of P in many of these systems relate to soil characteristics. The results suggest that coupled cycles may be a key component of these systems; i.e. the movement and transformation of P is coupled to that of nitrogen (N)

A design of selective solar absorber for high temperature applications

This study presents a design of multilayer solar selective absorber for high temperature applications. The optical stack of this absorber is composed of four layers deposited by magnetron sputtering on stainless steel substrates. The first is a back-reflector tungsten layer, which is followed by two absorption layers based on CrAlSiNx/ CrAlSiOyNx structure for phase interference. The final layer is an antireflection layer of SiAlOx. The design was theoretically modelled with SCOUT software using transmittance and reflectance curves of individual thin layers, which were deposited on glass substrates. The final design shows simultaneously high solar absorbance = 95.2 % and low emissivity ε= 9.8% (at 400 ºC) together with high thermal stability at 400 ºC, in air, and 600 ºC in vacuum for 650 h.The authors acknowledge the support of FCT in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2013 and the financial support of FCT, POCI and PORL operational programs through the project POCI-01-0145- FEDER-016907 (PTDC/CTM-ENE/2882/2014), co-financed by European community fund FEDER.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of New Dwarf Elephant Grass Genotypes for Grazing

Elephant grass stands out for its production potential, forage quality and acceptance by animals. However, its tall size makes management under grazing difficult and dwarf cultivars have been selected and evaluated to overcome this limitation. The objective was to characterize agronomic aspects of dwarf elephant grass genotypes submitted to two defoliation intensities. The experiment was installed in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme, with five elephant grass genotypes (2022, 1810, 2111, 2035, BRS Kurumi) and two residue heights after defoliation (25 and 45 cm). A randomized block design with three replications in 4x3m plots was used. Forage above the residue height was cut whenever the canopy reached 93-95% light interception. Residue heights did not influence leaf/stem ratio, basal and total tillering, and dry matter production. On the other hand, influence of residue height on canopy height, aerial tillering and forage accumulation rate was observed. The forage accumulation rate increased by 19% for the 45 cm residue compared to the 25 cm residue. No interaction was observed between genotype and residue height for the variables canopy height, leaf:stem ratio, basal tillering, aerial tillering, forage mass and forage accumulation rate. In relation to tillering, BRS kurumi showed greater total and aerial tiller number, 31% higher than the average of the other materials. Although the cultivar BRS kurumi has more vigorous tillering, the variables leaf:stem ratio and forage accumulation rate were higher in the new materials, especially material 1810, which presented better performance compared to the control. In view of this, it is concluded that the new grass genotypes have a higher proportion of leaves and forage accumulation rate than BRS Kurumi, and that the residue height of 45 cm provides a higher forage accumulation rate

Solar selective absorbers based on Al2O3:W cermets and AlSiN/AlSiON layers

Solar selective coatings based on double Al2O3:W cermet layers and AlSiN/AlSiON bilayer structures were prepared by magnetron sputtering. Both were deposited on stainless steel substrates using a metallic tungsten (W) layer as back reflector. The coating stacks were completed by an antireflection (AR) layer composed of Al2O3, SiO2, or AlSiOx. Spectrophotometer measurements, X-Ray diffraction, Scanning electron microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry were used to characterize the optical properties, crystalline structure, morphology and composition of these coatings. The spectral optical constants of the single layers were calculated from the reflectance and transmittance measurements and used to design the optical stack. The coatings exhibit a solar absorptance of 93%-95% and an emissivity of 7%-10% (at 400 ºC). The coatings also exhibit excellent thermal stability, with small changes in the optical properties of the coating during heat-treatments at 400 ºC in air for 2500 h and at 580 ºC in vacuum for 850 h. The coating based on the AlSiN/AlSiON bilayer structure was obtained with an Al:Si ratio of 2.5:1. These coatings revealed similar performance as the one obtained with coatings based on Al2O3:W cermet layers.The authors acknowledge the funding from the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, Tekes, and from FEDER funds through the “Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade – COMPETE” and from national funds by FCT- “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia”, under project no. PEst-C/FIS/UI0607/2011.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessment of erosion, deposition and fuel retention in the JET-ILW divertor from ion beam analysis data

Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Plasma Surface Interactions 2016, 22nd PSI.Post-mortem analyses of individual components provide relevant information on plasma-surface interactions like tungsten erosion, beryllium deposition and plasma fuel retention with divertor tiles via implantation or co-deposition. Ion Beam techniques are ideal tools for such purposes and have been extensively used for post-mortem analyses of selected tiles from JET following each campaign. In this contribution results from tiles removed from the JET ITER-Like Wall (JET-ILW) divertor following the 2013–2014 campaign are presented. The results summarize erosion, deposition and fuel retention along the poloidal cross section of the divertor surface and provide data for comparison with the first JET-ILW campaign, showing a similar pattern of material migration with the exception of Tile 6 where the strike point time on the tile was ∼ 4 times longer in 2013–2014 than in 2011–2012, which is likely to account for more material migration to this region. The W deposition on top of the Mo marker coating of Tile 4 shows that the enrichment takes place at the strike point location.Peer reviewe

On the growth kinetics of Ni(Pt) silicide thin films

We report on the effect of Pt on the growth kinetics of δ-Ni2Si and Ni 1−xPtxSi thin films formed by solid phase reaction of a Ni(Pt) alloyed thin film on Si(100). The study was performed by real-time Rutherford backscattering spectrometry examining the silicide growth rates for initial Pt concentrations of 0, 1, 3, 7, and 10 at. % relative to the Ni content. Pt was found to exert a drastic effect on the growth kinetics of both phases. δ-Ni2Si growth is slowed down tremendously, which results in the simultaneous growth of this phase with Ni 1−xPtxSi. Activation energies extracted for the Ni 1−xPtxSi growth process exhibit an increase from Ea = 1.35 ± 0.06 eV for binary NiSi to Ea = 2.7 ± 0.2 eV for Ni 1−xPtxSi with an initial Pt concentration of 3 at. %. Further increasing the Pt content to 10 at. % merely increases the activation energy for Ni 1−xPtxSi growth to Ea = 3.1 ± 0.5 eV

Surface analysis of tiles and samples exposed to the first JET campaigns with the ITER-Like Wall

This paper reports on the first post-mortem analyses of tiles removed from JET after the first campaigns with the ITER-like Wall (ILW) during 2011-2 [1]. Tiles from the divertor have been analysed by the Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) and Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) and by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) to determine the amount of beryllium deposition and deuterium retention in the tiles exposed to the scrape-off layer. Films 10-20 microns thick were present at the top of Tile 1, but only very thin films (<1 micron) were found in the shadowed areas and on other divertor tiles. The total amount of Be found in the divertor following the ILW campaign was a factor of ~9 less that the material deposited in the 2007-9 carbon campaign, after allowing for the longer operations in 2007-9.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Physica Scripta. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from i