A Contemporary View of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Biology and Strain-Specific Di erences

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a human respiratory pathogen which remains a leading viral cause of hospitalizations and mortality among infants in their first year of life. Here, we review the biology of RSV, the primary laboratory isolates or strains which have been used to best characterize the virus since its discovery in 1956, and discuss the implications for genetic and functional variations between the established laboratory strains and the recently identified clinical isolates

Low dose unfractionated heparin with low dose aspirin in treatment of thrombo prophylaxis in utero placental insufficiency: a new vision in heparinization during pregnancy

Background: The use of heparin and aspirin in obstetric care has grown considerably since their introduction into clinical practice. Because of the physiological changes of pregnancy, the usage of heparin and optimal dosage of heparin remains uncertain. Here our institute designed low dose Unfractionated Heparin (5000 IU s/c daily) as thrombo Prophylaxis regimen. To study the outcome of low dose UFH (5000 IU sc /daily) + Low dose aspirin (75 mg oral per day) for thrombo prophylaxis in utero placental insufficiency, in patient with 2 or more abortions.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in 135 patients with 2 or more abortions as obstetric history. Prophylactic low dose of UFH (5000 IU s/c daily) + LDA 75 mg oral was initiated.  The Primary outcome is live birth, and secondary outcomes is Reduced incidence of early onset of gestational hypertension (HT), Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR).Results: Out of 135 women 131 gave live birth, 2 had first trimester abortion and 2 had intrauterine death by 5 to 6 months. PIH was higher in patients with more than 30 years of age.Conclusions: In our Retrospective, data combination of low dose UFH (5000IU s/c) + LDA (75mg oral) is as safe as routine thrombo prophylaxis with good compliance

Near-infrared spectroscopy of SN 2009ip's 2012 brightening reveals a dusty pre-supernova environment

We present low-resolution near-infrared (IR) 0.8–2.5 μm spectra of Supernova (SN) 2009ip, taken immediately before, during and just after its rapid brightening in late September/October 2012. The first epoch shows the same general spectral characteristics as the later epochs (smooth continuum, narrow H and He I emission lines), but the IR continuum shape is substantially redder than the later epochs. The epoch 1 continuum can be approximated by reddening the peak-luminosity (epoch 3) spectrum by E(B − V) = 1.0 mag, but the blue colour seen in visual-wavelength spectra at the same time indicates that strong wavelength-dependent extinction by circumstellar dust is not the correct explanation. Instead, we favour the hypothesis that the redder colour before the brightening arises from excess emission from hot ∼2000 K circumstellar dust. The minimum radius ( ≳ 120 au) deduced from the dust temperature and observed luminosity of the transient, combined with the observed expansion speed in the precursor outbursts of SN 2009ip, is consistent with an ejection at least 1.1 yr earlier. The mass of hot dust indicated by the IR excess is ∼4 × 10^(−7) M⊙, although this is only a lower limit since the near-IR data do not constrain the mass of cooler dust. Thus, the observed pre-SN outbursts of this object were able to efficiently form dust into which the SN ejecta and radiation now propagate. This is consistent with the notion that the same pre-SN eruptions that generally give rise to SNe IIn also give rise to the dust needed for their commonly observed IR echoes. We also discuss some aspects of the IR line profiles, including He I λ10 830

Gravity in the 3+1-Split Formalism II: Self-Duality and the Emergence of the Gravitational Chern-Simons in the Boundary

We study self-duality in the context of the 3+1-split formalism of gravity with non-zero cosmological constant. Lorentzian self-dual configurations are conformally flat spacetimes and have boundary data determined by classical solutions of the three-dimensional gravitational Chern-Simons. For Euclidean self-dual configurations, the relationship between their boundary initial positions and initial velocity is also determined by the three-dimensional gravitational Chern-Simons. Our results imply that bulk self-dual configurations are holographically described by the gravitational Chern-Simons theory which can either viewed as a boundary generating functional or as a boundary effective action.Comment: 25 pages; v2: minor improvements, references adde

Torsion and the Gravity Dual of Parity Symmetry Breaking in AdS4/CFT3 Holography

We study four dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant deformed by the Nieh-Yan torsional topological invariant with a spacetime-dependent coefficient. We find an exact solution of the Euclidean system, which we call the torsion vortex, having two asymptotic AdS4 regimes supported by a pseudoscalar with a kink profile. We propose that the torsion vortex is the holographic dual of a three dimensional system that exhibits distinct parity breaking vacua. The torsion vortex represents a (holographic) transition between these distinct vacua. We expect that from the boundary point of view, the torsion vortex represents a `domain wall' between the two distinct vacua. From a bulk point of view, we point out an intriguing identification of the parameters of the torsion vortex with those of an Abrikosov vortex in a Type I superconductor. Following the analogy, we find that external Kalb-Ramond flux then appears to support bubbles of flat spacetime within an asymptotically AdS geometry.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor improvements, references adde

Gravity in the 3+1-Split Formalism I: Holography as an Initial Value Problem

We present a detailed analysis of the 3+1-split formalism of gravity in the presence of a cosmological constant. The formalism helps revealing the intimate connection between holography and the initial value formulation of gravity. We show that the various methods of holographic subtraction of divergences correspond just to different transformations of the canonical variables, such that the initial value problem is properly set up at the boundary. The renormalized boundary energy momentum tensor is a component of the Weyl tensor.Comment: 28 pages; v2: minor improvements, references adde

Interactive Training System for Interventional Electrocardiology Procedures

International audienceRecent progress in cardiac catheterization and devices al-lowed to develop new therapies for severe cardiac diseases like arrhyth-mias and heart failure. The skills required for such interventions are still very challenging to learn, and typically acquired over several years. Vir-tual reality simulators can reduce this burden by allowing to practice such procedures without consequences on patients. In this paper, we propose the first training system dedicated to cardiac electrophysiology, includ-ing pacing and ablation procedures. Our framework involves an efficient GPU-based electrophysiological model. Thanks to an innovative mul-tithreading approach, we reach high computational performances that allow to account for user interactions in real-time. Based on a scenario of cardiac arrhythmia, we demonstrate the ability of the user-guided simulator to navigate inside vessels and cardiac cavities with a catheter and to reproduce an ablation procedure involving: extra-cellular poten-tial measurements, endocardial surface reconstruction, electrophysiology mapping, radio-frequency (RF) ablation, as well as electrical stimulation. This works is a step towards computerized medical learning curriculum