Analysis of Exoo's Lower Bound for Ramsey number R(5,5)R(5,5)

We provide proofs to check and exposit Exoo's construction of a colouring on $K_{42}$ that demonstrates that $R(5,5)>42$. The proof suggests is also possible to extract from this construction a colouring of $K_{43}$ that has very few monochromatic $K_5$s.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 3 reference

The Grizzly, October 4, 2007

Homecoming Nominees Raise the Bar for a Good Cause • Senegal Bound: Director Discusses Study Abroad Program • Iranian President Meets Protests, Criticism at Columbia University • No More Burning: Bookstore Unleashes Banned Books Week • Breakaway Theatre Looks Promising • Nutritious Can be Delicious: Finding the Right Food for You • MSA Today • Infiltrating the English Department • Letter from the Editor: On CSU and Censorship • Opinion: MoveOn.org\u27s General Petraeus Ad • Women\u27s Soccer Fights for Undefeated CC Title • Crowds Gather to Support UC Footballhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1745/thumbnail.jp

The Lantern Vol. 74, No. 2, Spring 2007

• La Viuda • The Curb After Light Drizzling • Loose Cream • The Problem of Ants • Streetplay • Avignon, Anno Domini 1348 • Autophagia • Silverette-New Wave Fascist Date Routine • Mint Shavings • Dogtags • Millenials • Rain That Sleeps by Itself at Track Number 5 • Amorphous • I Found a Flashlight • Sippikkul Muthu: Pearl Within Shell • Of Lies • The Complications of a Fish-Only Diet • Ashes • Unto the Fourth Generation • Marooned on Piano Island • Sweethttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1170/thumbnail.jp

Research Evaluation Alongside Clinical Treatment in COVID-19 (REACT COVID-19): An observational and biobanking study

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 places immense worldwide demand on healthcare services. Earlier identification of patients at risk of severe disease may allow intervention with experimental targeted treatments, mitigating the course of their disease and reducing critical care service demand. Methods and analysis: This prospective observational study of patients tested or treated for SARS-CoV-2, who are under the care of the tertiary University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHSFT), captured data from admission to discharge; data collection commenced on 7 March 2020. Core demographic and clinical information, as well as results of disease-defining characteristics, was captured and recorded electronically from hospital clinical record systems at the point of testing. Manual data were collected and recorded by the clinical research team for assessments which are not part of the structured electronic healthcare record, for example, symptom onset date. Thereafter, participant records were continuously updated during hospital stay and their follow-up period. Participants aged &gt;16 years were given the opportunity to provide consent for excess clinical sample storage with optional further biological sampling. These anonymised samples were linked to the clinical data in the Real-time Analytics for Clinical Trials platform and were stored within a biorepository at UHSFT. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was obtained from the HRA Specific Review Board (REC 20/HRA/2986) for waiver of informed consent for the database-only cohort; the procedures conform with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study design, protocol and patient-facing documentation for the biobanking arm of the study have been approved by North West Research Ethics Committee (REC 17/NW/0632) as an amendment to the National Institute for Health Research Southampton Clinical Research Facility-managed Southampton Research Biorepository. This study will be published as peer-reviewed articles and presented at conferences, presentations and workshops. </p

Wave comparisons of clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 admissions - Exploring the impact of treatment and strain dynamics

OBJECTIVES: Dexamethasone has now been incorporated into the standard of care for COVID-19 hospital patients. However, larger intensive care unit studies have failed to show discernible improvements in mortality in the recent wave. We aimed to investigate the impacts of these factors on disease outcomes in a UK hospital study.METHODS: This retrospective observational study reports patient characteristics, interventions and outcomes in COVID-19 patients from a UK teaching hospital; cohort 1, pre 16th June-2020 (pre-dexamethasone); cohort 2, 17th June to 30th November-2020 (post-dexamethasone, pre-VOC 202,012/01 as dominant strain); cohort 3, 1st December-2020 to 3rd March-2021 (during establishment of VOC202012/01 as the dominant strain).RESULTS: Dexamethasone treatment was more common in cohorts 2 and 3 (42.7% and 51.6%) compared with cohort 1 (2.5%). After adjusting for risk, odds of death within 28 days were 2-fold lower in cohort 2 vs 1 (OR:0.47,[0.27,0.79],p = 0.006). Mortality was higher cohort 3 vs 2 (20% vs 14%); but not significantly different to cohort 1 (OR: 0.86,[0.64, 1.15],p = 0.308).CONCLUSIONS: The real world finding of lower mortality following dexamethasone supports the published trial evidence and highlights ongoing need for research with introduction of new treatments and ongoing concern over new COVID-19 variants.</p

Thermally Highly Stable Amorphous Zinc Phosphate Intermediates during the Formation of Zinc Phosphate Hydrate

The mechanisms by which amorphous intermediates transform into crystalline materials are still poorly understood. Here we attempt to illuminate the formation of an amorphous precursor by investigating the crystallization process of zinc phosphate hydrate. This work shows that amorphous zinc phosphate (AZP) nanoparticles precipitate from aqueous solutions prior to the crystalline hopeite phase at low concentrations and in the absence of additives at room temperature. AZP nanoparticles are thermally stable against crystallization even at 400 °C (resulting in a high temperature AZP), but they crystallize rapidly in the presence of water if the reaction is not interrupted. X-ray powder diffraction with high-energy synchrotron radiation, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and small-angle X-ray scattering showed the particle size (≈20 nm) and confirmed the noncrystallinity of the nanoparticle intermediates. Energy dispersive X-ray, infrared, and Raman spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and optical emission spectrometry as well as thermal analysis were used for further compositional characterization of the as synthesized nanomaterial. ¹H solid-state NMR allowed the quantification of the hydrogen content, while an analysis of ³¹P­{¹H} C rotational echo double resonance spectra permitted a dynamic and structural analysis of the crystallization pathway to hopeite

Compassionate use of Pulmonary Vasodilators in Acute Severe Hypoxic Respiratory Failure due to COVID-19

Background: there have been over 200 million cases and 4.4 million deaths from COVID-19 worldwide. Despite the lack of robust evidence one potential treatment for COVID-19 associated severe hypoxaemia is inhaled pulmonary vasodilator (IPVD) therapy, using either nitric oxide (iNO) or prostaglandins. We describe the implementation of, and outcomes from, a protocol using IPVDs in a cohort of patients with severe COVID-19 associated respiratory failure receiving maximal conventional support. Methods: prospectively collected data from adult patients with SARS-CoV-2 admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at a large teaching hospital were analysed for the period 14 th March 2020 - 11 th February 2021. An IPVD was considered if the PaO 2/FiO 2 (PF) ratio was less than 13.3kPa despite maximal conventional therapy. Nitric oxide was commenced at 20ppm and titrated to response. If oxygenation improved Iloprost nebulisers were commenced and iNO weaned. The primary outcome was percentage changes in PF ratio and Alveolar-arterial (A-a) gradient. Results: fifty-nine patients received IPVD therapy during the study period. The median PF ratio before IPVD therapy was commenced was 11.33kPa (9.93-12.91). Patients receiving an IPVD had a lower PF ratio (14.37 vs. 16.37kPa, p = 0.002) and higher APACHE-II score (17 vs. 13, p = 0.028) at ICU admission. At 72 hours after initiating an IPVD the median improvement in PF ratio was 33.9% (-4.3-84.1). At 72 hours changes in PF ratio (70.8 vs. −4.1%, p &lt; 0.001) and reduction in A-a gradient (44.7 vs. 14.8%, p &lt; 0.001) differed significantly between survivors (n = 33) and non-survivors (n = 26). Conclusions: the response to IPVDs in patients with COVID-19 associated acute hypoxic respiratory failure differed significantly between survivors and non-survivors. Both iNO and prostaglandins may offer therapeutic options for patients with severe refractory hypoxaemia due to COVID-19. The use of inhaled prostaglandins, and iNO where feasible, should be studied in adequately powered prospective randomised trials.</p

Caring for COVID-19 patients through a pandemic in the intensive care setting: a narrative review

Since the declaration of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic, health systems/ health-care-workers globally have been overwhelmed by a vast number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. During the early stages of the pandemic, the lack of formalized evidence-based guidelines in all aspects of patient management was a significant challenge. Coupled with a lack of effective pharmacotherapies resulted in unsatisfactory outcomes in ICU patients. The anticipated increment in ICU surge capacity was staggering, with almost every ICU worldwide being advised to increase their capacity to allow adequate care provision in response to multiple waves of the pandemic. This increase in surge capacity required advanced planning and reassessments at every stage, taking advantage of experienced gained in combination with emerging evidence. In University Hospital Southampton General Intensive Care Unit (GICU), despite the initial lack of national and international guidance, we enhanced our ICU capacity and developed local guidance on all aspects of care to address the rapid demand from the increasing COVID-19 admissions. The main element of this success was a multidisciplinary team approach intertwined with equipment and infrastructural reorganization. This narrative review provides an insight into the approach adopted by our center to manage patients with COVID-19 critical illness, exploring the initial planning process, including contingency preparations to accommodate (360% capacity increment) and adaptation of our management pathways as more evidence emerged throughout the pandemic to provide the most appropriate levels of care to our patients. We hope our experience will benefit other intensive care units worldwide. This article is categorized under: Infectious Diseases &gt; Genetics/Genomics/Epigenetics