Acknowledgement of priority - A fractional Helly theorem for boxes

In our recent paper [1] we prove a fractional Helly type theorem for boxes in Rd. This short note is to acknowledge priority: in 1980 Meir Katchalski [4] proved exactly the same result and in 1988 Jürgen Eckhoff [2] proved the same result in much more generality. In fact, Eckhoff established an upper bound theorem for the f -vectors of finite families of boxes in Rd from which his result is derived. Besides apologies for our ignorance we would like to mention that Eckhoff extended his results further in a more recent paper [3]

Increased Indoleamine-2,3-Dioxygenase Activity Is Associated With Poor Clinical Outcome in Adults Hospitalized With Influenza in the INSIGHT FLU003Plus Study

BACKGROUND: Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) mediated tryptophan (TRP) depletion has antimicrobial and immuno-regulatory effects. Increased kynurenine (KYN)-to-TRP (KT) ratios, reflecting increased IDO activity, have been associated with poorer outcomes from several infections. METHODS: We performed a case-control (1:2; age and sex matched) analysis of adults hospitalized with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 with protocol-defined disease progression (died/transferred to ICU/mechanical ventilation) after enrollment (cases) or survived without progression (controls) over 60 days of follow-up. Conditional logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between baseline KT ratio and other metabolites and disease progression. RESULTS: We included 32 cases and 64 controls with a median age of 52 years; 41% were female, and the median durations of influenza symptoms prior to hospitalization were 8 and 6 days for cases and controls, respectively (P = .04). Median baseline KT ratios were 2-fold higher in cases (0.24 mM/M; IQR, 0.13–0.40) than controls (0.12; IQR, 0.09–0.17; P ≤ .001). When divided into tertiles, 59% of cases vs 20% of controls had KT ratios in the highest tertile (0.21–0.84 mM/M). When adjusted for symptom duration, the odds ratio for disease progression for those in the highest vs lowest tertiles of KT ratio was 9.94 (95% CI, 2.25–43.90). CONCLUSIONS: High KT ratio was associated with poor outcome in adults hospitalized with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09. The clinical utility of this biomarker in this setting merits further exploration. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01056185

Surface Reconstruction and Decahedral Structure of Bimetallic Nanoparticles

We report on energetic surface reconstruction phenomena observed on bimetallic nanoparticle systems of AuPd and AuCu, similar to a resolidification effect observed during the cooling process in lead clusters. These binary alloy nanoparticles show the fivefold edges truncated, resulting in { 100 } facets on decahedral structures, an effect largely envisioned and reported theoretically, with no experimental evidence so far. We demonstrate experimentally as well as by computational simulations that this new eutectic structure is favored in such nanoalloy systems.Fil: Rodríguez López J. L.. Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica ; MéxicoFil: Montejano Carrizales, J. M.. Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí; MéxicoFil: Pal, U.. Universidad Auto´noma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Sánchez Ramírez, J. F.. Universidad Auto´noma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Troiani, Horacio Esteban. Comision Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia de Área Investigaciones y Aplicaciones no Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (Centro Atómico Bariloche). División Física de Metales; ArgentinaFil: García, D.. The University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Miki Yoshida, M.. The University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: José Yacamán, Miguel. The University of Texas; Estados Unido

An orbital-free molecular dynamics study of melting in K_20, K_55, K_92, K_142, Rb_55 and Cs_55 clusters

The melting-like transition in potasium clusters K_N, with N=20, 55, 92 and 142, is studied by using an orbital-free density-functional constant-energy molecular dynamics simulation method, and compared to previous theoretical results on the melting-like transition in sodium clusters of the same sizes. Melting in potasium and sodium clusters proceeds in a similar way: a surface melting stage develops upon heating before the homogeneous melting temperature is reached. Premelting effects are nevertheless more important and more easily established in potasium clusters, and the transition regions spread over temperature intervals which are wider than in the case of sodium. For all the sizes considered, the percentage melting temperature reduction when passing from Na to K clusters is substantially larger than in the bulk. Once those two materials have been compared for a number of different cluster sizes, we study the melting-like transition in Rb_55 and Cs_55 clusters and make a comparison with the melting behavior of Na_55 and K_55. As the atomic number increases, the height of the specific heat peaks decreases, their width increases, and the melting temperature decreases as in bulk melting, but in a more pronounced way.Comment: LaTeX file. 6 pages with 17 pictures. Final version with minor change

Remdesivir for 5 or 10 Days in Patients With Severe Covid-19

Background: Remdesivir is an RNA polymerase inhibitor with potent antiviral activity in vitro and efficacy in animal models of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Methods: We conducted a randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial involving hospitalized patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, oxygen saturation of 94% or less while they were breathing ambient air, and radiologic evidence of pneumonia. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive intravenous remdesivir for either 5 days or 10 days. All patients received 200 mg of remdesivir on day 1 and 100 mg once daily on subsequent days. The primary end point was clinical status on day 14, assessed on a 7-point ordinal scale. Results: In total, 397 patients underwent randomization and began treatment (200 patients for 5 days and 197 for 10 days). The median duration of treatment was 5 days (interquartile range, 5 to 5) in the 5-day group and 9 days (interquartile range, 5 to 10) in the 10-day group. At baseline, patients randomly assigned to the 10-day group had significantly worse clinical status than those assigned to the 5-day group (P = 0.02). By day 14, a clinical improvement of 2 points or more on the ordinal scale occurred in 64% of patients in the 5-day group and in 54% in the 10-day group. After adjustment for baseline clinical status, patients in the 10-day group had a distribution in clinical status at day 14 that was similar to that among patients in the 5-day group (P = 0.14). The most common adverse events were nausea (9% of patients), worsening respiratory failure (8%), elevated alanine aminotransferase level (7%), and constipation (7%). Conclusions: In patients with severe Covid-19 not requiring mechanical ventilation, our trial did not show a significant difference between a 5-day course and a 10-day course of remdesivir. With no placebo control, however, the magnitude of benefit cannot be determined. (Funded by Gilead Sciences; GS-US-540-5773 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04292899.)

Choice of the initial antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive individuals in the era of integrase inhibitors

BACKGROUND: We aimed to describe the most frequently prescribed initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens in recent years in HIV-positive persons in the Cohort of the Spanish HIV/AIDS Research Network (CoRIS) and to investigate factors associated with the choice of each regimen. METHODS: We analyzed initial ART regimens prescribed in adults participating in CoRIS from 2014 to 2017. Only regimens prescribed in >5% of patients were considered. We used multivariable multinomial regression to estimate Relative Risk Ratios (RRRs) for the association between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and the choice of the initial regimen. RESULTS: Among 2874 participants, abacavir(ABC)/lamivudine(3TC)/dolutegavir(DTG) was the most frequently prescribed regimen (32.1%), followed by tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)/emtricitabine (FTC)/elvitegravir(EVG)/cobicistat(COBI) (14.9%), TDF/FTC/rilpivirine (RPV) (14.0%), tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)/FTC/EVG/COBI (13.7%), TDF/FTC+DTG (10.0%), TDF/FTC+darunavir/ritonavir or darunavir/cobicistat (bDRV) (9.8%) and TDF/FTC+raltegravir (RAL) (5.6%). Compared with ABC/3TC/DTG, starting TDF/FTC/RPV was less likely in patients with CD4100.000 copies/mL. TDF/FTC+DTG was more frequent in those with CD4100.000 copies/mL. TDF/FTC+RAL and TDF/FTC+bDRV were also more frequent among patients with CD4<200 cells//muL and with transmission categories other than men who have sex with men. Compared with ABC/3TC/DTG, the prescription of other initial ART regimens decreased from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017 with the exception of TDF/FTC+DTG. Differences in the choice of the initial ART regimen were observed by hospitals' location. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of initial ART regimens is consistent with Spanish guidelines' recommendations, but is also clearly influenced by physician's perception based on patient's clinical and sociodemographic variables and by the prescribing hospital location