The mobility of Atlantic baric depressions leading to intense precipitation over Italy: a preliminary statistical analysis

International audienceThe speed of Atlantic surface depressions, occurred during the autumn and winter seasons and that lead to intense precipitation over Italy from 1951 to 2000, was investigated. Italy was divided into 5 regions as documented in previous climatological studies (based on Principal Component Analysis). Intense precipitation events were selected on the basis of in situ rain gauge data and clustered according to the region that they hit. For each intense precipitation event we tried to identify an associated surface depression and we tracked it, within a large domain covering the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions, from its formation to cyclolysis in order to estimate its speed. "Depression speeds" were estimated with 6-h resolution and clustered into slow and non-slow classes by means of a threshold, coinciding with the first quartile of speed distribution and depression centre speeds were associated with their positions. Slow speeds occurring over an area including Italy and the western Mediterranean basin showed frequencies higher than 25%, for all the Italian regions but one. The probability of obtaining by chance the observed more than 25% success rate was estimated by means of a binomial distribution. The statistical reliability of the result is confirmed for only one region. For Italy as a whole, results were confirmed at 95% confidence level. Stability of the statistical inference, with respect to errors in estimating depression speed and changes in the threshold of slow depressions, was analysed and essentially confirmed the previous results

Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Markers of Vascular Function: A Systematic Review and Individual Participant Meta- Analysis

Background-—Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, but the effect of vitamin D supplementation on markers of vascular function associated with major adverse cardiovascular events is unclear. Methods and Results-—We conducted a systematic review and individual participant meta-analysis to examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on flow-mediated dilatation of the brachial artery, pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, central blood pressure, microvascular function, and reactive hyperemia index. MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov were searched until the end of 2016 without language restrictions. Placebo-controlled randomized trials of at least4 weeks duration were included. Individual participant data were sought from investigators on included trials. Trial-level metaanalysis was performed using random-effects models; individual participant meta-analyses used a 2-stage analytic strategy, examining effects in prespecified subgroups. 31trials (2751 participants) were included; 29 trials (2641participants) contributed data to trial-level meta-analysis, and24trials (2051 participants) contributed to individual-participant analyses. VitaminD3daily dose equivalents ranged from 900 to 5000 IU; duration was 4 weeks to12 months. Trial-level meta-analysis showed no significant effect of supplementation on macrovascularmeasures(flow-mediateddilatation,0.37%[95%confidenceinterval, 0.23to0.97]; carotid-femoralpulsewavevelocity, 0.00 m/s [95% confidence interval, 0.36 to 0.37]); similar results were obtained from individual participant data. Microvascular function showed a modest improvement in trial-level data only. No consistent benefit was observed in subgroup analyses or between different vitamin D analogues. Conclusions-—Vitamin D supplementation had no significant effect on most markers of vascular function in this analysis

Norovirus Regulation of the Innate Immune Response and Apoptosis Occurs via the Product of the Alternative Open Reading Frame 4

Small RNA viruses have evolved many mechanisms to increase the capacity of their short genomes. Here we describe the identification and characterization of a novel open reading frame (ORF4) encoded by the murine norovirus (MNV) subgenomic RNA, in an alternative reading frame overlapping the VP1 coding region. ORF4 is translated during virus infection and the resultant protein localizes predominantly to the mitochondria. Using reverse genetics we demonstrated that expression of ORF4 is not required for virus replication in tissue culture but its loss results in a fitness cost since viruses lacking the ability to express ORF4 restore expression upon repeated passage in tissue culture. Functional analysis indicated that the protein produced from ORF4 antagonizes the innate immune response to infection by delaying the upregulation of a number of cellular genes activated by the innate pathway, including IFN-Beta. Apoptosis in the RAW264.7 macrophage cell line was also increased during virus infection in the absence of ORF4 expression. In vivo analysis of the WT and mutant virus lacking the ability to express ORF4 demonstrated an important role for ORF4 expression in infection and virulence. STAT1-/- mice infected with a virus lacking the ability to express ORF4 showed a delay in the onset of clinical signs when compared to mice infected with WT virus. Quantitative PCR and histopathological analysis of samples from these infected mice demonstrated that infection with a virus not expressing ORF4 results in a delayed infection in this system. In light of these findings we propose the name virulence factor 1, VF1 for this protein. The identification of VF1 represents the first characterization of an alternative open reading frame protein for the calicivirus family. The immune regulatory function of the MNV VF1 protein provide important perspectives for future research into norovirus biology and pathogenesis

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

The mobility of Atlantic baric depressions leading to intense precipitation over Italy: a preliminary statistical analysis

The speed of Atlantic surface depressions, occurred during the autumn and winter seasons and that lead to intense precipitation over Italy from 1951 to 2000, was investigated. Italy was divided into 5 regions as documented in previous climatological studies (based on Principal Component Analysis). Intense precipitation events were selected on the basis of in situ rain gauge data and clustered according to the region that they hit. For each intense precipitation event we tried to identify an associated surface depression and we tracked it, within a large domain covering the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions, from its formation to cyclolysis in order to estimate its speed. "Depression speeds" were estimated with 6-h resolution and clustered into slow and non-slow classes by means of a threshold, coinciding with the first quartile of speed distribution and depression centre speeds were associated with their positions. Slow speeds occurring over an area including Italy and the western Mediterranean basin showed frequencies higher than 25%, for all the Italian regions but one. The probability of obtaining by chance the observed more than 25% success rate was estimated by means of a binomial distribution. The statistical reliability of the result is confirmed for only one region. For Italy as a whole, results were confirmed at 95% confidence level. Stability of the statistical inference, with respect to errors in estimating depression speed and changes in the threshold of slow depressions, was analysed and essentially confirmed the previous results

Searching for resemblance between large-scale sea level pressure patterns leading to intense precipitation events over Italy

How strong is the resemblance between two states of the atmosphere leading to the same outcome? In the following pages this question was addressed by studying the resemblance of the surface pressure fields, obtained by NCEP reanalyses, corresponding to \u201cintense\u201d precipitation events over 5 Italian climatic areas. Such \u201cintense\u201d precipitation events were selected by means of 45 daily precipitation records covering the period from 1951 to 2000. Two pressure patterns that resemble one another are termed soft-analogues in this paper. The mathematical measures used to assess the difference between two pressure patterns were: the root-mean-square difference, the correlation, and the S1 score. The comparison outcomes were categorized into classes according to the previous measures. Once a couple of the pressure patterns were found to be good soft-analogues (that was a rare occurrence), these pressure patterns were compared with all pressure patterns excluded by the initial selection being not associated with intense precipitation events. The few soft-analogues associated with \u201cintense\u201d precipitation events were found to be also soft-analogue to several, and sometimes a great deal of, pressure patterns not associated with the selected \u201cintense\u201d precipitation events

Phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase of rat testis. Gonadotropin dependence and immunocytochemical identification

none6Roveri A.; Casasco A.; Maiorino M.; Dalan P.; Calligaro A.; Ursini F.Roveri, A.; Casasco, Andrea; Maiorino, M.; Dalan, P.; Calligaro, Alberto; Ursini, F

A study on risk assessment differences among auditors in the group a category audit firms in Metro Manila as affected by auditor characteristics

The research made was an adaptation of Hsueh-Ju Chen, Shaio Yan Huang, Kuang-Hsun Shih\u27s study entitled An Empirical Examination of the Impact of Risk Factors on Auditor\u27s Risk Assessment in 2006. The Researchers aimed to identify any significant difference in risk assessment among auditors in group A audit firms in Metro Manila as affected by their characteristics. In this study, five variables were tested for variances and subsequently analyzed. The variables include, sex/gender, tenure of auditor-client relationship, years of auditing experience, educational attainment and position. It was found out that educational attainment, years of auditing experience and position showed a significant differences in risk assessment of auditors and proved to have an effect on risk assessment. On the other hand, gender and tenure of auditor-client relationship did not pose any significant differences on the risk assessment of auditors