Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CVD Prevention and Treatment

The authors identified individual randomized controlled trials from previous meta-analyses and additional searches, and then performed meta-analyses on cardiovascular disease outcomes and all-cause mortality. The authors assessed publications from 2012, both before and including the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force review. Their systematic reviews and meta-analyses showed generally moderate- or low-quality evidence for preventive benefits (folic acid for total cardiovascular disease, folic acid and B-vitamins for stroke), no effect (multivitamins, vitamins C, D, β-carotene, calcium, and selenium), or increased risk (antioxidant mixtures and niacin [with a statin] for all-cause mortality). Conclusive evidence for the benefit of any supplement across all dietary backgrounds (including deficiency and sufficiency) was not demonstrated; therefore, any benefits seen must be balanced against possible risks

ELN2017 risk stratification improves outcome prediction when applied to the prospective GIMEMA AML1310 protocol

The 2017 version of the ELN recommendations, by integrating cytogenetics and mutational status of specific genes, sort out patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia into 3 prognostically distinct risk categories: favorable (ELN2017-FR), intermediate (ELN2017-IR) and adverse (ELN2017-AR). We performed a post-hoc analysis of the GIMEMA AML1310 trial to investigate the applicability of the ELN2017 risk stratification to our study population. In this trial, after induction and consolidation, patients in complete remission were to receive autologous stem cell transplant (AuSCT) if categorized as favorable-risk or allogeneic stem cell transplant (ASCT) if adverse-risk. Intermediate-risk pts were to receive AuSCT or ASCT based on the post-consolidation levels of Measurable Residual Disease as measured by flow-cytometry. Risk categorization was originally conducted according to NCCN2009 recommendations. Among 500 patients, 445 (89%) were re-classified according to the ELN2017 criteria: ELN2017-FR (186/455; 41.8%), ELN2017-IR (179/445 40.2%) and ELN2017-AR (80/455; 18%); in 55 patients (11%) ELN2017 was not applicable (ELN2017-NC). Two-year overall survival (OS) was 68.8%, 51.3%, 45.8% and 42.8% for ELN2017-FR, ELN2017-IR, ELN2017-NC, and ELN2017-AR group, respectively (p<0.001). When comparing the two different transplant strategies in each ELN2017 risk category, a significant benefit of AuSCT over ASCT was observed among ELN2017-FR patients (2-years OS of 83.3% vs. 66.7%; p=0.0421). The two transplant procedures performed almost equally in the ELN2017-IR group (2-years OS of 73.9% vs. 70.8%; p=0.5552). This post-hoc analysis of the GIMEMA AML1310 trial, confirms that the ELN2017 classification is able to accurately discriminate patients with different outcomes and who may benefit from different transplant strategies

Search for intermediate-mass black hole binaries in the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo

International audienceIntermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) span the approximate mass range 100−105 M⊙, between black holes (BHs) that formed by stellar collapse and the supermassive BHs at the centers of galaxies. Mergers of IMBH binaries are the most energetic gravitational-wave sources accessible by the terrestrial detector network. Searches of the first two observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo did not yield any significant IMBH binary signals. In the third observing run (O3), the increased network sensitivity enabled the detection of GW190521, a signal consistent with a binary merger of mass ∼150 M⊙ providing direct evidence of IMBH formation. Here, we report on a dedicated search of O3 data for further IMBH binary mergers, combining both modeled (matched filter) and model-independent search methods. We find some marginal candidates, but none are sufficiently significant to indicate detection of further IMBH mergers. We quantify the sensitivity of the individual search methods and of the combined search using a suite of IMBH binary signals obtained via numerical relativity, including the effects of spins misaligned with the binary orbital axis, and present the resulting upper limits on astrophysical merger rates. Our most stringent limit is for equal mass and aligned spin BH binary of total mass 200 M⊙ and effective aligned spin 0.8 at 0.056 Gpc−3 yr−1 (90% confidence), a factor of 3.5 more constraining than previous LIGO-Virgo limits. We also update the estimated rate of mergers similar to GW190521 to 0.08 Gpc−3 yr−1.Key words: gravitational waves / stars: black holes / black hole physicsCorresponding author: W. Del Pozzo, e-mail: [email protected]† Deceased, August 2020