Health Outcome Predictive Evaluation for COVID 19 international registry (HOPE COVID-19), rationale and design

The disease produced by the new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2), named COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019) has recently been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, scarce clinical data is available and generally limited to the Chinese population due to the first cases were identified in Wuhan (Hubei, China).This article describes the rationale and design of the HOPE COVID-19 (Health Outcome Predictive Evaluation for COVID 19) registry (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04334291). With an ambispective cohort design, eligible patients are those discharged, deceased or alive, from any hospital center with a confirmed diagnosis or a COVID-19 high suspicion. With a current recruitment of more than 7000 cases, in 46 hospitals in 8 countries, since it is not possible to estimate the sample size based on literature reports, the investigators will try to get the maximum numbers of patients possible. The study primary objective is all cause mortality and aims to characterize the clinical profile of patients infected in order to develop a prognostic clinical score allowing, rapid logistic decision making. As secondary objectives, the analysis of other clinical events, the risk-adjusted influence of treatments and previous comorbidities of patients infected with the disease will be performed.The results of HOPE COVID-19 will contribute to a better understanding of this condition. We aim to describe the management of this condition as well as the outcomes in relation to the therapy chosen, in order to gain insight into improving patient care in the coming months. Clinical Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT04334291

Cost effectiveness of palivizumab in Spain: an analysis using observational data

Objectives: To assess the cost effectiveness of palivizumab for prevention of severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease in high-risk infants in Spain, incorporating country-specific observational hospitalisation data. Methods: An existing decision tree model, designed using data from a large international clinical trial of palivizumab versus no prophylaxis, was updated to include Spanish observational hospitalisation data. The analysis was performed for preterm children born at or before 32 weeks gestational age, who are at high risk of developing severe RSV disease requiring hospitalisation. Data sources included published literature, official price/tariff lists and national population statistics. The primary perspective of the study was that of the Spanish National Health Service in 2006. Results: The base-case analysis included the direct medical costs associated with palivizumab prophylaxis and hospital care for RSV infections. Use of palivizumab produces an undiscounted incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of €6,142 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), and a discounted ICER of €12,814/QALY. Conclusion: Palivizumab provides a cost-effective method of prophylaxis against severe RSV disease requiring hospitalisation among preterm infants in Spain

Researching the use of force: The background to the international project

This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in eight countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has looked at police officers’ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology

Cadherin-23 Mediates Heterotypic Cell-Cell Adhesion between Breast Cancer Epithelial Cells and Fibroblasts

In the early stages of breast cancer metastasis, epithelial cells penetrate the basement membrane and invade the surrounding stroma, where they encounter fibroblasts. Paracrine signaling between fibroblasts and epithelial tumor cells contributes to the metastatic cascade, but little is known about the role of adhesive contacts between these two cell types in metastasis. Here we show that MCF-7 breast cancer epithelial cells and normal breast fibroblasts form heterotypic adhesions when grown together in co-culture, as evidenced by adhesion assays. PCR and immunoblotting show that both cell types express multiple members of the cadherin superfamily, including the atypical cadherin, cadherin-23, when grown in isolation and in co-culture. Immunocytochemistry experiments show that cadherin-23 localizes to homotypic adhesions between MCF-7 cells and also to heterotypic adhesions between the epithelial cells and fibroblasts, and antibody inhibition and RNAi experiments show that cadherin-23 plays a role in mediating these adhesive interactions. Finally, we show that cadherin-23 is upregulated in breast cancer tissue samples, and we hypothesize that heterotypic adhesions mediated by this atypical cadherin may play a role in the early stages of metastasis

‘The only game in town?’: football match-fixing in Greece

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12117-014-9239-3Football match-fixing in Greece has a relatively long history, however, from the late 1990s it has been considered as a serious problem for the sport in the country. Despite the history of the phenomenon in the country, Greece has only relatively recently been identified as one of the hotspots for football match-fixing on an international level. Following the recent scandal exposure of fixed matches in Greece in 2011, also known as Koriopolis (a pun name on the Italian scandal Calciopolis and the Greek word ‘korios’ or phone-tap), detailed information about numerous matches played in the 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons that attracted UEFA’s attention were brought into the public eye. Soon after, legal action was taken against individuals involved in the process, with a number of club officials facing lifelong bans from any footballrelated activity, and football clubs either relegated or excluded from European competitions and the Super League itself for their involvement in the scandal. In May 2013, the number of people facing charges exceeded 200, with some of them having already been imprisoned for their involvement in the scandal. Following the aforementioned scandal exposure, a vast amount of information regarding football match-fixing was made available to the public. The aim of the current article is to provide an account of the social organisation of football match-fixing in Greece. Our account is based on three main sources of data: the telephone conversations that were the result of wiretapping by the National Intelligence Agency in relation to the latest football match-fixing scandal (of 2011), published media sources, and interviews with informed actors from the realm of Greek football

Validation and test-retest repeatability performance of parametric methods for [11C]UCB-J PET

[(11)C]UCB-J is a PET radioligand that binds to the presynaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A. Therefore, [(11)C]UCB-J PET may serve as an in vivo marker of synaptic integrity. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the quantitative accuracy and the 28-day test–retest repeatability (TRT) of various parametric quantitative methods for dynamic [(11)C]UCB-J studies in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients and healthy controls (HC). Eight HCs and seven AD patients underwent two 60-min dynamic [(11)C]UCB-J PET scans with arterial sampling over a 28-day interval. Several plasma-input based and reference-region based parametric methods were used to generate parametric images using metabolite corrected plasma activity as input function or white matter semi-ovale as reference region. Different parametric outcomes were compared regionally with corresponding non-linear regression (NLR) estimates. Furthermore, the 28-day TRT was assessed for all parametric methods. Spectral analysis (SA) and Logan graphical analysis showed high correlations with NLR estimates. Receptor parametric mapping (RPM) and simplified reference tissue model 2 (SRTM2) BP(ND), and reference Logan (RLogan) distribution volume ratio (DVR) regional estimates correlated well with plasma-input derived DVR and SRTM BP(ND). Among the multilinear reference tissue model (MRTM) methods, MRTM1 had the best correspondence with DVR and SRTM BP(ND). Among the parametric methods evaluated, spectral analysis (SA) and SRTM2 were the best plasma-input and reference tissue methods, respectively, to obtain quantitatively accurate and repeatable parametric images for dynamic [(11)C]UCB-J PET. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13550-021-00874-8

Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Cadherin-11 Expression by GSK-3 and β-Catenin in Prostate and Breast Cancer Cells

The cell-cell adhesion molecule cadherin-11 is important in embryogenesis and bone morphogenesis, invasion of cancer cells, lymphangiogenesis, homing of cancer cells to bone, and rheumatoid arthritis. However, very little is known about the regulation of cadherin-11 expression.Here we show that cell density and GSK-3beta regulate cadherin-11 levels in cancer cells. Inactivation of GSK3beta with lithium chloride or the GSK3 inhibitor BIO and GSK3beta knockdown with siRNA repressed cadherin-11 mRNA and protein levels. RNA Polymerase II chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments showed that inhibition of GSK3 does not affect cadherin-11 gene transcription. Although the cadherin-11 3'UTR contains putative microRNA target sites and is regulated by Dicer, its stability is not regulated by GSK3 inhibition or density. Our data show that GSK3beta regulates cadherin-11 expression in two ways: first a beta-catenin-independent regulation of cadherin-11 steady state mRNA levels, and second a beta-catenin-dependent effect on cadherin-11 3'UTR stability and protein translation.Cadherin-11 mRNA and protein levels are regulated by the activity of GSK3beta and a significant degree of this regulation is exerted by the GSK3 target, beta-catenin, at the level of the cadherin-11 3'UTR

Synthesis of Well-Defined, Surfactant-Free Co₃O₄ Nanoparticles:The Impact of Size and Manganese Promotion on Co₃O₄ Reduction and Water Oxidation Activity

Abstract: A surfactant-free synthetic route has been developed to produce size-controlled, cube-like cobalt oxide nanoparticles of three different sizes in high yields. It was found that by using sodium nitrite as salt-mediating agent, near-quantitative yields could be obtained. The size of the nanoparticles could be altered from 11 to 22 nm by changing the cobalt concentration and reaction time. These surfactant-free nanoparticles form ideal substrates for facile deposition of further elements such as manganese. The effect of size of the cobalt oxide nanoparticles and the presence of manganese on the reducibility of cobalt oxide to metallic cobalt was investigated. Similarly, the effect of these parameters was investigated with a visible light promoted water oxidation system with cobalt oxide as catalyst, together with [Ru(bpy) 3] 2+ light harvester dye and an electron acceptor. Graphical Abstract: A novel surfactant-free synthetic route has been developed to produce size-controlled, cube shaped cobalt oxide nanoparticles in high yields. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. </p

Singing the same tune? International continuities and discontinuities in how police talk about using force

This article focuses on a research project conducted in six jurisdictions: England, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Venezuela, and Brazil. These societies are very different ethnically, socially, politically, economically, historically and have wildly different levels of crime. Their policing arrangements also differ significantly: how they are organised; how their officers are equipped and trained; what routine operating procedures they employ; whether they are armed; and much else besides. Most relevant for this research, they represent policing systems with wildly different levels of police shootings, Police in the two Latin American countries represented here have a justified reputation for the frequency with which they shoot people, whereas at the other extreme the police in England do not routinely carry firearms and rarely shoot anyone. To probe whether these differences are reflected in the way that officers talk about the use of force, police officers in these different jurisdictions were invited to discuss in focus groups a scenario in which police are thwarted in their attempt to arrest two youths (one of whom is a known local criminal) by the youths driving off with the police in pursuit, and concludes with the youths crashing their car and escaping in apparent possession of a gun, It might be expected that focus groups would prove starkly different, and indeed they were, but not in the way that might be expected. There was little difference in affirmation of normative and legal standards regarding the use of force. It was in how officers in different jurisdictions envisaged the circumstances in which the scenario took place that led Latin American officers to anticipate that they would shoot the suspects, whereas officers in the other jurisdictions had little expectation that they would open fire in the conditions as they imagined them to be