1,186 research outputs found
Smoking associates with increased BAFF and decreased interferon-Îłlevels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
Objective - In SLE, smoking increases the burden of cutaneous disease and organ damage, and leads to premature mortality. However, the effect of smoking on disease manifestations and cytokine levels of patients with SLE is unclear. This study compared characteristics of patients with SLE across smoking status, and determined the association of smoking with serum cytokine levels.
Method - A cross-sectional study of patients with SLE (n=99) during a research visit in which smoking status was ascertained. Smoking status was compared across classification criteria (American College of Rheumatology Classification Criteria for SLE (ACR97)), disease activity (SLE Disease Activity Index), autoantibody levels, accrued damage (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/ACR Damage Index), and circulating concentrations of serum interferon-gamma (IFN-Îł), interleukin (IL)-1ÎČ, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-17, B cell-activating factor (BAFF), tumour necrosis factor-alpha, transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-ÎČ1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP-1α), MIP-1ÎČ and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1. Linear regression models determined the association between smoking and cytokine levels, adjusting for age and sex, clinical characteristics (model 1), and anti-inflammatory (IL-4, IL-10 and TGF- ÎČ1) and regulatory (IL-1ÎČ) cytokines (model 2).
Results - Among patients with SLE (97.9% ANA+; mean 48.48 years old; 86.9% female; mean 10 years of disease duration), 35.4% (n=35 of 99) were smoking (an average of 7 cigarettes/day for 24 years). Smokers had increased odds of prevalent ACR97 malar rash (OR 3.40, 95%âCI 1.23 to 9.34) and mucosal ulcers (OR 3.31, 95% CI 1.36 to 8.05). Smokers had more arthritis (OR 3.19, 95%âCI 1.19 to 8.60), migraine (OR 2.82, 95%âCI 1.07 to 7.44), Raynaudâs phenomenon (OR 5.15, 95%âCI 1.95 to 13.56) and increased non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use (OR 6.88, 95%âCI 1.99 to 23.72). Smoking associated with 27% increased BAFF levels (95%âCI 6% to 48%) and 42% decreased IFN-Îł levels (95%âCI â79% to â5%) in model 2.
Conclusion - In patients with SLE, smoking independently associated with increased BAFF and decreased IFN-Îł levels, and an increased frequency of arthritis, migraine and Raynaudâs phenomenon. Smoking cessation is advisable to reduce systemic inflammation, reduce disease activity and improve host defence
The Effect of Inefficient Accretion on Planetary Differentiation
Pairwise collisions between terrestrial embryos are the dominant means of
accretion during the last stage of planet formation. Hence, their realistic
treatment in N-body studies is critical to accurately model the formation of
terrestrial planets and to develop interpretations of telescopic and spacecraft
observations. In this work, we compare the effects of two collision
prescriptions on the core-mantle differentiation of terrestrial planets: a
model in which collisions are always completely accretionary (``perfect
merging'') and a more realistic model based on neural networks that has been
trained on hydrodynamical simulations of giant impacts. The latter model is
able to predict the loss of mass due to imperfect accretion and the evolution
of non-accreted projectiles in hit-and-run collisions. We find that the results
of the neural-network model feature a wider range of final core mass fractions
and metal-silicate equilibration pressures, temperatures, and oxygen fugacities
than the assumption of perfect merging. When used to model collisions in N-body
studies of terrestrial planet formation, the two models provide similar answers
for planets more massive than 0.1 Earth's masses. For less massive final
bodies, however, the inefficient-accretion model predicts a higher degree of
compositional diversity. This phenomenon is not reflected in planet formation
models of the solar system that use perfect merging to determine collisional
outcomes. Our findings confirm the role of giant impacts as important drivers
of planetary diversity and encourage a realistic implementation of inefficient
accretion in future accretion studies.Comment: 21 pages, 2 tables, 7 figures. Published open access on PSJ:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/abf0a
Reduced anticoagulation strategy is associated with a lower incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage in COVID-19 patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Background
Optimal anticoagulation strategies for COVID-19 patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) remain uncertain. A higher incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) during VV ECMO support compared to non-COVID-19 viral ARDS patients has been reported, with increased bleeding rates in COVID-19 attributed to both intensified anticoagulation and a disease-specific endotheliopathy. We hypothesized that lower intensity of anticoagulation during VV ECMO would be associated with a lower risk of ICH. In a retrospective, multicenter study from three academic tertiary intensive care units, we included patients with confirmed COVID-19 ARDS requiring VV ECMO support from March 2020 to January 2022. Patients were grouped by anticoagulation exposure into higher intensity, targeting anti-factor Xa activity (anti-Xa) of 0.3â0.4Â U/mL, versus lower intensity, targeting anti-Xa 0.15â0.3Â U/mL, cohorts. Mean daily doses of unfractionated heparin (UFH) per kg bodyweight and effectively measured daily anti-factor Xa activities were compared between the groups over the first 7Â days on ECMO support. The primary outcome was the rate of ICH during VV ECMO support.
Results
141 critically ill COVID-19 patients were included in the study. Patients with lower anticoagulation targets had consistently lower anti-Xa activity values over the first 7 ECMO days (pâ<â0.001). ICH incidence was lower in patients in the lower anti-Xa group: 4 (8%) vs 32 (34%) events. Accounting for death as a competing event, the adjusted subhazard ratio for the occurrence of ICH was 0.295 (97.5% CI 0.1â0.9, pâ=â0.044) for the lower anti-Xa compared to the higher anti-Xa group. 90-day ICU survival was higher in patients in the lower anti-Xa group, and ICH was the strongest risk factor associated with mortality (odds ratio [OR] 6.8 [CI 2.1â22.1], pâ=â0.001).
Conclusions
For COVID-19 patients on VV ECMO support anticoagulated with heparin, a lower anticoagulation target was associated with a significant reduction in ICH incidence and increased survival
Differential branching fraction and angular analysis of the decay B0âKâ0ÎŒ+ÎŒâ
The angular distribution and differential branching fraction of the decay B 0â K â0 ÎŒ + ÎŒ â are studied using a data sample, collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at sâ=7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1. Several angular observables are measured in bins of the dimuon invariant mass squared, q 2. A first measurement of the zero-crossing point of the forward-backward asymmetry of the dimuon system is also presented. The zero-crossing point is measured to be q20=4.9±0.9GeV2/c4 , where the uncertainty is the sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties. The results are consistent with the Standard Model predictions
Search for CP violation in D+âÏÏ+ and D+sâK0SÏ+ decays
A search for CP violation in D + â ÏÏ + decays is performed using data collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1 at a centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. The CP -violating asymmetry is measured to be (â0.04 ± 0.14 ± 0.14)% for candidates with K â K + mass within 20 MeV/c 2 of the Ï meson mass. A search for a CP -violating asymmetry that varies across the Ï mass region of the D + â K â K + Ï + Dalitz plot is also performed, and no evidence for CP violation is found. In addition, the CP asymmetry in the D+sâK0SÏ+ decay is measured to be (0.61 ± 0.83 ± 0.14)%
Model-independent search for CP violation in D0âKâK+ÏâÏ+ and D0âÏâÏ+Ï+Ïâ decays
A search for CP violation in the phase-space structures of D0 and View the MathML source decays to the final states KâK+ÏâÏ+ and ÏâÏ+Ï+Ïâ is presented. The search is carried out with a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1 collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. For the KâK+ÏâÏ+ final state, the four-body phase space is divided into 32 bins, each bin with approximately 1800 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 9.1%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 6.5% observed. The phase space of the ÏâÏ+Ï+Ïâ final state is partitioned into 128 bins, each bin with approximately 2500 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 41%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 5.5% observed. All results are consistent with the hypothesis of no CP violation at the current sensitivity
Observation of two new baryon resonances
Two structures are observed close to the kinematic threshold in the mass spectrum in a sample of proton-proton collision data, corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb recorded by the LHCb experiment.
In the quark model, two baryonic resonances with quark content are
expected in this mass region: the spin-parity and
states, denoted and .
Interpreting the structures as these resonances, we measure the mass
differences and the width of the heavier state to be
MeV,
MeV,
MeV, where the first and second
uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The width of the
lighter state is consistent with zero, and we place an upper limit of
MeV at 95% confidence level. Relative
production rates of these states are also reported.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
Search for the lepton-flavor-violating decays Bs0âe±Όâ and B0âe±Όâ
A search for the lepton-flavor-violating decays Bs0âe±Όâ and B0âe±Όâ is performed with a data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0ââfb-1 of pp collisions at âs=7ââTeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The observed number of Bs0âe±Όâ and B0âe±Όâ candidates is consistent with background expectations. Upper limits on the branching fractions of both decays are determined to be B(Bs0âe±Όâ)101ââTeV/c2 and MLQ(B0âe±Όâ)>126ââTeV/c2 at 95% C.L., and are a factor of 2 higher than the previous bounds
Measurements of the branching fractions of B+âppK+ decays
The branching fractions of the decay B+ â ppÌK+ for different intermediate states are measured using data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb-1, collected by the LHCb experiment. The total branching fraction, its charmless component MppÌ < 2.85 GeV/c2 and the branching fractions via the resonant ccÌ states η c(1S) and Ï(2S) relative to the decay via a J/Ï intermediate state are [Equation not available: see fulltext.] Upper limits on the B + branching fractions into the η c(2S) meson and into the charmonium-like states X(3872) and X(3915) are also obtained
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