228 research outputs found
The National Superficial Deposit Thickness Model. (Version 5)
The Superficial Deposits Thickness Model (SDTM) is a raster-based dataset designed to demonstrate the variation in thickness of Quaternary-age superficial deposits across Great Britain. Quaternary deposits (all unconsolidated material deposited in the last 2.6 million years) are of particular importance to environmental scientists and consultants concerned with our landscape, environment and habitats. The BGS has been generating national models of the thickness of Quaternary-age deposits since 2001, and this latest version of the model is based upon DiGMapGB-50 Version 5 geological mapping and borehole records registered with BGS before August 2008
METEOR : methods for analysing multi-hazards with exposure. Report M6.2/P
The objective of this report is to review methods for analysing multi-hazards with exposure and to propose a methodology for integrating multiple hazards, exposure and vulnerability in Nepal and Tanzania. The report introduces the concepts of fragility curves, damage matrices and physical vulnerability and reviews existing methods for assessing multi-hazard risk. It goes on to test two existing methodologies for multi-hazard assessment, concentrating on integrated risk assessment and relative vulnerability indices before discussing the use of expert elicitation to determine expert weighting of hazards into the hazard assessment. The report shows the hazard footprints generated through the METEOR project for Tanzania before discussing the framework for deriving relative vulnerability indicators and results of integrated risk. This report (M6.2/P) describes a piece of work conducted by British Geological Survey (BGS) as part of the METEOR (Modelling Exposure Through Earth Observation Routines) project, a 3-year project funded by UK Space Agency through their International Partnership Programme, details of which can be located in the Foreword of the report, the project having completed in 2021. The project aimed to provide an innovative solution to disaster risk reduction, through development of an innovative methodology of creating exposure data from Earth Observation (EO) imagery to identify development patterns throughout a country and provide detailed information when combined with population information. Level 1 exposure was developed for all 47 least developed countries on the OECD DAC list, referred to as ODA least-developed countries in the METEOR documentation, with open access to data and protocols for their development. New national detailed exposure and hazard datasets were also generated for the focus countries of Nepal and Tanzania and the impact of multiple hazards assessed for the countries. Training on product development and potential use for Disaster Risk Reduction was performed within these countries with all data made openly available on data platforms for wider use both within country and worldwide. The METEOR project was led by British Geological Survey (BGS) with collaborative partners Oxford Policy Management Limited (OPM), SSBN Limited, The Disaster Management Department, Office of the Prime Minister – Tanzania (DMD), The Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM), The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), ImageCat and the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) – Nepal. The project was broken into collaborative work packages including: Project Management (WP1 – led by BGS), Monitoring and Evaluation (WP2 – led by OPM), EO data for exposure development (WP3 – led by ImageCat), Inputs and Validation (WP4 – led by HOT), Vulnerability and Uncertainty (WP5 - led by GEM), Multiple Hazard Impact (WP6 - led by BGS), Knowledge sharing (WP7 – led by GEM) and Sustainability and capacity building (WP8 – led by ImageCat) with key collaboration throughout by the partners in Nepal (NSET) and Tanzania (DMD)
Protein-energy wasting syndrome in advanced chronic kidney disease: Prevalence and specific clinical characteristics
Introduction: Protein-energy wasting (PEW) is associated with increased mortality and differs depending on the chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage and the dialysis technique. The prevalence in non-dialysis patients is understudied and ranges from 0 to 40.8%. Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status of a group of Spanish advanced CKD patients by PEW criteria and subjective global assessment (SGA). Patients and methods: Cross-sectional study of 186 patients (101 men) with a mean age of 66.1 ± 16 years. The nutritional assessment consisted of: SGA, PEW criteria, 3-day dietary records, anthropometric parameters and bioelectrical impedance vector analysis. Results: The prevalence of PEW was 30.1%, with significant differences between men and women (22.8 vs. 33.8%, p < 0.005), while 27.9% of SGA values were within the range of malnutrition. No differences were found between the 2 methods. Men had higher proteinuria, percentage of muscle mass and nutrient intake. Women had higher levels of total cholesterol, HDL and a higher body fat percentage. The characteristics of patients with PEW were low albumin levels and a low total lymphocyte count, high proteinuria, low fat and muscle mass and a high Na/K ratio. The multivariate analysis found PEW to be associated with: proteinuria (OR: 1.257; 95% CI: 1.084–1.457, p = 0.002), percentage of fat intake (OR: 0.903; 95% CI: 0.893–0.983, p = 0.008), total lymphocyte count (OR: 0.999; 95% CI: 0.998–0.999, p = 0.001) and cell mass index (OR: 0.995; 95% CI: 0.992–0.998). Conclusion: Malnutrition was identified in Spanish advanced CKD patients measured by different tools. We consider it appropriate to adapt new diagnostic elements to PEW criteria.IntroducciĂłn: El desgaste proteico energĂ©tico (DPE) se asocia a mayor mortalidad y difieredependiendo del estadio de la enfermedad renal y de la tĂ©cnica de diálisis. Su prevalenciaen pacientes sin diálisis se encuentra poco estudiada y oscila entre el 0 y el 40,8%.Objetivo: Evaluar el estado nutricional segĂşn criterios de DPE y por valoraciĂłn global subje-tiva (VGS) de un colectivo de pacientes espaËśnoles con enfermedad renal crĂłnica avanzada(ERCA).Pacientes y mĂ©todos: Estudio transversal de 186 pacientes (101 hombres) con edad media de66,1 ± 16 aËśnos. Se realizĂł evaluaciĂłn nutricional mediante: VGS, criterios de DPE, registrodietĂ©tico de 3 dĂas, parámetros antropomĂ©tricos y bioimpedancia vectorial.Resultados: Un 30,1% presentaba DPE, con diferencias significativas entre hombres y mujeres(22,8 vs. 33,8%; p < 0,005) y un 27,9% tenĂa valores de VGS en rangos de desnutriciĂłn. Sindiferencia entre los 2 mĂ©todos estudiados. Los hombres presentaron mayores niveles deproteinuria, porcentaje de masa muscular e ingesta de nutrientes. Las mujeres tuvieronmayores niveles de colesterol total, HDL y porcentaje de masa grasa. Las caracterĂsticasde los pacientes con DPE fueron: bajos valores de albĂşmina y recuento total de linfocitos,elevada proteinuria, baja masa grasa, baja masa muscular y cociente Na/K elevado.El análisis multivariante mostrĂł asociaciĂłn de DPE con proteinuria (OR: 1,257; IC 95%:1,084-1,457; p = 0,002), porcentaje de ingesta lipĂdica (OR: 0,903; IC 95%: 0,893-0,983; p = 0,008),recuento total de linfocitos (OR: 0,999; IC 95%: 0,998-0,999; p = 0,001) y el Ăndice de masacelular (OR: 0,995; IC 95%: 0,992-0,998)
Immune Profiling of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells at Pancreas Acute Rejection Episodes in Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Recipients
Profiling of circulating immune cells provides valuable insight to the pathophysiology of acute rejection in organ transplantation. Herein we characterized the peripheral blood mononuclear cells in simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplant recipients. We conducted a retrospective analysis in a biopsy-matched cohort (n = 67) and compared patients with biopsy proven acute rejection (BPAR; 41%) to those without rejection (No-AR). We observed that CD3+ T cells, both CD8+ and CD4+, as well as CD19+ B cells were increased in patients with BPAR, particularly in biopsies performed in the early post-transplant period (<3 months). During this period immune subsets presented a good discriminative ability (CD4+ AUC 0.79; CD8+ AUC 0.80; B cells AUC 0.86; p < 0.05) and outperformed lipase (AUC 0.62; p = 0.12) for the diagnosis of acute rejection. We further evaluated whether this could be explained by differences in frequencies prior to transplantation. Patients presenting with early post-transplant rejection (<3 months) had a significant increase in T-cell frequencies pre-transplant, both CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells (p < 0.01), which were associated with a significant inferior rejection-free graft survival. T cell frequencies in peripheral blood correlated with pancreas acute rejection episodes, and variations prior to transplantation were associated with pancreas early acute rejection.Copyright © 2022 Rovira, Ramirez-Bajo, Bañón-Maneus, Hierro-Garcia, Lazo-Rodriguez, Piñeiro, Montagud-Marrahi, Cucchiari, Revuelta, Cuatrecasas, Campistol, Ricart, Diekmann, Garcia-Criado and Ventura-Aguiar
METEOR : hazard footprints for Nepal and Tanzania. Report M6.1/P
This report describes a specific piece of work conducted by British Geological Survey (BGS), Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM) and Fathom (SSBN) as part of the METEOR (Modelling Exposure Through Earth Observation Routines) project, led by British Geological Survey (BGS) with collaborative partners Oxford Policy Management Limited (OPM), SSBN Limited, The Disaster Management Department, Office of the Prime Minister – Tanzania (DMD), The Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM), The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), ImageCat and the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) – Nepal.
The 3-year project was funded by UK Space Agency through their International Partnership Programme, details of which can be located in the Foreword, and was completed in 2021.
The project aimed to provide an innovative solution to disaster risk reduction, through development of an innovative methodology of creating exposure data from Earth Observation (EO) imagery to identify development patterns throughout a country and provide detailed information when combined with population information. Level 1 exposure was developed for all 47 least developed countries on the OECD DAC list, referred to as ODA least-developed countries in the METEOR documentation, with open access to data and protocols for their development. New national detailed exposure and hazard datasets were also generated for the focus countries of Nepal and Tanzania and the impact of multiple hazards assessed for the countries. Training on product development and potential use for Disaster Risk Reduction was performed within these countries with all data made openly available on data platforms for wider use both within country and worldwide.
This report (M6.1/P) is the first generated by BGS for the work package on Multiple hazard impact (WP6) led by BGS. The other 7 METEOR work packages included, Project Management (WP1 – led by BGS), Monitoring and Evaluation (WP2 – led by OPM), EO data for exposure development (WP3 – led by ImageCat), Inputs and Validation (WP4 – led by HOT), Vulnerability and Uncertainty (WP5 - led by GEM), Knowledge sharing (WP7 – led by GEM) and Sustainability and capacity building (WP8 – led by ImageCat)
Resolution of disseminated fusariosis in a child with acute leukemia treated with combined antifungal therapy: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Fusarium </it>spp. is being isolated with increasing frequency as a pathogen in oncohematologic patients. Caspofungin and amphotericin B have been reported to have synergistic activity against <it>Fusarium </it>spp.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We herein report a case of disseminated fusariosis diagnosed by chest CT scan and positive blood cultures to <it>Fusarium </it>spp. Because the patient's clinical condition deteriorated, CRP levels increased, and blood cultures continued to yield <it>Fusarium </it>spp. despite liposomal amphotericin B monotherapy up to 5 mg/kg daily, treatment with caspofungin was added. Within 2 weeks of onset of combined antifungal therapy, the chest CT scan demonstrated a progressive resolution of the pulmonary lesions. Upon discontinuation of intravenous antifungals, the patient received suppressive therapy with oral voriconazole. Three months later, a chest CT scan showed no abnormalities. Twenty-five months after discontinuation of all antifungal therapy, the patient remains in complete remission of her neoplastic disease with no signs of clinical activity of the <it>Fusarium </it>infection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first description of successful treatment of disseminated fusariosis in a pediatric patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia with caspofungin and amphotericin B followed by oral suppressive therapy with voriconazole.</p
Search for Branons at LEP
We search, in the context of extra-dimension scenarios, for the possible
existence of brane fluctuations, called branons. Events with a single photon or
a single Z-boson and missing energy and momentum collected with the L3 detector
in e^+ e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies sqrt{s}=189-209$ GeV are
analysed. No excess over the Standard Model expectations is found and a lower
limit at 95% confidence level of 103 GeV is derived for the mass of branons,
for a scenario with small brane tensions. Alternatively, under the assumption
of a light branon, brane tensions below 180 GeV are excluded
Search for Branons at LEP
We search, in the context of extra-dimension scenarios, for the possible
existence of brane fluctuations, called branons. Events with a single photon or
a single Z-boson and missing energy and momentum collected with the L3 detector
in e^+ e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies sqrt{s}=189-209$ GeV are
analysed. No excess over the Standard Model expectations is found and a lower
limit at 95% confidence level of 103 GeV is derived for the mass of branons,
for a scenario with small brane tensions. Alternatively, under the assumption
of a light branon, brane tensions below 180 GeV are excluded
Measurement of Exclusive rho^0 rho^0 Production in Two-Photon Collisions at High Q^2 at LEP
Exclusive rho rho production in two-photon collisions involving a single
highly virtual photon is studied with data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass
energies 89GeV < \sqrt{s} < 209GeV with a total integrated luminosity of
854.7pb^-1 The cross section of the process gamma gamma^* -> rho rho is
determined as a function of the photon virtuality, Q^2 and the two-photon
centre-of-mass energy, Wgg, in the kinematic region: 1.2GeV^2 < Q^2 < 30GeV^2
and 1.1GeV < Wgg < 3GeV
Measurement of W Polarisation at LEP
The three different helicity states of W bosons produced in the reaction e+
e- -> W+ W- -> l nu q q~ at LEP are studied using leptonic and hadronic W
decays. Data at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt s = 183-209 GeV are used to
measure the polarisation of W bosons, and its dependence on the W boson
production angle. The fraction of longitudinally polarised W bosons is measured
to be 0.218 \pm 0.027 \pm 0.016 where the first uncertainty is statistical and
the second systematic, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation
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