Energy and decay width of the pi-K atom

The energy and decay width of the pi-K atom are evaluated in the framework of the quasipotential-constraint theory approach. The main electromagnetic and isospin symmetry breaking corrections to the lowest-order formulas for the energy shift from the Coulomb binding energy and for the decay width are calculated. They are estimated to be of the order of a few per cent. We display formulas to extract the strong interaction S-wave pi-K scattering lengths from future experimental data concerning the pi-K atom.Comment: 37 pages, 5 figures, uses Axodra

Meteorological Factors and Seasonal Stroke Rates: A Four-year Comprehensive Study

Introduction: There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that acute cardiovascular events including stroke are not distributed randomly over time but instead depend on months/season of the year. We report the impact of meteorological variables in extremely hot and arid climate on stroke. Methods: Acute stroke patients admitted from January 2014 to December 2017 were included. The data included demographics, clinical risk factors, temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, dew point, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure. We calculated stroke rates/100,000/month. Results: There were 3654 cases of stroke (ischemic stroke [IS]: 2956 [80.9%]; and intracerebral hemorrhage [ICH]: 698 [19.1%]) with no difference in hematocrit, creatinine, and blood urea between hot and cold seasons (p > .05). We observed a positive significant correlation of IS with the mean temperature (AOR: 1.023; 95% CI: 1.009-1.036; P = .001) and mean solar radiation (AOR: 1.268; 95% CI: 1.021-1.575; P = .032) showing a 2.3% and 26.8% higher risk relative to ICH respectively, a negative correlation between IS with relative humidity (AOR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.984-0.997; P = .002), and atmospheric pressure (AOR: 0.977; 95% CI: 0.966-0.989; P < .001) was observed, 1% increase in the relative humidity correlate with 2.4% and 1% lower risk of IS incidence relative to ICH respectively. Conclusion: We demonstrated a distinct seasonal pattern in the incidence of stroke with an increase in IS rates relative to ICH during the summer months with higher solar radiations that cannot be explained by physiological measures suggestive of dehydration or hem-concentration. - 2019 Elsevier Inc.Scopu

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium report, data summary of 50 countries for 2010-2015: Device-associated module

•We report INICC device-associated module data of 50 countries from 2010-2015.•We collected prospective data from 861,284 patients in 703 ICUs for 3,506,562 days.•DA-HAI rates and bacterial resistance were higher in the INICC ICUs than in CDC-NHSN's.•Device utilization ratio in the INICC ICUs was similar to CDC-NHSN's. Background: We report the results of International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2010-December 2015 in 703 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific. Methods: During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 861,284 patients hospitalized in INICC hospital ICUs for an aggregate of 3,506,562 days. Results: Although device use in INICC ICUs was similar to that reported from CDC-NHSN ICUs, DA-HAI rates were higher in the INICC ICUs: in the INICC medical-surgical ICUs, the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection, 4.1 per 1,000 central line-days, was nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.8 per 1,000 central line-days reported from comparable US ICUs, the overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher, 13.1 versus 0.9 per 1,000 ventilator-days, as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, 5.07 versus 1.7 per 1,000 catheter-days. From blood cultures samples, frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (29.87% vs 10%) and to imipenem (44.3% vs 26.1%), and of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (73.2% vs 28.8%) and to imipenem (43.27% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC ICUs compared with CDC-NHSN ICUs. Conclusions: Although DA-HAIs in INICC ICU patients continue to be higher than the rates reported in CDC-NSHN ICUs representing the developed world, we have observed a significant trend toward the reduction of DA-HAI rates in INICC ICUs as shown in each international report. It is INICC's main goal to continue facilitating education, training, and basic and cost-effective tools and resources, such as standardized forms and an online platform, to tackle this problem effectively and systematically