Relations between heart failure, ejection fraction, arrhythmia suppression and mortality: Analysis of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial

Objectives.We studied the relations between heart failure, ejection fraction, arrhythmia suppression and mortality.Background.Both left ventricular ejection fraction and functional class of heart failure are strongly associated with mortality after acute myocardial infarction. Both are also related to the presence of ventricular arrhythmias and have been identified as factors related to the ability to suppress ventricular arrhythmias. Little has been reported about the relations between these two factors and arrhythmia suppression or mortality.Methods.Baseline data from the Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial were used to define several categories of heart failure and to relate both the resulting categories and ejection fraction to arrhythmia suppression and mortality using logistic and survival regression analytic methodologies.Results.Regardless of the prospective baseline definition of heart failure used, the data consistently showed that heart failure was a more powerful predictor of subsequent congestive heart failure events and arrhythmia suppression and was equally powerful in predicting death. However, each variable provided incremental information when included in the prediction model. Heart failure and ejection fraction appeared to be independent predictors of death. Interactions were observed: A low ejection fraction was more predictive of failure of arrhythmia suppression in patients with than without evidence of heart failure before or at baseline; a low ejection fraction was more predictive of subsequent congestive heart failure events in patients without than with evidence of heart failure before or at baseline.Conclusions.Although heart failure as a prognostic feature appears to be somewhat superior to ejection fraction, both are powerful predictors of arrhythmia suppression and cardiac events in patients with ventricular arrhythmia after myocardial infarction. Each provides incremental prediction

Corruption in migration management: a network perspective

This paper explores the relation between networks as an emerging mode of public governance and corruption. Adopting the theoretical lens of actor-network theory (ANT), the paper investigates an Italian episode of corruption related to the awarding of government contracts for the management of the Mineo’s CARA, the Europe's largest reception centre for migrants. The analysis shows that a governance network may turn corruption itself into a network where abuse of power can proliferate thanks to the opacity resulting from the multiplicity of actors, interactions, and fragmentation characterizing the governance system

Characterization of materials used in the manufacture of ceramic tile with incorporation of ornamental rock waste

The production of ceramic tiles, such as tiles, has a great environmental impact, either in the extraction of natural raw materials or gas emissions in the burning stages. The use of industrial solid waste in ceramic materials can contribute to the reduction of these impacts, according to the characteristics of solid waste and its interaction with ceramic materials in the processing steps. Thus, this study aimed to characterize the materials needed to make a ceramic tile with incorporation of ornamental rock waste (ORW), thus evaluating its main characteristics regarding the feasibility of this incorporation. The physical characterization of the clays used in the production of ceramic artifacts was performed, and for the waste the mineralogical analyzes were performed, through x-ray diffraction (XRD), microstructure analysis from confocal optical microscopy, after sintering the prototypes and chemical analysis by X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Soon after the raw materials went through the step of conformation and preparation of the prismatic specimens by the process of extrusion of the ceramic mass, with an incorporation of the ORW in 0% and 15% of the ceramic mass, for its subsequent The prototypes were sintered at three different temperatures (850 °C, 950 °C and 1,050 °C). The specimens were submitted to technological tests of mechanical resistance, water absorption, firing shrinkage and porosity to evaluate the incorporation viability. The results indicated the presence of quartz particles in all raw materials, and also that the clays of the study region are predominantly kaolinitic. The presence of these materials in the ceramic masses directly influences the micrographs, because they result in the formation of liquid phase, inert particles that can turn the site into a stress concentration point and when incorporated in the ORW the specimens met the technical specifications of the Brazilian standard for application on ceramic tiles. The results found in the technological tests carried out, that the incorporation of 15% of ornamental rock waste in both clays did not affect the tile properties, indicating the feasibility of incorporating this waste in civil construction, minimizing the impacts generated

Electromagnetic properties of 21O for benchmarking nuclear Hamiltonians

The structure of exotic nuclei provides valuable tests for state-of-the-art nuclear theory. In particular electromagnetic transition rates are more sensitive to aspects of nuclear forces and many-body physics than excitation energies alone. We report the first lifetime measurement of excited states in $^{21}$O, finding $\tau_{1/2^+}=420^{+35}_{-32}\text{(stat)}^{+34}_{-12}\text{(sys)}$\,ps. This result together with the deduced level scheme and branching ratio of several $\gamma$-ray decays are compared to both phenomenological shell-model and ab initio calculations based on two- and three-nucleon forces derived from chiral effective field theory. We find that the electric quadrupole reduced transition probability of $\rm B(E2;1/2^+ \rightarrow 5/2^+_{g.s.}) = 0.71^{+0.07\ +0.02}_{-0.06\ -0.06}$~e$^2$fm$^4$, derived from the lifetime of the$1/2^+$ state, is smaller than the phenomenological result where standard effective charges are employed, suggesting the need for modifications of the latter in neutron-rich oxygen isotopes. We compare this result to both large-space and valence-space ab initio calculations, and by using multiple input interactions we explore the sensitivity of this observable to underlying details of nuclear forces.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figure

AWAKE, the advanced proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment at CERN

The Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment (AWAKE) aims at studying plasma wakefield generation and electron acceleration driven by proton bunches. It is a proof-of-principle R&D experiment at CERN and the world׳s first proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment. The AWAKE experiment will be installed in the former CNGS facility and uses the 400 GeV/c proton beam bunches from the SPS. The first experiments will focus on the self-modulation instability of the long (rms ~12 cm) proton bunch in the plasma. These experiments are planned for the end of 2016. Later, in 2017/2018, low energy (~15 MeV) electrons will be externally injected into the sample wakefields and be accelerated beyond 1 GeV. The main goals of the experiment will be summarized. A summary of the AWAKE design and construction status will be presented

Inhibition of Enterovirus 71 (EV-71) Infections by a Novel Antiviral Peptide Derived from EV-71 Capsid Protein VP1

Enterovirus 71 (EV-71) is the main causative agent of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). In recent years, EV-71 infections were reported to cause high fatalities and severe neurological complications in Asia. Currently, no effective antiviral or vaccine is available to treat or prevent EV-71 infection. In this study, we have discovered a synthetic peptide which could be developed as a potential antiviral for inhibition of EV-71. Ninety five synthetic peptides (15-mers) overlapping the entire EV-71 capsid protein, VP1, were chemically synthesized and tested for antiviral properties against EV-71 in human Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells. One peptide, SP40, was found to significantly reduce cytopathic effects of all representative EV-71 strains from genotypes A, B and C tested, with IC50 values ranging from 6–9.3 µM in RD cells. The in vitro inhibitory effect of SP40 exhibited a dose dependent concentration corresponding to a decrease in infectious viral particles, total viral RNA and the levels of VP1 protein. The antiviral activity of SP40 peptide was not restricted to a specific cell line as inhibition of EV-71 was observed in RD, HeLa, HT-29 and Vero cells. Besides inhibition of EV-71, it also had antiviral activities against CV-A16 and poliovirus type 1 in cell culture. Mechanism of action studies suggested that the SP40 peptide was not virucidal but was able to block viral attachment to the RD cells. Substitutions of arginine and lysine residues with alanine in the SP40 peptide at positions R3A, R4A, K5A and R13A were found to significantly decrease antiviral activities, implying the importance of positively charged amino acids for the antiviral activities. The data demonstrated the potential and feasibility of SP40 as a broad spectrum antiviral agent against EV-71

Serum Stabilities of Short Tryptophan- and Arginine-Rich Antimicrobial Peptide Analogs

Several short antimicrobial peptides that are rich in tryptophan and arginine residues were designed with a series of simple modifications such as end capping and cyclization. The two sets of hexapeptides are based on the Trp- and Arg-rich primary sequences from the "antimicrobial centre" of bovine lactoferricin as well as an antimicrobial sequence obtained through the screening of a hexapeptide combinatorial library.HPLC, mass spectrometry and antimicrobial assays were carried out to explore the consequences of the modifications on the serum stability and microbicidal activity of the peptides. The results show that C-terminal amidation increases the antimicrobial activity but that it makes little difference to its proteolytic degradation in human serum. On the other hand, N-terminal acetylation decreases the peptide activities but significantly increases their protease resistance. Peptide cyclization of the hexameric peptides was found to be highly effective for both serum stability and antimicrobial activity. However the two cyclization strategies employed have different effects, with disulfide cyclization resulting in more active peptides while backbone cyclization results in more proteolytically stable peptides. However, the benefit of backbone cyclization did not extend to longer 11-mer peptides derived from the same region of lactoferricin. Mass spectrometry data support the serum stability assay results and allowed us to determine preferred proteolysis sites in the peptides. Furthermore, isothermal titration calorimetry experiments showed that the peptides all had weak interactions with albumin, the most abundant protein in human serum.Taken together, the results provide insight into the behavior of the peptides in human serum and will therefore aid in advancing antimicrobial peptide design towards systemic applications