Performance of SAPS II and SAPS 3 in Intermediate Care

Objective: The efficacy and reliability of prognostic scores has been described extensively for intensive care, but their role for predicting mortality in intermediate care patients is uncertain. To provide more information in this field, we have analyzed the performance of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II and SAPS 3 in a single center intermediate care unit (ImCU). Materials and Methods: Cohort study with prospectively collected data from all patients admitted to a single center ImCU in Pamplona, Spain, from April 2006 to April 2012. The SAPS II and SAPS 3 scores with respective predicted mortality rates were calculated according to standard coefficients. Discrimination was evaluated by calculating the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and calibration with the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated for each model. Results: The study included 607 patients. The observed in-hospital mortality was 20.1% resulting in a SMR of 0.87 (95% CI 0.73-1.04) for SAPS II and 0.56 (95% CI 0.47-0.67) for SAPS 3. Both scores showed acceptable discrimination, with an AUROC of 0.76 (95% CI 0.71-0.80) for SAPS II and 0.75 (95% CI 0.71- 0.80) for SAPS 3. Calibration curves showed similar performance based on Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit C-test: (X2=12.9, p=0.113) for SAPS II and (X2=4.07, p=0.851) for SAPS 3. Conclusions: Although both scores overpredicted mortality, SAPS II showed better discrimination for patients admitted to ImCU in terms of SMR

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) - 2018 Summary Report

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a TeV-scale high-luminosity linear $e^+e^-$ collider under development at CERN. Following the CLIC conceptual design published in 2012, this report provides an overview of the CLIC project, its current status, and future developments. It presents the CLIC physics potential and reports on design, technology, and implementation aspects of the accelerator and the detector. CLIC is foreseen to be built and operated in stages, at centre-of-mass energies of 380 GeV, 1.5 TeV and 3 TeV, respectively. CLIC uses a two-beam acceleration scheme, in which 12 GHz accelerating structures are powered via a high-current drive beam. For the first stage, an alternative with X-band klystron powering is also considered. CLIC accelerator optimisation, technical developments and system tests have resulted in an increased energy efficiency (power around 170 MW) for the 380 GeV stage, together with a reduced cost estimate at the level of 6 billion CHF. The detector concept has been refined using improved software tools. Significant progress has been made on detector technology developments for the tracking and calorimetry systems. A wide range of CLIC physics studies has been conducted, both through full detector simulations and parametric studies, together providing a broad overview of the CLIC physics potential. Each of the three energy stages adds cornerstones of the full CLIC physics programme, such as Higgs width and couplings, top-quark properties, Higgs self-coupling, direct searches, and many precision electroweak measurements. The interpretation of the combined results gives crucial and accurate insight into new physics, largely complementary to LHC and HL-LHC. The construction of the first CLIC energy stage could start by 2026. First beams would be available by 2035, marking the beginning of a broad CLIC physics programme spanning 25-30 years

A MRG-operated chromatin switch at SOC1 attenuates abiotic stress responses during the floral transition

43 p.-5 fig.Plants react to environmental challenges by integrating external cues with endogenous signals to optimize survival and reproductive success. However, the mechanisms underlying this integration remain obscure. While stress conditions are known to impact plant development, how developmental transitions influence responses to adverse conditions has not been addressed. Here, we reveal a molecular mechanism of stress response attenuation during the onset of flowering in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We show that Arabidopsis MORF-RELATED GENE (MRG) proteins, components of the NuA4 histone acetyltransferase complex that bind trimethylated-lysine 36 in histone H3 (H3K36me3), function as a chromatin switch on the floral integrator SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) to coordinate flowering initiation with plant responsiveness to hostile environments. MRG proteins are required to activate SOC1 expression during flowering induction by promoting histone H4 acetylation. In turn, SOC1 represses a broad array of genes that mediate abiotic stress responses. We propose that during the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth, the MRG-SOC1 module constitutes a central hub in a mechanism that tunes down stress responses to enhance the reproductive success and plant fitness at the expense of costly efforts for adaptation to challenging environments.This work was funded by the Ministerio de Economía,Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España (MINECO) ~grants BIO2016-77559-R (to J.A.J. and M.P.) and BIO2016-79187-R (to J.S.); the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación,Gobierno de España grant PID2019-104899GB-I00 (to J.A.J.and M.P.); a FPU fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education (to A.M.); The authors thank the “Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R&D” from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain (grant SEV-2016-0672(2017-2021) for supporting the scientific services used in this work.Peer reviewe

Efectos de duloxetina y amitriptilina en el dolor neuropático: estudio en 180 casos

Objective. Evaluation of analgesia efficacy and tolerability of duloxetine versus amitriptyline in neuropathic pain. Methods. Prospective study in 180 patients during three months. We excluded patients with anxiety or depression. The patients were distributed in three groups: A (30 mg duloxetine at dinner, in the third day 60 mg, increasing 30 mg a week until relief pain); B (60 mg duloxetine at dinner, increasing 30 mg a week until relief pain); C (>60 years: 10 mg amitriptyline and 60 años y 25 mg los menores, con la cena, con incrementos semanales de 25 mg hasta alivio del dolor). Se valoraron: 1. Edad; 2. Diagnóstico; 3. Duración e intensidad del dolor (EVA); 4. Eficacia analgésica (EVA); 5. Tiempo de alivio del dolor; 6. Dosis media analgésica; 7. Efectos indeseable: incidencia, duración e intensidad; 8. Satisfacción del paciente. Los pacientes fueron evaluados a la semana, 15 días, mes y 3 meses de comenzar el tratamiento. Se utilizaron la t de Student para la comparación de medias y una prueba binomial simple para la comparación de proporciones. Resultados. La edad de los pacientes se encontraba, en un intervalo, entre 42-86 años. Los cuadros dolorosos estudiados fueron: Radiculopatía lumbar (45%), radiculopatía cervical (23%), neuralgia postherpética (11.5%), neuralgia del trigémino (10%), síndrome de dolor regional complejo tipo I (5 %), y dolor neuropático postcirugía (5.5%). El tiempo de alivio del dolor fue: A 5±2 días, B 6±1 días, C 14±6 días; las dosis medias analgésicas fueron: A 65±24 mg, B 67±22 mg, C 35±32 mg. La incidencia de efectos indeseables fue significativamente superior en el grupo amitriptilina (sequedad de boca, estreñimiento e hipotensión ortostática) frente a duloxetina (náuseas, somnolencia). En los pacientes del Grupo A, los efectos indeseables fueron de intensidad leve. La satisfacción personal fue excelente/buena en el 95.6% de las pacientes de los grupos A y B y en el 78,7% de las pacientes del grupo C. Conclusiones. Ambos fármacos son eficaces en el tratamiento del dolor neuropático. Duloxetina tiene como ventajas, un menor tiempo de inicio del efecto analgésico y una menor incidencia de efectos indeseables. Los efectos indeseables de duloxetina se minimizan significativamente comenzando con la dosis de 30mg