Synthetic CO, H2 and H I surveys of the second galactic quadrant, and the properties of molecular gas

articleWe present CO, H2, H I and HISA (H I self-absorption) distributions from a set of simulations of grand design spirals including stellar feedback, self-gravity, heating and cooling. We replicate the emission of the second galactic quadrant by placing the observer inside the modelled galaxies and post-process the simulations using a radiative transfer code, so as to create synthetic observations. We compare the synthetic data cubes to observations of the second quadrant of the Milky Way to test the ability of the current models to reproduce the basic chemistry of the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM), as well as to test how sensitive such galaxy models are to different recipes of chemistry and/or feedback. We find that models which include feedback and self-gravity can reproduce the production of CO with respect to H2 as observed in our Galaxy, as well as the distribution of the material perpendicular to the Galactic plane. While changes in the chemistry/feedback recipes do not have a huge impact on the statistical properties of the chemistry in the simulated galaxies, we find that the inclusion of both feedback and self-gravity are crucial ingredients, as our test without feedback failed to reproduce all of the observables. Finally, even though the transition from H2 to CO seems to be robust, we find that all models seem to underproduce molecular gas, and have a lower molecular to atomic gas fraction than is observed. Nevertheless, our fiducial model with feedback and self-gravity has shown to be robust in reproducing the statistical properties of the basic molecular gas components of the ISM in our Galaxy.We thank the referee, Ralf Klessen, for his comments that helped strengthen the paper. ADC and CLD acknowledge funding from the European Research Council for the FP7 ERC starting grant project LOCALSTAR. The calculations for this paper were performed on the DiRAC Complexity machine, jointly funded by STFC and the Large Facilities Capital Fund of BIS, and the University of Exeter Supercomputer, a DiRAC Facility jointly funded by STFC, the Large Facilities Capital Fund of BIS and the University of Exeter. Fig. 1 was produced using SPLASH (Price 2007). We acknowledge the use of NASA’s SkyView facility (http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov) located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. We also thank A. Rodrigues for providing high-resolution dust column density maps for benchmarking

Comparing the cost-effectiveness of two screening strategies for latent tuberculosis infection in Portugal

Introduction and objectives: Screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in close contacts of infectious TB cases might include Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) and Interferon-Gamma Release Assays (IGRA), in combination or as single-tests. In Portugal, the screening strategy changed from TST followed by IGRA to IGRA-only testing in 2016. Our objective was to compare the cost-effectiveness of two-step TST/IGRA with the current IGRA-only screening strategy in immunocompetent individuals exposed to individuals with respiratory TB. Materials and methods: We reviewed clinical records of individuals exposed to infectious TB cases diagnosed in 2015 and 2016, in two TB outpatient centers in the district of Porto. We estimated medical, non-medical and indirect costs for each screening strategy, taking into account costs of tests and health care personnel, travel distance from place of residence to screening site and employment status. We calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) as the cost difference between the two screening strategies with the difference number of LTBI diagnosis as a measure of cost-effectiveness, assuming that treating LTBI is a cost-effective intervention. We also calculated adjusted odds-ratios to test the association between diagnosis of LTBI and screening strategy and estimated the total cost for averting a potential TB case. Results: We compared 499 contacts TST/IGRA screened with 547 IGRA-only. IGRA-only strategy yielded a higher screening effectiveness for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infection (aOR 2.12, 95%CI: 1.53 - 2.94). ICER was €106 per LTBI diagnosis, representing increased effectiveness with a slightly increased cost of IGRA-only screening strategy. Conclusions: Our data suggests that in Portugal LTBI screening with IGRA-only is more cost-effective than the two-step TST/IGRA testing strategy, preventing a higher number of cases of TB cases

Intravenous immunoglobulin in dermatology – clinical experience in Hospital de Braga

Introdução: Nos últimos anos tem aumentado a experiência clínica com o uso de Imunoglobulinas Endovenosas (IgEv) em Dermatologia. Apesar da informação limitada na literatura, a utilização off-label das IgEv tem demonstrado eficácia na terapêutica de várias dermatoses refratárias aos tratamentos convencionais. Material e métodos: Efetuou-se um estudo retrospetivo dos doentes com patologia dermatológica tratados com IgEv entre Janeiro de 2004 e Outubro de 2011 no Serviço de Dermatologia do Hospital de Braga. Foram analisadas as características demográficas e clínicas, as terapêuticas efetuadas, a resposta clínica e o perfil de segurança. Resultados: Foram tratados 21 doentes com IgEv em 10 diferentes patologias dermatológicas: quatro doentes com Pênfigo Vulgar [2 com resposta completa (RC), um com resposta parcial (RP) e outro que interrompeu o tratamento por efeito lateral grave]; dois doentes com Penfigóide Bolhoso (um com RC e outro com RP); três doentes com Necrólise Epidérmica Tóxica (NET) com RC; dois doentes com Dermatomiosite (ambos com RP); quatro doentes com Urticária Crónica (um com RC, um com RP, um que não respondeu e outro que suspendeu o tratamento por efeito lateral); dois doentes com Vasculopatia Livedóide com RP; um doente com Síndrome CREST que não melhorou; um doente com Escleromixedema com RP; um doente com Pioderma Gangrenoso com RC e uma doente com Dermite Atópica que interrompeu o tratamento na sequência de gravidez. Com excepção dos 3 doentes com NET, em todos os outros a doença havia sido refratária aos tratamentos sistémicos convencionais. Conclusões: Apesar de a nossa experiência ser limitada, o tratamento com IgEv pode ser benéfico em determinadas patologias que não melhoram com o tratamento clássico. Atendendo ao seu custo elevado e efeito terapêutico variável, o seu uso deve ser criterioso até que mais estudos definam a relação risco-benefício

Bilateral optic neuritis in a 26-year-old man with common variable immunodeficiency: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Common variable immunodeficiency encompasses a group of heterogeneous conditions linked by a lack of immunoglobulin production and primary antibody failure. Although primary immunodeficiencies are typically characterized by recurrent infections, autoimmune manifestations have increasingly been recognized. Neurological complications are extremely rare and to the best of our knowledge optic neuritis has not been described previously. We report the case of a patient with common variable immunodeficiency who developed loss of vision secondary to bilateral optic neuritis.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 26-year-old Caucasian man with a diagnosis of common variable immunodeficiency presented to our facility with loss of vision secondary to bilateral optic neuritis. Results of a thorough study for infectious, neoplastic and autoimmune diseases were negative. Our patient was treated with intravenous methylprednisolone with almost complete improvement and he remained asymptomatic at a 12-month follow-up.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Bilateral optic neuritis should be added to the list of autoimmune disorders related to common variable immunodeficiency. If a patient with common variable immunodeficiency experiences loss of vision, the possibility of bilateral optic neuritis should be considered as rapid initiation of high-dose corticosteroids may improve visual recovery.</p

Genome variations: Effects on the robustness of neuroevolved control for swarm robotics systems

Manual design of self-organized behavioral control for swarms of robots is a complex task. Neuroevolution has proved a viable alternative given its capacity to automatically synthesize controllers. In this paper, we introduce the concept of Genome Variations (GV) in the neuroevolution of behavioral control for robotic swarms. In an evolutionary setup with GV, a slight mutation is applied to the evolving neural network parameters before they are copied to the robots in a swarm. The genome variation is individual to each robot, thereby generating a slightly heterogeneous swarm. GV represents a novel approach to the evolution of robust behaviors, expected to generate more stable and robust individual controllers, and bene t swarm behaviors that can deal with small heterogeneities in the behavior of other members in the swarm. We conduct experiments using an aggregation task, and compare the evolved solutions to solutions evolved under ideal, noise-free conditions, and to solutions evolved with traditional sensor noise.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio