704 research outputs found
Impact of Outpatient vs Inpatient ABSSSI Treatment on Outcomes: A Retrospective Observational Analysis of Medical Charts Across US Emergency Departments
Background
The objective of this study was to characterize treatment of patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) and describe the association between hospital admission and emergency department (ED) visits or readmissions within 30 days after initial episode of care (IEC).
Methods
This was a retrospective, observational, cohort study of adults with ABSSSI who presented to an ED between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013. Patient, health care facility, and treatment characteristics, including unplanned ED visits or readmissions, were obtained through manual chart review and abstraction. Adjusted logistic regression analysis examined likelihood of all-cause unplanned ED visits or readmissions between admitted and nonadmitted patients.
Results
Records from 1527 ED visits for ABSSSI from 40 centers were reviewed (admitted, n = 578 [38%]; nonadmitted, n = 949 [62%]). Admitted patients were typically older (mean age, 52.2 years vs 43.0 years), more likely to be morbidly obese (body mass index \u3e 40 kg/m2; 17.3% vs 9.1%), and had more comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index ≥ 4; 24.4% vs 6.8%) compared with those not admitted. In the primary analysis, adjusted logistic regression, controlling for comorbidities and severity of illness, demonstrated that there was a similar likelihood of all-cause unplanned ED visits or readmissions between admitted and nonadmitted patients (odds ratio, 1.03; 95% confidence interval, 0.74–1.43; P = .87).
Conclusions
ABSSSI treatment pathways leveraging outpatient treatment vs hospital admission support similar likelihood of unplanned 30-day ED visits or readmissions, an important clinical outcome and quality metric at US hospitals. Further research regarding the decision criteria around hospital admission to avoid potentially unnecessary hospitalizations is warranted
Asteroseismology of the open clusters NGC 6791, NGC 6811, and NGC 6819 from nineteen months of Kepler photometry
We studied solar-like oscillations in 115 red giants in the three open
clusters NGC 6791, NGC 6811, and NGC 6819, based on photometric data covering
more than 19 months with NASA's Kepler space telescope. We present the
asteroseismic diagrams of the asymptotic parameters \delta\nu_02, \delta\nu_01
and \epsilon, which show clear correlation with fundamental stellar parameters
such as mass and radius. When the stellar populations from the clusters are
compared, we see evidence for a difference in mass of the red giant branch
stars, and possibly a difference in structure of the red clump stars, from our
measurements of the small separations \delta\nu_02 and \delta\nu_01. Ensemble
\'{e}chelle diagrams and upper limits to the linewidths of l = 0 modes as a
function of \Delta\nu of the clusters NGC 6791 and NGC 6819 are also shown,
together with the correlation between the l = 0 ridge width and the T_eff of
the stars. Lastly, we distinguish between red giant branch and red clump stars
through the measurement of the period spacing of mixed dipole modes in 53 stars
among all the three clusters to verify the stellar classification from the
color-magnitude diagram. These seismic results also allow us to identify a
number of special cases, including evolved blue stragglers and binaries, as
well as stars in late He-core burning phases, which can be potentially
interesting targets for detailed theoretical modeling.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures, 1 table, accepted to Ap
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Kepler-4B: A Hot Neptune-Like Planet of A G0 Star Near Main-Sequence Turnoff
Early time-series photometry from NASA's Kepler spacecraft has revealed a planet transiting the star we term Kepler-4, at R.A. = 19(h)02(m)27.(s)68, delta = +50 degrees 08'08 '' 7. The planet has an orbital period of 3.213 days and shows transits with a relative depth of 0.87 x 10(-3) and a duration of about 3.95 hr. Radial velocity (RV) measurements from the Keck High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer show a reflex Doppler signal of 9.3(-1.9)(+1.1) m s(-1), consistent with a low-eccentricity orbit with the phase expected from the transits. Various tests show no evidence for any companion star near enough to affect the light curve or the RVs for this system. From a transit-based estimate of the host star's mean density, combined with analysis of high-resolution spectra, we infer that the host star is near turnoff from the main sequence, with estimated mass and radius of 1.223(-0.091)(+0.053) M(circle dot) and 1.487(-0.084)(+0.071) R(circle dot).We estimate the planet mass and radius to be {M(P), R(P)} = {24.5 +/- 3.8 M(circle plus), 3.99 +/- 0.21 R(circle plus)}. The planet's density is near 1.9 g cm(-3); it is thus slightly denser and more massive than Neptune, but about the same size.W. M. Keck FoundationNASA's Science Mission DirectorateAstronom
UV Absorption Lines from High-Velocity Gas in the Vela Supernova Remnant: New insights from STIS Echelle Observations of HD72089
The star HD72089 is located behind the Vela supernova remnant and shows a
complex array of high and low velocity interstellar absorption features arising
from shocked clouds. A spectrum of this star was recorded over the wavelength
range 1196.4 to 1397.2 Angstroms at a resolving power lambda/Delta lambda =
110,000 and signal-to-noise ratio of 32 by STIS on the Hubble Space Telescope.
We have identified 7 narrow components of C I and have measured their relative
populations in excited fine-structure levels. Broader features at heliocentric
velocities ranging from -70 to +130 km/s are seen in C II, N I, O I, Si II, S
II and Ni II. In the high-velocity components, the unusually low abundances of
N I and O I, relative to S II and Si II, suggest that these elements may be
preferentially ionized to higher stages by radiation from hot gas immediately
behind the shock fronts.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, Latex. Submitted for the special HST ERO issue
of the Astrophysical Journal Letter
Gravity modes as a way to distinguish between hydrogen- and helium-burning red giant stars
Red giants are evolved stars that have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in
their cores and instead burn hydrogen in a surrounding shell. Once a red giant
is sufficiently evolved, the helium in the core also undergoes fusion.
Outstanding issues in our understanding of red giants include uncertainties in
the amount of mass lost at the surface before helium ignition and the amount of
internal mixing from rotation and other processes. Progress is hampered by our
inability to distinguish between red giants burning helium in the core and
those still only burning hydrogen in a shell. Asteroseismology offers a way
forward, being a powerful tool for probing the internal structures of stars
using their natural oscillation frequencies. Here we report observations of
gravity-mode period spacings in red giants that permit a distinction between
evolutionary stages to be made. We use high-precision photometry obtained with
the Kepler spacecraft over more than a year to measure oscillations in several
hundred red giants. We find many stars whose dipole modes show sequences with
approximately regular period spacings. These stars fall into two clear groups,
allowing us to distinguish unambiguously between hydrogen-shell-burning stars
(period spacing mostly about 50 seconds) and those that are also burning helium
(period spacing about 100 to 300 seconds).Comment: to appear as a Letter to Natur
Discovery of the Transiting Planet Kepler-5B
We present 44 days of high duty cycle, ultra precise photometry of the 13th magnitude star Kepler-5 (KIC 8191672, T(eff) = 6300 K, log g = 4.1), which exhibits periodic transits with a depth of 0.7%. Detailed modeling of the transit is consistent with a planetary companion with an orbital period of 3.548460 +/- 0.000032 days and a radius of 1.431(-0.052)(+0.041) R(J). Follow-up radial velocity measurements with the Keck HIRES spectrograph on nine separate nights demonstrate that the planet is more than twice as massive as Jupiter with a mass of 2.114(-0.059)(+0.056) M(J) and a mean density of 0.894 +/- 0.079 g cm(-3).NASA's Science Mission DirectorateAstronom
Kepler-7b: A Transiting Planet with Unusually Low Density
We report the discovery and confirmation of Kepler-7b, a transiting planet
with unusually low density. The mass is less than half that of Jupiter, Mp =
0.43 Mj, but the radius is fifty percent larger, Rp = 1.48 Rj. The resulting
density, 0.17 g/cc, is the second lowest reported so far for an extrasolar
planet. The orbital period is fairly long, P = 4.886 days, and the host star is
not much hotter than the Sun, Teff = 6000 K. However, it is more massive and
considerably larger than the sun, Mstar = 1.35 Msun and Rstar = 1.84 Rsun, and
must be near the end of its life on the Main Sequence.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure
Characteristics of Kepler Planetary Candidates Based on the First Data Set: The Majority are Found to be Neptune-Size and Smaller
In the spring of 2009, the Kepler Mission commenced high-precision photometry
on nearly 156,000 stars to determine the frequency and characteristics of small
exoplanets, conduct a guest observer program, and obtain asteroseismic data on
a wide variety of stars. On 15 June 2010 the Kepler Mission released data from
the first quarter of observations. At the time of this publication, 706 stars
from this first data set have exoplanet candidates with sizes from as small as
that of the Earth to larger than that of Jupiter. Here we give the identity and
characteristics of 306 released stars with planetary candidates. Data for the
remaining 400 stars with planetary candidates will be released in February
2011. Over half the candidates on the released list have radii less than half
that of Jupiter. The released stars include five possible multi-planet systems.
One of these has two Neptune-size (2.3 and 2.5 Earth-radius) candidates with
near-resonant periods.Comment: Paper to accompany Kepler's June 15, 2010 data release; submitted to
Astrophysical Journal Figures 1,2,& 3 revised. Improved labeling on all
figures. Slight changes to planet frequencies in result
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Weight gain among treatment-naïve persons with HIV starting integrase inhibitors compared to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors or protease inhibitors in a large observational cohort in the United States and Canada.
IntroductionWeight gain following antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is common, potentially predisposing some persons with HIV (PWH) to cardio-metabolic disease. We assessed relationships between ART drug class and weight change among treatment-naïve PWH initiating ART in the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD).MethodsAdult, treatment-naïve PWH in NA-ACCORD initiating integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI), protease inhibitor (PI) or non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based ART on/after 1 January 2007 were followed through 31 December 2016. Multivariate linear mixed effects models estimated weight up to five years after ART initiation, adjusting for age, sex, race, cohort site, HIV acquisition mode, treatment year, and baseline weight, plasma HIV-1 RNA level and CD4+ cell count. Due to shorter follow-up for PWH receiving newer INSTI drugs, weights for specific INSTIs were estimated at two years. Secondary analyses using logistic regression and all covariates from primary analyses assessed factors associated with >10% weight gain at two and five years.ResultsAmong 22,972 participants, 87% were male, and 41% were white. 49% started NNRTI-, 31% started PI- and 20% started INSTI-based regimens (1624 raltegravir (RAL), 2085 elvitegravir (EVG) and 929 dolutegravir (DTG)). PWH starting INSTI-based regimens had mean estimated five-year weight change of +5.9kg, compared to +3.7kg for NNRTI and +5.5kg for PI. Among PWH starting INSTI drugs, mean estimated two-year weight change was +7.2kg for DTG, +5.8kg for RAL and +4.1kg for EVG. Women, persons with lower baseline CD4+ cell counts, and those initiating INSTI-based regimens had higher odds of >10% body weight increase at two years (adjusted odds ratio = 1.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.20 to 1.56 vs. NNRTI).ConclusionsPWH initiating INSTI-based regimens gained, on average, more weight compared to NNRTI-based regimens. This phenomenon may reflect heterogeneous effects of ART agents on body weight regulation that require further exploration
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