The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil)

We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7-12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1-9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26's isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo's inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death

Enabling planetary science across light-years. Ariel Definition Study Report

Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was adopted as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme to be launched in 2029. During its 4-year mission, Ariel will study what exoplanets are made of, how they formed and how they evolve, by surveying a diverse sample of about 1000 extrasolar planets, simultaneously in visible and infrared wavelengths. It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of hundreds of transiting exoplanets, enabling planetary science far beyond the boundaries of the Solar System. The payload consists of an off-axis Cassegrain telescope (primary mirror 1100 mm x 730 mm ellipse) and two separate instruments (FGS and AIRS) covering simultaneously 0.5-7.8 micron spectral range. The satellite is best placed into an L2 orbit to maximise the thermal stability and the field of regard. The payload module is passively cooled via a series of V-Groove radiators; the detectors for the AIRS are the only items that require active cooling via an active Ne JT cooler. The Ariel payload is developed by a consortium of more than 50 institutes from 16 ESA countries, which include the UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, and a NASA contribution

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae among childrenin an urban setting in Brazil prior to PCV10 introduction

Submitted by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2016-03-04T18:44:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Menezes AP O Nasopharyngeal....pdf: 316395 bytes, checksum: d4b451e6a927e8a1a9090cba0fe42936 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Ana Maria Fiscina Sampaio ([email protected]) on 2016-03-04T18:58:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Menezes AP O Nasopharyngeal....pdf: 316395 bytes, checksum: d4b451e6a927e8a1a9090cba0fe42936 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-04T18:58:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Menezes AP O Nasopharyngeal....pdf: 316395 bytes, checksum: d4b451e6a927e8a1a9090cba0fe42936 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-29Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, BrasilUniversidade Federal da Bahia. Faculdade de Farmácia. Salvador, BA, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrasilCenters for Disease Control & Prevention. Respiratory Diseases Branch. Atlanta, GA, USAFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Yale School of Public Health. Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. New Haven, USAYale School of Public Health. Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. New Haven, USAFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Universidade Federal da Bahia. Instituto de Saúde Coletiva. Salvador, BA, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Universidade Federal da Bahia. Faculdade de Farmácia. Salvador, BA, BrasiltInformation on pneumococcal carriage in the pre-vaccine period is essential to predict and assess theimpact of PCV in settings where disease surveillance is particularly difficult. Therefore, we present dataon pneumococcal carriage before the introduction of the 10-valent-pneumococcal conjugate vaccine(PCV10) in Brazil. We conducted a prospective study on a cohort of 203 children aged <5 years old,randomly selected in an urban community located in the periphery of the city of Salvador, Brazil andfollowed them from January/2008 to January/2009. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from eachchild at four times. In total, 721 swabs were collected, yielding a pneumococcal carriage prevalence of55% (n = 398). In multivariate analyses, the variables associated with carriage were having contact withthree or more children <2 years old (OR, 2.00; 95% CI 1.33–2.89) and living in a house with an averageof 3 residents per room (OR, 1.77; 95% CI 1.05–3.10). Also, white participants were more likely to beprotected from colonization (OR, 0.52; 95% CI 0.29–0.93), and prevalence of carriage varied over time,with lower prevalence occurring from February to June (OR, 0.53; 95% CI 0.37–0.78) compared to Julyto January. Contact with children under 2 years of age and living in crowded housing also were associ-ated with colonization by highly invasive serotypes, although this relationship was not significant. Themost prevalent vaccine serotypes were 6A/B (25.4%), 19F (10.1%) and 14 (9.0%), while the most preva-lent non-vaccine serotypes were 16F (4.8%), 15B/C (4.5%) and 6C/D (3.5%). Overall, 38.4% (153/398) ofthe isolates were non-susceptible to penicillin, and of those, 73.8% (113/153) were non-susceptible totrimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Colonization rate by PCV10 serotypes was 52.2%. Routine PCV10 vacci-nation can lead to significant changes in pneumococcal serotypes found in NP colonization, indicating aneed for continued monitoring, especially in crowded settings, as occurs in Brazil’s slums