Predictors of mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19 and diabetes

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the entire world, and patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have been particularly affected. We aimed to evaluate predictors of mortality during the first 30 days of hospitalization in critically ill patients with COVID-19 and comorbid DM. This prospective study included 110 critically ill patients admitted with COVID-19 infection. Thirty-two (29%) patients had a previous diagnosis of DM. Clinical variables, laboratory tests, and vascular biomarkers, such as VCAM-1, syndecan-1, ICAM-1, angiopoietin-1, and angiopoeitin-2, were evaluated after intensive care unit (ICU) admission. A comparison was made between patients with and without DM. No difference in mortality was observed between the groups (48.7 vs 46.9%, P=0.861). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, VCAM-1 levels at ICU admission (HR: 1 [1-1.001], P<0.006) were associated with death in patients with DM. Among patients with DM, advanced age (HR 1.063 [1.031-1.096], P<0.001), increased Ang-2/Ang-1 ratio (HR: 4.515 [1.803-11.308] P=0.001), and need for dialysis (HR: 3.489 [1.409-8.642], P=0.007) were independent predictors of death. Higher levels of VCAM-1 in patients with DM was better at predicting death of patients with severe COVID-19 and comorbid DM, and their cut-off values were useful for stratifying patients with a worse prognosis. Vascular biomarkers VCAM-1 and Ang-2/Ang-1 ratio were predictors of death in patients with severe COVID-19 and comorbid DM and those without DM. Additionally, kidney injury was associated with an increased risk of death

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR

Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET

A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM

Association between syndecan-1 and renal function in adolescents with excess weight: evidence of subclinical kidney disease and endothelial dysfunction

<div><p>Excess weight (overweight and obesity) is associated with kidney and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between syndecan-1 and renal function among adolescents with excess weight. A total of 56 students from a public school at Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, were investigated. The adolescents were submitted to anthropometric evaluation, including weight, height, blood pressure and body mass index. Blood and urine samples were collected for the determination of serum lipids (total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides), and the endothelial injury biomarker syndecan-1. Participants' mean age was 16±1 years (range 14-19 years), and 68% were females. Overweight was observed in 4 cases (7.1%) and obesity in 7 (12.5%). Changes in serum lipid levels were more frequent in the overweight group. A positive correlation between syndecan-1 and serum creatinine (r=0.5, P=0.001) and triglycerides (r=0.37, P=0.004), and a negative correlation with glomerular filtration rate (r=-0.33, P=0.02) were found. These findings suggest that adolescents with excess weight present incipient changes at the cellular level that make them more vulnerable to the development of kidney and cardiovascular diseases.</p></div

Subclinical signs of podocyte injury associated with Circulating Anodic Antigen (CAA) in Schistosoma mansoni-infected patients in Brazil

Background:The long-term effects of schistosomiasis on the glomerulus may contribute to the development of chronic kidney disease. This study aimed to investigate baseline Schistosoma mansoni-Circulating Anodic Antigen (CAA) levels and their association with kidney biomarkers related to podocyte injury and inflammation in long-term follow-up after praziquantel (PZQ) treatment.Methods:Schistosoma infection was diagnosed by detecting CAA in urine using a quantitative assay based on lateral flow using luminescent up-converting phosphor reporter particles. A cutoff threshold of 0.1 pg/mL CAA was used to diagnose Schistosoma infection (baseline) in a low-prevalence area in Ceará, Northeast, Brazil. Two groups were included: CAA-positive and CAA-negative individuals, both of which received a single dose of PZQ at baseline. Urinary samples from 55 individuals were evaluated before (baseline) and at 1, 2, and 3 years after PZQ treatment. At all time points, kidney biomarkers were quantified in urine and adjusted for urinary creatinine levels.Results:CAA-positive patients had increased baseline albuminuria and proteinuria and showed greater associations between kidney biomarkers. CAA levels correlated only with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) (podocyte injury) levels. Increasing trends were observed for malondialdehyde (oxidative stress), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (inflammation marker), and VEGF. In the follow-up analysis, no relevant differences were observed in kidney biomarkers between the groups and different periods.Conclusions:S. mansoni-infected individuals presented subclinical signs of glomerular damage that may reflect podocyte injury. However, no causal effect on long-term renal function was observed after PZQ treatment.Cancer Signaling networks and Molecular Therapeutic