Abnormal thyroid hormones and non-thyroidal illness syndrome in obstructive sleep apnea, and effects of CPAP treatment.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), while both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism have been studied, the occurrence of non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) (normal thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH] with low triiodotironine) has not been investigated. We explored the occurrence of NTIS in patients with moderate to severe OSA and its relationship to the severity of nocturnal respiratory disorders. We also studied the occurrence of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH, ie, high TSH with normal thyroxine) in OSA and changes in circulating TSH, free triiodotironine (fT3) and free thyroxine (fT4) after CPAP treatment. METHODS: After a nocturnal respiratory polysomnography, 125 consecutive patients with moderate to severe OSA and 60 control subjects with normal nocturnal respiration were recruited. Morning circulating TSH, fT3, and fT4 were measured in all subjects. In a subsample of patients, nocturnal polysomnography and hormonal determinations were repeated after CPAP treatment for five months. RESULTS: NTIS was found in 13 (10.4%), and SH in ten (8%) OSA subjects, but not in any control subjects. Patients with NTIS showed worse mean nocturnal oxygen saturation and time with saturation <90% (both p < 0.001). After treatment, NTIS subjects (n = 13) showed an increase in fT3 (p < 0.001) to the normal range, and SH subjects (n = 6) a slight decrease in TSH (p = 0.01). In the patients with normal hormones before treatment (n = 45), no change was observed. CONCLUSIONS: NTIS may occur in OSA patients with severe nocturnal hypoxemia. OSA treatment is followed by an improvement in TSH in patients with abnormal baseline levels of this hormone, and by recovery of NTIS

Earth as a Tool for Astrobiology - A European Perspective

International audienceScientists use the Earth as a tool for astrobiology by analyzing planetary field analogues (i.e. terrestrial samples and field sites that resemble planetary bodies in our Solar System). In addition, they expose the selected planetary field analogues in simulation chambers to conditions that mimic the ones of planets, moons and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space conditions, as well as the chemistry occurring in interstellar and cometary ices. This paper reviews the ways the Earth is used by astrobiologists: (i) by conducting planetary field analogue studies to investigate extant life from extreme environments, its metabolisms, adaptation strategies and modern biosignatures; (ii) by conducting planetary field analogue studies to investigate extinct life from the oldest rocks on our planet and its biosignatures; (iii) by exposing terrestrial samples to simulated space or planetary environments and producing a sample analogue to investigate changes in minerals, biosignatures and microorganisms. The European Space Agency (ESA) created a topical team in 2011 to investigate recent activities using the Earth as a tool for astrobiology and to formulate recommendations and scientific needs to improve ground-based astrobiological research. Space is an important tool for astrobiology (see Horneck et al. in Astrobiology, 16:201–243, 2016; Cottin et al., 2017), but access to space is limited. Complementing research on Earth provides fast access, more replications and higher sample throughput. The major conclusions of the topical team and suggestions for the future include more scientifically qualified calls for field campaigns with planetary analogy, and a centralized point of contact at ESA or the EU for the organization of a survey of such expeditions. An improvement of the coordinated logistics, infrastructures and funding system supporting the combination of field work with planetary simulation investigations, as well as an optimization of the scientific return and data processing, data storage and data distribution is also needed. Finally, a coordinated EU or ESA education and outreach program would improve the participation of the public in the astrobiological activities

Measurement of the tt¯ charge asymmetry in events with highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks in pp collisions at s=13 TeV

The measurement of the charge asymmetry in top quark pair events with highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks decaying to a single lepton and jets is presented. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The selection is optimized for top quarks produced with large Lorentz boosts, resulting in nonisolated leptons and overlapping jets. The top quark charge asymmetry is measured for events with a tt¯ invariant mass larger than 750 GeV and corrected for detector and acceptance effects using a binned maximum likelihood fit. The measured top quark charge asymmetry of (0.42−0.69+0.64)% is in good agreement with the standard model prediction at next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamic perturbation theory with next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. The result is also presented for two invariant mass ranges, 750–900 and >900GeV

Study of azimuthal anisotropy of ϒ(1S) mesons in pPb collisions at sNN = 8.16 TeV

The azimuthal anisotropy of Image 1 mesons in high-multiplicity proton-lead collisions is studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16TeV. The Image 1 mesons are reconstructed using their dimuon decay channel. The anisotropy is characterized by the second Fourier harmonic coefficients, found using a two-particle correlation technique, in which the Image 1 mesons are correlated with charged hadrons. A large pseudorapidity gap is used to suppress short-range correlations. Nonflow contamination from the dijet background is removed using a low-multiplicity subtraction method, and the results are presented as a function of Image 1 transverse momentum. The azimuthal anisotropies are smaller than those found for charmonia in proton-lead collisions at the same collision energy, but are consistent with values found for Image 1 mesons in lead-lead interactions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV

Search for new heavy resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, or ZH boson pairs in the all-jets final state in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV

A search for new heavy resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, or ZH boson pairs in the all-jets final state is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS detector in 2016–2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb−1. The search is sensitive to resonances with masses between 1.3 and 6TeV, decaying to bosons that are highly Lorentz-boosted such that each of the bosons forms a single large-radius jet. Machine learning techniques are employed to identify such jets. No significant excess over the estimated standard model background is observed. A maximum local significance of 3.6 standard deviations, corresponding to a global significance of 2.3 standard deviations, is observed at masses of 2.1 and 2.9 TeV. In a heavy vector triplet model, spin-1 Z′ and W′ resonances with masses below 4.8TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level (CL). These limits are the most stringent to date. In a bulk graviton model, spin-2 gravitons and spin-0 radions with masses below 1.4 and 2.7TeV, respectively, are excluded at 95% CL. Production of heavy resonances through vector boson fusion is constrained with upper cross section limits at 95% CL as low as 0.1fb