Circulating anti-galectin-1 antibodies are associated with the severity of ocular disease in autoimmune and infectious uveitis

Galectin (Gal)-1, an endogenous lectin found at sites of immune privilege, plays a critical role in the regulation of the immune response. Therapeutic administration of Gal-1 or its genetic delivery suppresses chronic inflammation in experimental models of autoimmunity. The purpose of this work was to investigate the occurrence of circulating anti-Gal-1 antibodies in patients with autoimmune and infectious uveitis as potential determinant factors of disease progression.Fil: Romero, Marta D.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fundación Ver; Argentina. Laboratorio Inmunopatología Investigación y Docencia LIIDO; ArgentinaFil: Muiño, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Fundación Ver; ArgentinaFil: Bianco, German Ariel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Ferrero, Mercedes. Laboratorio Inmunopatología Investigación y Docencia LIIDO; Argentina. Fundación Ver; ArgentinaFil: Juarez, Claudio P.. Fundación Ver; ArgentinaFil: Luna, José Domingo. Fundación Ver; ArgentinaFil: Rabinovich, Gabriel A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentin

Cochlear implant in far advanced otosclerosis. Performance complications-long term results

Patients with far advanced otosclerosis demonstrated good performance with CI in 26/32 cases. In the cases with otosclerosis type 3, 5/6 patients had more difficulty in the insertion of electrodes, 1 of them with 2 electrodes within the IAC and leakage of LCR, and 5 of these recipients with tinnitus and poorer auditory outcome, with greater number of calibrations and adjustments inlevels T and C. Only two patient, 2/32 had FNS and were in otosclerosis type 3 with straight electrodes. None with perimodiolars electrodes.https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/audiologia/fon-2013/fon131b.pdfFil: Curet, Carlos Augusto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Unidad Hospitalaria San Roque. Cátedra II de Otorrinolaringología; Argentina.Fil: Curet, Carlos Augusto. Centro Odontológico de Clínica Privada Curet SRL; Argentina.Fil: Curet, Carlos Augusto. Centro de Garganta, Nariz y Oído Dr. Hector Ruiz; Argentina.Fil: Ruíz, Héctor. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina.Fil: Salvadores, María Inés. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Unidad Hospitalaria San Roque. Cátedra II de Otorrinolaringología ; Argentina.Fil: Salvadores, María Inés. Centro Odontológico de Clínica Privada Curet SRL; Argentina.Fil: Romani, Claudia. Centro Odontológico de Clínica Privada Curet SRL; Argentina.Fil: Dotto, Gabriela. Centro de Garganta, Nariz y Oído Dr. Hector Ruiz; Argentina.Fil: Queirolo, Adriana. Centro de Garganta, Nariz y Oído Dr. Hector Ruiz; Argentina.Fil: Fil: Chailé, Iván David. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina.Fil: Chailé, Iván David. Centro Odontológico de Clínica Privada Curet SRL; Argentina.Fil: Robledo, Hugo. Centro Odontológico de Clínica Privada Curet SRL; Argentina.Fil: Muiño, Juan Carlos. Centro Odontológico de Clínica Privada Curet SRL; Argentina.Otorrinolaringologí

Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of COPD Patients Hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2

Objective To describe the characteristics and prognosis of patients with COPD admitted to the hospital due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods The SEMI-COVID registry is an ongoing retrospective cohort comprising consecutive COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Spain since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Data on demographics, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, laboratory tests, radiology, treatment, and progress are collected. Patients with COPD were selected and compared to patients without COPD. Factors associated with a poor prognosis were analyzed. Results Of the 10,420 patients included in the SEMI-COVID registry as of May 21, 2020, 746 (7.16%) had a diagnosis of COPD. Patients with COPD are older than those without COPD (77 years vs 68 years) and more frequently male. They have more comorbidities (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, kidney failure) and a higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (2 vs 1, p<0.001). The mortality rate in COPD patients was 38.3% compared to 19.2% in patients without COPD (p<0.001). Male sex, a history of hypertension, heart failure, moderate–severe chronic kidney disease, presence of cerebrovascular disease with sequelae, degenerative neurological disease, dementia, functional dependence, and a higher Charlson Comorbidity Index have been associated with increased mortality due to COVID-19 in COPD patients. Survival was higher among patients with COPD who were treated with hydroxychloroquine (87.1% vs 74.9%, p<0.001) and with macrolides (57.9% vs 50%, p<0.037). Neither prone positioning nor non-invasive mechanical ventilation, high-flow nasal cannula, or invasive mechanical ventilation were associated with a better prognosis. Conclusion COPD patients admitted to the hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection have more severe disease and a worse prognosis than non-COPD patients

Aortic disease in Marfan syndrome is caused by overactivation of sGC-PRKG signaling by NO

AbstractThoracic aortic aneurysm, as occurs in Marfan syndrome, is generally asymptomatic until dissection or rupture, requiring surgical intervention as the only available treatment. Here, we show that nitric oxide (NO) signaling dysregulates actin cytoskeleton dynamics in Marfan Syndrome smooth muscle cells and that NO-donors induce Marfan-like aortopathy in wild-type mice, indicating that a marked increase in NO suffices to induce aortopathy. Levels of nitrated proteins are higher in plasma from Marfan patients and mice and in aortic tissue from Marfan mice than in control samples, indicating elevated circulating and tissue NO. Soluble guanylate cyclase and cGMP-dependent protein kinase are both activated in Marfan patients and mice and in wild-type mice treated with NO-donors, as shown by increased plasma cGMP and pVASP-S239 staining in aortic tissue. Marfan aortopathy in mice is reverted by pharmacological inhibition of soluble guanylate cyclase and cGMP-dependent protein kinase and lentiviral-mediated Prkg1 silencing. These findings identify potential biomarkers for monitoring Marfan Syndrome in patients and urge evaluation of cGMP-dependent protein kinase and soluble guanylate cyclase as therapeutic targets.</jats:p

Observation of an Excited Bc±B_c^\pm Meson State with the ATLAS Detector

A search for excited states of the Bc± meson is performed using 4.9  fb-1 of 7 TeV and 19.2  fb-1 of 8 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. A new state is observed through its hadronic transition to the ground state, with the latter detected in the decay Bc±→J/ψπ±. The state appears in the m(Bc±π+π-)-m(Bc±)-2m(π±) mass difference distribution with a significance of 5.2 standard deviations. The mass of the observed state is 6842±4±5  MeV, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. The mass and decay of this state are consistent with expectations for the second S-wave state of the Bc± meson, Bc±(2S).Peer Reviewe

A measurement of the ratio of the production cross sections for WW and ZZ bosons in association with jets with the ATLAS detector

The ratio of the production cross sections for $W$ and $Z$ bosons in association with jets has been measured in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7\,\mathrm {TeV}$ with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on the entire 2011 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $4.6\,\mathrm {fb}^{-1}$ . Inclusive and differential cross-section ratios for massive vector bosons decaying to electrons and muons are measured in association with jets with transverse momentum $p_\mathrm {T} >30\,\mathrm {GeV}$ and jet rapidity $|y| < 4.4$ . The measurements are compared to next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations and to predictions from different Monte Carlo generators implementing leading-order matrix elements supplemented by parton showers.Peer Reviewe

Measurement of the muon reconstruction performance of the ATLAS detector using 2011 and 2012 LHC proton–proton collision data

This paper presents the performance of the ATLAS muon reconstruction during the LHC run with $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ –8 TeV in 2011–2012, focusing mainly on data collected in 2012. Measurements of the reconstruction efficiency and of the momentum scale and resolution, based on large reference samples of ${J/\psi \rightarrow \mu \mu }$ , $Z \rightarrow \mu \mu$ and ${\Upsilon \rightarrow \mu \mu }$ decays, are presented and compared to Monte Carlo simulations. Corrections to the simulation, to be used in physics analysis, are provided. Over most of the covered phase space (muon $|\eta |<2.7$ and $5 \lesssim p_{\mathrm{T}}\lesssim 100$  GeV) the efficiency is above $99\,\%$ and is measured with per-mille precision. The momentum resolution ranges from $1.7\,\%$ at central rapidity and for transverse momentum $p_{\mathrm{T}}\simeq 10$  GeV, to $4\,\%$ at large rapidity and $p_{\mathrm{T}}\simeq 100$  GeV. The momentum scale is known with an uncertainty of $0.05\,\%$ to $0.2\,\%$ depending on rapidity. A method for the recovery of final state radiation from the muons is also presented.Peer Reviewe

Monitoring and data quality assessment of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter

The liquid argon calorimeter is a key component of the ATLAS detector installed at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The primary purpose of this calorimeter is the measurement of electrons and photons. It also provides a crucial input for measuring jets and missing transverse momentum. An advanced data monitoring procedure was designed to quickly identify issues that would affect detector performance and ensure that only the best quality data are used for physics analysis. This article presents the validation procedure developed during the 2011 and 2012 LHC data taking periods, in which more than 98% of the proton proton luminosity recorded by ATLAS at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 and 8 TeV had calorimeter data quality suitable for physics analysis.Peer Reviewe

A neural network clustering algorithm for the ATLAS silicon pixel detector

A novel technique to identify and split clusters created by multiple charged particles in the ATLAS pixel detector using a set of artificial neural networks is presented. Such merged clusters are a common feature of tracks originating from highly energetic objects, such as jets. Neural networks are trained using Monte Carlo samples produced with a detailed detector simulation. This technique replaces the former clustering approach based on a connected component analysis and charge interpolation. The performance of the neural network splitting technique is quantified using data from proton-proton collisions at the LHC collected by the ATLAS detector in 2011 and from Monte Carlo simulations. This technique reduces the number of clusters shared between tracks in highly energetic jets by up to a factor of three. It also provides more precise position and error estimates of the clusters in both the transverse and longitudinal impact parameter resolution.Peer Reviewe

Measurement of the differential cross-section of B+B^{+} meson production in pp collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 7 TeV at ATLAS

The production cross-section of B+ mesons is measured as a function of transverse momentum pT and rapidity y in proton--proton collisions at center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using 2.4 fb-1 of data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The differential production cross-sections, determined in the range 9<pT<120 GeV and y<2.25, are compared to next-to-leading-order theoretical predictions.Peer Reviewe