Multi-messenger prospects for black hole - neutron star mergers in the O4 and O5 runs

The existence of merging black hole-neutron star (BHNS) binaries has been ascertained through the observation of their gravitational wave (GW) signals. However, to date, no definitive electromagnetic (EM) emission has been confidently associated with these mergers. Such an association could help unravel crucial information on these systems, for example, their BH spin distribution, the equation of state (EoS) of NS and the rate of heavy element production. We model the multi-messenger (MM) emission from BHNS mergers detectable during the fourth (O4) and fifth (O5) observing runs of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA GW detector network, in order to provide detailed predictions that can help enhance the effectiveness of observational efforts and extract the highest possible scientific information from such remarkable events. Our methodology is based on a population synthesis-approach, which includes the modelling of the signal-to-noise ratio of the GW signal in the detectors, the GW-inferred sky localization of the source, the kilonova (KN) optical and near-infrared light curves, the relativistic jet gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission peak photon flux, and the GRB afterglow light curves in the radio, optical and X-ray bands. The resulting prospects for BHNS MM detections during O4 are not promising, with a GW detection rate of $15.0^{+15.4}_{-8.8}$ yr$^{-1}$, but joint MM rates of $\sim 10^{-1}$ yr$^{-1}$ for the KN and $\sim 10^{-2}$ yr$^{-1}$ for the jet-related emission. In O5 we find an overall increase in expected detection rates by around an order of magnitude, owing to both the enhanced sensitivity of the GW detector network, and the coming online of future EM facilities. Finally, we discuss direct searches for the GRB radio afterglow with large-field-of-view instruments as a new possible follow-up strategy in the context of ever-dimming prospects for KN detection.Comment: Submitted to A&A. 17 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. Comments are welcome

The SOS Pilot Study: a RCT of routine oxygen supplementation early after acute stroke—effect on recovery of neurological function at one week

Mild hypoxia is common after stroke and associated with poor long-term outcome. Oxygen supplementation could prevent hypoxia and improve recovery. A previous study of routine oxygen supplementation showed no significant benefit at 7 and 12 months. This pilot study reports the effects of routine oxygen supplementation for 72 hours on oxygen saturation and neurological outcomes at 1 week after a stroke

Mecânica da fratura aplicada em juntas soldadas do aço astm A672 GR B em tubulações de processo / Fracture mechanics applied to welded joints in astm A672 GR B steel in process pipes

Este trabalho avaliou a geração de trincas internas em juntas soldadas em tubulações industriais de aço ASTM A672 grau B. Nessa abordagem foi utilizado o Diagrama de Falhas – FAD, que avaliou descontinuidades planares da estrutura da solda através de ensaios não destrutivos. Foram estudados parâmetros envolvendo mecânica da fratura e os efeitos micro estruturais que contribuem para a avaliação da integridade estrutural. As amostras foram obtidas do Sistema de Flare Geral da Unidade de Hidrotratamento de Diesel localizada no Complexo Petroquímico do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – COMPERJ. Os resultados mostraram que, em juntas soldadas, novos critérios podem ser inseridos na avaliação de defeitos em relação às propriedades mecânicas do material. Após analisar as tensões por difração de raios X, foi possível se avaliar as condições de operação da tubulação, posição, geometria da trinca e as tensões atuantes que contribuem para a análise de peças que seriam reprovadas em testes. Os resultados mostraram também que as tensões geradas sempre relacionam as condições operacionais na linha, envolvendo pressão e temperatura, resultou em posicionamento no diagrama de falhas, em regiões seguras que demonstraram a inexistência de probabilidade de falha do material. 

Detection of Immunoglobulin G1 Against rK39 Improves Monitoring of Treatment Outcomes in Visceral Leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by the Leishmania donovani complex, is a fatal, neglected tropical disease that is targeted for elimination in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Improved diagnostic tests are required for early case detection and for monitoring the outcomes of treatments. Previous investigations using Leishmania lysate antigen demonstrated that the immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 response is a potential indicator of a patient's clinical status after chemotherapy. METHODS: IgG1 or IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) with rK39 or lysate antigens and novel IgG1 rK39 rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) were assessed with Indian VL serum samples from the following clinical groups: paired pre- and postchemotherapy (deemed cured); relapsed; other infectious diseases; and endemic, healthy controls. RESULTS: With paired pre- and post-treatment samples (n = 37 pairs), ELISAs with rK39- and IgG1-specific conjugates gave a far more discriminative decrease in post-treatment antibody responses when compared to IgG (P < .0001). Novel IgG1 rK39 RDTs provided strong evidence for decreased IgG1 responses in patients who had successful treatment (P < .0001). Furthermore, both IgG1 rK39 RDTs (n = 38) and ELISAs showed a highly significant difference in test outcomes between cured patients and those who relapsed (n = 23; P < .0001). RDTs were more sensitive than corresponding ELISAs. CONCLUSIONS: We present strong evidence for the use of IgG1 in monitoring treatment outcomes in VL, and the first use of an IgG1-based RDT using the rK39 antigen for the discrimination of post-treatment cure versus relapse in VL. Such an RDT may have a significant role in monitoring patients and in targeted control and elimination of this devastating disease

Refining wet lab experiments with in silico searches: A rational quest for diagnostic peptides in visceral leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND: The search for diagnostic biomarkers has been profiting from a growing number of high quality sequenced genomes and freely available bioinformatic tools. These can be combined with wet lab experiments for a rational search. Improved, point-of-care diagnostic tests for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), early case detection and surveillance are required. Previous investigations demonstrated the potential of IgG1 as a biomarker for monitoring clinical status in rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), although using a crude lysate antigen (CLA) as capturing antigen. Replacing the CLA by specific antigens would lead to more robust RDTs. METHODOLOGY: Immunoblots revealed L. donovani protein bands detected by IgG1 from VL patients. Upon confident identification of these antigens by mass spectrometry (MS), we searched for evidence of constitutive protein expression and presence of antigenic domains or high accessibility to B-cells. Selected candidates had their linear epitopes mapped with in silico algorithms. Multiple high-scoring predicted epitopes from the shortlisted proteins were screened in peptide arrays. The most promising candidate was tested in RDT prototypes using VL and nonendemic healthy control (NEHC) patient sera. RESULTS: Over 90% of the proteins identified from the immunoblots did not satisfy the selection criteria and were excluded from the downstream epitope mapping. Screening of predicted epitope peptides from the shortlisted proteins identified the most reactive, for which the sensitivity for IgG1 was 84% (95% CI 60-97%) with Sudanese VL sera on RDT prototypes. None of the sera from NEHCs were positive. CONCLUSION: We employed in silico searches to reduce drastically the output of wet lab experiments, focusing on promising candidates containing selected protein features. By predicting epitopes in silico we screened a large number of peptides using arrays, identifying the most promising one, for which IgG1 sensitivity and specificity, with limited sample size, supported this proof of concept strategy for diagnostics discovery, which can be applied to the development of more robust IgG1 RDTs for monitoring clinical status in VL

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Visceral Leishmaniasis IgG1 Rapid Monitoring of Cure vs. Relapse, and Potential for Diagnosis of Post Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis.

Background: There is a recognized need for an improved diagnostic test to assess post-chemotherapeutic treatment outcome in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and to diagnose post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL). We previously demonstrated by ELISA and a prototype novel rapid diagnostic test (RDT), that high anti-Leishmania IgG1 is associated with post-treatment relapse versus cure in VL. Methodology: Here, we further evaluate this novel, low-cost RDT, named VL Sero K-SeT, and ELISA for monitoring IgG1 levels in VL patients after treatment. IgG1 levels against L. donovani lysate were determined. We applied these assays to Indian sera from cured VL at 6 months post treatment as well as to relapse and PKDL patients. Sudanese sera from pre- and post-treatment and relapse were also tested. Results: Of 104 paired Indian sera taken before and after treatment for VL, when deemed clinically cured, 81 (77.9%) were positive by VL Sero K-SeT before treatment; by 6 months, 68 of these 81 (84.0%) had a negative or reduced RDT test line intensity. ELISAs differed in positivity rate between pre- and post-treatment (p = 0.0162). Twenty eight of 33 (84.8%) Indian samples taken at diagnosis of relapse were RDT positive. A comparison of Indian VL Sero K-SeT data from patients deemed cured and relapsed confirmed that there was a significant difference (p < 0.0001) in positivity rate for the two groups using this RDT. Ten of 17 (58.8%) Sudanese sera went from positive to negative or decreased VL Sero K-SeT at the end of 11-30 days of treatment. Forty nine of 63 (77.8%) PKDL samples from India were positive by VL Sero K-SeT. Conclusion: We have further shown the relevance of IgG1 in determining clinical status in VL patients. A positive VL Sero K-SeT may also be helpful in supporting diagnosis of PKDL. With further refinement, such as the use of specific antigens, the VL Sero K-SeT and/or IgG1 ELISA may be adjuncts to current VL control programmes

Currents issues in cardiorespiratory care of patients with post-polio syndrome

ABSTRACT Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a condition that affects polio survivors years after recovery from an initial acute attack of the poliomyelitis virus. Most often, polio survivors experience a gradual new weakening in muscles that were previously affected by the polio infection. The actual incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in individuals suffering from PPS is not known. However, there is a reason to suspect that individuals with PPS might be at increased risk. Method A search for papers was made in the databases Bireme, Scielo and Pubmed with the following keywords: post polio syndrome, cardiorespiratory and rehabilitation in English, French and Spanish languages. Although we targeted only seek current studies on the topic in question, only the relevant (double-blind, randomized-controlled and consensus articles) were considered. Results and Discussion Certain features of PPS such as generalized fatigue, generalized and specific muscle weakness, joint and/or muscle pain may result in physical inactivity deconditioning obesity and dyslipidemia. Respiratory difficulties are common and may result in hypoxemia. Conclusion Only when evaluated and treated promptly, somE patients can obtain the full benefits of the use of respiratory muscles aids as far as quality of life is concerned