867 research outputs found
Chemical abundances of Seyfert 2 AGNs â III. Reducing the oxygen abundance discrepancy
We investigate the discrepancy between oxygen abundance estimations for
narrow-line regions (NLRs) of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) type Seyfert 2
derived by using direct estimations of the electron temperature (Te-method) and
those derived by using photoionization models. In view of this, observational
emission-line ratios in the optical range (3000 < \lambda(\AA) < 7000) of
Seyfert 2 nuclei compiled from the literature were reproduced by detailed
photoionization models built with the Cloudy code. We find that the derived
discrepancies are mainly due to the inappropriate use of the relations between
temperatures of the low (t2) and high (t3) ionization gas zones derived for H
II regions in AGN chemical abundance studies. Using a photoionization model
grid, we derived a new expression for t2 as a function of t3 valid for Seyfert
2 nuclei. The use of this new expression in the AGN estimation of the O/H
abundances based on Te-method produces O/H abundances slightly lower (about 0.2
dex) than those derived from detailed photoionization models. We also find that
the new formalism for the Te-method reduces by about 0.4 dex the O/H
discrepancies between the abundances obtained from strong emission-line
calibrations and those derived from direct estimations.ERC
STF
Patient information after hospitalization improves humanistic care in intensive care units
Introduction The purpose of the study was to assess the prognosis value of pro-adrenomedullin (pADM), C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT), lactate (LT), albumin (ALB), cholesterol (CHOL), white blood cell (WBC) and severity score in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.
Methods A prospective, observational study in adult patients with severe sepsis or septic shock in a polyvalent ICU. Demographics, severity scores (APACHE II and SOFA) and all of the biomarkers were
studied within 24+ hours from septic shock onset. Descriptive and comparative statistical analysis was performed using the statistical software packages SPSS v.15 and MedCalcÂź 9.2.1.0. Conclusion The protein pADM, LT and ALB showed good prognosis
accuracy when measured on admission of septic patients to the ICU.Ye
Isolated rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (iRBD) in the Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease (ISLAND) Sleep Study: protocol and baseline characteristics
Isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (iRBD) is a sleep disorder that is characterised by dream enactment episodes during REM sleep. It is the strongest known predictor of α-synuclein-related neurodegenerative disease (αNDD), such that >80% of people with iRBD will eventually develop Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, or multiple system atrophy in later life. More research is needed to understand the trajectory of phenoconversion to each αNDD. Only five 'gold standard' prevalence studies of iRBD in older adults have been undertaken previously, with estimates ranging from 0.74% to 2.01%. The diagnostic recommendations for video-polysomnography (vPSG) to confirm iRBD makes prevalence studies challenging, as vPSG is often unavailable to large cohorts. In Australia, there have been no iRBD prevalence studies, and little is known about the cognitive and motor profiles of Australian people with iRBD. The Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease (ISLAND) Sleep Study will investigate the prevalence of iRBD in Tasmania, an island state of Australia, using validated questionnaires and home-based vPSG. It will also explore several cognitive, motor, olfactory, autonomic, visual, tactile, and sleep profiles in people with iRBD to better understand which characteristics influence the progression of iRBD to αNDD. This paper details the ISLAND Sleep Study protocol and presents preliminary baseline results
A Triple Protostar System Formed via Fragmentation of a Gravitationally Unstable Disk
Binary and multiple star systems are a frequent outcome of the star formation
process, and as a result, almost half of all sun-like stars have at least one
companion star. Theoretical studies indicate that there are two main pathways
that can operate concurrently to form binary/multiple star systems: large scale
fragmentation of turbulent gas cores and filaments or smaller scale
fragmentation of a massive protostellar disk due to gravitational instability.
Observational evidence for turbulent fragmentation on scales of 1000~AU has
recently emerged. Previous evidence for disk fragmentation was limited to
inferences based on the separations of more-evolved pre-main sequence and
protostellar multiple systems. The triple protostar system L1448 IRS3B is an
ideal candidate to search for evidence of disk fragmentation. L1448 IRS3B is in
an early phase of the star formation process, likely less than 150,000 years in
age, and all protostars in the system are separated by 200~AU. Here we
report observations of dust and molecular gas emission that reveal a disk with
spiral structure surrounding the three protostars. Two protostars near the
center of the disk are separated by 61 AU, and a tertiary protostar is
coincident with a spiral arm in the outer disk at a 183 AU separation. The
inferred mass of the central pair of protostellar objects is 1 M,
while the disk surrounding the three protostars has a total mass of 0.30
M_{\sun}. The tertiary protostar itself has a minimum mass of 0.085
M. We demonstrate that the disk around L1448 IRS3B appears susceptible
to disk fragmentation at radii between 150~AU and 320~AU, overlapping with the
location of the tertiary protostar. This is consistent with models for a
protostellar disk that has recently undergone gravitational instability,
spawning one or two companion stars.Comment: Published in Nature on Oct. 27th. 24 pages, 8 figure
Aspectes Ăštics de la innovaciĂł clĂnica: la cirurgia com a exemple
Ătica; InnovaciĂł quirĂșrgica; TransparĂšnciaĂtica; InnovaciĂłn quirĂșrgica; TransparenciaEthics; Surgical innovation; TransparencyAquest document no pot ser de carĂ cter normatiu, mĂ©s quan es tracta dâun terreny difĂcil de
delimitar. El que es pretén es impulsar un debat entre totes les parts implicades en la
innovaciĂł quirĂșrgica (intervencionisme en general), Ă©s a dir, entre pacients i associacions que
els representen, professionals i societats cientĂfiques i institucions i finançadors de
lâassistĂšncia i la recerca en ciĂšncies de la salut, per tal que el procĂ©s dâinnovaciĂł clĂnica es
pugui portar a terme en unes condicions més favorables al progrés i millora de la qualitat en
lâatenciĂł i en la seguretat dels pacients
Chagas Cardiomiopathy: The Potential of Diastolic Dysfunction and Brain Natriuretic Peptide in the Early Identification of Cardiac Damage
Chagas disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in several
countries of Latin America and has become a potential public health problem in
countries where the disease is not endemic as a result of migration flows.
Cardiac involvement represents the main cause of mortality, but its diagnosis is
still based on nonspecific criteria with poor sensitivity. Early identification
of patients with cardiac damage is desirable, since early treatment may improve
prognosis. Diastolic dysfunction and elevated brain natriuretic peptide levels
are present in different cardiomyopathies and in advanced phases of Chagas
disease. However, there are scarce data about the role of these parameters in
earlier forms of the disease. We conducted a study to assess the diastolic
function, regional systolic abnormalities and brain natriuretic peptide levels
in the different forms of Chagas disease. The main finding of our investigation
is that diastolic dysfunction occurs before any cardiac dilatation or motion
abnormality. In addition, BNP levels identify patients with diastolic
dysfunction and Chagas disease with high specificity. The results reported in
this study could help to early diagnose myocardial involvement and better
stratify patients with Chagas disease
NetCTLpan: pan-specific MHC class I pathway epitope predictions
Reliable predictions of immunogenic peptides are essential in rational vaccine design and can minimize the experimental effort needed to identify epitopes. In this work, we describe a pan-specific major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I epitope predictor, NetCTLpan. The method integrates predictions of proteasomal cleavage, transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) transport efficiency, and MHC class I binding affinity into a MHC class I pathway likelihood score and is an improved and extended version of NetCTL. The NetCTLpan method performs predictions for all MHC class I molecules with known protein sequence and allows predictions for 8-, 9-, 10-, and 11-mer peptides. In order to meet the need for a low false positive rate, the method is optimized to achieve high specificity. The method was trained and validated on large datasets of experimentally identified MHC class I ligands and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes. It has been reported that MHC molecules are differentially dependent on TAP transport and proteasomal cleavage. Here, we did not find any consistent signs of such MHC dependencies, and the NetCTLpan method is implemented with fixed weights for proteasomal cleavage and TAP transport for all MHC molecules. The predictive performance of the NetCTLpan method was shown to outperform other state-of-the-art CTL epitope prediction methods. Our results further confirm the importance of using full-type human leukocyte antigen restriction information when identifying MHC class I epitopes. Using the NetCTLpan method, the experimental effort to identify 90% of new epitopes can be reduced by 15% and 40%, respectively, when compared to the NetMHCpan and NetCTL methods. The method and benchmark datasets are available at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetCTLpan/
Different fetal-neonatal outcomes in siblings born to a mother with Graves-Basedow disease after total thyroidectomy: a case series
ABSTRACT:INTRODUCTION: We describe three different fetal or neonatal outcomes in
the offspring of a mother who had persistent circulating thyrotropin receptor
antibodies despite having undergone a total thyroidectomy several years before.
CASE PRESENTATION: The three different outcomes were an intrauterine death, a
mild and transient fetal and neonatal hyperthyroidism and a severe fetal and
neonatal hyperthyroidism that required specific therapy.
CONCLUSIONS: The three cases are interesting because of the different outcomes,
the absence of a direct correlation between thyrotropin receptor antibody levels
and clinical signs, and the persistence of thyrotropin receptor antibodies
several years after a total thyroidectomy
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