Central Venous Catheter Infection with Brevibacterium sp. in an Immunocompetent Woman: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Brevibacterium spp. were considered apathogenic until a few reports of infections in immunocompromised patients were published. Herein, we present a case of a catheter-related septicemia with Brevibacterium casei in an immunocompetent patient receiving continuous iloprost infusion for pulmonary arterial hypertension and review the clinical presentation of this mainly emerging opportunistic pathoge

Evaluation and Utilization of a Tall Fescue Germplasm Collection at Pergamino INTA, Argentina

One hundred and fifty four accessions of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) representing different types grown around the world were evaluated at Pergamino Inta Experimental Station. A multivariate analysis was carried out to evaluate individual and group variations. Three principal components (PCs) explained 70 % of the variation. Cluster analysis (Ward method) allowed the identification of 7 groups of populations. Plants from the most promising populations were selected in order to form a new breeding gene pool. The main objective of this study is to develop a new cultivar with improved winter herbage yield. Selected genotypes were mostly of Mediterranean origin

WAVE-CUSUM: Improving CUSUM performance in network anomaly detection by means of wavelet analysis

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Flowering Distribution Pattern in White Clover Cultivars

A trial was carried out at Pergamino Agricultural Experimental Station to examine the distribution pattern and the profuseness of inflorescence production of white clover (Trifolium repens L.). The treatments were 16 cultivars (Churrinche, El Lucero MAG, Bayucuá, Estanzuela Zapicán, Lucero Plus Inta, Haifa, California, Ladino Gigante Lodigiano, Dubrava, Susi, Merwi, Blanca, Sonja, Espanso, Nora, S 184) of different origins and leaf size. The experimental design was a lattice with four replications. Southamerican cultivars showed a similar distribution pattern and had the highest inflorescence production. They also flowered earlier than foreign cultivars, except Haifa. Some of the cultivars evaluated did not have an acceptable inflorescence production. Some others produced seeds at the end of the season under bad weather conditions. Small-leaved varieties tended to have less inflorescence density. The spread of flowering during the reproductive cycle and the number of inflorescence per unit area are important characters that must be considered during breeding and before releasing introduced cultivars to the market

Large Binocular Telescope view of the atmosphere of GJ1214b

The atmospheric composition and vertical structure of the super-Earth GJ1214b has been a subject of debate since its discovery in 2009. Recent studies have indicated that high-altitude clouds might mask the lower layers. However, some data points that were gathered at different times and facilities do not fit this picture, probably because of a combination of stellar activity and systematic errors. We observed two transits of GJ1214b with the Large Binocular Camera, the dual-channel camera at the Large Binocular Telescope. For the first time, we simultaneously measured the relative planetary radius $k=R_\mathrm{p}/R_\star$ at blue and red optical wavelengths ($B+R$), thus constraining the Rayleigh scattering on GJ1214b after correcting for stellar activity effects. To the same purpose, a long-term photometric follow-up of the host star was carried out with WiFSIP at STELLA, revealing a rotational period that is significantly longer than previously reported. Our new unbiased estimates of $k$ yield a flat transmission spectrum extending to shorter wavelengths, thus confirming the cloudy atmosphere scenario for GJ1214b.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Published in A&A. Minor changes to reflect the published versio

Weekend hospitalization and additional risk of death: An analysis of inpatient data

Objective To assess whether weekend admissions to hospital and/or already being an inpatient on weekend days were associated with any additional mortality risk.Design Retrospective observational survivorship study. We analysed all admissions to the English National Health Service (NHS) during the financial year 2009/10, following up all patients for 30 days after admission and accounting for risk of death associated with diagnosis, co-morbidities, admission history, age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, seasonality, day of admission and hospital trust, including day of death as a time dependent covariate. The principal analysis was based on time to in-hospital death.Participants National Health Service Hospitals in England.Main Outcome Measures 30 day mortality (in or out of hospital).Results There were 14,217,640 admissions included in the principal analysis, with 187,337 in-hospital deaths reported within 30 days of admission. Admission on weekend days was associated with a considerable increase in risk of subsequent death compared with admission on weekdays, hazard ratio for Sunday versus Wednesday 1.16 (95% CI 1.14 to 1.18; P < .0001), and for Saturday versus Wednesday 1.11 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.13; P < .0001). Hospital stays on weekend days were associated with a lower risk of death than midweek days, hazard ratio for being in hospital on Sunday versus Wednesday 0.92 (95% CI 0.91 to 0.94; P < .0001), and for Saturday versus Wednesday 0.95 (95% CI 0.93 to 0.96; P < .0001). Similar findings were observed on a smaller US data set.Conclusions Admission at the weekend is associated with increased risk of subsequent death within 30 days of admission. The likelihood of death actually occurring is less on a weekend day than on a mid-week day

Charge density waves enhance the electronic noise of manganites

The transport and noise properties of Pr_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} epitaxial thin films in the temperature range from room temperature to 160 K are reported. It is shown that both the broadband 1/f noise properties and the dependence of resistance on electric field are consistent with the idea of a collective electrical transport, as in the classical model of sliding charge density waves. On the other hand, the observations cannot be reconciled with standard models of charge ordering and charge melting. Methodologically, it is proposed to consider noise-spectra analysis as a unique tool for the identification of the transport mechanism in such highly correlated systems. On the basis of the results, the electrical transport is envisaged as one of the most effective ways to understand the nature of the insulating, charge-modulated ground states in manganites.Comment: 6 two-column pages, 5 figure

Engineering 4.0 to Improve the Safety of Plant Operators in a Metalworking Company of International Importance: The Ansaldo Energia Case

The paper describes how a multidisciplinary team has developed, on behalf of Ansaldo Energia Spa, a methodology based on the technologies made available by Industry 4.0; a methodology that allows rescue teams to quickly intervene in the event of man-down in isolated areas of the plant where the unfortunate person would risk being found with significant delay and consequent problems for his physical well-being. To achieve this result, an appropriate hardware and software device has been developed by a highly specialized supplier, under the direction of the team. Such a device makes it possible to alert automatically rescue teams in real-time, at the occurrence of the event, and geo-locate, with extreme precision, the man on the ground. The methodology, once devised, has been standardized in a series of sequential and generalized steps, in order to make it applicable to any type of company or construction site, or workshop in which the event of the man-down may occur. The methodology is configured as a real toolkit for the protection of operators from damage, even extreme, that can derive from prolonged waits of the rescue teams, each time that operators incur negative events for their safety, whether they are exogenous (illnesses with fainting, heart attacks, epileptic attacks, strokes...) and endogenous (accidents in the workplace)