GEOS-3 ocean current investigation using radar altimeter profiling

Both quasi-stationary and dynamic departures from the marine geoid were successfully detected using altitude measurements from the GEOS-3 radar altimeter. The quasi-stationary departures are observed either as elevation changes in single pass profiles across the Gulf Stream or at the crowding of contour lines at the western and northern areas of topographic maps generated using altimeter data spanning one month or longer. Dynamic features such as current meandering and spawned eddies can be monitored by comparing monthly mean maps. Comparison of altimeter inferred eddies with IR detected thermal rings indicates agreement of the two techniques. Estimates of current velocity are made using derived slope estimates in conjunction with the geostrophic equation

Inflammation and changes in cytokine levels in neurological feline infectious peritonitis.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a progressive, fatal, predominantly Arthus-type immune-mediated disease that is triggered when cats are infected with a mutant enteric coronavirus. The disease presents variably with multiple organ failure, seizures, generalized effusion, or shock. Neurological FIP is clinically and pathologically more homogeneous than systemic 'wet' or 'dry' FIP; thus, comparison of cytokine profiles from cats with neurological FIP, wet FIP, and non-FIP neurological disease may provide insight into some baseline characteristics relating to the immunopathogenesis of neurological FIP. This study characterizes inflammation and changes in cytokines in the brain tissue of FIP-affected cats. Cellular infiltrates in cats with FIP included lymphocytes, plasma cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and eosinophils. IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, TNF-alpha, macrophage inhibitory protein (MIP)-1 alpha, and RANTES showed no upregulation in the brains of control cats, moderate upregulation in neurological FIP cats, and very high upregulation in generalized FIP cats. Transcription of IFN-gamma appeared upregulated in cats with systemic FIP and slightly downregulated in neurological FIP. In most cytokines tested, variance was extremely high in generalized FIP and much less in neurological FIP. Principal components analysis was performed in order to find the least number of 'components' that would summarize the cytokine profiles in cats with neurological FIP. A large component of the variance (91.7%) was accounted for by levels of IL-6, MIP-1 alpha, and RANTES. These findings provide new insight into the immunopathogenesis of FIP and suggest targets for immune therapy of this disease

GEOS-3 radar altimeter study for the South Atlantic Bight

Three years of radar altimeter data from GEOS-3 for the South Atlantic Bight were processed. Mean monthly topographic maps were produced which estimate geostrophic flow in the region. Statistical distribution of the surface wind speed and significant wave height as a function of both space and time are presented

Medical resource use in patients with psoriatic arthritis in a comprehensive rheumatological center in Colombia

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder, impairs the quality of life of patients. The aim of this study was to describe the medical resource use in patients with PsA in a comprehensive rheumatological center in Colombia. We retrospectively analyzed patients diagnosed with PsA who were attended in a center of excellence for rheumatic diseases located in Bogotá, D.C. Colombia, from January to December 2019. A database of medical records was analyzed to identify the use of medical resources classified by specialized physician visits, medications and ambulatory services (e.g., diagnostic, laboratory or image procedures, physical therapy). We reported absolute and relative frequencies among diagnostic groups. This study had no risk for patients. Ninety-six patients with PsA were studied, 57% were women. The mean age was 58.08 (±12.3 years), 90.63% of diagnostic was arthropathic psoriasis, other diagnostics were rheumatoid arthritis without rheumatoid factor, unspecified site (2.08%) and psoriasis, unspecified (2.08%) (ICD-10 code L405, M060, L409, respectively). In terms of treatments, most of the patients used a conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), methotrexate was the most frequent (represented the 14% of prescription and 78% of patients). On the other hand, 56.25% of patients receive treatment with biological DMARDs (10% of prescription). Among these biologicals, adalimumab (17.71%) and secukinumab (16.67%) were the most used. Regarding other health services, the visit to the specialist and the RX were the most common (83.33% of patients). Chest RX and column RX (17.71% each) had the highest frequency. This is one of the first approaches to the estimation of use of medical resources of PsA in Colombia. Frequency of DMARS use was associated to the severity and medical control of patients

Hidrogenionic potential (pH) of the attractant, trap density and control threshold for Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: tephritidae) on Hamlin oranges in São Paulo central region, Brazil

This study evaluated the effect of initial pH values of 4.5, 6.5 and 8.5 of the attractant (protein bait) Milhocina® and borax (sodium borate) in the feld, on the capture of fruit flies in McPhail traps, using 1, 2, 4 and 8 traps per hectare, in order to estimate control thresholds in a Hamlin orange grove in the central region of the state of São Paulo. The most abundant fruit fly species was Ceratitis capitata, comprising almost 99% of the fruit flies captured, of which 80% were females. The largest captures of C. capitata were found in traps baited with Milhocina® and borax at pH 8.5. Captures per trap for the four densities were similar, indicating that the population can be estimated with one trap per hectare in areas with high populations. It was found positive relationships between captures of C. capitata and the number of Hamlin oranges damaged, 2 and 3 weeks after capture. It was obtained equations that correlate captures and damage levels which can be used to estimate control thresholds. The average loss caused in Hamlin orange fruits by C. capitata was 2.5 tons per hectare or 7.5% of production.Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos: avaliar o efeito do pH inicial, 4.5; 6.5 e 8.5, do atrativo proteico Milhocina® e bórax (tetraborato de sódio) na captura de moscas-das-frutas em armadilhas McPhail; estudar densidades de armadilhas, 1; 2; 4 e 8 por hectare, para estimar níveis de controle em laranja cv. Hamlin, na região central de São Paulo. A espécie predominante, com 99% das moscas-das-frutas capturadas, foi Ceratitis capitata, sendo 80% de fêmeas. As maiores capturas de C. capitata ocorreram nas armadilhas com Milhocina® e bórax em pH 8.5. As capturas, nas 4 densidades, foram semelhantes, indicando que a população pode ser estimada com uma armadilha por hectare em áreas de altas populações. Houve relações positivas entre capturas de C. capitata e o número de frutos danificados, 2 e 3 semanas após a captura. Assim, foram obtidas equações que relacionam a captura e o dano, possibilitando estimar níveis de controle desse inseto. As perdas médias causadas por C. capitata em laranja cv. Hamlin chegaram a 2,5 toneladas de frutos por hectare ou 7,5% da produção.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Prevalence and associated factors to suicide attempts in low-income adolescents from the Caribbean region of Colombia

Objectives to establish the prevalence and associated factors to suicide attempts (SA) in low-income adolescents from the Caribbean region of Colombia Methods A cross sectional study was conducted. Adolescents between 10-24 years of age residents in 21 municipalities in the Caribbean region of Colombia were randomly selected from the population affiliated to a subsidized-regime insurance company between 2014-2018. A previously constructed questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding sociodemographic variables and potential risk factors. A self-reported antecedent of suicide attempt was defined as a case. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to establish associated factors. Absolute and relative frequencies were reported. Relative frequencies were compared with the Chi2 test and continuous variables were compared with the t-test. A p value <0.050 was considered significan

Wider implications of video-assisted thoracic surgery versus open approach for lung metastasectomy

Lung metastasectomy is considered a safe and potentially curative procedure despite there is not a strong evidence that metastasectomy prolongs long-term survival in patients with lung metastases. Moreover, the debate is open regarding the best approach for lung metastasectomy, video-assisted thoracic surgery versus open approach. A systematic review of literature to clarify what is the best approach to prolong survival in patients with lung metastases was performed. Our study confirms that overall survival is equivalent for video-assisted thoracic surgery and thoracotomy, therefore the ‘gold standard’ surgical treatment for lung metastases remains a point of debate. The choice of the surgical approach still depends more on the single center or surgeon practice than on strong scientific evidence. A prospective randomized trial could clarify the question

On Duality in the Born-Infeld Theory

The $SL(2,R)$ duality symmetric action for the Born-Infeld theory in terms of two potentials, coupled with non-trivial backgroud fields in four dimensions is established. This construction is carried out in detail by analysing the hamiltonian structure of the Born-Infeld theory. The equivalence with the usual Born-Infeld theory is shown.Comment: revtex, 4 page

Global Production Increased by Spatial Heterogeneity in a Population Dynamics Model

Spatial and temporal heterogeneity are often described as important factors having a strong impact on biodiversity. The effect of heterogeneity is in most cases analyzed by the response of biotic interactions such as competition of predation. It may also modify intrinsic population properties such as growth rate. Most of the studies are theoretic since it is often difficult to manipulate spatial heterogeneity in practice. Despite the large number of studies dealing with this topics, it is still difficult to understand how the heterogeneity affects populations dynamics. On the basis of a very simple model, this paper aims to explicitly provide a simple mechanism which can explain why spatial heterogeneity may be a favorable factor for production.We consider a two patch model and a logistic growth is assumed on each patch. A general condition on the migration rates and the local subpopulation growth rates is provided under which the total carrying capacity is higher than the sum of the local carrying capacities, which is not intuitive. As we illustrate, this result is robust under stochastic perturbations

Machine Learning Analysis of Individual Tumor Lesions in Four Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Clinical Studies: Linking Tumor Heterogeneity to Overall Survival

Total tumor size (TS) metrics used in TS models in oncology do not consider tumor heterogeneity, which could help to better predict drug efficacy. We analyzed individual target lesions (iTLs) of patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma (mCRC) to determine differences in TS dynamics by using the ClassIfication Clustering of Individual Lesions (CICIL) methodology. Results from subgroup analyses comparing genetic mutations and TS metrics were assessed and applied to survival analyses. Data from four mCRC clinical studies were analyzed (1781 patients, 6369 iTLs). CICIL was used to assess differences in lesion TS dynamics within a tissue (intra-class) or across different tissues (inter-class). First, lesions were automatically classified based on their location. Cross-correlation coefficients (CCs) determined if each pair of lesions followed similar or opposite dynamics. Finally, CCs were grouped by using the K-means clustering method. Heterogeneity in tumor dynamics was lower in the intra-class analysis than in the inter-class analysis for patients receiving cetuximab. More tumor heterogeneity was found in KRAS mutated patients compared to KRAS wild-type (KRASwt) patients and when using sum of longest diameters versus sum of products of diameters. Tumor heterogeneity quantified as the median patient’s CC was found to be a predictor of overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.44, 95% CI 1.08–1.92), especially in KRASwt patients. Intra- and inter-tumor tissue heterogeneities were assessed with CICIL. Derived metrics of heterogeneity were found to be a predictor of OS time. Considering differences between lesions’ TS dynamics could improve oncology models in favor of a better prediction of OS