6,962 research outputs found
Reduced Admissions for Cerebrovascular Events during COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy
Background and Purpose: We aimed to investigate the rate of hospital admissions for cerebrovascular events and of revascularization treatments for acute ischemic stroke in Italy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Methods: The Italian Stroke Organization performed a multicenter study involving 93 Italian Stroke Units. We collected information on hospital admissions for cerebrovascular events from March 1 to March 31, 2020 (study period), and from March 1 to March 31, 2019 (control period). Results: Ischemic strokes decreased from 2399 in 2019 to 1810 in 2020, with a corresponding hospitalization rate ratio (RR) of 0.75 ([95% CI, 0.71-0.80] P<0.001); intracerebral hemorrhages decreased from 400 to 322 (hospitalization RR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.69-0.93]; P=0.004), and transient ischemic attacks decreased from 322 to 196 (hospitalization RR, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.51-0.73]; P<0.001). Hospitalizations decreased in Northern, Central, and Southern Italy. Intravenous thrombolyses decreased from 531 (22.1%) in 2019 to 345 in 2020 (19.1%; RR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.75-0.99]; P=0.032), while primary endovascular procedures increased in Northern Italy (RR, 1.61 [95% CI, 1.13-2.32]; P=0.008). We found no correlation (P=0.517) between the hospitalization RRs for all strokes or transient ischemic attack and COVID-19 incidence in the different areas. Conclusions: Hospitalizations for stroke or transient ischemic attacks across Italy were reduced during the worst period of the COVID-19 outbreak. Intravenous thrombolytic treatments also decreased, while endovascular treatments remained unchanged and even increased in the area of maximum expression of the outbreak. Limited hospitalization of the less severe patients and delays in hospital admission, due to overcharge of the emergency system by COVID-19 patients, may explain these data
Genetic clonal mapping of in situ and invasive ductal carcinoma indicates the field cancerization phenomenon in the breast
Summary Nearly 80% of well-differentiated in situ duct carcinomas (g1 DCIS) have been shown to be multicentric (multilobar) lesions, while most in situ poorly differentiated duct carcinomas (g3 DCIS) were unifocal (unilobar) lesions. Here we present a clonality study of 15 cases of DCIS, all showing multiple foci. Twelve of these cases were associated with an invasive duct carcinoma. Fifteen cases of female breast cancer patients all showing multiple DCIS foci (5 g1 DCIS, 5 g2 DCIS, 5 g3 DCIS) were randomly selected and histologically studied using large histological sections. Care was taken to laser-microdissect DCIS foci that were most distantly located from one another in the same large section, and pertinent cells were genetically studied. Invasive duct carcinoma and ipsilateral lymph node metastases and/or contralateral lesions, whenever present, were additionally microdissected. DNA of neoplastic cells was purified, and the mtDNA D-loop region was sequenced. Genetic distance of different foci from the same case was visualized by phylogenetic analyses using the neighbor-joining method. Patients ranged in age from 36 to 87 years (mean 65.1). All 9 cases of widely spread DCIS were not clonal. Four of 6 cases that showed multiple adjacent foci were clonally related on mtDNA analysis. In the present series, 11/15 DCIS appeared as multiple synchronous primary breast tumors, genetically not related to one another. The present data enhance the view that breast can also show the field cancerization phenomenon, paralleling what has already been proposed in other organs
Effect of gastro-esophageal reflux symptoms on the risk of Barrett's esophagus: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background and Aim Gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) is the main predisposing factor for Barrett's esophagus (BE). A more precise estimate of the association of GER symptoms with the risk of BE would be important to prioritize endoscopic screening. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine this issue. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, and EMBASE Classic were searched to identify cross-sectional studies that reported the prevalence of BE based on presence of GER symptoms. The prevalence of BE was compared according to presence or absence of GER symptoms using an odds ratio (OR), with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Specificity and sensitivity of GER symptoms for predicting BE was calculated. Results Of 10,463 citations evaluated, 19 studies reported the prevalence of BE in 43,017 subjects. The pooled OR among individuals with weekly GER symptoms compared with those without was 1.67 (95% CI 1.30-2.15) for endoscopically suspected BE, and 2.42 (95% CI 1.59-3.68) for histologically confirmed BE. No significant association was found between weekly GER symptoms and the presence of short segment BE (OR 1.30; 95% CI 0.86-1.97), whereas a strong association was present with long segment BE, with an OR of 6.30 (95% CI 2.26-17.61). Conclusions Gastro-esophageal reflux symptoms are associated with an increased odds of BE, with a further increase when weekly symptoms are present. Overall, GER symptoms showed low sensitivity and specificity for predicting BE; however, a strong association was found between weekly GER symptoms and long segment BE, but not short segment BE, suggesting that it may be worth considering screening individuals with weekly GER symptoms to rule out long segment BE
Operational experience, improvements, and performance of the CDF Run II silicon vertex detector
The Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) pursues a broad physics program at
Fermilab's Tevatron collider. Between Run II commissioning in early 2001 and
the end of operations in September 2011, the Tevatron delivered 12 fb-1 of
integrated luminosity of p-pbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV. Many physics
analyses undertaken by CDF require heavy flavor tagging with large charged
particle tracking acceptance. To realize these goals, in 2001 CDF installed
eight layers of silicon microstrip detectors around its interaction region.
These detectors were designed for 2--5 years of operation, radiation doses up
to 2 Mrad (0.02 Gy), and were expected to be replaced in 2004. The sensors were
not replaced, and the Tevatron run was extended for several years beyond its
design, exposing the sensors and electronics to much higher radiation doses
than anticipated. In this paper we describe the operational challenges
encountered over the past 10 years of running the CDF silicon detectors, the
preventive measures undertaken, and the improvements made along the way to
ensure their optimal performance for collecting high quality physics data. In
addition, we describe the quantities and methods used to monitor radiation
damage in the sensors for optimal performance and summarize the detector
performance quantities important to CDF's physics program, including vertex
resolution, heavy flavor tagging, and silicon vertex trigger performance.Comment: Preprint accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods
A (07/31/2013
Extracellular vesicles and pancreatic cancer: Insights on the roles of mirna, lncrna, and protein cargos in cancer progression
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is among the most devastating digestive tract cancers worldwide. This cancer is characterized by poor diagnostic detection, lack of therapy, and difficulty in predicting tumorigenesis progression. Although mutations of key oncogenes and oncosuppressor involved in tumor growth and in immunosurveillance escape are known, the underlying mechanisms that orchestrate PC initiation and progression are poorly understood or still under debate. In recent years, the attention of many researchers has been concentrated on the role of extracellular vesicles and of a particular subset of extracellular vesicles, known as exosomes. Literature data report that these nanovesicles are able to deliver their cargos to recipient cells playing key roles in the pathogenesis and progression of many pancreatic precancerous conditions. In this review, we have summarized and discussed principal cargos of extracellular vesicles characterized in PC, such as miRNAs, lncRNAs, and several proteins, to offer a systematic overview of their function in PC progression. The study of extracellular vesicles is allowing to understand that investigation of their secretion and analysis of their content might represent a new and potential diagnostic and prognostic tools for PC
Beam Condition Monitoring with Diamonds at CDF
This report talks Beam Condition Monitoring with Diamonds at CD
Hybrid membrane distillation reverse electrodialysis configuration for water and energy recovery from human urine: an opportunity for off-grid decentralised sanitation
The integration of membrane distillation with reverse electrodialysis has been investigated as a sustainable sanitation solution to provide clean water and electrical power from urine and waste heat. Reverse electrodialysis was integrated to provide the partial remixing of the concentrate (urine) and diluate (permeate) produced from the membrane distillation of urine. Broadly comparable power densities to those of a model salt solution (sodium chloride) were determined during evaluation of the individual and combined contribution of the various monovalent and multivalent inorganic and organic salt constituents in urine. Power densities were improved through raising feed-side temperature and increasing concentration in the concentrate, without observation of limiting behaviour imposed by non-ideal salt and water transport. A further unique contribution of this application is the limited volume of salt concentrate available, which demanded brine recycling to maximise energy recovery analogous to a battery, operating in a ‘state of charge’. During recycle, around 47% of the Gibbs free energy was recoverable with up to 80% of the energy extractable before the concentration difference between the two solutions was halfway towards equilibrium which implies that energy recovery can be optimised with limited effect on permeate quality. This study has provided the first successful demonstration of an integrated MD-RED system for energy recovery from a limited resource, and evidences that the recovered power is sufficient to operate a range of low current fluid pumping technologies that could help deliver off-grid sanitation and clean water recovery at single household scale
A high-performance track fitter for use in ultra-fast electronics
This article describes a new charged-particle track fitting algorithm
designed for use in high-speed electronics applications such as hardware-based
triggers in high-energy physics experiments. Following a novel technique
designed for fast electronics, the positions of the hits on the detector are
transformed before being passed to a linearized track parameter fit. This
transformation results in fitted track parameters with a very linear dependence
on the hit positions. The approach is demonstrated in a representative detector
geometry based on the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The fit is
implemented in FPGA chips and optimized for track fitting throughput and
obtains excellent track parameter performance. Such an algorithm is potentially
useful in any high-speed track-fitting application
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A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons
Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal
of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs
bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data
collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and
we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard
Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots
for b/w printin
Measurement of and Production in Collisions at = 1.96 TeV
The Standard Model predictions for and production are
tested using an integrated luminosity of 200 pb of \ppbar collision data
collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The cross sections are measured
selecting leptonic decays of the and bosons, and photons with
transverse energy GeV that are well separated from leptons. The
production cross sections and kinematic distributions for the and
are compared to SM predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
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