ALMA reveals the molecular gas properties of five star-forming galaxies across the main sequence at 3

International audienceWe present the detection of CO(5-4) with S/N> 7 - 13 and a lower CO transition with S/N > 3 (CO(4-3) for 4 galaxies, and CO(3-2) for one) with ALMA in band 3 and 4 in five main sequence star-forming galaxies with stellar masses 3-6x10^10 M/M_sun at 3 < z < 3.5. We find a good correlation between the total far-infrared luminosity LFIR and the luminosity of the CO(5-4) transition L'CO(5-4), where L'CO(5-4) increases with SFR, indicating that CO(5-4) is a good tracer of the obscured SFR in these galaxies. The two galaxies that lie closer to the star-forming main sequence have CO SLED slopes that are comparable to other star-forming populations, such as local SMGs and BzK star-forming galaxies; the three objects with higher specific star formation rates (sSFR) have far steeper CO SLEDs, which possibly indicates a more concentrated episode of star formation. By exploiting the CO SLED slopes to extrapolate the luminosity of the CO(1-0) transition, and using a classical conversion factor for main sequence galaxies of alpha_CO = 3.8 M_sun(K km s^-1 pc^-2)^-1, we find that these galaxies are very gas rich, with molecular gas fractions between 60 and 80%, and quite long depletion times, between 0.2 and 1 Gyr. Finally, we obtain dynamical masses that are comparable with the sum of stellar and gas mass (at least for four out of five galaxies), allowing us to put a first constraint on the alpha_CO parameter for main sequence galaxies at an unprecedented redshift

Mental Health in university students in social isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Arequipa, Peru.

Introducción: La Pandemia COVID-19, ha tenido impactos negativos en la salud física y mental de las personas, así como las medidas adoptadas por los gobiernos, para prevenir el contagio masivo de la población como el confinamiento, el aislamiento social, el trabajo y educación virtual. Dentro de los afectados por estos cambios, se encontrarían los estudiantes universitarios del área de la salud, que además de estudiar en estas condiciones de pandemia, no han podido hacer sus prácticas de los servicios de salud. Esta situación de exposición al aislamiento, podría afectar la salud mental de los jóvenes estudiantes universitarios. &nbsp;Objetivo: determinar los niveles de depresión, ansiedad y estrés en estudiantes universitarios y su relación con variables sociodemográficas y las características del aislamiento social durante la Pandemia COVID-19.. Métodos:&nbsp;&nbsp;Se realizó un estudio descriptivo, observacional, de corte transversal y cuantitativo, con una muestra de 818 estudiantes universitarios de facultades de ciencias de la salud, mediante el cuestionario autoadministrado DASS-21. Resultados:&nbsp; Los principales hallazgos fueron: una mayor prevalencia en niveles altos (severos y extremadamente severos) en la ansiedad, alcanzado casi a 4 de cada 10 de los evaluados; por otro lado, en depresión y el estrés, 2 de cada 10 de los evaluados, se encontraron en los niveles mencionados. En relación con las variables sociodemográficas, las relacionadas con el COVID-19 y aislamiento social, se hallaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas con el género (mujeres &gt; varones), el haber tenido COVID-19 (Si &gt; No) y vivir con familiares como antes de la pandemia (Si &gt; No) obtuvieron en promedio mayores puntajes en depresión, ansiedad y estrés. Conclusión:&nbsp;Los estudiantes que presentaron mayor depresión, ansiedad y estrés con una diferencia significativa fueron de&nbsp;género femenino, con antecedentes de haber tenido Covid-19, menor contacto con famiiares y haber cumplido con aislamiento social totalAbstractIntroduction: The COVID-19 Pandemic has had negative impacts on the physical and mental health of people, as well as the measures adopted by governments to prevent the massive contagion of the population, such as confinement, social isolation, virtual work, and virtual education. Among those affected by these changes would be university students in the health area who, in addition to studying in these pandemic conditions, have been unable to do their health service practices. This situation of exposure to isolation could affect the mental health of young university students. Objective: To determine the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in university students, their relationship with sociodemographic variables, and the characteristics of social isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Methods: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional, and quantitative study was carried out with a sample of 818 university students from health sciences faculties using the DASS-21 self-administered questionnaire. Results: The main findings were a higher prevalence of high levels (severe and highly severe) in anxiety, reaching almost 4 out of 10 of those evaluated; On the other hand, in depression and stress, 2 out of 10 of those evaluated were found at the mentioned levels. Concerning the sociodemographic variables, those related to COVID-19 and social isolation, statistically significant differences were found with gender (women &gt; men), having had COVID-19 (Yes &gt; No), and living with relatives as before. On average, the pandemic (Yes &gt; No) obtained higher scores in depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusion: The students who presented greater depression, anxiety, and stress with a significant difference were female, with a history of having had Covid-19, less contact with family members, and having complied with total social isolation &nbsp

Seven Additional Patients with <i>SOX17</i> Related Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Review of the Literature

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an infrequent disorder characterized by high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries. It may lead to premature death or the requirement for lung and/or heart transplantation. Genetics plays an important and increasing role in the diagnosis of PAH. Here, we report seven additional patients with variants in SOX17 and a review of sixty previously described patients in the literature. Patients described in this study suffered with additional conditions including large septal defects, as described by other groups. Collectively, sixty-seven PAH patients have been reported so far with variants in SOX17, including missense and loss-of-function (LoF) variants. The majority of the loss-of-function variants found in SOX17 were detected in the last exon of the gene. Meanwhile, most missense variants were located within exon one, suggesting a probable tolerated change at the amino terminal part of the protein. In addition, we reported two idiopathic PAH patients presenting with the same variant previously detected in five patients by other studies, suggesting a possible hot spot. Research conducted on PAH associated with congenital heart disease (CHD) indicated that variants in SOX17 might be particularly prevalent in this subgroup, as two out of our seven additional patients presented with CHD. Further research is still necessary to clarify the precise association between the biological pathway of SOX17 and the development of PAH

Long-term safety and efficacy of patisiran for hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis with polyneuropathy: 12-month results of an open-label extension study

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Background: Hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis is a rare, inherited, progressive disease caused by mutations in the transthyretin (TTR) gene. We assessed the safety and efficacy of long-term treatment with patisiran, an RNA interference therapeutic that inhibits TTR production, in patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis with polyneuropathy. Methods: This multicentre, open-label extension (OLE) trial enrolled patients at 43 hospitals or clinical centres in 19 countries as of Sept 24, 2018. Patients were eligible if they had completed the phase 3 APOLLO or phase 2 OLE parent studies and tolerated the study drug. Eligible patients from APOLLO (patisiran and placebo groups) and the phase 2 OLE (patisiran group) studies enrolled in this global OLE trial and received patisiran 0·3 mg/kg by intravenous infusion every 3 weeks with plans to continue to do so for up to 5 years. Efficacy assessments included measures of polyneuropathy (modified Neuropathy Impairment Score +7 [mNIS+7]), quality of life, autonomic symptoms, nutritional status, disability, ambulation status, motor function, and cardiac stress, with analysis by study groups (APOLLO-placebo, APOLLO-patisiran, phase 2 OLE patisiran) based on allocation in the parent trial. The global OLE is ongoing with no new enrolment, and current findings are based on the interim analysis of the patients who had completed 12-month efficacy assessments as of the data cutoff. Safety analyses included all patients who received one or more dose of patisiran up to the data cutoff. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02510261. Findings: Between July 13, 2015, and Aug 21, 2017, of 212 eligible patients, 211 were enrolled: 137 patients from the APOLLO-patisiran group, 49 from the APOLLO-placebo group, and 25 from the phase 2 OLE patisiran group. At the data cutoff on Sept 24, 2018, 126 (92%) of 137 patients from the APOLLO-patisiran group, 38 (78%) of 49 from the APOLLO-placebo group, and 25 (100%) of 25 from the phase 2 OLE patisiran group had completed 12-month assessments. At 12 months, improvements in mNIS+7 with patisiran were sustained from parent study baseline with treatment in the global OLE (APOLLO-patisiran mean change -4·0, 95 % CI -7·7 to -0·3; phase 2 OLE patisiran -4·7, -11·9 to 2·4). Mean mNIS+7 score improved from global OLE enrolment in the APOLLO-placebo group (mean change from global OLE enrolment -1·4, 95% CI -6·2 to 3·5). Overall, 204 (97%) of 211 patients reported adverse events, 82 (39%) reported serious adverse events, and there were 23 (11%) deaths. Serious adverse events were more frequent in the APOLLO-placebo group (28 [57%] of 49) than in the APOLLO-patisiran (48 [35%] of 137) or phase 2 OLE patisiran (six [24%] of 25) groups. The most common treatment-related adverse event was mild or moderate infusion-related reactions. The frequency of deaths in the global OLE was higher in the APOLLO-placebo group (13 [27%] of 49), who had a higher disease burden than the APOLLO-patisiran (ten [7%] of 137) and phase 2 OLE patisiran (0 of 25) groups. Interpretation: In this interim 12-month analysis of the ongoing global OLE study, patisiran appeared to maintain efficacy with an acceptable safety profile in patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis with polyneuropathy. Continued long-term follow-up will be important for the overall assessment of safety and efficacy with patisiran.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN