Validation of the CALL score as a mortality prediction tool in a cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Chile

IntroductionThe CALL score is a predictive tool for respiratory failure progression in COVID-19. Whether the CALL score is useful to predict short- and medium-term mortality in an unvaccinated population is unknown.Materials and methodsThis is a prospective cohort study in unvaccinated inpatients with a COVID-19 pneumonia diagnosis upon hospital admission. Patients were followed up for mortality at 28 days, 3, 6, and 12 months. Associations between CALL score and mortality were analyzed using logistic regression. The prediction performance was evaluated using the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).ResultsA total of 592 patients were included. On average, the CALL score was 9.25 (±2). Higher CALL scores were associated with increased mortality at 28 days [univariate: odds ratio (OR) 1.58 (95% CI, 1.34–1.88), p < 0.001; multivariate: OR 1.54 (95% CI, 1.26–1.87), p < 0.001] and 12 months [univariate OR 1.63 (95% CI, 1.38–1.93), p < 0.001; multivariate OR 1.63 (95% CI, 1.35–1.97), p < 0.001]. The prediction performance was good for both univariate [AUROC 0.739 (0.687–0.791) at 28 days and 0.869 (0.828–0.91) at 12 months] and multivariate models [AUROC 0.752 (0.704–0.8) at 28 days and 0.862 (0.82–0.905) at 12 months].ConclusionThe CALL score exhibits a good predictive capacity for short- and medium-term mortality in an unvaccinated population

Flavored axions and the flavor problem

A Peccei-Quinn~(PQ) symmetry is proposed, in order to generate in the Standard Model~(SM) quark sector a realistic mass matrix ansatz with five texture-zeros. Limiting our analysis to Hermitian mass matrices we show that this requires a minimum of 4 Higgs doublets. This model allows assigning values close to 1 for several Yukawa couplings, giving insight into the origin of the mass scales in the SM. Since the PQ charges are non-universal the model features Flavor-Changing Neutral Currents~(FCNC) at the tree level. From the analytical expressions for the FCNC we report the allowed region in the parameter space obtained from the measurements of branching ratios of semileptonic meson decays.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figure

ShinyWYSIWYG: a Shiny What You See Is What You Get editor

For any computer application, having a graphical user interface (GUI) potentially increases its usability and scope. In the case of the R language, one of the most used alternatives is the Shiny [1] library. Shiny is an R package that facilitates the creation of interactive web applications directly from R. However, using Shiny requires a certain level of knowledge of R programming. Looking at CRAN’s Task Views, it is easy to note that the R community brings together a variety of specialists in various fields such as biologists, agronomists, economists, among others. It is therefore crucial that R development tools maximize the level of programmatic simplicity to ease the start of the learning ramp. In order to further facilitate the process of developing a user-friendly GUI, and tackling this learning gap, here we present the ShinyWYSIWYG application. ShinyWYSIWYG is a visual editor that allows the user, using the drag and drop technique, inserting the various fields that Shiny provides as input and output, by selecting the desired size and position for each field. Once the user interface is generated, ShinyWYSIWYG also eases the development of the server logic.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

ShinyWYSIWYG: a Shiny What You See Is What You Get editor

For any computer application, having a graphical user interface (GUI) potentially increases its usability and scope. In the case of the R language, one of the most used alternatives is the Shiny [1] library. Shiny is an R package that facilitates the creation of interactive web applications directly from R. However, using Shiny requires a certain level of knowledge of R programming. Looking at CRAN’s Task Views, it is easy to note that the R community brings together a variety of specialists in various fields such as biologists, agronomists, economists, among others. It is therefore crucial that R development tools maximize the level of programmatic simplicity to ease the start of the learning ramp. In order to further facilitate the process of developing a user-friendly GUI, and tackling this learning gap, here we present the ShinyWYSIWYG application. ShinyWYSIWYG is a visual editor that allows the user, using the drag and drop technique, inserting the various fields that Shiny provides as input and output, by selecting the desired size and position for each field. Once the user interface is generated, ShinyWYSIWYG also eases the development of the server logic.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Gluon condensate and the Polyakov loop

The temperature dependence of the gluon condensate is deduced from the Polyakov loop effective potential. It is shown that this approach provides a simple picture for the electric gluon condensate around the deconfinement temperature, showing that it drops to zero in a temperature range which is in good agreement with different pure gauge lattice results.Instituto de Física La Plat

Influencia de algunas variables en el ensayo a compresión de probetas testigo en un hormigón autocompactante

La estimación de la resistencia a compresión a través de la evaluación de probetas testigo depende de numerosas variables, entre ellas, el diámetro de la probeta testigo, la dirección de extracción en relación con la dirección del hormigonado, el estado de humedad de la probeta testigo en el momento de ser ensayada, la esbeltez de la probeta testigo, la armadura embebida en la probeta testigo y la edad del hormigón investigado. El objetivo de este trabajo experimental ha sido evaluar, para un hormigón autocompactante, el efecto que presentan algunas de estas variables en el resultado de la resistencia a compresión de las probetas testigo. Estos efectos pueden ser muy diferentes de los que ocurren en el hormigón vibrado, debido a que no existe en este caso un procedimiento específico para la compactación de las probetas moldeadas. Igualmente se han analizado los posibles factores de corrección utilizados en la estimación de la resistencia a compresión de la probeta moldeada a través de la resistencia a compresión de la probeta testigo. Para ello se han fabricado 30 bloques de 50x50x100 cm en HAC cubriendo un amplio rango de resistencias (20 MPa - 80 MPa), de los cuales se extrajeron un total de 360 probetas testigo. Paralelamente a la ejecución de los bloques se han fabricado 90 probetas cilíndricas de 15 30 cm que posteriormente fueron ensayadas a compresión a la misma edad que las probetas testigo (28 días). Los resultados muestran que algunas de las variables incíden de forma muy diferente en estos hormigones que en los hormigones convencionales, en especial la dirección de extracción y el coeficiente de paso para considerar la resistencia en probeta moldeada

Acceptance Ordering Scheduling Problem: The impact of an order-portfolio on a make-to-order firm’s profitability

Firms’ growth, the darling measure of investors, comes from higher revenues. Thus, sales and marketing departments make extreme efforts to accept as many customer orders as possible. Unfortunately, not all orders contribute equally to profits, and some orders may even reduce net profits. Thus, saying no (i.e., not accepting an order) may be a necessary condition for net profits growth. For understanding the impact of rejecting orders on profitability, we propose an order acceptance and scheduling problem (OAS). Although the OAS has extensively been studied in the literature, there is still some gap between these papers and real-life problems in industry. In an attempt to close that gap, the OAS we propose considers orders revenues, machines costs, holding costs and tardiness costs. We develop a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model for solving this problem. Since the complexity of the problem makes it impossible for the MILP to solver large-scale instances, we also propose a metaheuristic algorithm. Numerical experiments show that the metaheuristic finds good quality solutions in short computational times. In the last part of the paper we confirm some managerial insights: higher holding and tardiness costs imply a lower acceptance of orders, forcing production has a concave negative impact on net profits, and accurately estimating costs is essential for good planning

Caracterización molecular de papas nativas (Solanum spp.) del distrito de Chungui, Ayacucho, mediante AFLP

Genetic diversity of 25 morphotypes of native potatoes Solanum spp. from Chungui (La Mar, Ayacucho) were assess. Morphotypes collected were micropropagated in Murashigue Skoog medium (1962). DNA extraction proceeded using the CTAB method modified from 3 weeks leaves crop, good quality and quantity of DNA was able to use the AFLP. Enzymatic digestion of the DNA was performed using EcoRI and MseI. Three combinations of AFLP primers with three selective nucleotides were used, resulting in a total of 85 clearly discernable bands, of which 63 were polymorphic. The combination E37 – M50 showed the most informative polymorphic index content of 0.43. The presence/absence of polymorphic bands was evaluated using the Simple Matching coefficient similarity and clustering analysis using the UPGMA. The dendrogram produced had a cophenetic correlation coefficient r= 0.7. At the level 0.64 of Simple Matching coefficient similarity, the dendrogram grouped the morphotypes of native potatoes in 4 genetic groups, it not found duplicated morphotypes, despite having some morphotypes very similar. Our results would be showing the highly informative power of AFLP markers for the analysis of genetic diversity of native potatoes.Con el objetivo de evaluar la diversidad genética de Solanum spp. del distrito de Chungui, La Mar, Ayacucho, se colectaron 25 morfotipos de papas nativas los cuales fueron introducidos y micropropagados en el medio de cultivo Murashigue Skoog (1962). La extracción de ADN se procedió utilizando el método CTAB modificado a partir de hojas de 3 semanas cultivo, se logró buena calidad y cantidad de ADN para emplear el AFLP. La digestión enzimática del ADN se realizó utilizando EcoRI y MseI. Se emplearon tres combinaciones de primers AFLP con tres nucleótidos selectivos, originándose un total de 85 bandas claramente diferenciables, de las cuales 63 fueron polimórficas. La combinación E37 – M50 fue la más informativa obteniendo un índice de contenido polimórfico de 0.43. La lectura de la presencia o ausencia de bandas polimórficas de los morfotipos evaluados empleando el coeficiente de similitud Simple Matching y el análisis de agrupamiento según el algoritmo UPGMA originó un dendograma con un índice de correlación cofenética de r= 0.7. El dendograma con un coeficiente de similitud de 0.64 agrupó a los morfotipos de papas nativas en 4 grupos genéticos y no se encontró morfotipos duplicados a pesar de tener algunas características morfológicas muy semejantes. Estos resultados demuestran el alto poder informativo de los marcadores AFLP en el análisis de la diversidad genética de papas nativas