562 research outputs found
Comment on "Identifying Molecular Orientation of Individual C<sub>60</sub> on a Si(111)-(7x7) Surface"
A Comment on the Letter by J. G. Hou, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3001 (1999)
Epidemiology of bacterial co-infections and risk factors in COVID-19-hospitalized patients in Spain: a nationwide study
Background: We performed a nationwide population-based retrospective study to describe the epidemiology of bacterial co-infections in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-hospitalized patients in Spain in 2020. We also analyzed the risk factors for co-infection, the etiology and the impact in the outcome. Methods: Data were obtained from records in the Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) of the National Surveillance System for Hospital Data in Spain, provided by the Ministry of Health and annually published with 2 years lag. COVID-19 circulated in two waves in 2020: from its introduction to 31st June and from 1st July to 31st December. The risk of developing a healthcare-associated bacterial co-infection and the risk for in-hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) mortality in co-infected patients was assessed using an adjusted logistic regression model. Results: The incidence of bacterial co-infection in COVID-19 hospitalized patients was 2.3%. The main risk factors associated with bacterial co-infection were organ failure, obesity and male sex. Co-infection was associated with worse outcomes including higher in-hospital, in-ICU mortality and higher length of stay. Gram-negative bacteria caused most infections. Causative agents were similar between waves, although higher co-infections with Pseudomonas spp. were detected in the first wave and with Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae in the second. Conclusions: Co-infections are not as common as those found in other viral respiratory infections; therefore, antibiotics should be used carefully. Screening for actual co-infection to prescribe antibiotic therapy when required should be performed.This work was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (COV20/00491, PI18/01238, CIBERINFEC CB21/13/00051), Junta de Castilla y León (VA321P18, GRS 1922/A/19, GRS 2057/A/19), Consejería de Educación de Castilla y León (VA256P20) and Fundación Ramón Areces (CIVP19A5953). L. Sánchez-de Prada received a Río Hortega grant (CM20/00138) from Instituto Carlos III (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund ‘A way to make Europe’/’Investing in your future’).S
The intriguing HI gas in NGC 5253: an infall of a diffuse, low-metallicity HI cloud?
(Abridged) We present new, deep HI line and 20-cm radio continuum data of the
very puzzling blue compact dwarf galaxy NGC 5253, obtained with the ATCA as
part of the `Local Volume HI Survey' (LVHIS). Our low-resolution HI maps show
the disturbed HI morphology that NGC 5253 possesses, including tails, plumes
and detached HI clouds. The high-resolution map reveals an HI plume at the SE
and an HI structure at the NW that surrounds an Ha shell. We confirm that the
kinematics of the neutral gas are highly perturbed and do not follow a rotation
pattern. We discuss the outflow and infall scenarios to explain such disturbed
kinematics, analyze the environment in which it resides, and compare it
properties with those observed in similar star-forming dwarf galaxies. The
radio-continuum emission of NGC 5253 is resolved and associated with the
intense star-forming region at the center of the galaxy. We complete the
analysis using multiwavelength data extracted from the literature. We estimate
the SFR using this multiwavelength approach. NGC 5253 does not satisfy the
Schmidt-Kennicutt law of star-formation, has a very low HI mass-to-light ratio
when comparing with its stellar mass, and seems to be slightly metal-deficient
in comparison with starbursts of similar baryonic mass. Taking into account all
available multiwavelength data, we conclude that NGC 5253 is probably
experiencing the infall of a diffuse, low-metallicity HI cloud along the minor
axis of the galaxy, which is comprising the ISM and triggering the powerful
starburst. The tidally disturbed material observed at the east and north of the
galaxy is a consequence of this interaction, which probably started more than
100 Myr ago. The origin of this HI cloud may be related with a strong
interaction between NGC 5253 and the late-type spiral galaxy M 83 in the past.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
LDR brachytherapy offers superior tumor control to single-fraction HDR prostate brachytherapy: A prospective study
[Purpose]: To compare the clinical outcomes of single-fraction high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy and single-fraction low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy as the sole treatment for primary prostate cancer.
[Material and Methods]: A quasi-randomized study that allocated, from March 2008 to February 2012, 129 low and intermediate risk prostate cancer patients to one single-fraction HDR of 19 Gy (61 patients) or to a 145 Gy 125I LDR permanent implant (68 patients. Biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression analysis.
[Results]: After a median follow-up of 72 months in the HDR group, 26 patients relapsed, and after a median follow-up of 84 months in the LDR group, 7 patients relapsed (p < 0.0001). The 5-year bRFS was significantly better for the LDR group than for the HDR group (93.7% and 61.1%, respectively) (p < 0.0001). The 5-year OS also was significantly better in the LDR group (95.5% vs. 89.9%) (p = 0.0436).
[Conclusions]: Permanent LDR prostate implant brachytherapy offers better clinical outcomes than single-fraction HDR for prostate cancer.Peer reviewe
Unleashing the Diagnostic, Prognostic and Therapeutic Potential of the Neuronostatin/GPR107 System in Prostate Cancer
Certain components of the somatostatin-system play relevant roles in Prostate Cancer (PCa), whose most aggressive phenotype (Castration-Resistant-PCa (CRPC)) remains lethal nowadays. However, neuronostatin and the G protein-coupled receptor 107 (GPR107), two novel members of the somatostatin-system, have not been explored yet in PCa. Consequently, we investigated the pathophysiological role of NST/GPR107-system in PCa. GPR107 expression was analyzed in well-characterized PCa patient′s cohorts, and functional/mechanistic assays were performed in response to GPR107-silencing and NST-treatment in PCa cells (androgen-dependent (AD: LNCaP) and androgen-independent (AI: 22Rv1/PC-3), which are cell models of hormone-sensitive and CRPC, respectively), and normal prostate cells (RWPE-1 cell-line). GPR107 was overexpressed in PCa and associated with key clinical parameters (e.g., advance stage of PCa, presence of vascular invasion and metastasis). Furthermore, GPR107-silencing inhibited proliferation/migration rates in AI-PCa-cells and altered key genes and oncogenic signaling-pathways involved in PCa aggressiveness (i.e., KI67/CDKN2D/MMP9/PRPF40A, SST5TMD4/AR-v7/In1-ghrelin/EZH2 splicing-variants and AKT-signaling). Interestingly, NST treatment inhibited proliferation/migration only in AI-PCa cells and evoked an identical molecular response than GPR107-silencing. Finally, NST decreased GPR107 expression exclusively in AI-PCa-cells, suggesting that part of the specific antitumor effects of NST could be mediated through a GPR107-downregulation. Altogether, NST/GPR107-system could represent a valuable diagnostic and prognostic tool and a promising novel therapeutic target for PCa and CRPC
Probing the Nuclear and Circumnuclear Activity of NGC1365 in the Infrared
We present new far-infrared (70-500micron) Herschel PACS and SPIRE imaging
observations as well as new mid-IR Gemini/T-ReCS imaging (8.7 and 18.3micron)
and spectroscopy of the inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) region (R<2.5kpc) of the
spiral galaxy NGC1365. We complemented these observations with archival Spitzer
imaging and spectral mapping observations. The ILR region of NGC1365 contains a
Seyfert 1.5 nucleus and a ring of star formation with an approximate diameter
of 2kpc. The strong star formation activity in the ring is resolved by the
Herschel/PACS imaging data, as well as by the Spitzer 24micron continuum
emission, [NeII]12.81micron line emission, and 6.2 and 11.3micron PAH emission.
The AGN is the brightest source in the central regions up to lambda~24micron,
but it becomes increasingly fainter in the far-infrared when compared to the
emission originating in the infrared clusters (or groups of them) located in
the ring. We modeled the AGN unresolved infrared emission with the CLUMPY torus
models and estimated that the AGN contributes only to a small fraction (~5%) of
the infrared emission produced in the inner ~5kpc. We fitted the non-AGN
24-500micron spectral energy distribution of the ILR region and found that the
dust temperatures and mass are similar to those of other nuclear and
circumnuclear starburst regions. Finally we showed that within the ILR region
of NGC1365 most of the on-going star formation activity is taking place in
dusty regions as probed by the 24micron emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
- …