Tuberculosis Disparity between US-born Blacks and Whites, Houston, Texas, USA1

An unusually high proportion of cases in Houston are caused by active transmission of endemic strains among US-born non-Hispanic blacks

Key factors controlling the post-fire hydrological and erosive response at micro-plot scale in a recently burned Mediterranean forest

The impacts of wildfires on the hydrological and erosive response of forest ecosystems have been extensively studied worldwide. Nevertheless, few studies have measured post-fire runoff and erosion over large time scales in Mediterranean-climate type environments and even fewer studies considered the effects of pre-fire land management practices on post-fire hydrological and erosive processes. In a previous study in the Colmeal study area, Vieira et al. (2016) revealed that post-fire runoff and erosion may not follow the classic window of disturbance model, since the peak of post-fire response occurred in the second and third years after fire. This previous study also showed that pre-fire land management can substantially influence the post-fire response, since annual runoff and erosion were lower in pre-fire unplowed than plowed sites. In this follow-up work, a multiple regression model (MRM) analysis was performed to understand how several key factors influence the hydrological and erosive response of a burned Mediterranean forest, taking into account the wildfire; pre-fire land management practices (unplowed, downslope plowed, and contour plowed) and soil moisture conditions. Based on the results of the present study, post-fire runoff was largely explained by rainfall amounts and soil water repellency (SWR)-related variables, whereas erosion processes were better explained by rainfall intensity and ground cover variables. Fewer factors were found to control the hydrological response of plowed sites when compared to the unplowed site. Aside from rainfall intensity, which was the major factor controlling sediment losses, bare soil cover also seems to have been important for erosion processes at the unplowed site, whereas at the plowed sites stone cover was the second most relevant factor. Rainfall-related variables (rainfall and maximum 30-min rainfall intensity) were more important for explaining runoff and erosion under dry conditions than under wet conditions. The results of the MRM analysis are an important contribution to understand the dynamics of burned forest areas and should be considered when adapting hydrological and erosion models to post-fire environments.publishe

Sentinel Case of Candida auris in the Western United States Following Prolonged Occult Colonization in a Returned Traveler from India.

Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast with high mortality. We report the sentinel C. auris case on the United States West Coast in a patient who relocated from India. We identified close phylogenetic relatedness to the South Asia clade and ERG11 Y132F and FKS1 S639Y mutations potentially explaining antifungal resistance

Management oriented mathematical modelling of Ria Formosa (South Portugal)

1 - Ria Formosa is a large (c.a. 100 km2) mesotidal lagoon system included in a Natural Park, with large intertidal areas and several uses such as fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and nature conservation. Its watersheds cover an area of approximately 864 km2, with a hydrographic network of small and, mostly, ephemeral rivers. 2 - The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT model) has been applied to the catchments in order to simulate water discharges to Ria Formosa, providing forcing to a two-dimensional vertically integrated model, implemented with EcoDynamo – an object oriented modelling software – including hydrodynamics, water column, sediment biogeochemistry and growth models for some important benthic species. 3 - The main objectives of this work are to: (i) Analyse model performance in the light of available data; (ii) Evaluate the effects of dredging operations and changes in biomass densities of cultivated clams, on lagoon biogeochemistry and water quality. 4 - This work is part of a larger project where many possible management scenarios are being analysed following concerns expressed by the project end-users – Ria Formosa Natural Park authority. 5 - Results obtained so far suggest that bivalve rearing areas are probably being exploited close to their carrying capacity. Furthermore, it is apparent that some improvement on water quality could be achieved by reducing bivalve densities, without significant losses of harvest yields

Exploring excited states of Pt(ii) diimine catecholates for photoinduced charge separation

The intense absorption in the red part of the visible range, and the presence of a lowest charge-transfer excited state, render Platinum(II) diimine catecholates potentially promising candidates for light-driven applications. Here, we test their potential as sensitisers in dye-sensitised solar cells and apply, for the first time, the sensitive method of photoacoustic calorimetry (PAC) to determine the efficiency of electron injection in the semiconductor from a photoexcited Pt(II) complex. Pt(II) catecholates containing 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-di-carboxylic acid (dcbpy) have been prepared from their parent iso-propyl ester derivatives, complexes of 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-di-C(O)OiPr, (COOiPr)2bpy, and their photophysical and electrochemical properties studied. Modifying diimine Pt(II) catecholates with carboxylic acid functionality has allowed for the anchoring of these complexes to thin film TiO2, where steric bulk of the complexes (3,5-ditBu-catechol vs. catechol) has been found to significantly influence the extent of monolayer surface coverage. Dye-sensitised solar cells using Pt(dcbpy)(tBu2Cat), 1a, and Pt(dcbpy)(pCat), 2a, as sensitisers, have been assembled, and photovoltaic measurements performed. The observed low, 0.02–0.07%, device efficiency of such DSSCs is attributed at least in part to the short excited state lifetime of the sensitisers, inherent to this class of complexes. The lifetime of the charge-transfer ML/LLCT excited state in Pt((COOiPr)2bpy)(3,5-di-tBu-catechol) was determined as 250 ps by picosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy, TRIR. The measured increase in device efficiency for 2a over 1a is consistent with a similar increase in the quantum yield of charge separation (where the complex acts as a donor and the semiconductor as an acceptor) determined by PAC, and is also proportional to the increased surface loading achieved with 2a. It is concluded that the relative efficiency of devices sensitised with these particular Pt(II) species is governed by the degree of surface coverage. Overall, this work demonstrates the use of Pt(diimine)(catecholate) complexes as potential photosensitizers in solar cells, and the first application of photoacoustic calorimetry to Pt(II) complexes in general

QED self-energy contribution to highly-excited atomic states

We present numerical values for the self-energy shifts predicted by QED (Quantum Electrodynamics) for hydrogenlike ions (nuclear charge $60 \le Z \le 110$) with an electron in an $n=3$, 4 or 5 level with high angular momentum ($5/2\le j \le 9/2$). Applications include predictions of precision transition energies and studies of the outer-shell structure of atoms and ions.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Polyurea Dendrimer Folate-Targeted Nanodelivery of l-Buthionine sulfoximine as a Tool to Tackle Ovarian Cancer Chemoresistance

The research was funded by iNOVA4Health—UID/Multi/04462/, a program financially supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia—Ministério da Educação e Ciência (FCT-MCTES), through nationalfunds and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. We also acknowledge funding from FCT-MCTES through the project DREAM—PTDC/MEC-ONC/29327/2017 and FAI2017 from IPOLFG internal funding.: Ovarian cancer is a highly lethal disease, mainly due to chemoresistance. Our previous studies on metabolic remodeling in ovarian cancer have supported that the reliance on glutathione (GSH) bioavailability is a main adaptive metabolic mechanism, also accounting for chemoresistance to conventional therapy based on platinum salts. In this study, we tested the effects of the in vitro inhibition of GSH synthesis on the restoration of ovarian cancer cells sensitivity to carboplatin. GSH synthesis was inhibited by exposing cells to l-buthionine sulfoximine (l-BSO), an inhibitor of -glutamylcysteine ligase (GCL). Given the systemic toxicity of l-BSO, we developed a new formulation using polyurea (PURE) dendrimers nanoparticles (l-BSO@PUREG4-FA2), targeting l-BSO delivery in a folate functionalized nanoparticle.publishersversionpublishe

Association of early positive end-expiratory pressure settings with ventilator-free days in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 acute respiratory distress syndrome:A secondary analysis of the Practice of VENTilation in COVID-19 study

BACKGROUND: There is uncertainty about how much positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) should be used in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a higher PEEP strategy is superior to a lower PEEP strategy regarding the number of ventilator-free days (VFDs). DESIGN: Multicentre observational study conducted from 1 March to 1 June 2020. SETTING AND PATIENTS: Twenty-two ICUs in The Netherlands and 933 invasively ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were categorised retrospectively as having received invasive ventilation with higher (n=259) or lower PEEP (n=674), based on the high and low PEEP/FIO2 tables of the ARDS Network, and using ventilator settings and parameters in the first hour of invasive ventilation, and every 8 h thereafter at fixed time points during the first four calendar days. We also used propensity score matching to control for observed confounding factors that might influence outcomes. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was the number of VFDs. Secondary outcomes included distant organ failures including acute kidney injury (AKI) and use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), and mortality. RESULTS: In the unmatched cohort, the higher PEEP strategy had no association with the median [IQR] number of VFDs (2.0 [0.0 to 15.0] vs. 0.0 [0.0 to 16.0] days). The median (95% confidence interval) difference was 0.21 (-3.34 to 3.78) days, P = 0.905. In the matched cohort, the higher PEEP group had an association with a lower median number of VFDs (0.0 [0.0 to 14.0] vs. 6.0 [0.0 to 17.0] days) a median difference of -4.65 (-8.92 to -0.39) days, P = 0.032. The higher PEEP strategy had associations with higher incidence of AKI (in the matched cohort) and more use of RRT (in the unmatched and matched cohorts). The higher PEEP strategy had no association with mortality. CONCLUSION: In COVID-19 ARDS, use of higher PEEP may be associated with a lower number of VFDs, and may increase the incidence of AKI and need for RRT. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Practice of VENTilation in COVID-19 is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04346342

Performance Evaluation of Multiple Cloud Data Centers Allocations for HPC

This paper evaluates the behavior of the Microsoft Azure G5 cloud instance type over multiple Data Centers. The purpose is to identify if there are major differences between them and to help the users choose the best option for their needs. Our results show that there are differences in the network level for the same instance type in different locations and inside the same location at different times. The network performance causes interference in the applications level, as we could verify in our results.This research received funding from the EU H2020 Programme and from MCTI/RNP-Brazil under the HPC4E project, grant agreement no. 689772. Experiments presented in this paper were carried out using the Grid'5000 testbed, supported by a scientific interest group hosted by Inria and including CNRS, RENATER and several Universities as well as other organizations (see https://www.grid5000.fr). Additional funding was provided by CAPES and Microsoft.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft