Correlation of Wine’s Main Components’ Concentration with the Density of Model Aqueous Solutions and Wine Samples

Density is an important physical property, affecting wine mouthfeel, while it can also be used for monitoring alcoholic fermentation in winemaking. Aim of this study was to elucidate the correlation of ethanol, glucose/fructose, glycerol and tartaric acid on the density of model aqueous solutions and Greek wine samples. Various model aqueous solutions were prepared and density was measured at 20 ˚C. Density of dry white and red wine samples was also measured. A linear regression analysis was performed and theoretical fermentation monitoring curves by density measurement were obtained. The resulting models presented a coefficient of determination over 97.3%. Tartaric acid was found to increase density the most, followed by glucose and glycerol, whereas ethanol decreased density. The knowledge of the correlation of the concentration of each wine component with density may be beneficial to quantitative analysis of wine and to optimizing wine mouthfeel

Stock Market Reaction to Cash Dividend Announcement: Evidence from Palestine

In this study, we used the event study methodology to examine if cash dividend announcements affect the stock prices of companies listed on the Palestine Exchange. We studied 62 events announced from 1/1/2006 to 31/12/2015. Appropriate statistical tests were used to examine if the cumulative abnormal return is statistically significant around the announcement day, namely, 10 days before and 10 days after the event day. Results reveal that statistically significant differences exist between cumulative abnormal returns and zero. Thus, investors could realize abnormal returns during the event window for the study period. The findings also indicate that a statistically significant negative relationship exists between dividend announcements and abnormal returns starting from the day of dividend announcement. We conclude that the market reacts negatively to cash dividends after disclosure. Keywords: event study, abnormal return, cash dividend, Palestine Exchange, stock market reactio

Association between dementia and psychiatric disorders in long-term care residents:An observational clinical study

We examine the relationship between dementia and psychiatric disorder diagnoses among long-term care residents in nursing homes across the state of Rhode Island (RI), USA.Observational clinical study.Two hundred fifty-five residents with and without the diagnosis of dementia were included in this study.Prevalence analysis was used to elucidate information on psychiatric disorders in the overall cohort, and among residents with dementia. Questions from the quality of life questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L) that provides information on self-care, anxiety/depression, and resident's view of how healthy they are, were used to evaluate their association with dementia and psychiatric disorders. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to understand the relationship between dementia and mental illness diagnoses in long-term care facilities. Finally, a subgroup logistic regression analysis was performed for residents with Alzheimer disease.65.1% of all residents suffered from at least 1 psychiatric disorder. Anxiety was the most common diagnosis (36.5%), followed by depression (28.6%), and insomnia (14.9%). There was a positive and statistically significant association between any mental illness diagnosis and dementia (adjusted OR: 3.73; 95% CI: 1.34-10.41). Bipolar disorder and insomnia were negatively and statistically significantly associated with dementia (adjusted OR: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.03-0.89 AND adjusted OR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.16-0.96 respectively). Age and COPD were also statistically associated with dementia (adjusted OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.03-1.11 AND adjusted OR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.12-0.66). Alzheimer disease was positively and significantly associated with the diagnosis of any mental illness (adjusted OR: 3.77; 95% CI: 1.17-12.20).We studied the relationship between dementia and diagnoses of psychiatric disorders present in long-term care residents. We found that residents with a diagnosis of dementia were more likely to suffer from at least 1 psychiatric disorder. Further work is needed to establish the neuropathophysiological relationship between psychiatric disorders and dementia

Influenza vaccine effectiveness against influenza-associated hospitalization in children:A systematic review and meta-analysis

Vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent influenza infection, albeit vaccine effectiveness (VE) varies by year. Compared to other age groups, children and elderly adults have the highest risk of developing influenza-related complications and requiring hospitalization. During the last years, “test negative design” (TND) studies have been implemented in order to estimate influenza VE. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize the findings of TND studies reporting influenza VE against laboratory-confirmed influenza-related hospitalization in children aged 6 months to 17 years. We searched the PubMed and Embase databases and identified 2615 non-duplicate studies that required detailed review. Among them, 28 met our inclusion criteria and we performed a random-effects meta-analysis using adjusted VE estimates. In our primary analysis, influenza vaccine offered significant protection against any type influenza-related hospitalization (57.48%; 95% CI 49.46–65.49). When we examined influenza VE per type and strain, VE was higher against H1N1 (74.07%; 95% CI: 54.85–93.30) and influenza B (50.87%; 95% CI: 41.75–59.98), and moderate against H3N2 (40.77%; 95% CI: 25.65–55.89). Notably, influenza vaccination offered higher protection in children who were fully vaccinated (61.79%; 95% CI: 54.45–69.13), compared to those who were partially vaccinated (33.91%; 95% CI: 21.12 – 46.69). Also, influenza VE was high in children less than 5 years old (61.71%; 95% CI: 49.29–74.12) as well as in children 6–17 years old (54.37%; 95% CI: 35.14–73.60). In conclusion, in the pediatric population, influenza vaccination offered significant protection against influenza-related hospitalization and complete annual vaccination should be encouraged

The process of obtaining informed consent to research in long term care facilities (LTCFs):An Observational Clinical Study

We examined the process of obtaining informed consent (IC) for clinical research purposes in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in Rhode Island (RI), USA. We assessed factors that were associated with resident ability to consent, such as Brief Interview for Mental Status scores. We used a self-administered questionnaire to further understand the effect of LTCF staff evaluation of ability to consent on residents' autonomy and control over their medical decision making.Observational clinical studyLong-term care setting.LTCF personnel provided us with residents' names, as well as their professional assessment of resident ability to consent. We used Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) scores to assess the cognitive capacity of all residents to assess, and compare it to the assessment provided by LTCF personnel. A logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between LTCF assessment of resident ability to consent and BIMS score or confirmed diagnosis of dementia as seen from residents' medical charts. A self-administered questionnaire was filled out by the personnel of 10 LTCFs across RI, USA.LTCF personnel in 9 out of 10 recruited facilities reported that their assessment of resident ability to consent was based on subjective assessment of the resident as alert and oriented. There was a statistically significant relationship between the LTCF assessment of resident ability to consent and previously diagnosed dementia (OR: 0.211, 95% CI 0.107-0.415). Therefore, as BIMS scores increased, the likelihood that the resident would be deemed able to consent by LTCF personnel also increased. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant relationship between LTCF assessment of resident ability to consent and BIMS scores (OR: 1.430, 95% CI 1.274-1.605).There is no standard on obtaining IC for research studies conducted in LTCFs. We recommend that standardizing the process of obtaining IC in LTCFs can enhance the ability to perform research with LTCF residents

Varying Vaccination Rates Among Patients Seeking Care for Acute Respiratory Illness:A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Complications following influenza infection are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and the Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends universal annual vaccination. However, vaccination rates have remained significantly lower than the Department of Health and Human Services goal. The aim of this work was to assess the vaccination rate among patients who present to health care providers with influenza-like illness and identify groups with lower vaccination rates. Methods: We performed a systematic search of the PubMed and EMBASE databases with a time frame of January 1, 2010, to March 1, 2019 and focused on the vaccination rate among patients seeking care for acute respiratory illness in the United States. A random effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled seasonal influenza vaccination rate, and we used a time trend analysis to identify differences in annual vaccination over time. Results: The overall pooled influenza vaccination rate was 48.61% (whites: 50.87%; blacks: 36.05%; Hispanics: 41.45%). There was no significant difference among gender groups (men: 46.43%; women: 50.11%). Interestingly, the vaccination rate varied by age group and was significantly higher among adults aged >65 (78.04%) and significantly lower among children 9-17 years old (36.45%). Finally, we found a significant upward time trend in the overall influenza vaccination rate among whites (coef. = .0107; P = .027). Conclusions: In conclusion, because of the significantly lower influenza vaccination rates in black and Hispanic communities, societal initiatives and community outreach programs should focus on these populations and on children and adolescents aged 9-17 years

Policy-based management approach for energy efficient cloud computing infrastructure

Cloud computing technology is gaining great popularity in our day due to the utility-oriented information technology services that it offers worldwide. Due to the pay-as-you-go elasticity that cloud computing technology facilitates, hosting pervasive applications has become possible from various ends such as consumer, scientific, and business domains. The technology of Cloud Computing facilitates a computing-as-a-service model where computing resources are made available as a utility service. However, although cloud computing technology returns great benefits in different aspects, data centers consume significant amounts of electricity in order to run, hence they require high operational costs and cause harmful outcomes to the environment such as carbon footprints and emissions. Therefore, we found it valuable to design a new cloud system model which contributes towards reducing the energy consumption of cloud datacenters, with consideration to the quality of service delivered. In this thesis, we have proposed a new cloud system model and architecture that is able to handle and manage a group of virtual machine migration heuristic algorithms proposed by other researchers. The proposed system model, User Profile Aware Policy Switching algorithm (UPAPS) framework has proven ability in managing a group of these heuristic algorithms by employing our proposed architectural components namely: the UPAPS algorithm and the User Service Profile (USP). The UPAPS algorithm together with the USP component contribute to the efficient management of heuristic algorithms and therefore have achieved the desired trade-off between energy consumption and quality of service delivered. The USP component in the UPAPS framework is intended to be the instructive part in the system model which is configured according to users’ requirements. It contains the requirements of the user for other components of the system to work accordingly. The UPAPS component is part of the policy-based management and it functions according to the instruction held in the USP component. The extensive simulation results have shown a great improvement on the cloud infrastructure in terms of power efficiency and resource management using our proposed approach (i.e., UPAPS framework). The validation of our proposed system model has been done through conducting two different cloud scenario studies under both the current system model and the proposed system model. Simulation results for both systems were compared, and the UPAPS framework showed significant reduction in energy consumption in comparison to the current system without violating the quality of service required by the cloud users in both scenarios

The relationship between hydration status, male sexual dysfunction and depression in hemodialysis patients

Kamal Hassan,1,2 Yotam Elimeleh,1 Mona Shehadeh,3 Hassan Fadi,4 Irina Rubinchik2 1Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel; 2Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Galilee Medical Center, Nahariya, Israel; 3Biochemistry Laboratory, Galilee Medical Center, Nahariya, Israel; 4Internal Medicine Department E, Galilee Medical Center, Nahariya, Israel Background: Disturbances in sexual function are common among dialysis patients. Normal erections require a complex balance of physiological, psychological, emotional, hormonal, neurological and vascular factors. This study examined a possible association of overhydration (OH) with male sexual dysfunction and depression in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Patients and methods: This cross-sectional study assessed hydration status by whole-body bioimpedance spectroscopy in patients on maintenance HD for more than 12 months. Patients were categorized according to OH to extracellular water (ECW) ratio: OH/ECW ratio >0.15 and OH/ECW ratio ≤0.15. Sexual function was assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) score. Psychological status was evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score. Serum sex hormones were determined. Results: Of 39 stable participants on HD, 53.8% were overhydrated (OH/ECW ratio >0.15) and 46.2% not overhydrated (OH/ECW ratio ≤0.15). Of participants with OH/ECW ratio >0.15, 85.7% had mild to severe ED, and 71.4% had abnormal BDI scores, ranging from mild mood disturbance to severe depression. Compared to patients with OH/ECW ratio ≤0.15, BDI scores, serum estradiol and plasma hsCRP were higher (18.48±8.34 vs 10.61±5.46, p<0.001; 140.10±44.51 vs 126.10±32.26, p=0.034; and, 17.70±12.14 vs 9.76±8.79, p=0.013; respectively) in those with OH/ECW ratio >0.15, while their IIEF score, serum total testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were lower (12.81±7.31 vs 41.44±23.79, p<0.001; 8.97±5.43 vs 14.10±8.30, p=0.013; and 85.31±55.14 vs 133.3±95.48, p=0.029; respectively). The OH/ECW ratio correlated inversely with the IIEF score (r=-0.69, p<0.001) and positively with BDI scores (r=0.64, p<0.001). IIEF scores were inversely correlated with BDI scores (r=-0.54, p<0.001). Conclusion: OH in HD patients was found to be associated with a higher prevalence of sexual dysfunction and depression, lower serum levels of total testosterone and DHEA, and higher levels of serum estradiol. Keywords: hemodialysis, overhydration, erectile dysfunction, depression, sex hormones, International Index of Erectile Function score, Beck Depression Inventory scor

Cost-effectiveness of molecular diagnostic assays for the therapy of severe sepsis and septic shock in the emergency department.

ObjectivesSepsis presents a major burden to the emergency department (ED). Because empiric inappropriate antimicrobial therapy (IAAT) is associated with increased mortality, rapid molecular assays may decrease IAAT and improve outcomes. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of molecular testing as an adjunct to blood cultures in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock evaluated in the ED.MethodsWe developed a decision analysis model with primary outcome the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio expressed in terms of deaths averted. Costs were dependent on the assay price and the patients' length of stay (LOS). Three base-case scenarios regarding the difference in LOS between patients receiving appropriate (AAT) and IAAT were described. Sensitivity analyses regarding the assay cost and sensitivity, and its ability to guide changes from IAAT to AAT were performed.ResultsUnder baseline assumptions, molecular testing was cost-saving when the LOS differed by 4 days between patients receiving IAAT and AAT (ICER -$7,302/death averted). Our results remained robust in sensitivity analyses for assay sensitivity≥52$270. In the extreme case that the LOS of patients receiving AAT and IAAT was the same, the ICER remained≤$20,000/death averted for every studied sensitivity (i.e. 0.5-0.95), panel efficiency≥34$313. For 2 days difference in LOS, the bundle approach was dominant when the assay cost was≤$135 and the panel efficiency was≥77%.ConclusionsThe incorporation of molecular tests in the management of sepsis in the ED has the potential to improve outcomes and be cost-effective for a wide range of clinical scenarios

Clinical Outcomes Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Co-Infection with Rhinovirus and Adenovirus in Adults—A Retrospective Matched Cohort Study

(1) Background: Respiratory co-infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other viruses are common, but data on clinical outcomes and laboratory biomarkers indicative of disease severity are limited. We aimed to compare clinical outcomes and laboratory biomarkers of patients with SARS-CoV-2 alone to those of patients with SARS-CoV-2 and either rhinovirus or adenovirus. (2) Methods: Hospitalized patients co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and rhinovirus and patients co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus were matched to patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 alone. Outcomes of interest were the cumulative incidences of mechanical ventilation use, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, 30-day all-cause mortality, and 30-day all-cause readmission from the day of discharge. We also assessed differences in laboratory biomarkers from the day of specimen collection. (3) Results: Patients co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and rhinovirus, compared with patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, had significantly greater 30-day all-cause mortality (8/23 (34.8%) vs. 8/69 (11.6%), p = 0.02). Additionally, median alanine transaminase (13 IU/L vs. 24 IU/L, p = 0.03), aspartate transaminase (25 IU/L vs. 36 IU/L, p = 0.04), and C-reactive protein (34.86 mg/L vs. 94.68 mg/L, p = 0.02) on day of specimen collection were significantly lower in patients co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and rhinovirus in comparison to patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 alone. Clinical outcomes and laboratory markers did not differ significantly between patients with SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus co-infection and patients with SARS-CoV-2 mono-infection. (4) Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 and rhinovirus co-infection, compared with SARS-CoV-2 mono-infection alone, is positively associated with 30-day all-cause mortality among hospitalized patients. However, our lack of significant findings in our analysis of patients with SARS-CoV-2 and adenovirus co-infection may suggest that SARS-CoV-2 co-infections have variable significance, and further study is warranted