Adult-onset Still's disease: Evaluation of prognostic tools and validation of the systemic score by analysis of 100 cases from three centers

Background: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is rare inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that usually affects young adults. The more common clinical manifestations are spiking fevers, arthritis, evanescent rash, elevated liver enzymes, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, and serositis. The multi-visceral involvement of the disease and the different complications, such as macrophage activation syndrome, may strongly decrease the life expectancy of AOSD patients. Methods: This study aimed to identify the positive and negative features correlated with the outcome of patients. A retrospective analysis of AOSD patients prospectively admitted to three rheumatologic centers was performed to identify the clinical features present at the time of diagnosis and to predict the possible outcome. Furthermore, we investigated the as yet to be validated prognostic value of the systemic score previously proposed. Results: One hundred consecutive AOSD patients were enrolled. The mean systemic score showed that the majority of patients had a multi-organ involvement. Sixteen patients showed different complications, mainly the macrophage activation syndrome. A strong increase of inflammatory markers was observed. All patients received steroids at different dosages, 55 patients in association with immunosuppressive drugs and 32 in association with biologic agents. Sixteen patients died during the follow-up. Regression analysis showed that the higher values of the systemic score and the presence of AOSD-related complications, assessed at the time of diagnosis, were significantly correlated with patient mortality. A prognostic impact of the systemic score of 65 7.0 was reported. Conclusions: Our study showed that a higher systemic score and the presence of AOSD-related complications at the time of diagnosis were significantly associated with mortality. Of note, a cut-off at 7.0 of the systemic score showed a strong prognostic impact in identifying patients at risk of AOSD-related death

Liquid hot water pretreatment of Arundo Donax: a comparison between batch and a flow-through systems

Lignocellulosic biomass is a valuable alternative raw material to partially substitute oil as both energy and chemical source. For example, polysaccharide constituents of lignocellulosic materials, hemicellulose and cellulose, can be hydrolytically depolymerized using acid catalysts or enzymes, while residual lignin can be used as a source of aromatic building blocks. The kinetic severity of the hydrolysis process can be adjusted to maximize alternatively the yields in fermentable sugars (bioethanol-way) or in chemicals such as furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural, levulinic acid. It is well known that, before performing the main hydrolysis step, a pretreatment stage of the matrix is necessary to cleave the bonds between hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin and to start breaking some of the polysaccharide chains. Liquid hot water (LHW) can be used for the pretreatment of biomass, without adding any acid to the system, thus avoiding the need of any subsequent neutralization step. In order to move toward industrial scale plant for production of energy and bulk chemicals from biomasses, continuous systems are desirable. An intermediate step toward the design of a continuous layout is constituted by semi-continuous processes. In this study, we have performed the LHW pretreatment of Arundo Donax (giant reed) in two different systems: a microwave (MW)-assisted batch reactor, where high heating rate can be achieved leading rapidly the system at the operative conditions of the pretreatment, and a fast heating flow-through layout in which the flow rate of the process water stream can be tuned. The achieved results highlight that in the microwave (MW)-assisted batch reactor good hemicelluloses solubilization, little sugar degradation and insignificant lignin and cellulose fractionation can be obtained by optimizing reaction temperature and time and that in the flow-through system high biomass conversion as well as very limited formation of degradation products can be obtained by adjusting the flow rate of the treatment water

Supernova 2012ec: Identification of the progenitor and early monitoring with PESSTO

We present the identification of the progenitor of the Type IIP SN 2012ec in archival pre-explosion HST WFPC2 and ACS/WFC F814W images. The properties of the progenitor are further constrained by non-detections in pre-explosion WFPC2 F450W and F606W images. We report a series of early photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 2012ec. The r'-band light curve shows a plateau with M(r')=-17.0. The early spectrum is similar to the Type IIP SN 1999em, with the expansion velocity measured at Halpha absorption minimum of -11,700 km/s (at 1 day post-discovery). The photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SN 2012ec shows it to be a Type IIP SN, discovered only a few days post-explosion (<6d). We derive a luminosity for the progenitor, in comparison with MARCS model SEDs, of log L/Lsun = 5.15+/-0.19, from which we infer an initial mass range of 14-22Msun. This is the first SN with an identified progenitor to be followed by the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO).Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, MNRAS accepte

Indacaterol/glycopyrronium/mometasone fixed dose combination for uncontrolled asthma

Introduction: Asthma symptoms can be relieved through a maintenance treatment combining long-acting β2-agonist and inhaled corticosteroids (LABA/ICS). However, for patients with inadequately controlled asthma, the LABA/ICS combination might not be sufficient, and clinical guidelines recommend the administration of inhaled long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) as an add-on therapy to better control asthma and improve lung function. For nearly two decades, the only LAMA to be approved on the market has been tiotropium. Areas covered: We reviewed recent clinical studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of LABA/LAMA/ICS fixed dose combinations by searching the PubMed database. Molecular mechanisms and clinical data support the use of a once-daily, single-inhaler fixed dose combination of the LABA/LAMA/ICS indacaterol/glycopyrronium/mometasone (IND/GLY/MF), the first therapy combining three agents in a fixed dose approved in Europe for the treatment of uncontrolled asthma. Expert opinion: IND/GLY/MF was superior to both IND/MF and salmeterol/fluticasone, a well-established LABA/ICS combination improving the lung function in uncontrolled asthma. Moreover, IND/GLY/MF, delivered through the Breezhaler inhaler in a single inhalation, is the first inhaled therapy prescribed alongside a digital companion, a sensor and the Propeller app, allowing for improved treatment adherence, reduced rescue inhaler usage and hospitalizations, increased patient satisfaction and asthma control

Reducing the impact of radioactivity on quantum circuits in a deep-underground facility

As quantum coherence times of superconducting circuits have increased from nanoseconds to hundreds of microseconds, they are currently one of the leading platforms for quantum information processing. However, coherence needs to further improve by orders of magnitude to reduce the prohibitive hardware overhead of current error correction schemes. Reaching this goal hinges on reducing the density of broken Cooper pairs, so-called quasiparticles. Here, we show that environmental radioactivity is a significant source of nonequilibrium quasiparticles. Moreover, ionizing radiation introduces time-correlated quasiparticle bursts in resonators on the same chip, further complicating quantum error correction. Operating in a deep-underground lead-shielded cryostat decreases the quasiparticle burst rate by a factor fifty and reduces dissipation up to a factor four, showcasing the importance of radiation abatement in future solid-state quantum hardware

The Active Corona of HD 35850 (F8 V)

We present Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer spectroscopy and photometry of the nearby F8 V star HD 35850 (HR 1817). The EUVE spectra reveal 28 emission lines from Fe IX and Fe XV to Fe XXIV. The Fe XXI 102, 129 A ratio yields an upper limit for the coronal electron density, log n < 11.6 per cc. The EUVE SW spectrum shows a small but clearly detectable continuum. The line-to-continuum ratio indicates approximately solar Fe abundances, 0.8 < Z < 1.6. The resulting emission-measure distribution is characterized by two temperature components at log T of 6.8 and 7.4. The EUVE spectra have been compared with non-simultaneous ASCA SIS spectra of HD 35850. The SIS spectrum shows the same temperature distribution as the EUVE DEM analysis. However, the SIS spectral firs suggest sub-solar abundances, 0.34 < Z < 0.81. Although some of the discrepancy may be the result of incomplete X-ray line lists, we cannot explain the disagreement between the EUVE line-to-continuum ratio and the ASCA-derived Fe abundance. Given its youth (t ~ 100 Myr), its rapid rotation (v sin i ~ 50 km/s), and its high X-ray activity (Lx ~ 1.5E+30 ergs/s), HD 35850 may represent an activity extremum for single, main-sequence F-type stars. The variability and EM distribution can be reconstructed using the continuous flaring model of Guedel provided that the flare distribution has a power-law index of 1.8. Similar results obtained for other young solar analogs suggest that continuous flaring is a viable coronal heating mechanism on rapidly rotating, late-type, main-sequence stars.Comment: 32 pages incl. 14 figures and 3 tables. To appear in the 1999 April 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journa

Volatility Effects on the Escape Time in Financial Market Models

We shortly review the statistical properties of the escape times, or hitting times, for stock price returns by using different models which describe the stock market evolution. We compare the probability function (PF) of these escape times with that obtained from real market data. Afterwards we analyze in detail the effect both of noise and different initial conditions on the escape time in a market model with stochastic volatility and a cubic nonlinearity. For this model we compare the PF of the stock price returns, the PF of the volatility and the return correlation with the same statistical characteristics obtained from real market data.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Int. J. of Bifurcation and Chaos, 200

Light curves of hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory

We investigate the light-curve properties of a sample of 26 spectroscopically confirmed hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) in the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey. These events are brighter than SNe Ib/c and SNe Ic-BL, on average, by about 4 and 2~mag, respectively. The peak absolute magnitudes of SLSNe-I in rest-frame $g$ band span $-22\lesssim M_g \lesssim-20$~mag, and these peaks are not powered by radioactive $^{56}$Ni, unless strong asymmetries are at play. The rise timescales are longer for SLSNe than for normal SNe Ib/c, by roughly 10 days, for events with similar decay times. Thus, SLSNe-I can be considered as a separate population based on photometric properties. After peak, SLSNe-I decay with a wide range of slopes, with no obvious gap between rapidly declining and slowly declining events. The latter events show more irregularities (bumps) in the light curves at all times. At late times, the SLSN-I light curves slow down and cluster around the $^{56}$Co radioactive decay rate. Powering the late-time light curves with radioactive decay would require between 1 and 10${\rm M}_\odot$ of Ni masses. Alternatively, a simple magnetar model can reasonably fit the majority of SLSNe-I light curves, with four exceptions, and can mimic the radioactive decay of $^{56}$Co, up to $\sim400$ days from explosion. The resulting spin values do not correlate with the host-galaxy metallicities. Finally, the analysis of our sample cannot strengthen the case for using SLSNe-I for cosmology.Comment: 120 pages, 48 figures, 78 tables. ApJ in pres

PESSTO monitoring of SN 2012hn: further heterogeneity among faint type I supernovae

We present optical and infrared monitoring data of SN 2012hn collected by the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects (PESSTO). We show that SN 2012hn has a faint peak magnitude (MR ~ -15.7) and shows no hydrogen and no clear evidence for helium in its spectral evolution. Instead, we detect prominent Ca II lines at all epochs, which relates this transient to previously described 'Ca-rich' or 'gap' transients. However, the photospheric spectra (from -3 to +32 d with respect to peak) of SN 2012hn show a series of absorption lines which are unique, and a red continuum that is likely intrinsic rather than due to extinction. Lines of Ti II and Cr II are visible. This may be a temperature effect, which could also explain the red photospheric colour. A nebular spectrum at +150d shows prominent CaII, OI, CI and possibly MgI lines which appear similar in strength to those displayed by core-collapse SNe. To add to the puzzle, SN 2012hn is located at a projected distance of 6 kpc from an E/S0 host and is not close to any obvious starforming region. Overall SN 2012hn resembles a group of faint H-poor SNe that have been discovered recently and for which a convincing and consistent physical explanation is still missing. They all appear to explode preferentially in remote locations offset from a massive host galaxy with deep limits on any dwarf host galaxies, favouring old progenitor systems. SN 2012hn adds heterogeneity to this sample of objects. We discuss potential explosion channels including He-shell detonations and double detonations of white dwarfs as well as peculiar core-collapse SNe.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, accepted to MNRAS on 14/10/201