Effects of postpartum treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on milk production and culling risk in dairy cattle

Dairy Research, 2014 is known as Dairy Day, 2014Inflammation during early lactation is common in dairy cattle, and a high degree of inflammation during this time has recently been associated with both lower productivity and greater risk of disease during that lactation. Early lactation treatments with two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were compared with a placebo treatment to evaluate effects on whole-lactation productivity and retention in the herd. Both meloxicam and sodium salicylate increased whole-lactation milk and milk protein yields by 6 to 9%, despite being administered for only 1 or 3 days in early lactation, respectively. In addition, meloxicam treatment tended to decrease the risk of cows leaving the herd during the lactation. These results indicate that postpartum inflammatory signals have long-lasting effects on lactation in dairy cattle

Mortality and Advanced Support Requirement for Patients With Cancer With COVID-19 : A Mathematical Dynamic Model for Latin America

PURPOSE: In the midst of a global pandemic, evidence suggests that similar to other severe respiratory viral infections, patients with cancer are at higher risk of becoming infected by COVID-19 and have a poorer prognosis. METHODS: We have modeled the mortality and the intensive care unit (ICU) requirement for the care of patients with cancer infected with COVID-19 in Latin America. A dynamic multistate Markov model was constructed. Transition probabilities were estimated on the basis of published reports for cumulative probability of complications. Basic reproductive number (R0) values were modeled with R using the EpiEstim package. Estimations of days of ICU requirement and absolute mortality were calculated by imputing number of cumulative cases in the Markov model. RESULTS: Estimated median time of ICU requirement was 12.7 days, median time to mortality was 16.3 days after infection, and median time to severe event was 8.1 days. Peak ICU occupancy for patients with cancer was calculated at 16 days after infection. Deterministic sensitivity analysis revealed an interval for mortality between 18.5% and 30.4%. With the actual incidence tendency, Latin America would be expected to lose approximately 111,725 patients with cancer to SARS-CoV-2 (range, 87,116-143,154 patients) by the 60th day since the start of the outbreak. Losses calculated vary between < 1% to 17.6% of all patients with cancer in the region. CONCLUSION: Cancer-related cases and deaths attributable to SARS-CoV-2 will put a great strain on health care systems in Latin America. Early implementation of interventions on the basis of data given by disease modeling could mitigate both infections and deaths among patients with cancer

Entornos virtuales para la articulación con carreras de Ciencias Exactas: hacia una experiencia a mayor escala

Este trabajo presenta el Proyecto de Investigación C.I.U.N.Sa. Nº 1865/3 denominado Entornos virtuales para la Articulación entre el Nivel Medio y carreras universitarias de Ciencias Exactas, del Consejo de Investigación de la Universidad Nacional de Salta, cuyo período de ejecución comprende los años 2010 a 2013. Se relatan las fases desarrolladas, correspondientes a Diagnóstico institucional, Diseño del Entorno Virtual, Acción Formativa del Profesorado, Acción formativa del alumno en situación de ingreso y Evaluación; siguiendo el objetivo de analizar las estrategias didácticas en el contexto de los entornos virtuales, los roles docentes en estos nuevos escenarios y la incidencia de estas acciones de Articulación, en el ingreso y la permanencia en la universidad, de los alumnos que ingresan a carreras de Ciencias Exactas. Se aplica un análisis FODA (Fortalezas, Oportunidades, Debilidades, Amenazas) a cada fase desarrollada en la investigación, a partir del cual se derivan orientaciones de diseño para la reproducción de esta experiencia de Articulación, a una escala mayor, en la que participen más estudiantes y más tutores de ambos niveles educativos. Esta mayor magnitud plantea un escenario educativo más complejo, por lo que las conclusiones se orientan hacia el reconocimiento y control de las variables críticas.This paper presents the research project CIUNSa. N° 1865/3 entitled Virtual environments for Articulation between middle level education and university Sciences,from the Research Council of Universidad Nacional de Salta, to be implemented through years 2010-2013. The completed stages are Institutional Diagnosis, Virtual Environment Design, Teacher Training, Firstyear Students Training and Evaluation. The objective of this research is analyzing teaching strategies in a virtual environment context, teacher's roles in such new scenarios and the impact of these joint actions in college enrollment and permanence rates, for students applying for Sciences careers. SWOT analysis is applied to each completed phase. Design guidelines are derived from such analyses, to duplicate these Articulation experiences on a larger scale, involving more students and tutors from both levels of education. These ample experiences set a more complex educational scene. Conclusions are therefore oriented towards critical variables recognition and control.Facultad de Informátic

Levels of quinolones resistance and other antimicrobial in non-pathogenic Escherichia coli strains in children from the periurban area of Lima, Peru

The main aim of this study was to establish the resistance levels to antimicrobial agents, in 222 non-pathogenic E. Coli strains of fecal origin in Peru. The proportion of resistance found to the evaluated antimicrobials was ampicillin (62.6%), cotrimoxazole (48,6%), tetracycline (43,0%) and chloramphenicol (15,8%). We emphasize the high resistance levels found for quinolones: 32% for nalidixic acid (NAL) and 12% for ciprofloxacin (CIP). These high levels of quinoloneresistance in non-pathogenic strains isolated from children in this age group highlight the extensive use and the impact of the intake of this kind of antimicrobials in the community, showing the potential risk of the loss of their utility in the area.Este trabajo fue parcialmente financiado por Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament proyecto U2006 (LJdV), Centre de Cooperació per al Desenvolupament - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (LJdV), Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo proyectos numero A/4892/06 (LJdV), D/019499/08 y D/024648/09 (JR), Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Health, USA, proyecto 1K01TW007405 (TJO) Sanofi Pasteur y fondos de investigación del Dr. Lanata, Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, Lima, Perú. La investigación de JR es financiado por el proyecto CP05/0130 del FIS (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, España).Revisión por pare

Multigene Mutation Profiling and Clinical Characteristics of Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers vs. Heavy Smokers (Geno1.3-CLICaP)

Objectives: Lung cancer is a heterogeneous disease. Presentation and prognosis are known to vary according to several factors, such as genetic and demographic characteristics. Small-cell lung cancer incidence is increasing in never-smokers. However, the disease phenotype in this population is different compared with patients who have a smoking history.Material and Methods: To further investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of this patient subgroup, a cohort of small cell lung cancer patients was divided into smokers (n = 10) and never/ever-smokers (n = 10). A somatic mutation profile was obtained using a comprehensive NGS assay. Clinical outcomes were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional models.Results: Median age was 63 years (46–81), 40% were men, and 90% had extended disease. Smoker patients had significantly more cerebral metastases (p = 0.04) and were older (p = 0.03) compared to their non-smoker counterparts. For never/ever smokers, the main genetic mutations were TP53 (80%), RB1 (40%), CYLD (30%), and EGFR (30%). Smoker patients had more RB1 (80%, p = 0.04), CDKN2A (30%, p = 0.05), and CEBPA (30%, p = 0.05) mutations. Response rates to first-line therapy with etoposide plus cisplatin/carboplatin were 50% in smokers and 90% in never/ever smokers (p = 0.141). Median overall survival was significantly longer in never smokers compared with smokers (29.1 months [23.5–34.6] vs. 17.3 months [4.8–29.7]; p = 0.0054). Never/ever smoking history (HR 0.543, 95% CI 0.41–0.80), limited-stage disease (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.40–0.91) and response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.60–0.92) were independently associated with good prognosis.Conclusion: Our data supports that never/ever smoker patients with small-cell lung cancer have better prognosis compared to their smoker counterparts. Further, patients with never/ever smoking history who present with small-cell lung cancer have a different mutation profile compared with smokers, including a high frequency of EGFR, MET, and SMAD4 mutations. Further studies are required to assess whether the differential mutation profile is a consequence of a diverse pathological mechanism for disease onset

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file

Acquired Resistance to Erlotinib in EGFR Mutation-Positive Lung Adenocarcinoma among Hispanics (CLICaP)

Q2Q1Artículo original513-523Background Lung cancer harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) all eventually develop acquired resistance to the treatment, with half of the patients developing EGFR T790M resistance mutations. Objective The purpose of this study was to assess histological and clinical characteristics and survival outcomes in Hispanic EGFR mutated lung cancer patients after disease progression. Patients and Methods EGFR mutation-positive lung cancer patients (n = 34) with acquired resistance to the EGFR-TKI erlotinib were identified from 2011 to 2015. Post-progression tumor specimens were collected for molecular analysis. Post-progression interventions, response to treatment, and survival were assessed and compared among all patients and those with and without T790M mutations. Results Mean age was 59.4 +/- 13.9 years, 65% were never-smokers, and 53% had a performance status 0-1. All patients received erlotinib as first-line treatment. Identified mutations included: 60% DelE19 (Del746-750) and 40% L858R. First-line erlotinib overall response rate (ORR) was 61.8% and progression free survival (PFS) was 16.8 months (95% CI: 13.7-19.9). Acquired resistance mutations identified were T790M mutation (47.1%); PI3K mutations (14.7%); EGFR amplification (14.7%); KRAS mutation (5.9%); MET amplification (8.8%); HER2 alterations (5.9%, deletions/insertions in e20); and SCLC transformation (2.9%). Of patients, 79.4% received treatment after progression. ORR for post-erlotinib treatment was 47.1% (CR 2/PR 14) and median PFS was 8.3 months (95% CI: 2.2-36.6). Median overall survival (OS) from treatment initiation was 32.9 months (95% CI: 30.4-35.3), and only the use of post-progression therapy affected OS in a multivariate analysis (p = 0.05). Conclusions Hispanic patients with acquired resistance to erlotinib continued to be sensitive to other treatments after progression. The proportion of T790M+ patients appears to be similar to that previously reported in Caucasians