Informing antimicrobial management in the context of COVID-19:Understanding the longitudinal dynamics of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin

Background: To characterise the longitudinal dynamics of C-reactive protein (CRP) and Procalcitonin (PCT) in a cohort of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 and support antimicrobial decision-making. Methods: Longitudinal CRP and PCT concentrations and trajectories of 237 hospitalised patients with COVID-19 were modelled. The dataset comprised of 2,021 data points for CRP and 284 points for PCT. Pairwise comparisons were performed between: (i) those with or without significant bacterial growth from cultures, and (ii) those who survived or died in hospital. Results: CRP concentrations were higher over time in COVID-19 patients with positive microbiology (day 9: 236 vs 123 mg/L, p < 0.0001) and in those who died (day 8: 226 vs 152 mg/L, p < 0.0001) but only after day 7 of COVID-related symptom onset. Failure for CRP to reduce in the first week of hospital admission was associated with significantly higher odds of death. PCT concentrations were higher in patients with COVID-19 and positive microbiology or in those who died, although these differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Both the absolute CRP concentration and the trajectory during the first week of hospital admission are important factors predicting microbiology culture positivity and outcome in patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Further work is needed to describe the role of PCT for co-infection. Understanding relationships of these biomarkers can support development of risk models and inform optimal antimicrobial strategies

A study of quasi-elastic muon neutrino and antineutrino scattering in the NOMAD experiment

We have studied the muon neutrino and antineutrino quasi-elastic (QEL) scattering reactions (v(mu)n -> mu(-)p and (v) over bar mu p -> mu(+)n) using a set of experimental data collected by the NOMAD Collaboration. We have performed measurements of the cross-section of these processes on a nuclear target (mainly carbon) normalizing it to the total v(mu) ((v) over bar mu) charged-current cross section. The results for the flux-averaged QEL cross sections in the (anti) neutrino energy interval 3-100 GeV are v(mu) = (0.92 +/- 0.02(stat) +/- 0.06(syst)) x 10(-38) cm(2) and (v) over bar (mu) = (0.81 +/- 0.05(stat) +/- 0.09(syst)) x 10(-38) cm(2) for neutrino and antineutrino, respectively. The axial mass parameter M(A) was extracted from the measured quasi-elastic neutrino cross section. The corresponding result is M(A) = 1.05 +/- 0.02(stat)+/- 0.06(syst) GeV. It is consistent with the axial mass values recalculated from the antineutrino cross section and extracted from the pure Q(2) shape analysis of the high purity sample of v(mu) quasi-elastic 2-track events, but has smaller systematic error and should be quoted as the main result of this work. Our measured MA is found to be in good agreement with the world average value obtained in previous deuterium filled bubble chamber experiments. The NOMAD measurement of MA is lower than those recently published by K2K and Mini-BooNE Collaborations. However, within the large errors quoted by these experiments on MA, these results are compatible with the more precise NOMAD value