Viral Loads in Clinical Specimens and SARS Manifestations

The number of anatomical sites with detectable viral loads by RT-qPCR appeared to correlate with death risk

Channel Coupling in A(e⃗,e′N⃗)BA(\vec{e},e' \vec{N})B Reactions

The sensitivity of momentum distributions, recoil polarization observables, and response functions for nucleon knockout by polarized electrons to channel coupling in final-state interactions is investigated using a model in which both the distorting and the coupling potentials are constructed by folding density-dependent effective interactions with nuclear transition densities. Calculations for $^{16}$O are presented for 200 and 433 MeV ejectile energies, corresponding to proposed experiments at MAMI and TJNAF, and for $^{12}$C at 70 and 270 MeV, corresponding to experiments at NIKHEF and MIT-Bates. The relative importance of charge exchange decreases as the ejectile energy increases, but remains significant for 200 MeV. Both proton and neutron knockout cross sections for large recoil momenta, $p_m > 300$ MeV/c, are substantially affected by inelastic couplings even at 433 MeV. Significant effects on the cross section for neutron knockout are also predicted at smaller recoil momenta, especially for low energies. Polarization transfer for proton knockout is insensitive to channel coupling, even for fairly low ejectile energies, but polarization transfer for neutron knockout retains nonnegligible sensitivity to channel coupling for energies up to about 200 MeV. The present results suggest that possible medium modifications of neutron and proton electromagnetic form factors for $Q^2 \gtrsim 0.5 (GeV/c)^2$ can be studied using recoil polarization with relatively little sensitivity due to final state interactions.Comment: Substantially revised version accepted by Phys. Rev. C; shortened to 49 pages including 21 figure

Serum magnesium and calcium levels in relation to ischemic stroke : Mendelian randomization study

ObjectiveTo determine whether serum magnesium and calcium concentrations are causally associated with ischemic stroke or any of its subtypes using the mendelian randomization approach.MethodsAnalyses were conducted using summary statistics data for 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms robustly associated with serum magnesium (n = 6) or serum calcium (n = 7) concentrations. The corresponding data for ischemic stroke were obtained from the MEGASTROKE consortium (34,217 cases and 404,630 noncases).ResultsIn standard mendelian randomization analysis, the odds ratios for each 0.1 mmol/L (about 1 SD) increase in genetically predicted serum magnesium concentrations were 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-0.89; p = 1.3 7 10-4) for all ischemic stroke, 0.63 (95% CI 0.50-0.80; p = 1.6 7 10-4) for cardioembolic stroke, and 0.60 (95% CI 0.44-0.82; p = 0.001) for large artery stroke; there was no association with small vessel stroke (odds ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.67-1.20; p = 0.46). Only the association with cardioembolic stroke was robust in sensitivity analyses. There was no association of genetically predicted serum calcium concentrations with all ischemic stroke (per 0.5 mg/dL [about 1 SD] increase in serum calcium: odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.88-1.21) or with any subtype.ConclusionsThis study found that genetically higher serum magnesium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of cardioembolic stroke but found no significant association of genetically higher serum calcium concentrations with any ischemic stroke subtype

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

An Efficient Method for Rendering Detailed Soft Shadow

In this paper, a new method is described for rendering convincing soft shadows from area light source at interactive frame rates. The method is based on the shadow map algorithm and it fully exploits the parallelism of the programmable graphics pipeline. In the method we sample the area light source using parallel linear segments and compute the light contribution of each segment using a completely new method which gives reasonable simulation for soft shadow generated by tiny scene object. We demonstrate that it can generate detailed soft shadow, while achieving the high frame rates. And our approach offers a number of benefits. E.g., it&apos;s easy to be adopted by the projects using shadowing map and there is no extra overhead while the complexity of the scene geometry increases.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000238089300105&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Computer Science, Interdisciplinary ApplicationsComputer Science, Theory &amp; MethodsSCI(E)CPCI-S(ISTP)

Heterogeneity of diabetes: β-cells, phenotypes, and precision medicine: Proceedings of an International Symposium of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes and the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

One hundred years have passed since the discovery of insulin-an achievement that transformed diabetes from a fatal illness into a manageable chronic condition. The decades since that momentous achievement have brought ever more rapid innovation and advancement in diabetes research and clinical care. To celebrate the important work of the past century and help to chart a course for its continuation into the next, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes and the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recently held a joint international symposium, bringing together a cohort of researchers with diverse interests and backgrounds from both countries and beyond to discuss their collective quest to better understand the heterogeneity of diabetes and thus gain insights to inform new directions in diabetes treatment and prevention. This article summarizes the proceedings of that symposium, which spanned cutting-edge research into various aspects of islet biology, the heterogeneity of diabetic phenotypes, and the current state of and future prospects for precision medicine in diabetes