6,224 research outputs found
Do frailty and comorbidity indices improve risk prediction of 28-day ED reattendance? Reanalysis of an ED discharge nomogram for older people
Background: In older people, quantification of risk of reattendance after emergency department (ED) discharge is important to provide adequate post ED discharge care in the community to appropriately targeted patients at risk.
Methods: We reanalysed data from a prospective observational study, previously used for derivation of a nomogram for stratifying people aged 65 and older at risk for ED reattendance. We investigated the potential effect of comorbidity load and frailty by adding the Charlson or Elixhauser comorbidity index and a ten-item frailty measure from our data to develop four new nomograms. Model I and model F built on the original nomogram by including the frailty measure with and without the addition of the Charlson comorbidity score; model E adapted for efficiency in the time-constrained environment of ED was without the frailty measure; and model P manually constructed in a purposeful stepwise manner and including only statistically significant variables. Areas under the ROC curve of models were compared. The primary outcome was any ED reattendance within 28 days of discharge.
Results: Data from 1357 patients were used. The point estimate of the respective areas under ROC were 0.63 (O), 0.63 (I), 0.68 (E), 0.71 (P) and 0.63 (F).
Conclusion: Addition of a comorbidity index to our previous model improves stratifying elderly at risk of ED reattendance. Our frailty measure did not demonstrate any additional predictive benefit
Action de l’acide phosphoreux in vitro sur Phytophthora katsurae (Pythiaceae), parasite du cocotier en Côte d’Ivoire
Lfaction in vitro de lfacide phosphoreux sur quatre souches de Phytophthora katsurae provenant de trois regions Sud de production du cocotier en Cote dfIvoire a ete evaluee. Lfetude fongitoxique de lfacide phosphoreux et la capacite de redeveloppement des souches ont ete respectivement realisees sur milieu Ribeiro modifie, amende avec les concentrations 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 et 50 ƒÊg/ml dfacide phosphoreux et avec 15 et 50 ƒÊg/ml du meme acide. Les croissances myceliennes sur milieux amendes a lfacide phosphoreux ont ete comparees aux croissances des champignons sur milieux Ribeiro ne contenant pas de lfacide phosphoreux. Lfactivite fongitoxique de lfacide phosphoreux sfest traduite par des taux dfinhibition compris entre 36,45% et74,64%. Les souches du Sud Comoe issues dfune plantation villageoise de Samo et dfune plantation industrielle CAIMPEX, sont plus sensibles a lfacide, contrairement aux souches de Marc Delorme et Fresco.Les essais realises ont montre egalement que in vitro, les souches sont capables de se redevelopper a lfabsence du fongicide. Cette etude a mis en evidence une activite fongistatique de lfacide phosphoreux. Ces differents comportements pourraient permettre lfoptimisation de la lutte chimique dans toutes les zones de production de la Cote dfIvoire
Energy Dependence of the Delta Resonance: Chiral Dynamics in Action
There is an important connection between the low energy theorems of QCD and
the energy dependence of the Delta resonance in pi-N scattering, as well as the
closely related gamma^{*} N -> pi N reaction. The resonance shape is due not
only to the strong pi-N interaction in the p wave but the small interaction in
the s wave; the latter is due to spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in QCD
(i.e. the Nambu-Goldstone nature of the pion). A brief overview of experimental
tests of chiral perturbation theory and chiral based models is presentedComment: 11 pages, 6 figures, Festschrift for S.N. yan
Optical signature of symmetry variations and spin-valley coupling in atomically thin tungsten dichalcogenides
Motivated by the triumph and limitation of graphene for electronic
applications, atomically thin layers of group VI transition metal
dichalcogenides are attracting extensive interest as a class of graphene-like
semiconductors with a desired band-gap in the visible frequency range. The
monolayers feature a valence band spin splitting with opposite sign in the two
valleys located at corners of 1st Brillouin zone. This spin-valley coupling,
particularly pronounced in tungsten dichalcogenides, can benefit potential
spintronics and valleytronics with the important consequences of spin-valley
interplay and the suppression of spin and valley relaxations. Here we report
the first optical studies of WS2 and WSe2 monolayers and multilayers. The
efficiency of second harmonic generation shows a dramatic even-odd oscillation
with the number of layers, consistent with the presence (absence) of inversion
symmetry in even-layer (odd-layer). Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show
the crossover from an indirect band gap semiconductor at mutilayers to a
direct-gap one at monolayers. The PL spectra and first-principle calculations
consistently reveal a spin-valley coupling of 0.4 eV which suppresses
interlayer hopping and manifests as a thickness independent splitting pattern
at valence band edge near K points. This giant spin-valley coupling, together
with the valley dependent physical properties, may lead to rich possibilities
for manipulating spin and valley degrees of freedom in these atomically thin 2D
materials
Gravitino dark matter in the constrained next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model with neutralino next-to-lightest superpartner
The viability of a possible cosmological scenario is investigated. The
theoretical framework is the constrained next-to-minimal supersymmetric
standard model (cNMSSM), with a gravitino playing the role of the lightest
supersymmetric particle (LSP) and a neutralino acting as the next-to-lightest
supersymmetric particle (NLSP). All the necessary constraints from colliders
and cosmology have been taken into account. For gravitino we have considered
the two usual production mechanisms, namely out-of equillibrium decay from the
NLSP, and scattering processes from the thermal bath. The maximum allowed
reheating temperature after inflation, as well as the maximum allowed gravitino
mass are determined.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
Serotonin and corticosterone rhythms in mice exposed to cigarette smoke and in patients with COPD:implication for COPD-associated neuropathogenesis
The circadian timing system controls daily rhythms of physiology and behavior, and disruption of clock function can trigger stressful life events. Daily exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) can lead to alteration in diverse biological and physiological processes. Smoking is associated with mood disorders, including depression and anxiety. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have abnormal circadian rhythms, reflected by daily changes in respiratory symptoms and lung function. Corticosterone (CORT) is an adrenal steroid that plays a considerable role in stress and anti-inflammatory responses. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5HT) is a neurohormone, which plays a role in sleep/wake regulation and affective disorders. Secretion of stress hormones (CORT and 5HT) is under the control of the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Since smoking is a contributing factor in the development of COPD, we hypothesize that CS can affect circadian rhythms of CORT and 5HT secretion leading to sleep and mood disorders in smokers and patients with COPD. We measured the daily rhythms of plasma CORT and 5HT in mice following acute (3 d), sub-chronic (10 d) or chronic (6 mo) CS exposure and in plasma from non-smokers, smokers and patients with COPD. Acute and chronic CS exposure affected both the timing (peak phase) and amplitude of the daily rhythm of plasma CORT and 5HT in mice. Acute CS appeared to have subtle time-dependent effects on CORT levels but more pronounced effects on 5HT. As compared with CORT, plasma 5HT was slightly elevated in smokers but was reduced in patients with COPD. Thus, the effects of CS on plasma 5HT were consistent between mice and patients with COPD. Together, these data reveal a significant impact of CS exposure on rhythms of stress hormone secretion and subsequent detrimental effects on cognitive function, depression-like behavior, mood/anxiety and sleep quality in smokers and patients with COPD
Ptch2/Gas1 and Ptch1/Boc differentially regulate Hedgehog signalling in murine primordial germ cell migration.
Gas1 and Boc/Cdon act as co-receptors in the vertebrate Hedgehog signalling pathway, but the nature of their interaction with the primary Ptch1/2 receptors remains unclear. Here we demonstrate, using primordial germ cell migration in mouse as a developmental model, that specific hetero-complexes of Ptch2/Gas1 and Ptch1/Boc mediate the process of Smo de-repression with different kinetics, through distinct modes of Hedgehog ligand reception. Moreover, Ptch2-mediated Hedgehog signalling induces the phosphorylation of Creb and Src proteins in parallel to Gli induction, identifying a previously unknown Ptch2-specific signal pathway. We propose that although Ptch1 and Ptch2 functionally overlap in the sequestration of Smo, the spatiotemporal expression of Boc and Gas1 may determine the outcome of Hedgehog signalling through compartmentalisation and modulation of Smo-downstream signalling. Our study identifies the existence of a divergent Hedgehog signal pathway mediated by Ptch2 and provides a mechanism for differential interpretation of Hedgehog signalling in the germ cell niche
On-demand semiconductor single-photon source with near-unity indistinguishability
Single photon sources based on semiconductor quantum dots offer distinct
advantages for quantum information, including a scalable solid-state platform,
ultrabrightness, and interconnectivity with matter qubits. A key prerequisite
for their use in optical quantum computing and solid-state networks is a high
level of efficiency and indistinguishability. Pulsed resonance fluorescence
(RF) has been anticipated as the optimum condition for the deterministic
generation of high-quality photons with vanishing effects of dephasing. Here,
we generate pulsed RF single photons on demand from a single,
microcavity-embedded quantum dot under s-shell excitation with 3-ps laser
pulses. The pi-pulse excited RF photons have less than 0.3% background
contributions and a vanishing two-photon emission probability.
Non-postselective Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between two successively emitted
photons is observed with a visibility of 0.97(2), comparable to trapped atoms
and ions. Two single photons are further used to implement a high-fidelity
quantum controlled-NOT gate.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure
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