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Vitamin D levels in the pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic periods in pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease

IntroductionVitamin D (VD) deficiency is common in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) because of multiple factors. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it increased because of medicine shortage and no enough medical service for patients with non-COVID-19 diseases.ObjectiveTo analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown on the serum levels and status of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-[OH]D) in children with CKD.Materials and methodsThis retrospective study included patients (6–18 years old) who were diagnosed with CKD stage 2–5 and routinely measured for serum VD levels between May 2019 and December 2022. Serum 25-(OH)D levels were measured before, during, and after the pandemic (2019, 2020–2021, and 2022, respectively). The daily dose of cholecalciferol supplementation and the readjustment (if required) were recorded.ResultsThis study included 171 patients (median age: 12 years). Before the pandemic, the median serum VD level was 25.0 ng/mL (19.3% VD deficiency). Then, VD supplementation was adjusted to 400–1,200 UI daily in 98.8% (n = 169) of patients. During the pandemic, the median VD level decreased to 22.5 ng/mL (43.3% VD deficiency). Hence, the supplementation was readjusted, and after the pandemic, the level was 28.7 ng/mL (18.7% VD deficiency), indicating a statistically significant increase in serum VD levels from the prepandemic period (p = 0.007).ConclusionDecreased serum VD levels and increased VD deficiency frequency were observed in patients with CKD during the COVID-19 but improved after readjustment of supplementation

Tracking the hydro-climatic signal from lake to sediment: a field study from central Turkey

Palaeo-hydrological interpretations of lake sediment proxies can benefit from a robust understanding of the modern lake environment. In this study, we use Nar Gölü, a non-outlet, monomictic maar lake in central Turkey, as a field site for a natural experiment using observations and measurements over a 17-year monitoring period (1997–2014). We compare lake water and sediment trap data to isotopic, chemical and biotic proxies preserved in its varved sediments. Nar Gölü underwent a 3 m lake-level fall between 2000 and 2010. δ18Olakewater is correlated with this lake-level fall, responding to the change in water balance. Endogenic carbonate is shown to precipitate in isotopic equilibrium with lake water and there is a strong relationship between δ18Olakewater and δ18Ocarbonate, which suggests the water balance signal is accurately recorded in the sediment isotope record. Over the same period, sedimentary diatom assemblages also responded, and conductivity inferred from diatoms showed a rise. Shifts in carbonate mineralogy and elemental chemistry in the sediment record through this decade were also recorded. Intra-annual changes in δ18Olakewater and lake water chemistry are used to demonstrate the seasonal variability of the system and the influence this may have on the interpretation of δ18Ocarbonate. We use these relationships to help interpret the sedimentary record of changing lake hydrology over the last 1725 years. Nar Gölü has provided an opportunity to test critically the chain of connection from present to past, and its sedimentary record offers an archive of decadal- to centennial-scale hydro-climatic chang

Reverberation mapping of optical emission lines in five active galaxies

For a video summarizing the main results, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaC-jPsIY0QWe present the first results from an optical reverberation mapping campaign executed in 2014 targeting the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) MCG+08-11-011, NGC 2617, NGC 4051, 3C 382, and Mrk 374. Our targets have diverse and interesting observational properties, including a "changing look" AGN and a broad-line radio galaxy. Based on continuum-Hβ lags, we measure black hole masses for all five targets. We also obtain Hγ and He ii λ4686 lags for all objects except 3C 382. The He ii λ4686 lags indicate radial stratification of the BLR, and the masses derived from different emission lines are in general agreement. The relative responsivities of these lines are also in qualitative agreement with photoionization models. These spectra have extremely high signal-to-noise ratios (100–300 per pixel) and there are excellent prospects for obtaining velocity-resolved reverberation signatures.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Continuum Reverberation Mapping of the Accretion Disks in Two Seyfert 1 Galaxies

K.H.acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/M001296/1.We present optical continuum lags for two Seyfert 1 galaxies, MCG+08-11-011 and NGC 2617, using monitoring data from a reverberation mapping campaign carried out in 2014. Our light curves span the ugriz filters over four months, with median cadences of 1.0 and 0.6 days for MCG+08-11-011 and NGC 2617, respectively, combined with roughly daily X-ray and near-UV data from Swift for NGC 2617. We find lags consistent with geometrically thin accretion-disk models that predict a lag-wavelength relation of τ ∝ λ 4/3. However, the observed lags are larger than predictions based on standard thin-disk theory by factors of 3.3 for MCG+08-11-011 and 2.3 for NGC 2617. These differences can be explained if the mass accretion rates are larger than inferred from the optical luminosity by a factor of 4.3 in MCG+08-11-011 and a factor of 1.3 in NGC 2617, although uncertainty in the SMBH masses determines the significance of this result. While the X-ray variability in NGC 2617 precedes the UV/optical variability, the long (2.6 day) lag is problematic for coronal reprocessing models.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of COVID-19: The PAN-COVID study

Objective To assess perinatal outcomes for pregnancies affected by suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Prospective, web-based registry. Pregnant women were invited to participate if they had suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between 1st January 2020 and 31st March 2021 to assess the impact of infection on maternal and perinatal outcomes including miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal growth restriction, pre-term birth and transmission to the infant. Results Between April 2020 and March 2021, the study recruited 8239 participants who had suspected or confirmed SARs-CoV-2 infection episodes in pregnancy between January 2020 and March 2021. Maternal death affected 14/8197 (0.2%) participants, 176/8187 (2.2%) of participants required ventilatory support. Pre-eclampsia affected 389/8189 (4.8%) participants, eclampsia was reported in 40/ 8024 (0.5%) of all participants. Stillbirth affected 35/8187 (0.4 %) participants. In participants delivering within 2 weeks of delivery 21/2686 (0.8 %) were affected by stillbirth compared with 8/4596 (0.2 %) delivering ≥ 2 weeks after infection (95 % CI 0.3–1.0). SGA affected 744/7696 (9.3 %) of livebirths, FGR affected 360/8175 (4.4 %) of all pregnancies. Pre-term birth occurred in 922/8066 (11.5%), the majority of these were indicated pre-term births, 220/7987 (2.8%) participants experienced spontaneous pre-term births. Early neonatal deaths affected 11/8050 livebirths. Of all neonates, 80/7993 (1.0%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions Infection was associated with indicated pre-term birth, most commonly for fetal compromise. The overall proportions of women affected by SGA and FGR were not higher than expected, however there was the proportion affected by stillbirth in participants delivering within 2 weeks of infection was significantly higher than those delivering ≥ 2 weeks after infection. We suggest that clinicians’ threshold for delivery should be low if there are concerns with fetal movements or fetal heart rate monitoring in the time around infection

Estudio descriptivo de la participación de la comunidad docente en el proyecto novasur (televisón educativa, sexta región)

Tesis (Licenciado en Psicología)La presente investigación pretende conocer y describir la Participación que tienen los docentes frente a la inserción de la Televisión Educativa, para ello se realiza una revisión del tema obteniendo niveles de participación en los cuales se pueden clasificar a los docentes de la sexta región que están inscritos en el Proyecto Novasur. Como resultado se obtiene que la mayor cantidad de profesores se ubican en el Nivel de Participación Frecuente (nivel 2) con un alto compromiso, lo que es un resultado favorable para la ejecución del proyecto.The objetive of this investigation in to describe and evaluate the grade of participation that school teachers have regarding the use of Educative TV as an educational tool. For doing so, a review of this subject is made and sorne levels of participation, in which high school teachers participating in Novasur investigation project can be classiffied, are obtained. Our results show that most of teacher are within frequent Participation Level (level 2) associated to a high compromisse, which is a very good result for the execution of this projet

Formación de capital humano en un contexto de recomposición productiva: Análisis del caso colombiano desde el modelo dualista 1960 - 2010

El cambio estructural que ha presentado Colombia entre 1960 y 2010 altera los patrones de demanda laboral de mano de obra calificada e incide en la formación de capital humano en el país. Este trabajo analiza la relación existente entre la formación de capital humano y la demanda de trabajo en distintos sectores de la economía colombiana. Para ello se apoya en una revisión de literatura para el período de tiempo mencionado y en el uso de series de tiempo de la participación de los sectores económicos en el PIB, la composición de la fuerza de trabajo por sector y las tasas de matrícula en educación superior por área de conocimiento, que junto con herramientas econométricas y análisis de los procesos de recomposición sectorial desde el modelo dualista, permiten establecer el período en el que la economía nacional sufre tales cambios. El trabajo concluye que el sector agrícola e industrial han sido continuos expulsores de mano de obra, mientras que el sector servicios y en menor proporción el sector minero son receptores, al mismo tiempo revela que los individuos se educan más de lo que exigen las demandas sectoriales por lo que es posible hablar de sobreeducación para el caso colombiano