178 research outputs found
Seizure detection with automated EEG analysis: a validation study focusing on periodic patterns.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an automated seizure detection (ASD) algorithm in EEGs with periodic and other challenging patterns.
METHODS: Selected EEGs recorded in patients over 1year old were classified into four groups: A. Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) with intermixed electrical seizures. B. PLEDs without seizures. C. Electrical seizures and no PLEDs. D. No PLEDs or seizures. Recordings were analyzed by the Persyst P12 software, and compared to the raw EEG, interpreted by two experienced neurophysiologists; Positive percent agreement (PPA) and false-positive rates/hour (FPR) were calculated.
RESULTS: We assessed 98 recordings (Group A=21 patients; B=29, C=17, D=31). Total duration was 82.7h (median: 1h); containing 268 seizures. The software detected 204 (=76.1%) seizures; all ictal events were captured in 29/38 (76.3%) patients; in only in 3 (7.7%) no seizures were detected. Median PPA was 100% (range 0-100; interquartile range 50-100), and the median FPR 0/h (range 0-75.8; interquartile range 0-4.5); however, lower performances were seen in the groups containing periodic discharges.
CONCLUSION: This analysis provides data regarding the yield of the ASD in a particularly difficult subset of EEG recordings, showing that periodic discharges may bias the results.
SIGNIFICANCE: Ongoing refinements in this technique might enhance its utility and lead to a more extensive application
Preparation and degradation of rhodium and iridium diolefin catalysts for the acceptorless and base-free dehydrogenation of secondary alcohols
Rhodium and iridium diolefin catalysts for the acceptorless and base-free dehydrogenation of secondary alcohols have been prepared, and their degradation has been investigated, during the study of the reactivity of the dimers [M(µ-Cl)(I4-C8H12)]2 (M = Rh (1), Ir (2)) and [M(µ-OH)(I4-C8H12)]2 (M = Rh (3), Ir (4)) with 1, 3-bis(6'-methyl-2'-pyridylimino)isoindoline (HBMePHI). Complex 1 reacts with HBMePHI, in dichloromethane, to afford equilibrium mixtures of 1, the mononuclear derivative RhCl(I4-C8H12){¿1-Npy-(HBMePHI)} (5), and the binuclear species [RhCl(I4-C8H12)]2{µ-Npy, Npy-(HBMePHI)} (6). Under the same conditions, complex 2 affords the iridium counterparts IrCl(I4-C8H12){¿1-Npy-(HBMePHI)} (7) and [IrCl(I4-C8H12)]2{µ-Npy, Npy-(HBMePHI)} (8). In contrast to chloride, one of the hydroxide groups of 3 and 4 promotes the deprotonation of HBMePHI to give [M(I4-C8H12)]2(µ-OH){µ-Npy, Niso-(BMePHI)} (M = Rh (9), Ir (10)), which are efficient precatalysts for the acceptorless and base-free dehydrogenation of secondary alcohols. In the presence of KOtBu, the [BMePHI]- ligand undergoes three different degradations: Alcoholysis of an exocyclic isoindoline-N double bond, alcoholysis of a pyridyl-N bond, and opening of the five-membered ring of the isoindoline core.
Updating the statistics reported for the EU-Spain purse seine fishing fleet in the Indian Ocean (period 1984-2019) and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the port sampling activity in Victoria (Seychelles)
This document provides an update on the statistics reported for the Spanish purse seine fleet fisheries in the Indian Ocean for the period 1984 to 2019. Data include catch and effort statistics, as well as some fishery indicators by species and fishing mode. Information about the coverage of the sampling, together with maps and diagrams illustrating the spatial-temporal fishing patterns of this fleet are also provided
Exact Study of the Effect of Level Statistics in Ultrasmall Superconducting Grains
The reduced BCS model that is commonly used for ultrasmall superconducting
grains has an exact solution worked out long ago by Richardson in the context
of nuclear physics. We use it to check the quality of previous treatments of
this model, and to investigate the effect of level statistics on pairing
correlations. We find that the ground state energies are on average somewhat
lower for systems with non-uniform than uniform level spacings, but both have
an equally smooth crossover from the bulk to the few-electron regime. In the
latter, statistical fluctuations in ground state energies strongly depend on
the grain's electron number parity.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figs, RevTe
Service innovations: A depersonalisation research unit progress report
Depersonalisation was described clinically over 100 years ago, yet there has been little research into this interesting but distressing psychiatric disorder. The symptom of depersonalisation can occur alone or in the context of other psychiatric and neurological illnesses and is characterised by the experience of detachment from one's senses and the outside environment, and may be present for several years without remission. Two years after the establishment of the depersonalisation research unit at the Maudsley Hospital, London, we report on current neurobiological and clinical research findings, including functional magnetic resonance imaging, psychophysiology and neuroendocrinology and progress regarding the development of effective treatments
Reconstructing Neutrino Properties from Collider Experiments in a Higgs Triplet Neutrino Mass Model
We extend the minimal supersymmetric standard model with bilinear R-parity
violation to include a pair of Higgs triplet superfields. The neutral
components of the Higgs triplets develop small vacuum expectation values (VEVs)
quadratic in the bilinear R-parity breaking parameters. In this scheme the
atmospheric neutrino mass scale arises from bilinear R-parity breaking while
for reasonable values of parameters the solar neutrino mass scale is generated
from the small Higgs triplet VEVs. We calculate neutrino masses and mixing
angles in this model and show how the model can be tested at future colliders.
The branching ratios of the doubly charged triplet decays are related to the
solar neutrino angle via a simple formula.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; one formula corrected, two author's names
corrected; some explanatory comments adde
Inadequate use of antibiotics in the covid-19 era: effectiveness of antibiotic therapy
Background: Since December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the concept of medicine. This work aims to analyze the use of antibiotics in patients admitted to the hospital due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This work analyzes the use and effectiveness of antibiotics in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 based on data from the SEMI-COVID-19 registry, an initiative to generate knowledge about this disease using data from electronic medical records. Our primary endpoint was all-cause in-hospital mortality according to antibiotic use. The secondary endpoint was the effect of macrolides on mortality. Results: Of 13, 932 patients, antibiotics were used in 12, 238. The overall death rate was 20.7% and higher among those taking antibiotics (87.8%). Higher mortality was observed with use of all antibiotics (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.21–1.62; p <.001) except macrolides, which had a higher survival rate (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.64–0.76; p <.001). The decision to start antibiotics was influenced by presence of increased inflammatory markers and any kind of infiltrate on an x-ray. Patients receiving antibiotics required respiratory support and were transferred to intensive care units more often. Conclusions: Bacterial co-infection was uncommon among COVID-19 patients, yet use of antibiotics was high. There is insufficient evidence to support widespread use of empiric antibiotics in these patients. Most may not require empiric treatment and if they do, there is promising evidence regarding azithromycin as a potential COVID-19 treatment. © 2021, The Author(s)
Matrix metalloproteinase-9, -10, and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 blood levels as biomarkers of severity and mortality in sepsis
INTRODUCTION: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a role in infectious diseases through extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, which favors the migration of immune cells from the bloodstream to sites of inflammation. Although higher levels of MMP-9 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) have been found in small series of patients with sepsis, MMP-10 levels have not been studied in this setting. The objective of this study was to determine the predictive value of MMP-9, MMP-10, and TIMP-1 on clinical severity and mortality in a large series of patients with severe sepsis.
METHODS: This was a multicenter, observational, and prospective study carried out in six Spanish Intensive Care Units. We included 192 (125 surviving and 67 nonsurviving) patients with severe sepsis and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls in the study. Serum levels of MMP-9, MMP-10, TIMP-1, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and interleukin (IL)-10 were measured in patients with severe sepsis at the time of diagnosis and in healthy controls.
RESULTS: Sepsis patients had higher levels of MMP-10 and TIMP-1, higher MMP-10/TIMP-1 ratios, and lower MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratios than did healthy controls (P < 0.001). An association was found between MMP-9, MMP-10, TIMP-1, and MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratios and parameters of sepsis severity, assessed by the SOFA score, the APACHE-II score, lactic acid, platelet count, and markers of coagulopathy. Nonsurviving sepsis patients had lower levels of MMP-9 (P = 0.037), higher levels of TIMP-1 (P < 0.001), lower MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio (P = 0.003), higher levels of IL-10 (P < 0.001), and lower TNF-alpha/IL-10 ratio than did surviving patients. An association was found between MMP-9, MMP-10, and TIMP-1 levels, and TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels. The risk of death in sepsis patients with TIMP-1 values greater than 531 ng/ml was 80% higher than that in patients with lower values (RR = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.87;P = 0.01; sensitivity = 0.73; specificity = 0.45).
CONCLUSIONS: The novel findings of our study on patients with severe sepsis (to our knowledge, the largest series reporting data about MMP levels in sepsis) are that reduced MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratios and increased MMP-10 levels may be of great pathophysiologic significance in terms of severity and mortality, and that TIMP-1 levels may represent a biomarker to predict the clinical outcome of patients with sepsis
Multilateral benefit-sharing from digital sequence information will support both science and biodiversity conservation
Open access to sequence data is a cornerstone of biology and biodiversity research, but has created tension under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Policy decisions could compromise research and development, unless a practical multilateral solution is implemented
Superconformal N=2, D=5 matter with and without actions
We investigate N=2, D=5 supersymmetry and matter-coupled supergravity
theories in a superconformal context. In a first stage we do not require the
existence of a Lagrangian. Under this assumption, we already find at the level
of rigid supersymmetry, i.e. before coupling to conformal supergravity, more
general matter couplings than have been considered in the literature. For
instance, we construct new vector-tensor multiplet couplings, theories with an
odd number of tensor multiplets, and hypermultiplets whose scalar manifold
geometry is not hyperkaehler.
Next, we construct rigid superconformal Lagrangians. This requires some extra
ingredients that are not available for all dynamical systems. However, for the
generalizations with tensor multiplets mentioned above, we find corresponding
new actions and scalar potentials. Finally, we extend the supersymmetry to
local superconformal symmetry, making use of the Weyl multiplet. Throughout the
paper, we will indicate the various geometrical concepts that arise, and as an
application we compute the non-vanishing components of the Ricci tensor of
hypercomplex group manifolds. Our results can be used as a starting point to
obtain more general matter-couplings to Poincare supergravity.Comment: 67 pages; v2: title of reference changed and small editing
corrections; v3: small typing errors corrected, version published in JHEP;
v4: typos corrected; v5: additional term in (2.109) and (4.11); v6: change of
order of indices in (2.89
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