Encefalite herpética: achados clínicos, laboratoriais e eletroencefalográficos iniciais em população pediátrica atendida no HCPA

OBJECTIVE: To describe the experience of the Pediatric Neurology Sector at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, with the diagnosis and treatment of herpesencephalitis.METHODS: Review of medical records of all patients between 0 and 12 years of age receiving care at the Hospital with a diagnosis of herpes encephalitis between January of 1998 and January of 2001.RESULTS: Seven patients were identified (six were white, four were male). Mean age was 20.6 months. The most frequent clinical finding was fever, followed by deterioration of consciousness level, flu-like symptoms, oral lesions, seizures and irritability. All patients had altered electroencephalographic results with paroxysm over the left hemisphere. In six patients there was slow activity and temporal localization. Computed tomography was performed in five patients. Pathologic findings were present in four cases. The analysis of cerebrospinal fluid revealed features resembling lymphomonocytic encephalitis. All patients used acyclovir during 21 days. There were no deaths.RESULTS: Our findings are similar to those reported in the literature. Differently from other studies, we observed a predominance of cases of herpes encephalitis between November and January – six cases out of seven, four being in JanuaryOBJETIVO: Descrever a experiência do Setor de Neurologia Pediátrica do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre com o diagnóstico e o tratamento da encefalite herpética.MÉTODOS: Foram revisados os registros médicos de todos os pacientes de 0 a 12 anos tratados no Hospital com diagnóstico de encefalite herpética de janeiro de 1998 a janeiro de 2001.RESULTADOS: Dos sete pacientes identificados, seis eram de cor branca e quatro eram do sexo masculino. A média de idade foi de 20,6 meses. O achado clínico mais freqüente foi febre, seguido por alteração da consciência, sintomas gripais, lesões orais, convulsão e irritabilidade. Todos tiveram EEG alterado com paroxismos localizados no hemisfério esquerdo. Em seis pacientes havia lentificação e localização temporal. Cinco pacientes realizaram tomografia computadorizada de crânio, que revelou alterações em quatro casos. Os achados no líquido cefalorraquidiano foram do tipo encefalite linfomonocitária. Quanto ao tratamento, todos os pacientes fizeram cursos de 21 dias de aciclovir. Não registramos óbitos.CONCLUSÕES: Nossos achados assemelham-se aos da literatura. Diferentemente de outros trabalhos, encontramos um predomínio de ocorrência da encefalite herpética entre os meses de novembro e janeiro — seis de sete casos, sendo quatro em janeiro

Herpes encephalitis : clinical, laboratory and early electroencephalographic findings in a pediatric population receiving care at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre

OBJETIVO: Descrever a experiência do Setor de Neurologia Pediátrica do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre com o diagnóstico e o tratamento da encefalite herpética. MÉTODOS: Foram revisados os registros médicos de todos os pacientes de 0 a 12 anos tratados no Hospital com diagnóstico de encefalite herpética de janeiro de 1998 a janeiro de 2001. RESULTADOS: Dos sete pacientes identificados, seis eram de cor branca e quatro eram do sexo masculino. A média de idade foi de 20,6 meses. O achado clínico mais freqüente foi febre, seguido por alteração da consciência, sintomas gripais, lesões orais, convulsão e irritabilidade. Todos tiveram EEG alterado com paroxismos localizados no hemisfério esquerdo. Em seis pacientes havia lentificação e localização temporal. Cinco pacientes realizaram tomografia computadorizada de crânio, que revelou alterações em quatro casos. Os achados no líquido cefalorraquidiano foram do tipo encefalite linfomonocitária. Quanto ao tratamento, todos os pacientes fizeram cursos de 21 dias de aciclovir. Não registramos óbitos. CONCLUSÕES: Nossos achados assemelham-se aos da literatura. Diferentemente de outros trabalhos, encontramos um predomínio de ocorrência da encefalite herpética entre os meses de novembro e janeiro — seis de sete casos, sendo quatro em janeiro.OBJECTIVE: To describe the experience of the Pediatric Neurology Sector at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, with the diagnosis and treatment of herpes encephalitis. METHODS: Review of medical records of all patients between 0 and 12 years of age receiving care at the Hospital with a diagnosis of herpes encephalitis between January of 1998 and January of 2001. RESULTS: Seven patients were identified (six were white, four were male). Mean age was 20.6 months. The most frequent clinical finding was fever, followed by deterioration of consciousness level, flu-like symptoms, oral lesions, seizures and irritability. All patients had altered electroencephalographic results with paroxysm over the left hemisphere. In six patients there was slow activity and temporal localization. Computed tomography was performed in five patients. Pathologic findings were present in four cases. The analysis of cerebrospinal fluid revealed features resembling lymphomonocytic encephalitis. All patients used acyclovir during 21 days. There were no deaths. RESULTS: Our findings are similar to those reported in the literature. Differently from other studies, we observed a predominance of cases of herpes encephalitis between November and January – six cases out of seven, four being in January

High Frequency, Sustained T Cell Responses to PARV4 Suggest Viral Persistence In Vivo

Background. Parvovirus 4 (PARV4) is a recently identified human virus that has been found in livers of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and in bone marrow of individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). T cells are important in controlling viruses but may also contribute to disease pathogenesis. The interaction of PARV4 with the cellular immune system has not been described. Consequently, we investigated whether T cell responses to PARV4 could be detected in individuals exposed to blood-borne viruses

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Wastes to Improve Ethanol and Biogas Production: A Review

Lignocelluloses are often a major or sometimes the sole components of different waste streams from various industries, forestry, agriculture and municipalities. Hydrolysis of these materials is the first step for either digestion to biogas (methane) or fermentation to ethanol. However, enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses with no pretreatment is usually not so effective because of high stability of the materials to enzymatic or bacterial attacks. The present work is dedicated to reviewing the methods that have been studied for pretreatment of lignocellulosic wastes for conversion to ethanol or biogas. Effective parameters in pretreatment of lignocelluloses, such as crystallinity, accessible surface area, and protection by lignin and hemicellulose are described first. Then, several pretreatment methods are discussed and their effects on improvement in ethanol and/or biogas production are described. They include milling, irradiation, microwave, steam explosion, ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX), supercritical CO2 and its explosion, alkaline hydrolysis, liquid hot-water pretreatment, organosolv processes, wet oxidation, ozonolysis, dilute-and concentrated-acid hydrolyses, and biological pretreatments

Sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors at the beginning of gravitational wave astronomy

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of two widely separated 4 km laser interferometers designed to detect gravitational waves from distant astrophysical sources in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 10 kHz. The first observation run of the Advanced LIGO detectors started in September 2015 and ended in January 2016. A strain sensitivity of better than 10−23/Hz−−−√ was achieved around 100 Hz. Understanding both the fundamental and the technical noise sources was critical for increasing the astrophysical strain sensitivity. The average distance at which coalescing binary black hole systems with individual masses of 30  M⊙ could be detected above a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 8 was 1.3 Gpc, and the range for binary neutron star inspirals was about 75 Mpc. With respect to the initial detectors, the observable volume of the Universe increased by a factor 69 and 43, respectively. These improvements helped Advanced LIGO to detect the gravitational wave signal from the binary black hole coalescence, known as GW150914

Search for post-merger gravitational waves from the remnant of the binary neutron star merger GW170817

In Advanced LIGO, detection and astrophysical source parameter estimation of the binary black hole merger GW150914 requires a calibrated estimate of the gravitational-wave strain sensed by the detectors. Producing an estimate from each detector's differential arm length control loop readout signals requires applying time domain filters, which are designed from a frequency domain model of the detector's gravitational-wave response. The gravitational-wave response model is determined by the detector's opto-mechanical response and the properties of its feedback control system. The measurements used to validate the model and characterize its uncertainty are derived primarily from a dedicated photon radiation pressure actuator, with cross-checks provided by optical and radio frequency references. We describe how the gravitational-wave readout signal is calibrated into equivalent gravitational-wave-induced strain and how the statistical uncertainties and systematic errors are assessed. Detector data collected over 38 calendar days, from September 12 to October 20, 2015, contain the event GW150914 and approximately 16 of coincident data used to estimate the event false alarm probability. The calibration uncertainty is less than 10% in magnitude and 10 degrees in phase across the relevant frequency band 20 Hz to 1 kHz

First measurement of the Hubble Constant from a Dark Standard Siren using the Dark Energy Survey Galaxies and the LIGO/Virgo Binary–Black-hole Merger GW170814

International audienceWe present a multi-messenger measurement of the Hubble constant H 0 using the binary–black-hole merger GW170814 as a standard siren, combined with a photometric redshift catalog from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The luminosity distance is obtained from the gravitational wave signal detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) on 2017 August 14, and the redshift information is provided by the DES Year 3 data. Black hole mergers such as GW170814 are expected to lack bright electromagnetic emission to uniquely identify their host galaxies and build an object-by-object Hubble diagram. However, they are suitable for a statistical measurement, provided that a galaxy catalog of adequate depth and redshift completion is available. Here we present the first Hubble parameter measurement using a black hole merger. Our analysis results in , which is consistent with both SN Ia and cosmic microwave background measurements of the Hubble constant. The quoted 68% credible region comprises 60% of the uniform prior range [20, 140] km s−1 Mpc−1, and it depends on the assumed prior range. If we take a broader prior of [10, 220] km s−1 Mpc−1, we find (57% of the prior range). Although a weak constraint on the Hubble constant from a single event is expected using the dark siren method, a multifold increase in the LVC event rate is anticipated in the coming years and combinations of many sirens will lead to improved constraints on H 0

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Supplement: "Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914" (2016, ApJL, 826, L13)

This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM follow-up observations that were performed in the different bands