Abstract
Aims
To compare demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, and outcomes of patients with and without concomitant cardiac disease, hospitalized for COVID-19 in Brescia, Lombardy, ...Italy.
Methods and results
The study population includes 99 consecutive patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to our hospital between 4 March and 25 March 2020. Fifty-three patients with a history of cardiac disease were compared with 46 without cardiac disease. Among cardiac patients, 40% had a history of heart failure, 36% had atrial fibrillation, and 30% had coronary artery disease. Mean age was 67 ± 12 years, and 80 (81%) patients were males. No differences were found between cardiac and non-cardiac patients except for higher values of serum creatinine, N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide, and high sensitivity troponin T in cardiac patients. During hospitalization, 26% patients died, 15% developed thrombo-embolic events, 19% had acute respiratory distress syndrome, and 6% had septic shock. Mortality was higher in patients with cardiac disease compared with the others (36% vs. 15%, log-rank P = 0.019; relative risk 2.35; 95% confidence interval 1.08–5.09). The rate of thrombo-embolic events and septic shock during the hospitalization was also higher in cardiac patients (23% vs. 6% and 11% vs. 0%, respectively).
Conclusions
Hospitalized patients with concomitant cardiac disease and COVID-19 have an extremely poor prognosis compared with subjects without a history of cardiac disease, with higher mortality, thrombo-embolic events, and septic shock rates.
We carried out a detailed strong lensing analysis of a sub-sample of eight galaxy clusters of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) in the redshift range of zcluster = 0.23 − ...0.59 using extensive spectroscopic information, primarily from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) archival data and complemented with CLASH-VLT redshift measurements. The observed positions of the multiple images of strongly lensed background sources were used to constrain parametric models describing the cluster total mass distributions. Different models were tested in each cluster depending on the complexity of its mass distribution and on the number of detected multiple images. Four clusters show more than five spectroscopically confirmed multiple image families. In this sample, we did not make use of families that are only photometrically identified in order to reduce model degeneracies between the values of the total mass of a cluster source redshifts, in addition to systematics due to the potential misidentifications of multiple images. For the remaining four clusters, we used additional families without any spectroscopic confirmation to increase the number of strong lensing constraints up to the number of free parameters in our parametric models. We present spectroscopic confirmation of 27 multiply lensed sources, with no previous spectroscopic measurements, spanning over the redshift range of zsrc = 0.7 − 6.1. Moreover, we confirm an average of 48 galaxy members in the core of each cluster thanks to the high efficiency and large field of view of MUSE. We used this information to derive precise strong lensing models, projected total mass distributions, and magnification maps. We show that, despite having different properties (i.e. number of mass components, total mass, redshift, etc.), the projected total mass and mass density profiles of all clusters have very similar shapes when rescaled by independent measurements of M200c and R200c. Specifically, we measured the mean value of the projected total mass of our cluster sample within 10 (20)% of R200c to be 0.13 (0.32) of M200c, with a remarkably small scatter of 5 (6)%. Furthermore, the large number of high-z sources and the precise magnification maps derived in this work for four clusters add up to the sample of high-quality gravitational telescopes to be used to study the faint and distant Universe.
Cisplatin is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent used to treat solid tumours, such as ovarian, head and neck, and testicular germ cell. A known complication of cisplatin administration is acute ...kidney injury (AKI). The development of effective tumour interventions with reduced nephrotoxicity relies heavily on understanding the molecular pathophysiology of cisplatin-induced AKI. Rodent models have provided mechanistic insight into the pathophysiology of cisplatin-induced AKI. In the subsequent review, we provide a detailed discussion of recent advances in the cisplatin-induced AKI phenotype, principal mechanistic findings of injury and therapy, and pre-clinical use of AKI rodent models. Cisplatin-induced AKI murine models faithfully develop gross manifestations of clinical AKI such as decreased kidney function, increased expression of tubular injury biomarkers, and tubular injury evident by histology. Pathways involved in AKI include apoptosis, necrosis, inflammation, and increased oxidative stress, ultimately providing a translational platform for testing the therapeutic efficacy of potential interventions. This review provides a discussion of the foundation laid by cisplatin-induced AKI rodent models for our current understanding of AKI molecular pathophysiology.
Realizing Refsdal's original idea from 1964, we present estimates of the Hubble constant that are complementary to, and potentially competitive with, those of other cosmological probes. We use the ...observed positions of 89 multiple images, with extensive spectroscopic information, from 28 background sources and the measured time delays between the images S1-S4 and SX of supernova "Refsdal" (z = 1.489), which were obtained thanks to Hubble Space Telescope deep imaging and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer data. We extend the strong-lensing modeling of the Hubble Frontier Fields galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 (z = 0.542), published by Grillo et al. (2016), and explore different ΛCDM models. Taking advantage of the lensing information associated to the presence of very close pairs of multiple images at various redshifts, and to the extended surface brightness distribution of the SN Refsdal host, we can reconstruct the total mass-density profile of the cluster very precisely. The combined dependence of the multiple-image positions and time delays on the cosmological parameters allows us to infer the values of H0 and m with relative (1 ) statistical errors of, respectively, 6% (7%) and 31% (26%) in flat (general) cosmological models, assuming a conservative 3% uncertainty on the final time delay of image SX and, remarkably, no priors from other cosmological experiments. Our best estimate of H0, based on the model described in this work, will be presented when the final time-delay measurement becomes available. Our results show that it is possible to utilize time delays in lens galaxy clusters as an important alternative tool for measuring the expansion rate and the geometry of the universe.
We report the spectroscopic confirmation of 22 new multiply lensed sources behind the Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1−2403 (MACS 0416), using archival data from the Multi Unit ...Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the VLT. Combining with previous spectroscopic measurements of 15 other multiply imaged sources, we have obtained a sample of 102 secure multiple images with measured redshifts, the largest to date in a single strong lensing system. The newly confirmed sources are largely low-luminosity Lyman-α emitters with redshift in the range 3.08−6.15 . With such a large number of secure constraints, and a significantly improved sample of galaxy members in the cluster core, we have improved our previous strong lensing model and obtained a robust determination of the projected total mass distribution of MACS 0416. We find evidence of three cored dark-matter halos, adding to the known complexity of this merging system. The total mass density profile, as well as the sub-halo population, are found to be in good agreement with previous works. We update and make public the redshift catalog of MACS 0416 from our previous spectroscopic campaign with the new MUSE redshifts. We also release lensing maps (convergence, shear, magnification) in the standard HFF format.
This paper deals with the uniaxial compression behavior of porous ceramics within a wide range of porosity, varying from 30 to 75vol%. The load–displacement curves recorded on porous alumina samples ...showed a transition between a typical brittle behavior at porosity fractions below 60vol% and a damageable, cellular-like behavior, at higher porosity fractions. This transition in fracture mode was confirmed by in situ compression tests in an X-ray tomograph. Based on a simple model taking into account the competition between the crack length initiating from spherical pores and the mean distance between pores, the porosity at which the transition took place was estimated. The influence of the pore size also depended on the volume fraction of pores: no size effect was noted at the lowest porosity whereas a statistical effect on the size of the solid walls was observed at higher porosity, with an increase in fracture strength with small pores.
We present a detailed mass reconstruction and a novel study on the substructure properties in the core of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) and Frontier Fields galaxy ...clusterMACS J0416.1-2403. We reproduce the measured positions of a set of 30 multiple images with a remarkable median offset of only 0.3 by means of a comprehensive strong lensing model comprised of two cluster dark-matter halos, represented by cored elliptical pseudo-isothermal mass distributions, and the cluster member components, parameterized with dual pseudo-isothermal total mass profiles. We investigate the galaxy contribution, both in terms of total and stellar mass, to the total mass budget of the cluster. Our findings of the location and shape of the cluster dark-matter halo density profiles and on the cluster substructures provide intriguing tests of the assumed collisionless, cold nature of dark matter and of the role played by baryons in the process of structure formation.
Context.Stars form in the cold dense cores of interstellar molecular clouds and the detailed knowledge of the spectrum of masses of such cores is clearly a key for the understanding of the origin of ...the IMF. To date, observations have presented somewhat contradictory evidence relating to this issue. Aims.In this paper we propose to derive the mass function of a complete sample of dense molecular cores in a single cloud employing a robust method that uses uses extinction of background starlight to measure core masses and enables the reliable extension of such measurements to lower masses than previously possible. Methods.We use a map of near-infrared extinction in the nearby Pipe dark cloud to identify the population of dense cores in the cloud and measure their masses. Results.We identify 159 dense cores and construct the mass function for this population. We present the first robust evidence for a departure from a single power-law form in the mass function of a population of cores and find that this mass function is surprisingly similar in shape to the stellar IMF but scaled to a higher mass by a factor of about 3. This suggests that the distribution of stellar birth masses (IMF) is the direct product of the dense core mass function and a uniform star formation efficiency of 30%±10%, and that the stellar IMF may already be fixed during or before the earliest stages of core evolution. These results are consistent with previous dust continuum studies which suggested that the IMF directly originates from the core mass function. The typical density of ~104 cm-3 measured for the dense cores in this cloud suggests that the mass scale that characterizes the dense core mass function may be the result of a simple process of thermal (Jeans) fragmentation.
Abstract
Image guidance (IG) and robotics systems are becoming more widespread in their utilization and can be invaluable intraoperative adjuncts during spine surgery. Both are highly reliant upon ...stereotaxy and either pre- or intraoperative radiographic imaging. While user-operated IG systems have been commercially available longer and subsequently are more widely utilized across centers, robotics systems provide unique theoretical advantages over freehand and IG techniques for placing instrumentation within the spine. While there is a growing plethora of data showing that IG and robotic systems decrease the incidence of malpositioned screws, less is known about their impact on clinical outcomes. Both robotics and IG may be of particular value in cases of substantial deformity or complex anatomy. Indications for the use of these systems continue to expand with an increasing body of literature justifying their use in not only guiding thoracolumbar pedicle screw placement, but also in cases of cervical and pelvic instrumentation as well as spinal tumor resection. Both techniques also offer the potential benefit of reducing occupational exposures to ionizing radiation for the operating room staff, the surgeon, and the patient. As the use of IG and robotics in spine surgery continues to expand, these systems’ value in improving surgical accuracy and clinical outcomes must be weighed against concerns over cost and workflow. As newer systems incorporating both real-time IG and robotics become more utilized, further research is necessary to better elucidate situations where these systems may be particularly beneficial in spine surgery.
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