Various comorbidities represent risk factors for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). The impact of smoking on COVID‐19 severity has been previously reported in several meta‐analyses limited ...by small sample sizes and poor methodology. We aimed to rigorously and definitively quantify the effects of smoking on COVID‐19 severity. MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and Web of Science were searched between 1 December 2019 and 2 June 2020. Studies reporting smoking status of hospitalized patients with different severities of disease and/or at least one clinical endpoint of interest (disease progression, intensive care unit admission, need for mechanical ventilation, and mortality) were included. Data were pooled using a random‐effects model. This study was registered on PROSPERO: CRD42020180920. We analyzed 47 eligible studies reporting on 32 849 hospitalized COVID‐19 patients, with 8417 (25.6%) reporting a smoking history, comprising 1501 current smokers, 5676 former smokers, and 1240 unspecified smokers. Current smokers had an increased risk of severe COVID‐19 (risk ratios RR: 1.80; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.14‐2.85; P = .012), and severe or critical COVID‐19 (RR: 1.98; CI: 1.16‐3.38; P = .012). Patients with a smoking history had a significantly increased risk of severe COVID‐19 (RR: 1.31; CI: 1.12‐1.54; P = .001), severe or critical COVID‐19 (RR: 1.35; CI: 1.19‐1.53; P < .0001), in‐hospital mortality (RR: 1.26; CI: 1.20‐1.32; P < .0001), disease progression (RR: 2.18; CI: 1.06‐4.49; P = .035), and need for mechanical ventilation (RR: 1.20; CI: 1.01‐1.42; P = .043). Patients with any smoking history are vulnerable to severe COVID‐19 and worse in‐hospital outcomes. In the absence of current targeted therapies, preventative, and supportive strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality in current and former smokers are crucial.
Highlights
The first high‐quality systematic review and meta‐analysis assessing the impact of smoking on COVID‐19 severity.
To date, the largest meta‐analysis among peer‐reviewed literature assessing the impact of smoking on COVID‐19 severity, including 32,849 hospitalised patients with COVID‐19.
Patients who were current smokers had an increased risk of severe COVID‐19 and severe or critical COVID‐19.
Patients with a smoking history had an increased risk of severe COVID‐19, severe or critical COVID‐19, in‐hospital mortality, disease progression and need for mechanical ventilation.
Context.
Planetary nebulae (PNe) are a brief but important phase of stellar evolution. The study of Galactic PNe has historically been hampered by uncertain distances, but the parallaxes of PN ...central stars (CSPNe) measured by
Gaia
are improving the situation.
Aims. Gaia
’s Early Data Release 3 (EDR3) offers higher astrometric precision and greater completeness compared to previous releases. Taking advantage of these improvements requires that the CSPNe in the catalogue be accurately identified.
Methods.
We applied our automated technique based on the likelihood ratio method to cross-match known PNe with sources in
Gaia
EDR3, using an empirically derived position and colour distribution to score candidate matches.
Results.
We present a catalogue of over 2000 sources in
Gaia
EDR3 that our method has identified as likely CSPNe or compact nebula detections. We show how the more precise parallaxes of these sources compare to previous PN statistical distances and introduce an approach to combining them to produce tighter distance constraints. We also discuss
Gaia
’s handling of close companions and bright nebulae.
Conclusions. Gaia
is unlocking new avenues for the study of PNe. The catalogue presented here will remain valid for the upcoming
Gaia
Data Release 3 (DR3) and thus provide a valuable resource for years to come.
Context.
Accurate distance measurements are fundamental to the study of planetary nebulae (PNe) but they have long been elusive. The most accurate and model-independent distance measurements for ...galactic PNe come from the trigonometric parallaxes of their central stars, which were only available for a few tens of objects prior to the
Gaia
mission.
Aims.
The accurate identification of PN central stars in the
Gaia
source catalogues is a critical prerequisite for leveraging the unprecedented scope and precision of the trigonometric parallaxes measured by
Gaia
. Our aim is to build a complete sample of PN central star detections with minimal contamination.
Methods.
We developed and applied an automated technique based on the likelihood ratio method to match candidate central stars in
Gaia
Data Release 2 (DR2) to known PNe in the Hong Kong/AAO/Strasbourg H
α
PN catalogue, taking into account the BP – RP colours of the
Gaia
sources as well as their positional offsets from the nebula centres. These parameter distributions for both true central stars and background sources were inferred directly from the data.
Results.
We present a catalogue of over 1000
Gaia
sources that our method has automatically identified as likely PN central stars. We demonstrate how the best matches enable us to trace nebula and central star evolution and to validate existing statistical distance scales, and we discuss the prospects for further refinement of the matching based on additional data. We also compare the accuracy of our catalogue to that of previous works.
Fundamentals of Critical Argumentation presents the basic tools for the identification, analysis, and evaluation of common arguments for beginners. The book teaches by using examples of arguments in ...dialogues, both in the text itself and in the exercises. Examples of controversial legal, political, and ethical arguments are analyzed. Illustrating the most common kinds of arguments, the book also explains how to evaluate each kind by critical questioning. Douglas Walton shows how arguments can be reasonable under the right dialogue conditions by using critical questions to evaluate them. The book teaches by example, both in the text itself and in exercises, but it is based on methods that have been developed through the author's thirty years of research in argumentation studies.
We use Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5) u, g, r, i, z photometry to study Milky Way halo substructure in the area around the north Galactic cap. A simple color cut (g - r < 0.4) ...reveals the tidal stream of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy, as well as a number of other stellar structures in the field. Two branches (A and B) of the Sagittarius stream are clearly visible in an RGB composite image created from three magnitude slices, and there is also evidence for a still more distant wrap behind the A branch. A comparison of these data with numerical models suggests that the shape of the Galactic dark halo is close to spherical.
Media argumentation is a powerful force in our lives. From political speeches to television commercials to war propaganda, it can effectively mobilize political action, influence the public, and ...market products. This book presents a new and systematic way of thinking about the influence of mass media in our lives, showing the intersection of media sources with argumentation theory, informal logic, computational theory, and theories of persuasion. Using a variety of case studies that represent arguments that typically occur in the mass media, Douglas Walton demonstrates how tools recently developed in argumentation theory can be usefully applied to the identification, analysis, and evaluation of media arguments. He draws upon the most recent developments in artificial intelligence, including dialogical theories of argument, which he developed, as well as speech act theory. Each chapter presents solutions to problems central to understanding, analyzing, and criticizing media argumentation.
Gaia Data Release 2 Evans, D. W.; Riello, M.; De Angeli, F. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
08/2018, Letnik:
616
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Aims.
We describe the photometric content of the second data release of the
Gaia
project (
Gaia
DR2) and its validation along with the quality of the data.
Methods.
The validation was mainly carried ...out using an internal analysis of the photometry. External comparisons were also made, but were limited by the precision and systematics that may be present in the external catalogues used.
Results.
In addition to the photometric quality assessment, we present the best estimates of the three photometric passbands. Various colour-colour transformations are also derived to enable the users to convert between the
Gaia
and commonly used passbands.
Conclusions.
The internal analysis of the data shows that the photometric calibrations can reach a precision as low as 2 mmag on individual CCD measurements. Other tests show that systematic effects are present in the data at the 10 mmag level.
Keloids and hypertrophic scars cause physical and psychosocial problems. A combination of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and triamcinolone acetonide (TAC) may enhance the treatment of pathologic scars, ...although the evidence base is limited. The authors compared the efficacy and complication rates of combination intralesional TAC and 5-FU with those of monotherapy intralesional TAC or 5-FU for the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars.
Embase, MEDLINE, and CENTRAL were searched by two independent reviewers. The primary outcome was treatment efficacy (51% to 100% improvement). Study quality and risk of bias were assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool.
Of 277 articles screened, 13 studies were included, comprising 12 randomized control trials and one nonrandomized study. Six studies compared combination intralesional therapy versus monotherapy 5-FU, and nine studies compared combination intralesional therapy versus monotherapy TAC. The combined group demonstrated superior objective treatment efficacy compared with the monotherapy TAC group (OR, 3.45; 95% CI, 2.22 to 5.35; I 2 = 0%; P < 0.00001) and monotherapy 5-FU group (OR, 4.17; 95% CI, 2.21 to 7.87; I 2 = 0%; P < 0.0001). Telangiectasia was less frequent in combination therapy (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.52; I 2 = 0%; P = 0.0003) compared with monotherapy TAC.
Combined intralesional TAC and 5-FU administration demonstrated superior treatment efficacy outcomes compared with monotherapy TAC or 5-FU. Patient-reported outcome measures should be incorporated in the design of future research to justify clinical recommendations.
Combined TAC and 5-FU has demonstrated superior treatment efficacy outcomes compared to monotherapy TAC or 5-FU in the treatment of hypertrophic scars and keloids.
Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are transient flares produced when a star is ripped apart by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We have observed a transient source in the ...western nucleus of the merging galaxy pair Arp 299 that radiated >1.5 × 10
erg at infrared and radio wavelengths but was not luminous at optical or x-ray wavelengths. We interpret this as a TDE with much of its emission reradiated at infrared wavelengths by dust. Efficient reprocessing by dense gas and dust may explain the difference between theoretical predictions and observed luminosities of TDEs. The radio observations resolve an expanding and decelerating jet, probing the jet formation and evolution around a SMBH.
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