A gravitational interaction of a scalar field with conformal coupling
n
R
6
φ
2
(n = const) is considered within the framework of the affine-metric theory of gravitation, with the interaction with ...torsion and nonmetricity taken into account. It is shown that for different values of the constant n different forms of nonlinearities are induced in the scalar field and, in particular, for n = –1 a nonlinearity corresponding to the potential of the axion field is induced. Possible astrophysical consequences of such an effect are considered.
Summary Proper inhaler technique is crucial for effective management of asthma and COPD. This multicentre, cross-sectional, observational study investigates the prevalence of inhaler mishandling in a ...large population of experienced patients referring to chest clinics; to analyze the variables associated with misuse and the relationship between inhaler handling and health-care resources use and disease control. We enrolled 1664 adult subjects (mean age 62 years) affected mostly by COPD (52%) and asthma (42%). Respectively, 843 and 1113 patients were using MDIs and DPIs at home; of the latter, the users of Aerolizer® , Diskus® , HandiHaler® and Turbuhaler® were 82, 467, 505 and 361. We have a total of 2288 records of inhaler technique. Critical mistakes were widely distributed among users of all the inhalers, ranging from 12% for MDIs, 35% for Diskus® and HandiHaler® and 44% for Turbuhaler® . Independently of the inhaler, we found the strongest association between inhaler misuse and older age ( p = 0.008), lower schooling ( p = 0.001) and lack of instruction received for inhaler technique by health caregivers ( p < 0.001). Inhaler misuse was associated with increased risk of hospitalization ( p = 0.001), emergency room visits ( p < 0.001), courses of oral steroids ( p < 0.001) and antimicrobials ( p < 0.001) and poor disease control evaluated as an ACT score for the asthmatics ( p < 0.0001) and the whole population ( p < 0.0001). We conclude that inhaler mishandling continues to be common in experienced outpatients referring to chest clinics and associated with increased unscheduled health-care resource use and poor clinical control. Instruction by health caregivers is the only modifiable factor useful for reducing inhaler mishandling
Assessing ecological risk in quantitative terms is a site-specific complex procedure requiring evaluation of all possible pathways taken by the chemicals from the contamination source to the targets ...to be protected. Unfortunately, too many cases lack of physico-chemical and ecotoxicological data makes impossible to quantify the ecological risk. We present the Ecotoxicological Classification Risk Index for Soil (ECRIS), a new classification system specific for soil risk assessment, which gives a comparative indication of the risk linked to environmental contamination by any chemical. The tool we propose is based on the integration of a data set characterizing the ecotoxicological and exposure profile of chemicals. ECRIS is a simple approach specifically set up for the landfill scenario. This index draws on the huge amount of data from our many years of leachate analysis. ECRIS is useful for a first screening of probably contaminated soil. A case study based on some Italian landfills is proposed.
Fifty-three patients with hematological malignancies who underwent Allo-SCT from HLA-identical siblings were randomly assigned to receive glutamine-enriched parenteral nutrition-PN (GlPN, n=27) or ...standard PN (PN, n=26), in isonitrogenous solutions. Deaths (D+100 and D+180), infections, acute GVHD, length of stay, time of neutropenia and intestinal permeability (IP) were studied. Ages, gender, diagnosis, disease status and treatment variables were equally distributed between groups. Survival on D+180 was increased in GlPN (74%) vs PN (46%), P=0.03 (log-rank), as on D+100 (P=0.05). Most deaths occurred before D+100, especially in PN (10/26, 39%) vs GlPN (4/27, 15%). GVHD was the most frequent cause of death (8/21, 38%), especially in PN (n=6, five before D+100). Other outcomes were not affected. IP was affected on admission, was not affected by glutamine enrichment, but consistently worsened throughout the study. Results showed that GlPN was efficacious in increasing short-term survival after Allo-SCT. Benefits of glutamine seem to be independent of mucosal protection, as IP was not affected by its use. A trend to a lower incidence of GVHD deaths may suggest an immunomodulatory role of glutamine.
The GAPS Programme at TNG Carleo, I.; Malavolta, L.; Lanza, A. F. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
06/2020, Letnik:
638
Journal Article
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Context.
The existence of hot Jupiters is still not well understood. Two main channels are thought to be responsible for their current location: a smooth planet migration through the protoplanetary ...disk or the circularization of an initial highly eccentric orbit by tidal dissipation leading to a strong decrease in the semimajor axis. Different formation scenarios result in different observable effects, such as orbital parameters (obliquity and eccentricity) or frequency of planets at different stellar ages.
Aims.
In the context of the GAPS Young Objects project, we are carrying out a radial velocity survey with the aim of searching and characterizing young hot-Jupiter planets. Our purpose is to put constraints on evolutionary models and establish statistical properties, such as the frequency of these planets from a homogeneous sample.
Methods.
Since young stars are in general magnetically very active, we performed multi-band (visible and near-infrared) spectroscopy with simultaneous GIANO-B + HARPS-N (GIARPS) observing mode at TNG. This helps in dealing with stellar activity and distinguishing the nature of radial velocity variations: stellar activity will introduce a wavelength-dependent radial velocity amplitude, whereas a Keplerian signal is achromatic. As a pilot study, we present here the cases of two known hot Jupiters orbiting young stars: HD 285507 b and AD Leo b.
Results.
Our analysis of simultaneous high-precision GIARPS spectroscopic data confirms the Keplerian nature of the variation in the HD 285507 radial velocities and refines the orbital parameters of the hot Jupiter, obtaining an eccentricity consistent with a circular orbit. Instead, our analysis does not confirm the signal previously attributed to a planet orbiting AD Leo. This demonstrates the power of the multi-band spectroscopic technique when observing active stars.
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