The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory is a 1000 T D
2O Cerenkov detector that is sensitive to
8B solar neutrinos. The energy, radius, and direction with respect to the sun is measured for each neutrino ...event; these distributions are used to separately determine the rates of the charged current, neutral current and electron scattering reactions of neutrinos on deuterium. Assuming an undistorted
8B spectrum, the
ν
e
component of the
8B solar flux is
φ
e
= 1.76
+0.05
−0.05(stat.)
+0.09
−0.09 (syst.) × 10
6 cm
−2s
−1 based on events with a measured kinetic enegy above 5 MeV. The non-
ν
e
component is
φ
μτ
= 3.41
+0.45
−0.45(stat.)
+0.48
−0.45 (syst.) × 10
6 cm
−2s
−1, 5.3
σ greater than zero, providing strong evidence for solar
ν
e
flavor transformation. The total flux measured with the NC reaction is
φ
NC = 5.09
+0.044
−0.43(stat.)
+0.46
−0.43 (syst.) × 10
6 cm
−2s
−1, consistent with solar models. The night minus day rate is 14.0% ± 6.3%
+1.5
−1.4% of the average rate. If the total flux of active neutrinos is additionally constrained to have no asymmetry, the
ν
e
asymmetry is found to be 7.0% ± 4.9%
+1.3
−1.2%. A global solar neutrino analysis is terms of matter-enhanced oscillations of two active flavors strongly favors the Large Mixing Angle (LMA) solution.
To assess the value of fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements in the diagnosis of asthma in elderly patients.
The clinical symptoms of 202 elderly patients were assessed with the asthma ...module of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood test, which had been modified for the elderly patients, and the diagnostic routine for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which was based on the Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria. Of the 202 patients assessed, 43 were subjected to pulmonary function evaluations (spirometry) and FeNO measurements.
Of the 202 elderly patients, 34 had asthma (23 definite and eleven probable), 20 met COPD criteria, 13 presented with an overlap of asthma and COPD, and 135 did not fit the criteria for obstructive pulmonary disease. Among the 43 elderly patients who were subjected to FeNO measurements, ten showed altered results (23.2%) and 33 had normal results (76.7%). The average value of FeNO in patients with definite and probable asthma undergoing this procedure was 29.2 parts per billion whereas that in nonasthmatic patients was 17.5 parts per billion (P=0.0002).
We show a clear relationship between FeNO levels and asthma symptoms and previous asthma diagnoses in elderly patients.
Despite all efforts to combat the pandemic of COVID-19, we are still living with high numbers of infected persons, an overburdened health care system, and the lack of an effective and definitive ...treatment. Understanding the pathophysiology of the disease is crucial for the development of new technologies and therapies for the best clinical management of patients. Since the manipulation of the whole virus requires a structure with an adequate level of biosafety, the development of alternative technologies, such as the synthesis of peptides from viral proteins, is a possible solution to circumvent this problem. In addition, the use and validation of animal models is of extreme importance to screen new drugs and to compress the organism's response to the disease. Peptides derived from recombinant S protein from SARS-CoV-2 were synthesized and validated by in silico, in vitro and in vivo methodologies. Macrophages and neutrophils were challenged with the peptides and the production of inflammatory mediators and activation profile were evaluated. These peptides were also inoculated into the swim bladder of transgenic zebrafish larvae at 6 days post fertilization (dpf) to mimic the inflammatory process triggered by the virus, which was evaluated by confocal microscopy. In addition, toxicity and oxidative stress assays were also developed. In silico and molecular dynamics assays revealed that the peptides bind to the ACE2 receptor stably and interact with receptors and adhesion molecules, such as MHC and TCR, from humans and zebrafish. Macrophages stimulated with one of the peptides showed increased production of NO, TNF-α and CXCL2. Inoculation of the peptides in zebrafish larvae triggered an inflammatory process marked by macrophage recruitment and increased mortality, as well as histopathological changes, similarly to what is observed in individuals with COVID-19. The use of peptides is a valuable alternative for the study of host immune response in the context of COVID-19. The use of zebrafish as an animal model also proved to be appropriate and effective in evaluating the inflammatory process, comparable to humans.
This report describes a 29-year-old man with AIDS and disseminated lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis diagnosis presenting a poor therapeutic adhesion to itraconazole therapy that later evolved to ...neurological impairment and death. Necropsy showed granulomatous reaction and yeast-like forms similar to Sporothrix schenckii in meninges, lymph nodes, marrow bone, skin, testicles, epididymides and pancreas. Meningeal sporotrichosis cases associated to AIDS are reviewed in brief.
The TILE CALorimeter, the hadronic sampling calorimeter of ATLAS/LHC/CERN, is made of iron and polystyrene scintillating tiles. The light produced in scintillating tiles is absorbed and guided to the ...photomultipliers (PMTs) through wave length shifter (WLS) optical fibers. To optimize the detection of jets and muons, the top of the fibers away of the PMTs is coated with an aluminum mirror, that increases the light output in /spl sime/ 75% and enhances the uniformity light output by /spl sime/ 10%. The aluminum mirror is produced by magnetron sputtering, that adds to an excellent reproducibility a minimal thermal aggression important for proper film adhesion to the plastic surface. A dedicated machine for mass production of the ATLAS WLS aluminized fibers has been designed and constructed fulfilling the critical production optical and time requirements. The aluminization of the fibers and their quality control started in August 1999 and went on continuously until May 2002. The quality control results showed a reproducibility over the optical characteristics of the fibers that fully accomplish the ATLAS requirements.
PDF
