We aimed to evaluate the nationwide incidence and a potential increase in invasive infections with Fusobacterium necrophorum. Secondly, we aimed to describe epidemiology, clinical characteristics and ...outcomes for the different presentations: Lemierre's syndrome (LS), invasive head and neck-infection without LS and invasive non-head and neck-infection.
A retrospective multicentric population-based study of all invasive infections with F. necrophorum diagnosed in Sweden from 2010 to 2017 with 6 months of follow-up was performed through reviews of medical records. Invasive infections were defined and identified by a positive blood culture or sequencing of 16S rDNA, targeted PCR or culture from normally sterile sites. Incidence calculations were performed, including comparisons between 2010–13 and 2014–17, age groups and clinical presentations. Patient and infection characteristics, treatment and clinical outcomes were analysed.
Invasive infections with F. necrophorum were diagnosed in 300 cases in Sweden 2010–17. The incidence increased from 2.9 to 5.0 cases/million/year from 2010–13 to 2014–17 (p 0.001). A total of 104/300 (35%) patients developed LS, 102/300 (34%) invasive head and neck infection without LS and 94/300 (31%) invasive non-head and neck infection. The median age was 20, 25 and 64 years, respectively. Among patients with LS 72/96 (75%) had thrombocytopenia on admission, 86/104 (83%) had sepsis, 19/104 (18%) developed septic shock and 45/104 (43%) needed intensive care. 30-day mortality in LS was 2/104 (2%).
We describe an increased incidence of invasive infections with F. necrophorum in Sweden and highlight its full spectrum of invasive clinical presentations. LS, in particular, causes considerable morbidity in young and previously healthy patients.
A robust signal for sidereal anisotropy in nuclear recoils would support, perhaps more decisively than any other evidence, a discovery claim for a WIMP component of Dark Matter. I present a concept ...based on columnar recombination in dense xenon gas, sensing nuclear recoil direction relative to a TPC drift field. The central advance is that nuclear recoil directionality information is obtained through a comparison, event-by-event, of the ionization signal and recombination signal that are produced prior to drifting the track ionization. The optimum xenon density for this concept may be near ten bars, unlike conventional techniques that employ track visualization – with severe restrictions on gas density to about 1/10 bar. No restriction is imposed by diffusion during drift, facilitating the realization of a large monolithic room temperature xenon gas Time Projection Chamber at the ton-scale, with unprecedented sensitivity for both directionality and cross-section. Remarkably, the desired operating conditions for 0-νββ 136Xe experiment may be identical.
The nature of the neutrino is one of the major open questions in experimental nuclear and particle physics. The most sensitive known method to establish the Majorana nature of the neutrino is ...detection of the ultra-rare process of neutrinoless double beta decay. However, identification of one or a handful of decay events within a large mass of candidate isotope, without obfuscation by backgrounds is a formidable experimental challenge. One hypothetical method for achieving ultra- low-background neutrinoless double beta decay sensitivity is the detection of single
Ba ions produced in the decay of
Xe ("barium tagging"). To implement such a method, a single-ion-sensitive barium detector must be developed and demonstrated in bulk liquid or dry gaseous xenon. This paper reports on the development of two families of dry-phase barium chemosensor molecules for use in high pressure xenon gas detectors, synthesized specifically for this purpose. One particularly promising candidate, an anthracene substituted aza-18-crown-6 ether, is shown to respond in the dry phase with almost no intrinsic background from the unchelated state, and to be amenable to barium sensing through fluorescence microscopy. This interdisciplinary advance, paired with earlier work demonstrating sensitivity to single barium ions in solution, opens a new path toward single ion detection in high pressure xenon gas.
Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) has been shown to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and suggested as a therapeutic agent for COVID-19. Furthermore, epidemiological association of high prevalence of ...Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) and regional severity of COVID-19-impact has been hypothesized. In our study setting, the estimated prevalence rates of mild (PI*MZ, PI*SS or PI*MS) and moderate-to-severe AATD (PI*ZZ or PI*SZ) are high, 9% and 0.2%, respectively. Our primary aim was to examine the prevalence rate of AATD among hospitalized COVID-19-patients.
In this prospective observational study, enrollment occurred from December 2020 to January 2021 in two COVID-19-units at Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden. Case definition was a patient hospitalized due to COVID-19. Patients were screened for AATD with PI-typing and if results were inconclusive, PCR for the S- and Z-genes were performed. Patients were categorized as severe or moderate COVID-19 and 30-day-mortality data were collected. The primary outcome was prevalence rate of AATD. The secondary outcome investigated association between presence of mild AATD and severe COVID-19.
We enrolled 61 patients with COVID-19. Two patients out of 61 (3%) had mild AATD (PI*MZ) and none had moderate-to-severe AATD. 30/61 (49%) had severe COVID-19. Both patients with mild AATD developed severe COVID-19. Yet, presence of AATD was not significantly associated with severe COVID-19 (p=0.24).
Mild AATD (PI*MS or PI*MZ) was rare in a small cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in a study setting with a high background prevalence of AATD.
To achieve a more resource-efficient society with a future with reduced carbon dioxide emissions, new technological challenges must be dealt. One way to reach a more sustainable world is to start ...re-using end-of-life structures and waste and give them a 'Second Life" with a new function in the society. As composite structures are lightweight, strong, stiff and durable materials, there is great potential to re-use decommissioned composite for new resource-efficient solutions in the building and infrastructure sector. The present paper investigates innovative solutions in re-using wind turbine blades as elements in new bicycle and pedestrian bridge designs. Several conceptual bridge designs where wind blades utilized as load bearing elements were developed and studied. The main design requirements for pedestrian bridges were considered and assumptions regarding wind blades quality and their mechanical properties addressed based on interviews with industries working with wind turbine blades repair and recycling. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a sustainable use of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) waste and at the same time provide a more cost-effective FRP bridges. In a larger perspective, the authors would like to highlight the economically profitable potential of recovering and reusing / re-manufacturing end-of-life glass FRP composites.
Liquid Xe TPCs are among the most popular choices for double beta decay and WIMP dark matter searches. Gaseous Xe has intrinsic advantages when compared to Liquid Xe, specifically, tracking ...capability and better energy resolution for double beta decay searches. The performance of gaseous Xe can be further improved by molecular additives such as trimethylamine(TMA), which are expected to (1) cool down the ionization electrons, (2) convert Xe excitation energy to TMA ionizations through Penning transfer, and (3) produce scintillation and electroluminescence light in a more easily detectable wavelength (300 nm). These features may provide better tracking and energy resolution for double-beta decay searches. They are also expected to enhance columnar recombination for nuclear recoils, which can be used for searches for WIMP dark matter with directional sensitivity. We constructed a test ionization chamber and successfully measured scintillation and ionization yields at high precision with various Xe and TMA mixtures and pressures. We observed the Penning effect and an increase in recombination with the addition of TMA. However, many undesired features for dark matter searches, such as strong suppression of the scintillation light and no sign of recombination light, were also found. This work has been carried out within the context of the NEXT collaboration.
Directional sensitivity is one of the most important aspects of WIMP dark matter searches. Yet, making the direction of nuclear recoil visible with large target masses is a challenge. To achieve ...this, we are exploring a new method of detecting directions of short nuclear recoil tracks in high-pressure Xe gas, down to a few micron long, by utilizing columnar recombination. Columnar recombination changes the scintillation and ionization yields depending on the angle between a track and the electric field direction. In order to realize this, efficient cooling of electrons is essential. Trimethylamine(TMA) is one of the candidate additives to gaseous Xe in order to enhance the effect, not only by efficiently cooling the electrons, but also by increasing the amount of columnar recombination by Penning transfer. We performed a detailed simulation of ionization electrons transport created by nuclear recoils in a Xe + TMA gas mixture, and evaluated the size of the columnar recombination signal. The results show that the directionality signal can be obtained for a track longer than a few μm in some ideal cases. Although more studies with realistic assumptions are still needed in order to assess feasibility of this technique, this potentially opens a new possibility for dark matter searches.
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