Context. A short duration burst reminiscent of a soft gamma-ray repeater/anomalous X-ray pulsar behaviour was detected in the direction of LS I +61 303 by the Swift satellite. While the association ...with this well known gamma-ray binary is likely, a different origin cannot be excluded. Aims. We explore the error box of this unexpected flaring event and establish the radio, near-infrared and X-ray sources in our search for any peculiar alternative counterpart. Methods. We carried out a combined analysis of archive Very Large Array radio data of LS I +61 303 sensitive to both compact and extended emission. We also reanalysed previous near infrared observations with the 3.5 m telescope of the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán and X-ray observations with the Chandra satellite. Results. Our deep radio maps of the LS I +61 303 environment represent a significant advancement on previous work and 16 compact radio sources in the LS I +61 303 vicinity are detected. For some detections, we also identify near infrared and X-ray counterparts. Extended emission features in the field are also detected and confirmed. The possible connection of some of these sources with the observed flaring event is considered. Based on these data, we are unable to claim a clear association between the Swift-BAT flare and any of the sources reported here. However, this study represents the most sophisticated attempt to determine possible alternative counterparts other than LS I +61 303.
Thirty percent to ninety percent of cancer patients suffer from pain, including neuropathic pain (NP), which results in great burden for cancer patients. Thus, it was of great interest to determine ...NP prevalence in cancer patients in Spain, to raise awareness of the condition, and aiming to improve management of cancer NP.
A 1-month follow-up prospective epidemiological multicenter study was conducted to assess prevalence and management of NP in Spanish oncologic units. The first 10 cancer patients at each unit diagnosed with NP by the validated Douleur Neuropathique 4 questionnaire (DN4) were recruited.
Of 8615 screened patients, 2567 (30%) suffered from pain. From these, 33% had NP according to investigators and 19% according to DN4 test. Three hundred and sixty-six patients (mean age 62.6 years; 61.2% male) were recruited. Pain decrease at 1 month was greater in patients with metastases (P < 0.01) and depended on treatment (P < 0.05), with ‘oxycodone’ showing 50.4% pain relief.
NP prevalence in cancer pain is 33%. DN4 reports only about half the cancer NP cases diagnosed by clinicians. Pharmaceutical treatment of cancer pain, including NP, has a greater effect in patients with metastases and seems to depend on the specific treatment used.
In the present work we have analyzed a total of 734 subcutaneous fat samples from Iberian pigs with different feeding systems for fattening (“Bellota”, “Recebo”, “Campo” and “Cebo”) over three ...consecutive years, 2009-2011. Lipids were extracted from the subcutaneous fat on the rump, and after esterification, they were analyzed by Gas Chromatography (GC-FID) and Gas Chromatography- Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). Mean fatty acids and isotope ratios show that there are differences according to the year and feeding systems, two factors that should be taken into account when classifying the animals. The application of different prediction models based on Discriminant analysis has allowed us to establish a method for the classification of animals according to the feeding system type, with a correct percentage of 85% using three or four classification categories (Bellota, Recebo, Campo and/or Cebo) and 91% using only two categories, Cebo and Bellota. This model could provide the basis for appropriate classification of Iberian pigs according to their feeding regime.
Introduction
Infodemic is a new term which refers to rapidly spreading information from both reliable and unreliable sources in the form of news and publications regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, ...which requires proper management strategies on its own to prevent the spread of fake news. This is especially relevant in a global state of alert where the fear of contagion is a common denominator and is reflected upon people’s behaviors within a crisis context. Van Bavel et al (2020) affirm “Emerging research is using social science to understand and counter the spread of fake news”, and furtherly emphasize on the limitations of Fact Checking as the main approach to hinder such spread
Objectives
Test the association between sociomoral cognition, religiousness and political identity, and belief in COVID-19 Fake News.
Methods
Online-based survey applied through opportunity sampling. Demographic variables political and religious orientation, RMET and B-IRI, and two dimensional utilitarian dilemmas were used and independent variables, and a selection of true and fake news in order to measure participants’ belief in the latter as a dependent variable.
Results
Morality (R2 = 0.08, p < 0.001), social cognition (R2 = 0.05, p < 0.05), and political and religious orientation (R2 = 0.1, p < 0.000001) predicted belief in COVID-19 fake news. On the other hand, no variables were found to predict belief in fake news unrelated to the pandemic.
Conclusions
Higher impartial beneficence and more years of formal education point toward an evidence-based reasoning, while religiousness and affinity with right-wing ideals has been associated with intuition-based reasoning, thus affecting judgement accuracy.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
Background: Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective non-interventional study of stroke prevention in patients with newly diagnosed ...non-valvular AF (NAVF) that is being conducted in 35 countries. Methods and Results: A total of 52,081 patients with a new diagnosis of NVAF were enrolled prospectively in GARFIELD-AF. Of these, 4859 (9.3%) were recruited in Japan (2010–2016). In cohort 1 (2010–2011), few patients were on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC) globally. From cohort 2 onwards (2011–2016), however, there was a rapid increase in NOAC use around the globe, especially in Japan. By the last year of enrolment (2015–2016), 67.9% of patients in Japan and 43.1% of patients globally were on NOAC±antiplatelet therapy (AP). In Japan and globally, 17.0% and 12.2% of patients, respectively, did not receive stroke prevention treatment. Few patients in Japan (5.7%) received AP only. Compared with the other countries, the unadjusted rates of all-cause mortality and major bleeding were low, while rates of stroke/systemic embolism were similar after 1 year of follow-up. Conclusions: GARFIELD-AF continues to provide important information on the homogeneity and heterogeneity of baseline characteristics and treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed NVAF. This diversity reflects the differences in outcomes in Japan compared with the rest of the world.
Summary Background Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of travellers' diarrhoea. We investigated the efficacy and safety of a skin-patch vaccine containing the pathogen's ...heat-labile toxin (LT) in a population of travellers to Mexico and Guatemala. Methods In this phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled field trial, healthy adults (aged 18–64 years) travelling from Germany or the UK to Mexico or Guatemala were assigned in a 1:1 ratio by a dynamic electronic randomisation system to receive transcutaneous immunisation with a patch containing 37·5 μg of ETEC LT or a placebo patch. Participants, site staff, and the investigators who did the analyses were masked to group assignment. Participants were vaccinated before travel, with two patches given 14 days apart. In the destination country, participants tracked stool output in a diary and provided stool samples for pathogen identification if diarrhoea occurred. The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants with at least one episode of moderate-to-severe diarrhoea (defined as four or more unformed stools in a 24 h period) in which either or both ETEC enterotoxins (LT and heat-stable toxin ST) were detected. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT00993681. Findings 2036 participants were recruited and randomly assigned between Oct 14, 2009, and Aug 13, 2010, with 1016 allocated to receive the LT patch and 1020 the placebo patch. 821 participants in the LT-patch group and 823 in the placebo group received both vaccinations and were analysed in the per-protocol population. 30 (3·7%, 95% CI 2·5–5·2) participants in the LT-patch group and 46 (5·6%, 4·1–7·4) in the placebo group had moderate or severe ETEC diarrhoea (vaccine efficacy 34·6%, −2·2 to 58·9; p=0·0621). 9333 local (ie, patch-site) adverse events (including erythema, rash, pruritus, hyperpigmentation, pain, hypopigmentation, and oedema) occurred in 943 (93%) of 1015 participants in the LT-patch group, compared with 1444 local adverse events in 574 (56%) of 1019 participants in the placebo group (p<0·0001). Serious adverse events occurred in 25 participants (14 in the LT-patch group and 11 in the placebo group), with all regarded as either unrelated or possibly related to treatment. Vaccine-induced hyperpigmentation persisted for at least 180 days after vaccination in 150 (18%) of the 849 participants who received both vaccinations and returned for final assessment in the LT-patch group, compared with none of the 842 participants in the placebo group. The vaccine was immunogenic, with a post-vaccination geometric mean titre of LT-specific serum immunoglobulin G of 3400·29, compared with 315·41 in the placebo group. Interpretation Although the LT antigen was delivered effectively by the skin patch, the vaccine did not protect travellers against diarrhoea caused by ETEC or other organisms. Future vaccines against travellers' diarrhoea might need to include several antigens against various diarrhoeal pathogens, and might need to be able to generate mucosal and higher systemic immunity. Funding Intercell USA.
Systemic inflammation is pivotal in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. As inflammation can directly cause cardiomyocyte injury, we hypothesised that established systemic inflammation, as ...reflected by elevated preoperative neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) >4, predisposes patients to perioperative myocardial injury.
We prospectively recruited 1652 patients aged ≥45 yr who underwent non-cardiac surgery in two UK centres. Serum high sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) concentrations were measured on the first three postoperative days. Clinicians and investigators were blinded to the troponin results. The primary outcome was perioperative myocardial injury, defined as hsTnT≥14 ng L−1 within 3 days after surgery. We assessed whether myocardial injury was associated with preoperative NLR>4, activated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in circulating monocytes, or both. Multivariable logistic regression analysis explored associations between age, sex, NLR, Revised Cardiac Risk Index, individual leukocyte subsets, and myocardial injury. Flow cytometric quantification of ROS was done in 21 patients. Data are presented as n (%) or odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals.
Preoperative NLR>4 was present in 239/1652 (14.5%) patients. Myocardial injury occurred in 405/1652 (24.5%) patients and was more common in patients with preoperative NLR>4 OR: 2.56 (1.92–3.41); P<0.0001. Myocardial injury was independently associated with lower absolute preoperative lymphocyte count OR 1.80 (1.50–2.17); P<0.0001 and higher absolute preoperative monocyte count OR 1.93 (1.12–3.30); P=0.017. Monocyte ROS generation correlated with NLR (r=0.47; P=0.03).
Preoperative NLR>4 is associated with perioperative myocardial injury, independent of conventional risk factors. Systemic inflammation may contribute to the development of perioperative myocardial injury.
NCT01842568.
We report the discovery of a new radio galaxy within the location error box of the gamma-ray source 3EG J1735-1500. The galaxy is a double-sided jet source forming a large angle with the line of ...sight. Optical observations reveal a V ~ 18 magnitude galaxy at the position of the radio core. Although the association with the EGRET source is not confirmed at the present stage, because there is a competing, alternative gamma-ray candidate within the location error contours which is also studied here, the case deserves further attention. The new radio galaxy can be used to test the recently proposed possibility of gamma-ray emitting radio galaxies beyond the already known case of Centaurus A.