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Background: We aimed to describe the epidemiology, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of co-infections and superinfections in onco-hematological patients with COVID-19.Methods: International, multicentre cohort study of cancer patients with COVID-19. All patients were included in the analysis of co-infections at diagnosis, while only patients admitted at least 48 h were included in the analysis of superinfections.Results: 684 patients were included (384 with solid tumors and 300 with hematological malignancies). Co-infections and superinfections were documented in 7.8% (54/684) and 19.1% (113/590) of patients, respectively. Lower respiratory tract infections were the most frequent infectious complications, most often caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Only seven patients developed opportunistic infections. Compared to patients without infectious complications, those with infections had worse outcomes, with high rates of acute respiratory distress syndrome, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and case-fatality rates. Neutropenia, ICU admission and high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were independent risk factors for infections.Conclusions: Infectious complications in cancer patients with COVID-19 were lower than expected, affecting mainly neutropenic patients with high levels of CRP and/or ICU admission. The rate of opportunistic infections was unexpectedly low. The use of empiric antimicrobials in cancer patients with COVID-19 needs to be optimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Cerebral water control is critical to maintain neuronal excitability, and to prevent injuries derived from brain swelling or shrinkage. The influence of aquaporins (AQPs) in the balance of water distribution between intracranial compartments is getting much experimental support. The importance of AQPs in fluid clearance during vasogenic brain edema seems well established but their role in cytotoxic swelling and in brain cell shrinkage is not known in detail. The main AQPs function as water channels anticipates their influence on cell volume changes as well as on the mechanisms of volume recovery, which include notably the osmolyte translocation across the cell membrane. Osmolyte fluxes permit the reestablishment of an osmotic balance and volume recovery in anisosmotic-elicited cell volume changes, but are also causal factors per se of brain cell swelling or shrinkage in pathological situations. This review aims to inform on the so far described functional interactions between AQPs and osmolyte fluxes and their volume-sensitive pathways. It also points to the coincidence of AQPs and activation of osmolyte fluxes in physiological and pathological conditions and to the importance of finding possible functional links between these two events, thus enlarging the possibilities via AQP manipulations, to prevent the adverse consequences of cell volume changes in brain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The structure of families has changed a lot, with consensus instead of authority to organize relationship between family''s members, hedonism instead of duty as main value, and a child acknowledged at once as a person - “the baby is a person” -, lead to a transformed process of education and breeding of child. Thus, during first years, the introduction by the parents of the first prohibitions and restrictions (restrictions of the touch, prohibition of the incest) is done within a new framework, which changes its effectiveness. The difference of the sexes as a main landmark for education grows blurred with the disappearance of genders complementarity, changing the issue of the construction of the gender identity. The increasing place of the media can make them compare to a “third parent”. It results from this a shaping of child''s psyche, which is not any more on the neurotic pattern. We propose the assumption of one new basic personality, translation of the new social and cultural landmarks and consequences of the new education practices with children, which would replace the normal-neurotic basic personality which prevailing during first half of the XXe century. This “narcissistic-hedonistic” basic personality shows specific features: a weakness of internalizations, a weak Super-ego, an almost total absence of guilty, an Ego ideal little socialized, evoking rather Ideal ego the first childhood, a dependence increased towards objects and external stimulations, and finally, an individualism, appropriate to a worldwide culture and a globalized economy, which is the grounds and legitimation of subject behaviours mainly regulated by the economic level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Bran content had no effect on toxins stability, while little effect of sourdough was observed. [•] Ochratoxin A was stable during the breadmaking process. [•] Fermentation affected DON levels, release taking place under some conditions. [•] Release of DON-3-G occurred during the breadmaking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can be employed to gain a better understanding of hemodynamics in cerebral aneurysms and improve diagnosis and treatment. However, introduction of CFD techniques into clinical practice would require faster simulation times. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of computationally inexpensive steady flow simulations to approximate the aneurysm's wall shear stress (WSS) field. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 compared for two cases the time-averaged (TA), peak systole (PS) and end diastole (ED) WSS field between steady and pulsatile flow simulations. The flow rate waveform imposed at the inlet was varied to account for variations in heart rate, pulsatility index, and TA flow rate. Consistently across all flow rate waveforms, steady flow simulations accurately approximated the TA, but not the PS and ED, WSS field. Following up on experiment 1, experiment 2 tested the result for the TA WSS field in a larger population of 20 cases covering a wide range of aneurysm volumes and shapes. Steady flow simulations approximated the space-averaged WSS with a mean error of 4.3%. WSS fields were locally compared by calculating the absolute error per node of the surface mesh. The coefficient of variation of the root-mean-square error over these nodes was on average 7.1%. In conclusion, steady flow simulations can accurately approximate the TA WSS field of an aneurysm. The fast computation time of 6min per simulation (on 64 processors) could help facilitate the introduction of CFD into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dog fecal samples were collected at the crime scene and from the shoes of the suspect to see whether they could be linked. DNA was genotyped using a 145 bp fragment containing a 60 bp hotspot region of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region. Once the species origin was identified, sequences were aligned with the 23 canine haplotypes defined, showing that evidence and reference had 100% identity with haplotype 5. The frequency of haplotype 5 and the exclusion power of the reference population were 0.056 and 0.89, respectively. The forensic index showed that it was 20 times more likely that the evidence belonged to the reference dog than to some other unknown animal. The results support that the mtDNA hypervariable region 1 (HV1) is a good alternative for typing in trace or degraded casework samples when the STR panel fails, and demonstrate the utility of domestic animal samples to give additional information to solve human legal cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Pioglitazone and glimepiride improve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus by different mechanisms. Pioglitazone is a thiazolidinedione that reduces insulin resistance, and glimepiride is a sulfonylurea insulin secretagogue. OBJECTIVE: The goals of this study were to compare changes in measures of glycemic control and insulin sensitivity in Mexican patients with type 2 diabetes who received pioglitazone or glimepiride for 1 year. METHODS: This was a multicenter, 52-week, double-blind, parallel-group trial. Patients were randomized to receive monotherapy with either glimepiride (2 mg QD initially) or pioglitazone (15 mg QD initially). Doses were titrated (maximal doses: pioglitazone 45 mg, glimepiride 8 mg) to achieve glycemic targets (fasting blood glucose < or =7 mmol/L and 1-hour postprandial blood glucose < or =10 mmol/L). Insulin sensitivity (primary end point) was evaluated in terms of the Homeostasis Model Assessment for Insulin Sensitivity (HOMA-S), the Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI), and fasting serum insulin (FSI) concentrations. Glycemic control was evaluated in terms of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) values and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentrations. Patients were encouraged to maintain their individual diet and exercise regimens throughout the study. RESULTS: Two hundred forty-four patients (125 women, 119 men; all but 1 Hispanic) were randomized to receive pioglitazone (n = 121) or glimepiride (n = 123). In the intent-to-treat sample, pioglitazone and glimepirede produced comparable reductions in HbA(1c) from baseline to the end of the study (-0.78% and -0.68%, respectively). The pioglitazone group had significantly higher HbA(1c) values compared with the glimepiride group after 12 weeks of therapy (8.66% vs 7.80%; P = 0.007) but had significantly lower values after 52 weeks (7.46% vs 7.77%; P = 0.027). Pioglitazone significantly reduced FPG compared with glimepiride (-0.6 vs 0.6 mmol/L; P = 0.01). Pioglitazone therapy was associated with significant increases in insulin sensitivity (reduced insulin resistance), whereas glimepiride had no effect. HOMA-S values changed 18.0% for pioglitazone and -7.9% for glimepiride (P < 0.001), QUICKI values changed a respective 0.013 and -0.007 (P < 0.001), and FSI values were -21.1 and 15.1 pmol/L (P< 0.001). Both drugs were well tolerated, with pioglitazone associated with more peripheral edema (number of treatment-emergent cases: 35/121[28.9%] vs 17/123 [13.8%]; P = 0.005) and fewer hypoglycemic episodes (19 [15.7%] vs 38 [30.9%]; P = 0.024). The incidence of weight gain was not significantly different between treatment groups. Conclusions: These data suggest that long-term treatment with pioglitazone enhances insulin sensitivity relative to glimepiride in Mexican patients with type 2 diabetes and that pioglitazone may have a more sustained antihyperglycemic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Temperature dependence of the μ transfer rate from μ p to oxygen is measured. • A strong monotonic rise by a factor three of the rate is observed between 104-300 K. • This effect will be exploited to measure the hyperfine splitting of the μ p 1S state. • Experiment took place at the RIKEN muon facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. • Fast scintillator counters based on LaBr3 crystals read by photomultipliers are used. We report the first measurement of the temperature dependence of muon transfer rate from muonic hydrogen atoms to oxygen between 100 and 300 K. Data were obtained from the X-ray spectra of delayed events in a gaseous target, made of a H 2 /O 2 mixture, exposed to a muon beam. This work sets constraints on theoretical models of muon transfer and is of fundamental importance for the measurement of the hyperfine splitting of muonic hydrogen ground state as proposed by the FAMU collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]