Clinical Factors and Quantitative CT Parameters Associated With ICU Admission in Patients of COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Multicenter Study

The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 pneumonia is varied. Thus, it is important to identify risk factors at an early stage for predicting deterioration that require transferring the patients to ICU. A retrospective multicenter study was conducted on COVID-19 patients admitted to designated hospitals in China from Jan 17, 2020, to Feb 17, 2020. Clinical presentation, laboratory data, and quantitative CT parameters were also collected. The result showed that increasing risks of ICU admission were associated with age > 60 years (odds ratio [OR], 12.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.42–24.61; P = 0.032), coexisting conditions (OR, 5.55; 95% CI, 1.59–19.38; P = 0.007) and CT derived total opacity percentage (TOP) (OR, 8.0; 95% CI, 1.45–39.29; P = 0.016). In conclusion, older age, coexisting conditions, larger TOP at the time of hospital admission are associated with ICU admission in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Early monitoring the progression of the disease and implementing appropriate therapies are warranted.

Predicting the COVID-19 patients’ status using chest CT scan findings: A risk assessment model based on Decision tree

Background:The role of chest computed tomographic (CT) to diagnosis coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is still an open field to be explored. The aim of this study was to apply the decision tree (DT) model to predict critical or non-critical status of patients infected with COVID-19 based on available information on non-contrast chest computed tomography (CT) scan.Method:This study was performed onpatients with COVID-19 who underwent chest CTscan atBaqiyatallahHospital, Tehran, Iran. The age, gender, types of lesions, other specific signs of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), presence of diffuse opacity, underlying diseases, number of involved lobe and total opacity score of 1078 patients were evaluated. Decision tree (DT) model was used to analyze and establish a risk assessment model of critical and non-critical situation. Results:Data included 169 critical cases and 909 non-critical cases. The bilateral distribution and multifocal lung involvement were165 (97.6%) and 766 (84.3%) in critical patients, respectively.According to DT model, total opacity score, age, lesion types and gender were statistically significant predictors incritical patients.Moreover, the results showed that the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the DT model were 93.3%, 72.8% and 97.1%, respectively.Conclusions:The presented algorithm demonstrates the factors affecting the patient's condition. In addition, this model has the potential characteristics for clinical applicationsand canalso identify high-risk subpopulations that need specific prevention.

Predicting the COVID-19 Patients’ Status Using Chest CT Scan Findings: A Risk Assessment Model Based on Decision Tree

Background: The role of chest computed tomographic (CT) to diagnosis coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is still an open field to be explored. The aim of this study is to use non-contrast chest computed tomography (CT) scan as a helpful tool in diagnosis quantification and follow-up of patients with COVID-19. Method: This study was performed on patients with COVID-19 who underwent chest CT scan at Baqiyatallah Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The age, gender, types of lesions, other specific signs of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), presence of diffuse opacity, underlying diseases, number of involved lobe and total opacity score of 1078 patients were evaluated. Decision tree (DT) model was used to analyze and establish a risk assessment model of critical and non-critical situation. Results: The bilateral distribution and multifocal lung involvement were 165 (97.6%) and 766 (84.3%) in critical patients, respectively. According to DT model, total opacity score, age, lesion types and gender were statistically significant predictors in critical patients. Moreover, the results showed that the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the DT model were 93.3%, 72.8% and 97.1%, respectively.Conclusions: The presented algorithm demonstrates the factors affecting the patient's condition. Also the model can predict the critical or non-critical situation of new cases. In addition, this model has the potential characteristics for clinical applications and can also identify high-risk subpopulations that need specific prevention.

NH3 (1,1) hyperfine intensity anomalies in the Orion A molecular cloud

Ammonia (NH3) inversion lines, with their numerous hyperfine components, are a common tracer used in studies of molecular clouds (MCs). In local thermodynamical equilibrium, the two inner satellite lines (ISLs) and the two outer satellite lines (OSLs) of the NH3(J, K) = (1,1) transition are each predicted to have equal intensities. However, hyperfine intensity anomalies (HIAs) are observed to be omnipresent in star formation regions, a characteristic which is still not fully understood. In addressing this issue, we find that the computation method of the HIA by the ratio of the peak intensities may have defects, especially when used to process the spectra with low-velocity dispersions. Therefore, we defined the integrated HIAs of the ISLs (HIAIS) and OSLs (HIAOS) by the ratio of their redshifted to blueshifted integrated intensities (unity implies no anomaly) and developed a procedure to calculate them. Based on this procedure, we present a systematic study of the integrated HIAs in the northern part of the Orion A MC. We find that integrated HIAIS and HIAOS are commonly present in the Orion A MC and no clear distinction is found at different locations of the MC. The medians of the integrated HIAIS and HIAOS are 0.921 ± 0.003 and 1.422 ± 0.009, respectively, which is consistent with the HIA core model and inconsistent with the collapse or expansion (CE) model. In the selection of those 170 positions, where both integrated HIAs deviate by more than 3σ from unity, most (166) are characterized by HIAIS < 1 and HIAOS > 1, which suggests that the HIA core model plays a more significant role than the CE model. The remaining four positions are consistent with the CE model. We compare the integrated HIAs with the para-NH3 column density (N(para-NH3)), kinetic temperature (TK), total velocity dispersion (σv), non-thermal velocity dispersion (σNT), and the total opacity of the NH3(J, K) = (1,1) line (τ0). The integrated HIAIS and HIAOS are almost independent of N(para-NH3). The integrated HIAIS decreases slightly from unity (no anomaly) to about 0.7 with increasing TK, σv, and σNT. The integrated HIAOS is independent of TK and reaches values close to unity with increasing σv and σNT. The integrated HIAIS is almost independent of τ0, while the integrated HIAOS rises with τ0, thus showing higher anomalies. These correlations cannot be fully explained by either the HIA core nor the CE model.

Snow lines can be thermally unstable

ABSTRACT Volatile species in protoplanetary discs can undergo a phase change from vapour to solid. These ‘snow lines’ can play vital roles in planet formation at all scales, from dust coagulation to planetary migration. In the outer regions of protoplanetary discs, the temperature profile is set by the absorption of reprocessed stellar light by the solids. Further, the temperature profile sets the distribution of solids through sublimation and condensation at various snow lines. Hence, the snow line position depends on the temperature profile and vice versa. We show that this coupling can be thermally unstable, such that a patch of the disc at a snow line will produce either runaway sublimation or condensation. This thermal instability arises at moderate optical depths, where heating by absorption of reprocessed stellar light from the disc’s atmosphere is optically thick, yet cooling is optically thin. Since volatiles in the solid phase drift much faster than volatiles in the vapour phase, this thermal instability results in a limit cycle. The snow line progressively moves in, condensing volatiles, before receding, as the volatiles sublimate. Using numerical simulations, we study the evolution of the carbon monoxide (CO) snow line. We find the CO snow line is thermally unstable under typical disc conditions and evolves inwards from ∼50 to ∼30 au on time-scales from 1000 to 10 000 yr. The CO snow line spends between ${\sim}10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}\,\mathrm{ and}\,50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of its time at smaller separations, where the exact value is sensitive to the total opacity and turbulent viscosity. The evolving snow line also creates ring-like structures in the solid distribution interior to the snow line. Multiple ring-like structures created by moving snow lines could potentially explain the substructures seen in many ALMA images.

El Tratado Trasatlántico de Comercio e Inversión: sus implicaciones en el ámbito del derecho a la protección de la salud

El TTIP es un Tratado Internacional que pretende armonizar las legislaciones, europea y estadounidense, así como rebajar los aranceles y liberalizar los mercados. Prevé también la implantación de un mecanismo de Solución de Controversias entre Inversores y Estados. Sin embargo, existe una total opacidad tanto en las negociaciones como en el articulado, que sólo se conocen por filtraciones. La firma de este Tratado supondrá la privatización de servicios públicos, como la sanidad, el menoscabo de derechos sociales, laborales y ambientales y la pérdida de soberanía por parte de los Estados. El camino de este Tratado comenzó a mediados de la década de 1990, pero no ha sido hasta los últimos diez años cuando las negociaciones han tomado fuerza. Ha generado una gran controversia, lo que ha conseguido retardar su aprobación. En este trabajo queremos poner de manifiesto lo que implicaría su aprobación.TTIP is an International Treaty which claims to harmonize european and american regulations, as well as reducing duties and liberalising markets. It anticipates the implementation of a mechanism of Investor-State Dispute Settlement. However, there is a total opacity both in the negotiations and in the articles, which are known only by leaks. Treaty signature will mean the privatisation of public services, such as health service, the drop of social rights, labours and ambients, and the loss of States sovereignty. The way of TTIP started on 90’s, but negotiations did not get strength until last ten years. It generates a huge controversy, which gets to delay its approval. In this paper we want to show what would imply its approval.

A bifunctional smart material: the synthesis of a metal-free black pigment for optoelectronic applications from an organic semiconducting molecular rod

Purpose This paper aims to synthesise and evaluate the properties of a novel smart material consisting of a metal-free organic black pigment with a unique chromophore for bifunctional applications in optoelectronics. Design/methodology/approach A robust and highly efficient organic reaction, namely, a double [2 + 2] cycloaddition, was deployed to transform a rod-like structure for charge-transfer applications to a strongly conjugated light-absorbing molecule for both optical and electronic applications. Findings The synthesis and characterisation of an air-stable metal-free black pigment is reported, which contains an unconventional donor–acceptor panchromatic chromophore with an absorption window spanning 600 nm; the compound was synthetically converted from an organic semiconducting molecular rod and retains strong charge-transfer properties. The chromophore comprises tetracyanoquinodimethane adduct on either side of a dithienothiophenyl core, capped with hexyl thiophenes that ensure solubility in common organic solvents. Its propensity to form excellent thin films on different substrates such as glass and paper, with a total opacity in organic solvent, gives it the potential for wide-ranging applications in organic optoelectronics. Research limitations/implications The synthetic chemistry and fundamental properties are investigated in the present study, with more detailed treatments and analysis to be soon developed. One leading smart material is presented, with further derivatives under investigation. Practical implications The work presented shows the possibility of converting structures from one application to another with relative ease, but how they retain properties for both, using well-known and facile conditions. Originality/value The structures are novel and an enhanced air-stable organic panchromatic chromophore is reported for processing in common organic solvents.

Scaling morphosemantic transparency/opacity: A corpus-linguistic and acquisitionist study of German diminutives

The judicious use of electronic corpora allows new possibilities in the study of word formation. In contrast to the usual way of contrasting morphosemantic transparency (or compositionality) and morphosemantic opacity (or non-compositionality) in a dichotomous way, we present a ten-step scale from maximum transparency to total opacity, exemplified with the common German diminutive suffixation in -chen and Austro-Bavarian -erl. Our corpus-linguistic investigation allows new insights into problems of distribution of type and token frequency according to degrees of morphosemantic transparency/ opacity and of the two rivalling diminutive formations. An analysis of diminutive acquisition is added as external evidence for or against previous claims. Acquisition data come from three longitudinal corpora and from 24 children of a transversal quasi-longitudinal study. Here the order of acquisition of diminutives according to the ten-step scale of morphosemantic transparency/opacity and to adult type and token frequency will be presented and the relation between morphosemantic and morphopragmatic meaning will be discussed.

Reanalysis of the 1992 South Pole Millimetre-Wavelength Atmospheric Opacity Data

In 1992 an NRAO 225-GHz site survey heterodyne radiometer was placed at the Geographical South Pole. The instrument operated over an entire annual cycle and provided direct measurements of the millimetre-wave sky brightness temperature as a function of zenith angle. Interpreted in a single-slab ‘skydip’ radiation transfer model of the atmosphere, these sky brightness measurements provided a time series of the millimetre atmospheric opacity. Statistics derived from this opacity time series were important for making comparisons with other candidate millimetre and sub-millimetre wave astronomy sites. This paper reexamines the 1992 measurements and the original analysis. Details of the skydip fit model, radiometer gain error, instrument stability, and a mid-season replacement to a window in the instrument enclosure combined to cause a modest under-reporting of the atmospheric opacity in previous reports. Unchanged are earlier conclusions that dry air makes a significant contribution to the total opacity at 225 GHz.

The stellar coefficients of absorption and opacity.— Part II

1. Introduction.—It is well known from the researches of Eddington, Rosseland and Milne, that the main source of the absorption of radiation, by an ionised (non-degenerate) stellar material is due to the photoelectric “bound-free” transitions of the electrons under the influence of the external radiation. But a study of the literature showed that there is really no trustworthy evaluation of the coefficients of absorption due to the bound-free transitions from the K and L states , which process should certainly contribute the greater part of the absorption due to these bound-free transitions. An accurate evaluation of the total absorption-coefficient due to hydrogen atoms, generalisations to hydrogen-like and more complicated atoms, and a critical discussion of the existing treatment of the absorption and opacity coefficients are the subject matter of this paper. 2. The “ Rosseland-Eddington " Value for the Total Opacity . The importance of Bound-free Transitions .—Let α v „ represent the free-free contribution to the rate of absorption of energy from radiation of frequency v and unit intensity and per atomic nucleus of charge Ze and by a unit volume of a stellar material containing N e free electrons. Then (C, equation(12)) α v = 16π 2 Z 2 e 6 /3√3 hcv 3 ∙ N e /(2π m ) 3/2 ( k )T) 1/2 ∙