Cytokine release syndrome in COVID-19 patients, a new scenario for an old concern. The fragile balance between infections and autoimmunity

On 7 January 2020, researchers isolated and sequenced in China from patients with severe pneumonitis a novel coronavirus, then called SARS-CoV-2, which rapidly spread worldwide, becoming a global health emergency. Typical manifestations consist of flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough, fatigue, and dyspnea. However, in about 20% of patients, the infection progresses to severe interstitial pneumonia and can induce an uncontrolled host-immune response, leading to a life-threatening condition called cytokine release syndrome (CRS). CRS represents an emergency scenario of a frequent challenge, which is the complex and interwoven link between infections and autoimmunity. Indeed, treatment of CRS involves the use of both antivirals to control the underlying infection and immunosuppressive agents to dampen the aberrant pro-inflammatory response of the host. Several trials, evaluating the safety and effectiveness of immunosuppressants commonly used in rheumatic diseases, are ongoing in patients with COVID-19 and CRS, some of which are achieving promising results. However, such a use should follow a multidisciplinary approach, be accompanied by close monitoring, be tailored to patient’s clinical and serological features, and be initiated at the right time to reach the best results. Autoimmune patients receiving immunosuppressants could be prone to SARS-CoV-2 infections; however, suspension of the ongoing therapy is contraindicated to avoid disease flares and a consequent increase in the infection risk

Influence of operating parameters on the biodegradation of steroid estrogens and nonylphenolic compounds during biological wastewater treatment processes

This document is the unedited author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es901612v.This study investigated operational factors influencing the removal of steroid estrogens and nonylphenolic compounds in two sewage treatment works, one a nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge plant and the other a nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge plant with phosphorus removal. Removal efficiencies of >90% for steroid estrogens and for longer chain nonylphenol ethoxylates (NP4−12EO) were observed at both works, which had equal sludge ages of 13 days. However, the biological activity in terms of milligrams of estrogen removed per day per tonne of biomass was found to be 50−60% more efficient in the nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge works compared to the works which additionally incorporated phosphorus removal. A temperature reduction of 6 °C had no impact on the removal of free estrogens, but removal of the conjugated estrone-3-sulfate was reduced by 20%. The apparent biomass sorption (LogKp) values were greater in the nitrifying/denitrifying works than those in the nitrifying/denitrifying works with phosphorus removal for both steroid estrogens and nonylphenolic compounds possibly indicating a different cell surface structure and therefore microbial population. The difference in biological activity (mg tonne−1 d−1) identified in this study, of up to seven times, suggests that there is the potential for enhancing the removal of estrogens and nonylphenols if more detailed knowledge of the factors responsible for these differences can be identified and maximized, thus potentially improving the quality of receiving waters.Public Utilities Board (Singapore), Anglian Water Ltd, Severn Trent Water Ltd, Thames Water Utilities Ltd, United Utilities 393 Plc and Yorkshire Water Services

Extreme AGN Feedback and Cool Core Destruction in the X-ray Luminous Galaxy Cluster MACS J1931.8-2634

We report on a deep, multiwavelength study of the galaxy cluster MACS J1931.8-2634 using Chandra X-ray, Subaru optical, and VLA 1.4 GHz radio data. This cluster (z=0.352) harbors one of the most X-ray luminous cool cores yet discovered, with an equivalent mass cooling rate within the central 50 kpc is approximately 700 solar masses/yr. Unique features observed in the central core of MACSJ1931.8-2634 hint to a wealth of past activity that has greatly disrupted the original cool core. We observe a spiral of relatively cool, dense, X-ray emitting gas connected to the cool core, as well as highly elongated intracluster light (ICL) surrounding the cD galaxy. Extended radio emission is observed surrounding the central AGN, elongated in the east-west direction, spatially coincident with X-ray cavities. The power input required to inflate these `bubbles' is estimated from both the X-ray and radio emission to reside between 4 and 14e45 erg/s, putting it among the most powerful jets ever observed. This combination of a powerful AGN outburst and bulk motion of the cool core have resulted in two X-ray bright ridges to form to the north and south of the central AGN at a distance of approximately 25 kpc. The northern ridge has spectral characteristics typical of cool cores and is consistent with being a remnant of the cool core after it was disrupted by the AGN and bulk motions. It is also the site of H-alpha filaments and young stars. The X-ray spectroscopic cooling rate associated with this ridge is approximately 165 solar masses/yr, which agrees with the estimate of the star formation rate from broad-band optical imaging (170 solar masses/yr). MACS J1931.8-2634 appears to harbor one of most profoundly disrupted low entropy cores observed in a cluster, and offers new insights into the survivability of cool cores in the context of hierarchical structure formation.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables. Accepted by MNRAS for publication September 30 201

Multiplicity dependence of jet-like two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger and associated particles are measured by the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The transverse-momentum range 0.7 $< p_{\rm{T}, assoc} < p_{\rm{T}, trig} <$ 5.0 GeV/$c$ is examined, to include correlations induced by jets originating from low momen\-tum-transfer scatterings (minijets). The correlations expressed as associated yield per trigger particle are obtained in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<0.9$. The near-side long-range pseudorapidity correlations observed in high-multiplicity p-Pb collisions are subtracted from both near-side short-range and away-side correlations in order to remove the non-jet-like components. The yields in the jet-like peaks are found to be invariant with event multiplicity with the exception of events with low multiplicity. This invariance is consistent with the particles being produced via the incoherent fragmentation of multiple parton--parton scatterings, while the yield related to the previously observed ridge structures is not jet-related. The number of uncorrelated sources of particle production is found to increase linearly with multiplicity, suggesting no saturation of the number of multi-parton interactions even in the highest multiplicity p-Pb collisions. Further, the number scales in the intermediate multiplicity region with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions estimated with a Glauber Monte-Carlo simulation.Comment: 23 pages, 6 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 17, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/161

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Reducing the operational cost of cloud data centers through renewable energy

The success of cloud computing services has led to big computing infrastructures that are complex to manage and very costly to operate. In particular, power supply dominates the operational costs of big infrastructures, and several solutions have to be put in place to alleviate these operational costs and make the whole infrastructure more sustainable. In this paper, we investigate the case of a complex infrastructure composed of data centers (DCs) located in different geographical areas in which renewable energy generators are installed, co-located with the data centers, to reduce the amount of energy that must be purchased by the power grid. Since renewable energy generators are intermittent, the load management strategies of the infrastructure have to be adapted to the intermittent nature of the sources. In particular, we consider EcoMultiCloud, a load management strategy already proposed in the literature for multi-objective load management strategies, and we adapt it to the presence of renewable energy sources. Hence, cost reduction is achieved in the load allocation process, when virtual machines (VMs) are assigned to a data center of the considered infrastructure, by considering both energy cost variations and the presence of renewable energy production. Performance is analyzed for a specific infrastructure composed of four data centers. Results show that, despite being intermittent and highly variable, renewable energy can be effectively exploited in geographical data centers when a smart load allocation strategy is implemented. In addition, the results confirm that EcoMultiCloud is very flexible and is suited to the considered scenario

Load Management with Predictions of Solar Energy Production for Cloud Data Centers

Power supply of big infrastructures is today a tremendous operational cost for providers and the expected growth of Internet traffic and services will lead to a further expansion of the computing and networking infrastructures and this, in its turn, raises also concerns in terms of sustainability. In this context, renewable energy generators can help to both reduce costs and alleviate the concerns of sustainability of big infrastructures. In this paper, we consider the case of Data Centers (DCs) composed of a few sites located in different geographical positions and powered with solar energy. Due to the intermittent nature of solar energy, different time zones and price of electricity in different locations, load management strategies are fundamental. We consider predictions of the solar energy production performed through Artificial Neural Networks and we assess the impact of predictions on load management decisions and, ultimately, on the DC performance

Kratom: The analytical challenge of an emerging herbal drug

Mitragyna speciosa or kratom is emerging worldwide as a “legal” herbal drug of abuse. An increasing number of papers is appearing in the scientific literature regarding its pharmacological profile and the analysis of its chemical constituents, mainly represented by alkaloids. However, its detection and identification are not straightforward as the plant material is not particularly distinctive. Hyphenated techniques are generally preferred for the identification and quantification of these compounds, especially the main purported psychoactive substances, mitragynine (MG) and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH-MG), in raw and commercial products. Considering the vast popularity of this recreational drug and the growing concern about its safety, the analysis of alkaloids in biological specimens is also of great importance for forensic and toxicological laboratories. The review addresses the analytical aspects of kratom spanning the extraction techniques used to isolate the alkaloids, the qualitative and quantitative analytical methods and the strategies for the distinction of the naturally occurring isomers

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO