Understanding secondary hypogammaglobulinemia and its implications for cancer prognosis in children: A retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Immunodeficiencies are disturbances in the immune system that can affect cell function, quantity, or both. They can be either primary, associated with genetic defects, or secondary, linked to external factors such as hemato-oncological conditions. Secondary immunodeficiencies can lead to the initiation, reactivation, or acceleration of latent, residual, or active infections, which are the leading cause of mortality.

Six and twelve-month respiratory outcomes in a cohort of severe and critical COVID-19 survivors: A prospective monocentric study in Latin America.

Introduction: Severe COVID-19 can result in long-term sequelae known as "chronic COVID," characterized by a wide range of persistent physical and mental symptoms. Chest imaging and pulmonary function test alterations have been observed in recovered patients. Most studies focus on up to a 3-month follow-up after symptom onset or hospital discharge, with few reports on long-term follow-up and limited evidence regarding disease progression in Latin America.

Optimal Global Longitudinal Strain Thresholds for Pediatric Heart Surgery: Insights from a University Hospital.

Congenital heart diseases impact millions annually, with pediatric care lacking suitable risk assessment tools. This research seeks to illuminate the association between the global longitudinal strain (GLS) and the subsequent impact on postoperative outcomes, contributing to a deeper understanding of its predictive value in the pediatric population affected by congenital heart diseases. An observational, analytic, longitudinal, and prospective study was conducted from May 2022 to May 2023, including all patients under 18 undergoing heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CBP).

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in a Latin American Center: A Single Center Observational Study.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a complex disorder that includes various phenotypes, leading to different manifestations. It also shares different disadvantages typical of rare diseases, including limited recognition, lack of prospective studies assessing treatment, and little or delayed access to advanced treatment options. Reliable data about the prevalence and natural history of cardiomyopathies in South America are lacking.

Longitudinal Speckle Tracking Strain Abnormalities in Chagas Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCM) is ranked among heart failure etiologies with the highest mortality rates. CCM is characterized by alterations in left ventricular function with a typical and unique pattern of myocardial involvement. Left ventricle longitudinal speckle tracking strain is emerging as an important additive method for evaluating left ventricular function and risk of future cardiovascular events.

Submicroscopic Falciparum Malaria in Febrile Individuals in Urban and Rural Areas of Gabon.

AbstractCharacterization of the parasite reservoir is required to improve malaria control. Asymptomatic patients with subpatent parasitemia have been identified in Gabon, but the prevalence of such infections among febrile subjects is unclear. We assessed the prevalence of submicroscopic infections on an island (Port-Gentil), and in urban (Libreville), semiurban (Melen), and rural (Oyem) settings in Gabon.

Effects of patch size and number within a simple model of patchy colloids.

We report on a computer simulation and integral equation study of a simple model of patchy spheres, each of whose surfaces is decorated with two opposite attractive caps, as a function of the fraction chi of covered attractive surface. The simple model explored--the two-patch Kern-Frenkel model--interpolates between a square-well and a hard-sphere potential on changing the coverage chi. We show that integral equation theory provides quantitative predictions in the entire explored region of temperatures and densities from the square-well limit chi=1.

Phase diagram and structural properties of a simple model for one-patch particles.

We study the thermodynamic and structural properties of a simple, one-patch fluid model using the reference hypernetted-chain (RHNC) integral equation and specialized Monte Carlo simulations. In this model, the interacting particles are hard spheres, each of which carries a single identical, arbitrarily oriented and attractive circular patch on its surface; two spheres attract via a simple square-well potential only if the two patches on the spheres face each other within a specific angular range dictated by the size of the patch. For a ratio of attractive to repulsive surface of 0.

Hierarchies of networked phases induced by multiple liquid-liquid critical points.

Nanoparticles and colloids functionalized by four single strands of DNA can be thought of as designed analogs to tetrahedral network-forming atoms and molecules, with a difference that the attached DNA strands allow for control of the length scale of bonding relative to the core size. We explore the behavior of an experimentally realized model for nanoparticles functionalized by four single strands of DNA (a tetramer), and show that this single-component model exhibits a rich phase diagram with at least three critical points and four thermodynamically distinct amorphous phases. We demonstrate that the additional critical points are part of the Ising universality class, like the ordinary liquid-gas critical point.

The vanishing limit of the square-well fluid: the adhesive hard-sphere model as a reference system.

We report a simulation study of the gas-liquid critical point for the square-well potential, for values of well width delta as small as 0.005 times the particle diameter sigma. For small delta, the reduced second virial coefficient at the critical point B2*c is found to depend linearly on delta.

Thermodynamic properties of model solids with short-ranged potentials from Monte Carlo simulations and perturbation theory.

Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to determine the excess energy and the equation of state of fcc solids with Sutherland potentials for wide ranges of temperatures, densities, and effective potential ranges. The same quantities have been determined within a perturbative scheme by means of two procedures: (i) Monte Carlo simulations performed on the reference hard-sphere system and (ii) second-order Barker-Henderson perturbation theory. The aim was twofold: on the one hand, to test the capability of the "exact" MC-perturbation theory of reproducing the direct MC simulations and, on the other hand, the reliability of the Barker-Henderson perturbation theory, as compared with direct MC simulations and MC-perturbation theory, to determine the thermodynamic properties of these solids depending on temperature, density, and potential range.

Effective nonadditive pair potential for lock-and-key interacting particles: The role of the limited valence.

Theoretical studies of self-assembly processes and condensed phases in colloidal systems are often based on effective interparticle potentials. Here we show that developing an effective potential for particles interacting with a limited number of "lock-and-key" selective bonds (due to the specificity of biomolecular interactions) requires-in addition to the nonsphericity of the potential-a (many body) constraint that prevents multiple bonding on the same site. We show the importance of retaining both valence and bond selectivity by developing, as a case study, a simple effective potential describing the interaction between colloidal particles coated by four single-strand DNA chains.

Self-assembling DNA dendrimers: a numerical study.

DNA is increasingly used as a specific linker to template nanostructured materials. We present a molecular dynamics simulation study of a simple DNA-dendrimer model designed to capture the basic characteristics of the biological interactions, where selectivity and strong cooperativity play an important role. Exploring a large set of densities and temperatures, we follow the progressive formation of a percolating large-scale network whose connectivity can be described by random percolation theory.

Phase diagram of patchy colloids: towards empty liquids.

We report theoretical and numerical evaluations of the phase diagram for patchy colloidal particles of new generation. We show that the reduction of the number of bonded nearest neighbors offers the possibility of generating liquid states (i.e.

Thermodynamic properties of van der Waals fluids from Monte Carlo simulations and perturbative Monte Carlo theory.

Computer simulations have been performed for fluids with van der Waals potential, that is, hard spheres with attractive inverse power tails, to determine the equation of state and the excess energy. On the other hand, the first- and second-order perturbative contributions to the energy and the zero- and first-order perturbative contributions to the compressibility factor have been determined too from Monte Carlo simulations performed on the reference hard-sphere system. The aim was to test the reliability of this "exact" perturbation theory.

Influence of polydispersity on the critical parameters of an effective-potential model for asymmetric hard-sphere mixtures.

We report a Monte Carlo simulation study of the properties of highly asymmetric binary hard-sphere mixtures. This system is treated within an effective fluid approximation in which the large particles interact through a depletion potential [R. Roth, Phys.

Generalized van der Waals theory for the thermodynamic properties of square-well fluids.

A theory previously developed for the coordination number of square-well fluids is used within the context of a generalized van der Waals theory to obtain the compressibility factor and the internal energy of these fluids. Results are compared with computer simulations for several densities, temperatures, and potential widths, which are also reported.

Pair correlation function of short-ranged square-well fluids.

We have performed extensive Monte Carlo simulations in the canonical (NVT) ensemble of the pair correlation function for square-well fluids with well widths lambda-1 ranging from 0.1 to 1.0, in units of the diameter sigma of the particles.

A randomized, double-blind study to assess the optimal duration of doxycycline treatment for human brucellosis.

Background: Human brucellosis is usually treated with a combination of tetracyclines and aminoglycosides. However, the optimal duration of therapy has not been clearly determined.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, double-blind, randomized, multicenter study comparing treatment with doxycycline (100 mg po b.

[Evaluation of 2 tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis regimens in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. The GECMEI Group].

Objective: To assess the compliance, tolerance and efficacy of a short chemoprophylaxis regimen (IR) for tuberculosis using isoniazid (INH) plus rifampin (RIF) during 3 months versus a standard regimen (I) of isoniazid during 12 months in HIV positive patients.

Material And Methods: Prospective, comparative, randomized and open clinical trial in four general hospitals and one prison hospital of Castilla-La Mancha. Prophylaxis was administered to PPD-positive patients and to anergic patients according to the CDC recommendations (1991).

Doxycycline-rifampin versus doxycycline-streptomycin in treatment of human brucellosis due to Brucella melitensis. The GECMEI Group. Grupo de Estudio de Castilla-la Mancha de Enfermedades Infecciosas.

Brucellosis is a common zoonosis in many parts of the world; the best regimen for the treatment of brucellosis has not been clearly determined. We have carried out a multicenter, open, controlled trial in five general hospitals in Spain to compare the efficacy and safety of doxycycline and rifampin (DR) versus doxycycline and streptomycin (DS) for the treatment of human brucellosis. The study included 194 ambulatory or hospitalized patients with acute brucellosis, without endocarditis or neurobrucellosis.