Dwell Times, Wavepacket Dynamics, and Quantum Trajectories for Particles with Spin 1/2.

The theoretical connections between quantum trajectories and quantum dwell times, previously explored in the context of 1D time-independent stationary scattering applications, are here generalized for multidimensional time-dependent wavepacket applications for particles with spin 1/2. In addition to dwell times, trajectory-based dwell time are also developed, and compared with previous distributions based on the dwell time operator and the flux-flux correlation function. Dwell time distributions are of interest, in part because they may be of experimental relevance.

Exploring the Link between Plasma Levels of PCSK9, Immune Dysregulation and Atherosclerosis in Patients with Primary Sjögren's Syndrome.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) regulates lipid metabolism contributing to cardiovascular (CV) risk in the general population. The relationship between PCSK9 and CV risk in systemic autoimmune diseases has been poorly explored. We investigated the association between plasma PCSK9, measures of immune-inflammatory status and markers of atherosclerosis in 52 consecutive patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) in comparison to healthy controls (HCs).

Lipoprotein(a) Does Not Predict Thrombotic Events and In-Hospital Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19.

The prothrombotic and proinflammatory properties of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) have been hypothesized to play a role in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19; however, the prognostic impact of Lp(a) on the clinical course of COVID-19 remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate whether Lp(a) may be associated with biomarkers of thrombo-inflammation and the occurrence of thrombotic events or adverse clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. We consecutively enrolled a cohort of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and collected blood samples for Lp(a) assessment at hospital admission.

The impact of statin therapy on in-hospital prognosis and endothelial function of patients at high-to-very high cardiovascular risk admitted for COVID-19.

Statins may protect against adverse outcomes from Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) through their pleiotropic effects. Endothelial dysfunction seems to be implicated in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, and can be attenuated by statins. This study assessed the role of preadmission statin therapy and its interaction with endothelial function, measured using flow-mediated dilation (FMD) at hospital admission, in predicting in-hospital outcomes among patients with COVID-19 having high-to-very high cardiovascular (CV) risk.

Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Predicts Total Cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction during the Acute Phase of COVID-19.

A complex dysregulation of lipid metabolism occurs in COVID-19, leading to reduced total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, along with a derangement of thyroid function, leading to reduced thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. This study aimed to explore the association between TSH levels during COVID-19 and the variation (Δ) of lipid profile parameters in the period preceding (from 1 month up to 1 year) hospital admission due to COVID-19. Clinical data of 324 patients (mean age 76 ± 15 years, 54% males) hospitalized due to COVID-19 between March 2020 and March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.

Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its prognostic impact on patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Objectives: Although hypovitaminosis D appears to be highly prevalent in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), its impact on their prognosis remains unclear.

Methods: In this study, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (Vit-D) level was measured in 200 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The association between Vit-D and the composite endpoint of intensive care unit (ICU) admission/in-hospital death was explored using univariable and multivariable analyses.

Effects of structured home-based exercise training on circulating endothelial progenitor cells and endothelial function in patients with intermittent claudication.

Introduction: Exercise training improves walking capacity in patients with intermittent claudication (IC). Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), endothelial microparticles (EMPs), and endothelial dysfunction could play a role in this process.

Methods: We measured EPCs and EMPs in a group of 60 patients with IC, and in a control group of 20 individuals without IC, before a treadmill test and 2, 24, and 48 hours after the test.

Effects of a 3-month weight-bearing and resistance exercise training on circulating osteogenic cells and bone formation markers in postmenopausal women with low bone mass.

Unlabelled: Osteoporosis is a health issue in postmenopausal women. Physical activity is recommended in these subjects, since it has positive effects on bone mass. Cellular mechanisms underlying this effect are still unclear.

Combined aerobic and resistance training improves microcirculation in metabolic syndrome.

Background: Exercise intervention improves macrovascular function in metabolic syndrome (MeS) patients, but few studies have evaluated the effect of exercise on microcirculatory dysfunction, which plays a key role in the development of MeS and its correlated organ damage. We carried out this intervention study to evaluate the influence of an aerobic and resistance training on skin microvascular reactivity in MeS patients.

Methods: Postocclusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) of the forearm skin was evaluated, by laser-Doppler flowmetry, before and after a 12-week program of aerobic and resistance training in 15 MeS patients referring to our Lipid Metabolism Outpatients Clinic, together with anthropometric, fitness and metabolic parameters; 15 matched MeS patients who did not exercise, served as a control group.

Increased Bone Resorption: A Possible Pathophysiological Link Between Hypovitaminosis D and Peripheral Arterial Disease.

Objective/background: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with the prevalence and severity of peripheral arterial disease (PAD); nevertheless, data on bone turnover in patients with PAD is lacking. The present study investigates a possible relationship between the markers of bone turnover and the presence and severity of PAD.

Methods: The study examined 143 patients, with a mean ± SD age of 75.

Relationships between global physical activity and bone mineral density in a group of male and female students.

Background: Peak of bone mass (PBM) is generally reached about the age of 18 both in boys and girls. Maximizing PBM during growth may contribute to fracture risk reduction in adulthood and in the elderly. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects on bone mineral density (BMD) of global physical activity (PA), carried out in the past 15 years, in a population of 70 healthy, young male and female subjects aged 22 to 25.

What about OMT and nutrition for managing the irritable bowel syndrome? An overview and treatment plan.

A chronic continuous or intermittent gastrointestinal tract dysfunction, the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), appears to be due to dysregulation of brain-gut-microbiota communication. Furthermore, the "microbiota" greatly impacts the bi-directional brain-gut axis communication. This article describes IBS in relation to similar diseases, presents the background to osteopathy, and proposes osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) to manage IBS.

Matrix-free application of Hamiltonian operators in Coifman wavelet bases.

A means of evaluating the action of Hamiltonian operators on functions expanded in orthogonal compact support wavelet bases is developed, avoiding the direct construction and storage of operator matrices that complicate extension to coupled multidimensional quantum applications. Application of a potential energy operator is accomplished by simple multiplication of the two sets of expansion coefficients without any convolution. The errors of this coefficient product approximation are quantified and lead to use of particular generalized coiflet bases, derived here, that maximize the number of moment conditions satisfied by the scaling function.

Plasmonic enhancement of Raman optical activity in molecules near metal nanoshells.

Surface-enhanced Raman optical activity (SEROA) is investigated theoretically for molecules near a metal nanoshell. For this purpose, induced molecular electric dipole, magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole moments must all be included. The incident field and the induced multipole fields all scatter from the nanoshell, and the scattered waves can be calculated via extended Mie theory.

The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant therapy in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis associated with impaired endothelial function and intermittent claudication is the hallmark symptom. Hypothesizing that osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) may represent a non-pharmacological therapeutic option in PAD, we examined endothelial function and lifestyle modifications in 15 intermittent claudication patients receiving osteopathic treatment (OMT group) and 15 intermittent claudication patients matched for age, sex and medical treatment (control group). Compared to the control group, the OMT group had a significant increase in brachial flow-mediated vasodilation, ankle/brachial pressure index, treadmill testing and physical health component of life quality (all p<0.

Quantum and electromagnetic propagation with the conjugate symmetric Lanczos method.

The conjugate symmetric Lanczos (CSL) method is introduced for the solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. This remarkably simple and efficient time-domain algorithm is a low-order polynomial expansion of the quantum propagator for time-independent Hamiltonians and derives from the time-reversal symmetry of the Schrodinger equation. The CSL algorithm gives forward solutions by simply complex conjugating backward polynomial expansion coefficients.

Fat distribution and endothelial function in normal-overweight menopausal women.

Background: Adipose tissue is not an inert deposit of fat; in the truncal area, it seems to be metabolically active, due to the adipokines produced locally. These substances are related to insulin resistance, inflammation and atherosclerotic damage to the vascular system. The development of ultrasound methodologies enable better estimation of fat distribution and more detailed investigation of the metabolic aspects of the fat depots and their impact on the initial stages of atherosclerosis.

Human endothelial impairment in sepsis.

The onset of sepsis is often non-specific, and its severity is cryptic. The pathophysiological mechanism of sepsis development involves vascular alteration and, in particular, the impairment of endothelial function. Aim of the study was to evaluate the potential implications of brachial endothelial function assessment in patients affected by Gram-negative sepsis.

Endothelial dysfunction in vivo is related to monocyte resistin mRNA expression.

Background: Resistin could be the linkage between the adipose tissue and the insulin resistance. In humans, the role of resistin on metabolic and vascular homeostasis is not well defined. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association between resistin expression and insulin resistance.

Improving the accuracy of Weyl-Heisenberg wavelet and symmetrized Gaussian representations using customized phase-space-region operators.

A particular basis set method developed by one of the authors, involving maximally localized orthogonal Weyl-Heisenberg wavelets (or "weylets") and a phase space truncation scheme, has been successfully applied to exact quantum calculations for many degrees of freedom (DOF's) [B. Poirier and A. Salam, J.

Racial difference in endothelial function: role of the infective burden.

There is much evidence to suggest the existence of racial differences between blacks and whites in the behaviour of endothelial function. Infective state, sustained by viral or bacterial agents, may injure the endothelial surface favouring the onset and progression of atherosclerotic process, mainly by an inflammatory mechanism. The aim of the study was to investigate endothelial function, expressed as brachial flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV), in black and white healthy subjects, along with antibody titer to cytomegalovirus, hepatitis virus (B, C), herpes virus-1 and 2, Epstein-Barr, Chlamydia pneumoniae and the expression of adhesion molecules.

Rovibrational spectroscopy calculations of neon dimer using a phase space truncated Weyl-Heisenberg wavelet basis.

In a series of earlier articles [B. Poirier J. Theor.

Plasma viscosity in isolated systolic hypertension: the role of pulse pressure.

Atherosclerosis is increasingly recognized as an inflammatory vascular disease, and high blood pressure (BP) has been suggested to exert a proinflammatory action. Whether plasma viscosity (PV), a major determinant of blood flow in microcirculation and a marker of systemic inflammation and cardiovascular risk, is increased in elderly subjects with isolated systolic hypertension is not known. In addition, the correlation of BP and its pulsatile component (ie, pulse pressure [PP]), with PV levels independent of the confounding effect of other cardiovascular risk factors has not been investigated.

Acute inflammatory state during influenza infection and endothelial function.

Chronic inflammatory stimulus seems to contribute to atherosclerotic process. Several studies have established a relationship between infective agents as Chlamydia pneumoniae, herpes virus and cytomegalovirus and atherosclerotic lesions. Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of influenza infective state on endothelial function of healthy young subjects, expressed as brachial flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV) and soluble form of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1).