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BACKGROUND: Hybrid immunity, from COVID-19 vaccination followed by SARS-CoV-2 infection acquired after its Omicron variant began predominating, has provided greater protection than vaccination alone against subsequent infection over 1-3 months of observation. Its longer-term protection is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of COVID-19 case incidence among healthcare personnel (HCP) mandated to be vaccinated and report on COVID-19-associated symptoms, high-risk exposures, or known-positive test results to an employee health hotline. We compared cases with hybrid immunity, defined as incident COVID-19 during the first 6 weeks of Omicron-variant predominance (run-in period), to those with immunity from vaccination alone during the run-in period. Time until COVID-19 infection over 13 subsequent months (observation period) was analyzed by standard survival analysis. RESULTS: Of 5867 employees, 641 (10.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 10.1%-11.8%) acquired hybrid immunity during the run-in period. Of these, 104 (16.2%, 95% CI: 13.5%-19.3%) experienced new SARS-CoV-2 infection during the 13-month observation period, compared to 2177 (41.7%, 95% CI: 40.3%-43.0%) of the 5226 HCP without hybrid immunity. Time until incident infection was shorter among the latter (hazard ratio: 3.09, 95% CI: 2.54-3.78). CONCLUSIONS: In a cohort of vaccinated employees, Omicron-era acquired SARS-CoV-2 hybrid immunity was associated with significantly lower risk of subsequent infection over more than a year of observation-a time period far longer than previously reported and during which three, progressively more resistant, Omicron subvariants became predominant. These findings can inform institutional policy and planning for future COVID-19 additional vaccine dosing requirements for employees, for surveillance programs, and for risk modification efforts.
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COVID-19 , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiología , COVID-19/prevención & control , Vacunas contra la COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Pandemias , Estudios Retrospectivos , Inmunidad AdaptativaRESUMEN
An important issue today is whether gasoline vehicles should be replaced by flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) that use ethanol-gasoline blends (e.g., E85), where some carbon dioxide (CO2) from ethanol's production is captured and piped, or battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) powered by wind or solar. This paper compares the options in a case study. It evaluates a proposal to capture fermentation CO2 from 34 ethanol refineries in 5 U.S. states and build an elaborate pipeline to transport the CO2 to an underground storage site. This "ethanol plan" is compared with building wind farms at the same cost to provide electricity for BEVs ("wind plan A"). Compared with the ethanol plan, wind plan A may reduce 2.4-4 times the CO2, save drivers in the five states $40-$66 billion (USD 2023) over 30 years even when BEVs initially cost $21,700 more than FFVs, require 1/400,000th the land footprint and 1/10th-1/20th the spacing area, and decrease air pollution. Even building wind to replace coal ("wind plan B") may avoid 1.5-2.5 times the CO2 as the ethanol plan. Thus, ethanol with carbon capture appears to be an opportunity cost that may damage climate and air quality, occupy land, and saddle consumers with high fuel costs for decades.
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Fuentes Generadoras de Energía , Gasolina , Gasolina/análisis , Etanol/análisis , Dióxido de Carbono/análisis , Viento , Electricidad , Emisiones de Vehículos/análisis , Vehículos a MotorRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are administered to 2 million individuals per day in the United States under US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization. METHODS: Observational cohort study of hospital employees who received their first SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination between 14 December 2020 and 8 January 2021, including employees who reported onset of an injection site reaction ≥48 hours after administration of their first or second dose to an employee hotline. RESULTS: Thirteen female employees who received the mRNA-1273 vaccine (Moderna) during the first 3 weeks of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine rollout at San Francisco General Hospital reported a pruritic rash at the injection site appearing 3 -9 days after receipt of their initial dose. Five had milder or similar reactions with earlier onset after the second dose. One additional female employee reported this delayed reaction only after the second dose. None reported serious adverse events or had symptoms severe enough to seek medical attention. These cases represented 1.1% of the 1275 female employees who received their first mRNA-1273 dose and 2.0% of the 557 who were aged 31 -45 years during this initial vaccine rollout. None of 675 males who initiated mRNA-1273 or 3612 employees of any sex who initiated BNT162b (Pfizer) vaccination during this period reported delayed-onset reactions. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that delayed-onset, injection site pruritic rashes after mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine administration, lasting up to 1 week, occur commonly in females, do not lead to serious sequela, and should not deter receipt of the second vaccine dose.
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Vacuna nCoV-2019 mRNA-1273 , COVID-19 , Reacción en el Punto de Inyección/epidemiología , Vacuna nCoV-2019 mRNA-1273/efectos adversos , Adulto , COVID-19/epidemiología , COVID-19/prevención & control , Vacunas contra la COVID-19/efectos adversos , Estudios de Cohortes , Femenino , Hospitales , Humanos , Incidencia , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , SARS-CoV-2 , Estados Unidos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
We present 2 patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (LE) associated with xanthomatized macrophages on light microscopic findings. Skin biopsies revealed hyperkeratotic and atrophic epidermis, vacuolar degeneration of the dermal-epidermal junction, thickened basement membrane, follicular plugging, and perivascular and perifollicular lymphohistiocytic infiltrate. Notably, large collections of lipid-laden histiocytes were observed within the subjacent dermis. The patients denied history of intralesional steroid treatment. The patients did not demonstrate any clinical or laboratory signs of hyperlipidemia, cholestasis, and diabetes mellitus and insipidus. Accumulation of lipid-laden foam cells in cutaneous LE is a rare phenomenon that has been reported in discoid LE and lupus panniculitis, each only once in the literature. It has also been described within lesions of various other dermatoses in patients without lipid, hepatic, or endocrine abnormalities. Its mechanism remains unclear, but it has been hypothesized that intracellular lipids released from degenerating cells contribute to lipidization of mononuclear scavengers. Xanthomatous infiltration in cutaneous LE is an unusual feature, and its presence may not necessarily signify an underlying metabolic disorder.
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Lupus Eritematoso Discoide/patología , Macrófagos/patología , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMEN
The Aliso Canyon (Porter Ranch), California, natural gas blowout lasted 112 days, from October 23, 2015 to February 11, 2016, releasing 97â¯100 metric tonnes of methane, 7300 tonnes of ethane, and a host of other hydrocarbons into the Southern California air. This study estimates the impacts of the leak on transient weather, climate, air quality, and health in California and the Los Angeles Basin using a nested global-through-local weather-climate-air quality computer model. Results suggest that the Aliso Canyon leak may have increased the mixing ratios of multiple emitted hydrocarbon gases throughout California. Subsequent gas-phase photochemistry increased the mixing ratios of additional byproducts, including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, peroxyacetyl nitrate, and ozone. Increases in air temperatures aloft and lesser increases at the surface due to thermal-infrared radiation absorption by methane stabilized the air over much of California, slightly reducing clouds, precipitation, and near-surface wind speed with greater reductions in Los Angeles than in California. The reduction in precipitation, in particular, increased PM2.5 concentration, with a greater increase in Los Angeles than in California. The higher PM2.5 increased estimated premature mortality in California by +32 (9-54) to +43 (15-66), depending on the set of relative risks used. Despite higher PM2.5 in Los Angeles due to the leak, premature mortalities there were more ambiguous, ranging from a mean decrease of -7 to a mean increase of +15, for 2 simulations with different resolution and boundary conditions. The remaining mortalities occurred in the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area. Ozone premature mortalities away from the leak increased by <1. The study did not evaluate potential health impacts, including cancers, immediately near the leak. As such, the Aliso Canyon leak affected temperatures, pollution, and health throughout California. Future leaks will also likely have impacts.
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Contaminantes Atmosféricos , Contaminación del Aire , California , Clima , Los Angeles , Gas Natural , Material Particulado , San FranciscoRESUMEN
Cutaneous vasculitis has many underlying causes, and the clinical and histological findings often overlap. Inflammatory vasculitis can mimic infection; however, distinction is critical for the timely institution of appropriate therapy. We present two patients who had generalized polymorphous eruptions whose cutaneous pathology showed vasculitis with unusual haloed yeast-like cells within the inflammatory infiltrate, mimicking Cryptococcus. The unusual cells stained negatively with Gomori methenamine silver and periodic acid-Schiff fungal stains, but positively for CD68 and had cytoplasmic reactivity with antibody to myeloperoxidase (MPO). Both patients had positive serum anti-MPO antibodies. The first patient experienced a rapidly fatal course, whereas the second patient improved with prompt initiation of systemic corticosteroids. Interestingly, the second case had prior biopsy showing Sweet syndrome with crypotoccoid-appearing cells. Cryptococcoid cells have been described previously in association with neutrophilic dermatoses, but not in the setting of vasculitis as was seen in our patients. Our cases add to the existing literature on crypotoccoid mimickers, and are the first to be reported in association with vasculitis.
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Criptococosis , Cryptococcus , Dermatomicosis , Enfermedades Cutáneas Vasculares , Síndrome de Sweet , Vasculitis , Anciano , Criptococosis/diagnóstico , Criptococosis/metabolismo , Criptococosis/patología , Dermatomicosis/diagnóstico , Dermatomicosis/metabolismo , Dermatomicosis/patología , Femenino , Humanos , Enfermedades Cutáneas Vasculares/diagnóstico , Enfermedades Cutáneas Vasculares/metabolismo , Enfermedades Cutáneas Vasculares/patología , Síndrome de Sweet/diagnóstico , Síndrome de Sweet/metabolismo , Síndrome de Sweet/patología , Vasculitis/diagnóstico , Vasculitis/metabolismo , Vasculitis/patologíaRESUMEN
This study addresses the greatest concern facing the large-scale integration of wind, water, and solar (WWS) into a power grid: the high cost of avoiding load loss caused by WWS variability and uncertainty. It uses a new grid integration model and finds low-cost, no-load-loss, nonunique solutions to this problem on electrification of all US energy sectors (electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, and industry) while accounting for wind and solar time series data from a 3D global weather model that simulates extreme events and competition among wind turbines for available kinetic energy. Solutions are obtained by prioritizing storage for heat (in soil and water); cold (in ice and water); and electricity (in phase-change materials, pumped hydro, hydropower, and hydrogen), and using demand response. No natural gas, biofuels, nuclear power, or stationary batteries are needed. The resulting 2050-2055 US electricity social cost for a full system is much less than for fossil fuels. These results hold for many conditions, suggesting that low-cost, reliable 100% WWS systems should work many places worldwide.
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Immunotherapy-induced vitiligo is an immune-related adverse event (irAE) observed in metastatic melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors that target the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) pathways. To date, the development of leukoderma, poliosis, and halo nevi during immunotherapy has largely been reported in metastatic melanoma patients. We report a case of immunotherapy-induced leukoderma presenting as halo nevi in a patient with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with atezolizumab, a programmed cell death ligand (PD-L1) antibody. Immunotherapy-induced vitiligo in metastatic melanoma patients may be associated with improved survival, but it remains to be determined whether its occurrence in non-melanoma cancers has the same prognostic significance.
J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(10):1047-1049.
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Anticuerpos Monoclonales/efectos adversos , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/tratamiento farmacológico , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamiento farmacológico , Nevo con Halo/diagnóstico , Anticuerpos Monoclonales/administración & dosificación , Anticuerpos Monoclonales Humanizados , Antineoplásicos/administración & dosificación , Antineoplásicos/efectos adversos , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/patología , Humanos , Inmunoterapia/efectos adversos , Inmunoterapia/métodos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Nevo con Halo/inducido químicamente , Pronóstico , Vitíligo/diagnóstico , Vitíligo/etiologíaRESUMEN
Porokeratosis and angiokeratomas are both seen in the setting of chronic graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD), but rarely occur together. We present a case of a patient with lichen planus-like (LPL) and sclerodermatous chronic GVHD manifesting after allogeneic bone marrow transplant with concomitant eruptive angiokeratomas and porokeratosis.
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OBJECTIVE: Failure on performance validity tests (PVTs) is common in Veterans with histories of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), leading to questionable validity of clinical presentations. PARTICIPANTS: Using diffusion tensor imaging, we investigated white matter (WM) integrity and cognition in 79 Veterans with history of mTBI who passed PVTs (n = 43; traumatic brain injury [TBI]-passed), history of mTBI who failed at least 1 PVT (n = 13; TBI-failed), and military controls (n = 23; MCs) with no history of TBI. RESULTS: The TBI-failed group demonstrated significantly lower cognitive scores relative to MCs and the TBI-passed group; however, no such differences were observed between MCs and the TBI-passed group. On a global measure of WM integrity (ie, WM burden), the TBI-failed group showed more overall WM abnormalities than the other groups. However, no differences were observed between the MCs and TBI-passed group on WM burden. Interestingly, regional WM analyses revealed abnormalities in the anterior internal capsule and cingulum of both TBI subgroups relative to MCs. Moreover, compared with the TBI-passed group, the TBI-failed group demonstrated significantly decreased WM integrity in the corpus callosum. CONCLUSIONS: Findings revealed that, within our sample, WM abnormalities are evident in those who fail PVTs. This study adds to the burgeoning PVT literature by suggesting that poor PVT performance does not negate the possibility of underlying WM abnormalities in military personnel with history of mTBI.
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Conmoción Encefálica/diagnóstico , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Sustancia Blanca/fisiopatología , Adulto , Biomarcadores , Encéfalo/fisiopatología , Imagen de Difusión Tensora , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Veteranos , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate white matter microstructure compromise in Veterans with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its possible contribution to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and neuropsychological functioning via diffusion tensor imaging. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight Veterans with mild (n = 33) and moderate (n = 5) TBI and 17 military control participants without TBI completed neuropsychological testing and psychiatric screening and underwent magnetic resonance imaging an average of 4 years following their TBI event(s). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and diffusivity measures were extracted from 9 white matter tracts. RESULTS: Compared with military control participants, TBI participants reported higher levels of PTSD symptoms and performed worse on measures of memory and psychomotor-processing speed. Traumatic brain injury was associated with lower FA in the genu of the corpus callosum and left cingulum bundle. Fractional anisotropy negatively correlated with processing speed and/or executive functions in 7 of the 8 tracts. Regional FA did not correlate with memory or PTSD symptom ratings. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that current PTSD symptoms are independent of TBI-related white matter alterations, as measured by diffusion tensor imaging. In addition, white matter microstructural compromise may contribute to reduced processing speed in our sample of participants with history of neurotrauma. Findings of the current study add insight into the factors associated with complicated recovery from mild to moderate TBI.
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Lesiones Traumáticas del Encéfalo/fisiopatología , Cognición , Disfunción Cognitiva/etiología , Trastornos por Estrés Postraumático/etiología , Sustancia Blanca/fisiopatología , Adulto , Anisotropía , Encéfalo/fisiopatología , Encéfalo/ultraestructura , Lesiones Traumáticas del Encéfalo/complicaciones , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Disfunción Cognitiva/fisiopatología , Imagen de Difusión Tensora , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Personal Militar , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Veteranos , Sustancia Blanca/ultraestructura , Adulto JovenAsunto(s)
Leucemia-Linfoma de Células T del Adulto/terapia , Neoplasias Cutáneas/terapia , Trasplante de Células Madre/efectos adversos , Síndrome de Sweet/etiología , Adulto , Humanos , Leucemia-Linfoma de Células T del Adulto/patología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Pronóstico , Neoplasias Cutáneas/patología , Síndrome de Sweet/patologíaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the validity of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) in veterans with a history of mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). PARTICIPANTS: Veterans (N = 106) with mild (92%) or moderate (8%) TBI. SETTING: Veterans Administration Health System. PROCEDURE: Factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, sensitivity, and specificity of the MFIS were examined. RESULTS: Principal component analysis identified 2 viable MFIS factors: a Cognitive subscale and a Physical/Activities subscale. Item analysis revealed high internal consistency of the MFIS Total scale and subscale items. Strong convergent validity of the MFIS scales was established with 2 Beck Depression Inventory II fatigue items. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed good to excellent accuracy of the MFIS in classifying fatigued versus nonfatigued individuals. CONCLUSION: The MFIS is a valid multidimensional measure that can be used to evaluate the impact of fatigue on cognitive and physical functioning in individuals with mild to moderate TBI. The psychometric properties of the MFIS make it useful for evaluating fatigue and provide the potential for improving research on fatigue in this population.
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Lesiones Encefálicas/complicaciones , Lesiones Encefálicas/psicología , Fatiga/diagnóstico , Fatiga/etiología , Adulto , Anciano , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Análisis de Componente Principal , Psicometría , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Sensibilidad y Especificidad , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Veteranos , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Juvenile spring eruption (JSE) is a unique condition that typically affects the helices of the ears of boys and young men. The classical clinical picture of JSE includes the abrupt onset of lesions after spending time outdoors in the early spring. Because of the papulovesicular nature of the rash and the history of sun exposure, JSE is considered a variant of polymorphous light eruption. In addition to the term "juvenile spring eruption," this entity has also been described under other less common terms such as "perniosis juvenilis vernalis aurium" or "spring perniosis," which emphasizes the onset in the spring and the possible pathogenic role of cold weather. We present a case of likely JSE with histopathologic features more consistent with perniosis than polymorphous light eruption and present a review the literature.
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Eritema Pernio/etiología , Dermatitis/etiología , Enfermedades del Oído/etiología , Exantema/etiología , Eritema Pernio/patología , Niño , Frío/efectos adversos , Dermatitis/patología , Enfermedades del Oído/patología , Exantema/patología , Humanos , Masculino , Trastornos por Fotosensibilidad/patología , Estaciones del AñoRESUMEN
Wind turbines convert kinetic to electrical energy, which returns to the atmosphere as heat to regenerate some potential and kinetic energy. As the number of wind turbines increases over large geographic regions, power extraction first increases linearly, but then converges to a saturation potential not identified previously from physical principles or turbine properties. These saturation potentials are >250 terawatts (TW) at 100 m globally, approximately 80 TW at 100 m over land plus coastal ocean outside Antarctica, and approximately 380 TW at 10 km in the jet streams. Thus, there is no fundamental barrier to obtaining half (approximately 5.75 TW) or several times the world's all-purpose power from wind in a 2030 clean-energy economy.
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Clima , Modelos Teóricos , VientoRESUMEN
Grids require electricity storage. Two emerging storage technologies are battery storage (BS) and green hydrogen storage (GHS) (hydrogen produced and compressed with clean-renewable electricity, stored, then returned to electricity with a fuel cell). An important question is whether GHS alone decreases system cost versus BS alone or BS + GHS. Here, energy costs are modeled in 145 countries grouped into 24 regions. Existing conventional hydropower (CH) storage is used along with new BS and/or GHS. A method is developed to treat CH for both baseload and peaking power. In four regions, only CH is needed. In five, CH + BS is the lowest cost. Otherwise, CH + BS + GHS is the lowest cost. CH + GHS is never the lowest cost. A metric helps estimate whether combining GHS with BS reduces cost. In most regions, merging (versus separating) grid and non-grid hydrogen infrastructure reduces cost. In sum, worldwide grid stability may be possible with CH + BS or CH + BS + GHS. Results are subject to uncertainties.
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Refractory bricks are bricks that can withstand high temperatures without damage to their structures. They have been used to insulate kilns, furnaces, and other hot enclosures for thousands of years. Firebricks are refractory bricks that can, with one composition, store heat, and with another, insulate the firebricks that store the heat. Because firebricks are made from common materials, the cost per kilowatt-hour-thermal of a firebrick storage system is less than one-tenth the cost per kilowatt-hour-electricity of a battery system. It has thus been hypothesized that using excess renewable electricity to produce and store industrial process heat in firebricks can provide a low-cost source of continuous heat for industry. Here, it is hypothesized further that, upon a transition to 100% clean, renewable energy worldwide, using firebricks to store industrial process heat can reduce electricity generator, electricity storage, and low-temperature heat storage needs, thereby reducing overall energy cost. Both hypotheses are tested across 149 countries combined into 29 world regions. Results suggest, relative to a base case with no firebricks, using firebricks may reduce, among all 149 countries, 2050 battery capacity by â¼14.5%, annual hydrogen production for grid electricity by â¼31%, underground low-temperature heat storage capacity by â¼27.3%; onshore wind nameplate capacity by â¼1.2%, land needs by â¼0.4%, and overall annual energy cost by â¼1.8%. In sum, the use of firebricks for storing industrial process heat appears to be a remarkable tool in reducing the cost of transitioning to clean, renewable energy across all energy sectors.