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[Background and purpose] Screening for and treatment of latent tuberculosis (TB) in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) are recommended. However, there is limited evidence on safety and treatment completion in this population. The objective of the study is to evaluate three short-course rifamycin-based regimens for the treatment of latent TB in ESKD patients., [Methods] Study design and setting. This is a prospective, open label, randomized clinical trial, that will be conducted at seven teaching hospitals in Spain. Study population, randomization, and interventions. Consecutive adult patients with ESKD requiring treatment for a latent TB infection will be randomly allocated (1:1:1) to receive one of the three treatment regimens of the study: three months of daily isoniazid plus rifampicin (3HR); three months of once-weekly isoniazid plus rifapentine (3HP); or four months of daily rifampicin (4R). Participants will be followed regularly through pre-established visits and a blood test schedule from enrolment to a month after finishing the assigned treatment. Outcomes. The primary outcome will be treatment completion, while the secondary outcomes will be discontinuation of the assigned treatment due to adverse events, related or unrelated to the study treatment; definitive discontinuation of the assigned treatment because of adverse events related to the treatment of the study, and death. Sample size. Two hundred and twenty-five subjects (75 per arm) will be enrolled, which will enable the demonstration, if it exists, of an increase of 0.16 in treatment completion rates either in the 3HP or 4R arm with respect to the 3HR arm., [Discussion] Results of this clinical trial will contribute to evidence-based recommendations on the management of latent TB infection in ESKD patients., [Trial registration] ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05021731., This study is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the grant “21/004444” (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund, “Investing in Your Future”).

With the main aim of a compact machine for 18F and 11C radioisotope production, AMIT cyclotron relies on a superconducting 4T magnet with an internal cold cathode PIG ion source for H⁻ production. Given the limited access to the ion source in the cyclotron as well the reduced number of beam diagnostics, an experimental facility was proposed for the commissioning of such ion source. The versatility of this test bench, which includes a movable puller, gives us the opportunity to validate and characterize the ion source behavior as well as to optimize the H⁻ production. In a first stage, the discharge characteristics of the ion source has been studied in the CIEMAT IST facilities., Proceedings of the 8th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2017, Copenhagen, Denmark

The gas permeability of the Spanish FEBEX bentonite compacted at dry densities of between 1.4 and 1.8 g/cm3 with high water contents was measured for different confining, injection and backpressures. The results were compared with results obtained in previous investigations for lower degrees of saturation. It was checked that gas permeability was greatly affected by dry density, decreasing about three orders of magnitude when it increased from 1.5 to 1.8 g/cm3 for similar water content. The increase of water content caused also a decrease in gas permeability. It was found that both gas permeability and the relative gas permeability were mainly related to the accessible porosity. These relationships could be fitted to potential expressions with exponents between 3 and 4, as well as the relationship between intrinsic permeability and void ratio. For gas pressures below 1.2 MPa no effect of the injection or confining pressures on the value of permeability was detected. For a given confining pressure the permeability value decreased as the effective pressure increased, especially if the increase in effective pressure was due to a decrease in gas backpressure. It was checked that the Klinkenberg effect was not significant for this material in the range of pressures applied in the tests. The gas breakthrough pressure values in FEBEX saturated bentonite were determined for different dry densities. They increased clearly with dry density and were always higher than the swelling pressure of the bentonite. In high density samples gas flow tended to stop abruptly after breakthrough, whereas in lower density samples gas flow decreased gradually until a given pressure gradient was reached. The permeabilities computed after breakthrough (which usually did not stabilise) were inversely related to dry density. This would indicate that, even if the flow took place predominantly through preferential pathways that sometimes closed quickly after breakthrough and others remained open allowing decreasing gas flow, the swelling capacity of the bentonite matrix (lower as the density is lower) had also an effect on path formation and consequently on permeability. After resaturation of the bentonite the same breakthrough pressures and permeabilities were found, pointing to the perfect healing of these preferential pathways. A sealed interface along the bentonite did not seem to affect the breakthrough pressure or permeability values.

A study of the time required for the CMS detector to reach its structural equilibrium once the magnetic field is ramped to its operational value of 3.8 T is presented. In addition, the results from a stability monitoring at 3.8 T over a nine-month period are given.

This document describes results obtained from the Link Alignment System data recorded during the CMS Magnet Test. A brief description of the system is followed by the discussion of the detected relative displacements (from micrometres to centimetres) between detector elements and rotations of detector structures (from microradians to milliradians). Observed displacements are studied as functions of the magnetic field intensity. In addition, the reconstructed positions of active element sensors are compared to their positions as measured by photogrammetry and the reconstructed motions due to the magnetic field strength are described.

[Objectives] Invasive infections caused by KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPCKP) are associated with very high mortality. Because infection is usually preceded by rectal colonization, we investigated if decolonization therapy (DT) with aminoglycosides had a protective effect in selected patients., [Methods] Patients with rectal colonization by colistin-resistant KPCKP who were at high risk of developing infection (because of neutropenia, surgery, previous recurrent KPCKP infections or multiple comorbidities) were followed for 180 days. Cox regression analysis including a propensity score was used to investigate the impact of the use of two intestinal decolonization regimens with oral aminoglycosides (gentamicin and neomycin/streptomycin) on mortality, risk of KPCKP infections and microbiological success. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02604849)., [Results] The study sample comprised 77 colonized patients, of which 44 (57.1%) received DT. At 180 days of follow-up, decolonization was associated with a lower risk of mortality in multivariate analyses (HR 0.18; 95% CI 0.06–0.55) and a lower risk of KPCKP infections (HR 0.14; 95% CI 0.02–0.83) and increased microbiological success (HR 4.06; 95% CI 1.06–15.6). Specifically, gentamicin oral therapy was associated with a lower risk of crude mortality (HR 0.15; 95% CI 0.04–0.54), a lower risk of KPCKP infections (HR 0.86; 95% CI 0.008–0.94) and increased microbiological response at 180 days of follow-up (HR 5.67; 95% CI 1.33–24.1). Neomycin/streptomycin therapy was only associated with a lower risk of crude mortality (HR 0.22; 95% CI 0.06–0.9)., [Conclusions] Intestinal decolonization with aminoglycosides is associated with a reduction in crude mortality and KPCKP infections at 180 days after initiating treatment., Funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Instituto de Salud Carlos III—co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund ‘A way to achieve Europe’ ERDF, the Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI RD12/0015). We also received funding from COMBACTE-CARE (Combatting bacterial resistance in Europe—Carbapenem resistance), the Innovatives Medicine Initiative (IMI), the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies′ in-kind contribution (call IMI 9th), Grant agreement 115620.