Improving the chance of cure of follicular lymphoma by combining immunotherapy and radioimmunotherapy based on anti-CD20 antibodies?

Right ventricular and left ventricular systolic time intervals (RVSTIs and LVSTIs) were measured in normal term and preterm infants from 1 hour to 90 days of life. LVSTIs in both term and preterm infants were similar in the first five days of life. The ratio of left pre-ejection period (LPEP) to left ventricular ejection time (LVET) was lower in preterm infants older than age 5 days. Estimated gestational age had no influence on LVSTI. The ratio of right pre-ejection period (RPEP) to right ventricular ejection time (RVET) was lower in preterm infants (0.32) than in term newborns (0.37). The preterm RPEP/RVET ratio decreased with age, but at a slower rate than in term babies. This was consistent with the lower pulmonary vascular resistance present in preterm infants.

Photodynamic Diagnosis of Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer with Hexaminolevulinate Cystoscopy: A Meta-analysis of Detection and Recurrence Based on Raw Data.

BACKGROUND: Studies on hexaminolevulinate (HAL) cystoscopy report improved detection of bladder tumours. However, recent meta-analyses report conflicting effects on recurrence. OBJECTIVE: To assess available clinical data for blue light (BL) HAL cystoscopy on the detection of Ta/T1 and carcinoma in situ (CIS) tumours, and on tumour recurrence. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This meta-analysis reviewed raw data from prospective studies on 1345 patients with known or suspected non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). INTERVENTION: A single application of HAL cystoscopy was used as an adjunct to white light (WL) cystoscopy. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: We studied the detection of NMIBC (intention to treat [ITT]: n=831; six studies) and recurrence (per protocol: n=634; three studies) up to 1 yr. DerSimonian and Laird's random-effects model was used to obtain pooled relative risks (RRs) and associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for outcomes for detection. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: BL cystoscopy detected significantly more Ta tumours (14.7%; p<0.001; odds ratio [OR]: 4.898; 95% CI, 1.937-12.390) and CIS lesions (40.8%; p<0.001; OR: 12.372; 95% CI, 6.343-24.133) than WL. There were 24.9% patients with at least one additional Ta/T1 tumour seen with BL (p<0.001), significant also in patients with primary (20.7%; p<0.001) and recurrent cancer (27.7%; p<0.001), and in patients at high risk (27.0%; p<0.001) and intermediate risk (35.7%; p=0.004). In 26.7% of patients, CIS was detected only by BL (p<0.001) and was also significant in patients with primary (28.0%; p<0.001) and recurrent cancer (25.0%; p<0.001). Recurrence rates up to 12 mo were significantly lower overall with BL, 34.5% versus 45.4% (p=0.006; RR: 0.761 [0.627-0.924]), and lower in patients with T1 or CIS (p=0.052; RR: 0.696 [0.482-1.003]), Ta (p=0.040; RR: 0.804 [0.653-0.991]), and in high-risk (p=0.050) and low-risk (p=0.029) subgroups. Some subgroups had too few patients to allow statistically meaningful analysis. Heterogeneity was minimised by the statistical analysis method used. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis confirms that HAL BL cystoscopy significantly improves the detection of bladder tumours leading to a reduction of recurrence at 9-12 mo. The benefit is independent of the level of risk and is evident in patients with Ta, T1, CIS, primary, and recurrent cancer.

Modelling hydrodynamics in the Rio Parana, Argentina : an evaluation and inter-comparison of reduced-complexity and physics based models applied to a large sand-bed river

Depth-averaged velocities and unit discharges within a 30 km reach of one of the world's largest rivers, the Rio Parana, Argentina, were simulated using three hydrodynamic models with different process representations: a reduced complexity (RC) model that neglects most of the physics governing fluid flow, a two-dimensional model based on the shallow water equations, and a three-dimensional model based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Row characteristics simulated using all three models were compared with data obtained by acoustic Doppler current profiler surveys at four cross sections within the study reach. This analysis demonstrates that, surprisingly, the performance of the RC model is generally equal to, and in some instances better than, that of the physics based models in terms of the statistical agreement between simulated and measured flow properties. In addition, in contrast to previous applications of RC models, the present study demonstrates that the RC model can successfully predict measured flow velocities. The strong performance of the RC model reflects, in part, the simplicity of the depth-averaged mean flow patterns within the study reach and the dominant role of channel-scale topographic features in controlling the flow dynamics. Moreover, the very low water surface slopes that typify large sand-bed rivers enable flow depths to be estimated reliably in the RC model using a simple fixed-lid planar water surface approximation. This approach overcomes a major problem encountered in the application of RC models in environments characterised by shallow flows and steep bed gradients. The RC model is four orders of magnitude faster than the physics based models when performing steady-state hydrodynamic calculations. However, the iterative nature of the RC model calculations implies a reduction in computational efficiency relative to some other RC models. A further implication of this is that, if used to simulate channel morphodynamics, the present RC model may offer only a marginal advantage in terms of computational efficiency over approaches based on the shallow water equations. These observations illustrate the trade off between model realism and efficiency that is a key consideration in RC modelling. Moreover, this outcome highlights a need to rethink the use of RC morphodynamic models in fluvial geomorphology and to move away from existing grid-based approaches, such as the popular cellular automata (CA) models, that remain essentially reductionist in nature. In the case of the world's largest sand-bed rivers, this might be achieved by implementing the RC model outlined here as one element within a hierarchical modelling framework that would enable computationally efficient simulation of the morphodynamics of large rivers over millennial time scales. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diagnosing Patients Combining Principal Components Analysis and Case Based Reasoning

This paper addresses the application of a PCA analysis on categorical data prior to diagnose a patients data set using a Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) system. The particularity is that the standard PCA techniques are designed to deal with numerical attributes, but our medical data set contains many categorical data and alternative methods as RS-PCA are required. Thus, we propose to hybridize RS-PCA (Regular Simplex PCA) and a simple CBR. Results show how the hybrid system produces similar results when diagnosing a medical data set, that the ones obtained when using the original attributes. These results are quite promising since they allow to diagnose with less computation effort and memory storage

Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Elderly Waiver Program

The Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Elderly Waiver program provides assistance to qualified individuals who are 65 or older and prefer to stay in their own home or another community setting when needing long-term health care services. The Elderly Waiver program provides services and support to older Iowans who are medically qualified for the level of care provided at a nursing facility but do not wish to live in a nursing home. The program allows older Iowans to age in environments that are familiar and comfortable, while saving money from expensive nursing home costs.

Systematic study of the temperature dependence of the saturation magnetization in Fe, Fe-Ni and Co-based amorphous alloys

Magnetization versus temperature in the temperature interval 2-200 K was measured for amorphous alloys of three different compositions: Fe 81.5B14.5Si4, Fe40Ni38 Mo4B18, and Co70Fe5Ni 2Mo3B5Si15. The measurements were performed by means of a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) magnetometer. The aim was to extract information about the different mechanisms contributing to thermal demagnetization. A powerful data analysis technique based on successive minimization procedures has demonstrated that Stoner excitations of the strong ferromagnetic type play a significant role in the Fe-Ni alloy studied. The Fe-rich and Co-rich alloys do not show a measurable contribution from single-particle excitations.

Comparison of human and computer-based selective cleaning

Abstract

Environmental data mining and modeling based on machine learning algorithms and geostatistics

The paper presents some contemporary approaches to spatial environmental data analysis. The main topics are concentrated on the decision-oriented problems of environmental spatial data mining and modeling: valorization and representativity of data with the help of exploratory data analysis, spatial predictions, probabilistic and risk mapping, development and application of conditional stochastic simulation models. The innovative part of the paper presents integrated/hybrid model-machine learning (ML) residuals sequential simulations-MLRSS. The models are based on multilayer perceptron and support vector regression ML algorithms used for modeling long-range spatial trends and sequential simulations of the residuals. NIL algorithms deliver non-linear solution for the spatial non-stationary problems, which are difficult for geostatistical approach. Geostatistical tools (variography) are used to characterize performance of ML algorithms, by analyzing quality and quantity of the spatially structured information extracted from data with ML algorithms. Sequential simulations provide efficient assessment of uncertainty and spatial variability. Case study from the Chernobyl fallouts illustrates the performance of the proposed model. It is shown that probability mapping, provided by the combination of ML data driven and geostatistical model based approaches, can be efficiently used in decision-making process. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eumelanin- and pheomelanin-based colour advertise resistance to oxidative stress in opposite ways.

The control mechanisms and information content of melanin-based colourations are still debated among evolutionary biologists. Recent hypotheses contend that molecules involved in melanogenesis alter other physiological processes, thereby generating covariation between melanin-based colouration and other phenotypic attributes. Interestingly, several molecules such as agouti and glutathione that trigger the production of reddish-brown pheomelanin have an inhibitory effect on the production of black/grey eumelanin, whereas other hormones, such as melanocortins, have the opposite effect. We therefore propose the hypothesis that phenotypic traits positively correlated with the degree of eumelanin-based colouration may be negatively correlated with the degree of pheomelanin-based colouration, or vice versa. Given the role played by the melanocortin system and glutathione on melanogenesis and resistance to oxidative stress, we examined the prediction that resistance to oxidative stress is positively correlated with the degree of black colouration but negatively with the degree of reddish colouration. Using the barn owl (Tyto alba) as a model organism, we swapped eggs between randomly chosen nests to allocate genotypes randomly among environments and then we measured resistance to oxidative stress using the KRL assay in nestlings raised by foster parents. As predicted, the degree of black and reddish pigmentations was positively and negatively correlated, respectively, with resistance to oxidative stress. Our results reveal that eumelanin- and pheomelanin-based colourations can be redundant signals of resistance to oxidative stress.

Spontaneous Cdc42 polarization independent of GDI-mediated extraction and actin-based trafficking.

The small Rho-family GTPase Cdc42 is critical for cell polarization and polarizes spontaneously in absence of upstream spatial cues. Spontaneous polarization is thought to require dynamic Cdc42 recycling through Guanine nucleotide Dissociation Inhibitor (GDI)-mediated membrane extraction and vesicle trafficking. Here, we describe a functional fluorescent Cdc42 allele in fission yeast, which demonstrates Cdc42 dynamics and polarization independent of these pathways. Furthermore, an engineered Cdc42 allele targeted to the membrane independently of these recycling pathways by an amphipathic helix is viable and polarizes spontaneously to multiple sites in fission and budding yeasts. We show that Cdc42 is highly mobile at the membrane and accumulates at sites of activity, where it displays slower mobility. By contrast, a near-immobile transmembrane domain-containing Cdc42 allele supports viability and polarized activity, but does not accumulate at sites of activity. We propose that Cdc42 activation, enhanced by positive feedback, leads to its local accumulation by capture of fast-diffusing inactive molecules.

Multigenic lentiviral vectors for combined and tissue-specific expression of miRNA- and protein-based antiangiogenic factors.

Lentivirus-based gene delivery vectors carrying multiple gene cassettes are powerful tools in gene transfer studies and gene therapy, allowing coexpression of multiple therapeutic factors and, if desired, fluorescent reporters. Current strategies to express transgenes and microRNA (miRNA) clusters from a single vector have certain limitations that affect transgene expression levels and/or vector titers. In this study, we describe a novel vector design that facilitates combined expression of therapeutic RNA- and protein-based antiangiogenic factors as well as a fluorescent reporter from back-to-back RNApolII-driven expression cassettes. This configuration allows effective production of intron-embedded miRNAs that are released upon transduction of target cells. Exploiting such multigenic lentiviral vectors, we demonstrate robust miRNA-directed downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, leading to reduced angiogenesis, and parallel impairment of angiogenic pathways by codelivering the gene encoding pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF). Notably, subretinal injections of lentiviral vectors reveal efficient retinal pigment epithelium-specific gene expression driven by the VMD2 promoter, verifying that multigenic lentiviral vectors can be produced with high titers sufficient for in vivo applications. Altogether, our results suggest the potential applicability of combined miRNA- and protein-encoding lentiviral vectors in antiangiogenic gene therapy, including new combination therapies for amelioration of age-related macular degeneration.

Social network extraction and analysis based on multimodal dyadic interaction

Social interactions are a very important component in people"s lives. Social network analysis has become a common technique used to model and quantify the properties of social interactions. In this paper, we propose an integrated framework to explore the characteristics of a social network extracted from multimodal dyadic interactions. For our study, we used a set of videos belonging to New York Times" Blogging Heads opinion blog. The Social Network is represented as an oriented graph, whose directed links are determined by the Influence Model. The links" weights are a measure of the"influence" a person has over the other. The states of the Influence Model encode automatically extracted audio/visual features from our videos using state-of-the art algorithms. Our results are reported in terms of accuracy of audio/visual data fusion for speaker segmentation and centrality measures used to characterize the extracted social network.

Determining shoal membership: A comparison between momentary and trajectory-based methods

Miller and Gerlai proposed two methods for determining shoal membership in Danio rerio, one based on momentary mean inter-individual distances and the other on post hoc analysis of the trajectories of nearest-neighbor distances. We propose a method based on momentary nearest-neighbor distances and compare the three methods using simulation. In general, our method yielded results that were more similar to their second method than their first one, and is computationally simpler.

Bias in dissemination of clinical research findings: structured OPEN framework of what, who and why, based on literature review and expert consensus.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to review highly cited articles that focus on non-publication of studies, and to develop a consistent and comprehensive approach to defining (non-) dissemination of research findings. SETTING: We performed a scoping review of definitions of the term 'publication bias' in highly cited publications. PARTICIPANTS: Ideas and experiences of a core group of authors were collected in a draft document, which was complemented by the findings from our literature search. INTERVENTIONS: The draft document including findings from the literature search was circulated to an international group of experts and revised until no additional ideas emerged and consensus was reached. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: We propose a new approach to the comprehensive conceptualisation of (non-) dissemination of research. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: Our 'What, Who and Why?' approach includes issues that need to be considered when disseminating research findings (What?), the different players who should assume responsibility during the various stages of conducting a clinical trial and disseminating clinical trial documents (Who?), and motivations that might lead the various players to disseminate findings selectively, thereby introducing bias in the dissemination process (Why?). CONCLUSIONS: Our comprehensive framework of (non-) dissemination of research findings, based on the results of a scoping literature search and expert consensus will facilitate the development of future policies and guidelines regarding the multifaceted issue of selective publication, historically referred to as 'publication bias'.