395 research outputs found
Дизайн-проект ортопедического стула-опоры для детей с ограниченными возможностями
Разработка дизайна ортопедического стула-опоры для реабилитации и обучению правильному сидению детей с нарушением функции мышц шеи, спины, нижних конечностей. Объектом исследования является ортопедический стул-опора. Целью работы является дизайн-проектирование ортопедического стула-опоры для детей с ограниченными возможностями. В результате исследования был разработан дизайн ортопедического стула-опоры. Созданы 3D модель и макет объекта.Development of the design of an orthopedic chair-support for rehabilitation and training in proper seating of children with impaired function of the muscles of the neck, back, lower limbs. The object of the study is an orthopedic chair-support. The aim of the work is to design an orthopedic chair-support for children with disabilities. As a result of the study, the design of an orthopedic chair-support was developed. 3D model and the layout of the object were created
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Decreasing trends of particle number and black carbon mass concentrations at 16 observational sites in Germany from 2009 to 2018
Anthropogenic emissions are dominant contributors to air pollution. Consequently, mitigation policies have been attempted since the 1990s in Europe to reduce pollution by anthropogenic emissions. To evaluate the effectiveness of these mitigation policies, the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN) was established in 2008, focusing on black carbon (BC) and sub-micrometre aerosol particles. In this study, long-term trends of atmospheric particle number concentrations (PNCs) and equivalent BC (eBC) mass concentration over a 10-year period (2009-2018) were determined for 16 GUAN sites ranging from roadside to high Alpine environments. Overall, statistically significant decreasing trends are found for most of these parameters and environments in Germany. The annual relative slope of eBC mass concentration varies between-13.1% and-1.7% per year. The slopes of the PNCs vary from-17.2% to-1.7 %,-7.8% to-1.1 %, and-11.1% to-1.2% per year for 10-30, 30-200, and 200-800 nm size ranges, respectively. The reductions in various anthropogenic emissions are found to be the dominant factors responsible for the decreasing trends of eBC mass concentration and PNCs. The diurnal and seasonal variations in the trends clearly show the effects of the mitigation policies for road transport and residential emissions. The influences of other factors such as air masses, precipitation, and temperature were also examined and found to be less important or negligible. This study proves that a combination of emission mitigation policies can effectively improve the air quality on large spatial scales. It also suggests that a long-term aerosol measurement network at multi-type sites is an efficient and necessary tool for evaluating emission mitigation policies. © 2020 Author(s)
Human embryonic stem cell-derived test systems for developmental neurotoxicity: a transcriptomics approach
Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) and many forms of reproductive toxicity (RT) often manifest themselves in functional deficits that are not necessarily based on cell death, but rather on minor changes relating to cell differentiation or communication. The fields of DNT/RT would greatly benefit from in vitro tests that allow the identification of toxicant-induced changes of the cellular proteostasis, or of its underlying transcriptome network. Therefore, the 'human embryonic stem cell (hESC)- derived novel alternative test systems (ESNATS)' European commission research project established RT tests based on defined differentiation protocols of hESC and their progeny. Valproic acid (VPA) and methylmercury (MeHg) were used as positive control compounds to address the following fundamental questions: (1) Does transcriptome analysis allow discrimination of the two compounds? (2) How does analysis of enriched transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) and of individual probe sets (PS) distinguish between test systems? (3) Can batch effects be controlled? (4) How many DNA microarrays are needed? (5) Is the highest non-cytotoxic concentration optimal and relevant for the study of transcriptome changes? VPA triggered vast transcriptional changes, whereas MeHg altered fewer transcripts. To attenuate batch effects, analysis has been focused on the 500 PS with highest variability. The test systems differed significantly in their responses (\20 % overlap). Moreover, within one test system, little overlap between the PS changed by the two compounds has been observed. However, using TFBS enrichment, a relatively large 'common response' to VPA and MeHg could be distinguished from 'compound-specific' responses. In conclusion, the ESNATS assay battery allows classification of human DNT/RT toxicants on the basis of their transcriptome profiles.EU/FP7/ESNATSDFGDoerenkamp-Zbinden Foundatio
Characterization of bacterial operons consisting of two tubulins and a kinesin-like gene by the novel Two-Step Gene Walking method
Tubulins are still considered as typical proteins of Eukaryotes. However, more recently they have been found in the unusual bacteria Prosthecobacter (btubAB). In this study, the genomic organization of the btub-genes and their genomic environment were characterized by using the newly developed Two-Step Gene Walking method. In all investigated Prosthecobacters, btubAB are organized in a typical bacterial operon. Strikingly, all btub-operons comprise a third gene with similarities to kinesin light chain sequences. The genomic environments of the characterized btub-operons are always different. This supports the hypothesis that this group of genes represents an independent functional unit, which was acquired by Prosthecobacter via horizontal gene transfer. The newly developed Two-Step Gene Walking method is based on randomly primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It presents a simple workflow, which comprises only two major steps—a Walking-PCR with a single specific outward pointing primer (step 1) and the direct sequencing of its product using a nested specific primer (step 2). Two-Step Gene Walking proved to be highly efficient and was successfully used to characterize over 20 kb of sequence not only in pure culture but even in complex non-pure culture samples
Barriers and opportunities for implementation of a brief psychological intervention for post-ICU mental distress in the primary care setting – results from a qualitative sub-study of the PICTURE trial
Comparative and Joint Analysis of Two Metagenomic Datasets from a Biogas Fermenter Obtained by 454-Pyrosequencing
Biogas production from renewable resources is attracting increased attention as an alternative energy source due to the limited availability of traditional fossil fuels. Many countries are promoting the use of alternative energy sources for sustainable energy production. In this study, a metagenome from a production-scale biogas fermenter was analysed employing Roche's GS FLX Titanium technology and compared to a previous dataset obtained from the same community DNA sample that was sequenced on the GS FLX platform. Taxonomic profiling based on 16S rRNA-specific sequences and an Environmental Gene Tag (EGT) analysis employing CARMA demonstrated that both approaches benefit from the longer read lengths obtained on the Titanium platform. Results confirmed Clostridia as the most prevalent taxonomic class, whereas species of the order Methanomicrobiales are dominant among methanogenic Archaea. However, the analyses also identified additional taxa that were missed by the previous study, including members of the genera Streptococcus, Acetivibrio, Garciella, Tissierella, and Gelria, which might also play a role in the fermentation process leading to the formation of methane. Taking advantage of the CARMA feature to correlate taxonomic information of sequences with their assigned functions, it appeared that Firmicutes, followed by Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, dominate within the functional context of polysaccharide degradation whereas Methanomicrobiales represent the most abundant taxonomic group responsible for methane production. Clostridia is the most important class involved in the reductive CoA pathway (Wood-Ljungdahl pathway) that is characteristic for acetogenesis. Based on binning of 16S rRNA-specific sequences allocated to the dominant genus Methanoculleus, it could be shown that this genus is represented by several different species. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences placed them in close proximity to the hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanoculleus bourgensis. While rarefaction analyses still indicate incomplete coverage, examination of the GS FLX Titanium dataset resulted in the identification of additional genera and functional elements, providing a far more complete coverage of the community involved in anaerobic fermentative pathways leading to methane formation
A time-resolved proteomic and prognostic map of COVID-19
COVID-19 is highly variable in its clinical presentation, ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe organ damage and death. We characterized the time-dependent progression of the disease in 139 COVID-19 inpatients by measuring 86 accredited diagnostic parameters, such as blood cell counts and enzyme activities, as well as untargeted plasma proteomes at 687 sampling points. We report an initial spike in a systemic inflammatory response, which is gradually alleviated and followed by a protein signature indicative of tissue repair, metabolic reconstitution, and immunomodulation. We identify prognostic marker signatures for devising risk-adapted treatment strategies and use machine learning to classify therapeutic needs. We show that the machine learning models based on the proteome are transferable to an independent cohort. Our study presents a map linking routinely used clinical diagnostic parameters to plasma proteomes and their dynamics in an infectious disease
Human Practice. Digital Ecologies. Our Future. : 14. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2019) : Tagungsband
Erschienen bei: universi - Universitätsverlag Siegen. - ISBN: 978-3-96182-063-4Aus dem Inhalt:
Track 1: Produktion & Cyber-Physische Systeme
Requirements and a Meta Model for Exchanging Additive Manufacturing Capacities
Service Systems, Smart Service Systems and Cyber- Physical Systems—What’s the difference? Towards a Unified Terminology
Developing an Industrial IoT Platform – Trade-off between Horizontal and Vertical Approaches
Machine Learning und Complex Event Processing: Effiziente Echtzeitauswertung am Beispiel Smart Factory
Sensor retrofit for a coffee machine as condition monitoring and predictive maintenance use case
Stakeholder-Analyse zum Einsatz IIoT-basierter Frischeinformationen in der Lebensmittelindustrie
Towards a Framework for Predictive Maintenance Strategies in Mechanical Engineering - A Method-Oriented Literature Analysis
Development of a matching platform for the requirement-oriented selection of cyber physical systems for SMEs
Track 2: Logistic Analytics
An Empirical Study of Customers’ Behavioral Intention to Use Ridepooling Services – An Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model
Modeling Delay Propagation and Transmission in Railway Networks
What is the impact of company specific adjustments on the acceptance and diffusion of logistic standards?
Robust Route Planning in Intermodal Urban Traffic
Track 3: Unternehmensmodellierung & Informationssystemgestaltung (Enterprise Modelling & Information Systems Design)
Work System Modeling Method with Different Levels of Specificity and Rigor for Different Stakeholder Purposes
Resolving Inconsistencies in Declarative Process Models based on Culpability Measurement
Strategic Analysis in the Realm of Enterprise Modeling – On the Example of Blockchain-Based Initiatives for the Electricity Sector
Zwischenbetriebliche Integration in der Möbelbranche: Konfigurationen und Einflussfaktoren
Novices’ Quality Perceptions and the Acceptance of Process Modeling Grammars
Entwicklung einer Definition für Social Business Objects (SBO) zur Modellierung von Unternehmensinformationen
Designing a Reference Model for Digital Product Configurators
Terminology for Evolving Design Artifacts
Business Role-Object Specification: A Language for Behavior-aware Structural Modeling of Business Objects
Generating Smart Glasses-based Information Systems with BPMN4SGA: A BPMN Extension for Smart Glasses Applications
Using Blockchain in Peer-to-Peer Carsharing to Build Trust in the Sharing Economy
Testing in Big Data: An Architecture Pattern for a Development Environment for Innovative, Integrated and Robust Applications
Track 4: Lern- und Wissensmanagement (e-Learning and Knowledge Management)
eGovernment Competences revisited – A Literature Review on necessary Competences in a Digitalized Public Sector
Say Hello to Your New Automated Tutor – A Structured Literature Review on Pedagogical Conversational Agents
Teaching the Digital Transformation of Business Processes: Design of a Simulation Game for Information Systems Education
Conceptualizing Immersion for Individual Learning in Virtual Reality
Designing a Flipped Classroom Course – a Process Model
The Influence of Risk-Taking on Knowledge Exchange and Combination
Gamified Feedback durch Avatare im Mobile Learning
Alexa, Can You Help Me Solve That Problem? - Understanding the Value of Smart Personal Assistants as Tutors for Complex Problem Tasks
Track 5: Data Science & Business Analytics
Matching with Bundle Preferences: Tradeoff between Fairness and Truthfulness
Applied image recognition: guidelines for using deep learning models in practice
Yield Prognosis for the Agrarian Management of Vineyards using Deep Learning for Object Counting
Reading Between the Lines of Qualitative Data – How to Detect Hidden Structure Based on Codes
Online Auctions with Dual-Threshold Algorithms: An Experimental Study and Practical Evaluation
Design Features of Non-Financial Reward Programs for Online Reviews: Evaluation based on Google Maps Data
Topic Embeddings – A New Approach to Classify Very Short Documents Based on Predefined Topics
Leveraging Unstructured Image Data for Product Quality Improvement
Decision Support for Real Estate Investors: Improving Real Estate Valuation with 3D City Models and Points of Interest
Knowledge Discovery from CVs: A Topic Modeling Procedure
Online Product Descriptions – Boost for your Sales?
Entscheidungsunterstützung durch historienbasierte Dienstreihenfolgeplanung mit Pattern
A Semi-Automated Approach for Generating Online Review Templates
Machine Learning goes Measure Management: Leveraging Anomaly Detection and Parts Search to Improve Product-Cost Optimization
Bedeutung von Predictive Analytics für den theoretischen Erkenntnisgewinn in der IS-Forschung
Track 6: Digitale Transformation und Dienstleistungen
Heuristic Theorizing in Software Development: Deriving Design Principles for Smart Glasses-based Systems
Mirroring E-service for Brick and Mortar Retail: An Assessment and Survey
Taxonomy of Digital Platforms: A Platform Architecture Perspective
Value of Star Players in the Digital Age
Local Shopping Platforms – Harnessing Locational Advantages for the Digital Transformation of Local Retail Outlets: A Content Analysis
A Socio-Technical Approach to Manage Analytics-as-a-Service – Results of an Action Design Research Project
Characterizing Approaches to Digital Transformation: Development of a Taxonomy of Digital Units
Expectations vs. Reality – Benefits of Smart Services in the Field of Tension between Industry and Science
Innovation Networks and Digital Innovation: How Organizations Use Innovation Networks in a Digitized Environment
Characterising Social Reading Platforms— A Taxonomy-Based Approach to Structure the Field
Less Complex than Expected – What Really Drives IT Consulting Value
Modularity Canvas – A Framework for Visualizing Potentials of Service Modularity
Towards a Conceptualization of Capabilities for Innovating Business Models in the Industrial Internet of Things
A Taxonomy of Barriers to Digital Transformation
Ambidexterity in Service Innovation Research: A Systematic Literature Review
Design and success factors of an online solution for cross-pillar pension information
Track 7: IT-Management und -Strategie
A Frugal Support Structure for New Software Implementations in SMEs
How to Structure a Company-wide Adoption of Big Data Analytics
The Changing Roles of Innovation Actors and Organizational Antecedents in the Digital Age
Bewertung des Kundennutzens von Chatbots für den Einsatz im Servicedesk
Understanding the Benefits of Agile Software Development in Regulated Environments
Are Employees Following the Rules? On the Effectiveness of IT Consumerization Policies
Agile and Attached: The Impact of Agile Practices on Agile Team Members’ Affective Organisational Commitment
The Complexity Trap – Limits of IT Flexibility for Supporting Organizational Agility in Decentralized Organizations
Platform Openness: A Systematic Literature Review and Avenues for Future Research
Competence, Fashion and the Case of Blockchain
The Digital Platform Otto.de: A Case Study of Growth, Complexity, and Generativity
Track 8: eHealth & alternde Gesellschaft
Security and Privacy of Personal Health Records in Cloud Computing Environments – An Experimental Exploration of the Impact of Storage Solutions and Data Breaches
Patientenintegration durch Pfadsysteme
Digitalisierung in der Stressprävention – eine qualitative Interviewstudie zu Nutzenpotenzialen
User Dynamics in Mental Health Forums – A Sentiment Analysis Perspective
Intent and the Use of Wearables in the Workplace – A Model Development
Understanding Patient Pathways in the Context of Integrated Health Care Services - Implications from a Scoping Review
Understanding the Habitual Use of Wearable Activity Trackers
On the Fit in Fitness Apps: Studying the Interaction of Motivational Affordances and Users’ Goal Orientations in Affecting the Benefits Gained
Gamification in Health Behavior Change Support Systems - A Synthesis of Unintended Side Effects
Investigating the Influence of Information Incongruity on Trust-Relations within Trilateral Healthcare Settings
Track 9: Krisen- und Kontinuitätsmanagement
Potentiale von IKT beim Ausfall kritischer Infrastrukturen: Erwartungen, Informationsgewinnung und Mediennutzung der Zivilbevölkerung in Deutschland
Fake News Perception in Germany: A Representative Study of People’s Attitudes and Approaches to Counteract Disinformation
Analyzing the Potential of Graphical Building Information for Fire Emergency Responses: Findings from a Controlled Experiment
Track 10: Human-Computer Interaction
Towards a Taxonomy of Platforms for Conversational Agent Design
Measuring Service Encounter Satisfaction with Customer Service Chatbots using Sentiment Analysis
Self-Tracking and Gamification: Analyzing the Interplay of Motivations, Usage and Motivation Fulfillment
Erfolgsfaktoren von Augmented-Reality-Applikationen: Analyse von Nutzerrezensionen mit dem Review-Mining-Verfahren
Designing Dynamic Decision Support for Electronic Requirements Negotiations
Who is Stressed by Using ICTs? A Qualitative Comparison Analysis with the Big Five Personality Traits to Understand Technostress
Walking the Middle Path: How Medium Trade-Off Exposure Leads to Higher Consumer Satisfaction in Recommender Agents
Theory-Based Affordances of Utilitarian, Hedonic and Dual-Purposed Technologies: A Literature Review
Eliciting Customer Preferences for Shopping Companion Apps: A Service Quality Approach
The Role of Early User Participation in Discovering Software – A Case Study from the Context of Smart Glasses
The Fluidity of the Self-Concept as a Framework to Explain the Motivation to Play Video Games
Heart over Heels? An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Emotions and Review Helpfulness for Experience and Credence Goods
Track 11: Information Security and Information Privacy
Unfolding Concerns about Augmented Reality Technologies: A Qualitative Analysis of User Perceptions
To (Psychologically) Own Data is to Protect Data: How Psychological Ownership Determines Protective Behavior in a Work and Private Context
Understanding Data Protection Regulations from a Data Management Perspective: A Capability-Based Approach to EU-GDPR
On the Difficulties of Incentivizing Online Privacy through Transparency: A Qualitative Survey of the German Health Insurance Market
What is Your Selfie Worth? A Field Study on Individuals’ Valuation of Personal Data
Justification of Mass Surveillance: A Quantitative Study
An Exploratory Study of Risk Perception for Data Disclosure to a Network of Firms
Track 12: Umweltinformatik und nachhaltiges Wirtschaften
Kommunikationsfäden im Nadelöhr – Fachliche Prozessmodellierung der Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation am Kapitalmarkt
Potentiale und Herausforderungen der Materialflusskostenrechnung
Computing Incentives for User-Based Relocation in Carsharing
Sustainability’s Coming Home: Preliminary Design Principles for the Sustainable Smart District
Substitution of hazardous chemical substances using Deep Learning and t-SNE
A Hierarchy of DSMLs in Support of Product Life-Cycle Assessment
A Survey of Smart Energy Services for Private Households
Door-to-Door Mobility Integrators as Keystone Organizations of Smart Ecosystems: Resources and Value Co-Creation – A Literature Review
Ein Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem zur ökonomischen Bewertung von Mieterstrom auf Basis der Clusteranalyse
Discovering Blockchain for Sustainable Product-Service Systems to enhance the Circular Economy
Digitale Rückverfolgbarkeit von Lebensmitteln: Eine verbraucherinformatische Studie
Umweltbewusstsein durch audiovisuelles Content Marketing? Eine experimentelle Untersuchung zur Konsumentenbewertung nachhaltiger Smartphones
Towards Predictive Energy Management in Information Systems: A Research Proposal
A Web Browser-Based Application for Processing and Analyzing Material Flow Models using the MFCA Methodology
Track 13: Digital Work - Social, mobile, smart
On Conversational Agents in Information Systems Research: Analyzing the Past to Guide Future Work
The Potential of Augmented Reality for Improving Occupational First Aid
Prevent a Vicious Circle! The Role of Organizational IT-Capability in Attracting IT-affine Applicants
Good, Bad, or Both? Conceptualization and Measurement of Ambivalent User Attitudes Towards AI
A Case Study on Cross-Hierarchical Communication in Digital Work Environments
‘Show Me Your People Skills’ - Employing CEO Branding for Corporate Reputation Management in Social Media
A Multiorganisational Study of the Drivers and Barriers of Enterprise Collaboration Systems-Enabled Change
The More the Merrier? The Effect of Size of Core Team Subgroups on Success of Open Source Projects
The Impact of Anthropomorphic and Functional Chatbot Design Features in Enterprise Collaboration Systems on User Acceptance
Digital Feedback for Digital Work? Affordances and Constraints of a Feedback App at InsurCorp
The Effect of Marker-less Augmented Reality on Task and Learning Performance
Antecedents for Cyberloafing – A Literature Review
Internal Crowd Work as a Source of Empowerment - An Empirical Analysis of the Perception of Employees in a Crowdtesting Project
Track 14: Geschäftsmodelle und digitales Unternehmertum
Dividing the ICO Jungle: Extracting and Evaluating Design Archetypes
Capturing Value from Data: Exploring Factors Influencing Revenue Model Design for Data-Driven Services
Understanding the Role of Data for Innovating Business Models: A System Dynamics Perspective
Business Model Innovation and Stakeholder: Exploring Mechanisms and Outcomes of Value Creation and Destruction
Business Models for Internet of Things Platforms: Empirical Development of a Taxonomy and Archetypes
Revitalizing established Industrial Companies: State of the Art and Success Principles of Digital Corporate Incubators
When 1+1 is Greater than 2: Concurrence of Additional Digital and Established Business Models within Companies
Special Track 1: Student Track
Investigating Personalized Price Discrimination of Textile-, Electronics- and General Stores in German Online Retail
From Facets to a Universal Definition – An Analysis of IoT Usage in Retail
Is the Technostress Creators Inventory Still an Up-To-Date Measurement Instrument? Results of a Large-Scale Interview Study
Application of Media Synchronicity Theory to Creative Tasks in Virtual Teams Using the Example of Design Thinking
TrustyTweet: An Indicator-based Browser-Plugin to Assist Users in Dealing with Fake News on Twitter
Application of Process Mining Techniques to Support Maintenance-Related Objectives
How Voice Can Change Customer Satisfaction: A Comparative Analysis between E-Commerce and Voice Commerce
Business Process Compliance and Blockchain: How Does the Ethereum Blockchain Address Challenges of Business Process Compliance?
Improving Business Model Configuration through a Question-based Approach
The Influence of Situational Factors and Gamification on Intrinsic Motivation and Learning
Evaluation von ITSM-Tools für Integration und Management von Cloud-Diensten am Beispiel von ServiceNow
How Software Promotes the Integration of Sustainability in Business Process Management
Criteria Catalog for Industrial IoT Platforms from the Perspective of the Machine Tool Industry
Special Track 3: Demos & Prototyping
Privacy-friendly User Location Tracking with Smart Devices: The BeaT Prototype
Application-oriented robotics in nursing homes
Augmented Reality for Set-up Processe
Mixed Reality for supporting Remote-Meetings
Gamification zur Motivationssteigerung von Werkern bei der Betriebsdatenerfassung
Automatically Extracting and Analyzing Customer Needs from Twitter: A “Needmining” Prototype
GaNEsHA: Opportunities for Sustainable Transportation in Smart Cities
TUCANA: A platform for using local processing power of edge devices for building data-driven services
Demonstrator zur Beschreibung und Visualisierung einer kritischen Infrastruktur
Entwicklung einer alltagsnahen persuasiven App zur Bewegungsmotivation für ältere Nutzerinnen und Nutzer
A browser-based modeling tool for studying the learning of conceptual modeling based on a multi-modal data collection approach
Exergames & Dementia: An interactive System for People with Dementia and their Care-Network
Workshops
Workshop Ethics and Morality in Business Informatics (Workshop Ethik und Moral in der Wirtschaftsinformatik – EMoWI’19)
Model-Based Compliance in Information Systems - Foundations, Case Description and Data Set of the MobIS-Challenge for Students and Doctoral Candidates
Report of the Workshop on Concepts and Methods of Identifying Digital Potentials in Information Management
Control of Systemic Risks in Global Networks - A Grand Challenge to Information Systems Research
Die Mitarbeiter von morgen - Kompetenzen künftiger Mitarbeiter im Bereich Business Analytics
Digitaler Konsum: Herausforderungen und Chancen der Verbraucherinformati
Natalizumab treatment shows low cumulative probabilities of confirmed disability worsening to EDSS milestones in the long-term setting.
Abstract Background Though the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is commonly used to assess disability level in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the criteria defining disability progression are used for patients with a wide range of baseline levels of disability in relatively short-term trials. As a result, not all EDSS changes carry the same weight in terms of future disability, and treatment benefits such as decreased risk of reaching particular disability milestones may not be reliably captured. The objectives of this analysis are to assess the probability of confirmed disability worsening to specific EDSS milestones (i.e., EDSS scores ≥3.0, ≥4.0, or ≥6.0) at 288 weeks in the Tysabri Observational Program (TOP) and to examine the impact of relapses occurring during natalizumab therapy in TOP patients who had received natalizumab for ≥24 months. Methods TOP is an ongoing, open-label, observational, prospective study of patients with RRMS in clinical practice. Enrolled patients were naive to natalizumab at treatment initiation or had received ≤3 doses at the time of enrollment. Intravenous natalizumab (300 mg) infusions were given every 4 weeks, and the EDSS was assessed at baseline and every 24 weeks during treatment. Results Of the 4161 patients enrolled in TOP with follow-up of at least 24 months, 3253 patients with available baseline EDSS scores had continued natalizumab treatment and 908 had discontinued (5.4% due to a reported lack of efficacy and 16.4% for other reasons) at the 24-month time point. Those who discontinued due to lack of efficacy had higher baseline EDSS scores (median 4.5 vs. 3.5), higher on-treatment relapse rates (0.82 vs. 0.23), and higher cumulative probabilities of EDSS worsening (16% vs. 9%) at 24 months than those completing therapy. Among 24-month completers, after approximately 5.5 years of natalizumab treatment, the cumulative probabilities of confirmed EDSS worsening by 1.0 and 2.0 points were 18.5% and 7.9%, respectively (24-week confirmation), and 13.5% and 5.3%, respectively (48-week confirmation). The risks of 24- and 48-week confirmed EDSS worsening were significantly higher in patients with on-treatment relapses than in those without relapses. An analysis of time to specific EDSS milestones showed that the probabilities of 48-week confirmed transition from EDSS scores of 0.0–2.0 to ≥3.0, 2.0–3.0 to ≥4.0, and 4.0–5.0 to ≥6.0 at week 288 in TOP were 11.1%, 11.8%, and 9.5%, respectively, with lower probabilities observed among patients without on-treatment relapses (8.1%, 8.4%, and 5.7%, respectively). Conclusions In TOP patients with a median (range) baseline EDSS score of 3.5 (0.0–9.5) who completed 24 months of natalizumab treatment, the rate of 48-week confirmed disability worsening events was below 15%; after approximately 5.5 years of natalizumab treatment, 86.5% and 94.7% of patients did not have EDSS score increases of ≥1.0 or ≥2.0 points, respectively. The presence of relapses was associated with higher rates of overall disability worsening. These results were confirmed by assessing transition to EDSS milestones. Lower rates of overall 48-week confirmed EDSS worsening and of transitioning from EDSS score 4.0–5.0 to ≥6.0 in the absence of relapses suggest that relapses remain a significant driver of disability worsening and that on-treatment relapses in natalizumab-treated patients are of prognostic importance
In-situ estimation of ice crystal properties at the South Pole using LED calibration data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory instruments about 1 km3 of deep, glacial ice at the geographic South Pole using 5160 photomultipliers to detect Cherenkov light emitted by charged relativistic particles. A unexpected light propagation effect observed by the experiment is an anisotropic attenuation, which is aligned with the local flow direction of the ice. Birefringent light propagation has been examined as a possible explanation for this effect. The predictions of a first-principles birefringence model developed for this purpose, in particular curved light trajectories resulting from asymmetric diffusion, provide a qualitatively good match to the main features of the data. This in turn allows us to deduce ice crystal properties. Since the wavelength of the detected light is short compared to the crystal size, these crystal properties do not only include the crystal orientation fabric, but also the average crystal size and shape, as a function of depth. By adding small empirical corrections to this first-principles model, a quantitatively accurate description of the optical properties of the IceCube glacial ice is obtained. In this paper, we present the experimental signature of ice optical anisotropy observed in IceCube LED calibration data, the theory and parametrization of the birefringence effect, the fitting procedures of these parameterizations to experimental data as well as the inferred crystal properties.</p
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