Enhanced control of excimer laser pulse timing using tunable additive noise

Recently we have shown a system developed to precisely control the laser pulse timing of excimer lasers [1]. The electronic circuit based on an embedded microcontroller and utilized the natural jitter noise of the laser pulse generation to improve the long term regulation of the delay of the laser related to an external trigger pulse. Based on our results we have developed an improved system that uses additional, programmable time delay units to tune the noise source to further enhance performance and allows reduction of complexity in the same time. A mixed-signal microcontroller generates a randomly dithered delay of the pulse generation moment to enhance the resolution and also runs a dedicated algorithm to optimize regulation. The compact, flexible hardware supports further enhancements; the signal processing algorithm can be replaced even by in-system reprogramming. Optimized processing and the relaxed hardware requirements may also support low-power operation, wireless communication, therefore the application possibilities may be extended to many other disciplines.Comment: Paper from Workshop on Fluctuations and coherence: from superfluids to living systems, Lancaster, 13-16 July 201

Measurement of ion emission from plasmas obtained with a 600 fs KrF laser

Ion emission from plasmas obtained by the use of a 600 fs, 36 mJ KrF laser operating at 248 nm was measured and analysed for a variety of targets at different laser intensities. The intensity was set by changing the distance between the focusing lens and the target. It was found that the ions emitted originate from impurities and ions from the bulk of the target can be produced only in the subsequent shots. Proton emission was identified from some targets, but the energy of the protons was low (less than 12 keV). A new silicon carbide semiconductor detector proved to be applicable for the collection of the ions

An Extensive Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QC/QA) Program Significantly Improves Inter-Laboratory Concordance Rates of Flow-Cytometric Minimal Residual Disease Assessment in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia : An I-BFM-FLOW-Network Report

Monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) by flow cytometry (FCM) is a powerful prognostic tool for predicting outcomes in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To apply FCM-MRD in large, collaborative trials, dedicated laboratory staff must be educated to concordantly high levels of expertise and their performance quality should be continuously monitored. We sought to install a unique and comprehensive training and quality control (QC) program involving a large number of reference laboratories within the international Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (I-BFM) consortium, in order to complement the standardization of the methodology with an educational component and persistent quality control measures. Our QC and quality assurance (QA) program is based on four major cornerstones: (i) a twinning maturation program, (ii) obligatory participation in external QA programs (spiked sample send around, United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS)), (iii) regular participation in list-mode-data (LMD) file ring trials (FCM data file send arounds), and (iv) surveys of independent data derived from trial results. We demonstrate that the training of laboratories using experienced twinning partners, along with continuous educational feedback significantly improves the performance of laboratories in detecting and quantifying MRD in pediatric ALL patients. Overall, our extensive education and quality control program improved inter-laboratory concordance rates of FCM-MRD assessments and ultimately led to a very high conformity of risk estimates in independent patient cohorts.publishersversionPeer reviewe

An Extensive Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QC/QA) Program Significantly Improves Inter-Laboratory Concordance Rates of Flow-Cytometric Minimal Residual Disease Assessment in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: An I-BFM-FLOW-Network Report

Monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) by flow cytometry (FCM) is a powerful prognostic tool for predicting outcomes in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To apply FCM-MRD in large, collaborative trials, dedicated laboratory staff must be educated to concordantly high levels of expertise and their performance quality should be continuously monitored. We sought to install a unique and comprehensive training and quality control (QC) program involving a large number of reference laboratories within the international Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (I-BFM) consortium, in order to complement the standardization of the methodology with an educational component and persistent quality control measures. Our QC and quality assurance (QA) program is based on four major cornerstones: (i) a twinning maturation program, (ii) obligatory participation in external QA programs (spiked sample send around, United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS)), (iii) regular participation in list-mode-data (LMD) file ring trials (FCM data file send arounds), and (iv) surveys of independent data derived from trial results. We demonstrate that the training of laboratories using experienced twinning partners, along with continuous educational feedback significantly improves the performance of laboratories in detecting and quantifying MRD in pediatric ALL patients. Overall, our extensive education and quality control program improved inter-laboratory concordance rates of FCM-MRD assessments and ultimately led to a very high conformity of risk estimates in independent patient cohorts

Expression Patterns of Coagulation Factor XIII Subunit A on Leukemic Lymphoblasts Correlate with Clinical Outcome and Genetic Subtypes in Childhood B-cell Progenitor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

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Albiglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Harmony Outcomes): a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial

Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists differ in chemical structure, duration of action, and in their effects on clinical outcomes. The cardiovascular effects of once-weekly albiglutide in type 2 diabetes are unknown. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of albiglutide in preventing cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 610 sites across 28 countries. We randomly assigned patients aged 40 years and older with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (at a 1:1 ratio) to groups that either received a subcutaneous injection of albiglutide (30–50 mg, based on glycaemic response and tolerability) or of a matched volume of placebo once a week, in addition to their standard care. Investigators used an interactive voice or web response system to obtain treatment assignment, and patients and all study investigators were masked to their treatment allocation. We hypothesised that albiglutide would be non-inferior to placebo for the primary outcome of the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, which was assessed in the intention-to-treat population. If non-inferiority was confirmed by an upper limit of the 95% CI for a hazard ratio of less than 1·30, closed testing for superiority was prespecified. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02465515. Findings: Patients were screened between July 1, 2015, and Nov 24, 2016. 10 793 patients were screened and 9463 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to groups: 4731 patients were assigned to receive albiglutide and 4732 patients to receive placebo. On Nov 8, 2017, it was determined that 611 primary endpoints and a median follow-up of at least 1·5 years had accrued, and participants returned for a final visit and discontinuation from study treatment; the last patient visit was on March 12, 2018. These 9463 patients, the intention-to-treat population, were evaluated for a median duration of 1·6 years and were assessed for the primary outcome. The primary composite outcome occurred in 338 (7%) of 4731 patients at an incidence rate of 4·6 events per 100 person-years in the albiglutide group and in 428 (9%) of 4732 patients at an incidence rate of 5·9 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·78, 95% CI 0·68–0·90), which indicated that albiglutide was superior to placebo (p<0·0001 for non-inferiority; p=0·0006 for superiority). The incidence of acute pancreatitis (ten patients in the albiglutide group and seven patients in the placebo group), pancreatic cancer (six patients in the albiglutide group and five patients in the placebo group), medullary thyroid carcinoma (zero patients in both groups), and other serious adverse events did not differ between the two groups. There were three (<1%) deaths in the placebo group that were assessed by investigators, who were masked to study drug assignment, to be treatment-related and two (<1%) deaths in the albiglutide group. Interpretation: In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, albiglutide was superior to placebo with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events. Evidence-based glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists should therefore be considered as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. Funding: GlaxoSmithKline

RAL: An Algebra for Querying RDF

To make the WWW machine-understandable there is a strong demand both for languages describing metadata and for languages querying metadata. The Resource Description Framework (RDF), a language proposed by W3C, can be used for describing metadata about (Web) resources. The RDF schema (RDFS) extends RDF by providing means for creating application specific vocabularies (ontologies). While the above two languages are widely acknowledged as a standard means for describing Web metadata, a standardized language for querying RDF metadata is still an open issue. Research groups from both industry and academia are presently involved in proposing several RDF query languages. Due to the lack of an RDF algebra such query languages use APIs to describe their semantics and optimization issues are mostly neglected. This paper proposes RAL, an RDF algebra suitable for defining (and comparing) the semantics of different RDF query languages and (at a future stage) for performing algebraic optimizations. After a definition of the data model we present the operators with which the model can be manipulated. The operators come in three flavors: extraction operators retrieve needed resources from the input RDF model, loop operators support repetition, and construction operators build the resulting RDF model

Modalidades de agencia de niños y jóvenes en las políticas de protección en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar distintas modalidades que asume la agencia de los niños y jóvenes en las políticas de protección de la infancia, específicamente, en los procesos en los que se considera su orientación a la adopción o a otro grupo doméstico que se responsabilice de su cuidado. Para ello, describo y analizo, desde un enfoque etnográfico, las lógicas institucionales que ordenan el funcionamiento de algunos hogares convivenciales; las pautas y sanciones que regulan las conductas de los niños y jóvenes allí alojados, y, a su vez, las modalidades a través de las cuales estos las dotan de sentido y tensan la vigilancia y el control de dichas instituciones. En segundo lugar, examino las formas en que los niños y jóvenes despliegan su capacidad de agencia, al dialogar o confrontar a los agentes de los organismos de promoción y protección de derechos; de qué manera otorgan sentidos propios a las decisiones que estos toman y cómo buscan evadirlas o proponen alternativas. Este trabajo pretende aportar a la producción de conocimiento acerca de cómo los niños y jóvenes contribuyen a dar forma a la vida social y, al mismo tiempo, busca profundizar en el análisis del gobierno de este sector de la población. Sostengo que lejos de pensar la intervención estatal sobre niños y jóvenes como homogénea y totalizadora, los casos permiten considerar los distintos matices que asume el gobierno infantil y cómo esta variabilidad genera diversas condiciones de posibilidad para que puedan concretar sus proyectos. Los materiales que aquí presento y analizo son fruto del trabajo de campo realizado a lo largo de diez años, entre 2009 y 2019, en hogares convivenciales y organismos de promoción y protección de derechos, en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina.The purpose of this article is to analyze different forms of agency assumed by children and young people with respect to child protection policies, specifically, in terms of adoption or foster care processes. To this end, I apply an ethnographic approach to describe and analyze the institutional logic behind the operation of certain residential homes, the guidelines and sanctions that regulate the behavior of the children and young people housed there, and how they, in turn, make sense of and heighten the monitoring and control of these institutions. Secondly, I examine the ways in which children and young people develop their capacity for agency by engaging in dialogue or confronting the officials of the entities that promote and protect their rights; how they attribute meaning to the official’s decisions, and how they seek to avoid them or propose alternatives. This paper supports the production of knowledge on how children and young people contribute to shaping social life and, at the same time, is intended to deepen the government’s analysis of this sector of the population. I maintain that far from considering state intervention on children and young people as homogeneous and totalizing, the cases reveal the different nuances assumed by child government and how this variability creates the conditions to enable them to carry out their projects. The materials I present and analyze here are the result of field work, carried out over ten years, between 2009 and 2019, in households and entities that promote and protect rights, in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina.O objetivo deste artigo é analisar diferentes modalidades que assume a agência de crianças e jovens nas políticas de proteção da infância, em específico, nos processos nos quais sua orientação à adoção ou a outro grupo doméstico que se responsabilize por seu cuidado é considerada. Para isso, descrevo e analiso, a partir de uma abordagem etnográfica, as lógicas institucionais que ordenam o funcionamento de alguns abrigos de convivência; as diretrizes e as sanções que regulamentam os comportamentos das crianças e dos jovens que estão nesses lugares, assim como as modalidades pelas quais eles os permeiam de sentido e aplicam a vigilância e o controle dessas instituições. Em segundo lugar, analiso as formas nas quais as crianças e os jovens desenvolvem sua capacidade de agenciamento, ao dialogar e confrontar os agentes das organizações de promoção e proteção de direitos; de que maneira dão sentidos próprios às decisões que eles tomam e como procuram se desviar delas e propor alternativas. Este trabalho pretende contribuir para a produção de conhecimento sobre como as crianças e os jovens contribuem para conformar a vida social e, ao mesmo tempo, aprofundar na análise do governo desse setor da população. Argumento que, longe de pensar a intervenção estatal sobre crianças e jovens como homogênea e totalizadora, os casos permitem considerar os matizes que a governança infantil assume e como essa variabilidade gera diversas condições de possibilidade para que possam concretizar seus projetos. Os materiais que apresento e analiso são fruto do trabalho de campo realizado ao longo de dez anos, entre 2009 e 2019, em abrigos e organizações de promoção e proteção de direitos, na região metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina.Fil: Ciordia, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Simulation studies of high-field EPR spectra of spin-labeled lipids in membranes.

Health is a critical dimension of human well-being and flourishing, and oral health is an integral component of health: one is not healthy without oral health. Significant barriers exist to ensuring the world's people receive basic healthcare, including oral healthcare. Amongst these are poverty, ignorance, inadequate financial resources and lack of adequate numbers of educated and trained (oral) healthcare workers. Emerging economies are encouraged to develop a national strategic plan for oral health. International organizations have developed goals for oral health that can be referenced and adapted by emerging economies as they seek to formulate specific objectives for their countries. Demographic data that assess the nature and extent of oral diseases in a country are essential to sound planning and the development of an oral healthcare system that is relevant, effective and economically viable. Prevention should be emphasized and priority consideration be given to oral healthcare for children. The types and numbers of members of the oral healthcare team (workforce) will vary from country to country depending on the system developed. Potential members of the workforce include: generalist dentists, specialist dentists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, denturists, expanded function dental assistants (dental nurses) and community oral health workers/aides. Competences for dentists, and other members of the team, should be developed to ensure quality care and developed economies should cooperate with emerging economies. The development, by more advanced economies, of digital, virtual curricula, which could be used by emerging economies for educating and training members of the oral healthcare team, should be an important initiative. The International Federation of Dental Educators and Associations (IFDEA) should lead in such an effort

Machine learning using the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm predicts 5-day delta of SOFA score at ICU admission in COVID-19 patients

Background: Accurate risk stratification of critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is essential for optimizing resource allocation, delivering targeted interventions, and maximizing patient survival probability. Machine learning (ML) techniques are attracting increased interest for the development of prediction models as they excel in the analysis of complex signals in data-rich environments such as critical care. Methods: We retrieved data on patients with COVID-19 admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) between March and October 2020 from the RIsk Stratification in COVID-19 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (RISC-19-ICU) registry. We applied the Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm to the data to predict as a binary out- come the increase or decrease in patients’ Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score on day 5 after ICU admission. The model was iteratively cross-validated in different subsets of the study cohort. Results: The final study population consisted of 675 patients. The XGBoost model correctly predicted a decrease in SOFA score in 320/385 (83%) critically ill COVID-19 patients, and an increase in the score in 210/290 (72%) patients. The area under the mean receiver operating characteristic curve for XGBoost was significantly higher than that for the logistic regression model (0.86 vs . 0.69, P < 0.01 [paired t -test with 95% confidence interval]). Conclusions: The XGBoost model predicted the change in SOFA score in critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU and can guide clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) aimed at optimizing available resources