Photometry of Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth from New Horizons LORRI

On January 1st 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by the classical Kuiper belt object (486958) Arrokoth (provisionally designated 2014 MU69), possibly the most primitive object ever explored by a spacecraft. The I/F of Arrokoth is analyzed and fit with a photometric function that is a linear combination of the Lommel-Seeliger (lunar) and Lambert photometric functions. Arrokoth has a geometric albedo of p_v = 0.21_(−0.04)^(+0.05) at a wavelength of 550 nm and ≈0.24 at 610 nm. Arrokoth's geometric albedo is greater than the median but consistent with a distribution of cold classical Kuiper belt objects whose geometric albedos were determined by fitting a thermal model to radiometric observations. Thus, Arrokoth's geometric albedo adds to the orbital and spectral evidence that it is a cold classical Kuiper belt object. Maps of the normal reflectance and hemispherical albedo of Arrokoth are presented. The normal reflectance of Arrokoth's surface varies with location, ranging from ≈0.10–0.40 at 610 nm with an approximately Gaussian distribution. Both Arrokoth's extrema dark and extrema bright surfaces are correlated to topographic depressions. Arrokoth has a bilobate shape and the two lobes have similar normal reflectance distributions: both are approximately Gaussian, peak at ≈0.25 at 610 nm, and range from ≈0.10–0.40, which is consistent with co-formation and co-evolution of the two lobes. The hemispherical albedo of Arrokoth varies substantially with both incidence angle and location, the average hemispherical albedo at 610 nm is 0.063 ± 0.015. The Bond albedo of Arrokoth at 610 nm is 0.062 ± 0.015

Association of metabolic syndrome and change in Unified Parkinson\u27s Disease Rating Scale scores.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between metabolic syndrome and the Unified Parkinson\u27s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores and, secondarily, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of data from 1,022 of 1,741 participants of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Exploratory Clinical Trials in Parkinson Disease Long-Term Study 1, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of creatine. Participants were categorized as having or not having metabolic syndrome on the basis of modified criteria from the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Those who had the same metabolic syndrome status at consecutive annual visits were included. The change in UPDRS and SDMT scores from randomization to 3 years was compared in participants with and without metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: Participants with metabolic syndrome (n = 396) compared to those without (n = 626) were older (mean [SD] 63.9 [8.1] vs 59.9 [9.4] years; p \u3c 0.0001), were more likely to be male (75.3% vs 57.0%; p \u3c 0.0001), and had a higher mean uric acid level (men 5.7 [1.3] vs 5.3 [1.1] mg/dL, women 4.9 [1.3] vs 3.9 [0.9] mg/dL, p \u3c 0.0001). Participants with metabolic syndrome experienced an additional 0.6- (0.2) unit annual increase in total UPDRS (p = 0.02) and 0.5- (0.2) unit increase in motor UPDRS (p = 0.01) scores compared with participants without metabolic syndrome. There was no difference in the change in SDMT scores. CONCLUSIONS: Persons with Parkinson disease meeting modified criteria for metabolic syndrome experienced a greater increase in total UPDRS scores over time, mainly as a result of increases in motor scores, compared to those who did not. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT00449865

scAmpi—A versatile pipeline for single-cell RNA-seq analysis from basics to clinics

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged as a powerful technique to decipher tissue composition at the single-cell level and to inform on disease mechanisms, tumor heterogeneity, and the state of the immune microenvironment. Although multiple methods for the computational analysis of scRNA-seq data exist, their application in a clinical setting demands standardized and reproducible workflows, targeted to extract, condense, and display the clinically relevant information. To this end, we designed scAmpi (Single Cell Analysis mRNA pipeline), a workflow that facilitates scRNA-seq analysis from raw read processing to informing on sample composition, clinically relevant gene and pathway alterations, and in silico identification of personalized candidate drug treatments. We demonstrate the value of this workflow for clinical decision making in a molecular tumor board as part of a clinical study

Caffeine and Progression of Parkinson Disease: A Deleterious Interaction With Creatine.

OBJECTIVE: Increased caffeine intake is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson disease (PD) and is neuroprotective in mouse models of PD. However, in a previous study, an exploratory analysis suggested that, in patients taking creatine, caffeine intake was associated with a faster rate of progression. In the current study, we investigated the association of caffeine with the rate of progression of PD and the interaction of this association with creatine intake. METHODS: Data were analyzed from a large phase 3 placebo-controlled clinical study of creatine as a potentially disease-modifying agent in PD. Subjects were recruited for this study from 45 movement disorders centers across the United States and Canada. A total of 1741 subjects with PD participated in the primary clinical study, and caffeine intake data were available for 1549 of these subjects. The association of caffeine intake with rate of progression of PD as measured by the change in the total Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale score and the interaction of this association with creatine intake were assessed. RESULTS: Caffeine intake was not associated with the rate of progression of PD in the main analysis, but higher caffeine intake was associated with significantly faster progression among subjects taking creatine. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest and longest study conducted to date that addresses the association of caffeine with the rate of progression of PD. These data indicate a potentially deleterious interaction between caffeine and creatine with respect to the rate of progression of PD

Transforming the study of organisms: Phenomic data models and knowledge bases

The rapidly decreasing cost of gene sequencing has resulted in a deluge of genomic data from across the tree of life; however, outside a few model organism databases, genomic data are limited in their scientific impact because they are not accompanied by computable phenomic data. The majority of phenomic data are contained in countless small, heterogeneous phenotypic data sets that are very difficult or impossible to integrate at scale because of variable formats, lack of digitization, and linguistic problems. One powerful solution is to represent phenotypic data using data models with precise, computable semantics, but adoption of semantic standards for representing phenotypic data has been slow, especially in biodiversity and ecology. Some phenotypic and trait data are available in a semantic language from knowledge bases, but these are often not interoperable. In this review, we will compare and contrast existing ontology and data models, focusing on nonhuman phenotypes and traits. We discuss barriers to integration of phenotypic data and make recommendations for developing an operationally useful, semantically interoperable phenotypic data ecosystem

Multiple parasite infections and their relationship to self-reported morbidity in a community of rural Côte d'Ivoire

Background Concomitant parasitic infections are common in the developing world, yet most studies focus on a single parasite in a narrow age group. We investigated the extent of polyparasitism and parasite associations, and related these findings to self-reported morbidity. Methods Inhabitants of 75 randomly selected households from a single village in western Côte d'Ivoire provided multiple faecal specimens and a single finger prick blood sample. The Kato-Katz technique and a formol-ether concentration method were employed to screen faecal samples for Schistosoma mansoni, soil-transmitted helminths and intestinal protozoa. Giemsa-stained blood smears were analysed for malaria parasites. A questionnaire was administered for collection of demographic information and self-reported morbidity indicators. Results Complete parasitological data were obtained for 500/561 (89.1%) participants, similarly distributed among sex, with an age range from 5 days to 91 years. The prevalences of Plasmodium falciparum, hookworms, Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar, and S. mansoni were 76.4%, 45.0%, 42.2%, and 39.8%, respectively. Three-quarters of the population harboured three or more parasites concurrently. Multivariate analysis revealed significant associations between several pairs of parasites. Some parasitic infections and the total number of parasites were significantly associated with self-reported morbidity indicators. Conclusions Our data confirm that polyparasitism is very common in rural Côte d'Ivoire and that people have clear perceptions about the morbidity caused by some of these parasitic infections. Our findings can be used for the design and implementation of sound intervention strategies to mitigate morbidity and co-morbidit

A Comparison of Four Probability-Based Online and Mixed-Mode Panels in Europe

Inferential statistics teach us that we need a random probability sample to infer from a sample to the general population. In online survey research, however, volunteer access panels, in which respondents self-select themselves into the sample, dominate the landscape. Such panels are attractive due to their low costs. Nevertheless, recent years have seen increasing numbers of debates about the quality, in particular about errors in the representativeness and measurement, of such panels. In this article, we describe four probability-based online and mixed-mode panels for the general population, namely, the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) Panel in the Netherlands, the German Internet Panel (GIP) and the GESIS Panel in Germany, and the Longitudinal Study by Internet for the Social Sciences (ELIPSS) Panel in France. We compare them in terms of sampling strategies, offline recruitment procedures, and panel characteristics. Our aim is to provide an overview to the scientific community of the availability of such data sources to demonstrate the potential strategies for recruiting and maintaining probability-based online panels to practitioners and to direct analysts of the comparative data collected across these panels to methodological differences that may affect comparative estimates

Safety and Efficacy of Rivaroxaban in Patients With Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices:Observations From the ROCKET AF Trial

Background: Although implantation of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) in patients receiving warfarin is well studied, limited data are available on the use of oral factor Xa inhibitors in this setting. Methods and Results: Using data from Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) (n=14 264), we compared baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation randomized to rivaroxaban versus warfarin who did and did not undergo CIED implantation or revision. In this post‐hoc, postrandomization, on‐treatment analysis, only the first intervention per patient was analyzed. During a median follow‐up of 2.2 years, 453 patients (242 rivaroxaban group; 211 warfarin group) underwent de novo CIED implantation (64.2%) or revision procedures (35.8%). Patients who received CIEDs were older, more likely to be male, and more likely to have past myocardial infarction, but had similar stroke risk compared to patients who did not receive CIEDs. Most patients who received a device had study drug interrupted for the procedure and did not receive bridging anticoagulation. During the 30‐day postprocedural period, 11 patients (4.55%) in the rivaroxaban group experienced bleeding complications compared with 15 (7.13%) in the warfarin group. Thromboembolic complications occurred in 3 patients (1.26%) in the rivaroxaban group and 1 (0.48%) in the warfarin group. Event rates were too low for formal hypothesis testing. Conclusions: Bleeding and thromboembolic events were low in both rivaroxaban‐ and warfarin‐treated patients. Periprocedural use of oral factor Xa inhibitors in CIED implantation requires further study in prospective, randomized trials. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00403767