338 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Color vision assessment-3. An efficient, two-step, color assessment protocol
Color vision tests and multiâtest protocols in current use often fail to detect small changes in red/green (RG) and yellow/blue (YB) color vision due to poor sensitivity. The tests also have low specificity. In this study, we examine how improved understanding of withinâ and interâsubject variability in RG and YB color vision and accurate assessment of the differences in color thresholds between the leastâsensitive, ageâmatched normal trichromats, and the leastâaffected deutans and protans can be used to design an efficient color vision screener (CVS) test. To achieve this objective, we examined two extensive data sets from earlier studies and carried out new experiments to provide better estimates of withinâsubject variability in color thresholds and to validate the CVS test. The data sets provide essential information on interâsubject variability, the effects of normal aging on RG and YB thresholds, and the spread in RG color thresholds in deutan and protan subjects. A statistical model was developed to optimize the parameters of the CVS test and to predict the limits of what can be achieved in color assessment. The efficiency and repeatability of the CVS test were then assessed in 84 subjects. The results match model predictions and reveal close to 100% test efficiency. The test takes between 140 and 160âseconds to complete and has close to 100% repeatability. An efficient, âtwoâstepâ protocol based on the initial use of the CVS test followed by full color assessment in only those who fail the CVS test is also described
Recommended from our members
Color vision assessment-1: Visual signals that affect the results of the Farnsworth D-15 test
The Farnsworth Dâ15 test (Dâ15) is commonly used to screen for moderate to severe congenital color vision deficiency. The aim of this study was to establish reliable Dâ15 statistics for normal, deutan and protan subjects, and to investigate the different visual signals one can use to carry out the test, even in dichromats and rod monochromats. Six hundred and seventyâfour subjects were examined using the Dâ15, the Colour Assessment and Diagnosis test and the Nagel anomaloscope. A rod monochromat and five dichromats were tested using the standard Dâ15 protocol before the caps were separated into two groups and subjects were asked to repeat the task. Dâ15 spectral radiance data, measured under D65 illumination, were used to estimate differences in photoreceptor excitations for each of the caps. When no crossings and up to two adjacent transpositions on the Dâ15 results diagram are accepted as a pass, 100% of normal trichromats, 54% of deutans and 43% of protans pass the Dâ15. A rod monochromat and two protanopes and deuteranopes were able to complete the Dâ15 when the caps were separated into two groups, despite severe loss or even complete absence of color vision. When up to two adjacent transpositions are accepted 50% of color deficient subjects, some with severe red/green loss, pass the Dâ15. While the Dâ15 is normally used to screen for moderate to severe color deficiency, subjects with severe loss can still use combined, residual red/green, yellow/blue and luminance signals to pass
Ureaâfunctionalized amorphous calcium phosphate nanofertilizers: optimizing the synthetic strategy towards environmental sustainability and manufacturing costs
This work has been performed thanks to the funding by Fondazione CARIPLO (Project No. 2016-0648: Romancing
the stone: size-controlled HYdroxyaPATItes for sustainable Agriculture â HYPATIA). JMDL acknowledges
Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) for funding through
the projects NanoVIT (RTI-2018-095794-A-C22) and NanoSmart (RYC-2016-21042). GBRR also acknowledges
the Spanish MICIU for her postdoctoral contract within the Juan de la Cierva Program (JdC-2017). Financial
support for this work was also provided by the Marie SkĆodowska-Curie Standard Fellowships (888972-PSust-
MOF, F.J.C.) within the European Union research and innovation framework programme (2014-2020). We thank
Prof. Jan Skov Pedersen (Aarhus University, DK) for technical and scientific assistance on SAXS experiments.Nanosized fertilizers are the new frontier of nanotechnology towards a sustainable agriculture. Here, an efficient N-nanofertilizer is obtained by post-synthetic modification (PSM) of nitrate-doped amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) nanoparticles (NPs) with urea. The unwasteful PSM protocol leads to N-payloads as large as 8.1 w/w%, is well replicated by using inexpensive technical-grade reagents for cost-effective up-scaling and moderately favours urea release slowdown. Using the PSM approach, the N amount is ca. 3 times larger than that obtained in an equivalent one-pot synthesis where urea and nitrate are jointly added during the NPs preparation. In vivo tests on cucumber plants in hydroponic conditions show that N-doped ACP NPs, with half absolute N-content than in conventional urea treatment, promote the formation of an equivalent amount of root and shoot biomass, without nitrogen depletion. The high nitrogen use efficiency (up to 69%) and a cost-effective preparation method support the sustainable real usage of N-doped ACP as a nanofertilizer.Fondazione Cariplo
2016-0648Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE)
RTI-2018-095794-A-C22
RYC-2016-21042Marie Sklodowska-Curie Standard Fellowships within the European Union research and innovation framework programme (2014-2020)
888972-PSustMOFSpanish MICIU within the Juan de la Cierva Program (JdC-2017
ER stress and inflammation via autophagy influence Helicobacter pylori-related gastric cancer
Towards a new generation axion helioscope
We study the feasibility of a new generation axion helioscope, the most
ambitious and promising detector of solar axions to date. We show that large
improvements in magnetic field volume, x-ray focusing optics and detector
backgrounds are possible beyond those achieved in the CERN Axion Solar
Telescope (CAST). For hadronic models, a sensitivity to the axion-photon
coupling of \gagamma\gtrsim {\rm few} \times 10^{-12} GeV is
conceivable, 1--1.5 orders of magnitude beyond the CAST sensitivity. If axions
also couple to electrons, the Sun produces a larger flux for the same value of
the Peccei-Quinn scale, allowing one to probe a broader class of models. Except
for the axion dark matter searches, this experiment will be the most sensitive
axion search ever, reaching or surpassing the stringent bounds from SN1987A and
possibly testing the axion interpretation of anomalous white-dwarf cooling that
predicts of a few meV. Beyond axions, this new instrument will probe
entirely unexplored ranges of parameters for a large variety of axion-like
particles (ALPs) and other novel excitations at the low-energy frontier of
elementary particle physics.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in JCA
The International Axion Observatory (IAXO)
The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a new generation axion
helioscope aiming at a sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling of a few
10 GeV, i.e. 1 - 1.5 orders of magnitude beyond the one currently
achieved by CAST. The project relies on improvements in magnetic field volume
together with extensive use of x-ray focusing optics and low background
detectors, innovations already successfully tested in CAST. Additional physics
cases of IAXO could include the detection of electron-coupled axions invoked to
solve the white dwarfs anomaly, relic axions, and a large variety of more
generic axion-like particles (ALPs) and other novel excitations at the
low-energy frontier of elementary particle physics. This contribution is a
summary of our paper [1] to which we refer for further details.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the 7th Patras
Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, Mykonos, Greece, 201
Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid glial fibrillary acidic protein levels in adults with Down syndrome: a longitudinal cohort study
Background: The diagnosis of symptomatic Alzheimer's disease is a clinical challenge in adults with Down syndrome. Blood biomarkers would be of particular clinical importance in this population. The astrocytic Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) is a marker of astrogliosis associated with amyloid pathology, but its longitudinal changes, association with other biomarkers and cognitive performance have not been studied in individuals with Down syndrome. Methods: We performed a three-centre study of adults with Down syndrome, autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease and euploid individuals enrolled in Hospital Sant Pau, Barcelona (Spain), Hospital Clinic, Barcelona (Spain) and Ludwig-Maximilians-UniversitĂ€t, Munich (Germany). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma GFAP concentrations were quantified using Simoa. A subset of participants had PET 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose, amyloid tracers and MRI measurements. Findings: This study included 997 individuals, 585 participants with Down syndrome, 61 Familial Alzheimer's disease mutation carriers and 351 euploid individuals along the Alzheimer's disease continuum, recruited between November 2008 and May 2022. Participants with Down syndrome were clinically classified at baseline as asymptomatic, prodromal Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease dementia. Plasma GFAP levels were significantly increased in prodromal and Alzheimer's disease dementia compared to asymptomatic individuals and increased in parallel to CSF AÎČ changes, ten years prior to amyloid PET positivity. Plasma GFAP presented the highest diagnostic performance to discriminate symptomatic from asymptomatic groups (AUC = 0.93, 95% CI 0.9â0.95) and its concentrations were significantly higher in progressors vs non-progressors (p < 0.001), showing an increase of 19.8% (11.8â33.0) per year in participants with dementia. Finally, plasma GFAP levels were highly correlated with cortical thinning and brain amyloid pathology. Interpretation: Our findings support the utility of plasma GFAP as a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome, with possible applications in clinical practice and clinical trials. Funding: AC Immune, La Caixa Foundation, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, National Institute on Aging, Wellcome Trust, JĂ©rĂŽme Lejeune Foundation, Medical Research Council, Alzheimer's Association, National Institute for Health Research, EU Joint ProgrammeâNeurodegenerative Disease Research, Alzheimer's Society, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Stiftung fĂŒr die Erforschung von Verhaltens, FundaciĂłn Tatiana PĂ©rez de GuzmĂĄn el Bueno & European Union's Horizon 2020 und UmwelteinflĂŒssen auf die menschliche Gesundheit
A snapshot of cancer-associated thromboembolic disease in 2018-2019: First data from the TESEO prospective registry
BACKGROUND: The ever-growing complexity of cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT), with new antineoplastic drugs and anticoagulants, distinctive characteristics, and decisions with low levels of evidence, justifies this registry. METHOD: TESEO is a prospective registry promoted by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology to which 34 centers contribute cases. It seeks to provide an epidemiological description of CAT in Spain. RESULTS: Participants (N=939) with CAT diagnosed between July 2018 and December 2019 were recruited. Most subjects had advanced colon (21.4%), non-small cell lung (19.2%), and breast (11.1%) cancers, treated with dual-agent chemotherapy (28.4%), monochemotherapy (14.4%), or immune checkpoint inhibitors (3.6%). Half (51%) were unsuspected events, albeit only 57.1% were truly asymptomatic. Pulmonary embolism (PE) was recorded in 571 (58.3%); in 120/571 (21.0%), there was a concurrent deep venous thromboembolism (VTE). Most initially received low molecular weight heparin (89.7%). Suspected and unsuspected VTE had an OS rate of 9.9 (95% CI, 7.3-non-computable) and 14.4 months (95% CI, 12.6-non-computable) (p=0.00038). Six-month survival was 80.9%, 55.9%, and 55.5% for unsuspected PE, unsuspected PE admitted for another reason, and suspected PE, respectively (p<0.0001). The 12-month cumulative incidence of venous rethrombosis was 7.1% (95% CI, 4.7-10.2) in stage IV vs 3.0% (95% CI, 0.9-7.1) in stages I-III. The 12-month cumulative incidence of major/clinically relevant bleeding was 9.6% (95% CI, 6.1-14.0) in the presence of risk factors. CONCLUSION: CAT continues to be a relevant problem in the era of immunotherapy and targeted therapies. The initial TESEO data highlight the evolution of CAT, with new agents and thrombotic risk factors
- âŠ