161 research outputs found
Clinicoepidemiological study of fixed drug eruption in tertiary care hospital
Background: Adverse cutaneous drug reactions pose diagnostic difficulties due to a varied clinical manifestations and broad categories of causative agents. Fixed drug eruptions (FDE) are one of them. Present study aims i) to record various clinical features of FDE, their causative agents and ii) to study the pattern of morbidity in patients with FDE in a tertiary care hospital, Rajkot, Gujarat, India.Methods: The 88 patients with FDEs attending department of dermatology, venereology and leprosy at PDU govt. medical college and hospital, Rajkot, Gujarat from September 2018 to September 2020 were included after informed consent. After taking thorough history, complete blood count and biochemical tests were done. HIV testing was done in severe reactions with generalised involvement. Appropriate treatment was given with counselling regarding the offending drug for prevention of reaction in future.Results: The male patients were more affected than female patients with M: F ratio of 1.3:1. The most common age group affected was 21-30 years (22.7%). Antimicrobials were the most common offending drugs (43.2%). None of the patients were HIV reactive in our study. No mortality was reported in our study.Conclusions: The patterns of FDE and the causative drugs are remarkably different in our study. Knowledge of patterns and the causative agents helps in prevention of same reactions in future in patients
Multiplication and Composition in Weighted Modulation Spaces
We study the existence of the product of two weighted modulation spaces. For
this purpose we discuss two different strategies. The more simple one allows
transparent proofs in various situations. However, our second method allows a
closer look onto associated norm inequalities under restrictions in the Fourier
image. This will give us the opportunity to treat the boundedness of
composition operators.Comment: 49 page
Accounting students and communication apprehension: a study of Spanish and UK students
Accounting is about measuring and communicating. Accounting bodies and employers have expressed opinions, which have been supported by research results, advocating that greater emphasis is placed on the development of communication skills throughout the education and training of accountants. Consequently, an increasing number of accounting programmes now include communication skills as educational objectives or learning outcomes, and have integrated activities into the curriculum specifically to develop these skills. It is important to recognise that certain factors can severely restrict the development of communication skills; a major factor is communication apprehension. Research suggests that the existence of high levels of communication apprehension will make efforts to improve communication skills ineffective. Previous research findings indicate that accounting students have high levels of communication apprehension. This paper compares and contrasts the levels and profiles of communication apprehension exhibited by accounting students at the (UK University) and those at the (ESP University). The levels of communication apprehension are also compared with those of students from other disciplines at the same institutions. The results confirm the high levels of communication apprehension in European accounting students. There are notable differences between the two countries however in certain underlying factors.</p
Constraints on the decay of Ta
Ta is a rare nuclear isomer whose decay has never been observed. Its
remarkably long lifetime surpasses the half-lives of all other known
and electron capture decays due to the large K-spin differences and small
energy differences between the isomeric and lower energy states. Detecting its
decay presents a significant experimental challenge but could shed light on
neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis mechanisms, the nature of dark matter and
K-spin violation. For this study, we repurposed the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, an
experimental search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of Ge using
an array of high-purity germanium detectors, to search for the decay of
Ta. More than 17 kilograms, the largest amount of tantalum metal ever
used for such a search was installed within the ultra-low background detector
array. In this paper we present results from the first year of Ta data taking
and provide an updated limit for the Ta half-life on the different
decay channels. With new limits up to 1.5 x years, we improved
existing limits by one to two orders of magnitude. This result is the most
sensitive search for a single and electron capture decay ever achieved
Modeling Backgrounds for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR
The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is a neutrinoless double-beta decay
() experiment containing 30 kg of p-type point contact
germanium detectors enriched to 88% in 76Ge and 14 kg of natural
germanium detectors. The detectors are housed in two electroformed copper
cryostats and surrounded by a graded passive shield with active muon veto. An
extensive radioassay campaign was performed prior to installation to insure the
use of ultra-clean materials. The DEMONSTRATOR achieved one of the lowest
background rates in the region of the Q-value, 15.7 1.4
cts/(FWHM t y) from the low-background configuration spanning most of the 64.5
kg-yr active exposure. Nevertheless this background rate is a factor of five
higher than the projected background rate. This discrepancy arises from an
excess of events from the 232Th decay chain. Background model fits aim to
understand this deviation from assay-based projections, potentially determine
the source(s) of observed backgrounds, and allow a precision measurement of the
two-neutrino double-beta decay half-life. The fits agree with earlier
simulation studies, which indicate the origin of the 232Th excess is not from a
near-detector component and have informed design decisions for the
next-generation LEGEND experiment. Recent findings have narrowed the suspected
locations for the excess activity, motivating a final simulation and assay
campaign to complete the background model.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Proceedings from the Low Radioactivity Techniques
Workshop 2022 in Rapid City, SD, US
Majorana Demonstrator Data Release for AI/ML Applications
The enclosed data release consists of a subset of the calibration data from
the Majorana Demonstrator experiment. Each Majorana event is accompanied by raw
Germanium detector waveforms, pulse shape discrimination cuts, and calibrated
final energies, all shared in an HDF5 file format along with relevant metadata.
This release is specifically designed to support the training and testing of
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms upon our
data. This document is structured as follows. Section I provides an overview of
the dataset's content and format; Section II outlines the location of this
dataset and the method for accessing it; Section III presents the NPML Machine
Learning Challenge associated with this dataset; Section IV contains a
disclaimer from the Majorana collaboration regarding the use of this dataset;
Appendix A contains technical details of this data release. Please direct
questions about the material provided within this release to [email protected]
(A. Li).Comment: Zenodo DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.825702
Final Result of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR's Search for Neutrinoless Double- Decay in Ge
The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR searched for neutrinoless double- decay
() of Ge using modular arrays of high-purity Ge
detectors operated in vacuum cryostats in a low-background shield. The arrays
operated with up to 40.4 kg of detectors (27.2 kg enriched to 88\% in
Ge). From these measurements, the DEMONSTRATOR has accumulated 64.5 kg
yr of enriched active exposure. With a world-leading energy resolution of 2.52
keV FWHM at the 2039 keV (0.12\%), we set a half-life limit of
in Ge at yr (90\% C.L.).
This provides a range of upper limits on of meV
(90\% C.L.), depending on the choice of nuclear matrix elements.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Interpretable Boosted Decision Tree Analysis for the Majorana Demonstrator
The Majorana Demonstrator is a leading experiment searching for neutrinoless
double-beta decay with high purity germanium detectors (HPGe). Machine learning
provides a new way to maximize the amount of information provided by these
detectors, but the data-driven nature makes it less interpretable compared to
traditional analysis. An interpretability study reveals the machine's
decision-making logic, allowing us to learn from the machine to feedback to the
traditional analysis. In this work, we have presented the first machine
learning analysis of the data from the Majorana Demonstrator; this is also the
first interpretable machine learning analysis of any germanium detector
experiment. Two gradient boosted decision tree models are trained to learn from
the data, and a game-theory-based model interpretability study is conducted to
understand the origin of the classification power. By learning from data, this
analysis recognizes the correlations among reconstruction parameters to further
enhance the background rejection performance. By learning from the machine,
this analysis reveals the importance of new background categories to
reciprocally benefit the standard Majorana analysis. This model is highly
compatible with next-generation germanium detector experiments like LEGEND
since it can be simultaneously trained on a large number of detectors.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Causes p21Cip1 Induction, Akt Signaling Reduction, and Growth Inhibition in PC-3 Human Prostate Cancer Cells
Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) treatment suppressed proliferation, colony formation, and cell cycle progression in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. CAPE decreased protein expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, SKP2, c-Myc, Akt1, Akt2, Akt3, total Akt, mTOR, Bcl-2, Rb, as well as phosphorylation of Rb, ERK1/2, Akt, mTOR, GSK3α, GSK3β, PDK1; but increased protein expression of KLF6 and p21Cip1. Microarray analysis indicated that pathways involved in cellular movement, cell death, proliferation, and cell cycle were affected by CAPE. Co-treatment of CAPE with chemotherapeutic drugs vinblastine, paclitaxol, and estramustine indicated synergistic suppression effect. CAPE administration may serve as a potential adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer
Interleukin-6 Receptor Antagonists in Critically Ill Patients with Covid-19.
BACKGROUND: The efficacy of interleukin-6 receptor antagonists in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is unclear. METHODS: We evaluated tocilizumab and sarilumab in an ongoing international, multifactorial, adaptive platform trial. Adult patients with Covid-19, within 24 hours after starting organ support in the intensive care unit (ICU), were randomly assigned to receive tocilizumab (8 mg per kilogram of body weight), sarilumab (400 mg), or standard care (control). The primary outcome was respiratory and cardiovascular organ support-free days, on an ordinal scale combining in-hospital death (assigned a value of -1) and days free of organ support to day 21. The trial uses a Bayesian statistical model with predefined criteria for superiority, efficacy, equivalence, or futility. An odds ratio greater than 1 represented improved survival, more organ support-free days, or both. RESULTS: Both tocilizumab and sarilumab met the predefined criteria for efficacy. At that time, 353 patients had been assigned to tocilizumab, 48 to sarilumab, and 402 to control. The median number of organ support-free days was 10 (interquartile range, -1 to 16) in the tocilizumab group, 11 (interquartile range, 0 to 16) in the sarilumab group, and 0 (interquartile range, -1 to 15) in the control group. The median adjusted cumulative odds ratios were 1.64 (95% credible interval, 1.25 to 2.14) for tocilizumab and 1.76 (95% credible interval, 1.17 to 2.91) for sarilumab as compared with control, yielding posterior probabilities of superiority to control of more than 99.9% and of 99.5%, respectively. An analysis of 90-day survival showed improved survival in the pooled interleukin-6 receptor antagonist groups, yielding a hazard ratio for the comparison with the control group of 1.61 (95% credible interval, 1.25 to 2.08) and a posterior probability of superiority of more than 99.9%. All secondary analyses supported efficacy of these interleukin-6 receptor antagonists. CONCLUSIONS: In critically ill patients with Covid-19 receiving organ support in ICUs, treatment with the interleukin-6 receptor antagonists tocilizumab and sarilumab improved outcomes, including survival. (REMAP-CAP ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02735707.)
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