Perfecting the Match: the Visual Economy of Egg Donation

This thesis is a response to the absence of discussion in feminist and cultural studies of Assisted Reproductive Technology’s (ART) increasing utilisation of visuality and technology as complementary legitimating discourses. While critiques of the epistemologies and practices undergirding ART point to the fact that imaging technologies are used to reveal knowledge held in bodies, lacking in current theoretical work on ART, however, is an ethnographic engagement with how visual technologies actually produce the internal and externalscapes of these bodies, and knowledges about them. Mapping selective visual knowledges and technologies constitutive of the ART egg donation, the thesis engages with disparate visual artefacts and imaging technologies: snapshots of prospective egg donors, portraits of fertility clinic doctors and staff, commercialised websites, online databases, brochures, operating theatres, ultrasonography, laparoscopy and images of ova. Reading the marketing images, proliferating technologies and attendant media narratives deployed to sell, perform and legitimise egg donation across varied discursive ‘sites’, the thesis addresses the contemporary Anglo-American fertility industry’s construction of, and reliance upon, multiple self-legitimating visual knowledges. Produced by new and established imaging technologies alike, it is argued that through these knowledges, which reproduce a visually dominant race and class-based discourse on ‘legitimate’ motherhood and reproduction, egg donation is both constituted and sustained

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

Anticipating undiagnosed asthma in symptomatic adults with normal pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry: a decision tool for bronchial challenge testing

Abstract Background Some patients with asthma demonstrate normal spirometry and remain undiagnosed without further testing. Objective To determine clinical predictors of asthma in symptomatic adults with normal spirometry, and to generate a tool to help clinicians decide who should undergo bronchial challenge testing (BCT). Methods Using random-digit dialling and population-based case-finding, we recruited adults from the community with respiratory symptoms and no previous history of diagnosed lung disease. Participants with normal pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry subsequently underwent BCT. Asthma was diagnosed in those with symptoms and a methacholine provocative concentration (PC20) of < 8 mg/ml. Sputum and blood eosinophils, and exhaled nitric oxide were measured. Univariate analyses identified potentially predictive variables, which were then used to construct a multivariable logistic regression model to predict asthma. Model sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) were calculated. Results Of 132 symptomatic individuals with normal spirometry, 34 (26%) had asthma. Of those ultimately diagnosed with asthma, 33 (97%) answered ‘yes’ to a question asking whether they experienced cough, chest tightness or wheezing provoked by exercise or cold air. Other univariate predictors of asthma included female sex, pre-bronchodilator FEV1 percentage predicted, and percent positive change in FEV1 post bronchodilator. A multivariable model containing these predictive variables yielded an AUC of 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72–0.91), a sensitivity of 82%, and a specificity of 66%. The model was used to construct a nomogram to advise clinicians which patients should be prioritized for BCT. Conclusions Four readily available patient characteristics demonstrated a high sensitivity and AUC for predicting undiagnosed asthma in symptomatic adults with normal pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. These characteristics can potentially help clinicians to decide which individuals with normal spirometry should be investigated with bronchial challenge testing. However, further prospective validation of our decision tool is required

A Phase II Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Prasinezumab in Early Parkinson's Disease (PASADENA) : Rationale, Design, and Baseline Data

Altres ajuts: F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.Background: Currently available treatments for Parkinson's disease (PD) do not slow clinical progression nor target alpha-synuclein, a key protein associated with the disease. Objective: The study objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of prasinezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds aggregated alpha-synuclein, in individuals with early PD. Methods: The PASADENA study is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment study. Individuals with early PD, recruited across the US and Europe, received monthly intravenous doses of prasinezumab (1,500 or 4,500 mg) or placebo for a 52-week period (Part 1), followed by a 52-week extension (Part 2) in which all participants received active treatment. Key inclusion criteria were: aged 40-80 years; Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) Stage I or II; time from diagnosis ≤2 years; having bradykinesia plus one other cardinal sign of PD (e.g., resting tremor, rigidity); DAT-SPECT imaging consistent with PD; and either treatment naïve or on a stable monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) inhibitor dose. Study design assumptions for sample size and study duration were built using a patient cohort from the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI). In this report, baseline characteristics are compared between the treatment-naïve and MAO-B inhibitor-treated PASADENA cohorts and between the PASADENA and PPMI populations. Results: Of the 443 patients screened, 316 were enrolled into the PASADENA study between June 2017 and November 2018, with an average age of 59.9 years and 67.4% being male. Mean time from diagnosis at baseline was 10.11 months, with 75.3% in H&Y Stage II. Baseline motor and non-motor symptoms (assessed using Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale [MDS-UPDRS]) were similar in severity between the MAO-B inhibitor-treated and treatment-naïve PASADENA cohorts (MDS-UPDRS sum of Parts I + II + III [standard deviation (SD)]; 30.21 [11.96], 32.10 [13.20], respectively). The overall PASADENA population (63.6% treatment naïve and 36.4% on MAO-B inhibitor) showed a similar severity in MDS-UPDRS scores (e.g., MDS-UPDRS sum of Parts I + II + III [SD]; 31.41 [12.78], 32.63 [13.04], respectively) to the PPMI cohort (all treatment naïve). Conclusions: The PASADENA study population is suitable to investigate the potential of prasinezumab to slow disease progression in individuals with early PD. Trial Registration: NCT03100149