Social Media Content of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Groups and Pages on Facebook: Cross-sectional Analysis.

BACKGROUND Patients use Facebook as a resource for medical information. We analyzed posts on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)-related Facebook groups and pages for the presence of guideline content, user engagement, and usefulness. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to describe and analyze posts from Facebook groups and pages that primarily focus on IPF-related content. METHODS Cross-sectional analysis was performed on a single date, identifying Facebook groups and pages resulting from separately searching "IPF" and "idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis." For inclusion, groups and pages needed to meet either search term and be in English, publicly available, and relevant to IPF. Every 10th post was assessed for general characteristics, source, focus, and user engagement metrics. Posts were analyzed for presence of IPF guideline content, useful scientific information (eg, scientific publications), useful support information (eg, information about support groups), and potentially harmful information. RESULTS Eligibility criteria were met by 12 groups and 27 pages, leading to analysis of 523 posts. Of these, 42% contained guideline content, 24% provided useful support, 20% provided useful scientific information, and 5% contained potentially harmful information. The most common post source was nonmedical users (85%). Posts most frequently focused on IPF-related news (29%). Posts containing any guideline content had fewer likes or comments and a higher likelihood of containing potentially harmful content. Posts containing useful supportive information had more likes, shares, and comments. CONCLUSIONS Facebook contains useful information about IPF, but posts with misinformation and less guideline content have higher user engagement, making them more visible. Identifying ways to help patients with IPF discriminate between useful and harmful information on Facebook and other social media platforms is an important task for health care professionals

Expected length of the longest common subsequence for large alphabets

We consider the length L of the longest common subsequence of two randomly uniformly and independently chosen n character words over a k-ary alphabet. Subadditivity arguments yield that the expected value of L, when normalized by n, converges to a constant C_k. We prove a conjecture of Sankoff and Mainville from the early 80's claiming that C_k\sqrt{k} goes to 2 as k goes to infinity.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, LaTe

Genome-Wide Analysis of Subependymomas Shows Underlying Chromosomal Copy Number Changes Involving Chromosomes 6, 7, 8 and 14 in a Proportion of Cases

Subependymomas (SE) are slow-growing brain tumors that tend to occur within the ventricles of middle-aged and elderly adults. The World Health Organization classifies these tumors within the ependymoma group. Previous limited analysis of this tumor type had not revealed significant underlying cytogenetic abnormalities

Exposure to ambient particulate matter is associated with accelerated functional decline in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive disease with an unknown pathogenesis, may be due in part to an abnormal response to injurious stimuli by alveolar epithelial cells. Air pollution and particulate inhalation of matter evoke a wide variety of pulmonary and systemic inflammatory diseases. We therefore hypothesized that increased average ambient particulate matter (PM) concentrations would be associated with an accelerated rate of decline in FVC in IPF. METHODS: We identified a cohort of subjects seen at a single university referral center from 2007 to 2013. Average concentrations of particulate matter < 10 and < 2.5 μg/m3 (PM10 and PM2.5, respectively) were assigned to each patient based on geocoded residential addresses. A linear multivariable mixed-effects model determined the association between the rate of decline in FVC and average PM concentration, controlling for baseline FVC at first measurement and other covariates. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-five subjects were included in the final analysis after exclusion of subjects missing repeated spirometry measurements and those for whom exposure data were not available. There was a significant association between PM10 levels and the rate of decline in FVC during the study period, with each μg/m3 increase in PM10 corresponding with an additional 46 cc/y decline in FVC (P = .008). CONCLUSIONS: Ambient air pollution, as measured by average PM10 concentration, is associated with an increase in the rate of decline of FVC in IPF, suggesting a potential mechanistic role for air pollution in the progression of disease

Scents of Adolescence: The Maturation of the Olfactory Phenotype in a Free-Ranging Mammal

Olfaction is an important sensory modality for mate recognition in many mammal species. Odorants provide information about the health status, genotype, dominance status and/or reproductive status. How and when odor profiles change during sexual maturation is, however often unclear, particularly in free-ranging mammals. Here, we investigated whether the wing sac odorant of male greater sac-winged bats (Saccopteryx bilineata, Emballonuridae) differs between young and adults, and thus offers information about sexual maturity to potential mating partners. Using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry, we found differences in the odorants of young and adult males prior and during, but not after the mating period. The wing sac odorant of adult males consists of several substances, such as Pyrocoll, 2,6,10-trimethyl-3-oxo-6,10-dodecadienolide, and a so far unidentified substance; all being absent in the odor profiles of juveniles prior to the mating season. During the mating season, these substances are present in most of the juvenile odorants, but still at lower quantities compared to the wing sac odorants of adults. These results suggest that the wing sac odorant of males encodes information about age and/or sexual maturity. Although female S. bilineata start to reproduce at the age of half a year, most males of the same age postpone the sexual maturation of their olfactory phenotype until after the first mating season

Phase I Randomised Clinical Trial of an HIV-1CN54, Clade C, Trimeric Envelope Vaccine Candidate Delivered Vaginally

We conducted a phase 1 double-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a HIV-1 envelope protein (CN54 gp140) candidate vaccine delivered vaginally to assess immunogenicity and safety. It was hypothesised that repeated delivery of gp140 may facilitate antigen uptake and presentation at this mucosal surface. Twenty two healthy female volunteers aged 18–45 years were entered into the trial, the first receiving open-label active product. Subsequently, 16 women were randomised to receive 9 doses of 100 µg of gp140 in 3 ml of a Carbopol 974P based gel, 5 were randomised to placebo solution in the same gel, delivered vaginally via an applicator. Participants delivered the vaccine three times a week over three weeks during one menstrual cycle, and were followed up for two further months. There were no serious adverse events, and the vaccine was well tolerated. No sustained systemic or local IgG, IgA, or T cell responses to the gp140 were detected following vaginal immunisations. Repeated vaginal immunisation with a HIV-1 envelope protein alone formulated in Carbopol gel was safe, but did not induce local or systemic immune responses in healthy women

The Data Acquisition and Calibration System for the ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker

The SemiConductor Tracker (SCT) data acquisition (DAQ) system will calibrate, configure, and control the approximately six million front-end channels of the ATLAS silicon strip detector. It will provide a synchronized bunch-crossing clock to the front-end modules, communicate first-level triggers to the front-end chips, and transfer information about hit strips to the ATLAS high-level trigger system. The system has been used extensively for calibration and quality assurance during SCT barrel and endcap assembly and for performance confirmation tests after transport of the barrels and endcaps to CERN. Operating in data-taking mode, the DAQ has recorded nearly twenty million synchronously-triggered events during commissioning tests including almost a million cosmic ray triggered events. In this paper we describe the components of the data acquisition system, discuss its operation in calibration and data-taking modes and present some detector performance results from these tests

Integrating Clinical Probability into the Diagnostic Approach to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: An International Working Group Perspective

Background. When considering the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), experienced clinicians integrate clinical features that help to differentiate IPF from other fibrosing interstitial lung diseases, thus generating a “pre-test” probability of IPF. The aim of this international working group perspective was to summarize these features using a tabulated approach similar to chest HRCT and histopathologic patterns reported in the international guidelines for the diagnosis of IPF, and to help formally incorporate these clinical likelihoods into diagnostic reasoning to facilitate the diagnosis of IPF. Methods. The committee group identified factors that influence the clinical likelihood of a diagnosis of IPF, which was categorized as a pre-test clinical probability of IPF into “high” (70-100%), “intermediate” (30-70%), or “low” (0-30%). After integration of radiological and histopathological features, the post-test probability of diagnosis was categorized into “definite” (90-100%), “high confidence” (70-89%), “low confidence” (51-69%), or “low” (0-50%) probability of IPF. Findings. A conceptual Bayesian framework was created, integrating the clinical likelihood of IPF (“pre-test probability of IPF”) with the HRCT pattern, the histopathology pattern when available, and/or the pattern of observed disease behavior into a “post-test probability of IPF”. The diagnostic probability of IPF was expressed using an adapted diagnostic ontology for fibrotic interstitial lung diseases. Interpretation. The present approach will help incorporate the clinical judgement into the diagnosis of IPF, thus facilitating the application of IPF diagnostic guidelines and, ultimately improving diagnostic confidence and reducing the need for invasive diagnostic techniques