Use of prasugrel vs clopidogrel and outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in contemporary clinical practice: Results from the PROMETHEUS study

Background and objectivesWe sought to determine the frequency of use and association between prasugrel and outcomes in acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in clinical practice

An Examination of the Factors and Characteristics that Contribute to the Success of Putnam Fellows

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is an intercollegiate mathematics competition for students in the United States and Canada and is regarded as the most prestigious and challenging mathematics competition in North America (Alexanderson, 2004; AMS, 2020; Grossman, 2002; Reznick, 1994; Schoenfeld, 1985). Students who earn the five highest scores on the examination are named Putnam Fellows. Since its inception in 1938, only 306 individuals have won the competition and a select few have won multiple times. Clearly, being named a Putnam Fellow is a remarkable achievement and therefore, understanding the factors and characteristics that contribute to their success is important for students interested in mathematics and STEM-related fields. Twenty-five males who were named Putnam Fellows either four, three, or two times were recruited for the study. A 17-item questionnaire was created from various research sources (Campbell, 1996a, 1996b; Campbell & Wu, 1996; DeFranco, 1996), and used to collect information around four broad areas—personal experiences, formal educational experiences, the affective domain and the cognitive domain. Qualitative research techniques were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that four subcategories of personal experiences, five subcategories of formal educational experiences, seven subcategories involving the affective domain, and three subcategories of the cognitive domain all played an important role in the development of Putnam Fellows. Future research recommendations should examine the factors and characteristics of female Putnam winners and ways to promote and support them as well as the role that Pólya-like heuristics play in the development of Putnam winners

Investigación de las causas de la explosión accidental de un autoclave

Se presenta el caso de una explosión de un autoclave utilizado para el curado de caucho de la banda de rodamiento en la reparación de neumáticos de gran diámetro de aplicación en la industria minera. El siniestro implicó la voladura de una tapa de acero a varios metros del equipo con consecuencias fatales para personal de la planta. Se realizaron tres visitas, la primera de carácter informativo, la segunda de inspección mecánica y eléctrica sin afectar los componentes por razones legales, y la tercera luego del peritaje oficial para realizar mediciones con mayor libertad de acción. En base a lo observado se informa que el accidente posiblemente se debió a la conjunción de uno o más fallos de componentes individuales (sensores de fin de carrera de cierre de aros, luces indicadoras de seguridad) con información incompleta sobre el sistema de seguridad, que indujeron al operador a continuar con la presurización del autoclave aun cuando la puerta no estaba correctamente trabada. Se concluye que, si bien la causa inmediata del accidente fue un error humano, el sistema de seguridad del que estaba provisto el autoclave no proveía su objetivo último de proteger al equipo de un error de operación.Facultad de Ingenierí

Primate-specific evolution of noncoding element insertion into PLA2G4C and human preterm birth

Background The onset of birth in humans, like other apes, differs from non-primate mammals in its endocrine physiology. We hypothesize that higher primate-specific gene evolution may lead to these differences and target genes involved in human preterm birth, an area of global health significance. Methods We performed a comparative genomics screen of highly conserved noncoding elements and identified PLA2G4C, a phospholipase A isoform involved in prostaglandin biosynthesis as human accelerated. To examine whether this gene demonstrating primate-specific evolution was associated with birth timing, we genotyped and analyzed 8 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in PLA2G4C in US Hispanic (n = 73 preterm, 292 control), US White (n = 147 preterm, 157 control) and US Black (n = 79 preterm, 166 control) mothers. Results Detailed structural and phylogenic analysis of PLA2G4C suggested a short genomic element within the gene duplicated from a paralogous highly conserved element on chromosome 1 specifically in primates. SNPs rs8110925 and rs2307276 in US Hispanics and rs11564620 in US Whites were significant after correcting for multiple tests (p < 0.006). Additionally, rs11564620 (Thr360Pro) was associated with increased metabolite levels of the prostaglandin thromboxane in healthy individuals (p = 0.02), suggesting this variant may affect PLA2G4C activity. Conclusions Our findings suggest that variation in PLA2G4C may influence preterm birth risk by increasing levels of prostaglandins, which are known to regulate labor.Children’s Discovery InstituteMarch of Dimes Birth Defects FoundationNational Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (grant T32 GM081739)Washington University (Saint Louis, Mo.) (Mr. and Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowship for Women in Graduate Study)Sigrid Jusélius FoundationSigne and Anne Gyllenberg FoundationAcademy of FinlandVanderbilt University (Turner-Hazinski grant award