An optimized D-dimer cut-off value to predict pulmonary thromboembolism in COVID-19 patients

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a common complication in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Elevated D-dimer levels are observed even in the absence of PTE, reducing its discriminative ability as a screening test. It is unknown whether conventional D-dimer cut-off values, as used in the YEARS algorithm, apply to COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to determine the optimal D-dimer cut-off value to predict PTE in COVID-19 patients. All confirmed COVID-19 patients with a computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) performed ≤5 days after admission due to suspicion of PTE between March 2020 and February 2021, at Medisch Spectrum Twente, The Netherlands, were retrospectively analyzed. The association between PTE and D-dimer levels prior to CTPA, and other potential predictors, was analyzed using logistic regression analyses. The optimal cut-off value was identified using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. In 142 patients, PTE prevalence was 20.4%. The optimal cut-off value was 750 ng/mL (sensitivity 100%; specificity 19.5%; negative predictive value 100%; positive predictive value 24.2%). In total, 15 of 113 (13%) patients without PTE had a D-dimer level ≥500 and &lt;750 ng/mL. In our population of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, a D-dimer level &lt;750 ng/mL safely excluded PTE. Compared to the YEARS 500 ng/mL cut-off value, 13% fewer patients are in need of a CTPA, with similar sensitivity. Future research is required for external validation.</p

Communities of Practice in Academic Administration: An Example from Managing Undergraduate Research at a Research-Intensive University

Inspired by the need to connect virtually during COVID-19 operations, a community of practice for facilitators of undergraduate research experiences was initiated at our university. Weekly virtual meetings quickly expanded to fill an unmet need for cross-campus support of research experiences more generally, including clarification of liability concerns, best practices for crafting inclusive application materials, culturally competent mentorship, and the abrupt transition to online research experiences. The resulting synergy of ideas also yielded significant new initiatives including an anti-racist research curriculum, federal grant proposals, and campus-wide outreach activities. The community of practice has continued to evolve with a sustainability focus, utilizing the model of a dedicated meeting facilitator and regular meeting times, coupled with responsiveness to pressing issues articulated by participants. Regular participants report improved outcomes for their students as a result of the community of practice discussions, as well as a space for personal and professional support and networking

Mood and emotional reactivity of adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: the short-term and long-term effects and the impact of social and socioeconomic stressors

Adolescence is a formative period for socio-emotional development which is threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current longitudinal study examined two aims: (1) the short- and long-term effects of the pandemic on young people’s mood (i.e. vigor, tension, and depression levels) and emotional reactivity (i.e. fluctuations in daily mood), and (2) the impact of stressors on mood, emotional reactivity, self-oriented (i.e. maladaptive behavior towards COVID-19 rules) and other-benefitting behaviors (i.e. behavior aimed at helping and comforting others). We conducted an online two-week daily diary study among 462 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 15.27 years, 64% females) and 371 young adults (Mage = 21.49 years, 81% females) in May 2020, with a follow-up in November 2020 (N = 238 and 231, respectively adolescents and young adults). In May 2020, young adults and older relative to younger adolescents showed higher levels and more fluctuations in tension and depression and lower levels of vigor. Vigor levels decreased and tension and depression levels increased between May 2020 and November 2020, especiall

Effects of sublethal single, simultaneous and sequential abiotic stresses on phenotypic traits of Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant responses to abiotic stresses are complex and dynamic, and involve changes in different traits, either as the direct consequence of the stress, or as an active acclimatory response. Abiotic stresses frequently occur simultaneously or in succession, rather than in isolation. Despite this, most studies have focused on a single stress and single or few plant traits. To address this gap, our study comprehensively and categorically quantified the individual and combined effects of three major abiotic stresses associated with climate change (flooding, progressive drought and high temperature) on 12 phenotypic traits related to morphology, development, growth and fitness, at different developmental stages in four Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. Combined sublethal stresses were applied either simultaneously (high temperature and drought) or sequentially (flooding followed by drought). In total, we analysed the phenotypic responses of 1782 individuals across these stresses and different developmental stages. Overall, abiotic stresses and their combinations resulted in distinct patterns of effects across the traits analysed, with both quantitative and qualitative differences across accessions. Stress combinations had additive effects on some traits, whereas clear positive and negative interactions were observed for other traits: 9 out of 12 traits for high temperature and drought, 6 out of 12 traits for post-submergence and drought showed significant interactions. In many cases where the stresses interacted, the strength of interactions varied across accessions. Hence, our results indicated a general pattern of response in most phenotypic traits to the different stresses and stress combinations, but it also indicated a natural genetic variation in the strength of these responses. This includes novel results regarding the lack of a response to drought after submergence and a decoupling between leaf number and flowering time after submergence. Overall, our study provides a rich characterization of trait responses of Arabidopsis plants to sublethal abiotic stresses at the phenotypic level and can serve as starting point for further in-depth physiological research and plant modelling efforts

Joint Observation of the Galactic Center with MAGIC and CTA-LST-1

MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs), designed to detect very-high-energy gamma rays, and is operating in stereoscopic mode since 2009 at the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos in La Palma, Spain. In 2018, the prototype IACT of the Large-Sized Telescope (LST-1) for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, a next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory, was inaugurated at the same site, at a distance of approximately 100 meters from the MAGIC telescopes. Using joint observations between MAGIC and LST-1, we developed a dedicated analysis pipeline and established the threefold telescope system via software, achieving the highest sensitivity in the northern hemisphere. Based on this enhanced performance, MAGIC and LST-1 have been jointly and regularly observing the Galactic Center, a region of paramount importance and complexity for IACTs. In particular, the gamma-ray emission from the dynamical center of the Milky Way is under debate. Although previous measurements suggested that a supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* plays a primary role, its radiation mechanism remains unclear, mainly due to limited angular resolution and sensitivity. The enhanced sensitivity in our novel approach is thus expected to provide new insights into the question. We here present the current status of the data analysis for the Galactic Center joint MAGIC and LST-1 observations

Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften im Predatory Publishing Markt. Eine Analyse von drei Predatory Publishing Verlagen

Wissenschaft basiert auf Glaubwürdigkeit, die durch die Regeln guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis und Qualitätskontrollen gesichert wird. Predatory Publisher haben sich die Open Science Kultur zu Nutze gemacht, um daraus Profit zu schlagen, indem sie wissenschaftliche Standards vortäuschen. In der folgenden Ausarbeitung werden drei Predatory Publishing Verlage exemplarisch untersucht, um herauszufinden, wie groß der Anteil der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften am Predatory Publishing Markt ist. Die Auswertung der Analyse zeigt auf, dass der Anteil dieser Fachdisziplinen gering ist. Dies ist auf die vorherrschenden Publikationskulturen zurückzuführen, da besonders in den Geisteswissenschaften längere Publikationen wie Monographien eine wichtige Rolle spielen und Predatory Publisher größtenteils Zeitschriften publizieren. Darüber hinaus wird betrachtet, was dies für Bibliotheken und die Aufklärungsarbeit, die sie hinsichtlich des Phänomens des Predatory Publishing bereits leisten, bedeutet. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass eine Ergänzung der bestehenden Angebote um fachspezifische Beratung, aber auch um fächerübergreifende Maßnahmen, einen Mehrwert für die WissenschaftlerInnen darstellen würde.Science is based on credibility, which is guaranteed by the rules of good research practice and quality control. Predatory Publishers have taken profit from the open science culture by falsifying scientific standards. In the following paper, three Predatory Publishers are exemplarily analyzed to find out how large the share of the humanities and social sciences is in the Predatory Publishing market. The evaluation of the analysis shows that the share of these disciplines is low. This is attributed to the prevalent publication cultures, since especially in the humanities longer publications such as monographs are important and predatory publishers mainly publish journals. The paper also looks at what this means for libraries and the educational work they are already performing regarding the phenomenon of Predatory Publishing. The analysis has shown that adding subject-specific advice to existing services, as well as interdisciplinary measures, would add value for scientists

Event-Based Design Strategy for Circuit Electromagnetic Compatibility

International audienceThis paper describes a method to control the electromagnetic spectrum of an event-driven micropipeline circuit. A mask in the frequency domain is employed to constrain the circuit electromagnetic spectrum. Then a Genetic Algorithm is used to find the required delays of the micropipeline for fitting the electromagnetic spectrum defined by the mask. We observed that the higher emission peak of the asynchronous micropipeline circuit is at least 3.5 times lower than the peak of its synchronous counterpart. Moreover, if the method is applied on an event-driven circuit and not on a desynchronized circuit, better results can be reached

A Design Flow for Shaping Electromagnetic Emissions in Micropipeline Circuits

Industrial TrackInternational audienc