The effect of silica-containing binders on the titanium/face coat reaction

The interactions of CP-Ti and Ti-6Al-4V with investment molds containing alumina/silica and yttria/silica face coat systems were studied. Containerless melting in a vacuum was employed and small test samples were made by drop casting into the molds. The effects of the face coat material and mold preheat temperatures on the thickness of the alpha case on the castings were evaluated with microhardness and microprobe measurements. It was found that the thickness of the alpha case was the same, whether a yttria/silica or alumina/silica face coat was used, indicating that the silica binder reacted with the titanium. Hence, the use of expensive refractories, such as yttria, represents an unnecessary cost when combined with a silica binder. It was also found that the alloyed titanium castings had a thinner alpha case than those produced from CP-Ti, which suggests that the thickness of the alpha case depends on the crystal structure of the alloy during cooling from high temperatures. Furthermore, castings made in small yttria crucibles used as molds exhibited little or no alpha case

Operationalizing NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) in naturalistic clinical settings

Recently, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) introduced the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative to address two major challenges facing the field of psychiatry: (1) the lack of new effective personalized treatments for psychiatric disorders, and (2) the limitations associated with categorically-defined psychiatric disorders. While the potential of RDoC to revolutionize personalized psychiatric medicine and psychiatric nosology has been acknowledged, it is unclear how to implement RDoC in naturalistic clinical settings as part of routine outcomes research. In this paper we present the major RDoC principles and then show how these principles are operationalized in the Menninger Clinic’s McNair Initiative for Neuroscience Discovery-Menninger & Baylor College of Medicine (MIND-MB) study. We discuss how RDoC-informed outcomes-based assessment in clinical settings can transform personalized clinical care through multimodal treatments

DSM borderline criterion function across age groups: A cross-sectional mixed-method study

DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) Section II criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD) lack developmental operationalization. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether DSM criteria operate similarly across adolescents and adults to determine if developmental adjustment for DSM criteria was needed. Three age cohorts were recruited: adolescents (ages 12-17 years; n = 484), young adults (ages 18-25 years; n = 442), and adults (ages ≥26 years; n = 953). The Child Interview for DSM-IV BPD and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II disorders were administered to adolescents and adults, respectively. Item response theory methods were used to evaluate differential item (or criterion) functioning (DIF) of BPD criteria across adolescents and adults. Qualitative analyses were then used to evaluate the potential sources of DIF. Item response theory results demonstrated DIF across adolescents and adults for all DSM BPD criteria. Qualitative analyses suggested that the source of DIF was most likely due to rater/interviewer bias. Results furthermore suggested that behavioral criteria may represent the heterotypic features of BPD, while intra- and interpersonal criteria represent the homotypic features of the disorder. The article concludes with recommendations for developmentally informed guidelines for the assessment of BPD

Secukinumab demonstrates superiority over narrow-band ultraviolet B phototherapy in new-onset moderate to severe plaque psoriasis patients: Week 52 results from the STEPIn study.

Biologic treatments have been studied mainly in patients with a long-term history of psoriasis and previous treatment failures. The purpose of this primary analysis of the STEPIn study is to determine whether early intervention with secukinumab in patients with new-onset moderate to severe plaque psoriasis is superior to standard of care treatment with narrow band ultraviolet B (nb-UVB) phototherapy. The STEPIn study is a randomized, open-label, multicentre study to investigate early intervention with 52 weeks of secukinumab 300 mg administered subcutaneously versus standard treatment with nb-UVB phototherapy in patients with new-onset (≤12 months) moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (NCT03020199). The primary and additional secondary endpoints were ≥90% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 90) at Week 52 and Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA mod 2011) 0/1 response at Week 52, respectively. In the secukinumab and nb-UVB study arms, 77/80 and 76/80 randomized patients received at least one dose of study treatment, respectively. The primary endpoint was achieved: 91.1% (70/77) of patients achieved a PASI 90 response at Week 52 in the secukinumab arm versus 42.3% (32/76) in the nb-UVB arm (p < 0.0001, odds ratio [OR] estimate [95% confidence intervals, CI] = 16.3 [5.6, 46.9]). The additional secondary endpoint was also achieved: 85.7% of patients achieved an IGA 0/1 response at Week 52 in the secukinumab arm versus 36.8% in the nb-UVB arm (p < 0.0001). The safety data were consistent with the safety profiles of secukinumab and nb-UVB with no new or unexpected safety signals. Secukinumab was superior to nb-UVB in treating patients with new-onset moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The high and sustained skin clearance observed indicates that biologic treatment for psoriasis may be more effective if used early in the disease course

1386pdimpower150 clinical safety tolerability and immune related adverse events in a phase iii study of atezolizumab atezo chemotherapy chemo bevacizumab bev vs chemo bev in 1l nonsquamous nsclc

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The Reproducibility of Lists of Differentially Expressed Genes in Microarray Studies

Reproducibility is a fundamental requirement in scientific experiments and clinical contexts. Recent publications raise concerns about the reliability of microarray technology because of the apparent lack of agreement between lists of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). In this study we demonstrate that (1) such discordance may stem from ranking and selecting DEGs solely by statistical significance (P) derived from widely used simple t-tests; (2) when fold change (FC) is used as the ranking criterion, the lists become much more reproducible, especially when fewer genes are selected; and (3) the instability of short DEG lists based on P cutoffs is an expected mathematical consequence of the high variability of the t-values. We recommend the use of FC ranking plus a non-stringent P cutoff as a baseline practice in order to generate more reproducible DEG lists. The FC criterion enhances reproducibility while the P criterion balances sensitivity and specificity

Cervelleite, Ag4TeS: solution and description of the crystal structure

Copyright: Springer-Verlag Wien 2015. This is the final, post refereeing version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00710-015-0384-

Minimally invasive strabismus surgery (MISS) for inferior obliquus recession

PURPOSE: To present a novel, minimally invasive strabismus surgery (MISS) technique for inferior obliquus recessions. METHODS: Graded MISS inferior obliquus recessions were performed in 20 eyes of 15 patients by applying two small conjunctival cuts, one at the insertion of inferior obliquus and another where the scleral anchoring of the muscle occurred. RESULTS: The amount of recession was 12.2 +/- 2.3 mm (range 6 to 14 mm). The vertical deviation, which was measured in 25 degrees of adduction, decreased from preoperatively 12.8 degrees +/- 5.6 degrees to 2.7 degrees +/- 2.2 degrees (p 0.1). In one eye (2.5%) the two cuts had to be joined because of excessive bleeding. Binocular vision improved in eight patients, remained unchanged in six patients, and decreased from 30 to 60 arcsec in one patient (p > 0.1). Conjunctival and lid swelling were hardly visible on the first postoperative day in primary gaze position in 10/20 (50%) of eyes. Five of the eyes (25%) had mild and five (25%) moderate visibility of surgery. One patient out of 15 (7%) needed repeat surgery because of insufficient reduction of the sursoadduction within the first 6 months. The dose-effect relationship 6 months postoperatively for an accommodative near target at 25 degrees adduction was 0.83 degrees +/- 0.43 degrees per mm of recession. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that small-incision, minimal dissection inferior obliquus graded recessions are feasible and effective to improve ocular alignment in patients with strabismus sursoadductorius

Diffusion of e-health innovations in 'post-conflict' settings: a qualitative study on the personal experiences of health workers.

BACKGROUND: Technological innovations have the potential to strengthen human resources for health and improve access and quality of care in challenging 'post-conflict' contexts. However, analyses on the adoption of technology for health (that is, 'e-health') and whether and how e-health can strengthen a health workforce in these settings have been limited so far. This study explores the personal experiences of health workers using e-health innovations in selected post-conflict situations. METHODS: This study had a cross-sectional qualitative design. Telephone interviews were conducted with 12 health workers, from a variety of cadres and stages in their careers, from four post-conflict settings (Liberia, West Bank and Gaza, Sierra Leone and Somaliland) in 2012. Everett Roger's diffusion of innovation-decision model (that is, knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, contemplation) guided the thematic analysis. RESULTS: All health workers interviewed held positive perceptions of e-health, related to their beliefs that e-health can help them to access information and communicate with other health workers. However, understanding of the scope of e-health was generally limited, and often based on innovations that health workers have been introduced through by their international partners. Health workers reported a range of engagement with e-health innovations, mostly for communication (for example, email) and educational purposes (for example, online learning platforms). Poor, unreliable and unaffordable Internet was a commonly mentioned barrier to e-health use. Scaling-up existing e-health partnerships and innovations were suggested starting points to increase e-health innovation dissemination. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study showed ICT based e-health innovations can relieve information and communication needs of health workers in post-conflict settings. However, more efforts and investments, preferably driven by healthcare workers within the post-conflict context, are needed to make e-health more widespread and sustainable. Increased awareness is necessary among health professionals, even among current e-health users, and physical and financial access barriers need to be addressed. Future e-health initiatives are likely to increase their impact if based on perceived health information needs of intended users