Proceedings: Sixth Annual Workshop on Meteorological and Environmental Inputs to Aviation Systems

The topics of interaction of the atmosphere with aviation systems, the better definition and implementation of services to operators, and the collection and interpretation of data for establishing operational criteria relating the total meteorological inputs from the atmospheric sciences to the needs of aviation communities were addressed

J Hershman Letter to Gary Cohen re D Bisenius Quotes

This letter is addressed to Gary J. Cohe

Freddie Mac Counsel letter to the FCIC

This letter is addressed to Gary J. Cohe

The role of variation in genetic susceptibility to soybean rust on the photosynthetic competence of infected leaves.

Three soybean rust infection types have been reported: 1) tan lesions indicate a compatible and susceptible reaction, 2) red- brown (RB) lesion type has been associated with few non-sporulating uredinia representing a resistant reaction, and 3) immune reaction with no visible evidence of infection. Differences among cultivars would imply genotypic differences in tolerance, which can be define as the ability of the host to endure the presence of the pathogen with reduced disease symptoms and/or damages. Soybean rust-induced yield loss has been associated with reduction in light interception due to premature leaf loss and the lesions on the remaining green leaves. Incorporation of the effect of the pathogen on photosynthetic efficiency of disease leaves from different soybean cultivars in model to predict production might increase the accuracy and precision of the estimates supply by this model. Bastiaans (1991) proposed the concept of a "virtual lesion" and developed a simple model Y= (1-x)? to fit empirical data and describe the relationship between the reduction in relative photosynthesis in a diseased leaf (Y), and the disease severity (x). The value of â indicates whether the effect of disease on photosynthesis is higher (? > 1), lower (? < l) or equal (? = 1) to that accounted for by the observed diseased area. Reliable estimate of disease effects on growth and yield depends on the ability to accurate quantify the parameter ?. The objective of the current study was to determine the role of host-plant variation in disease susceptibility on soybean leaf gas exchange in field and control environment studies. The specific objectives are to quantify the ? value for SBR-infected leaves as influenced by plant growing conditions and genetic variation in disease susceptibility.Edição do Proceedings of the National Soybean Rust Symposium, New Orleans, 2009

Oncology Practice during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In just a few short weeks, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has transformed health care delivery around the globe. The crisis has dismantled how care is delivered and forced clinicians to make difficult triage decisions about what types and components of care have limited immediate value and which are essential for optimal outcomes. Because some malignancies could pose an immediate threat to survival, cancer provides a lens into the major shifts currently underway in clinical care. Cancer and cancer-related treatments frequently cause immunosuppression, and patients with cancer have excess mortality risk from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The magnitude of this risk is not yet known but early reports suggest a substantial increased risk of death associated with COVID-19 infection among patients with cancer, perhaps highest among those older than 60 years and those with pulmonary compromise

The timing of cranial radiation in elderly patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme

There are few and conflicting studies on the optimal timing of initial cranial radiation in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) but none of them have addressed this issue in the elderly population. We used the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Medicare database to investigate whether the time interval from surgery to initiation of radiation is a significant prognostic factor for survival in subjects aged ≥65 years with newly diagnosed GBM. Cox modeling was used to assess the effect of waiting time on overall survival. We identified a total of 1,375 patients, 296 with biopsies and 1,079 with resections. The median time to the initiation of radiotherapy was 15 days post operation (interquartile range 12–21). In the univariate Cox analysis of those who had debulking surgeries, a waiting time of >22 days showed a significant inverse relationship with survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.82, 95% CI 0.70–0.97, p = 0.02), but after adjustment for confounders, it was not a statistically significant factor in the final Cox model (HR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.97–1.01, p = 0.14). Therefore, waiting time was not a significant prognostic factor for subjects with biopsies in both the univariate and multivariate analyses. Although effort should be made to initiate radiotherapy as soon as possible after surgical resection/biopsy, a brief delay similar to that experienced by our cohort does not have a significant impact on survival

Next generation sequencing with copy number variant detection expands the phenotypic spectrum of HSD17B4-deficiency

Background: D-bifunctional protein deficiency, caused by recessive mutations in HSD17B4, is a severe, infantile-onset disorder of peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation. Few affected patients survive past two years of age. Compound heterozygous mutations in HSD17B4 have also been reported in two sisters diagnosed with Perrault syndrome (MIM # 233400), who presented in adolescence with ovarian dysgenesis, hearing loss, and ataxia. Case presentation: An adult male presented with cerebellar ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, hearing loss, and azoospermia. The clinical presentation, in combination with biochemical findings in serum, urine, and muscle biopsy, suggested a mitochondrial disorder. Commercial genetic testing of 18 ataxia and mitochondrial disease genes was negative. Targeted exome sequencing followed by analysis of single nucleotide variants and small insertions/deletions failed to reveal a genetic basis of disease. Application of a computational algorithm to infer copy number variants (CNVs) from exome data revealed a heterozygous 12 kb deletion of exons 10–13 of HSD17B4 that was compounded with a rare missense variant (p.A196V) at a highly conserved residue. Retrospective review of patient records revealed mildly elevated ratios of pristanic:phytanic acid and arachidonic:docosahexaenoic acid, consistent with dysfunctional peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation. Conclusion: Our case expands the phenotypic spectrum of HSD17B4-deficiency, representing the first male case reported with infertility. Furthermore, it points to crosstalk between mitochondria and peroxisomes in HSD17B4-deficiency and Perrault syndrome

A low pH enzyme linked immunoassay using two monoclonal antibodies for the serological detection and monitoring of breast cancer.

A new, simple and sensitive low pH ELISA method has been developed to measure serum levels of tumour associated antigens detectable by monoclonal antibodies HMFG1 and HMFG2. We examined sera from healthy controls, patients with neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions of breast, liver and gastrointestinal tract. The majority of patients with metastatic breast cancer had elevated serum antigens (69% HMFG1, 72% HMFG2) compared to healthy controls (6.3% HMFG1, 3.0% HMFG2) or patients with benign breast disease (17% HMFG1, 4% HMFG2). There was no discrimination using these assays between patients with neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions of liver and gastrointestinal tract. This new method promises to be of value in the assessment and management of patients with breast cancer

Trends in Medical Aid in Dying in Oregon and Washington.

ImportanceThe combined 28 years of data of medical aid in dying (MAID) between Oregon (OR) and Washington (WA) are the most comprehensive in North America. No reports to date have compared MAID use in different US states.ObjectiveTo evaluate and compare patterns of MAID use between the states with the longest-running US death with dignity programs.Design, setting, and participantsA retrospective observational cohort study of OR and WA patients with terminal illness who received prescriptions as part of their states' legislation allowing MAID. All published annual reports, from 1998 to 2017 in OR and from 2009 to 2017 in WA, were reviewed. A total of 3368 prescriptions were included.Main outcomes and measuresNumber of deaths from self-administration of lethal medication vs number of prescriptions written.ResultsA combined 3368 prescriptions were written in OR and WA, with 2558 patient deaths from lethal ingestion (76.0%). Of the 2558 patients, most were male (1311 [51.3%]), older than 65 years (1851 [72.4%]), and non-Hispanic white (2426 [94.8%]). The most common underlying illnesses were cancer (1955 [76.4%]), neurologic illness (261 [10.2%]), lung disease (144 [5.6%]), and heart disease (117 [4.6%]). Loss of autonomy (2235 [87.4%]), impaired quality of life (2203 [86.1%]), and loss of dignity (1755 [68.6%]) were the most common reasons for pursuing MAID. Time between drug intake to coma ranged from 1 to 660 minutes and time from drug intake to death ranged from 1 to 6240 minutes. In the 1557 patients for whom rates of complications were reported, 1494 (96.0%) did not experience a complication (592 of 626 [94.6%] in OR and 902 of 931 [96.8%] in WA). Eight patients (&lt;0.5%) regained consciousness after drug ingestion in OR. Annual rates per year for percentage of patients who received a prescription ingesting the prescribed medication ranged from 48% to 87%, with no significant time trend in OR (adjusted odds ratio per year, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.02; P = .59) but with an increase over time in WA (adjusted odds ratio per year, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.08-1.19; P &lt; .001). In both OR and WA there were increases in the number of patient deaths due to MAID per 1000 deaths over time.Conclusions and relevanceIn this study, MAID results in Oregon and Washington were similar, although MAID use measured as a percentage of patients prescribed lethal medications and then self-administering them increased only in WA. Most patients who acquired lethal prescriptions had cancer or terminal illnesses that are difficult to palliate and lead to loss of autonomy, dignity, and quality of life

Quantum key distribution and 1 Gbit/s data encryption over a single fibre

We perform quantum key distribution (QKD) in the presence of 4 classical channels in a C-band dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) configuration using a commercial QKD system. The classical channels are used for key distillation and 1 Gbps encrypted communication, rendering the entire system independent from any other communication channel than a single dedicated fibre. We successfully distil secret keys over fibre spans of up to 50 km. The separation between quantum channel and nearest classical channel is only 200 GHz, while the classical channels are all separated by 100 GHz. In addition to that we discuss possible improvements and alternative configurations, for instance whether it is advantageous to choose the quantum channel at 1310 nm or to opt for a pure C-band configuration.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure