Severity dependent distribution of impairments in PSP and CBS: Interactive visualizations

BACKGROUND: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) -Richardson's Syndrome and Corticobasal Syndrome (CBS) are the two classic clinical syndromes associated with underlying four repeat (4R) tau pathology. The PSP Rating Scale is a commonly used assessment in PSP clinical trials; there is an increasing interest in designing combined 4R tauopathy clinical trials involving both CBS and PSP. OBJECTIVES: To determine contributions of each domain of the PSP Rating Scale to overall severity and characterize the probable sequence of clinical progression of PSP as compared to CBS. METHODS: Multicenter clinical trial and natural history study data were analyzed from 545 patients with PSP and 49 with CBS. Proportional odds models were applied to model normalized cross-sectional PSP Rating Scale, estimating the probability that a patient would experience impairment in each domain using the PSP Rating Scale total score as the index of overall disease severity. RESULTS: The earliest symptom domain to demonstrate impairment in PSP patients was most likely to be Ocular Motor, followed jointly by Gait/Midline and Daily Activities, then Limb Motor and Mentation, and finally Bulbar. For CBS, Limb Motor manifested first and ocular showed less probability of impairment throughout the disease spectrum. An online tool to visualize predicted disease progression was developed to predict relative disability on each subscale per overall disease severity. CONCLUSION: The PSP Rating Scale captures disease severity in both PSP and CBS. Modelling how domains change in relation to one other at varying disease severities may facilitate detection of therapeutic effects in future clinical trials

Improvement of thick printed copper substrates solderability by formic acid

This paper deals with solderability of thick printed copper substrates using formic acid vapours in combination with vacuum soldering technology. The topic of low void, preferably void free joints in the field of electronics is important, because of rising demand in high-power applications. Void presence can cause many negative effects such as localized overheating or mechanical stress vulnerability which can result into cracks and splits. If the joints are partially or fully destroyed, the product is non-functional and can lead to its total destruction. This condition can result even in life threatening situation

Temperature stable solder pastes: properties and reliability

Tento článek se zabývá použitím teplotně stabilních pájecích past, což je jedním ze současných trendů v technologii pájení. Zmíněné pasty není nutné skladovat v chladničce a ani nemusejí být před použitím temperovány na pokojovou teplotu. Na současném trhu lze nalézt několik značek teplotně stabilních pájecích past. Tento článek popisuje návrh a realizaci experimentů zaměřených na ověření výrobci deklarovaných vlastností těchto past. Tyto experimenty byly zároveň navrženy a realizovány dle metodiky “Design of Experiments”. V závěru tohoto článku jsou prez entovány výsledky a doporučení pro použití těchto past v praxi.This article deals with one of the newest trends in soldering that means a using of the temperature stable solder pastes. These pas tes do not need to be stored in fridge and do not need to be tempered to the room temperature before their use. On the market, several brands of temperature stable solder pastes are available. The article describes designed and performed experiments which aim to verify the declared properties. The experiments were designed and performed according Design of Experiments methodology. The results and recommendation for practice are presented at the end of the article

Mechanical Testing of Joints Glued/Soldered on Textile Ribbons

the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the project OP VVV Electrical Engineering Technologies with High-Level of Embedded Intelligence CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/18_069/0009855 and by the Student Grant Agency of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, grant No. SGS-2018-016 “Technology and Materials Systems in Electrical Engineering”This paper deals with the assembly of SMD chip resistors onto a conductive textile ribbon by soldering or gluing. The main goal of our research was to verify the reliability of joints after jerk testing of ribbons. The results showed that soldered / glued joints on electrically conductive textile ribbon are reliable during jerking test until the destruction of whole ribbon and electrical resistance of joints is low and stable until this destruction during extreme jerking

Patient-reported outcomes, health-related quality of life, and acute medication use in patients with a ≥ 75% response to eptinezumab: subgroup pooled analysis of the PROMISE trials

Background: PROMISE-1 and PROMISE-2 evaluated the preventive efficacy, tolerability, and safety of eptinezumab, a calcitonin gene-related peptide–targeted monoclonal antibody, in adults with episodic (EM) and chronic migraine (CM), finding significant reductions in migraine frequency. This post hoc analysis compared patient-reported outcomes (PROs), health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and acute medication use in patients with a ≥ 75% migraine responder rate (MRR) after treatment with eptinezumab to patients with a ≥ 50– < 75% MRR. Methods: PROMISE-1 and PROMISE-2 were phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. This analysis included patients from both studies treated with eptinezumab 100 mg or 300 mg who experienced ≥ 75% and ≥ 50–< 75% MRR over Weeks 1–12 (wks1–12). In both studies, HRQoL was measured by the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and acute medication usage. PROMISE-2 also included the 6-item Headache Impact Test (HIT-6), patient-identified most bothersome symptom (PI-MBS), and Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC). Results: In PROMISE-1, a total of 115/443 (26.0%; 100 mg, n = 49, 300 mg, n = 66) and 120/443 (27.0%; 100 mg, n = 61, 300 mg, n = 59) eptinezumab-treated patients achieved ≥ 75% and ≥ 50–< 75% MRR over wks1–12, respectively. In PROMISE-2, a total of 211/706 (30.0%; 100 mg, n = 95; 300 mg, n = 116) and 209/706 (29.6%; 100 mg, n = 110, 300 mg, n = 99) eptinezumab-treated patients achieved ≥ 75% and ≥ 50–< 75% MRR over wks1–12, respectively. EM and CM patients with ≥ 75% and ≥ 50–< 75% MRR over wks1–12 showed reduced use of acute headache medication and increased HRQoL to normative levels across SF-36 domains of bodily pain, social functioning, and physical functioning. In CM patients with ≥ 75% and ≥ 50–< 75% MRR over wks1–12, the mean change in HIT-6 total score with eptinezumab (pooled) was − 11.7 and − 7.6, respectively. “Very much” or “much” improvement responses were reported in 41.8% and 16.5% on PI-MBS and 36.2% and 20.0% on PGIC in ≥ 75% and ≥ 50–< 75% MRR, respectively. Conclusion: Eptinezumab treatment induced a ≥ 75% MRR over wks1–12 in the majority of patients. This patient subgroup reported substantial improvements in PROs associated with headache-related life impact and HRQoL, and reductions in acute headache medication use, which were more marked than those in the ≥ 50–< 75% responders. This study supports the clinical meaningfulness of ≥ 75% MRR for patients with either EM or CM. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT02559895 (PROMISE-1), NCT02974153 (PROMISE-2)