Safety of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background/Aims: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a technically challenging procedure rarely associated with severe postprocedure complications. Hormonal changes during pregnancy promote cholelithiasis, but there are limited clinical data available on the outcomes of ERCP in pregnant women. ERCP techniques without irradiation were recently introduced as potential alternative. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the safety of ERCP in pregnancy and to compare outcomes of radiation versus nonradiation ERCP. Materials and Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Medline/Ovid, Web of Science, and Google Scholar through April 18th, 2018 using PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines identified 27 studies reporting the outcomes of ERCP in pregnancy. Random effects pooled event rate and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. Heterogeneity was measured by I2, and meta-regression analysis was conducted. Adverse outcomes were divided into fetal, maternal pregnancy-related, and maternal nonpregnancy-related. Results: In all, 27 studies reporting on 1,307 pregnant patients who underwent ERCP were identified. Median age was 27.1 years. All results were statistically significant (P...) (See full abstract in article)

GIST-AiTeR Speaker Diarization System for VoxCeleb Speaker Recognition Challenge (VoxSRC) 2023

This report describes the submission system by the GIST-AiTeR team for the VoxCeleb Speaker Recognition Challenge 2023 (VoxSRC-23) Track 4. Our submission system focuses on implementing diverse speaker diarization (SD) techniques, including ResNet293 and MFA-Conformer with different combinations of segment and hop length. Then, those models are combined into an ensemble model. The ResNet293 and MFA-Conformer models exhibited the diarization error rates (DERs) of 3.65% and 3.83% on VAL46, respectively. The submitted ensemble model provided a DER of 3.50% on VAL46, and consequently, it achieved a DER of 4.88% on the VoxSRC-23 test set.Comment: 2023 VoxSRC Track

Controller optimization with constraints on probabilistic peak responses

Peak response is a more suitable index than mean response in the light of structural safety. In this study, a controller optimization method is proposed to restrict peak responses of building structures subject to earthquake excitations, which are modeled as partially stationary stochastic process. The constraints are given with specified failure probabilities of peak responses. LQR is chosen to assure stability in numerical process of optimization. Optimization problem is formulated with weightings on controlled outputs as design variables and gradients of objective and constraint functions are derived. Full state feedback controllers designed by the proposed method satisfy various design objectives and output feedback controllers using LQG also yield similar results without significant performance deterioration.The work presented in this paper was partially supported by Research Fund of the National Research Laboratory Program (Project No. M1-0203-00-0068) from the Ministry of Science and Technology in Korea. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support of this research by the Smart Infra-Structure Technology Center (SISTeC) (Project No. R11-2022-101-03004-0(2002))

Hu.4-1BB-Fc fusion protein inhibits allergic inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness in a murine model of asthma

Purpose4-1BB (CD 137) is a costimulatory molecule expressed on activated T-cells. Repression by 4-1BB is thought to attenuate Th2-mediated allergic reactions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 4-1BB on allergic airway inflammation in a murine asthma model.MethodsBALB/c mice were sensitized to and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA). Hu.4-1BB-Fc was administered 1 day before the first OVA sensitization or 1 day after the second OVA sensitization. Following antigen challenge, airway responsiveness to methacholine was assessed and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was analyzed. Total immunoglobulin (Ig) E, OVA-specific IgE, IgG1, and IgG2a levels in sera were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Lung pathology was also evaluated.ResultsIn mice treated with Hu.4-1BB-Fc before the first OVA sensitization, there was a marked decrease in airway hyperresponsiveness, total cell count, and eosinophil count in the BAL fluid. In addition, Hu.4-1BB-Fc treatment decreased serum OVA-specific IgG1 levels and increased serum IgG2a level significantly compared with the corresponding levels in mice sensitized to and challenged with OVA. Hu.4-1BB-Fc-treated mice also showed suppressed peribronchial and perivascular inflammatory cell infiltration. In contrast, treatment with Hu.4-1BB-Fc 1 day after sensitization had no effect on airway hyperresponsiveness and showed less suppression of inflammation in lung tissue.ConclusionAdministration of Hu.4-1BB-Fc can attenuate airway inflammation and hyperreactivity in a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. In addition, administration before sensitization may be more effective. These findings suggest that 4-1BB may be a useful therapeutic molecule against asthma