EuroSpine Task Force on Research: support for spine researchers

In recognition of the value of research to the practice of spine care, Federico Balagué and Ferran Pellisé, at the time President and Secretary for EuroSpine, asked Margareta Nordin to set up a Task Force on Research (TFR) for EuroSpine during summer 2011. The concept was to stimulate and facilitate a research community within the society, through two main functions: (1) distribution of EuroSpine funds to researchers; (2) develop and deliver research training/education courses. What has the EuroSpine TFR accomplished since its inception

Studies of C-14 and Be-10 production rates and terrestrial ages of desert meteorites

Accepted versio

A modeling investigation of canopy-air oxygen isotopic exchange of water vapor and carbon dioxide in a soybean field

The oxygen isotopes of CO2 and H2O ( 18O-CO2 and 18O-H2O) provide unique information regarding the contribution of terrestrial vegetation to the global CO2 and H2O cycles. In this paper, a simple isotopic land surface model was used to investigate processes controlling the isotopic exchange of 18O-H2O and 18O-CO2 between a soybean ecosystem and the atmosphere. We included in a standard land surface model a nonsteady state theory of leaf water isotopic composition, a canopy kinetic fractionation factor, and a big-leaf parameterization of the 18O-CO2 isoforcing on the atmosphere. Our model simulations showed that the Pclet effect was less important than the nonsteady state effect on the temporal dynamics of the water isotopic exchange. The model reproduced the highly significant and negative correlation between relative humidity and the ecosystem-scale 18O-CO2 isoforcing measured with eddy covariance. But the model-predicted isoforcing was biased high in comparison to the observations. Model sensitivity analysis suggested that the CO2 hydration efficiency must have been much lower in the leaves of soybean in field conditions than previously reported. Understanding environmental controls on the hydration efficiency and the scaling from the leaf to the canopy represents an area in need of more research. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union

The Outstanding Decisions of the United States Supreme Court in 1954

We perform a kinematic and morphological analysis of 44 star-forming galaxies at z ̃ 2 in the COSMOS legacy field using near-infrared spectroscopy from Keck/MOSFIRE and F160W imaging from CANDELS/3D-HST as part of the ZFIRE survey. Our sample consists of cluster and field galaxies from 2.0 < z < 2.5 with K-band multi-object slit spectroscopic measurements of their Hα emission lines. Hα rotational velocities and gas velocity dispersions are measured using the Heidelberg Emission Line Algorithm (HELA), which compares directly to simulated 3D data cubes. Using a suite of simulated emission lines, we determine that HELA reliably recovers input S 0.5 and angular momentum at small offsets, but V 2.2/σ g values are offset and highly scattered. We examine the role of regular and irregular morphology in the stellar mass kinematic scaling relations, deriving the kinematic measurement S 0.5, and finding {log}({S}0.5)=(0.38+/- 0.07){log}(M/{M}☉ -10)+(2.04+/- 0.03) with no significant offset between morphological populations and similar levels of scatter (̃0.16 dex). Additionally, we identify a correlation between M ⋆ and V 2.2/σ g for the total sample, showing an increasing level of rotation dominance with increasing M ⋆, and a high level of scatter for both regular and irregular galaxies. We estimate the specific angular momenta (j disk) of these galaxies and find a slope of 0.36 ± 0.12, shallower than predicted without mass-dependent disk growth, but this result is possibly due to measurement uncertainty at M ⋆ < 9.5 However, through a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test we find irregular galaxies to have marginally higher j disk values than regular galaxies, and high scatter at low masses in both populations

Clinical guidelines for the management of craniofacial fibrous dysplasia

Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a non-malignant condition caused by post-zygotic, activating mutations of the GNAS gene that results in inhibition of the differentiation and proliferation of bone-forming stromal cells and leads to the replacement of normal bone and marrow by fibrous tissue and woven bone. The phenotype is variable and may be isolated to a single skeletal site or multiple sites and sometimes is associated with extraskeletal manifestations in the skin and/or endocrine organs (McCune-Albright syndrome). The clinical behavior and progression of FD may also vary, thereby making the management of this condition difficult with few established clinical guidelines. This paper provides a clinically-focused comprehensive description of craniofacial FD, its natural progression, the components of the diagnostic evaluation and the multi-disciplinary management, and considerations for future research

Metabolite and Lipid Biomarkers Associated With Intraocular Pressure and Inner Retinal Morphology: ¹H NMR Spectroscopy Results From the UK Biobank

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess metabolites associated with intraocular pressure (IOP) and inner retina structure. / Methods: We cross-sectionally assessed 168 non-fasting plasma metabolites measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with IOP (n = 28,195), macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (mRNFL; n = 10,584), and macular ganglion cell inner plexiform layer thickness (mGCIPL; n = 10,554) in the UK Biobank. We used multiple linear regression models adjusting for various covariates with probit-transformed metabolite levels as predictors for each outcome. Each estimate represents the difference in outcome variable per standard deviation increase in the probit-transformed metabolite values. We used the number of effective (NEF) tests and false discovery rate (FDR) to adjust for multiple comparisons for metabolites and metabolite classes, respectively. / Results: In individual metabolite analysis, multiple amino acids, especially branched-chain amino acids, were associated with lower IOP (-0.12 mm Hg; 95% confidence interval = -0.16 to -0.07; NEF = 2.7E-05). Albumin, 3 hydroxybutyrate, lactate, and several lipids were associated with higher IOP (range = 0.07 to 0.18 mm Hg, NEF = ≤ 0.039). In IOP-adjusted analyses, five HDL-related metabolites were associated with thinner mRNFL (-0.15 microns for all metabolites, NEF = ≤ 0.027), whereas five LDL-related metabolites were associated with thicker mGCIPL (range = 0.17 to 0.20 microns; NEF = ≤ 0.044). In metabolite class analysis, the lipid components of lipoproteins (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.) were not associated with our outcomes (FDR > 0.2 for all); yet multiple lipoproteins were significantly (FDR < 0.05) associated with all outcomes. / Conclusions: Branched-chain amino acids were associated with lower IOP, HDL metabolites were associated with thinner mRNFL, and LDL metabolites were associated with thicker mGCIPL

Statin Use in Relation to Intraocular Pressure, Glaucoma, and Ocular Coherence Tomography Parameters in the UK Biobank

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between statin use and glaucoma-related traits. METHODS. In a cross-sectional study, we included 118,153 UK Biobank participants with data on statin use and corneal-compensated IOP. In addition, we included 192,283 participants (8982 cases) with data on glaucoma status. After excluding participants with neurodegenerative diseases, 41,638 participants with macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (mRNFL) and 41,547 participants with macular ganglion cell inner plexiform layer thickness (mGCIPL) were available for analysis. We examined associations of statin use with IOP, mRNFL, mGCIPL, and glaucoma status utilizing multivariable-adjusted regression models. We assessed whether a glaucoma polygenic risk score (PRS) modified associations. We performed Mendelian randomization (MR) experiments to investigate associations with various glaucoma-related outcomes. RESULTS. Statin users had higher unadjusted mean IOP ± SD than nonusers, but in a multivariable-adjusted model, IOP did not differ by statin use (difference = 0.05 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval [CI] = −0.02 to 0.13, P = 0.17). Similarly, statin use was not associated with prevalent glaucoma (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.98 to 1.13). Statin use was weakly associated with thinner mRNFL (difference = −0.15 microns, 95% CI = −0.28 to −0.01, P = 0.03) but not with mGCIPL thickness (difference = −0.12 microns, 95% CI = −0.29 to 0.05, P = 0.17). No association was modified by the glaucoma PRS (Pinteraction ≥ 0.16). MR experiments showed no evidence for a causal association between the cholesterol-altering effect of statins and several glaucoma traits (inverse weighted variance P ≥ 0.14). CONCLUSIONS. We found no evidence of a protective association between statin use and glaucoma or related traits after adjusting for key confounders

Predicting Risk of Potentially Preventable Hospitalization in Older Adults with Dementia

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151826/1/jgs16030_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151826/2/jgs16030.pd

Intraocular pressure, glaucoma and dietary caffeine consumption: a gene-diet interaction study from the UK Biobank

Objective: We examined the association of habitual caffeine intake with intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma and whether these associations were modified by genetic predisposition to higher IOP. We also assessed whether genetic predisposition to higher coffee consumption was related to IOP. Design: A cross-sectional study in the UK Biobank. Participants: We included 121,374 participants (baseline ages 39-73 years) with data on coffee and tea intake (collected 2006-2010) and corneal-compensated IOP measurements in 2009. In a subset of 77,906 participants with up to five web-based 24-hour-recall food frequency questionnaires (2009-2012) we evaluated total caffeine intake. We also assessed the same relations with any glaucoma (9,286 cases and 189,763 controls). Method: We evaluated multivariable-adjusted associations with IOP using linear regression, and with glaucoma using logistic regression. For both outcomes, we examined gene-diet interactions, using a polygenic risk score (PRS), which combined the effects of 111 genetic variants associated with IOP. We also performed two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) using 8 genetic variants associated with coffee intake, to assess potential causal effects of coffee consumption on IOP. Main Outcome and Measures: IOP; glaucoma. Results: Mean IOP was 16.0 mmHg (Standard Deviation=3.8). MR analysis did not support a causal effect of coffee drinking on IOP (P>0.1). Greater caffeine intake was weakly associated with lower IOP: the highest (≥232mg/day) vs. lowest (480mg/day versus <80 mg/day was associated with a 0.35 mmHg higher IOP (Pinteraction=0.01). The relation between caffeine intake and glaucoma was null (P≥0.1). However, this relation was also significantly modified by IOP PRS: compared to those in the lowest IOP PRS quartile consuming no caffeine, those in the highest IOP PRS quartile consuming ≥321mg/day had a 3.90-fold higher glaucoma prevalence (Pinteraction=0.0003). Conclusions: Habitual caffeine consumption was weakly associated with lower IOP and the association between caffeine consumption and glaucoma was null. However, among participants with the strongest genetic predisposition to elevated IOP, greater caffeine consumption was associated with higher IOP and higher glaucoma prevalence

Generative Artificial Intelligence Through ChatGPT and Other Large Language Models in Ophthalmology: Clinical Applications and Challenges

The rapid progress of large language models (LLMs) driving generative artificial intelligence applications heralds the potential of opportunities in health care. We conducted a review up to April 2023 on Google Scholar, Embase, MEDLINE, and Scopus using the following terms: “large language models,” “generative artificial intelligence,” “ophthalmology,” “ChatGPT,” and “eye,” based on relevance to this review. From a clinical viewpoint specific to ophthalmologists, we explore from the different stakeholders’ perspectives—including patients, physicians, and policymakers—the potential LLM applications in education, research, and clinical domains specific to ophthalmology. We also highlight the foreseeable challenges of LLM implementation into clinical practice, including the concerns of accuracy, interpretability, perpetuating bias, and data security. As LLMs continue to mature, it is essential for stakeholders to jointly establish standards for best practices to safeguard patient safety. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article