The Planetary Materials Database

NASA provides funds for a variety of research programs whose principal focus is to collect and analyze terrestrial analog materials. These data are used to (1) understand and interpret planetary geology; (2) identify and characterize habitable environments and pre-biotic/biotic processes; (3) interpret returned data from present and past missions; and (4) evaluate future mission and instrument concepts prior to selection for flight. Data management plans are now required for these programs, but the collected data are still not generally available to the community. There is also little possibility to re-analyze the collected materials by other techniques, since there is no requirement to archive collected samples. The Planetary Materials Database (PMD) is a central, high-quality, long-term data repository, which aims to promote the field of astrobiology and increase scientific returns from NASA funded research by enabling data sharing, collaboration and exposure of non-NASA scientists to NASA research initiatives and missions. The PMD is a linked collection of databases developed using the Open Data Repository (ODR) system. The PMD will include detailed descriptions of terrestrial analog planetary materials as well as data from the instruments used in their analysis. The goal is to provide example patterns/spectra/analyses, etc. and background information suitable for use by the Space Science community. An early example showing the utility of these databases (although not in the ODR format) is the RRUFF mineral database. RRUFF, comprising 4,000+ pure mineral standards, is the most popular and widely used dataset of minerals and receives more than 180,000 queries per week from geologists and mineralogists worldwide. The PMD will be patterned after the CheMin database [3], a resource that contains all of the data collected by the MSL CheMin XRD instrument on Mars. Raw and processed CheMin data can be viewed, downloaded, reprocessed and reanalyzed using cloud-based applications linked to the data

ARMS: A Developing Metadata Standard for Describing Astrobiology Research Products

These presentation slides introduce the Astrobiology Resource Metadata Standard (ARMS), a new metadata standard under development at NASA Ames Research Center, in conjunction with the Astrobiology Habitable Environments Database (AHED) project. The intent of this standard is to enable uniform, internet-based search and discovery of astrobiology 'resources', i.e. virtually any product of astrobiology research, including datasets, physical samples, software, publications, websites, images, video, presentations, etc. The current draft of ARMS defines 16 different metadata properties used to describe a given resource, including routine information such as name, resource type, description, personnel, funding, and related publications. But the true power in ARMS lies in four astrobiology-specific pieces of metadata: field site location enables geospatially-restricted search for resources using placenames or geospatial coordinates; research theme associates resources with one of six broad areas of astrobiological research (as identified in the 2015 NASA Astrobiology Strategy document); astrobiology disciplines captures the set of science disciplines most relevant to creation or use of resources; and finally, astrobiology keywords characterize resources in much in the same summarizing way that journal article keywords describe publications. An initial draft of the ARMS standard is being prepared for circulation to the astrobiology community for feedback and revision

2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS.

Peer reviewe

Congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunts (Abernethy malformation): An international observational study

Congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt (CEPS) or Abernethy malformation is a rare condition in which splanchnic venous blood bypasses the liver draining directly into systemic circulation through a congenital shunt. Patients may develop hepatic encephalopathy (HE), pulmonary hypertension (PaHT), or liver tumors, among other complications. However, the actual incidence of such complications is unknown, mainly because of the lack of a protocolized approach to these patients. This study characterizes the clinical manifestations and outcome of a large cohort of CEPS patients with the aim of proposing a guide for their management. This is an observational, multicenter, international study. Sixty-six patients were included; median age at the end of follow-up was 30 years. Nineteen patients (28%) presented HE. Ten-, 20-, and 30-year HE incidence rates were 13%, 24%, and 28%, respectively. No clinical factors predicted HE. Twenty-five patients had benign nodular lesions. Ten patients developed adenomas (median age, 18 years), and another 8 developed HCC (median age, 39 years). Of 10 patients with dyspnea, PaHT was diagnosed in 8 and hepatopulmonary syndrome in 2. Pulmonary complications were only screened for in 19 asymptomatic patients, and PaHT was identified in 2. Six patients underwent liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma or adenoma. Shunt closure was performed in 15 patients with improvement/stability/cure of CEPS manifestations. Conclusion: CEPS patients may develop severe complications. Screening for asymptomatic complications and close surveillance is needed. Shunt closure should be considered both as a therapeutic and prophylactic approach

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Architecture of Databases for Mineralogy and Astrobiology

This dissertation is focused on the design of the Open Data Repository's Data Publisher (ODR), a web-based central repository for scientific data, primarily focused on mineralogical properties, but also applicable to other data types, including for instance, morphological, textural and contextual images, chemical, biochemical, isotopic, and sequencing information. Using simple web-based tools, the goal of ODR is to lower the cost and training barrier so that any researcher can easily publish their data, ensure that it is archived for posterity, and comply with the mandates for data sharing. There are only a few databases in the mineralogical community, including RRUFF (http://rruff.info) for professionals, and mindat.org (http://www.mindat.org) for amateurs. These databases contain certain specific mineral information, but none, however, provide the ability to include, in the same platform, any of the many datatypes that characterize the properties of minerals. The ODR framework provides the flexibility required to include unforeseen data without the need for additional software programming. Once ODR is completed, the RRUFF database will be migrated into ODR and populated with additional data using other analytical techniques, such as Mössbauer data from Dr. Richard Morris and NVIR data from Dr. Ralf Milliken. The current ODR pilot studies are also described here, including 1) a database of the XRD analysis performed by the CheMin instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, 2) the NASA-AMES Astrobiology Habitable Environments Database (AHED), which aims to provide a central, high quality, long-term data repository for relevant astrobiology information, 3) the University of Arizona Mineral Museum (UAMM), with over 21,000 records of minerals and fossils from the museum collection, and 4) the Mineral Evolution Database (MED), that uses the ages of mineral species and their localities to correlate the diversification of mineral species through time with Earth's physical, chemical and biological processes. A good database design requires understanding the fundamentals of its content, so part of this thesis is also focused on developing my skills in mineral analysis and characterization, through the study of the crystal-chemistry of diverse minerals using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and microprobe analysis, as principal techniques