The influence of labile and refractory C-org on benthic foraminifera: a laboratory mesocosm study

Abstrac

Prediction of final infarct volume from native CT perfusion and treatment parameters using deep learning

CT Perfusion (CTP) imaging has gained importance in the diagnosis of acute stroke. Conventional perfusion analysis performs a deconvolution of the measurements and thresholds the perfusion parameters to determine the tissue status. We pursue a data-driven and deconvolution-free approach, where a deep neural network learns to predict the final infarct volume directly from the native CTP images and metadata such as the time parameters and treatment. This would allow clinicians to simulate various treatments and gain insight into predicted tissue status over time. We demonstrate on a multicenter dataset that our approach is able to predict the final infarct and effectively uses the metadata. An ablation study shows that using the native CTP measurements instead of the deconvolved measurements improves the prediction.Comment: Accepted for publication in Medical Image Analysi

Clear cell sarcoma of the soft parts arising in the rectus abdominis in a child – aspiration cytology of a rare case

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clear cell sarcoma of soft parts is most commonly found associated with the tendons and aponeuroses of distal extremities in young adults with a peak incidence in the third decade. Location in the abdominal wall and in a child is very rare.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A nine-year-old female child presented with a swelling in the anterior abdominal wall in the suprapubic region. Fine needle aspiration revealed predominantly discrete cells with loose clustering at places. The cytoplasm was abundant, finely granular, and eosinophilic with some cells exhibiting clear vacuolated zones. No pigment was seen. The nuclei were rounded and eccentrically placed with a striking single eosinophilic macro nucleolus present in all the cells. Taking into consideration, the history, age of the patient, location of the tumor and absence of melanin pigment, a diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma was made, the differential including Clear cell sarcoma. This was subsequently confirmed on histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The atypical presentation of the case made the cytological diagnosis rather challenging. Clear cell sarcoma should be considered when cytology of a soft-tissue tumor shows uncharacteristically high cellularity and relatively uniform cells with macronucleoli.</p

The in vitro effects of artificial and natural sweeteners on the immune system using whole blood culture assays

This article investigates the effects of commercially available artificial (aspartame, saccharin, sucralose) and natural sweeteners (brown sugar, white sugar, molasses) on the immune system. Human whole blood cultures were incubated with various sweeteners and stimulated in vitro with either phytohemagglutinin or endotoxin. Harvested supernatants were screened for cytotoxicity and cytokine release. Results showed that none of the artificial or natural sweeteners proved to be cytotoxic, indicating that no cell death was induced in vitro. The natural sweetener, sugar cane molasses (10 ug=mL), enhanced levels of the inflammatory biomarker IL-6 while all artificial sweeteners (10 ug=mL) revealed a suppressive effect on IL-6 secretion (P<0.001). Exposure of blood cells to sucralose-containing sweeteners under stimulatory conditions reduced levels of the biomarker of humoral immunity, Interleukin-10 (P<0.001). The cumulative suppression of Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-10 levels induced by sucralose may contribute to the inability in mounting an effective humoral response when posed with an exogenous threat.Web of Scienc

Een haalbaarheidsstudie naar integratie van elektrische voortstuwing in de visserijsector : Academic Consultancy Training

De visserijsector heeft de laatste jaren te maken gehad met grote fluctuaties in visprijzen en brandstofkosten. Om de sector toekomstbestendig te maken moeten brandstofkosten worden verlaagd om zo minder invloed te hebben op de financiële resultaten. Daarnaast is het terugdringen van emissies en onafhankelijkheid van fossiele brandstoffen een steeds belangrijker thema. Daarom is in dit project onderzocht in hoeverre het mogelijk is om vissersschepen volledig elektrisch aan te drijven. De focus gelegd op drie thema’s: technische haalbaar, ecologisch verantwoord en economisch rendabel. Tevens is er een stakeholderanalyse uitgevoerd. De resultaten zijn samengevat in een sterkte-zwakte analyse

Validation Study Report: Performance assessment of the AR-CALUX® in vitro method: to support the development of an international test guideline for Androgen Receptor Transactivation Assays (ARTA) for the detection of compounds with (anti)androgenic potential

The JRC’s EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) conducted a validation study of the AR-CALUX in vitro method. The method is applied to the detection of compounds with endocrine disrupting potential and more specifically (anti)androgen activity. The objectives of the study included assessing the reproducibility (within and between laboratories) and the relevance of the in vitro method. The participating laboratories included three test facilities from the European Union Network of Validation Laboratories for alternative methods (EU-NETVAL), being RISE, Covance, and Charles River, and, the test method submitter Biodetection Systems. The validation study report presents the results of the method performed on 46 test chemicals, evaluated for reproducibility within and between laboratories, variability within the measurements, and classification. A comparison of the classifications was made with publicly available ARTA classifications. It was concluded that this test method is reliable, has high reproducibility, low variability and merits proposal to OECD for the development of a test guideline. The statistical report and the final SOP are part of this report and can be found as separate files.JRC.F.3-Chemicals Safety and Alternative Method

Artificial intelligence exceeds humans in epidemiological job coding

BACKGROUND: Work circumstances can substantially negatively impact health. To explore this, large occupational cohorts of free-text job descriptions are manually coded and linked to exposure. Although several automatic coding tools have been developed, accurate exposure assessment is only feasible with human intervention. METHODS: We developed OPERAS, a customizable decision support system for epidemiological job coding. Using 812,522 entries, we developed and tested classification models for the Professions et Catégories Socioprofessionnelles (PCS)2003, Nomenclature d'Activités Française (NAF)2008, International Standard Classifications of Occupation (ISCO)-88, and ISCO-68. Each code comes with an estimated correctness measure to identify instances potentially requiring expert review. Here, OPERAS' decision support enables an increase in efficiency and accuracy of the coding process through code suggestions. Using the Formaldehyde, Silica, ALOHA, and DOM job-exposure matrices, we assessed the classification models' exposure assessment accuracy. RESULTS: We show that, using expert-coded job descriptions as gold standard, OPERAS realized a 0.66-0.84, 0.62-0.81, 0.60-0.79, and 0.57-0.78 inter-coder reliability (in Cohen's Kappa) on the first, second, third, and fourth coding levels, respectively. These exceed the respective inter-coder reliability of expert coders ranging 0.59-0.76, 0.56-0.71, 0.46-0.63, 0.40-0.56 on the same levels, enabling a 75.0-98.4% exposure assessment accuracy and an estimated 19.7-55.7% minimum workload reduction. CONCLUSIONS: OPERAS secures a high degree of accuracy in occupational classification and exposure assessment of free-text job descriptions, substantially reducing workload. As such, OPERAS significantly outperforms both expert coders and other current coding tools. This enables large-scale, efficient, and effective exposure assessment securing healthy work conditions

Early Intubation in Endovascular Therapy for Basilar Artery Occlusion:A Post Hoc Analysis of the BASICS Trial

BACKGROUND: The optimal anesthetic management for endovascular therapy (EVT) in patients with posterior circulation stroke remains unclear. Our objective was to investigate the impact of early intubation in patients enrolled in the BASICS trial (Basilar Artery International Cooperation Study). METHODS: BASICS was a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial that compared the efficacy of EVT compared with the best medical care alone in patients with basilar artery occlusion. In this post hoc analysis, early intubation within the first 24 hours of the estimated time of basilar artery occlusion was examined as an additional covariate using regression modeling. We estimated the adjusted relative risks (RRs) for favorable outcomes, defined as modified Rankin Scale scores of 0 to 3 at 90 days. An adjusted common odds ratio was estimated for a shift in the distribution of modified Rankin Scale scores at 90 days. RESULTS: Of 300 patients in BASICS, 289 patients were eligible for analysis (151 in the EVT group and 138 in the best medical care group). compared with medical care alone, EVT was related to a higher risk of early intubation (RR, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.09–1.53]; P&lt;0.01), and early intubation was negatively associated with favorable outcome (RR, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.45–0.84]; P=0.002). Whereas there was no overall treatment effect of EVT on favorable outcome (RR, 1.22 [95% CI, 0.95–1.55]; P=0.121), EVT was associated with favorable outcome (RR, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.05–1.71]; P=0.018) and a shift toward lower modified Rankin Scale scores (adjusted common odds ratio, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.04–2.57]; P=0.033) if adjusted for early intubation. CONCLUSIONS: In this post hoc analysis of the neutral BASICS trial, early intubation was linked to unfavorable outcomes, which might mitigate a potential benefit from EVT by indirect effects due to an increased risk of early intubation. This relationship may be considered when assessing the efficacy of EVT in patients with basilar artery occlusion in future trials.</p

The European Chemicals Bureau: an Overview of 15 Years Experience in EU Chemicals Legislation

From its creation in 1993, the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) has played a vital role in the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of European Union (EU) legislation on chemicals and in contributing to the European Commission¿s participation in international chemicals programmes. The ECB has housed much of the European Commission¿s experience, capacity and historical memory in chemical risk assessment and safe chemical management. The contribution of ECB to the drafting, development and implementation of the REACH regulation has been an important one. The provision of scientific/technical expertise to the start-up phase of the newly born European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been essential for a swift and effective implementation of REACH. The ECB has contributed to that effort not only by selecting, recruiting and training ECHA staff but also by seconding part of its own key staff to the agency. And finally, during 2008 the ECB is completing the hand-over files and transmitting them to the ECHA, which is taking over responsibility for the operational implementation of EU legislation on chemicals.JRC.I-Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (Ispra