2,214 research outputs found

    Text-mining in electronic healthcare records can be used as efficient tool for screening and data collection in cardiovascular trials: a multicenter validation study

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    Objective: This study aimed to validate trial patient eligibility screening and baseline data collection using text-mining in electronic healthcare records (EHRs), comparing the results to those of an international trial. Study Design and Setting: In three medical centers with different EHR vendors, EHR-based text-mining was used to automatically screen patients for trial eligibility and extract baseline data on nineteen characteristics. First, the yield of screening with automated EHR text-mining search was compared with manual screening by research personnel. Second, the accuracy of extracted baseline data by EHR text mining was compared to manual data entry by research personnel. Results: Of the 92,466 patients visiting the out-patient cardiology departments, 568 (0.6%) were enrolled in the trial during its recruitment period using manual screening methods. Automated EHR data screening of all patients showed that the number of patients needed to screen could be reduced by 73,863 (79.9%). The remaining 18,603 (20.1%) contained 458 of the actual participants (82.4% of participants). In trial participants, automated EHR text-mining missed a median of 2.8% (Interquartile range [IQR] across all variables 0.4e8.5%) of all data points compared to manually collected data. The overall accuracy of automatically extracted data was 88.0% (IQR 84.7e92.8%). Conclusion: Automatically extracting data from EHRs using text-mining can be used to identify trial participants and to collect baseline informatio

    Controlling spin relaxation with a cavity

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    Spontaneous emission of radiation is one of the fundamental mechanisms by which an excited quantum system returns to equilibrium. For spins, however, spontaneous emission is generally negligible compared to other non-radiative relaxation processes because of the weak coupling between the magnetic dipole and the electromagnetic field. In 1946, Purcell realized that the spontaneous emission rate can be strongly enhanced by placing the quantum system in a resonant cavity -an effect which has since been used extensively to control the lifetime of atoms and semiconducting heterostructures coupled to microwave or optical cavities, underpinning single-photon sources. Here we report the first application of these ideas to spins in solids. By coupling donor spins in silicon to a superconducting microwave cavity of high quality factor and small mode volume, we reach for the first time the regime where spontaneous emission constitutes the dominant spin relaxation mechanism. The relaxation rate is increased by three orders of magnitude when the spins are tuned to the cavity resonance, showing that energy relaxation can be engineered and controlled on-demand. Our results provide a novel and general way to initialise spin systems into their ground state, with applications in magnetic resonance and quantum information processing. They also demonstrate that, contrary to popular belief, the coupling between the magnetic dipole of a spin and the electromagnetic field can be enhanced up to the point where quantum fluctuations have a dramatic effect on the spin dynamics; as such our work represents an important step towards the coherent magnetic coupling of individual spins to microwave photons.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

    Green Production of Anionic Surfactant Obtained from Pea Protein

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    A pea protein isolate was hydrolyzed by a double enzyme treatment method in order to obtain short peptide sequences used as raw materials to produce lipopeptides-based surfactants. Pea protein hydrolysates were prepared using the combination of Alcalase and Flavourzyme. The influence of the process variables was studied to optimize the proteolytic degradation to high degrees of hydrolysis. The average peptide chain lengths were obtained at 3–5 amino acid units after a hydrolysis of 30 min with the mixture of enzymes. Then, N-acylation in water, in presence of acid chloride (C12 and C16), carried out with a conversion rate of amine functions of 90%, allowed to obtain anionic surfactant mixtures (lipopeptides and sodium fatty acids). These two steps were performed in water, in continuous and did not generate any waste. This process was therefore in line with green chemistry principles. The surface activities (CMC, foaming and emulsifying properties) of these mixtures were also studied. These formulations obtained from natural renewable resources and the reactions done under environmental respect, could replace petrochemical based surfactants for some applications

    Subtle changes in the flavour and texture of a drink enhance expectations of satiety

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    Background: The consumption of liquid calories has been implicated in the development of obesity and weight gain. Energy-containing drinks are often reported to have a weak satiety value: one explanation for this is that because of their fluid texture they are not expected to have much nutritional value. It is important to consider what features of these drinks can be manipulated to enhance their expected satiety value. Two studies investigated the perception of subtle changes in a drink’s viscosity, and the extent to which thick texture and creamy flavour contribute to the generation of satiety expectations. Participants in the first study rated the sensory characteristics of 16 fruit yogurt drinks of increasing viscosity. In study two, a new set of participants evaluated eight versions of the fruit yogurt drink, which varied in thick texture, creamy flavour and energy content, for sensory and hedonic characteristics and satiety expectations. Results: In study one, participants were able to perceive small changes in drink viscosity that were strongly related to the actual viscosity of the drinks. In study two, the thick versions of the drink were expected to be more filling and have a greater expected satiety value, independent of the drink’s actual energy content. A creamy flavour enhanced the extent to which the drink was expected to be filling, but did not affect its expected satiety. Conclusions: These results indicate that subtle manipulations of texture and creamy flavour can increase expectations that a fruit yogurt drink will be filling and suppress hunger, irrespective of the drink’s energy content. A thicker texture enhanced expectations of satiety to a greater extent than a creamier flavour, and may be one way to improve the anticipated satiating value of energy-containing beverages

    Evidence for a role of TRIB3 in the regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis

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    Megakaryocytopoiesis is a complex differentiation process driven by the hormone thrombopoietin by which haematopoietic progenitor cells give rise to megakaryocytes, the giant bone marrow cells that in turn break down to form blood platelets. The Tribbles Pseudokinase 3 gene (TRIB3) encodes a pleiotropic protein increasingly implicated in the regulation of cellular differentiation programmes. Previous studies have hinted that TRIB3 could be also involved in megakaryocytopoiesis but its role in this process has so far not been investigated. Using cellular model systems of haematopoietic lineage differentiation here we demonstrate that TRIB3 is a negative modulator of megakaryocytopoiesis. We found that in primary cultures derived from human haematopoietic progenitor cells, thrombopoietin-induced megakaryocytic differentiation led to a time and dosedependent decrease in TRIB3 mRNA levels. In the haematopoietic cell line UT7/mpl, silencing of TRIB3 increased basal and thrombopoietin-stimulated megakaryocyte antigen expression, as well as basal levels of ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In primary haematopoietic cell cultures, silencing of TRIB3 facilitated megakaryocyte differentiation. In contrast, over-expression of TRIB3 in these cells inhibited the differentiation process. The in-vitro identification of TRIB3 as a negative regulator of megakaryocytopoiesis suggests that in-vivo this gene could be important for the regulation of platelet production

    Optimisation of the RT-PCR detection of immunomagnetically enriched carcinoma cells

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    BACKGROUND: Immunomagnetic enrichment followed by RT-PCR (immunobead RT-PCR) is an efficient methodology to identify disseminated carcinoma cells in the blood and bone marrow. The RT-PCR assays must be both specific for the tumor cells and sufficiently sensitive to enable detection of single tumor cells. We have developed a method to test RT-PCR assays for any cancer. This has been investigated using a panel of RT-PCR markers suitable for the detection of breast cancer cells. METHODS: In the assay, a single cell line-derived tumor cell is added to 100 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) after which mRNA is isolated and reverse transcribed for RT-PCR analysis. PBMNCs without added tumor cells are used as specificity controls. The previously studied markers epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), mammaglobin 1 (MGB1), epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM/TACSTD1), mucin 1 (MUC1), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were tested. Two new epithelial-specific markers ELF3 and EphB4 were also tested. RESULTS: MUC1 was unsuitable as strong amplification was detected in 100 cell PBMNC controls. Expression of ELF3, EphB4, EpCAM, EGFR, CEA and MGB1 was found to be both specific for the tumor cell, as demonstrated by the absence of a signal in most 100 cell PBMNC controls, and sensitive enough to detect a single tumor cell in 100 PBMNCs using a single round of RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: ELF3, EphB4, EpCAM, EGFR, CEA and MGB1 are appropriate RT-PCR markers for use in a marker panel to detect disseminated breast cancer cells after immunomagnetic enrichment

    Are attitudes towards mental health help-seeking associated with service use? Results from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders

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    To investigate the prevailing attitudes towards mental health help-seeking in Europe, their correlates, and whether these attitudes are associated with actual service use for mental health problems. Data were derived from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, a survey representative of the adult population of six countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain (n = 8,796). The World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to assess attitudes and DSM-IV diagnoses. The attitudes referred to beliefs that the respondents would seek professional help when faced with a serious emotional problem, would feel comfortable talking about personal problems with a professional, would not be embarrassed if friends knew about the professional help, and respondents' perceived effectiveness of mental health care. Almost a third of the respondents held the view that professional care was worse than or equal to no help when faced with serious emotional problems. Female gender, being younger than 65 years of age, high income, living in Spain or Italy, presence of mood disorder and previous service use were associated with at least two of the four assessed attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. All four attitudes were significantly associated with mental health care use, also after adjustment for previous service use. The low perceived effectiveness of professional care calls for serious action aiming to improve the visibility and credibility of the mental health care sector
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