Dealing with “Humanewashing” Claims: Vital Farms’ Crucial Next Step

Vital Farms prides itself in their ethical and environmentally-friendly production of pasture-raised eggs, butter, and ghee. A popular tagline for the company is “keeping it bullsh*t-free.” This is core to their company mission and values. However, they are currently facing a PETA class action lawsuit for potential humanewashing and greenwashing, essentially false advertising. So, what happens when the Certified B-Corporation is under attack for the very thing that sets it apart from its competition? Is it possible to rebuild trust with the public and regain ethical standing after bad PR? What are humanewashing and greenwashing, and is Vital Farms guilty

Image-guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy: preliminary outcomes and toxicity of a joint interventional radiology and radiation oncology technique for achieving local control in challenging cases.

PurposeTo determine the ability of image-guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy (IG-HDR) to provide local control (LC) of lesions in non-traditional locations for patients with heavily pre-treated malignancies.Material and methodsThis retrospective series included 18 patients treated between 2012 and 2014 with IG-HDR, either in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT; n = 9) or as monotherapy (n = 9). Lesions were located in the pelvis (n = 5), extremity (n = 2), abdomen/retroperitoneum (n = 9), and head/neck (n = 2). All cases were performed in conjunction between interventional radiology and radiation oncology. Toxicity was graded based on CTCAE v4.0 and local failure was determined by RECIST criteria. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed for LC and overall survival.ResultsThe median follow-up was 11.9 months. Two patients had localized disease at presentation; the remainder had recurrent and/or metastatic disease. Seven patients had prior EBRT, with a median equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions (EQD2) of 47.0 Gy. The median total EQD2s were 34 Gy and 60.9 Gy for patients treated with monotherapy or combination therapy, respectively. Image-guided high-dose rate brachytherapy was delivered in one to six fractions. Six patients had local failures at a median interval of 5.27 months with a one-year LC rate of 59.3% and a one-year overall survival of 40.7%. Six patients died from their disease at a median interval of 6.85 months from the end of treatment. There were no grade ≥ 3 acute toxicities but two patients had serious long term toxicities.ConclusionsWe demonstrate a good one year LC rate of nearly 60%, and a favorable toxicity profile when utilizing IG-HDR to deliver high doses of radiation with high precision into targets not readily accessible by other forms of local therapy. These preliminary results suggest that further studies utilizing this approach may be considered for patients with difficult to access lesions that require LC

Coil-Assisted Retrograde Transvenous Obliteration (CARTO) for the Treatment of Portal Hypertensive Variceal Bleeding: Preliminary Results.

ObjectivesTo describe the technical feasibility, safety, and clinical outcomes of coil-assisted retrograde transvenous obliteration (CARTO) in treating portal hypertensive non-esophageal variceal hemorrhage.MethodsFrom October 2012 to December 2013, 20 patients who received CARTO for the treatment of portal hypertensive non-esophageal variceal bleeding were retrospectively evaluated. All 20 patients had at least 6-month follow-up. All patients had detachable coils placed to occlude the efferent shunt and retrograde gelfoam embolization to achieve complete thrombosis/obliteration of varices. Technical success, clinical success, rebleeding, and complications were evaluated at follow-up.ResultsA 100% technical success rate (defined as achieving complete occlusion of efferent shunt with complete thrombosis/obliteration of bleeding varices and/or stopping variceal bleeding) was demonstrated in all 20 patients. Clinical success rate (defined as no variceal rebleeding) was 100%. Follow-up computed tomography after CARTO demonstrated decrease in size with complete thrombosis and disappearance of the varices in all 20 patients. Thirteen out of the 20 had endoscopic confirmation of resolution of varices. Minor post-CARTO complications, including worsening of esophageal varices (not bleeding) and worsening of ascites/hydrothorax, were noted in 5 patients (25%). One patient passed away at 24 days after the CARTO due to systemic and portal venous thrombosis and multi-organ failure. Otherwise, no major complication was noted. No variceal rebleeding was noted in all 20 patients during mean follow-up of 384±154 days.ConclusionsCARTO appears to be a technically feasible and safe alternative to traditional balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration or transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, with excellent clinical outcomes in treating portal hypertensive non-esophageal variceal bleeding

Race and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in an Urban Healthcare System

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasingly common among non-Caucasian populations, but interracial differences in disease characteristics and management are not well-characterized. We tested the hypothesis that disease characteristics and management vary by race among IBD patients in an ethnically diverse healthcare system. A retrospective study of the safety net healthcare system of San Francisco, CA, from 1996 to 2009 was undertaken. Patient records with International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD9) codes 555.xx, 556.xx, and 558.xx were reviewed. Adult patients with confirmed IBD diagnoses were included. Interracial variations in disease characteristics and management were assessed broadly; focused between-race comparisons identified specific differences. The 228 subjects included 77 (33.4%) with Crohn’s disease (CD), 150 (65.8%) with ulcerative colitis, and 1 (0.4%) with IBD, type unclassified. The race distribution included 105 (46.1%) white, 34 (14.9%) black, 35 (15.4%) Hispanic, and 51 (22.4%) Asian subjects. Asians and Hispanics were diagnosed at older ages (41.0 and 37.1 years, respectively) and had shorter disease durations (5.4 and 5.2 years, respectively) than whites (30.5 years at diagnosis and 8.6 years duration, P < 0.05) and blacks (31.7 years at diagnosis and 12.1 years duration, P < 0.05). CD was more common among blacks (50% of subjects) than Asians (25.5% of subjects, P = 0.015). The Montreal classification of IBD was similar among races. Hispanics were less likely than others to be treated with 5-aminosalicylates (5-ASA), immunomodulators, and steroids. Medical and surgical management was otherwise similar among races. Modest race-based differences in IBD characteristics exist in this racially diverse healthcare system, but the management of IBD is similar among race groups

Prophylactic Embolization of the Cystic Artery Before Radioembolization: Feasibility, Safety, and Outcomes

PurposeTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of two different methods of proximal cystic artery embolization in patients undergoing yttrium-90 radioembolization.Materials and methodsForty-six patients had cystic artery embolization performed immediately before yttrium-90 radioembolization, either by using Gelfoam pledgets (n = 35) or coils (n = 11). Clinical symptomatology during the admission and angiographic findings at 1-month follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. Rates of collateralization or recanalization of the cystic artery were compared, as well as the frequency of postprocedural abdominal pain and need for cholecystectomy.ResultsTechnical success was achieved in all patients, and there were no procedural complications related to cystic artery embolization. Of the 11 coil-embolized patients, 5 (45%) demonstrated collateralization of the cystic artery at 1 month, and 1 (9%) demonstrated recanalization of the cystic artery. Of the 35 Gelfoam-embolized cases, 2 (6%) had collateralized at 1 month, and 14 (40%) had recanalized. Two patients (one from each group) had self-limited right upper quadrant pain after the procedure, and one patient in the coil embolization group required cholecystectomy.ConclusionProximal cystic artery embolization is safe and feasible and may be performed during liver-directed embolotherapy to minimize the exposure of the gallbladder to particulate, chemoembolic, or radioembolic agents

The NANOGrav Nine-year Data Set:Observations, Arrival Time Measurements, and Analysis of 37 Millisecond Pulsars

We present high-precision timing observations spanning up to nine years for 37 millisecond pulsars monitored with the Green Bank and Arecibo radio telescopes as part of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) project. We describe the observational and instrumental setups used to collect the data, and methodology applied for calculating pulse times of arrival; these include novel methods for measuring instrumental offsets and characterizing low signal-to-noise ratio timing results. The time of arrival data are fit to a physical timing model for each source, including terms that characterize time-variable dispersion measure and frequency-dependent pulse shape evolution. In conjunction with the timing model fit, we have performed a Bayesian analysis of a parameterized timing noise model for each source, and detect evidence for excess low-frequency, or "red," timing noise in 10 of the pulsars. For 5 of these cases this is likely due to interstellar medium propagation effects rather than intrisic spin variations. Subsequent papers in this series will present further analysis of this data set aimed at detecting or limiting the presence of nanohertz-frequency gravitational wave signals

Femtosecond diffraction studies of solid and liquid phase changes in shock-compressed bismuth

Bismuth has long been a prototypical system for investigating phase transformations and melting at high pressure. Despite decades of experimental study, however, the lattice-level response of Bi to rapid (shock) compression and the relationship between structures occurring dynamically and those observed during slow (static) compression, are still not clearly understood. We have determined the structural response of shock-compressed Bi to 68 GPa using femtosecond X-ray diffraction, thereby revealing the phase transition sequence and equation-of-state in unprecedented detail for the first time. We show that shocked-Bi exhibits a marked departure from equilibrium behavior - the incommensurate Bi-III phase is not observed, but rather a new metastable phase, and the Bi-V phase is formed at significantly lower pressures compared to static compression studies. We also directly measure structural changes in a shocked liquid for the first time. These observations reveal new behaviour in the solid and liquid phases of a shocked material and give important insights into the validity of comparing static and dynamic datasets

The NANOGrav 11-year Data Set: High-precision Timing of 45 Millisecond Pulsars

We present high-precision timing data over time spans of up to 11 years for 45 millisecond pulsars observed as part of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) project, aimed at detecting and characterizing low-frequency gravitational waves. The pulsars were observed with the Arecibo Observatory and/or the Green Bank Telescope at frequencies ranging from 327 MHz to 2.3 GHz. Most pulsars were observed with approximately monthly cadence, and six high-timing-precision pulsars were observed weekly. All were observed at widely separated frequencies at each observing epoch in order to fit for time-variable dispersion delays. We describe our methods for data processing, time-of-arrival (TOA) calculation, and the implementation of a new, automated method for removing outlier TOAs. We fit a timing model for each pulsar that includes spin, astrometric, and (for binary pulsars) orbital parameters; time-variable dispersion delays; and parameters that quantify pulse-profile evolution with frequency. The timing solutions provide three new parallax measurements, two new Shapiro delay measurements, and two new measurements of significant orbital-period variations. We fit models that characterize sources of noise for each pulsar. We find that 11 pulsars show significant red noise, with generally smaller spectral indices than typically measured for non-recycled pulsars, possibly suggesting a different origin. A companion paper uses these data to constrain the strength of the gravitational-wave background

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead