Spin- and valley-dependent transport through arrays of ferromagnetic silicene junctions

We study ballistic transport of Dirac fermions in silicene through arrays of barriers, of width $d$, in the presence of an exchange field $M$ and a tunable potential of height $U$ or depth $-U$. The spin- and valley-resolved conductances as functions of $U$ or $M$, exhibit resonances away from the Dirac point (DP) and close to it a pronounced dip that becomes a gap when a critical electric field $E_z$ is applied. This gap widens by increasing the number of barriers and can be used to realize electric field-controlled switching of the current. The spin $p_s$ and valley $p_v$ polarizations of the current near the DP increase with $E_z$ or $M$ and can reach 100\% for certain of their values. These field ranges widen significantly by increasing the number of barriers. Also, $p_s$ and $p_v$ oscillate nearly periodically with the separation between barriers or wells and can be inverted by reversing $M$.Comment: 9 pages, 43 figures, to appear in PRB, figure resolutions reduced for siz

RankFormer: Listwise Learning-to-Rank Using Listwide Labels

Web applications where users are presented with a limited selection of items have long employed ranking models to put the most relevant results first. Any feedback received from users is typically assumed to reflect a relative judgement on the utility of items, e.g. a user clicking on an item only implies it is better than items not clicked in the same ranked list. Hence, the objectives optimized in Learning-to-Rank (LTR) tend to be pairwise or listwise. Yet, by only viewing feedback as relative, we neglect the user's absolute feedback on the list's overall quality, e.g. when no items in the selection are clicked. We thus reconsider the standard LTR paradigm and argue the benefits of learning from this listwide signal. To this end, we propose the RankFormer as an architecture that, with a Transformer at its core, can jointly optimize a novel listwide assessment objective and a traditional listwise LTR objective. We simulate implicit feedback on public datasets and observe that the RankFormer succeeds in benefitting from listwide signals. Additionally, we conduct experiments in e-commerce on Amazon Search data and find the RankFormer to be superior to all baselines offline. An online experiment shows that knowledge distillation can be used to find immediate practical use for the RankFormer.Comment: Accepted at KDD 202

Prevalence, associated factors and management implications of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a two-year, two-center experience

Background: Some patients with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) develop cardiogenic shock due to left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction -there is, however, a paucity of data regarding this condition. Methods: Prevalence, associated factors and management implications of LVOT obstruction in TTC was explored, based on two-year data from two Belgian heart centres. Results: A total of 32 patients with TTC were identified out of 3,272 patients presenting with troponin-positive acute coronary syndrome. In six patients diagnosed with TTC (19%), a significant LVOT obstruction was detected by transthoracic echocardiography. Patients with LVOT obstruction were older and had more often septal bulging, and presented more frequently in cardiogenic shock as compared to those without LVOT obstruction (P < 0.05). Moreover, all patients with LVOT obstruction showed systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the anterior mitral valve leaflet, which was associated with a higher grade of mitral regurgitation (2.2 +/- 0.7 vs. 1.0 +/- 0.6, P< 0.001). Adequate therapeutic management including fluid resuscitation, cessation of inotropic therapy, intravenous beta-blocker, and the use of intra-aortic balloon pump resulted in non-inferior survival in TTC patients with LVOT obstruction as compared to those without LVOT obstruction. Conclusions: TTC is complicated by LVOT obstruction in approximately 20% of cases. Older age, septal bulging, SAM-induced mitral regurgitation and hemodynamic instability are associated with this condition. Timely and accurate diagnosis of LVOT obstruction by echocardiography is key to successful management of these TTC patients with LVOT obstruction and results in a non-inferior outcome as compared to those patients without LVOT obstruction

Capturing top and recreational athletes in the sports market: determining the stratigic position and developing a repeatable growth plan for a company specialized in biomechanical screenings

Overall, the objectives of this In-Company project are threefold; to identify opportunities for UPsports and determine the best position for the business unit; to recommend a horizon growth plan for UPsports, supported by a business model, marketing plan, operational plan and financial plan that will guarantee UPsports to capture the defined position in the first part; to identify interesting geographical expansion opportunities that allow for repeatability. In sum, the objective is to draw up an ambitious, yet realistic plan for UPsports. One that addresses current inhibitors of their growth and enables a plan that will fulfil UPsports growth ambitions. Linked to the objectives, the project is divided into three parts: 1. How to position UPsports? 2.How to capture the position? Where to expand to? For this project input from both the literature review and market research was used. More specifically, for the latter, three groups of qualitative in-depth interview were conducted: current customers, current medial partners and experts concerning different aspects of the business model

SWITCHING FROM STATIN MONOTHERAPY TO EZETIMIBE/SIMVASTATIN OR ROSUVASTATIN MODIFIES THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN APOLIPOPROTEIN B, LDL CHOLESTEROL, ANC NON-HDL CHOLETEROL IN PATIENTS AT HIGH RISK OF CORONARY DISEASE

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate relationships between apolipoprotein B (Apo B), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and non-HDL-C in high-risk patients treated with lipid-lowering therapy. DESIGN AND METHODS: This post-hoc analysis calculated LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels corresponding to an Apo B of 0.9 g/L following treatment with 1) statin monotherapy (baseline) and 2) ezetimibe/simvastatin 10/20mg or rosuvastatin 10mg (study end). The percentages of patients reaching LDL-C, non-HDL-C, and Apo B targets were calculated at study end. RESULTS: After switching to ezetimibe/simvastatin or rosuvastatin, the LDL-C and non-HDL-C corresponding to Apo B=0.9 g/L were closer to the more aggressive LDL-C and non-HDL-C goals (1.81 and 2.59 mmol/L, respectively). Only slightly >50% of the patients who reached minimum recommended LDL-C or non-HDL-C at study end also had an Apo B level <0.9 g/L with both treatments. CONCLUSION: The use of Apo B for monitoring the efficacy of lipid-altering therapy would likely lead to more stringent criteria for lipid lowering

Subgroup Evaluation of Ezetimibe/Simvastatin Versus Rosuvastatin

SUMMARY Aims: This post hoc analysis compared the effects of switching to ezetimibe/simvastatin 10/20 mg (EZE/SIMVA) or rosuvastatin 10 mg (ROSUVA) in uncontrolled high-risk hypercholesterolemic patients with/without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) despite statin monotherapy. Methods: Patients (n = 618) at high risk for coronary vascular disease with elevated LDL-C ≥100 and ≤190 mg/dL despite use of statins were randomized 1:1 to double-blind EZE/SIMVA 10/20 mg or ROSUVA 10 mg for 6 weeks. Patients were classified as having T2DM based on ≥1 of the following: diagnosis of T2DM, antidiabetic medication, or FPG ≥126 mg/dL. This analysis evaluated percent changes from baseline in lipids among patients with (n = 182) and without T2DM (n = 434). Results: EZE/SIMVA was more effective than ROSUVA at lowering LDL-C, TC, non-HDL-C, and apo B in the overall study population and within both subgroups. Numerically, greater between-treatment reductions in LDL-C, TC, non-HDL-C, and apo B were seen in patients with T2DM versus those without T2DM. A significant interaction (P= 0.015) was seen for LDL-C indicating that patients with T2DM achieved larger between-group reductions versus those without T2DM. Conclusions: Switching to EZE/SIMVA 10/20 mg versus ROSUVA 10 mg provided superior lipid reductions in patients with/without T2DM

Ezetimibe/Simvastatin 10/20 mg versus Rosuvastatin 10 mg in high-risk hypercholesterolemic patients stratified by prior statin treatment potency

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>This <it>post-hoc </it>analysis compared the lipid-altering efficacy of Ezetimibe/Simvastatin 10/20 mg (EZ/Simva) versus Rosuvastatin 10 mg (Rosuva) in patients stratified by statin potency/dose prior to randomization.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) despite prior statin treatment (n = 618) were randomized 1:1 to EZ/Simva 10/20 mg or Rosuva 10 mg for 6 weeks. Percent change from baseline in lipids and attainment of lipid targets were assessed within each subgroup (low potency n = 369, high potency n = 249). Consistency of the treatment effect across subgroups was evaluated by testing for treatment-by-subgroup interaction. No multiplicity adjustments were made.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant treatment-by-subgroup interaction occurred for LDL-C (p = 0.013), total cholesterol (p = 0.025), non-HDL-C (p = 0.032), and apolipoprotein B (p = 0.016) with greater between-treatment differences in favor of EZ/Simva observed in patients from the high potency stratum vs low potency stratum. Individual and triple target attainment was higher for Eze/Simva compared with Rosuva in both strata.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Compared with Rosuva, switching to EZ/Simva provided greater reductions in LDL-C, total cholesterol, non-HDL-C and apolipoprotein B and higher target attainment in patients on prior statin treatment, regardless of potency, although patients treated with higher potency statins prior to randomization experienced greater between treatment differences in favor of EZ/Simva.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00479713</p

The effect of pharmacological inhibition of Serine Proteases on neuronal networks in vitro

This work was supported by the European Union\u2019s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (under the H2020 ETN grant n. 642881 to Stefanie Dedeurwaerdere, Pieter Van Der Veken, and Koen Augustyns; under the Specific Grant Agreement n. 785907 - Human Brain Project to Michele Giugliano; and under FP7 grants n. 286403 and n. 284801 to Michele Giugliano), the European Union\u2019s Research Area Networks (NEURON II to Stefanie Dedeurwaerdere), the Flemish Research Foundation (grants n. G0F1517N and n. K201619N to Michele Giugliano), the University of Antwerp (grant n. BOF-DOCPRO-2016 to Michele Giugliano), and the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (\u2018\u2018Collaborazione di Eccellenza 2018\u2019\u2019 to Michele Giugliano). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Efficacy of Ezetimibe/Simvastatin 10/20 mg Versus Rosuvastatin 10 mg in High-Risk Patients With or Without Obesity

Introduction: This post-hoc analysis compared the effects of switching to ezetimibe/simvastatin 10/20 mg (EZE/SIMVA) or rosuvastatin 10 mg (ROSUVA) in high-risk hypercholesterolemic patients with/without obesity. Methods: Patients (n=618) at high-risk for coronary heart disease with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥2.59 and ≤4.92 mmol/L, while on a statin, entered a 6-week open-label stabilization/screening period during which they continued on the same statin. Patients were then randomized 1:1 to double-blind EZE/SIMVA 10/20 mg or ROSUVA 10 mg for 6 weeks. Patients were classified as non-obese (n=437) or obese (n=180) based on body mass index 0.050 for all). Conclusions: In this post-hoc analysis of high-risk patients with elevated LDL-C, despite prior use of statin therapy, switching to EZE/SIMVA 10/20 mg versus ROSUVA 10 mg provided superior reductions in LDL-C, TC, and non-HDL-C in obese and non-obese patients