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Abstract:  The World Health Organization estimates that 1.1 billion young people worldwide could be at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices. When audiometry is still normal, a difficulty to discriminate speech in noise (SND) may be an initial symptom of hearing impairment. The objective was to analyze the relationship between general music exposure (GME) and SND, in university students with normal hearing from Córdoba, Argentina, between the years 2015 and 2016. A descriptive cross-sectional correlational study was carried out. Thirty-three university students between 18 and 25 years were included, with impedance within normal values ​​and air hearing thresholds in the conventional range ≤ 21 dB HL. Those who were exposed to occupational noise were excluded.To evaluate the GME, the adapted version for Argentina of the questionnaire "Sound exposure in recreational activities\u27\u27 was applied. The self-report of SND was evaluated through the question "How often do you have difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments?". The studies were carried out at CINTRA, CONICET-UTN. There was no conflict of interest and the research was approved by the ethics committee of the Hospital Nacional de Clínicas. It was found that a 52% (n = 17) of the young people presented GME “Low-Medium” and 48% (n = 16) “High”. A 58% (n = 19) reported a SND “with difficulty” and 42% (n = 14) “without difficulty”. A 62.5% (n = 10) of the total of young people who presented a “high” GME reported difficulties in the SND. On the other hand, only 35.2% (n = 6) of the young people who presented a “low-medium” GME reported difficulties in SND. Although empirically there seemed to be a relationship between the degree of GME and SND, the Chi Square test it was not statistically significant (p = 0.5787).  In future work, it would be interesting to study SND with specific audiological tests in addition to self-reporting, to strengthen the analysis of the relationship between GME and SND.Resumen:  La Organización Mundial de la Salud estima que alrededor de 1100 millones de jóvenes podrían sufrir pérdida de audición debido a prácticas perjudiciales como la exposición a estímulos sonoros de elevada intensidad durante actividades recreativas. Cuando la audiometría aún presenta resultados normales, un síntoma inicial de deterioro auditivo puede ser la disminución de la capacidad de discriminación de habla en ruido (DHR). El objetivo del trabajo fue analizar la relación entre la exposición general a música (EGM) y la DHR, en jóvenes universitarios con audición normal de la Ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina, entre los años 2015 y 2016. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo correlacional transversal. Se incluyeron 33 jóvenes universitarios con edades entre 18 y 25 años, con impedanciometría dentro de los valores normales y umbrales auditivos aéreos en rango convencional ≤ 21 dB HL. Se excluyó a quienes se exponían a ruidos provenientes de ambientes laborales. Para evaluar la EGM se aplicó la versión adaptada para Argentina del cuestionario “Exposición sonora en actividades recreativas”, el autoreporte de la DHR se evaluó a través de la pregunta “¿Con qué frecuencia tenés dificultades para entender cuando te hablan en ambientes ruidosos?”. Los estudios fueron llevados a cabo en el Centro de Investigación y Transferencia en Acústica (CINTRA), UTN-CONICET. No hubo conflicto de intereses y el trabajo fue aprobado por el comité de ética del Hospital Nacional de Clínicas. El 52% (n=17) de los jóvenes presentaron EGM “Baja-Media” y el 48% (n=16) “Alta”. El 58% (n=19) reportó una DHR “con dificultad” y un 42% (n=14) “Sin dificultad”. Se observó que del total de jóvenes que presentaban una EGM “Alta” el 62,5 % (n=10) reportó dificultades en la DHR, mientras que de los jóvenes que presentaban una EGM “baja-media” sólo el 35,2% (n=6) reportó dificultades en la DHR. A pesar que empíricamente parecía existir una relación entre grado de EGM y DHR, ante una prueba Chi Cuadrado la misma no resultó estadísticamente significativa (p=0,5787). En futuros trabajos sería interesante poder estudiar la DHR con pruebas audiológicas específicas, además del autoreporte, para analizar la relación entre EGM y DHR.

Digitization, Measurement, and Analysis of a 1905 Barnard Atlas Photographic Plate

In the second paper in this series, we improve on our previous demonstration of the ability of a commercially available graphic arts scanner and cost-effective analysis tools to produce scientifically useful scans of astronomical photographic plates. We describe a method using freely available tools to extract magnitude measurements from the star images on sky-survey plates, such as are stored in observatory archives around the world. We detail the use of this method on one plate in particular, Plate 8 in E. E. Barnard's A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way, examine the effects of our scanning method on our magnitude measurements, discuss the difficulties encountered when measuring the magnitudes of stars in crowded fields, and present a case study of red supergiant stars appearing within the field. Our work results in a catalog of more than 66,000 measurements of stellar positions and magnitudes in the central 6fdg8 × 6fdg8 field of view

Precise Photometric Measurements from a 1903 Photographic Plate Using a Commercial Scanner

Includes: README file and TIFF images of center 2.4” glass plate negative (3 repeated scans), 1 rotated center 2.4” glass plate negative, positive and negative step wedge for calibration and associated README Catalog of stars in center 2.4” and associated README Unchanged, inverted, and transformed FITS images of center 2.4” README of descriptions of file

A Comparative Analysis of Glass Plate Digitization Methods: Methods Motivated by Stellar Variability

Presented at the 2022 Midstates Consortium for Math and Science Undergraduate Research Symposia, this poster details the research and analysis of digitization of historic astronomical glass plates using a a graphic arts flatbed scanner and a DSLR camera

Molecular Determinants Underlying Binding Specificities of the ABL Kinase Inhibitors: Combining Alanine Scanning of Binding Hot Spots with Network Analysis of Residue Interactions and Coevolution

Quantifying binding specificity and drug resistance of protein kinase inhibitors is of fundamental importance and remains highly challenging due to complex interplay of structural and thermodynamic factors. In this work, molecular simulations and computational alanine scanning are combined with the network-based approaches to characterize molecular determinants underlying binding specificities of the ABL kinase inhibitors. The proposed theoretical framework unveiled a relationship between ligand binding and inhibitor-mediated changes in the residue interaction networks. By using topological parameters, we have described the organization of the residue interaction networks and networks of coevolving residues in the ABL kinase structures. This analysis has shown that functionally critical regulatory residues can simultaneously embody strong coevolutionary signal and high network centrality with a propensity to be energetic hot spots for drug binding. We have found that selective (Nilotinib) and promiscuous (Bosutinib, Dasatinib) kinase inhibitors can use their energetic hot spots to differentially modulate stability of the residue interaction networks, thus inhibiting or promoting conformational equilibrium between inactive and active states. According to our results, Nilotinib binding may induce a significant network-bridging effect and enhance centrality of the hot spot residues that stabilize structural environment favored by the specific kinase form. In contrast, Bosutinib and Dasatinib can incur modest changes in the residue interaction network in which ligand binding is primarily coupled only with the identity of the gate-keeper residue. These factors may promote structural adaptability of the active kinase states in binding with these promiscuous inhibitors. Our results have related ligand-induced changes in the residue interaction networks with drug resistance effects, showing that network robustness may be compromised by targeted mutations of key mediating residues. This study has outlined mechanisms by which inhibitor binding could modulate resilience and efficiency of allosteric interactions in the kinase structures, while preserving structural topology required for catalytic activity and regulation

Stoma-free survival after anastomotic leak following rectal cancer resection: worldwide cohort of 2470 patients

Background: The optimal treatment of anastomotic leak after rectal cancer resection is unclear. This worldwide cohort study aimed to provide an overview of four treatment strategies applied. Methods: Patients from 216 centres and 45 countries with anastomotic leak after rectal cancer resection between 2014 and 2018 were included. Treatment was categorized as salvage surgery, faecal diversion with passive or active (vacuum) drainage, and no primary/secondary faecal diversion. The primary outcome was 1-year stoma-free survival. In addition, passive and active drainage were compared using propensity score matching (2: 1). Results: Of 2470 evaluable patients, 388 (16.0 per cent) underwent salvage surgery, 1524 (62.0 per cent) passive drainage, 278 (11.0 per cent) active drainage, and 280 (11.0 per cent) had no faecal diversion. One-year stoma-free survival rates were 13.7, 48.3, 48.2, and 65.4 per cent respectively. Propensity score matching resulted in 556 patients with passive and 278 with active drainage. There was no statistically significant difference between these groups in 1-year stoma-free survival (OR 0.95, 95 per cent c.i. 0.66 to 1.33), with a risk difference of -1.1 (95 per cent c.i. -9.0 to 7.0) per cent. After active drainage, more patients required secondary salvage surgery (OR 2.32, 1.49 to 3.59), prolonged hospital admission (an additional 6 (95 per cent c.i. 2 to 10) days), and ICU admission (OR 1.41, 1.02 to 1.94). Mean duration of leak healing did not differ significantly (an additional 12 (-28 to 52) days). Conclusion: Primary salvage surgery or omission of faecal diversion likely correspond to the most severe and least severe leaks respectively. In patients with diverted leaks, stoma-free survival did not differ statistically between passive and active drainage, although the increased risk of secondary salvage surgery and ICU admission suggests residual confounding

Stoma-free Survival After Rectal Cancer Resection With Anastomotic Leakage: Development and Validation of a Prediction Model in a Large International Cohort.

Objective:To develop and validate a prediction model (STOMA score) for 1-year stoma-free survival in patients with rectal cancer (RC) with anastomotic leakage (AL).Background:AL after RC resection often results in a permanent stoma.Methods:This international retrospective cohort study (TENTACLE-Rectum) encompassed 216 participating centres and included patients who developed AL after RC surgery between 2014 and 2018. Clinically relevant predictors for 1-year stoma-free survival were included in uni and multivariable logistic regression models. The STOMA score was developed and internally validated in a cohort of patients operated between 2014 and 2017, with subsequent temporal validation in a 2018 cohort. The discriminative power and calibration of the models' performance were evaluated.Results:This study included 2499 patients with AL, 1954 in the development cohort and 545 in the validation cohort. Baseline characteristics were comparable. One-year stoma-free survival was 45.0% in the development cohort and 43.7% in the validation cohort. The following predictors were included in the STOMA score: sex, age, American Society of Anestesiologist classification, body mass index, clinical M-disease, neoadjuvant therapy, abdominal and transanal approach, primary defunctioning stoma, multivisceral resection, clinical setting in which AL was diagnosed, postoperative day of AL diagnosis, abdominal contamination, anastomotic defect circumference, bowel wall ischemia, anastomotic fistula, retraction, and reactivation leakage. The STOMA score showed good discrimination and calibration (c-index: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.66-0.76).Conclusions:The STOMA score consists of 18 clinically relevant factors and estimates the individual risk for 1-year stoma-free survival in patients with AL after RC surgery, which may improve patient counseling and give guidance when analyzing the efficacy of different treatment strategies in future studies