Using social media for asynchronous collaboration within collaborative networks

Societal challenges of today (e.g. aging) are complex and often require systemic solutions to be addressed. To address these challenges, various expertise and knowledge are required; in this sense, collaborative network projects have a lot of potential in offering a systemic solution. Design workshops (synchronous collaboration) are often used to achieve progress in such projects. In this paper we introduce asynchronous collaboration, which can occur anytime, anywhere through the use of social media. We have probed Instagram as a ‘ready-made’ social media platform within two collaborative network project case studies. This was done to experiment with asynchronous collaboration and knowledge sharing in addition to design workshops. Both cases were evaluated through focus groups that indicated how social media has the potential to enable actors to cross-field boundaries, inspire each other, and in this way enrich the design process within asynchronous collaboration. Our contribution with this work is two-fold: on the one hand, we aim to inspire and show how collaborative network projects can benefit from asynchronous collaboration in addition to synchronous collaboration. On the other hand, we hope to contribute to the creation of specific social media platforms as tools for supporting asynchronous collaboration within collaborative networks

Using social media for asynchronous collaboration within collaborative networks

Societal challenges of today (e.g. aging) are complex and often require systemic solutions to be addressed. To address these challenges, various expertise and knowledge are required; in this sense, collaborative network projects have a lot of potential in offering a systemic solution. Design workshops (synchronous collaboration) are often used to achieve progress in such projects. In this paper we introduce asynchronous collaboration, which can occur anytime, anywhere through the use of social media. We have probed Instagram as a ‘ready-made’ social media platform within two collaborative network project case studies. This was done to experiment with asynchronous collaboration and knowledge sharing in addition to design workshops. Both cases were evaluated through focus groups that indicated how social media has the potential to enable actors to cross-field boundaries, inspire each other, and in this way enrich the design process within asynchronous collaboration. Our contribution with this work is two-fold: on the one hand, we aim to inspire and show how collaborative network projects can benefit from asynchronous collaboration in addition to synchronous collaboration. On the other hand, we hope to contribute to the creation of specific social media platforms as tools for supporting asynchronous collaboration within collaborative networks

The uncertainties on the EFT coupling limits for direct dark matter detection experiments stemming from uncertainties of target properties

Direct detection experiments are still one of the most promising ways to unravel the nature of dark matter. To fully understand how well these experiments constrain the dark matter interactions with the Standard Model particles, all the uncertainties affecting the calculations must be known. It is especially critical now because direct detection experiments recently moved from placing limits only on the two elementary spin independent and spin dependent operators to the complete set of possible operators coupling dark matter and nuclei in non-relativistic theory. In our work, we estimate the effect of nuclear configuration-interaction uncertainties on the exclusion bounds for one of the existing xenon-based experiments for all fifteen operators. We find that for operator number 13 the $\pm1\sigma$ uncertainty on the coupling between the dark matter and nucleon can reach more than 50% for dark matter masses between 10 and 1000 GeV. In addition, we discuss how quantum computers can help to reduce this uncertainty.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. D, May 17, 202

Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide: Pattern of secondary intraocular pressure rise and possible risk factors

Ziad F Bashshur1, Abdallah M Terro1, Christelle P El Haibi1, Akaber M Halawi1, Alexandre Schakal2, Baha’ N Noureddin11The Department of Ophthalmology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon; 2The Department of Ophthalmology, Hotel Dieu de France (St. Joseph University), LebanonPurpose: To determine the pattern of increase in intraocular pressure (IOP) following intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) and identify possible risk factors associated with this rise in IOP.Methods: We carried out a retrospective review of records for 185 patients (226 eyes) who received 4 mg of IVTA at the American University of Beirut Medical Center and Hotel Dieu de France eye clinics between 2003 and 2005.Results: Mean follow-up was 8.17 months (range 6 to 24 months). The mean number of IVTA injections per eye was 1.31 ± 0.69. The mean IOP increased after the first IVTA injection from 15.04 ± 3.18 mmHg at baseline to a mean maximum of 17.20 ± 5.75 mmHg (p < 0.0001, paired t-test) at month 3 of follow-up with a return to mean baseline IOP (15.49 ± 4.79 mmHg) at month 12. Fifty nine of 226 eyes showed IOP higher than 21 mmHg during follow-up. Nine eyes started to have IOP greater than 21 mmHg, 6 to 12 months after a single injection. Intraocular pressure lowering medications were started when IOP exceeded 25 mmHg in 15 of the 226 eyes studied. No risk factors have been found to predict this IOP rise.Conclusions: IOP elevation can occur in a significant number of eyes receiving 4 mg of IVTA. This phenomenon seems to be transient and a small number of eyes required treatment during this period. Eyes that received IVTA need to be monitored for IOP changes especially during the first 3 months, but the IOP may still rise 6 months and even 12 months after a single injection. This study did not show any risk factor that may predict this IOP rise.Keywords: intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide, intraocular pressure elevation, diabetic macular edema, choroidal neovascular membrane due to age-related macular degeneration, central retinal vein occlusion, Branch retinal vein occlusion, Uveiti

Backlund transformations for difference Hirota equation and supersymmetric Bethe ansatz

We consider GL(K|M)-invariant integrable supersymmetric spin chains with twisted boundary conditions and elucidate the role of Backlund transformations in solving the difference Hirota equation for eigenvalues of their transfer matrices. The nested Bethe ansatz technique is shown to be equivalent to a chain of successive Backlund transformations "undressing" the original problem to a trivial one.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, based on the talk given at the Workshop "Classical and Quantum Integrable Systems", Dubna, January 200

Candida esophageal perforation and esophagopleural fistula: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Esophageal perforation is a rare disease, which can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Its clinical presentation can mimic other disease processes and, therefore, it can be easily misdiagnosed. <it>Candida </it>infection of the esophagus is an extremely rare cause of esophageal perforation.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the youngest pediatric case in the medical literature of spontaneous esophageal perforation and an esophagopleural fistula due to <it>Candida </it>infection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A high index of suspicion, especially in the presence of <it>Candida </it>empyema and the absence of disseminated infection, should raise the possibility of esophageal perforation with esophagopleural fistula formation. This can lead to early diagnosis and surgical intervention, which would decrease the high mortality rate of this rare condition.</p

Antenatal corticosteroids impact the inflammatory rather than the antiangiogenic profile of women with preeclampsia

Circulating antiangiogenic factors and proinflammatory cytokines are implicated in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. This study was performed to test the hypothesis that steroids modify the balance of inflammatory and proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors that potentially contribute to the patient's evolving clinical state. Seventy singleton women, admitted for antenatal corticosteroid treatment, were enrolled prospectively. The study group consisted of 45 hypertensive women: chronic hypertension (n=6), severe preeclampsia (n=32), and superimposed preeclampsia (n=7). Normotensive women with shortened cervix (<2.5 cm) served as controls (n=25). Maternal blood samples of preeclampsia cases were obtained before steroids and then serially up until delivery. A clinical severity score was designed to clinically monitor disease progression. Serum levels of angiogenic factors (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 [sFlt-1], placental growth factor [PlGF], soluble endoglin [sEng]), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and proinflammatory markers (IL-6, C-reactive protein [CRP]) were assessed before and after steroids. Soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R) and total immunoglobulins (IgG) were measured as markers of T- and B-cell activation, respectively. Steroid treatment coincided with a transient improvement in clinical manifestations of preeclampsia. A significant decrease in IL-6 and CRP was observed although levels of sIL-2R and IgG remained unchanged. Antenatal corticosteroids did not influence the levels of angiogenic factors but ET-1 levels registered a short-lived increase poststeroids. Although a reduction in specific inflammatory mediators in response to antenatal steroids may account for the transient improvement in clinical signs of preeclampsia, inflammation is unlikely to be the major contributor to severe preeclampsia or useful for therapeutic targeting. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc

GA4GH Phenopackets: A Practical Introduction.

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) is developing a suite of coordinated standards for genomics for healthcare. The Phenopacket is a new GA4GH standard for sharing disease and phenotype information that characterizes an individual person, linking that individual to detailed phenotypic descriptions, genetic information, diagnoses, and treatments. A detailed example is presented that illustrates how to use the schema to represent the clinical course of a patient with retinoblastoma, including demographic information, the clinical diagnosis, phenotypic features and clinical measurements, an examination of the extirpated tumor, therapies, and the results of genomic analysis. The Phenopacket Schema, together with other GA4GH data and technical standards, will enable data exchange and provide a foundation for the computational analysis of disease and phenotype information to improve our ability to diagnose and conduct research on all types of disorders, including cancer and rare diseases

GA4GH Phenopackets: A Practical Introduction

The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) is developing a suite of coordinated standards for genomics for healthcare. The Phenopacket is a new GA4GH standard for sharing disease and phenotype information that characterizes an individual person, linking that individual to detailed phenotypic descriptions, genetic information, diagnoses, and treatments. A detailed example is presented that illustrates how to use the schema to represent the clinical course of a patient with retinoblastoma, including demographic information, the clinical diagnosis, phenotypic features and clinical measurements, an examination of the extirpated tumor, therapies, and the results of genomic analysis. The Phenopacket Schema, together with other GA4GH data and technical standards, will enable data exchange and provide a foundation for the computational analysis of disease and phenotype information to improve our ability to diagnose and conduct research on all types of disorders, including cancer and rare diseases

10-Year cardiovascular event risks for women who experienced hypertensive disorders in late pregnancy: the HyRAS study

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is the cause of death in 32% of women in the Netherlands. Prediction of an individual's risk for cardiovascular disease is difficult, in particular in younger women due to low sensitive and specific tests for these women. 10% to 15% of all pregnancies are complicated by hypertensive disorders, the vast majority of which develop only after 36 weeks of gestation. Preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease in later life show both features of "the metabolic syndrome" and atherosclerosis. Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and cardiovascular disease may develop by common pathophysiologic pathways initiated by similar vascular risk factors. Vascular damage occurring during preeclampsia or gestational hypertension may contribute to the development of future cardiovascular disease, or is already present before pregnancy. At present clinicians do not systematically aim at the possible cardiovascular consequences in later life after a hypertensive pregnancy disorder at term. However, screening for risk factors after preeclampsia or gestational hypertension at term may give insight into an individual's cardiovascular risk profile. METHODS: Women with a history of preeclampsia or gestational hypertension will be invited to participate in a cohort study 2,5 years after delivery. Participants will be screened for established modifiable cardiovascular risk indicators. The primary outcome is the 10-year cardiovascular event risk. Secondary outcomes include differences in cardiovascular parameters, SNP's in glucose metabolism, and neonatal outcome. DISCUSSION: This study will provide evidence on the potential health gains of a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor screening program for women whose pregnancy was complicated by hypertension or preeclampsia. The calculation of individual 10-year cardiovascular event risks will allow identification of those women who will benefit from primary prevention by tailored interventions, at a relatively young age. Trail registration The HYPITAT trial is registered in the clinical trial register as ISRCTN08132825