An experimental investigation of the laminar horseshoe vortex around an emerging obstacle

An emerging long obstacle placed in a boundary layer developing under a free-surface generates a complex horseshoe vortex (HSV) system, which is composed of a set of vortices exhibiting a rich variety of dynamics. The present experimental study examines such flow structure and characterizes precisely, using PIV measurements, the evolution of the HSV geometrical and dynamical properties over a wide range of dimensionless parameters (Reynolds number $Re_h \in [750, 8300]$, boundary layer development ratio $h/\delta \in [1.25, 4.25]$ and obstacle aspect ratio $W/h \in [0.67, 2.33]$). The dynamical study of the HSV is based on the categorization of the HSV vortices motion into an enhanced specific bi-dimensional typology, separating a coherent (due to vortex-vortex interactions) and an irregular evolution (due to appearance of small-scale instabilities). This precise categorization is made possible thanks to the use of vortex tracking methods applied on PIV measurements, A semi-empirical model for the HSV vortices motion is then proposed to highlight some important mechanisms of the HSV dynamics, as (i) the influence of the surrounding vortices on a vortex motion and (ii) the presence of a phase shift between the motion of all vortices. The study of the HSV geometrical properties (vortex position and characteristic lengths and frequencies) evolution with the flow parameters shows that strong dependencies exist between the streamwise extension of the HSV and the obstacle width, and between the HSV vortex number and its elongation. Comparison of these data with prior studies for immersed obstacles reveals that emerging obstacles lead to greater adverse pressure gradients and down-flows in front of the obstacle

LEVER Trial: Levonorgestrel Intrauterine Device Alone or in Combination with an mTORC1 Inhibitor to Overcome Progesterone Resistance in Atypical Hyperplasia or Stage Ia Grade 1 Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp21/1162/thumbnail.jp

Impact of lifestyle and diet on endometriosis: a fresh look to a busy corner

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder with a prevalence of six to ten percent in women of childbearing age. As long as the aetiology of endometriosis is not fully understood and the disease has no definitive treatment, an examination of the environmental factors or interventions that could modify or cure endometriosis would greatly benefit women suffering from this chronic condition. This literature review utilized the electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, and MEDLINE until February 2021. Studies indicate that fish oil may have a positive effect on reducing endometriosis-related pain due to the effects of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins derived from omega-3 fatty acids. The same effect was seen with the introduction of antioxidant vitamins C, D, and E. There is clinical viability of a low fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides and polyols diet to successfully reduce the symptoms of patients who suffer from both endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome. Despite the low level of evidence, there are frequent associations between endometriosis and gastrointestinal conditions in addition to the influence of various nutritional factors on the disease. The management of endometriosis requires a holistic approach focused on reducing overall inflammation, increasing detoxification, and attenuating troublesome symptoms. A dietician may provide great benefit in the management of these patients, especially at younger ages and in early stages. High-level evidence and welldesigned randomized studies are lacking when it comes to studying the effect of lifestyle and dietary intake on endometriosis. Inarguably, further research with a more extensive focus is needed

Reflections on the CLIVAR Early Career Scientists Symposium 2016

We present a summary report of the CLIVAR Early Career Scientists Symposium, a three-day event associated with the CLIVAR Open Science Conference held in Qingdao, China during September 2016. The Symposium aimed to capture the ideas of early career researchers on pressing science priorities, imminent challenges, and emerging opportunities to help guide the future evolution of CLIVAR. We identified the need for improving process-based understanding and predictability of regional climate variability and change, moving toward seamless predictions, and improving and expanding global observations. We emphasize the need for increasingly open science, including universal access to data, code, and publications as well as opportunities for international cooperation and exchange. As the next generation of climate scientists, we are dedicated to overcome the challenges outlined in this summary and are looking forward to advancing CLIVAR???s mission and activities

SCMR level II/independent practitioner training guidelines for cardiovascular magnetic resonance: integration of a virtual training environment

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is an important non-invasive imaging modality used for the evaluation of patients with known or suspected heart disease. Despite its clinical importance, CMR is currently not widely available, in part, because of a scarcity of well-trained physicians to perform and interpret the exam. Moreover, current 2018 Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) training guidelines [1] and also training guidelines from other societies [2, 3] require a significant amount of in-person hands-on experience making training inaccessible for many individuals. This limits the availability of physicians appropriately trained to perform and interpret CMR exams. The purpose of this statement is to provide guidance for implementing a high-quality virtual CMR training program to complement in-person training options

Cross-Hemisphere Study Reveals Geographically Ubiquitous, Plastic-Specific Bacteria Emerging from the Rare and Unexplored Biosphere

While it is now appreciated that the millions of tons of plastic pollution travelling through marine systems carry complex communities of microorganisms, it is still unknown to what extent these biofilm communities are specific to the plastic or selected by the surrounding ecosystem. To address this, we characterized and compared the microbial communities of microplastic particles, nonplastic (natural and wax) particles, and the surrounding waters from three marine ecosystems (the Baltic, Sargasso and Mediterranean seas) using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We found that biofilm communities on microplastic and nonplastic particles were highly similar to one another across this broad geographical range. The similar temperature and salinity profiles of the Sargasso and Mediterranean seas, compared to the Baltic Sea, were reflected in the biofilm communities. We identified plastic-specific operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that were not detected on nonplastic particles or in the surrounding waters. Twenty-six of the plastic-specific OTUs were geographically ubiquitous across all sampled locations. These geographically ubiquitous plastic-specific OTUs were mostly low-abundance members of their biofilm communities and often represented uncultured members of marine ecosystems. These results demonstrate the potential for plastics to be a reservoir of rare and understudied microbes, thus warranting further investigations into the dynamics and role of these microbes in marine ecosystems

Assessment of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of HPV testing in primary screening for cervical

Introduction: The introduction of a screening programme for cervical carcinoma in Germany has led to a significant reduction in incidence of the disease. To date, however, diagnosis in Germany has been based solely on cervical cytology, which has been criticised because of a low sensitivity and consequently high rate of false negative results. Because an infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) previously was found to be a necessary aetiological factor in the development of cervical cancer, there has been some discussion that HPV testing should be included in cervical cancer screening. Objectives: How do HPV tests compare to cytological tests in terms of sensitivity and specificity, and what are the effects of screening for cervical carcinoma in Germany? Is there health economic evidence that may foster an inclusion of HPV testing into national screening programms? Methods: A systematic literature review was performed, including studies that compared the HPV test to cervical cytology in terms of sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of CIN 2+ (CIN=Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia). In addition, a systematic review of the relevant health economic literature was performed to analyze cost-effectiveness in the German setting. Results: A total of 24 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. One study consisted of three substudies. Hence, results of 26 comparisons of HPV and cytology are reported. In 25 of these, the HPV test was more sensitive than cytology, whereas cytology had better specificity in 21 studies. The combination of HPV test and cytology increased sensitivity. Variability in results was considerably larger for cytology than for HPV testing. Results of the economic meta-analysis suggest that in health care settings with already established PAP screening programms, cost-effectiveness strongly depends on screening intervals. In analyses comparing HPV screening to conventional PAP screening with two-yearly intervals, only 25% of the HPV strategies were found to be cost-effective, whereas in comparison with one-, three-, and five-yearly PAP screening, the percentage of overall cost-effective HPV strategies was 83%, 55%, and 92%, respectively. Results for annual screening intervals are based on the assumption of complete screening compliance, which has to be further evaluated in decision analyses in the future adapting to the German health care setting. Discussion: Including HPV testing in screening procedures for cervical carcinoma could lead to a reduction in false positive results. Doing so would involve one of the following approaches: a) combining the HPV test with cytology, or b) using cytology as triage in HPV-positive women. The most appropriate interval between screening tests and the best age to start or stop screening remains to be determined. At this point a formal health economic decision analyses may help in resolving those questions, additionally incorporating compliance and adherence within different screening scenarios. Conclusion: Considering medical evidence weighing the question whether HPV testing should be implemented into screening routine may not be if but how to do so. Open questions remain in setting the length of optimal screening intervals, the age range in which to screen, and the combination or sequence of existing cytology and HPV testing. Answers to those questions will be gathered in the very near future through large international clinical trials. Cost-effectiveness of implementing HPV testing is likely to exist in the management of borderline or unclear smears in triage treatment as well as in certain scenarios of primary screening within the German health care setting

Definition of Mafa-A and -B haplotypes in pedigreed cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I B gene/allelic repertoire was investigated in a pedigreed population of cynomolgus macaques of mixed Indonesian/Malaysian origin. The Mafa-B alleles detected in this cohort are mostly specific for a given geographic area, and only a small number of alleles appears to be shared with other populations. This suggests the fast evolution of Mafa-B alleles due to adaptation to new environments. In contrast to humans, the B locus in Old World monkeys displays extensive copy number variation. The Mafa-B and previously defined -A gene combinations segregate in families and thus allowed the definition of extended haplotypes. In many cases it was possible to assign a particular Mafa-I allele to one of these Mafa-A/B haplotypes as well. The presence of a large number of stable haplotypes in this cohort of animals, which was pedigreed for up to eight generations, looks promising for developing discriminative MHC typing tools that are less cumbersome. Furthermore, the discovery of 53 unreported Mafa-B sequences expands the lexicon of alleles significantly, and may help in understanding the complex organisation of the macaque B region