Cracked Rotor Detection by Recurrence Plots

Recurrence plots (RPs) analysis has been used to distinguish cracked and healthy rotor responses. It has been shown that the recurrence criteria of the dynamical systems defined by the RPs can indicate the damages of the rotating shaft using relatively short time series

Birth rates after radioactive iodine treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer

Treatment with radioactive iodine (RAI) for differentiated thyroid cancer has been associated with alterations in gonadal function in women, including changes in menstrual function and an earlier age at menopause. Our objective was to evaluate associations between RAI and postdiagnosis live birth rates among thyroid cancer survivors diagnosed at ages 15–39 years. We identified women diagnosed with differentiated thyroid cancer between January 2000 and December 2013 in the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry (CCR). CCR records were linked to state birth certificate files to identify livebirths to thyroid cancer survivors through December 2014. Person-years of follow-up were accrued from 6 months after diagnosis to first birth, 46th birthday, death, or December 31, 2014, whichever came first. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazards ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for first livebirth. Among 2,360 women with a differentiated thyroid cancer diagnosis, 53% received RAI. The cumulative incidence of birth at the end of follow-up (maximum 14.5 years) was 30.0 and 29.3% among those who were and were not treated with RAI, respectively. Overall, first birth rates did not significantly differ between groups (HR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.82, 1.23). In our observational cohort, treatment with RAI was not associated with a reduced birth rate. Our findings add to the evidence available for counseling thyroid cancer patients with concerns about future fertility

Prominent Role Of Platelets In The Formation Of Circulating Neutrophil-red Cell Heterocellular Aggregates In Sickle Cell Anemia

[No abstract available]9911e214e217Hidalgo, A., Chang, J., Jang, J.E., Peired, A.J., Chiang, E.Y., Frenette, P.S., Heterotypic interactions enabled by polarized neutrophil microdomains mediate thromboinflammatory injury (2009) Nat Med, 15 (4), pp. 384-391Turhan, A., Jenab, P., Bruhns, P., Ravetch, J.V., Coller, B.S., Frenette, P.S., Intravenous immune globulin prevents venular vaso-occlusion in sickle cell mice by inhibiting leukocyte adhesion and the interactions between sickle erythrocytes and adherent leukocytes (2004) Blood, 103 (6), pp. 2397-2400Turhan, A., Weiss, L.A., Mohandas, N., Coller, B.S., Frenette, P.S., Primary role for adherent leukocytes in sickle cell vascular occlusion: A new paradigm (2002) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 99 (5), pp. 3047-3051May, A.E., Langer, H., Seizer, P., Bigalke, B., Lindemann, S., Gawaz, M., Platelet-leukocyte interactions in inflammation and atherothrombosis (2007) Semin Thromb Hemost, 33 (2), pp. 123-127Gawaz, M., Fateh-Moghadam, S., Pilz, G., Gurland, H.J., Werdan, K., Platelet activation and interaction with leucocytes in patients with sepsis or multiple organ failure (1995) Eur J Clin Invest, 25 (11), pp. 843-851Polanowska-Grabowska, R., Wallace, K., Field, J.J., Chen, L., Marshall, M.A., Figler, R., P-selectin-mediated platelet-neutrophil aggregate formation activates neutrophils in mouse and human sickle cell disease (2010) Art Thromb Vascular Biol, 30 (12), pp. 2392-2399Brittain, J.E., Knoll, C.M., Ataga, K.I., Orringer, E.P., Parise, L.V., Fibronectin bridges monocytes and reticulocytes via integrin alpha4beta1 (2008) Br J Haematol, 141 (6), pp. 872-881Chaar, V., Picot, J., Renaud, O., Bartolucci, P., Nzouakou, R., Bachir, D., Aggregation of mononuclear and red blood cells through an {alpha}4{beta}1-Lu/basal cell adhesion molecule interaction in sickle cell disease (2010) Haematologica, 95 (11), pp. 1841-1848Finnegan, E.M., Turhan, A., Golan, D.E., Barabino, G.A., Adherent leukocytes capture sickle erythrocytes in an in vitro flow model of vasoocclusion (2007) Am J Hematol, 82 (4), pp. 266-275Wun, T., Paglieroni, T., Tablin, F., Welborn, J., Nelson, K., Cheung, A., Platelet activation and platelet-erythrocyte aggregates in patients with sickle cell anemia (1997) J Lab Clin Med, 129 (5), pp. 507-516Hynes, R.O., Integrins: Versatility, modulation, and signaling in cell adhesion (1992) Cell, 69 (1), pp. 11-25Novelli, E.M., Kato, G.J., Ragni, M.V., Zhang, Y., Hildesheim, M.E., Nouraie, M., Plasma thrombospondin-1 is increased during acute sickle cell vaso-occlusive events and associated with acute chest syndrome, hydroxyurea therapy, and lower hemolytic rates (2012) Am J Hematol, 87 (3), pp. 326-330Proenca-Ferreira, R., Brugnerotto, A.F., Garrido, V.T., Dominical, V.M., Vital, D.M., Ribeiro Mde, F., Endothelial activation by platelets from sickle cell anemia patients (2014) PloS one, 9 (2)Kutlar, A., Ataga, K.I., McMahon, L., Howard, J., Galacteros, F., Hagar, W., A potent oral P-selectin blocking agent improves microcirculatory blood flow and a marker of endothelial cell injury in patients with sickle cell disease (2012) Am J Hematol, 87 (5), pp. 536-539Telen, M.J., Wun, T., McCavit, T.L., De Castro, L.M., Krishnamurti, L., Lanzkron, S., GMI 1070: Reduction In Time To Resolution Of Vaso-Occlusive Crisis and Decreased Opioid Use In a Prospective, Randomized, Multi-Center Double Blind, Adaptive Phase 2 Study In Sickle Cell Disease (2013) Blood, 122 (21), p. 7. , Abstrac

Immersed boundary-finite element model of fluid-structure interaction in the aortic root

It has long been recognized that aortic root elasticity helps to ensure efficient aortic valve closure, but our understanding of the functional importance of the elasticity and geometry of the aortic root continues to evolve as increasingly detailed in vivo imaging data become available. Herein, we describe fluid-structure interaction models of the aortic root, including the aortic valve leaflets, the sinuses of Valsalva, the aortic annulus, and the sinotubular junction, that employ a version of Peskin's immersed boundary (IB) method with a finite element (FE) description of the structural elasticity. We develop both an idealized model of the root with three-fold symmetry of the aortic sinuses and valve leaflets, and a more realistic model that accounts for the differences in the sizes of the left, right, and noncoronary sinuses and corresponding valve cusps. As in earlier work, we use fiber-based models of the valve leaflets, but this study extends earlier IB models of the aortic root by employing incompressible hyperelastic models of the mechanics of the sinuses and ascending aorta using a constitutive law fit to experimental data from human aortic root tissue. In vivo pressure loading is accounted for by a backwards displacement method that determines the unloaded configurations of the root models. Our models yield realistic cardiac output at physiological pressures, with low transvalvular pressure differences during forward flow, minimal regurgitation during valve closure, and realistic pressure loads when the valve is closed during diastole. Further, results from high-resolution computations demonstrate that IB models of the aortic valve are able to produce essentially grid-converged dynamics at practical grid spacings for the high-Reynolds number flows of the aortic root

Carbon stable isotopes as a palaeoclimate proxy in vascular plant dominated peatlands

Carbon stable isotope (δ¹³C) records from vascular plant dominated peatlands have been used as a palaeoclimate proxy, but a better empirical understanding of fractionation processes in these ecosystems is required. Here, we test the potential of δ¹³C analysis of ombrotrophic restiad peatlands in New Zealand, dominated by the wire rush (Empodisma spp.), to provide a methodology for developing palaeoclimatic records. We took surface plant samples alongside measurements of water table depth and (micro)climate over spatial (six sites spanning > 10 latitude) and temporal (monthly measurements over 1 year) gradients and analysed the relationships between cellulose δ¹³C values and environmental parameters. We found strong, significant negative correlations between δ¹³C and temperature, photosynthetically active radiation and growing degree days above 0 C. No significant relationships were observed between δ¹³C and precipitation, relative humidity, soil moisture or water table depth, suggesting no growing season water limitation and a decoupling of the expected link between δ¹³C in vascular plants and hydrological variables. δ¹³C of Empodisma spp. roots may therefore provide a valuable temperature proxy in a climatically sensitive region, but further physiological and sub-fossil calibration studies are required to fully understand the observed signal

Developing a predictive modelling capacity for a climate change-vulnerable blanket bog habitat: Assessing 1961-1990 baseline relationships

Aim: Understanding the spatial distribution of high priority habitats and developing predictive models using climate and environmental variables to replicate these distributions are desirable conservation goals. The aim of this study was to model and elucidate the contributions of climate and topography to the distribution of a priority blanket bog habitat in Ireland, and to examine how this might inform the development of a climate change predictive capacity for peat-lands in Ireland. Methods: Ten climatic and two topographic variables were recorded for grid cells with a spatial resolution of 1010 km, covering 87% of the mainland land surface of Ireland. Presence-absence data were matched to these variables and generalised linear models (GLMs) fitted to identify the main climatic and terrain predictor variables for occurrence of the habitat. Candidate predictor variables were screened for collinearity, and the accuracy of the final fitted GLM was evaluated using fourfold cross-validation based on the area under the curve (AUC) derived from a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plot. The GLM predicted habitat occurrence probability maps were mapped against the actual distributions using GIS techniques. Results: Despite the apparent parsimony of the initial GLM using only climatic variables, further testing indicated collinearity among temperature and precipitation variables for example. Subsequent elimination of the collinear variables and inclusion of elevation data produced an excellent performance based on the AUC scores of the final GLM. Mean annual temperature and total mean annual precipitation in combination with elevation range were the most powerful explanatory variable group among those explored for the presence of blanket bog habitat. Main conclusions: The results confirm that this habitat distribution in general can be modelled well using the non-collinear climatic and terrain variables tested at the grid resolution used. Mapping the GLM-predicted distribution to the observed distribution produced useful results in replicating the projected occurrence of the habitat distribution over an extensive area. The methods developed will usefully inform future climate change predictive modelling for Irelan

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe

Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by Fermi and Swift during the LIGO-Virgo Run O3b

We search for gravitational-wave signals associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi and Swift satellites during the second half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (2019 November 1 15:00 UTC-2020 March 27 17:00 UTC). We conduct two independent searches: A generic gravitational-wave transients search to analyze 86 GRBs and an analysis to target binary mergers with at least one neutron star as short GRB progenitors for 17 events. We find no significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with any of these GRBs. A weighted binomial test of the combined results finds no evidence for subthreshold gravitational-wave signals associated with this GRB ensemble either. We use several source types and signal morphologies during the searches, resulting in lower bounds on the estimated distance to each GRB. Finally, we constrain the population of low-luminosity short GRBs using results from the first to the third observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The resulting population is in accordance with the local binary neutron star merger rate. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society