Printed antenna for satellite communications

2010 Proceedings of the Fourth European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP

Variable expressivity familial cherubism: Woman transmitting cherubism without suffering the disease

Cherubism is classified within the group of benign osteo-fibrous lesions. Aside from facial deformities, it may account for major complications. It has been observed that the disease is caused by a mutation in the gene SH3BP2 (SH3-domain binding protein 2), which is located at chromosome 4pl6.3. Here we present two cases of familial cherubism, uncle and nephew, with variable clinical involvement ("Expressivity"), and one case of a woman (sister and mother, respectively), who transmitted cherubism without suffering the disease. In this article we have shown that, in familial cherubism cases, the mutation is inherited through an autosomal dominant transmission. Mutations affecting gene SH3BP2 cause variable clinical involvement (variable expressivity), involvement can be moderate, severe or may result merely in asymptomatic carriers. Since the possibility of transmission reaches 50% of chances, we believe that it is important to develop genetic counseling for both patients and carriers, in order to prevent or minimize new affected offspring

p27(Kip1) expression as a prognostic marker for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Regulation of the cell cycle is essential for carcinogenesis. The cell cycle is controlled by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), which are upregulated by cyclins and downregulated by CDK inhibitors (CDKIs). Decreased p27(Kip1) expression has been associated with survival rate, tumor size, histological differentiation and the presence of lymph node metastasis in patients with various types of cancer. The aim of the current study is to provide a literature review on the association between p27(Kip1) expression and the clinical and pathological aspects of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and the expression of other CDKIs of the Cip/Kip family and cyclins. Throughout the literature, different methodologies were used to determine the immunohistochemical expression of p27(Kip1); thus, results concerning p27(Kip1) expression in HNSCC vary widely. However, it has now been confirmed that p27(Kip1) is underexpressed in SCC cells. p27 may be a promising marker for determining the prognosis of HNSCC, despite the marked variability of the results obtained. An association between p27 expression and survival rate, time to recurrence and tumor stage has been observed. Based on the information currently available, it is premature to recommend the analysis of p27(Kip1) expression in guiding HNSCC treatment planning. However, although relatively unstudied, the correlation between p27(Kip1) expression and other tumor suppressor genes may turn out to be important in determining the prognosis of HNSCC. Further prospective studies utilizing standardized laboratory methodologies and statistics that facilitate meta-analyses are required to confirm this proposal

Course of vascular access and relationship with treatment of anemia

Producción CientíficaBackground and objectives: Maintenance of the vascular access is a crucial factor in hemodialysis, but large studies of factors that are predictive of thrombosis are lacking. Design, setting, participants, & measurements: This prospective, multicenter study investigated a cohort to describe the management of vascular access and establish the influence of anemia as a risk factor. The cohort included 1710 patients (aged 64.4 yr; 60% men) who were followed every 3 mo at 119 centers during 12 mo. On inclusion, 9.6% had a catheter, 80.3% had a native arteriovenous fistula, and 10.1% had a polytetrafluoroethylene graft. Results: Low baseline hemoglobin increased the risk for vascular access events. The risk was higher with a polytetrafluoroethylene graft and a catheter versus arteriovenous fistula. The multivariate model included type of vascular access, previous cardiovascular events, and noncorrected anemia. The likelihood of remaining free of vascular access events 12 mo later was 0.727 (baseline hemoglobin 12.0 g/dl), figures similar to those obtained with hemoglobin from the trimester before the event. The Cox model included type of vascular access. Conclusions: Correcting anemia did not increase the risk for vascular access–related events, and anemia that was resistant to treatment identified a subgroup of patients with higher comorbidity and higher likelihood of a vascular access event

Dynamic Changes in the Neurogenic Potential in the Ventricular–Subventricular Zone of Common Marmoset during Postnatal Brain Development

Even after birth, neuronal production continues in the ventricular–subventricular zone (V–SVZ) and hippocampus in many mammals. The immature new neurons (“neuroblasts”) migrate and then mature at their final destination. In humans, neuroblast production and migration toward the neocortex and the olfactory bulb (OB) occur actively only for a few months after birth and then sharply decline with age. However, the precise spatiotemporal profiles and fates of postnatally born neurons remain unclear due to methodological limitations. We previously found that common marmosets, small nonhuman primates, share many features of V–SVZ organization with humans. Here, using marmosets injected with thymidine analogue(s) during various postnatal periods, we demonstrated spatiotemporal changes in neurogenesis during development. V–SVZ progenitor proliferation and neuroblast migration toward the OB and neocortex sharply decreased by 4 months, most strikingly in a V–SVZ subregion from which neuroblasts migrated toward the neocortex. Postnatally born neurons matured within a few months in the OB and hippocampus but remained immature until 6 months in the neocortex. While neurogenic activity was sustained for a month after birth, the distribution and/or differentiation diversity was more restricted in 1-month-born cells than in the neonatal-born population. These findings shed light on distinctive features of postnatal neurogenesis in primates

Preventing alpelisib-related hyperglycaemia in HR+/HER2−/PIK3CA-mutated advanced breast cancer using metformin (METALLICA): a multicentre, open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial

Advanced breast cancer; Hyperglycaemia; Prophylactic metforminCàncer de mama avançat; Hiperglucèmia; Metformina profilàcticaCáncer de mama avanzado; Hiperglucemia; Metformina profilácticaBackground Hyperglycaemia is an early and frequent adverse event during alpelisib treatment. METALLICA aimed to evaluate prophylactic metformin to prevent or reduce hyperglycaemia occurrence in patients with HR+/HER2−/PIK3CA-mutated advanced breast cancer (ABC). Methods Between August 13th, 2020 and March 23rd, 2022, this 2-cohort, phase 2, multicentre, single-arm trial (NCT04300790) enrolled patients with HR+/HER2−/PIK3CA-mutated ABC: cohort A, normal glycaemia (fasting plasma glucose <100 mg/dL [<5.6 mmol/L] and HbA1c <5.7%), and cohort B, prediabetes (fasting plasma glucose 100–140 mg/dL [5.6–7.8 mmol/L] and/or haemoglobin A1C [HbA1c] 5.7–6.4%). Participants were at least 18 years old, with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–1, and up to two prior lines of endocrine therapy (ET) for ABC. Alpelisib plus ET were administered in 28-day cycles after initiation of prophylactic metformin plus ET. Primary endpoint was the incidence of grade 3–4 hyperglycaemia over the first 8 weeks. Secondary endpoints included safety, progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and clinical benefit rate (CBR). The primary objective for cohort A and B is met with ≤7 (14.6%) and ≤4 (20%) patients with grade 3–4 hyperglycaemia over the first 8 weeks, respectively. Findings 233 patients were screened, and 68 (20.2%) patients were enrolled in cohorts A (n = 48) and B (n = 20). Median follow-up was 7.8 months (IQR 1.4–19.6). Over the first 8 weeks, one (2.1%) of 48 patients in cohort A (95% CI: 0.5–11.1; P < 0.0001), and three (15.0%) of 20 patients in cohort B (95% CI: 5.6–37.8; P = 0.016) had grade 3–4 hyperglycaemia. Serious treatment-related adverse events occurred in seven patients (10.3%). The most common were rash (two [2.9%]), vomiting (two [2.9%]), and diarrhoea (two [2.9%]). Discontinuation of alpelisib caused by AEs was reported in nine patients (13.2%), none caused by hyperglycaemia. At data cutoff (15 June, 2022), no treatment-related deaths were observed. In the full analysis set, median PFS was 7.3 months (95% CI: 5.9–not reached), ORR was 20.6% (95% CI: 11.7–32.1%), and CBR was 52.9% (95% CI: 40.4–65.2). Interpretation In HR+/HER2−/PIK3CA-mutated ABC, prophylactic metformin before alpelisib plus endocrine treatment has low incidence and severity of alpelicib-induced hyperglycaemia.Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Caracterización mecánica de los vasos utilizados en un Bypass Coronario.

La técnica del bypass coronario consiste en evitar una arteria coronaria obstruida utilizando un injerto vascular. Su éxito depende del buen funcionamiento de la zona de unión, o anastomosis, entre la aorta y el injerto, y entre el injerto y la arteria coronaria. Las tensiones generadas en la discontinuidad pueden producir problemas de desgarro o roturas. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la unión mecánica que se produce al sustituir una arteria coronaria por otro vaso, caracterizando el comportamiento mecánico de los vasos involucrados

The importance of atmospheric correction for airborne hyperspectral remote sensing of shallow waters: application to depth estimation

Accurate determination of water depth is indispensable in multiple aspects of civil engineering (dock construction, dikes, submarines outfalls, trench control, etc.). To determine the type of atmospheric correction most appropriate for the depth estimation, different accuracies are required. Accuracy in bathymetric information is highly dependent on the atmospheric correction made to the imagery. The reduction of effects such as glint and cross-track illumination in homogeneous shallow-water areas improves the results of the depth estimations. The aim of this work is to assess the best atmospheric correction method for the estimation of depth in shallow waters, considering that reflectance values cannot be greater than 1.5% because otherwise the background would not be seen. This paper addresses the use of hyperspectral imagery to quantitative bathymetric mapping and explores one of the most common problems when attempting to extract depth information in conditions of variable water types and bottom reflectances. The current work assesses the accuracy of some classical bathymetric algorithms (Polcyn? Lyzenga, Philpot, Benny?Dawson, Hamilton, principal component analysis) when four different atmospheric correction methods are applied and water depth is derived. No atmospheric correction is valid for all type of coastal waters, but in heterogeneous shallow water the model of atmospheric correction 6S offers good results

Design and Development of a Multimodal Vest for Virtual Immersion and Guidance

This paper is focused on the development of a haptic vest to enhance immersion and realism in virtual environments, through vibrotactile feedback. The first steps to achieve touch-based communication are presented in order to set an actuation method based on vibration motors. Resulting vibrotactile patterns helping users to move inside virtual reality (VR). The research investigates human torso resolution and perception of vibration patterns, evaluating different kind of actuators at different locations on the vest. Finally, determining an appropriate distribution of vibration patterns allowed the generation of sensations that, for instance, help to guide in a mixed or virtual reality environment

CDAPubMed: a browser extension to retrieve EHR-based biomedical literature

Over the last few decades, the ever-increasing output of scientific publications has led to new challenges to keep up to date with the literature. In the biomedical area, this growth has introduced new requirements for professionals, e.g., physicians, who have to locate the exact papers that they need for their clinical and research work amongst a huge number of publications. Against this backdrop, novel information retrieval methods are even more necessary. While web search engines are widespread in many areas, facilitating access to all kinds of information, additional tools are required to automatically link information retrieved from these engines to specific biomedical applications. In the case of clinical environments, this also means considering aspects such as patient data security and confidentiality or structured contents, e.g., electronic health records (EHRs). In this scenario, we have developed a new tool to facilitate query building to retrieve scientific literature related to EHRs. Results: We have developed CDAPubMed, an open-source web browser extension to integrate EHR features in biomedical literature retrieval approaches. Clinical users can use CDAPubMed to: (i) load patient clinical documents, i.e., EHRs based on the Health Level 7-Clinical Document Architecture Standard (HL7-CDA), (ii) identify relevant terms for scientific literature search in these documents, i.e., Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), automatically driven by the CDAPubMed configuration, which advanced users can optimize to adapt to each specific situation, and (iii) generate and launch literature search queries to a major search engine, i.e., PubMed, to retrieve citations related to the EHR under examination. Conclusions: CDAPubMed is a platform-independent tool designed to facilitate literature searching using keywords contained in specific EHRs. CDAPubMed is visually integrated, as an extension of a widespread web browser, within the standard PubMed interface. It has been tested on a public dataset of HL7-CDA documents, returning significantly fewer citations since queries are focused on characteristics identified within the EHR. For instance, compared with more than 200,000 citations retrieved by breast neoplasm, fewer than ten citations were retrieved when ten patient features were added using CDAPubMed. This is an open source tool that can be freely used for non-profit purposes and integrated with other existing systems