Series of experiments for empirical validation of solar gain modelling in building energy simulation codes - experimental setup, test cell characterization, specifications and uncertainty analysis

Empirical validation of building energy simulation codes is an important component in understanding the capacity and limitations of the software. Within the framework of Task 34/Annex 43 of the International Energy Agency (IEA), a series of experiments was performed in an outdoor test cell. The objective of these experiments was to provide a high-quality data set for code developers and modelers to validate their solar gain models for windows with and without shading devices. A description of the necessary specifications for modeling these experiments is provided in this paper, which includes information about the test site location, experimental setup, geometrical and thermophysical cell properties including estimated uncertainties. Computed overall thermal cell properties were confirmed by conducting a steady-state experiment without solar gains. A transient experiment, also without solar gains, and corresponding simulations from four different building energy simulation codes showed that the provided specifications result in accurate thermal cell modeling. A good foundation for the following experiments with solar gains was therefore accomplished

Perception to Cadaver Dissection and Views on Anatomy as a Subject between Two Pioneer Cohorts in a Kenyan Medical School

Cadaver dissection has been used as the main method of teaching human anatomy for the last five centuries. There are emerging concerns on the negative consequences of cadaver dissection on medical students, leading to suggestions on use of alternative technological advancements to cadaver dissection. However, literature on medical students’ perceptions on cadaver dissection and their opinions on anatomy as a subject is scanty particularly for newly established medical schools. We provided a structured questionnaire with 17 items requiring ‘yes, no or undecided’ responses and 6 items with Likert-type questions ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree to all preclinical students pursuing Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the new school of Medicine, Kenya Methodist University. Out of a total of 78 students, 75 correctly filled the questionnaires and were analyzed. An overwhelming majority (85.3%) found their first visit to the dissection room exciting. Most consider dissection the best method of learning anatomy, and do not support the view that it should be replaced by computer aided programs or plastic models. Despite most students indicating that they like anatomy, and find it exciting, very few are willing to take up careers as anatomists. More emphasis needs to be placed on pre-dissection training and counseling to make the experience better for students. There is need to mentor students on taking up anatomy as a career, in view of the great need for anatomists in the region.Key words: Dissection, Perceptions, Cadaver, Anatom

Trust, but verify? Understanding citizen attitudes toward evidence-informed policy making

In this article, we inquire to what extent different manifestations of trust are associated with public support for evidence informed policy making (EIPM). We present the results of a cross-sectional survey conducted in the peak of the second COVID-19 wave in six Western democracies: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland, and the United States (N = 8749). Our findings show that public trust in scientific experts is generally related to positive attitudes toward evidence-informed policy making, while the opposite is the case for trust in governments and fellow citizens. Interestingly, citizens' assessment of government responses to COVID-19 moderates the relationship between trust and attitudes toward EIPM. Respondents who do rather not trust their governments or their fellow citizens are more in favor of EIPM if they evaluate government responses negatively. These findings suggest that attitudes toward EIPM are not only related to trust, but also strongly depend on perceived government performance.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Nature of protein family signatures: Insights from singular value analysis of position-specific scoring matrices

Position-specific scoring matrices (PSSMs) are useful for detecting weak homology in protein sequence analysis, and they are thought to contain some essential signatures of the protein families. In order to elucidate what kind of ingredients constitute such family-specific signatures, we apply singular value decomposition to a set of PSSMs and examine the properties of dominant right and left singular vectors. The first right singular vectors were correlated with various amino acid indices including relative mutability, amino acid composition in protein interior, hydropathy, or turn propensity, depending on proteins. A significant correlation between the first left singular vector and a measure of site conservation was observed. It is shown that the contribution of the first singular component to the PSSMs act to disfavor potentially but falsely functionally important residues at conserved sites. The second right singular vectors were highly correlated with hydrophobicity scales, and the corresponding left singular vectors with contact numbers of protein structures. It is suggested that sequence alignment with a PSSM is essentially equivalent to threading supplemented with functional information. The presented method may be used to separate functionally important sites from structurally important ones, and thus it may be a useful tool for predicting protein functions.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

Combined Point-of-Care Nucleic Acid and Antibody Testing for SARS-CoV-2 following Emergence of D614G Spike Variant

Rapid COVID-19 diagnosis in the hospital is essential, although this is complicated by 30%–50% of nose/throat swabs being negative by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). Furthermore, the D614G spike mutant dominates the pandemic and it is unclear how serological tests designed to detect anti-spike antibodies perform against this variant. We assess the diagnostic accuracy of combined rapid antibody point of care (POC) and nucleic acid assays for suspected COVID-19 disease due to either wild-type or the D614G spike mutant SARS-CoV-2. The overall detection rate for COVID-19 is 79.2% (95% CI 57.8–92.9) by rapid NAAT alone. The combined point of care antibody test and rapid NAAT is not affected by D614G and results in very high sensitivity for COVID-19 diagnosis with very high specificity

Scheduling nab-paclitaxel combined with gemcitabine as first-line treatment for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Abstract: Background: Nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine (nabP+gemcitabine) offers modest survival gains for patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Sequential scheduling of nabP+gemcitabine in a PDAC mouse model improved efficacy; this hypothesis was tested in a clinical trial. Methods: Patients with previously untreated metastatic PDAC were randomised to receive nabP+gemcitabine administered either concomitantly on the same day, or sequentially, with gemcitabine administered 24 h after nabP. The primary outcome measure was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary outcome measures were objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), safety, quality of life (QoL) and predictive biomarkers. Results: In total, 71 patients received sequential (SEQ) and 75 concomitant (CON) treatment. Six-month PFS was 46% with SEQ and 32% with CON scheduling. Median PFS (5.6 versus 4.0 months, hazard ratio [HR] 0.67, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.47–0.95, p = 0.022) and ORR (52% versus 31%, p = 0.023) favoured the SEQ arm; median OS was 10.2 versus 8.2 months (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.65–1.33, p = 0.70). CTCAE Grade ≥3 neutropaenia incidence doubled with SEQ therapy but was not detrimental to QoL. Strongly positive tumour epithelial cytidine deaminase (CDA) expression favoured benefit from SEQ therapy (PFS HR 0.31, 95% CI 0.13–0.70). Conclusions: SEQ delivery of nabP+gemcitabine improved PFS and ORR, with manageable toxicity, but did not significantly improve OS. Clinical trial registration: ISRCTN71070888; ClinialTrials.gov (NCT03529175)

Combined point of care nucleic acid and antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 following emergence of D614G Spike Variant

Rapid COVID-19 diagnosis in hospital is essential, though complicated by 30-50% of nose/throat swabs being negative by SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). Furthermore, the D614G spike mutant now dominates the pandemic and it is unclear how serological tests designed to detect anti-Spike antibodies perform against this variant. We assess the diagnostic accuracy of combined rapid antibody point of care (POC) and nucleic acid assays for suspected COVID-19 disease due to either wild type or the D614G spike mutant SARS-CoV-2. The overall detection rate for COVID-19 is 79.2% (95CI 57.8-92.9%) by rapid NAAT alone. Combined point of care antibody test and rapid NAAT is not impacted by D614G and results in very high sensitivity for COVID-19 diagnosis with very high specificity