Determining relationships and policies that transit properties have with regional employers to increase ridership : a case of the Tren Urbano in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-128).Employer-based transportation demand management measures are increasingly seen by transportation planners as one of the potential means to manage the demand for private transport. These measures are essentially a comprehensive package of incentives and disincentives targeted at employees to encourage high occupancy vehicle commute as opposed to single occupancy vehicle travel. This research examines the composition of employer transportation plans and their application with respect to encouraging public transportation ridership. Drawing on the experiences of employer transportation plans in three cities - St. Louis, Missouri, San Diego, California and the Longwood Medical Area, Boston, Massachusetts, this research argues that there are a number of preconditions which will make an employer transportation plan more likely to succeed in its aim of reducing the number of people who drive alone to work. These include providing strong management support to the program, providing adequate resources to the program - both financial and other, public-private coalition development whereby employers can partner with transit properties to build system ridership by attracting choice riders, an aggressive employee transportation coordinator and providing appropriate incentives and disincentives to employees. Other key considerations are the availability of parking, the cost of parking and access to a high-quality public transportation system. Finally, this thesis recommends an implementation strategy for establishing employer transportation plans in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In response to the increasing traffic congestion in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a mass transit system, the Tren Urbano, is currently being constructed. There is a need to resort to travel demand management measures in San Juan because of severe traffic congestion. The arrival of Tren Urbano provides many opportunities for employers to partner with regional transportation service providers in building the transit system ridership by implementing employer supported travel demand management measures at the worksite. Taking the examples of two large employers, the Banco Popular and the Centro Medico, in San Juan, this research outlines an execution strategy for employer transportation plans in San Juan.by Ami Parikh.S.M

Clinical profile of patients presenting with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Background: Evaluate the clinical profile of patients presenting with heart failure having normal or preserved ejection fraction and to determine the prevalence of comorbid illnesses in these patients.Methods: The study was carried out on patients that presented with heart failure at the Vadilal Sarabhai hospital, Ahmedabad between September 2014-2016. Heart failure patients with normal ejection fraction (>50%) were selected. Socio-demographic, vital signs, data of 2D Echocardiography and Tissue Doppler study were collected. The patients were classified as per the Echocardiographic study into four categories. Different laboratory parameters were compared in patients with respect to (a) grade of Hypertension (b), grade of anemia (c), HbA1c levels. Statistical analysis was done using the SPSS software v20. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare the means between different study groups.Results: Out of the 70 patients, a majority (47%) belonged to the Grade 2 (pseudo-normalized) group of diastolic dysfunctions with most of them having only dyspnea and pedal edema (33%). 58.6% patients required intensive care for at least one day. Regarding co-morbidities 27 (38.6%) had hypertension, 34 (48.6%) were diabetic and 49(70%) had anemia. Patients with higher grade of dysfunction had higher HbA1c (p=0.023) and worsening anemia (p=0.003).Conclusions: Authors concluded that it is of prime importance to find, prevent and treat the comorbidities along with targeted therapies for HFpEF. Further evaluation can be done for clinical applicability of different markers including HbA1c and U.ACR for renal dysfunction in HFpEF

Levetiracetam versus phenytoin for second-line treatment of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus (EcLiPSE): a multicentre, open-label, randomised trial

Background Phenytoin is the recommended second-line intravenous anticonvulsant for treatment of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus in the UK; however, some evidence suggests that levetiracetam could be an effective and safer alternative. This trial compared the efficacy and safety of phenytoin and levetiracetam for second-line management of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus.Methods This open-label, randomised clinical trial was undertaken at 30 UK emergency departments at secondary and tertiary care centres. Participants aged 6 months to under 18 years, with convulsive status epilepticus requiring second-line treatment, were randomly assigned (1:1) using a computer-generated randomisation schedule to receive levetiracetam (40 mg/kg over 5 min) or phenytoin (20 mg/kg over at least 20 min), stratified by centre. The primary outcome was time from randomisation to cessation of convulsive status epilepticus, analysed in the modified intention-to-treat population (excluding those who did not require second-line treatment after randomisation and those who did not provide consent). This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN22567894.Findings Between July 17, 2015, and April 7, 2018, 1432 patients were assessed for eligibility. After exclusion of ineligible patients, 404 patients were randomly assigned. After exclusion of those who did not require second-line treatment and those who did not consent, 286 randomised participants were treated and had available data: 152 allocated to levetiracetam, and 134 to phenytoin. Convulsive status epilepticus was terminated in 106 (70%) children in the levetiracetam group and in 86 (64%) in the phenytoin group. Median time from randomisation to cessation of convulsive status epilepticus was 35 min (IQR 20 to not assessable) in the levetiracetam group and 45 min (24 to not assessable) in the phenytoin group (hazard ratio 1·20, 95% CI 0·91–1·60; p=0·20). One participant who received levetiracetam followed by phenytoin died as a result of catastrophic cerebral oedema unrelated to either treatment. One participant who received phenytoin had serious adverse reactions related to study treatment (hypotension considered to be immediately life-threatening [a serious adverse reaction] and increased focal seizures and decreased consciousness considered to be medically significant [a suspected unexpected serious adverse reaction]). Interpretation Although levetiracetam was not significantly superior to phenytoin, the results, together with previously reported safety profiles and comparative ease of administration of levetiracetam, suggest it could be an appropriate alternative to phenytoin as the first-choice, second-line anticonvulsant in the treatment of paediatric convulsive status epilepticus

Binary systems and their nuclear explosions

Peer ReviewedPreprin

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Point-of-care testing in paediatric settings in the UK and Ireland: A cross-sectional study

Background: Point-of-care testing (POCT) is diagnostic testing performed at or near to the site of the patient. Understanding the current capacity, and scope, of POCT in this setting is essential in order to respond to new research evidence which may lead to wide implementation. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey study of POCT use was conducted between 6th January and 2nd February 2020 on behalf of two United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland-based paediatric research networks (Paediatric Emergency Research UK and Ireland, and General and Adolescent Paediatric Research UK and Ireland). Results: In total 91/109 (83.5%) sites responded, with some respondents providing details for multiple units on their site based on network membership (139 units in total). The most commonly performed POCT were blood sugar (137/139; 98.6%), urinalysis (134/139; 96.4%) and blood gas analysis (132/139; 95%). The use of POCT for Influenza/Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) (45/139; 32.4%, 41/139; 29.5%), C-Reactive Protein (CRP) (13/139; 9.4%), Procalcitonin (PCT) (2/139; 1.4%) and Group A Streptococcus (5/139; 3.6%) and was relatively low. Obstacles to the introduction of new POCT included resources and infrastructure to support test performance and quality assurance. Conclusion: This survey demonstrates significant consensus in POCT practice in the UK and Ireland but highlights specific inequity in newer biomarkers, some which do not have support from national guidance. A clear strategy to overcome the key obstacles of funding, evidence base, and standardising variation will be essential if there is a drive toward increasing implementation of POCT

Abiraterone acetate plus prednisolone with or without enzalutamide for patients with metastatic prostate cancer starting androgen deprivation therapy: final results from two randomised phase 3 trials of the STAMPEDE platform protocol

Background: Abiraterone acetate plus prednisolone (herein referred to as abiraterone) or enzalutamide added at the start of androgen deprivation therapy improves outcomes for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Here, we aimed to evaluate long-term outcomes and test whether combining enzalutamide with abiraterone and androgen deprivation therapy improves survival. Methods: We analysed two open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trials of the STAMPEDE platform protocol, with no overlapping controls, conducted at 117 sites in the UK and Switzerland. Eligible patients (no age restriction) had metastatic, histologically-confirmed prostate adenocarcinoma; a WHO performance status of 0–2; and adequate haematological, renal, and liver function. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) using a computerised algorithm and a minimisation technique to either standard of care (androgen deprivation therapy; docetaxel 75 mg/m2 intravenously for six cycles with prednisolone 10 mg orally once per day allowed from Dec 17, 2015) or standard of care plus abiraterone acetate 1000 mg and prednisolone 5 mg (in the abiraterone trial) orally or abiraterone acetate and prednisolone plus enzalutamide 160 mg orally once a day (in the abiraterone and enzalutamide trial). Patients were stratified by centre, age, WHO performance status, type of androgen deprivation therapy, use of aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, pelvic nodal status, planned radiotherapy, and planned docetaxel use. The primary outcome was overall survival assessed in the intention-to-treat population. Safety was assessed in all patients who started treatment. A fixed-effects meta-analysis of individual patient data was used to compare differences in survival between the two trials. STAMPEDE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00268476) and ISRCTN (ISRCTN78818544). Findings: Between Nov 15, 2011, and Jan 17, 2014, 1003 patients were randomly assigned to standard of care (n=502) or standard of care plus abiraterone (n=501) in the abiraterone trial. Between July 29, 2014, and March 31, 2016, 916 patients were randomly assigned to standard of care (n=454) or standard of care plus abiraterone and enzalutamide (n=462) in the abiraterone and enzalutamide trial. Median follow-up was 96 months (IQR 86–107) in the abiraterone trial and 72 months (61–74) in the abiraterone and enzalutamide trial. In the abiraterone trial, median overall survival was 76·6 months (95% CI 67·8–86·9) in the abiraterone group versus 45·7 months (41·6–52·0) in the standard of care group (hazard ratio [HR] 0·62 [95% CI 0·53–0·73]; p<0·0001). In the abiraterone and enzalutamide trial, median overall survival was 73·1 months (61·9–81·3) in the abiraterone and enzalutamide group versus 51·8 months (45·3–59·0) in the standard of care group (HR 0·65 [0·55–0·77]; p<0·0001). We found no difference in the treatment effect between these two trials (interaction HR 1·05 [0·83–1·32]; pinteraction=0·71) or between-trial heterogeneity (I2 p=0·70). In the first 5 years of treatment, grade 3–5 toxic effects were higher when abiraterone was added to standard of care (271 [54%] of 498 vs 192 [38%] of 502 with standard of care) and the highest toxic effects were seen when abiraterone and enzalutamide were added to standard of care (302 [68%] of 445 vs 204 [45%] of 454 with standard of care). Cardiac causes were the most common cause of death due to adverse events (five [1%] with standard of care plus abiraterone and enzalutamide [two attributed to treatment] and one (<1%) with standard of care in the abiraterone trial). Interpretation: Enzalutamide and abiraterone should not be combined for patients with prostate cancer starting long-term androgen deprivation therapy. Clinically important improvements in survival from addition of abiraterone to androgen deprivation therapy are maintained for longer than 7 years. Funding: Cancer Research UK, UK Medical Research Council, Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research, Janssen, and Astellas

Multicultural Education and Perceived Multicultural Competency of School Counselors

A national survey of practicing school counselors (N = 755) revealed significant differences between participants’ perceived multicultural competence based on the type of multicultural training received. Participants who took infused multicultural coursework had significantly higher mean scores in multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills than participants who reported taking a single multicultural course. Una encuesta nacional de consejeros escolares en activo (N = 755) reveló diferencias significativas en la competencia multicultural percibida de los participantes según el tipo de capacitación multicultural recibida. Los participantes que tomaron cursos que incluían contenidos multiculturales obtuvieron puntajes medios significativamente más altos en consciencia, conocimientos y habilidades multiculturales que aquellos participantes que indicaron haber tomado un único curso multicultural

Artemisin Combined Therapy in malaria patients: Do we need to search for more?

Introduction: Malaria is a vector borne disease highly prevalent in the topical developing countries. Two main species of plasmodium causing majority of diseases manifestations are P. Vivax and P. falciparum. The approach to antimalarial selection is determined based on the location of the patient. For treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, according to WHO guidelines first line therapy mainly includes Artemisin Combined Therapy. Concerns about the emergence of resistance to artemisin derivatives have increased recently. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of using a combination of intravenous artesunate along with oral doxycycline, as a novel ACT for Malarial infections – falciparum vs. vivax. Methodology: Prospective observational study was carried out at V S General Hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. A full history of current illness was taken followed by examining the serial peripheral smear reports of the patients till the malarial parasites are not seen on two consecutive occasions. Samples were taken at least 6 hours apart by the capillary method and oral temperature was measured every 6 hours. We excluded other associated viral fevers such as dengue, pediatric age group (<12 years) and Co-Morbid illnesses like hepatic or renal dysfunction. Data analysis was done using SPSS software version 20. Results: Student t test showed that PCT was significantly more in falciparum (mean= 74.53 hours) patients as compared to vivax patients (mean= 51.89 hours). (p<0.001). Also duration of stay was significantly more in patients having falciparum (mean =3.63 days) as compared to patients having vivax (mean = 2.32 days) (p<0.001) Multivariate analysis by linear regression showed that species of the parasite was the most significant independent predictor (B=12.552) of the time to parasite clearance and other significant variable was Grade of parasitemia at 0 hour (B= 12.798). We also found that patients with residual parasitemia was 83.78 %, 40.54% and 10.81% in vivax group whereas it was 100%, 88.15% and 46.05% in falciparum respectively at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Conclusion: The study shows that PCT and residual parasitemia is very high in falciparum patients as compared to previous reports of different studies and also as compared to vivax group patients. ACT resistance is a grave concern for falciparum and more studies should be done to understand pathophysiology and its prevalence in India. We strongly suggest that a continues monitoring needs to be implemented in health policy to understand the dynamicity of emerging resistanc