Simultaneous, noninvasive observation of elastic scattering, fluorescence and inelastic scattering as a monitor of blood flow and hematocrit in human fingertip capillary beds

We report simultaneous observation of elastic scattering, fluorescence, and inelastic scattering from in vivo near-infrared probing of human skin. Careful control of the mechanical force needed to obtain reliable registration of in vivo tissue with an appropriate optical system allows reproducible observation of blood flow in capillary beds of human volar side fingertips. The time dependence of the elastically scattered light is highly correlated with that of the combined fluorescence and Raman scattered light. We interpret this in terms of turbidity (the impeding effect of red blood cells on optical propagation to and from the scattering centers) and the changes in the volume percentages of the tissues in the irradiated volume with normal homeostatic processes. By fitting to a model, these measurements may be used to determine volume fractions of plasma and RBCs

Reporting during the COVID-19 eras: Media attention and news framing through a large-scale computational analysis

The present study examined framing that emerged in global newspaper coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine through a large-scale computational qualitative analysis of five critical time periods. The study revealed an increase in the concentration of media attention occurring as the vaccine was developed and distributed. Frames of action and consequence, as well as attribution of responsibility, pro-science, tracking and documenting, and issues relating to efficacy and safety surrounding preventative actions and public health solutions emerged

Noninvasive, In-Vivo, Tissue Modulated Near Infrared Spectroscopy of Fingertips: Resonance Raman Spectrum of Human Hemoglobin

Tissue modulation refers to using external stimuli such as mechanical pressure and temperature to produce various spatiotemporal distributions of blood and conceivably other fluids in tissues. Having the capacity to execute tissue modulation1 allows forms of difference spectroscopy to be used to isolate spectroscopic signals from specific components of the tissues noninvasively and in vivo. In the case of human fingertips we can think of the tissues present in the probed volume as being static tissue, plasma and red blood cells (RBCs). Static tissues deform under mechanical pressure based tissue modulation and the only possible fluid motions2 involve plasma and RBCs. Figure 1 shows the difference spectrum produced, negative modulated fluorescence and positive modulated Raman, when simultaneously a small amount of RBCs move into and some plasma is move out of the probed volume. We present spectra for all limiting forms of tissue modulation and show prototypical spectra that include fluorescence Rayleigh/Mie and Raman scattering

The Future of the New International Tax Regime

TesisObjetivo: Determinar el nivel de conocimiento sobre las infecciones de transmisión sexual - VIH/SIDA y sus medidas preventivas en estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud - UNSCH. Marzo - junio del 2018. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio de tipo: Aplicada, con diseño: descriptivo, prospectivo, transversal, comparativo. Muestra: 310 estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, que conformaron 93 estudiantes de obstetricia, 40 estudiantes de medicina humana, 90 estudiantes de enfermería y 87 estudiantes de farmacia y bioquímica, matriculados en el semestre académico 2018-I; la técnica fue la encuesta y como instrumento el cuestionario. Los datos obtenidos fueron almacenados y procesados en elpaquete estadístico SPSS 22.0 G, para el análisis de datos se utilizó el método de la escala de Stanones, así determinar el nivel de conocimiento, para la comparación de la hipótesis se utilizó el análisis de varianza (ANOVA) y la prueba de Tukey, para el nivel de confiabilidad se utilizó el chi cuadrado, siendo P 3 asignaturas que incluyen contenidos de las ITS, tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio con un 71.90% y alto con un 21.90%, en relación a los que llevaron ≤3 asignaturas tienen nivel de conocimiento medio con un 63.70% y bajo con un 28.10%; el 71. 40% del sexo masculino y 62.50% el sexo femenino tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio. En la dimensión del nivel de conocimiento sobre las ITS - VIH/SIDA, el 64.50% de estudiantes tienen el nivel de conocimiento medio, siendo el 87.50% en medicina humana, el 65.60% en obstetricia, el 61.10% en enfermería y el 50.60% en farmacia y bioquímica; habiendo diferencia estadísticamente significativa de obstetricia respecto a farmacia y bioquímica; medicina humana respecto a enfermería y farmacia y bioquímica. En la dimensión de medidas preventivas de las ITS - VIH/SIDA, 60.30% tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio, siendo el 76.80% en farmacia y bioquímica, el 65.60% en obstetricia, 53.30% en enfermería y 47.50% medicina humana; no habiendo diferencia estadísticamente significativa. Desconocen el tratamiento de las ITS - VIH/SIDA, los signos y síntomas, el agente causal y patógeno, del mismo modo ocurre de las fases del VIH, las complicaciones de las ITS - VIH/SIDA y las medidas preventivas. Conclusiones: Los estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio de las ITS - VIH/SIDA y sus medidas preventivas, el número de asignaturas influye en el nivel de conocimiento, el sexo no influye en el nivel de conocimiento. Habiendo diferencias estadísticamente significativas

Symposium: The Future of the New International Tax Regime

The symposium was held at Fordham University School of Law on October 26, 2018. It has been edited to remove minor cadences of speech that appear awkward in writing and to provide sources and references to other explanatory materials in respect to certain statements made by the speakers

Safety and Acceptability of Esophageal Cytosponge Cell Collection Device in a Pooled Analysis of Data From Individual Patients.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Diagnosis and surveillance of Barrett's esophagus (BE) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) have become emerging public health issues. Cytosponge is a novel, minimally invasive esophageal cell collection device. We aimed to assess the data on safety and acceptability of this device. METHODS: We performed a patient-level review of 5 prospective trials assessing Cytosponge performance in patients with reflux disease, BE and EoE in primary and secondary care. Acceptability of Cytosponge and subsequent endoscopy were recorded with visual analogue scale (VAS), wherein 0 and 10 denoted lowest and highest acceptability. Median VAS scores were compared using a Mann-Whitney test. The number of attempts, failures in swallowing the device and occurrence of adverse events were analyzed. Risk factors for failure in swallowing were analyzed using a multivariate regression model. RESULTS: In total, 2672 Cytosponge procedures were performed, in 2418 individuals from 2008 through 2017. There were 2 adverse events related to the device: a minor pharyngeal bleed and a case of detachment (<1:2000). The median acceptability score for the Cytosponge was 6.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 5.0-8.0), which was higher than the score for endoscopy without sedation (median 5.0; IQR, 3.0-7.0; P < .001) and lower than the score for endoscopy with sedation (median 8.0; IQR, 5.0-9.0; P < .001). Nearly all patients (91.1%) successfully swallowed the Cytosponge, most on the first attempt (90.1%). Failure to swallow the device was more likely to occur in secondary care (odds ratio, 5.13; 95% CI, 1.48-17.79; P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The Cytosponge test is a safe procedure with good acceptability ratings in a variety of health care settings

MiRNA-Related SNPs and Risk of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma and Barrett's Esophagus: Post Genome-Wide Association Analysis in the BEACON Consortium.

Incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) has increased substantially in recent decades. Multiple risk factors have been identified for EA and its precursor, Barrett's esophagus (BE), such as reflux, European ancestry, male sex, obesity, and tobacco smoking, and several germline genetic variants were recently associated with disease risk. Using data from the Barrett's and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium (BEACON) genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 2,515 EA cases, 3,295 BE cases, and 3,207 controls, we examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that potentially affect the biogenesis or biological activity of microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs implicated in post-transcriptional gene regulation, and deregulated in many cancers, including EA. Polymorphisms in three classes of genes were examined for association with risk of EA or BE: miRNA biogenesis genes (157 SNPs, 21 genes); miRNA gene loci (234 SNPs, 210 genes); and miRNA-targeted mRNAs (177 SNPs, 158 genes). Nominal associations (P0.50), and we did not find evidence for interactions between variants analyzed and two risk factors for EA/BE (smoking and obesity). This analysis provides the most extensive assessment to date of miRNA-related SNPs in relation to risk of EA and BE. While common genetic variants within components of the miRNA biogenesis core pathway appear unlikely to modulate susceptibility to EA or BE, further studies may be warranted to examine potential associations between unassessed variants in miRNA genes and targets with disease risk.This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [R01CA136725 to T.L.V. and D.C.W, T32CA009168 to T.L.V, and K05CA124911 to T.L.V.]. Additional funding sources for individual studies included in the BEACON GWAS, and for BEACON investigators, have been acknowledged previously (16).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.012861

Polymorphisms in Genes of Relevance for Oestrogen and Oxytocin Pathways and Risk of Barrett's Oesophagus and Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma: A Pooled Analysis from the BEACON Consortium.

BACKGROUND: The strong male predominance in oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) and Barrett's oesophagus (BO) continues to puzzle. Hormonal influence, e.g. oestrogen or oxytocin, might contribute. METHODS: This genetic-epidemiological study pooled 14 studies from three continents, Australia, Europe, and North America. Polymorphisms in 3 key genes coding for the oestrogen pathway (receptor alpha (ESR1), receptor beta (ESR2), and aromatase (CYP19A1)), and 3 key genes of the oxytocin pathway (the oxytocin receptor (OXTR), oxytocin protein (OXT), and cyclic ADP ribose hydrolase glycoprotein (CD38)), were analysed using a gene-based approach, versatile gene-based test association study (VEGAS). RESULTS: Among 1508 OAC patients, 2383 BO patients, and 2170 controls, genetic variants within ESR1 were associated with BO in males (p = 0.0058) and an increased risk of OAC and BO combined in males (p = 0.0023). Genetic variants within OXTR were associated with an increased risk of BO in both sexes combined (p = 0.0035) and in males (p = 0.0012). We followed up these suggestive findings in a further smaller data set, but found no replication. There were no significant associations between the other 4 genes studied and risk of OAC, BO, separately on in combination, in males and females combined or in males only. CONCLUSION: Genetic variants in the oestrogen receptor alpha and the oxytocin receptor may be associated with an increased risk of BO or OAC, but replication in other large samples are needed