System and method for data inversion with phase unwrapping

A system and computer-implemented method for inverting data from an area of interest to determine physical properties of the area of interest is disclosed. The method includes transforming the data into a Fourier frequency domain to obtain frequency domain data wherein the frequency domain data includes an amplitude portion and a phase portion, performing phase unwrapping of the phase portion of the frequency domain data to generate an unwrapped phase portion, and inverting the unwrapped phase portion to determine the physical properties of the area of interest. The method may also extrapolate the phase. The data inverted may be, for example, seismic data or synthetic aperture radar data. The system includes a data source, a user interface, and a processor configured to execute computer modules designed to execute the method

A semi-supervised approach for rapidly creating clinical biomarker phenotypes in the UK Biobank using different primary care EHR and clinical terminology systems

Objectives: The UK Biobank (UKB) is making primary care electronic health records (EHRs) for 500 000 participants available for COVID-19-related research. Data are extracted from four sources, recorded using five clinical terminologies and stored in different schemas. The aims of our research were to: (a) develop a semi-supervised approach for bootstrapping EHR phenotyping algorithms in UKB EHR, and (b) to evaluate our approach by implementing and evaluating phenotypes for 31 common biomarkers. Materials and Methods: We describe an algorithmic approach to phenotyping biomarkers in primary care EHR involving (a) bootstrapping definitions using existing phenotypes, (b) excluding generic, rare, or semantically distant terms, (c) forward-mapping terminology terms, (d) expert review, and (e) data extraction. We evaluated the phenotypes by assessing the ability to reproduce known epidemiological associations with all-cause mortality using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: We created and evaluated phenotyping algorithms for 31 biomarkers many of which are directly related to COVID-19 complications, for example diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease. Our algorithm identified 1651 Read v2 and Clinical Terms Version 3 terms and automatically excluded 1228 terms. Clinical review excluded 103 terms and included 44 terms, resulting in 364 terms for data extraction (sensitivity 0.89, specificity 0.92). We extracted 38 190 682 events and identified 220 978 participants with at least one biomarker measured. Discussion and conclusion: Bootstrapping phenotyping algorithms from similar EHR can potentially address pre-existing methodological concerns that undermine the outputs of biomarker discovery pipelines and provide research-quality phenotyping algorithms

Surgical Cavity Constriction and Local Progression Between Resection and Adjuvant Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to a surgical cavity after brain metastasis resection is a promising treatment for improving local control. The optimal timing of adjuvant SRS, however, has yet to be determined. Changes in resection cavity volume and local progression in the interval between surgery and SRS are likely important factors in deciding when to proceed with adjuvant SRS. We conducted a retrospective review of patients with a brain metastasis treated with surgical resection followed by SRS to the resection cavity. Post-operative and pre-radiosurgery magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was reviewed for evidence of cavity volume changes, amount of edema, and local tumor progression. Resection cavity volume and edema volume were measured using volumetric analysis. We identified 21 consecutive patients with a brain metastasis treated with surgical resection and radiosurgery to the resection cavity. Mean age was 57 yrs. The most common site of metastasis was the frontal lobe (38%), and the most common primary neoplasms were lung adenocarcinoma and melanoma (24% each). The mean postoperative resection cavity volume was 7.8 cm(3) and shrank to a mean of 4.5 cm(3) at the time of repeat imaging for radiosurgical planning (median 41 days after initial post-operative MRI), resulting in a mean reduction in cavity volume of 43%. Patients who underwent pre-SRS imaging within 1 month of their initial post-operative MRI had a mean volume reduction of 13% compared to 61% in those whose pre-SRS imaging was ≥1 month (p=0.0003). Post-resection edema volume was not related to volume reduction (p=0.59). During the interval between MRIs, 52% of patients showed evidence of tumor progression within the resection cavity wall. There was no significant difference in local recurrence if the interval between resection and radiosurgery was <1 month (n=8) versus ≥1 month (n=13, p=0.46). These data suggest that the surgical cavity after brain metastasis resection constricts over time with greater constriction seen in patients whose pre-SRS imaging is ≥1 month after initial post-operative imaging. Given that there was no difference in local recurrence rate, the data suggest there is benefit in waiting in order to treat a smaller resection cavity

The relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic traits in the general population.

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) tend to have sensory processing difficulties (Baranek et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:591–601, 2006). These difficulties include over- and under-responsiveness to sensory stimuli, and problems modulating sensory input (Ben-Sasson et al. in J Autism Dev Disorders 39:1–11, 2009). As those with ASD exist at the extreme end of a continuum of autistic traits that is also evident in the general population, we investigated the link between ASD and sensory sensitivity in the general population by administering two questionnaires online to 212 adult participants. Results showed a highly significant positive correlation (r = .775, p &#60; .001) between number of autistic traits and the frequency of sensory processing problems. These data suggest a strong link between sensory processing and autistic traits in the general population, which in turn potentially implicates sensory processing problems in social interaction difficulties

The novel mTOR inhibitor RAD001 (Everolimus) induces antiproliferative effects in human pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cells

Background/Aim: Tumors exhibiting constitutively activated PI(3) K/Akt/mTOR signaling are hypersensitive to mTOR inhibitors such as RAD001 (everolimus) which is presently being investigated in clinical phase II trials in various tumor entities, including neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). However, no preclinical data about the effects of RAD001 on NET cells have been published. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of RAD001 on BON cells, a human pancreatic NET cell line that exhibits constitutively activated PI(3) K/Akt/mTOR signaling. Methods: BON cells were treated with different concentrations of RAD001 to analyze its effect on cell growth using proliferation assays. Apoptosis was examined by Western blot analysis of caspase-3/PARP cleavage and by FACS analysis of DNA fragmentation. Results: RAD001 potently inhibited BON cell growth in a dose-dependent manner which was dependent on the serum concentration in the medium. RAD001-induced growth inhibition involved G0/G1-phase arrest as well as induction of apoptosis. Conclusion: In summary, our data demonstrate antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of RAD001 in NET cells in vitro supporting its clinical use in current phase II trials in NET patients. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Health-related quality of life in patients with β-thalassemia: Data from the phase 3 BELIEVE trial of luspatercept

BACKGROUND: Patients with transfusion-dependent (TD) β-thalassemia require long-term red blood cell transfusions (RBCTs) that lead to iron overload, impacting health-related quality of life (HRQoL). METHODS: The impact of luspatercept, a first-in-class erythroid maturation agent, versus placebo on HRQoL of patients with TD β-thalassemia was evaluated in the phase 3 BELIEVE trial. HRQoL was assessed at baseline and every 12 weeks using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Transfusion-dependent Quality of Life questionnaire (TranQol). Mean change in HRQoL was evaluated from baseline to week 48 for patients receiving luspatercept + best supportive care (BSC) and placebo + BSC and between luspatercept responders and non-responders. RESULTS: Through week 48, for both groups, mean scores on SF-36 and TranQol domains were stable over time and did not have a clinically meaningful change. At week 48, more patients who achieved clinical response (≥50% reduction in RBCT burden over 24 weeks) in the luspatercept + BSC group had improvement in SF-36 Physical Function compared with placebo + BSC (27.1% vs. 11.5%; p = .019). CONCLUSIONS: Luspatercept + BSC reduced transfusion burden while maintaining patients' HRQoL. HRQoL domain improvements from baseline through 48 weeks were also enhanced for luspatercept responders

Differential expression of collectins in human placenta and role in inflammation during spontaneous Labor.

© 2014 Yadav et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Collectins, collagen-containing Ca2+ dependent C-type lectins and a class of secretory proteins including SP-A, SP-D and MBL, are integral to immunomodulation and innate immune defense. In the present study, we aimed to investigate their placental transcript synthesis, labor associated differential expression and localization at feto-maternal interface, and their functional implication in spontaneous labor. The study involved using feto-maternal interface (placental/decidual tissues) from two groups of healthy pregnant women at term (≥37 weeks of gestation), undergoing either elective C-section with no labor ('NLc' group, n = 5), or normal vaginal delivery with spontaneous labor ('SLv' group, n = 5). The immune function of SP-D, on term placental explants, was analyzed for cytokine profile using multiplexed cytokine array. SP-A, SP-D and MBL transcripts were observed in the term placenta. The 'SLv' group showed significant up-regulation of SP-D (p = 0.001), and down-regulation of SP-A (p = 0.005), transcripts and protein compared to the 'NLc' group. Significant increase in 43 kDa and 50 kDa SP-D forms in placental and decidual tissues was associated with the spontaneous labor (p<0.05). In addition, the MMP-9-cleaved form of SP-D (25 kDa) was significantly higher in the placentae of 'SLv' group compared to the 'NLc' group (p = 0.002). Labor associated cytokines IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α and MCP-1 showed significant increase (p<0.05) in a dose dependent manner in the placental explants treated with nSP-D and rhSP-D. In conclusion, the study emphasizes that SP-A and SP-D proteins associate with the spontaneous labor and SP-D plausibly contributes to the pro-inflammatory immune milieu of feto-maternal tissues.Funding provided by BT/PR15227/BRB/10/906/2011) Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India http://dbtindia.nic.in/index.asp (TM) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)/Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), Government of India, www.icmr.nic.in (AKY)