276 research outputs found
Declining Medicaid Fees and Primary Care Availability for New Medicaid Patients
Primary care appointment availability for new Medicaid patients declined when Medicaid fees for providers decreased after the ACA-mandated “fee bump” expired
Topological Orthoalgebras
We define topological orthoalgebras (TOAs) and study their properties. While
every topological orthomodular lattice is a TOA, the lattice of projections of
a Hilbert space is an example of a lattice-ordered TOA that is not a toplogical
lattice. On the other hand, we show that every compact Boolean TOA is a
topological Boolean algebra. We also show that a compact TOA in which 0 is an
isolated point is atomic and of finite height. We identify and study a
particularly tractable class of TOAs, which we call {\em stably ordered}: those
in which the upper-set generated by an open set is open. This includes all
topological OMLs, and also the projection lattices of Hilbert spaces. Finally,
we obtain a topological version of the Foulis-Randall representation theory for
stably ordered TOAsComment: 16 pp, LaTex. Minor changes and corrections in sections 1; more
substantial corrections in section
First Light LBT AO Images of HR 8799 bcde at 1.65 and 3.3 Microns: New Discrepancies between Young Planets and Old Brown Dwarfs
As the only directly imaged multiple planet system, HR 8799 provides a unique
opportunity to study the physical properties of several planets in parallel. In
this paper, we image all four of the HR 8799 planets at H-band and 3.3 microns
with the new LBT adaptive optics system, PISCES, and LBTI/LMIRCam. Our images
offer an unprecedented view of the system, allowing us to obtain H and 3.3$
micron photometry of the innermost planet (for the first time) and put strong
upper-limits on the presence of a hypothetical fifth companion. We find that
all four planets are unexpectedly bright at 3.3 microns compared to the
equilibrium chemistry models used for field brown dwarfs, which predict that
planets should be faint at 3.3 microns due to CH4 opacity. We attempt to model
the planets with thick-cloudy, non-equilibrium chemistry atmospheres, but find
that removing CH4 to fit the 3.3 micron photometry increases the predicted L'
(3.8 microns) flux enough that it is inconsistent with observations. In an
effort to fit the SED of the HR 8799 planets, we construct mixtures of cloudy
atmospheres, which are intended to represent planets covered by clouds of
varying opacity. In this scenario, regions with low opacity look hot and
bright, while regions with high opacity look faint, similar to the patchy cloud
structures on Jupiter and L/T transition brown-dwarfs. Our mixed cloud models
reproduce all of the available data, but self-consistent models are still
necessary to demonstrate their viability.Comment: Accepted to Ap
Perspective from a Younger Generation -- The Astro-Spectroscopy of Gisbert Winnewisser
Gisbert Winnewisser's astronomical career was practically coextensive with
the whole development of molecular radio astronomy. Here I would like to pick
out a few of his many contributions, which I, personally, find particularly
interesting and put them in the context of newer results.Comment: 14 pages. (Co)authored by members of the MPIfR (Sub)millimeter
Astronomy Group. To appear in the Proceedings of the 4th
Cologne-Bonn-Zermatt-Symposium "The Dense Interstellar Medium in Galaxies"
eds. S. Pfalzner, C. Kramer, C. Straubmeier, & A. Heithausen (Springer:
Berlin
Circumstellar discs: What will be next?
This prospective chapter gives our view on the evolution of the study of
circumstellar discs within the next 20 years from both observational and
theoretical sides. We first present the expected improvements in our knowledge
of protoplanetary discs as for their masses, sizes, chemistry, the presence of
planets as well as the evolutionary processes shaping these discs. We then
explore the older debris disc stage and explain what will be learnt concerning
their birth, the intrinsic links between these discs and planets, the hot dust
and the gas detected around main sequence stars as well as discs around white
dwarfs.Comment: invited review; comments welcome (32 pages
Prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen in blood donors in the middle west region of Brazil
Eight Weeks of Treatment With Glecaprevir/Pibrentasvir Is Safe and Efficacious in an Integrated Analysis of Treatment-Naïve Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Infection
BACKGROUND & AIMS: The direct-acting antiviral combination glecaprevir/pibrentasvir has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for 8 weeks of treatment in treatment-naïve patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis. We performed an integrated analysis of data from trials to evaluate the overall efficacy and safety of 8 weeks of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in treatment-naïve patients without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis. METHODS: We pooled data from 8 phase 2 or phase 3 trials of treatment-naïve patients with HCV genotype 1 to 6 infections, without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis, who received 8 weeks of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir. RESULTS: Of 1248 patients, 343 (27%) had cirrhosis. Most patients were white (80%) and had HCV genotype 1 infection (47%) or genotype 3 infection (22%); the median age was 54 years. Overall rates of sustained virologic response at post-treatment week 12 were 97.6% (1218 of 1248) in the intention to treat (ITT) and 99.3% (1218 of 1226) in the modified ITT populations. When we excluded patients with genotype 3 infections with compensated cirrhosis (consistent with the European label), rates of sustained virologic response at post-treatment week 12 were 97.6% in the ITT and 99.4% in the modified ITT populations. Eight virologic failures (7 in patients without cirrhosis and 1 in a patient with cirrhosis) occurred in the ITT population. Virologic failure was not associated with markers of advanced liver disease or populations of interest (current alcohol use, opioid substitution therapy, history of injection-drug use, and severe renal impairment). Treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) occurred in 58% of patients. The most frequent AEs (>10%) were headache (12%) and fatigue (12%). Serious AEs and AEs that led to glecaprevir/pibrentasvir discontinuation were reported in 2% and less than 1% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In a pooled analysis of data from 8 trials, we found that 8 weeks of treatment with glecaprevir/pibrentasvir is efficacious and well tolerated in treatment-naïve patients with HCV genotype 1 to 6 infections, with or without cirrhosis.status: publishe
Correlating preclinical animal studies and human clinical trials of a multifunctional, polymeric nanoparticle
Nanoparticles are currently being investigated in a number of human clinical trials. As information on how nanoparticles function in humans is difficult to obtain, animal studies that can be correlative to human behavior are needed to provide guidance for human clinical trials. Here, we report correlative studies on animals and humans for CRLX101, a 20- to 30-nm-diameter, multifunctional, polymeric nanoparticle containing camptothecin (CPT). CRLX101 is currently in phase 2 clinical trials, and human data from several of the clinical investigations are compared with results from multispecies animal studies. The pharmacokinetics of polymer-conjugated CPT (indicative of the CRLX101 nanoparticles) in mice, rats, dogs, and humans reveal that the area under the curve scales linearly with milligrams of CPT per square meter for all species. Plasma concentrations of unconjugated CPT released from CRLX101 in animals and humans are consistent with each other after accounting for differences in serum albumin binding of CPT. Urinary excretion of polymer-conjugated CPT occurs primarily within the initial 24 h after dosing in animals and humans. The urinary excretion dynamics of polymer-conjugated and unconjugated CPT appear similar between animals and humans. CRLX101 accumulates into solid tumors and releases CPT over a period of several days to give inhibition of its target in animal xenograft models of cancer and in the tumors of humans. Taken in total, the evidence provided from animal models on the CRLX101 mechanism of action suggests that the behavior of CRLX101 in animals is translatable to humans
- …