Sinusoidal-pressure generator for testing dynamic pressure probes

Generator can produce sinusoidal pressures at frequencies from 300 to 5000 Hz and peak-to-peak amplitudes up to 5.6 lbs/sq in. Amplitude and phase-angle measurements made at various frequencies are compared with measurements from a piezoelectric transducer mounted flush with the resonant tube wall

The Neural Recruitment of Executive Function in Monolingual versus Bilingual Preterm-born Children: An FNIRS Study

Premature-birth is defined by the World Health Organization as birth less than 37 weeks. These children are particularly susceptible deficiencies in executive functioning (EF) as compared to term-born children. It has yet to be explored whether bilingualism might also give an edge to preterm-born-children (PBC) in EF. The present study aims to fill this gap by examining the EF of bilingual versus monolingual preterm-born children in Miami-Dade County. All 16 children were right-handed, ages 6-7, and born before 35 weeks. Results showed that both groups performed about the same on the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) and Go/No Go (GNG) task in terms of accuracy, however, the bilingual-PBC were over two times as fast in response as the monolingual group in the Go-trial suggesting faster information processing ability. Preliminary fNIRS analysis did not reveal a statistically significant difference in the brain activity over a broad area of the frontal lobe

Evaluating colour preference by using multidimensional approaches

Colour preference is a key factor in the design and evaluation of lighting systems, particularly with the emergence of multichannel LED systems which allow for greater control over the spectrum of light emitted and therefore the colour appearance of the illuminated objects. To more accurately and objectively measure colour preference, there has been a growing interest in the development of multidimensional evaluation algorithms that consider multiple dimensions of colour rendering, such as chroma and hue shift. The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate the performance of different multidimensional evaluation algorithms for colour preference in lighting applications. Using computer-generated images of a coloured object displayed on a computer monitor under a fixed white point, we simulated the colour shifts of the object under different light sources and test subjects evaluated the results using a range of multidimensional methods. Our analysis revealed that there are significant differences in the performance of these algorithms, with some providing more accurate and reliable measures of colour preference than others. Considering all relevant criteria, genetic algorithms seem to provide the most promising approach, as they lead to a result quickly and reliably. These findings have important implications for the selection and use of multidimensional algorithms for evaluating colour preference in lighting, particularly in the context of multichannel LED systems, and can inform future research in this area

Untersuchung der Duv-Präferenz in Abhängigkeit von korrelierter Farbtemperatur (CCT), Farbgamut und betrachteten Objekten

Der Weißpunkt einer im Innenraum verwendeten LED-Lichtquelle hat einen entscheidenden Einfluss darauf, ob Menschen die Beleuchtung akzeptieren oder nicht. Daher wurden in den letzten Jahren vermehrt Präferenzuntersuchungen zum Weißpunkt durchgeführt, um die Innenraumbeleuchtung mit LED zu optimieren. Die Studienergebnisse zeigten, dass die Testpersonen bei verschiedenen CCTs negative Duv-Werte präferieren. Allerdings wurde bei diesen Studien weder eine Einordnung in einen bestimmten Kontext vorgenommen, noch die Auswahl vorhandener und beleuchteter, farbiger Objekte begründet. Deshalb wurde im Rahmen einer eigenen Probandenstudie untersucht, welchen Einfluss die korrelierte Farbtemperatur, der Farbgamut und die betrachteten Objekte auf den präferierten Duv-Wert und somit Weißpunkt haben. Die Untersuchung ergab, dass für die CCT 4000 K Duv-Werte zwischen -0,0045 und -0,0015, also nahe des Planck’schen Kurvenzugs, präferiert wurden. Farbige Objekte hatten keinen signifikanten Einfluss auf die Präferenz. Der Einfluss des Farbgamuts konnte nicht vollständig geklärt werden

Prescribing pathways to triple therapy: a multi-country, retrospective observational study of adult patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Introduction Maintenance treatment strategies in COPD recommend inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) + long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) + long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) triple therapy after initial dual therapy. Little is known about how treatment pathways to triple therapy vary across countries in clinical practice. Methods This multi-country, retrospective cohort study (conducted 1 January 2005–1 May 2016) included patients with a COPD diagnosis, and (UK only) evidence of smoking history, or (France, Italy, Germany, and Australia) an indicator confirming COPD diagnosis, a first instance of triple therapy recorded during the study period and ≥ 12 months of data prior to this date. Treatment pathways to triple therapy were analyzed in patients whose first instance of triple therapy was on or after the initial COPD diagnosis. The proportion of patients who initiated triple therapy prior to initial COPD diagnosis was also estimated. Meta-analyses of the main results were performed. Results In 130,729 patients across all countries, mean age (standard deviation) ranged from 63.4 (10.4) years (Germany) to 69.8 (9.9) years (Italy), and median time (interquartile range) from initial COPD diagnosis to first prescription of triple therapy ranged from 16.9 (5.7–36.2) months (Australia) to 42.5 (13.9–87.4) months (UK). ICS + LABA was the most common treatment pathway prior to triple therapy in the UK, Germany, and Italy (27.3%–31.6%); no previous maintenance therapy prior to triple therapy was the most common pathway in France and Australia (32.5% and 37.9%, respectively). Meta-analyses provided a pooled estimate of 20.4% (95% confidence interval: 13.8%–29.1%) for the proportion of patients initiating triple therapy at or before initial COPD diagnosis. Conclusions In this retrospective cohort study, treatment pathways to triple therapy were diverse within and between countries. The differing impact of treatments may affect quality of life and disease control in patients with COPD. Further analyses should investigate factors influencing pathways to triple therapy

Effectiveness of Liraglutide and Lixisenatide in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes: Real-World Evidence from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) Database in the United Kingdom.

INTRODUCTION: The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists liraglutide and lixisenatide are effective at reducing glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although liraglutide has demonstrated superior efficacy in head-to-head clinical trials, real-world evidence of comparative effectiveness is lacking. This observational study aimed to assess the effectiveness of liraglutide versus lixisenatide in UK clinical practice. METHODS: Electronic medical records from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) UK primary care database were analyzed. Patients aged ≥18 years, diagnosed with T2DM, and prescribed liraglutide or lixisenatide between 01 May 2013 and 31 December 2015 were included in the study. Adjusted linear regression models compared the difference in mean change in HbA1c, body mass index (BMI), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) after 12-month follow-up. The proportion of patients achieving glycemic control (HbA1c 1%; and weight reduction ≥3% within 12 months were determined. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to evaluate the effect of treatment on time to achieving HbA1c and weight reduction targets. Healthcare resource use (HCRU) (GP, secondary care, hospitalizations) was compared using analysis of covariance. RESULTS: The primary outcome was assessed in 579 liraglutide and 213 lixisenatide new users. Fully adjusted linear regression indicated that liraglutide reduced HbA1c significantly more than lixisenatide (mean treatment difference -0.30; 95% CI -0.56, -0.04; p = 0.025). Compared to lixisenatide, liraglutide recipients were 2.5 times more likely to achieve HbA1c 1% HbA1c reduction (HR 1.29; p = 0.0002). BMI and SBP reductions were greater for the liraglutide group but results were not significant. HCRU was comparable between treatment groups. CONCLUSION: These results from the THIN database indicate that liraglutide treatment provided better outcomes related to glycemic control. FUNDING: Novo Nordisk

Processing RGB Color Sensors for Measuring the Circadian Stimulus of Artificial and Daylight Light Sources

The three main tasks of modern lighting design are to support the visual performance, satisfy color emotion (color quality), and promote positive non-visual outcomes. In view of large-scale applications, the use of simple and inexpensive RGB color sensors to monitor related visual and non-visual illumination parameters seems to be of great promise for the future development of human-centered lighting control systems. In this context, the present work proposes a new methodology to assess the circadian effectiveness of the prevalent lighting conditions for daylight and artificial light sources in terms of the physiologically relevant circadian stimulus (CS) metric using such color sensors. In the case of daylight, the raw sensor readouts were processed in such a way that the CIE daylight model can be applied as an intermediate step to estimate its spectral composition, from which CS can eventually be calculated straightforwardly. Maximal CS prediction errors of less than 0.0025 were observed when tested on real data. For artificial light sources, on the other hand, the CS approximation method of Truong et al. was applied to estimate its circadian effectiveness from the sensor readouts. In this case, a maximal CS prediction error of 0.028 must be reported, which is considerably larger compared to daylight, but still in an acceptable range for typical indoor lighting applications. The use of RGB color sensors is thus shown to be suitable for estimating the circadian effectiveness of both types of illumination with sufficient accuracy for practical applications

Systemic treatment of hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 negative metastatic breast cancer: retrospective analysis from Leeds Cancer Centre

Background Study aimed to characterise treatment and outcomes for patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor 2 negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) within a large regional cancer centre, as a benchmark for evaluating real-world impact of novel therapies. Methods Retrospective longitudinal cohort, using electronic patient records of adult females with a first diagnosis of HR+/HER2- MBC January 2012–March 2018. Results One hundred ninety-six women were identified with HR+/HER2- MBC. Median age was 67 years, 85.2% were post-menopausal and median time between primary diagnosis and metastasis was 5.4 years. Most (75.1%) patients received endocrine therapy as first line systemic treatment (1st LoT); use of 1st LoT chemotherapy halved between 2012 and 2017. Patients receiving 1st LoT chemotherapy were younger and more likely to have visceral metastasis (p < 0.01). Median OS was 29.5 months and significantly greater for patients with exclusively non-visceral metastasis (p < 0.01). The adjusted hazard ratio for death of patients with visceral (or CNS) metastasis was 1.91 relative to those with exclusively non-visceral metastasis. Conclusions Diverse endocrine therapies predominate as 1st LoT for patients with HR+/HER2- MBC, chemotherapy being associated with more aggressive disease in younger patients, emphasising the importance of using effective and tolerable therapies early