56 research outputs found

    Dislocation of the ozurdex implant into the anterior chamber (case of reposition)

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    The purpose of the study is to report a case of migration of the dexamethasone Ozurdex implant into the anterior chamber in a patient with pseudophakia and avitria and the method of reposition.Цель исследования – cообщить о случае миграции имплантата дексаметазона Озурдекс в переднюю камеру у пациента с артифакией и авитрией и способе репозиции

    Mass measurements of As, Se and Br nuclei and their implication on the proton-neutron interaction strength towards the N=Z line

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    Mass measurements of the nuclides 69As, 70,71Se, and 71Br, produced via fragmentation of a 124Xe primary beam at the Fragment Separator (FRS) at GSI, have been performed with the multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) of the FRS Ion Catcher with an unprecedented mass resolving power of almost 1000000. Such high resolving power is the only way to achieve accurate results and resolve overlapping peaks of short-lived exotic nuclei, whose total number of accumulated events is always limited. For the nuclide 69As, this is the first direct mass measurement. A mass uncertainty of 22 keV was achieved with only ten events. For the nuclide 70Se, a mass uncertainty of 2.6 keV was obtained, corresponding to a relative accuracy of δm/m=4.0×10−8, with less than 500 events. The masses of the nuclides 71Se and 71Br have been measured with an uncertainty of 23 and 16 keV, respectively. Our results for the nuclides 70,71Se and 71Br are in good agreement with the 2016 Atomic Mass Evaluation, and our result for the nuclide 69As resolves the discrepancy between the previous indirect measurements. We measured also the mass of the molecule 14N15N40Ar (A=69) with a relative accuracy of δm/m=1.7×10−8, the highest yet achieved with an MR-TOF-MS. Our results show that the measured restrengthening of the proton-neutron interaction (δVpn) for odd-odd nuclei along the N=Z line above Z=29 (recently extended to Z=37) is hardly evident at the N−Z=2 line, and not evident at the N−Z=4 line. Nevertheless, detailed structure of δVpn along the N−Z=2 and N−Z=4 lines, confirmed by our mass measurements, may provide a hint regarding the ongoing ≈500 keV discrepancy in the mass value of the nuclide 70Br, which prevents including it in the world average of Ft value for superallowed 0+→0+β decays. The reported work sets the stage for mass measurements with the FRS Ion Catcher of nuclei at and beyond the N=Z line in the same region of the nuclear chart, including the nuclide 70Br.peerReviewe

    ATHENA: A knowledge-based hybrid backpropagation-grammatical evolution neural network algorithm for discovering epistasis among quantitative trait Loci

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Growing interest and burgeoning technology for discovering genetic mechanisms that influence disease processes have ushered in a flood of genetic association studies over the last decade, yet little heritability in highly studied complex traits has been explained by genetic variation. Non-additive gene-gene interactions, which are not often explored, are thought to be one source of this "missing" heritability.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Stochastic methods employing evolutionary algorithms have demonstrated promise in being able to detect and model gene-gene and gene-environment interactions that influence human traits. Here we demonstrate modifications to a neural network algorithm in ATHENA (the Analysis Tool for Heritable and Environmental Network Associations) resulting in clear performance improvements for discovering gene-gene interactions that influence human traits. We employed an alternative tree-based crossover, backpropagation for locally fitting neural network weights, and incorporation of domain knowledge obtainable from publicly accessible biological databases for initializing the search for gene-gene interactions. We tested these modifications <it>in silico </it>using simulated datasets.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show that the alternative tree-based crossover modification resulted in a modest increase in the sensitivity of the ATHENA algorithm for discovering gene-gene interactions. The performance increase was highly statistically significant when backpropagation was used to locally fit NN weights. We also demonstrate that using domain knowledge to initialize the search for gene-gene interactions results in a large performance increase, especially when the search space is larger than the search coverage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We show that a hybrid optimization procedure, alternative crossover strategies, and incorporation of domain knowledge from publicly available biological databases can result in marked increases in sensitivity and performance of the ATHENA algorithm for detecting and modelling gene-gene interactions that influence a complex human trait.</p

    Eculizumab improves fatigue in refractory generalized myasthenia gravis

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    Consistent improvement with eculizumab across muscle groups in myasthenia gravis

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    Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

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    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

    Polymer dynamics In an Interface-confined space: NMR study of poly(hexyl ethacrylate)-block-poly(acrylic acid) and poly(dodercyl methacrylate)-block-poly(acrylic acid) micelles in D2O

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    The mobility of distant methyl side groups in poly(hexyl methacrylate)-block-poly(sodium acrylate) (PHMA−PAANa) and poly(dodecyl methacrylate))-block-poly(sodium acrylate) (PLMA−PAANa) micelles, dispersed in D2O and characterized by SANS, was studied using 1H single and double quantum high-resolution and MAS NMR. Transverse and rotating-frame relaxation was studied at temperatures 320−345 K in the original micellar solutions and in the systems with their viscosity gradually increased by additions of high-molecular-weight poly(ethylene oxide) and with the micellar cores gradually swollen by chlorobenzene. The relaxation data were quantitatively evaluated using a pragmatic model based on Cohen-Addad's theory. The results obtained strongly indicate that the side groups are relatively immobilized to an even higher degree than in poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate)-block-poly(acrylic acid) micelles at the same conditions. The most immobilized groups are at or near the interface. Possible underlying effects, including penetration resistance of the surrounding water molecules, fixation of the polymer backbone at the interface, and motional correlation between the distant side group and the backbone are discussed
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