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•5 year blended virgin wood/recycled wood data set from biomass power station.•Analysis of Ash, K, Na, Cl, Pb, Zn; prediction with random forest (RF) regression.•Ash and Cl quarterly ...levels exceed literature average >50% of the time.•RF regression created poor predictive models; R2 generally <0.6 (except ash 0.787).•Suggestions regarding application of ML methods for ash & trace element prediction.
Biomass can be utilised as a near carbon neutral fuel for power generation. Biomass may come in a variety of forms, such as woods or agricultural wastes, with highly variable compositions. It is well known that biomass ash content and composition can introduce severe operational challenges to power stations, such as slagging and corrosion. Machine learning approaches have been successfully applied in a variety of contexts to generate predictive models and identify relationships in large data sets. However, such approaches have not previously been applied to biomass trace element or ash content data, in part due to limited large data set availability. In this work, 5 years of fuel blend analysis data (3500+ data sets) was analysed from a 35MWe biomass power station burning a 60/40% blend of virgin wood and recycled (waste) wood. Variation to ash content and key trace elements (K, Na, Pb, Zn, Cl) was analysed and compared versus a literature average benchmark. Identification of underlying relationships between these key components and others was attempted with principal component analysis and random forest regression machine learning. Ash and chlorine exceeded the literature average benchmark over many time periods and would have a negative impact on boiler operation. Potassium and sodium were only above literature average levels intermittently. No significant underlying relationships for the key components could be identified with principal component analysis or random forest regression, nor could an accurate predictive model be created, though some minor trends were noted. This is likely due to the high degree of heterogeneity seen in the fuel data, as it is a blend of virgin and recycled wood. It is suggested that future studies applying machine learning methods in this context either use singular fuel data sets, or that additional information is recorded within the blended data set when analysis fuel composition (e.g. fuel sources, suppliers, blend ratio). Suggestions were also made regarding improvements to waste wood sampling approaches.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
IMPORTANCE: Spinal cord infarction (SCI) is often disabling, and the diagnosis can be challenging without an inciting event (eg, aortic surgery). Patients with a spontaneous SCI are often ...misdiagnosed as having transverse myelitis. Diagnostic criteria for SCI are lacking, hindering clinical care and research. OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of spontaneous SCI and propose diagnostic criteria. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: An institution-based search tool was used to identify patients evaluated at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, from January 1997 to December 2017 with a spontaneous SCI. Patients provided written consent to use their records for research. Participants were 18 years and older with a diagnosis of spontaneous SCI (n = 133), and controls were selected from a database of alternative myelopathy etiologies for validation of the proposed diagnostic criteria (n = 280). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: A descriptive analysis of SCI was performed and used to propose diagnostic criteria, and the criteria were validated. RESULTS: Of 133 included patients with a spontaneous SCI, the median (interquartile range) age at presentation was 60 (52-69) years, and 101 (76%) had vascular risk factors. Rapid onset of severe deficits reaching nadir within 12 hours was typical (102 77%); some had a stuttering decline (31 23%). Sensory loss occurred in 126 patients (95%), selectively affecting pain/temperature in 49 (39%). Initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) spine results were normal in 30 patients (24%). Characteristic MRI T2-hyperintense patterns included owl eyes (82 65%) and pencil-like hyperintensity (50 40%); gadolinium enhancement (37 of 96 39%) was often linear and located in the anterior gray matter. Confirmatory MRI findings included diffusion-weighted imaging/apparent diffusion coefficient restriction (19 of 29 67%), adjacent dissection/occlusion (16 of 82 20%), and vertebral body infarction (11 9%). Cerebrospinal fluid showed mild inflammation in 7 of 89 patients (8%). Diagnostic criteria was proposed for definite, probable, and possible SCI of periprocedural and spontaneous onset. In the validation cohort (n = 280), 9 patients (3%) met criteria for possible SCI, and none met criteria for probable SCI. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This large series of spontaneous SCIs provides clinical, laboratory, and MRI clues to SCI diagnosis. The diagnostic criteria proposed here will aid clinicians in making the correct diagnosis and ideally improve future care for patients with SCI. The validation of these criteria supports their utility in the evaluation of acute myelopathy.
The complex and dynamic system of fluid flow through the perivascular and interstitial spaces of the CNS has new-found implications for neurological diseases. CSF movement throughout the CNS ...parenchyma is more dynamic than could be explained via passive diffusion mechanisms alone. Indeed, a semistructured glial-lymphatic (glymphatic) system of astrocyte-supported extracellular perivascular channels serves to directionally channel extracellular fluid, clearing metabolites and peptides to optimize neurological function. Clinical studies of the glymphatic network have to date proven challenging, with most data gleaned from rodent models and post-mortem investigations. However, increasing evidence suggests that disordered glymphatic function contributes to the pathophysiology of CNS ageing, neurodegenerative disease and CNS injuries, as well as normal pressure hydrocephalus. Unlocking such pathophysiology could provide important avenues towards novel therapeutics. We here provide a multidisciplinary overview of glymphatics and critically review accumulating evidence regarding its structure, function and hypothesized relevance to neurological disease. We highlight emerging technologies of relevance to the longitudinal evaluation of glymphatic function in health and disease. Finally, we discuss the translational opportunities and challenges of studying glymphatic science.
Low haemoglobin has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Our study aimed to assess the association of haemoglobin (Hb) in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, and restoration of low Hb levels, with ...pregnancy outcomes in Australia.
Clinical data for singleton pregnancies from two tertiary public hospitals in New South Wales were extracted for 2011-2015. The relationship between the lowest Hb result in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and adverse outcomes was determined using adjusted Poisson regression. Those with Hb <110 g/L were classified into 'restored' and 'not restored' based on Hb results from 21 weeks onwards, and risk of adverse outcomes explored with adjusted Poisson regression.
Of 31,906 singleton pregnancies, 4.0% had Hb <110 and 10.2% had ≥140 g/L at ≤20 weeks. Women with low Hb had significantly higher risks of postpartum haemorrhage, transfusion, preterm birth, very low birthweight, and having a baby transferred to higher care or stillbirth. High Hb was also associated with higher risks of preterm, very low birthweight, and transfer to higher care/stillbirth. Transfusion was the only outcome where risk decreased with increasing Hb. Risk of transfusion was significantly lower in the 'restored' group compared with the 'not restored' group (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.22-0.70), but restoration of Hb did not significantly affect the other outcomes measured.
Women with both low and high Hb in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy had higher risks of adverse outcomes than those with normal Hb. Restoring Hb after 20 weeks did not improve most adverse outcome rates but did reduce risk of transfusion.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective
This study aims to examine the influence of Republican and Democratic partisan television news on attitudes toward candidates for president immediately following the 2016 general election.
...Method
Using two waves of the 2016 American National Election Study, we examine feelings toward Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton before and after the election.
Results
Exposure to Republican partisan media did have a significant negative effect on feelings toward Hillary Clinton, even when controlling for party identification, ideology, and feelings toward Clinton before the election. Consumption of Democratic partisan television, however, had no influence on feelings toward Donald Trump.
Conclusion
Further fragmentation and the expansion of partisan media has—and will continue to—benefit Republicans over Democrats.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
OBJECTIVE:To analyze the clinical findings, response to therapy, and outcomes of patients with cerebral vascular amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition with and without inflammatory vascular infiltration.
...METHODS:We report 78 consecutive patients with cerebral vascular Aβ deposition examined at Mayo Clinic Rochester over 25 years (1987 through 2011). Specimens reviewed by a neuropathologist showed 40 with vascular Aβ peptide without inflammation (cerebral amyloid angiopathy CAA), 28 with granulomatous vasculitis (Aβ-related angiitis or ABRA), and 10 with perivascular CAA-related inflammation. We also matched findings in 118 consecutive patients with primary CNS vasculitis (PCNSV) without Aβ seen over 25 years (1983 through 2007).
RESULTS:Compared to the 40 with CAA, the 28 with ABRA were younger at diagnosis (p = 0.05), had less altered cognition (p = 0.02), fewer neurologic deficits (p = 0.02), and fewer intracranial hemorrhages (<0.001), but increased gadolinium leptomeningeal enhancement (p = 0.01) at presentation, and less mortality and disability at last follow-up (p < 0.001). Compared with PCNSV, the 28 patients with ABRA were older at diagnosis (p < 0.001), had a higher frequency of altered cognition (p = 0.05), seizures/spells (p = 0.006), gadolinium leptomeningeal enhancement (p < 0.001), and intracerebral hemorrhage (p = 0.02), lower frequency of hemiparesis (p = 0.01), visual symptoms (p = 0.04), and MRI evidence of cerebral infarction (p = 0.003), but higher CSF protein levels (p = 0.03). Results of treatment and outcomes in ABRA and PCNSV were similar.
CONCLUSIONS:ABRA appears to represent a distinct subset of PCNSV.
Extraabdominal desmoid (EAD) tumors pose a therapeutic challenge because they often recur locally and behave aggressively. Accepted management options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and ...observation. The objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of percutaneous cryoablation for the treatment of EAD tumors.
A retrospective search of our cryoablation database was performed to identify patients with EAD tumors treated with percutaneous cryoablation between June 15, 2004, and June 15, 2014. During this 10-year time period, we treated 18 patients with 26 discrete tumors during 31 treatment sessions. After cryoablation, contrast-enhanced MRI or CT was performed. Any enhancing soft tissue was considered viable EAD tumor and was measured in three planes.
Of the 26 EAD tumors treated, follow-up imaging with IV contrast material was available for 23 tumors. The mean imaging follow-up was 16.2 ± 20.0 (SD) months. All 31 sessions were technically successful procedures. No residual viable EAD tumor was observed in nine of 23 tumors (39.1%). Some degree of volume reduction was evident in 22 of 23 tumors (95.7%). Progressive disease was observed in one of the 23 tumors (4.3%). Of the cases with residual or progressive disease, the recurrence occurred at the margin of the treated tumor in all cases. No major complications were observed, and none of the complications was more severe than Clavien-Dindo grade I.
Percutaneous cryoablation is a safe, effective, and repeatable treatment for achieving local control of EAD tumors.
Purpose
Social media (SM) platforms have become major sources for generating, sharing and gathering political and election news. Although there appears to be an assumption that reliance on SM for ...political news consumption will continue to gain in popularity, there are reasons to believe that many Americans are retreating from using SM for political news. The purpose of this study is to examine if Americans are reducing reliance on SM for political news and to analyze why retreat may be happening.
Design/methodology/approach
Using longitudinal panel data from Pew’s American Trends Panel study, the authors tracked 993 respondents from February of 2016 to November of 2019 to monitor their reliance on SM for political news leading up to the 2020 US presidential election.
Findings
The results of this study indicate that a sizeable percentage of people (about a third) are retreating from SM platforms for political news consumption and some are abandoning it altogether – people we refer to as new SM “nones.” The authors find that retreat from SM is associated with increased distrust of the information found on the platforms. Concerns about fake news, incivility on SM and information overload were unrelated to retreat from use of SM for political news consumption.
Originality/value
The findings of this study are novel and suggest that reliance on SM for political news by the public may have waxed, seen its zenith and may now be waning largely because of distrust in the information found on SM platforms.
In Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related tauopathies, the microtubule-associated protein tau is highly phosphorylated and aggregates to form neurofibrillary tangles that are characteristic of these ...neurodegenerative diseases. Our previous work has demonstrated that the thousand-and-one amino acid kinases (TAOKs) 1 and 2 phosphorylate tau on more than 40 residues in vitro. Here we show that TAOKs are phosphorylated and active in AD brain sections displaying mild (Braak stage II), intermediate (Braak stage IV) and advanced (Braak stage VI) tau pathology and that active TAOKs co-localise with both pre-tangle and tangle structures. TAOK activity is also enriched in pathological tau containing sarkosyl-insoluble extracts prepared from AD brain. Two new phosphorylated tau residues (T123 and T427) were identified in AD brain, which appear to be targeted specifically by TAOKs. A new small molecule TAOK inhibitor (Compound 43) reduced tau phosphorylation on T123 and T427 and also on additional pathological sites (S262/S356 and S202/T205/S208) in vitro and in cell models. The TAOK inhibitor also decreased tau phosphorylation in differentiated primary cortical neurons without affecting markers of synapse and neuron health. Notably, TAOK activity also co-localised with tangles in post-mortem frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) brain tissue. Furthermore, the TAOK inhibitor decreased tau phosphorylation in induced pluripotent stem cell derived neurons from FTLD patients, as well as cortical neurons from a transgenic mouse model of tauopathy (Tau35 mice). Our results demonstrate that abnormal TAOK activity is present at pre-tangles and tangles in tauopathies and that TAOK inhibition effectively decreases tau phosphorylation on pathological sites. Thus, TAOKs may represent a novel target to reduce or prevent tau-associated neurodegeneration in tauopathies.
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