The origin of the so-called p-isotopes and in the solar system remains a mystery, as several astrophysical scenarios fail to account for them. In addition, data on presolar silicon carbide grains of ...type X (SiC X) exhibit peculiar Mo patterns, especially for . We examine the production of Mo and Ru isotopes in neutrino-driven winds associated with core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) over a wide range of conditions. We find that proton-rich winds can make dominant contributions to the solar abundance of and significant contributions to those of 96Ru, 92Mo, and 94Mo. In contrast, neutron-rich winds make negligible contributions to the solar abundances of 92,94Mo and cannot produce 96,98Ru, whereas the early ejecta of CCSNe can make dominant contributions to the solar abundance of 92Mo. Furthermore, we show that some neutron-rich winds can account for the peculiar Mo patterns in SiC X grains. Our results can be generalized if conditions similar to those studied here are also obtained for other types of ejecta in either CCSNe or neutron star mergers.
The SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), has rapidly swept across the world since its identification in December 2019. Otolaryngologists are at unique risk due to the ...close contact with mucus membranes of the upper respiratory tract and have been among the most affected healthcare workers in Wuhan, China. We present information on COVID‐19 management relevant to otolaryngologists on the frontlines of this pandemic and provide preliminary guidance based on practices implemented in China and other countries and practical strategies deployed at Stanford University. Laryngoscope, 130:2537–2543, 2020
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
We study the effects of additional cooling due to the emission of a dark matter candidate particle, the dark photon, on the final phases of the evolution of a 15
M
⊙
star and resulting ...modifications of the pre-supernova neutrino signal. For a substantial portion of the dark photon parameter space the extra cooling speeds up Si burning, which results in a reduced number of neutrinos emitted during the last day before core collapse. This reduction can be described by a systematic acceleration of the relevant timescales and the results can be estimated semi-analytically in good agreement with the numerical simulations. Outside the semi-analytic regime we find more complicated effects. In a narrow parameter range, low-mass dark photons lead to an increase in the number of emitted neutrinos because of additional shell-burning episodes that delay core collapse. Furthermore, relatively strong couplings produce a thermonuclear runaway during O burning, which could result in a complete disruption of the star but requires more detailed simulations to determine the outcome. Our results show that pre-supernova neutrino signals are a potential probe of the dark photon parameter space.
The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing by 3% annually. This increase is often thought to be attributable to overdiagnosis in adults. A previous study reported a 1.1% annual increase in the ...incidence of pediatric thyroid cancer. However, the analysis was limited to the period from 1973 to 2004 and was performed in a linear fashion, which does not account for changes in incidence trends over time.
To analyze trends in pediatric thyroid cancer incidence based on demographic and tumor characteristics at diagnosis.
This cross-sectional study included individuals younger than 20 years who had a diagnosis of thyroid cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 9 database from 1973 to 2013. Cases of thyroid cancer were identified using the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition and were categorized by histologic type, stage, and tumor size.
Annual percent change (APC) in the incidence rates was calculated using joinpoint regression analysis.
Among 1806 patients included in the analysis, 1454 (80.5%) were female and 1503 (83.2%) were white; most patients were aged 15 to 19 years. The overall incidence rates of thyroid cancer increased annually from 0.48 per 100 000 person-years in 1973 to 1.14 per 100 000 person-years in 2013. Incidence rates gradually increased from 1973 to 2006 (APC, 1.11%; 95% CI, 0.56%-1.67%) and then markedly increased from 2006 to 2013 (APC, 9.56%; 95% CI, 5.09%-14.22%). The incidence rates of large tumors (>20 mm) gradually increased from 1983 to 2006 (APC, 2.23%; 95% CI, 0.93%-3.54%) and then markedly increased from 2006 to 2013 (APC, 8.84%; 95% CI, 3.20%-14.79%); these rates were not significantly different from incidence rates of small (1-20 mm) tumors. The incidence rates of regionally extended thyroid cancer gradually increased from 1973 to 2006 (APC, 1.44%; 95% CI, 0.68%-2.21%) and then markedly increased from 2006 to 2013 (APC, 11.16%; 95% CI, 5.26%-17.40%); these rates were not significantly different from the incidence rates of localized disease.
The incidence rates of pediatric thyroid cancer increased more rapidly from 2006 to 2013 than from 1973 to 2006. The findings suggest that there may be a co-occurring increase in thyroid cancer in the pediatric population in addition to enhanced detection.
Sliced Latin Hypercube Designs Qian, Peter Z. G
Journal of the American Statistical Association,
03/2012, Volume:
107, Issue:
497
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This article proposes a method for constructing a new type of space-filling design, called a sliced Latin hypercube design, intended for running computer experiments. Such a design is a special Latin ...hypercube design that can be partitioned into slices of smaller Latin hypercube designs. It is desirable to use the constructed designs for collective evaluations of computer models and ensembles of multiple computer models. The proposed construction method is easy to implement, capable of accommodating any number of factors, and flexible in run size. Examples are given to illustrate the method. Sampling properties of the constructed designs are examined. Numerical illustration is provided to corroborate the derived theoretical results.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, INZLJ, KISLJ, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
We have attributed the elements from Sr through Ag in stars of low metallicities to charged-particle reactions (CPRs) in neutrino-driven winds, which are associated with neutron star formation in ...low-mass and normal supernovae (SNe) from progenitors of similar to 8-11 image and similar to 12-25 image, respectively. Using this rule and attributing all Fe production to normal SNe, we previously developed a phenomenological two-component model, which predicts that image for all metal-poor stars. This is in direct conflict with the high-resolution data now available, which show that there is a great shortfall of Sr relative to Fe in many stars with image. The same conflict also exists for the CPR elements Y and Zr. We show that the data require a stellar source leaving behind black holes and that hypernovae (HNe) from progenitors of similar to 25-50 image are the most plausible candidates. If we expand our previous model to include three components (low-mass and normal SNe and HNe), we find that essentially all of the data are very well described by the new model. The HN yield pattern for the low-A elements from Na through Zn (including Fe) is inferred from the stars deficient in Sr, Y, and Zr. We estimate that HNe contributed similar to 24% of the bulk solar Fe inventory while normal SNe contributed only similar to 9% (not the usually assumed similar to 33%). This implies a greatly reduced role of normal SNe in the chemical evolution of the low- A elements.
Current clinical interest lies in the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive impairment. Previous work demonstrated that noise exposure, a common cause of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), ...leads to cognitive impairments in mice. However, in noise-induced models, it is difficult to distinguish the effects of noise trauma from subsequent SNHL on central processes. Here, we use cochlear hair cell ablation to isolate the effects of SNHL. Cochlear hair cells were conditionally and selectively ablated in mature, transgenic mice where the human diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor was expressed behind the hair-cell specific Pou4f3 promoter. Due to higher Pou4f3 expression in cochlear hair cells than vestibular hair cells, administration of a low dose of DT caused profound SNHL without vestibular dysfunction and had no effect on wild-type (WT) littermates. Spatial learning/memory was assayed using an automated radial 8-arm maze (RAM), where mice were trained to find food rewards over a 14-day period. The number of working memory errors (WME) and reference memory errors (RME) per training day were recorded. All animals were injected with DT during P30-60 and underwent the RAM assay during P90-120. SNHL animals committed more WME and RME than WT animals, demonstrating that isolated SNHL affected cognitive function. Duration of SNHL (60 versus 90 days post DT injection) had no effect on RAM performance. However, younger age of acquired SNHL (DT on P30 versus P60) was associated with fewer WME. This describes the previously undocumented effect of isolated SNHL on cognitive processes that do not directly rely on auditory sensory input.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
We propose an approach to constructing nested Latin hypercube designs. Such designs are useful for conducting multiple computer experiments with different levels of accuracy. A nested Latin hypercube ...design with two layers is defined to be a special Latin hypercube design that contains a smaller Latin hypercube design as a subset. Our method is easy to implement and can accommodate any number of factors. We also extend this method to construct nested Latin hypercube designs with more than two layers. Illustrative examples are given. Some statistical properties of the constructed designs are derived.
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BFBNIB, INZLJ, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
To investigate the relationship of brain iron deposition with cognitive impairment in patients with chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CHP).
Brain iron deposition was detected using quantitative ...susceptibility mapping (QSM), and cognitive function by neuropsychological tests including the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), and verbal fluency tests in a total of 40 participants, 23 with CHP and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy participants without CHP (controls).
The neuropsychological tests revealed that cognitive impairment (p<0.05) and susceptibility values (p<0.05) of the bilateral hippocampus (HP) and substantia nigra (SN) in CHP patients were significantly higher than those of the controls. The susceptibility values of bilateral HP and left putamen correlated closely with the scores of neuropsychological tests in the CHP patients (p<0.05, r2>0.1). The susceptibility values in the left putamen and bilateral HP were significantly higher in CHP patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n=8) than those of CHP patients without MCI (n=15; p<0.05).
The present findings indicated that brain iron deposition in specific areas may be responsible for the cognitive impairment in CHP patients, and that QSM is a useful tool to determine brain iron, predicting cognitive impairment in CHP patients.
•The sensitivity of PU, HP & SN in CHP patients was higher than that in control group.•Specific brain iron deposits may be the cause of cognitive impairment in CHP patients.•QSM is a useful tool to measure brain iron in CHP patients.•QSM is a useful tool to predict cognitive impairment in CHP patients.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 signalling pathway has been shown to have oncogenic effects in vitro and in vivo. To demonstrate the role of TLR4 signalling in colon tumourigenesis, we examined the ...expression of TLR4 and myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) in colorectal cancer (CRC).
The expression of TLR4 and MyD88 in 108 CRC samples, 15 adenomas, and 15 normal mucosae was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and the correlations between their immunoscores and clinicopathological variables, including disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), were analysed.
Compared with normal mucosae and adenomas, 20% cancers displayed high expression of TLR4, and 23% cancers showed high expression of MyD88. The high expression of TLR4 and MyD88 was significantly correlated with liver metastasis (P=0.0001, P=0.0054). In univariate analysis, the high expression of TLR4 was significantly associated with shorter OS (hazard ratio (HR): 2.17; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.15-4.07; P=0.015). The high expression of MyD88 expression was significantly associated with poor DFS and OS (HR: 2.33; 95% CI: 1.31-4.13; P=0.0038 and HR: 3.03; 95% CI: 1.67-5.48; P=0.0002). The high combined expression of TLR4 and MyD88 was also significantly associated with poor DFS and OS (HR: 2.25; 95% CI: 1.27-3.99; P=0.0053 and HR: 2.97; 95% CI: 1.64-5.38; P=0.0003). Multivariate analysis showed that high expressions of TLR4 (OS: adjusted HR: 1.88; 95% CI: 0.99-3.55; P=0.0298) and MyD88 (DFS: adjusted HR: 1.93; 95% CI: 1.01-3.67; P=0.0441; OS: adjusted HR: 2.25; 95% CI: 1.17-4.33; P=0.0112) were independent prognostic factors of OS. Furthermore, high co-expression of TLR4/MyD88 was strongly associated with both poor DFS and OS.
Our findings suggest that high expression of TLR4 and MyD88 is associated with liver metastasis and is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with CRC.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ