We introduce density imbalanced electron-hole bilayers at a commensurate 2:1 density ratio as a platform for realizing novel phases of electrons, excitons, and trions. Through the independently ...tunable carrier densities and interlayer spacing, competition between kinetic energy, intralayer repulsion, and interlayer attraction yields a rich phase diagram. By a combination of theoretical analysis and numerical calculation, we find a variety of strong-coupling phases in different parameter regions, including quantum crystals of electrons, excitons, and trions. We also propose an "electron-exciton supersolid" phase that features electron crystallization and exciton superfluidity simultaneously. The material realization and experimental signature of these phases are discussed in the context of semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers.
Background
Cognitive frailty is a condition where physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) co-exist. It is associated with increased risk of dementia and dependency. Previous studies ...reported that malnutrition and depression are associated with physical frailty and MCI; however, their relationships with cognitive frailty remained to be explored. The aims of this study were to examine the association of nutrition and depression with cognitive frailty, in comparison to having physical frailty or MCI alone.
Methods
This study employed a cross-sectional design. Data collection was conducted in the community settings on the older people without dementia. Dependent variables were cognitive frailty, physical frailty, and MCI. The independent variables were depression and nutrition. Multi-nominal regression was employed to examine the relationships between the dependent and independent variables. The associations were adjusted by four known co-variates, including age, gender, education and APOE ε4 carrier status.
Results
A total of 185 participants were recruited from four community centres and one elderly hostel and completed the data collection. Approximately 44.9% of the older people with physical frailty and 82.5% of elderly with MCI belonged to cognitive frailty. Multi-nominal regression models showed that depression is positively associated with cognitive frailty and with physical frailty, but not associated with solely MCI. Nutrition is negatively associated with cognitive frailty, but not associated with physical frailty or MCI alone.
Conclusion
Cognitive frailty is associated with malnutrition and depression. Therapeutic interventions managing depression and malnutrition may focus the older people with cognitive frailty to improve efficacy and cost-effectiveness.
Fatty acid synthase (FASN) catalyzes the de novo synthesis of palmitate, a 16-carbon chain fatty acid that is the primary precursor of lipid metabolism and an important intracellular signaling ...molecule. FASN is an attractive drug target in diabetes, cancer, fatty liver diseases, and viral infections. Here, we develop an engineered full-length human FASN (hFASN) that enables isolation of the condensing and modifying regions of the protein post-translation. The engineered protein enables electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM) structure determination of the core modifying region of hFASN to 2.7 Å resolution. Examination of the dehydratase dimer within this region reveals that unlike its close homolog, porcine FASN, the catalytic cavity is close-ended and is accessible only through one opening in the vicinity of the active site. The core modifying region exhibits two major global conformational variabilities that describe long-range bending and twisting motions of the complex in solution. Finally, we solved the structure of this region bound to an anti-cancer drug, Denifanstat (i.e., TVB-2640), demonstrating the utility of our approach as a platform for structure guided design of future hFASN small molecule inhibitors.
IMPORTANCE: Introducing new medical devices into routine practice raises concerns because patients and outcomes may differ from those in randomized trials. OBJECTIVE: To update the previous report of ...30-day outcomes and present 1-year outcomes following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in the United States. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons/American College of Cardiology (STS/ACC) Transcatheter Valve Therapies Registry were linked with patient-specific Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrative claims data. At 299 US hospitals, 12 182 patients linked with CMS data underwent TAVR procedures performed from November 2011 through June 30, 2013, and the end of the follow-up period was June 30, 2014. EXPOSURE: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: One-year outcomes including mortality, stroke, and rehospitalization were evaluated using multivariate modeling. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 84 years and 52% were women, with a median STS Predicted Risk of Operative Mortality (STS PROM) score of 7.1%. Following the TAVR procedure, 59.8% were discharged to home and the 30-day mortality was 7.0% (95% CI, 6.5%-7.4%) (n = 847 deaths). In the first year after TAVR, patients were alive and out of the hospital for a median of 353 days (interquartile range, 312-359 days); 24.4% (n = 2074) of survivors were rehospitalized once and 12.5% (n = 1525) were rehospitalized twice. By 1 year, the overall mortality rate was 23.7% (95% CI, 22.8%-24.5%) (n = 2450 deaths), the stroke rate was 4.1% (95% CI, 3.7%-4.5%) (n = 455 stroke events), and the rate of the composite outcome of mortality and stroke was 26.0% (25.1%-26.8%) (n = 2719 events). Characteristics significantly associated with 1-year mortality included advanced age (hazard ratio HR for ≥95 vs <75 years, 1.61 95% CI, 1.24-2.09; HR for 85-94 years vs <75 years, 1.35 95% CI, 1.18-1.55; and HR for 75-84 years vs <75 years, 1.23 95% CI, 1.08-1.41), male sex (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.12-1.31), end-stage renal disease (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.41-1.95), severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.25-1.55), nontransfemoral access (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.27-1.48), STS PROM score greater than 15% vs less than 8% (HR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.60-2.06), and preoperative atrial fibrillation/flutter (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.27-1.48). Compared with men, women had a higher risk of stroke (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.15-1.71). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among patients undergoing TAVR in US clinical practice, at 1-year follow-up, overall mortality was 23.7%, the stroke rate was 4.1%, and the rate of the composite outcome of death and stroke was 26.0%. These findings should be helpful in discussions with patients undergoing TAVR.
The objective was to examine the association between mobile media device use and communication delays in 18-month-old children.
A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2011 and December ...2015 within the TARGet Kids! primary care research network. Children were included if parents reported their child's mobile media device use and completed a validated questionnaire for communication delay at the 18-month well child visit. Mobile media device use was measured using a parent-reported survey instrument. Daily mobile media device use was calculated as a weighted average of typical weekday and weekend day mobile media device use. Two communication outcomes were investigated: (1) expressive speech delay and (2) other communication delays, as measured by the Infant Toddler Checklist.
The study sample included 893 children (mean age 18.7 months, 54.1% male). Most parents reported 0 minutes per day of mobile media device use in their children (n = 693, 77.6%). Among children whose parents reported any mobile media device use (n = 200, 22.4%), the median daily mobile media device use was 15.7 minutes (range 1.4-300). The prevalence of parent-reported expressive speech delay was 6.6%, and the prevalence of other parent-reported communication delays was 8.8%. For children who used a mobile media device, each additional 30-minute increase in daily mobile media device use was associated with increased odds of parent-reported expressive speech delay (ORa = 2.33, 95% confidence interval, 1.25-4.82). No relationship was observed between mobile media device use and other parent-reported communication delays.
Our study demonstrated a significant association between mobile media device use and parent-reported expressive speech delay in 18-month-old children.
The optimal surgery to repair rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) is unknown. The purpose of this trial was to compare outcomes of pneumatic retinopexy (PnR) versus pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) ...for the management of primary RRD.
Prospective, randomized controlled trial.
Patients with RRD demonstrating a single retinal break or a group of breaks in detached retina within 1 clock hour above the 8- and 4-o'clock meridians, with any number, location and size of retinal breaks or lattice degeneration in attached retina.
Patients were randomized to undergo either PnR or PPV. Macula-on and macula-off patients were assigned to intervention group by stratified randomization and were treated within 24 and 72 hours, respectively.
The primary outcome was 1-year Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) visual acuity (VA). Important secondary outcomes were subjective visual function (25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire), metamorphopsia score (M-CHARTS), and primary anatomic success.
One hundred seventy-six patients were recruited between August 2012 and May 2016. ETDRS VA after PnR exceeded that after PPV by 4.9 letters at 12 months (79.9±10.4 letters vs. 75.0±15.2 letters; P = 0.024). Mean ETDRS VA also was superior for the PnR group compared with the PPV group at 3 months (78.4±12.3 letters vs. 68.5±17.8 letters) and 6 months (79.2±11.1 letters vs. 68.6±17.2 letters). Composite 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire scores were superior for PnR at 3 and 6 months. Vertical metamorphopsia scores were superior for the PnR group compared with the PPV group at 12 months (0.14±0.29 vs. 0.28±0.42; P = 0.026). Primary anatomic success at 12 months was achieved by 80.8% of patients undergoing PnR versus 93.2% undergoing PPV (P = 0.045), with 98.7% and 98.6%, respectively, achieving secondary anatomic success. Sixty-five percent of phakic patients in the PPV arm underwent cataract surgery in the study eye before 12 months versus 16% in the PnR group (P < 0.001).
Pneumatic retinopexy should be considered the first line treatment for RRD in patients fulfilling Pneumatic Retinopexy versus Vitrectomy for the Management of Primary Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Outcomes Randomized Trial (PIVOT) recruitment criteria. Pneumatic retinopexy offers superior VA, less vertical metamorphopsia, and reduced morbidity when compared with PPV.
Abstract Background Professional guidelines have reduced the recommended minimum number to an average of 50 percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures performed annually by each operator. ...Operator volume patterns and associated outcomes since this change are unknown. Objectives The authors describe herein PCI operator procedure volumes; characteristics of low-, intermediate-, and high-volume operators; and the relationship between operator volume and clinical outcomes in a large, contemporary, nationwide sample. Methods Using data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry collected between July 1, 2009, and March 31, 2015, we examined operator annual PCI volume. We divided operators into low- (<50 PCIs per year), intermediate- (50 to 100 PCIs per year), and high- (>100 PCIs per year) volume groups, and determined the adjusted association between annual PCI volume and in-hospital outcomes, including mortality. Results The median annual number of procedures performed per operator was 59; 44% of operators performed <50 PCI procedures per year. Low-volume operators more frequently performed emergency and primary PCI procedures and practiced at hospitals with lower annual PCI volumes. Unadjusted in-hospital mortality was 1.86% for low-volume operators, 1.73% for intermediate-volume operators, and 1.48% for high-volume operators. The adjusted risk of in-hospital mortality was higher for PCI procedures performed by low- and intermediate-volume operators compared with those performed by high-volume operators (adjusted odds ratio: 1.16 for low versus high; adjusted odds ratio: 1.05 for intermediate vs. high volume) as was the risk for new dialysis post PCI. No volume relationship was observed for post-PCI bleeding. Conclusions Many PCI operators in the United States are performing fewer than the recommended number of PCI procedures annually. Although absolute risk differences are small and may be partially explained by unmeasured differences in case mix between operators, there remains an inverse relationship between PCI operator volume and in-hospital mortality that persisted in risk-adjusted analyses.
It is crucial to develop maritime professionals’ command of English since English is used as a shared language (lingua franca) among maritime professionals coming from different language and cultural ...backgrounds. An interesting question about learning English as a lingua franca is which English accent second-language (L2) English speakers should aspire to. Drawing on previous research and the speaker’s own empirical work Dai and Roever (2019), in this talk I discuss how first-language (L1) and L2 English accents affect listeners’ comprehension, attitude and familiarity with the speakers’ speech. I conclude with implications for English language teaching and learning for maritime professionals who use English as a shared language in international maritime communication.
In this national registry of data on cardiac catheterization, only 38% of elective, diagnostic coronary angiograms showed obstructive lesions, and 39% of angiograms were interpreted as showing no ...disease. The findings indicate a relatively low diagnostic yield of elective coronary angiography, a procedure that exposes patients to substantial radiation.
In this national registry of data on cardiac catheterization, only 38% of elective, diagnostic coronary angiograms showed obstructive lesions, and 39% of angiograms were interpreted as showing no disease, while the procedure exposes patients to substantial radiation.
For patients in stable condition who are undergoing assessment for obstructive coronary artery disease, guidelines recommend continued observation in the case of patients who are at very low risk, noninvasive stress testing to determine the need for cardiac catheterization in the case of patients at intermediate risk, and direct referral for catheterization in the case of patients at high risk.
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The goal of these recommendations is to limit the number of patients without obstructive coronary artery disease who undergo invasive angiography and thereby enhance the diagnostic yield of cardiac catheterization.
The use of both noninvasive and invasive studies has . . .
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