The ROADMAP project aimed to provide an integrated overview of European real-world data on Alzheimer's disease (AD) across the disease spectrum.
Metadata were identified from data sources in catalogs ...of European AD projects. Priority outcomes for different stakeholders were identified through systematic literature review, patient and public consultations, and stakeholder surveys.
Information about 66 data sources and 13 outcome domains were integrated into a Data Cube. Gap analysis identified cognitive ability, functional ability/independence, behavioral/neuropsychiatric symptoms, treatment, comorbidities, and mortality as the outcomes collected most. Data were most lacking in caregiver-related outcomes. In general, electronic health records covered a broader, less detailed data spectrum than research cohorts.
This integrated real-world AD data overview provides an intuitive visual model that facilitates initial assessment and identification of gaps in relevant outcomes data to inform future prospective data collection and matching of data sources and outcomes against research protocols.
•Alzheimer's disease-relevant outcomes were collected for 66 real-world data sources.•The ROADMAP Data Cube visualizes available outcomes across different data sources.•Stakeholders prioritized the quality of life and cognitive and functional abilities.•Most data sources captured cognitive ability, comorbidities, and treatment outcomes.•The least captured outcomes were the caregiver and family-related outcomes.
A detailed wind tunnel test has been carried out on a motionless flat-box bridge deck model with three special grid-generated wind fields using an electronically scanned pressure transducer system, ...enabling almost instantaneous capture of 372 pressure tap signals from 6 sections of 62 different spacing taps at each section. A very complete analysis has been performed on the pressure signals, and fluctuating forces through weighted integrations of pressure at each section were formed. The integral scales of fluctuating force were found to be dependent mainly on the integral scale of turbulence and the size of deck. The root coherence of buffeting force relied chiefly on integral scales of force and the separation of two sections, and the span-wise correlation of the fluctuating forces were larger than those of wind turbulence. An empirical model of root coherence for the fluctuating lift for a flat-box deck has been developed and proved to be feasible and effective for fitting the test data. The fitted parameters can be defined by simple expressions related to the oncoming turbulence and the size of deck, and thus it has practical applications. The proposed model can fully explain the character of low frequency curves in the root coherence.
•The span-wise correlation of forces are larger than those of wind turbulence.•Integral scales of force depend mainly on turbulence integral scales and deck sizes.•Lift root coherence models explain low frequency curves with physical meanings.
Detailed crystallographic data on high-quality Li
2
MnO
3
material has been obtained using a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), high-resolution ...electron microscopy (HREM), and 0.1 nm probe high-angle annular dark-field imaging (HAADF) in a scanning transmission electron microscope. A high-purity Li
2
MnO
3
powder was annealed at 950 °C for 3 days to obtain predominantly defect-free grains which average size was 3.0 ± 1.5 μm. Rietveld refinement indicated that the
C2/m
spacegroup provided the best fit for the XRD data. Electron diffraction patterns obtained along various zone axes, on defect-free oxide particles, could be uniquely indexed to the monoclinic structure. HREM and HAADF images of defect-free grains were consistent with a Li–Mn–Mn– arrangement, i.e., lithium ordering in the transition metal planes. Low-magnification TEM images occasionally revealed stacking defects within oxide particles. HREM images of sample areas containing defects revealed a low density of stacking faults within the monoclinic sequence, resulting in a trigonal
P3
1
12
local arrangement.
Hazardous outdoor air pollution has severely affected indoor air quality, threatening the health of billions of people. However, existing indoor air purification technologies are unsatisfactory due ...to some inherent limitations such as poor efficiency, limited target pollutants, the need to frequently replace filters or adsorbents, or the generation of harmful by-products. Here, we studied the effect and mechanism of cryogenic circulation for indoor air purification. Experimental results show that up to 99% of indoor PM2.5 from ambient air was removed at −18 °C. The morphological measurements indicate that micrometer-sized particles are formed concomitantly with the reduction of nanometer- or submicron-sized particles, suggesting that condensational growth of fine particles is responsible for the removal. Applying the method to gaseous pollutant purification demonstrates that 98% of NO2 is condensed and removed from the ambient air at −50 °C, implying that the method would be effective for multiple indoor pollutants with higher boiling points. Cryogenic condensation may provide a principle for continuous indoor air purification via modified air conditioners and humidifiers in cases where health benefits outweigh energy consumption concerns.
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•Cryogenic condensation can remove indoor fine particulate and gaseous pollutants.•Phase transition of gaseous components induces haze pollutants removal.•Obtain clean indoor air for health through reasonable energy consumption.
Low temperature at the booting stage is a major abiotic stress-limiting rice production. In this study, Cold stress tolerance index of panicle traits of a recombinant inbred line was used to identify ...cold tolerance at booting stage for three consecutive years. The purpose was to locate the stable QTL linked to cold tolerance at booting stage. Combined with meta-analysis model, candidate genes for cold tolerance were mined. The results showed that a total of 17 cold resistant QTLs were detected, of which 5 were pleiotropic interval (
CTB2
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1
,
CTB6
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2
,
CTB7
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1
,
CTB7
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2
and
CTB7
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4
). However, only three traits obtained the same QTLs in different years, which indicated that cold tolerant QTL at the booting stage was greatly affected by environment. The six selected progenys with cold tolerance alleles can be used in cross combinations. A total of 47 cold tolerance meta-QTLs (MCqtl) were obtained from the meta-analysis, of which 8 reported cold response genes were found in 7 MCqtl regions, and 18 candidate genes conferring cold tolerance were identified, of which 10 candidate genes showed hits to ESTs expressed in the reproductive tissue. These results would lay a foundation for fine mapping of QTLs/genes related to cold tolerance in booting stage and marker-assisted selection for breeding in rice.
The 2007 European Union Floods Directive encouraged member nations to pursue a more integrated view of flood risks and management strategies, taking into account social vulnerabilities of residents. ...To date, most flood-risk analyses conducted by the Dutch government have focused on physical risk. This study utilizes fine-scale data to construct a social vulnerability index for 147 districts of the Dutch province of Zeeland, located in the Southwestern Delta and the scene of widespread devastation following the 1953 North Sea Flood. Factor analysis of 25 indicators of social vulnerability selected from related research in Europe and the United States results in seven factors explaining roughly 66% of the total variance. These factors of social vulnerability in Zeeland are urban density, low-income households, recent population change, female gender, train access, and self-employed and service-sector employment. The index was constructed using the top-loading variable in each of these factors, with weights determined by the variance explained by each factor. Scores range from a low of 0.20 in Schore, municipality of Kapelle, to the highest score of 0.64 in Oudelandse Hoeve of Terneuzen. The most vulnerable districts are located in South Zeeland, with eight of the 10 found in Terneuzen. The majority of less vulnerable districts are located in Zeeland’s central region.
Both low-temperature germinability (LTG) and cold tolerance at the seedling stage (CTS) are important traits for rice. In this study, a rice population of recombinant inbred lines (RILs), derived ...from the backcross population of a cross between Dongnong422 and Kongyu131, was developed to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting LTG and CTS by using seed of different storage times. Correlation analysis indicated that there was no significant relationship between LTG and CTS, suggesting that cold tolerance might be genetic differences for LTG and CTS. In total, Twelve and twenty-three major QTLs were detected for LTG and CTS, respectively, which could explain greater than 10% of the phenotypical variation. Eight (
qCG12
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1
,
qGI12
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1
,
qGV9
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1
,
qMLIT12
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1
,
qPV6
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1
,
qMDG12
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1
,
qLDWcold10
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1
,
qLFWcold10
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1
) significant QTLs were mapped for different storage time, it concluded that such QTLs were not affected by environment (storage time) and were closely related QTLs to cold tolerance. One or more QTLs were identified for each trait with some of these QTLs co-locating,
qMLIT7
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1
,
qCG7
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1
, and
qGI7
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1 for LTG,
q
LFWcold10
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1
, and
qLDWcold10
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1
for CTS with contributions over 15% were mapped common marker interval, respectively, co-location of QTLs for different traits can be an indication that a locus has pleiotropic effects on multiple traits due to a common mechanistic basis. Two lines, RIL128 and RIL73, might be valuable to improve the LTG and CTS through a combination of crosses. The identified QTLs might be applicable to improve the rice cold tolerance by the marker-assisted selection approach.
Elements in grain crops such as iron, zinc and selenium are essential in the human diet, whereas elements such as arsenic are potentially toxic to humans. This study aims to identify quantitative ...trait loci (QTLs) for trace elements in rice grain. A field experiment was conducted in an arsenic enriched field site in Qiyang, China using the Bala × Azucena mapping population grown under standard field conditions. Grains were subjected to elemental analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. QTLs were detected for the elemental composition within the rice grains, including for iron and selenium, which have previously been detected in this population grown at another location, indicating the stability of these QTLs. A correlation was observed between flowering time and a number of the element concentrations in grains, which was also revealed as co‐localisation between flowering time QTLs and grain element QTLs. Unravelling the environmental conditions that influence the grain ionome appears to be complex, but from the results in this study one of the major factors which controls the accumulation of elements within the grain is flowering time.
Although there is evidence of disruption in acute cerebrovascular and cardiovascular care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, its downstream effect in primary care is less clear. ...We investigated how the pandemic affected utilization of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular care in general practices (GPs) and determined changes in GP-recorded diagnoses of selected cerebrovascular and cardiovascular outcomes.
From electronic health records of 166,929 primary care patients aged 30 or over within the Rotterdam region, the Netherlands, we extracted the number of consultations related to cerebrovascular and cardiovascular care, and first diagnoses of selected cerebrovascular and cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, lipid disorders), conditions, and events (angina, atrial fibrillation, TIA, myocardial infarction, stroke). We quantified changes in those outcomes during the first COVID-19 wave (March-May 2020) and thereafter (June-December 2020) by comparing them to the same period in 2016-2019. We also estimated the number of potentially missed diagnoses for each outcome.
The number of GP consultations related to cerebrovascular and cardiovascular care declined by 38% (0.62, 95% confidence interval 0.56-0.68) during the first wave, as compared to expected counts based on prepandemic levels. Substantial declines in the number of new diagnoses were observed for cerebrovascular events: 37% for TIA (0.63, 0.41-0.96) and 29% for stroke (0.71, 0.59-0.84), while no significant changes were observed for cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction 0.91, 0.74-1.14, angina 0.77, 0.48-1.25). The counts across individual diagnoses recovered following June 2020, but the number of GP consultations related to cerebrovascular and cardiovascular care remained lower than expected throughout the June to December period (0.93, 0.88-0.98).
While new diagnoses of acute cardiovascular events remained stable during the COVID-19 pandemic, diagnoses of cerebrovascular events declined substantially compared to prepandemic levels, possibly due to incorrect perception of risk by patients. These findings emphasize the need to improve symptom recognition of cerebrovascular events among the general public and to encourage urgent presentation despite any physical distancing measures.
Background
Abdominal compression has been implemented as a provocative maneuver in high‐resolution impedance manometry (HRIM) to “challenge” normal esophageal physiology with the aim of revealing ...abnormal motor patterns which may explain symptoms. In this study, we measured the effects of abdominal compression on esophageal functioning utilizing novel pressure‐impedance parameters and attempted to identify differences between healthy controls and globus patients.
Methods
Twenty‐two healthy volunteers (aged 23‐32 years, 41% female) and 22 globus patients (aged 23‐72 years, 68% female) were evaluated with HRIM using a 3.2‐mm water perfused manometric and impedance catheter. All participants received 10 × 5 mL liquid swallows; healthy controls also received 10 × 5 mL liquid swallows with abdominal compression created using an inflatable cuff. All swallows were analyzed to assess esophageal pressure topography (EPT) and pressure‐flow metrics, indicative of distension pressure, flow timing and bolus clearance were derived.
Key Results
The effect of abdominal compression was shown as a greater contractile vigor of the distal esophagus by EPT and higher distension pressure based on pressure‐flow metrics. Age and body mass index also increased contractile vigor and distension pressure. Globus patients were similar to controls.
Conclusions and Interferences
Intrabolus pressure and contractile vigor are indicative of the physiological modulation of bolus transport mechanisms. Provocative testing by abdominal compression induces changes in these esophageal bolus dynamics.
Intrabolus pressure and contractile vigor are indicative of the physiological modulation of bolus transport mechanisms. Provocative testing by abdominal compression induces changes in these esophageal bolus dynamics.
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