Abstract Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for ...such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo’s third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, we look in O3 data for long-duration (hours–months) transient gravitational waves in the aftermath of pulsar glitches for six targets with a total of nine glitches. We report two marginal outliers from this search, but find no clear evidence for such emission either. The resulting duration-dependent strain upper limits do not surpass indirect energy constraints for any of these targets.
Abstract Many animals, including humans, acquire information through social learning. Although such information can be acquired easily, its potential unreliability means it should not be used ...indiscriminately. Cultural ‘transmission biases’ may allow individuals to weigh their reliance on social information according to a model's characteristics. In one of the first studies to juxtapose two model-based biases, we investigated whether the age and knowledge state of a model affected the fidelity of children's copying. Eighty-five 5-year-old children watched a video demonstration of either an adult or child, who had professed either knowledge or ignorance regarding a tool-use task, extracting a reward from that task using both causally relevant and irrelevant actions. Relevant actions were imitated faithfully by children regardless of the model's characteristics, but children who observed an adult reproduced more irrelevant actions than those who observed a child. The professed knowledge state of the model showed a weaker effect on imitation of irrelevant actions. Overall, children favored the use of a ‘copy adults’ bias over a ‘copy task-knowledgeable individual’ bias, even though the latter could potentially have provided more reliable information. The use of such social learning strategies has significant implications for understanding the phenomenon of imitation of irrelevant actions (overimitation), instances of maladaptive information cascades, and cumulative culture.
BACKGROUND
Although survivors of adolescent‐onset cancers are at risk of infertility, the majority desire children. Fertility preservation options are available for adolescents, but sperm banking ...remains underused. To the authors' knowledge, patient factors that influence decisions to bank sperm are poorly understood.
METHODS
A cross‐sectional study of 146 adolescent males who were newly diagnosed with cancer and who completed surveys within 1 week of treatment initiation was performed. Participants, 65% of whom were white, were aged 13 to 21 years (mean, 16.49 years; standard deviation, 2.02 years) and were at risk of infertility secondary to impending gonadotoxic treatment. Participating institutions included 8 leading pediatric oncology centers across the United States and Canada.
RESULTS
Of the patients approached, approximately 80.6% participated. Parent recommendation to bank (odds ratio OR, 4.88; 95% confidence interval 95% CI, 1.15‐20.71 P = .03), higher Tanner stage (OR, 4.25; 95% CI, 1.60‐11.27 P < .01), greater perceived benefits (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.12‐1.77 P < .01), and lower social barriers to banking (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81‐0.96 P < .01) were found to be associated with adolescent collection attempts, whereas meeting with a fertility specialist (OR, 3.44; 95% CI, 1.00‐11.83 P = .05), parent (OR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.12‐8.10 P = .03) or provider (OR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.05‐6.77 P = .04) recommendation to bank, and greater adolescent self‐efficacy to bank (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.01‐1.33 P = .03) were found to be associated with successful sperm banking.
CONCLUSIONS
Adolescents' perceived benefits of sperm banking, higher Tanner stage, and parent recommendation were associated with collection attempts, whereas perceived social barriers decreased this likelihood. Successful banking was associated with greater adolescent self‐efficacy, parent and provider recommendation to bank, and consultation with a fertility specialist. Providers should consult with both adolescents and parents regarding fertility preservation, and interventions should be tailored to address barriers to sperm banking while promoting its benefits.
Among at‐risk adolescent males newly diagnosed with cancer, sperm banking outcomes are associated with adolescent developmental (eg, Tanner stage) and psychological (eg, benefits to banking, self‐efficacy, and social barriers) factors, in addition to parent and provider recommendations and consultation with a fertility specialist. Because adolescent factors drive sperm banking outcomes, providers should prioritize patient participation and desires during the fertility preservation decision‐making process.
We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search ...improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J -statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h95%0 = 3.47 × 10−25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering.
Abetalipoproteinemia, an inherited human disease characterized by a near-complete absence of the apolipoprotein (apo) B-containing lipoproteins in the plasma, is caused by mutations in the gene for ...microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). We used gene targeting to knock out the mouse MTP gene (Mttp). In heterozygous knockout mice (Mttp+/-), the MTP mRNA, protein, and activity levels were reduced by 50%, in both liver and intestine. Compared with control mice (Mttp+/+), chow-fed Mttp+/- mice had reduced plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and had a 28% reduction in plasma apoB100 levels. On a high-fat diet, the Mttp+/- mice exhibited a marked reduction in total plasma cholesterol levels, compared with those in Mttp+/+ mice. Both the livers of adult Mttp+/- mice and the visceral endoderm of the yolk sacs from Mttp+/- embryos manifested an accumulation of cytosolic fat. All homozygous embryos (Mttp-/-) died during embryonic development. In the visceral endoderm of Mttp-/- yolk sacs, lipoprotein synthesis was virtually absent, and there was a marked accumulation of cytosolic fat droplets. In summary, half-normal MTP levels do not support normal levels of lipoprotein synthesis and secretion, and a complete deficiency of MTP causes lethal developmental abnormalities, perhaps because of an impaired capacity of the yolk sac to export lipids to the developing embryo.
Summary Background Many autoimmune diseases share common susceptibility loci suggesting similar underlying cellular mechanisms involved in disease expression.
Objectives The purpose of this ...investigation was to study 21 genetic variants in 14 genes that are confirmed autoimmune loci in a cohort of patients with early‐onset psoriasis.
Methods Patients with early‐onset psoriasis (n = 750) and controls (n = 3531) were genotyped using the Sequenom® MassArray™ iPLEX Gold platform.
Results We found strong evidence of association with two variants in the IL2/IL21 (rs6822844, genotypic P = 3·3 × 10−4; rs2069778, genotypic P = 7·86 × 10−4) region.
Conclusions The findings, although requiring replication, suggest that IL2/IL21 may play a key role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis as well as in other diverse autoimmune diseases.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine outcome and identify predictors of death after thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAA) repair, renal artery bypass (RAB), and revascularization ...for chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI). Patients and Methods: In this retrospective analysis, data were obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a 20% all-payer stratified sample of hospitals in the United States during 1993 to 1997. Patients were identified by the presence of a diagnostic or procedure code from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). The main outcomes we examined were death, ICD-9-CM –based complications, length of stay, hospital charges, and disposition. A multivariate model was constructed to predict death. Results: A total of 2934 patients were identified (TAA, 540; RAB, 2058; CMI, 336) in the database. The mean age was comparable (TAA, 69 ± 9 years; RAB, 66 ± 12 years; CMI, 66 ± 11 years), but the breakdown between the sexes varied by procedure (male: TAA, 53%; RAB, 55%; CMI, 24%). The mortality rate (TAA, 20.3%; RAB, 7.1%; CMI, 14.7%), complication rate (TAA, 62.2%; RAB, 37.4%; CMI, 44.6%), and the percentage of patients discharged to another institution (TAA, 21.2%; RAB, 9.3%; CMI, 12.0%) were clinically significant for all procedures. The mortality rate for RAB was greater when performed concomitant with an aortic reconstruction (4.4% vs 8.3%). All three procedures were resource intensive as reflected by the median length of stay (TAA, 14 days; RAB, 9 days; CMI, 14 days) and median hospital charges (TAA, $64,493; RAB, $36,830; CMI, $47,390). The multivariate model identified several variables for each procedure that had an impact on the predicted mortality rate (TAA, 14%-76%; RAB, < 1%-46%; CMI, < 2%-87%). Conclusions: The operative mortality rates across the United States for patients undergoing TAA repair and RAB are greater than commonly reported in the literature and mandate reexamining the treatment strategies for these complex vascular problems. (J Vasc Surg 2001;34:54-61.)
Background. Infant medication administration is a major public-health challenge, especially in rural or low-resource areas. The JustMilk Nipple Shield Delivery System (NSDS) is a novel method of ...infant medication delivery designed to address some of these challenges. Objective. To explore the acceptability of the JustMilk NSDS in selected communities in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, South Africa. Methods. Data were collected through 39 semi-structured interviews and in five small groups (a total of 44 interviewees) with infant caretakers and health workers in the Vhembe District. Interviews were transcribed and coded into themes, which were verified by an independent coder. Results. Four themes arose around the acceptability of the JustMilk NSDS: input on device design; perceived benefits of the device; perceived barriers to community acceptance; and suggested device applications. Participants expressed positivity about the NSDS concept. The potential for increased dosing accuracy was stated as the main positive attribute of the NSDS. Potential stigma was noted, and the need for an education programme on the device was discussed. No major community barriers to NSDS use were noted. Acetaminophen and deworming agents were suggested as potential applications for the device. Conclusion. Participants were enthusiastic about the potential benefits of the NSDS, and were interested in using the device to deliver medication to infants. Design suggestions, especially to combat the potential stigma of device use, will be thoroughly considered by the researchers. This study was a positive step forward in developing the NSDS as a novel method of medication delivery to breastfeeding infants, particularly in rural or low-resource areas.
We aimed to inform the design of behavioral interventions by identifying patients' and their family members' perceived facilitators and barriers to hypertension self-management.
We conducted focus ...groups of African American patients with hypertension and their family members to elicit their views about factors influencing patients' hypertension self-management. We recruited African American patients with hypertension (n = 18) and their family members (n = 12) from an urban, community-based clinical practice in Baltimore, Maryland. We conducted four separate 90-minute focus groups among patients with controlled (one group) and uncontrolled (one group) hypertension, as well as their family members (two groups). Trained moderators used open-ended questions to assess participants' perceptions regarding patient, family, clinic, and community-level factors influencing patients' effective hypertension self-management.
Patient participants identified several facilitators (including family members' support and positive relationships with doctors) and barriers (including competing health priorities, lack of knowledge about hypertension, and poor access to community resources) that influence their hypertension self-management. Family members also identified several facilitators (including their participation in patients' doctor's visits and discussions with patients' doctors outside of visits) and barriers (including their own limited health knowledge and patients' lack of motivation to sustain hypertension self-management behaviors) that affect their efforts to support patients' hypertension self-management.
African American patients with hypertension and their family members reported numerous patient, family, clinic, and community-level facilitators and barriers to patients' hypertension self-management. Patients' and their family members' views may help guide efforts to tailor behavioral interventions designed to improve hypertension self-management behaviors and hypertension control in minority populations.
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