Bacteriophage Curie is a podovirus that infects Microbacterium foliorum. The Curie genome spans 16,810 bp, has 90 bp terminal inverted repeats, and includes 23 protein-coding genes. Its genome ...architecture resembles phage PineapplePizza and other phi29-like phages. Together, Curie and PineapplePizza form a new actinobacteriophage Cluster GI.
The SPARC Toroidal Field Model Coil Program Hartwig, Zachary S.; Vieira, Rui F.; Dunn, Darby ...
IEEE transactions on applied superconductivity,
03/2024, Letnik:
34, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The SPARC Toroidal Field Model Coil (TFMC) Program was a three-year effort between 2018 and 2021 that developed novel rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) superconductor technologies and then ...successfully utilized these technologies to design, build, and test a first-in-class, high-field (∼20 T), representative-scale (∼3 m) superconducting toroidal field (TF) coil. The program was executed jointly by the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) as a technology enabler of the superconducting high-field pathway to fusion energy, and, in particular, as a risk retirement program for the no insulation (NI) TF magnet in the SPARC net-energy fusion tokamak. The TFMC achieved its programmatic goal of experimentally demonstrating a large-scale high-field REBCO magnet, achieving 20.1 T peak field-on-conductor with 40.5 kA of terminal current, 815 kN/m of Lorentz loading on the REBCO stacks, and almost 1 GPa of mechanical stress accommodated by the structural case. Fifteen internal demountable pancake-to-pancake joints operated in the 0.5 to 2.0 nΩ range at 20 K and in magnetic fields up to 12 T. The dc and ac electromagnetic performance of the magnet predicted by new advances in high-fidelity computational models was confirmed in two test campaigns while the parallel, single-pass, pressure-vessel style coolant scheme capable of large heat removal was validated. In the test facility, a feeder system composed of REBCO current leads and cables was experimentally qualified up to 50 kA, and a liquid-free cryocooler-based helium cryogenic system provided 600 W of cooling power at 20 K with mass flow rates up to 70 g/s at a maximum design pressure of 2 MPa for the test campaigns. Finally, the feasibility of using passive, self-protection against a quench in a fusion-scale NI TF coil was experimentally assessed. While the TFMC was intentionally not optimized for quench resiliency-and suffered localized thermal damage in response to an intentional open-circuit quench at 31.5 kA terminal current-the extensive data and validated models that it produced represent a critical step towards this important objective.
Pseudechis (black snakes) is an Australasian elapid snake genus that inhabits much of mainland Australia, with two representatives confined to Papua New Guinea. The present study is the first to ...analyse the venom of all 9 described Pseudechis species (plus one undescribed species) to investigate the evolution of venom composition and functional activity. Proteomic results demonstrated that the typical Pseudechis venom profile is dominated by phospholipase A2 toxins. Strong cytotoxicity was the dominant function for most species. P. porphyriacus, the most basal member of the genus, also exhibited the most divergent venom composition, being the only species with appreciable amounts of procoagulant toxins. The relatively high presence of factor Xa recovered in P. porphyriacus venom may be related to a predominantly amphibian diet. Results of this study provide important insights to guide future ecological and toxinological investigations.
Background
Arsenic exposure and micronutrient deficiencies may alter immune reactivity to influenza vaccination in pregnant women, transplacental transfer of maternal antibodies to the foetus, and ...maternal and infant acute morbidity.
Objectives
The Pregnancy, Arsenic, and Immune Response (PAIR) Study was designed to assess whether arsenic exposure and micronutrient deficiencies alter maternal and newborn immunity and acute morbidity following maternal seasonal influenza vaccination during pregnancy.
Population
The PAIR Study recruited pregnant women across a large rural study area in Gaibandha District, northern Bangladesh, 2018–2019.
Design
Prospective, longitudinal pregnancy and birth cohort.
Methods
We conducted home visits to enrol pregnant women in the late first or early second trimester (11–17 weeks of gestational age). Women received a quadrivalent seasonal inactivated influenza vaccine at enrolment. Follow‐up included up to 13 visits between enrolment and 3 months postpartum. Arsenic was measured in drinking water and maternal urine. Micronutrient deficiencies were assessed using plasma biomarkers. Vaccine‐specific antibody titres were measured in maternal and infant serum. Weekly telephone surveillance ascertained acute morbidity symptoms in women and infants.
Preliminary Results
We enrolled 784 pregnant women between October 2018 and March 2019. Of 784 women who enrolled, 736 (93.9%) delivered live births and 551 (70.3%) completed follow‐up visits to 3 months postpartum. Arsenic was detected (≥0.02 μg/L) in 99.7% of water specimens collected from participants at enrolment. The medians (interquartile ranges) of water and urinary arsenic at enrolment were 5.1 (0.5, 25.1) μg/L and 33.1 (19.6, 56.5) μg/L, respectively. Water and urinary arsenic were strongly correlated (Spearman's ⍴ = 0.72) among women with water arsenic ≥ median but weakly correlated (⍴ = 0.17) among women with water arsenic < median.
Conclusions
The PAIR Study is well positioned to examine the effects of low‐moderate arsenic exposure and micronutrient deficiencies on immune outcomes in women and infants.
Registration: NCT03930017.
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) carries significant risks of morbidity and mortality. Participation in advance care planning (ACP) is crucial to promote patient-centered ...care and has been shown to have positive impacts on patients, caregivers, and providers. Historically, both HSCT recipients and adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are significantly less likely to engage in ACP. We sought to characterize ACP utilization in AYAs undergoing HSCT by evaluating the frequency of different types of ACP documentation over time and identifying demographic and clinical factors associated with documentation of each type of ACP. We conducted a single-center retrospective review of the electronic health record (EHR) of AYAs (age 15 to 39 years) who underwent allogeneic HSCT between 2015 and 2020. EHR documents were screened for 3 predefined categories of ACP: (1) advance directives (ADs) or medical orders (MOs), which included proof of signed paper directives, expressions of preferred code status, and identification of a healthcare proxy; (2) goals of care (GOC) conversations, which included discussions of medical care in a specific situation informed by patients' priorities; and (3) other ACP conversations, which included more general discussions of patients' values regarding their care or legacy wishes. Documents were coded by 2 researchers, and discrepant categorizations were reviewed by a third researcher. Patients age <18 years on the day of transplantation were excluded in the analyses of AD/MO documentation. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to test for associations between patient factors and documentation of each type of ACP. For deceased patients, Kaplan-Meier curves were created to illustrate the time-to-event relationship between days before death and documentation of each type of ACP. Sixty-eight thousand documents associated with 219 patients were reviewed, and 666 ACP documents associated with 190 patients were identified. Few of the 219 patients had documented GOC (n = 29; 13%) or other ACP conversations (n = 81; 37%). A subset of patients (n = 28; 13%) had no documented ACP. Most of the 201 patients age ≥18 years had a documented AD/MO (n = 172; 86%). No tested factors were significantly associated with documentation of ADs/MOs. GOC and other ACP conversations were more likely to occur in patients with a palliative care consult, and patients with a malignant diagnosis were also more likely to engage in GOC conversations. More than 50% of the documentation occurred in the subset of 39 deceased patients, with one-half of AD/MO documentation in the last 67 days of life, one-half of other ACP documentation in the last 20 days of life, and one-half of GOC documentation in the final 2 days of life. Although the majority of AYA patients receiving HSCT did have documentation of ADs/MOs, few patients had documented GOC or other ACP conversations. The bulk of all ACP conversations occurred in patients that ultimately died and who were very close to the end of life. Our results support ongoing efforts to improve the implementation of ACP in this vulnerable population, particularly for those undergoing HSCT for nonmalignant conditions.
Abstract
Background
Annual United States (US) estimates of influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in children typically measure protection against outpatient medically attended influenza illness, with ...limited data evaluating VE against influenza hospitalizations. We estimated VE for preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalization among US children.
Methods
We included children aged 6 months–17 years with acute respiratory illness enrolled in the New Vaccine Surveillance Network during the 2015–2016 influenza season. Documented influenza vaccination status was obtained from state immunization information systems, the electronic medical record, and/or provider records. Midturbinate nasal and throat swabs were tested for influenza using molecular assays. We estimated VE as 100% × (1 – odds ratio), comparing the odds of vaccination among subjects testing influenza positive with subjects testing negative, using multivariable logistic regression.
Results
Of 1653 participants, 36 of 707 (5%) of those fully vaccinated, 18 of 226 (8%) of those partially vaccinated, and 85 of 720 (12%) of unvaccinated children tested positive for influenza. Of those vaccinated, almost 90% were documented to have received inactivated vaccine. The majority (81%) of influenza cases were in children ≤ 8 years of age. Of the 139 influenza-positive cases, 42% were A(H1N1)pdm09, 42% were B viruses, and 14% were A(H3N2). Overall, adjusted VE for fully vaccinated children was 56% (95% confidence interval CI, 34%–71%) against any influenza-associated hospitalization, 68% (95% CI, 36%–84%) for A(H1N1)pdm09, and 44% (95% CI, –1% to 69%) for B viruses.
Conclusions
These findings demonstrate the importance of annual influenza vaccination in prevention of severe influenza disease and of reducing the number of children who remain unvaccinated or partially vaccinated against influenza.
In a US surveillance network from 2015 to 2016, full influenza vaccination led to a 56% reduction in the likelihood of children being hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza, highlighting the benefit of influenza vaccination in preventing severe outcomes in fully vaccinated children.
To investigate the natural history and genetic associations of drusenoid pigment epithelial detachment (DPED) associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Retrospective analysis of a ...prospective cohort study.
Of the 4203 Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) participants, 391 eyes (325 participants) had DPED without late AMD at the time of DPED detection. Genetic analyses included 120 white AREDS2 participants and 145 Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) participants with DPED.
Baseline and annual stereoscopic fundus photographs were graded centrally to detect DPED, a well-defined yellow elevated mound of confluent drusen ≥433 μm in diameter, and to evaluate progression rates to late AMD: geographic atrophy (GA) and neovascular (NV)-AMD. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (CFH rs10611670, C3 rs2230199, CFI rs10033900, C2/CFB rs114254831, ARMS2 rs10490924) and genetic risk score (GRS) group were investigated for association with DPED development. Kaplan-Meier analyses and multivariable proportional hazard regressions were performed.
Progression rates to late AMD and decrease of ≥3 lines in visual acuity (VA) from the time of DPED detection; association of rate of DPED development with genotype.
Mean (standard deviation SD) follow-up time from DPED detection was 4.7 (0.9) years. DPED was associated with increased risk of progression to late AMD (hazard ratio HR, 2.36; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.98-2.82; P < 0.001); 67% of eyes progressed to late AMD 5 years after DPED detection. Drusenoid pigment epithelial detachment was associated with increased risk of ≥3 lines of VA loss (HR, 3.08; CI, 2.41-3.93; P < 0.001) with 46% of eyes experiencing vision loss at 5 years (with or without progression to late AMD). ARMS2 risk alleles (1 vs. 0: HR, 2.72, CI, 1.58-4.70; 2 vs. 0: HR, 3.16, CI, 1.60-6.21, P < 0.001) and increasing GRS group (4 vs. 1) (HR, 12.17, CI, 3.66-40.45, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with DPED development in AREDS. There were no significant genetic results in AREDS2.
This study replicates the results of previous natural history studies of eyes with DPED including the high rates of progression to late AMD and vision loss (regardless of progression to late AMD). The genetic associations are consistent with genes associated with AMD progression.
Importance RECOVER-Pediatrics seeks to characterize the clinical course, underlying mechanisms, and long-term effects of PASC from birth through 25 years old. RECOVER-Pediatrics is designed to ...elucidate the epidemiology, four-year clinical course, and sociodemographic correlates of pediatric PASC. The data and biosamples will allow examination of mechanistic hypotheses and biomarkers, thus providing insights into potential therapeutic interventions.
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