High coverage of conventional and long-lasting insecticide treated nets (ITNs and LLINs) in parts of E Africa are associated with reductions in local malaria burdens. Shifts in malaria vector species ...ratio have coincided with the scale-up suggesting that some species are being controlled by ITNs/LLINs better than others.
Between 2005-2006 six experimental hut trials of ITNs and LLINs were conducted in parallel at two field stations in northeastern Tanzania; the first station was in Lower Moshi Rice Irrigation Zone, an area where An. arabiensis predominates, and the second was in coastal Muheza, where An. gambiae and An. funestus predominate. Five pyrethroids and one carbamate insecticide were evaluated on nets in terms of insecticide-induced mortality, blood-feeding inhibition and exiting rates.
In the experimental hut trials mortality of An. arabiensis was consistently lower than that of An. gambiae and An. funestus. The mortality rates in trials with pyrethroid-treated nets ranged from 25-52% for An. arabiensis, 63-88% for An. gambiae s.s. and 53-78% for An. funestus. All pyrethroid-treated nets provided considerable protection for the occupants, despite being deliberately holed, with blood-feeding inhibition (percentage reduction in biting rates) being consistent between species. Veranda exiting rates did not differ between species. Percentage mortality of mosquitoes tested in cone bioassays on netting was similar for An. gambiae and An. arabiensis.
LLINs and ITNs treated with pyrethroids were more effective at killing An. gambiae and An. funestus than An. arabiensis. This could be a major contributing factor to the species shifts observed in East Africa following scale up of LLINs. With continued expansion of LLIN coverage in Africa An. arabiensis is likely to remain responsible for residual malaria transmission, and species shifts might be reported over larger areas. Supplementary control measures to LLINs may be necessary to control this vector species.
We report the discovery of two very early, basal-amniote fossil trackways on the same bedding plane in eolian sandstone of the Pennsylvanian Manakacha Formation in Grand Canyon, Arizona. Trackway 1, ...which is Chelichnus-like, we interpret to be a shallow undertrackway. It displays a distinctive, sideways-drifting, footprint pattern not previously documented in a tetrapod trackway. We interpret this pattern to record the trackmaker employing a lateral-sequence gait while diagonally ascending a slope of about 20#176;, thereby reducing the steepness of the ascent. Trackway 2 consists only of aligned sets of claw marks. We interpret this trackway to be a deeper undertrackway, made some hours or days later, possibly by an animal that was conspecific with Trackmaker 1, while walking directly up the slope at a speed of approximately 0.1 m/sec. These trackways are the first tetrapod tracks reported from the Manakacha Formation and the oldest in the Grand Canyon region. The narrow width of both trackways indicates that both trackmakers had relatively small femoral abduction angles and correspondingly relatively erect postures. They represent the earliest known occurrence of dunefield-dwelling amniotes--either basal reptiles or basal synapsids--thereby extending the known utilization of the desert biome by amniotes, as well as the presence of the Chelichnus ichnofacies, by at least eight million years, into the Atokan/Moscovian Age of the Pennsylvanian Epoch. The depositional setting was a coastal-plain, eolian dunefield in which tidal or wadi flooding episodically interrupted eolian processes and buried the dunes in mud.
Objectives In this study, we hypothesized that an antihuman-CD34 antibody immobilized on the surface of commercially available sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) could enhance re-endothelialization ...compared with SES alone. Background Previous experience with antihuman-CD34 antibody surface modified Genous stents (GS) (OrbusNeich Medical, Fort Lauderdale, Florida) has shown enhanced stent endothelialization in vivo. Methods In the phase 1 study, stents were deployed in 21 pig coronary arteries for single stenting (9 vessels: 3 GS, 3 SES, and 3 bare-metal stents) and overlapping stenting with various combinations (12 vessels: 4 GS+GS, 4 SES+SES, and 4 GS+SES) and harvested at 14 days for scanning electron and confocal microscopy. In phase 2, immobilized anti-CD34 antibody coating was applied on commercially available SES (SES–anti-CD34, n = 7) and compared with GS (n = 8) and SES (n = 7) and examined at 3 and 14 days by scanning electron/confocal microscopy analysis. Results In phase 1, single stent implantation showed greatest endothelialization in GS (99%) and in bare-metal stent (99%) compared with SES (55%, p = 0.048). In overlapping stents, endothelialization at the overlapping zone was significantly greater in GS+GS (95 ± 6%) and GS+SES (79 ± 5%) compared with the SES+SES (36 ± 14%) group (p = 0.007). In phase 2, SES–anti-CD34 resulted in increased endothelialization compared with SES alone at 3 days (SES–anti-CD34 36 ± 26%; SES 7 ± 3%; and GS 76 ± 8%; p = 0.01), and 14 days (SES–anti-CD34 82 ± 8%; SES 53 ± 20%; and GS 98 ± 2%; p = 0.009). Conclusions Immobilization of anti-CD34 antibody on SES enhances endothelialization and may potentially be an effective therapeutic alternative to improve currently available drug-eluting stents.
Abstract
Aims
Harmonized Assessment by Randomized Multicentre Study of OrbusNEich’s Combo StEnt (HARMONEE) (NCT02073565) was a randomized pivotal registration trial of the Combo stent, which combined ...sirolimus and an abluminal bioabsorbable polymer with a novel endoluminal anti-CD34+ antibody coating designed to capture endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) and promote percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) site healing.
Methods and results
Clinically stabilized PCI subjects were randomized 1:1 to receive Combo or everolimus-eluting stents (EES). Between February 2014 and June 2016, 572 subjects with 675 coronary lesions underwent 1-year angiography and fractional flow reserve, with optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the first 140 patients. The primary clinical endpoint was non-inferior 1-year target vessel failure (TVF). The primary mechanistic endpoint of EPC capture activity was superior strut coverage by OCT. Target vessel failure occurred in 7.0% Combo (20/287) vs. 4.2% EES (12/285), a 2.8% 95% confidence interval (95% CI) −1.0%, 6.5% difference, meeting the non-inferiority hypothesis (P = 0.02). There were no cardiac deaths, with one stent thrombosis observed in the EES group. Quantitative coronary angiography late loss with Combo was equivalent to EES. Optical coherence tomography strut coverage at 1 year was superior with Combo vs. EES 91.3% (95% CI 88.7%, 93.8%) vs. 74.8% (95% CI 70.0%, 79.6%), P < 0.001, with homogeneous tissue in 81.2% vs. 68.8%, respectively.
Conclusion
Combo stent demonstrated non-inferior 1-year TVF and late loss in a randomized comparison to EES, with superior strut-based tissue coverage by OCT as a surrogate of EPC capture technology activity.
Recently, deep learning via convolutional neural networks (CNNs) has largely superseded conventional methods for proton (
H)-MRI lung segmentation. However, previous deep learning studies have ...utilized single-center data and limited acquisition parameters.
Develop a generalizable CNN for lung segmentation in
H-MRI, robust to pathology, acquisition protocol, vendor, and center.
Retrospective.
A total of 809
H-MRI scans from 258 participants with various pulmonary pathologies (median age (range): 57 (6-85); 42% females) and 31 healthy participants (median age (range): 34 (23-76); 34% females) that were split into training (593 scans (74%); 157 participants (55%)), testing (50 scans (6%); 50 participants (17%)) and external validation (164 scans (20%); 82 participants (28%)) sets.
1.5-T and 3-T/3D spoiled-gradient recalled and ultrashort echo-time
H-MRI.
2D and 3D CNNs, trained on single-center, multi-sequence data, and the conventional spatial fuzzy c-means (SFCM) method were compared to manually delineated expert segmentations. Each method was validated on external data originating from several centers. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), average boundary Hausdorff distance (Average HD), and relative error (XOR) metrics to assess segmentation performance.
Kruskal-Wallis tests assessed significances of differences between acquisitions in the testing set. Friedman tests with post hoc multiple comparisons assessed differences between the 2D CNN, 3D CNN, and SFCM. Bland-Altman analyses assessed agreement with manually derived lung volumes. A P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
The 3D CNN significantly outperformed its 2D analog and SFCM, yielding a median (range) DSC of 0.961 (0.880-0.987), Average HD of 1.63 mm (0.65-5.45) and XOR of 0.079 (0.025-0.240) on the testing set and a DSC of 0.973 (0.866-0.987), Average HD of 1.11 mm (0.47-8.13) and XOR of 0.054 (0.026-0.255) on external validation data.
The 3D CNN generated accurate
H-MRI lung segmentations on a heterogenous dataset, demonstrating robustness to disease pathology, sequence, vendor, and center.
4.
Stage 1.
Abstract
Background
Long-lasting efficacy of insecticide-treated nets is a balance between adhesion, retention and migration of insecticide to the surface of netting fibres. ICON
®
Maxx is a ...twin-sachet ‘home-treatment kit’ of pyrethroid plus binding agent, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for long-lasting, wash-fast treatment of polyester nets. While knitted polyester netting is widely used, fine woven polyethylene netting is increasingly available and nets made of cotton and nylon are common in Africa and Asia. It is important to investigate whether ICON Maxx is able to fulfill the WHO criteria of long-lasting treatment on a range of domestic fabrics to widen the scope for malaria protection.
Methods
This study was a controlled comparison of the bio-efficacy and wash-fastness of lambda-cyhalothrin CS, with or without binder, on nets made of cotton, polyethylene, nylon, dyed and undyed polyester. Evaluation compared an array of bioassays: WHO cone and cylinder, median time to knockdown and WHO tunnel tests using
Anopheles
mosquitoes. Chemical assay revealed further insight.
Results
ICON Maxx treated polyethylene and polyester netting met the WHO cone and tunnel test bio-efficacy criteria for LLIN after 20 standardized washes. Although nylon and cotton netting failed to meet the WHO cone and cylinder criteria, both materials passed the WHO tunnel test criterion of 80% mortality after 20 washes. All materials treated with standard lambda-cyhalothrin CS without binder failed to meet any of the WHO bio-efficacy criteria within 5 washes.
Conclusion
The bio-efficacy of ICON Maxx against mosquitoes on netting washed up to 20 times demonstrated wash durability on a range of synthetic polymer and natural fibres: polyester, polyethylene, nylon and cotton. This raises the prospect of making insecticide-binder kits into an effective approach for turning untreated nets, curtains, military clothing, blankets—and tents and tarpaulins as used in disasters and humanitarian emergencies—into effective malaria prevention products. It may provide a solution to the problem of reduced LLIN coverage between campaigns by converting commercially sourced untreated nets into LLINs through community or home treatment. It may also open the door to binding of non-pyrethroid insecticides to nets and textiles for control of pyrethroid resistant vectors.
Erosion at inception of deep-sea channels Fildani, Andrea; Hubbard, Stephen M.; Covault, Jacob A. ...
Marine and petroleum geology,
03/2013, Letnik:
41
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Recenzirano
We present a general model for channel inception and evolution in the deep sea by integrating observations from two complementary datasets: (1) high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and chirp ...sub-bottom profiles of the Lucia Chica channel system on the seafloor offshore central California, and (2) the well-exposed channelized strata of the Tres Pasos Formation in southern Chile. The Lucia Chica channel system shows laterally offset, sub-parallel channels that evolved across a similar gradient, but display different architecture, reflecting the influence of channel maturity and intrinsic cyclicity of channel formation. The stratigraphically oldest channel is narrower with well-developed levees while the younger channelized features are broader and bounded by low-relief levees or no levees at all.
The high-resolution Lucia Chica dataset is integrated with detailed field observations of channel axis-to-margin sedimentary facies relationships and the stratigraphic context afforded from depositional-dip continuity in outcrops of the Tres Pasos Formation. Numerous channels from the outcrop belt are characterized by initial erosional stages.
By combining these two datasets with numerical analysis, experimental work, and previous interpretations of additional outcropping strata and seafloor examples, we hypothesize that an initial erosional template extending into a basin is a pre-requisite for creation of channels in deep-sea environments.
Objective:Schizophrenia has recently been associated with widespread white matter microstructural abnormalities, but the functional effects of these abnormalities remain unclear. Widespread ...heterogeneity of results from studies published to date preclude any definitive characterization of the relationship between white matter and cognitive performance in schizophrenia. Given the relevance of deficits in cognitive function to predicting social and functional outcomes in schizophrenia, the authors carried out a meta-analysis of available data through the ENIGMA Consortium, using a common analysis pipeline, to elucidate the relationship between white matter microstructure and a measure of general cognitive performance, IQ, in patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants.Methods:The meta-analysis included 760 patients with schizophrenia and 957 healthy participants from 11 participating ENIGMA Consortium sites. For each site, principal component analysis was used to calculate both a global fractional anisotropy component (gFA) and a fractional anisotropy component for six long association tracts (LA-gFA) previously associated with cognition.Results:Meta-analyses of regression results indicated that gFA accounted for a significant amount of variation in cognition in the full sample (effect size Hedges’ g=0.27, CI=0.17–0.36), with similar effects sizes observed for both the patient (effect size=0.20, CI=0.05–0.35) and healthy participant groups (effect size=0.32, CI=0.18–0.45). Comparable patterns of association were also observed between LA-gFA and cognition for the full sample (effect size=0.28, CI=0.18–0.37), the patient group (effect size=0.23, CI=0.09–0.38), and the healthy participant group (effect size=0.31, CI=0.18–0.44).Conclusions:This study provides robust evidence that cognitive ability is associated with global structural connectivity, with higher fractional anisotropy associated with higher IQ. This association was independent of diagnosis; while schizophrenia patients tended to have lower fractional anisotropy and lower IQ than healthy participants, the comparable size of effect in each group suggested a more general, rather than disease-specific, pattern of association.
The objective of this study was to test a low dose of (25 mg weekly) of the mammalian target of rapamycin kinase inhibitor temsirolimus for patients with relapsed mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).
Patients ...with relapsed or refractory MCL were eligible to receive temsirolimus 25 mg intravenously every week as a single agent. Patients who had a tumor response after 6 cycles were eligible to continue drug for a total of 12 cycles or 2 cycles after complete remission and then were observed without maintenance.
Of 29 enrolled patients, 28 were evaluable for toxicity, and 27 were evaluable for efficacy. The median age was 69 years (range, 51-85 years), 86% of patients had stage IV disease, and 71% had > or = 2 extranodal sites. Patients had received a median of 4 prior therapies (range, 1-9 prior therapies), and 50% were refractory to the last treatment. The overall confirmed response rate was 41% (11 of 27 patients; 90% confidence interval CI, 22%-61%) with 1 complete response (3.7%) and 10 partial responses (37%). The median time to progression in all eligible patients was 6 months (95% CI, 3-11 months), and the median duration of response for the 11 responders was 6 months (range, 1-26 months). Hematologic toxicities were the most common, with 50% (14 of 28 patients) grade 3 and 4% (1 of 28 patients) grade 4 toxicities observed. Thrombocytopenia was the most frequent cause of dose reduction.
Single-agent temsirolimus at a dose of 25 mg weekly is an effective new agent for the treatment of MCL. The 25-mg dose level retained the antitumor activity of the 250-mg dose with less myelosuppression. Further studies of temsirolimus in combination with other active drugs for MCL and other lymphoid malignancies are warranted.
A sedimentological and paleoecological study of part of the northern Yangtze Platform of China was conducted. Three sections of the Early Cambrian (Atdabanian/Botomian Stage) Xiannudong Formation ...where studied, and reveal that stromatolite and thrombolite reefs flourished in close association with an inter-reef community of archaeocyaths and other organisms. Adjacent to the reef environment were migrating ooid shoals, oncoids, peloids, and silty/sandy lime mud.
No archaeocyathan reefs were observed in any of the measured sections, but irregular archaeocyaths were found in some microbial reefs, and archaeocyaths form the bulk of the debris in float-rudstone that was deposited between microbial reefs. We interpret the archaeocyath-rich float-rudstone to represent a storm-churned inter-reef deposit. Typically, ‘regular’ type archaeocyaths dominated the float-rudstone, while ‘irregular’ type archaeocyaths were found in abundance dwelling within the microbial reefs. This trend changed upsection as ‘irregular’ type archaeocyaths dominated both the float-rudstone and in the microbial reefs.
The oncolite and peloidal mudstone are interpreted as representing a quiet water, lagoonal environment created by the presence of the microbial reefs and ooid shoals. During large storms material from the ooid shoals or microbial reefs would wash into the lagoon. The silty/sandy micrite represents a quiet water setting, which could either be a deep-subtidal environment or a restricted lagoonal environment.
The facies associations of these three sections, along with other published data indicate that the Yangtze Platform, at least during the Early and Middle Cambrian, was a carbonate platform and equatorially located.
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