SuperCam is a highly integrated remote-sensing instrumental suite for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. It consists of a co-aligned combination of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Time-Resolved ...Raman and Luminescence (TRR/L), Visible and Infrared Spectroscopy (VISIR), together with sound recording (MIC) and high-magnification imaging techniques (RMI). They provide information on the mineralogy, geochemistry and mineral context around the Perseverance Rover.
The calibration of this complex suite is a major challenge. Not only does each technique require its own standards or references, their combination also introduces new requirements to obtain optimal scientific output. Elemental composition, molecular vibrational features, fluorescence, morphology and texture provide a full picture of the sample with spectral information that needs to be co-aligned, correlated, and individually calibrated.
The resulting hardware includes different kinds of targets, each one covering different needs of the instrument. Standards for imaging calibration, geological samples for mineral identification and chemometric calculations or spectral references to calibrate and evaluate the health of the instrument, are all included in the SuperCam Calibration Target (SCCT). The system also includes a specifically designed assembly in which the samples are mounted. This hardware allows the targets to survive the harsh environmental conditions of the launch, cruise, landing and operation on Mars during the whole mission. Here we summarize the design, development, integration, verification and functional testing of the SCCT. This work includes some key results obtained to verify the scientific outcome of the SuperCam system.
Purpose
The aim of the INSTINCT trial was to assess the effect of intravenous polyspecific immunoglobulin G (IVIG) compared with placebo on self-reported physical function in intensive care unit ...(ICU) patients with necrotising soft tissue infection (NSTI).
Methods
We randomised 100 patients with NSTI 1:1 to masked infusion of 25 g of IVIG (Privigen, CSL Behring) or an equal volume of 0.9% saline once daily for the first 3 days of ICU admission. The primary outcome was the physical component summary (PCS) score of the 36-item short form health survey (SF-36) 6 months after randomisation; patients who had died were given the lowest possible score (zero).
Results
Of the 100 patients randomised, 87 were included in the intention-to-treat analysis of the PCS score, 42 patients (84%) in the IVIG group and 45 patients (90%) in the placebo group. The two intervention groups had similar baseline characteristics with the exception of IVIG use before randomisation (1 dose was allowed) and rates of acute kidney injury. Median PCS scores were 36 (interquartile range 0–43) in the group assigned to IVIG and 31 (0–47) in the group assigned to placebo (mean adjusted difference 1 (95% confidence interval −7 to 10),
p
= 0.81). The result was supported by analyses adjusted for baseline prognostics, those in the per protocol populations, in the subgroups (site of NSTI) and those done post hoc adjusted for IVIG use before randomisation.
Conclusions
In ICU patients with NSTI, we observed no apparent effects of adjuvant IVIG on self-reported physical functioning at 6 months.
Trial registration:
NCT02111161.
Unanticipated difficult intubation remains a challenge in anaesthesia. The Simplified Airway Risk Index (SARI) is a multivariable risk model consisting of seven independent risk factors for difficult ...intubation. Our aim was to compare preoperative airway assessment based on the SARI with usual airway assessment.
From 01.10.2012 to 31.12.2013, 28 departments were cluster-randomized to apply the SARI model or usual airway assessment. The SARI group implemented the SARI model. The Non-SARI group continued usual airway assessment, thus reflecting a group of anaesthetists’ heterogeneous individual airway assessments. Preoperative prediction of difficult intubation and actual intubation difficulties were registered in the Danish Anaesthesia Database for both groups. Patients who were preoperatively scheduled for intubation by advanced techniques (e.g. video laryngoscopy; flexible optic scope) were excluded from the primary analysis. Primary outcomes were the proportions of unanticipated difficult and unanticipated easy intubation.
A total of 26 departments (15 SARI and 11 Non-SARI) and 64 273 participants were included. In the primary analyses 29 209 SARI and 30 305 Non-SARI participants were included.
In SARI departments 2.4% (696) of the participants had an unanticipated difficult intubation vs 2.4% (723) in Non-SARI departments. Odds ratio (OR) adjusted for design variables was 1.03 (95% CI: 0.77–1.38). The proportion of unanticipated easy intubation was 1.42% (415) in SARI departments vs 1.00% (302) in Non-SARI departments. Adjusted OR was 1.26 (0.68–2.34).
Using the SARI compared with usual airway assessment we detected no statistical significant changes in unanticipated difficult- or easy intubations. Clinical trial registration. NCT01718561.
Background
Before 2016, patients with isolated synchronous colorectal peritoneal metastases (PMCRC) diagnosed in expert centers had a higher odds of undergoing cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic ...intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC) and better overall survival (OS) than those diagnosed in referring centers. Nationwide efforts were initiated to increase awareness and improve referral networks.
Methods
This nationwide study aimed to evaluate whether the between-center differences in odds of undergoing CRS-HIPEC and OS have reduced since these national efforts were initiated. All patients with isolated synchronous PMCRC diagnosed between 2009 and 2021 were identified from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Associations between hospital of diagnosis and the odds of undergoing CRS-HIPEC, as well as OS, were assessed using multilevel multivariable regression analyses for two periods (2009–2015 and 2016–2021).
Results
In total, 3948 patients were included. The percentage of patients undergoing CRS-HIPEC increased from 17.2% in 2009–2015 (25.4% in expert centers, 16.5% in referring centers), to 23.4% in 2016–2021 (30.2% in expert centers, 22.6% in referring centers). In 2009–2015, compared with diagnosis in a referring center, diagnosis in a HIPEC center showed a higher odds of undergoing CRS-HIPEC (odds ratio OR 1.64, 95% confidence interval CI 1.02–2.67) and better survival (hazard ratio HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.66–0.96). In 2016–2021, there were no differences in the odds of undergoing CRS-HIPEC between patients diagnosed in HIPEC centers versus referring centers (OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.76–2.13) and survival (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.76–1.32).
Conclusion
Previously observed differences in odds of undergoing CRS-HIPEC were no longer present. Increased awareness and the harmonization of treatment for PMCRC may have contributed to equal access to care and a similar chance of survival at a national level.
Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission’s
Perseverance
rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband ...red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6° × 19.2° (26 mm focal length at 283 μrad/pixel) to 6.2° × 4.6° (110 mm focal length at 67.4 μrad/pixel). The cameras can resolve (≥ 5 pixels) ∼0.7 mm features at 2 m and ∼3.3 cm features at 100 m distance. Mastcam-Z shares significant heritage with the Mastcam instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory
Curiosity
rover. Each Mastcam-Z camera consists of zoom, focus, and filter wheel mechanisms and a 1648 × 1214 pixel charge-coupled device detector and electronics. The two Mastcam-Z cameras are mounted with a 24.4 cm stereo baseline and 2.3° total toe-in on a camera plate ∼2 m above the surface on the rover’s Remote Sensing Mast, which provides azimuth and elevation actuation. A separate digital electronics assembly inside the rover provides power, data processing and storage, and the interface to the rover computer. Primary and secondary Mastcam-Z calibration targets mounted on the rover top deck enable tactical reflectance calibration. Mastcam-Z multispectral, stereo, and panoramic images will be used to provide detailed morphology, topography, and geologic context along the rover’s traverse; constrain mineralogic, photometric, and physical properties of surface materials; monitor and characterize atmospheric and astronomical phenomena; and document the rover’s sample extraction and caching locations. Mastcam-Z images will also provide key engineering information to support sample selection and other rover driving and tool/instrument operations decisions.
Purpose
To investigate circumpapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness, pupillary function and diameter after phacoemulsification and lens implantation alone or combined with endothelial ...keratoplasty (EK).
Methods
This study was a secondary analysis of data from a randomized, single‐masked trial, that included 72 patients with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy and cataract, equally allocated (1:1) to ultrathin Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty or Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty. The cataract extraction (CE) group included 40 patients undergoing cataract surgery only. All patients were treated with phacoemulsification and lens implantation.
Results
RNFL thickness was significantly lower in the CE group than after EK for the global (p < 0.01), nasal (p = 0.04), and temporal sectors (p = 0.01) 12 months after surgery. RNFL thickness was comparable between patients treated with rebubbling and others (p ≥ 0.16 for all comparisons) after 12 months. The CE group and patients treated with EK demonstrated a comparable scotopic (p = 0.34) and photopic pupil diameter (p = 0.95) as well as a comparable maximum (p = 0.83) and average pupillary constriction velocity (p = 0.95) after 12 months. In contrast, patients treated with rebubbling had a significantly smaller scotopic pupil diameter (p = 0.04).
Conclusion
In this study, no evidence was found indicating a negative impact on the RNFL thickness after EK when compared to CE 12 months after surgery. Iris function and pupil diameter were comparable between the CE group and patients treated with EK after 12 months.
H₂O at the Phoenix Landing Site Smith, P.H; Tamppari, L.K; Arvidson, R.E ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
07/2009, Letnik:
325, Številka:
5936
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The Phoenix mission investigated patterned ground and weather in the northern arctic region of Mars for 5 months starting 25 May 2008 (solar longitude between 76.5° and 148°). A shallow ice table was ...uncovered by the robotic arm in the center and edge of a nearby polygon at depths of 5 to 18 centimeters. In late summer, snowfall and frost blanketed the surface at night; H₂O ice and vapor constantly interacted with the soil. The soil was alkaline (pH = 7.7) and contained CaCO₃, aqueous minerals, and salts up to several weight percent in the indurated surface soil. Their formation likely required the presence of water.
The largest animals are marine filter feeders, but the underlying mechanism of their large size remains unexplained. We measured feeding performance and prey quality to demonstrate how whale ...gigantism is driven by the interplay of prey abundance and harvesting mechanisms that increase prey capture rates and energy intake. The foraging efficiency of toothed whales that feed on single prey is constrained by the abundance of large prey, whereas filter-feeding baleen whales seasonally exploit vast swarms of small prey at high efficiencies. Given temporally and spatially aggregated prey, filter feeding provides an evolutionary pathway to extremes in body size that are not available to lineages that must feed on one prey at a time. Maximum size in filter feeders is likely constrained by prey availability across space and time.
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