Background
An increasing number of studies utilize intracranial electrophysiology in human subjects to advance basic neuroscience knowledge. However, the use of neurosurgical patients as human ...research subjects raises important ethical considerations, particularly regarding informed consent and undue influence, as well as subjects' motivations for participation. Yet a thorough empirical examination of these issues in a participant population has been lacking. The present study therefore aimed to empirically investigate ethical concerns regarding informed consent and voluntariness in Parkinson's disease patients undergoing deep brain stimulator (DBS) placement who participated in an intraoperative neuroscience study.
Methods
Two semi-structured 30-minute interviews were conducted preoperatively and postoperatively via telephone. Interviews assessed participants' motivations for participation in the parent intraoperative study, recall of information presented during the informed consent process, and participants' postoperative reflections on the research study.
Results
Twenty-two participants (mean age = 60.9) completed preoperative interviews at a mean of 7.8 days following informed consent and a mean of 5.2 days prior to DBS surgery. Twenty participants completed postoperative interviews at a mean of 5 weeks following surgery. All participants cited altruism or advancing medical science as "very important" or "important" in their decision to participate in the study. Only 22.7% (n = 5) correctly recalled one of the two risks of the study. Correct recall of other aspects of the informed consent was poor (36.4% for study purpose; 50.0% for study protocol; 36.4% for study benefits). All correctly understood that the study would not confer a direct therapeutic benefit to them.
Conclusion
Even though research coordinators were properly trained and the informed consent was administered according to protocol, participants demonstrated poor retention of study information. While intraoperative studies that aim to advance neuroscience knowledge represent a unique opportunity to gain fundamental scientific knowledge, improved standards for the informed consent process can help facilitate their ethical implementation.
CMOS MAPS upgrade for the Belle II Vertex Detector Babeluk, M.; Barbero, M.; Baudot, J. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
03/2023, Letnik:
1048
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The success of the Belle II experiment in Japan relies on the very high instantaneous luminosity, close to 6×1035 cm−2 s−1, expected from the SuperKEKB collider. The corresponding beam conditions at ...such luminosity levels generate large rates of background particles and creates stringent constraints on the vertex detector, adding to the physics requirements. Current prospects for the occupancy rates in the present vertex detector (VXD) at full luminosity fall close to the acceptable limits and bear large uncertainties. In this context, the Belle II collaboration is considering the possibility to install an upgraded VXD system around 2027 to provide a sufficient safety margin with respect to the expected background rate and possibly enhance tracking and vertexing performance.
The VTX collaboration has started the design of a fully pixelated VXD, called VTX, based on fast and highly granular Depleted Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (DMAPS) integrated on light support structures.
The two main technical features of the VTX proposal are the usage of a single sensor type over all the layers of the system and the overall material budget below 2% of radiation length, compared to the current VXD which has two different sensor technologies and about 3% of radiation length. A dedicated sensor (OBELIX), taylored to the specific needs of Belle II, is under development, evolving from the existing TJ-Monopix2 sensor. The time-stamping precision below 100 ns will allow all VTX layers to take part in the track finding strategy contrary to the current situation. The first two detection layers are designed according to a self-supported all-silicon ladder concept, where 4 contiguous sensors are diced out of a wafer, thinned and interconnected with post-processed redistribution layers. The outermost detection layers follow a more conventional approach with a cold plate and carbon fibre support structure, and light flex cables interconnecting the sensors.
This document will review the context, technical details and development status of the proposed Belle II VTX.
Objective: The aim of the study is to establish normal values of measurable parameters, set the standard, and provide a framework for future reference. Materials and Methods: A total of 750 children ...of Malayalam speaking ethnicity with no hair or scalp diseases in anamnesis and clinical examination were included in the study. Children were divided into six age groups (neonates, infants, 1-5, 6-10, 11-14, and 15-17 years), and trichoscopy was performed in frontal, left and right temporal, vertex, crown, and occiput using Wi-Fi cordless digital dermoscope. Hair shaft, follicular opening, and perifollicular and interfollicular area were evaluated and analyzed with SPSS software. Results: Among the parameters analyzed, we observed that with 0.95 probability (95%), the terminal: vellus ratios are (26,29), (22,25), (22,26), (29,33), (25,29), and (19,24) in neonates; (11,14), (7,11), (9,13), (13,17), (12,16), and (7,12) in infants; (16,17), (10,11), (10,11), (16,18), (15,16), and (14,15) in 1-5 years; (17,18), (11), (11), (19,21), (23), and (16,17) in 6-10 years; (17,18), (9,10), (10), (19,20), (18,19), and (16,17) in 11-14 years; and (14,15), (8-9), (8,9), (15,16), (14, 16), and (13,14) in 15-17 years. Likewise, we have documented the various trichoscopic findings of different age groups. Conclusion: We propose the summary of trichoscopic patterns of different age groups with normal hair and scalp to accurately identify the abnormal.
Introduction: Rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody, has shown efficacy as an adjuvant in the treatment with refractory vesiculobullous disorders. We, hereby, present a study of five ...pediatric patients of extensive vesiculobullous disorders showing resistance to conventional therapy of 40 mg of prednisolone daily and treated effectively with rituximab as an adjuvant.
Aim of the Study: To study the efficacy, safety, and clinical outcome of rituximab in refractory autoimmune vesiculobullous disorders.
Method: Five patients (3: Pemphigus vulgaris, 1: Pemphigus foliaceous, 1: Chronic bullous disease of childhood CBDC) were selected for treatment with rituximab after confirmation with tzanck, biopsy, direct immunofluorescence (DIF) and desmoglein (DSG) level. Three hundred milligram intravenous infusion in children over 4-5 h duration. Two doses were given at 15 days interval. DSG 1 and 3 and differential item functioning were repeated after 1-month of the second dose of rituximab. Follow-up (weekly for 1-month, fortnightly for next 2 months). Two patients (1: Pemphigus vulgaris, 1: CBDC) showed relapse after 6 months. So, they were given two more doses of rituximab at an interval of 15 days.
Observation: All five patients showed complete remission during the 6 months follow-up period, along with a consensual decline of the serum anti-DSG titers.
Conclusion: Rituximab can be considered as an effective adjuvant therapy when treating resistant cases of autoimmune blistering diseases in pediatric patients. However, more number of patients and long-term follow-up is required to draw a definite conclusion.
High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has proven to be an extremely useful analytical technique to separate and identify different types of hemoglobins, particularly A, C, F and S in blood ...samples, and compute their relative percentages. Such data provide useful information in the diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies including sickle cell anemia, beta-thalassemia, hemoglobin C disease,etc. In the present investigation, we have explored the determination of absolute concentrations of individual hemoglobins in g/dL and recommend it as an additional parameter which could be included as part of clinical data. Possible correlations between g/dL hemoglobin and the severity of a specific hemoglobinopathy could be established and aid in the diagnosis and/or treatment of such diseases. Several commercially available hemoglobin standards were analyzed and evaluated for use in creating g/dL calibration graphs for the HPLC. Appropriate calibration procedures have been developed and are presented. Also, linear regression graphs and sample chromatograms are included. Preliminary results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of using commercially available hemoglobin standards to calibrate an HPLC method for the estimation of absolute hemoglobin concentrations.
We describe a neural network for predicting the background hit rate in the Belle II detector produced by the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider. The neural network, BGNet, learns to predict the ...individual contributions of different physical background sources, such as beam-gas scattering or continuous top-up injections into the collider, to Belle II sub-detector rates. The samples for learning are archived 1 Hz time series of diagnostic variables from the SuperKEKB collider subsystems and measured hit rates of Belle II used as regression targets. We test the learned model by predicting detector hit rates on archived data from different run periods not used during training. We show that a feature attribution method can help interpret the source of changes in the background level over time.
The Belle II experiment at KEK in Japan considers upgrading its vertex detector system to address the challenges posed by high background levels caused by the increased luminosity of the SuperKEKB ...collider. One proposal for upgrading the vertex detector aims to install a 5-layer all monolithic pixel vertex detector based on fully depleted CMOS sensors in 2027. The new system will use the OBELIX MAPS chips to improve background robustness and reduce occupancy levels through small and fast pixels. This causes better track finding, especially for low transverse momenta tracks. This text will focus on the predecessor of the OBELIX sensor, the TJ-Monopix2, presenting laboratory and test beam results on pixel response, efficiency, and spatial resolution.
BACKGROUNDSecond Window Indocyanine Green (SWIG) is a novel technique for real-time, intraoperative tumor visualization using a high-dose infusion of indocyanine green (ICG) 24 hours before surgery. ...Due to pathologic diversity found in the pineal region, tissue diagnosis in patients with pineal region mass is essential to optimize further clinical management. CASE DESCRIPTIONWe present the case of a 75-year-old woman with known pineal region mass for 18 years, who presented with progressive classic signs and symptoms of obstructive hydrocephalus over the past 6 months. Preoperative imaging confirmed a contrast-enhancing pineal region tumor, which appeared to be obstructing the aqueduct of Sylvius, causing proximal obstructive hydrocephalus. We delivered 5 mg/kg of ICG intravenously 24 hours before the surgery. The patient underwent an endoscopic third ventriculostomy and a biopsy of the pineal lesion. The tumor demonstrated clear near-infrared fluorescence, which was distinct from surrounding third ventricle floor and ependyma. The signal-to-background ratio was 2.9. The final pathology report revealed a World Health Organization grade I pineocytoma. CONCLUSIONSWe report on a novel application of near-infrared fluorescence for tumor identification of pineal region tumors, using the "SWIG technique."
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