ABSTRACT
Many scientific investigations of photometric galaxy surveys require redshift estimates, whose uncertainty properties are best encapsulated by photometric redshift (photo-z) posterior ...probability density functions (PDFs). A plethora of photo-z PDF estimation methodologies abound, producing discrepant results with no consensus on a preferred approach. We present the results of a comprehensive experiment comparing 12 photo-z algorithms applied to mock data produced for The Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time Dark Energy Science Collaboration. By supplying perfect prior information, in the form of the complete template library and a representative training set as inputs to each code, we demonstrate the impact of the assumptions underlying each technique on the output photo-z PDFs. In the absence of a notion of true, unbiased photo-z PDFs, we evaluate and interpret multiple metrics of the ensemble properties of the derived photo-z PDFs as well as traditional reductions to photo-z point estimates. We report systematic biases and overall over/underbreadth of the photo-z PDFs of many popular codes, which may indicate avenues for improvement in the algorithms or implementations. Furthermore, we raise attention to the limitations of established metrics for assessing photo-z PDF accuracy; though we identify the conditional density estimate loss as a promising metric of photo-z PDF performance in the case where true redshifts are available but true photo-z PDFs are not, we emphasize the need for science-specific performance metrics.
Repeatability, isolation and accuracy are the most desired factors while testing wireless devices. However, they cannot be guaranteed by traditional drive tests. Channel emulators play a major role ...in filling these gaps in testing. In this paper we present an efficient channel emulator which is better than existing commercial products in terms of cost, remote access, support for complex network topologies and scalability. We present the hardware and software architecture of our channel emulator and describe the experiments we conducted to evaluate its performance against a commercial channel emulator.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) as a small subpopulation in tumor bulk are believed to initiate tumor formation and are responsible for the resistance to cancer therapy. The proliferation and ...differentiation of CSCs result in heterogeneity in a tumor which increases the chance of tumor survival and invasion. Many signaling pathways are abnormally activated or repressed in CSCs. Understanding these pathways and the metabolisms in CSCs may help targeted therapy in drug-resistant tumors. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is one of the major signaling pathways in CSCs involved in the maintenance of stemness, proliferation, differentiation, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration, and autophagy. Thus, suppressing the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway with inhibitors might be a promising strategy for targeted cancer therapy. Although the pathway is well-recognized and reviewed in tumor bulks, the functions in CSCs have not been well focused. Here, we reviewed the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and its functions in CSCs and addressed the potential therapeutic applications in drug-resistant tumors.
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Background
Medical literature searches provide critical information for clinicians. However, the best strategy for identifying relevant high‐quality literature is unknown.
Objectives
We compared ...search results using PubMed and Google Scholar on four clinical questions and analysed these results with respect to article relevance and quality.
Methods
s from the first 20 citations for each search were classified into three relevance categories. We used the weighted kappa statistic to analyse reviewer agreement and nonparametric rank tests to compare the number of citations for each article and the corresponding journals' impact factors.
Results
Reviewers ranked 67.6% of PubMed articles and 80% of Google Scholar articles as at least possibly relevant (P = 0.116) with high agreement (all kappa P‐values < 0.01). Google Scholar articles had a higher median number of citations (34 vs. 1.5, P < 0.0001) and came from higher impact factor journals (5.17 vs. 3.55, P = 0.036).
Conclusions
PubMed searches and Google Scholar searches often identify different articles. In this study, Google Scholar articles were more likely to be classified as relevant, had higher numbers of citations and were published in higher impact factor journals. The identification of frequently cited articles using Google Scholar for searches probably has value for initial literature searches.
Many scientific investigations of photometric galaxy surveys require redshift estimates, whose uncertainty properties are best encapsulated by photometric redshift (photo-z) posterior probability ...density functions (PDFs). A plethora of photo-z PDF estimation methodologies abound, producing discrepant results with no consensus on a preferred approach. We present the results of a comprehensive experiment comparing 12 photo-z algorithms applied to mock data produced for The Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time Dark Energy Science Collaboration. By supplying perfect prior information, in the form of the complete template library and a representative training set as inputs to each code, we demonstrate the impact of the assumptions underlying each technique on the output photo-z PDFs. In the absence of a notion of true, unbiased photo-z PDFs, we evaluate and interpret multiple metrics of the ensemble properties of the derived photo-z PDFs as well as traditional reductions to photo-z point estimates. We report systematic biases and overall over/underbreadth of the photo-z PDFs of many popular codes, which may indicate avenues for improvement in the algorithms or implementations. Furthermore, we raise attention to the limitations of established metrics for assessing photo-z PDF accuracy; though we identify the conditional density estimate loss as a promising metric of photo-z PDF performance in the case where true redshifts are available but true photo-z PDFs are not, we emphasize the need for science-specific performance metrics.
Many scientific investigations of photometric galaxy surveys require redshift estimates, whose uncertainty properties are best encapsulated by photometric redshift (photo-z) posterior probability ...density functions (PDFs). A plethora of photo-z PDF estimation methodologies abound, producing discrepant results with no consensus on a preferred approach. We present the results of a comprehensive experiment comparing twelve photo-z algorithms applied to mock data produced for The Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC). By supplying perfect prior information, in the form of the complete template library and a representative training set as inputs to each code, we demonstrate the impact of the assumptions underlying each technique on the output photo-z PDFs. In the absence of a notion of true, unbiased photo-z PDFs, we evaluate and interpret multiple metrics of the ensemble properties of the derived photo-z PDFs as well as traditional reductions to photo-z point estimates. We report systematic biases and overall over/under-breadth of the photo-z PDFs of many popular codes, which may indicate avenues for improvement in the algorithms or implementations. Furthermore, we raise attention to the limitations of established metrics for assessing photo-z PDF accuracy; though we identify the conditional density estimate (CDE) loss as a promising metric of photo-z PDF performance in the case where true redshifts are available but true photo-z PDFs are not, we emphasize the need for science-specific performancemetrics.
Background and purpose
The clinical predictors of health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) have mainly been studied in patients with long‐standing disease. The objective of ...this study was to investigate the longitudinal association among HRQoL and clinical characteristics in early MS.
Methods
Relapsing MS patients within 12 months of clinical onset were enrolled in a neuroprotection trial of riluzole versus placebo as an add‐on to weekly interferon with up to 36 months of follow‐up. Serial clinical measures included Short Form‐36 (SF‐36) as the measure of HRQoL, MS Functional Composite (as a measure of disability), Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (as a measure of depression) and a cognitive battery. Multivariable linear regression analyses assessed cross‐sectional associations. Mixed model regressions with mutual adjustments were used to assess the longitudinal association of HRQoL components and clinical, cognitive and demographic variables.
Results
Forty‐three patients were enrolled within 7.5 ± 4.9 months of clinical onset (72% female, mean age 36 years). The baseline severity of fatigue and depression predicted subsequent changes in SF‐36 Physical Component Summary (PCS) (P values of 0.001 and 0.021, respectively). In longitudinal analyses, changes in disability and depression were associated with changes in SF‐36 PCS (P values of 0.002 and 0.009, respectively), whereas changes in cognitive function and fatigue were associated with changes in SF‐36 Mental Component Summary (P values of 0.037 and 0.001, respectively). A 1‐unit increase in MS Functional Composite was associated with a 7.1‐point increase in SF‐36 PCS (95% CI, 2.6–11.6).
Conclusions
Fatigue, depression, cognition and disability are independently associated with HRQoL in early MS.
Low head Pico hydro resources have considerable potentials in many regions of the world and with increasing demand of energy, use of such capacities is quite necessary. Pico hydro plants are usually ...isolated and installed in remote areas. One of the main problems of utilizing these potentials especially in the developing countries is that routine turbines are insufficient or proper turbines are expensive. A suitable alternative for solving this problem is use of axial pumps in the reverse mode instead of the routine turbines. In this mode, the flow and rotation direction of the pump are reversed, and consequently hydraulic behavior of the pump is changed. In this study, an industrial axial pump has been simulated in the reverse mode by computational fluid dynamics. To do so, continuity and Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes equations coupled with Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model were solved using NUMECA software, and characteristic curves were obtained. To validate numerical results, a test setup for measuring the head, flow rate and power was built and the pump was tested in the reverse mode. It is shown that there is a good coincidence between the numerical and experimental results. Also, the axial pump can properly work as a turbine in the low head Pico hydro plants.
Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (s-AKI) has a staggering impact in patients and lacks any treatment. Incomplete understanding of the pathogenesis of s-AKI is a major barrier to the development ...of effective therapies. We address the gaps in knowledge regarding renal oxygenation, tubular metabolism, and mitochondrial function in the pathogenesis of s-AKI using the cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model in mice. At 24 h after CLP, renal oxygen delivery was reduced; however, fractional oxygen extraction was unchanged, suggesting inefficient renal oxygen utilization despite decreased glomerular filtration rate and filtered load. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, we examined temporal changes in mitochondrial function and metabolism at 4 and 24 h after CLP. At 4 h after CLP, markers of mitochondrial content and biogenesis were increased in CLP kidneys, but mitochondrial oxygen consumption rates were suppressed in proximal tubules. Interestingly, at 24 h, proximal tubular mitochondria displayed high respiratory capacity, but with decreased mitochondrial content, biogenesis, fusion, and ATP levels in CLP kidneys, suggesting decreased ATP synthesis efficiency. We further investigated metabolic reprogramming after CLP and observed reduced expression of fatty acid oxidation enzymes but increased expression of glycolytic enzymes at 24 h. However, assessment of functional glycolysis revealed lower glycolytic capacity, glycolytic reserve, and compensatory glycolysis in CLP proximal tubules, which may explain their susceptibility to injury. In conclusion, we demonstrated significant alterations in renal oxygenation, tubular mitochondrial function, and metabolic reprogramming in s-AKI, which may play an important role in the progression of injury and recovery from AKI in sepsis.
About 50% of (~13 million) reproductive aged women with Type I or II diabetes receive any preconception care. Even fewer receive contraceptive counseling, or other vital reproductive health services. ...This scoping review aimed to explore if reproductive aged women with diabetes receive adequate preventative reproductive health services compared to women without diabetes. A systematic search strategy of the published literature was built and applied in multiple databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane). Interventional and observational studies describing access to reproductive health services among reproductive-aged women with compared to those without diabetes were included. The Preferred Reporting Items for Scoping Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The search strategy identified 6785 unique records. A two reviewer method was used to screen abstracts, with 41 studies identified to be relevant. These studies were separated into the domains of contraception counseling (N=20), cervical cancer screening (N=12), counseling/screening for sexually transmitted infections (N=3), and preconception counseling (N=12). We did not include studies focusing on prenatal care, pregnancy, menstrual irregularities, sexual dysfunction, or breast cancer screening. While a vast amount of literature exists related to diabetes and pregnancy, this scoping review draws attention to the lack of research focused on the reproductive health of women with diabetes prior to pregnancy. The majority of available literature focuses on contraception and preconception management, consistently demonstrating that women with diabetes lack adequate preventative reproductive healthcare compared to their nondiabetic counterparts. Far less evidence exists for sexually transmitted infection risk assessment and screening. It is imperative that future research focus on ways to mitigate disparities in access to reproductive health services for women with diabetes.
Disclosure
M.Treasure: None. P.S.Nourbakhsh: None. A.Osuna-garcia: None. S.C.Esteves: None. L.N.Kransdorf: None. L.E.Wisk: None.
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