| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Fabian, ID, et al.
(author)
-
Travel burden and clinical presentation of retinoblastoma: analysis of 1024 patients from 43 African countries and 518 patients from 40 European countries
- 2021
-
In: The British journal of ophthalmology. - : BMJ. - 1468-2079 .- 0007-1161. ; 105:10, s. 1435-1443
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The travel distance from home to a treatment centre, which may impact the stage at diagnosis, has not been investigated for retinoblastoma, the most common childhood eye cancer. We aimed to investigate the travel burden and its impact on clinical presentation in a large sample of patients with retinoblastoma from Africa and Europe.MethodsA cross-sectional analysis including 518 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 40 European countries and 1024 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 43 African countries.ResultsCapture rate was 42.2% of expected patients from Africa and 108.8% from Europe. African patients were older (95% CI −12.4 to −5.4, p<0.001), had fewer cases of familial retinoblastoma (95% CI 2.0 to 5.3, p<0.001) and presented with more advanced disease (95% CI 6.0 to 9.8, p<0.001); 43.4% and 15.4% of Africans had extraocular retinoblastoma and distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis, respectively, compared to 2.9% and 1.0% of the Europeans. To reach a retinoblastoma centre, European patients travelled 421.8 km compared to Africans who travelled 185.7 km (p<0.001). On regression analysis, lower-national income level, African residence and older age (p<0.001), but not travel distance (p=0.19), were risk factors for advanced disease.ConclusionsFewer than half the expected number of patients with retinoblastoma presented to African referral centres in 2017, suggesting poor awareness or other barriers to access. Despite the relatively shorter distance travelled by African patients, they presented with later-stage disease. Health education about retinoblastoma is needed for carers and health workers in Africa in order to increase capture rate and promote early referral.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Bernal, Ximena E., et al.
(author)
-
Empowering Latina scientists
- 2019
-
In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 363:6429, s. 825-826
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)
|
|
| 6. |
- Sun, Tianming, et al.
(author)
-
Pyrometallurgical Treatment of Apatite Concentrate with the Objective of Rare Earth Element Extraction : Part I
- 2017
-
In: Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy. - : Springer. - 2199-3823 .- 2199-3831. ; 3:4, s. 829-845
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Apatite, Ca 5 (PO 4 ) 3 F, concentrate from LKAB in Kiruna, Sweden, has been characterized and pyrometallurgically treated using (i) silicon metal and fluxes to extract phosphorus and transition metals at 1600 °C (Part I publication), and (ii) carbon to extract phosphorus without fluxing at temperatures exceeding 1800 °C (Part II publication), with the ultimate objective to recover rare earth elements from the resulting slag/residue phases. A variety of methods (SEM/EDS, EPMA, DTA-TGA, Sessile drop, ICP-MS/OES, and XRD) have been used for the characterization and analysis of both the concentrate and reaction products. Elemental deportment, except for the rare earth metals, is broadly in line with the equilibrium thermodynamic predictions performed using HSC Chemistry ® . Phase diagrams were predicted using FactSage ® and a custom phosphate database to explain the observed melting/fluxing behaviors.
|
|
| 7. |
- Aldana, C. L., et al.
(author)
-
A Polyakov Formula for Sectors
- 2018
-
In: Journal of Geometric Analysis. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1050-6926 .- 1559-002X. ; 28:2, s. 1773-1839
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We consider finite area convex Euclidean circular sectors. We prove a variational Polyakov formula which shows how the zeta-regularized determinant of the Laplacian varies with respect to the opening angle. Varying the angle corresponds to a conformal deformation in the direction of a conformal factor with a logarithmic singularity at the origin. We compute explicitly all the contributions to this formula coming from the different parts of the sector. In the process, we obtain an explicit expression for the heat kernel on an infinite area sector using Carslaw-Sommerfeld's heat kernel. We also compute the zeta-regularized determinant of rectangular domains of unit area and prove that it is uniquely maximized by the square.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- van Setten, Jessica, et al.
(author)
-
PR interval genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 50 loci associated with atrial and atrioventricular electrical activity
- 2018
-
In: Nature Communications. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2041-1723. ; 9
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Electrocardiographic PR interval measures atrio-ventricular depolarization and conduction, and abnormal PR interval is a risk factor for atrial fibrillation and heart block. Our genomewide association study of over 92,000 European-descent individuals identifies 44 PR interval loci (34 novel). Examination of these loci reveals known and previously not-yet-reported biological processes involved in cardiac atrial electrical activity. Genes in these loci are overrepresented in cardiac disease processes including heart block and atrial fibrillation. Variants in over half of the 44 loci were associated with atrial or blood transcript expression levels, or were in high linkage disequilibrium with missense variants. Six additional loci were identified either by meta-analysis of similar to 105,000 African and European-descent individuals and/or by pleiotropic analyses combining PR interval with heart rate, QRS interval, and atrial fibrillation. These findings implicate developmental pathways, and identify transcription factors, ionchannel genes, and cell-junction/cell-signaling proteins in atrio-ventricular conduction, identifying potential targets for drug development.
|
|
