| 1. |
- Ruilope, LM, et al.
(författare)
-
Design and Baseline Characteristics of the Finerenone in Reducing Cardiovascular Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease Trial
- 2019
-
Ingår i: American journal of nephrology. - : S. Karger AG. - 1421-9670 .- 0250-8095. ; 50:5, s. 345-356
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- <b><i>Background:</i></b> Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. <b><i>Patients and</i></b> <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥25 mL/min/1.73 m<sup>2</sup> and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥30 to ≤5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level α = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049.
|
|
| 2. |
- Butler-Laporte, G, et al.
(författare)
-
Exome-wide association study to identify rare variants influencing COVID-19 outcomes: Results from the Host Genetics Initiative
- 2022
-
Ingår i: PLoS genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404 .- 1553-7390. ; 18:11, s. e1010367-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Host genetics is a key determinant of COVID-19 outcomes. Previously, the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative genome-wide association study used common variants to identify multiple loci associated with COVID-19 outcomes. However, variants with the largest impact on COVID-19 outcomes are expected to be rare in the population. Hence, studying rare variants may provide additional insights into disease susceptibility and pathogenesis, thereby informing therapeutics development. Here, we combined whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing from 21 cohorts across 12 countries and performed rare variant exome-wide burden analyses for COVID-19 outcomes. In an analysis of 5,085 severe disease cases and 571,737 controls, we observed that carrying a rare deleterious variant in the SARS-CoV-2 sensor toll-like receptor TLR7 (on chromosome X) was associated with a 5.3-fold increase in severe disease (95% CI: 2.75–10.05, p = 5.41x10-7). This association was consistent across sexes. These results further support TLR7 as a genetic determinant of severe disease and suggest that larger studies on rare variants influencing COVID-19 outcomes could provide additional insights.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Gruber, CEM, et al.
(författare)
-
Geographical Variability Affects CCHFV Detection by RT-PCR: A Tool for In-Silico Evaluation of Molecular Assays
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Viruses. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4915. ; 11:10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is considered to be a major emerging infectious threat, according to the WHO R&D blueprint. A wide range of CCHFV molecular assays have been developed, employing varied primer/probe combinations. The high genetic variability of CCHFV often hampers the efficacy of available molecular tests and can affect their diagnostic potential. Recently, increasing numbers of complete CCHFV genomic sequences have become available, allowing a better appreciation of the genomic evolution of this virus. We summarized the current knowledge on molecular methods and developed a new bioinformatics tool to evaluate the existing assays for CCHFV detection, with a special focus on strains circulating in different geographical areas. Twenty-two molecular methods and 181 sequences of CCHFV were collected, respectively, from PubMed and GenBank databases. Up to 28 mismatches between primers and probes of each assay and CCHFV strains were detected through in-silico PCR analysis. Combinations of up to three molecular methods markedly decreased the number of mismatches within most geographic areas. These results supported the good practice of CCHFV detection of performing more than one assay, aimed for different sequence targets. The choice of the most appropriate tests must take into account patient’s travel history and geographic distribution of the different CCHFV strains.
|
|
| 5. |
- Abu-Shaban, Z., et al.
(författare)
-
Performance Analysis for Autonomous Vehicle 5g-Assisted Positioning in GNSS-Challenged Environments
- 2020
-
Ingår i: 2020 IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium, PLANS 2020. ; , s. 996-1003
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Standalone Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are known to provide a positioning accuracy of a few meters in open sky conditions. This accuracy can drop significantly when the line-of-sight (LOS) paths to some GNSS satellites are obstructed, e.g., in urban canyons or underground tunnels. To overcome this issue, the general approach is usually to augment GNSS systems with other dedicated subsystems to help cover the gaps arising from obscured LOS. Positioning in 5G has attracted some attention lately, mainly due to the possibility to provide cm-level accuracy using 5G signals and infrastructure, effectively imposing no additional cost. In this paper, we study the hybridization of GNSS and 5G positioning in terms of achievable position and velocity error bounds. We focus on scenarios where satellite visibility is constrained by the environment geometry, and where the GNSS and 5G positioning systems fail to perform individually or provide prohibitively large error.
|
|
| 6. |
- Sünter, I., et al.
(författare)
-
Design and testing of a dual-camera payload for ESEO
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC. - : International Astronautical Federation, IAF.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since 2012, European Space Agency (ESA), SITAEL and ten European universities have been developing the European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO). The satellite bus is being designed, built and tested by SITAEL, whereas the payload modules are being developed by various universities throughout Europe. ESEO is a microsatellite to measure the radiation environment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), test new technologies in space as well as take photos of Earth and other celestial bodies. The aim of the ESEO optical payload is to produce color images in the visible spectrum, mainly for public outreach purposes. Although, in addition to public outreach, the payload can also be used to monitor plankton blooms or changes in the polar ice caps. This paper presents the design, development and pre-launch testing of a lightweight and power-efficient dual-camera system for ESEO. The two-camera solution enables imaging of the same target with a different field of view. The wide angle camera provides context for telescopic images, making it easier to pinpoint the area that was photographed. The primary camera of the payload is a wide-angle camera based on the ESTCube-1 design with a 4.4 mm telecentric lens, VGA CMOS color sensor and a 700 nm IR cut-off filter. With a field of view of 46° × 35°, the ground resolution of the primary camera is around 1 km per pixel. The secondary camera is telescopic, has a Zeiss C Sonnar T∗ 1.5/50 lens, a 2592×1944 pixel CMOS color sensor and a Schott BG40 filter. With a field of view of 6.63° × 5°, the ground resolution of the secondary camera is about 20 m per pixel. The payload features configurable internal image processing, progressive image compression and non-volatile storage. The resulting payload weighs about 800 g, on average consumes less than 560 mW of power, with peaks up to 1.5 W. The payload is currently being tested and will be launched on ESEO at the end of 2016.
|
|
| 7. |
- Wohlfahrt, G., et al.
(författare)
-
An ecosystem-scale perspective of the net land methanol flux : synthesis of micrometeorological flux measurements
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7324. ; 15:13, s. 7413-7427
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Methanol is the second most abundant volatile organic compound in the troposphere and plays a significant role in atmospheric chemistry. While there is consensus about the dominant role of living plants as the major source and the reaction with OH as the major sink of methanol, global methanol budgets diverge considerably in terms of source/sink estimates, reflecting uncertainties in the approaches used to model and the empirical data used to separately constrain these terms. Here we compiled micrometeorological methanol flux data from eight different study sites and reviewed the corresponding literature in order to provide a first cross-site synthesis of the terrestrial ecosystem-scale methanol exchange and present an independent data-driven view of the land-atmosphere methanol exchange. Our study shows that the controls of plant growth on production, and thus the methanol emission magnitude, as well as stomatal conductance on the hourly methanol emission variability, established at the leaf level, hold across sites at the ecosystem level. Unequivocal evidence for bi-directional methanol exchange at the ecosystem scale is presented. Deposition, which at some sites even exceeds methanol emissions, represents an emerging feature of ecosystem-scale measurements and is likely related to environmental factors favouring the formation of surface wetness. Methanol may adsorb to or dissolve in this surface water and eventually be chemically or biologically removed from it. Management activities in agriculture and forestry are shown to increase local methanol emission by orders of magnitude; however, they are neglected at present in global budgets. While contemporary net land methanol budgets are overall consistent with the grand mean of the micrometeorological methanol flux measurements, we caution that the present approach of simulating methanol emission and deposition separately is prone to opposing systematic errors and does not allow for full advantage to be taken of the rich information content of micrometeorological flux measurements.
|
|
