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- Duong, T. C., et al.
(författare)
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A hierarchical computational thermodynamic and kinetic approach to discontinuous precipitation in the U-Nb system
- 2015
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Ingår i: PTM 2015 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Solid-Solid Phase Transformations in Inorganic Materials 2015. - : International Conference on Solid-Solid Phase Transformations in Inorganic Materials. - 9780692437360 ; , s. 887-894
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- U-Nb alloys decompose via discontinuous precipitation (DP) over a broad range of aging conditions, adversely affecting their properties. The growth kinetics, lamellar spacing, and Nb partitioning have been measured, but the thermodynamic and kinetic factors underlying these specific transformation characteristics and reaction paths, vis-a-vis the monotectoid reaction, are not fully resolved. In this work, a hierarchical computational thermodynamic and kinetic approach was carried out to investigate DP. The hierarchical approach started with density-functional theory (DFT) investigations of ground-state formation energies of bcc-based U-Nb alloys. The estimated energetic data was then utilized as an imposed first-principles-based constraint to improve the consistency of the CALPHAD thermodynamic and, subsequently, kinetic assessments of U-Nb. Phasefield simulations were then carried out to study DP's microstructure evolution using the assessed CALPHAD thermodynamic and kinetic representations. Good agreement with experiments on different physical/length scales was achieved, which validates the present theoretical contributions to a better understanding of DP in U-Nb alloys.
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- Swallow, Diane M A, et al.
(författare)
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Statins are underused in recent-onset Parkinson's disease with increased vascular risk : findings from the UK Tracking Parkinson's and Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre (OPDC) discovery cohorts
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. - : BMJ. - 1468-330X .- 0022-3050. ; 87:11, s. 1183-1190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) influences phenotypic variation in Parkinson's disease (PD), and is usually an indication for statin therapy. It is less clear whether cardiovascular risk factors influence PD phenotype, and if statins are prescribed appropriately.OBJECTIVES: To quantify vascular risk and statin use in recent-onset PD, and examine the relationship between vascular risk, PD severity and phenotype.METHODS: Cardiovascular risk was quantified using the QRISK2 calculator (high ≥20%, medium ≥10 and <20%, low risk <10%). Motor severity and phenotype were assessed using the Movement Disorder Society Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) and cognition by the Montreal cognitive assessment.RESULTS: In 2909 individuals with recent-onset PD, the mean age was 67.5 years (SD 9.3), 63.5% were men and the mean disease duration was 1.3 years (SD 0.9). 33.8% of cases had high vascular risk, 28.7% medium risk, and 22.3% low risk, while 15.2% of cases had established CVD. Increasing vascular risk and CVD were associated with older age (p<0.001), worse motor score (p<0.001), more cognitive impairment (p<0.001) and worse motor phenotype (p=0.021). Statins were prescribed in 37.2% with high vascular risk, 15.1% with medium vascular risk and 6.5% with low vascular risk, which compared with statin usage in 75.3% of those with CVD.CONCLUSIONS: Over 60% of recent-onset PD patients have high or medium cardiovascular risk (meriting statin usage), which is associated with a worse motor and cognitive phenotype. Statins are underused in these patients, compared with those with vascular disease, which is a missed opportunity for preventive treatment.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: GN11NE062, NCT02881099.
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- Lee, PP, et al.
(författare)
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Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein regulates autophagy and inflammasome activity in innate immune cells
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 8:1, s. 1576-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dysregulation of autophagy and inflammasome activity contributes to the development of auto-inflammatory diseases. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of the actin cytoskeleton in modulating inflammatory responses. Here we show that deficiency of Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp), which signals to the actin cytoskeleton, modulates autophagy and inflammasome function. In a model of sterile inflammation utilizing TLR4 ligation followed by ATP or nigericin treatment, inflammasome activation is enhanced in monocytes from WAS patients and in WAS-knockout mouse dendritic cells. In ex vivo models of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri infection, WASp deficiency causes defective bacterial clearance, excessive inflammasome activation and host cell death that are associated with dysregulated septin cage-like formation, impaired autophagic p62/LC3 recruitment and defective formation of canonical autophagosomes. Taken together, we propose that dysregulation of autophagy and inflammasome activities contribute to the autoinflammatory manifestations of WAS, thereby identifying potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
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- Bhatia, V., et al.
(författare)
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Beta-blocker Use and 30-day All-cause Readmission in Medicare Beneficiaries with Systolic Heart Failure
- 2015
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Ingår i: American Journal of Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0002-9343. ; 128:7, s. 715-721
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Beta-blockers improve outcomes in patients with systolic heart failure. However, it is unknown whether their initial negative inotropic effect may increase 30-day all-cause readmission, a target outcome for Medicare cost reduction and financial penalty for hospitals under the Affordable Care Act. METHODS: Of the 3067 Medicare beneficiaries discharged alive from 106 Alabama hospitals (1998-2001) with a primary discharge diagnosis of heart failure and ejection fraction <45%, 2202 were not previously on beta-blocker therapy, of which 383 received new discharge prescriptions for beta-blockers. Propensity scores for beta-blocker use, estimated for each of the 2202 patients, were used to assemble a matched cohort of 380 pairs of patients receiving and not receiving beta-blockers who were balanced on 36 baseline characteristics (mean age 73 years, mean ejection fraction 27%, 45% women, 33% African American). RESULTS: Beta-blocker use was not associated with 30-day all-cause readmission (hazard ratio [HR] 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64-1.18) or heart failure readmission (HR 0.95; 95% CI, 0.57-1.58), but was significantly associated with lower 30-day all-cause mortality (HR 0.29; 95% CI, 0.12-0.73). During 4-year postdischarge, those in the beta-blocker group had lower mortality (HR 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.98) and combined outcome of all-cause mortality or all-cause readmission (HR 0.87; 95% CI, 0.74-0.97), but not with all-cause readmission (HR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.76-1.04). CONCLUSIONS: Among hospitalized older patients with systolic heart failure, discharge prescription of beta-blockers was associated with lower 30-day all-cause mortality and 4-year combined death or readmission outcomes without higher 30-day readmission. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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| 10. |
- Duong, Thien C., et al.
(författare)
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Revisiting thermodynamics and kinetic diffusivities of uranium-niobium with Bayesian uncertainty analysis
- 2016
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Ingår i: CALPHAD-COMPUTER COUPLING OF PHASE DIAGRAMS AND THERMOCHEMISTRY. - : Elsevier. - 0364-5916. ; 55, s. 219-230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, thermodynamic and kinetic diffusivities of uranium-niobium (U-Nb) are re-assessed by means of the CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagram) methodology. In order to improve the consistency and reliability of the assessments, first-principles calculations are coupled with CALPHAD. In particular, heats of formation of gamma-U-Nb are estimated and verified using various density-functional theory (DFT) approaches. These thermochemistry data are then used as constraints to guide the thermodynamic optimization process in such a way that the mutual-consistency between first-principles calculations and CALPHAD assessment is satisfactory. In addition, long-term aging experiments are conducted in order to generate new phase equilibria data at the gamma(2)/alpha + gamma(2) boundary. These data are meant to verify the thermodynamic model. Assessment results are generally in good agreement with experiments and previous calculations, without showing the artifacts that were observed in previous modeling. The mutual-consistent thermodynamic description is then used to evaluate atomic mobility and diffusivity of gamma-U-Nb. Finally, Bayesian analysis is conducted to evaluate the uncertainty of the thermodynamic model and its impact on the system's phase stability.
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- Gopinath, A., et al.
(författare)
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Shape-based regularization of electron tomographic reconstruction
- 2012
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. - 0278-0062 .- 1558-254X. ; 31:12, s. 2241-2252
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We introduce a tomographic reconstruction method implemented using a shape-based regularization technique. Spatial models of known features in the structure being reconstructed are integrated into the reconstruction process as regularizers. Our regularization scheme is driven locally through shape information obtained from segmentation and compared with a known spatial model. We demonstrated our method on tomography data from digital phantoms, simulated data, and experimental electron tomography (ET) data of virus complexes. Our reconstruction showed reduced blurring and an improvement in the resolution of the reconstructed volume was also measured. This method also produced improved demarcation of spike boundaries in viral membranes when compared with popular techniques like weighted back projection and the algebraic reconstruction technique. Improved ET reconstructions will provide better structure elucidation and improved feature visualization, which can aid in solving key biological issues. Our method can also be generalized to other tomographic modalities.
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- Harms, H. J., et al.
(författare)
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Cardiopulmonary transit time : A novel PET imaging biomarker of in vivo physiology for risk stratification of heart transplant recipients
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. - : Springer Nature. - 1071-3581 .- 1532-6551. ; 29, s. 1234-1244
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Myocardial blood flow (MBF) can be quantified using dynamic PET studies. These studies also inherently contain tomographic images of early bolus displacement, which can provide cardiopulmonary transit times (CPTT) as measure of cardiopulmonary physiology. The aim of this study was to assess the incremental prognostic value of CPTT in heart transplant (OHT) recipients.Methods: 94 patients (age 56 +/- 16 years, 78% male) undergoing dynamic N-13-ammonia stress/rest studies were included, of which 68 underwent right-heart catherization. A recently validated cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) score based on PET measures of regional perfusion, peak MBF and left-ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) was used to identify patients with no, mild or moderate-severe CAV. Time-activity curves of the LV and right ventricular (RV) cavities were obtained and used to calculate the difference between the LV and RV bolus midpoint times, which represents the CPTT and is expressed in heartbeats. Patients were followed for a median of 2.5 years for the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including cardiovascular death, hospitalization for heart failure or acute coronary syndrome, or re-transplantation.Results: CPTT was significantly correlated with cardiac filling pressures (r = .434, P = .0002 and r = .439, P = .0002 for right atrial and pulmonary wedge pressure), cardiac output (r = - .315, P = .01) and LVEF (r = - .513, P < .0001). CPTT was prolonged in patients with MACE (19.4 +/- 6.0 vs 14.5 +/- 3.0 heartbeats, P < .001, N = 15) with CPTT >= 17.75 beats showing optimal discriminatory value in ROC analysis. CPTT >= 17.75 heartbeats was associated with a 10.1-fold increased risk (P < .001) of MACE and a 7.3-fold increased risk (P < .001) after adjusting for PET-CAV, age, sex and time since transplant.Conclusion: Measurements of cardiopulmonary transit time provide incremental risk stratification in OHT recipients and enhance the value of multiparametric dynamic PET imaging, particularly in identifying high-risk patients.
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| 13. |
- Jacobsen, M.C., et al.
(författare)
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A critical role for ATF2 transcription factor in the regulation of E-selectin expression in response to non-endotoxin components of Neisseria meningitidis
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cellular Microbiology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1462-5814 .- 1462-5822. ; 18:1, s. 66-79
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vascular injury is a serious complication of sepsis due to the gram-negative bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. One of the critical early steps in initiating this injury is via the interaction of leucocytes, particularly neutrophils, with adhesion molecules expressed on inflamed endothelium. We have previously demonstrated that both lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and non-LPS components of meningococci can induce very high levels of expression of the vascular endothelial cell adhesion molecule E-selectin, which is critical for early tethering and capture of neutrophils onto endothelium under flow. Using an LPS-deficient strain of meningococcus, we showed that very high levels of expression can be induced in primary endothelial cells, even in the context of weak activation of the major host signal transduction factor [nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)]. In this study, we show that the particular propensity for N.meningitidis to induce high levels of expression is regulated at a transcriptional level, and demonstrate a significant role for phosphorylation of the ATF2 transcription factor, likely via mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, on the activity of the E-selectin promoter. Furthermore, inhibition of E-selectin expression in response to the lpxA- strain by a p38 inhibitor indicates a significant role of a p38-dependent MAPK signalling pathway in ATF2 activation. Collectively, these data highlight the role that LPS and other bacterial components have in modulating endothelial function and their involvement in the pathogenesis of meningococcal sepsis. Better understanding of these multiple mechanisms induced by complex stimuli such as bacteria, and the specific inflammatory pathways they activate, may lead to improved, focused interventions in both meningococcal and potentially bacterial sepsis more generally.
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