| 1. |
- Daelman, Bo, et al.
(author)
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Frailty and cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults with congenital heart disease
- 2024
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In: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. - : Elsevier. - 0735-1097 .- 1558-3597. ; 83:12, s. 1149-1159
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Life expectancy of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) has increased rapidly, resulting in a growing and aging population. Recent studies have shown that older people with CHD have higher morbidity, health care use, and mortality. To maintain longevity and quality of life, understanding their evolving medical and psychosocial challenges is essential.Objectives: The authors describe the frailty and cognitive profile of middle-aged and older adults with CHD to identify predictor variables and to explore the relationship with hospital admissions and outpatient visits.Methods: Using a cross-sectional, multicentric design, we included 814 patients aged ≥40 years from 11 countries. Frailty phenotype was determined using the Fried method. Cognitive function was assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.Results: In this sample, 52.3% of patients were assessed as robust, 41.9% as prefrail, and 5.8% as frail; 38.8% had cognitive dysfunction. Multinomial regression showed that frailty was associated with older age, female sex, higher physiologic class, and comorbidities. Counterintuitively, patients with mild heart defects were more likely than those with complex lesions to be prefrail. Patients from middle-income countries displayed more prefrailty than those from higher-income countries. Logistic regression demonstrated that cognitive dysfunction was related to older age, comorbidities, and lower country-level income.Conclusions: Approximately one-half of included patients were (pre-)frail, and more than one-third experienced cognitive impairment. Frailty and cognitive dysfunction were identified in patients with mild CHD, indicating that these concerns extend beyond severe CHD. Assessing frailty and cognition routinely could offer valuable insights into this aging population.
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| 3. |
- Albuquerque, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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LES simulation of oscillating natural ventilation driven by vortex shedding in isolated buildings
- 2020
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In: Proceedings of Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA. - : IBPSA. - 9781775052012 ; , s. 644-649
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A recently published study presented a new type of natural ventilation (NV) flow, named pumping ventilation. The oscilatory mechanism of vortex shedding that occurs at the wake region of an isolated building drives this new type of ventilation in rooms with two (or more) openings facing the leeward or windward side of an isolated building. This paper presents a validated Large Eddy Simulation (LES) study of oscillating/pumping NV in an isolated building using three different separations (s') between its two windows. LES is validated using an experimental database from measurements performed at the University of Gavle boundary layer wind tunnel (WT). The measurements use a cubic model with 0.45m side representing a three-story building at a 1/20 scale that allows the use of bottom-hung windows. LES results show a good agreement with the measured non-dimensional ventilation rates. A dimensionless analysis shows the dominant frequencies of the pumping flow, are close to the Strouhal frequency.
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| 4. |
- Alix, James J. P., et al.
(author)
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Assessment of the reliability of the motor unit size index (MUSIX) in single subject "round-robin" and multi-centre settings
- 2019
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In: Clinical Neurophysiology. - : ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD. - 1388-2457 .- 1872-8952. ; 130:5, s. 666-674
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The motor unit size index (MUSIX) is incorporated into the motor unit number index (MUNIX). Our objective was to assess the intra-/inter-rater reliability of MUSIX in healthy volunteers across single subject "round robin" and multi-centre settings.Methods: Data were obtained from (i) a round-robin assessment in which 12 raters (6 with prior experience and 6 without) assessed six muscles (abductor pollicis brevis, abductor digiti minimi, biceps brachii, tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum brevis and abductor hallucis) and (ii) a multi-centre study with 6 centres studying the same muscles in 66 healthy volunteers. Intrafinter-rater data were provided by 5 centres, 1 centre provided only intra-rater data. Intrafinter-rater variability was assessed using the coefficient of variation (COV), Bland-Altman plots, bias and 95% limits of agreement.Results: In the round-robin assessment intra-rater COVs for MUSIX ranged from 7.8% to 28.4%. Inter-rater variability was between 7.8% and 16.2%. Prior experience did not impact on MUSIX values. In the multi-centre study MUSIX was more consistent than the MUNIX. Abductor hallucis was the least reliable muscle.Conclusions: The MUSIX is a reliable neurophysiological biomarker of reinnervation.Significance: MUSIX could provide insights into the pathophysiology of a range of neuromuscular disorders, providing a quantitative biomarker of reinnervation.
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| 6. |
- Feroci, M., et al.
(author)
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The large observatory for x-ray timing
- 2014
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In: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 9780819496126
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final downselection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supranuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1° collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g. GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the status of the mission at the end of its Phase A study.
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| 7. |
- Frølich, Lasse, et al.
(author)
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Using isothermal calorimetry to predict one day mortar strengths
- 2016
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In: Cement and Concrete Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0008-8846. ; 88, s. 108-113
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study investigated whether isothermal calorimetry measurements on cement paste are sufficiently accurate and precise to partially replace compressive strengths measurements on cement mortar as a quality control method at cement production. The study was also designed to provide information on mechanisms that will affect the relationship between heat of hydration and early strength, but not to establish a general empirical relationship. Results show a fairly strong correlation at 24 h between cement paste heat of hydration and mortar compressive strength, and the strength and calorimetry measurements had similar relative repeatability. Isothermal calorimetry may therefore be a viable alternative to early age strength measurements in cement production when allowed by relevant standards.
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| 8. |
- García-Mayoral, Ricardo, et al.
(author)
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Modeling of high-Re, incompressible, non-equilibrium, rough-wall boundary layers for naval applications under NATO-AVT349
- 2022
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In: AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, AIAA SciTech Forum 2022. - Reston, Virginia : American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper discusses the modeling activity of the NATO-STO Research Task Group AVT-349. The aim of this group is to improve the understanding and modeling of boundary layers in the complex flow around water vehicles. As such, the focus is on incompressible, high-Reynolds-number flows that can be subject to non-equilibrium conditions such as strong pressure gradients, three-dimensionality, and surface roughness and heterogeneity. The Task Group has identified a reduced number of simpler problems in which the above conditions can be studied separately and in controlled environments. These include two-dimensional rough-wall boundary layers under both zero and non-zero pressure gradients, two-dimensional smooth-wall boundary layers subject to pressure gradients, and boundary layers around smooth bodies of revolution and three-dimensional obstacles. An experimental and computational data set is being assembled for further analysis and insight into the flow mechanisms involved, as well as the shortcomings of state-of-the-art models. This paper gives an outlook of the modeling effort within the Task Group, as well its different objectives. These include predicting the effect of roughness in equilibrium conditions; assessing the applicability and/or extension of equilibrium models and predictions to non-equilibrium conditions, in particular when outer-layer similarity is lost; the development of near-wall models based on a reduced-order resolvent framework; and the use of machine-aided methods in closure models.
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| 9. |
- Giustacchini, Alice, et al.
(author)
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Single-cell transcriptomics uncovers distinct molecular signatures of stem cells in chronic myeloid leukemia
- 2017
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In: Nature Medicine. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 1078-8956 .- 1546-170X. ; 23:6, s. 692-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent advances in single-cell transcriptomics are ideally placed to unravel intratumoral heterogeneity and selective resistance of cancer stem cell (SC) subpopulations to molecularly targeted cancer therapies. However, current single-cell RNA-sequencing approaches lack the sensitivity required to reliably detect somatic mutations. We developed a method that combines high-sensitivity mutation detection with whole-transcriptome analysis of the same single cell. We applied this technique to analyze more than 2,000 SCs from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) throughout the disease course, revealing heterogeneity of CML-SCs, including the identification of a subgroup of CML-SCs with a distinct molecular signature that selectively persisted during prolonged therapy. Analysis of nonleukemic SCs from patients with CML also provided new insights into cell-extrinsic disruption of hematopoiesis in CML associated with clinical outcome. Furthermore, we used this single-cell approach to identify a blast-crisis-specific SC population, which was also present in a subclone of CML-SCs during the chronic phase in a patient who subsequently developed blast crisis. This approach, which might be broadly applied to any malignancy, illustrates how single-cell analysis can identify subpopulations of therapy-resistant SCs that are not apparent through cell-population analysis.
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