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- Petroff, E., et al.
(author)
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A polarized fast radio burst at low Galactic latitude
- 2017
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford Academic. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 469:4, s. 4465-4482
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the discovery of a new fast radio burst (FRB), FRB 150215, with the Parkes radio telescope on 2015 February 15. The burst was detected in real time with a dispersion measure (DM) of 1105.6 +/- 0.8 pc cm(-3), a pulse duration of 2.8(-0.5)(+1.2) ms, and a measured peak flux density assuming that the burst was at beam centre of 0.7(-0.1)(+0.2) Jy. The FRB originated at a Galactic longitude and latitude of 24.66 degrees, 5.28 degrees and 25 degrees away from the Galactic Center. The burst was found to be 43 +/- 5 per cent linearly polarized with a rotation measure (RM) in the range -9 < RM < 12 rad m(-2) (95 per cent confidence level), consistent with zero. The burst was followed up with 11 telescopes to search for radio, optical, X-ray, gamma-ray and neutrino emission. Neither transient nor variable emission was found to be associated with the burst and no repeat pulses have been observed in 17.25 h of observing. The sightline to the burst is close to the Galactic plane and the observed physical properties of FRB 150215 demonstrate the existence of sight lines of anomalously low RM for a given electron column density. The Galactic RM foreground may approach a null value due to magnetic field reversals along the line of sight, a decreased total electron column density from the Milky Way, or some combination of these effects. A lower Galactic DM contribution might explain why this burst was detectable whereas previous searches at low latitude have had lower detection rates than those out of the plane.
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| 4. |
- Drake, Thomas M., et al.
(author)
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Outcomes following small bowel obstruction due to malignancy in the national audit of small bowel obstruction
- 2019
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In: European Journal of Surgical Oncology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0748-7983 .- 1532-2157. ; 45:12, s. 2319-2324
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2019 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology Introduction: Patients with cancer who develop small bowel obstruction are at high risk of malnutrition and morbidity following compromise of gastrointestinal tract continuity. This study aimed to characterise current management and outcomes following malignant small bowel obstruction. Methods: A prospective, multicentre cohort study of patients with small bowel obstruction who presented to UK hospitals between 16th January and 13th March 2017. Patients who presented with small bowel obstruction due to primary tumours of the intestine (excluding left-sided colonic tumours) or disseminated intra-abdominal malignancy were included. Outcomes included 30-day mortality and in-hospital complications. Cox-proportional hazards models were used to generate adjusted effects estimates, which are presented as hazard ratios (HR) alongside the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The threshold for statistical significance was set at the level of P ≤ 0.05 a-priori. Results: 205 patients with malignant small bowel obstruction presented to emergency surgery services during the study period. Of these patients, 50 had obstruction due to right sided colon cancer, 143 due to disseminated intraabdominal malignancy, 10 had primary tumours of the small bowel and 2 patients had gastrointestinal stromal tumours. In total 100 out of 205 patients underwent a surgical intervention for obstruction. 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 11.3% for those with primary tumours and 19.6% for those with disseminated malignancy. Severe risk of malnutrition was an independent predictor for poor mortality in this cohort (adjusted HR 16.18, 95% CI 1.86 to 140.84, p = 0.012). Patients with right-sided colon cancer had high rates of morbidity. Conclusions: Mortality rates were high in patients with disseminated malignancy and in those with right sided colon cancer. Further research should identify optimal management strategy to reduce morbidity for these patient groups.
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- Bannuru, R. R., et al.
(author)
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OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis
- 2019
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In: Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. - : Elsevier BV. - 1063-4584.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To update and expand upon prior Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) guidelines by developing patient-focused treatment recommendations for individuals with Knee, Hip, and Polyarticular osteoarthritis (OA) that are derived from expert consensus and based on objective review of high-quality meta-analytic data. Methods: We sought evidence for 60 unique interventions. A systematic search of all relevant databases was conducted from inception through July 2018. After abstract and full-text screening by two independent reviewers, eligible studies were matched to PICO questions. Data were extracted and meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan software. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) Evidence Profiles were compiled using the GRADEpro web application. Voting for Core Treatments took place first. Four subsequent voting sessions took place via anonymous online survey, during which Panel members were tasked with voting to produce recommendations for all joint locations and comorbidity classes. We designated non-Core treatments to Level 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4A, 4B, or 5, based on the percentage of votes in favor, in addition to the strength of the recommendation. Results: Core Treatments for Knee OA included arthritis education and structured land-based exercise programs with or without dietary weight management. Core Treatments for Hip and Polyarticular OA included arthritis education and structured land-based exercise programs. Topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were strongly recommended for individuals with Knee OA (Level 1A). For individuals with gastrointestinal comorbidities, COX-2 inhibitors were Level 1B and NSAIDs with proton pump inhibitors Level 2. For individuals with cardiovascular comorbidities or frailty, use of any oral NSAID was not recommended. Intra-articular (IA) corticosteroids, IA hyaluronic acid, and aquatic exercise were Level 1B/Level 2 treatments for Knee OA, dependent upon comorbidity status, but were not recommended for individuals with Hip or Polyarticular OA. The use of Acetaminophen/Paracetamol (APAP) was conditionally not recommended (Level 4A and 4B), and the use of oral and transdermal opioids was strongly not recommended (Level 5). A treatment algorithm was constructed in order to guide clinical decision-making for a variety of patient profiles, using recommended treatments as input for each decision node. Conclusion: These guidelines offer comprehensive and patient-centered treatment profiles for individuals with Knee, Hip, and Polyarticular OA. The treatment algorithm will facilitate individualized treatment decisions regarding the management of OA.
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- Schoville, Sean D., et al.
(author)
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A model species for agricultural pest genomics : The genome of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
- 2018
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the genome and are rapidly evolving compared to other Coleoptera, and high levels of nucleotide diversity in rapidly growing pest populations. Adaptations to plant feeding are evident in gene expansions and differential expression of digestive enzymes in gut tissues, as well as expansions of gustatory receptors for bitter tasting. Surprisingly, the suite of genes involved in insecticide resistance is similar to other beetles. Finally, duplications in the RNAi pathway might explain why Leptinotarsa decemlineata has high sensitivity to dsRNA. The L. decemlineata genome provides opportunities to investigate a broad range of phenotypes and to develop sustainable methods to control this widely successful pest.
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| 7. |
- Concoff, A., et al.
(author)
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A Comparison of Treatment Effects for Nonsurgical Therapies and the Minimum Clinically Important Difference in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review
- 2019
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In: JBJS reviews. - 2329-9185. ; 7:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The minimum clinically important difference (MCID) was developed to ascertain the smallest change in an outcome that patients perceive as beneficial. The objectives of the present review were (1) to compare the MCIDs for pain assessments used among guidelines and meta-analyses investigating different nonsurgical therapies for knee osteoarthritis and (2) to compare the effect estimates of different nonsurgical interventions against a single commonly-utilized MCID threshold. METHODS: Systematic and manual searches were conducted to identify guidelines and meta-analyses evaluating pain outcomes for nonsurgical knee osteoarthritis interventions. Individual treatment effects for pain were presented on a common scale (the standardized mean difference [SMD]). To evaluate the perception of the relative benefit of each nonsurgical treatment, the variation in MCIDs selected from the published MCID literature was assessed. RESULTS: Thirty-seven guidelines and meta-analyses were included. MCIDs were often presented as an SMD or a mean difference (MD) on a validated scale and varied in magnitude across sources. This analysis demonstrated that intra-articular hyaluronic acid, intra-articular corticosteroids, and acetaminophen all had relatively larger effect sizes than topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Higher-molecular-weight intra-articular hyaluronic acid had a greater relative effect compared with both non-selective and cyclooxygenase-2-selective oral NSAIDs. Evaluating the treatment effect estimates against a commonly utilized MCID revealed similarities in which observations attained clinical significance among treatments; however, this observation varied across the range of reported MCIDs. CONCLUSIONS: The present review confirmed the variability in the MCIDs for pain assessments that are used across guidelines and meta-analyses evaluating nonsurgical interventions for knee osteoarthritis. This variability may yield conflicting treatment recommendations, ranging from rejecting treatments that are indeed efficacious to accepting treatments that may not be beneficial. Additional research is required to determine why some nonsurgical therapies are more consistently recommended in knee osteoarthritis guidelines than others as these findings suggest similarities in their effect estimates for pain. Relevant stakeholders need to reach a consensus on a standard approach to determining the MCIDs for these therapies to ensure that appropriate and effective treatment options are available to patients prior to invasive surgical intervention. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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