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Diagnostic Imaging & Cytology Cases - Abdomen
Get PDFAbdominal investigation has expanded considerably since the early 2000s. CT now allows comprehensive evaluation of all abdominal organs, with contrast protocols enabling assessment of perfusion, vascular supply, and extracellular leakage. In the liver, CT features help differentiate nodular hyperplasia from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary hepatic tumour in dogs. HCC typically presents as a large (>9.8 cm), heterogeneously enhancing mass with low portal phase attenuation. Cytology in conjunction with the activity of hepatic enzymes and the imagining can favour a specific underlying hepatic pathology (see below image 02). Hemangiosarcoma demonstrates aggressive behaviour and characteristic CT signs (“halo” and “SPLASH”)
[3-(Trifluoromethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-yl]methylamine derivatives:synthesis, ways of modification and use for peptides labeling
Get PDFThe synthesis of new 3-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazoles is reported, starting from ethyl trifluoroacetimidate and Boc-protected amino acid hydrazides. The influence of elongation or branching of a linker between the hydrazide and amino group on cyclization of amidrazones is established. The scale-up of the synthesis of tert-butyl ((3-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-yl)methyl)carbamate (4a) starting with 1 mole of corresponding hydrazide and trifluoroacetonitrile was successfully demonstrated. Additionally, 4a and other derivatives were further elaborated, underlining their prospects as building-blocks for organic synthesis. In particular, 2-(trifluoromethyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrazine (23) - a component in the synthesis of Fuzuloparib - was successfully obtained in good yields (56.4%). Finally, we showed that 2-(5-(aminomethyl)-3-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)acetic acid hydrochloride (19) can be incorporated into short peptides using solid phase peptide synthesis, serving as a fluorinated Gly-Gly analogue for peptide 19F NMR studies.</p
Diagnostic status influences rapport and communicative behaviours in dyadic interactions between autistic and non-autistic people
Get PDFStatic Analysis to Make the Most of CHERI C/C++ for Existing Code:Improving Memory Safety at Scale
Get PDFWe describe and evaluate custom static analyses to support transitioning existing C/C++ codebases to CHERI hardware. CHERI is a novel architectural extension, implemented for RISC-V and AArch64, that uses capabilities to provide fine-grained memory protection and scalable software compartmentalization. While the existing CHERI toolchain can recompile large code collections for the platform with only a few source changes, those changes are nonetheless critical: we demonstrate that static analysis can help to identify where they are needed and what must be done to avoid later runtime faults. We provide custom checkers for the Clang Static Analyzer to handle capability alignment, copying through memory, and manipulation as integers. Beyond simply picking up problems in existing code, we also have checkers that identify where code can take advantage of capabilities to better enforce least privilege and improve spatial memory safety. We evaluate all implemented checkers on a sample of packages from the CheriBSD ports library (408 packages, "Equation missing" analyzed) and confirm by analyzing true-positive warning rates that the reports produced are sufficiently high quality for practical use
Experiences of living with, managing and preventing reoccurrence of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Restoring context and complexity to health and illness research
Get PDFDiabetes is a major global health concern, with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) presenting a common complication. Interest is growing in people’s lived experiences of DFUs, including their management and prevention. Typically, research has highlighted the disruptive and extended impact of DFUs, and has focused on the role of intrinsic, individual factors (e.g., knowledge, physical capabilities and personal choices) in their development and management. The influence of extrinsic, contextual factors, has received comparatively limited attention. To address this potentially important gap in the literature we set out to explore people’s experiences of DFUs, using a distinctive, contextually-sensitive, analytical lens. Our analysis led us to identify three over-arching themes: a spectrum of embodied experiences of DFUs; intersection with wider experiences of ill-health; and, framing of (DFU) experiences by broader life circumstances. Within these themes, considerable diversity was evident. Broader life circumstances, in particular, shaped experiences of living with, managing, and preventing reoccurrence of DFUs in markedly different, and previously unacknowledged, ways. We conclude that experiences of DFUs are far more nuanced and contextually-mediated than previously reported, and identify important practical implications for the provision of sensitive and effective support and clinical care. Moreover, we suggest that identifying these sorts of complexities in illness experiences may require larger, and more varied samples and data-sets than have become the norm in qualitative health research, as well as more expansive disciplinary lenses
AI portal tract detection and characterisation for a regional analysis of steatosis and inflammation in MASLD, MASH, and AIH
Get PDFAims: Annotation of liver biopsies for disease staging is increasingly aided by digital pathology, however, existing systems do not quantify inflammation and steatosis within an anatomical framework. We hypothesise that an AI system that quantifies portal tracts (PT) and the anatomical distribution of steatotic vesicles and inflammatory cells will align with manual pathologist scoring and stratify liver diseases. Methods: In this observational, cross-sectional study, digitized images of haematoxylin and eosin-stained specimens were pooled from 4 independent cohorts of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) or steatohepatitis (MASH) or autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) (n=390: 89 MASLD, 238 MASH, 63 AIH). PT, steatosis and inflammation were quantified using a proprietary AI system and scored by expert pathologists.Results: The percentage of steatosis was higher in MASH (7.5%) than MASLD (3.2%). Lobular regions had larger steatotic vesicles (260 vs 190m2). AI-derived steatosis quantification correlated with manual grading (rs=0.72). The inflammatory cell number (ICN) was 2-fold higher in AIH than MASLD/MASH in interface [390 vs 140], portal [4600 vs 1500], and lobular [1500 vs 650] regions. Portal inflammation from manual grading correlated with ICN count at PT (rs=0.71) but not lobular regions (rs=<0.29). For equivalent grades of portal inflammation, the ICN was up to 3-fold higher in AIH than in MASLD/MASH (rs=0.71).Conclusion: A new AI system for anatomical quantification of liver biopsy features measured variation in fat and inflammation across the lobule. It showed inflammation burden was higher in AIH than MASLD/MASH, despite equivalent portal grades, providing objective support for histological scoring. What is already known on this topic – Grading of inflammation in MASLD/MASH and AIH is limited by low inter-rater reliability and challenges in identifying key anatomical features like portal tracts, contributing to delays and errors in clinical trial endpoint assignation. What this study adds – This study demonstrates a system that automatically detects and quantifies portal tracts and surrounding patterns of inflammation and steatosis. AI found that inflammation was present in similar regions, but was higher in autoimmune hepatitis than in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, despite similar grading from manual scoring.How this study might affect research, practice or policy - This AI system provides granular and regional information that can aid biopsy scoring and support pathologists in liver disease staging and diagnosis for clinical trials. <br/
Highly Stable Heterometallic Catalysts for Polyester Depolymerization and Polymerization at High Temperatures
No full textChemical depolymerization to monomer is a valuable tool in the quest to prevent the accumulation of single-use plastic, especially poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, in the environment. However, the protic nucleophiles and high temperatures usually required in this process make the development of rationally designed, stable catalysts very challenging. Herein, we report a series of heterobimetallic catalysts, combining Zn(II) and Mg(II) with K(I) and Na(I) to form "ate" complexes that are stable in air and at high temperatures, which can be applied in the depolymerization of PET and poly(lactide), PLA. The catalysts present outstanding stability and remain active after 4 successive PET additions over several days on the bench. Reaction studies reveal the influence of the metal coordinated in the inner pocket of the ligand upon the activity of the metal coordinated in the outer pocket, with different heterobimetallic catalysts being found to be optimal for the depolymerization of PET and PLA respectively. Their potential for application in industrially relevant bulk polymerization of rac-lactide is also demonstrated and provides key insights for rational heterometallic catalyst design in the (de)polymerization of PET and PLA.</p
From compliance to convening:The transformation of the Canada Green Building Council
No full textGreen Building Movement Organizations often advance their social change agenda through market transformation initiatives. Over the past 25 years, many such organizations have used Sustainability Rating Tools–for example green building certifications that guide and recognize the inclusion of sustainable elements–to pursue this objective. But the industrial adoption of these tools has become saturated within market niches and ignored in others, leaving many of these organizations struggling for a renewed remit. This paper presents a case study of the recent transformation of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC)–an organization defined by its role in LEED® (a globally significant Sustainability Rating Tool) certification–asking how it remained influential when such disruption hit. The CaGBC succeeded, our analysis suggests, by placing itself at what Michel Callon calls the obligatory passage point for market transformation: re-enrolling its stakeholders through processes he calls problemization, interessement, enrolment, and mobilization. In this, we also indicate how they shifted from a purely ‘strong-ties’ approach to a ‘hybrid’ approach. Evidence for these claims is drawn from 21 interviews with nine key staff over a two-year period, as well as from over 250 working and archival documents. Our findings demonstrate how Green Building Movement Organizations can transform from stewards of compliance to conveners.</p
Asymptotic Optimality of the Speed-Aware Join-the-Shortest-Queue in the Halfin-Whitt Regime for Heterogeneous Systems
Get PDFThe join-the-shortest-queue (JSQ) load-balancing scheme is known to minimize the average response time of jobs in homogeneous systems with identical servers. However, for heterogeneous systems with servers having different processing speeds, finding an optimal load balancing scheme remains an open problem for finite system sizes. Recently, for systems with heterogeneous servers, a variant of JSQ scheme, called the speed-aware-join-the-shortest-queue (SA-JSQ) scheme, has been shown to achieve asymptotic optimality in the fluid-scaling regime where the number of servers n tends to infinity but the normalized the arrival rate of jobs remains constant. In this paper, we show that the SA-JSQ scheme is also asymptotically optimal for heterogeneous systems √ in the Halfin-Whitt traffic regime where the normalized arrival rate scales are 1 O(1= ffiffiffin). Our analysis begins by establishing that an appropriately scaled and centered version of the Markov process describing system dynamics weakly converges to a two-dimensional reflected Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process. We then show using Stein’s method that the stationary distribution of the underlying Markov process converges to that of the OU process as the system size increases by establishing the validity of interchange of limits. Finally, through coupling with a suitably constructed sys-tem, we show that SA-JSQ asymptotically minimizes the diffusion-scaled total number of jobs and the diffusion-scaled number of waiting jobs in the steady state in the Halfin-Whitt regime among all policies that dispatch jobs based on queue lengths and server speeds.</p
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