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European association of urology risk stratification predicts outcome in patients receiving PSMA-PET-planned salvage radiotherapy for biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy.
Get PDFPURPOSE
The European Association of Urology (EAU) proposed a risk stratification (high vs. low risk) for patients with biochemical recurrence (BR) following radical prostatectomy (RP). Here we investigated whether this stratification accurately predicts outcome, particularly in patients staged with PSMA-PET.
METHODS
For this study, we used a retrospective database including 1222 PSMA-PET-staged prostate cancer patients who were treated with salvage radiotherapy (SRT) for BR, at 11 centers in 5 countries. Patients with lymph node metastases (pN1 or cN1) or unclear EAU risk group were excluded. The remaining cohort comprised 526 patients, including 132 low-risk and 394 high-risk patients.
RESULTS
The median follow-up time after SRT was 31.0 months. The 3-year biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS) was 85.7 % in EAU low-risk versus 69.4 % in high-risk patients (p = 0.002). The 3-year metastasis-free survival (MFS) was 94.4 % in low-risk versus 87.6 % in high-risk patients (p = 0.005). The 3-year overall survival (OS) was 99.0 % in low-risk versus 99.6 % in high-risk patients (p = 0.925). In multivariate analysis, EAU risk group remained a statistically significant predictor of BPFS (p = 0.003, HR 2.022, 95 % CI 1.262-3.239) and MFS (p = 0.013, HR 2.986, 95 % CI 1.262-7.058).
CONCLUSION
Our data support the EAU risk group definition. EAU risk grouping for BCR reliably predicted outcome in patients staged lymph node-negative after RP and with PSMA-PET before SRT. To our knowledge, this is the first study validating the EAU risk grouping in patients treated with PSMA-PET-planned SRT
Celebrating 10 Years of the Subseasonal to Seasonal Prediction Project and Looking to the Future
Get PDFThe conference clearly demonstrated the increasing interest and growth of the scientific
community working on the development and application of subseasonal to seasonal
prediction since the start of the World Weather Research Programme (WWRP)/World
Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) Prediction project
in 2013. The conference, which was held at the University of Reading (United Kingdom),
was organized into three main themes as briefly summarized below, with 11 invited talks,
74 oral contributed talks, and 101 posters. The conference also included a 2-h breakout
session, wherein eight groups discussed the current state and prospect for S2S prediction,
and an early-career researcher event. A summary of these discussions and recommendations
is presented below. The conference web page (https://research.reading.ac.uk/s2s-summit2023/)
is archived at the University of Readin
Human prosocial preferences are related to slow-wave activity in sleep.
Get PDFProsocial behavior is crucial for the smooth functioning of society. Yet, individuals differ vastly in the propensity to behave prosocially. Here we try to explain these individual differences under normal sleep conditions without any experimental modulation of sleep. Using a portable high-density EEG we measured sleep data in 54 healthy adults (28 females) during a normal night's sleep at participants' homes. To capture prosocial preferences, participants played an incentivised public goods game in which they faced real monetary consequences. Whole-brain analyses showed that higher relative slow-wave activity (SWA, an indicator of sleep depth) in a cluster of electrodes over the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) was associated with increased prosocial preferences. Source localization and CSD analyses further support these findings. Recent sleep deprivation studies imply that sleeping enough makes us more prosocial; the present findings suggest that it is not only sleep duration, but particularly sufficient sleep depth in the TPJ that is positively related to prosociality. Because the TPJ plays a central role in social cognitive functions, we speculate that sleep depth in the TPJ, as reflected by relative SWA, might serve as a dispositional indicator of social cognition ability, which is reflected in prosocial preferences. These findings contribute to the emerging framework explaining the link between sleep and prosocial behavior by shedding light on the underlying mechanisms.Significance Statement Sleep deprivation reportedly hampers prosocial behavior. Yet, sleep loss is not a regular occurrence. We studied participants without experimentally manipulating their sleep and conducted polysomnography along with a prosocial economic task. We found that higher relative slow-wave activity (an indicator of sleep depth) in the right TPJ - a brain region involved in social cognition - is associated with increased prosociality. This demonstrates a novel link between deep sleep neural markers and prosocial preferences. Furthermore, our study provides evidence about a possible neural mechanism that underlies the behavioral findings of previous studies on sleep deprivation and prosocial behavior. Our findings highlight the significance of sleep quality in shaping prosociality and the potential benefits of interventions targeting sleep quality to promote social capital
Seesedimente - Natürliche Archive für Pflanzenschutzmittel
No full textArbeiten die Fachgebiete Paläolimnologie und Umweltchemie zusammen, können die Schwankungen der Pflanzenschutzmitteleinträge in aquatische Ökosysteme seit dem Beginn der verbreiteten Anwendung nach ca. 1950 rekonstruiert werden. Das ist insofern spannend, da «Wasser» nicht archiviert wird. Die Analyse der Sedimentkerne ermöglicht einen Einblick in vergangene anthropogene und natürliche Stoffeinträge in die Seen
Environmental cleaning and disinfection in the operating room: a systematic scoping review through a human factors and systems engineering lens.
Get PDFOBJECTIVE
To synthesize evidence and identify gaps in the literature on environmental cleaning and disinfection in the operating room based on a human factors and systems engineering approach guided by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model.
DESIGN
A systematic scoping review.
METHODS
Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched 4 databases (ie, PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, CINAHL) for empirical studies on operating-room cleaning and disinfection. Studies were categorized based on their objectives and designs and were coded using the SEIPS model. The quality of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies with a nonequivalent groups design was assessed using version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials.
RESULTS
In total, 40 studies were reviewed and categorized into 3 groups: observational studies examining the effectiveness of operating-room cleaning and disinfections (11 studies), observational study assessing compliance with operating-room cleaning and disinfection (1 study), and interventional studies to improve operating-room cleaning and disinfection (28 studies). The SEIPS-based analysis only identified 3 observational studies examining individual work-system components influencing the effectiveness of operating-room cleaning and disinfection. Furthermore, most interventional studies addressed single work-system components, including tools and technologies (20 studies), tasks (3 studies), and organization (3 studies). Only 2 studies implemented interventions targeting multiple work-system components.
CONCLUSIONS
The existing literature shows suboptimal compliance and inconsistent effectiveness of operating-room cleaning and disinfection. Improvement efforts have been largely focused on cleaning and disinfection tools and technologies and staff monitoring and training. Future research is needed (1) to systematically examine work-system factors influencing operating-room cleaning and disinfection and (2) to redesign the entire work system to optimize operating-room cleaning and disinfection
H2O-rich rutile as an indicator for modern-style cold subduction
Get PDFThe trace-element and isotope geochemistry of rutile are robust tools to determine metamorphic temperatures, age, and host-/source lithologies. The use of rutile as single grain indicator for pressure, temperature, time and composition (P–T–t–X) of the host rock, which is vital in the use of detrital rutile to trace plate-tectonic regimes throughout Earth’s history, requires the identification of a pressure dependent trace element in rutile. We investigate the pressure dependence of hydrogen in rutile using polarized in-situ Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. H2O contents in rutile vary between < 10–2500 μg/g H2O with higher contents in samples with higher peak metamorphic pressures, making H2O-in-rutile a viable pressure indicator. The highest H2O contents at ~ 450–2000 μg/g are observed in mafic low temperature eclogite-facies rutile related to modern-style cold subduction conditions. Hydrogen zoning in FTIR maps indicates that H+ is retained at temperatures below 600–700 °C. Ratios of H2O/Zr, using H2O as pressure indicator and Zr as temperature proxy, are a proxy for thermal gradients of metamorphic rutile (i.e. P/T). Low temperature eclogite samples are also characterized by high Fe contents and therefore Fe/Zr-ratios might be used as a first order approximation for H2O/Zr-ratios to identify mafic low temperature eclogite facies rutile. Based on common discrimination diagrams, Nb, W, and Sn can be used to distinguish different host/source rock lithologies of rutile. Combining both H2O/Zr-ratios and Nb, W, and Sn contents can thus identify modern-style cold subduction signatures in rutile. The developed systematics can consequently be used to trace cold-subduction features in the (pre-Proterozoic) detrital record
A Mixtec Sound Change Database
Get PDFWe present an interlinked, expandable database of segmental sound changes among a large sample of Mixtec languages of Mexico. The database provides an up-to-date repository for scholars working on Mixtec and related languages. It serves the wider historical linguistics community by providing a model for managing large data sets in a way that streamlines traditional historical linguistic analysis at the same time as preparing the data for computational and quantitative analysis. We build upon previous studies but also introduce a novel annotation scheme for analyzing sound change in large and complex language groups or families. The database is hosted on GitHub (https://github.com/SAuderset/MixteCaSo) so that it can be improved and expanded on in the future. Publication versions such as this one are archived on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10630996)
3D Monte-Carlo simulation of Ganymede’s atmosphere
Get PDFWe present new model results for H2O, O2, H2, O, and H in the atmosphere of Ganymede. The results are
obtained from a collision-less 3D Monte-Carlo model that includes sublimation, ion and electron sputtering, and
ion and electron radiolysis. Because Ganymede has its own magnetic field, its immediate plasma environment
is particularly complex. The interaction between Ganymede’s and Jupiter’s magnetospheres makes it highly
variable in both space and time. The recent Juno Ganymede flyby provided us with new data on the
electron local environment. Based on the electron measurements recorded by the Jovian Auroral Distributions
Experiment (JADE), we implement two electron populations, one for the moon’s polar regions and one for the
moon’s auroral regions. Comparing the atmospheric contribution of these newly defined electron populations
to the overall source and loss processes is one of the main goals of this work.
Our analysis shows that for H2O, sublimation remains the most important source process even after
accounting for the new electron populations, delivering more than three orders of magnitude more H2O
molecules to the atmosphere than all other source processes combined. The source fluxes for O2 and H2,
on the other hand, are dominated by radiolysis induced by the auroral electrons, assuming that the electron
fluxes JADE measured during Juno’s transit of Ganymede’s magnetopause current layer are representative of
auroral electrons. Atomic O and H are mainly added to the atmosphere through the dissociation of O2 and
H2, which is primarily induced by auroral electrons.
Our understanding of Ganymede’s atmosphere today is mainly based on spectroscopic observations. The
interpretation of spectroscopic data strongly depends on assumptions taken, though. Our analysis shows that
for a holistic understanding of Ganymede’s atmosphere, simultaneous observations of the moon’s surface,
atmosphere, and full plasma environment (thermal and energetic ions and electrons) at different times and
locations (both with respect to Ganymede and with respect to Jupiter) are particularly important. Such
measurements are planned by ESA’s Jupiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), in particular by the Particle
Environment Package (PEP), which will greatly advance our understanding of Ganymede and its atmosphere
and plasma environment
Clinical effectiveness of pit and fissure sealants in primary and permanent teeth of children and adolescents: an umbrella review.
Get PDFPURPOSE
This umbrella review aimed to critically appraise the evidence published in systematic reviews (SRs) on the clinical effectiveness of sealants compared with each other/the non-use in primary/permanent teeth of children and adolescents with at least 12-month follow-up.
METHODS
A systematic literature search on 4 electronic databases was conducted up to January 18th, 2023. Following handsearching, two review authors independently screened retrieved articles, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias (RoB) using the risk of bias in systematic reviews (ROBIS) tool. Based on a citation matrix, the overlap was interpreted by the corrected covered area (CCA).
RESULTS
Of 239 retrieved records, 7 SRs met the eligibility criteria with a moderate overlap among them (CCA = 7.4%). For primary molars, in 1120 1.5- to 8-year-old children, data on the clinical effectiveness of sealants were inconclusive. For permanent molars, 3 SRs found a significant caries risk reduction for sealants versus non-use (≤ 36-month follow-up). There was insufficient evidence to proof superiority of sealants over fluoride varnish for caries prevention (3 SRs), and to rank sealant materials according to the best clinical effectiveness in permanent molars. One study was rated at low and 6 at high RoB, which did not allow for a valid quantitative synthesis.
CONCLUSION
Considering the limitations of this umbrella review, sealants are more effective for caries prevention in children's permanent molars compared to no treatment. Future well-implemented RCTs are needed to draw reliable conclusions on the clinical effectiveness of sealants in primary and permanent teeth of children and adolescents
Sex differences in functional outcomes of intravenous thrombolysis among patients with lacunar stroke.
Get PDFBACKGROUND
This study aimed to assess if there are sex differences in the functional outcome of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) among patients with lacunar stroke (LS).
METHODS
Consecutive patients admitted from 1 January 2014 to 31 January 2020 to hospitals participating in the Swiss Stroke Registry presenting with LS and treated with IVT were included. The study population was then divided into two groups based on patient sex, and a multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed to uncover sex differences in the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 90 days after stroke.
RESULTS
A total of 413 patients with LS were treated with IVT: 177 (42.9%) women and 236 (57.1%) men. Women were older than men (median age 74 years, 25th-75th percentiles 67-84 years versus 70 years, 25th-75th percentiles 60-80 years, value of p 0.001) and, after adjustment for meaningful variables, showed more frequently increased odds of a higher mRS score at 90 days after stroke (adjusted odds ratio 1.49, 95% confidence interval 1.01-2.19, value of p 0.044).
CONCLUSION
This study showed that female sex increased the odds of a worse functional response to IVT in patients with LS. Future studies should further elucidate the mechanisms underlying such sex differences
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