28,938 research outputs found
CE Challenges: Work to Do
No full textCE has been used for more than two decades now. Despite many successes and advantages, there are still many challenges to be addressed. These challenges are both technical and organisational. In the paper we will address the current challenges of CE. Many challenges are related to the exchange of data and knowledge and to the systems that make data and knowledge exchange possible. Although much progress has been made in enabling extensive data and knowledge exchange and use, much remains to be wished. For example, there are still barriers to data exchange. Technically, these barriers may consist of different formats, differences in infrastructures and systems, and different semantics. There are also organisational and political barriers. For example, investment in information system may heavily impact upstream suppliers, while revenues of better information exchange may predominantly be gained by downstream actors. Without sharing costs and revenues, chain-wide information exchange will not be easily realised. Another barrier is the possible lack of willingness to share information, because of potential misuse of knowledge and loss of power. The paper is organised as follows. First we will describe the current manifestation of CE as described in a recent book. Second, we will list current trends in CE. Third, we will present some Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that are considered relevant for implementing and adapting CE practices. Last, we indicate some research and practical questions to be addressed, especially for areas that have a high potential and actual impact. </p
Evaluation of a novel assay for detection of the fetal marker RASSF1A: facilitating improved diagnostic reliability of noninvasive prenatal diagnosis
No full textBackgroundAnalysis of cell free fetal (cff) DNA in maternal plasma is used routinely for non invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) of fetal sex determination, fetal rhesus D status and some single gene disorders. True positive results rely on detection of the fetal target being analysed. No amplification of the target may be interpreted either as a true negative result or a false negative result due to the absence or very low levels of cffDNA. The hypermethylated RASSF1A promoter has been reported as a universal fetal marker to confirm the presence of cffDNA. Using methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes hypomethylated maternal sequences are digested leaving hypermethylated fetal sequences detectable. Complete digestion of maternal sequences is required to eliminate false positive results.MethodscfDNA was extracted from maternal plasma (n = 90) and digested with methylation-sensitive and insensitive restriction enzymes. Analysis of RASSF1A, SRY and DYS14 was performed by real-time PCR.ResultsHypermethylated RASSF1A was amplified for 79 samples (88%) indicating the presence of cffDNA. SRY real time PCR results and fetal sex at delivery were 100% accurate. Eleven samples (12%) had no detectable hypermethylated RASSF1A and 10 of these (91%) had gestational ages less than 7 weeks 2 days. Six of these samples were male at delivery, five had inconclusive results for SRY analysis and one sample had no amplifiable SRY.ConclusionUse of this assay for the detection of hypermethylated RASSF1A as a universal fetal marker has the potential to improve the diagnostic reliability of NIPD for fetal sex determination and single gene disorders
Expression of the Inhibitory CD200 Receptor Is Associated with Alternative Macrophage Activation
No full textClassical macrophage activation is inhibited by the CD200 receptor (CD200R). Here, we show that CD200R expression was specifically induced on human in vitro polarized macrophages of the alternatively activated M2a subtype, generated by incubation with IL-4 or IL-13. In mice, peritoneal M2 macrophages, elicited during infection with the parasites Taenia crassiceps or Tryponosoma brucei brucei, expressed increased CD200R levels compared to those derived from uninfected mice. However, in vitro stimulation of mouse peritoneal macrophages and T crassiceps infection in IL-4-/- and IL-4R-/- mice showed that, in contrast to humans, induction of CD200R in mice was not IL-4 or IL-13 dependent. Our data identify CD200R as a suitable marker for alternatively activated macrophages in humans and corroborate observations of distinct species- and/or site-specific mechanisms regulating macrophage polarization in mouse and man. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base
Synthesis optimization and charge carrier transfer mechanism in LiLuSiO<sub>4</sub>:Ce, Tm storage phosphor
No full textLiLuSiO4:Ce and LiLuSiO4:Ce, Tm show very efficient charge carrier storage properties upon beta irradiation after samples have received treatment in vacuum. They outperform the commercial storage phosphor BaFBr(I):Eu2+ in many aspects. The influence of the synthesis conditions, Ce and Tm concentration, nonstoichiometry and codoping with Ca, Hf, Al and Ge are reported. Based on the results of the synthesis optimization, thermoluminescence (TL) emission and TL excitation spectra a mechanism of charge carrier transfer, storage, and recombination during irradiation and thermal or optical readout is proposed.Accepted Author ManuscriptRST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and EnergyRST/Luminescence Material
The impact of P(NDI2OD-T2) crystalline domains on the open-circuit voltage of bilayer all-polymer solar cells with an inverted configuration
No full textWe fabricated P(NDI2OD-T2)/PTB7 bilayer all-polymer solar cells with an inverted configuration, where the annealing temperature was systematically varied. The current density-voltage behavior was investigated and the structural properties of the P(NDI2OD-T2) layers were characterized. Absorption spectroscopy, surface morphology, and crystallite analysis showed that increasing phase segregation of P(NDI2OD-T2) films occurred as the annealing temperature increased. We found that, as the P(NDI2OD-T2) stacking improved, with larger domains, the open-circuit voltage decreased and the saturation dark current density increased. This work provides a guide for the processing of P(NDI2OD-T2) layers to maximize the power conversion efficiency of all-polymer solar cells. (C) 2015 Author(s).open1186sciescopu
Data and code for: Variational Graph Author Topic Modeling
No full textThis is the tensorflow implementation of KDD-2022 paper "Variational Graph Author Topic Modeling" by Delvin Ce Zhang and Hady W. Lauw.
VGATM is a Graph Neural Network model that extracts interpretable topics for documents with authors and venues. Topics of documents then fulfill document classification, citation prediction, etc.
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Updated analytical solutions of continuity equation for electron beams precipitation – I. Pure collisional and pure ohmic energy losses
No full textWe present updated analytical solutions of continuity equations for power-law beam electrons precipitating in (a) purely collisional losses and (b) purely ohmic losses. The solutions of continuity equation (CE) normalized on electron density presented in Dobranskis & Zharkova are found by method of characteristics eliminating a mistake in the density characteristic pointed out by Emslie et al. The corrected electron beam differential densities (DD) for collisions are shown to have energy spectra with the index of −(γ + 1)/2, coinciding with the one derived from the inverse problem solution by Brown, while being lower by 1/2 than the index of −γ/2 obtained from CE for electron flux. This leads to a decrease of the index of mean electron spectra from −(γ − 2.5) (CE for flux) to −(γ − 2.0) (CE for electron density). The similar method is applied to CE for electrons precipitating in electric field induced by the beam itself. For the first time, the electron energy spectra are calculated for both constant and variable electric fields by using CE for electron density. We derive electron DD for precipitating electrons (moving towards the photosphere, μ = +1) and ‘returning’ electrons (moving towards the corona, μ = −1). The indices of DD energy spectra are reduced from −γ − 1 (CE for flux) to −γ (CE for electron density). While the index of mean electron spectra is increased by 0.5, from −γ + 0.5 (CE for flux) to −γ + 1(CE for electron density). Hard X-ray intensities are also calculated for relativistic cross-section for the updated differential spectra revealing closer resemblance to numerical Fokker–Planck (FP) solutions
Plasma DNA concentration as a predictor of mortality and sepsis in critically ill patients
No full textIntroduction: Risk stratification of severely ill patients remains problematic, resulting in increased interest in potential circulating markers, such as cytokines, procalcitonin and brain natriuretic peptide. Recent reports have indicated the usefulness of plasma DNA as a prognostic marker in various disease states such as trauma, myocardial infarction and stroke. The present study assesses the significance of raised levels of plasma DNA on admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) in terms of its ability to predict disease severity or prognosis.
Methods: Fifty-two consecutive patients were studied in a general ICU. Blood samples were taken on admission and were stored for further analysis. Plasma DNA levels were estimated by a PCR method using primers for the human β-haemoglobin gene.
Results: Sixteen of the 52 patients investigated died within 3 months of sampling. Nineteen of the 52 patients developed either severe sepsis or septic shock. Plasma DNA was higher in ICU patients than in healthy controls and was also higher in patients who developed sepsis (192 (65–362) ng/ml versus 74 (46–156) ng/ml, P = 0.03) or who subsequently died either in the ICU (321 (185–430) ng/ml versus 71 (46–113) ng/ml, P < 0.001) or in hospital (260 (151–380) ng/ml versus 68 (47–103) ng/ml, P < 0.001). Plasma DNA concentrations were found to be significantly higher in patients who died in the ICU. Multiple logistic regression analysis determined plasma DNA to be an independent predictor of mortality (odds ratio, 1.002 (95% confidence interval, 1.0–1.004), P = 0.05). Plasma DNA had a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 80% when a concentration higher than 127 ng/ml was taken as a predictor for death on the ICU.
Conclusion: Plasma DNA may be a useful prognostic marker of mortality and sepsis in intensive care patients
Lack of correlation of stem cell markers in breast cancer stem cells
No full textBackground:Various markers are used to identify the unique sub-population of breast cancer cells with stem cell properties. Whether these markers are expressed in all breast cancers, identify the same population of cells, or equate to therapeutic response is controversial.Methods:We investigated the expression of multiple cancer stem cell markers in human breast cancer samples and cell lines in vitro and in vivo, comparing across and within samples and relating expression with growth and therapeutic response to doxorubicin, docetaxol and radiotherapy.Results:CD24, CD44, ALDH and SOX2 expression, the ability to form mammospheres and side-population cells are variably present in human cancers and cell lines. Each marker identifies a unique rather than common population of cancer cells. In vivo, cells expressing these markers are not specifically localized to the presumptive stem cell niche at the tumour/stroma interface. Repeated therapy does not consistently enrich cells expressing these markers, although ER-negative cells accumulate.Conclusions:Commonly employed methods identify different cancer cell sub-populations with no consistent therapeutic implications, rather than a single population of cells. The relationships of breast cancer stem cells to clinical parameters will require identification of specific markers or panels for the individual cancer.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 27 February 2014; doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.105 www.bjcancer.com
Introduction and Author Biographical Notes
No full textThe Introductory Notes include The Cutting EDge\u27s mission statement, editorial board, founder\u27s note, and author\u27s biographies
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