196,514 research outputs found
The REMSDB Macroeconomic Database of The Spanish Economy
No full textThis paper presents a new macroeconomic database for the Spanish economy, REMSDB. The construction of this database has been oriented to conducting medium-term simulations for policy evaluation with the REMS model, a large Rational Expectations macroeconomic Model for Spain. The paper provides a detailed description of the data and documents its main statistical properties. The database is thought to be of major interest to related applications,whether strictly associated with the REMS model or, rather, with empirical macroeconomic studies.Spanish Data, Growth Data, Business Cycle Data, REMS
Effects of air pollution with ozone on primary health care consultations for upper respiratory tract diseases in children in Koper Municipality
No full textAdherence to risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) requirements for monthly testing of liver function
No full textBackground: Risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS), as mandated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for medications with the potential for harm, are increasingly incorporating rigid protocols for patient evaluation, but little is known about compliance with these programs. Despite the inherent limitations, data on administrative claims may provide an opportunity to investigate adherence to these programs.
Methods: We assessed adherence to liver function test (LFT) requirements included in the REMS program for bosentan through use of administrative claims. Patients observed in the Optum Research Database who were initiators of bosentan from November 20, 2001 to March 31, 2013 were included. Adherence to LFTs was calculated using pharmacy claims for bosentan dispensation and medical claims for laboratory services, and was assessed at the time of drug initiation and within specified time intervals throughout follow-up.
Results: Of 742 patients, 523 (70.5%) had ≥1 qualifying LFT. Among patients with ≥12 dispensations, claims for LFTs at individual dispensations were 53.2–64.0%. Median proportion of dispensations with ≥1 LFT was 0.8 among patients with ≥6 (interquartile range, 0.7–1.0) or ≥12 (0.7–0.9) dispensations. Adherence was 90–100% for 33.3% of all initiators, whereas 29.3% of initiators were non-adherent (defined as <50% of on-therapy LFTs).
Conclusions: Analyses of administrative claims suggest that the REMS program for bosentan may not have adequately guaranteed adherence to the program’s monthly monitoring of LFTs. Such investigations of existing REMS programs may provide insight on how to accomplish more successful evaluation of REMS
Could radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry (REMS) overcome the overestimation in BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at the lumbar spine?
No full textBackground: Osteoarthritis (OA) and vertebral fractures at the lumbar spine lead to an overestimation of bone mineral density (BMD). Recently, a new approach for osteoporosis diagnosis, defined as radiofrequency echographic multi-spectrometry (REMS), represents an innovative diagnostic tool that seems to be able to investigate bone quality and provide an estimation of fracture risk independent of BMD. The aim of this paper was to evaluate whether the use of REMS technology can favor the diagnosis of osteoporosis in subjects with an apparent increase in BMD. Methods: In a cohort of 159 postmenopausal (66.2 ± 11.6 yrs) women with overestimated BMD by DXA at the lumbar spine, we performed an echographic scan with the REMS technique. Results: The mean values of BMD at different skeletal sites obtained by the DXA and REMS techniques showed that the BMD T-scores by REMS were significantly lower than those obtained by the DXA technique both at the lumbar spine (p < 0.01) and at all femoral subregions (p < 0.05). In OA subjects, the percentage of women classified as “osteoporotic” on the basis of BMD by REMS was markedly higher with respect to those classified by DXA (35.1% vs 9.3%, respectively). Similarly, the REMS allows a greater number of fractured patients to be classified as osteoporotic than DXA (58.7% vs 23.3%, respectively). Conclusions: REMS technology by the analysis of native raw unfiltered ultrasound signals appears to be able to overcome the most common artifacts, such as OA and vertebral fracture of the lumbar spine, which affect the value of BMD by DXA. © 2022, The Author(s)
Properties of lipid electropores I: Molecular dynamics simulations of stabilized pores by constant charge imbalance
No full textMolecular dynamics (MD) simulations have become a powerful tool to study electroporation (EP) in atomic detail. In the last decade, numerous MD studies have been conducted to model the effect of pulsed electric fields on membranes, providing molecular models of the EP process of lipid bilayers. Here we extend these investigations by modeling for the first time conditions comparable to experiments using long (mu s-ms) low intensity (similar to KV/cm) pulses, by studying the characteristics of pores formed in lipid bilayers maintained at a constant surface tension and subject to constant charge imbalance. This enables the evaluation of structural (size) and electrical (conductance) properties of the pores formed, providing information hardly accessible directly by experiments. Extensive simulations of EP of simple phosphatidylcholine bilayers in 1 M NaCl show that hydrophilic pores with stable radii (1-2.5 nm) form under transmembrane voltages between 420 and 630 mV, allowing for ionic conductance in the range of 6.4-29.5 nS. We discuss in particular these findings and characterize both convergence and size effects in the MD simulations. We further extend these studies in a follow-up paper (Rems et al., Bioelectrochemistry, Submitted), by proposing an improved continuum model of pore conductance consistent with the results from the MD simulations
REMS technique: Future perspectives in an Academic Hospital
No full textCurrently, dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the most widely used method for diagnosing osteoporosis through bone mineral density (BMD) assessments on lumbar spine and proximal femur. An innovative echo-graphic approach for osteoporosis diagnosis, directly applicable on both femoral neck and lumbar spine, has been recently introduced and clinically validated through single-center and multicenter studies. This developed approach has been subsequently defined as Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectrometry (REMS). REMS technology arouses the interest of clinicians not only for its characteristics, such as simplicity and repeatability, transportability and absence of ionizing radiation, but also because it can provide information on bone tissue characteristics (elasticity, microstructure) different from the BMD measured by DEXA. Moreover, this technique could also be used in the diagnosis of different metabolic bone diseases, in patients with corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis, in diabetics, or in women treated with aromatase inhibitors, conditions in which the assessment of BMD underestimates the fracture risk. Furthermore, the absence of ionizing radiation represents a valid possibility of using REMS echography to assess bone mineral status in children
Indian Coal Ash: A Potential Alternative Resource for Rare Earth Metals (REMs)
No full textHuge scarcity of rare earth metals (REMs) globally, lack of good natural resources, and generation of tremendous coal ash containing REMs of power plant attracted the researchers to work in this area. The analysis of geologically distributed heterogeneous coal samples at CSIR-NML, India reports the presence of 0.5–1.5 kg/Ton REMs in particular seam of coal at Indian eastern part. In this regard, systematic leaching studies were made to recover REMs from Indian coal ash using hydrometallurgical technique. Maximum dissolution of REMs from coal ash take place using HCl of concentration ranging between 2 and 6 M at elevated temperature. From the obtained leach liquor, more than 90% REMs were recovered using oxalate precipitation. The process developed has tremendous potential to be commercialized after feasibility studies
DeepREM: Urban REMs dataset
No full textUrban REMs dataset
We present a Radio Environment Map (REM) dataset of urban scenarios. Each map provides coverage information in areas from 2290 x 3670 m2 to 3810 x 5160 m2 with a resolution of 10 m. Coverage areas are sampled from Colombian cities (Armenia, Bogota, Cali, Ibague, Manizales, Medellin, and Pasto) and U.S. cities (Columbus and Washington). The simulations include topographic and building vector database information, and Intelligent Ray-Tracing as propagation model
Effects of the MY34/2018 Global Dust Storm as Measured by MSL REMS in Gale Crater
No full textThe Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) instrument is on board NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover. REMS has been measuring surface pressure, air, and ground brightness temperature, relative humidity, and ultraviolet (UV) irradiance since MSL's landing in 2012. In Mars Year (MY) 34 (2018) a global dust storm reached Gale Crater at Ls ~ 190°. REMS offers a unique opportunity to better understand the impact of a global dust storm on local environmental conditions, which complements previous observations by the Viking landers and Mars Exploration Rovers. All atmospheric variables measured by REMS are strongly affected albeit at different times. During the onset phase, the daily maximum UV radiation decreased by 90% between sols 2075 (opacity ~1) and 2085 (opacity ~8.5). The diurnal range in ground and air temperatures decreased by 35 and 56 K, respectively, with also a diurnal-average decrease of ~2 and 4 K respectively. The maximum relative humidity, which occurs right before sunrise, decreased to below 5%, compared with prestorm values of up to 29%, due to the warmer air temperatures at night, while the inferred water vapor abundance suggests an increase during the storm. Between sols 2085 and 2130, the typical nighttime stable inversion layer was absent near the surface as ground temperatures remained warmer than near-surface air temperatures. Finally, the frequency domain behavior of the diurnal pressure cycle shows a strong increase in the strength of the semidiurnal and terdiurnal modes peaking after the local opacity maximum, also suggesting differences in the dust abundance inside and outside Gale.This research has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (MINECO), under project ESP2016-79612-C3-1-R.Peer reviewe
Perinatal oxidative stress and bone development in the first year of life: A preliminary study using REMS
No full textBackground: Oxidative stress has been implicated in impairing tissue development, but its impact on early postnatal skeletal growth in humans remains poorly understood. This study investigates the relationship between perinatal redox status and bone development during infancy, using Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectrometry (REMS), a non-invasive, radiation-free technology for bone quality assessment. Methods: A longitudinal observational study on a cohort of healthy, full-term neonates (n = 65, 29 females and 36 males) was conducted. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and markers of protein and DNA oxidation (advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP); 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8OH-dG)) were measured in arterial cord blood at birth. Auxological parameters were collected at birth and during follow-up visits at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Bone quality was assessed using REMS at 3, 6, and 12 months, and results were expressed as age-adjusted Z-scores. Results: Cord blood TAC levels showed a significant positive correlation with birth weight (r = 0.51, p < 0001), length (r = 0.40, p = 0.0013), and birth head circumference (r = 0,42, p = 0,0017). Statistical positive correlations were also found between cord blood TAC and length and weight a 1 month of age (r = 0.51, p < 0.001; r = 0.36, p = 0.0067). In contrast, higher levels of oxidative damage were inversely associated with REMS-derived Z-scores at both 6 and 12 months of life (8OH-dG vs REMS-derived Z-scores at 6 months (r=-0.23, p = 0.02), and AOPP vs REMS-derived Z-scores at 12 months (r=-0.33 p = 0.022; r=-0.64, p < 0.001, respectively). REMS Z-scores also showed strong internal consistency across timepoints (3 vs 6 months, r = 0.53, p < 0.001,; 6 vs 12 months, r = 0.29, p = 0.046). A significant correlation was observed between REMS Z-score and head circumference at 3 months (r = 0.48, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that perinatal oxidative balance plays a critical role in early longitudinal growth. REMS appears to be a reliable tool for tracking bone quality in infancy, with potential for future applications in pediatric bone health monitoring. Although limited to healthy infants born from physiological pregnancies, this study provides foundational data in a largely unexplored area and supports the hypothesis that fetal redox status may influence lifelong skeletal outcomes
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