Field outcomes of laparoscopic ovum pick-up combined with in vitro embryo production in sheep: Effects of long-acting recombinant ovine FSH pre-stimulation, collection frequency, and donor breed

Laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU) combined with in vitro embryo production (IVEP) is a technology platform that improves the utilization rate of the elite ewe's ovarian oocytes and increases the number of obtained offspring. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of FSH pre-stimulation, serial oocyte collection, and breed on LOPU-IVEP under field conditions. Donors were randomly assigned to five groups (group A: decreasing doses of pituitary FSH (p-FSH); group B: constant doses of p-FSH; group C: two doses of long-acting recombinant ovine FSH (ro-FSH); group D: single administration of a long-acting ro-FSH in; group E: no FSH stimulation). Oocyte yield following LOPU (average recovered oocytes: 20.9 ± 0.5; average viable oocytes: 17.2 ± 0.4) and oocyte developmental competence (average blastocysts: 7.0 ± 0.2) in group C were significantly better than these of group D and group E, and similar to these of groups A and B. Meanwhile, there were no differences in oocyte yield and developmental capacity using repeated LOPU session at 1-, 2-, and 3-month intervals (p > 0.05). Finally, we compared LOPU-IVEP outcomes among five sheep breeds. The results indicated that East Friesian × Chinese Mongolian crossbred sheep and purebred East Friesian sheep had the more recovered oocytes and viable oocytes compared with the Suffolk, Dorper, and Texel breeds, and average number of blastocysts in East Friesian × Chinese Mongolian sheep group was also highest among the groups (8.1 ±0.3, p < 0.05). In summary, the results of this study indicate long-acting ro-FSH pre-stimulation combined with 12 times LOPU sessions over one year maximizes embryo production of elite donor ewes under field conditions.

Stable quantum-correlated many-body states through engineered dissipation

Engineered dissipative reservoirs have the potential to steer many-body quantum systems toward correlated steady states useful for quantum simulation of high-temperature superconductivity or quantum magnetism. Using up to 49 superconducting qubits, we prepared low-energy states of the transverse-field Ising model through coupling to dissipative auxiliary qubits. In one dimension, we observed long-range quantum correlations and a ground-state fidelity of 0.86 for 18 qubits at the critical point. In two dimensions, we found mutual information that extends beyond nearest neighbors. Lastly, by coupling the system to auxiliaries emulating reservoirs with different chemical potentials, we explored transport in the quantum Heisenberg model. Our results establish engineered dissipation as a scalable alternative to unitary evolution for preparing entangled many-body states on noisy quantum processors.

A machine learning model to predict therapeutic inertia in type 2 diabetes using electronic health record data

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the therapeutic inertia prevalence for patients with type 2 diabetes, develop and validate a machine learning model predicting therapeutic inertia, and determine the added predictive value of area-level social determinants of health (SDOH).

METHODS

This prognostic study with a retrospective cohort design used OneFlorida data (linked electronic health records (EHRs) from 1240 practices/clinics in Florida). The study cohort included adults (aged ≥ 18) with type 2 diabetes, HbA1C ≥ 7% (53 mmol/mol), ≥one ambulatory visit, and ≥one antihyperglycemic medication prescribed (excluded patients prescribed insulin before HbA1C). The outcome was therapeutic inertia, defined as absence of treatment intensification within six months after HbA1C ≥ 7% (53 mmol/mol). The predictors were patient, provider, and healthcare system factors. Machine learning methods included gradient boosting machines (GBM), random forests (RF), elastic net (EN), and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). The DeLong test compared the discriminative ability (represented by C-statistics) between models.

RESULTS

The cohort included 31,087 patients with type 2 diabetes (mean age = 58.89 (SD = 13.27) years, 50.50% male, 58.89% White). The therapeutic inertia prevalence was 39.80% among the 68,445 records. GBM outperformed (C-statistic from testing sample = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.83-0.84) RF (C-statistic = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.79-0.80), EN (C-statistic = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.80-0.81), and LASSO (C-statistic = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.80-0.81), p < 0.05. Area-level SDOH significantly increased the discriminative ability versus models without SDOH (C-statistic for GBM = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.84-0.85 vs. 0.84, 95% CI = 0.83-0.84), p < 0.05.

CONCLUSIONS

Using EHRs of patients with type 2 diabetes from a large state, machine learning predicted therapeutic inertia (prevalence = 40%). The model's ability to predict patients at high risk of therapeutic inertia is clinically applicable to diabetes care.

Non-Abelian braiding of graph vertices in a superconducting processor

Indistinguishability of particles is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics¹. For all elementary and quasiparticles observed to date-including fermions, bosons and Abelian anyons-this principle guarantees that the braiding of identical particles leaves the system unchanged^2,3. However, in two spatial dimensions, an intriguing possibility exists: braiding of non-Abelian anyons causes rotations in a space of topologically degenerate wavefunctions^4-8. Hence, it can change the observables of the system without violating the principle of indistinguishability. Despite the well-developed mathematical description of non-Abelian anyons and numerous theoretical proposals^9-22, the experimental observation of their exchange statistics has remained elusive for decades. Controllable many-body quantum states generated on quantum processors offer another path for exploring these fundamental phenomena. Whereas efforts on conventional solid-state platforms typically involve Hamiltonian dynamics of quasiparticles, superconducting quantum processors allow for directly manipulating the many-body wavefunction by means of unitary gates. Building on predictions that stabilizer codes can host projective non-Abelian Ising anyons^9,10, we implement a generalized stabilizer code and unitary protocol²³ to create and braid them. This allows us to experimentally verify the fusion rules of the anyons and braid them to realize their statistics. We then study the prospect of using the anyons for quantum computation and use braiding to create an entangled state of anyons encoding three logical qubits. Our work provides new insights about non-Abelian braiding and, through the future inclusion of error correction to achieve topological protection, could open a path towards fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Genetically encoded optical activation of DNA recombination in human cells

We developed two tightly regulated, light-activated Cre recombinase enzymes through site-specific incorporation of two genetically-encoded photocaged amino acids in human cells. Excellent optical off to on switching of DNA recombination was achieved. Furthermore, we demonstrated precise spatial control of Cre recombinase through patterned illumination.

The Far Ultra-Violet imager on the ICON mission

ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager contributes to the ICON science objectives by providing remote sensing measurements of the daytime and nighttime atmosphere/ionosphere. During sunlit atmospheric conditions, ICON FUV images the limb altitude profile in the shortwave (SW) band at 135.6 nm and the longwave (LW) band at 157 nm perpendicular to the satellite motion to retrieve the atmospheric O/N2 ratio. In conditions of atmospheric darkness, ICON FUV measures the 135.6 nm recombination emission of O+ ions used to compute the nighttime ionospheric altitude distribution. ICON Far UltraViolet (FUV) imager is a CzernyTurner design Spectrographic Imager with two exit slits and corresponding back imager cameras that produce two independent images in separate wavelength bands on two detectors. All observations will be processed as limb altitude profiles. In addition, the ionospheric 135.6 nm data will be processed as longitude and latitude spatial maps to obtain images of ion distributions around regions of equatorial spread F. The ICON FUV optic axis is pointed 20 degrees below local horizontal and has a steering mirror that allows the field of view to be steered up to 30 degrees forward and aft, to keep the local magnetic meridian in the field of view. The detectors are micro channel plate (MCP) intensified FUV tubes with the phosphor fiber-optically coupled to Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs). The dual stack MCP-s amplify the photoelectron signals to dominate the CCD noise and the rapidly scanned frames are co-added to digitally create 12-second integrated images. Digital on-board signal processing is used to compensate for geometric distortion and satellite motion and to achieve data compression. The instrument was originally aligned in visible light by using a special grating and visible cameras. Final alignment, functional and environmental testing and calibration were performed in a large vacuum chamber with a UV source. The test and calibration program showed that ICON FUV meets its design requirements and is ready to be launched on the ICON spacecraft.

Immersion freezing of supermicron mineral dust particles: freezing results, testing different schemes for describing ice nucleation, and ice nucleation active site densities

Ice nucleation on mineral dust particles is known to be an important process in the atmosphere. To accurately implement ice nucleation on mineral dust particles in atmospheric simulations, a suitable theory or scheme is desirable to describe laboratory freezing data in atmospheric models. In the following, we investigated ice nucleation by supermicron mineral dust particles [kaolinite and Arizona Test Dust (ATD)] in the immersion mode. The median freezing temperature for ATD was measured to be approximately -30 °C compared with approximately -36 °C for kaolinite. The freezing results were then used to test four different schemes previously used to describe ice nucleation in atmospheric models. In terms of ability to fit the data (quantified by calculating the reduced chi-squared values), the following order was found for ATD (from best to worst): active site, pdf-α, deterministic, single-α. For kaolinite, the following order was found (from best to worst): active site, deterministic, pdf-α, single-α. The variation in the predicted median freezing temperature per decade change in the cooling rate for each of the schemes was also compared with experimental results from other studies. The deterministic model predicts the median freezing temperature to be independent of cooling rate, while experimental results show a weak dependence on cooling rate. The single-α, pdf-α, and active site schemes all agree with the experimental results within roughly a factor of 2. On the basis of our results and previous results where different schemes were tested, the active site scheme is recommended for describing the freezing of ATD and kaolinite particles. We also used our ice nucleation results to determine the ice nucleation active site (INAS) density for the supermicron dust particles tested. Using the data, we show that the INAS densities of supermicron kaolinite and ATD particles studied here are smaller than the INAS densities of submicron kaolinite and ATD particles previously reported in the literature.

Regulation of cll by interleukin-10 - role of antisense IL-10

The role of IL-10 on the in vitro growth of B cells from patients with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was investigated. Previous work on a murine model of CLL demonstrated that the malignant B-l cells produce significantly higher levels of IL-10 mRNA than normal B-1 or B cells and antisense oligodeoxynucleotides specific for IL-10 mRNA inhibited their growth. In the present study, peripheral blood cells from CLL patients were found to be varied in the amount of IL-10 mRNA present. Several CLL samples underwent apoptosis in response to culturing in the presence of antisense IL-10. There was a correlation between the levels of IL-IO mRNA and the sensitivity to growth inhibition by antisense IL-10. This may indicate that, antisense IL-10 inhibits cell growth in a sub-population of CLL in which IL-10 is an autocrine cytokine.

MO-F-BRA-05: Real-Time 3D Tumor Localization for Lung IGRT Using a Single X-Ray Projection

PURPOSE

To study the feasibility of a novel 2D/3D image registration method, called Projection Metric Learning for Shape Kernel Regression (PML-SKR), in supporting on-board x-ray imaging systems to perform real-time image-guided radiation therapy in the lung.

METHODS

PML-SKR works in two stages: planning and treatment. At planning stage, firstly it parameterizes the patient's respiratory deformation from the patient's treatment-planning Respiratory-Correlated CTs (RCCTs) by doing PCA analysis on the inter-phase respiratory deformations. Secondly, it simulates a set of training projection images from a set of deformed CTs where their associated deformation parameters are sampled within 3 standard deviations of the parameter's values observed in the RCCTs. Finally, it learns a Riemannian distance metric on projection intensity for each deformation parameter. The learned distance metric forms a Gaussian kernel of a kernel regression that minimizes the leave-one-out regression residual of the corresponding deformation parameter. At treatment stage, PML-SKR interpolates the patient's 3D deformation parameters from the parameter's values in the training cases using the kernel regression with the learned distance metrics.

RESULTS

We tested PML-SKR on the NST (Nanotube Stationary Tomosynthesis) x-ray imaging system. In each test case, a DRR (dimension: 64×64) of an x-ray source in the NST was simulated from a target CT for registration. The target CTs were deformed by normally distributed random samples of the first three deformation parameters. We generated 300 synthetic test cases from 3 lung datasets and measured the registration quality by the mTRE (mean Target Registration Error) over all cases and all voxels at tumor sites. With PML-SKR's registrations, the average mTRE and its standard deviation are down from 10.89±4.44 to 0.67±0.46 mm using 125 training projection images. The computation time for each registration is 12.71±0.70 ms.

CONCLUSION

The synthetic results have shown PML-SKR's promise in supporting real-time, accurate, and low-dose lung IGRT. This work was partially supported by Siemens Medical Solutions.

SU-E-J-64: Towards a Patient Specific Deformation Model in the Male Pelvis for IGRT via Limited Angle Imaging

PURPOSE

To evaluate the feasibility of patient specific deformation models (PSDM) in the male pelvis for IGRT by limited angular imaging.

METHODS

In IGRT via limited angular imaging, insufficient angular projections are acquired to uniquely determine a 3D attenuation distribution. For highly limited geometries, image quality may be too poor for successful non-rigid registration. This can be overcome by restricting the transformation space to one containing only feasible transformations learned from prior 3D images. This has been successfully applied in the lung region where a majority of deformation is due to respiratory motion which can be adequately observed at planning time with RCCT. Typically, the phases of the RCCT are registered together to form an group-wise mean image and transformations to each training image. PCA is then performed on the transformation displacement vector fields. The transformation is found at treatment time by registration of digitally reconstructed radiographs of the transformed image to the measured projections, optimizing over the parameters of the PCA subspace. In the male pelvis, deformation is much more complicated than respiratory deformation and is largely inter-fractional due to changes in bladder and rectal contents, articulation, and motion of the bowels. A similar model is developed for the male pelvis which takes into account pelvic anatomical information and handles the more complicated deformation space.

RESULTS

Using the leave-one-out method, dice similarity coefficients in the prostate compared with manual segmentations are increased over the those obtained by rigid registration and are comparable with those obtained by 3D non-rigid registration methods.

CONCLUSIONS

This method produces better results than rigid registration and is comparable with results obtained by 3D/3D registration even though it uses limited angle projections. However, its relies on daily training CTs, so it is not yet a viable clinical method. Funding provided in part by Siemens Medical.

Randomised clinical trial: a novel rabeprazole extended release 50 mg formulation vs. esomeprazole 40 mg in healing of moderate-to-severe erosive oesophagitis - the results of two double-blind studies

BACKGROUND

Current PPIs may not achieve desired outcomes in some GERD patients due to limited duration of acid inhibition.

AIM

To evaluate a novel rabeprazole extended release (ER), which provides longer duration of drug exposure and acid suppression, in healing and symptomatic resolution of moderate-severe erosive oesophagitis.

METHODS

Patients with LA grade C or D oesophagitis were randomised to rabeprazole-ER 50 mg or esomeprazole 40 mg once daily in two identical 8-week double-blind trials (N = 2130). Two primary endpoints were tested sequentially: (1) healing by 8 weeks [hypothesis: rabeprazole-ER non-inferior to esomeprazole (non-inferiority margin = 8%)], (2) healing by 4 weeks [hypothesis: rabeprazole-ER superior to esomeprazole (P < 0.05)]. The secondary endpoint was sustained heartburn resolution at 4 weeks.

RESULTS

Rabeprazole-ER was non-inferior to esomeprazole in week-8 healing (80.0% vs. 75.0%; 77.5% vs. 78.4%). Week-4 healing (54.8% vs. 50.3%; 50.9% vs. 50.7%) and sustained heartburn resolution (48.3% vs. 48.2%; 53.2% vs. 52.5%) were not significantly different. Post hoc combined results for grade D revealed rabeprazole-ER vs. esomeprazole differences in week-8 healing = 10.4% (95% CI: -1.4%, 22.2%) and week-4 healing = 12.0% (P = 0.048).

CONCLUSIONS

Rabeprazole-ER is as effective as esomeprazole in healing moderate-severe oesophagitis and achieves similar rates of heartburn resolution. Subgroup analysis suggests the possibility of benefit in severe oesophagitis, but this requires further evaluation (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00658528 and NCT00658775).

Characterization of a nematic PALC at large oblique incidence angles

Compared with conventional photometric methods of measuring cell parameters, including the cell gap and the pretilt angle of a nematic parallel-aligned liquid crystal (PALC) using multiple wavelengths at normal incidence, this research proposes the use of a phase-sensitive interferometric ellipsometer to determine cell parameters precisely based on a single wavelength at large oblique incidence angles. The advantage of this method is that it detects the phase difference using an optical heterodyne interferometer in which a common phase noise rejection mode is provided. Thus, there is a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the phase measurement. In addition, a range of large oblique incidence angles on the PALC is used so that a high sensitivity measurement of the cell parameters is obtained experimentally. During the measurements, the multiple reflections and spatial shifting effect of the emerging extraordinary ray (E-ray) and ordinary ray (O-ray) from the PALC at large oblique incidence angles are able to be reduced effectively by the use of retro-reflected geometry in the interferometer. The experimental results verify that the sensitivities for the cell gap and pretilt angle measurements are 0.3 nm and 0.01 degrees , respectively.

Imaging of human aortic atherosclerotic plaques by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is analogous to ultrasound imaging except that it uses infrared light instead of sound. Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) combines the advantages of OCT and provides additional image contrast of the tested sample. We demonstrate this technique for imaging of back-reflected light, birefringence, and fast-axis orientation simultaneously in different kinds of atherosclerosis plaque. This in vitro study suggests birefringence changes in plaque are due to the prominent deposition of collagen or cholesterol by correlating PS-OCT images with histology. Thus the combination of high resolution structural imaging and birefringence detection make PS-OCT a potentially powerful tool for early assessment of atherosclerosis appearance and prediction of plaque rupture.

Angular distribution of polarized photon-pairs in a scattering medium with a Zeeman laser scanning confocal microscope

A novel confocal microscope designed for use with turbid media is proposed. We use a Zeeman laser as the light source. Based on the properties of two-frequency polarized photon-pairs and the common-path feature of polarized photon-pairs with heterodyne detection employed in the proposed confocal microscope, three gatings (spatial filtering gating, polarization gating and spatial coherence gating) are thus simultaneously incorporated in the microscope. Experimental results for the angular distribution of polarized photon-pairs in a scattering medium indicate that polarization gating and spatial coherence gating preclude the detection of multiply scattered photons, whereas the pinhole selects the least scattered photon-pairs. Thus, better performance for axial resolution than can be obtained with a conventional confocal microscope is demonstrated experimentally. In addition, the proposed microscope is able to either look deeper into a turbid medium or work with a denser medium; furthermore, the axial resolution is improved.

Internet heavy use and addiction among Taiwanese college students: an online interview study

This paper presents empirical qualitative results of Internet heavy-use and addiction among some college students in Taiwan. It offers in-depth, online interviews of student-subjects in order to facilitate an interdisciplinary understanding of Internet heavy use, addiction and its potential impacts. A total of 83 subjects were interviewed, both as individuals and in chat-room groups. The analysis of qualitative data presented in six major themes: (1) Internet use and reasons; (2) Internet features; (3) the Internet as replacement for other media; (4) impact of Internet overuse; (5) controlling Internet use; and (6) coping with Internet withdrawal. Discussions, explanations, along with examples and quotes from subjects, are provided in each section. Implications for student affairs administrators and further research directions are also addressed.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced activation of downstream NF-kappaB site of the promoter mediates epithelial ICAM-1 expression and monocyte adhesion. Involvement of PKCalpha, tyrosine kinase, and IKK2, but not MAPKs, pathway

TNF-alpha induced an increase in intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression in human A549 epithelial cells and immunofluorescence staining confirmed this result. The enhanced ICAM-1 expression was shown to increase the adhesion of U937 cells to A549 cells. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (genistein or tyrphostin 23) or phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) inhibitor (D 609) attenuated TNF-alpha-induced ICAM-1 expression. TNF-alpha produced an increase in protein kinase C (PKC) activity and this effect was inhibited by D 609. PKC inhibitors (staurosporine, Ro 31-8220, calphostin C, or Go 6976) also inhibited TNF-alpha-induced response. 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), a PKC activator, stimulated ICAM-1 expression, this effect was inhibited by genistein or tyrphostin 23. Treatment of cells with TNF-alpha resulted in stimulation of p44/42 MAPK, p38, and JNK. However, TNF-alpha-induced ICAM-1 expression was not affected by either MEK inhibitor, PD 98059, or p38 inhibitor, SB 203580. A cell-permeable ceramide analog, C(2) ceramide, also stimulated the activation of these three MAPKs, but had no effect on ICAM-1 expression. NF-kappaB DNA-protein binding and ICAM-1 promoter activity were enhanced by TNF-alpha and these effects were inhibited by D 609, calphostin C, or tyrphostin 23, but not by PD 98059 or SB 203580. TPA also stimulated NF-kappaB DNA-protein binding and ICAM-1 promoter activity, these effects being inhibited by genistein or tyrphostin 23. TNF-alpha- or TPA-induced ICAM-1 promoter activity was inhibited by dominant negative PKCalpha or IKK2, but not IKK1 mutant. IKK activity was stimulated by both TNF-alpha and TPA, and these effects were inhibited by Ro 31-8220 or tyrphostin 23. These data suggest that, in A549 cells, TNF-alpha activates PC-PLC to induce activation of PKCalpha and protein tyrosine kinase, resulting in the stimulation of IKK2, and NF-kappaB in the ICAM-1 promoter, then initiation of ICAM-1 expression and neutrophil adhesion. However, activation of p44/42 MAPK, p38, and JNK is not involved in this event.

Elevated F-18 FDG uptake in laryngeal muscles mimicking thyroid cancer metastases

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) has been used to evaluate early-stage larynx cancer and metastases of thyroid cancer. However, elevated F-18 FDG uptake in laryngeal muscles may lead to misinterpretation. In this report, three patients with thyroid cancer are described who had thyroid surgery 2 months to 1 year before F-18 FDG positron emission tomographic imaging. Various degrees of moderate to intense uptake were observed in their laryngeal regions. In one patient, this was caused by laryngeal muscle uptake. To determine the origin of the increased muscle uptake in the other two patients, the authors analyzed the position and shape of the foci of high uptake in light of the patients' clinical histories and other imaging results.

Kinetic characteristics of bacterial azo-dye decolorization by Pseudomonas luteola

A Pseudomonas luteola strain expressing azoreductase activity was utilized to remove the color of an azo dye (reactive red 22) from contaminated solutions. The effects of substrate concentrations, medium compositions, and operation parameters (e.g., pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, etc.) on decolorization of the azo dye by a P. luteola strain were systematically investigated to reveal the key factors that dominate the performance of azo-dye decolorization. The metabolites resulting from bacterial decolorization were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometery (MS). The results show that the dissolved oxygen and glucose concentration retarded decolorization of reactive red 22 by P. luteola. The optimal azo-dye decolorization occurred at 37 degrees C, while more rapid decolorization took place over pH 7-9. Yeast extract and tryptone strongly enhanced the decolorization. The Michaelis-Menten model can satisfactorily describe the dependence of specific decolorization rate on the concentration of substrate (reactive red 22 or yeast extract). Decolorization of the azo dye by intact cells of P. luteola was essentially independent of the growth phase, whereas the azoreductase activity of the cell-free extract decreased in the order of late-stationary phase > early-stationary phase > mid-log phase. This suggests that mass transfer of the azo dye across the cell membrane may be the rate-limiting step. The HPLC and MS analyses suggest that both partial reduction and complete cleavage of the azo bond could contribute to decolorization of reactive red 22 by P. luteola.