Sustained Increase in Serum Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein after First ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Acute ischemic cardiac injury predisposes one to cognitive impairment, dementia, and depression. Pathophysiologically, recent positron emission tomography data suggest astroglial activation after experimental myocardial infarction (MI). We analyzed peripheral surrogate markers of glial (and neuronal) damage serially within 12 months after the first ST-elevation MI (STEMI). Serum levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) were quantified using ultra-sensitive molecular immunoassays. Sufficient biomaterial was available from 45 STEMI patients (aged 28 to 78 years, median 56 years, 11% female). The median (quartiles) of GFAP was 63.8 (47.0, 89.9) pg/mL and of NfL 10.6 (7.2, 14.8) pg/mL at study entry 0–4 days after STEMI. GFAP after STEMI increased in the first 3 months, with a median change of +7.8 (0.4, 19.4) pg/mL (p = 0.007). It remained elevated without further relevant increases after 6 months (+11.7 (0.6, 23.5) pg/mL; p = 0.015), and 12 months (+10.3 (1.5, 22.7) pg/mL; p = 0.010) compared to the baseline. Larger relative infarction size was associated with a higher increase in GFAP (ρ = 0.41; p = 0.009). In contrast, NfL remained unaltered in the course of one year. Our findings support the idea of central nervous system involvement after MI, with GFAP as a potential peripheral biomarker of chronic glial damage as one pathophysiologic pathway.     

Statistical testing for sufficient control chart performances during monitoring of grouped processes

With ISO 7870-8, a standardized application of charting techniques for short runs and small mixed batches was presented in 2017. Similar to various scientific approaches, it requires that sample values from grouped processes follow nearly identical distributions. In practice, however, there tend to be differences between distribution parameters. Moreover, equal parameters do not ensure that distributions are properly aligned to the center line and control limits of the chart. These facts can lead to undesired control chart performances which can be expressed by average run lengths (ARL) during in-control and out-of-control conditions. In this work, a statistical test for sufficient control chart performances during monitoring of grouped processes based on preliminary samples is proposed. Control chart performances are defined as sufficient when they deviate within acceptable ranges from usual performances during single process monitoring in mass production. The ARL resulting from estimated distributions and planned production sequences is used as test statistic and calculated via the Markov chain approach. Exemplary tests are executed for scenarios with individuals and cumulated sum (CUSUM) charts. A simulative determination of error rates resulting from the ARL-based testing demonstrates its effectiveness in testing for sufficient control chart performances compared to an indirect testing with Levene's test and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).     

Die 1920-er Traubenmoste Frankens

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die 1921-er Traubenmoste Frankens

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

A systematic comparison of PCA‐based Statistical Process Monitoring methods for high‐dimensional,time‐dependent Processes

High‐dimensional and time‐dependent data pose significant challenges to Statistical Process Monitoring. Most of the high‐dimensional methodologies to cope with these challenges rely on some form of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) model, usually classified as nonadaptive and adaptive. Nonadaptive methods include the static PCA approach and Dynamic Principal Component Analysis (DPCA) for data with autocorrelation. Methods, such as DPCA with Decorrelated Residuals, extend DPCA to further reduce the effects of autocorrelation and cross‐correlation on the monitoring statistics. Recursive Principal Component Analysis and Moving Window Principal Component Analysis, developed for nonstationary data, are adaptive. These fundamental methods will be systematically compared on high‐dimensional, time‐dependent processes (including the Tennessee Eastman benchmark process) to provide practitioners with guidelines for appropriate monitoring strategies and a sense of how they can be expected to perform. The selection of parameter values for the different methods is also discussed. Finally, the relevant challenges of modeling time‐dependent data are discussed, and areas of possible further research are highlighted. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1478–1493, 2016     

IL-9 production of naive CD4+ T cells depends on IL-2, is synergistically enhanced by a combination of TGF-beta and IL-4, and is inhibited by IFN-gamma

Dense CD4+ T cells isolated from naive mice produce only trace amounts of IL-9 when stimulated by immobilized anti-CD3 in combination with anti-CD28 Abs. In this situation, IL-9 production is significantly stimulated by TGF-beta and further enhanced by the addition of IL-4, which, by itself, has only a minimal influence. IFN-gamma was found to inhibit the enhancing effect of IL-4. However, increasing amounts of IL-4 in the presence of a constant concentration of IFN-gamma could overcome the inhibitory activity of IFN-gamma. The application of CD4+ T cells isolated from IL-2 knockout mice unequivocally revealed that IL-2 is essential for the production of IL-9 by T cells. In addition, the use of T cells from IL-4 knockout mice elucidated that the basic (IL-2 + TGF-beta) mediated IL-9 production is independent of IL-4. Therefore, our results demonstrate that optimal IL-9 production of naive dense CD4+ T cells is positively regulated at different levels: 1) by IL-2, which is essential for IL-9 secretion; 2) followed by TGF-beta, which promotes a considerable increase in IL-9 production above the level induced by IL-2; and 3) finally, by IL-4, which requires the presence of IL-2 and TGF-beta to strongly enhance the production of IL-9. IFN-gamma inhibits the production of IL-9 mainly at the level of IL-4 by neutralizing the effect of this cytokine.     

Fast point spread function computation from aperture functions in high-resolution positron emission tomography

The problem of extracting point spread functions from detector aperture functions in high-resolution PET is addressed. In the limit of very small size detectors relative to the ring dimensions, assumptions are made that lead to a fast and simple computation model yielding point spread functions with negligible errors due to the reconstruction algorithm. The methods allows one to assess accurately the intrinsic performance of a PET tomograph, and it appears to be adequate to relate the imaging capabilities in every point of the camera reconstruction field to the geometric and physical characteristics of the detection system. The method was developed as an investigation tool to help design the next generation of very-high-resolution PET tomographs.     

Sex differences in validity for academic and employment criteria, and different types of predictors.

Sex differences in validity coefficients were examined for a total of 6,219 pairs of validities. Differences were also examined for subsets of predictors and criteria and a random sample of pairs of validities from independent data sets. Data were taken from studies in Educational and Psychological Measurement, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and Personnel Psychology from 1955 to the present and from the manuals of the Differential Aptitude Test Battery and the College Qualification Tests. Female validities were slightly but significantly higher than male validities for academic criteria and for all predictor subsets, with the exception of high school background and personality predictors. Female validities were also greater than male validities (.037 in correlation units) in the random sample of independent validity pairs. Male validities were slightly higher for high school background and personality predictors and for employment criteria. The generalizability of the finding concerning employment criteria and the latter 2 predictor subsets is questionable because of the small number of pairs of validities available and the nonindependence of the pairs that were available. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)