Publications by authors named "Duff S"

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a cosmic microwave background instrumentation suite in the Atacama Desert of Chile. More than 65,000 polarization-sensitive transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers will be fielded in the frequency range spanning 27 to 280 GHz, with three separate dichroic designs. The mid-frequency 90/150 GHz and ultra-high-frequency 220/280 GHz detector arrays, fabricated at NIST, account for 39 of 49 total detector modules and implement the feedhorn-fed orthomode transducer-coupled TES bolometer architecture.

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Background: Worsening renal function (WRF) is common in hospitalized patients being treated for acute heart failure. However, discriminating clinically significant WRF remains challenging. In patients hospitalized with acute heart failure, we evaluated if blood and urine biomarkers of cardiac and kidney dysfunction were associated with adverse outcomes.

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Background: Higher cardiac troponin is associated with worse outcomes in patients with acute heart failure. The significance of repeat measurements over hours remains unclear. We assessed whether a repeat measurement and the Δ between measurements of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) were associated with outcomes in hypervolemic patients with acute heart failure without acute coronary syndrome.

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Against a backdrop of legislative change that sees the taking of private sexual images underneath the clothing of a non-consenting other being made a criminal offence - upskirting - there is a need to understand the public's judgments of and motivations to perpetrate said behavior. In this study ( = 490), we investigated whether judgments of upskirting differed as a function of the sex of the person who was upskirted (male, female) and their perceived attractiveness (attractive, unattractive), as well as how variation in voyeuristic interest, belief in a just world, and dark personality traits predicted judgments of and proclivity to engage in upskirting. We consistently observed more lenient judgments of upskirting behavior when the person who was upskirted was attractive and male, with such judgements predicted by older age across all conditions.

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Background: Handheld optical coherence tomography (HH-OCT) can image awake, young children but lacks integrated segmentation/analysis software. OCT imaging of eyes with optic neuropathies demonstrates ganglion cell layer (GCL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thinning, with a normal or thickened inner nuclear layer (INL). We compared pediatric normative data with GCL/INL and GCC/INL ratios from HH-OCT macular scans of awake young children with clinically diagnosed optic neuropathies.

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Purpose: The absence of postoperative circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) identifies patients with resected colorectal cancer (CRC) with low recurrence risk for adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) de-escalation. Our study presents the largest resected CRC cohort to date with tissue-free minimal residual disease (MRD) detection.

Experimental Design: TRACC (tracking mutations in cell-free tumor DNA to predict relapse in early colorectal cancer) included patients with stage I to III resectable CRC.

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Background: Patients in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) may develop age-related medical problems. Objective: To compare hypertension prevalence and its risk factors between two MMT clinics, having similar treatment guidelines, but different characteristics, one from Tel Aviv (TA) and one from Las Vegas (LV).

Methods: Prevalence of hypertension (systolic ≥140 and or diastolic ≥90 mmHg BP) among all current 291 MMT patients in TA and 180 patients in LV were studied, including body mass index (BMI), drugs in urine, sociodemographic, and addiction history data.

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Background: CONVERGE was a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial that evaluated the safety of Hybrid Atrial Fibrillation Convergent (HC) and compared its effectiveness to endocardial catheter ablation (CA) for the treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (PersAF) and longstanding PersAF (LSPAF). In 2020, we reported that CONVERGE met its primary safety and effectiveness endpoints. The primary objective of the present study is to report CONVERGE trial results for quality of life (QOL) and Class I/III anti-arrhythmic drug (AAD) utilization following HC.

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The transgenic expression of rice triketone dioxygenase (TDO; also known as HIS1) can provide protection from triketone herbicides to susceptible dicot crops such as soybean. Triketones are phytotoxic inhibitors of plant hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenases (HPPD). The TDO gene codes for an iron/2-oxoglutarate-dependent oxidoreductase.

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Physical activity of a sufficient amount and intensity is essential to health and the prevention of a sedentary lifestyle in all children as they transition into adolescence and adulthood. While fostering a fit lifestyle in all children can be challenging, it may be even more so for those with cerebral palsy (CP). Evidence suggests that bone and muscle health can improve with targeted exercise programs for children with CP.

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Background/aim: Clotting factors promote cancer development. We investigated if coagulation proteins promote proliferation and migration in colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines and whether their direct inhibitors can attenuate these effects.

Materials And Methods: DLD-1 and SW620 cells were treated with tissue factor (0, 50, 100 and 500 pg/mL ± 10 μg/mL 10H10 [anti-tissue factor antibody]), thrombin (0.

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Physical activity of at least moderate intensity in all children contributes to higher levels of physical and psychological health. While essential, children with cerebral palsy (CP) often lack the physical capacity, resources, and knowledge to engage in physical activity at a sufficient intensity to optimize health and well-being. Low levels of physical activity place them at risk for declining fitness and health, contributing to a sedentary lifestyle.

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This study examined consumers' consumption, motivations, and concerns regarding meat and meat alternatives by means of an online survey of 1061 New Zealand consumers and review of literature. Outcomes of the survey indicate New Zealanders are overwhelmingly omnivorous (93%), regard taste as the most important factor in their meat purchasing decision followed by price and freshness and consider environmental impact and social responsibility of less importance. Those surveyed indicated willingness to pay 17-24% more for food safety and sustainability related meat attributes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Body mass index (BMI) affects the relationship between certain biomarkers and prognosis in patients with acute heart failure (AHF), with a specific focus on B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI).
  • A study of 866 AHF patients revealed that while BNP and hs-cTnI levels decreased with higher BMI, biomarkers like galectin-3 and sNGAL showed an increase.
  • The analysis indicated that BNP's association with adverse outcomes weakened as BMI rose, particularly in obese individuals, whereas hs-cTnI remained a reliable prognostic factor across all BMI categories.
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Background: Favorable clinical outcomes are difficult to achieve in long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (LSPAF) with catheter ablation (CA). The CONVERGE (Convergence of Epicardial and Endocardial Ablation for the Treatment of Symptomatic Persistent Atrial FIbrillation) trial evaluated the effectiveness of hybrid convergent (HC) ablation vs endocardial CA.

Objective: The study sought to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of HC vs CA in the LSPAF subgroup from the CONVERGE trial.

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Background: At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, elective surgical provision was severely affected by the need for hospital reorganization to care for critically ill patients. In response, National Health Service (NHS) England issued national guidance proposing acceptable time intervals for postponing different types of surgical procedure. This study reports healthcare professionals' private accounts of the strategies adopted to manage the imbalance of demand and resource, using colorectal cancer surgery as a case study.

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Background: Galectin-3, a biomarker of inflammation and fibrosis, can be associated with renal and myocardial damage and dysfunction in patients with acute heart failure (AHF).

Methods And Results: We retrospectively analyzed 790 patients with AHF who were enrolled in the AKINESIS study. During hospitalization, patients with galectin-3 elevation (> 25.

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Aims: Kidney function changes dynamically during AHF treatment, but risk factors for and consequences of worsening renal function (WRF) at hospital admission are uncertain. We aimed to determine the significance of WRF at admission for acute heart failure (AHF).

Methods And Results: We evaluated a subgroup of 406 patients from The Acute Kidney Injury Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin Evaluation of Symptomatic heart failure Study (AKINESIS) who had serum creatinine measurements available within 3 months before and at the time of admission.

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Background: Individuals with hemiparesis post-stroke often have difficulty with tasks requiring upper extremity (UE) intra- and interlimb use, yet methods to quantify both are limited.

Objective: To develop a quantitative yet sensitive method to identify distinct features of UE intra- and interlimb use during task performance.

Methods: Twenty adults post-stroke and 20 controls wore five inertial sensors (wrists, upper arms, sternum) during 12 seated UE tasks.

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Background: In patients with acute heart failure (AHF), the development of worsening renal function with appropriate decongestion is thought to be a benign functional change and not associated with poor prognosis. We investigated whether the benefit of decongestion outweighs the risk of concurrent kidney tubular damage and leads to better outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from the AKINESIS study, which enrolled AHF patients requiring intravenous diuretic therapy.

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Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and economic burden. With currently no approved treatment, an effective pharmaceutical intervention for this disease must be both clinically- and cost-effective.

Methods: A Markov model was constructed to estimate the clinical outcomes, costs, and quality of life impact of a hypothetical pharmaceutical intervention.

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