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"Ellis, Chris"
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Let me finish : Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the power of in-your-face politics
The controversial former governor and presidential candidate traces his rise to power through the bare-knuckle politics of New Jersey, describes his long friendship with Donald Trump, and shares insights into the current administration.
Book
Vascular endothelial growth factor-A promoter polymorphisms, circulating VEGF-A and survival in acute coronary syndromes
Development of a competent collateral circulation in established coronary artery disease is cardio-protective. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) system plays a key role in this process. We investigated the prognostic performance of circulating VEGF-A and three genetic variants in the VEGFA gene in a clinical coronary cohort.
The Coronary Disease Cohort Study (CDCS) recruited 2,140 patients, with a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), after admission to Christchurch or Auckland City Hospitals between July 2002 and January 2009. We present data for 1927 patients from the cohort genotyped for three SNPs in the VEGF-A gene, rs699947 (C-2578A), rs2010963 (C405G) and rs3025039 (C936T). Plasma VEGF-A concentrations were assayed in a subgroup (n = 550) of CDCS patients (geometric mean 36.6 [34.7-38.5] pg/ml). VEGF-A levels correlated with patient heart rate at baseline (p = 0.034). None of rs699947, rs3025039, nor rs2010963 genotypes were significantly associated with VEGF-A levels, but rs3025039 genotype was positively associated with collateral vessels perfusion according to the Rentrop classification (p = 0.01) and baseline natriuretic peptide levels (p<0.05). Survival in the CDCS cohort was independently associated with baseline VEGF-A levels and (in males) with rs699947 genotype.
This study is strongly suggestive that VEGF-A levels have value as a prognostic biomarker in coronary heart disease patients and SNPs in VEGF-A deserve further investigation as prognostic markers and indicators of angiogenic potential influencing the formation of collateral circulation.
Journal Article
Exploring the Trade-off Between Accuracy and Observational Latency in Action Recognition
An important aspect in designing interactive, action-based interfaces is reliably recognizing actions with minimal latency. High latency causes the system’s feedback to lag behind user actions and thus significantly degrades the interactivity of the user experience. This paper presents algorithms for reducing latency when recognizing actions. We use a latency-aware learning formulation to train a logistic regression-based classifier that automatically determines distinctive canonical poses from data and uses these to robustly recognize actions in the presence of ambiguous poses. We introduce a novel (publicly released) dataset for the purpose of our experiments. Comparisons of our method against both a Bag of Words and a Conditional Random Field (CRF) classifier show improved recognition performance for both pre-segmented and online classification tasks. Additionally, we employ GentleBoost to reduce our feature set and further improve our results. We then present experiments that explore the accuracy/latency trade-off over a varying number of actions. Finally, we evaluate our algorithm on two existing datasets.
Journal Article
X-Men : the age of Apocalypse. Vol. 2. Reign
The world groans under the Darwinian conqueror Apocalypse's rule. Under his thumb, America has become a dark and dangerous dystopia where mutants rule, humankind suffers, and survival of the fittest is all! But in the shadows, the freedom fighters known as the X-Men - following a tenuously thin thread of hope - continue their dangerous and multi-pronged plan to restore the true Marvel Universe.
BOOK
Accuracy of vascular tortuosity measures using computational modelling
Severe coronary tortuosity has previously been linked to low shear stresses at the luminal surface, yet this relationship is not fully understood. Several previous studies considered different tortuosity metrics when exploring its impact of on the wall shear stress (WSS), which has likely contributed to the ambiguous findings in the literature. Here, we aim to analyze different tortuosity metrics to determine a benchmark for the highest correlating metric with low time-averaged WSS (TAWSS). Using Computed Tomography Coronary Angiogram (CTCA) data from 127 patients without coronary artery disease, we applied all previously used tortuosity metrics to the left main coronary artery bifurcation, and to its left anterior descending and left circumflex branches, before modelling their TAWSS using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The tortuosity measures included tortuosity index, average absolute-curvature, root-mean-squared (RMS) curvature, and average squared-derivative-curvature. Each tortuosity measure was then correlated with the percentage of vessel area that showed a < 0.4 Pa TAWSS, a threshold associated with altered endothelial cell cytoarchitecture and potentially higher disease risk. Our results showed a stronger correlation between curvature-based versus non-curvature-based tortuosity measures and low TAWSS, with the average-absolute-curvature showing the highest coefficient of determination across all left main branches (
p
< 0.001), followed by the average-squared-derivative-curvature (
p
= 0.001), and RMS-curvature (
p
= 0.002). The tortuosity index, the most widely used measure in literature, showed no significant correlation to low TAWSS (
p
= 0.86). We thus recommend the use of average-absolute-curvature as a tortuosity measure for future studies.
Journal Article
Prescription of secondary prevention medications, lifestyle advice, and referral to rehabilitation among acute coronary syndrome inpatients: results from a large prospective audit in Australia and New Zealand
Objective To evaluate the proportion of patients hospitalised with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Australia and New Zealand who received optimal inpatient preventive care and to identify factors associated with preventive care. Methods All patients hospitalised bi-nationally with ACS were identified between 14–27 May 2012. Optimal in-hospital preventive care was defined as having received lifestyle advice, referral to rehabilitation, and prescription of secondary prevention pharmacotherapies. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with receipt of optimal preventive care. Results For the 2299 ACS survivors, mean (SD) age was 69 (13) years, 46% were referred to rehabilitation, 65% were discharged on sufficient preventive medications, and 27% received optimal preventive care. Diagnosis of ST elevation myocardial infarction (OR: 2.64 [95% CI: 1.88–3.71]; p<0.001) and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (OR: 1.99 [95% CI: 1.52–2.61]; p<0.001) compared with a diagnosis of unstable angina, having a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (OR: 4.71 [95% CI: 3.67–6.11]; p<0.001) or coronary bypass (OR: 2.10 [95% CI: 1.21–3.60]; p=0.011) during the admission or history of hypertension (OR:1.36 [95% CI: 1.06–1.75]; p=0.017) were associated with greater exposure to preventive care. Age over 70 years (OR:0.53 [95% CI: 0.35–0.79]; p=0.002) or admission to a private hospital (OR:0.59 [95% CI: 0.42–0.84]; p=0.003) were associated with lower exposure to preventive care. Conclusions Only one-quarter of ACS patients received optimal secondary prevention in-hospital. Patients with UA, who did not have PCI, were over 70 years or were admitted to a private hospital, were less likely to receive optimal care.
Journal Article
Sutton’s law, phaeochromocytomas and zebras
In the last column we featured a professor of surgery, a Franciscan monk, a Nigerian author and a professor of medicine. In this following column we have a bank robber, another professor of medicine, a pathologist and a surgeon.
Journal Article
C-Type Natriuretic Peptides in Coronary Disease
C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is a paracrine growth factor expressed in the vascular endothelium. Although upregulated in atheromatous arteries, the predictive value of plasma CNP products for outcome in coronary disease is unknown. This study aimed to compare the prognostic value of plasma CNP products with those of other natriuretic peptides in individuals with coronary artery disease, and investigate their associations with cardiac and renal function.
Plasma concentrations of CNP and amino-terminal proCNP (NT-proCNP) were measured at baseline in 2129 individuals after an index acute coronary syndrome admission and related to cardiac and renal function, other natriuretic peptides [atrial NP (ANP) and B-type NP (BNP)] and prognosis (primary end point, mortality; secondary end point, cardiac readmission). Median follow-up was 4 years. At baseline, and in contrast to CNP, ANP, and BNP, plasma NT-proCNP was higher in males and weakly related to cardiac function but strongly correlated to plasma creatinine. All NPs were univariately associated with mortality. Resampling at 4 and 12 months in survivors showed stable concentrations of NT-proCNP whereas all other peptides declined. When studied by diagnosis (myocardial infarction, unstable angina) at index admission using a multivariate model, NT-proBNP predicted mortality and readmission in myocardial infarction. In unstable angina, only NT-proCNP predicted both mortality and cardiac readmission.
In contrast to the close association of NT-proBNP with cardiac function, and predictive value for outcome after myocardial infarction, plasma NT-proCNP is highly correlated with renal function and is an independent predictor of mortality and cardiac readmission in individuals with unstable angina.
Journal Article
Visual Methods to Assess Strain Fields in Armour Materials Subjected to Dynamic Deformation—A Review
When impacted by a projectile, ballistic protection undergoes very large strain rates over very short periods of time. During these impact events, materials will undergo a very short region of elastic deformation, before undergoing significant plastic deformation. Due to the high levels of plastic deformation the samples undergo, strain gauges and other embedded sensors are often ineffective or become damaged before useful data can be obtained. Three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D DIC) is a non-invasive measurement method that uses two high-speed cameras, offset from each other by 15–45° to observe a speckle pattern on the sample material. As the material, and by extension the speckle pattern, deforms, the images taken throughout the deformation can be compared in sequence, to determine the motion and deformation of the sample. Recent advances in camera technology have allowed for frame rates in the hundreds of thousands of frames per-second, allowing for the measurement of very high-strain rate impact events. This paper will describe the premise of 3D DIC and provide a review of the current applications and research into high-speed impact testing using 3D DIC.
Journal Article