10. The Academic Departments

Includes: Collective Bargaining, Labor Law, and Labor History: The Department of Economic and Social Statistics; Labor Economics and Income Security Department: A Parent Department: Human Resources and Administration; The Organizational Behavior Department; Evolution of the Human Resources and Administration Department

Standardised Outcomes in Nephrology-Polycystic Kidney Disease (SONG-PKD): study protocol for establishing a core outcome set in polycystic kidney disease

BACKGROUND: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common potentially life threatening inherited kidney disease and is responsible for 5-10% of cases of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Cystic kidneys may enlarge up to 20 times the weight of a normal kidney due to the growth of renal cysts, and patients with ADPKD have an increased risk of morbidity, premature mortality, and other life-time complications including renal and hepatic cyst and urinary tract infection, intracranial aneurysm, diverticulosis, and kidney pain which impair quality of life. Despite some therapeutic advances and the growing number of clinical trials in ADPKD, the outcomes that are relevant to patients and clinicians, such as symptoms and quality of life, are infrequently and inconsistently reported. This potentially limits the contribution of trials to inform evidence-based decision-making. The Standardised Outcomes in Nephrology-Polycystic Kidney Disease (SONG-PKD) project aims to establish a consensus-based set of core outcomes for trials in PKD (with an initial focus on ADPKD but inclusive of all stages) that patients and health professionals identify as critically important. METHODS: The five phases of SONG-PKD are: a systematic review to identify outcomes that have been reported in existing PKD trials; focus groups with nominal group technique with patients and caregivers to identify, rank, and describe reasons for their choices; qualitative stakeholder interviews with health professionals to elicit individual values and perspectives on outcomes for trials involving patients with PKD; an international three-round Delphi survey with all stakeholder groups (including patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, policy makers, researchers, and industry) to gain consensus on critically important core outcome domains; and a consensus workshop to review and establish a set of core outcome domains and measures for trials in PKD. DISCUSSION: The SONG-PKD core outcome set is aimed at improving the consistency and completeness of outcome reporting across ADPKD trials, leading to improvements in the reliability and relevance of trial-based evidence to inform decisions about treatment and ultimately improve the care and outcomes for people with ADPKD

Passive Laser Power Stabilization via an Optical Spring

Metrology experiments can be limited by the noise produced by the laser involved via small fluctuations in the laser's power or frequency. Typically, active power stabilization schemes consisting of an in-loop sensor and a feedback control loop are employed. Those schemes are fundamentally limited by shot noise coupling at the in-loop sensor. In this letter we propose to use the optical spring effect to passively stabilize the classical power fluctuations of a laser beam. In a proof of principle experiment, we show that the relative power noise of the laser is stabilized from approximately $2 \times 10^{-5}$ Hz$^{-1/2}$ to a minimum value of $1.6 \times 10^{-7}$ Hz$^{-1/2}$, corresponding to the power noise reduction by a factor of $125$. The bandwidth at which stabilization occurs ranges from $400$ Hz to $100$ kHz. The work reported in this letter further paves the way for high power laser stability techniques which could be implemented in optomechanical experiments and in gravitational wave detectors

Surpassing the Standard Quantum Limit using an Optical Spring

Quantum mechanics places noise limits and sensitivity restrictions on physical measurements. The balance between unwanted backaction and the precision of optical measurements impose a standard quantum limit (SQL) on interferometric systems. In order to realize a sensitivity below the SQL, it is necessary to leverage a back-action evading measurement technique, or else exploit cancellations of any excess noise contributions at the detector. %Many proof of principle experiments have been performed, but only recently has an experiment achieved sensitivity below the SQL. In this work, we extend that initial demonstration and realize sub-SQL measurement sensitivity nearly two times better than previous measurements, and with architecture applicable to interferometric gravitational wave detectors. In fact, this technique is directly applicable to Advanced LIGO, which could observe similar effects with a detuned signal recycling cavity. By exploiting quantum correlations created by an optical spring, we measure a total sensitivity below the SQL by $\textbf{2.8}$ dB, corresponding to a reduction in the noise power by $\textbf{72}\pm\textbf{5.1}$ \% below the quantum limit. Through the use of a detuned optical spring, this noise reduction is tunable, allowing us to choose the desired range of frequencies that fall below the SQL. This result demonstrates access to sensitivities well below the SQL at frequencies ranges applicable to LIGO, with the potential to extend the reach of gravitational wave detectors further into the universe.10 pages, 4 figure

Mavacamten in Symptomatic Nonobstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Mavacamten is approved to treat adults with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, its effects in nonobstructive HCM remain uncertain.We conducted a phase 3, international, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial to determine whether mavacamten improves functional capacity and patient-reported health status among adults with symptomatic nonobstructive HCM. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive mavacamten (starting at 5 mg per day and adjusted up to a maximum of 15 mg per day on the basis of left ventricular ejection fraction) or placebo (with sham dose adjustment) for 48 weeks. The two primary end points were the change from baseline to week 48 in peak oxygen uptake and in the 23-item Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire clinical summary score (KCCQ-CSS; scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status).We randomly assigned 289 patients to receive mavacamten and 291 to receive placebo. The mean (±SD) age of the patients was 56±15 years, and 46% were women. From baseline to week 48, the least-squares mean change in peak oxygen uptake was 0.52 ml per kilogram of body weight per minute (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09 to 0.95) in the mavacamten group and 0.05 ml per kilogram per minute (95% CI, -0.38 to 0.47) in the placebo group (between-group difference, 0.47 ml per kilogram per minute; 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.98; P = 0.07). The least-squares mean change in the KCCQ-CSS was 13.1 points (95% CI, 10.7 to 15.5) in the mavacamten group and 10.4 points (95% CI, 8.0 to 12.8) in the placebo group (between-group difference, 2.7 points; 95% CI, -0.1 to 5.6; P = 0.06). Reductions in ejection fraction and interruptions in the trial regimen were more common with mavacamten than with placebo.Among patients with nonobstructive HCM, mavacamten did not result in a significantly greater improvement in peak oxygen uptake or decrease in symptoms than placebo. (Funded by Bristol Myers Squibb; ODYSSEY-HCM ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05582395.)

Assessment of Home-based Monitoring in Adults with Chronic Lung Disease. An Official American Thoracic Society Research Statement

Background: There is increasing interest in the use of home-based monitoring in people with chronic lung diseases to improve access to care, support patient self-management, and facilitate the collection of information for clinical care and research. However, integration of home-based monitoring into clinical and research settings requires careful consideration of test performance and other attributes. There is no published guidance from professional respiratory societies to advance the science of home-based monitoring for chronic lung disease. Methods: An international multidisciplinary panel of 32 clinicians, researchers, patients, and caregivers developed a multidimensional framework for the evaluation of home-based monitoring in chronic lung disease developed through consensus using a modified Delphi survey. We also present an example of how the framework could be used to evaluate home-based monitoring using spirometry and pulse oximetry in adults with asthma, bronchiectasis/cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and interstitial lung disease (ILD).Results: The PANACEA framework includes seven domains (test Performance, disease mANAgement, Cost, patient Experience, clinician Experience, researcher Experience, and Access) to assess the degree to which home-based monitoring assessments meet the conditions for clinical and research use in chronic lung disease. Knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research of home spirometry and pulse oximetry in asthma, bronchiectasis/CF, COPD, and ILD were identified. Conclusion: The development of the PANACEA framework allows standardized evaluation of home-based monitoring in chronic lung diseases to support clinical application and future research. <br/

Deception and Self-Deception

Why are people so often overconfident? We conduct an experiment to test the hypothesis that people become overconfident to more effectively persuade or deceive others. After performing a cognitively challenging task, half of our subjects are informed that they can earn money by convincing others of their superior performance. The privately elicited beliefs of informed subjects are significantly more confident than the beliefs of subjects in the control condition. By generating exogenous variation in confidence with a noisy performance signal, we are also able to show that higher confidence indeed makes subjects more persuasive in the subsequent face-to-face interactions