A Comparison of Four Probability-Based Online and Mixed-Mode Panels in Europe

Inferential statistics teach us that we need a random probability sample to infer from a sample to the general population. In online survey research, however, volunteer access panels, in which respondents self-select themselves into the sample, dominate the landscape. Such panels are attractive due to their low costs. Nevertheless, recent years have seen increasing numbers of debates about the quality, in particular about errors in the representativeness and measurement, of such panels. In this article, we describe four probability-based online and mixed-mode panels for the general population, namely, the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) Panel in the Netherlands, the German Internet Panel (GIP) and the GESIS Panel in Germany, and the Longitudinal Study by Internet for the Social Sciences (ELIPSS) Panel in France. We compare them in terms of sampling strategies, offline recruitment procedures, and panel characteristics. Our aim is to provide an overview to the scientific community of the availability of such data sources to demonstrate the potential strategies for recruiting and maintaining probability-based online panels to practitioners and to direct analysts of the comparative data collected across these panels to methodological differences that may affect comparative estimates

Lentiviral Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Therapy in Patients with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome.

iskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an inherited immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the gene encoding WASP, a protein regulating the cytoskeleton. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) transplants can be curative, but, when matched donors are unavailable, infusion of autologous HSPCs modified ex vivo by gene therapy is an alternative approach. We used a lentiviral vector encoding functional WASP to genetically correct HSPCs from three WAS patients and reinfused the cells after a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen. All three patients showed stable engraftment of WASP-expressing cells and improvements in platelet counts, immune functions, and clinical scores. Vector integration analyses revealed highly polyclonal and multilineage haematopoiesis resulting from the gene-corrected HSPCs. Lentiviral gene therapy did not induce selection of integrations near oncogenes, and no aberrant clonal expansion was observed after 20 to 32 months. Although extended clinical observation is required to establish long-term safety, lentiviral gene therapy represents a promising treatment for WAS

Fire, vegetation, and Holocene climate in a southeastern Tibetan lake: A multi-biomarker reconstruction from Paru Co

The fire history of the Tibetan Plateau over centennial to millennial timescales is not well known. Recent ice core studies reconstruct fire history over the past few decades but do not extend through the Holocene. Lacustrine sedimentary cores, however, can provide continuous records of local environmental change on millennial scales during the Holocene through the accumulation and preservation of specific organic molecular biomarkers. To reconstruct Holocene fire events and vegetation changes occurring on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding areas, we used a multi-proxy approach, investigating multiple biomarkers preserved in core sediment samples retrieved from Paru Co, a small lake located in the Nyainqentanglha Mountains (29°47045.600N, 92°21007.200 E; 4845ma.s.l.). Biomarkers include n-alkanes as indicators of vegetation, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as combustion proxies, fecal sterols and stanols (FeSts) as indicators of the presence of humans or grazing animals, and finally monosaccharide anhydrides (MAs) as specific markers of vegetation burning processes. Insolation changes and the associated influence on the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) affect the vegetation distribution and fire types recorded in Paru Co throughout the Holocene. The early Holocene (10.7- 7.5 cal kyr BP) n-alkane ratios demonstrate oscillations between grass and conifer communities, resulting in respective smouldering fires represented by levoglucosan peaks, and high-temperature fires represented by high-molecular-weight PAHs. Forest cover increases with a strengthened ISM, where coincident high levoglucosan to mannosan (L = M) ratios are consistent with conifer burning. The decrease in the ISM at 4.2 cal kyr BP corresponds with the expansion of regional civilizations, although the lack of human FeSts above the method detection limits excludes local anthropogenic influence on fire and vegetation changes. The late Holocene is characterized by a relatively shallow lake surrounded by grassland, where all biomarkers other than PAHs display only minor variations. The sum of PAHs steadily increases throughout the late Holocene, suggesting a net increase in local to regional combustion that is separate from vegetation and climate change

Isolated Single-phase High Power Factor Rectifier Using Zeta Converter Operating in DCM With Non-Dissipative Snubber

This paper presents the study of a single-stage, single-phase, unity power factor converter, isolated by a high frequency transformer, based on a Zeta converter operating in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). The main feature of the proposed converter is its ability to naturally emulate an apparent resistance to the ac input source, without current sensor or current controller. Circuit operation, theoretical analysis and design example are included in this paper, along with experimental results taken from a laboratory prototype rated at 400W, input voltage equal to 127 V, output voltage equal to 200 V, switching frequency of 25 kHz and efficiency of 92 %. In order to reduce the commutation losses and limit the peak voltage across the power semiconductors, a non- dissipative snubber has been included in the laboratory prototype. With the advent of new low losses power semiconductor technologies, such as SiC and GaN, power converters operating in DCM will become very attractive, due to their simplicity and robustness, even for high power applications. This is the main motivation of the study presented hereafter

Ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is not a single disease and can be subdivided into at least five different histological subtypes that have different identifiable risk factors, cells of origin, molecular compositions, clinical features and treatments. Ovarian cancer is a global problem, is typically diagnosed at a late stage and has no effective screening strategy. Standard treatments for newly diagnosed cancer consist of cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy. In recurrent cancer, chemotherapy, anti-angiogenic agents and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors are used, and immunological therapies are currently being tested. High-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is the most commonly diagnosed form of ovarian cancer and at diagnosis is typically very responsive to platinum-based chemotherapy. However, in addition to the other histologies, HGSCs frequently relapse and become increasingly resistant to chemotherapy. Consequently, understanding the mechanisms underlying platinum resistance and finding ways to overcome them are active areas of study in ovarian cancer. Substantial progress has been made in identifying genes that are associated with a high risk of ovarian cancer (such as BRCA1 and BRCA2), as well as a precursor lesion of HGSC called serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma, which holds promise for identifying individuals at high risk of developing the disease and for developing prevention strategies

Design and development of a coaxial cryogenic probe for precision measurements of the quantum hall effect in the ac regime

The quantum Hall effect is the basis for the realisation of the resistance and impedance units in the International System of units since 2019. This paper describes a cryogenic probe that allows to set graphene Hall devices in quantisation conditions in a helium bath (4.2 K) and magnetic fields up to 6 T, to perform precision measurements in the AC regime with impedance bridges. The probe has a full coaxial wiring, isolated from the probe structure, and holds the device in a TO-8 socket. First, characterization experiments are reported on a GaAs device, showing quantisation at 5.5 T. In the AC regime, multiple-series connections will be employed to minimize the residual error, quantified by electrical modelling of the probe

Integrative genomic analysis reveals distinct transcriptional and genetic features associated with chromosome 13 deletion in multiple myeloma

Background and Objectives The chromosome 13 deletion (Delta(13)) is one of the most frequent chromosomal alterations in multiple myeloma (MM). Delta(13) is associated with an unfavorable prognosis, although there is increasing agreement that its prognostic relevance must be related to the ploidy status and the presence of different chromosomal translocations. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptional features of Delta(13) in MM.Design and Methods Highly purified plasma cells from 80 newly diagnosed MM patients were characterized by means of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and high-density oligonucleotide microarray for gene expression profiling and chromosomal alterations.Results We identified 67 differentially expressed genes in the patients with and without the chromosome 13 deletion, all of which were downregulated in the cases with Delta(13): 44 mapped along the whole chromosome 13, seven on chromosome 11 and three on chromosome 19. Functional analyses of the selected genes indicated their involvement in protein biosynthesis, ubiquitination and transcriptional regulation. An integrative genomic approach based on regional analyses of the gene expression data identified distinct chromosomal regions whose global expression modulation could differentiate Delta(13)-positive cases, in particular the upregulation of 1q21-1q42 and the downregulation of 19p and almost the entire chromosome 11. FISH analyses confirmed the close relationship between Delta(13)-positivity and the presence of extra copies of 1q21-1q42 (p=6x10(-4)) or the absence of chromosome 11 and 19 trisomy (p=5x10(-4)).Interpretation and Conclusions Our results indicate that distinct types of chromosomal aberrations are closely related to the transcriptional profiles of Delta(13)-positive cases, suggesting that the contribution of Delta(13) to the malignancy should be considered together with associated abnormalities