Light emitting diode with multifaceted reflector to increase coupling efficiency and alignment tolerance

A light source, such as an LED, is provided with a multifaceted reflector to facilitate coupling of emitted light into an optical waveguide such as an optical fiber. In a preferred embodiment, a conventional LED fabricated on one side of a transparent substrate is provided with a series of integral concentric reflecting rings on the opposite side of the substrate. The rings reflect light diverging from the LED toward the central axis of an optical fiber light.Published versio

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Longitudinal study of adolescent stress, critical consciousness and resilience trajectories in the context of structural racism: the RISE Baltimore study protocol

Introduction Systemic racism exposes Black and Latinx adolescents to a range of traumatic stressors that increase the risk for long-term emotional and behavioural health (EBH) problems. Researchers have theorised that critical consciousness (CC)—awareness of societal inequities and engagement in action to promote social justice—may serve as a protective factor that promotes youth well-being. There are few rigorous longitudinal research studies, however, that examine the development of CC among adolescents, the association over time of CC with EBH and the potential of CC to protect against harmful effects of race-related stress. This longitudinal study, Resilience in a Stressful Era (RISE), addresses these gaps using a mixed methods approach with Black, Latinx and White adolescents in Baltimore.Methods and analysis We plan to enrol up to 650 Black, Latinx and White adolescents ages 14–19 who reside in Baltimore, Maryland. The recruitment will include outreach through youth-serving organisations, community events, youth networks, social media, snowball sampling and re-contacting adolescents who participated in a prior study (R01HD090022; PI: Mendelson). Participants will complete online questionnaires assessing exposure to pandemic- and race-related stress, CC and EBH twice per year over 4 years as they transition into early adulthood. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, in-depth interviews exploring the development and impact of CC will be conducted with a subset of participants selected based on their CC scores and, separately, their caregivers. A Youth Advisory Board comprised of adolescents who are representative of our target study population will be developed to provide input on the study and its implementation. Growth mixture modelling and latent variable modelling will be used to analyse quantitative data. Themes identified through qualitative analyses will expand the understanding of quantitative findings.Ethics and dissemination All study procedures were approved by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Institutional Review Board. Findings will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at academic conferences. We will also communicate research findings with study participants and disseminate findings to the Baltimore community, such as developing briefs for the Baltimore City Health Department and/or hosting a town hall meeting for Baltimore families