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BACKGROUND: Whether the presenting symptom of pain vs mass impacts survival of early-stage synovial sarcoma is not known. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The authors investigated patients with early-stage extremity/trunk synovial sarcoma diagnosed from 2005 to 2017 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California for associations between the presenting symptom and survival. RESULTS: Among 56 patients with early-stage extremity/trunk synovial sarcoma, median disease-free survival (DFS) was 20.3 months for the pain-only group (n = 19) vs 50.5 months for the mass ± pain group (n = 37) (p = 0.004), and median overall survival (OS) was 35.7 months vs 53.9 months (p = 0.009), respectively. Median DFS was 26.9 months for the pain ± mass group (n = 32) vs 48.6 months for the mass-only group (n = 24) (p = 0.047), whereas OS was not significantly different (49.6 vs. 53.6 months, p = 0.282). Pain at presentation was associated with a higher incidence of deep tumors and a higher risk of relapse. Cox regression model adjusting for age, sex, race, tumor location, tumor size, and wait-time to seek medical attention showed that pain at presentation was associated with 3-fold worse DFS and OS. CONCLUSION: Pain at presentation was an adverse risk factor for patients with early-stage extremity/trunk synovial sarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impacts of a combination of incentives on the purchase decision of electric vehicle buyers in California from 2010 through 2017. We employ a comprehensive survey on over 14,000 purchasers of electric vehicles in the state of California. The survey covers a swath of purchase intentions, general demographics, and importance of various incentives. Our results indicate that the most important incentives for plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners are the federal tax credit, the California state rebate, and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane access. In addition, the importance of the incentives and their associated effect on purchase behavior has been changing over time: respondents are less likely to not change their decision and more likely to not buy a vehicle at all as time passes and the technology moves away from early adopters. Incentives are becoming more important for vehicle adopters as PEV market entry progresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and photovoltaic (PV) technology can boost the environmental benefits of the two "green" technologies for society as well as the cost-saving benefits for co-adopters. This study contributes to the literature on this topic by investigating the factors influencing the co-adoption decision among EV owners in California, a leading market for the two complementary technologies. Analyzing data from a cohort survey of EV owners in California, using statistical analyses and logistic regression, we find that there are differences between co-adopters and EV-only households in terms of sociodemographic characteristics like dwelling type, income, and household size; economic factors like residential electricity rate plan; EV type, and electric range; and access to charging capabilities at home and work. Most of these factors also influence the intention of current only EV-owners to adopt PV or not in the future. These findings raise important policy questions regarding incentive needs to improve affordability and address equity issues as well as the need for pricing mechanisms at the utility level and by charging service providers to encourage co-adoption among EV owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We evaluated the integrity and functional outcomes of rotator cuff tear after performing the double-pulley suture bridge (DPSB) repair technique according to the tear size by using serial ultrasonographic examinations. Materials and methods: The study included 41 consecutive arthroscopic rotator repairs using the DPSB technique. The average follow-up was 28 months. We completed the serial ultrasonographic examinations and compared the results with the functional outcome using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, the Constant score, the Korean Shoulder Scoring (KSS) system, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) score. Results: The overall retear rate was 19.5% (8 of 41), comprising 50% (2 of 4) for massive tears, 18% (2 of 11) for large tears, 17% (4 of 23) for medium tears, and no failures for small tears (0 of 3). The retear rate was 17.6% (6 of 34) after complete repair and 28.6% (2 of 7) after repair with gap formation. Seventy-five percent (6 of 8) of retears were identified within 6 months after operation and 25% (2 of 8) were identified more than 1 year after repair. The functional outcomes of the intact group and the retear group according to the ASES score, the Constant score, the KSS, and the UCLA score were 96, 93, 94, and 33, and 90, 82, 87, and 31, respectively (P > .05). Conclusion: The overall retear rate after DPSB repair was 19.5% with 2 time periods of retear. The outcome improved independent of the tear size and the cuff integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Workplace charging is a major driver of the pattern of use of infrastructure. • Female and older PEV owners prefer home over non-home charging locations. • Non-home charging is important for PEV owners in multi-unit dwellings. • Owners of long- and short-range BEVs have different mixed use of infrastructure. • Commute distance is an important factor explaining charging behavior of PHEV owners. This paper examines the charging behavior of 7,979 plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners in California. The study investigates where people charge be it at home, at work, or at public location, and the level of charging they use including level 1, level 2, or DC fast charging. While plug-in behavior can differ among PEV owners based on their travel patterns, preferences, and access to infrastructure studies often make generalizations about charging behavior. In this study, we explore differences in charging behavior among different types of PEV owners based on their use of charging locations and levels, we then identify factors associated with PEV owner's choice of charging location and charging level. We identified socio-demographic (gender and age), vehicle characteristics, commute behavior, and workplace charging availability as significant factors related to the choice of charging location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ware LB, Neyrinck A, O'Neal HR, Lee JW, Landeck M, Johnson E, Calfee CS, Matthay MA and the California Transplant Donor Network. Comparison of chest radiograph scoring to lung weight as a quantitative index of pulmonary edema in organ donors. Abstract: Quantification of the degree of pulmonary edema in organ donors is useful for assessing the clinical severity of pulmonary edema, determining response to therapy, and as an endpoint for therapeutic trials. Currently, there is no accurate non-invasive method for assessing the degree of pulmonary edema. We tested the performance of a four-quadrant chest radiographic scoring system compared to quantification of pulmonary edema by excised lung weight in 84 donors whose lungs were not used for transplantation. Chest radiographs were taken 3.6 ± 3.0 h prior to organ procurement and were scored by two of the authors. Lungs were excised without perfusion and individually weighed. The chest radiographic scoring system had good performance: correlation between total radiographic score and total lung weight of 0.61, p < 0.001. Performance of the scoring system was improved when chest radiographs with atelectasis were excluded ( r = 0.79, p < 0.001). The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for the detection of moderate pulmonary edema (total lung weight >1000 g) was 0.80. This chest radiographic scoring system may potentially be used to assess the clinical severity of pulmonary edema and may be useful as part of the evaluation of donors for suitability for lung transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza A virus causes numerous deaths and infections worldwide annually. Therefore, we have considered nanobodies as a potential treatment for patients with severe cases of influenza. We developed a nanobody that was expected to have protective efficacy against the A/California/04/2009 (CA/04; pandemic 2009 flu strain) and evaluated its therapeutic efficacy against CA/04 in mice experiments. This nanobody was derived from the immunization of the alpaca, and the inactivated CA/04 virus was used as an immunogen. We successfully generated a nanobody library through bio-panning, phage ELISA, and Bio-layer interferometry. Moreover, we confirmed that administering nanobodies after lethal doses of CA/04 reduced viral replication in the lungs and influenza-induced clinical signs in mice. These research findings will help to develop nanobodies as viral therapeutics for CA/04 and other infectious viruses. [Display omitted] • Through phage display technology using immunized Alpaca, H1 Nb-hIgG1 was developed. • H1 Nb-hIgG1 neutralize pandemic 2009 flu by binding to receptor binding domain. • Therapeutic efficacy of H1-Nb hIgG1 was confirmed in pandemic 2009 flu-infected mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how axial length (AL) changes the relationship of intraocular pressure (IOP) with peripapillary vessel density (pVD) in glaucoma versus non-glaucomatous eyes., Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional study of 2127 African Americans aged 40 years and older in Inglewood, California, were imaged with 6 × 6-mm optic disc optical coherence tomography angiography scans. There were 1028 healthy subjects (1539 eyes) and 65 subjects with glaucoma (86 eyes) who met inclusion criteria. A multivariable linear mixed effects regression model investigated the relationship of IOP on pVD after controlling for signal strength, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, and age. These results were stratified by AL groups., Results: Higher IOP was a significant predictor of lower pVD among subjects with glaucoma (P = 0.009), but not among healthy subjects (P = 0.26). After stratifying by the sample median AL (23.46 mm), higher IOP was associated with lower pVD among subjects with glaucoma with longer AL (≥ 23.46 mm, P = 0.005), but not among those in the shorter AL (< 23.46 mm, P = 0.45). IOP was not significantly associated with pVD among healthy subjects in either AL stratum., Conclusions: Among subjects with glaucoma with longer AL, IOP was significantly associated with pVD. This relationship was not seen among subjects with glaucoma with shorter AL or non-glaucomatous subjects in either AL group. These findings support the hypothesis that disturbed retinal autoregulation may be present in subjects with glaucoma with longer AL. Longitudinal studies are needed to further investigate whether axial elongation increases glaucoma risk by compromising retinal autoregulation.