Journal articles: 'Board monitoring intensity' – Grafiati (2024)

Abstract:

The purpose of this study to analyze the effect of board of directors diversity and monitoring intensity to profitability. Board of directors diversity measured by a composite index of gender, age, education, citizenship, and independence of the board of directors. Meanwhile, monitoring intensity measured by the composition of audit quality, number of meetings, and the number of committee. The objects are banks listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange period of 2015-2017 with a panel data regression. Selected samples was 40 banks and 120 observation. The results showed that board of directors diversity had a significant negative on profitability, this result provoke a gap to the previous research. While monitoring intensity is positive significant to profitability. Some practical and implications will be discussed in this study.

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We examine the impact of a firm’s asymmetric information on its choice of three mechanisms of corporate governance: The intensity of board monitoring, the exposure to market discipline, and CEO pay-for-performance sensitivity. We find that firms facing greater asymmetric information tend to use less intensive board monitoring but rely more on market discipline and CEO incentive alignment. These results are consistent with the monitoring cost hypothesis. In addition, we find that high information-asymmetry firms that have to substantially increase board monitoring intensity after the Sarbanes–Oxley Act suffer poor stock performance. Our evidence therefore suggests that regulators should use caution when imposing uniform corporate governance requirements on all firms.

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This paper contains distributed sensor system design for temperature, air humidity, and light intensity monitoring in greenhouse based Arduino Uno board. System contains 2 sensor-actuator nodes, and 1 controller node connected to Ethernet network through Ethernet Shield board. Sensor-actuator node with DHT 11 sensor works for taking environment informations such as temperature, air humidity, and light intensity, runs actuation in the form of emulating LED lights; and communicates with controller node which will process data using serial wire as a communication tool between nodes. Monitoring datas and user control interface is provided by controller node which can be accessed online in web browser. The system ability for monitoring environment in greenhouse and online access of environmental data generates controllable and automatic monitoring and management of plants.

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Abstract: The Weather Monitoring System using the IoT is one such application of IoT that has paved the way for organizations to create new and efficient solutions. Because of the rapidly changing climate, the weather forecast is uncertain and inaccurate these days. The IoT based Weather Monitoring system features to monitor temperature and humidity level, Barometric pressure, light intensity, air quality and rainfall. The required hardware includes Raspberry Pi, Arduino Mega, DHT11, Light intensity sensor BH1750, MQ-135, BME-280, and raindrop sensor.. All the above sensors are used to measure the given parameters. Arduino IDE and Node-RED software is used for programming and connecting hardware devices and online services. All sensors and hardware components are connected and built with Raspberry pi and Arduino. The arduino board is programmed with necessary code through Arduino IDE. The output of the arduino is stored in the local database using the influxdb. A Web Application dashboard is developed using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The web application collects data from the Node-RED and the dashboard visualizes all the sensor data like temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, light intensity, air quality and rainfall. The paper gives a description of using IoT to help the user to identify and monitor the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, air quality, light intensity and rainfall in the environment. This dashboard will update real time values of the above parameters to helpmonitor, control and maintain a particular environment.

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Abstract: The most significant system for monitoring solar systems is the solar parameters monitoring system. Solar energy is a renewable energy source produced by solar panels. Solar energy is a renewable energy source produced by solar panels. Voltage, light intensity, and temperature are the parameters that the system measures. An Arduino Uno microcontroller board is used in the suggested monitoring system. Solar panel, LDR Sensor, LM 35, Arduino microcontroller, and resistors are used in the system. Light. LDR sensor is used to detect light intensity, L35 is used to measure temperature, and a voltage divider circuit is used to monitor voltage in this system. Keywords: Solar Panel, Monitoring, Renewable Energy, Solar Panel, Arduino Uno.

Abstract:

Abstract: The solar parameters monitoring system is the most important system for monitoring solar systems. Solar energy is a renewable form of energy that is generated by solar panels. Solar energy is a renewable form of energy that is generated by solar panels. The parameters that the system measures include voltage, light intensity, and temperature. In the recommended monitoring system, an Arduino Uno microcontroller board is employed. The system includes solar panels, an LDR sensor, an LM 35, an Arduino microcontroller, and resistors. Light. In this system, an LDR sensor detects light intensity, an L35 sensor measures temperature, and a voltage divider circuit monitors the voltage. Keywords: Solar Panel, Monitoring, Renewable Energy, Solar Panel, Arduino Uno.

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ABSTRACT We examine the effect of lender monitoring through board representation, which we label “affiliated banker on board” (AFB) on conservative accounting. We hypothesize that monitoring reduces lenders' demand for conservatism-facilitated control transfers through debt covenants by reducing the information asymmetry that underlies the agency problem of debt. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that AFB firms have markedly lower conservative accounting than non-AFB firms. This result is robust to a battery of tests that account for bias from both observable and unobservable factors. We also find additional evidence to support key elements of our hypothesis. First, an examination of the relation between borrower-unfavorable renegotiations and covenant violations suggests that board representation allows lenders to renegotiate in a timelier manner based on private information. Second, an examination of the relation between covenant intensity and conservative accounting suggests that board representation decreases lenders' reliance on conservatism-facilitated control transfers. Finally, an analysis that uses relationship lending as an alternative proxy of lender monitoring suggests that it is lender monitoring, and not AFB per se, that reduces demand for conservative accounting. JEL Classifications: G3; G21; M41 Data Availability: All data are publicly available from sources identified in the text.

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Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of board structure on risk-taking measured by research and development (R&D) intensity in OECD countries. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a panel data of 200 companies on Forbes global 2000 over the 2010-2014 period. It uses the ordinary least square multiple regression analysis techniques to examine the hypotheses. Findings The results show that the frequency of board meetings and board size are significantly and negatively related to risk-taking measured by R&D intensity, with a greater significance among Anglo-American countries than among Continental European countries. The rationale for this is that the legal and accounting systems in the Anglo American countries have greater protection through greater emphasis on compliance and disclosure, and therefore, allowing for less risk-taking. Research limitations/implications Future research could investigate risk-taking using different arrangements, conducting face-to-face meetings with the firm’s directors and shareholders. Practical implications The results suggest that better-governed firms at the firm- or national-level have a high expectancy of less risk-taking. These results offer regulators a resilient incentive to pursue corporate governance (CG) and disclosure reforms officially and mutually with national-level governance. Thus, these results show the monitoring and legitimacy benefits of governance, resulting in less risk-taking. Finally, the findings offer investors the opportunity to build specific expectations about risk-taking behaviour in terms of R&D intensity in OECD countries. Originality/value This study extends and contributes to the extant CG literature, by offering new evidence on the effect of board structure on risk-taking. The findings will help policymakers in different countries in estimating the sufficiency of the available CG reforms to prevent management mishandle and disgrace.

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Abstract. The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) is the single instrument on board the ESA Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite. TROPOMI is a nadir-viewing imaging spectrometer with bands in the ultraviolet and visible, the near infrared and the shortwave infrared (SWIR). An accurate instrument spectral response function (ISRF) is required in the SWIR band where absorption lines of CO, methane and water vapor overlap. In this paper, we report on the determination of the TROPOMI-SWIR ISRF during an extensive on-ground calibration campaign. Measurements are taken with a monochromatic light source scanning the whole detector, using the spectrometer itself to determine the light intensity and wavelength. The accuracy of the resulting ISRF calibration key data is well within the requirement for trace-gas retrievals. Long-term in-flight monitoring of SWIR ISRF is achieved using five on-board diode lasers.

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BackgroundAcademic health systems and their investigators are challenged to systematically assure clinical research regulatory compliance. This challenge is heightened in the emerging era of centralized single Institutional Review Boards for multicenter studies, which rely on monitoring programs at each participating site.ObjectiveTo describe the development, implementation, and outcome measurement of an institution-wide paired training curriculum and internal monitoring program for clinical research regulatory compliance.MethodsStandard operating procedures (SOPs) were developed to facilitate investigator and research professional adherence to institutional policies, federal guidelines, and international standards. An SOP training curriculum was developed and implemented institution-wide. An internal monitoring program was launched, utilizing risk-based monitoring plans of pre-specified frequency and intensity, assessed upon Institutional Review Boards approval of each prospective study. Monitoring plans were executed according to an additional SOP on internal monitoring, with monitoring findings captured in a REDCap database.ResultsWe observed few major violations across 3 key domains of clinical research conduct and demonstrated a meaningful decrease in the rates of nonmajor violations in each, over the course of 2 years.ConclusionThe paired training curriculum and monitoring program is a successful institution-wide clinical research regulatory compliance model that will continue to be refined.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between activities related to corporate social responsibility (C81SR) and firm value, and whether social ties between outside and inside directors within the board (social ties) affect this association. We analyzed a sample of non-financial firms with fiscal year-end in December listed in the Korea Stock Exchange market for the period of 2012–2017, measuring the intensity of social ties based on region and school relations using the concept of density from social network theory. Using environment, social, and governance (ESG) scores from the Korea Corporate Governance Service to measure CSR activities, we find that, on average, firms can increase their value through CSR activities in Korea. In addition, in firms with strong social ties, the positive association between CSR activities and firm value is attenuated, indicating that boards with strong social ties are ineffective in monitoring CSR activities. Although the government has made great efforts to improve corporate governance with a focus on independence of outside directors, the results of our analysis indicate that there is room for firms to improve board independence substantively in a society where nepotism is widespread.

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This paper describes the design of an operative prototype based on Internet of Things (IoT) concepts for real time monitoring of various environmental conditions using certain commonly available and low cost sensors. The various environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, air pollution, sun light intensity and rain are continuously monitored, processed and controlled by an Arduino Uno microcontroller board with the help of several sensors. Captured data are broadcasted through internet with an ESP8266 Wi-Fi module. The projected system delivers sensors data to an API called ThingSpeak over an HTTP protocol and allows storing of data. The proposed system works well and it shows reliability. The prototype has been used to monitor and analyse real time data using graphical information of the environment.

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Only a few studies investigated prognostic values of next-generation sequencing-based measurable residual disease (NGS-MRD) detection in AML before or after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT). Moreover, NGS-MRD assessments were mostly performed only at pre-HSCT, and results were discordant. The current study longitudinally collected samples before and after Allo-HSCT and clinical data from two independent prospective cohorts (n=132) registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01751997) and CRIS (Clinical Research Information Service, KCT0002261), and investigated the role of NGS-MRD assessment. Donor groups consisted of matched sibling (23%), matched-unrelated (35%), and haploidentical familial donors (42%). Enrolled patients received myeloablative (MAC; 44%) or reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC; 56%). Customized amplicon-based targeted NGS including 67 genes (41 entire coding regions and 26 hot spots) was used and mean coverage was over 2000. With 33 months of median follow-up of survivors, 24 patients experienced post-transplant relapse. Persistent mutations were detectable at pre-HSCT (57/132, 43%) and at 1 month (23/114, 20%) after HSCT. Mutant allelic burdens at pre-HSCT and at 1 month after HSCT in relapsed patients were higher than in non-relapsed patients. Any persistent mutations at pre-HSCT and at 1 month after HSCT were significantly associated with post-transplant relapse (34.8% vs. 6.7%, p<0.001 at pre-HSCT; 43.5% vs. 13.0%, p<0.0001 at 1 month after HSCT) and worse overall survival (54.4% vs. 78.7%, p=0.010 at pre-HSCT; 44.9% vs. 76.8%, p=0.002 at 1 month after HSCT). NGS-MRD positivity was determined as complete mutational clearance by comparisons with various cutoffs of variant allele frequencies. Multivariate analysis confirmed that MRD positivity was an adverse prognostic factor for relapse and overall survival. Of note, optimal time points of NGS-MRD assay were different according to conditioning intensity. NGS-MRD detection at pre-HSCT was significantly associated with higher relapse in those who received MAC, while NGS-MRD detection at 1 month after HSCT was in those who received RIC. We also found that MRD positivity in genes related with clonal hematopoiesis were also significantly associated with post-transplant relapse. Serial NGS-MRD monitoring after HSCT revealed that most residual clones of false positive patients at pre-HSCT and at 1 month after HSCT were disappeared within 3 months after HSCT. At relapse, NGS showed not only clonal expansion or reappearing but also evolution of new clones. The current study demonstrated that NGS-MRD assessment both at pre-HSCT and at 1 month after HSCT were useful for predicting post-transplant relapse and there were no differences according to type of mutations. Optimal time points of NGS-MRD assessment depend on conditioning intensity. Disclosures Kim: Chugai: Consultancy, Honoraria; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Hanmi: Consultancy, Honoraria; BL&H: Research Funding; AbbVie: Honoraria; Amgen Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; SL VaxiGen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AML Global Portal: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Yuhan: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astellas: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi-Genzyme: Honoraria.

Abstract:

Today, through the monitoring of agronomic variables, the wireless sensor networks are playing an increasingly important role in precision agriculture. Among the emerging technologies used to develop prototypes related to wireless sensor network, we find the Arduino platform and XBee radio modules from the DIGI Company. In this article, based on field tests, we conducted a comparative analysis of received strength signal intensity levels, calculation of path loss with “log-normal shadowing” and free-space path loss models. In addition, we measure packet loss for different transmission, distances and environments with respect to an “Arduino Mega” board, and radio modules XBee PRO S1 and XBee Pro S2. The tests for the packet loss and received strength signal intensity level show the best performance for the XBee Pro S2 in the indoor, outdoor, and rural scenarios.

Abstract:

Background Age and fitness typically enter into decisions regarding "intensity" of initial induction therapy for newly-diagnosed AML or its prognostic equivalent myelodysplastic syndrome with 10-20% blasts (hrMDS); patients with either are eligible for most of our institution's AML studies. However, "fitness" is a non-specific term. Here we examined the relation between specific covariates and intensity of initial induction. The primary goal was to examine the ability of multivariate models to identify objective characteristics associated with choice of intensity of induction: high + intermediate vs. low, and of high vs. intermediate + low. Patients and Methods We reviewed 1,346 newly diagnosed AML/hrMDS patients seen at our center from January 2008 through May 2018. We excluded 226 patients who received palliative care only or unknown treatment outside our center and 188 patients given uncommon regimens, generally on a clinical trial. High-intensity treatment consisted of ara-C in single doses ³ 1g/m2, intermediate intensity was 7+3 +/- other drugs, and low intensity was azacitidine or decitabine +/- other drugs. Pre-treatment characteristics examined in the 932 analyzed patients (29% with 10-20% blasts) for potential inclusion in multivariate models were year of treatment, age, gender, de novo or secondary disease, performance status (PS), white blood cell count, treatment related mortality score (TRM, predicting death by day 28 after receipt of intermediate or intense induction), blast percentage, ELN 2017 risk, and distance from home to our center (Table 1). P-values < 0.01 were considered "significant" in the multivariate models with values for area under receiver operating characteristic (AUC) curves of 0.6-0.7, 0.7-0.8, and 0.8-0.9 considered, as commonly understood, to respectively denote "poor", "fair", and "good" predictive ability. Results 57% of the 932 patients received high intensity treatment, 21% intermediate intensity, and 23% low intensity. Covariates significantly associated with receipt of high vs. intermediate/low intensity on multivariable analysis were younger age, (surprisingly) PS 3-4 (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1, 1.8), lower TRM score, and > 20% blasts. The model's AUC was 0.69. Older age, higher TRM score and blasts 10-20% were associated with receipt of low rather than high or intermediate intensity induction. This model's AUC was 0.85. With the marginal exception that patients with ELN 2017 adverse risk were more likely to receive high intensity induction (OR 1.1, 95%CI 1.0-1.2) neither ELN 2017 risk nor secondary vs. de novo AML were associated with decisions regarding intensity. Although rates of CR without MRD and of induction failure (neither CR nor CRi) were better following high (56%, 20% respectively) or intermediate (58%, 28%) than low intensity induction (16%, 58%), after accounting for age, PS (2 rather than 0-1), TRM score and ELN risk, overall survival was similar in high vs. low intensity [OR 0.95, 95%CI 0.8-1.2], high vs. intermediate (0.99, 95%CI 0.8-1.3) and intermediate vs. low (0.96, 95%CI 0.7-1.3) groups. Conclusion A multivariable model provided reasonably accurate prediction of which patients with newly-diagnosed AML or hrMDS will receive low intensity induction at our institution, but a poor prediction of which patients will receive high intensity. Other, perhaps less objective, covariates subsumed under "fitness" may play an important role, particularly in the latter decision. Disclosures Gardner: Abbvie: Speakers Bureau. Othus:Celgene: Other: Data Safety and Monitoring Committee; Glycomimetics: Other: Data Safety and Monitoring Committee. Becker:The France Foundation: Honoraria; Accordant Health Services/Caremark: Consultancy; AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Glycomimetics, Invivoscribe, JW Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Trovagene: Research Funding. Halpern:Pfizer Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Bayer Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding. Scott:Agios: Speakers Bureau; Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Research Funding; Celgene Corporation: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Alexion: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Walter:Argenx BVBA: Consultancy; New Link Genetics: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Race Oncology: Consultancy; Boehringer Ingelheim: Consultancy; Boston Biomedical: Consultancy; Covagen: Consultancy; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Kite Pharma: Consultancy; Agios: Consultancy; BiVictriX: Consultancy; BioLineRx: Consultancy; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy; Amphivena Therapeutics: Consultancy, Equity Ownership; Aptevo Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Astellas: Consultancy.

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The state-of-the-art of the advantages of using liquefied natural gas as a motor fuel for haul trucks instead of oil motor fuel is considered. It is noted that the energy intensity of the process of rock mass hauling by dual-fuel (gas-diesel) haul trucks is less than that of haul trucks running on diesel only. It is argued that the most promising in relation to heavy-duty mining trucks, is the conversion of diesel engines to gas-diesel operation. The universal integrated procedure for evaluating currently used haul truck on-board cryogenic fuel systems performance is presented. The method of evaluating the “rate of replacement” of diesel fuel with liquefied natural gas, when operating haul trucks equipped with on-board cryogenic fuel systems, is described in detail. The possible sequence of per-cycle, per-ingle-shift and per-day monitoring of the rate of diesel fuel replacement with liquefied natural gas is presented. The method for evaluating the economic efficiency of the operation of high-payload-capacity haul trucks conversed to gas-diesel operation is given, which allows, among other things, determining the actual service life of on-board cryogenic fuel systems and their time to failure.

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Innovations are the foundation of an enterprise’s sustainable development, which is particularly important for sports firms in an evolving Chinese sport industrial environment. Analyzing publicly-listed sports firms on The New Third Board (NTB) in China, this study examined the influence of corporate financial capability and corporate governance structure on firms’ R&D intensity through a series of multiple regression models. Findings revealed that corporate financial capability is an important determinant of R&D intensity, and corporate governance structure has a small but meaningful effect on R&D intensity. Specifically, for Chinese sports firms, several financial capability indicators, such as return on equity, accounts receivable turnover, assets turnover, and profit growth rate, have positive relationships with R&D intensity; however, other financial capability indicators, such as leverage and cash flow, have negative relationships with R&D intensity. Limited evidence was found to support the notion that corporate governance significantly influences R&D intensity, although sports firms with good governance mechanisms are more likely to increase the positive effects of financial capabilities on R&D intensity while decreasing the negative effects. Discussions were centered on planning and executing R&D activities in sports companies.

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This paper describes the procedure of embedding fiber optic sensors in laminar thermoplastic composite material, as well as damage investigation after ballistic loading. Thermoplastic-reinforced composite materials were made for increased material damage resistance during ballistic loading. Damage inside the composite material was detected by observing the intensity drop of the light signal transmitted through the optical fibers. Experimental testing was carried out in order to observe and analyze the response of the material under various load conditions. Different types of Kevlar reinforced composite materials (thermoplastic, thermo reactive and thermoplastic with ceramic plate as the impact face) were made. Material damage resistance during ballistic loading was investigated and compared. Specimens were tested under multiple load conditions. The opto-electronic part of the measurement system consists of two light-emitting diodes as light sources for the optical fibers, and two photo detectors for the light intensity measurement. The output signal was acquired from photo detectors by means of a data acquisition board and personal computer. The measurements showed an intensity drop of the transmitted light signal as a result of the applied loading on composite structure for all the optical fibers. All the diagrams show similar behavior of the light signal intensity. In fact, all of them may be divided into three zones: the zone of penetration of the first composite layer, the bullet traveling zone through the composite material till its final stop, and the material relaxation zone. The attenuation of the light signal intensity during impact is caused by the influence of the applied dynamic stress on the embedded optical fibers. The applied stress caused micro bending of the optical fiber, changes in the shape of the cross-section and the unequal changes of the indices of refraction of the core and cladding due to the stress-optic effect. The main goal of the experiment was to develop a system for thermoplastic composite structure health monitoring during real life exploitation. The results of the experiments confirmed that optical fibers could be applied as intensity sensors in the real-time monitoring of structural changes in thermoplastic laminar composite materials under ballistic loading. The light signal intensity drops in an optical fiber in response to the applied loading on the composite material.

Abstract:

We examine the relationship between the expertise of outside directors from academia and firms’ financial performance using a unique dataset on the research publications of such directors. Specifically, we use research publication history in finance or an academic concentration in business or law as a proxy for expertise and measure the influence of this expertise on Korean financial firms’ short-term and long-term performance. We find a positive (negative) association between research intensity (a business or law concentration) and short-term corporate performance. Firms with greater information and agency problems appear to benefit more from research-intensive academic outside directors than other firms do. Thus, we propose that firms in emerging economies elect research-intensive academic outside directors to contribute to sustainable corporate governance and firm performance.

Abstract:

This paper is devoted to a new approach to condition monitoring. The main feature is an application of strain gauge analysis for geometrical locating of vibrating defects. Information about the exact geometrical location of a defect, intensity of excitation and its frequency provides accurate diagnostics. The research contains theoretical and experimental parts. Three types of defects are analyzed: defects with harmonic parameters, defects with non-harmonic periodical parameters (pulse periodic signal) and defects with non-periodical parameters (pulse non-periodical signal). For the first type, analysis of micro movements in the equipment is used. The others use triangulation; for detecting time lag of signal approaching in each sensor, an analysis of phase spectrum is used. This method can find sources of vibration/defects with pulse-like signals. An electronic board and computer program for implementation of the proposed method are developed. The electronics measure strain gauge data in real time and transmit it to a computer program. Such an approach gives new information for diagnostics and provides new opportunities for effective defect detection and condition monitoring of various machines and equipment.

Abstract:

Astronomical payloads for monitoring of X-rays from planetary bodies require an active filter wheel drive mechanism to control the energy threshold, encompassing a larger range of solar X-ray intensity. If the detector aperture in the monitoring instrument is small, a manageable count rate is obtained but with poor sensitivity during lower activity period. On the other hand, a detector sensitive for lower activity period does not provide meaningful data during large intensity periods, due to saturation of detector front-end electronics. A survey of the existing drive mechanisms revealed that motorized mechanisms have been used for such applications with inherent drawbacks of increased mass, higher cost, and electrical complexity. In the present work, authors have designed and developed a novel filter wheel drive mechanism that uses an eccentrically mounted pin actuated by sequential activation of three shape memory alloys wires together. Also, it consists of a compliant leaf spring that avoids the requirement of an additional hold down by providing detent to hold the filter wheel in its intended position and acts as prime mover when the torque developed by shape memory alloy wires gets diminished due to reduction in moment arm during wheel rotation. This design offers substantial reduction in mass, development cost, and electrical complexity that can be exploited to send multiple detectors on board future interplanetary spacecraft. This paper presents the details of design, analysis, hardware realization, testing, and novelty of the mechanism.

Abstract:

The purpose of innovation is to consume fewer natural resources in order to create sustainable performance; therefore, innovation can ease the pressure of the ecological load and promote the sustainable development of the economy. Taking the 269 enterprises listed on the main board of the electronic information industry from 2010 to 2019 as samples, using the threshold panel data model, the nonlinear relationship between the knowledge-based network structure hole and the short-term and long-term innovation performance of the enterprises were studied, and the threshold effect of R&D investment intensity was discussed. When the R&D investment intensity is from 1.96% to 15.96%, the knowledge-based network structure hole has a significant positive impact on short-term innovation performance. When the R&D investment intensity is from 5.72% to 10.64%, the knowledge-based network structure hole has a significant positive effect on long-term innovation performance. Lower R&D investment intensity can make the knowledge-based network structure hole promote the increase of short term innovation performance, but to make the knowledge-based network structure hole have a positive impact on long term innovation performance, the R&D investment intensity should be increased by more than 5.72%. When R&D investment intensity is not higher than 15.96%, the knowledge-based network structure hole has a significant positive impact on short term innovation performance, but to make the knowledge-based network structure hole maintain the positive effect on long term innovation performance, R&D investment intensity should not exceed 10.64%. Therefore, enterprises should be guided to optimize the knowledge-based network structure according to the R&D investment intensity in order to improve the short term and long-term innovation performance of an enterprise. These research results can help enterprises to save resources and promote the sustainable development of the economy.

Abstract:

Introduction: Molecular MRD monitoring in NPM1 mutant (mut) AML is now standard of care in many countries as prospective clinical trials have demonstrated that suboptimal reduction and/or rising levels of NPM1mut transcript are associated with disease relapse (Ivey, NEJM 2016; Balsat, JCO 2017). Higher levels of NPM1mut MRD positivity are associated with poorer outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic stem transplantation (allo-HSCT) (Dillon, EHA 2019). Data regarding the effectiveness of pre-emptive MRD intervention is scant. A reduction in NPM1mut MRD was reported in 17/33 (52%) receiving azacitidine (Platzbecker, Lancet Oncol 2018). Among patients with NPM1mut molecular relapse in the NCRI AML17 trial, 16/27 (59%) achieved MRD negativity with 1-2 cycles of FLAG-Ida salvage chemotherapy (manuscript in preparation). As the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax in combination with low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) or hypomethylating agents (HMA) are known to be highly active in NPM1mut AML (Wei, JCO 2019; Strickland, EHA 2018), we hypothesized that venetoclax-based regimens could represent an effective low intensity option for patients with persistent or rising NPM1mut MRD. Methods: Consecutive patients with NPM1mut AML from 4 sites treated with venetoclax-LDAC/HMA for MRD eradication were included if previously received at least 1 cycle of intensive chemotherapy and achieved complete remission. cDNA was analyzed on bone marrow aspirate ± peripheral blood samples using a NPM1 mutant specific RT-qPCR (Ivey, NEJM 2016) according to Europe Against Cancer guidelines (Gabert, Leukemia 2003). Results are expressed as MRD level relative to the diagnostic sample (%) with both samples normalized to a control gene (ABL). Results: A total of 10 patients were treated with venetoclax (600 mg PO daily D1-14) in combination with LDAC (20 mg/m2 SC twice daily D1-10; n=8), or venetoclax (400 mg PO daily D1-14) azacitidine (75 mg/m2 SC daily D1-7; n=2) as summarized in Table 1. If concurrent posaconazole was used, the dose of venetoclax was adjusted to 100 mg PO daily. The median age of the cohort was 61.2 years (range 31-81). All patients had intermediate risk cytogenetics, including 8 with normal karyotype at diagnosis. Concurrent mutations in addition to NPM1 are shown in Table 1. The number of consolidation cycles received prior to venetoclax ranged from 0-4 and typically included high-dose cytarabine. Three patients had failed other MRD-directed therapies prior to treatment with venetoclax. Six patients (Cases #1-6) received venetoclax-LDAC/HMA for NPM1mut molecular relapse after complete molecular remission (CRMRD-), or progression after molecular persistence at low copy number (CRMRD+). Five of six (83%) achieved CRMRD- after only 1-2 cycles, with ongoing CRMRD- after a median of 134 days (range 59-447). One patient had failed to respond to FLAG-Ida but achieved CRMRD- after just 1 cycle of venetoclax-LDAC (Figure 1A). Three patients proceeded to subsequent allo-HSCT, including 2 in CRMRD- (Figures 1B and C). Follow up post-HSCT is ongoing (<60 days). Four patients (Cases #7-10) were treated for molecular persistence after completion of induction and 0-3 cycles of consolidation chemotherapy. All 4 patients responded, including 3 (75%) who achieved CRMRD-. Case #7 (Figure 1D) had received prior gemtuzumab ozogamicin and azacitidine without molecular response but then achieved CRMRD- after receiving venetoclax-azacitidine, which was sustained for >23 months without an allo-HSCT. Venetoclax in combination with LDAC/HMA was well tolerated. Febrile neutropenia occurred in 2 patients (20%) and one patient had grade 4 sepsis. Grade 4 neutropenia occurred in 70% (median duration 10 days) and grade 4 thrombocytopenia in 40% (median duration 16 days). Conclusion: In the setting of molecular NPM1mut MRD relapse or persistence, venetoclax in combination with LDAC/HMA was highly effective, with MRD reductions in 100% and complete molecular remission in 80%. Future clinical exploration is warranted to validate the role of venetoclax as a pre-emptive approach to suppress persistent or rising NPM1mut MRD. Disclosures Dillon: Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; TEVA: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria. Ivey:Novartis: Honoraria. Vassili:Amgen: Honoraria. Taussig:Celgene: Research Funding. Russell:Jazz: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Astellas: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; DSI: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer Inc: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Raj:Jazz: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Daiichi Sankyo: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; MSD: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Mallinckrodt: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Fong:Pfizer: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Astellas: Consultancy. Grigg:Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MSD: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Other: Travel. Knapper:Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Daiichi Sankyo: Honoraria; Jazz: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Tolero: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Wei:AbbVie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties: AHW is a former employee of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and receives a fraction of its royalty stream related to venetoclax, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Astellas: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Macrogenics: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genentech: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Servier: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Astra Zeneca: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria. OffLabel Disclosure: Venetoclax is a BCL-2 inhibitor that is FDA-approved in some indications. This presentation will focus on venetoclax as a MRD-directed therapy in AML, which is not an approved indication.

Abstract:

This study investigates the effects of family control on corporate innovation activity in publicly traded firms in Japan under stakeholder-oriented corporate governance. In a sample of 14,991 firm-year observations in publicly traded firms in Japan during the period 2007 to 2016, we tested whether family owners or board members are enhancing research and development investments. While theoretical perspectives of principal–principal conflicts generally assume a negative relationship between family control and research and development intensity, we find a positive relationship, which supports the stewardship theory perspective. Additionally, we find that main bank ownership positively moderates the relationship between family control and research and development, suggesting that the main bank could affect the decision-making of family board members in the long-term. This result is supported by the close relationships between the main bank and client firms. Furthermore, our study reveals that the shareholder orientation of foreign shareholders suppresses family board members’ long-term orientation. We conclude that the exploitation presumed by principal–principal conflict perspectives has not been thoroughly investigated in Japan’s stakeholder-oriented corporate governance system.

Abstract:

Abstract Background: Genomic copy number alterations (CNAs) of chromosome 9p24.1 characterize classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) leading to increased expression of programmed cell death ligands -1 and -2 (PD-L1 and PD-L2). Amplifications and high level copy number gains (CNG) have been associated with advanced stage cHL and inferior treatment outcomes with standard chemotherapy. Few studies have assessed 9p24.1 genomic alterations in the frontline setting in the context of PD-1 blockade monotherapy. We conducted a phase 2 clinical trial of sequential pembrolizumab (PEM) x 3 followed by doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) chemotherapy (4-6 cycles) in newly diagnosed cHL. Interim response to single agent PEM was assessed by PET-CT and by decline in metabolic tumor volume (MTV). Herein, we report updates after extended follow-up of patients (median 33.1 months), and results of correlative studies analyzing 9p24.1 CNAs and PD-1 pathway expression. Methods: Pre-treatment diagnostic biopsy specimens were double stained for PD-L1 (E1L3N, XP Cell Signaling) and PAX5, single stained for PD-L2 and pSTAT3, and scored by two expert hematopathologists (QC, LBS) for percentage positive cells and intensity of staining. A modified H score was calculated as the product of staining intensity (0-3) and percentage of positive tumor cells (0-100%), ranging from 0 - 300 was calculated for PD-L1, PD-L2, and pSTAT3. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to assess chromosome 9p24.1 CNAs was performed by co-hybridizing PD-L1/PD-L2 probes (target) with the centromeric 9 probe (control). In each case, the percentage and magnitude of 9p24.1 CNAs were evaluated. Four FISH categories were defined based on the target:control ratio and total copy numbers (CNs) of the target per Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cell to include: amplification (ratio≥3), copy number gain (CNGs) (1≤ratio&lt;3), polysomy (ratio~1, CNs=3~5), and disomy (ratio=1, CNs=2). Patients were categorized according to the highest level of 9p24.1 alteration. The relationships between PD-1 pathway markers, genomic alterations, and response to single agent PEM by MTV were assessed statistically using Fisher's Exact test, Kruskal-Wallis test, or Spearman's rank correlation as appropriate. PD-L1 H Scores were grouped into terciles of approximately equal size for categorical analysis. Response was defined as a complete metabolic response (CMR), ≥ 90% reduction in MTV (near CMR), or partial response with &lt; 90% reduction by MTV (PR). Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: Thirty patients were enrolled from September 2017 through August 1, 2019; 28 had tissue available for FISH analysis and 29 for immunohistochemistry. Patient responses to single agent PEM were PMR in 11 (36.7%), near-CMR in 8 (26.7%), and CMR in 11 (36.7%). CMR rate following AVD x 2 was 100%. With the extended follow-up (median 33.1 months, range 26.0-43.0), PFS and OS both remained at 100% (Figures 1a, 1b). Among 28 cases with available FISH analysis, all patients demonstrated genomic alterations in 9p24.1. The highest level alteration was amplification in 14 patients (50%) and copy number gain in 14 (50.0%) Six of 22 examined cases were EBER-positive. Forty-one percent (n=7) of patients with a CMR or near CMR had amplifications in 9p24.1, compared to 64% (n=7) with a PMR following PEM monotherapy (p=0.2). The median PD-L1 H score was 215 (range 20-300). Of 29 patients assessed, 28% had PD-L1 H scores in the first tercile (H-score 1-190), 34% in the second tercile (190-240), and 38% in the third tercile (240-300). There was no association between response to single agent PEM and 9p24.1 alteration, PD-L1, PD-L2 or STAT3 H-scores, % residual disomy, or EBER status (see Figure 1c for PD-L1 results). Conclusions: We found that after extended follow-up, sequential pembrolizumab and AVD chemotherapy remains a highly effective strategy with 100% of patients remaining alive without relapse. The high response rates observed at all PD-L1/PD-L2 levels in this clinical study suggest that even low levels of PD ligand expression may be sufficient for response to PD-1 blockade in previously untreated cHL. We gratefully acknowledge support from Merck & Co. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Allen: Kyowa Kirin: Consultancy; Secure Bio: Consultancy; ADC Therapeutics: Consultancy; MorphoSys: Consultancy; Epizyme: Consultancy. Advani: Astellas/Agensys: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bayer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bristol Myer Squibb: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Cell Medica: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Forty Seven: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Genetech Inc.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Gilead: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen Pharmaceutical: Research Funding; Juno: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Kite Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Kura: Research Funding; Kyowa: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Merck: Research Funding; Millenium: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Portola Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Regeneron: Research Funding; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sanofi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Seattle Genetics: Research Funding; Takeda: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Gordon: Zylem Biosciences: Patents & Royalties: Patents, No royalties; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria, Research Funding. Winter: Actinium Pharma: Consultancy; BMS: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Novartis: Other: Husband: Consultancy, Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Ariad/Takeda: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Epizyme: Other: Husband: Data and Safety Monitoring Board; Agios: Other: Husband: Consultancy; Gilead: Other: Husband: Consultancy; Janssen: Other: Husband: Consultancy; Karyopharm (Curio Science): Honoraria; Merck: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.

Abstract:

The sound series are considered as an addition to visual and thermal imaging information flows when using computerized monitoring systems (CS). A minimum complete structure of spaced microphones for collecting data on sound rows, which is suitable for calibrating, isolating and transmitting data on sound anomalies (SA), is proposed. Duplication of the data transmission channel by wire and Wi-Fi module for recording and determining the type and coordinates of the SA is provided. An experimental receiving module has been assembled, which includes microphones, amplifiers and signals matching boards for digital and analog forms, an ARDUINO UNO WIFI REV2 controller with an integrated Wi-Fi module. It is presented that its addition with a personal computer and a smartphone with the Android operating system forms a CS for remote wireless control of the course of the experimental analysis of sound series. It has been confirmed experimentally that its structure is minimally complete. An algorithm was developed and a software package was written in C/C++ languages. It is shown that the number of microphones is selected from the conditions of the problem from 1 to 5, but their number is limited to five digital inputs of the ARDUINO UNO WIFI REV2 board. A wave representation of the law of temporal changes in intensity and the integral norm of SA is applied. The possibilities of calibrating all data of sound series in analog and digital form are demonstrated. The article presents the suitability of testing the algorithms for determining the phases of echograms from time series data, containing SAs of different origins and recorded by three different microphones. The effect of connecting a Wi-Fi module on reducing the voltage drop by 0.5–1 V is shown. The necessity of an additional registration condition for all microphones is demonstrated. The software interfaces for the calibration of the receiving module and the operation of the mobile application have been developed.

Abstract:

Abstract At the flight altitudes of modern airplanes, cosmic rays intensity is several times higher than on the Earth’s surface. The radiation field is not constant in time and due to various effects, not routinely considered in calculations, the exposure can increase several times. Therefore, a continuous monitoring of radiation exposure on board is required. This article characterises newly developed detectors Airdos-C with diverse scintillation crystals. Unlike detectors based on a Si diode, which are commonly used for long-term measurements, these detectors can also be used for detection of high-energy gamma-rays generated in thunderstorms. For a correct interpretation of the measured data it is important to perform an energy calibration and to verify the detector response in known radiation fields. The results obtained with several radionuclide sources were analysed using mathematical statistics methods. The detectors were also exposed onboard aircraft under well-defined conditions.

Abstract:

The basic structural elements of the magnetized granular medium (effectively used, in particular, in apparatus of thin magnetic separation) are granule chains (according to channel-by-channel model), in connection with which there is a need to detail the features of their magnetization. The purpose of the work is to develop and implement an approach to measuring magnetic (micro)flows along the cores of different radius r in the chain of granules using a specially developed (by printed circuit board technology) sensor, with high radius R (15 and 20 mm) spheres available for such measurements.From the data of measuring magnetic (micro)flows data of average induction in each of the quasi-continuous cores of the spheres chain are obtained, as well as data of magnetic permeability and susceptibility of these cores, their magnetization for different values of the intensity of the magnetizing field. It is shown that dependences of mentioned magnetic parameters from number n spheres in a chain are generalized on r /R for different R.These relationships, increasing as n increases due to a decrease in the demagnetizing factor N of any of the cores and the chain as a whole, demonstrate the achievement of individually limiting values of magnetic parameters and corresponding auto-model regions where N→0. At the same time, the transition to each of these regions, manifesting almost independently of r /R and intensity, falls on the value of n = 10–12 = [n]. Thus, in fact, such a criterion value [n] distinguishes chains by sufficiently “long” – when n ≥ [n] and “short” – when 2 ≤ n ˂ [n]. Data of demagnetizing factor for different cores of “short” chains of spheres are obtained and phenomenologically described.

Abstract:

Built on the Behavioral Theory of the Firm, the paper examines how firm response to performance feedback is influenced by firm expectation on the likelihood of an action to close the performance gap. Using firm level change in R&D intensity as a problemistic search behavior, we explore how performance shortfalls relative to social and historical aspirations may prompt underperforming firms to adjust its R&D investment intensity, and how the magnitude of this adjustment is moderated by firm resources, past experience, industry and market conditions. We conduct our analysis using a longitudinal sample of Chinese firms listed on the ChiNext Board between 2009 and 2017. Our results indicate that underperforming firms increase their R&D intensity to a larger degree than their over-performing peers and periods when these firms have substantial cumulated R&D spending, abundant organizational slack, and are competing in more dynamic industries. We also document that these moderating factors influence relationships between social and historical aspirations and R&D investment decisions in a distinct way. We conclude that firm internal resources, capabilities and external industry and market conditions all affect firm expectations, and consequently shape the direction and magnitude of organizational actions in response to performance aspirations.

Abstract:

Abstract. The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) on-board the second European Remote Sensing satellite provided measurements of atmospheric constituents such as ozone and other trace gases for the 16-year period from 1995 to 2011. In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the long-term performance of the sensor and introduce the new hom*ogenised and fully calibrated level 1 product that has been generated using the recently developed GOME Data Processor level-0-to-1b (GDP-L1) Version 5.1. By means of the various in-flight calibration parameters, we monitor the behaviour and stability of the instrument during the entire mission. Severe degradation of the optical components has led to a significant decrease in intensity, in particular in channels 1 and 2, which cover the spectral ranges of 240–316 and 311–405 nm, respectively. Thus, a soft correction based on using the Sun as a stable calibration source is applied. Revision and optimisation of other calibration algorithms such as the wavelength assignment, polarisation correction, and dark current correction resulted in an improved and hom*ogeneous level 1 product that can be regarded as the European satellite reference data for successor atmospheric composition sensors and that provides an excellent prerequisite for further exploitation of GOME measurements.

Abstract:

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) is a potentially curative approach for eligible patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The 5-year overall survival (OS) for AML patients (pts) following HCT is approximately 40-50%. However, data regarding outcomes for pts with certain molecular subtypes of AML are lacking. Of particular interest are post-HCT outcomes of pts with targetable mutations such as FLT3, IDH1, or IDH2, given the potential role of maintenance targeted therapy in the post-HCT setting. We conducted a retrospective, multi-institutional study describing outcomes for IDH1- or IDH2-mutated AML pts following HCT. Methods: We performed retrospective data collection, using institutional databases, at three academic sites (Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Ohio State University). We identified pts &gt;18 years of age with a diagnosis of IDH1- or IDH2-mutated AML who underwent allogeneic HCT from 2010 to 2019. Data collected included pt age, sex, mutational and cytogenetic profile, treatment received prior to HCT, marrow response prior to HCT, stem cell source, HCT conditioning regimen, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, and time of relapse, death, or last known follow-up. IDH mutational status was assessed using next generation sequencing prior to HCT. Time to event endpoints are analyzed using the Kaplan Meier method for OS and progression-free survival (PFS), or the Gray method in a competing risk setting for time to relapse and non-relapse mortality (NRM). Proportional hazard cox models and competing risk regression models were used to test difference between groups while adjusting for other covariates. Results: In total, 117 pts with IDH1- or IDH2-mutated AML who received allogeneic HCT were identified. An IDH1 mutation was identified in 35 patients (pts) while an IDH2 mutation was found in 81 pts (Table 1). One pt had both IDH1 and IDH2 mutations and he was not included in subsequent univariate and multivariate analyses. The most commonly co-occurring mutations among all patients were DNMT3A (35%), NPM1 (32%), FLT3-ITD (14%), ASXL1 (10%), and TP53 (3%). 50 pts (43%) were &gt;65 years old (range 27-74), and 60 (51%) were male. 12 pts (10%) had favorable-risk, 70 pts (60%) had intermediate-risk, and 21 pts (18%) had adverse-risk AML by ELN cytogenetic criteria; data were unavailable for 14 patients (12%). 112 pts (96%) achieved CR/CRi prior to HCT. 76 pts (65%) received reduced intensity and 40 (34%) underwent myeloablative conditioning (Table 1); data were unavailable for 1 patient (0.9%). 36 pts (31%) received an IDH inhibitor before HCT and 3 (2.6%) received an IDH inhibitor as maintenance therapy after HCT. Following HCT, 18 pts (15%) experienced grade 2-4 acute GVHD and 44 (38%) experienced chronic GVHD requiring systemic treatment. With a median follow-up of 23 months for surviving pts, the 1-year PFS and OS for the IDH1-mutated cohort was 74% (95% CI 55%-85%) and 76% (95% CI 58%-87%), respectively, and the 2-year PFS and OS was 55% (95% CI 35%-71%) and 73% (95% CI 55%-85%), respectively (Figure 1). With a median follow-up of 26 months for surviving pts, the 1-year PFS and OS for the IDH2-mutated cohort was 58% (95% CI 47%-68%) and 72% (95% CI 61%-81%), respectively, and the 2-year PFS and OS was 52% (95% CI 40%-63%) and 60% (95% CI 48%-70%), respectively (Figure 1). The 2-year cumulative incidence of relapse and NRM was 36.1% (95% CI 19.0%-53.6%) and 9.1% (95% CI 2.2%-22.0%), respectively, for the IDH1-mutated cohort, and 29.8% (95% CI 19.9%-40.4%) and 18.0% (95% CI 10.3%-27.3%), respectively, for the IDH2-mutated cohort. On multivariate analysis of OS, there was no statistically significant association with older age, higher-risk disease, absence of pre-HCT CR/CRi, use of reduced intensity conditioning, or IDH mutation. Conclusion: This is the first multi-institutional retrospective study to characterize outcomes of IDH1- or IDH2-mutated AML patients undergoing allogeneic HCT. We report important benchmarks of relapse, disease-free, and overall survival that will inform interpretation of ongoing and future clinical trials investigating the benefit of maintenance IDH1 and IDH2 inhibitor therapy in the post-HCT setting. Disclosures Eisfeld: Karyopharm: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company; Vigeo Therapeutics: Consultancy. Mims:Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Agios: Consultancy; Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: Other: Senior Medical Director for Beat AML Study; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Kura Oncology: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Other: Data Safety Monitoring Board; Syndax Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Jones:Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie Company: Patents & Royalties: and other intellectual property, Research Funding. Cutler:Incyte: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Kadmon: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Medsenic: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Generon: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Mesoblast: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Koreth:Amgen: Consultancy; Moderna Therapeutics: Consultancy; Biolojic Design Inc: Consultancy; EMD Serono: Consultancy; Equillium: Consultancy; Clinigen: Other; Miltenyi: Other: Research Support; BMS: Other: Research Support; Cugene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Therakos: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Regeneron: Other: Research Support. Defilipp:Incyte: Research Funding; Regimmune: Research Funding; Syndax Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Soiffer:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Rheos Therapeutics: Consultancy; Juno: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; alexion: Consultancy; Be the Match/ National Marrow Donor Program: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Consultancy; Cugene: Consultancy; Precision Bioscience: Consultancy; Kiadis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; VOR Biopharma: Consultancy; Mana Therapeutics: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy. Chen:AbbVie: Other: Data and Safety Monitoring Board Member; Equillium: Other: Data and Safety Monitoring Board Member; Takeda: Consultancy; Incyte Corporation: Consultancy; Magenta: Consultancy; Kiadis: Consultancy; Actinium: Other: Data and Safety Monitoring Board Member. Fathi:PTC Therapeutics: Consultancy; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Research Funding; Trillium: Consultancy; Forty Seven: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Amphivena: Consultancy; Astellas: Consultancy; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite: Consultancy; Trovagene: Consultancy; Boston Biomedical: Consultancy; Kura Oncology: Consultancy; Blueprint: Consultancy; Jazz: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy; Newlink Genetics: Consultancy; Agios: Consultancy, Research Funding; Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy.

Abstract:

Postural Stability in Aerobic Gymnastics Specific Positions The study compares the effect of maximal jumps and sport-specific exercises on parameters of balance. Two balance elements (free support vertical split and frontal split) were analyzed in a group of 8 aerobic gymnasts (average age = 17,0 ± 1,3 years, average body height = 163,0 ± 6,9 cm, average body weight = 54,5 ± 6,12 kg, BMI 20,4 ± 1,46 kg.m-2). The FiTRO Sway Check stabilographic system, allowing the monitoring of horizontal movement of centre of gravity with the help of dynamometric board, was used for assessment. Stabilographic parameter of the velocity of the centre of pressure (mean and in antero-posterior and medio-lateral directions) was registered at 100 Hz. The results show significant differences in average sway length in medio-lateral and antero-posterior direction, in both analysed difficulty elements. This indicates that balance impairment after exercise and its readjustments to pre-exercise level depends not only on intensity of proprioceptive stimulation but also on type of exercise.

Abstract:

BackgroundTherapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) is essential aspect for the clinical management of patients. However, despite the clear advantages of TDM, it faces several challenges to being more widely used in the clinic. Specially challenging is the case of TDM in children, as they experience rapid physiologic developments, leading to great pharmaco*kinetic and pharmacodynamic variability. Breath analysis provides a patient-friendly approach to support TDM. To explore this possibility, we are currently running a pilot study, whereby we analyze the exhaled breath of pediatric patients receiving anti-seizure or chemotherapy drugs requiring TDM.MethodsWe analyzed by secondary electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (SESI-HRMS) exhaled breath of pediatric patients under therapy for Valproic acid (VPA; n = 27), Lamotrigine (n = 19), Levetiracetam (n = 15), Oxcarbazepine (n = 11) and Methotrexate (n = 4). Systemic blood concentrations were measured simultaneously to the breath test. In the case of VPA, we constructed a regression model to predict systemic blood concentrations based on the signal intensity of breath mass spectral features. For the rest of the drugs listed, due to its current limited size, we conducted preliminary data visualization approaches.ResultsWe found that exhaled metabolites of VPA allow to predict free VPA blood concentrations with a root-mean-square error of 1.5 mg/L for concentrations in the range 0–12 mg/L. This prediction is accomplished within 20 minutes, comprising the breath test and data analysis. For Levetiracetam, Lamotrigine and Oxcarbazepine the data analysis is still ongoing. For MTX we found breath metabolites clearly altered as a result of the drug administration. However, a great inter-individual variability was also observed.ConclusionWe conclude that breath analysis may support current TDM approaches. This will lead to new opportunities to guide the dose of drugs with a high level of accuracy, in real-time and non-invasively.Disclosure(s)PS gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Fondation Botnar (Switzerland) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (320030_173168 and PCEGP3_181300). PS is part of the board of directors of Deep Breath Initiative AG. JU was supported by research fellowship of the University Children’s Hospital Basel. VS and JVDA were supported by the Eckenstein-Geigy Foundation. *AD and PS: shared senior authorship

Abstract:

We describe a technique developed to provide continuous long-term records of movement by individual lizards in the field. Using a small, lightweight and robust activity logger we are able to record over short intervals the number of strides taken, the body temperature and the incident light intensity on the dorsal surface of an animal. Using these data, activity patterns, behaviour and microhabitat choice can be determined in the absence of an observer, thus reducing biases due to observer presence. In our study the logger stored recordings every 2 min for 15 days.

Abstract:

Abstract Global monitoring of tropical cyclones (TC) is enhanced by the unique capabilities provided by the day–night band (DNB), a sensor included on the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) flying on board the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite. The DNB, a low-light visible–near-infrared-band passive radiometer, can leverage unconventional (i.e., nonsolar) sources of visible light illumination such as moonlight to infer storm structure at night. The DNB provides an unprecedented capability to resolve moonlit clouds at high resolution, offering numerous potential benefits to both operational TC analysts and researchers developing new methods of monitoring TCs occurring within the largely data-void tropical oceanic basins. DNB digital data provide significant enhancements over older nighttime visible data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) by leveraging accurate calibration, high sensitivity, and sub-kilometer-scale imagery that covers 2–3 times the moon’s lunar cycle than the OLS. By leveraging these attributes, DNB data can enable the use of automated objective applications instead of subjective image interpretation. Here, the authors detail ways in which critical information about TC structure, location, intensity changes, shear environment, lightning, and other characteristics can be extracted when the DNB data are used in isolation or in a multichannel approach with coincident infrared (IR) channels.

Abstract:

Background and Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise timing on elevated postprandial glucose and after brief interval exercises in women with obesity. Methods & Materials: Ten women with obesity (Mean±SD age = 40.41±3.97 years; weight = 86.66±7.26 kg; and BMI = 33.22±2.20 kg/m2) participated in a crossover design exercise intervention: 1) postprandial aerobic exercise, 2) pre-prandial aerobic exercise, 3) brief periodic exercise, and 4) control. Pre- and postprandial exercise included 30 min of moderate-intensity walking on the treadmill before and after each main meal (1 minute of exercise -30 seconds rest). The brief periodic exercise had three one-minute reps of activity every 30 min for 20 times during the day. Twelve-hour continuous glucose monitoring and two-hour postprandial glucose levels were calculated to examine changes in blood glucose levels. Ethical Considerations: This study was approved by the institutional review board of the University of Isfahan (Ethics Code: IR.UI.REC.1397.119) and conducted in agreement with the ethical principles for biomedical research involving human subjects outlined in the declaration of Helsinki. Results: The findings of this study suggested that brief periodic exercise resulted in a significant decrease in continuous glucose monitoring levels and postprandial glucose compared to the control group as well as pre-prandial exercise (P˂0.05). However, pre- and postprandial exercise did not result in significant changes in continuous glucose monitoring (P˃0.05). In addition, postprandial exercise led to a significant decrease in postprandial glucose compared to the control group (P˂0.05). Conclusion: It seems that brief periodic exercise can have more beneficial effects on postprandial glucose levels, probably due to improved glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle.

Abstract:

Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are more sedentary compared with the general population, but contemporary cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programmes do not specifically target sedentary behaviour (SB). We developed a 12-week, hybrid (centre-based+home-based) Sedentary behaviour IntervenTion as a personaLisEd Secondary prevention Strategy (SIT LESS). The SIT LESS programme is tailored to the needs of patients with CAD, using evidence-based behavioural change methods and an activity tracker connected to an online dashboard to enable self-monitoring and remote coaching. Following the intervention mapping principles, we first identified determinants of SB from literature to adapt theory-based methods and practical applications to target SB and then evaluated the intervention in advisory board meetings with patients and nurse specialists. This resulted in four core components of SIT LESS: (1) patient education, (2) goal setting, (3) motivational interviewing with coping planning, and (4) (tele)monitoring using a pocket-worn activity tracker connected to a smartphone application and providing vibrotactile feedback after prolonged sedentary bouts. We hypothesise that adding SIT LESS to contemporary CR will reduce SB in patients with CAD to a greater extent compared with usual care. Therefore, 212 patients with CAD will be recruited from two Dutch hospitals and randomised to CR (control) or CR+SIT LESS (intervention). Patients will be assessed prior to, immediately after and 3 months after CR. The primary comparison relates to the pre-CR versus post-CR difference in SB (objectively assessed in min/day) between the control and intervention groups. Secondary outcomes include between-group differences in SB characteristics (eg, number of sedentary bouts); change in SB 3 months after CR; changes in light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity; quality of life; and patients’ competencies for self-management. Outcomes of the SIT LESS randomised clinical trial will provide novel insight into the effectiveness of a structured, hybrid and personalised behaviour change intervention to attenuate SB in patients with CAD participating in CR. Trial registration number NL9263.

Abstract:

Background: Relapse occurs in 30-40% of AML patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT). Detecting molecular relapse before clinical relapse offers the opportunity of early interventions (e.g. donor lymphocyte infusions, reduction of immunosuppression etc.). Next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based error-corrected sequencing approaches have shown promising results in AML patients prior to alloHSCT, which identified MRD in 45% of patients and predicted a cumulative incidence of relapse of 66% versus 17% in MRD negative patients at 5 years. However, NGS-based MRD is not well studied in patients after alloHSCT. Aim: To evaluate the prognostic impact of MRD on day 90 and day 180 after alloHSCT in AML patients in morphologic complete remission (CR) using error-corrected NGS applicable to the majority of AML patients. Patients and Methods: We quantified MRD in 138 patients who underwent myeloablative (MA, n=47) or reduced-intensity conditioned (RIC, n=91) alloHSCT for AML on day 90 and 180 after alloHSCT. All patients had at least one mutation at the time of diagnosis that was identified by NGS with a myeloid panel on the Illumina platform. Amplicon-based error-corrected sequencing and bioinformatics analysis was applied to samples on day 90 (n=133) and day 180 (n=125) after alloHSCT as described previously (Thol et al. Blood 2018). In the first approach we analysed 1-2 diagnostic mutations (=limited marker approach). In the second approach an extended marker set with (2-4) markers was used (=extended marker approach). Genomic DNA from peripheral blood (PB) was used for the majority of analyses (PB n= 394; bone marrow n=17). Cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) and non-relapse mortality (NRM) were evaluated by competing risk analysis. Results: The median follow up time of the cohort was 5.5 years. The mean limit of detection was a variant allele frequency (VAF) of 0.012% using error correction and 0.071 when using forward/reverse read error correction. MRD positivity on day 90 and/or day 180 was detected in 22 out of 138 patients (16%) with the limited marker approach, while MRD was found in 28 patients (20.3%) with the extended marker approach. Using the limited marker approach, the 5-year CIR was 52% for MRD positive and 30% for MRD negative patients (P=0.001), while NRM was similar between both groups (Figure 1A). Overall survival (OS) was shorter in MRD positive patients compared to MRD negative patients (P=.044, Figure 1B). In multivariate analysis using variables significant in univariate analysis (P&lt;0.1), MRD remained significant for CIR (HR 3.19; CI 1.73-5.89; P&lt;0.001). Using the extended marker approach improved the prognostic power with a 5-year CIR of 58% for MRD positive and 27% for MRD negative patients (P&lt;0.001, Figure 1C) and reduced OS in MRD positive patients (P=0.001 Figure 1D) which remained significant in multivariate analysis for CIR (HR 4.75; CI 2.66-8.50; P=&lt;0.001) and OS (HR 2.56; CI 1.26-5.20; P&lt;0.009). On day 90 after alloHSCT, 26 of 133 (20%) MRD positive patients were identified with the extended marker approach, while only 2 additional MRD positive patients were identified on day 180. 9 of 26 MRD positive patients on day 90 never relapsed during the follow up period. The rate of chronic GvHD was 29% in these patients compared to 43% in MRD negative patients (P=.28). MRD was detected in 17% of patients with acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGvHD) of any grade compared to 25% in patients with no aGvHD (P=0.23). To better understand which markers may be most useful for MRD analysis we sequenced 34 available samples at relapse. In 25 patients (74%), at least one mutation persisted from diagnosis to relapse and at least one mutation was gained at relapse. Eight patients (24%) had no overlapping mutation while only one patient had no change in the molecular profile between diagnosis and relapse. Conclusion: NGS-based MRD monitoring on day 90 and 180 after alloHSCT is predictive for CIR and OS in AML patients. The discriminative power can be further improved when selecting 2-4 markers instead of a limited marker approach with only 1 to 2 markers per patient. Our results suggest that MRD from peripheral blood collected already at day 90 is prognostic for relapse and OS. Thus, day 90 NGS-based MRD monitoring from peripheral blood may become useful as a tool to tailor post-transplant care in AML patients. Figure 1 Disclosures Chaturvedi: Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany: Research Funding. Paschka:Agios: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sunesis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Other: Travel expenses; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Other: Travel expenses; BMS: Other: Travel expenses, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Other: Travel expenses; Astellas: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astex: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Travel expenses; Otsuka: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen: Other: Travel expenses; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel expenses, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel expenses, Speakers Bureau; Jazz: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Bullinger:Menarini: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; Sanofi: Honoraria; Seattle Genetics: Honoraria; Bayer: Other: Financing of scientific research; Hexal: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Astellas: Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Daiichi Sankyo: Honoraria; Gilead: Honoraria; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Fiedler:Amgen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Daiichi Sanchyo Oncology, Servier: Other: Support for meeting attendance; Amgen, Pfizer, Abbvie: Other: Support in medical writing; Amgen, Pfizer, Novartis, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Ariad/Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Research Funding. Krauter:Pfizer: Honoraria. Döhner:Daiichi: Honoraria; Jazz: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; CTI Biopharma: Consultancy, Honoraria. Döhner:AROG, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer: Research Funding; Celgene, Novartis, Sunesis: Honoraria, Research Funding; AbbVie, Agios, Amgen, Astellas, Astex, Celator, Janssen, Jazz, Seattle Genetics: Consultancy, Honoraria. Heuser:Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin: Research Funding; Synimmune: Research Funding.

Abstract:

Air pollution is a problem that get a lot of people’s attention, especially at campus environment. It is evocate the stakeholder of campus to monitor the environmental conditions at the campus which themed a green campus. Advances in science and technology, especially in computer and embedded systems in principle can be applied to solve this problem. There are creating an application system that is equipped with sensor to monitor the air quality level wirelessly. The system supports several environmental monitoring sensors that are connected in a wireless sensor network. The objective of this research was to design and create a sensor system that can monitor environment condition quantity by providing the appropriate output value. Sensors that used to read the air quality parameters is TGS 2600 to read the gas concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), TGS 2201 for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), GP2Y1010AU0F for particulate matter, BH1750 for light ambient, and SHT11 for humidity and temperature. This sensor system using Arduino board that based on Atmega 2560 microcontroller. This system is equipped with RTC as a time and GPS as a coordinate where the sensor system is placed as a node. The result of this reseach is the system able to read parameters as air quality monitoring well. The error reading in this sensor system is 0.69 ppm CO gas, 2.8 lx on the intensity of light, 0.22 C in temperature reading, and 0.98% in humidity readings.

Abstract:

Abstract Background: A recent study from the Acute Leukemia Working Party of EBMT demonstrated that outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have improved significantly over time and that total body irradiation (TBI) should be considered as the preferable type of myeloablative conditioning (MAC). This study, however, did not compare outcomes of allo-HCT in patients with CNS involvement (CNS-pos) vs. those without CNS disease (CNS-neg). Study population: Here, we evaluate post allo-HCT outcomes of 547 patients (CNS-pos at initial presentation=96, CNS-neg=451) who underwent the procedure in first complete remission (CR1) between 2009 and 2019 at an EBMT participating transplant center. The distribution of ALL subtypes were as follows: CNS-pos (Ph-neg B ALL=28%, Ph-pos B ALL=27%, and T-cell ALL=45%) and for CNS-neg (Ph-neg B ALL=21%, Ph-pos B ALL=44%, and T-cell ALL=35%), p=0.01. The primary endpoint was leukemia-free survival (LFS). Results: The median follow up was not statistically different between the CNS-pos (78.7 months) and the CNS-neg group (67.2 months), p=0.58. Patients in the CNS-pos group were younger (median age 31.3 vs. 39.7 years, p=0.004), received the procedure more recently (median year 2012 vs. 2010, p=0.003), were less likely to have a Karnofsky score of equal or higher than 90 (70.8% vs. 81.9%, p=0.017), or to have received peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) (61.5% vs. 72.7%, p=0.028). The groups did not differ in regards to donor source (URD, 50% vs. 56.5%, p=0.24) or the intensity of the preparative regimen (MAC, 82.3% vs. 85.6%, p=0.41). In multivariate analysis, CNS-pos were associated with higher cumulative incidence of relapse (HR=1.58 (95%CI=1.06-2.35), P=0.025) and a trend for an inferior leukemia-free survival (LFS) (HR=1.38 (95%CI=0.99-1.92), p=0.057), but did not adversely impact overall survival (OS) (HR=1.28 (95%CI=0.89-1.85), p=0.18). A subgroup multivariate analysis limited to patients with CNS-pos showed that prescribing a TBI MAC regimen (vs. others) results in a lower cumulative incidence of relapse (HR=0.35 (95%CI=0.15-0.79), p=0.012) and better LFS (HR=0.43 (95%CI=0.22-0.83), p=0.01) and OS (HR=0.44 (95%CI=0.21-0.92), p=0.03). Use of PBSC (vs. BM) was also independently associated with better OS (HR=0.53 (95%CI=0.29-0.99), p=0.046). Conclusion: Notwithstanding the inherent limitations of registry data, particularly ascertaining the absence of CNS involvement in the CNS-neg group, our results show CNS involvement as an independent risk factor for relapse following allo-HCT. Our data support, nonetheless, the choice of a TBI-based MAC regimen in this group of patients but stresses the need for close monitoring of relapse after allo-HCT. Disclosures Labopin: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Bazarbachi: Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Roche: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Abbvie: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Hikma: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Astra Zeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Mielke: Immunicum: Other: Data safety monitoring board; DNA Prime SA: Speakers Bureau; Gilead/KITE: Other: Travel support, Expert panel ; Miltenyi: Other: Data safety monitoring board; Novartis: Speakers Bureau; Celgene/BMS: Speakers Bureau. Socie: Alexion: Research Funding. Huynh: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Yakoub-Agha: Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria. Giebel: Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Peric: Therakos, Servier, MSD, Astellas, Novartis, Abbvie, Pfizer: Honoraria. Mohty: Sanofi: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria; Jazz: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Bristol Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Astellas: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Honoraria.

Abstract:

Agriculture plays vital role in the development of agricultural country. Agriculture supports directly or indirectly the economic growth of the country. The biggest thing that holds back the development in the agricultural productivity and efficiency is manual interventions. Agriculture put lots of emphasis on human care in detection and control of different factors such as environment which leads to wastage of manpower and also the desired results are not achieved due to human monitoring error. Greenhouse agriculture in large extent is in urgent need to control the environment factors which give optimum growth of plants. With internet era, proposed work is an integration of greenhouse with IoT. In proposed work Intel Galileo Gen 2 board is used to monitor and control environmental factors for greenhouse like temperature, humidity, soil moisture and light intensity. The user gets updated constantly about the condition of the greenhouse factors using IoT technology. To transmit the data over internet ESP8266Wi-Fi module is used. The experimental results are displayed on ThingSpeak cloud platform. This system avoids the use of dedicated server PC, with the help of internet connectivity user can access the data from anywhere at any time.

Abstract:

Purpose. Development of a method for determining the main functional parameters of on-board supercapacitor recuperative energy storage based on the asymptotic theory of extreme statistics by Gumbel, taking into account stochastic nature of changes in recuperated voltage and current. Methodology. To achieve this purpose, methods, devices and computer systems for temporary registration of recuperated voltages and currents on operating electric locomotives, methods of the theory of random processes and methods of probabilistic and statistical processing of registrograms of voltages and currents were used. Findings. A computational and experimental method for estimating recuperative energy has been proposed and practically applied. A probabilistic method has been developed for determining the energy and electric capacity of on-board supercapacitor recuperative energy storage units. Numerical probabilistic and statistical calculations of the energy and electric capacity of on-board storage for the VL8 and VL11M6 electric locomotives during their operation in the sections of Prydniprovska railway have been carried out. It was found that the energy and electric capacity of on-board storage devices are distributed according to an exponential law with a clear prevalence of their minimum values and in compliance with direct proportionality between them. Originality. For the first time, an autonomous phase of recuperative braking mode of an electric rolling stock has been developed, which makes it possible to significantly reduce the mass and dimension of a supercapacitor storage. The asymptotic theory of extreme statistics by Gumbel was adapted to the method for calculating energy and electric capacity of an on-board storage device, which made it possible to take into account the influence of stochastic nature of changes in the recuperated voltage and current. The probabilistic influence regularities of the change nature in the recuperation energy on the capacity of on-board storage in the phase of recuperative braking have been established. Further development was obtained by a computational-experimental method for assessing the recuperative energy, based on monitoring and using the time dependences of voltage and current obtained in real modes of recuperative braking. For the first time in electric traction systems, it was proposed to carry out the transition from the recuperative braking mode to the recuperative regeneration mode. Practical value. The developed method and technique based on it make it possible to evaluate functional parameters of on-board storage device of all types of electric rolling stock, considering stochastic nature of recuperated voltages and currents. Numerical-graphic dependences of the energy intensity and capacity of the on-board storage are recommended for predicting and evaluating these parameters for various modes of recuperative braking. Since the task of designing an on-board storage unit (in terms of mass and dimensions) is ambiguous, therefore, in each specific case of the type of electric locomotive and recuperation modes, it must be solved individually, taking into account the probability of the corresponding capacitance values.

Abstract:

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether foreign directors’ influence on opportunistic behavior among managers varies between Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs). It also examines how religious ethics and morals guide foreign directors to be better monitors. Design/methodology/approach A panel fixed effects regression is used to analyze the effect of foreign directors on opportunistic behavior among managers in IBs and CBs. The authors use different proxies such as loss avoidance, discretionary loan loss provision and expense preference behavior to measure management opportunistic behavior. Findings Based on sample of 3,758 bank-year observations for 164 banks over the period 1993-2015, the authors show that the presence of foreign directors in IBs increases boards’ effectiveness in impeding management opportunistic behavior, whereas the presence of foreign directors in CBs reduces boards’ effectiveness in curbing management’s unethical acts. The authors also document that IBs (CBs) with foreign directors demonstrate less (more) earnings management and expense-preference behavior among managers. In addition, the authors’ evidence indicates that the existence of the Shari’ah supervisory boards helps foreign directors be more effective monitors. Research limitations/implications The current study focuses on banks only which makes its results subject to sample bias; there are many other forms of financial institutions (e.g. investments, real-estates and mutual funds) complying to the Shari’ah law. Second, owing to the lack of foreign board directors characteristics, the authors cannot investigate the intensity of the specific characteristics that could have specific directions in affecting managerial behavior. Practical implications The findings in this paper may help standards-setters, auditors, investors and regulators take appropriate measures and create better policies that reduce managers’ discretion. This could in turn improve information transparency decision-making, monitoring, advising and accounting quality. Originality/value The authors’ theoretical framework combines the agency, contingency, resource-dependence, stewardship and stakeholders’ theories and applies them to Shari’ah as an alternative ethical and internal governance mechanism. The authors find that the impact of foreign directors on management opportunistic behavior depends on the corporate religious norms within boards of directors, in particular, suggesting that religious values affect how foreign directors influence bank managers’ behavior.

Abstract:

Abstract Introduction: New treatment strategies with low intensity therapy have emerged for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients who are not candidates for intensive therapy. To date, there is limited data on the frequency of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in patients treated with low intensity regimens, and there is no consensus on the most appropriate prophylactic antifungal agent to use in either the newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory setting. At our institution, fluconazole is the prophylactic antifungal agent of choice for neutropenic patients receiving low intensity therapy, however the appropriateness of fluconazole is being questioned due to the depth and duration of neutropenia observed in these patients. Rates of breakthrough IFIs need to be better characterized to optimize antifungal prophylaxis in this patient population. Methods: This is a retrospective review of AML patients treated with low intensity therapy from January 2017 through May 2020 for both newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory disease. Patients were included if they received fluconazole as prophylaxis during periods of neutropenia and received at least two cycles of low intensity treatment. Low intensity regimens included hypomethylating agent (HMA) monotherapy or a combination of venetoclax with either a HMA or low dose cytarabine (LDAC). Any patient with a contraindication to fluconazole or those who received prophylaxis with an alternative antifungal agent (i.e. posaconazole, voriconazole, isavuconazole, and micafungin), history of previous IFI, or history of a stem cell transplant were excluded. The primary objective was to determine the incidence of breakthrough IFIs. The secondary objective was to further characterize IFI occurrences as possible, probable or proven using criteria defined by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and the Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium (EORTC/MSGERC). An occurrence of IFI was defined as receipt of any systemic antifungal agent, aside from fluconazole, for four or more days for suspected IFI. Patients were evaluated for antifungal escalation from the time of low intensity treatment initiation through 30 days after treatment discontinuation. Results: Eighty encounters were included for analysis. The median age of the cohort was 73 years (interquartile range [IQR] 67 - 80) and 70% of patients were newly diagnosed (n = 56). HMA/venetoclax was the most commonly utilized regimen (66%, n = 53) followed by HMA monotherapy (29%, n = 23) and LDAC/venetoclax (5%, n = 4). The median number of treatment cycles was 5 (IQR 3 - 9). Nineteen IFI occurrences (24%) were documented, with ten in the newly diagnosed population (18%, n = 10/56) and nine in relapsed/refractory patients (38%, n = 9/24). There were no proven, four probable and fourteen possible IFIs. Of the four probable infections, three were in relapsed/refractory patients. Median times to IFI onset from low intensity treatment initiation were 82 and 80 days for the newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory populations, respectively. Of the patients with an IFI, 15/19 (79%) were neutropenic at IFI onset. Conclusions: IFIs are a serious complication of AML as these infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. With 24% of patients requiring antifungal escalation, our study demonstrates that breakthrough IFIs remain a concern for patients receiving low intensity therapy and fluconazole prophylaxis. Incidence of IFI was higher in the relapsed/refractory setting, which is an expected finding as these patients are typically subjected to multiple lines of therapy, leading to poor hematopoietic reserves and more prolonged periods of profound neutropenia. Additional analysis is needed for determination of risk factors, beyond relapsed/refractory disease, to potentially identify subsets of patients at highest risk of developing IFIs as these patients may benefit from closer monitoring and longer durations of prophylaxis. Given these findings, it is reasonable to consider prophylaxis with an extended spectrum antifungal agent against molds for patients receiving low intensity therapy. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Ellis: Rafael Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Pardee: Karyopharm Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; AbbVie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Rafael Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Research Funding; Genetech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Speakers Bureau; Pharmacyclics: Speakers Bureau.

Abstract:

Abstract Leukemia relapse and treatment related mortality (TRM) remain major obstacles for successful allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). The number of induction cycles using intensive chemotherapy at AML diagnosis to achieve complete remission (CR) and the number of consolidation cycles and disease status at the time of allo-HCT for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may each affect TRM and relapse rates. We investigated the impact of the number of induction/consolidation cycles and disease status on the success of allo-HCT in 3113 AML patients reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) (2008-2019). They received allo-HCT in first CR or with persistent leukemia (primary induction failure-PIF) receiving myeloablative (MA) or reduced-intensity (RIC) conditioning. 1473 AML patients (median age, 47 years) in CR received MAC; 862 (58%) achieved CR after 1 cycle of intensive induction chemotherapy and 74% of these had no evidence of measurable residual disease (MRD). 454 (31%) patients required 2 cycles to CR (72 % MRD negative) and 157 (11%) patients (69% MRD negative) after ≥ 3 cycles. The overall survival (OS), relapse and TRM by induction cycle number is shown in Table 1. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that CR after 1 cycle led to higher OS vs. 2 cycles (HR 1.32 95%CI 1.11-1.56, p&lt; 0.01) or ≥ 3 cycles (HR 1.47 95%CI 1.16-1.87, p&lt; 0.01), while OS after 2 cycles or ≥ 3 cycles were similar (HR 1.2 95%CI 0.87-1.4, p=0.38). Higher TRM was observed in patients receiving 2 or ≥ 3 cycles vs. only 1 induction cycles (HR 1.34 95%CI 1.05-1.72, p&lt; 0.02). Relapse risk was greater in those needing ≥ 3 cycles to achieve CR. Consolidation therapy after CR was associated with improved OS vs. no consolidation therapy (HR 1.57 95%CI 1.24-1.99, p&lt; 0.01). The need for ≥2 induction cycles plus consolidation therapy was associated with higher TRM (HR 1.34 95%CI 1.05-1.72, p&lt; 0.02). 1162 AML patients (median age, 63 years) in CR received allo-HCT after RIC; 714 (61%) achieved CR after 1 cycle of induction chemotherapy (72% MRD negative); 310 (27%) patients after 2 cycles (67% MRD negative) and 138 (12%) patients (58% MRD negative) after ≥ 3 cycles (Table 1). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the number of induction cycles did not affect the OS or TRM. Relapse risk was greater in patients requiring ≥2 cycles to achieve CR. The use of consolidation therapy did not affect OS or TRM. MRD status at the time of allo-HCT did not have a significant impact on OS, TRM and relapse rates after either MA or RIC conditioning. 478 AML patients received allo-HCT after PIF (328 patients with MAC [median age, 51 years], 150 patients RIC [median age, 61 years], Table 1). After MAC, OS and relapse were significantly worse in PIF patients compared to any CR patients (p&lt;0.01). After RIC, relapse was significantly more frequent in PIF patients vs. CR patients after 1 or more induction cycles (p&lt;0.01). TRM was similar for PIF vs CR patients after MAC or RIC allo-HCT. These data demonstrate that among patients eligible for allo-HCT, the need for only one induction cycle to achieve CR, particularly when combined with consolidation therapy is associated with better outcomes after MA conditioning. Achieving CR prior to allo-HCT needing one or more induction cycles is associated with lower relapse rates and improved OS compared to patients with PIF that receive allo-HCT. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures de Lima: BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Incyte: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Miltenyi Biotec: Research Funding; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Hourigan: Govt. COI: Other. Litzow: Omeros: Other: Advisory Board; Pluristem: Research Funding; Jazz: Other: Advisory Board; AbbVie: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; Actinium: Research Funding; Astellas: Research Funding; Biosight: Other: Data monitoring committee. Saber: Govt. COI: Other. Weisdorf: Incyte: Research Funding; Fate Therapeutics: Research Funding.

Abstract:

Crop management is one of the key aspects in precision agriculture. On-site crop management includes a scheduled prediction and prescription of fertilization and pesticide application on specific areas of the field. A prediction of the tree health is much needed in order to decide a suitable prescription for the plant. An autonomous vehicle, equipped with at least one LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensor, could be used not only for detecting and mapping its surrounding, but to also help evaluate tree health for early distress detection. Currently, farmers have to rely on eyesight to identify trees or plants in distress. Big-scale plantations depend on costly scheduled airborne monitoring routines, which also relies on human vision by scouring through hours of aerial video footage. Both techniques have similar weaknesses in terms of the time it takes to detect a tree in distress and the accuracy of the detection using human vision. The objective of this research is to propose a technique in evaluating tree health using a simple LiDAR sensor that is commonly used in autonomous vehicles. In order to achieve this objective, an evaluation of the different intensity characteristics of tree leaves versus fruits was carried out, both in the lab and in the field. This study has chosen oil palm trees as its subject, as the problem of health monitoring in oil palm plantations is evident. A LiDAR with a 905 nm near-infrared (NIR) laser is used to scan both individual healthy leaves in the lab and different oil palm trees in the field. Since a LiDAR sensor is normally used for ranging, a systematic process was proposed to capture the reflected intensity value of the laser beam that was transmitted to the object. This whole system can be realized using a LiDAR sensor, servo motors, and an Arduino board. Processing software was used to test and store the captured information from the sensor. Later, MATLAB was used to plot the intensity map of the leaves and oil palm tree, classify the range intensity into histograms, and calculate the leaf area index (LAI) for the oil palm trees. From the experimental results, it is found that the reflectance intensity of the leaves shows consistent range values between 155-160 magnitude both in the lab and in the field. From there, three different trees with different number of leaves were scanned and evaluated based on their LAI values. The health of the tree is then predicted, where a healthy tree is estimated to have a higher LAI value. The resulting LAI value is found to correlate with the evaluation using eyesight. This proves that although using a single-wavelength NIR laser beam provided by the LiDAR sensor, as compared to multiple wavelengths of a spectrometer, the difference between the oil palm leaves, fruits and the background noise could be determined. In the future, where multi-wavelength laser LiDAR sensors could be possible, more materials could be characterized. In conclusion, detection, mapping, and materials characterization could be done by an autonomous vehicle utilizing a LiDAR sensor, where tree health could be predicted for crop care management.

Abstract:

Air pollution is reported as one of the most severe environmental problems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Remotely sensed data from newly available TROPOMI - TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument on board Sentinel-5 Precursor, shows an annual mean of high-resolution maps of selected air quality indicators (NO2, CO, O3, and UVAI) of the MENA countries for the first time. The correlation analysis among the aforementioned indicators show the coherency of the air pollutants in urban areas. Multi-year data from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) stations from nine MENA countries are utilized here to study the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Ångström exponent (AE) with other available observations. Additionally, a total of 65 different machine learning models of four categories, namely: linear regression, ensemble, decision tree, and deep neural network (DNN), were built from multiple data sources (MODIS, MISR, OMI, and MERRA-2) to predict the best usable AOD product as compared to AERONET data. DNN validates well against AERONET data and proves to be the best model to generate optimized aerosol products when the ground observations are insufficient. This approach can improve the knowledge of air pollutant variability and intensity in the MENA region for decision makers to operate proper mitigation strategies.

Abstract:

We proposed applying low-frequency (flicker) noise in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells under selected loads to assess their state of health. The measurement set-up comprised a precise data acquisition board and was able to record the DC voltage and its random component at the output. The set-up estimated the voltage noise power spectral density at frequencies up to a few hundred mHz. We observed the evolution of the electrical parameters of selected cells of different qualities. We confirmed that flicker noise intensity varied the most (more than 10 times) and preceded changes in the impedance or a drop in the output DC voltage (less than 2 times). The data were observed for current loads (from 0.5 to 32 A) far from the permissible load. We deduce that the method can be utilised in industrial conditions to monitor the state of health of the selected cells by noise analysis. The method can be used in real-time when the flicker noise is measured within the range of a few Hz and requires a reasonable amount of averaging time to estimate its power spectral density. The presented method of flicker noise measurement has considerable potential for use in innovative ways of fuel cell quality monitoring.

Abstract:

In the microchip electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection, the stray capacitance of the detector causes high background noise, which seriously affects the sensitivity and stability of the detection system. To reduce the effect, a novel design of planar grounded capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (PG-C4D) based on printed circuit board (PCB) is proposed. The entire circuit plane except the sensing electrodes is covered by the ground electrode, greatly reducing the stray capacitance. The efficacy of the design has been verified by the electrical field simulation and the electrophoresis detection experiments of inorganic ions. The baseline intensity of the PG-C4D was less than 1/6 of that of the traditional C4D. The PG-C4D with the new design also demonstrated a good repeatability of migration time, peak area, and peak height (n = 5, relative standard deviation, RSD ≤ 0.3%, 3%, and 4%, respectively), and good linear coefficients within the range of 0.05–0.75 mM (R2 ≥ 0.986). The detection sensitivity of K+, Na+, and Li+ reached 0.05, 0.1, and 0.1 mM respectively. Those results prove that the new design is an effective and economical approach which can improve sensitivity and repeatability of a PCB based PG-C4D, which indicate a great application potential in agricultural and environmental monitoring.