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On this episode our guest is David Fairs, a photographer, filmmaker, painter, illustrator, and digital artist. David captures mesmerizing images of the ocean, documenting the beauty of nature. His works are featured on SuperRare, Foundation and NiftyGateway, and they have been exhibited around the world. Recorded on November 23, 2023 as a Space on X (formerly Twitter).Follow the guest:https://twitter.com/newlightvisualsFollow the host:https://twitter.com/0x_ScooterFollow Particle:https://twitter.com/Collectparticlehttps://www.particlecollection.comhttps://www.instagram.com/particlecollectionTimestamps:(00:00) Introduction(01:29) Influence Of Surfing On Art Career(02:38) Searching For Career Fulfillment(05:45) Career Change & Impact Of Covid 19 Pandemic(10:15) Wellbeing & Connection With Nature(12:56) Therapeutic Benefits Of Making And Enjoying Art(15:14) Balance Between Athletic Activities & Artistic Activities(16:30) Close Encounter With A Sea Monster(23:22) Process Involved In Aerial Photgraphy(26:02) Background To "The Bay Of Plenty"(28:05) Capturing The Image Of Crystal Palace Cathedral(31:57) Process Involved In Obtaining The Image "The Breach"(35:20) Process Invlolved In Curating "Ocean World" Collection(39:47) Design Role With ClickCreate.io(45:46) Impact of Community Support Within Web3(50:41) Story behind "Event Horizon" photograph(55:12) Drawing Motivation From Collectors(58:03) Unique Artwork In David's Collection(01:00:27) Parting Words By David Fairs

Another end to the week! Here's our Weekly Trivia question and Wacky Facts for Friday. This week: What's a booger? + Wacky Questions. BACKGROUND To supplement remote teaching and e-learning that is occurring during the COVID-19 quarantine, I am putting together a sample of some of the "Fun Friday" activities that usually occur within our Health classroom. I was going to just record these for students in my virtual classrooms, but figured I'd use this platform to share with the public as well. Hope you enjoy! Depending on the grade level, each Friday we start the period off with some Wacky Facts or Weekly Trivia. These often coincide with the content or skills we've been working on, but mostly they're just for fun and learning. Plus, they often allow us to cover some things with the body systems. If you're into fact checking or you have additional fun facts for us, feel free to leave a comment. :) REMOTE RECORDING Our 8th grade hosts have managed to meet remotely to record updates on how things are going with e-learning and home life. Make sure to check out their thoughts on the cancelled school year and how they are managing socially and mentally through shelter in place. BACKLOG As always, remember to backtrack episodes from the past two school years to hear directly from middle school students. I also have an "Expert Insight" summer series you can listen to in which I interview positive contributors to the world of health, life, and the future. Thanks for checking things out! Stay safe and healthy, and hang in there. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

Friday again! Check out our Weekly Trivia question and Wacky Facts. This week: What is earwax? + Wacky Criminals. BACKGROUND To supplement remote teaching and e-learning that is occurring during the COVID-19 quarantine, I am putting together a sample of some of the "Fun Friday" activities that usually occur within our Health classroom. I was going to just record these for students in my virtual classrooms, but figured I'd use this platform to share with the public as well. Hope you enjoy! Depending on the grade level, each Friday we start the period off with some Wacky Facts or Weekly Trivia. These often coincide with the content or skills we've been working on, but mostly they're just for fun and learning. Plus, they often allow us to cover some things with the body systems. If you're into fact checking or you have additional fun facts for us, feel free to leave a comment. :) REMOTE RECORDING Our 8th grade hosts have managed to meet remotely to record updates on how things are going with e-learning and home life. Make sure to check out their thoughts on the cancelled school year and how they are managing socially and mentally through shelter in place. BACKLOG As always, remember to backtrack episodes from the past two school years to hear directly from middle school students. I also have an "Expert Insight" summer series you can listen to in which I interview positive contributors to the world of health, life, and the future. Thanks for checking things out! Stay safe and healthy, and hang in there. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

It's Friday! Check out our Weekly Trivia question and Wacky Facts. This week: What is spit? + Funny State Laws. BACKGROUND To supplement remote teaching and e-learning that is occurring during the COVID-19 quarantine, I am putting together a sample of some of the "Fun Friday" activities that usually occur within our Health classroom. I was going to just record these for students in my virtual classrooms, but figured I'd use this platform to share with the public as well. Hope you enjoy! Depending on the grade level, each Friday we start the period off with some Wacky Facts or Weekly Trivia. These often coincide with the content or skills we've been working on, but mostly they're just for fun and learning. Plus, they often allow us to cover some things with the body systems. If you're into fact checking or you have additional fun facts for us, feel free to leave a comment. :) REMOTE RECORDING Our 8th grade hosts have managed to meet remotely to record an update on how things are going with e-learning and home life. Make sure to check out their thoughts on the cancelled school year and how they are managing socially and mentally through shelter in place. BACKLOG As always, remember to backtrack episodes from the past two school years to hear directly from middle school students. I also have an "Expert Insight" summer series you can listen to in which I interview positive contributors to the world of health, life, and the future. Thanks for checking things out! Stay safe and healthy, and hang in there. Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

Background: To report our experience with increased dose intensity-modulated radiation and concurrent systemic chemotherapy as definitive treatment of locally advanced esophageal cancer. Patients and methods: We analyzed 27 consecutive patients with histologically proven esophageal cancer, who were treated with increased-dose IMRT as part of their definitive therapy. The majority of patients had T3/4 and/or N1 disease (93%). Squamous cell carcinoma was the dominating histology (81%). IMRT was delivered in step-and-shoot technique in all patients using an integrated boost concept. The boost volume was covered with total doses of 56-60 Gy (single dose 2-2.14 Gy), while regional nodal regions received 50.4 Gy (single dose 1.8 Gy) in 28 fractions. Concurrent systemic therapy was scheduled in all patients and administered in 26 (96%). 17 patients received additional adjuvant systemic therapy. Loco-regional control, progression-free and overall survival as well as acute and late toxicities were retrospectively analyzed. In addition, quality of life was prospectively assessed according to the EORTC QLQs (QLQ-OG25, QLQ-H&N35 and QLQ-C30). Results: Radiotherapy was completed as planned in all but one patient (96%), and 21 patients received more than 80% of the planned concurrent systemic therapy. We observed ten locoregional failures, transferring into actuarial 1-, 2- and 3-year-locoregional control rates of 77%, 65% and 48%. Seven patients developed distant metastases, mainly to the lung (71%). The actuarial 1-, 2- and 3-year-disease free survival rates were 58%, 48% and 36%, and overall survival rates were 82%, 61% and 56%. The concept was well tolerated, both in the clinical objective examination and also according to the subjective answers to the QLQ questionnaire. 14 patients (52%) suffered from at least one acute CTC grade 3/4 toxicity, mostly hematological side effects or dysphagia. Severe late toxicities were reported in 6 patients (22%), mostly esophageal strictures and ulcerations. Severe side effects to skin, lung and heart were rare. Conclusion: IMRT with concurrent systemic therapy in the definitive treatment of esophageal cancer using an integrated boost concept with doses up to 60 Gy is feasible and yields good results with acceptable acute and late overall toxicity and low side effects to skin, lung and heart.

Background: To report an unplanned interim analysis of a prospective, one-armed, single center phase I/II trial (NCT01566123). Methods: Between 2007 and 2013, 27 patients (pts) with primary/recurrent retroperitoneal sarcomas (size > 5 cm, M0, at least marginally resectable) were enrolled. The protocol attempted neoadjuvant IMRT using an integrated boost with doses of 45-50 Gy to PTV and 50-56 Gy to GTV in 25 fractions, followed by surgery and IOERT (10-12 Gy). Primary endpoint was 5-year-LC, secondary endpoints included PFS, OS, resectability, and acute/late toxicity. The majority of patients showed high grade lesions (FNCLCC G1:18%, G2:52%, G3:30%), predominantly liposarcomas (70%). Median tumor size was 15 cm (6-31). Results: Median follow-up was 33 months (5-75). Neoadjuvant IMRT was performed as planned (median dose 50 Gy, 26-55) in all except 2 pts (93%). Gross total resection was feasible in all except one patient. Final margin status was R0 in 6 (22%) and R1 in 20 pts (74%). Contiguous-organ resection was needed in all grossly resected patients. IOERT was performed in 23 pts (85%) with a median dose of 12 Gy (10-20 Gy). We observed 7 local recurrences, transferring into estimated 3- and 5-year-LC rates of 72%. Two were located outside the EBRT area and two were observed after more than 5 years. Locally recurrent situation had a significantly negative impact on local control. Distant failure was found in 8 pts, resulting in 3-and 5-year-DC rates of 63%. Patients with leiomyosarcoma had a significantly increased risk of distant failure. Estimated 3-and 5-year-rates were 40% for PFS and 74% for OS. Severe acute toxicity (grade 3) was present in 4 pts (15%). Severe postoperative complications were found in 9 pts (33%), of whom 2 finally died after multiple re-interventions. Severe late toxicity (grade 3) was scored in 6% of surviving patients after 1 year and none after 2 years. Conclusion: Combination of neoadjuvant IMRT, surgery and IOERT is feasible with acceptable toxicity and yields good results in terms of LC and OS in patients with high-risk retroperitoneal sarcomas. Long term follow-up seems mandatory given the observation of late recurrences. Accrual of patients will be continued with extended follow-up.

Background: To facilitate the discussion on the increasing number of total hip replacements (THR) and their effectiveness, we apply a joint evaluation of hospital case costs and health outcomes at the patient level to enable comparative effectiveness research (CER) based on the preoperative health state. Methods: In 2012, 292 patients from a German orthopedic hospital participated in health state evaluation before and 6 months after THR, where health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and disease specific pain and dysfunction were analyzed using EQ-5D and WOMAC scores. Costs were measured with a patient-based DRG costing scheme in a prospective observation of a cohort. Costs per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) were calculated based on the preoperative WOMAC score, as preoperative health states were found to be the best predictors of QALY gains in multivariate linear regressions. Results: Mean inpatient costs of THR were 6,310 Euros for primary replacement and 7,730 Euros for inpatient lifetime costs including revisions. QALYs gained using the U.K. population preference-weighted index were 5.95. Lifetime costs per QALY were 1,300 Euros. Conclusions: The WOMAC score and the EQ-5D score before operation were the most important predictors of QALY gains. The poorer the WOMAC score or the EQ-5D score before operation, the higher the patient benefit. Costs per QALY were far below common thresholds in all preoperative utility score groups and with all underlying calculation methodologies.

Background: To analyze risk factors associated with gastro-duodenal ulcers and erosions in children. Methods: Open, prospective, multicenter, case-control study carried out in 11 European countries in patients with gastric or duodenal ulcers/erosions and 2 age-matched controls each. Possible risk factors were recorded. Logistic regression models were performed with adjustment for centers and age groups. Results: Seven-hundred thirty-two patients (244 cases, 153 with erosions only and 91 with ulcers, and 488 controls) were recruited. Children receiving antimicrobials or acid suppressive drugs before endoscopy were excluded (202 cases/390 controls remained for risk factor analysis). Helicobacter pylori was detected more frequently in cases than controls but only in 32.0% versus 20.1% in controls (P = 0.001). Independent exposure factors for gastric ulcers were male gender (P = 0.001), chronic neurologic disease (P = 0.015), chronic renal disease (P < 0.001) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug consumption (P = 0.035). Exposure factors for duodenal ulcers were H. pylori infection (P < 0.001) and steroid consumption (P = 0.031). Chronic renal disease was the only independent factor associated with gastric erosions (P = 0.026), those associated with duodenal erosions being H. pylori infection (P = 0.023), active smoking (P = 0.006) and chronic arthritis (P = 0.008). No risk factor was identified in 97/202 (48.0%) cases. Conclusions:H. pylori remains a risk factor for duodenal, but not for gastric lesions in children in countries with low prevalence of infection. No risk factor could be identified in half of the children with gastro-duodenal ulcers/erosions.

Background: To evaluate the agreement of intraocular pressure (IOP) and central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements obtained with the non-contact tonometer Corvis Scheimpflug Technology (Corvis ST, OCULUS, Wetzlar, Germany) versus Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) and ultrasound-based corneal pachymetry (US-CCT). Methods: Eye healthy participants, patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) and patients with open-angle glaucoma were included in this prospective study. In each participant, GAT, US-CCT and measurements with Corvis ST were obtained (Corvis-IOP and Corvis-CCT). Accuracy and repeatability were tested by correlation and regression analyses, Bland-Altman plots and assessment of intraclass correlation coefficients. Results: A consecutive series of 188 right study eyes of 188 participants (142 eyes with glaucoma, 10 eyes with OHT and 36 control eyes) were included in this prospective study. The mean GAT of all included was 14.54.8mmHg compared with mean Corvis-IOP of 15.4 +/- 5.6mmHg (Spearman's r=0.75, p

Background: To determine if black-blood 3 T cardiovascular magnetic resonance (bb-CMR) can depict differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerotic plaques in acute ischemic stroke patients. Methods: In this prospective monocentric observational study 34 patients (24 males; 70 +/- 9.3 years) with symptomatic carotid disease defined as ischemic brain lesions in one internal carotid artery territory on diffusion weighted images underwent a carotid bb-CMR at 3 T with fat-saturated pre- and post-contrast T1w-, PDw-, T2w- and TOF images using surface coils and Parallel Imaging techniques (PAT factor = 2) within 10 days after symptom onset. All patients underwent extensive clinical workup (lab, brain MR, duplex sonography, 24-hour ECG, transesophageal echocardiography) to exclude other causes of ischemic stroke. Prevalence of American Heart Association lesion type VI (AHA-LT6), status of the fibrous cap, presence of hemorrhage/thrombus and area measurements of calcification, necrotic core and hemorrhage were determined in both carotid arteries in consensus by two reviewers who were blinded to clinical information. McNemar and Wilcoxon's signed rank tests were use for statistical comparison. A p-value

Background: To identify dose-volume parameters predictive for severity of acute esophagitis (CTC > grade 2) in locally-advanced non small-cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) patients treated with neoadjuvant concurrent hyperfractionated-accelerated chemoradiotherapy (HA-CRT) a retrospective analysis was performed. 88 patients were treated with HA-CRT followed by radical surgery. Predictive power of absolute oesophageal length, absolute and relative oesophageal volume included in the 95%-isodose, patient-and tumor-related factors for severity of acute esophagitis was assessed. Findings: A total of 82 patients (93%) developed radiation-induced acute esophagitis. Grade 1 was documented in 1 (1%), grade 2 in 55 (67%), grade 3 in 23 (28%) and grade 4 in 3 (4%) patients, respectively. Absolute oesophageal volume included in the 95%-isodose (42.8 Gy) achieved 13.5 cm(3) (range: 3 - 29 cm(3)). Of the tested variables in univariate analysis, absolute oesophageal volume included in the 95%-Isodose was found to be the only significant variable (p = 0.03) predicting severe acute esophagitis (CTC > grade 2). For this volume a gradation scale of the likelihood of severity was built. Conclusion: Increase of absolute oesophageal volume included in the 95%-isodose correlates with severity of acute esophagitis in LA-NSCLC patients treated with neo-adjuvant concurrent HA-CRT.

Background: To evaluate the value of KRAS codon 13 mutations in patients with advanced colorectal cancer (advanced CRC) treated with oxaliplatin and fluoropyrimidines. Methods: Tumor specimens from 201 patients with advanced CRC from a randomized, phase III trial comparing oxaliplatin/5-FU vs. oxaliplatin/capecitabine were retrospectively analyzed for KRAS mutations. Mutation data were correlated to response data (Overall response rate, ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: 201 patients were analysed for KRAS mutation (61.2% males; mean age 64.2 +/- 8.6 years). KRAS mutations were identified in 36.3% of tumors (28.8% in codon 12, 7.4% in codon 13). The ORR in codon 13 patients compared to codon 12 and wild type patients was significantly lower (p = 0.008). There was a tendency for a better overall survival in KRAS wild type patients compared to mutants (p = 0.085). PFS in all patients was not different in the three KRAS genetic groups (p = 0.72). However, we found a marked difference in PFS between patients with codon 12 and 13 mutant tumors treated with infusional 5-FU versus capecitabine based regimens. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the type of KRAS mutation may be of clinical relevance under oxaliplatin combination chemotherapies without the addition of monoclonal antibodies in particular when overall response rates are important.

Background: To explore the concept of the Minimum Clinically Important Difference (MID) of the Worry Scale of the Hypoglycaemia Fear Survey (HFS-II) and to quantify the clinical importance of different types of patient-reported hypoglycaemia. Methods: An observational study was conducted in Germany with 392 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with combinations of oral anti-hyperglycaemic agents. Patients completed the HFS-II, the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM), and reported on severity of hypoglycaemia. Distribution-and anchor-based methods were used to determine MID. In turn, MID was used to determine if hypoglycaemia with or without need for assistance was clinically meaningful compared to having had no hypoglycaemia. Results: 112 patients (28.6%) reported hypoglycaemic episodes, with 15 patients (3.8%) reporting episodes that required assistance from others. Distribution-and anchor-based methods resulted in MID between 2.0 and 5.8 and 3.6 and 3.9 for the HFS-II, respectively. Patients who reported hypoglycaemia with (21.6) and without (12.1) need for assistance scored higher on the HFS-II (range 0 to 72) than patients who did not report hypoglycaemia (6.0). Conclusion: We provide MID for HFS-II. Our findings indicate that the differences between having reported no hypoglycaemia, hypoglycaemia without need for assistance, and hypoglycaemia with need for assistance appear to be clinically important in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with oral anti-hyperglycaemic agents.

Background: To establish an efficient prophylaxis of coronary artery disease reliable risk stratification is crucial, especially in the high risk population of patients suffering from diabetes mellitus. This prospective study determined the predictive value of coronary calcifications for future cardiovascular events in asymptomatic patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods: We included 716 patients suffering from diabetes mellitus (430 men, 286 women, age 55.2 +/- 15.2 years) in this study. On study entry all patients were asymptomatic and had no history of coronary artery disease. In addition, all patients showed no signs of coronary artery disease in ECG, stress ECG or echocardiography. Coronary calcifications were determined with the Imatron C 150 XP electron beam computed tomograph. For quantification of coronary calcifications we calculated the Agatston score. After a mean observation period of 8.1 +/- 1.1 years patients were contacted and the event rate of cardiac death (CD) and myocardial infarction (MI) was determined. Results: During the observation period 40 patients suffered from MI, 36 patients died from acute CD. The initial Agatston score in patients that suffered from MI or died from CD (475 +/- 208) was significantly higher compared to those without cardiac events (236 +/- 199, p < 0.01). An Agatston score above 400 was associated with a significantly higher annualised event rate for cardiovascular events (5.6% versus 0.7%, p < 0.01). No cardiac events were observed in patients with exclusion of coronary calcifications. Compared to the Framingham risk score and the UKPDS score the Agatston score showed a significantly higher diagnostic accuracy in the prediction of MI with an area under the ROC curve of 0.77 versus 0.68, and 0.71, respectively, p < 0.01. Conclusion: By determination of coronary calcifications patients at risk for future MI and CD could be identified within an asymptomatic high risk group of patients suffering from diabetes mellitus. On the other hand future events could be excluded in patients without coronary calcifications.

Background: To perform lamellar keratolimbal allograft transplantation in a one- step procedure with a single graft, we investigated the feasibility of harvesting eccentric lamellar keratolimbal grafts from conventionally processed corneoscleral buttons using a manually guided microkeratome in conjunction with an artificial anterior chamber system. Methods: We used the Moria LSK- One microkeratome and the automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty ( ALTK) system ( Antony, France). Ten human donor eyes were used to obtain single- piece lamellar keratolimbal grafts. Specimens were processed for light and electron microscopy. Results: Eccentric keratolimbal grafts could be obtained from all human donor buttons. Grafts include a crescent- shaped limbal and a large corneal portion. No visible damage to the limbal region was discernible. Conclusion: Our data show that the LSK- One microkeratome in conjunction with the ALTK system allows harvesting eccentric keratolimbal grafts from donor corneoscleral buttons. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.