The internal Compton effect

Internal Compton effect, and use of superconducting magnet spectrometer to determine multipolarity assignment

Towards model evaluation and identification using Self-Organizing Maps

The reduction of information contained in model time series through the use of aggregating statistical performance measures is very high compared to the amount of information that one would like to draw from it for model identification and calibration purposes. It has been readily shown that this loss imposes important limitations on model identification and -diagnostics and thus constitutes an element of the overall model uncertainty. In this contribution we present an approach using a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) to circumvent the identifiability problem induced by the low discriminatory power of aggregating performance measures. Instead, a Self-Organizing Map is used to differentiate the spectrum of model realizations, obtained from Monte-Carlo simulations with a distributed conceptual watershed model, based on the recognition of different patterns in time series. Further, the SOM is used instead of a classical optimization algorithm to identify those model realizations among the Monte-Carlo simulation results that most closely approximate the pattern of the measured discharge time series. The results are analyzed and compared with the manually calibrated model as well as with the results of the Shuffled Complex Evolution algorithm (SCE-UA). In our study the latter slightly outperformed the SOM results. The SOM method, however, yields a set of equivalent model parameterizations and therefore also allows for confining the parameter space to a region that closely represents a measured data set. This particular feature renders the SOM potentially useful for future model identification applications

Long-term safety of siltuximab in patients with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease: a prespecified, open-label, extension analysis of two trials.

BACKGROUND:Siltuximab is recommended by international consensus as a first-line treatment for idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease on the basis of durable efficacy and safety data. This study was done to assess the long-term safety and activity of siltuximab over up to 6 years of treatment. METHODS:This study is a prespecified open-label extension analysis of a phase 1 trial (NCT00412321) and a phase 2 trial (NCT01024036), done at 26 hospitals worldwide. Patients in both studies were at least 18 years old with histologically confirmed, symptomatic Castleman disease. This extension study enrolled 60 patients who completed the previous trials without disease progression on siltuximab. Patients received siltuximab infusions of 11 mg/kg every 3 weeks (which could be extended to 6 weeks) for up to 6 years. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. No formal hypothesis testing was performed. The primary endpoint was the safety of siltuximab, assessed at each dosing cycle. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01400503 and with EudraCT, number 2010-022837-27. FINDINGS:Patient enrolment into the phase 1 trial was from June 20, 2005, to Sept 15, 2009, and enrolment into the phase 2 trial was from Feb 9, 2010, to Feb 3, 2012. Patients were enrolled in this long-term extension from April 1, 2011, to Jan 15, 2014. Median follow-up was 6 years (IQR 5·11-7·76). Median treatment duration, from the beginning of the previous trials to the end of the present study, was 5·5 years (IQR 4·26-7·14). Siltuximab was well tolerated; however, adverse events of grade 3 or worse were reported in 36 (60%) of 60 patients with the most common being hypertension (eight [13%]), fatigue (five [8%]), nausea (four [7%]), neutropenia (four [7%]), and vomiting (three [5%]). 25 (42%) patients reported at least one serious adverse event, which most commonly was an infection (eight [13%]). Only two serious adverse events, polycythaemia and urinary retention, were considered related to siltuximab treatment. 18 patients discontinued before study completion, either to receive siltuximab locally (eight) or because of progressive disease (two), adverse events (two), or other reasons (six). No deaths were reported. INTERPRETATION:These results show that siltuximab is well tolerated long term and provides important evidence for the feasibility of the life-long use required by patients with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease. FUNDING:Janssen R&D and EUSA Pharma

Odor Control Test Report of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB) for Orion Utilization

The purpose of this report is to summarize the conclusions for the odor control test of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB), P/N SDD46107234-306 in an environment simulating a space craft capsule. JSC 65891, Odor Control Test Plan of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB) for Orion Utilization, documents the test plan. The details of the test set-up and data reduction are detailed in the WSTF test report for this test WSTF #10-44500, Odor Control Test Plan of the Urine Containment Bag (UCB) for Orion Utilization,. This document outlines the project conclusions and forward plans with regard to trash containment for Constellation

WroNG -- Wroclaw Neutrino Generator of events for single pion production

We constructed a new Monte Carlo generator of events for neutrino CC single pion production on free nucleon targets. The code uses dynamical models of the DIS with the PDFs modified according to the recent JLab data and of the Delta excitation. A comparison with experimental data was done in three channels for the total cross sections and for the distributions of events in invariant hadronic mass.Comment: 6 pages, 13 figures, Presented by J.T. Sobczyk at the 3rd International Workshop on Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions in the Few-GeV Region, 17-21 March, Gran Sasso(Italy),to appear in the Proceeding

Setting and motivation in the decision to participate: An approach to the engagement of diverse samples in mobile research.

Internet and mobile based research are powerful tools in the creation of large, cohort studies (eCohort). However, recent analysis indicates that an underrepresentation of minority and low income groups in these studies might exceed that found in traditional research [1-5]. In this report, we present findings from an experiment in research engagement using the Eureka Research Platform developed to enroll diverse populations in support of biomedical clinical research. This experiment involved the recruitment of African American and Latino participants in a smartphone based survey at a temporary, charitable, dental event sponsored, in part, by the research team, in order to explore the impact of setting and approach on recruitment outcomes. 211 participants enrolled including a significant representation of African Americans (51%) and Latinos (31%) and those with education levels at high school or less (37%). Interviews conducted after the study confirmed that our recruitment efforts within the context of a service event affected the decision to participate. While further research is necessary, this experiment holds promise for the engagement of underrepresented groups in research

A ‘healthy baby’: The double imperative of preimplantation genetic diagnosis

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 The Authors.This article reports from a study exploring the social processes, meanings and institutions that frame and produce ‘ethical problems’ and clinical dilemmas for practitioners, scientists and others working in the specialty of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). A major topic in the data was that, in contrast to IVF, the aim of PGD is to transfer to the woman’s womb only those embryos likely to be unaffected by serious genetic disorders; that is, to produce ‘healthy babies’. Staff described the complex processes through which embryos in each treatment cycle must meet a double imperative: they must be judged viable by embryologists and ‘unaffected’ by geneticists. In this article, we focus on some of the ethical, social and occupational issues for staff ensuing from PGD’s double imperative.The Wellcome Trus

Formation of Black Holes from Collapsed Cosmic String Loops

The fraction of cosmic string loops which collapse to form black holes is estimated using a set of realistic loops generated by loop fragmentation. The smallest radius sphere into which each cosmic string loop may fit is obtained by monitoring the loop through one period of oscillation. For a loop with invariant length $L$ which contracts to within a sphere of radius $R$, the minimum mass-per-unit length $\mu_{\rm min}$ necessary for the cosmic string loop to form a black hole according to the hoop conjecture is $\mu_{\rm min} = R /(2 G L)$. Analyzing $25,576$ loops, we obtain the empirical estimate $f_{\rm BH} = 10^{4.9\pm 0.2} (G\mu)^{4.1 \pm 0.1}$ for the fraction of cosmic string loops which collapse to form black holes as a function of the mass-per-unit length $\mu$ in the range $10^{-3} \lesssim G\mu \lesssim 3 \times 10^{-2}$. We use this power law to extrapolate to $G\mu \sim 10^{-6}$, obtaining the fraction $f_{\rm BH}$ of physically interesting cosmic string loops which collapse to form black holes within one oscillation period of formation. Comparing this fraction with the observational bounds on a population of evaporating black holes, we obtain the limit $G\mu \le 3.1 (\pm 0.7) \times 10^{-6}$ on the cosmic string mass-per-unit-length. This limit is consistent with all other observational bounds.Comment: uuencoded, compressed postscript; 20 pages including 7 figure

Risk of Cancer among Commercially Insured HIV-Infected Adults on Antiretroviral Therapy.

The objective of this study was to explore the cancer incidence rates among HIV-infected persons with commercial insurance who were on antiretroviral therapy and compare them with those rates in the general population. Paid health insurance claims for 63,221 individuals 18 years or older, with at least one claim with a diagnostic code for HIV and at least one filled prescription for an antiretroviral medication between January 1, 2006, and September 30, 2012, were obtained from the LifeLink® Health Plan Claims Database. The expected number of cancer cases in the general population for each gender-age group (<30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and >60 years) was estimated using incidence rates from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were estimated using their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Compared to the general population, incidence rates for HIV-infected adults were elevated (SIR, 95% CI) for Kaposi sarcoma (46.08; 38.74-48.94), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (4.22; 3.63-4.45), Hodgkin lymphoma (9.83; 7.45-10.84), and anal cancer (30.54; 25.62-32.46) and lower for colorectal cancer (0.69; 0.52-0.76), lung cancer (0.70; 0.54, 0.77), and prostate cancer (0.54; 0.45-0.58). Commercially insured, treated HIV-infected adults had elevated rates for infection-related cancers, but not for common non-AIDS defining cancers