The lived experience: Stories from those who have encountered catastrophic loss from flood

Natural disasters including flood affect thousands of people all over the world each year. As a direct result, millions of dollars in widespread damage occur in the regions directly impacted by such disasters. Analyzing stories from those who have suffered catastrophic loss from flood may offer a means to better understand what is important to the survivor from their perspective and may assist in the recovery process. The purpose of this research was to examine the lived experience of those who have experienced catastrophic loss from flood. The importance of this research and its impact on nursing knowledge development, research, and practice are discussed. A review of the literature, substantiation of the theoretical underpinnings for this study, and data collection and analyses are explained. Fourteen themes were identified that represent the structure of meaning of the lived experience of a flood event where catastrophic loss had occurred

NectarCAM : a camera for the medium size telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

NectarCAM is a camera proposed for the medium-sized telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) covering the central energy range of ~100 GeV to ~30 TeV. It has a modular design and is based on the NECTAr chip, at the heart of which is a GHz sampling Switched Capacitor Array and a 12-bit Analog to Digital converter. The camera will be equipped with 265 7-photomultiplier modules, covering a field of view of 8 degrees. Each module includes the photomultiplier bases, high voltage supply, pre-amplifier, trigger, readout and Ethernet transceiver. The recorded events last between a few nanoseconds and tens of nanoseconds. The camera trigger will be flexible so as to minimize the read-out dead-time of the NECTAr chips. NectarCAM is designed to sustain a data rate of more than 4 kHz with less than 5\% dead time. The camera concept, the design and tests of the various subcomponents and results of thermal and electrical prototypes are presented. The design includes the mechanical structure, cooling of the electronics, read-out, clock distribution, slow control, data-acquisition, triggering, monitoring and services.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.0589

Common Sense Beliefs About The Central Self, Moral Character, And The Brain

To assess lay beliefs about self and brain, we probed people\u27s opinions about the central self, in relation to morality, willful control, and brain relevance. In study 1, 172 participants compared the central self to the peripheral self. The central self, construed at this abstract level, was seen as more brain-based than the peripheral self, less changeable through willful control, and yet more indicative of moral character. In study 2, 210 participants described 18 specific personality traits on 6 dimensions: centrality to self, moral relevance, willful control, brain dependence, temporal stability, and desirability. Consistent with Study 1, centrality to the self, construed at this more concrete level, was positively correlated to brain dependence. Centrality to the self was also correlated to desirability and temporal stability, but not to morality or willful control. We discuss differences and similarities between abstract (Study 1) and concrete (Study 2) levels of construal of the central self, and conclude that in contemporary American society people readily embrace the brain as the underlying substrate of who they truly are

Can dissonance engineering improve risk analysis of human–machine systems?

The paper discusses dissonance engineering and its application to risk analysis of human–machine systems. Dissonance engineering relates to sciences and technologies relevant to dissonances, defined as conflicts between knowledge. The richness of the concept of dissonance is illustrated by a taxonomy that covers a variety of cognitive and organisational dissonances based on different conflict modes and baselines of their analysis. Knowledge control is discussed and related to strategies for accepting or rejecting dissonances. This acceptability process can be justified by a risk analysis of dissonances which takes into account their positive and negative impacts and several assessment criteria. A risk analysis method is presented and discussed along with practical examples of application. The paper then provides key points to motivate the development of risk analysis methods dedicated to dissonances in order to identify the balance between the positive and negative impacts and to improve the design and use of future human–machine system by reinforcing knowledge

Comparative evaluation by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction of MDR1, MRP and GSTp gene expression in breast carcinomas.

Identification and quantitative evaluation of drug resistance markers are essential to assess the impact of multidrug resistance (MDR) in clinical oncology. The MDR1 gene confers pleiotropic drug resistance in tumour cells, but other molecular mechanisms are also involved in drug resistance. In particular, the clinical pattern of expression of the other MDR-related genes is unclear and their interrelationships are still unknown. Here, we report standardization of the procedures used to determine a reliable method of semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using a standard series of drug-sensitive and increasingly resistant cell lines to evaluate the expression of three MDR-related genes, i.e. MDR1 (multidrug resistance gene 1), MRP (multidrug resistance related protein) and GSTp (glutathione-S-transferase p), reported to be endogenous standard genes for normalization of mRNAs. A total of 74 breast cancer surgical biopsies, obtained before any treatment, were evaluated by this method. When compared with classical clinical and laboratory findings, GSTp mRNA level was higher in diploid tumours. However, the main finding of our study suggests a clear relationship between two of these MDR-related gene expressions, namely GSTp and MRP. This finding provides new insight into human breast tumours, which may possibly be linked to the glutathione conjugate carrier function of MRP. Well defined semiquantitative RT-PCR procedures can therefore constitute a powerful tool to investigate MDR phenotype at mRNA levels of different related genes in small and precious tumour biopsy specimens

U–Pb dating on calcite paleosol nodules: first absolute age constraints on the Miocene continental succession of the Paris Basin

Continental sedimentary successions are typically less complete and more poorly preserved than the marine record, leading to limited correlations between basins. Traditionally, intra-basin correlation employs radiometric dating of volcanic markers or relative dating based on the fossil record. However, volcanic markers may not always be present, and biostratigraphy relies on index fossils that are often sparse to absent in continental succession. Recent progress in carbonate U–Pb dating can improve correlations between continental successions by providing absolute age constraints on carbonate deposition and/or on syn- to post-depositional processes such as pedogenesis. In this study, we analysed pedogenic calcite nodules within a continental Miocene succession in the southwestern Paris Basin (the important paleontological site at Mauvières quarry, France). Following multi-method petrographic characterisation of the samples, LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) U–Pb dating was employed to obtain formation ages on the pedogenic calcite nodules. The Tera–Wasserburg intercept ages from five nodules from the same horizon (19.3 ± 1.3/1.4, 18.8 ± 2.7/2.7, 19.11 ± 0.84/0.94, 19.0 ± 2.3/2.3 and 19.4 ± 2.7/2.7 Ma) are in excellent agreement with previous biostratigraphic constraints on the sequence. Petrographic evidence points to a single crystallisation event, and we conclude that the formation of the calcite nodules occurred at 19.22 ± 0.66/0.79 Ma (central age from a radial plot of the five Tera–Wasserburg intercept ages). This calcite formation age is regarded to represent a minimum depositional age of the strata hosting the root nodules. It provides the first absolute age for the continental Miocene succession (and Neogene mammal zone MN3) of the Paris Basin and allows correlation with other continental basins independent of their fossil assemblages or where fossil content is absent.</p

Impact of alcohol use disorder severity on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral suppression and CD4 count in three international cohorts of people with HIV.

Alcohol use has been linked to worse human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) immunologic/virologic outcomes, yet few studies have explored the effects of alcohol use disorder (AUD). This study assessed whether AUD severity is associated with HIV viral suppression and CD4 count in the three cohorts of the Uganda Russia Boston Alcohol Network for Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS (URBAN ARCH) Consortium. People with HIV (PWH) in Uganda (n = 301), Russia (n = 400), and Boston (n = 251), selected in-part based on their alcohol use, were included in analyses. Logistic and linear regressions were used to assess the cross-sectional associations between AUD severity (number of DSM-5 diagnostic criteria) and (1) HIV viral suppression, and (2) CD4 count (cells/mm &lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; ) adjusting for covariates. Analyses were conducted separately by site. The proportion of females was 51% (Uganda), 34% (Russia), and 33% (Boston); mean age (SD) was 40.7 (9.6), 38.6 (6.3), and 52.1 (10.5), respectively. All participants in Uganda and all but 27% in Russia and 5% in Boston were on antiretroviral therapy. In Uganda, 32% met criteria for AUD, 92% in Russia, and 43% in Boston. The mean (SD) number of AUD criteria was 1.6 (2.4) in Uganda, 5.6 (3.3) in Russia, and 2.4 (3.1) in Boston. Most participants had HIV viral suppression (Uganda 92%, Russia 57%, Boston 87%); median (IQR) CD4 count was 673 (506, 866), 351 (201, 542), and 591 (387, 881), respectively. In adjusted models, there were no associations between AUD severity and HIV viral suppression: adjusted odds ratios (AOR) (95%CI) per 1 additional AUD criterion in Uganda was 1.08 (0.87, 1.33); Russia 0.98 (0.92, 1.04); and Boston 0.95 (0.84, 1.08) or CD4 count: mean difference (95%CI) per 1 additional criterion: 5.78 (-7.47, 19.03), -3.23 (-10.91, 4.44), and -8.18 (-24.72, 8.35), respectively. In three cohorts of PWH, AUD severity was not associated with HIV viral suppression or CD4 count. PWH with AUD in the current era of antiretroviral therapy can achieve virologic control

Author Correction: The IPDGC/GP2 Hackathon - an open science event for training in data science, genomics, and collaboration using Parkinson’s disease data

Correction to: npj Parkinson’s Disease https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-023-00472-6, published online 04 March 2023// In this article the affiliation details for Alastair J Noyce, Jonggeol Jeff Kim, Isabelle Francesca Foote, Sumit Dey were incorrectly given as ‘Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA,’ but should have been ‘Preventive Neurology Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK’.// The affiliation details for Prabhjyot Saini were incorrectly given as ‘Preventive Neurology Unit, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK’ but should have been ‘The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada’. The original article has been corrected