Quasiparticle properties in a density functional framework

We propose a framework to construct the ground-state energy and density matrix of an N-electron system by solving selfconsistently a set of single-particle equations. The method can be viewed as a non-trivial extension of the Kohn-Sham scheme (which is embedded as a special case). It is based on separating the Green's function into a quasi-particle part and a background part, and expressing only the background part as a functional of the density matrix. The calculated single-particle energies and wave functions have a clear physical interpretation as quasiparticle energies and orbitals.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in prevention of hospital admissions for rotavirus gastroenteritis among young children in Belgium : case-control study

Objective : To evaluate the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination among young children in Belgium. Design : Prospective case-control study. Setting : Random sample of 39 Belgian hospitals, February 2008 to June 2010. Participants : 215 children admitted to hospital with rotavirus gastroenteritis confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and 276 age and hospital matched controls. All children were of an eligible age to have received rotavirus vaccination (that is, born after 1 October 2006 and aged >= 14 weeks). Main outcome measure : Vaccination status of children admitted to hospital with rotavirus gastroenteritis and matched controls. Results : 99 children (48%) admitted with rotavirus gastroenteritis and 244 (91%) controls had received at least one dose of any rotavirus vaccine (P= 12 months. The G2P[4] genotype accounted for 52% of cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction with eligible matched controls. Vaccine effectiveness was 85% (64% to 94%) against G2P[4] and 95% (78% to 99%) against G1P[8]. In 25% of cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction with eligible matched controls, there was reported co-infection with adenovirus, astrovirus and/or norovirus. Vaccine effectiveness against co-infected cases was 86% (52% to 96%). Effectiveness of at least one dose of any rotavirus vaccine (intention to vaccinate analysis) was 91% (82% to 95%). Conclusions : Rotavirus vaccination is effective for the prevention of admission to hospital for rotavirus gastroenteritis among young children in Belgium, despite the high prevalence of G2P[4] and viral co-infection

Occupational therapists’ views of using a virtual reality interior design application within the pre-discharge home visit process

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: A key role of Occupational Therapists (OTs) is to carry out pre-discharge home visits (PHV) and propose appropriate adaptations to the home environment, to enable patients to function independently after hospital-home discharge. However, research shows that more than 50% of specialist equipment installed as part of home adaptations is not used by patients. A key reason for this is that decisions about home adaptations are often made without adequate collaboration and consultation with the patient. Consequently, there is an urgent need to seek out new and innovative uses of technology to facilitate patient/practitioner collaboration, engagement and shared decision making in the PHV process. Virtual reality interior design applications (VRIDAs) primarily allow users to simulate the home environment and visualise changes prior to implementing them. Customised VRIDAs, which also model specialist occupational therapy equipment, could become a valuable tool to facilitate improved patient/practitioner collaboration if developed effectively and integrated into the PHV process. Objective: To explore the perceptions of occupational therapists with regards to using VRIDAs as an assistive tool within the PHV process. Methods: Task-oriented interactive usability sessions, utilising the think-aloud protocol and subsequent semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven Occupational Therapists who possessed significant experience across a range of clinical settings. Template analysis was carried out on the think-aloud and interview data. Analysis was both inductive and driven by theory, centring around the parameters that impact upon the acceptance, adoption and use of this technology in practice as indicated by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Results: OTs’ perceptions were identified relating to three core themes: (1) perceived usefulness (PU), (2) perceived ease of use (PEoU), and (3) actual use (AU). Regarding PU, OTs believed VRIDAs had promising potential to increase understanding, enrich communications and patient involvement, and improved patient/practitioner shared understanding. However, it was unlikely that VRIDAs would be suitable for use with cognitively impaired patients. For PEoU, all OTs were able to use the software and complete the tasks successfully, however, participants noted numerous specialist equipment items that could be added to the furniture library. AU perceptions were positive regarding use of the application across a range of clinical settings including children/young adults, long-term conditions, neurology, older adults, and social services. However, some “fine tuning” may be necessary if the application is to be optimally used in practice. Conclusions: Participants perceived the use of VRIDAs in practice would enhance levels of patient/practitioner collaboration and provide a much needed mechanism via which patients are empowered to become more equal partners in decisions made about their care. Further research is needed to explore patient perceptions of VRIDAs, to make necessary customisations accordingly, and to explore deployment of the application in a collaborative patient/practitioner-based context

GRFS and CRFS in alternative donor hematopoietic cell transplantation for pediatric patients with acute leukemia.

We report graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)-free relapse-free survival (GRFS) (a composite end point of survival without grade III-IV acute GVHD [aGVHD], systemic therapy-requiring chronic GVHD [cGVHD], or relapse) and cGVHD-free relapse-free survival (CRFS) among pediatric patients with acute leukemia (n = 1613) who underwent transplantation with 1 antigen-mismatched (7/8) bone marrow (BM; n = 172) or umbilical cord blood (UCB; n = 1441). Multivariate analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards models. To account for multiple testing, P \u3c .01 for the donor/graft variable was considered statistically significant. Clinical characteristics were similar between UCB and 7/8 BM recipients, because most had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (62%), 64% received total body irradiation-based conditioning, and 60% received anti-thymocyte globulin or alemtuzumab. Methotrexate-based GVHD prophylaxis was more common with 7/8 BM (79%) than with UCB (15%), in which mycophenolate mofetil was commonly used. The univariate estimates of GRFS and CRFS were 22% (95% confidence interval [CI], 16-29) and 27% (95% CI, 20-34), respectively, with 7/8 BM and 33% (95% CI, 31-36) and 38% (95% CI, 35-40), respectively, with UCB (P \u3c .001). In multivariate analysis, 7/8 BM vs UCB had similar GRFS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.12; 95% CI, 0.87-1.45; P = .39), CRFS (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.82-1.38; P = .66), overall survival (HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.80-1.44; P = .66), and relapse (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.03-2.02; P = .03). However, the 7/8 BM group had a significantly higher risk for grade III-IV aGVHD (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.16-2.48; P = .006) compared with the UCB group. UCB and 7/8 BM groups had similar outcomes, as measured by GRFS and CRFS. However, given the higher risk for grade III-IV aGVHD, UCB might be preferred for patients lacking matched donors. © 2019 American Society of Hematology. All rights reserved

Comprehending 3D and 4D ontology-driven conceptual models: An empirical study

This paper presents an empirical study that investigates the extent to which the pragmatic quality of ontology-driven models is influenced by the choice of a particular ontology, given a certain understanding of that ontology. To this end, we analyzed previous research efforts and distilled three hypotheses based on different metaphysical characteristics. An experiment based on two foundational ontologies (UFO and BORO) involving 158 participants was then carried out, followed by a protocol analysis to gain further insights into the results of experiment. We then extracted five derivations from the results of the empirical study in order to summarize our findings. Overall, the results confirm that the choice of a foundational ontology can lead to significant differences in the interpretation and comprehension of the conceptual models produced. Moreover, the effect of applying a certain foundational ontology can cause considerable variations in the effort required to comprehend these models

Effect of priming with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor on the outcome of chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia

BACKGROUND: Sensitization of leukemic cells with hematopoietic growth factors may enhance the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: In a multicenter randomized trial, we assigned patients (age range, 18 to 60 years) with newly diagnosed AML to receive cytarabine plus idarubicin (cycle 1) and cytarabine plus amsacrin (cycle 2) with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) (321 patients) or without G-CSF (319). G-CSF was given concurrently with chemotherapy only. Idarubicin and amsacrin were given at the end of a cycle to allow the cell-cycle-dependent cytotoxicity of cytarabine in the context of G-CSF to have a greater effect. The effect of G-CSF on disease-free survival was assessed in all patients and in cytogenetically distinct prognostic subgroups. RESULTS: After induction chemotherapy, the rates of response were not significantly different in the two groups. After a median follow-up of 55 months, patients in complete remission after induction chemotherapy plus G-CSF had a higher rate of disease-free survival than patients who did not receive G-CSF (42 percent vs. 33 percent at four years, P=0.02), owing to a reduced probability of relapse (relative risk, 0.77; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.61 to 0.99; P=0.04). G-CSF did not significantly improve overall survival (P=0.16). Although G-CSF did not improve the outcome in the subgroup with an unfavorable prognosis, the 72 percent of patients with standard-risk AML benefited from G-CSF therapy (overall survival at four years, 45 percent, as compared with 35 percent in the group that did not receive G-CSF [relative risk of death, 0.75; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.59 to 0.95; P=0.02]; disease-free survival, 45 percent vs. 33 percent [relative risk, 0.70]; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.55 to 0.90; P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Sensitization of leukemic cells with growth factors is a clinically applicable means of enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with AML

Vocal quality description of senile characters from Hollywood movies

PURPOSE: to describe the vocal quality of Hollywood movies characters playing elderly people roles. METHODS: a total of 50 aged character voice samples were used, 11 female and 39 male, from 38 Hollywood movies from the period between 1993 and 2001. Twenty speech therapists performed a perceptual auditory analysis. The listener's task required classifying each character either as elderly or as adult by their speech features, and also assessing their voices following the parameters that are most frequently addressed in the literature as being disordered at an old age. The parameters were hoarseness, vocal fry, breathiness, strain, roughness, vocal weakness, nasal resonance, tremor, vocal modulation, pitch and fundamental frequency stability. RESULTS: after the perceptual auditory analysis we noted that a great number of actors (82%) used senile voices indicating old age, even though not all of them were elderly. The most salient voice set altered was vocal quality (92%), demonstrated by vocal fry (80%), breathiness (54%), strain (38%), hoarseness (30%), and weak voice (28%). The second vocal set most used by the actors for their roles was extensive vocal modulation (44%). It was also observed that vocal instability (64%) was used by the actors. CONCLUSION: it can be concluded from the results that Hollywood movies characterize the elderly characters through evident deviations in vocal quality and modulation, using disordered types of voices and vocal unstable and extensive modulation.OBJETIVO: descrever a qualidade vocal de personagens idosos dos filmes de Hollywood. MÉTODOS: foram colhidas 50 amostras de fala de personagens idosos, 11 do sexo feminino e 39 do masculino, de 38 filmes hollywoodianos dos anos de 1993 a 2001. Através da análise perceptivo-auditiva das amostras de fala, 20 fonoaudiólogos treinados classificaram cada personagem em idoso e não idoso, além de avaliarem as vozes quanto aos seguintes parâmetros citados pela literatura como mais alterados: rouquidão, crepitação, soprosidade, tensão, aspereza, astenia, nasalidade, tremor, modulação, pitch e estabilidade da frequência fundamental. RESULTADOS: após a análise perceptivo-auditiva, foi observado que a grande maioria dos atores (82%) utilizou voz de idoso para representar seus papéis. O marcador mais evidente nas vozes foi alteração na qualidade vocal (92%), demonstrada por crepitação (80%), soprosidade (54%), tensão (38%), rouquidão (30%) e astenia (28%). O segundo marcador mais utilizado pelos atores nas suas representações foi a modulação vocal ampla e variada (44%). Também foram observadas alterações no controle da voz (36%) e instabilidade da frequência fundamental (38%). CONCLUSÃO: a partir dos resultados obtidos pode-se concluir que os filmes de Hollywood caracterizam o idoso através de desvios evidentes na qualidade e modulação da voz, utilizando tipos de vozes alteradas e modulação vocal ampla e instável.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Centro de Estudos da VozUNIFESP, Centro de Estudos da VozSciEL

Internet-based guided self-help for glioma patients with depressive symptoms: a randomized controlled trial

Depressive symptoms are common in glioma patients, and can negatively affect health-related quality of life (HRQOL). We performed a nation-wide randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of an online guided self-help intervention for depressive symptoms in adult glioma patients. Glioma patients with depressive symptoms were randomized to a 5-week online course based on problem-solving therapy, or a waiting list control group. After having received the intervention, the glioma patient groups combined were compared with patients with cancer outside the central nervous system (non-CNS cancer controls), who also received the intervention. Sample size calculations yielded 63 participants to be recruited per arm. The primary outcome [depressive symptoms (CES-D)] and secondary outcomes [fatigue (Checklist Individual Strength (CIS)) and HRQOL (Short Form-36)], were assessed online at baseline, post-intervention, and 3 and 12 months follow-up. In total, 89 glioma patients (intervention N = 45; waiting list N = 44) and 26 non-CNS cancer controls were included, of whom 35 and 54% completed the intervention, respectively. Recruitment could not be extended beyond 3.5 years due to funding. On depression, no statistically significant differences between the groups were found. Fatigue decreased post-treatment in the glioma intervention group compared with the waiting list group (p = 0.054, d = 0.306). At 12 months, the physical component summary (HRQOL) remained stable in glioma patients, while scores improved in non-CNS cancer controls (p = 0.035, d = 0.883). In this underpowered study, no evidence for the effectiveness of online guided self-help for depression or HRQOL in glioma patients was found, but it may improve fatigue