bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Decision Support System Model for The Process of Increase of Position in Hospital Pertamina Bintang Amin (RSPBA), Lampung
Authors: Khikmawati E , Sulfarano M Y , Purnomo A
Published: April 2020

Decision making related to property criteria in the office will contribute to both organizational performances. This research intends to construct a model of the support system of the decision making in the process of increasing the performance in the office and to determine the criteria used for an elected employee who be promoted to a new position in the office. Model decision-making are expected to help the decision makers to get the information so that it is easier for the election of worker to be promoted in the organization. Development of decision-making system using an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were used Hospital Pertamina Bintang Amin, Lampung. This system would yield a weighing criterion that would affects to the decree of the election of workers. An alternative model decision making is also developed in the process of increasing the efficiency within the organization itself. The working principle of the model system is by analysing and deciding the employees who are worth to be promoted. The employee’s promotion system model does provide services for effectively analysing and deciding the decent employees. The analytical hierarchy process provides an assessment of criteria that influence the selection of decisions by the alternative decision-making models. The system does compare the interest between the criteria, the intensity and referring to the assessment of employees results in producing the output results by the end of the system process.
Plasma Technology to Recondition Radioactive Waste: Tests with Simulated Bitumen and Concrete in a Plasma Test Facility
Authors: Deckers J
Published: April 2020

The operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants, the non-nuclear fuel cycle, etc generate low-level radioactive waste which, along with the historical radioactive waste from past nuclear activities, needs to be treated and stored, awaiting final disposal. Plasma technology offers a very effective way of treating this waste with a high-volume reduction factor (VRF), free from organics, liquids and moisture, and meets without a doubt the acceptance criteria for safe storage and disposal. By means of a plasma beam of approximately 5000°C, the inorganic materials are melted into a glassy slag, containing most of the radioactive isotopes while the organic material is gasified, oxidized and purified in an off-gas cleaning system. First the paper describes the new full-scale Plasma Melting Facility (PMF) at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria which was taken into nuclear operation in May 2018. The plant has a capacity of 250 tons per year and the maximum contact dose rates of the incoming waste is 2mSv/h. Different mixtures of radioactive waste packed in 200l drums were successfully treated resulting in a glassy slag free from liquids and organic material with an important volume reduction factor (VRF). The Project was co-financed through a grant by Kozloduy International Decommissiong fund (KIDSF) administated by the EBRD through Bulgarian national funding. Plasma is a suitable technology for treatment of problematic waste or even reconditioning waste so Belgoprocess was contracted to do plasma tests with simulated conditioned waste types. One can do tests on a laboratory scale on smaller samples and torch capacities of e.g. 50kW but Belgoprocess wanted to do more realistic and reliable tests. So Belgoprocess contracted Phoenix Solutions Co who has a full-scope test facility equipped with a 1200kW plasma torch for full-scope treatment of simulated conditioned waste. For a first confidential contract simulated 2001 (55 gallon) bitumen drums were treated. The drums contained different pucks of compacted waste such as rags, used filters, granulates, etc. The pucks were stacked in the 2001 drums and subsequently embedded with bitumen. A total of 6 drums were treated in the plasma facility. For a second contract simulated homogeneous 2001 (55 gallon) concrete drums with on the one hand concentrates and on the other hand spent resins were selected. A total of 6 drums with concrete and spent resins were treated and melted in the plasma testing facility. The paper describes the test facility, volume reduction factor (VRF) of different waste streams and most important parameters.
Development of phosphate glass and multi-phase titanate ceramic compositions for thermal treatment of irradiated nuclear fuel residues
Authors: Harnett L , Stennett M C , Maddrell E R , Hyatt N C
Published: April 2020

The highly heterogeneous nature of UK legacy damaged and degraded spent nuclear fuels and so called, ‘orphan fuels’, prohibits the use of standard conditioning methods. An inventory of UK residual fuels yielded an account for three main fuel types: Magnox, AGR (advanced gas-cooled reactor) and MOx (mixed oxides). A series of glass and ceramic type host systems have been investigated for potential conditioning of these high uranium content spent fuel materials. Electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction techniques were used to characterise the prototypical wasteforms. Two sets of low-melt temperature phosphate glass compositions were trialled with additions of CeO2 to simulate the fluorite structure and large ionic radius of U in oxide fuels. Evolution of monazite-type phases at simulant oxide fuel loadings above 15 wt.% highlighted a potential development into a glass-ceramic hybrid assemblage. Investigation into the use of an alkoxide nitrate synthesis route for SYNROC-F type ceramic precursors has allowed for the demonstration of a sintered host pyrochlore phase containing up to ∼40 wt.% fuel simulant CeO2. Gas evolution has led to increased porosity at higher temperatures and longer sintering times, this may be mitigated by higher pre-calcination temperatures.
Dissolution of plasma treated non-radioactive surrogate cemented concentrates and ion exchange resins in KOH solution at 40 °C
Authors: Ferrand K , Caes S , Lemmens K , Meert K
Published: April 2020

In Belgium, plasma incineration is a possible option to (re-)condition low and intermediate level short-lived waste streams in order to obtain end products which can fulfill the criteria developed for a near surface disposal facility. In this study, the chemical durability of plasma treated non-radioactive surrogate cemented concentrates and ion exchange resins (or plasma slags) was investigated by performing MCC-1 leach tests in a KOH solution at pH 13.5 and 40 °C. Results showed that initial dissolution rates of plasma slags were similar to that of SON68-I glass, and final dissolution rates around one order of magnitude lower. SEM analysis revealed the presence of alteration layers rich in K, Ca and Fe, which probably act as diffusion barriers and, associated with the increase of Si and Al concentration in solution, lead to the decrease of the plasma slag dissolution rates.
Influence of thermal treatment on the disposability of spent ion exchange resins in a deep geological repository: a French case
Authors: Frasca B , Griffault L , Lefevre J , Martin C , Romero M A
Published: April 2020

The filtration of contaminated aqueous waste streams from nuclear applications produces spent ion exchange resins (IER) which can be classified either as low level Waste (LLW) or as intermediate level Waste (ILW). For the purpose of the work conducted in the framework of the European THERAMIN project, studies considered spent IER waste form to be routed to the French deep geological disposal facility in the Callovo-Oxfordian formation (Cigéo). This form of waste is known to release hydrogen by radiolysis degradation, reactive species and complexing compounds. Today, for disposability in Cigéo, direct cementation of IER is the main immobilization process. This work aims to evaluate the application of the incineration-vitrification with plasma process, SHIVA, on a mixture of zeolites, diatoms, and spent IER in regards to the reference immobilization process by cementation. Production of an alumina-borosilicate type glass using SHIVA incineration-vitrification process was considered in order to examine the impact of this process for managing the specificities of this IER waste form with the additional advantage of minimizing the disposal volume. The potential benefits that thermal treatment can provide in the context of Cigéo for such spent IER waste form are evaluated based on the physical characterizations and leaching experiments carried out by CEA on the resulting vitrified product. The influence of thermal treatment on several characteristics in line with a generic list of Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) defined within the THERAMIN project have been qualitatively evaluated considering their potential influences on operational and long-term safety.
Effects of semi-solid treatment by electro-magnetic induction on micro-structure evolution and mechanical properties of the Mg-2.4Y-4Nd-0.5Zr-1Ni alloys
Authors: Zhang Hongtao , Fan Lingling , Zhou Mingyang , Zhang Yuwenxi , Lu Tianhui , Quan Gaofeng
Published: April 2020

The semi-solid billets of Mg-2.4Y-4Nd-0.5Zr-1Ni (WE34-1Ni) alloys are fabricated by electro-magnetic induction heating semi-solid treatment at 2.05 kW and 4.10 kW from 580 °C to 625 °C. In this work, the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of WE34-1Ni alloys are investigated, and the results reveal that with increasing semi-solid temperatures, the average grain size of the solid globules and liquid fraction at the grain boundary gradually increase while the shape factor fluctuates slightly. Compared with 2.05 kW power, the semi-solid billet with 4.10 kW power at 625 °C has more fine homogeneous grains, the lower average size of the solid globules, more liquid fraction. The semi-solid billet with 4.10 kW at 625 °C obtains ideal semi-solid spheroid structure with the solid grains surrounded by a small amount of liquid pools and the best mechanical properties of the semi-solid process parameters. Besides, the elongation as-extruded of WE34-1Ni alloys increased from 21.4 ± 0.7% to 33.2 ± 0.3% at 4.10 kW power and 625 °C via electro-magnetic induction heating semi-solid treatment.
Effects of nitridation on SiC/SiO2 structures studied by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Authors: Berens Judith , Bichelmaier Sebastian , Fernando Nathalie K , Thakur Pardeep K , Lee Tien-Lin , Mascheck Manfred , Wiell Tomas , Eriksson Susanna K , Matthias Kahk J , Lischner Johannes , Mistry Manesh V , Aichinger Thomas , Pobegen Gregor , Regoutz Anna
Published: April 2020

SiC is set to enable a new era in power electronics impacting a wide range of energy technologies, from electric vehicles to renewable energy. Its physical characteristics outperform silicon in many aspects, including band gap, breakdown field, and thermal conductivity. The main challenge for further development of SiC-based power semiconductor devices is the quality of the interface between SiC and its native dielectric SiO2. High temperature nitridation processes can improve the interface quality and ultimately the device performance immensely, but the underlying chemical processes are still poorly understood. Here, we present an energy-dependent hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) study probing non-destructively SiC and SiO2 and their interface in device stacks treated in varying atmospheres. We successfully combine laboratory- and synchrotron-based HAXPES to provide unique insights into the chemistry of interface defects and their passivation through nitridation processes.
On counting cells in open pore foams
Authors: August A , Nestler B
Published: April 2020

The number of cells in a sample of an open pore foam is usually expressed as ppi (pores per inch), but it is not easy to deduce the total number of cells in a sample from this information. In this paper we derive a linkage between the cell number of a foam sample, the volume fraction of the solid and the mean thickness of its ligaments by means of computer simulations.
Arthropod Community Associated With the Asexual Generation of Bassettia pallida (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)
Authors: Weinersmith Kelly L , Forbes Andrew A , Ward Anna K G , Brandão-Dias Pedro F P , Zhang Y Miles , Egan Scott P
Published: April 2020

Cynipid gall wasps play an important role in structuring oak arthropod communities. Wasps in the Cynipini tribe typically lay their eggs in oaks (Quercus L.), and induce the formation of a ‘gall’, which is a tumor-like growth of plant material that surrounds the developing wasp. As the wasp develops, the cynipid and its gall are attacked by a diverse community of natural enemies, including parasitoids, hyperparasitoids, and inquilines. Determining what structures these species-rich natural enemy communities across cynipid gall wasp species is a major question in gall wasp biology. Additionally, gall wasps are ecosystem engineers, as the abandoned gall is used by other invertebrates. The gall-associated insect communities residing on live oaks (Quercus geminata Small and Quercus virginiana Mill.) are emerging as a model system for answering ecological and evolutionary questions ranging from community ecology to the evolution of new species. Documenting the arthropods associated with cynipids in this system will expand our understanding of the mechanisms influencing eco-evolutionary processes, record underexplored axes of biodiversity, and facilitate future work. Here, we present the community of natural enemies and other associates of the asexual generation of the crypt gall wasp, Bassettia pallida Ashmead. We compare the composition of this community to communities recently documented from two other cynipid gall wasps specializing on live oaks along the U.S. Gulf coast, Disholcaspis quercusvirens Ashmead and Belonocnema treatae Mayr. B. pallida and their galls support a diverse arthropod community, including over 25 parasitoids, inquilines, and other associated arthropods spanning 5 orders and 16 families.
Model-assisted comparison of sugar accumulation patterns in ten fleshy fruits highlights differences between herbaceous and woody species
Authors: Cakpo Coffi Belmys , Vercambre Gilles , Baldazzi Valentina , Roch Léa , Dai Zhanwu , Valsesia Pierre , Memah Mohamed-Mahmoud , Colombié Sophie , Moing Annick , Gibon Yves , Génard Michel
Published: April 2020

Background and Aims

Sugar concentration is a key determinant of fruit quality. Soluble sugars and starch concentrations in fruits vary greatly from one species to another. The aim of this study was to investigate similarities and differences in sugar accumulation strategies across ten contrasting fruit species using a modelling approach.

Methods

We developed a coarse-grained model of primary metabolism based on the description of the main metabolic and hydraulic processes (synthesis of compounds other than sugar and starch, synthesis and hydrolysis of starch, and water dilution) involved in the accumulation of soluble sugars during fruit development.

Key Results

Statistical analyses based on metabolic rates separated the species into six groups according to the rate of synthesis of compounds other than sugar and starch. Herbaceous species (cucumber, tomato, eggplant, pepper and strawberry) were characterized by a higher synthesis rate than woody species (apple, nectarine, clementine, grape and kiwifruit). Inspection of the dynamics of the processes involved in sugar accumulation revealed that net sugar importation, metabolism and dilution processes were remarkably synchronous in most herbaceous plants, whereas in kiwifruit, apple and nectarine, processes related to starch metabolism were temporally separated from other processes. Strawberry, clementine and grape showed a distinct dynamic compared with all other species.

Conclusions

Overall, these results provide fresh insights into species-specific regulatory strategies and into the role of starch metabolism in the accumulation of soluble sugars in fleshy fruits. In particular, inter-specific differences in development period shape the co-ordination of metabolic processes and affect priorities for carbon allocation across species. The six metabolic groups identified by our analysis do not show a clear separation into climacteric and non-climacteric species, possibly suggesting that the metabolic processes related to sugar concentration are not greatly affected by ethylene-associated events.
CiteFuse enables multi-modal analysis of CITE-seq data
Authors: Kim Hani Jieun , Lin Yingxin , Geddes Thomas A , Yang Jean Yee Hwa , Yang Pengyi
Published: April 2020

Motivation

Multi-modal profiling of single cells represents one of the latest technological advancements in molecular biology. Among various single-cell multi-modal strategies, cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing (CITE-seq) allows simultaneous quantification of two distinct species: RNA and cell-surface proteins. Here, we introduce CiteFuse, a streamlined package consisting of a suite of tools for doublet detection, modality integration, clustering, differential RNA and protein expression analysis, antibody-derived tag evaluation, ligand–receptor interaction analysis and interactive web-based visualization of CITE-seq data.

Results

We demonstrate the capacity of CiteFuse to integrate the two data modalities and its relative advantage against data generated from single-modality profiling using both simulations and real-world CITE-seq data. Furthermore, we illustrate a novel doublet detection method based on a combined index of cell hashing and transcriptome data. Finally, we demonstrate CiteFuse for predicting ligand–receptor interactions by using multi-modal CITE-seq data. Collectively, we demonstrate the utility and effectiveness of CiteFuse for the integrative analysis of transcriptome and epitope profiles from CITE-seq data.

Availability and implementation

CiteFuse is freely available at http://shiny.maths.usyd.edu.au/CiteFuse/ as an online web service and at https://github.com/SydneyBioX/CiteFuse/ as an R package.

Contact

pengyi.yang@sydney.edu.au

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Clinically Significant Lower Elvitegravir Exposure During the Third Trimester of Pregnant Patients Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Data From the Pharmacokinetics of ANtiretroviral agents in HIV-infected pregNAnt women (PANNA) Network
Authors: Bukkems Vera , Necsoi Coca , Tenorio Carmen Hidalgo , Garcia Coral , Rockstroh Jürgen , Schwarze-Zander Caroline , Lambert John S , Burger David , Konopnicki Deborah , Colbers Angela
Published: April 2020

This phase 4 study investigated the influence of pregnancy on the pharmacokinetics of elvitegravir/cobicistat in 14 women with human immunodeficiency virus type 1. The results support the recommendation against elvitegravir/cobicistat use during pregnancy, as the elvitegravir concentration at the end of the dosing interval (Ctrough) was reduced by 77%, with 85% of pregnant women having a Ctrough below the effective concentration (EC90).

Clinical Trials Registration. NCT00825929.
The Origins of Piero Sraffa’s Equations
Authors: Naldi Nerio
Published: April 2020

The paper investigates the origins of the equations which form the structure of Piero Sraffa’s Production of Commodities by means of Commodities. Following an interpretation first developed by Pierangelo Garegnani in a paper that higlighted the importance of a manuscript headed ‘Notes London, Summer 1927 (Physical Real Costs etc.)’, we single out new evidence relevant to the reconstruction of the path which led Sraffa to conceive his equations. In particular, we stress how Sraffa came to pay special attention to the case of a subistence economy (‘a community that produces just what is sufficient to keep it going’) and how this led him to shift his attention from the idea of reducing heterogeneous physical costs to an ‘absolutely necessary commodity’ to the determination of exchange ratios by the solution of systems of simultaneous equations. Furthermore, we suggest that a close background to this analysis may be recognized in an attempt to distinguish cost from income which can be found in manuscripts kept in a folder headed ‘Physical Real Costs’.
Implication of the distinctive bipolar intracardiac electrograms for ventricular arrhythmias arising from different regions of ventricular outflow tract
Authors: Li Jia , Lin Weiqian , Zheng Cheng , Zhang Chi , Yu Jiji , Lin Jiafeng
Published: April 2020

Aims

To investigate the characteristics of bipolar intracardiac electrograms (bi-EGMs) in target sites of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) originating from different regions of ventricular outflow tract (VOT).

Methods and results

Two hundred and seventy patients undergoing first-time ablation for VAs originated from distal great cardiac vein (DGCV), aortic sinus cusps (ASCs), or pulmonary sinus cusps (PSCs) were enrolled in present study. Local intracardiac bipolar recordings on 243 successful sites and 506 attempted but unsuccessful ablation sites were analysed. Specific potentials in bi-EGMs on successful sites were more common compared with unsuccessful sites (76.95%, 187/243 vs. 25.49%, 129/506, P < 0.05). A total of 60.00% (81/135) patients in ASCs group presented a presystolic short-duration fractionated potential, higher than 23.21% (13/56) in DGCV and 23.08% (12/52) in PSCs (all P < 0.05); 44.23% (23/52) patients in PSC group showed a presystolic high-amplitude discrete potential, while 1.79% (1/56) in DGCV and 2.22% (3/135) in ASCs (all P < 0.05); 41.07% (23/56) patients in DGCV group showed bi-EGMs of presystolic long-duration multicomponent fractionated potential, which was significantly higher than 3.85% (2/52) in PSCs and 4.44%(6/135) in ASCs (all P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Distinctive morphology of bi-EGMs during VAs can be found in different regions of VOT, which probably due to changes in the arrangements of myocardial sleeves. Correct identification and better understanding of the distinctive features of these bi-EGMs with regards to the anatomic location was important, the presence of specific potentials may add help in successful ablation.
The ‘conciliar’ front of the Hundred Years’ War: Scotland, France and England at the Council of Pavia-Siena, 1423–4*
Authors: Whelan Mark
Published: April 2020

This article offers the first analysis of Anglo-Scottish tension at the general ecclesiastical council of Pavia-Siena (1423–4), where Thomas Murray, abbot of Paisley, spearheaded attacks on the English delegation in the name of the French and Scottish kingdoms with Castilian and Italian allies. Murray’s attacks illustrate how the council formed a front line in the ongoing Anglo-French conflict and that the tensions between the kingdoms of Scotland and England played out on a European stage wider than is usually recognized. While it is often dismissed as a non-event, the article establishes that Pavia-Siena formed a more significant centre for international diplomacy than historians have allowed.
Loss of CHCHD2 and CHCHD10 activates OMA1 peptidase to disrupt mitochondrial cristae phenocopying patient mutations
Authors: Liu Yi-Ting , Huang Xiaoping , Nguyen Diana , Shammas Mario K , Wu Beverly P , Dombi Eszter , Springer Danielle A , Poulton Joanna , Sekine Shiori , Narendra Derek P
Published: April 2020

Dominant mutations in the mitochondrial paralogs coiled-helix-coiled-helix (CHCHD) domain 2 (C2) and CHCHD10 (C10) were recently identified as causing Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia/myopathy, respectively. The mechanism by which they disrupt mitochondrial cristae, however, has been uncertain. Using the first C2/C10 double knockout (DKO) mice, we report that C10 pathogenesis and the normal function of C2/C10 are intimately linked. Similar to patients with C10 mutations, we found that C2/C10 DKO mice have disrupted mitochondrial cristae, because of cleavage of the mitochondrial-shaping protein long form of OPA1 (L-OPA1) by the stress-induced peptidase OMA1. OMA1 was found to be activated similarly in affected tissues of mutant C10 knock-in (KI) mice, demonstrating that L-OPA1 cleavage is a novel mechanism for cristae abnormalities because of both C10 mutation and C2/C10 loss. Using OMA1 activation as a functional assay, we found that C2 and C10 are partially functionally redundant, and some but not all disease-causing mutations have retained activity. Finally, C2/C10 DKO mice partially phenocopied mutant C10 KI mice with the development of cardiomyopathy and activation of the integrated mitochondrial integrated stress response in affected tissues, tying mutant C10 pathogenesis to C2/C10 function.
Transcriptional Signatures That Define Ulcerative Colitis in Remission
Authors: Fenton Christopher G , Taman Hagar , Florholmen Jon , Sørbye Sveinung W , Paulssen Ruth H
Published: April 2020

Background

This study addresses whether existing specific transcriptional profiles can improve and support the current status of the definition of ulcerative colitis (UC) remission apart from the existing endoscopic, histologic, and laboratory scoring systems. For that purpose, a well-stratified UC patient population in remission was compared to active UC and control patients and was investigated by applying the next-generation technology RNA-Seq.

Methods

Mucosal biopsies from patients in remission (n = 14), patients with active UC (n = 14), and healthy control patientss (n = 16) underwent whole-transcriptome RNA-Seq. Principal component analysis, cell deconvolution methods, gene profile enrichment, and pathway enrichment methods were applied to define a specific transcriptional signature of UC in remission.

Results

Analyses revealed specific transcriptional signatures for UC in remission with increased expression of genes involved in O-glycosylation (MUC17, MUC3A, MUC5AC, MUC12, SPON1, B3GNT3), ephrin-mediated repulsion of cells (EFNB2E, EFNA3, EPHA10, EPHA1), GAP junction trafficking (TUBA1C, TUBA4A, TUBB4B, GJB3, CLTB), and decreased expression of several toll-like receptors (TLR1, TLR3, TLR5, TLR6).

Conclusions

This study reveals specific transcriptional signatures for remission. Partial restoration and improvement of homeostasis in the epithelial mucus layer and revival of immunological functions were observed. A clear role for bacterial gut flora composition can be implied. The results can be useful for the development of treatment strategies for UC in remission and may be useful targets for further investigations aiming to predict the outcome of UC in the future.
Luminous Type II supernovae for their low expansion velocities
Authors: Rodríguez Ó , Pignata G , Anderson J P , Moriya T J , Clocchiatti A , Förster F , Prieto J L , Phillips M M , Burns C R , Contreras C , Folatelli G , Gutiérrez C P , Hamuy M , Morrell N I , Stritzinger M D , Suntzeff N B , Benetti S , Cappellaro E , Elias-Rosa N , Pastorello A , Turatto M , Maza J , Antezana R , Cartier R , González L , Haislip J B , Kouprianov V , López P , Marchi-Lasch S , Reichart D
Published: April 2020

We present optical and near-infrared data of three Type II supernovae (SNe II), SN 2008bm, SN 2009aj, and SN 2009au. These SNe display the following common characteristics: signs of early interaction of the ejecta with circumstellar material (CSM), blue B − V colours, weakness of metal lines, low expansion velocities, and V-band absolute magnitudes 2–3 mag brighter than those expected for normal SNe II based on their expansion velocities. Two more SNe reported in the literature (SN 1983K and LSQ13fn) share properties similar to our sample. Analysing this set of five SNe II, which are luminous for their low expansion velocities (LLEV), we find that their properties can be reproduced assuming ejecta–CSM interaction that lasts between 4 and 11 weeks post-explosion. The contribution of this interaction to the radiation field seems to be the dominant component determining the observed weakness of metal lines in the spectra rather than the progenitor metallicity. Based on hydrodynamic simulations, we find that the interaction of the ejecta with a CSM of ∼3.6 M⊙ can reproduce the light curves and expansion velocities of SN 2009aj. Using data collected by the Chilean Automatic Supernova Search, we estimate an upper limit for the LLEV SNe II fraction to be 2–4 per cent of all normal SNe II. With the current data set, it is not clear whether the LLEV events are a separated class of SNe II with a different progenitor system, or whether they are the extreme of a continuum mediated by CSM interaction with the rest of the normal SN II population.
Phase II trial of hippocampal-sparing whole brain irradiation with simultaneous integrated boost for metastatic cancer
Authors: Westover Kenneth D , Mendel J Travis , Dan Tu , Kumar Kiran , Gao Ang , Pulipparacharuv Suprabha , Iyengar Puneeth , Nedzi Lucien , Hannan Raquibul , Anderson John , Choe Kevin S , Jiang Wen , Abdulrahman Ramzi , Rahimi Asal , Folkert Michael , Laine Aaron , Presley Chase , Cullum C Munro , Choy Hak , Ahn Chul , Timmerman Robert
Published: April 2020

Background

Advanced radiotherapeutic treatment techniques limit the cognitive morbidity associated with whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) for brain metastasis through avoidance of hippocampal structures. However, achieving durable intracranial control remains challenging.

Methods

We conducted a single-institution single-arm phase II trial of hippocampal-sparing whole brain irradiation with simultaneous integrated boost (HSIB-WBRT) to metastatic deposits in adult patients with brain metastasis. Radiation therapy consisted of intensity-modulated radiation therapy delivering 20 Gy in 10 fractions over 2–2.5 weeks to the whole brain with a simultaneous integrated boost of 40 Gy in 10 fractions to metastatic lesions. Hippocampal regions were limited to 16 Gy. Cognitive performance and cancer outcomes were evaluated.

Results

A total of 50 patients, median age 60 years (interquartile range, 54–65), were enrolled. Median progression-free survival was 2.9 months (95% CI: 1.5–4.0) and overall survival was 9 months. As expected, poor survival and end-of-life considerations resulted in a high exclusion rate from cognitive testing. Nevertheless, mean decline in Hopkins Verbal Learning Test–Revised delayed recall (HVLT-R DR) at 3 months after HSIB-WBRT was only 10.6% (95% CI: −36.5‒15.3%). Cumulative incidence of local and intracranial failure with death as a competing risk was 8.8% (95% CI: 2.7‒19.6%) and 21.3% (95% CI: 10.7‒34.2%) at 1 year, respectively. Three grade 3 toxicities consisting of nausea, vomiting, and necrosis or headache were observed in 3 patients. Scores on the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory 20 remained stable for evaluable patients at 3 months.

Conclusions

HVLT-R DR after HSIB-WBRT was significantly improved compared with historical outcomes in patients treated with traditional WBRT, while achieving intracranial control similar to patients treated with WBRT plus stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). This technique can be considered in select patients with multiple brain metastases who cannot otherwise receive SRS.
Vertebrobasilar Artery Encasement by Skull Base Chordomas: Surgical Outcome and Management Strategies
Authors: Champagne Pierre-Olivier , Passeri Thibault , Jabre Roland , Bernat Anne-Laure , Voormolen Eduard H , Froelich Sébastien
Published: April 2020

BACKGROUND

Vascular encasement by skull base chordomas can increase surgical risk and hinder completeness of resection. However, the evidence behind this remains anecdotic.

OBJECTIVE

To give a better portrayal of chordomas encasing vertebrobasilar arteries mainly in regard of surgical vascular risk and its impact on extent of resection.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study comparing skull base chordomas with encasement (≥180o encirclement) of the vertebrobasilar arteries to a control group of skull base chordomas with intradural extension. Data gathered involved pre- and postoperative volumetric analysis of the tumor, degree of encasement of involved vessel, occurrence of complication, and survival data including progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

A total of 24 patients with vertebrobasilar encasement were included in the study and an equal number of control cases were randomly selected from the same time period, totalizing 48 patients. Lower clival tumors with condyle involvement were more likely to have encasement. Gross total resection (GTR) rate was significantly lower in the encasement group (13% vs 42%, P = .023). Rates of postoperative new neurological deficit, CFS leak and 30 d postoperative mortality were not statistically different between groups. There was no statistically significant difference in mean PFS (P = .608) and OS (P = .958).

CONCLUSION

Skull base chordomas encasing vertebrobasilar arteries are highly challenging tumors. This study demonstrates that although safe resection is possible, GTR is hindered by the presence of encasement. We advocate letting the tumor's adherence to vessels lead the resection, leaving a small piece of tumor behind if adherent to the vessels.
Framed Agency
Authors: Nguyen C. Thi
Published: April 2020

In this chapter, we examine games as works—that is, as authored, intentional artifacts. The chapter centers on one key features of works: that there are prescriptions for adequately encountering one. Just as you must look at a painting from the front to encounter it, you must play a game by following rules and pursuing the goals. Such prescriptions offer an attentional frame for audience members, directing their attention in a shared way. These frames, and the prescriptions that establish them, are crucial for establishing communicative stability between artist and audience, and between different audience members. The chapter concludes with a taxonomy of game types, each with its own distinctive prescriptions, which arise from the variable requirements for a player skill. Some games—party games—prescribe low-skill play. Other games—heavy strategy games—prescribe that their players become highly skilled, before they can adequately encounter and appreciate the game. Still other games—community evolution games—prescribe that players participate in an ongoing communal conversation about gaming strategy, to adequately encounter the game.
The Value of Striving
Authors: Nguyen C. Thi
Published: April 2020

This chapters shows how aesthetic striving play may provide some protection against value capture. In aesthetic striving play, we alternate between two very different states of mind. First, we take on the narrowed, practical, focused mode of the in-game agency. Second, we need to step back, to evaluate the experience of narrowed agency in aesthetic terms. Crucially, aesthetic judgment involves a widened and unfocused mode of attention. And aesthetic judgment involves sensitive and free judgment, unbound by explicit rules us inference. When we switch between the narrowed mode and the aesthetic mode, we take a step back from value clarity, to ask questions of value from a subtler perspective. Aesthetic striving play helps us to practice wearing our agency lightly.
Switched-On Bach and Undesired Fame (1968–1969)
Authors: Sewell Amanda
Published: April 2020

This chapter traces the development and release of Carlos’s first album, Switched-On Bach. Her friendship with producer Rachel Elkind was crucial for the album’s inception. Elkind took the album to Columbia Records and secured the contract. Switched-On Bach was an overnight smash, and everyone from Leonard Bernstein to Hugh Downs wanted to interview Carlos about the Moog synthesizer. Because she had transitioned to female by the time Switched-On Bach was topping the charts, Carlos rarely appeared in public to promote the album. Fearful that she and her music would be ridiculed, she stayed in hiding to protect her safety and her career.
Something Went Wrong (1970–1978)
Authors: Sewell Amanda
Published: April 2020

This chapter details the decade of the 1970s, during which Carlos remained in hiding but continued to release albums and written statements under her birth name. Most notably, she collaborated with Stanley Kubrick and created music on the Moog synthesizer for the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. She and Rachel Elkind also released several additional albums in the mold of Switched-On Bach, as well as the proto-ambient album Sonic Seasonings. By the late 1970s, Carlos felt it was time to disclose her identity. She had missed a number of potential collaborations in the past decade, including several film projects and a meeting with Stevie Wonder.
Moving Modernism
Authors: Andrew Nell
Published: April 2020

This book reenacts the simultaneous eruption of three spectacular revolutions—the development of pictorial abstraction, the first modern dance, and the birth of cinema—which together changed the artistic landscape of early twentieth-century Europe and the future of modern art. Rather than seeking dancing pictures or pictures of dancing, however, this study follows the chronology of the historical avant-garde to show how dance and pictures were engaged in a kindred exploration of the limits of art and perception that required the process of abstraction. Recovering the performances, methods, and circles of aesthetic influence of avant-garde dance pioneers and experimental filmmakers from the turn of the century to the interwar period, this book challenges modernism’s medium-specific frameworks by demonstrating the significant role played by the arts of motion in the historical avant-garde’s development of abstraction: from the turn-of-the-century dancer Loïe Fuller, who awakened in symbolist artists the possibility of prolonged vision; to cubo-futurist and neosymbolist artists who reached pure abstraction in tandem with the radical dance theory of Valentine de Saint-Point; to Sophie Taeuber’s hybrid Dadaism between art and dance; to Akarova, a prolific choreographer whose dancing Belgian constructivist pioneers called “music architecture”; and finally to the dancing images of early cinematic abstraction from the Lumière brothers to Germaine Dulac. Each chapter reveals the emergence of abstractionas an apparatus of creation, perception, and reception deployed across artistic media toward shared modernist goals. The author argues that abstraction can be worked like a muscle, a medium through which habits of reception and perception are broken and art’s viewers are engaged by the kinesthetic sensation to move and be moved.
The Dance of Abstract Cinema
Authors: Andrew Nell
Published: April 2020

As a moving art, cinema was linked to dance from its earliest moments and, like dance, held an idealized position for artists of the avant-garde, from the serpentine dance films of Edison and the Lumière brothers to the abstract cinema of the interwar avant-garde. At either end, whether filming a dancing body or creating abstract montages, cinema strove to express, not a new formal image on the flat screen but the dancing effects (and affects) of motion itself. This chapter follows a series of early twentieth-century artistic engagements with cinematic abstraction. Despite varying levels of formal abstraction and representational imagery, these films are no longer concerned with reproducing a world to look upon but now an environment to look through with kinesthetic sensation and desire. In a particularly rich case, Germaine Dulac, outwardly indebted to the dance of Loïe Fuller, became her successor in choreographic cinema, engaging the multisensory body through the medium of abstraction.
Navy Combat Social Worker
Authors: Gibbons Alyssa L.
Published: April 2020

In this chapter the author discusses how Navy social workers have experienced their wars—caring for both sailors and marines and expands on previous Navy social work. This former Navy combat social worker takes the reader through her journey leading up to her active-duty service and the years following. She currently serves her country as a Veterans Affairs social worker with combat veterans or, as she puts it, “my people.” The author shares her personal experiences and notes the postwar adjustments that worked out despite reminders of war and the emotional adjustments. The author provides a detailed account of her postwar adaptation that will be helpful to anyone who works with war veterans and first responders.
The Professor Goes to War
Authors: Lewandowski Cathleen A.
Published: April 2020

This chapter describes the experiences of a military social worker deployed to Iraq with a combat stress unit, as well as her predeployment and postdeployment experiences. As a civilian, the author is a professor. She explores how deployment affected her academic career and her own overall process of readjustment to civilian life. She describes her main duties and activities as the only professional mental health provider and combat stress team prevention leader at the camp in southern Iraq where she was assigned. The author reflects on early life experiences that motivated her to choose social work as a profession. In terms of joining the military, the author considers how her personal travels as well as employment with U.S. Army Intelligence in Europe, during the Cold War era, contributed to her motivation to join the Army Reserves.
Combat Social Work in Afghanistan, 2009–2010
Authors: Nedegaard Randy C.
Published: April 2020

This chapter focuses on values and how they are impacted by war experiences. The author examines his own experiences as he commanded a combat stress control detachment during a major troop surge. Using an autobiographical approach, the author discusses how engrained personal values impacted his deployment and command experience, both positively and negatively. Lessons learned and case examples from this deployment experience are shared as a way to identify key aspects of military culture and the unique challenges that are faced in deployed environments. Ethical issues faced as a deployed social worker are considered along with some unique tensions that can exist between service branches while attempting to support service members struggling with combat operational stress. Finally, specific leadership lessons are shared when leading a team of mental health professionals who are dealing with stress and secondary trauma of their own.
Combat Social Work at Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan
Authors: Grinstead Dan M.
Published: April 2020

This chapter includes a description of the author’s training and experience in the Iowa Army National Guard that prepared him for his deployment to Afghanistan. The author explains: How, at age 57, he decided to join the Iowa Army National Guard, with the goal of doing something about the huge problem: increasing numbers of military service related suicides. He discusses his experience of going through the Officer’s Basic Leadership Course to celebrating his 60th birthday but shortly afterwards he was sent to Afghanistan. He describes his year there as providing combat social work services in a setting where at any time, you could be subject to a rocket or motor attack. Among the challenges leading to lessons learned was establishing trust among his clients. All were reluctant to talk with a “shrink.” An especially moving section of his chapter was about conducting a critical incident debriefing after a mass casualty event.
Introduction
Authors: Bapat Navin A.
Published: April 2020

This chapter presents the project’s key puzzle: why has the U.S. spent so much of its blood and treasure fighting terrorism since 9/11 when the risk that Americans will die from terrorism is so small, particularly in comparison to acceptable risks such as traffic or air fatalities? The discussion then presents an overview of the book’s key argument: the war represented an effort by the U.S. to cement its financial dominance by securing control over the global trade in oil and energy. The chapter concludes by discussing the scientific EITM methodology used in the study, which involves the use of formal logic coupled with statistical testing and case study analyses.
Hegemonic Decline and the Escalation of Violence
Authors: Bapat Navin A.
Published: April 2020

The fading of the U.S. security guarantee led to an increase in violence throughout the energy market states. The host states became vulnerable to military challenges by their rivals and began initiating conflicts to eliminate their internal and external rivals immediately, before the time when they would lose American support entirely. However, because the U.S. was now adopting a strategy where it worked with local partners to protect its energy interests rather than working with host governments, these efforts often escalated into larger, longer, and more deadly international conflicts. To illustrate this dynamic, the chapter examines the conflicts in Yemen and Syria. The chapter concludes by arguing that this escalation indicates that many of the host states once allied with the U.S. now seem to doubt the value of the security guarantee, leading them to seek alternative security arrangements.
The Teens from Soul Searching 10 Years Later
Authors: Denton Melinda Lundquist , Flory Richard
Published: April 2020

This chapter revisits five emerging adults who were first introduced in Soul Searching, catching the reader up on the developments in their lives since that book was written. The chapter serves two purposes: (1) to update the stories of these young people from Soul Searching and Souls in Transition and (2) to provide real-life examples of the experiences, beliefs, hopes, and plans of emerging adults. The authors emphasize that these five people are not necessarily representative of all the emerging adults in the study, but their stories and their life trajectories do have things in common with the larger sample and are previews of many of the themes delineated throughout the rest of the book.
Setting the Context
Authors: Denton Melinda Lundquist , Flory Richard
Published: April 2020

Drawing on National Study of Youth and Religion survey data and interviews with emerging adults, this chapter focuses on the major themes in the lives of emerging adults as they are moving toward young adulthood. The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide a broader context of the lives of emerging adults in terms of their work, friends, family, and the like, asking throughout how well they are taking on the roles of adulthood as they enter the full-time workforce, start their own families, and otherwise make their way in the world with adult responsibilities.
Emerging Adult Religious Commitment and Identity
Authors: Denton Melinda Lundquist , Flory Richard
Published: April 2020

In this chapter, the authors develop a four-part typology that describes the different ways that emerging adults approach their religious lives. In examining these young people through the lens of the Not Religious, Disaffiliated, Marginal, and Committed groups, the authors arrive at a few general themes that help to reveal the changing role of religion in the lives of emerging adults. Based on self-identification and religious participation, the authors show how emerging adults differ on involvement in religious organizations and on religious beliefs, practices, and experience. They also show how religion holds similar places in their lives, regardless of where they are placed in the typology presented.
Power Politics and International Order
Authors: Lascurettes Kyle M.
Published: April 2020

Chapter 1 (“Power Politics and International Order”) establishes a number of puzzles about global order more generally, and about the contemporary liberal international order more specifically. It explains why current commentary and scholarship have been insufficient for adequately addressing these puzzles, and then introduces a new argument—ordering-to-exclude theory—that is at the heart of the book. The current liberal international order, so revered by order optimists, is not as universally admired or as durable as many commentators believe. Ordering-to-exclude theory helps make sense of these discrepancies by pointing out the striking continuities behind the origins of past orders and those of the contemporary liberal international order. The chapter concludes by outlining the rest of the book’s structure and content and setting the stage for what is to come.