bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Amish-Initiated Burn Care Project
Authors: Hess Rosanna F.
Published: November 2015

Purpose: This case report describes the phases of an Amish Burn Care Project and the lessons learned throughout the process. Method: Data sources to construct the case report included participant observation, interviews, archival documents, and a focus group. Results: The narrative is organized into five phases of a participatory research approach: engagement, formalization, mobilization, maintenance, and expansion. Lessons Learned: Community-initiated research led to legitimate change, working together for change took time, team members grew in mutual trust and respect for each other, cultural humility brought personal and professional growth, and capacity building took place through mutually supported efforts.
“Angle to Be Corrected” in Preoperative Evaluation for Hallux Valgus Surgery
Authors: Ortiz Cristian , Wagner Pablo , Vela Omar , Fischman Daniel , Cavada Gabriel , Wagner Emilio
Published: November 2015

Background:

The most common methods for assessing severity of hallux valgus deformity and the effects of an operative procedure are the angular measurements in weightbearing radiographs, specifically the hallux valgus angle and intermetatarsal angle (IMA). Our objective was to analyze the interobserver variability in hallux valgus patients of a new angle called the “angle to be corrected” (ATC), and to compare its capacity to differentiate between different deformities against IMA.

Methods:

We included 28 symptomatic hallux valgus patients with 48 weightbearing foot x-rays. Three trained observers measured the 1 to 2 IMA and the ATC. We then identified retrospectively 45 hallux valgus patients, which were divided into 3 operative technique groups having used the ATC as reference, and analyzed the capacity of the IMA to differentiate between them.

Results:

The IMA average value was 13.6 degrees, and there was a significant difference between observer 3 and observer 1 ( P = .001). The average value for the ATC was 8.9 degrees, and there was no difference between observers. Both angles showed a high intraclass correlation. Regarding the capacity to differentiate between operative technique groups, the ATC was different between the 3 operative technique groups analyzed, but the IMA showed differences only between 2.

Conclusions:

The ATC was at least as reliable as the intermetatarsal angle for hallux valgus angular measurements, showing a high intraclass correlation with no interobserver difference. It can be suggested that the ATC was better than the IMA to stratify hallux valgus patients when deciding between different operative treatments.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, comparative study.
Experimental bifurcation control of a parametric pendulum
Authors: De Paula Aline S , Savi Marcelo A , Vaziri Vahid , Pavlovskaia Ekaterina , Wiercigroch Marian
Published: November 2015

The aim of the study is to maintain the desired period-1 rotation of the parametric pendulum over a wide range of the excitation parameters. Here the Time-Delayed Feedback control method is employed to suppress those bifurcations, which lead to loss of stability of the desired rotational motion. First, the nonlinear dynamic analysis is carried out numerically for the system without control. Specifically, bifurcation diagrams and basins of attractions are computed showing co-existence of oscillatory and rotary attractors. Then numerical bifurcation diagrams are experimentally validated for a typical set of the system parameters giving undesired bifurcations. Finally, the control has been implemented and investigated both numerically and experimentally showing a good qualitative agreement.
Design and efficient implementation of digital non-integer order controllers for electro-mechanical systems
Authors: Caponetto Riccardo , Tomasello Vincenzo , Lino Paolo , Maione Guido
Published: November 2015

Digital realization of non-integer-order controllers is important to exploit the benefits provided by these controllers, in terms of flexibility, dynamic performance and robust stability, for applications in mechatronics, industrial and automotive systems. To realize infinite-dimensional fractional-order operators and controllers in the digital domain, a discrete-time approximation is necessary that must be characterized by stable and minimum-phase properties for control purposes. This paper provides a design method useful for a wide class of plants and applies a consolidated approximation technique. Moreover, the practical implementation problems of digital non-integer control algorithms are deeply analyzed by considering the effects of the sampling period, of the conversion between analog and digital domain (and vice versa) and the associated quantization. Results show benefits and limitations of the approach.
European integration in crisis? Of supranational integration, hegemonic projects and domestic politics
Authors: Bulmer Simon , Joseph Jonathan
Published: November 2015

The European Union is facing multiple challenges. Departing from mainstream theory, this article adopts a fresh approach to understanding integration. It does so by taking two theoretical steps. The first introduces the structure–agency debate in order to make explicit the relationship between macro-structures, the institutional arrangements at European Union level and agency. The second proposes that the state of integration should be understood as the outcome of contestation between competing hegemonic projects that derive from underlying social processes and that find their primary expression in domestic politics. These two steps facilitate an analysis of the key areas of contestation in the contemporary European Union, illustrated by an exploration of the current crisis in the European Union, and open up the development of an alternative, critical, theory of integration.
Vygotsky's theory on the Procrustes’ bed of linear thinking: Looking for structural–systemic Theseus to save the idea of ‘social formation of mind’
Authors: Toomela Aaro
Published: November 2015

Today Vygotsky's theory is usually associated with a short list of ideas: which includes social formation of the human mind, zone of proximal development, semiotic mediation, and egocentric and inner speech. Vygotsky's theory contains these and many other ideas indeed. In today's interpretation, however, all the mentioned ideas are transformed into slogans with trivial content or even into a set of statements that contradict many facts known about the functioning of the human body and human mind. Vygotsky relied explicitly on epistemology I have called structural–systemic. According to this epistemology, in order to understand human mind scientifically, its structure needs to be discovered. The studies need to reveal the elements from which the mind is composed, the specific relationships between the elements, and qualities of the whole that emerges in the synthesis of the elements. Only developmental studies can answer these questions because the properties of the elements change when integrated into a whole. His epistemology can be opposed to that dominant today, which aims only to the discovery of relationships between events, to the discovery of “causes” that make the “effect” to happen. In Vygotskian structural–systemic perspective, the same theoretical ideas acquire meanings very different from modern interpretations.
Illness and the Internet: From Private to Public Experience
Authors: Conrad Peter , Bandini Julia , Vasquez Alexandria
Published: November 2015

Illness is a ubiquitous experience in all societies. Until the past two decades, illness remained largely a private experience. With the development of the Internet, especially what has been termed Web 2.0, with interactive websites, illness has become increasingly a public experience. Vehicles like bulletin boards, chat rooms, listservs, electronic support groups, and more recently social media facilitate thousands of online communities where individuals with illness share information, interaction, experience, and advocacy. With the advent of social media, communication has increased and brought new challenges for online interaction. It is likely that the transformation of illness from a largely private to an increasingly public experience is a revolutionary change that is here to stay, with numerous social consequences.
Offers of assistance in politician–constituent interaction
Authors: Hofstetter Emily , Stokoe Elizabeth
Published: November 2015

How do politicians engage with and offer to assist their constituents: the people who vote them into power? We address the question by analysing a corpus of 80 interactions recorded at the office of a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom, and comprising telephone calls between constituents and the MP’s clerical ‘caseworkers’ as well as face-to-face encounters with MPs in their fortnightly ‘surgeries’. The data were transcribed, and then analysed using conversation analysis, focusing on the design and placement of offers of assistance. We identified three types of offers within a longer ‘offering’ sequence: (1) ‘proposal offers’, which typically appear first in any offering sequence, in which politicians and caseworkers make proposals to help their constituents using formats that request permission to do so, or check that the constituent does indeed want help (e.g. ‘do you want me to’; ‘we could …’); (2) ‘announcement offers’, which appear second, and indicate that something has been decided and confirm the intention to act (e.g. ‘I will do X’) and (3) ‘request offers’, which appear third, and take for form ‘let me do X’. Request offers indicate that the offer is available but cannot be completed until the current conversation is closed; they also appear in environments in which the constituent reissues their problems and appears dissatisfied with the offers so far. The article contributes to what we know about making offers in institutional settings, as well as shedding the first empirical light on the workings of the constituency office: the site of engagement between everyday members of the public and their elected representatives.
Creating value, consuming Bologna: The case of DegustiBo
Authors: Sassatelli Roberta , Arfini Elisa A. G.
Published: November 2015

This article addresses the aestheticization of traditional foods and the use of territorialization as a brand value for the promotion of products and services. Economy of quality is studied through a focus on the role that political institutions may have in promoting quality chains. Through document analysis, questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups, we consider the case of the quality brand, DegustiBo, promoted by the Province of Bologna, Italy. This initiative was developed to help local shops and restaurants find a source of common identity in the local territory. We consider actors’ narratives in defining, judging, and creating quality as related to the specific branding initiative, focusing on the way different descriptions of quality as related to ways of enacting territory are read and presented as performing authenticity. We explore how branding has been supported, realized, and responded to, concentrating on the encounter between consumers and producers. A focus on producers’ perceptions of consumer competence helps addressing the narrative asymmetry between consumers and producers, and the ways in which consumer rituals work as sites of knowledge transmission and conflict, defining the contours of an arena for the performance of concerted and contested notions such as traditional, local, and authentic food.
Destructive leader behavior
Authors: Shaw James Benjamin , Erickson Anthony , Nasirzadeh Farzaneh
Published: November 2015

This article provides insights into the important but relatively unexamined issue of destructive leadership in a non-Western country. Although tentative, the article also provides some guidance for expatriate managers in adapting their own behavior to avoid being categorized as “destructive” by non-Western subordinates. In the following pages, we report the findings of a study of destructive leader behaviors among convenience samples of Australian, American, and Iranian leaders. No differences were found between Australian and American leaders in regard to the nature and frequency of destructive behaviors. As a result, the Australian and American data were combined and compared to a sample of Iranian leaders. Destructive leader behavior was measured using the Destructive Leadership Questionnaire developed by Shaw et al. (2011). Although relatively small in magnitude, results consistently indicated that the worst, middle, and best leaders differed significantly from one another in both samples in terms of the level of destructive leader behavior exhibited. In general, the pattern was similar for both the Australian–American and Iranian samples, although small, consistent differences were observed across the two samples.
Diachronic loops/deadweight tonnage/bad made measure
Authors: McKittrick Katherine
Published: November 2015

This article is a relational conversation nested in black studies, science studies of blackness and race, geographies of knowledge, and black creative text. The overlying purpose is to address how the social production of biologically determinist racial scripts – which extend from a biocentric conception of the human – can be dislodged by bringing studies of blackness in/and science into conversation with autopoietics, black Atlantic livingness, weights and measures, and poetry.
Professional education, know-how and conceptual ability: The role of education in the attainment of concept mastery in professional work
Authors: Winch Christopher
Published: November 2015

This article shows the relationship between know-how and conceptual ability with particular reference to professional education. It is argued that although concept mastery is necessary to expert performance, it is not sufficient. Starting with Geach’s account of concepts, distinctions are made between concept acquisition and concept mastery. An outline of the transition from concept acquisition to concept mastery is offered which stresses the importance of learning in operational conditions in order to achieve expert performance, which itself implies concept mastery. Context-sensitive aspects of concept mastery in the form of ‘activity concepts’ (Luntley) are considered and their importance recognised. A detailed critique of the non-propositional intellectualist account of know-how offered by Bengson and Moffett is made, and the implications of the article’s position for the conduct of professional education, along the lines of Germany’s Dual System, are set out.
(Bio)Aesthetic Geographies and the Governance of Biopedagogical Spect(ato)rs
Authors: Fusco Caroline , McKeever Patricia
Published: November 2015

Believing that “place matters” to biopower and to the governance of the new public health, we examine how a children’s hospital setting might be interpreted as a biopedagogical site. We take as the starting point of our analysis a treatment room in Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)—Canada’s largest pediatric hospital. This particular room, dubbed Cujo’s Crease Satellite Anesthesia Room, was funded by donations from Curtis “Cujo” Joseph, a former Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL). Using trompe l’œil techniques, an artist transformed the room to look like a Toronto Maple Leafs locker room. We examine the range of possible meanings that might be taken up in Cujo’s Crease, paying particular attention to the biopolitical and cultural intersections among medicine, hockey, and biocitizenship. We argue that specific visual signs are employed to mobilize the discourses required by the space: masculinity, hockey as a national civilizing project, normative bodies, health care in a neoliberal age, and the NHL as benevolent care-giving corporation. We concluded that the discursive regimes of Cujo’s Crease are not innocent but are implicated in (bio)economical and biopedagogical imaginaries that render the sick child’s body as an assemblage of neoliberalism’s biocitizenship projects.
Using the IRB Researcher Assessment Tool to Guide Quality Improvement
Authors: Hall Daniel E. , Hanusa Barbara H. , Ling Bruce S. , Stone Roslyn A. , Switzer Galen E. , Fine Michael J. , Arnold Robert M.
Published: November 2015

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are intended to protect those who participate in research. However, because there is no established measure of IRB quality, it is unclear whether these committees achieve their goal. The IRB Researcher Assessment Tool is a previously validated, internally normed, proxy measure of IRB quality that assesses 45 distinct IRB activities and functions. We administered this instrument to a sample of investigators and IRB members at a large urban VA Medical Center. We describe a systematic approach to analyze and interpret survey responses that can identify the IRB activities and functions most in need of quality improvement. The proposed approach to empirical data analysis and presentation could inform local initiatives to improve the quality of IRB review.
Are Research Ethics Committees Prepared for Community-Based Participatory Research?
Authors: Tamariz Leonardo , Medina Heidy , Taylor Janielle , Carrasquillo Olveen , Kobetz Erin , Palacio Ana
Published: November 2015

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is challenging to research ethics committees (RECs). We reviewed the REC preparedness when reviewing CBPR projects. We searched the MEDLINE database and included qualitative studies of CBPR researchers or REC members about their experiences with RECs. The search yielded 107 studies, of which 10 met our criteria. Barriers were that the community is not prepared to conduct research, the reluctance of RECs to work outside the university, the difficulty RECs have understanding CBPR, and that REC forms evaluate individual rather than community risk. Facilitators were having a CBPR expert as an REC member and educating RECs. Therefore, RECs are not prepared to evaluate CBPR projects leading to unnecessary delays in the approval process.
The Critical Bricolage
Authors: McMillan Kim
Published: November 2015

Change in health care has become rapid and continuous. Much decision-making processes guiding change management are derived from organizational literature which is heavily reflective of managerial perspectives. These perspectives represent and aim to serve only a small subgroup of organizational members. However, change is complex, fragile, and has higher rates of success and sustainability when change management strategies reflect a multitude of organizational voices. There is a dearth of literature exploring the intersect between organizational and nursing discourses on the subject of rapid and continuous change in health care. Multitheoretical, multimethodological, and multidisciplinary informed approaches to methodological decision making are needed to link organizational and nursing discourses in ways that will offer alternative perspectives on the subject of change. Furthermore, critically guided multitheoretical, multimethodological, and multidisciplinary methodologies are timely and important in organizational research. Critically guided research seeks to analyze taken-for-granted assumptions and institutionalized practices seeking alternative perspectives and alternative sources of organizational knowledge. Exploring alternative perspectives from a critical lens recognizes the impact predominant discursive influences have on change management and the subsequent impact on organizational members’ working lives. This article will explore how Kincheloe’s discussions of the critical bricolage serve to support combining critical organizational methodologies (guided by Alvesson and Deetz) with a voice-centered relational method of data analysis (guided by Brown and Gilligan) to create a critical interpretive methodology that explores the voices of nurses as they experience rapid and continuous change in health care.
A Necessary Dialogue
Authors: Rule Peter , John Vaughn Mitchell
Published: November 2015

This article is premised on the understanding that there are multiple dimensions of the case–theory relation and examines four of these: theory of the case, theory for the case, theory from the case, and a dialogical relation between theory and case. This fourth dimension is the article’s key contribution to theorizing case study. Dialogic engagement between theory and case study creates rich potential for mutual formation and generative tension. The article argues that the process of constructing and conducting the case is theory laden, while the outcomes of the study might also have theoretical implications. Case study research that is contextually sensitive and theoretically astute can contribute not only to the application and revision of existing theory but also to the development of new theory. The case thus provides a potentially generative nexus for the engagement of theory, context, and research.
Reflections on Myanmar childhoods: A group of vulnerable children in Tha Ma Ta Kan Chay
Authors: Tun Sai Nandar
Published: November 2015

Currently, Myanmar, and in particular Yangon, is in the process of huge social, economic and political change. While there seems to be growing opportunity for some, the impact of this growth and change is not always clear, particularly in the way that it has already begun to affect the poor; food prices, rental and transport costs are all increasing, putting growing pressure on disadvantaged families and individuals. There have been some attempts by the government to consult with communities about these changes; however, seldom, if ever, are the thoughts and voices of children taken into consideration. In the context of this massive change, this article identifies and reflects upon the factors that affect the lives, behaviour and aspirations of a small group of children in a poor urban township of Yangon. The author has been a voluntary teacher in their community for the past year and will draw on his own experience as well as interviews and focus group discussions with these children (boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 12 years) to better describe the way in which these children perceive their own childhood and the various social, cultural and economic factors that have an impact on it. The article also includes a comparison with (memories of) the author’s own childhood, acknowledging the potential impact this might have on objectivity as well as helping to broaden the picture that emerges about childhood in modern-day Myanmar.
Early childhood education and care for Tibetan children in the People’s Republic of China: Left behind or led from behind?
Authors: Ancheta Arrabal Ana
Published: November 2015

Early Childhood Education and Care provision has been expanded in the People’s Republic of China over the last decades. For this expansion to harmonize with young children’s rights, special measures should ensure that the system of provision guarantees the participation and inclusion of the most vulnerable citizens. With this as a focus, this article reviews and discusses the state of Early Childhood Education and Care provision for young children of Tibetan ethnicity in People’s Republic of China. The available literature and ongoing measures and plans are explored around this topic in order to identify the main issues.
Systematic review of patients’ views on the quality of primary health care in sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Ogaji Daprim S , Giles Sally , Daker-White Gavin , Bower Peter
Published: November 2015

This is the first systematic review of patient views on the quality of primary health care services in sub-Saharan Africa using studies identified from MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE and PsycINFO. In total, 20 studies (3 qualitative, 3 mixed method and 14 quantitative) were included. Meta-analysis was done using quantitative findings from facility- and community-based studies of patient evaluation of primary health care. There was low use of validated measures, and the most common scales assessed were humanness (70%) and access (70%). While 66% (standard deviation = 21%) of respondents gave favourable feedback, there were discrepancies between surveys in community and facility contexts. Findings suggest that patient views could vary with subject recruitment site. We recommend improvement in the methods used to examine patient views on quality of primary health care.
Forensic devices for activism: Metadata tracking and public proof
Authors: van der Velden Lonneke
Published: November 2015

The central topic of this paper is a mobile phone application, ‘InformaCam’, which turns metadata from a surveillance risk into a method for the production of public proof. InformaCam allows one to manage and delete metadata from images and videos in order to diminish surveillance risks related to online tracking. Furthermore, it structures and stores the metadata in such a way that the documentary material becomes better accommodated to evidentiary settings, if needed. In this paper I propose InformaCam should be interpreted as a ‘forensic device’. By using the conceptualization of forensics and work on socio-technical devices the paper discusses how InformaCam, through a range of interventions, rearranges metadata into a technology of evidence. InformaCam explicitly recognizes mobile phones as context aware, uses their sensors, and structures metadata in order to facilitate data analysis after images are captured. Through these modifications it invents a form of ‘sensory data forensics'. By treating data in this particular way, surveillance resistance does more than seeking awareness. It becomes engaged with investigatory practices. Considering the extent by which states conduct metadata surveillance, the project can be seen as a timely response to the unequal distribution of power over data.
Targeting CD123 in acute myeloid leukemia using a T-cell–directed dual-affinity retargeting platform
Authors: Al-Hussaini Muneera , Rettig Michael P. , Ritchey Julie K. , Karpova Darja , Uy Geoffrey L. , Eissenberg Linda G. , Gao Feng , Eades William C. , Bonvini Ezio , Chichili Gurunadh R. , Moore Paul A. , Johnson Syd , Collins Lynne , DiPersio John F.
Published: November 2015

Key Points

A novel CD3×CD123 DART agent induces T-cell-target-specific association, activation, and proliferation. The CD3×CD123 DART induces a dose-dependent killing of AML cell lines and primary AML blasts in vitro and in vivo.
Register in the round: registerial cartography
Authors: Matthiessen Christian MIM
Published: November 2015

Registerial cartography is the activity of systematically describing the registers that make up a language — with register in its original sense of a functional variety of a language, i.e. of the adaptation of the meaning-making resources of a language according to context of use. A register map of a language would thus show its composition of registers — of meanings at risk in the various cultural domains that constitute a culture. This variation according to use — register variation — is located along the cline of instantiation between the overall meaning potential of a language operating in the context of culture and the instantiation of this meaning potential unfolding as texts in contexts of situation.

In this paper, I will report on a long-term register cartography project concerned with the analysis and description of the registers that collectively constitute the meaning potential of a language. The maps produced as part of the project are based on context in the first instance, since register variation is precisely variation according to context of use. Thus registers can be located within the map according to the “longitude and latitude” of context, i.e. according to the contextual parameters of field, tenor and mode. Here I will focus on a field-based map, more specifically one based on a typology of fields of activity — a characterizations of different goings-on in context. This typology differentiates eight primary types of field of activity, ‘expounding’, ‘reporting’, ‘recreating’, ‘sharing’, ‘doing’, ‘enabling’, ‘recommending’ and ‘exploring’, and their secondary and tertiary subtypes. I will then illustrate how texts operating in contexts characterized by these different fields of activity are organized semantically in terms of logico-semantic (rhetorical) relations (based on a version of RST, Rhetorical Structure Theory), showing that different relations are “at risk” depending on the nature of the field of activity. I will round off the paper by discussing how field-based maps of registers have and can be used in different areas of application.
Foundation News
Authors: Jacobs Rhonda
Published: November 2015

Each SEG staff member is passionate about his or her own job as well as the difference each staff member makes in the lives of our members through the works of various SEG programs. Knowing that, we recently asked the staff, “What is your favorite SEG program?” Here are some of their responses.
Modeling anisotropic elasticity in an unconventional reservoir
Authors: Sengupta Mita , Katahara Keith , Smith Nat , Kittridge Mark , Blangy J. P.
Published: November 2015

During the last two decades, several studies have shown that organic-rich shales are characterized by strong velocity anisotropy. It is well known that these types of rocks exhibit strong polar anisotropy, also known as vertical transverse isotropy (VTI), with vertical (or bedding-perpendicular) velocities being much slower than horizontal (or bedding-parallel) velocities. However, the amount of elastic anisotropy can vary significantly from one formation to another because the individual clay minerals, the volume concentration and geometric distribution of organic matter, and other geologic characteristics (such as texture and nonclay mineralogy) vary by geologic formation. It is therefore important to quantify the amount of elastic anisotropy in our formations of interest, for various geophysical and geomechanical applications related to reservoir characterization. Strongly anisotropic compressional and shear velocities in two formations of interest in an unconventional reservoir are analyzed. Appropriate rock-physics models explain the anisotropic elastic response of these rocks. Recognizing that there might be several possible sources of anisotropy, three sources are focused on: mineral orientation, layering, and microcracks. Preferred orientation of clay minerals is the largest and most significant source of elastic anisotropy in the samples.
What can microseismic data say about fluid flow?
Authors: Poliannikov Oleg V. , Djikpesse Hugues
Published: November 2015

A special session was held at the 2014 Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) Annual Meeting in Denver to brainstorm on the topic of what microseismic data can say about fluid flow. The special session was sponsored by the Research Committee of SEG and coorganized by Oleg Poliannikov (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Hugues Djikpesse (Schlumberger, now CHRYSOS Technologies L.L.C). It consisted of eight presentations with a broad range of speakers from academia and industry and was attended by about 150 participants. The findings of this special session are reported, and then possible directions for the future of flow-guided microseismic research are discussed.
BGS — Education through open doors and OpenGeoscience
Authors: Stevenson John , Denton Paul , Lemon Kirstin
Published: November 2015

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has supported geoscience education since it opened the Museum of Economic Geology in Whitehall, London, in 1841. However, the BGS has taken some large leaps since the wooden display cabinets of yesteryear, and now the public can browse a geologic map of the entire United Kingdom on their mobile phones, fly over or under the landscape using GeoVisionary, or view and print our fossil collections in three dimensions. In 2010, the BGS opened its doors to its vast collections of data through OpenGeoscience, which has stimulated opportunities to educate the public through a variety of online maps and free data. The BGS also hosts events such as “Open Days” and Rock Detective Clubs and attends science fairs to demonstrate its latest research or simply to educate and inspire the next generation of scientists. But nothing engages children's imagination like the destructive power of an earthquake. The BGS-led School Seismology project offers in-depth learning about the structure of the earth through a set of simple classroom experiments and the opportunity to work with live data from real earthquakes. The School Seismology project has become popular with teachers around the world and will shortly venture into space to explore the seismology of Mars.
A column on the history and culture of geophysics and science in general
Authors: Liner Christopher L.
Published: November 2015

November 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR). He published four papers on the subject in November 1915. Remarkable! The first two papers led to the field equations of GR, and the other two laid out vital consequences of the theory, including the anomalous precession of the perihelion of Mercury (unexplained since 1859) and the gravitational bending of light. The latter phenomenon was confirmed famously by Eddington's 1919 observation of a total solar eclipse and the shift of apparent position for stars, the light of which passed very near the sun. Einstein, already famous, became a household name — an early 20th-century superstar.
State of the Net
Authors: Farley Isaac
Published: November 2015

As the digital publications manager, I normally have the privilege of announcing new enhancements, applications, or technologies in “State of the Net” columns. Although bells and whistles are often exciting and offer us greater efficiencies, I know the high quality of SEG publications keeps you reading. Thus, there is no better time than now to share the latest on recent content additions to the SEG Digital Library and the SEG Wiki.
SAS Focus
Authors: van Buren Reece
Published: November 2015

It was September 2015 in the Berg, and the hills were alive with the sound of physics — geophysics, to be more precise. True to form, the South African Geophysical Association (SAGA) 14th Biennial Conference and Exhibition was held in one of the most majestic locations South Africa has to offer: the Central Drakensberg. Champagne Sports Resort, nestled in the foothills of the Drakensberg below looming basaltic cliffs, played host to this year's event.
Postoperative Adjuvant Lapatinib and Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Maintenance Lapatinib Monotherapy in High-Risk Patients With Resected Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: A Phase III, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study
Authors: Harrington Kevin , Temam Stephane , Mehanna Hisham , D'Cruz Anil , Jain Minish , D'Onofrio Ida , Manikhas Georgy , Horvath Zsuzsanna , Sun Yan , Dietzsch Stefan , Dubinsky Pavol , Holeckova Petra , El-Hariry Iman , Franklin Natalie , Biswas-Baldwin Nigel , Legenne Philippe , Wissel Paul , Netherway Thelma , Farrell John , Ellis Catherine , Wang-Silvanto Jing , Amonkar Mayur , Ahmed Nazma , Santillana Sergio , Bourhis Jean
Published: November 2015

Purpose

This multicenter phase III study evaluated the efficacy and safety of lapatinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor/ErbB2 inhibitor, administered concomitantly with chemoradiotherapy and as maintenance monotherapy in patients with high-risk surgically treated squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

Patients and Methods

Patients with resected stage II to IVA SCCHN, with a surgical margin ≤ 5 mm and/or extracapsular extension, were randomly assigned to chemoradiotherapy (66 Gy total radiation dose and cisplatin 100 mg/m2 per day administered on days 1, 22, and 43) plus placebo or lapatinib (1,500 mg per day) before and during chemoradiotherapy, followed by 12 months of maintenance monotherapy.

Results

Six hundred eighty-eight patients were enrolled (lapatinib, n = 346; placebo, n = 342). With a median follow-up time of 35.3 months, the study ended early because of the apparent plateauing of disease-free survival (DFS) events. Median DFS assessed by an independent review committee was 53.6 months and not reached for lapatinib and placebo, respectively (hazard ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.85 to 1.43). Investigator-assessed results confirmed the independent review committee assessment. No significant differences in DFS by human papillomavirus status or overall survival were observed between treatment arms. Similar numbers of patients in both treatment arms experienced adverse events (AEs), with more patients in the lapatinib arm than the placebo arm experiencing serious AEs (48% v 40%, respectively). The most commonly observed treatment-related AEs were diarrhea and rash, both predominantly in the lapatinib arm.

Conclusion

Addition of lapatinib to chemoradiotherapy and its use as long-term maintenance therapy does not offer any efficacy benefits and had additional toxicity compared with placebo in patients with surgically treated high-risk SCCHN.
Molecular Heterogeneity and Response to Neoadjuvant Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Targeting in CALGB 40601, a Randomized Phase III Trial of Paclitaxel Plus Trastuzumab With or Without Lapatinib
Authors: Carey Lisa A. , Berry Donald A. , Cirrincione Constance T. , Barry William T. , Pitcher Brandelyn N. , Harris Lyndsay N. , Ollila David W. , Krop Ian E. , Henry Norah Lynn , Weckstein Douglas J. , Anders Carey K. , Singh Baljit , Hoadley Katherine A. , Iglesia Michael , Cheang Maggie Chon U. , Perou Charles M. , Winer Eric P. , Hudis Clifford A.
Published: November 2015

Purpose

Dual human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeting can increase pathologic complete response rates (pCRs) to neoadjuvant therapy and improve progression-free survival in metastatic disease. CALGB 40601 examined the impact of dual HER2 blockade consisting of trastuzumab and lapatinib added to paclitaxel, considering tumor and microenvironment molecular features.

Patients and Methods

Patients with stage II to III HER2-positive breast cancer underwent tumor biopsy followed by random assignment to paclitaxel plus trastuzumab alone (TH) or with the addition of lapatinib (THL) for 16 weeks before surgery. An investigational arm of paclitaxel plus lapatinib (TL) was closed early. The primary end point was pCR in the breast; correlative end points focused on molecular features identified by gene expression–based assays.

Results

Among 305 randomly assigned patients (THL, n = 118; TH, n = 120; TL, n = 67), the pCR rate was 56% (95% CI, 47% to 65%) with THL and 46% (95% CI, 37% to 55%) with TH (P = .13), with no effect of dual therapy in the hormone receptor–positive subset but a significant increase in pCR with dual therapy in those with hormone receptor–negative disease (P = .01). The tumors were molecularly heterogeneous by gene expression analysis using mRNA sequencing (mRNAseq). pCR rates significantly differed by intrinsic subtype (HER2 enriched, 70%; luminal A, 34%; luminal B, 36%; P < .001). In multivariable analysis treatment arm, intrinsic subtype, HER2 amplicon gene expression, p53 mutation signature, and immune cell signatures were independently associated with pCR. Post-treatment residual disease was largely luminal A (69%).

Conclusion

pCR to dual HER2-targeted therapy was not significantly higher than single HER2 targeting. Tissue analysis demonstrated a high degree of intertumoral heterogeneity with respect to both tumor genomics and tumor microenvironment that significantly affected pCR rates. These factors should be considered when interpreting and designing trials in HER2-positive disease.
Randomized Comparison of Surveillance Intervals in Familial Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Hennink Simone D. , van der Meulen-de Jong Andrea E. , Wolterbeek Ron , Crobach A. Stijn L.P. , Becx Marco C.J.M. , Crobach Wiet F.S.J. , van Haastert Michiel , ten Hove W. Rogier , Kleibeuker Jan H. , Meijssen Maarten A.C. , Nagengast Fokko M. , Rijk Marno C.M. , Salemans Jan M.J.I. , Stronkhorst Arnold , Tuynman Hans A.R.E. , Vecht Juda , Verhulst Marie-Louise , de Vos tot Nederveen Cappel Wouter H. , Walinga Herman , Weinhardt Olaf K. , Westerveld Dik , Witte Anne M.C. , Wolters Hugo J. , Cats Annemieke , Veenendaal Roeland A. , Morreau Hans , Vasen Hans F.A.
Published: November 2015

Purpose

Colonoscopic surveillance is recommended for individuals with familial colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the appropriate screening interval has not yet been determined. The aim of this randomized trial was to compare a 3-year with a 6-year screening interval.

Patients and Methods

Individuals between ages 45 and 65 years with one first-degree relative with CRC age < 50 years or two first-degree relatives with CRC were selected. Patients with zero to two adenomas at baseline were randomly assigned to one of two groups: group A (colonoscopy at 6 years) or group B (colonoscopy at 3 and 6 years). The primary outcome measure was advanced adenomatous polyps (AAPs). Risk factors studied included sex, age, type of family history, and baseline endoscopic findings.

Results

A total of 528 patients were randomly assigned (group A, n = 262; group B, n = 266). Intention-to-treat analysis showed no significant difference in the proportion of patients with AAPs at the first follow-up examination at 6 years in group A (6.9%) versus 3 years in group B (3.5%). Also, the proportion of patients with AAPs at the final follow-up examination at 6 years in group A (6.9%) versus 6 years in group B (3.4%) was not significantly different. Only AAPs at baseline was a significant predictor for the presence of AAPs at first follow-up. After correction for the difference in AAPs at baseline, differences between the groups in the rate of AAPs at first follow-up and at the final examination were statistically significant.

Conclusion

In view of the relatively low rate of AAPs at 6 years and the absence of CRC in group A, we consider a 6-year surveillance interval appropriate. A surveillance interval of 3 years might be considered in patients with AAPs and patients with ≥ three adenomas.
Randomized Phase Ib/II Study of Gemcitabine Plus Placebo or Vismodegib, a Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor, in Patients With Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Catenacci Daniel V.T. , Junttila Melissa R. , Karrison Theodore , Bahary Nathan , Horiba Margit N. , Nattam Sreenivasa R. , Marsh Robert , Wallace James , Kozloff Mark , Rajdev Lakshmi , Cohen Deirdre , Wade James , Sleckman Bethany , Lenz Heinz-Josef , Stiff Patrick , Kumar Pankaj , Xu Peng , Henderson Les , Takebe Naoko , Salgia Ravi , Wang Xi , Stadler Walter M. , de Sauvage Frederic J. , Kindler Hedy L.
Published: November 2015

Purpose

Sonic hedgehog (SHH), an activating ligand of smoothened (SMO), is overexpressed in > 70% of pancreatic cancers (PCs). We investigated the impact of vismodegib, an SHH antagonist, plus gemcitabine (GV) or gemcitabine plus placebo (GP) in a multicenter phase Ib/randomized phase II trial and preclinical PC models.

Patients and Methods

Patients with PC not amenable to curative therapy who had received no prior therapy for metastatic disease and had Karnofsky performance score ≥ 80 were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned in a one-to-one ratio to GV or GP. The primary end point was progression-free-survival (PFS). Exploratory correlative studies included serial SHH serum levels and contrast perfusion computed tomography imaging. To further investigate putative biologic mechanisms of SMO inhibition, two autochthonous pancreatic cancer models (KrasG12D; p16/p19fl/fl; Pdx1-Cre and KrasG12D; p53R270H/wt; Pdx1-Cre) were studied.

Results

No safety issues were identified in the phase Ib portion (n = 7), and the phase II study enrolled 106 evaluable patients (n = 53 in each arm). Median PFS was 4.0 and 2.5 months for GV and GP arms, respectively (95% CI, 2.5 to 5.3 and 1.9 to 3.8, respectively; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.54 to 1.21; P = .30). Median overall survival (OS) was 6.9 and 6.1 months for GV and GP arms, respectively (95% CI, 5.8 to 8.0 and 5.0 to 8.0, respectively; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.69 to 1.58; P = .84). Response rates were not significantly different. There were no significant associations between correlative markers and overall response rate, PFS, or OS. Preclinical trials revealed no significant differences with vismodegib in drug delivery, tumor growth rate, or OS in either model.

Conclusion

The addition of vismodegib to gemcitabine in an unselected cohort did not improve overall response rate, PFS, or OS in patients with metastatic PC. Our preclinical and clinical results revealed no statistically significant differences with respect to drug delivery or treatment efficacy using vismodegib.
Cognitive Function in Patients With Colorectal Cancer Who Do and Do Not Receive Chemotherapy: A Prospective, Longitudinal, Controlled Study
Authors: Vardy Janette L. , Dhillon Haryana M. , Pond Gregory R. , Rourke Sean B. , Bekele Tsegaye , Renton Corrinne , Dodd Anna , Zhang Haibo , Beale Philip , Clarke Stephen , Tannock Ian F.
Published: November 2015

Purpose

Cognitive dysfunction is reported in people with cancer. Therefore, we evaluated longitudinal changes in cognitive function and underlying mechanisms in people with colorectal cancer (CRC) and healthy controls (HCs).

Patients and Methods

Participants completed cognitive assessments and questionnaires reporting cognitive symptoms, fatigue, quality of life, and anxiety/depression at baseline (before chemotherapy, if given) and 6, 12, and 24 months. Blood tests included cytokines, clotting factors, apolipoprotein E genotype, and sex hormones. Primary end point was overall cognitive function measured by the Global Deficit Score at 12 months.

Results

We recruited 289 patients with localized CRC (173 received chemotherapy; median age, 59 years; 63% male), 73 patients with limited metastatic/recurrent CRC, and 72 HCs. Cognitive impairment was more frequent in patients with localized CRC than HCs at baseline (43% v 15%, respectively; P < .001) and 12 months (46% v 13%, respectively; P < .001), with no significant effect of chemotherapy. Attention/working memory, verbal learning/memory, and complex processing speed were most affected. Cognitive impairment was similar in patients with localized and metastatic CRC. Cytokine levels were elevated in patients with CRC compared with HCs. There was no association between overall cognitive function and fatigue, quality of life, anxiety/depression, or any blood test. Cognitive symptoms at 12 months were reported in 25% of patients with localized CRC versus 17% of HCs (P = .19). More participants who received chemotherapy had cognitive symptoms at 6 months (32%) versus those who did not (16%; P = .007), with no significant difference at 12 months (29% v 21%, respectively; P = .19). Objective cognitive function was only weakly associated with cognitive symptoms.

Conclusion

Patients with CRC had substantially more cognitive impairment at every assessment than HCs, with no significant added effect of chemotherapy. Mechanisms of cognitive impairment remain unknown.