Temporal Trends of Corporate Sponsorship in Medical Research

Data will be collected from medical journals to assessed changes in the nature and prevalence of corporate sponsorship. The journals that will be reviewed are the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the British Medical Journal (BMJ), and the Lancet. These journals were chosen because of their high impact on medical research representing both American and British Medical editorials. It has been shown that corporate sponsorship has been associated with bias results (Kjaergard et al 2002). Changes in the nature of corporate sponsorship would be linked to changes in economic climate and changes in the policies regarding how research is done and published. Data collected from the four journals will be used to determine several things: Significant changes in corporate sponsorship, differences between European and American editorials, and a potential association between subject and corporate sponsorship. If temporal trends are observed from the data they will then be placed in a social context. The consequences of temporal trends have a bearing on social policy because a bias in medical research affects many large decisions, such as allocation of research funds, what medicines to use on a personal level, and what research should be done in the future. An exploration of the effects of the data gathered on social policy will be worthwhile

A tale of two interfaces: photons and spins linked by a solid-state artificial atom

An electron spin confined to a self-assembled quantum dot presents itself as a natural candidate for the node of a quantum network, offering a highly coherent interface between a solid-state spin and an optical photon. Crucial to the construction of such a network will be the exploitation of the long-lived coherence of the surrounding environment of nuclear spins. This dissertation presents a series of experiments which address some of the challenges of exploiting quantum dots for quantum technologies. First, we implement a new technique for performing coherent control of a spin confined to a quantum dot, achieving the highest control fidelity ever reported in this type of system. The technique is fully flexible, meaning that we can programmatically design control sequences of arbitrary complexity. Next, we use this control technique to mitigate the unwanted effects of the nuclear spin environment on the electron spin. We show that we can tune the rate of coupling to the nuclei, allowing us to protect a known quantum state stored on the electron spin by taking it out of resonance with environmental modes. We then show that we can resolve collective spin-wave modes of the nuclei, each associated with a single spin flip distributed among the ensemble. By probing the coupling frequency between the electron spin and these nuclear modes, we show how to extract information about the population distribution of the nuclear ensemble across its single-particle spin-states. In our case, this procedure reveals the presence of entanglement within the nuclei, manifesting itself as a many-body dark state. Finally, we perform the first spin-control experiments of an electron spin confined to an optically active gallium arsenide quantum dot. We demonstrate coherent control of an electron spin, and probe its coherence via free induction decay and Hahn-echo spectroscopy. The scientific insights and technical knowledge gained from this work could enable the construction of a quantum dot system consisting of a qubit (an electron spin) and a high-fidelity, in situ quantum memory (the ensemble of nuclear spins). This leads towards the assembly of a physically distributed, coherently connected array of quantum dots: a quantum network

Thermal Hydraulic Characteristics of Fuel Defects in Plate Type Nuclear Research Reactors

Turbulent flow coupled with heat transfer is investigated for a High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) fuel plate. The Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Models are used for fluid dynamics and the transfer of heat from a thermal nuclear fuel plate using the Multi-physics code COMSOL. Simulation outcomes are compared with experimental data from the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor Thermal Hydraulic Test Loop. The computational results for the High Flux Isotope Reactor core system provide a more physically accurate simulation of this system by modeling the turbulent flow field in conjunction with the diffusion of thermal energy within the solid and fluid phases of the model domain. Recommendations are made regarding Nusselt number correlations and material properties for future thermal hydraulic modeling efforts

Blood Pressure Measurements in 780 Apparently Healthy Cats

BACKGROUND: Mean systolic blood pressure in apparently healthy cats has been reported as approximately 125 mmHg using direct assessment, but there is greater variability in reported values using indirect assessment. Increasing age and the white‐coat effect are associated with increased systolic blood pressure. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To report Doppler‐derived blood pressure measurements from a large population of apparently healthy cats and to assess epidemiologic factors associated with recorded blood pressures. ANIMALS: A total of 780 cats in rehoming centers enrolled in a screening program for heart murmurs and cardiac disease. METHODS: Cats were considered healthy based on history and physical examination. Cats with known hypertension, hyperthyroidism, or clinical signs of systemic disease and pregnant or nursing queens were excluded. After an acclimatization period, systolic blood pressure was measured using the Doppler sphygmomanometry method following the recommendations of the ACVIM Consensus Statement. General linear model analysis was performed to identify factors associated with variation in systolic blood pressure. RESULTS: Median (interquartile range, IQR) systolic blood pressure for the group was 120.6 (110.4–132.4) mmHg. Factors significantly associated with higher systolic blood pressure in a general linear model were increased age, increased nervousness, male sex, neutering, or history of being a stray. The model explained 29.2% of the variation in systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The age, demeanor, sex, neuter status and history of being a stray should be taken into account when assessing systolic blood pressure in apparently healthy cats

Multi-scale characterisation of the 3D microstructure of a thermally-shocked bulk metallic glass matrix composite

Bulk metallic glass matrix composites (BMGMCs) are a new class of metal alloys which have significantly increased ductility and impact toughness, resulting from the ductile crystalline phases distributed uniformly within the amorphous matrix. However, the 3D structures and their morphologies of such composite at nano and micrometre scale have never been reported before. We have used high density electric currents to thermally shock a Zr-Ti based BMGMC to different temperatures, and used X-ray microtomography, FIB-SEM nanotomography and neutron diffraction to reveal the morphologies, compositions, volume fractions and thermal stabilities of the nano and microstructures. Understanding of these is essential for optimizing the design of BMGMCs and developing viable manufacturing methods

Serum cholesterol levels in neutropenic patients with fever

Hypocholesterolemia, which often accompanies infectious diseases has been suggested to serve as a prognostic marker in hospitalized patients. Even though patients with chemotherapyinduced leukopenia are at high risk of infection and mortality, only limited information is available on serum cholesterol levels in these patients. We therefore measured serum cholesterol levels in 17 patients with hematological malignancies during chemotherapyinduced neutropenia and correlated it with clinical outcome. Patients with fever (>38.5 degreesC) showed a significant decrease in serum cholesterol levels within 24 hours. Eight days after onset of the fever nonsurvivors had significantly lower serum cholesterol levels (median 2.09 mmol/l, range 0.492.79, n=6) compared to survivors (median 3.23 mmol/l, range 1.684.86, n=11). Cholesterol levels in survivors returned to baseline levels at the time of discharge from the hospital. At the onset of fever, serum levels of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and soluble TNF receptors p55 and p75 were elevated in all patients, but only TNF and TNF receptor p75 levels were significantly different in survivors and nonsurvivors. Our data suggest that a decrease in serum cholesterol levels is a prognostic marker in neutropenic patients with fever. Release of inflammatory cytokines may in part be responsible for hypocholesterolemia in these patients

Terrestrial vertebrate survey of Motukawanui

Acknowledgements The authors thank the kaumātua roopu of Ngāti Kura for permission to visit the island, Rod Hitchmough for information on reptile species, Maud Quinzin for help in rat trapping, Rod Brown for information on restoration planting, and Graeme Taylor for providing a copy of the unpublished DOC report on the Cavalli Islands. Z.T.C. personally thanks Dean Wright (of Dean Wright Photography; https://www.deanwright.co.nz/) and Stephen Western (of Stephen Western Photography; https://stephenwestern.smugmug.com/) for help in providing photo comparisons. TriOceans provided transport to and from the island. Funding The fieldwork of this study was independently funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 747120 awarded to T. W. B. Research was performed under the University of Auckland animal ethics R2095 and wildlife authority 67914-DOA and research and collection authority 67915-RES. Funding was awarded to Z. T. C. by the New Zealand Government through a New Zealand International Doctoral Research Scholarship.Peer reviewedPostprin

The clock is ticking : temporally prioritizing eradications on islands

Funding Funding was awarded to Z.T.C. by the New Zealand Government through a New Zealand International Doctoral Research Scholarship. Funding was awarded to T.W.B. by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship (Grant No. 747120). Funding was awarded to J.C.R. by the Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (Grant No. RDF-UOA1404) and the BioHeritage National Science Challenge (Grant No. 1617-44-003). Additional supporting information may be found in the supplementary material of this article. The associated code and dataset are archived and are publicly available at the University of Auckland figshare database (https://doi.org/10.17608/k6.auckland.13542203.v1) and at GitHub (https://github.com/carterz2/temporal‐island‐prioritization).Peer reviewedPostprin

Who are they to judge?: (re)conceptualizing voice and resistance in girls' lives through girls' perspectives

This dissertation explores what the concepts of voice and resistance mean to girls. I conduced 18 online interviews with 18- and 19-year-old girls. The girls in this study suggested that voice can be viewed (a) as fully internal, (b) as internal thoughts made public, and (c) as internal thoughts made public and taken seriously by others. Some of girls' definitions challenge the idea that one's perspective must be accepted and approved by others in order to count. Additionally, these girls offered possibilities for (re)conceptualizing resistance. They descriptions highlighted that resistance can be internally or externally motivated. They noted that they commonly resist messages about sex, drugs and alcohol, physical appearance, and politics. They offered various modes of resistance, including setting and focusing on goals and self-development, escaping, and serving as a mentor or role model. These motivations, targets, and modes of resistance challenge androcentric models of resistance that suggest resistance must be externally motivated and focused and take place in a public, antagonistic way. These girls' perspectives suggest that both voice and resistance may be better thought of as processes rather than single acts. In the dissertation I argue that imposing the dominant definition of voice and resistance upon girls is part of a larger pattern that silences girls' voices, dismisses their actions, and, perhaps even more, problematically, teaches them to do the same