Tracking decision-making during architectural design

There is a powerful cocktail of circumstances governing the way decisions are made during the architectural design process of a building project. There is considerable potential for misunderstandings, inappropriate changes, change which give rise to unforeseen difficulties, decisions which are not notified to all interested parties, and many other similar problems. The paper presents research conducted within the frame of the EPSRC funded ADS project aiming at addressing the problems linked with the evolution and changing environment of project information to support better decision-making. The paper presents the conceptual framework as well as the software environment that has been developed to support decision-making during building projects, and reports on work carried out on the application of the approach to the architectural design stage. This decision-tracking environment has been evaluated and validated by professionals and practitioners from industry using several instruments as described in the paper

RHESSI Observations of the Solar Flare Iron-line Feature at 6.7 keV

Analysis of RHESSI 3--10 keV spectra for 27 solar flares is reported. This energy range includes thermal free--free and free--bound continuum and two line features, at 6.7keV and 8keV, principally due to highly ionized iron (Fe). We used the continuum and the flux in the so-called Fe-line feature at 6.7keV to derive the electron temperature T_e, the emission measure, and the Fe-line equivalent width as functions of time in each flare. The Fe/H abundance ratio in each flare is derived from the Fe-line equivalent width as a function of T_e. To minimize instrumental problems with high count rates and effects associated with multi-temperature and nonthermal spectral components, spectra are presented mostly during the flare decay phase, when the emission measure and temperature were smoothly varying. We found flare Fe/H abundance ratios that are consistent with the coronal abundance of Fe (i.e. 4 times the photospheric abundance) to within 20% for at least 17 of the 27 flares; for 7 flares, the Fe/H abundance ratio is possibly higher by up to a factor of 2. We find evidence that the Fe XXV ion fractions are less than the theoretically predicted values by up to 60% at T_e=25 MK appear to be displaced from the most recent theoretical values by between 1 and 3 MK

Superstring BRST Cohomology

We first derive all world-sheet action functionals for NSR superstring models with (1,1) supersymmetry and any number of abelian gauge fields, for gauge transformations of the standard form. Then we prove for these models that the BRST cohomology groups $H^g(s)$, $g<4$ (with the antifields taken into account) are isomorphic to those of the corresponding bosonic string models, whose cohomology is fully known. This implies that the nontrivial global symmetries, Noether currents, background charges, consistent deformations and candidate gauge anomalies of an NSR (1,1) superstring model are in one-to-one correspondence with their bosonic counterparts.Comment: LaTeX2e, 44 pages, minor correction

Top quark spin correlations at hadron colliders: Predictions at next-to-leading order QCD

The collider experiments at the Tevatron and the LHC will allow for detailed investigations of the properties of the top quark. This requires precise predictions of the hadronic production of $t\bar t$ pairs and of their subsequent decays. In this Letter we present for the reactions $p {\bar p}, p p \to t{\bar t} + X \to \ell^+\ell'^-X$ the first calculation of the dilepton angular distribution at next-to-leading order (NLO) in the QCD coupling, keeping the full dependence on the spins of the intermediate $t\bar{t}$ state. The angular distribution reflects the degree of correlation of the $t$ and $\bar t$ spins which we determine for different choices of $t$ and $\bar t$ spin bases. In the case of the Tevatron, the QCD corrections are sizeable, and the distribution is quite sensitive to the parton content of the proton.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Grey matter volume correlates with virtual water maze task performance in boys with androgen excess

Major questions remain about the specific role of testosterone in human spatial navigation. We tested 10 boys (mean age 11.65 years) with an extremely rare disorder of androgen excess (Familial Male Precocious Puberty, FMPP) and 40 healthy boys (mean age 12.81 years) on a virtual version of the Morris Water Maze task. In addition, anatomical magnetic resonance images were collected for all patients and a subsample of the controls (n=21) after task completion. Behaviourally, no significant differences were found between both groups. However, in the MRI analyses, grey matter volume (GMV) was correlated with performance using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Group differences in correlations of performance with GMV were apparent in medial regions of the prefrontal cortex as well as the middle occipital gyrus and the cuneus. By comparison, similar correlations for both groups were found in the inferior parietal lobule. These data provide novel insight into the relation between testosterone and brain development and suggest that morphological differences in a spatial navigation network covary with performance in spatial ability. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO

Top Quark Pair Production and Decay including Spin Effects at Hadron Colliders: Predictions at NLO QCD

Top quark-antiquark ($t\bar t$) pairs will be produced copiously at the Tevatron collider and in huge numbers at the LHC. This will make possible detailed investigations of the properties and interactions of this quark flavor. The analysis and interpretation of future data requires precise predictions of the hadronic production of $t\bar t$ pairs and of their subsequent decays. In this talk the reactions $p {\bar p}, p p \to t{\bar t} + X \to l^+ l'^- + X$ are considered and results are presented of our calculation of the dilepton angular distribution at next-to-leading order QCD, keeping the full dependence on the spins of the intermediate $t\bar{t}$ state. The angular distribution is determined for different choices of reference axes that can be identified with the $t$ and $\bar t$ spin axes. While the QCD corrections to the leading-order distribution turn out to be small in the case of the LHC, we find them to be sizeable in the case of the Tevatron and find, moreover, the angular distribution to be sensitive to the parton content of the proton.Comment: Talk given at 3rd Circum-Pan-Pacific Symposium on "High Energy Spin Physics", Beijing, China, 8-13, 200

Duodenum-preserving pancreatic resection versus pancreaticoduodenectomy for chronic pancreatitis

BACKGROUND: Surgical excision by removal of the head of the pancreas to decompress the obstructed ducts is one of the treatment options for people with symptomatic chronic pancreatitis. Surgical excision of the head of the pancreas can be performed by excision of the duodenum along with the head of the pancreas (pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD)) or without excision of the duodenum (duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection (DPPHR)). There is currently no consensus on the method of pancreatic head resection in people with chronic pancreatitis. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection versus pancreaticoduodenectomy in people with chronic pancreatitis for whom pancreatic resection is considered the main treatment option. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, and trials registers to June 2015 to identify randomised trials. We also searched the references of included trials to identify further trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We considered only randomised controlled trials (RCT) performed in people with chronic pancreatitis undergoing pancreatic head resection, irrespective of language, blinding, or publication status, for inclusion in the review. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently identified trials and extracted data. We calculated the risk ratio (RR), mean difference (MD), rate ratio (RaR), or hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on an available-case analysis. MAIN RESULTS: Five trials including 292 participants met the inclusion criteria for the review. After exclusion of 23 participants mainly due to pancreatic cancer or because participants did not receive the planned treatment, a total of 269 participants (with symptomatic chronic pancreatitis involving the head of pancreas and requiring surgery) were randomly assigned to receive DPPHR (135 participants) or PD (134 participants). The trials did not report the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status of the participants. All the trials were single-centre trials and included people with and without obstructive jaundice and people with and without duodenal stenosis but did not report data separately for those with and without jaundice or those with and without duodenal stenosis. The surgical procedures compared in the five trials included DPPHR (Beger or Frey procedures, or wide local excision of the head of the pancreas) and PD (pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy or Whipple procedure). The participants were followed up for various periods of time ranging from one to 15 years. The trials were at unclear or high risk of bias. The overall quality of evidence was low or very low.The differences in short-term mortality (up to 90 days after surgery) (RR 2.89, 95% CI 0.31 to 26.87; 369 participants; 5 studies; DPPHR: 2/135 (1.5%) versus PD: 0/134 (0%); very low quality evidence) or long-term mortality (maximal follow-up) (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.31 to 1.34; 229 participants; 4 studies; very low quality evidence), medium-term (three months to five years) (only a narrative summary was possible; 229 participants; 4 studies; very low quality evidence), or long-term quality of life (more than five years) (MD 8.45, 95% CI -0.27 to 17.18; 101 participants; 2 studies; low quality evidence), proportion of people with adverse events (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.22 to 1.35; 226 participants; 4 studies; DPPHR: 23/113 (adjusted proportion 20%) versus PD: 41/113 (36.3%); very low quality evidence), number of people with adverse events (RaR 0.95, 95% CI 0.43 to 2.12; 43 participants; 1 study; DPPHR: 12/22 (54.3 events per 100 participants) versus PD: 12/21 (57.1 events per 100 participants); very low quality evidence), proportion of people employed (maximal follow-up) (RR 1.54, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.37; 189 participants; 4 studies; DPPHR: 65/98 (adjusted proportion 69.4%) versus PD: 41/91 (45.1%); low quality evidence), incidence proportion of diabetes mellitus (maximum follow-up) (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.22; 269 participants; 5 studies; DPPHR: 25/135 (adjusted proportion 18.6%) versus PD: 32/134 (23.9%); very low quality evidence), and prevalence proportion of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (maximum follow-up) (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.02; 189 participants; 4 studies; DPPHR: 62/98 (adjusted proportion 62.0%) versus PD: 68/91 (74.7%); very low quality evidence) were imprecise. The length of hospital stay appeared to be lower with DPPHR compared to PD and ranged between a reduction of one day and five days in the trials (208 participants; 4 studies; low quality evidence). None of the trials reported short-term quality of life (four weeks to three months), clinically significant pancreatic fistulas, serious adverse events, time to return to normal activity, time to return to work, and pain scores using a visual analogue scale. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Low quality evidence suggested that DPPHR may result in shorter hospital stay than PD. Based on low or very low quality evidence, there is currently no evidence of any difference in the mortality, adverse events, or quality of life between DPPHR and PD. However, the results were imprecise and further RCTs are required on this topic. Future RCTs comparing DPPHR with PD should report the severity as well as the incidence of postoperative complications and their impact on patient recovery. In such trials, participant and observer blinding should be performed and the analysis should be performed on an intention-to-treat basis to decrease the bias. In addition to the short-term benefits and harms such as mortality, surgery-related complications, quality of life, length of hospital stay, return to normal activity, and return to work, future trials should consider linkage of trial participants to health databases, social databases, and mortality registers to obtain the long-term benefits and harms of the different treatments

Pregabalin for decreasing pancreatic pain in chronic pancreatitis

BACKGROUND: Chronic abdominal pain is one of the major symptoms in people with chronic pancreatitis. The role of pregabalin in people with chronic pancreatic pain due to chronic pancreatitis is uncertain. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harms of pregabalin in people with chronic abdominal pain due to chronic pancreatitis. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library 2015, issue 6, and MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, trials registers until June 2015. We also searched the references of included trials to identify further trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We considered only randomised controlled trials (RCT) performed in people with chronic pancreatic pain due to chronic pancreatitis, irrespective of language, blinding, or publication status for inclusion in the review. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently identified trials and independently extracted data. We calculated the risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) with RevMan 5, based on intention-to-treat analysis. MAIN RESULTS: Only one study, funded by Pfizer, met the inclusion criteria for the review. A total of 64 participants (with chronic pain due to chronic pancreatitis) were randomly assigned to receive escalating doses of pregabalin (150 mg per day to 600 mg per day; 34 participants) or matching placebo (30 participants). Participants received pregabalin or placebo for three weeks on an outpatient basis; the outcomes were measured at the end of the treatment (i.e. three weeks from commencement of treatment). Potential participants taking concomitant analgesic medication and expected to stay on a stable regime during the trial were allowed to enter the study. This trial was at low risk of bias. The overall quality of evidence was low or moderate.Only the short-term outcomes were available in this trial. The medium and long-term outcomes, number of work days lost, and length of hospital stay due to admissions for pain control were not available. This trial found that the changes in opiate use (MD -26.00 mg; 95% CI -47.36 to -4.64; participants = 64; moderate-quality evidence), and pain score percentage changes from baseline (MD -12.00; 95% CI -21.82 to -2.18; participants = 64; moderate-quality evidence) were better in participants taking pregabalin compared to those taking placebo. This trial also found that there were more adverse events in participants taking pregabalin compared to those taking placebo (RR 1.71; 95% CI 1.20 to 2.43; participants = 64). The differences between pregabalin and placebo were imprecise for short-term health-related quality of life measured with the EORTC CLQ-30 questionnaire (MD 11.40; 95% CI -3.28 to 26.08; participants = 64; moderate-quality evidence), proportion of people with serious adverse events (RR 1.76; 95% CI 0.35 to 8.96; participants = 64; low-quality evidence), and proportion of people requiring hospital admissions (RR 0.44; 95% CI 0.04 to 4.62; participants = 64; low quality evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Based on low- to moderate-quality evidence, short-term use of pregabalin decreases short-term opiate use, and short-term pain scores, but increases the adverse events compared to placebo, in people with chronic pain due to chronic pancreatitis. The clinical implication of the decreases in short-term opiate use and short-term pain scores is not known.Future trials assessing the role of pregabalin in decreasing chronic pain in chronic pancreatitis should assess the medium- or long-term effects of pregabalin and should include outcomes such as, quality of life, treatment-related adverse events, number of work days lost, number of hospital admissions, and the length of hospital stay, in addition to pain scores, to assess the clinical and socioeconomic impact

C IV BAL disappearance in a large SDSS QSO sample

Broad absorption lines (BALs) in the spectra of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) originate from outflowing winds along our line of sight; winds are thought to originate from the inner regions of the QSO accretion disk, close to the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). Winds likely play a role in galaxy evolution and aid the accretion mechanism onto the SMBH. BAL equivalent widths can change on typical timescales from months to years; such variability is generally attributed to changes in the covering factor and/or in the ionization level of the gas. We investigate BAL variability, focusing on BAL disappearance. We analyze multi-epoch spectra of more than 1500 QSOs -the largest sample ever used for such a study- observed by different programs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-I/II/III (SDSS), and search for disappearing C IV BALs. The spectra rest-frame time baseline ranges from 0.28 to 4.9 yr; the source redshifts range from 1.68 to 4.27. We detect 73 disappearing BALs in the spectra of 67 sources. This corresponds to 3.9% of disappearing BALs, and 5.1% of our BAL QSOs exhibit at least one disappearing BAL. We estimate the average lifetime of a BAL along our line of sight (~ 80-100 yr), which appears consistent with the accretion disk orbital time at distances where winds are thought to originate. We inspect properties of the disappearing BALs and compare them to the properties of our main sample. We also investigate the existence of a correlation in the variability of multiple troughs in the same spectrum, and find it persistent at large velocity offsets between BAL pairs, suggesting that a mechanism extending on a global scale is necessary to explain the phenomenon. We select a more reliable sample of disappearing BALs following Filiz Ak et al. (2012), where a subset of our sample was analyzed, and compare the findings from the two works, obtaining generally consistent results.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Inflammation and endothelial function: Direct vascular effects of human C-reactive protein on nitric oxide bioavailability

Background - Circulating concentrations of the sensitive inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) predict future cardiovascular events, and CRP is elevated during sepsis and inflammation, when vascular reactivity may be modulated. We therefore investigated the direct effect of CRP on vascular reactivity. Methods and Results - The effects of isolated, pure human CRP on vasoreactivity and protein expression were studied in vascular rings and cells in vitro, and effects on blood pressure were studied in rats in vivo. The temporal relationship between changes in CRP concentration and brachial flow-mediated dilation was also studied in humans after vaccination with Salmonella typhi capsular polysaccharide, a model of inflammatory endothelial dysfunction. In contrast to some previous reports, highly purified and well-characterized human CRP specifically induced hyporeactivity to phenylephrine in rings of human internal mammary artery and rat aorta that was mediated through physiological antagonism by nitric oxide (NO). CRP did not alter endothelial NO synthase protein expression but increased protein expression of GTP cyclohydrolase-1, the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin, the NO synthase cofactor. In the vaccine model of inflammatory endothelial dysfunction in humans, increased CRP concentration coincided with the resolution rather than the development of endothelial dysfunction, consistent with the vitro findings; however, administration of human CRP to rats had no effect on blood pressure. Conclusions - Pure human CRP has specific, direct effects on vascular function in vitro via increased NO production; however, further clarification of the effect, if any, of CRP on vascular reactivity in humans in vivo will require clinical studies using specific inhibitors of CRP. © 2005 American Heart Association, Inc