Fixation for coarsening dynamics in 2D slabs

For the zero temperature limit of Ising Glauber Dynamics on 2D slabs the existence or nonexistence of vertices that do not fixate is determined as a function of slab thickness.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure

BLACK WOMEN’S PERSPECTIVES ON BREAST CANCER DETECTION MESSAGING

A qualitative approach was used to explore the influence of mass media campaigns on Black women’s perceptions of breast cancer. The primary purpose of this study was to address the high breast cancer mortality rate among young Black women, thus informing strategies to increase awareness of risk and encourage prevention activities. Black women have higher incidence rates before age 45 and are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age. Although the breast cancer mortality variance has been linked to socioeconomic status, studies have shown that differences in cancer knowledge and beliefs persist even when educational and socioeconomic measures are statistically controlled. Because little is known about how various ethnic group members form ideas about breast cancer in the U.S., semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 Black women between the ages of 30 and 40 to determine their knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer, as well as their personal perceptions of susceptibility to being diagnosed with breast cancer, in order to illuminate the interplay of culture and health belief systems on participants’ understanding of breast cancer messaging. To explore the potentially complex dynamics involved in how young Black women come to construct meanings about breast cancer, a theoretical framework that coupled Cultural Models Theory with the Risk Perception Attitude framework was used to address how health campaigns influence the behaviors and breast cancer detection experiences of Black women. Findings from the study revealed that young Black women’s perceptions of breast cancer are primarily driven by personal experiences, as opposed to mass media influences. The Black women in this study had a lack of knowledge of risk and prevention factors and did not perceive themselves to be affected by breast cancer due to their young age. In spite of cultural taboos against discussing health issues with family and friends, the women in this study tended to take responsibility for their health and were proactive in seeking and acting on health information

Barriers and facilitators experienced in collaborative prospective research in orthopaedic oncology

Recerca col·laborativa; Grup focal; Oncologia ortopèdicaCollaborative research; Focus group; Orthopaedic oncologyInvestigación colaborativa; Grupo focal; Oncología ortopédicaObjectives As tumours of bone and soft tissue are rare, multicentre prospective collaboration is essential for meaningful research and evidence-based advances in patient care. The aim of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators encountered in large-scale collaborative research by orthopaedic oncological surgeons involved or interested in prospective multicentre collaboration. Methods All surgeons who were involved, or had expressed an interest, in the ongoing Prophylactic Antibiotic Regimens in Tumour Surgery (PARITY) trial were invited to participate in a focus group to discuss their experiences with collaborative research in this area. The discussion was digitally recorded, transcribed and anonymised. The transcript was analysed qualitatively, using an analytic approach which aims to organise the data in the language of the participants with little theoretical interpretation. Results The 13 surgeons who participated in the discussion represented orthopaedic oncology practices from seven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Denmark, United States and Canada). Four categories and associated themes emerged from the discussion: the need for collaboration in the field of orthopaedic oncology due to the rarity of the tumours and the need for high level evidence to guide treatment; motivational factors for participating in collaborative research including establishing proof of principle, learning opportunity, answering a relevant research question and being part of a collaborative research community; barriers to participation including funding, personal barriers, institutional barriers, trial barriers, and administrative barriers and facilitators for participation including institutional facilitators, leadership, authorship, trial set-up, and the support of centralised study coordination. Conclusions Orthopaedic surgeons involved in an ongoing international randomised controlled trial (RCT) were motivated by many factors to participate. There were a number of barriers to and facilitators for their participation. There was a collective sense of fatigue experienced in overcoming these barriers, which was mirrored by a strong collective sense of the importance of, and need for, collaborative research in this field. The experiences were described as essential educational first steps to advance collaborative studies in this area. Knowledge gained from this study will inform the development of future large-scale collaborative research projects in orthopaedic oncology

Role of Anomalous Water Constraints in the Efficacy of Pharmaceuticals Probed by 1H Solid‐State NMR

Water plays a complex and central role in determining the structural and reactive properties in numerous chemical systems. In crystalline materials with structural water, the primary focus is often to relate hydrogen bonding motifs to functional properties such as solubility, which is highly relevant in pharmaceutical applications. Nevertheless, understanding the full electrostatic landscape is necessary for a complete structure‐function picture. Herein, a combination of tools including 1H magic angle spinning NMR and X‐ray crystallography are employed to evaluate the local landscape of water in crystalline hydrates. Two hydrates of an anti‐leukemia drug mercaptopurine, which exhibit dramatically different dehydration temperatures (by 90 °C) and a three‐fold difference in the in vivo bioavailability, are compared. The results identify an electrosteric caging mechanism for a kinetically trapped water in the hemihydrate form, which is responsible for the dramatic differences in properties.1H chemical shift tensors are valuable in the structural and dynamical studies of a variety of materials, and are directly measurable with fast MAS spinning experiments. The use of these novel techniques to reveal the structural differences water can adopt in pharmaceutical hydrates is demonstrated.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138433/1/slct201701547_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138433/2/slct201701547-sup-0001-misc_information.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138433/3/slct201701547.pd