Exploring the Impact of the Habitat for Humanity Home-Building Process on Partner Families\u27 Holistic Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how participating in the Habitat for Humanity house-building process influenced participants’ purpose well-being, social well-being, community well-being, physical and mental well-being, and financial well-being, and how effective Habitat for Humanity is in aiding neighborhood revitalization within the Greater Lafayette area. The research project resulted in a presentation of quantitative data and a testimonial video that highlighted the stories of families that had worked with Habitat for Humanity. Quantitative data was gathered through a survey that addressed respondents’ levels of satisfaction within the various categories of well-being mentioned above. Testimonial information was gathered from interviews with respondents to gain a more personal insight into their stories. The majority of respondents indicated their satisfaction with the overall Habitat for Humanity process and noticeable positive impacts on all aspects of their well-being. Responses were more varied to questions regarding a sense of community within their neighborhoods and a sense of safety. Respondents also indicated occasional dissatisfaction with the inadequate level of homeowner-related education provided through the Habitat for Humanity house-building process. Habitat for Humanity might consider focusing more attention on neighborhood revitalization initiatives including a focus on a general sense of community, overall safety, and periodic check-ins with those who have previously participated in the house-building project

Survival Improvements in Adolescents and Young Adults after Myeloablative Allogeneic Transplantation for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

AbstractAdolescents and young adults (AYAs, ages 15 to 40 years) with cancer have not experienced survival improvements to the same extent as younger and older patients. We compared changes in survival after myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) among children (n = 981), AYAs (n = 1218), and older adults (n = 469) who underwent transplantation over 3 time periods: 1990 to 1995, 1996 to 2001, and 2002 to 2007. Five-year survival varied inversely with age group. Survival improved over time in AYAs and paralleled that seen in children; however, overall survival did not change over time for older adults. Survival improvements were primarily related to lower rates of early treatment-related mortality in the most recent era. For all cohorts, relapse rates did not change over time. A subset of 222 AYAs between the ages of 15 and 25 at 46 pediatric or 49 adult centers were also analyzed to describe differences by center type. In this subgroup, there were differences in transplantation practices among pediatric and adult centers, although HCT outcomes did not differ by center type. Survival for AYAs undergoing myeloablative allogeneic HCT for ALL improved at a similar rate as survival for children

Quantum error mitigation in quantum annealing

Quantum Error Mitigation (QEM) presents a promising near-term approach to reduce error when estimating expectation values in quantum computing. Here, we introduce QEM techniques tailored for quantum annealing, using Zero-Noise Extrapolation (ZNE). We implement ZNE through zero-temperature extrapolation as well as energy-time rescaling. We conduct experimental investigations into the quantum critical dynamics of a transverse-field Ising spin chain, demonstrating the successful mitigation of thermal noise through both of these techniques. Moreover, we show that energy-time rescaling effectively mitigates control errors in the coherent regime where the effect of thermal noise is minimal. Our ZNE results agree with exact calculations of the coherent evolution over a range of annealing times that exceeds the coherent annealing range by almost an order of magnitude.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Common, Intermediate and Well-Documented HLA Alleles in World Populations: CIWD Version 3.0.0

A catalog of common, intermediate and well-documented (CIWD) HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DRB3, -DRB4, -DRB5, -DQB1 and -DPB1 alleles has been compiled from over 8 million individuals using data from 20 unrelated hematopoietic stem cell volunteer donor registries. Individuals are divided into seven geographic/ancestral/ethnic groups and data are summarized for each group and for the total population. P (two-field) and G group assignments are divided into one of four frequency categories: common (≥1 in 10 000), intermediate (≥1 in 100 000), well-documented (≥5 occurrences) or not-CIWD. Overall 26% of alleles in IPD-IMGT/HLA version 3.31.0 at P group resolution fall into the three CIWD categories. The two-field catalog includes 18% (n = 545) common, 17% (n = 513) intermediate, and 65% (n = 1997) well-documented alleles. Full-field allele frequency data are provided but are limited in value by the variations in resolution used by the registries. A recommended CIWD list is based on the most frequent category in the total or any of the seven geographic/ancestral/ethnic groups. Data are also provided so users can compile a catalog specific to the population groups that they serve. Comparisons are made to three previous CWD reports representing more limited population groups. This catalog, CIWD version 3.0.0, is a step closer to the collection of global HLA frequencies and to a clearer view of HLA diversity in the human population as a whole