Basics of a generalized Wiman-Valiron theory for monogenic Taylor series of finite convergence radius

In this paper, we develop the basic concepts for a generalized Wiman-Valiron theory for Clifford algebra valued functions that satisfy inside an n + 1-dimensional ball the higher dimensional Cauchy-Riemann system . These functions are called monogenic or Clifford holomorphic inside the ball. We introduce growth orders, the maximum term and a generalization of the central index for monogenic Taylor series of finite convergence radius. Our goal is to establish explicit relations between these entities in order to estimate the asymptotic growth behavior of a monogenic function in a ball in terms of its Taylor coefficients. Furthermore, we exhibit a relation between the growth order of such a function f and the growth order of its partial derivatives

Dirac type operators for spin manifolds associated to congruence subgroups of generalized modular groups

Fundamental solutions of Dirac type operators are introduced for a class of conformally. at spin manifolds. This class consists of manifolds obtained by factoring out the upper half-space of R-n by congruence subgroups of generalized modular groups. Basic properties of these fundamental solutions are presented together with associated Eisenstein and Poincare type series

Dynamic splinting for knee flexion contracture following total knee arthroplasty: a case report

Total Knee Arthroplasty operations are increasing in frequency, and knee flexion contracture is a common pathology, both pre-existing and post-operative. A 61-year-old male presented with knee flexion contracture following a total knee arthroplasty. Physical therapy alone did not fully reduce the contracture and dynamic splinting was then prescribed for daily low-load, prolonged-duration stretch. After 28 physical therapy sessions, the active range of motion improved from -20° to -12° (stiff knee still lacking full extension), and after eight additional weeks with nightly wear of dynamic splint, the patient regained full knee extension, (active extension improved from -12° to 0°)

A Prospective Longitudinal Study of the Clinical Outcomes from Cryptococcal Meningitis following Treatment Induction with 800 mg Oral Fluconazole in Blantyre, Malawi

Introduction: Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common neurological infection in HIV infected patients in Sub Saharan Africa, where gold standard treatment with intravenous amphotericin B and 5 flucytosine is often unavailable or difficult to administer. Fluconazole monotherapy is frequently recommended in national guidelines but is a fungistatic drug compromised by uncertainty over optimal dosing and a paucity of clinical end-point outcome data. Methods: From July 2010 until March 2011, HIV infected adults with a first episode of cryptococcal meningitis were recruited at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi. Patients were treated with oral fluconazole monotherapy 800 mg daily, as per national guidelines. ART was started at 4 weeks. Outcomes and factors associated with treatment failure were assessed 4, 10 and 52 weeks after fluconazole initiation. Results: Sixty patients were recruited. 26/60 (43%) died by 4 weeks. 35/60 (58.0%) and 43/56 (77%) died or failed treatment by 10 or 52 weeks respectively. Reduced consciousness (Glasgow Coma Score ,14 of 15), moderate/severe neurological disability (modified Rankin Score .3 of 5) and confusion (Abbreviated Mental Test Score ,8 of 10) were all common at baseline and associated with death or treatment failure. ART prior to recruitment was not associated with better outcomes. Conclusions: Mortality and treatment failure from cryptococcal meningitis following initiation of treatment with 800 mg oral fluconazole is unacceptably high. To improve outcomes, there is an urgent need for better therapeutic strategies and point-of-care diagnostics, allowing earlier diagnosis before development of neurological deficit

Between-group behaviour in health care: gaps, edges, boundaries, disconnections, weak ties, spaces and holes. A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gaps are typically regarded as a problem to be solved. People are stimulated to close or plug them. Researchers are moved to fill deficits in the literature in order to realise a more complete knowledge base, health authorities want to bridge policy-practice disconnections, managers to secure resources to remedy shortfalls between poor and idealised care, and clinicians to provide services to patients across the divides of organisational silos.</p> <p>Despite practical and policy work in many health systems to bridge gaps, it is valuable to study research examining them for the insights provided. Structural holes, spaces between social clusters and weak or absent ties represent fissures in networks, located in less densely populated parts of otherwise closely connected social structures. Such gaps are useful as they illustrate how communication potentially breaks down or interactivity fails. This paper discusses empirical and theoretical work on this phenomenon with the aim of analysing a specific exemplar, the structures of silos within health care organisations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The research literature on social spaces, holes, gaps, boundaries and edges was searched systematically, and separated into health [n = 13] and non-health [n = 55] samples. The health literature was reviewed and synthesised in order to understand the circumstances between stakeholders and stakeholder groups that both provide threats to networked interactions and opportunities to strengthen the fabric of organisational and institutional inter-relationships.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The research examples illuminate various network structure characteristics and group interactions. They explicate a range of opportunities for improved social and professional relations that understanding structural holes, social spaces and absent ties affords. A principal finding is that these kinds of gaps illustrate the conditions under which connections are strained or have been severed, where the limits of integration between groups occurs, the circumstances in which social spaces are or need to be negotiated and the way divides are bridged. The study's limitations are that it is bounded by the focus of attention and the search terms used and there is yet to be developed a probabilistic, predictive model for gaps and how to connect them.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Gaps offer insights into social structures, and how real world behaviours of participants in workplaces, organisations and institutions are fragile. The paper highlights the circumstances in which network disjunctures and group divides manifest. Knowledge of these phenomenon provides opportunities for working out ways to improve health sector organisational communications, knowledge transmission and relationships.</p

In Vitro Assembly of Multiple DNA Fragments Using Successive Hybridization

Construction of recombinant DNA from multiple fragments is widely required in molecular biology, especially for synthetic biology purposes. Here we describe a new method, successive hybridization assembling (SHA) which can rapidly do this in a single reaction in vitro. In SHA, DNA fragments are prepared to overlap one after another, so after simple denaturation-renaturation treatment they hybridize in a successive manner and thereby assemble into a recombinant molecule. In contrast to traditional methods, SHA eliminates the need for restriction enzymes, DNA ligases and recombinases, and is sequence-independent. We first demonstrated its feasibility by constructing plasmids from 4, 6 and 8 fragments with high efficiencies, and then applied it to constructing a customized vector and two artificial pathways. As SHA is robust, easy to use and can tolerate repeat sequences, we expect it to be a powerful tool in synthetic biology

Branch Mode Selection during Early Lung Development

Many organs of higher organisms, such as the vascular system, lung, kidney, pancreas, liver and glands, are heavily branched structures. The branching process during lung development has been studied in great detail and is remarkably stereotyped. The branched tree is generated by the sequential, non-random use of three geometrically simple modes of branching (domain branching, planar and orthogonal bifurcation). While many regulatory components and local interactions have been defined an integrated understanding of the regulatory network that controls the branching process is lacking. We have developed a deterministic, spatio-temporal differential-equation based model of the core signaling network that governs lung branching morphogenesis. The model focuses on the two key signaling factors that have been identified in experiments, fibroblast growth factor (FGF10) and sonic hedgehog (SHH) as well as the SHH receptor patched (Ptc). We show that the reported biochemical interactions give rise to a Schnakenberg-type Turing patterning mechanisms that allows us to reproduce experimental observations in wildtype and mutant mice. The kinetic parameters as well as the domain shape are based on experimental data where available. The developed model is robust to small absolute and large relative changes in the parameter values. At the same time there is a strong regulatory potential in that the switching between branching modes can be achieved by targeted changes in the parameter values. We note that the sequence of different branching events may also be the result of different growth speeds: fast growth triggers lateral branching while slow growth favours bifurcations in our model. We conclude that the FGF10-SHH-Ptc1 module is sufficient to generate pattern that correspond to the observed branching modesComment: Initially published at PLoS Comput Bio

Where Snow is a Landmark: Route Direction Elements in Alpine Contexts

Route directions research has mostly focused on urban space so far, highlighting human concepts of street networks based on a range of recurring elements such as route segments, decision points, landmarks and actions. We explored the way route directions reflect the features of space and activity in the context of mountaineering. Alpine route directions are only rarely segmented through decision points related to reorientation; instead, segmentation is based on changing topography. Segments are described with various degrees of detail, depending on difficulty. For landmark description, direction givers refer to properties such as type of surface, dimension, colour of landscape features; terrain properties (such as snow) can also serve as landmarks. Action descriptions reflect the geometrical conceptualization of landscape features and dimensionality of space. Further, they are very rich in the semantics of manner of motion

Measurement of Lifetime and Decay-Width Difference in B0s -> J/psi phi Decays

We measure the mean lifetime, tau=2/(Gamma_L+Gamma_H), and the width difference, DeltaGamma=Gamma_L-Gamma_H, of the light and heavy mass eigenstates of the B0s meson, B0sL and B0sH, in B0s -> J/psi phi decays using 1.7 fb^-1 of data collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron ppbar collider. Assuming CP conservation, a good approximation for the B0s system in the Standard Model, we obtain DeltaGamma = 0.076^+0.059_-0.063 (stat.) +- 0.006 (syst.) ps^-1 and tau = 1.52 +- 0.04 (stat.) +- 0.02 (syst.) ps, the most precise measurements to date. Our constraints on the weak phase and DeltaGamma are consistent with CP conservation. Dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and colleague, Michael P. Schmid

Measurement of the Top-Quark Mass in All-Hadronic Decays in p pbar Collisions at CDF II

We present a measurement of the top-quark mass, $M_{\mathrm{top}}$, in the all-hadronic decay channel $t\bar{t} \to W^+b W^- \bar{b} \to q_1\bar{q}_2 b q_3 \bar{q}_4 \bar{b}$. The analysis is performed using 310 pb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV $p\bar{p}$ collisions collected with the CDF II detector using a multi-jet trigger. The mass measurement is based on an event-by-event likelihood which depends on both the sample purity and the value of the top-quark mass, using 90 possible jet-to-parton assignments in the six-jet final state. The joint likelihood of 290 selected events yields a value of $M_{\mathrm{top}}$=177.1 $\pm$ 4.9 (stat.) $\pm$ 4.7 (syst.) GeV/$c^2$.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures and 1 table, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let