Development of the weldbond process for joining titanium

High quality resistance spot welds were produced by welding through epoxy adhesive on titanium alloys. Weldbond joints were consistently stronger than those of either mechanical fasteners, structural adhesive bonds, or mechanical fasteners with adhesive at the joint interface. Weldbond joints and/or spot weld joints showed superior strength at all temperature ranges as compared to other joints tested

Proficiency-Based Cervical Cancer Brachytherapy Training: An Effort to Combat Recent Trends in Radiation Oncology That Result in Worse Outcomes for an Underserved Population through Resident Education

Radiation therapy is the mainstay of treatment for women with cervical cancer with disease outside of the uterine cervix. To deliver the high doses needed for cure, brachytherapy (BT) is necessary to avoid toxicity to normal tissues (1). Technique is of utmost importance for outcomes of BT, but due to a lack of training during residency, the use of BT is declining nationwide (2, 3). The effectiveness of procedural simulation training, especially proficiency-based training, has been well established in other medical specialties, but there is no simulation training for cervical cancer brachytherapy used anywhere else in the country at this time (4-8). To combat this problem, we developed and implemented a structured proficiency-based BT simulation curriculum that will be able to be modified and replicated at training programs across the country and will be particularly practical for programs with less exposure to gynecologic brachytherapy. Residents who participated in the simulation training had measurable improvements in the time to perform the procedure, applicator placement quality and confidence, which translate to fewer complications and better tumor control for patients

If physics is an information science, what is an observer?

Interpretations of quantum theory have traditionally assumed a "Galilean" observer, a bare "point of view" implemented physically by a quantum system. This paper investigates the consequences of replacing such an informationally-impoverished observer with an observer that satisfies the requirements of classical automata theory, i.e. an observer that encodes sufficient prior information to identify the system being observed and recognize its acceptable states. It shows that with reasonable assumptions about the physical dynamics of information channels, the observations recorded by such an observer will display the typical characteristics predicted by quantum theory, without requiring any specific assumptions about the observer's physical implementation.Comment: 30 pages, comments welcome; v2 significant revisions - results unchange

Trajectory recognition as the basis for object individuation: A functional model of object file instantiation and object token encoding

The perception of persisting visual objects is mediated by transient intermediate representations, object files, that are instantiated in response to some, but not all, visual trajectories. The standard object file concept does not, however, provide a mechanism sufficient to account for all experimental data on visual object persistence, object tracking, and the ability to perceive spatially-disconnected stimuli as coherent objects. Based on relevant anatomical, functional, and developmental data, a functional model is developed that bases object individuation on the specific recognition of visual trajectories. This model is shown to account for a wide range of data, and to generate a variety of testable predictions. Individual variations of the model parameters are expected to generate distinct trajectory and object recognition abilities. Over-encoding of trajectory information in stored object tokens in early infancy, in particular, is expected to disrupt the ability to re-identify individuals across perceptual episodes, and lead to developmental outcomes with characteristics of autism spectrum disorders

From “Oh, OK” to “Ah, yes” to “Aha!”: Hyper-systemizing and the rewards of insight\ud

Hyper-systemizers are individuals displaying an unusually strong bias toward systemizing, i.e. toward explaining events and solving problems by appeal to mechanisms that do not involve intentions or agency. Hyper-systemizing in combination with deficit mentalizing ability typically presents clinically as an autistic spectrum disorder; however, the development of hyper-systemizing in combination with normal-range mentalizing ability is not well characterized. Based on a review and synthesis of clinical, observational, experimental, and neurofunctional studies, it is hypothesized that repeated episodes of insightful problem solving by systemizing result in attentional and motivational sensitization toward further systemizing via progressive and chronic deactivation of the default network. This hypothesis is distinguished from alternatives, and its correlational and causal implications are discussed. Predictions of the default-deactivation model accessible to survey-based instruments, standard cognitive measures and neurofunctional methods are outlined, and evidence pertaining to them considered