The Treatment and Outcome of Patients With Soft Tissue Sarcomas and Synchronous Metastases

Introduction: There is a strong association between poor overall survival and a short disease-free interval for patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and metastatic disease. Patients with STS and synchronous metastases should have a very dismal prognosis.The role of surgery in this subgroup of patients with STS has not been defined

Special Project: Public Housing

Despite the general prosperity of this country, a cursory survey of any American town or city will reveal that many Americans live in housing which is substandard. Frequently one sees unpainted houses characterized by broken windows and inadequate sanitary facilities. In urban areas, the ever present tenement is often filled with too many people and not enough toilets; stairs are dangerous and refuse lies uncollected in the halls. Rooms without windows are common, while those blessed with windows frequently receive little light--the only view is another window of another building. Disease and discomfort are everywhere.These conditions, however, are neither new nor unnoticed.Throughout American history, individuals as well as various levels of government have attempted to remedy, or at least alleviate, the housing problem. This study will explore one such effort--the federally-financed, locally-administered public housing program created by the Housing Act of 1937. Consequently, throughout this study, the term public housing, describing any period after 1937,refers only to the product of this Act, unless otherwise indicated. This study does not concern federally-funded housing programs such as Federal Housing Authority mortgage guarantees, rehabilitation of existing dwellings, and self-help programs

Evidence for a very slow X-ray pulsar in 2S0114+650 from RXTE All-Sky Monitor Observations

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) All-Sky Monitor (ASM) observations of the X-ray binary 2S0114+650 show modulations at periods close to both the optically derived orbital period (11.591 days) and proposed pulse period (~ 2.7 hr). The pulse period shows frequency and intensity variability during the more than 2 years of ASM observations analyzed. The pulse properties are consistent with this arising from accretion onto a rotating neutron star and this would be the slowest such period known. The shape of the orbital light curve shows modulation over the course of the entire orbit and a comparison is made with the orbital light curve of Vela X-1. However, the expected phase of eclipse, based on an extrapolation of the optical ephemeris, does not correspond with the observed orbital minimum. The orbital period derived from the ASM light curve is also slightly longer than the optical period.Comment: To be published in the Astrophysical Journal, 1999, volume 511. 9 figure

Solutions of the sDiff(2)Toda equation with SU(2) Symmetry

We present the general solution to the Plebanski equation for an H-space that admits Killing vectors for an entire SU(2) of symmetries, which is therefore also the general solution of the sDiff(2)Toda equation that allows these symmetries. Desiring these solutions as a bridge toward the future for yet more general solutions of the sDiff(2)Toda equation, we generalize the earlier work of Olivier, on the Atiyah-Hitchin metric, and re-formulate work of Babich and Korotkin, and Tod, on the Bianchi IX approach to a metric with an SU(2) of symmetries. We also give careful delineations of the conformal transformations required to ensure that a metric of Bianchi IX type has zero Ricci tensor, so that it is a self-dual, vacuum solution of the complex-valued version of Einstein's equations, as appropriate for the original Plebanski equation.Comment: 27 page

Evidence for an X-ray Emitting Galactic Bulge: Shadows Cast by Distant Molecular Gas

A mosaic of 7 ROSAT PSPC pointed observations in the direction of (l,b ~ 10,0 deg) reveals deep X-ray shadows in the 0.5-2.0 keV band cast by dense molecular gas. The comparison between the observed on-cloud and off-cloud X-ray fluxes indicates that ~43% of the diffuse X-ray background in this direction in both the 3/4 keV and 1.5 keV bands originates behind the molecular gas, which is located at 2-4 kpc from the Sun. Given the short mean free path of X-rays in the 3/4 keV band in the Galactic plane (~1 kpc assuming an average space density of 1 cm^-3), this large percentage of the observed flux which originates beyond the molecular gas most likely indicates a strong enhancement in the distribution of X-ray emitting gas in the Galactic center region, possibly associated with a Galactic X-ray bulge.Comment: 16 pages LaTex, 2 figures. Accepted for the publication in Astrophysical Journal, Letter

Joint searches between gravitational-wave interferometers and high-energy neutrino telescopes: science reach and analysis strategies

Many of the astrophysical sources and violent phenomena observed in our Universe are potential emitters of gravitational waves (GWs) and high-energy neutrinos (HENs). A network of GW detectors such as LIGO and Virgo can determine the direction/time of GW bursts while the IceCube and ANTARES neutrino telescopes can also provide accurate directional information for HEN events. Requiring the consistency between both, totally independent, detection channels shall enable new searches for cosmic events arriving from potential common sources, of which many extra-galactic objects.Comment: 4 pages. To appear in the Proceedings of the 2d Heidelberg Workshop: "High-Energy Gamma-rays and Neutrinos from Extra-Galactic Sources", Heidelberg (Germany), January 13-16, 200

DSN Beowulf Cluster-Based VLBI Correlator

The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) requires a broadband VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) correlator to process data routinely taken as part of the VLBI source Catalogue Maintenance and Enhancement task (CAT M&E) and the Time and Earth Motion Precision Observations task (TEMPO). The data provided by these measurements are a crucial ingredient in the formation of precision deep-space navigation models. In addition, a VLBI correlator is needed to provide support for other VLBI related activities for both internal and external customers. The JPL VLBI Correlator (JVC) was designed, developed, and delivered to the DSN as a successor to the legacy Block II Correlator. The JVC is a full-capability VLBI correlator that uses software processes running on multiple computers to cross-correlate two-antenna broadband noise data. Components of this new system (see Figure 1) consist of Linux PCs integrated into a Beowulf Cluster, an existing Mark5 data storage system, a RAID array, an existing software correlator package (SoftC) originally developed for Delta DOR Navigation processing, and various custom- developed software processes and scripts. Parallel processing on the JVC is achieved by assigning slave nodes of the Beowulf cluster to process separate scans in parallel until all scans have been processed. Due to the single stream sequential playback of the Mark5 data, some ramp-up time is required before all nodes can have access to required scan data. Core functions of each processing step are accomplished using optimized C programs. The coordination and execution of these programs across the cluster is accomplished using Pearl scripts, PostgreSQL commands, and a handful of miscellaneous system utilities. Mark5 data modules are loaded on Mark5 Data systems playback units, one per station. Data processing is started when the operator scans the Mark5 systems and runs a script that reads various configuration files and then creates an experiment-dependent status database used to delegate parallel tasks between nodes and storage areas (see Figure 2). This script forks into three processes: extract, translate, and correlate. Each of these processes iterates on available scan data and updates the status database as the work for each scan is completed. The extract process coordinates and monitors the transfer of data from each of the Mark5s to the Beowulf RAID storage systems. The translate process monitors and executes the data conversion processes on available scan files, and writes the translated files to the slave nodes. The correlate process monitors the execution of SoftC correlation processes on the slave nodes for scans that have completed translation. A comparison of the JVC and the legacy Block II correlator outputs reveals they are well within a formal error, and that the data are comparable with respect to their use in flight navigation. The processing speed of the JVC is improved over the Block II correlator by a factor of 4, largely due to the elimination of the reel-to-reel tape drives used in the Block II correlator

Art therapy, arts-based research and transitional stories of domestic violence and abuse

Visual imagery within qualitative research is an established method of gathering data that has parallels to the way in which images are used within art therapy. This paper explores how visual imagery was used to investigate women’s responses to domestic violence and abuse and examines how art therapy principles shaped the development and conducting of that research. Through the use of collage, participants created visual representations of their responses to experiences of domestic violence and abuse. The visual representations were, when combined with spoken words, created stories that reference the past, present and future. The stories created have been termed transitional stories of domestic violence. These stories show that the home has special significance for women as they transition away from domestic violence and plan for their future. The home becomes both a metaphorical and physical manifestation and container of hopes for a harmonious future that often incorporates the desire for the return to the idea of a complete family. This paper will present the findings of the arts-based research conducted, and consider the implications upon art therapy practice of those findings.N

Overturning established chemoselectivities : selective reduction of arenes over malonates and cyanoacetates by photoactivated organic electron donors

The prevalence of metal-based reducing reagents, including metals, metal complexes, and metal salts, has produced an empirical order of reactivity that governs our approach to chemical synthesis. However, this reactivity may be influenced by stabilization of transition states, intermediates, and products through substrate-metal bonding. This article reports that in the absence of such stabilizing interactions, established chemoselectivities can be overthrown. Thus, photoactivation of the recently developed neutral organic superelectron donor 5 selectively reduces alkyl-substituted benzene rings in the presence of activated esters and nitriles, in direct contrast to metal-based reductions, opening a new perspective on reactivity. The altered outcomes arising from the organic electron donors are attributed to selective interactions between the neutral organic donors and the arene rings of the substrates