The Sigma 13 (10-14) twin in alpha-Al2O3: A model for a general grain boundary

The atomistic structure and energetics of the Sigma 13 (10-14)[1-210] symmetrical tilt grain boundary in alpha-Al2O3 are studied by first-principles calculations based on the local-density-functional theory with a mixed-basis pseudopotential method. Three configurations, stable with respect to intergranular cleavage, are identified: one Al-terminated glide-mirror twin boundary, and two O-terminated twin boundaries, with glide-mirror and two-fold screw-rotation symmetries, respectively. Their relative energetics as a function of axial grain separation are described, and the local electronic structure and bonding are analysed. The Al-terminated variant is predicted to be the most stable one, confirming previous empirical calculations, but in contrast with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations on high-purity diffusion-bonded bicrystals, which resulted in an O-terminated structure. An explanation of this discrepancy is proposed, based on the different relative energetics of the internal interfaces with respect to the free surfaces

Preoperative quality of life and surgical outcomes in gynecologic oncology patients: A new predictor of operative risk?

Quality of life (QoL) for women with gynecologic malignancies is predictive of chemotherapy related toxicity and overall survival but has not been studied in relation to surgical outcomes and hospital readmissions. Our goal was to evaluate the association between baseline, pre-operative QoL measures and 30-day post-operative morbidity and health resource utilization by gynecologic oncology patients

The Leptonic Higgs as a Messenger of Dark Matter

We propose that the leptonic cosmic ray signals seen by PAMELA and ATIC result from the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles via states of a leptonic Higgs doublet to $\tau$ leptons, linking cosmic ray signals of dark matter to LHC signals of the Higgs sector. The states of the leptonic Higgs doublet are lighter than about 200 GeV, yielding large $\bar{\tau} \tau$ and $\bar{\tau} \tau \bar{\tau} \tau$ event rates at the LHC. Simple models are given for the dark matter particle and its interactions with the leptonic Higgs, for cosmic ray signals arising from both annihilations and decays in the galactic halo. For the case of annihilations, cosmic photon and neutrino signals are on the verge of discovery.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures, minor typos corrected, references adde

Obesity is associated with worse quality of life in women with gynecologic malignancies: An opportunity to improve patient-centered outcomes

BACKGROUND: The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effect of obesity on pretreatment quality of life (QoL) in gynecologic oncology patients. METHODS: The authors analyzed collected data from an institution-wide cohort study of women with gynecologic cancers enrolled from August 2012 to June 2013. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General, site-specific symptom scales, and the National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) global mental and physical health tools were administered. Survey results were linked to clinical data abstracted from medical records (demographics and comorbid conditions). Bivariate tests and multivariate linear regression models were used to evaluate factors associated with QoL scores. RESULTS: A total of 182 women with ovarian, uterine, cervical, and vulvar/vaginal cancers were identified; of these, 152 (84%) were assessed before surgery. Mean body mass index was 33.5 kg/m2 and race included white (120 patients [79%]), black (22 patients [15%]), and other (10 patients [6.5%]). A total of 98 patients (64.5%) were obese (body mass index ≥30). On multivariate analysis, subscales for functional (17 vs 19; P=.04), emotional (16 vs 19; P=.008), and social (22 vs 24; P=.02) well-being as well as overall Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General scores (77 vs 86; P5.002) and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System global physical health scores (45 vs 49; P=.003) were found to be significantly lower in obese versus nonobese patients. CONCLUSIONS: Before cancer treatment, obese patients with gynecologic malignancies appear to have worse baseline QoL than their normal-weight counterparts. Emerging models of QoL-based cancer outcome measures may disproportionately affect populations with a high obesity burden. The potential disparate impact of cancer therapy on longitudinal QoL in the obese versus nonobese patients needs to be evaluated

Climatic yield potential of Japonica???type rice in the Korean Peninsula under RCP scenarios using the ensemble of multi???GCM and multi???RCM chains

Rice production in the Korean Peninsula (KP) in the near future (2021-2050) is analysed in terms of the climatic yield potential (CYP) index for Japonica-type rice. Data obtained from the dynamically downscaled daily temperature and sunshine duration for the Historical period (1981-2010) and near future under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios are utilized. To reduce uncertainties that might be induced by using a Coupled General Circulation Model (CGCM)-a Regional Climate Model (RCM) chain in dynamical downscaling, two CGCM-three RCM chains are used to estimate the CYP index. The results show that the mean rice production decreases, mainly due to the increase of the temperature during the grain-filling period (40 days after the heading date). According to multi model ensemble, the optimum heading date in the near future will be approximately 12 days later and the maximum CYP will be even higher than in the Historical. This implies that the rice production is projected to decrease if the heading date is selected based on the optimum heading date of Historical, but to increase if based on that of near future. The mean rice production during the period of ripening is projected to decrease (to about 95% (RCP4.5) and 93% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the western and southern regions of the KP, but to increase (to about 104% (RCP4.5) and 106% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the northeastern coastal regions of the KP. However, if the optimum heading date is selected in the near future climate, the peak rice production is projected to increase (to about 105% (RCP4.5) and 104% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the western, southern and northeastern coastal regions of the KP, but to decrease (to about 98% (RCP4.5) and 96% (RCP8.5) of the Historical) in the southeastern coastal regions of the KP

Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run

Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo's third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, we look in O3 data for long-duration (hours-months) transient gravitational waves in the aftermath of pulsar glitches for six targets with a total of nine glitches. We report two marginal outliers from this search, but find no clear evidence for such emission either. The resulting duration-dependent strain upper limits do not surpass indirect energy constraints for any of these targets

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Stand in the place where you work: Digital implications of the use of the physical elements of a library during browsing

Information seeking is cognitively intense work, and browsing is particularly so. In complex environments, users will often support their work by using their bodies or artefacts around them to support the task at hand. When we move processes that have traditionally been performed in physical environments online, we need to consider any elements of cognition distribution, and how they might be supported in the new system. In this paper we discuss one form of external cognition during browsing: that of placemarking or context retention. We use data from an observational study to form detailed descriptions of five behaviours that constitute placemarking in some way and point to avenues for understanding how we might support these behaviours in a digital environment

Computing maximum-scoring segments in almost linear time

Given a sequence, the problem studied in this paper is to find a set of k disjoint continuous subsequences such that the total sum of all elements in the set is maximized. This problem arises naturally in the analysis of DNA sequences. The previous best known algorithm requires Θ(n log n) time in the worst case. For a given sequence of length n, we present an almost linear-time algorithm for this problem. Our algorithm uses a disjoint-set data structure and requires O(nα(n, n)) time in the worst case, where α(n, n) is the inverse Ackermann function