Beyond Patienthood: Integrative medicine, healing environments and the journey toward new selfhood.

The purpose of this study is to learn about the relationship between participation in an integrative medicine program and the impact upon the social identities of seven individuals with cancer. Data were collected via semi-structured, face-to-face interviews and observations in the clinic space, and analyzed using a constant comparison method. All of the participants reported a change in their social identities as they transitioned between illness and wellness. The sub-themes that emerged included: the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as a means of fighting cancer after chemotherapy ended, maintaining health becoming a main occupation, and the “cancer filter” through which all other experiences are viewed, shaping the post-treatment phase of life. Overall, findings suggest that seeking CAM played a role in the participants’ transitions from selves defined by patient status, to new selves, with new perspectives

Numerical Calculation of Coherent Synchrotron Radiation Effects Using TraFiC4

Coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) occurs when short bunches travel on strongly bent trajectories. Its effects on high-quality beams can be severe and are well understood qualitatively. For quantitative results, however, one has to rely on numerical methods. There exist several simulation codes utilizing different approaches. We describe in some detail the code TraFiC4 developed at DESY for design and analysis purposes, which approaches the problem from first principles and solves the equations of motion either perturbatively or self-consistently. We present some calculational results and comparison with experimental data. Also, we give examples of how the code can be used to design beamlines with minimal emittance growth due to CSR

The Unsuspecting CAM User: Cancer patients and the changing nature of holistic health

The number of cancer patients using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States is growing, yet little is known about the meaning these activities have for users. Current literature supports the assumption that stigma surrounding CAM and holistic health practices are responsible for the reluctance of many cancer patients to self-identify as CAM users. This study explored the frequency of use, and familiarity with CAM among 25 female patients at a Midwestern oncology clinic. Findings suggest that patients need to be asked about CAM use multiple times and in multiple formats to gain an accurate assessment. Also, the assumptions about stigma may no longer be the reason patients are less than forthcoming about CAM use. The rise of integrative medicine and shifting boundaries of the holistic health movement may be equally, or in some cases, more responsible for the reluctance for CAM users to self-identify

A novel acetyl xylan esterase enabling complete deacetylation of substituted xylans

Background: Acetylated 4-O-(methyl) glucuronoxylan (GX) is the main hemicellulose in deciduous hardwood, and comprises a beta-(1 -> 4)-linked xylopyranosyl (Xylp) backbone substituted by both acetyl groups and alpha-(1 -> 2)-linked 4-O-methylglucopyranosyluronic acid (MeGlcpA). Whereas enzymes that target singly acetylated Xylp or doubly 2,3-O-acetyl-Xylp have been well characterized, those targeting (2-O-MeGlcpA) 3-O-acetyl-Xylp structures in glucuronoxylan have remained elusive. Results: An unclassified carbohydrate esterase (FjoAcXE) was identified as a protein of unknown function from a polysaccharide utilization locus (PUL) otherwise comprising carbohydrate-active enzyme families known to target xylan. FjoAcXE was shown to efficiently release acetyl groups from internal (2-O-MeGlcpA) 3-O-acetyl-Xylp structures, an activity that has been sought after but lacking in known carbohydrate esterases. FjoAcXE action boosted the activity of alpha-glucuronidases from families GH67 and GH115 by five and nine times, respectively. Moreover, FjoAcXE activity was not only restricted to GX, but also deacetylated (3-O-Araf)2-O-acetyl-Xylp of feruloylated xylooligomers, confirming the broad substrate range of this new carbohydrate esterase. Conclusion: This study reports the discovery and characterization of the novel carbohydrate esterase, FjoAcXE. In addition to cleaving singly acetylated Xylp, and doubly 2,3-O-acetyl-Xylp, FjoAcXE efficiently cleaves internal 3-O-acetyl-Xylp linkages in (2-O-MeGlcpA)3-O-acetyl-Xylp residues along with densely substituted and branched xylooligomers; activities that until now were missing from the arsenal of enzymes required for xylan conversion.Peer reviewe

A model for the creation of human-generated metadata within communities

This paper considers situations for which detailed metadata descriptions of learning resources are necessary, and focuses on human generation of such metadata. It describes a model which facilitates human production of good quality metadata by the development and use of structured vocabularies. Using examples, this model is applied to single and multiple communities of metadata creators. The approach for transferring vocabularies across communities is related to similar work on the use of ontologies to support the development of the semantic web. Notable conclusions from this work are the need to encourage collaboration between the metadata specialists, content authors and system designers, and the scope for using accurate and consistent metadata created for one context in another context by producing descriptions of the relationships between those contexts

A Parallel Code for Lifetime Simulations in Hadron Storage Rings in the Presence of Parasitic Beam-Beam Interactions

The usual approach to predict particle loss in storage rings in the presence of nonlinearities consists in the determination of the dynamic aperture of the machine. This method, however, will not directly predict the lifetimes of beams. We have developed a code which can, by parallelization and careful speed optimization, predict lifetimes in the presence of 100 parasitic beam-beam crossings by tracking > 10{sup 10} particles-turns. An application of this code to the anti-proton lifetime in the Tevatron at injection is discussed

Landau's quasi-particle mapping: Fermi liquid approach and Luttinger liquid behavior

A continuous unitary transformation is introduced which realizes Landau's mapping of the elementary excitations (quasi-particles) of an interacting Fermi liquid system to those of the system without interaction. The conservation of the number of quasi-particles is important. The transformation is performed numerically for a one-dimensional system, i.e. the worst case for a Fermi liquid approach. Yet evidence for Luttinger liquid behavior is found. Such an approach may open a route to a unified description of Fermi and Luttinger liquids on all energy scales.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures included, final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., references updated, slight re-focus on the treatment of all energy scale

First Observation of Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission in a Free-Electron Laser at 109 nm Wavelength

We present the first observation of Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) in a free-electron laser (FEL) in the Vacuum Ultraviolet regime at 109 nm wavelength (11 eV). The observed free-electron laser gain (approx. 3000) and the radiation characteristics, such as dependency on bunch charge, angular distribution, spectral width and intensity fluctuations all corroborate the existing models for SASE FELs.Comment: 6 pages including 6 figures; e-mail: [email protected]

SciDAC advances in beam dynamics simulation: from light sources to colliders

In this paper, we report on progress that has been made in beam dynamics simulation, from light sources to colliders, during the first year of SciDAC-II accelerator project,"Community Petascale Project for Accelerator Science and Simulation (ComPASS)." Several parallel computational tools for beam dynamics simulation will be described. A number of applications in current and future accelerator facilities, e.g., LCLS, RHIC, Tevatron, LHC, ELIC, are presented