Laguerre–Gauss and Hermite–Gauss soft X-ray states generated using diffractive optics

Light’s capacity to carry angular momentum is integral to our knowledge of physics and ability to probe matter. In addition to spin, photons can occupy free-space orbital angular momentum eigenstates 1,2 . Visible light orbital angular momentum is used in quantum information experiments, super-resolution microscopy, optical tweezers and angular momentum transfer to atoms in optical lattices 3,4 . Soft X-ray orbital angular momentum applications, slowed by the lack of suitable optics and the rarity of coherent X-ray sources, could enable the direct alteration of atomic states through orbital angular momentum exchange, and methods to study the electronic properties of quantum materials. We have made soft X-ray diffractive optics that generate single Laguerre–Gauss modes, observed carrying up to 30ħ angular momentum per photon, or their superpositions. We also present Hermite–Gauss diffractive optics and a soft X-ray orbital angular momentum analyser. These tools could enable both the manipulation and finer characterization of topologically complex electronic matter, such as magnetic skyrmions

Chromosome 4q;10q translocations; Comparison with different ethnic populations and FSHD patients

BACKGROUND: Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by the weakness of facial, shoulder-girdle and upper arm muscles. Most patients with FSHD have fewer numbers of tandem repeated 3.3-kb KpnI units on chromosome 4q35. Chromosome 10q26 contains highly homologous KpnI repeats, and inter-chromosomal translocation has been reported. METHODS: To clarify the influence on the deletion of the repeats, we surveyed three different ethnic populations and FSHD patients using the BglII/BlnI dosage test. RESULTS: The frequency of translocation in 153 Japanese, 124 Korean, 114 Chinese healthy individuals and 56 Japanese 4q35-FSHD patients were 27.5%, 29.8%, 19.3%, and 32.1%, respectively. The ratio of '4 on 10' (trisomy and quatrosomy of chromosome 4) was higher than that of '10 on 4' (nullsomy and monosomy of chromosome 4) in all populations. CONCLUSIONS: The inter-chromosomal exchange was frequently observed in all four populations we examined, and no significant difference was observed between healthy and diseased groups

Skyrmion fluctuations at a first-order phase transition boundary

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures with promising prospects for applications in data storage. They can form a lattice state due to competing magnetic interactions and are commonly found in a small region of the temperature - magnetic field phase diagram. Recent work has demonstrated that these magnetic quasi-particles fluctuate at the μeV energy scale. Here, we use a coherent x-ray correlation method at an x-ray free-electron laser to investigate these fluctuations in a magnetic phase coexistence region near a first-order transition boundary where fluctuations are not expected to play a major role. Surprisingly, we find that the relaxation of the intermediate scattering function at this transition differs significantly compared to that deep in the skyrmion lattice phase. The observation of a compressed exponential behavior suggests solid-like dynamics, often associated with jamming. We assign this behavior to disorder and the phase coexistence observed in a narrow field-window near the transition, which can cause fluctuations that lead to glassy behavior

Counter-current chromatography for the separation of terpenoids: A comprehensive review with respect to the solvent systems employed

Copyright @ 2014 The Authors.This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.Natural products extracts are commonly highly complex mixtures of active compounds and consequently their purification becomes a particularly challenging task. The development of a purification protocol to extract a single active component from the many hundreds that are often present in the mixture is something that can take months or even years to achieve, thus it is important for the natural product chemist to have, at their disposal, a broad range of diverse purification techniques. Counter-current chromatography (CCC) is one such separation technique utilising two immiscible phases, one as the stationary phase (retained in a spinning coil by centrifugal forces) and the second as the mobile phase. The method benefits from a number of advantages when compared with the more traditional liquid-solid separation methods, such as no irreversible adsorption, total recovery of the injected sample, minimal tailing of peaks, low risk of sample denaturation, the ability to accept particulates, and a low solvent consumption. The selection of an appropriate two-phase solvent system is critical to the running of CCC since this is both the mobile and the stationary phase of the system. However, this is also by far the most time consuming aspect of the technique and the one that most inhibits its general take-up. In recent years, numerous natural product purifications have been published using CCC from almost every country across the globe. Many of these papers are devoted to terpenoids-one of the most diverse groups. Naturally occurring terpenoids provide opportunities to discover new drugs but many of them are available at very low levels in nature and a huge number of them still remain unexplored. The collective knowledge on performing successful CCC separations of terpenoids has been gathered and reviewed by the authors, in order to create a comprehensive document that will be of great assistance in performing future purifications. © 2014 The Author(s)

Clinimetric properties of the Turkish translation of a modified neck disability index

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neck pain is a common problem that can greatly affect a person's activities of daily living. Functional status questionnaires are important in assessing this effect, and are used to follow up neck pain management programs. The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is the first-created scale for neck pain-related disability and is widely translated and in common used in many countries. Our aim is investigate to clinometric properties of a Turkish version of modified NDI and to give a choice in daily practise of versions to be used.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The modified NDI was applied to 30 patients for reliability. 185 patients participated in the validity study. All patients were recruited from the outpatient clinic of our department. The scale was translated by the forward and backward translation procedure according to the COSMIN criteria. The test was repeated at 48 hours interval for reliability study. SPSS-10.0, software was used for statistical analyses. The Intraclass correlation coefficient was used for the test- retest reliability of the modified NDI. Cronbach α was used for internal consistency. Factor analysis was used for construct validity. The validity of the modified NDI with respect to the SF-36, HAD, VAS pain, VAS disability was assessed using Spearman correlations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The Intraclass correlation coefficient between first and second (within 48 hours) evaluation of test (rs) was 0.92. Questions 1,4,6,8,10 were shown to have excellent reliability. (rs > 0.9). Question 10 was the most frequently challenged question because "recreational and social activities" do not have not the same meanings in Turkey than in western countries. This required that detailed explanations be provided by the investigators. Cronbach's alpha for the total index was 0.88. A single factor accounting for 80.2% of the variance was obtained. Validity studies demonstrated good and moderate correlations (rs) among NDI, HAD, VAS, physical function subtitle of SF 36 (0.62, 0.76, 0.68).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The modified NDI-Turkish version is a reliable and valid test and is suitable for daily practise.</p

Latent provisions for building information modeling (BIM) contracts: a social network analysis approach

The effective adoption and use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) require appropriate contract design to fairly allocate the contracting parties’ rights and responsibilities. Several standards for BIM protocols and contracts have been developed for the industry. However, the awareness and the use of these are rather limited, leading to unclear provisions in BIM contracts. Therefore, the research aims to identify the influential legal aspects that serve as the latent contract provisions in BIM contracts. A questionnaire survey was conducted to survey experts and active BIM users in construction projects. The data were analyzed using social network analysis (SNA) by assuming interdependent relationships among various the legal aspects in BIM contacts. The key legal aspects associated with BIM contracts pertain to the roles and responsibilities of the project participants. The results also reveal that data security is the center of all latent legal aspects in the contracts. The study provides significant new insights into clarifying the required contract provisions in BIM contracts

Psychometric characteristics of the Spanish version of instruments to measure neck pain disability

Background: The NDI, COM and NPQ are evaluation instruments for disability due to NP. There was no Spanish version of NDI or COM for which psychometric characteristics were known. The objectives of this study were to translate and culturally adapt the Spanish version of the Neck Disability Index Questionnaire (NDI), and the Core Outcome Measure (COM), to validate its use in Spanish speaking patients with non-specific neck pain (NP), and to compare their psychometric characteristics with those of the Spanish version of the Northwick Pain Questionnaire (NPQ). Methods: Translation/re-translation of the English versions of the NDI and the COM was done blindly and independently by a multidisciplinary team. The study was done in 9 primary care Centers and 12 specialty services from 9 regions in Spain, with 221 acute, subacute and chronic patients who visited their physician for NP: 54 in the pilot phase and 167 in the validation phase. Neck pain (VAS), referred pain (VAS), disability (NDI, COM and NPQ), catastrophizing (CSQ) and quality of life (SF-12) were measured on their first visit and 14 days later. Patients' self-assessment was used as the external criterion for pain and disability. In the pilot phase, patients' understanding of each item in the NDI and COM was assessed, and on day 1 test-retest reliability was estimated by giving a second NDI and COM in which the name of the questionnaires and the order of the items had been changed. Results: Comprehensibility of NDI and COM were good. Minutes needed to fill out the questionnaires [median, (P25, P75)]: NDI. 4 (2.2, 10.0), COM: 2.1 (1.0, 4.9). Reliability: [ICC, (95%CI)]: NDI: 0.88 (0.80, 0.93). COM: 0.85 (0.75,0.91). Sensitivity to change: Effect size for patients having worsened, not changed and improved between days 1 and 15, according to the external criterion for disability: NDI: -0.24, 0.15, 0.66; NPQ: -0.14, 0.06, 0.67; COM: 0.05, 0.19, 0.92. Validity: Results of NDI, NPQ and COM were consistent with the external criterion for disability, whereas only those from NDI were consistent with the one for pain. Correlations with VAS, CSQ and SF-12 were similar for NDI and NPQ (absolute values between 0.36 and 0.50 on day 1, between 0.38 and 0.70 on day 15), and slightly lower for COM (between 0.36 and 0.48 on day 1, and between 0.33 and 0.61 on day 15). Correlation between NDI and NPQ: r = 0.84 on day 1, r = 0.91 on day 15. Correlation between COM and NPQ: r = 0.63 on day 1, r = 0.71 on day 15. Conclusion: Although most psychometric characteristics of NDI, NPQ and COM are similar, those from the latter one are worse and its use may lead to patients' evolution seeming more positive than it actually is. NDI seems to be the best instrument for measuring NP-related disability, since its results are the most consistent with patient's assessment of their own clinical status and evolution. It takes two more minutes to answer the NDI than to answer the COM, but it can be reliably filled out by the patient without assistance

Noninvasive Assessment of Antenatal Hydronephrosis in Mice Reveals a Critical Role for Robo2 in Maintaining Anti-Reflux Mechanism

Antenatal hydronephrosis and vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) are common renal tract birth defects. We recently showed that disruption of the Robo2 gene is associated with VUR in humans and antenatal hydronephrosis in knockout mice. However, the natural history, causal relationship and developmental origins of these clinical conditions remain largely unclear. Although the hydronephrosis phenotype in Robo2 knockout mice has been attributed to the coexistence of ureteral reflux and obstruction in the same mice, this hypothesis has not been tested experimentally. Here we used noninvasive high-resolution micro-ultrasonography and pathological analysis to follow the progression of antenatal hydronephrosis in individual Robo2-deficient mice from embryo to adulthood. We found that hydronephrosis progressed continuously after birth with no spontaneous resolution. With the use of a microbubble ultrasound contrast agent and ultrasound-guided percutaneous aspiration, we demonstrated that antenatal hydronephrosis in Robo2-deficient mice is caused by high-grade VUR resulting from a dilated and incompetent ureterovesical junction rather than ureteral obstruction. We further documented Robo2 expression around the developing ureterovesical junction and identified early dilatation of ureteral orifice structures as a potential fetal origin of antenatal hydronephrosis and VUR. Our results thus demonstrate that Robo2 is crucial for the formation of a normal ureteral orifice and for the maintenance of an effective anti-reflux mechanism. This study also establishes a reproducible genetic mouse model of progressive antenatal hydronephrosis and primary high-grade VUR

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Significance Communicating in ways that motivate engagement in social distancing remains a critical global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study tested motivational qualities of messages about social distancing (those that promoted choice and agency vs. those that were forceful and shaming) in 25,718 people in 89 countries. The autonomy-supportive message decreased feelings of defying social distancing recommendations relative to the controlling message, and the controlling message increased controlled motivation, a less effective form of motivation, relative to no message. Message type did not impact intentions to socially distance, but people’s existing motivations were related to intentions. Findings were generalizable across a geographically diverse sample and may inform public health communication strategies in this and future global health emergencies. Abstract Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges