The structure of K- and Cs-monolayers on Cu(0 0 1): diffraction experiments far from the Bragg point

The intensity analysis along the crystal truncation rods has been used to analyse in situ the adsorption behaviour and the structure of K and Cs on Cu(0 0 1) at submonolayer coverages and room temperature. Up to about 0.25 ML K atoms adsorb in hollow sites followed by formation of a quasihexagonal superstructure. In contrast, for Cs adsorption the data can be interpreted by the formation of quasihexagonal Cs islands that grow with increasing coverage. For K an effective radius of 1.6(1) Å independent of coverage is determined. For Cs we fnd d = 2.1 (1) Å after formation of the quasihexagonal superstructure

Antiemetics: American Society of Clinical Oncology clinical practice guideline update

Purpose: To update the ASCO guideline for antiemetics in oncology. Methods: ASCO convened an Expert Panel and conducted a systematic review of the medical literature for the period of November 2009 to June 2016. Results: Forty-one publications were included in this systematic review. A phase III randomized controlled trial demonstrated that adding olanzapine to antiemetic prophylaxis reduces the likelihood of nausea among adult patients who are treated with high emetic risk antineoplastic agents. Randomized controlled trials also support an expanded role for neurokinin 1 receptor antagonists in patients who are treated with chemotherapy. Recommendation: Key updates include the addition of olanzapine to antiemetic regimens for adults who receive high-emetic-risk antineoplastic agents or who experience breakthrough nausea and vomiting; a recommendation to administer dexamethasone on day 1 only for adults who receive anthracycline and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy; and the addition of a neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist for adults who receive carboplatin area under the curve ≥ 4 mg/mL per minute or high-dose chemotherapy, and for pediatric patients who receive high-emetic-risk antineoplastic agents. For radiation-induced nausea and vomiting, adjustments were made to anatomic regions, risk levels, and antiemetic administration schedules. Rescue therapy alone is now recommended for low-emetic-risk radiation therapy. The Expert Panel reiterated the importance of using the most effective antiemetic regimens that are appropriate for antineoplastic agents or radiotherapy being administered. Such regimens should be used with initial treatment, rather than first assessing the patient’s emetic response with less-effective treatment. Additional information is available at www.asco.org/supportive-care-guidelines and www.asco.org/guidelineswiki

Genome-wide association study of paclitaxel and carboplatin disposition in women with epithelial ovarian cancer

Identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that influence chemotherapy disposition may help to personalize cancer treatment and limit toxicity. Genome-wide approaches are unbiased, compared with candidate gene studies, but usually require large cohorts. As most chemotherapy is given cyclically multiple blood sampling is required to adequately define drug disposition, limiting patient recruitment. We found that carboplatin and paclitaxel disposition are stable phenotypes in ovarian cancer patients and tested a genome-wide association study (GWAS) design to identify SNPs associated with chemotherapy disposition. We found highly significant SNPs in ABCC2, a known carboplatin transporter, associated with carboplatin clearance (asymptotic P = 5.2 × 106, empirical P = 1.4 × 10-5), indicating biological plausibility. We also identified novel SNPs associated with paclitaxel disposition, including rs17130142 with genome-wide significance (asymptotic P = 2.0 × 10-9, empirical P = 1.3 × 10-7). Although requiring further validation, our work demonstrated that GWAS of chemotherapeutic drug disposition can be effective, even in relatively small cohorts, and can be adopted in drug development and treatment programs

Comparing and integrating methods of design activity documentation across synchronous and asynchronous modes of collaborative work

Longer lifecycles and a shifting industrial focus from simple product delivery to through-life support have increased the need to retain organisational knowledge for the duration of product lifecycles and beyond. This fragmentation of work across time and organizations buries organizational understanding of design processes and of the underpinning design rationale in many disparate representations. Further, existing report-based documentary practices tend to omit key information which could compromise an engineer’s ability to comprehend and reuse this information in addition to requiring significant additional authoring work. Emerging approaches to documentation are discussed and compared as cognitive technologies in a snowmobile drive shaft example. One design episode is assisted by interactively documenting decisions in an IBIS-based tool whose output forms the design record. The other is passively documented via an activity-modelling approach and media-enhanced records (MEMS). This work provides examples on situating discussions about engineering design documentation practices and describes improvements for further development and testing of both the activity-modelling and media-enhanced records and the IBIS-based approaches