Covers of Point-Hyperplane Graphs

We construct a cover of the non-incident point-hyperplane graph of projective dimension 3 for fields of characteristic 2. If the cardinality of the field is larger than 2, we obtain an elementary construction of the non-split extension of SL_4 (F) by F^6.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Comparing the effectiveness of small-particle versus large-particle inhaled corticosteroid in COPD

Dirkje S Postma,1 Nicolas Roche,2 Gene Colice,3 Elliot Israel,4 Richard J Martin,5 Willem MC van Aalderen,6 Jonathan Grigg,7 Anne Burden,8 Elizabeth V Hillyer,8 Julie von Ziegenweidt,8 Gokul Gopalan,9 David Price8,10 1University of Groningen, Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; 2Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine, Cochin Hospital Group, APHP, Paris-Descartes University (EA2511), Paris, France; 3Pulmonary, Critical Care and Respiratory Services, Washington Hospital Center and George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington DC, USA; 4Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 5Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA; 6Dept of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Emma Children's Hospital AMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 7Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University London, London, UK; 8Research in Real Life, Ltd, Cambridge, UK; 9Respiratory, Global Scientific Affairs, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Frazer, PA, USA; 10Academic Primary Care, Division of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Purpose: Small airway changes and dysfunction contribute importantly to airway obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is currently treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting bronchodilators at Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) grades 2–4. This retrospective matched cohort analysis compared effectiveness of a representative small-particle ICS (extrafine beclomethasone) and larger-particle ICS (fluticasone) in primary care patients with COPD. Patients and methods: Smokers and ex-smokers with COPD ≥40 years old initiating or stepping-up their dose of extrafine beclomethasone or fluticasone were matched 1:1 for demographic characteristics, index prescription year, concomitant therapies, and disease severity during 1 baseline year. During 2 subsequent years, we evaluated treatment change and COPD exacerbations, defined as emergency care/hospitalization for COPD, acute oral corticosteroids, or antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infection. Results: Mean patient age was 67 years, 57%–60% being male. For both initiation (n=334:334) and step-up (n=189:189) patients, exacerbation rates were comparable between extrafine beclomethasone and fluticasone cohorts during the 2 year outcome period. Odds of treatment stability (no exacerbation or treatment change) were significantly greater for patients initiating extrafine beclomethasone compared with fluticasone (adjusted odds ratio 2.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.32–4.73). Median ICS dose exposure during 2 outcome years was significantly lower (P<0.001) for extrafine beclomethasone than fluticasone cohorts (315 µg/day versus 436 µg/day for initiation, 438 µg/day versus 534 µg/day for step-up patients). Conclusion: We observed that small-particle ICS at significantly lower doses had comparable effects on exacerbation rates as larger-particle ICS at higher doses, whereas initiation of small-particle ICS was associated with better odds of treatment stability during 2-years' follow-up. Keywords: COPD exacerbation, extrafine particle, matched cohort analysis, real life, small airway

Neutron resonance capture applied to some prehistoric bronze axes

The elemental analysis of materials and objects on the basis of neutron resonance capture by nuclei as a function of neutron energy is briefly explained. The feasibility of neutron resonance capture analysis (NRCA) is demonstrated with five prehistoric “bronze” axes of different kinds and complex elemental compositions. Attention is paid to the occurrence of indium as a trace element in these artefacts

The effect of financial and educational incentives on rational prescribing:A state-space approach

In 2005, a Dutch health insurer introduced a financial incentive directed to general practitioners to promote rational prescribing of statins and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Concomitantly, a regional institution that develops pharmacotherapeutic guidelines implemented two educational interventions also aiming at promoting rational statin and PPI prescribing. Utilizing a prescription database, we estimated the effect of the interventions on drug utilization and cost of statins and PPIs over time. We measured the effect of the interventions within an implementation and a control region. The implementation region included prescriptions from the province of Groningen where the educational intervention was implemented and where the health insurer is most active. The control region comprised all other provinces covered by the database. We modelled the effect of the intervention using a state-space approach. Significant differences in prescribing and cost patterns between regions were observed for statins and PPIs. These differences however were mostly related to the concurrent interventions of Proeftuin Farmacie Groningen. We found no evidence indicating a significant effect of the rational prescribing intervention on the prescription patterns of statins and PPIs. Our estimates on the economic impact of the Proeftuin Farmacie Groningen interventions indicate that educational activities as such can achieve significant cost savings. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Neutron Resonance Spectroscopy of 106Pd, and 108Pd from 20–2000 eV

Parity nonconserving asymmetries have been measured in p-wave resonances of 106Pd and 108Pd. The data analysis requires knowledge of the neutron resonance parameters. Transmission and capture γ-ray yields were measured for En=20–2000 eV with the time-of-flight method at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). A total of 28 resonances in 106Pd and 32 resonances in 108Pd were studied. The resonance parameters for 106Pd are new for all except one resonance. In 108Pd six new resonances were observed and the precision improved for many of the resonance parameters. A Bayesian analysis was used to assign orbital angular momentum for the resonances studied

Parity Violation in Neutron Resonances in 107,109Ag

Parity nonconservation (PNC) was studied in p-wave resonances in Ag by measuring the helicity dependence of the neutron total cross section. Transmission measurements on natural Ag were performed in the energy range 32 to 422 eV with the time-of-flight method at the Manuel Lujan Neutron Scattering Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory. A total of 15 p-wave neutron resonances were studied in 107Ag and ninep-wave resonances in 109Ag. Statistically significant asymmetries were observed for eight resonances in 107Ag and for four resonances in109Ag. An analysis treating the PNC matrix elements as random variables yields a weak spreading width of Γw=(2.67-1.21+2.65)×10-7 eV for107Ag and Γw=(1.30-0.74+2.49)×10-7 eV for 109Ag

Cytogenetic findings in mouse multiple myeloma and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia

Multiple myeloma (MM) and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia-like lymphoma (MW) appear spontaneously in C57BL/KaLwRij mice at a frequency of 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively. They can readily be propagated by intravenous transfer of mainly bone marrow or spleen cells into syngeneic recipients. Previous studies demonstrated that these mouse malignant monoclonal gammopathies (MMG) show clinical and biologic features that closely resemble those of the corresponding human diseases and thus could be used as experimental models. We report on cytogenetic analysis of two mouse MW and five MM in vivo cell lines of the 5TMM series propagated in syngeneic mice. These studies demonstrated clonal abnormalities in all cell lines, hyperdiploid karyotype in both MW and one MM lines, and hypotriploidy, hypertriploidy, or hypotetraploidy in the other lines. Structural abnormalities of chromosome 15 were observed in all MM lines. In the five MM lines, frequent rearrangements were also found for chromosome numbers 1, 2, 5, and 12. A single chromosomal abnormality, as found in induced mouse plasmacytomas and resembling Burkitt lymphoma, was not found in mouse MM and MW. It was concluded that spontaneously originating C57BL MM of the 5T series is a better model for human MM than pristane-induced BALB/c or NZB plasmacytoma

Parity Nonconservation in 106Pd and 108Pd Neutron Resonances

Parity nonconservation (PNC) has been studied in the neutron p-wave resonances of 106Pd and 108Pd in the energy range of 20 to 2000 eV. Longitudinal asymmetries in p-wave capture cross sections are measured using longitudinally polarized neutrons incident on ∼20-g metal-powder targets at LANSCE. A CsI γ-ray detector array measures capture cross section asymmetries as a function of neutron energy which is determined by the neutron time-of-flight method. A total of 21 p-wave resonances in 106Pd and 21 p-wave resonances in 108Pd were studied. One statistically significant PNC effect was observed in106Pd, and no effects were observed in 108Pd. For 106Pd a weak spreading width of Γw=34-28+47×10-7 eV was obtained. For 108Pd an upper limit on the weak spreading width of Γw\u3c12×10-7 eV was determined at the 68% confidence level

School health in Europe:a review of workforce expenditure across five countries

Background: Most European countries have implemented a form of school health services (SHS) to provide young children and adolescents with various types of healthcare. No estimations on SHS expenditure for European countries have been published until now. We estimated SHS workforce expenditure in Europe, expected to serve as the main driver of school healthcare costs. Methods: Using two networks of experts on healthcare provision for children we contacted various country representatives to provide data on the number of professionals working in SHS and salaries. These data were used, together with publicly available data, to estimate annual SHS workforce expenditure on the national level. Results: We received sufficient data for five European countries, and estimated the SHS workforce expenditure. Nurses were the most widely reported professionals working in this field, followed by doctors and psychologists. Our SHS expenditure estimations ranged from 43,000 for Estonia to 195,300 in Norway (per 1000 pupils). For Norway, Estonia, Finland and Iceland, school nurses were the main drivers of SHS expenditure, mainly due to their large numbers, while in Austria, school doctors played the largest role in SHS expenditure. Conclusions: We estimated the spending on SHS workforce for five European countries, which comprises relatively minor parts of total healthcare spending (0.16 to 0.69%). Many questions regarding SHS spending in Europe remain, due to a general lack of data on national levels