Is Your Library Ready for the Reality of Virtual Reality? What You Need to Know and Why It Belongs in Your Library

VR is no longer just gaming. It’s increasingly being deployed across academic campuses and is becoming indispensable in fields ranging from the humanities to engineering to anthropology. A recent survey indicated that 100% of ARL campuses were using VR, with 40% of libraries actively supporting it. This paper discusses practical examples of how libraries are helping their institutions build out virtual reality, utilizing 3D objects and explains why the library is the best place to do so. It provides a basic grounding in VR and related areas, showing what it is and why it\u27s important to libraries. Specific attention is paid to VR deployments of AR/VR by the library across the campus

Grain Sorghum Performance

Twenty-five grain sorghum hybrids and one variety planted May 22 were evaluated at the Western Kentucky Substation at Princeton for yield, plant height, date headed, head type and moisture. They were also evaluated at Lexington for bird damage and at the Robinson Substation for MDM

Driver Oncogenes but Not as We Know Them: Targetable Fusion Genes in Breast Cancer.

Two reports in this issue of Cancer Discovery outline how the genomic composition of tumors, including the presence of intragenic gene fusions, could inform the selection of treatment approaches in aggressive forms of the disease. Cancer Discov; 8(3); 272-5. ©2018 AACRSee related article by Matissek et al., p. 336See related article by Liu et al., p. 354

Promoting healthy weight for all young children: a mixed methods study of child and family health nurses' perceptions of barriers and how to overcome them.

Background:Childhood obesity is a global health concern. Early intervention to help parents adopt best practice for infant feeding and physical activity is critical for maintaining healthy weight. Australian governments provide universal free primary healthcare from child and family health nurses (CFHNs) to support families with children aged up to five years and to provide evidence-based advice to parents. This paper aims to examine factors influencing the child obesity prevention practices of CFHNs and to identify opportunities to support them in promoting healthy infant growth. Methods:This mixed methods study used a survey (n = 90) and semi-structured interviews (n = 20) with CFHNs working in two local health districts in Sydney, Australia. Survey data were analysed descriptively; interview transcripts were coded and analysed iteratively. Survey and interview questions examined how CFHNs addressed healthy infant feeding practices, healthy eating, active play and limiting sedentary behaviour during routine consultations; factors influencing such practices; and how CFHNs could be best supported. Results:CFHNs frequently advised parents on breastfeeding, introducing solid foods, and techniques for settling infants. They spent less time providing advice on evidence-based formula feeding practices or encouraging physical activity in young children. Although nurses frequently weighed and measured children, they did not always use growth charts to identify those at risk of becoming overweight or obese. Nurses identified several barriers to promoting healthy weight gain in infants and young children, including limited parental recognition of overweight in their children or motivation to change diet or lifestyle; socioeconomic factors (such as the cost of healthy food); and beliefs and attitudes about infant weight and the importance of breastfeeding and physical activity amongst parents and family members. Conclusions:CFHNs require further education and support for their role in promoting optimal child growth and development, especially training in behaviour change techniques to increase parents' understanding of healthy infant weight gain. Parent information resources should be accessible and address cultural diversity. Resources should highlight the health effects of childhood overweight and obesity and emphasise the benefits of breastfeeding, appropriate formula feeding, suitable first foods, responsiveness to infant feeding cues, active play and limiting screen time

Improving the spatial resolution of a soft X-ray Charge Coupled Device used for Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering

The Super Advanced X-ray Emission Spectrometer (SAXES) at the Advanced Resonant Scattering (ADRESS) beamline of the Swiss Light Source is a high-resolution X-ray spectrometer used as an end station for Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering from 400 eV to 1600 eV. Through the dispersion of photons across a CCD, the energy of scattered photons may be determined by their detected spatial position. The limiting factor of the energy resolution is currently the spatial resolution achieved with the CCD, reported at 24 μm FWHM. For this energy range the electron clouds are formed by interactions in the `field free' region of the back-illuminated CCD. These clouds diffuse in all directions whilst being attracted to the electrodes, leading to events that are made up of signals in multiple pixels. The spreading of the charge allows centroiding techniques to be used to improve the CCD spatial resolution and therefore improve the energy resolution of SAXES. The PolLux microscopy beamline at the SLS produces an X-ray beam with a diameter of 20 nm. The images produced from scanning the narrow beam across CCD pixels (13.5 x 13.5 μm2 ) can aid in the production of event recognition algorithms, allowing the matching of event profiles to photon interactions in a specific region of a pixel. Through the use of this information software analysis can be refined with the aim of improving the energy resolution

An adaptive design for updating the threshold value of a continuous biomarker

Potential predictive biomarkers are often measured on a continuous scale, but in practice, a threshold value to divide the patient population into biomarker ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ is desirable. Early phase clinical trials are increasingly using biomarkers for patient selection, but at this stage, it is likely that little will be known about the relationship between the biomarker and the treatment outcome. We describe a single-arm trial design with adaptive enrichment, which can increase power to demonstrate efficacy within a patient subpopulation, the parameters of which are also estimated. Our design enables us to learn about the biomarker and optimally adjust the threshold during the study, using a combination of generalised linear modelling and Bayesian prediction. At the final analysis, a binomial exact test is carried out, allowing the hypothesis that ‘no population subset exists in which the novel treatment has a desirable response rate’ to be tested. Through extensive simulations, we are able to show increased power over fixed threshold methods in many situations without increasing the type-I error rate. We also show that estimates of the threshold, which defines the population subset, are unbiased and often more precise than those from fixed threshold studies. We provide an example of the method applied (retrospectively) to publically available data from a study of the use of tamoxifen after mastectomy by the German Breast Study Group, where progesterone receptor is the biomarker of interest

Development of the X-ray camera for the OGRE sub-orbital rocket

Current theories regarding the matter composition of the universe suggest that half of the expected baryonic matter is missing. One region this could be residing in is intergalactic filaments which absorb strongly in the X-ray regime. Present space based technology is limited when it comes to imaging at these wavelengths and so new techniques are required. The Off-Plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE) aims to produce the highest resolution spectrum of the binary star system Capella, a well-known X-ray source, in the soft X-ray range (0.2keV to 2keV). This will be achieved using a specialised payload combining three low technology readiness level components placed on-board a sub-orbital rocket. These three components consist of an array of large format off-plane X-ray diffraction gratings, a Wolter Type 1 mirror made using single crystal silicon, and the use of EM-CCDs to capture soft X-rays. Each of these components have been previously reviewed with OGRE being the first project to utilise them in a space observation mission. This paper focuses on the EM-CCDs (CCD207-40 by e2v) that will be used and their optimisation with a camera purposely designed for OGRE. Electron Multiplying gain curves were produced for the back-illuminated devices at -80 degrees Celsius. Further tests which will need to be carried out are discussed and the impact of the OGRE mission on future projects mentioned

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibition: a new direction for BRCA and triple-negative breast cancer?

Inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-mediated DNA repair have shown promise in early clinical studies in the treatment of specific subgroups of breast cancer. Notably, phase II trials indicate that olaparib, an oral PARP inhibitor, has activity as a single agent in BRCA-related tumours, and that a combination of iniparib, an intravenous PARP inhibitor, and chemotherapy offers a survival advantage, compared with chemotherapy alone, in triple-negative breast cancer. Phase III data on the latter indication are expected in 2011. Intriguingly, iniparib does not increase toxicity when used as a chemo-potentiating agent, suggesting that it differs in its mechanism of action from other agents in this class. Overall, PARP inhibitors represent a potentially important new class of anti-cancer agents with two potential modes of action, as single agents causing synthetic lethality and as chemo-potentiating agents