Quasi-isometric classification of non-geometric 3-manifold groups

We describe the quasi-isometric classification of fundamental groups of irreducible non-geometric 3-manifolds which do not have "too many" arithmetic hyperbolic geometric components, thus completing the quasi-isometric classification of 3--manifold groups in all but a few exceptional cases.Comment: Minor revision (added footnote in the Introduction

Prevailing Academic View on Compliance Flexibility under § 111 of the Clean Air Act

No colons in abstractsource category, existing sources, state implementation plan, new sources, tradable performance standards

Isolated bladder metastasis causing large bowel obstruction: a case report of an atypical presentation of intussusception

Intussusception of the large bowel is a rare clinical entity. In adults, this pathology is usually associated with a malignant lead point and often requires operative management. Reported is the case of an 83-year-old female who was recently diagnosed with superficial bladder cancer (T1) treated by partial cystectomy. She presented 3 months post-operatively with an isolated mucosal metastasis of the transverse colon causing intussusception and large bowel obstruction. The patient was successfully treated by colonic resection with primary anastomosis. Histology was significant for a pedunculated sarcomatoid bladder carcinoma originating from the colonic mucosa with incomplete invasion of the bowel wall. An isolated mucosal metastasis of this variety has not been reported in the literature to date

Distributional Impacts of Retail Vaccine Availability

We examine the potential for exploiting retailer location choice in targeting health interventions. Using geospatial data, we quantify proximity to vaccines created by a U.S. federal program distributing COVID-19 vaccines to commercial retail pharmacies. We assess the distributional impacts of a proposal to provide vaccines at Dollar General, a low-priced general merchandise retailer. Adding Dollar General to the federal program would substantially decrease the distance to vaccine sites for low-income, rural, and minority U.S. households, groups for which COVID-19 vaccine take-up has been disproportionately slow

Effects of insertion speed and trocar stiffness on the accuracy of needle position for brachytherapy

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135125/1/mp9812.pd

Pure Samples of Quark and Gluon Jets at the LHC

Having pure samples of quark and gluon jets would greatly facilitate the study of jet properties and substructure, with many potential standard model and new physics applications. To this end, we consider multijet and jets+X samples, to determine the purity that can be achieved by simple kinematic cuts leaving reasonable production cross sections. We find, for example, that at the 7 TeV LHC, the pp {\to} {\gamma}+2jets sample can provide 98% pure quark jets with 200 GeV of transverse momentum and a cross section of 5 pb. To get 10 pb of 200 GeV jets with 90% gluon purity, the pp {\to} 3jets sample can be used. b+2jets is also useful for gluons, but only if the b-tagging is very efficient.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures; v2 section on formally defining quark and gluon jets has been adde

Longitudinal assessment of cognitive changes associated with adjuvant treatment for breast cancer: the impact of APOE and smoking

PURPOSE: This study examined the association of post-treatment changes in cognitive performance, apolipoprotein E (APOE), and smoking in breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant therapy. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy (N = 55, age = 51.9 ± 7.1, education = 15.7 ± 2.6) were evaluated with a battery of neuropsychological tests prior to chemotherapy and at 1, 6, and 18 months post-chemotherapy. Matched groups of breast cancer patients not exposed to chemotherapy (N = 68, age = 56.8 ± 8.3, education = 14.8 ± 2.2) and healthy controls (N = 43, age = 53.0 ± 10.1, education = 15.2 ± 2.6) were evaluated at similar intervals. APOE epsilon 4 carrier status (APOE4+) and smoking history were also evaluated. RESULTS: The detrimental effect of APOE4+ genotype on post-treatment cognitive functioning was moderated by smoking history, that is, patients without a smoking history had significantly lower performance on measures of processing speed and working memory compared with those with a smoking history and healthy controls. Exploratory analyses revealed that APOE4+ patients without a smoking history who were exposed to chemotherapy showed a decline in performance in processing speed, compared with patients with a smoking history. A similar but less pronounced pattern was seen in the no chemotherapy group (primarily endocrine treatment). For working memory, the APOE4+ by smoking interaction was observed in the no chemotherapy group only. CONCLUSIONS: The association between APOE status, breast cancer treatment, and cognitive functioning was moderated by smoking history suggesting that both chemotherapy and endocrine therapy interact with APOE status and smoking to influence cognition. A putative mechanism is that smoking corrects a deficit in nicotinic receptor functioning and dopamine levels in APOE4+ individuals

Contralateral Cruciate Survival in Dogs with Unilateral Non-Contact Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture

BACKGROUND: Non-contact cranial cruciate ligament rupture (CrCLR) is an important cause of lameness in client-owned dogs and typically occurs without obvious injury. There is a high incidence of bilateral rupture at presentation or subsequent contralateral rupture in affected dogs. Although stifle synovitis increases risk of contralateral CrCLR, relatively little is known about risk factors for subsequent contralateral rupture, or whether therapeutic intervention may modify this risk. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a longitudinal study examining survival of the contralateral CrCL in client-owned dogs with unilateral CrCLR in a large baseline control population (n = 380), and a group of dogs that received disease-modifying therapy with arthroscopic lavage, intra-articular hyaluronic acid and oral doxycycline (n = 16), and were followed for one year. Follow-up in treated dogs included analysis of mobility, radiographic evaluation of stifle effusion and arthritis, and quantification of biomarkers of synovial inflammation. We found that median survival of the contralateral CrCL was 947 days. Increasing tibial plateau angle decreased contralateral ligament survival, whereas increasing age at diagnosis increased survival. Contralateral ligament survival was reduced in neutered dogs. Our disease-modifying therapy did not significantly influence contralateral ligament survival. Correlative analysis of clinical and biomarker variables with development of subsequent contralateral rupture revealed few significant results. However, increased expression of T lymphocyte-associated genes in the index unstable stifle at diagnosis was significantly related to development of subsequent non-contact contralateral CrCLR. CONCLUSION: Subsequent contralateral CrCLR is common in client-owned dogs, with a median ligament survival time of 947 days. In this naturally occurring model of non-contact cruciate ligament rupture, cranial tibial translation is preceded by development of synovial inflammation. However, treatment with arthroscopic lavage, intra-articular hyaluronic acid and oral doxycycline does not significantly influence contralateral CrCL survival

Effect of analgesic therapy on clinical outcome measures in a randomized controlled trial using client-owned dogs with hip osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND: Pain and impaired mobility because of osteoarthritis (OA) is common in dogs and humans. Efficacy studies of analgesic drug treatment of dogs with naturally occurring OA may be challenging, as a caregiver placebo effect is typically evident. However, little is known about effect sizes of common outcome-measures in canine clinical trials evaluating treatment of OA pain. Forty-nine client-owned dogs with hip OA were enrolled in a randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled prospective trial. After a 1 week baseline period, dogs were randomly assigned to a treatment (ABT-116 – transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) antagonist, Carprofen – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), Tramadol - synthetic opiate, or Placebo) for 2 weeks. Outcome-measures included physical examination parameters, owner questionnaire, activity monitoring, gait analysis, and use of rescue medication. RESULTS: Acute hyperthermia developed after ABT-116 treatment (P < 0.001). Treatment with carprofen (P ≤ 0.01) and tramadol (P ≤ 0.001) led to improved mobility assessed by owner questionnaire. Nighttime activity was increased after ABT-116 treatment (P = 0.01). Kinetic gait analysis did not reveal significant treatment effects. Use of rescue treatment decreased with treatment in the ABT-116 and Carprofen groups (P < 0.001). Questionnaire score and activity count at the end of treatment were correlated with age, clinical severity at trial entry, and outcome measure baseline status (S(R) ≥ ±0.40, P ≤ 0.005). Placebo treatment effects were evident with all variables studied. CONCLUSION: Treatment of hip OA in client-owned dogs is associated with a placebo effect for all variables that are commonly used for efficacy studies of analgesic drugs. This likely reflects caregiver bias or the phenomenon of regression to the mean. In the present study, outcome measures with significant effects also varied between groups, highlighting the value of using multiple outcome measures, as well as an a priori analysis of effect size associated with each measure. Effect size data from the present study could be used to inform design of future trials studying analgesic treatment of canine OA. Our results suggest that analgesic treatment with ABT-116 is not as effective as carprofen or tramadol for treatment of hip arthritis pain in client-owned dogs