Extending du Bois-Reymond's Infinitesimal and Infinitary Calculus Theory

The discovery of the infinite integer leads to a partition between finite and infinite numbers. Construction of an infinitesimal and infinitary number system, the Gossamer numbers. Du Bois-Reymond's much-greater-than relations and little-o/big-O defined with the Gossamer number system, and the relations algebra is explored. A comparison of function algebra is developed. A transfer principle more general than Non-Standard-Analysis is developed, hence a two-tier system of calculus is described. Non-reversible arithmetic is proved, and found to be the key to this calculus and other theory. Finally sequences are partitioned between finite and infinite intervals.Comment: Resubmission of 6 other submissions. 99 page

Economical rations for beef production with feeds adapted to western Kansas

Citation: Evans, William K. Economical rations for beef production with feeds adapted to western Kansas. Senior thesis, Kansas State Agricultural College, 1905.Morse Department of Special CollectionsIntroduction:The last fifteen years in Western Kansas has been a period of great change, and the stockmen and feeders have been confronted with the question of economical beef production. This has been due to the increase in population in the East, and the steady flow of immigration from the Eastern countries, moving the center of population of the United States westward, with the result that in the last ten or fifteen years the plains of Kansas have been rapidly settled up. This has been a benefit to Kansas as a state no doubt, but to the cattleman, who before this increase in population, had had unlimited range for their cattle, the result has been financial disaster to the cattle business as formerly carried on, on account of the introduction of crops. In the early days before this period of settlement began the cattlemen had unlimited range for their herds which grazed and fattened all year on the rich, palatable and nutritious buffalo grass which covered the plains, and possessing the desirable quality of curing on the ground, made, owing to the mild winters, a method of beef production that never has, nor probably never will be equaled. The buffalo grass had great fattening properties and the cattle being allowed to run until they had reached an age of four to five years were sold at a good price, and as their cost was nothing the profits were enormous, and the cattlemen grew rich. These conditions, however, could not continue always. The farmer was steadily pushing westward along the streams and taking up homesteads wherever a suitable location was found; steadily cutting down the cattleman's range and forcing him to build fences to keep his stock away from crops

Practitioner Feedback on Lung Cancer Practice Guidelines in Ontario

Purpose:Practitioner feedback (PF) surveys are sent to practitioners who care for lung cancer patients as each new practice guideline is completed. In this study, the PF was reviewed to assess the frequency of response to the surveys, the respondents’ characteristics, the nature of the feedback, and the intention to adopt the guideline in practice.Methods:Fourteen practice guidelines (PGs) were sent to Ontario practitioners treating lung cancer, and feedback on the PGs was obtained through either an eight- or 21-item survey.Results:Between 1995 and 2002, 1198 surveys were sent to 223 practitioners. The overall response rate was 58.9% but varied by specialty (radiation and medical oncologists, 67%; thoracic surgeons, 46%; respirologists, 38%), by location of practice (cancer center, 65%; community-based practice, 55%), by geographic region of the province (highest, 72%; lowest, 42%), and by PG topic (chemotherapy, 60%; radiotherapy, 63%; combined modality therapy, 52%). The response rate to the PF surveys did not decline over time. Eighty-six percent of respondents agreed with the lung cancer guidelines and indicated that they were likely or very likely to use the PGs in their practice.Conclusion:The results suggest that practitioners view the guideline development process as credible and useful to guide practice. Whether the stated intention to use the guidelines will actually translate into practice requires further study

Impact of smoking on health system costs among cancer patients in a retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada

Objective Smoking is the main modifiable cancer risk factor. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of smoking on health system costs among newly diagnosed adult patients with cancer. Specifically, costs of patients with cancer who were current smokers were compared with those of non-smokers from a publicly funded health system perspective. Methods This population-based cohort study of patients with cancer used administrative databases to identify smokers and non-smokers (1 April 2014-31 March 2016) and their healthcare costs in the 12-24 months following a cancer diagnosis. The health services included were hospitalisations, emergency room visits, drugs, home care services and physician services (from the time of diagnosis onwards). The difference in cost (ie, incremental cost) between patients with cancer who were smokers and those who were non-smokers was estimated using a generalised linear model (with log link and gamma distribution), and adjusted for age, sex, neighbourhood income, rurality, cancer site, cancer stage, geographical region and comorbidities. Results This study identified 3606 smokers and 14 911 non-smokers. Smokers were significantly younger (61 vs 65 years), more likely to be male (53%), lived in poorer neighbourhoods, had more advanced cancer stage,and were more likely to die within 1 year of diagnosis, compared with non-smokers. The regression model revealed that, on average, smokers had significantly higher monthly healthcare costs ($5091) than non-smokers ($4847), p<0.05. Conclusions Smoking status has a significant impact on healthcare costs among patients with cancer. On average, smokers incurred higher healthcare costs than non-smokers. These findings provide a further rationale for efforts to introduce evidence-based smoking cessation programmes as a standard of care for patients with cancer as they have the potential not only to improve patients' outcomes but also to reduce the economic burden of smoking on the healthcare system

TEM Cell Testing of Cable Noise Reduction Techniques From 2 MHz to 200 MHz - Part 1

This paper presents empirical results of cable noise reduction techniques as demonstrated in a TEM cell operating with radiated fields from 2 - 200 MHz. It is the first part of a two-paper series. This first paper discusses cable types and shield connections. In the second paper, the effects of load and source resistances and chassis connections are examined. For each topic, well established theories are compared to data from a real-world physical system. Finally, recommendations for minimizing cable susceptibility (and thus cable emissions) are presented. There are numerous papers and textbooks that present theoretical analyses of cable noise reduction techniques. However, empirical data is often targeted to low frequencies (e.g. 100 MHz). Additionally, a comprehensive study showing the relative effects of various noise reduction techniques is needed. These include the use of dedicated return wires, twisted wiring, cable shielding, shield connections, changing load or source impedances, and implementing load- or source-to-chassis isolation. We have created an experimental setup that emulates a real-world electrical system, while still allowing us to independently vary a host of parameters. The goal of the experiment was to determine the relative effectiveness of various noise reduction techniques when the cable is in the presence of radiated emissions from 2 MHz to 200 MHz. The electronic system (Fig. 1) consisted of two Hammond shielded electrical enclosures, one containing the source resistance, and the other containing the load resistance. The boxes were mounted on a large aluminium plate acting as the chassis. Cables connecting the two boxes measured 81 cm in length and were attached to the boxes using standard D38999 military-style connectors. The test setup is shown in Fig. 2. Electromagnetic fields were created using an HP8657B signal generator, MiniCircuits ZHL-42W-SMA amplifier, and an EMCO 5103 TEM cell. Measurements were taken using an Agilent E4401B spectrum analyzer and HP1141a differential probes

TEM Cell Testing of Cable Noise Reduction Techniques from 2 MHz to 200 MHz -- Part 2

This paper presents empirical results of cable noise reduction techniques as demonstrated in a TEM cell operating with radiated fields from 2 - 200 MHz. It is the second part of a two-paper series. The first paper discussed cable types and shield connections. In this second paper, the effects of load and source resistances and chassis connections are examined. For each topic, well established theories are compared to data from a real-world physical system. Finally, recommendations for minimizing cable susceptibility (and thus cable emissions) are presented. There are numerous papers and textbooks that present theoretical analyses of cable noise reduction techniques. However, empirical data is often targeted to low frequencies (e.g. 100 MHz). Additionally, a comprehensive study showing the relative effects of various noise reduction techniques is needed. These include the use of dedicated return wires, twisted wiring, cable shielding, shield connections, changing load or source impedances, and implementing load- or source-to-chassis isolation. We have created an experimental setup that emulates a real-world electrical system, while still allowing us to independently vary a host of parameters. The goal of the experiment was to determine the relative effectiveness of various noise reduction techniques when the cable is in the presence of radiated emissions from 2 MHz to 200 MHz

Effective media communication of disasters: Pressing problems and recommendations

Public health officials and journalists play a crucial role in disseminating information regarding natural disasters, terrorism and other human-initiated disasters. However, research suggests that journalists are unprepared to cover terrorism and many types of natural disasters, in part because of lack sufficient expertise in science and medicine and training. The objective of this research was to identify solutions to problems facing journalists and public health public information officer (PIOs) of communicating with the public during natural and human-initiated disasters

Opportunities and challenges for identifying undiagnosed Rare Disease patients through analysis of primary care records: long QT syndrome as a test case

BackgroundPatients with rare genetic diseases frequently experience significant diagnostic delays. Routinely collected data in the electronic health record (EHR) may be used to help identify patients at risk of undiagnosed conditions. Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a rare inherited cardiac condition associated with significant morbidity and premature mortality. In this study, we examine LQTS as an exemplar disease to assess if clinical features recorded in the primary care EHR can be used to develop and validate a predictive model to aid earlier detection.Methods1495 patients with an LQTS diagnostic code and 7475 propensity-score matched controls were identified from 10.5 million patients’ electronic primary care records in the UK’s Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Associated clinical features recorded before diagnosis (with p < 0.05) were incorporated into a multivariable logistic regression model, the final model was determined by backwards regression and validated by bootstrapping to determine model optimism.ResultsThe mean age at LQTS diagnosis was 58.4 (SD 19.41). 18 features were included in the final model. Discriminative accuracy, assessed by area under the curve (AUC), was 0.74, (95% CI 0.73, 0.75) (optimism 6%). Features occurring at significantly greater frequency before diagnosis included: epilepsy, palpitations, syncope, collapse, mitral valve disease and irritable bowel syndrome.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the potential to develop primary care prediction models for rare conditions, like LQTS, in routine primary care records and highlights key considerations including disease suitability, finding an appropriate linked dataset, the need for accurate case ascertainment and utilising an approach to modelling suitable for rare events