Theodore Strong and ante-bellum American mathematics

AbstractTheodore Strong was a prolific contributor to the mathematical and scientific journals of ante-bellum America. His work was not remarkable in its originality, but it dealt with mathematics that was quite sophisticated for its time and place. Strong's published work was a significant factor in the dissemination of advanced mathematics to his countrymen, and he played an important role in the education of a few mathematicians who were active in the latter part of the 19th century, most notably George William Hill

Femtolensing and Picolensing by Axion Miniclusters

Non-linear effects in the evolution of the axion field in the early Universe may lead to the formation of gravitationally bound clumps of axions, known as ``miniclusters.'' Minicluster masses and radii should be in the range $M_{\rm mc}\sim10^{-12} M_\odot$ and $R_{\rm mc} \sim 10^{10}$cm, and in plausible early-Universe scenarios a significant fraction of the mass density of the Universe may be in the form of axion miniclusters. If such axion miniclusters exist, they would have the physical properties required to be detected by ``femtolensing.''Comment: 7 pages plus 2 figures (Fig.1 avalible upon request), LaTe

Examining the patient and caregiver experience with diazepam nasal spray for seizure clusters: Results from an exit survey of a phase 3, open-label, repeat-dose safety study

BACKGROUND: Ideal rescue treatments for acute treatment of seizure clusters should be easy to administer, so it is important to assess user perceptions of these treatments. Diazepam nasal spray is designed to have a rapid, noninvasive, and socially acceptable route of administration. Patient and caregiver (including care partner) responses to surveys from a phase 3 safety study of diazepam nasal spray are reported. METHODS: The study enrolled patients aged 6-65 years with seizure clusters. Surveys distributed to patients and caregivers at study end, completion, or discontinuation collected data on comfort using diazepam nasal spray outside the home, timing of administration and return to their usual selves, and comfort of use compared with rectal diazepam. Safety was assessed. RESULTS: Of 175 patients enrolled at the October 31, 2019, interim cutoff, 158 received diazepam nasal spray. Sixty-seven (42.4%) patients and 84 (53.2%) caregivers responded to the surveys (including 35 matched pairs). Most patients (78.8%, 52/66) responded that they were very comfortable doing activities outside the home with diazepam nasal spray available; 59.4% of patients returned to their usual selves within an hour of administration. Twenty-seven (40.3%) of these patients reported self-administration, 48% doing so at the first sign of a seizure. Administration of diazepam nasal spray was rated extremely or very easy by 93.8% of caregivers. Safety profile was consistent with diazepam rectal gel; no patient discontinued owing to treatment-emergent adverse events. Nasal discomfort was typically mild and transient. Among patients who had used diazepam rectal gel, most were not at all comfortable using it outside the home (86.7%) or at home (64.5%) compared with diazepam nasal spray, whereas caregivers reported that diazepam rectal gel was not at all easy to use compared with diazepam nasal spray. CONCLUSIONS: This survey from the phase 3 safety study of diazepam nasal spray shows that patients and caregivers were satisfied with, and more comfortable using, diazepam nasal spray than rectal diazepam in public. NCT02721069

Spatial Variability in the Ratio of Interstellar Atomic Deuterium to Hydrogen. I. Observations toward delta Orionis by the Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph

Studies of the abundances of deuterium in different astrophysical sites are of fundamental importance to answering the question about how much deuterium was produced during big bang nucleosynthesis and what fraction of it was destroyed later. With this in mind, we used the Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph (IMAPS) on the ORFEUS-SPAS II mission to observe at a wavelength resolution of 4 km/s (FWHM) the L-delta and L-epsilon absorption features produced by interstellar atomic deuterium in the spectrum of delta Ori A. A chi-square analysis indicated that 0.96 < N(D I)< 1.45e15 cm^{-2} at a 90% level of confidence, and the gas is at a temperature of about 6000K. To obtain an accurate value of N(H I) needed for a determination of the atomic ratio of D to H, we measured the L-alpha absorption features in 57 spectra of delta Ori in the IUE archive. From our measurement of N(H I)= 1.56e20 cm^{-2}, we found that N(D I)/N(H I)= 7.4(+1.9,-1.3)e-6 (90% confidence). Our result for D/H contrasts with the more general finding along other lines of sight that D/H is approximately 1.5e-5. The underabundance of D toward delta Ori A is not accompanied by an overabundance of N or O relative to H, as one might expect if the gas were subjected to more stellar processing than usual.Comment: 37 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to the Astrophysical Journa

Brain mapping in a patient with congenital blindness – A case for multimodal approaches

Recent advances in basic neuroscience research across a wide range of methodologies have contributed significantly to our understanding of human cortical electrophysiology and functional brain imaging. Translation of this research into clinical neurosurgery has opened doors for advanced mapping of functionality that previously was prohibitively difficult, if not impossible. Here we present the case of a unique individual with congenital blindness and medically refractory epilepsy who underwent neurosurgical treatment of her seizures. Pre-operative evaluation presented the challenge of accurately and robustly mapping the cerebral cortex for an individual with a high probability of significant cortical re-organization. Additionally, a blind individual has unique priorities in one's ability to read Braille by touch and sense the environment primarily by sound than the non-vision impaired person. For these reasons we employed additional measures to map sensory, motor, speech, language, and auditory perception by employing a number of cortical electrophysiologic mapping and functional magnetic resonance imaging methods. Our data show promising results in the application of these adjunctive methods in the pre-operative mapping of otherwise difficult to localize, and highly variable, functional cortical areas

Efficacy of once-daily extended-release topiramate (USL255): A subgroup analysis based on the level of treatment resistance

AbstractResults from a previously conducted global phase III study (PREVAIL; NCT01142193) demonstrate the safety and efficacy of once-daily USL255, Qudexy™ XR (topiramate) extended-release capsules, as adjunctive treatment of drug-resistant partial-onset seizures (POSs). In this study, we report a post hoc analysis of PREVAIL data according to patient level of treatment resistance (based upon the number of concomitant antiepileptic drugs [AEDs] and lifetime AEDs) at baseline, with patients defined as either having “highly” drug-resistant seizures (≥2 concurrent AEDs and ≥4 lifetime AEDs) or having “less” drug-resistant seizures (1 concurrent AED or <4 lifetime AEDs) at baseline. For each subgroup, median percent reduction in POS frequency (primary endpoint), responder rate, Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGI-C), and Quality of Life in Epilepsy — Problems (QOLIE-31-P) survey were assessed. Of 249 PREVAIL patients, 115 were classified as having highly drug-resistant seizures (USL255: n=52, placebo: n=63), and 134 were classified as having less drug-resistant seizures (USL255: n=72, placebo: n=62) at baseline. For the primary endpoint, USL255 resulted in significantly better seizure outcomes compared with placebo regardless of drug-resistant status (P=.004 and P=.040 for “highly” and “less”, respectively). Responder rate was also significantly improved in patients with highly drug-resistant group (P=.023). The CGI-C scores indicated significant improvement in both subgroups (P=.003 and P=.013 for “highly” and “less”, respectively). On the QOLIE-31-P, a significant improvement on the seizure worry subscale for the group with less drug-resistant seizures was noted in USL255-treated patients compared with placebo-treated patients (P=.003); the overall score and all other subscales were not significantly different for both subgroups. We conclude that USL255 led to significant improvements across multiple outcomes compared with placebo, including in those classified as having highly drug-resistant seizures to prior treatment, making it a valuable treatment option for patients with epilepsy

Large-amplitude isothermal fluctuations and high-density dark-matter clumps

Large-amplitude isothermal fluctuations in the dark matter energy density, parameterized by \Phi\equiv\delta\rhodm/\rhodm, are studied within the framework of a spherical collapse model. For \Phi \ga 1, a fluctuation collapses in the radiation-dominated epoch and produces a dense dark-matter object. The final density of the virialized object is found to be \rho_F \approx 140\, \Phi^3 (\Phi+1) \rhoeq, where \rhoeq is the matter density at equal matter and radiation energy density. This expression is valid for the entire range of possible values of $\Phi$, both for $\Phi \gg 1$ and $\Phi \ll 1$. Some astrophysical consequences of high-density dark-matter clumps are discussed.Comment: 15 pages plus 3 figures (included at the end as a uuencoded postscript file), LaTeX, FNAL--PUB--94/055--

Microbial rRNA sequencing analysis of evaporative cooler indoor environments located in the Great Basin Desert region of the United States

Recent studies conducted in the Great Basin Desert region of the United States have shown that skin test reactivity to fungal and dust mite allergens are increased in children with asthma or allergy living in homes with evaporative coolers (EC). The objective of this study was to determine if the increased humidity previously reported in EC homes leads to varying microbial populations compared to homes with air conditioners (AC). Children with physician-diagnosed allergic rhinitis living in EC or AC environments were recruited into the study. Air samples were collected from the child's bedroom for genomic DNA extraction and metagenomic analysis of bacteria and fungi using the Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. The analysis of bacterial populations revealed no major differences between EC and AC sampling environments. The fungal populations observed in EC homes differed from AC homes. The most prevalent species discovered in AC environments belonged to the genera Cryptococcus (20%) and Aspergillus (20%). In contrast, the most common fungi identified in EC homes belonged to the order Pleosporales and included Alternaria alternata (32%) and Phoma spp. (22%). The variations in fungal populations provide preliminary evidence of the microbial burden children may be exposed to within EC environments in this region

Correlating electroconvulsive therapy response to electroencephalographic markers: Study protocol

INTRODUCTION: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective intervention for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Despite longstanding use, the underlying mechanisms of ECT are unknown, and there are no objective prognostic biomarkers that are routinely used for ECT response. Two electroencephalographic (EEG) markers, sleep slow waves and sleep spindles, could address these needs. Both sleep microstructure EEG markers are associated with synaptic plasticity, implicated in memory consolidation, and have reduced expression in depressed individuals. We hypothesize that ECT alleviates depression through enhanced expression of sleep slow waves and sleep spindles, thereby facilitating synaptic reconfiguration in pathologic neural circuits. METHODS: Correlating ECT Response to EEG Markers (CET-REM) is a single-center, prospective, observational investigation. Wireless wearable headbands with dry EEG electrodes will be utilized for at-home unattended sleep studies to allow calculation of quantitative measures of sleep slow waves (EEG SWA, 0.5-4 Hz power) and sleep spindles (density in number/minute). High-density EEG data will be acquired during ECT to quantify seizure markers. DISCUSSION: This innovative study focuses on the longitudinal relationships of sleep microstructure and ECT seizure markers over the treatment course. We anticipate that the results from this study will improve our understanding of ECT