Experimental observation of precursor solitons in a flowing complex plasma

The excitation of precursor solitons ahead of a rapidly moving object in a fluid, a spectacular phenomenon in hydrodynamics that has often been observed ahead of moving ships, has surprisingly not been investigated in plasmas where the fluid model holds good for low frequency excitations such as ion acoustic waves. In this Rapid Communication we report an experimental observation of precursor solitons in a flowing dusty plasma. The nonlinear solitary dust acoustic waves (DAWs) are excited by a supersonic mass flow of the dust particles over an electrostatic potential hill. In a frame where the fluid is stationary and the hill is moving the solitons propagate in the upstream direction as precursors while wake structures consisting of linear DAWs are seen to propagate in the downstream region. A theoretical explanation of these excitations based on the forced Korteweg-deVries model equation is provided and their practical implications in situations involving a charged object moving in a plasma are discussed.

Centrality-Dependent Modification of Jet-Production Rates in Deuteron-Gold Collisions at √[s(NN)]=200 GeV

Jet production rates are measured in p+p and d+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV recorded in 2008 with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Jets are reconstructed using the R=0.3 anti-k_{t} algorithm from energy deposits in the electromagnetic calorimeter and charged tracks in multiwire proportional chambers, and the jet transverse momentum (p_{T}) spectra are corrected for the detector response. Spectra are reported for jets with 12<p_{T}<50  GeV/c, within a pseudorapidity acceptance of |η|<0.3. The nuclear-modification factor (R_{dAu}) values for 0%-100% d+Au events are found to be consistent with unity, constraining the role of initial state effects on jet production. However, the centrality-selected R_{dAu} values and central-to-peripheral ratios (R_{CP}) show large, p_{T}-dependent deviations from unity, challenging the conventional models that relate hard-process rates and soft-particle production in collisions involving nuclei.

Abstract PD4-06: Acupressure for persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors

Background: Persistent fatigue is a common and debilitating symptom in breast cancer survivors (BCS), yet treatments remain limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of two types of self-administered acupressure on fatigue versus usual care in BCS.

Methods: This was a 10-week randomized trial that enrolled adult female BCS (stage 0-III), who had completed cancer treatments at least 12 months previously and who reported persistent mild-moderate fatigue (≥ 4 on the Brief Fatigue Inventory [BFI]). BCS were randomized equally into relaxation acupressure (RA), stimulating acupressure (SA) or usual care (UC). The primary endpoint was change in BFI from baseline to week 6 when acupressure was stopped and at week 10 to assess carryover effects of acupressure. Secondary analyses were conducted on sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and 14-day sleep diaries; quality of life was assessed with the Long-Term Quality of Life in BCS (LTQL). Intent-to-treat analyses were conducted using linear mixed models.

Results: 288 BCS were randomized (98 RA, 94 SA, and 96 UC). 228 BCS completed the 6-week visit and 223 the 10-week visit (71 RA, 69 SA, and 83 UC). There were no significant group differences on baseline sociodemographic, clinical characteristics, BFI, PSQI, sleep diary parameters, or LTQL. At week 6 the mean change in BFI from baseline was significantly lower in the RA and SA arms than UC (RA = -2.57 ± 1.5, SA = -1.98 ± 1.5, and UC = -1.07 ± 1.6; p &lt; 0.001 for both RA and SA vs. UC), but there was no significant difference between acupressure arms (p = 0.29). At week 10 the mean change in BFI from baseline ± SD was maintained and continued to be lower in RA and SA arms than UC (RA = -2.27 ± 1.4, SA = -1.96 ± 1.5, and UC = -0.99 ± 1.5; p &lt; 0.001 for both RA and SA vs. UC), but no significant difference between acupressure arms (p &gt;0.99). At week 6 the mean change in PSQI from baseline mean ± SD for RA = -1.93 ± 3.3 was significantly different from UC = -0.46 ± 3.1 (p = 0.03) but not SA = -1.34 ± 3.2 (p = 0.96). At week10 there was no significant difference on the PSQI between arms (RA vs. UC, p = 0.40; SA vs. UC, p &lt;= .99; RA vs. SA, p = 0.79); however PSQI scores remained lower and stable in the RA arm. There were no significant differences between the three arms at any time point for the sleep diary parameters sleep efficiency, total sleep time, sleep onset latency, or wake after sleep onset. Women in the RA arm were significantly improved versus UC for three of four quality of life subscales at both 6- and 10-week visits (somatic, p=0.03week 6, p=0.04 week 10; physical fitness, p=0.04 week 6, p=0.01 week 10; and social support, p=0.03 week 6, p=0.04 week 10; spirituality, p=0.55 week 6, p=0.17 week 10). The SA group was not significantly different from UC for any subscale at any time point.

Conclusions: Both acupressure arms significantly reduced fatigue compared to UC, but only RA had a significant effect on improving sleep quality and quality of life in BCS. Improvements in fatigue, sleep, and quality of life continued to persist for 4 weeks after cessation of acupressure. Self-administered RA offers an inexpensive easy to learn method to manage fatigue, sleep quality and overall quality of life in BCS with persistent fatigue.

Citation Format: Zick SM, Wyatt GK, Murphy SL, Arnedt JT, Sen A, Harris RE. Acupressure for persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD4-06.

User perception and experience of the introduction of a novel critical care patient viewer in the ICU setting

OBJECTIVE

Failure to rapidly identify high-value information due to inappropriate output may alter user acceptance and satisfaction. The information needs for different intensive care unit (ICU) providers are not the same. This can obstruct successful implementation of electronic medical record (EMR) systems. We evaluated the implementation experience and satisfaction of providers using a novel EMR interface-based on the information needs of ICU providers-in the context of an existing EMR system.

METHODS

This before-after study was performed in the ICU setting at two tertiary care hospitals from October 2013 through November 2014. Surveys were delivered to ICU providers before and after implementation of the novel EMR interface. Overall satisfaction and acceptance was reported for both interfaces.

RESULTS

A total of 246 before (existing EMR) and 115 after (existing EMR+novel EMR interface) surveys were analyzed. 14% of respondents were prescribers and 86% were non-prescribers. Non-prescribers were more satisfied with the existing EMR, whereas prescribers were more satisfied with the novel EMR interface. Both groups reported easier data gathering, routine tasks & rounding, and fostering of team work with the novel EMR interface. This interface was the primary tool for 18% of respondents after implementation and 73% of respondents intended to use it further. Non-prescribers reported an intention to use this novel interface as their primary tool for information gathering.

CONCLUSION

Compliance and acceptance of new system is not related to previous duration of work in ICU, but ameliorates with the length of EMR interface usage. Task-specific and role-specific considerations are necessary for design and successful implementation of a EMR interface. The difference in user workflows causes disparity of the way of EMR data usage.

Morphology, epidemiology, and phylogeny of Babesia: An overview

Babesiosis is a tick-borne hemoprotozoan disease of domestic and wild animals. The disease is caused by various species of Babesia and some species of Babesia have also zoonotic significance. The parasite in vertebrate hosts’ remains in erythrocytes and the morphology of Babesia spp. is not uniform in all vertebrate hosts. With the advancement of science, particularly the use of molecular techniques made it easy to study the evolution of parasites and thereby reclassifying Babesia spp. as per their phylogeny and to establish the relation of one isolate of Babesia spp. with isolates throughout the world. An attempt also made in this communication to enlighten the readers regarding relationship of one isolate of Babesia spp. of a particular area to another isolate of Babesia spp. of that area or other parts of the world and phylogenetic classification of Babesia spp. was also discussed. It has been concluded that as the study on Babesia is complex in nature so monitoring of the infection with the use of modern techniques is very much needed to control the infection. Second, more research work on phylogenetic relationship of Babesia spp. isolated from different hosts is needed, particularly in India to know the evolution of Babesia spp. of a particular area, as it has great importance to study the trans boundary diseases of animals.

Dusty Plasma Experimental (DPEx) device for complex plasma experiments with flow

A versatile table-top dusty plasma experimental device to study flow induced excitations of linear and nonlinear waves/structures in a complex plasma is presented. In this Π-shaped apparatus, a DC glow discharge plasma is produced between a disc shaped anode and a grounded long cathode tray by applying a high voltage DC in the background of a neutral gas (argon) and subsequently a dusty plasma is created by introducing micron sized dust particles that get charged and levitated in the sheath region. A flow of the dust particles is induced in a controlled manner by adjusting the pumping speed and the gas flow rate into the device. A full characterisation of the plasma, using Langmuir and emissive probe data, and that of the dusty plasma using particle tracking data with the help of an idl based (super) Particle Identification and Tracking (sPIT) code is reported. Experimental results on the variation of the dust flow velocity as a function of the neutral pressure and the gas flow rate are given. The neutral drag force acting on the particles and the Epstein coefficient are estimated from the initial acceleration of the particles. The potential experimental capabilities of the device for conducting fundamental studies of flow induced instabilities are discussed.

Continuous hemodynamic monitoring in acute stroke: an exploratory analysis

INTRODUCTION

Non-invasive, continuous hemodynamic monitoring is entering the clinical arena. The primary objective of this study was to test the feasibility of such monitoring in a pilot sample of Emergency Department (ED) stroke patients. Secondary objectives included analysis of hemodynamic variability and correlation of continuous blood pressure measurements with standard measurements.

METHODS

This study was a secondary analysis of 7 stroke patients from a prospectively collected data set of patients that received 2 hours of hemodynamic monitoring in the ED. Stroke patients were included if hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke was confirmed by neuroimaging, and symptom onset was within 24 hours. They were excluded for the presence of a stroke mimic or transient ischemic attack. Monitoring was performed using the Nexfin device (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine CA).

RESULTS

The mean age of the cohort was 71 ± 17 years, 43% were male, and the mean National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was 6.9 ± 5.5. Two patients had hemorrhagic stroke. We obtained 42,456 hemodynamic data points, including beat-to-beat blood pressure measurements with variability of 18 mmHg and cardiac indices ranging from 1.8 to 3.6 l/min/m2. The correlation coefficient between continuous blood pressure measurements with the Nexfin device and standard ED readings was 0.83.

CONCLUSION

This exploratory investigation revealed that continuous, noninvasive monitoring in the ED is feasible in acute stroke. Further research is currently underway to determine how such monitoring may impact outcomes in stroke or replace the need for invasive monitoring.

Measurements of Elliptic and Triangular Flow in High-Multiplicity 3He+Au Collisions at √(s(NN))=200 GeV

We present the first measurement of elliptic (v(2)) and triangular (v(3)) flow in high-multiplicity (3)He+Au collisions at √(s(NN))=200  GeV. Two-particle correlations, where the particles have a large separation in pseudorapidity, are compared in (3)He+Au and in p+p collisions and indicate that collective effects dominate the second and third Fourier components for the correlations observed in the (3)He+Au system. The collective behavior is quantified in terms of elliptic v(2) and triangular v(3) anisotropy coefficients measured with respect to their corresponding event planes. The v(2) values are comparable to those previously measured in d+Au collisions at the same nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy. Comparisons with various theoretical predictions are made, including to models where the hot spots created by the impact of the three (3)He nucleons on the Au nucleus expand hydrodynamically to generate the triangular flow. The agreement of these models with data may indicate the formation of low-viscosity quark-gluon plasma even in these small collision systems.

Primary soft tissue Ewing's sarcoma of the maxillary sinus in elderly patients: presentation, management and prognosis

Nonosseous or soft tissue Ewing's sarcoma is a rare form of Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumour that seldom affects the head and neck region. Involvement of the nose and paranasal sinuses is extremely uncommon, with only eight of such patients being reported to date, mostly affecting adolescents and young adults. To our knowledge, this study is the first comprehensive report of primary soft tissue Ewing's sarcoma involving the paranasal sinuses in an elderly patient who successfully completed treatment. We herein discuss the pathogenesis, management and factors affecting the prognosis of this rare group of tumours involving the nose and paranasal sinuses, in relation to the available literature.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of 2-chloroethylnitrosourea derivatives as antitumor agents

AIM

To evaluate potential of Naphthal-NU, Napro-NU and 5-Nitro-naphthal-NU, 2-chloroethylnitrosourea compounds with substituted naphthalimide in the pre-clinical studies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In vitro cytotoxicity of three nitrosoureas was determined in human and mouse tumor cell lines by MTT assays. In vivo anti-tumor potential was evaluated in Sarcoma-180 (S-180) and Ehrlich's carcinoma (EC) solid tumors. Apoptosis in S-180 cells was analyzed by using Annexin V-Propidium Iodide (PI). Histological analysis of liver and kidney was performed at optimum dose (50 mg/kg). Expression status of CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD25(+) cells in treated mouse were also examined.

RESULTS

Significant tumor growth retardation by the compounds was noted in early and advanced disease groups, as the life span of drug treated mice increased considerably. Drug induced killing was observed by induction of apoptosis. Naphthal-NU and 5-Nitro-naphthal-NU were effective to normalize the tumor induced structural abnormalities of liver and kidney. The compounds have no immunotoxic effect on CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells and down regulate CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells.

CONCLUSION

Overall data holds promise for the antitumor activity with lower toxicity of the compounds that can be utilized for the treatment of human malignant tumors.