Outcomes and characteristics of nonmelanoma skin cancers in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms on ruxolitinib.

ABSTRACT: Nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) in ruxolitinib-treated patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms behave aggressively, with adverse features and high recurrence. In our cohort, mortality from metastatic NMSC exceeded that from myelofibrosis. Vigilant skin assessment, counseling on NMSC risks, and prospective ruxolitinib-NMSC studies are crucial.

A questionnaire-based survey of patient satisfaction with dental care at two general dental practice locations.

AIM: The aim of this study was to survey patient satisfaction with dental care delivered in general practice and to compare the results with those obtained five years earlier using the same questionnaire. METHODOLOGY: A previously piloted patient satisfaction question- naire was distributed to consecutive adult patients of one dentist at two general dental practices on completion of restorative or surgical treatment. The results were compared with those achieved by the same dentist using the same questionnaire five years previously during vocational training (VT). RESULTS: Thirty-nine questionnaires were distributed at one practice and 31 at the second. Thirty (77%) were returned at the first practice and 23 (74%) at the second. There were no statistically significant differences in answers to the questions between the two practices. The two sets of results were combined and compared with results from the previous survey. There was a statistically significant improvement (P<0.05) since the first survey for attributes relating to conveying cost information. There was a moderate correlation between patient perception of professionalism, oral hygiene advice and empathy and the patient's intent on returning for further services and recommending the dentist to others. CONCLUSION: It appeared that patient satisfaction with dental care marginally increased with postgraduate experience gained over five years since VT by the dentist concerned. Patients' perception of the quality of dental care provision and their intent on re-accessing a dental service may be associated with a practitioner's professionalism, empathy and delivery of oral hygiene advice.

The importance of polarizability in the modeling of solubility: quantifying the effect of solute polarizability on the solubility of small nonpolar solutes in popular models of water.

In recent work by Paschek [J. Chem. Phys. 120, 6674 (2004)] and others [see H. Docherty et al., J. Chem. Phys. 125, 074510 (2006) for a review] it has been suggested that, when coupled to a simple Lennard-Jones model for various small nonpolar solute molecules, the most common models of water (e.g., SPC/E and TIP4P) fail to reproduce quantitatively the solubility of small nonpolar solute molecules in water due in part to failing to account for polarization of the solute molecule. Given the importance of such systems as test-case prototype models of the solubility of proteins and biomolecules, in this work, we investigate the impact of using a polarizable solute model with the SPC/E, TIP3P, TIP4P, TIP4P-Ew, and TIP4P/2005 rigid water models. Specifically we consider Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and methane as solutes. In all cases we observe that the use of a polarizable solute improves agreement between experiment and simulations, with the best agreement seen for the largest solutes, Kr, CH(4), and Xe and the modern reparametrizations of the TIP4P model, i.e., the TIP4P-Ew and TIP4P/2005 models.

An investigation of CO2 laser scleral buckling using moiré interferometry.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate suitability of moiré interferometry to assess and quantify laser-induced shrinkage of scleral collagen for buckling procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Scleral buckling of human cadaver eyes was investigated using a Coherent Ultrapulse CO2 laser. Projection moiré interferometry was employed to determine the out-of plane displacement produced by laser exposure, and in-situ optical microscopy of reference markers on the eye was used to measure in-plane shrinkage. RESULTS: Measurements based on moiré interferometry allow a three dimensional view of shape changes in the eye surface as laser treatment proceeds. Out-of-plane displacement reaches up to 1.5 mm with a single laser spot exposure. In-plane shrinkage reached a maximum of around 30%, which is similar to that reported by Sasoh et al (Ophthalmic Surg Lasers. 1998;29:410) for a Tm:YAG laser. CONCLUSION: The moiré technique is found to be suitable for quantifying the effects of CO2 laser scleral shrinkage and buckling. This can be further developed to provide a standardized method for experimental investigations of other laser sources for scleral shrinkage.

One-step photoembossing for submicrometer surface relief structures in liquid crystal semiconductors.

We report a new single-step method to directly imprint nanometer-scale structures on photoreactive organic semiconductors. A surface relief grating is spontaneously formed when a light-emitting, liquid crystalline, and semiconducting thin film is irradiated by patterned light generated using a phase mask. Grating formation requires no postannealing nor wet etching so there is potential for high-throughput fabrication. The structured film is cross-linked for robustness. Gratings deeper than the original film thickness are made with periods as small as 265 nm. Grating formation is attributed to mass transfer, enhanced by self-assembly, from dark to illuminated regions. A photovoltaic device incorporating the grating is discussed.

Hydrogen bonding and induced dipole moments in water: predictions from the Gaussian charge polarizable model and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics.

We compare a new classical water model, which features Gaussian charges and polarizability (GCPM) with ab initio Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) simulations. We compare the total dipole moment, the total dipole moment distribution, and degree of hydrogen bonding at ambient to supercritical conditions. We also compared the total dipole moment calculated from both the electron density (partitioning the electron density among molecules based on a zero electron flux condition), and from the center of localized Wannier function centers (WFCs). Compared to CPMD, we found that GCPM overpredicts the dipole moment derived by partitioning the electron density and underpredicts that obtained from the WFCs, but exhibits similar trends and distribution of values. We also found that GCPM predicted similar degrees of hydrogen bonding compared to CPMD and has a similar structure.

The justification of mathematical statements.

The uncompromising ethos of pure mathematics in the early post-war period was that any theorem should be provided with a proof which the reader could and should check. Two things have made this no longer realistic: (i) the appearance of increasingly long and complicated proofs and (ii) the involvement of computers. This paper discusses what compromises the mathematical community needs to make as a result.