Executive function, approach sensitivity, and emotional decision making as influences on risk behaviors in young adults.

PubMed

Patrick, Megan E; Blair, Clancy; Maggs, Jennifer L

2008-05-01

Relations among executive function, behavioral approach sensitivity, emotional decision making, and risk behaviors (alcohol use, drug use, and delinquent behavior) were examined in single female college students (N = 72). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated a significant Approach Sensitivity x Working Memory interaction in which higher levels of alcohol use were associated with the combination of greater approach tendency and better working memory. This Approach Sensitivity x Working Memory interaction was also marginally significant for drug use and delinquency. Poor emotional decision making, as measured by a gambling task, was also associated with higher levels of alcohol use, but only for individuals low in inhibitory control. Findings point to the complexity of relations among aspects of self-regulation and personality and provide much needed data on neuropsychological correlates of risk behaviors in a nonclinical population.

High-sensitivity brain SPECT system using cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor detector and 4-pixel matched collimator.

PubMed

Suzuki, Atsuro; Takeuchi, Wataru; Ishitsu, Takafumi; Tsuchiya, Katsutoshi; Morimoto, Yuichi; Ueno, Yuichiro; Kobashi, Keiji; Kubo, Naoki; Shiga, Tohru; Tamaki, Nagara

2013-11-07

For high-sensitivity brain imaging, we have developed a two-head single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system using a CdTe semiconductor detector and 4-pixel matched collimator (4-PMC). The term, '4-PMC' indicates that the collimator hole size is matched to a 2 × 2 array of detector pixels. By contrast, a 1-pixel matched collimator (1-PMC) is defined as a collimator whose hole size is matched to one detector pixel. The performance of the higher-sensitivity 4-PMC was experimentally compared with that of the 1-PMC. The sensitivities of the 1-PMC and 4-PMC were 70 cps/MBq/head and 220 cps/MBq/head, respectively. The SPECT system using the 4-PMC provides superior image resolution in cold and hot rods phantom with the same activity and scan time to that of the 1-PMC. In addition, with half the usual scan time the 4-PMC provides comparable image quality to that of the 1-PMC. Furthermore, (99m)Tc-ECD brain perfusion images of healthy volunteers obtained using the 4-PMC demonstrated acceptable image quality for clinical diagnosis. In conclusion, our CdTe SPECT system equipped with the higher-sensitivity 4-PMC can provide better spatial resolution than the 1-PMC either in half the imaging time with the same administered activity, or alternatively, in the same imaging time with half the activity.

Preparation of pH-sensitive poly(glycidol) derivatives with varying hydrophobicities: their ability to sensitize stable liposomes to pH.

PubMed

Sakaguchi, Naoki; Kojima, Chie; Harada, Atsushi; Kono, Kenji

2008-05-01

We have previously shown that modification with succinylated poly(glycidol) (SucPG) provides stable egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (EYPC) liposomes with pH-sensitive fusogenic property. Toward production of efficient pH-sensitive liposomes, in this study, we newly prepared three carboxylated poly(glycidol) derivatives with varying hydrophobicities by reacting poly(glycidol) with glutaric anhydride, 3-methylglutaric anhydride, and 1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylic anhydride, respectively, designated as GluPG, MGluPG, and CHexPG. Correlation between side-chain structures of these polymers and their respective abilities to sensitize stable liposomes to pH was investigated. These polymers are soluble in water at neutral pH but became water-insoluble in weakly acidic conditions. The pH at which the polymer precipitated was higher in the order SucPG < GluPG < MGluPG < CHexPG, which is consistent with the number of carbon atoms of these polymers' side chains. Although CHexPG destabilized EYPC liposomes even at neutral pH, attachment of other polymers provided pH-sensitive properties to the liposomes. The liposomes bearing polymers with higher hydrophobicity exhibited more intense responses, such as content release and membrane fusion, at mildly acidic pH and achieved more efficient cytoplasmic delivery of membrane-impermeable dye molecules. As a result, modification with appropriate hydrophobicity, MGluPG, produced highly potent pH-sensitive liposomes, which might be useful for efficient cytoplasmic delivery of bioactive molecules, such as proteins and genes.

A novel photonic crystal fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for enhancing refractive index measurement sensitivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yong; Xia, Feng; Hu, Hai-feng; Chen, Mao-qing

2017-11-01

A novel refractive index (RI) sensor based on photonic crystal fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (PCF-MZI) was proposed. It was realized by cascading a section of PCF with half-taper collapse regions (HTCRs) between two single mode fibers (SMFs). The relationship between RI sensitivity and interference length of the PCF-MZI was firstly investigated. Both simulation and experimental results showed that RI sensitivity increased with the increase of interference length. Afterwards, influence of HTCR parameters on RI sensitivity was experimentally investigated to further improve the sensitivity. With intensification of arc discharge intensity in HTCR fabrication process, HTCR with larger maximum taper diameter and longer collapsed region length was obtained, which enhanced evanescent field of the PCF-MZI and then generated higher RI sensitivity. Consequently, a high RI sensitivity of 181.96 nm/refractive index unit (RIU) was achieved in the RI range of 1.3333-1.3574. Increasing arc discharge intensity in HTCR fabrication process has the capacity to improve RI sensitivity of PCF-MZI and meanwhile provides higher mechanical strength and longer sensor life compared to the traditional method of tapering the fiber, which improves the RI sensitivity at the cost of reducing mechanical strength of the sensor. This PCF-MZI was characterized by high RI sensitivity, ease of fabrication, high mechanical strength, and robustness.

Joint inversion of high-frequency surface waves with fundamental and higher modes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luo, Y.; Xia, J.; Liu, J.; Liu, Q.; Xu, S.

2007-01-01

Joint inversion of multimode surface waves for estimating the shear (S)-wave velocity has received much attention in recent years. In this paper, we first analyze sensitivity of phase velocities of multimodes of surface waves for a six-layer earth model, and then we invert surface-wave dispersion curves of the theoretical model and a real-world example. Sensitivity analysis shows that fundamental mode data are more sensitive to the S-wave velocities of shallow layers and are concentrated on a very narrow frequency band, while higher mode data are more sensitive to the parameters of relatively deeper layers and are distributed over a wider frequency band. These properties provide a foundation of using a multimode joint inversion to define S-wave velocities. Inversion results of both synthetic data and a real-world example demonstrate that joint inversion with the damped least-square method and the singular-value decomposition technique to invert high-frequency surface waves with fundamental and higher mode data simultaneously can effectively reduce the ambiguity and improve the accuracy of S-wave velocities. ?? 2007.

Higher-eigenmode piezoresponse force microscopy: a path towards increased sensitivity and the elimination of electrostatic artifacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, Gordon A.; DelRio, Frank W.; Killgore, Jason P.

2018-03-01

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and related bias-induced strain sensing atomic force microscopy techniques provide unique characterization of material-functionality at the nanoscale. However, these techniques are prone to unwanted artifact signals that influence the vibration amplitude of the detecting cantilever. Here, we show that higher-order contact resonance eigenmodes can be readily excited in PFM. The benefits of using the higher-order eigenmodes include absolute sensitivity enhancement, electrostatic artifact reduction, and lateral versus normal strain decoupling. This approach can significantly increase the proportion of total signal arising from desired strain (as opposed to non-strain artifacts) in measurements with cantilevers exhibiting typical, few N m‑1 spring constants to cantilevers up to 1000× softer than typically used.

Joint inversion of fundamental and higher mode Rayleigh waves

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luo, Y.-H.; Xia, J.-H.; Liu, J.-P.; Liu, Q.-S.

2008-01-01

In this paper, we analyze the characteristics of the phase velocity of fundamental and higher mode Rayleigh waves in a six-layer earth model. The results show that fundamental mode is more sensitive to the shear velocities of shallow layers (< 7 m) and concentrated in a very narrow band (around 18 Hz) while higher modes are more sensitive to the parameters of relatively deeper layers and distributed over a wider frequency band. These properties provide a foundation of using a multi-mode joint inversion to define S-wave velocity. Inversion results of both synthetic data and a real-world example demonstrate that joint inversion with the damped least squares method and the SVD (Singular Value Decomposition) technique to invert Rayleigh waves of fundamental and higher modes can effectively reduce the ambiguity and improve the accuracy of inverted S-wave velocities.

High sensitivity phase retrieval method in grating-based x-ray phase contrast imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Zhao; Gao, Kun; Chen, Jian

2015-02-15

Purpose: Grating-based x-ray phase contrast imaging is considered as one of the most promising techniques for future medical imaging. Many different methods have been developed to retrieve phase signal, among which the phase stepping (PS) method is widely used. However, further practical implementations are hindered, due to its complex scanning mode and high radiation dose. In contrast, the reverse projection (RP) method is a novel fast and low dose extraction approach. In this contribution, the authors present a quantitative analysis of the noise properties of the refraction signals retrieved by the two methods and compare their sensitivities. Methods: Using themore » error propagation formula, the authors analyze theoretically the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the refraction images retrieved by the two methods. Then, the sensitivities of the two extraction methods are compared under an identical exposure dose. Numerical experiments are performed to validate the theoretical results and provide some quantitative insight. Results: The SNRs of the two methods are both dependent on the system parameters, but in different ways. Comparison between their sensitivities reveals that for the refraction signal, the RP method possesses a higher sensitivity, especially in the case of high visibility and/or at the edge of the object. Conclusions: Compared with the PS method, the RP method has a superior sensitivity and provides refraction images with a higher SNR. Therefore, one can obtain highly sensitive refraction images in grating-based phase contrast imaging. This is very important for future preclinical and clinical implementations.« less

Fat-suppressed 3D spoiled gradient-echo MRI and MDCT arthrography of articular cartilage in patients with hip dysplasia.

PubMed

Nishii, Takashi; Tanaka, Hisashi; Nakanishi, Katsuyuki; Sugano, Nobuhiko; Miki, Hidenobu; Yoshikawa, Hideki

2005-08-01

Our objective was to assess the diagnostic ability of MDCT arthrography for acetabular and femoral cartilage lesions in patients with hip dysplasia. A disorder of the articular cartilage was evaluated in 20 hips of 18 patients with acetabular dysplasia who did not have osteoarthritis or who had early stage osteoarthritis before undergoing pelvic osteotomy surgery. The findings on fat-suppressed 3D fast spoiled gradient-echo MRI and MDCT arthrography of the hip were evaluated by two independent observers, and sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were determined using arthroscopic findings as the standard of reference. Kappa values were calculated to quantify the level of interobserver agreement. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of any cartilage disorder (grade 1 or higher) were (observer 1/observer 2) 49%/67% and 89%/76%, respectively, on MRI, and 67%/67% and 89%/82%, respectively, on CT arthrography. The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of cartilage lesions with substance loss (grade 2 or higher) were (observer 1/observer 2) 47%/53% and 92%/87%, respectively, on MRI, and 70%/79% and 93%/94%, respectively, on CT arthrography. CT arthrography provided significantly higher sensitivity in the detection of grade 2 or higher lesions than MRI for both observers. Interobserver agreement in the detection of grade 2 or higher cartilage lesions was moderate (kappa = 0.53) on MRI and substantial (kappa = 0.78) on CT. MDCT arthrography is a sensitive and reproducible method for assessing articular cartilage lesions with substance loss in patients with hip dysplasia.

Ultra-sensitive probe of spectral line structure and detection of isotopic oxygen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garner, Richard M.; Dharamsi, A. N.; Khan, M. Amir

2018-01-01

We discuss a new method of investigating and obtaining quantitative behavior of higher harmonic (> 2f) wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) based on the signal structure. It is shown that the spectral structure of higher harmonic WMS signals, quantified by the number of zero crossings and turnings points, can have increased sensitivity to ambient conditions or line-broadening effects from changes in temperature, pressure, or optical depth. The structure of WMS signals, characterized by combinations of signal magnitude and spectral locations of turning points and zero crossings, provides a unique scale that quantifies lineshape parameters and, thus, useful in optimization of measurements obtained from multi-harmonic WMS signals. We demonstrate this by detecting weaker rotational-vibrational transitions of isotopic atmospheric oxygen (16O18O) in the near-infrared region where higher harmonic WMS signals are more sensitive contrary to their signal-to-noise ratio considerations. The proposed approach based on spectral structure provides the ability to investigate and quantify signals not only at linecenter but also in the wing region of the absorption profile. This formulation is particularly useful in tunable diode laser spectroscopy and ultra-precision laser-based sensors where absorption signal profile carries information of quantities of interest, e.g., concentration, velocity, or gas collision dynamics, etc.

Fragment-based prediction of skin sensitization using recursive partitioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Jing; Zheng, Mingyue; Wang, Yong; Shen, Qiancheng; Luo, Xiaomin; Jiang, Hualiang; Chen, Kaixian

2011-09-01

Skin sensitization is an important toxic endpoint in the risk assessment of chemicals. In this paper, structure-activity relationships analysis was performed on the skin sensitization potential of 357 compounds with local lymph node assay data. Structural fragments were extracted by GASTON (GrAph/Sequence/Tree extractiON) from the training set. Eight fragments with accuracy significantly higher than 0.73 ( p < 0.1) were retained to make up an indicator descriptor fragment. The fragment descriptor and eight other physicochemical descriptors closely related to the endpoint were calculated to construct the recursive partitioning tree (RP tree) for classification. The balanced accuracy of the training set, test set I, and test set II in the leave-one-out model were 0.846, 0.800, and 0.809, respectively. The results highlight that fragment-based RP tree is a preferable method for identifying skin sensitizers. Moreover, the selected fragments provide useful structural information for exploring sensitization mechanisms, and RP tree creates a graphic tree to identify the most important properties associated with skin sensitization. They can provide some guidance for designing of drugs with lower sensitization level.

Resting spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity and cardiac autonomic control in anabolic androgenic steroid users

PubMed Central

dos Santos, Marcelo R.; Sayegh, Ana L.C.; Armani, Rafael; Costa-Hong, Valéria; de Souza, Francis R.; Toschi-Dias, Edgar; Bortolotto, Luiz A.; Yonamine, Mauricio; Negrão, Carlos E.; Alves, Maria-Janieire N.N.

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Misuse of anabolic androgenic steroids in athletes is a strategy used to enhance strength and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. However, its abuse leads to an imbalance in muscle sympathetic nerve activity, increased vascular resistance, and increased blood pressure. However, the mechanisms underlying these alterations are still unknown. Therefore, we tested whether anabolic androgenic steroids could impair resting baroreflex sensitivity and cardiac sympathovagal control. In addition, we evaluate pulse wave velocity to ascertain the arterial stiffness of large vessels. METHODS: Fourteen male anabolic androgenic steroid users and 12 nonusers were studied. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate were recorded. Baroreflex sensitivity was estimated by the sequence method, and cardiac autonomic control by analysis of the R-R interval. Pulse wave velocity was measured using a noninvasive automatic device. RESULTS: Mean spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity, baroreflex sensitivity to activation of the baroreceptors, and baroreflex sensitivity to deactivation of the baroreceptors were significantly lower in users than in nonusers. In the spectral analysis of heart rate variability, high frequency activity was lower, while low frequency activity was higher in users than in nonusers. Moreover, the sympathovagal balance was higher in users. Users showed higher pulse wave velocity than nonusers showing arterial stiffness of large vessels. Single linear regression analysis showed significant correlations between mean blood pressure and baroreflex sensitivity and pulse wave velocity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence for lower baroreflex sensitivity and sympathovagal imbalance in anabolic androgenic steroid users. Moreover, anabolic androgenic steroid users showed arterial stiffness. Together, these alterations might be the mechanisms triggering the increased blood pressure in this population. PMID:29791601

Resting spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity and cardiac autonomic control in anabolic androgenic steroid users.

PubMed

Santos, Marcelo R Dos; Sayegh, Ana L C; Armani, Rafael; Costa-Hong, Valéria; Souza, Francis R de; Toschi-Dias, Edgar; Bortolotto, Luiz A; Yonamine, Mauricio; Negrão, Carlos E; Alves, Maria-Janieire N N

2018-05-21

Misuse of anabolic androgenic steroids in athletes is a strategy used to enhance strength and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. However, its abuse leads to an imbalance in muscle sympathetic nerve activity, increased vascular resistance, and increased blood pressure. However, the mechanisms underlying these alterations are still unknown. Therefore, we tested whether anabolic androgenic steroids could impair resting baroreflex sensitivity and cardiac sympathovagal control. In addition, we evaluate pulse wave velocity to ascertain the arterial stiffness of large vessels. Fourteen male anabolic androgenic steroid users and 12 nonusers were studied. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate were recorded. Baroreflex sensitivity was estimated by the sequence method, and cardiac autonomic control by analysis of the R-R interval. Pulse wave velocity was measured using a noninvasive automatic device. Mean spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity, baroreflex sensitivity to activation of the baroreceptors, and baroreflex sensitivity to deactivation of the baroreceptors were significantly lower in users than in nonusers. In the spectral analysis of heart rate variability, high frequency activity was lower, while low frequency activity was higher in users than in nonusers. Moreover, the sympathovagal balance was higher in users. Users showed higher pulse wave velocity than nonusers showing arterial stiffness of large vessels. Single linear regression analysis showed significant correlations between mean blood pressure and baroreflex sensitivity and pulse wave velocity. Our results provide evidence for lower baroreflex sensitivity and sympathovagal imbalance in anabolic androgenic steroid users. Moreover, anabolic androgenic steroid users showed arterial stiffness. Together, these alterations might be the mechanisms triggering the increased blood pressure in this population.

Tissue Variability and Antennas for Power Transfer to Wireless Implantable Medical Devices.

PubMed

Bocan, Kara N; Mickle, Marlin H; Sejdic, Ervin

2017-01-01

The design of effective transcutaneous systems demands the consideration of inevitable variations in tissue characteristics, which vary across body areas, among individuals, and over time. The purpose of this paper was to design and evaluate several printed antenna topologies for ultrahigh frequency (UHF) transcutaneous power transfer to implantable medical devices, and to investigate the effects of variations in tissue properties on dipole and loop topologies. Here, we show that a loop antenna topology provides the greatest achievable gain with the smallest implanted antenna, while a dipole system provides higher impedance for conjugate matching and the ability to increase gain with a larger external antenna. In comparison to the dipole system, the loop system exhibits greater sensitivity to changes in tissue structure and properties in terms of power gain, but provides higher gain when the separation is on the order of the smaller antenna dimension. The dipole system was shown to provide higher gain than the loop system at greater implant depths for the same implanted antenna area, and was less sensitive to variations in tissue properties and structure in terms of power gain at all investigated implant depths. The results show the potential of easily-fabricated, low-cost printed antenna topologies for UHF transcutaneous power, and the importance of environmental considerations in choosing the antenna topology.

Tissue Variability and Antennas for Power Transfer to Wireless Implantable Medical Devices

PubMed Central

Bocan, Kara N.; Mickle, Marlin H.

2017-01-01

The design of effective transcutaneous systems demands the consideration of inevitable variations in tissue characteristics, which vary across body areas, among individuals, and over time. The purpose of this paper was to design and evaluate several printed antenna topologies for ultrahigh frequency (UHF) transcutaneous power transfer to implantable medical devices, and to investigate the effects of variations in tissue properties on dipole and loop topologies. Here, we show that a loop antenna topology provides the greatest achievable gain with the smallest implanted antenna, while a dipole system provides higher impedance for conjugate matching and the ability to increase gain with a larger external antenna. In comparison to the dipole system, the loop system exhibits greater sensitivity to changes in tissue structure and properties in terms of power gain, but provides higher gain when the separation is on the order of the smaller antenna dimension. The dipole system was shown to provide higher gain than the loop system at greater implant depths for the same implanted antenna area, and was less sensitive to variations in tissue properties and structure in terms of power gain at all investigated implant depths. The results show the potential of easily-fabricated, low-cost printed antenna topologies for UHF transcutaneous power, and the importance of environmental considerations in choosing the antenna topology. PMID:29018637

Distribution and determinants of pneumonia diagnosis using Integrated Management of Childhood Illness guidelines: a nationally representative study in Malawi.

PubMed

Uwemedimo, Omolara T; Lewis, Todd P; Essien, Elsie A; Chan, Grace J; Nsona, Humphreys; Kruk, Margaret E; Leslie, Hannah H

2018-01-01

Pneumonia remains the leading cause of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy was developed to standardise care in low-income and middle-income countries for major childhood illnesses and can effectively improve healthcare worker performance. Suboptimal clinical evaluation can result in missed diagnoses and excess morbidity and mortality. We estimate the sensitivity of pneumonia diagnosis and investigate its determinants among children in Malawi. Data were obtained from the 2013-2014 Service Provision Assessment survey, a census of health facilities in Malawi that included direct observation of care and re-examination of children by trained observers. We calculated sensitivity of pneumonia diagnosis and used multilevel log-binomial regression to assess factors associated with diagnostic sensitivity. 3136 clinical visits for children 2-59 months old were observed at 742 health facilities. Healthcare workers completed an average of 30% (SD 13%) of IMCI guidelines in each encounter. 573 children met the IMCI criteria for pneumonia; 118 (21%) were correctly diagnosed. Advanced practice clinicians were more likely than other providers to diagnose pneumonia correctly (adjusted relative risk 2.00, 95% CI 1.21 to 3.29). Clinical quality was strongly associated with correct diagnosis: sensitivity was 23% in providers at the 75th percentile for guideline adherence compared with 14% for those at the 25th percentile. Contextual factors, facility structural readiness, and training or supervision were not associated with sensitivity. Care quality for Malawian children is poor, with low guideline adherence and missed diagnosis for four of five children with pneumonia. Better sensitivity is associated with provider type and higher adherence to IMCI. Existing interventions such as training and supportive supervision are associated with higher guideline adherence, but are insufficient to meaningfully improve sensitivity. Innovative and scalable quality improvement interventions are needed to strengthen health systems and reduce avoidable child mortality.

Stability and sensitivity of ABR flow control protocols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Wie K.; Kim, Yuseok; Chiussi, Fabio; Toh, Chai-Keong

1998-10-01

This tutorial paper surveys the important issues in stability and sensitivity analysis of ABR flow control of ATM networks. THe stability and sensitivity issues are formulated in a systematic framework. Four main cause of instability in ABR flow control are identified: unstable control laws, temporal variations of available bandwidth with delayed feedback control, misbehaving components, and interactions between higher layer protocols and ABR flow control. Popular rate-based ABR flow control protocols are evaluated. Stability and sensitivity is shown to be the fundamental issues when the network has dynamically-varying bandwidth. Simulation result confirming the theoretical studies are provided. Open research problems are discussed.

Diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance angiography for detection of coronary artery disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Di Leo, Giovanni; Fisci, Erica; Secchi, Francesco; Alì, Marco; Ambrogi, Federico; Sconfienza, Luca Maria; Sardanelli, Francesco

2016-10-01

To review the diagnostic performance of MR coronary angiography (MRCA) for coronary artery disease (CAD). Two independent reviewers searched on MEDLINE/EMBASE with the following inclusion criteria: 01/01/2000-03/23/2015 publication date; per-patient sensitivity/specificity for >50 % stenosis confirmed by conventional coronary angiography with raw data provided or retrievable; sample size >10. Quality was appraised using QUADAS2. Nine hundred eighteen studies were retrieved, 24 of them, including 1,638 patients, were selected. Using a bivariate model, the pooled sensitivity was 89 % (95 % confidence interval 86-92 %), the pooled specificity 72 % (63-79 %). Meta-regression did not show a significant impact on sensitivity/specificity for both year of publication and disease prevalence (p ≥ 0.114). Sensitivity of contrast-enhanced examinations (95 %, 90-97 %) was higher (p = 0.005) than that of unenhanced examinations (87 %, 83-90 %). Specificity of whole-heart acquisition mode (78 %, 72-84 %) was higher (p = 0.006) than that of targeted mode (57 %, 45-69 %). Specificity at 3 T (83 %, 69-92 %) was higher (p = 0.067) than that at 1.5 T (68 %, 60-76 %). Risk of bias and concerns regarding applicability were low. Sensitivity and specificity of MRCA for CAD were 89 % and 72 %, respectively. A specificity higher than 80 % may be obtained at 3 T. Whole-heart contrast-enhanced protocols should be preferred for a higher diagnostic performance. • MRCA sensitivity and specificity for CAD are below those of CTA. • Contrast administration increased sensitivity to 95 % (90-97 %), comparable with that of CTA. • Whole-heart mode increased specificity to 78 % (72-84 %), comparable with that of CTA. • Specificity at 3 T was borderline-significantly higher (p = 0.067) than at 1.5 T. • Whole-heart contrast-enhanced protocols are the best approach for MRCA.

Evaluation of T2-weighted versus short-tau inversion recovery sagittal sequences in the identification and localization of canine intervertebral disc extrusion with low-field magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Housley, Daniel; Caine, Abby; Cherubini, Giunio; Taeymans, Olivier

2017-07-01

Sagittal T2-weighted sequences (T2-SAG) are the foundation of spinal protocols when screening for the presence of intervertebral disc extrusion. We often utilize sagittal short-tau inversion recovery sequences (STIR-SAG) as an adjunctive screening series, and experience suggests that this combined approach provides superior detection rates. We hypothesized that STIR-SAG would provide higher sensitivity than T2-SAG in the identification and localization of intervertebral disc extrusion. We further hypothesized that the parallel evaluation of paired T2-SAG and STIR-SAG series would provide a higher sensitivity than could be achieved with either independent sagittal series when viewed in isolation. This retrospective diagnostic accuracy study blindly reviewed T2-SAG and STIR-SAG sequences from dogs (n = 110) with surgically confirmed intervertebral disc extrusion. A consensus between two radiologists found no significant difference in sensitivity between T2-SAG and STIR-SAG during the identification of intervertebral disc extrusion (T2-SAG: 92.7%, STIR-SAG: 94.5%, P = 0.752). Nevertheless, STIR-SAG accurately identified intervertebral disc extrusion in 66.7% of cases where the evaluation of T2-SAG in isolation had provided a false negative diagnosis. Additionally, one radiologist found that the parallel evaluation of paired T2-SAG and STIR-SAG series provided a significantly higher sensitivity than T2-SAG in isolation, during the identification of intervertebral disc extrusion (T2-SAG: 78.2%, paired T2-SAG, and STIR-SAG: 90.9%, P = 0.017). A similar nonsignificant trend was observed when the consensus of both radiologists was taken into consideration (T2-SAG: 92.7%, paired T2-SAG, and STIR-SAG = 97.3%, P = 0.392). We therefore conclude that STIR-SAG is capable of identifying intervertebral disc extrusion that is inconspicuous in T2-SAG, and that STIR-SAG should be considered a useful adjunctive sequence during preliminary sagittal screening for intervertebral disc extrusion in low-field magnetic resonance. © 2017 American College of Veterinary Radiology.

Pediatric ambulatory care sensitive conditions: Birth cohorts and the socio-economic gradient.

PubMed

Roos, Leslie L; Dragan, Roxana; Schroth, Robert J

2017-09-14

This study examines the socio-economic gradient in utilization and the risk factors associated with hospitalization for four pediatric ambulatory care sensitive conditions (dental conditions, asthma, gastroenteritis, and bacterial pneumonia). Dental conditions, where much care is provided by dentists and insurance coverage varies among different population segments, present special issues. A population registry, provider registry, physician ambulatory claims, and hospital discharge abstracts from 28 398 children born in 2003-2006 in urban centres in Manitoba, Canada were the main data sources. Physician visits and hospitalizations were compared across neighbourhood income groupings using rank correlations and logistic regressions. Very strong relationships between neighbourhood income and utilization were highlighted. Additional variables - family on income assistance, mother's age at first birth, breastfeeding - helped predict the probability of hospitalization. Despite the complete insurance coverage (including visits to dentists and physicians and for hospitalizations) provided, receiving income assistance was associated with higher probabilities of hospitalization. We found a socio-economic gradient in utilization for pediatric ambulatory care sensitive conditions, with higher rates of ambulatory visits and hospitalizations in the poorest neighbourhoods. Insurance coverage which varies between different segments of the population complicates matters. Providing funding for dental care for Manitobans on income assistance has not prevented physician visits or intensive treatment in high-cost facilities, specifically treatment under general anesthesia. When services from one type of provider (dentist) are not universally insured but those from another type (physician) are, using rates of hospitalization to indicate problems in the organization of care seems particularly difficult.

Performance modeling of terahertz (THz) and millimeter waves (mmW) pupil plane imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammadian, Nafiseh; Furxhi, Orges; Zhang, Lei; Offermans, Peter; Ghazi, Galia; Driggers, Ronald

2018-05-01

Terahertz- (THz) and millimeter-wave sensors are becoming more important in industrial, security, medical, and defense applications. A major problem in these sensing areas is the resolution, sensitivity, and visual acuity of the imaging systems. There are different fundamental parameters in designing a system that have significant effects on the imaging performance. The performance of THz systems can be discussed in terms of two characteristics: sensitivity and spatial resolution. New approaches for design and manufacturing of THz imagers are a vital basis for developing future applications. Photonics solutions have been at the technological forefront in THz band applications. A single scan antenna does not provide reasonable resolution, sensitivity, and speed. An effective approach to imaging is placing a high-performance antenna in a two-dimensional antenna array to achieve higher radiation efficiency and higher resolution in the imaging systems. Here, we present the performance modeling of a pupil plane imaging system to find the resolution and sensitivity efficiency of the imaging system.

All-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for tunable two quasi-continuous points' temperature sensing in seawater.

PubMed

Liu, Tianqi; Wang, Jing; Liao, Yipeng; Wang, Xin; Wang, Shanshan

2018-04-30

An all-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) for two quasi-continuous points' temperature sensing in seawater is proposed. Based on the beam propagation theory, transmission spectrum is designed to present two sets of clear and independent interferences. Following this design, MZI is fabricated and two points' temperature sensing in seawater are demonstrated with sensitivities of 42.69pm/°C and 39.17pm/°C, respectively. By further optimization, sensitivity of 80.91pm/°C can be obtained, which is 3-10 times higher than fiber Bragg gratings and microfiber resonator, and higher than almost all similar MZI based temperature sensors. In addition, factors affecting sensitivities are also discussed and verified in experiment. The two points' temperature sensing demonstrated here show advantages of simple and compact construction, robust structure, easy fabrication, high sensitivity, immunity to salinity and tunable distance of 1-20 centimeters between two points, which may provide references for macroscopic oceanic research and other sensing applications based on MZIs.

Future Fuels

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-04-01

relevant to TWV is focused on permanent magnet motors , often wheel mounted. Wound rotor motors provide substantially different design and control...options than permanent magnet motors , at the expense of additional cooling requirements. Their benefits include higher peak torque and less sensitivity

A high-throughput colorimetric assay for glucose detection based on glucose oxidase-catalyzed enlargement of gold nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Yanmei; Zhang, Yuyan; Rong, Pengfei; Yang, Jie; Wang, Wei; Liu, Dingbin

2015-09-01

We developed a simple high-throughput colorimetric assay to detect glucose based on the glucose oxidase (GOx)-catalysed enlargement of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Compared with the currently available glucose kit method, the AuNP-based assay provides higher clinical sensitivity at lower cost, indicating its great potential to be a powerful tool for clinical screening of glucose.We developed a simple high-throughput colorimetric assay to detect glucose based on the glucose oxidase (GOx)-catalysed enlargement of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Compared with the currently available glucose kit method, the AuNP-based assay provides higher clinical sensitivity at lower cost, indicating its great potential to be a powerful tool for clinical screening of glucose. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental section and additional figures. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr03758a

Understanding and comparisons of different sampling approaches for the Fourier Amplitudes Sensitivity Test (FAST)

PubMed Central

Xu, Chonggang; Gertner, George

2013-01-01

Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test (FAST) is one of the most popular uncertainty and sensitivity analysis techniques. It uses a periodic sampling approach and a Fourier transformation to decompose the variance of a model output into partial variances contributed by different model parameters. Until now, the FAST analysis is mainly confined to the estimation of partial variances contributed by the main effects of model parameters, but does not allow for those contributed by specific interactions among parameters. In this paper, we theoretically show that FAST analysis can be used to estimate partial variances contributed by both main effects and interaction effects of model parameters using different sampling approaches (i.e., traditional search-curve based sampling, simple random sampling and random balance design sampling). We also analytically calculate the potential errors and biases in the estimation of partial variances. Hypothesis tests are constructed to reduce the effect of sampling errors on the estimation of partial variances. Our results show that compared to simple random sampling and random balance design sampling, sensitivity indices (ratios of partial variances to variance of a specific model output) estimated by search-curve based sampling generally have higher precision but larger underestimations. Compared to simple random sampling, random balance design sampling generally provides higher estimation precision for partial variances contributed by the main effects of parameters. The theoretical derivation of partial variances contributed by higher-order interactions and the calculation of their corresponding estimation errors in different sampling schemes can help us better understand the FAST method and provide a fundamental basis for FAST applications and further improvements. PMID:24143037

Understanding and comparisons of different sampling approaches for the Fourier Amplitudes Sensitivity Test (FAST).

PubMed

Xu, Chonggang; Gertner, George

2011-01-01

Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test (FAST) is one of the most popular uncertainty and sensitivity analysis techniques. It uses a periodic sampling approach and a Fourier transformation to decompose the variance of a model output into partial variances contributed by different model parameters. Until now, the FAST analysis is mainly confined to the estimation of partial variances contributed by the main effects of model parameters, but does not allow for those contributed by specific interactions among parameters. In this paper, we theoretically show that FAST analysis can be used to estimate partial variances contributed by both main effects and interaction effects of model parameters using different sampling approaches (i.e., traditional search-curve based sampling, simple random sampling and random balance design sampling). We also analytically calculate the potential errors and biases in the estimation of partial variances. Hypothesis tests are constructed to reduce the effect of sampling errors on the estimation of partial variances. Our results show that compared to simple random sampling and random balance design sampling, sensitivity indices (ratios of partial variances to variance of a specific model output) estimated by search-curve based sampling generally have higher precision but larger underestimations. Compared to simple random sampling, random balance design sampling generally provides higher estimation precision for partial variances contributed by the main effects of parameters. The theoretical derivation of partial variances contributed by higher-order interactions and the calculation of their corresponding estimation errors in different sampling schemes can help us better understand the FAST method and provide a fundamental basis for FAST applications and further improvements.

Photoacoustic imaging with planoconcave optical microresonator sensors: feasibility studies based on phantom imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guggenheim, James A.; Zhang, Edward Z.; Beard, Paul C.

2017-03-01

The planar Fabry-Pérot (FP) sensor provides high quality photoacoustic (PA) images but beam walk-off limits sensitivity and thus penetration depth to ≍1 cm. Planoconcave microresonator sensors eliminate beam walk-off enabling sensitivity to be increased by an order-of-magnitude whilst retaining the highly favourable frequency response and directional characteristics of the FP sensor. The first tomographic PA images obtained in a tissue-realistic phantom using the new sensors are described. These show that the microresonator sensors provide near identical image quality as the planar FP sensor but with significantly greater penetration depth (e.g. 2-3cm) due to their higher sensitivity. This offers the prospect of whole body small animal imaging and clinical imaging to depths previously unattainable using the FP planar sensor.

Miniaturized pH Sensors Based on Zinc Oxide Nanotubes/Nanorods

PubMed Central

Fulati, Alimujiang; Ali, Syed M.Usman; Riaz, Muhammad; Amin, Gul; Nur, Omer; Willander, Magnus

2009-01-01

ZnO nanotubes and nanorods grown on gold thin film were used to create pH sensor devices. The developed ZnO nanotube and nanorod pH sensors display good reproducibility, repeatability and long-term stability and exhibit a pH-dependent electrochemical potential difference versus an Ag/AgCl reference electrode over a large dynamic pH range. We found the ZnO nanotubes provide sensitivity as high as twice that of the ZnO nanorods, which can be ascribed to the fact that small dimensional ZnO nanotubes have a higher level of surface and subsurface oxygen vacancies and provide a larger effective surface area with higher surface-to-volume ratio as compared to ZnO nanorods, thus affording the ZnO nanotube pH sensor a higher sensitivity. Experimental results indicate ZnO nanotubes can be used in pH sensor applications with improved performance. Moreover, the ZnO nanotube arrays may find potential application as a novel material for measurements of intracellular biochemical species within single living cells. PMID:22291545

Occult urolithiasis in asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism.

PubMed

Tay, Yu-Kwang Donovan; Liu, Minghao; Bandeira, Leonardo; Bucovsky, Mariana; Lee, James A; Silverberg, Shonni J; Walker, Marcella D

2018-05-01

Recent international guidelines suggest renal imaging to detect occult urolithiasis in all patients with asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), but data regarding their prevalence and associated risk factors are limited. We evaluated the prevalence and risk factors for occult urolithiasis. Cross-sectional analysis of 96 asymptomatic PHPT patients from a university hospital in the United States with and without occult nephrolithiasis. Occult urolithiasis was identified in 21% of patients. Stone formers had 47% higher 24-hour urinary calcium excretion (p = 0.002). Although available in only a subset of patients (n = 28), activated vitamin D [1,25(OH) 2 D] was 29% higher (p = 0.02) in stone formers. There was no difference in demographics, BMI, calcium or vitamin D intake, other biochemistries, renal function, BMD, or fractures. Receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that urinary calcium excretion and 1,25(OH) 2 D had an area under the curve of 0.724 (p = 0.003) and 0.750 (p = 0.04), respectively. A urinary calcium threshold of >211mg/day provided a sensitivity of 84.2% and a specificity of 55.3% while a 1,25(OH) 2 D threshold of >91pg/mL provided a sensitivity and specificity of 62.5% and 90.0% respectively for the presence of stones. Occult urolithiasis is present in about one-fifth of patients with asymptomatic PHPT and is associated with higher urinary calcium and 1,25(OH) 2 D. Given that most patients will not have occult urolithiasis, targeted imaging in those most likely to have occult stones rather than screening all asymptomatic PHPT patients may be useful. The higher sensitivity of urinary calcium versus 1,25(OH) 2 D suggests screening those with higher urinary calcium may be an appropriate approach.

Design and performance evaluation of a new high energy parallel hole collimator for radioiodine planar imaging by gamma cameras: Monte Carlo simulation study.

PubMed

Moslemi, Vahid; Ashoor, Mansour

2017-05-01

In addition to the trade-off between resolution and sensitivity which is a common problem among all types of parallel hole collimators (PCs), obtained images by high energy PCs (HEPCs) suffer from hole-pattern artifact (HPA) due to further septa thickness. In this study, a new design on the collimator has been proposed to improve the trade-off between resolution and sensitivity and to eliminate the HPA. A novel PC, namely high energy extended PC (HEEPC), is proposed and is compared to HEPCs. In the new PC, trapezoidal denticles were added upon the septa in the detector side. The performance of the HEEPCs were evaluated and compared to that of HEPCs using a Monte Carlo-N-particle version5 (MCNP5) simulation. The point spread functions (PSF) of HEPCs and HEEPCs were obtained as well as the various parameters such as resolution, sensitivity, scattering, and penetration ratios, and the HPA of the collimators was assessed. Furthermore, a Picker phantom study was performed to examine the effects of the collimators on the quality of planar images. It was found that the HEEPC D with an identical resolution to that of HEPC C increased sensitivity by 34.7%, and it improved the trade-off between resolution and sensitivity as well as to eliminate the HPA. In the picker phantom study, the HEEPC D indicated the hot and cold lesions with the higher contrast, lower noise, and higher contrast to noise ratio (CNR). Since the HEEPCs modify the shaping of PSFs, they are able to improve the trade-off between the resolution and sensitivity; consequently, planar images can be achieved with higher contrast resolutions. Furthermore, because the HEEPC S reduce the HPA and produce images with a higher CNR, compared to HEPCs, the obtained images by HEEPCs have a higher quality, which can help physicians to provide better diagnosis.

Sensitivity and Bias in Decision-Making under Risk: Evaluating the Perception of Reward, Its Probability and Value

PubMed Central

Sharp, Madeleine E.; Viswanathan, Jayalakshmi; Lanyon, Linda J.; Barton, Jason J. S.

2012-01-01

Background There are few clinical tools that assess decision-making under risk. Tests that characterize sensitivity and bias in decisions between prospects varying in magnitude and probability of gain may provide insights in conditions with anomalous reward-related behaviour. Objective We designed a simple test of how subjects integrate information about the magnitude and the probability of reward, which can determine discriminative thresholds and choice bias in decisions under risk. Design/Methods Twenty subjects were required to choose between two explicitly described prospects, one with higher probability but lower magnitude of reward than the other, with the difference in expected value between the two prospects varying from 3 to 23%. Results Subjects showed a mean threshold sensitivity of 43% difference in expected value. Regarding choice bias, there was a ‘risk premium’ of 38%, indicating a tendency to choose higher probability over higher reward. An analysis using prospect theory showed that this risk premium is the predicted outcome of hypothesized non-linearities in the subjective perception of reward value and probability. Conclusions This simple test provides a robust measure of discriminative value thresholds and biases in decisions under risk. Prospect theory can also make predictions about decisions when subjective perception of reward or probability is anomalous, as may occur in populations with dopaminergic or striatal dysfunction, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. PMID:22493669

Sensitivity and bias in decision-making under risk: evaluating the perception of reward, its probability and value.

PubMed

Sharp, Madeleine E; Viswanathan, Jayalakshmi; Lanyon, Linda J; Barton, Jason J S

2012-01-01

There are few clinical tools that assess decision-making under risk. Tests that characterize sensitivity and bias in decisions between prospects varying in magnitude and probability of gain may provide insights in conditions with anomalous reward-related behaviour. We designed a simple test of how subjects integrate information about the magnitude and the probability of reward, which can determine discriminative thresholds and choice bias in decisions under risk. Twenty subjects were required to choose between two explicitly described prospects, one with higher probability but lower magnitude of reward than the other, with the difference in expected value between the two prospects varying from 3 to 23%. Subjects showed a mean threshold sensitivity of 43% difference in expected value. Regarding choice bias, there was a 'risk premium' of 38%, indicating a tendency to choose higher probability over higher reward. An analysis using prospect theory showed that this risk premium is the predicted outcome of hypothesized non-linearities in the subjective perception of reward value and probability. This simple test provides a robust measure of discriminative value thresholds and biases in decisions under risk. Prospect theory can also make predictions about decisions when subjective perception of reward or probability is anomalous, as may occur in populations with dopaminergic or striatal dysfunction, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.

EBUS-Guided Cautery-Assisted Transbronchial Forceps Biopsies: Safety and Sensitivity Relative to Transbronchial Needle Aspiration

PubMed Central

Bramley, Kyle; Pisani, Margaret A.; Murphy, Terrence E.; Araujo, Katy; Homer, Robert; Puchalski, Jonathan

2016-01-01

Background EBUS-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is important in the evaluation of thoracic lymphadenopathy. Reliably providing excellent diagnostic yield for malignancy, its diagnosis of sarcoidosis is inconsistent. Furthermore, when larger “core” biopsy samples of malignant tissue are required, TBNA may not suffice. The primary objective of this study was to determine if the sequential use of TBNA and a novel technique called cautery-assisted transbronchial forceps biopsies (ca-TBFB) was safe. Secondary outcomes included sensitivity and successful acquisition of tissue. Methods Fifty unselected patients undergoing convex probe EBUS were prospectively enrolled. Under EBUS guidance, all lymph nodes ≥ 1 cm were sequentially biopsied using TBNA and ca-TBFB. Safety and sensitivity were assessed at the nodal level for 111 nodes. Results of each technique were also reported on a per-patient basis. Results There were no significant adverse events. In nodes determined to be malignant, TBNA provided higher sensitivity (100%) than ca-TBFB (78%). However, among nodes with granulomatous inflammation, ca-TBFB exhibited higher sensitivity (90%) than TBNA (33%). For analysis based on patients rather than nodes, 6 of the 31 patients with malignancy would have been missed or understaged if the diagnosis was based on samples obtained by ca-TBFB. On the other hand, 3 of 8 patients with sarcoidosis would have been missed if analysis was based only on TBNA samples. In some cases only ca-TBFB acquired sufficient tissue for the core samples needed in clinical trials of malignancy. Conclusions The sequential use of TBNA and ca-TBFB appears to be safe. The larger samples obtained from ca-TBFB increased its sensitivity to detect granulomatous disease and provided specimens for clinical trials of malignancy when needle biopsies were insufficient. For thoracic surgeons and advanced bronchoscopists, we advocate ca-TBFB as an alternative to TBNA in select clinical scenarios. PMID:26912301

Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Cautery-Assisted Transbronchial Forceps Biopsies: Safety and Sensitivity Relative to Transbronchial Needle Aspiration.

PubMed

Bramley, Kyle; Pisani, Margaret A; Murphy, Terrence E; Araujo, Katy L; Homer, Robert J; Puchalski, Jonathan T

2016-05-01

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is important in the evaluation of thoracic lymphadenopathy. Reliably providing excellent diagnostic yield for malignancy, its diagnosis of sarcoidosis is inconsistent. Furthermore, TBNA may not suffice when larger "core biopsy" samples of malignant tissue are required. The primary objective of this study was to determine if the sequential use of TBNA and a novel technique called cautery-assisted transbronchial forceps biopsy (ca-TBFB) was safe. Secondary outcomes included sensitivity and successful acquisition of tissue. The study prospectively enrolled 50 unselected patients undergoing convex-probe EBUS. All lymph nodes exceeding 1 cm were sequentially biopsied under EBUS guidance using TBNA and ca-TBFB. Safety and sensitivity were assessed at the nodal level for 111 nodes. Results of each technique were also reported for each patient. There were no significant adverse events. In nodes determined to be malignant, TBNA provided higher sensitivity (100%) than ca-TBFB (78%). However, among nodes with granulomatous inflammation, ca-TBFB exhibited higher sensitivity (90%) than TBNA (33%). On the one hand, for analysis based on patients rather than nodes, 6 of the 31 patients with malignancy would have been missed or understaged if the diagnosis were based on samples obtained by ca-TBFB. On the other hand, 3 of 8 patients with sarcoidosis would have been missed if analysis were based only on TBNA samples. In some patients, only ca-TBFB acquired sufficient tissue for the core samples needed in clinical trials of malignancy. The sequential use of TBNA and ca-TBFB appears to be safe. The larger samples obtained from ca-TBFB increased its sensitivity to detect granulomatous disease and provided adequate specimens for clinical trials of malignancy when specimens from needle biopsies were insufficient. For thoracic surgeons and advanced bronchoscopists, we advocate ca-TBFB as an alternative to TBNA in select clinical scenarios. Copyright © 2016 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improvement in the light sensitivity of the ultrahigh-speed high-sensitivity CCD with a microlens array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayashida, T.,; Yonai, J.; Kitamura, K.; Arai, T.; Kurita, T.; Tanioka, K.; Maruyama, H.; Etoh, T. Goji; Kitagawa, S.; Hatade, K.; Yamaguchi, T.; Takeuchi, H.; Iida, K.

2008-02-01

We are advancing the development of ultrahigh-speed, high-sensitivity CCDs for broadcast use that are capable of capturing smooth slow-motion videos in vivid colors even where lighting is limited, such as at professional baseball games played at night. We have already developed a 300,000 pixel, ultrahigh-speed CCD, and a single CCD color camera that has been used for sports broadcasts and science programs using this CCD. However, there are cases where even higher sensitivity is required, such as when using a telephoto lens during a baseball broadcast or a high-magnification microscope during science programs. This paper provides a summary of our experimental development aimed at further increasing the sensitivity of CCDs using the light-collecting effects of a microlens array.

Efficient DNP NMR of Membrane Proteins: Sample Preparation Protocols, Sensitivity, and Radical Location

PubMed Central

Liao, Shu Y.; Lee, Myungwoon; Wang, Tuo; Sergeyev, Ivan V.; Hong, Mei

2016-01-01

Although dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) has dramatically enhanced solid-state NMR spectral sensitivities of many synthetic materials and some biological macromolecules, recent studies of membrane-protein DNP using exogenously doped paramagnetic radicals as polarizing agents have reported varied and sometimes surprisingly limited enhancement factors. This motivated us to carry out a systematic evaluation of sample preparation protocols for optimizing the sensitivity of DNP NMR spectra of membrane-bound peptides and proteins at cryogenic temperatures of ~110 K. We show that mixing the radical with the membrane by direct titration instead of centrifugation gives a significant boost to DNP enhancement. We quantify the relative sensitivity enhancement between AMUPol and TOTAPOL, two commonly used radicals, and between deuterated and protonated lipid membranes. AMUPol shows ~4 fold higher sensitivity enhancement than TOTAPOL, while deuterated lipid membrane does not give net higher sensitivity for the membrane peptides than protonated membrane. Overall, a ~100 fold enhancement between the microwave-on and microwave-off spectra can be achieved on lipid-rich membranes containing conformationally disordered peptides, and absolute sensitivity gains of 105–160 can be obtained between low-temperature DNP spectra and high-temperature non-DNP spectra. We also measured the paramagnetic relaxation enhancement of lipid signals by TOTAPOL and AMUPol, to determine the depths of these two radicals in the lipid bilayer. Our data indicate a bimodal distribution of both radicals, a surface-bound fraction and a membrane-bound fraction where the nitroxides lie at ~10 Å from the membrane surface. TOTAPOL appears to have a higher membrane-embedded fraction than AMUPol. These results should be useful for membrane-protein solid-state NMR studies under DNP conditions and provide insights into how biradicals interact with phospholipid membranes. PMID:26873390

Cell Wall Pectin and its Methyl-esterification in Transition Zone Determine Al Resistance in Cultivars of Pea (Pisum sativum)

PubMed Central

Li, Xuewen; Li, Yalin; Qu, Mei; Xiao, Hongdong; Feng, Yingming; Liu, Jiayou; Wu, Lishu; Yu, Min

2016-01-01

The initial response of plants to aluminum (Al) is the inhibition of root elongation, while the transition zone is the most Al sensitive zone in the root apex, which may sense the presence of Al and regulate the responses of root to Al toxicity. In the present study, the effect of Al treatment (30 μM, 24 h) on root growth, Al accumulation, and properties of cell wall of two pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars, cv Onward (Al-resistant) and cv Sima (Al-sensitive), were studied to disclose whether the response of root transition zone to Al toxicity determines Al resistance in pea cultivars. The lower relative root elongation (RRE) and higher Al content were founded in cv Sima compared with cv Onward, which were related to Al-induced the increase of pectin in root segments of both cultivars. The increase of pectin is more prominent in Al-sensitive cultivar than in Al-resistant cultivar. Aluminum toxicity also induced the increase of pectin methylesterases (PME), which is 2.2 times in root transition zone in Al-sensitive cv Sima to that of Al resistant cv Onward, thus led to higher demethylesterified pectin content in root transition zone of Al-sensitive cv Sima. The higher demethylesterified pectin content in root transition zone resulted in more Al accumulation in the cell wall and cytosol in Al-sensitive cv Sima. Our results provide evidence that the increase of pectin content and PME activity under Al toxicity cooperates to determine Al sensitivity in root transition zone that confers Al resistance in cultivars of pea (Pisum sativum). PMID:26870060

Dual energy scanning beam laminographic x-radiography

DOEpatents

Majewski, Stanislaw; Wojcik, Randolph F.

1998-01-01

A multiple x-ray energy level imaging system includes a scanning x-ray beam and two detector design having a first low x-ray energy sensitive detector and a second high x-ray energy sensitive detector. The low x-ray energy detector is placed next to or in front of the high x-ray energy detector. The low energy sensitive detector has small stopping power for x-rays. The lower energy x-rays are absorbed and converted into electrical signals while the majority of the higher energy x-rays pass through undetected. The high energy sensitive detector has a large stopping power for x-rays as well as it having a filter placed between it and the object to absorb the lower energy x-rays. In a second embodiment; a single energy sensitive detector is provided which provides an output signal proportional to the amount of energy in each individual x-ray it absorbed. It can then have an electronic threshold or thresholds set to select two or more energy ranges for the images. By having multiple detectors located at different positions, a dual energy laminography system is possible.

Dual energy scanning beam laminographic x-radiography

DOEpatents

Majewski, S.; Wojcik, R.F.

1998-04-21

A multiple x-ray energy level imaging system includes a scanning x-ray beam and two detector design having a first low x-ray energy sensitive detector and a second high x-ray energy sensitive detector. The low x-ray energy detector is placed next to or in front of the high x-ray energy detector. The low energy sensitive detector has small stopping power for x-rays. The lower energy x-rays are absorbed and converted into electrical signals while the majority of the higher energy x-rays pass through undetected. The high energy sensitive detector has a large stopping power for x-rays as well as it having a filter placed between it and the object to absorb the lower energy x-rays. In a second embodiment; a single energy sensitive detector is provided which provides an output signal proportional to the amount of energy in each individual x-ray it absorbed. It can then have an electronic threshold or thresholds set to select two or more energy ranges for the images. By having multiple detectors located at different positions, a dual energy laminography system is possible. 6 figs.

A Sensitive Dynamic and Active Pixel Vision Sensor for Color or Neural Imaging Applications.

PubMed

Moeys, Diederik Paul; Corradi, Federico; Li, Chenghan; Bamford, Simeon A; Longinotti, Luca; Voigt, Fabian F; Berry, Stewart; Taverni, Gemma; Helmchen, Fritjof; Delbruck, Tobi

2018-02-01

Applications requiring detection of small visual contrast require high sensitivity. Event cameras can provide higher dynamic range (DR) and reduce data rate and latency, but most existing event cameras have limited sensitivity. This paper presents the results of a 180-nm Towerjazz CIS process vision sensor called SDAVIS192. It outputs temporal contrast dynamic vision sensor (DVS) events and conventional active pixel sensor frames. The SDAVIS192 improves on previous DAVIS sensors with higher sensitivity for temporal contrast. The temporal contrast thresholds can be set down to 1% for negative changes in logarithmic intensity (OFF events) and down to 3.5% for positive changes (ON events). The achievement is possible through the adoption of an in-pixel preamplification stage. This preamplifier reduces the effective intrascene DR of the sensor (70 dB for OFF and 50 dB for ON), but an automated operating region control allows up to at least 110-dB DR for OFF events. A second contribution of this paper is the development of characterization methodology for measuring DVS event detection thresholds by incorporating a measure of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). At average SNR of 30 dB, the DVS temporal contrast threshold fixed pattern noise is measured to be 0.3%-0.8% temporal contrast. Results comparing monochrome and RGBW color filter array DVS events are presented. The higher sensitivity of SDAVIS192 make this sensor potentially useful for calcium imaging, as shown in a recording from cultured neurons expressing calcium sensitive green fluorescent protein GCaMP6f.

Increased alignment sensitivity improves the usage of genome alignments for comparative gene annotation.

PubMed

Sharma, Virag; Hiller, Michael

2017-08-21

Genome alignments provide a powerful basis to transfer gene annotations from a well-annotated reference genome to many other aligned genomes. The completeness of these annotations crucially depends on the sensitivity of the underlying genome alignment. Here, we investigated the impact of the genome alignment parameters and found that parameters with a higher sensitivity allow the detection of thousands of novel alignments between orthologous exons that have been missed before. In particular, comparisons between species separated by an evolutionary distance of >0.75 substitutions per neutral site, like human and other non-placental vertebrates, benefit from increased sensitivity. To systematically test if increased sensitivity improves comparative gene annotations, we built a multiple alignment of 144 vertebrate genomes and used this alignment to map human genes to the other 143 vertebrates with CESAR. We found that higher alignment sensitivity substantially improves the completeness of comparative gene annotations by adding on average 2382 and 7440 novel exons and 117 and 317 novel genes for mammalian and non-mammalian species, respectively. Our results suggest a more sensitive alignment strategy that should generally be used for genome alignments between distantly-related species. Our 144-vertebrate genome alignment and the comparative gene annotations (https://bds.mpi-cbg.de/hillerlab/144VertebrateAlignment_CESAR/) are a valuable resource for comparative genomics. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Comparative analysis of microbial fuel cell based biosensors developed with a mixed culture and Shewanella loihica PV-4 and underlying biological mechanism.

PubMed

Yi, Yue; Xie, Beizhen; Zhao, Ting; Liu, Hong

2018-06-13

Microbial fuel cell based biosensors (MFC-biosensors) utilize anode biofilms as biological recognition elements to monitor biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and biotoxicity. However, the relatively poor sensitivity constrains the application of MFC-biosensors. To address this limitation, this study provided a systematic comparison of sensitivity between the MFC-biosensors constructed with two inocula. Higher biomass density and viability were both observed in the anode biofilm of the mixed culture MFC, which resulted in better sensitivity for BOD assessment. Compared with using mixed culture as inoculum, the anode biofilm developed with Shewanella loihica PV-4 presented lower content of extracellular polymeric substances and poorer ability to secrete protein under toxic shocks. Moreover, the looser structure in the S. loihica PV-4 biofilm further facilitated its susceptibilities to toxic agents. Therefore, the MFC-biosensor with a pure culture of S. loihica PV-4 delivered higher sensitivity for biotoxicity monitoring. This study proposed a new perspective to enhance sensor performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Traditional and Mobile Public Health Communications With Health Care Providers.

PubMed

Baseman, Janet; Revere, Debra; Painter, Ian; Oberle, Mark; Duchin, Jeffrey; Thiede, Hanne; Nett, Randall; MacEachern, Dorothy; Stergachis, Andy

2016-02-01

Health care providers play an essential role in public health emergency preparedness and response. We conducted a 4-year randomized controlled trial to systematically compare the effectiveness of traditional and mobile communication strategies for sending time-sensitive public health messages to providers. Subjects (N=848) included providers who might be leveraged to assist with emergency preparedness and response activities, such as physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, and veterinarians. Providers were randomly assigned to a group that received time-sensitive quarterly messages via e-mail, fax, or cell phone text messaging (SMS) or to a no-message control group. Follow-up phone interviews elicited information about message receipt, topic recall, and perceived credibility and trustworthiness of message and source. Our main outcome measures were awareness and recall of message content, which was compared across delivery methods. Per-protocol analysis revealed that e-mail messages were recalled at a higher rate than were messaged delivered by fax or SMS, whereas the as-treated analysis found that e-mail and fax groups had similar recall rates and both had higher recall rates than the SMS group. This is the first study to systematically evaluate the relative effectiveness of public health message delivery systems. Our findings provide guidance to improve public health agency communications with providers before, during, and after a public health emergency.

Eddy Fluxes and Sensitivity of the Water Cycle to Spatial Resolution in Idealized Regional Aquaplanet Model Simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hagos, Samson M.; Leung, Lai-Yung R.; Gustafson, William I.

2014-02-28

A multi-scale moisture budget analysis is used to identify the mechanisms responsible for the sensitivity of the water cycle to spatial resolution using idealized regional aquaplanet simulations. In the higher resolution simulations, moisture transport by eddies fluxes dry the boundary layer enhancing evaporation and precipitation. This effect of eddies, which is underestimated by the physics parameterizations in the low-resolution simulations, is found to be responsible for the sensitivity of the water cycle both directly, and through its upscale effect, on the mean circulation. Correlations among moisture transport by eddies at adjacent ranges of scales provides the potential for reducing thismore » sensitivity by representing the unresolved eddies by their marginally resolved counterparts.« less

Influence of surface oxides on hydrogen-sensitive Pd:GaN Schottky diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weidemann, O.; Hermann, M.; Steinhoff, G.; Wingbrant, H.; Lloyd Spetz, A.; Stutzmann, M.; Eickhoff, M.

2003-07-01

The hydrogen response of Pd:GaN Schottky diodes, prepared by in situ and ex situ deposition of catalytic Pd Schottky contacts on Si-doped GaN layers is compared. Ex situ fabricated devices show a sensitivity towards molecular hydrogen, which is about 50 times higher than for in situ deposited diodes. From the analysis of these results, we conclude that adsorption sites for atomic hydrogen in Pd:GaN sensors are provided by an oxidic intermediate layer. In addition, in situ deposited Pd Schottky contacts reveal lower barrier heights and drastically higher reverse currents. We suggest that the passivation of the GaN surface before ex situ deposition of Pd also results in quenching of leakage paths caused by structural defects.

Peptide Functionalized Gold Nanorods for the Sensitive Detection of a Cardiac Biomarker Using Plasmonic Paper Devices (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-10

valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YY) 2. REPORT TYPE 3 . DATES COVERED (From...refractive index difference on the order of 3 × 10−4 refractive index units (RIU)), probe the conformational changes of individual biomacromolecules, detect...natural antibodies and short peptides, as BREs. We demonstrate that pep - tides provide a significantly higher sensitivity and lower limit of detection

Peptide Functionalized Gold Nanorods for the Sensitive Detection of a Cardiac Biomarker Using Plasmonic Paper Devices (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-10

currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YY) 2. REPORT TYPE 3 . DATES COVERED...refractive index difference on the order of 3 × 10−4 refractive index units (RIU)), probe the conformational changes of individual biomacromolecules...natural antibodies and short peptides, as BREs. We demonstrate that pep - tides provide a significantly higher sensitivity and lower limit of detection

Role of deposition and annealing of the top gate dielectric in a-IGZO TFT-based dual-gate ion-sensitive field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Narendra; Sutradhar, Moitri; Kumar, Jitendra; Panda, Siddhartha

2017-03-01

The deposition of the top gate dielectric in thin film transistor (TFT)-based dual-gate ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (DG ISFETs) is critical, and expected not to affect the bottom gate TFT characteristics, while providing a higher pH sensitive surface and efficient capacitive coupling between the gates. Amorphous Ta2O5, in addition to having good sensing properties, possesses a high dielectric constant of ˜25 making it well suited as the top gate dielectric in a DG ISFET by providing higher capacitive coupling (ratio of C top/C bottom) leading to higher amplification. To avoid damage of the a-IGZO channel reported to be caused by plasma exposure, deposition of Ta2O5 by e-beam evaporation followed by annealing was investigated in this work to obtain sensitivity over the Nernst limit. The deteriorated bottom gate TFT characteristics, indicated by an increase in the channel conductance, confirmed that plasma exposure is not the sole contributor to the changes. Oxygen vacancies at the Ta2O5/a-IGZO interface, which emerged during processing, increased the channel conductivity, became filled by optimum annealing in oxygen at 400 °C for 1 h, which was confirmed by an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling analysis. The obtained pH sensitivity of the TFT-based DG ISFET was 402 mV pH-1, which is about 6.8 times the Nernst limit (59 mV pH-1). The concept of capacitive coupling was also demonstrated by simulating an a-IGZO-based DG TFT structure. Here, the exposure of the top gate dielectric to the electrolyte without applying any top gate bias led to changes in the measured threshold voltage of the bottom gate TFT, and this obviated the requirement of a reference electrode needed in conventional ISFETs and other reported DG ISFETs. These devices, with high sensitivities and requiring low volumes (˜2 μl) of analyte solution, could be potential candidates for utilization as chemical sensors and biosensors.

Comparison of methods for assessing photoprotection against ultraviolet A in vivo

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kaidbey, K.; Gange, R.W.

Photoprotection against ultraviolet A (UVA) by three sunscreens was evaluated in humans, with erythema and pigmentation used as end points in normal skin and in skin sensitized with 8-methoxypsoralen and anthracene. The test sunscreens were Parsol 1789 (2%), Eusolex 8020 (2%), and oxybenzone (3%). UVA was obtained from two filtered xenon-arc sources. UVA protection factors were found to be significantly higher in sensitized skin compared with normal skin. Both Parsol and Eusolex provided better and comparable photoprotection (approximately 3.0) than oxybenzone (approximately 2.0) in sensitized skin, regardless of whether 8-methoxypsoralen or anthracene was used. In normal unsensitized skin, Parsol 1789more » and Eusolex 8020 were also comparable and provided slightly better photoprotection (approximately 1.8) than oxybenzone (approximately 1.4) when pigmentation was used as an end point. The three sunscreens, however, were similar in providing photoprotection against UVA-induced erythema. Protection factors obtained in artificially sensitized skin are probably not relevant to normal skin. It is concluded that pigmentation, either immediate or delayed, is a reproducible and useful end point for the routine assessment of photoprotection of normal skin against UVA.« less

Differential Privacy Preserving in Big Data Analytics for Connected Health.

PubMed

Lin, Chi; Song, Zihao; Song, Houbing; Zhou, Yanhong; Wang, Yi; Wu, Guowei

2016-04-01

In Body Area Networks (BANs), big data collected by wearable sensors usually contain sensitive information, which is compulsory to be appropriately protected. Previous methods neglected privacy protection issue, leading to privacy exposure. In this paper, a differential privacy protection scheme for big data in body sensor network is developed. Compared with previous methods, this scheme will provide privacy protection with higher availability and reliability. We introduce the concept of dynamic noise thresholds, which makes our scheme more suitable to process big data. Experimental results demonstrate that, even when the attacker has full background knowledge, the proposed scheme can still provide enough interference to big sensitive data so as to preserve the privacy.

Sensitivity and Specificity of the Coma Recovery Scale--Revised Total Score in Detection of Conscious Awareness.

PubMed

Bodien, Yelena G; Carlowicz, Cecilia A; Chatelle, Camille; Giacino, Joseph T

2016-03-01

To describe the sensitivity and specificity of Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) total scores in detecting conscious awareness. Data were retrospectively extracted from the medical records of patients enrolled in a specialized disorders of consciousness (DOC) program. Sensitivity and specificity analyses were completed using CRS-R-derived diagnoses of minimally conscious state (MCS) or emerged from minimally conscious state (EMCS) as the reference standard for conscious awareness and the total CRS-R score as the test criterion. A receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to demonstrate the optimal CRS-R total cutoff score for maximizing sensitivity and specificity. Specialized DOC program. Patients enrolled in the DOC program (N=252, 157 men; mean age, 49y; mean time from injury, 48d; traumatic etiology, n=127; nontraumatic etiology, n=125; diagnosis of coma or vegetative state, n=70; diagnosis of MCS or EMCS, n=182). Not applicable. Sensitivity and specificity of CRS-R total scores in detecting conscious awareness. A CRS-R total score of 10 or higher yielded a sensitivity of .78 for correct identification of patients in MCS or EMCS, and a specificity of 1.00 for correct identification of patients who did not meet criteria for either of these diagnoses (ie, were diagnosed with vegetative state or coma). The area under the curve in the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis is .98. A total CRS-R score of 10 or higher provides strong evidence of conscious awareness but resulted in a false-negative diagnostic error in 22% of patients who demonstrated conscious awareness based on CRS-R diagnostic criteria. A cutoff score of 8 provides the best balance between sensitivity and specificity, accurately classifying 93% of cases. The optimal total score cutoff will vary depending on the user's objective. Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity of high-frequency Rayleigh-wave data revisited

USGS Publications Warehouse

Xia, J.; Miller, R.D.; Ivanov, J.

2007-01-01

Rayleigh-wave phase velocity of a layered earth model is a function of frequency and four groups of earth properties: P-wave velocity, S-wave velocity (Vs), density, and thickness of layers. Analysis of the Jacobian matrix (or the difference method) provides a measure of dispersion curve sensitivity to earth properties. Vs is the dominant influence for the fundamental mode (Xia et al., 1999) and higher modes (Xia et al., 2003) of dispersion curves in a high frequency range (>2 Hz) followed by layer thickness. These characteristics are the foundation of determining S-wave velocities by inversion of Rayleigh-wave data. More applications of surface-wave techniques show an anomalous velocity layer such as a high-velocity layer (HVL) or a low-velocity layer (LVL) commonly exists in near-surface materials. Spatial location (depth) of an anomalous layer is usually the most important information that surface-wave techniques are asked to provide. Understanding and correctly defining the sensitivity of high-frequency Rayleigh-wave data due to depth of an anomalous velocity layer are crucial in applying surface-wave techniques to obtain a Vs profile and/or determine the depth of an anomalous layer. Because depth is not a direct earth property of a layered model, changes in depth will result in changes in other properties. Modeling results show that sensitivity at a given depth calculated by the difference method is dependent on the Vs difference (contrast) between an anomalous layer and surrounding layers. The larger the contrast is, the higher the sensitivity due to depth of the layer. Therefore, the Vs contrast is a dominant contributor to sensitivity of Rayleigh-wave data due to depth of an anomalous layer. Modeling results also suggest that the most sensitive depth for an HVL is at about the middle of the depth to the half-space, but for an LVL it is near the ground surface. ?? 2007 Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

Effect of laser pulsing on the composition measurement of an Al-Mg-Si-Cu alloy using three-dimensional atom probe.

PubMed

Sha, G; Ringer, S P

2009-04-01

The effect of laser pulse energy on the composition measurement of an Al-Mg-Si-Cu alloy (AA6111) specimen has been investigated over a base temperature range of 20-80K and a voltage range of 2.5-5kV. Laser pulse energy must be sufficiently higher to achieve pulse-controlled field evaporation, which is at least 0.9nJ with a beam spot size of about 5microm, providing an equivalent voltage pulse fraction, approximately 14% at 80K for the alloy specimen. In contrast to the cluster composition, the measured specimen composition is sensitive to base temperature and laser energy changes. The exchange charge state under the influence of laser pulsing makes the detection of Si better at low base temperature, but detection of Cr and Mn is better at a higher temperature and using higher laser energy. No such effect occurs for detection of Mg and Cu under laser pulsing, although Mg concentration is sensitive to the analysis temperature under voltage pulsing. Mass resolution at full-width half-maximum is sensitive to local taper angle near the apex, but has little effect on composition measurement.

Differential genetic susceptibility to child risk at birth in predicting observed maternal behavior.

PubMed

Fortuna, Keren; van Ijzendoorn, Marinus H; Mankuta, David; Kaitz, Marsha; Avinun, Reut; Ebstein, Richard P; Knafo, Ariel

2011-01-01

This study examined parenting as a function of child medical risks at birth and parental genotype (dopamine D4 receptor; DRD4). Our hypothesis was that the relation between child risks and later maternal sensitivity would depend on the presence/absence of a genetic variant in the mothers, thus revealing a gene by environment interaction (GXE). Risk at birth was defined by combining risk indices of children's gestational age at birth, birth weight, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. The DRD4-III 7-repeat allele was chosen as a relevant genotype as it was recently shown to moderate the effect of environmental stress on parental sensitivity. Mothers of 104 twin pairs provided DNA samples and were observed with their children in a laboratory play session when the children were 3.5 years old. Results indicate that higher levels of risk at birth were associated with less sensitive parenting only among mothers carrying the 7-repeat allele, but not among mothers carrying shorter alleles. Moreover, mothers who are carriers of the 7-repeat allele and whose children scored low on the risk index were observed to have the highest levels of sensitivity. These findings provide evidence for the interactive effects of genes and environment (in this study, children born at higher risk) on parenting, and are consistent with a genetic differential susceptibility model of parenting by demonstrating that some parents are inherently more susceptible to environmental influences, both good and bad, than are others.

The Effect of Adjacent Materials on the Propagation of Phonon Polaritons in Hexagonal Boron Nitride.

PubMed

Kim, Kris S; Trajanoski, Daniel; Ho, Kevin; Gilburd, Leonid; Maiti, Aniket; van der Velden, Luuk; de Beer, Sissi; Walker, Gilbert C

2017-07-06

In order to apply the ability of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) to confine energy in the form of hyperbolic phonon polariton (HPhP) modes in photonic-electronic devices, approaches to finely control and leverage the sensitivity of these propagating waves must be investigated. Here, we show that by surrounding hBN with materials of lower/higher dielectric responses, such as air and silicon, lower/higher surface momenta of HPhPs can be achieved. Furthermore, an alternative method for preparing thin hBN crystals with minimum contamination is presented, which provides opportunities to study the sensitivity of the damping mechanism of HPhPs on adsorbed materials. Infrared scanning near-field optical microscopy (IR-SNOM) results suggest that the reflections at the upper and lower hBN interfaces are primary causes of the damping of HPhPs, and that the damping coefficients of propagating waves are highly sensitive to adjacent layers, suggesting opportunities for sensor applications.

The complementary role of music therapy in the detection of awareness in disorders of consciousness: an audit of concurrent SMART and MATADOC assessments.

PubMed

O'Kelly, Julian; Magee, Wendy L

2013-01-01

In the behavioural assessment of disorders of consciousness (DOC), best practice is for several different assessment tools to be used to encourage a variety of different responses indicative of awareness. Anecdotal evidence suggests a range of musical stimuli may be particularly effective in eliciting responses to guide the assessment process, although comparative data regarding behavioural domains is lacking. This study examined 42 concurrent records of patients assessed using the Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART), and the Music Therapy Assessment Tool for Awareness in Disorders of Consciousness (MATADOC) to explore the relationship between diagnosis and behavioural characteristics of the cohort. Whilst the two tools produced a high level of agreement in diagnostic outcome (Spearman Rho .80), divergent diagnosis and weaker correlations between behavioural response items highlight contrasting sensitivities of the tools. Whilst MATADOC has higher sensitivity within auditory and visual domains relative to SMART, SMART has higher sensitivity in the motor domain. The significant contribution of musical response items in MATADOC, and the tactile response item in SMART, indicates both tools provide unique behavioural data predictive of awareness. Multidisciplinary assessment using SMART and MATADOC provides complementary data contributing to a fuller understanding of a patient's level of awareness.

Can we calibrate simultaneously groundwater recharge and aquifer hydrodynamic parameters ?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassane Maina, Fadji; Ackerer, Philippe; Bildstein, Olivier

2017-04-01

By groundwater model calibration, we consider here fitting the measured piezometric heads by estimating the hydrodynamic parameters (storage term and hydraulic conductivity) and the recharge. It is traditionally recommended to avoid simultaneous calibration of groundwater recharge and flow parameters because of correlation between recharge and the flow parameters. From a physical point of view, little recharge associated with low hydraulic conductivity can provide very similar piezometric changes than higher recharge and higher hydraulic conductivity. If this correlation is true under steady state conditions, we assume that this correlation is much weaker under transient conditions because recharge varies in time and the parameters do not. Moreover, the recharge is negligible during summer time for many climatic conditions due to reduced precipitation, increased evaporation and transpiration by vegetation cover. We analyze our hypothesis through global sensitivity analysis (GSA) in conjunction with the polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) methodology. We perform GSA by calculating the Sobol indices, which provide a variance-based 'measure' of the effects of uncertain parameters (storage and hydraulic conductivity) and recharge on the piezometric heads computed by the flow model. The choice of PCE has the following two benefits: (i) it provides the global sensitivity indices in a straightforward manner, and (ii) PCE can serve as a surrogate model for the calibration of parameters. The coefficients of the PCE are computed by probabilistic collocation. We perform the GSA on simplified real conditions coming from an already built groundwater model dedicated to a subdomain of the Upper-Rhine aquifer (geometry, boundary conditions, climatic data). GSA shows that the simultaneous calibration of recharge and flow parameters is possible if the calibration is performed over at least one year. It provides also the valuable information of the sensitivity versus time, depending on the aquifer inertia and climatic conditions. The groundwater levels variations during recharge (increase) are sensitive to the storage coefficient whereas the groundwater levels variations after recharge (decrease) are sensitive to the hydraulic conductivity. The performed model calibration on synthetic data sets shows that the parameters and recharge are estimated quite accurately.

Identifying key sources of uncertainty in the modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Sweetapple, Christine; Fu, Guangtao; Butler, David

2013-09-01

This study investigates sources of uncertainty in the modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment, through the use of local and global sensitivity analysis tools, and contributes to an in-depth understanding of wastewater treatment modelling by revealing critical parameters and parameter interactions. One-factor-at-a-time sensitivity analysis is used to screen model parameters and identify those with significant individual effects on three performance indicators: total greenhouse gas emissions, effluent quality and operational cost. Sobol's method enables identification of parameters with significant higher order effects and of particular parameter pairs to which model outputs are sensitive. Use of a variance-based global sensitivity analysis tool to investigate parameter interactions enables identification of important parameters not revealed in one-factor-at-a-time sensitivity analysis. These interaction effects have not been considered in previous studies and thus provide a better understanding wastewater treatment plant model characterisation. It was found that uncertainty in modelled nitrous oxide emissions is the primary contributor to uncertainty in total greenhouse gas emissions, due largely to the interaction effects of three nitrogen conversion modelling parameters. The higher order effects of these parameters are also shown to be a key source of uncertainty in effluent quality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phase-Sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors: Recent Progress and Future Prospects

PubMed Central

Deng, Shijie; Wang, Peng; Yu, Xinglong

2017-01-01

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is an optical sensing technique that is capable of performing real-time, label-free and high-sensitivity monitoring of molecular interactions. SPR biosensors can be divided according to their operating principles into angle-, wavelength-, intensity- and phase-interrogated devices. With their complex optical configurations, phase-interrogated SPR sensors generally provide higher sensitivity and throughput, and have thus recently emerged as prominent biosensing devices. To date, several methods have been developed for SPR phase interrogation, including heterodyne detection, polarimetry, shear interferometry, spatial phase modulation interferometry and temporal phase modulation interferometry. This paper summarizes the fundamentals of phase-sensitive SPR sensing, reviews the available methods for phase interrogation of these sensors, and discusses the future prospects for and trends in the development of this technology. PMID:29206182

Practical considerations for a second-order directional hearing aid microphone system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Stephen C.

2003-04-01

First-order directional microphone systems for hearing aids have been available for several years. Such a system uses two microphones and has a theoretical maximum free-field directivity index (DI) of 6.0 dB. A second-order microphone system using three microphones could provide a theoretical increase in free-field DI to 9.5 dB. These theoretical maximum DI values assume that the microphones have exactly matched sensitivities at all frequencies of interest. In practice, the individual microphones in the hearing aid always have slightly different sensitivities. For the small microphone separation necessary to fit in a hearing aid, these sensitivity matching errors degrade the directivity from the theoretical values, especially at low frequencies. This paper shows that, for first-order systems the directivity degradation due to sensitivity errors is relatively small. However, for second-order systems with practical microphone sensitivity matching specifications, the directivity degradation below 1 kHz is not tolerable. A hybrid order directive system is proposed that uses first-order processing at low frequencies and second-order directive processing at higher frequencies. This hybrid system is suggested as an alternative that could provide improved directivity index in the frequency regions that are important to speech intelligibility.

High-sensitivity detection of biological amines using fast Hadamard transform CE coupled with photolytic optical gating.

PubMed

Braun, Kevin L; Hapuarachchi, Suminda; Fernandez, Facundo M; Aspinwall, Craig A

2007-08-01

Here, we report the first utilization of Hadamard transform CE (HTCE), a high-sensitivity, multiplexed CE technique, with photolytic optical gating sample injection of caged fluorescent labels for the detection of biologically important amines. Previous implementations of HTCE have relied upon photobleaching optical gating sample injection of fluorescent dyes. Photolysis of caged fluorescent labels reduces the fluorescence background, providing marked enhancements in sensitivity compared to photobleaching. Application of fast Hadamard transform CE (fHTCE) for fluorescein-based dyes yields a ten-fold higher sensitivity for photolytic injections compared to photobleaching injections, due primarily to the reduced fluorescent background provided by caged fluorescent dyes. Detection limits as low as 5 pM (ca. 18 molecules per injection event) were obtained with on-column LIF detection using fHTCE in less than 25 s, with the capacity for continuous, online separations. Detection limits for glutamate and aspartate below 150 pM (1-2 amol/injection event) were obtained using photolytic sample injection, with separation efficiencies exceeding 1 x 10(6) plates/m and total multiplexed separation times as low as 8 s. These results strongly support the feasibility of this approach for high-sensitivity dynamic chemical monitoring applications.

Multimodal stimulation of the Colorado potato beetle: Prevalence of visual over olfactory cues

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Orientation of insects to host plants and conspecifics is the result of detection and integration of chemical and physical cues present in the environment. Sensory organs have evolved to be sensitive to important signals, providing neural input for higher order processing and behavioral output. He...

Polarization sensitive spectroscopic optical coherence tomography for multimodal imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strąkowski, Marcin R.; Kraszewski, Maciej; Strąkowska, Paulina; Trojanowski, Michał

2015-03-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive method for 3D and cross-sectional imaging of biological and non-biological objects. The OCT measurements are provided in non-contact and absolutely safe way for the tested sample. Nowadays, the OCT is widely applied in medical diagnosis especially in ophthalmology, as well as dermatology, oncology and many more. Despite of great progress in OCT measurements there are still a vast number of issues like tissue recognition or imaging contrast enhancement that have not been solved yet. Here we are going to present the polarization sensitive spectroscopic OCT system (PS-SOCT). The PS-SOCT combines the polarization sensitive analysis with time-frequency analysis. Unlike standard polarization sensitive OCT the PS-SOCT delivers spectral information about measured quantities e.g. tested object birefringence changes over the light spectra. This solution overcomes the limits of polarization sensitive analysis applied in standard PS-OCT. Based on spectral data obtained from PS-SOCT the exact value of birefringence can be calculated even for the objects that provide higher order of retardation. In this contribution the benefits of using the combination of time-frequency and polarization sensitive analysis are being expressed. Moreover, the PS-SOCT system features, as well as OCT measurement examples are presented.

Sensitivity Analysis of Cf-252 (sf) Neutron and Gamma Observables in CGMF

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carter, Austin Lewis; Talou, Patrick; Stetcu, Ionel

CGMF is a Monte Carlo code that simulates the decay of primary fission fragments by emission of neutrons and gamma rays, according to the Hauser-Feshbach equations. As the CGMF code was recently integrated into the MCNP6.2 transport code, great emphasis has been placed on providing optimal parameters to CGMF such that many different observables are accurately represented. Of these observables, the prompt neutron spectrum, prompt neutron multiplicity, prompt gamma spectrum, and prompt gamma multiplicity are crucial for accurate transport simulations of criticality and nonproliferation applications. This contribution to the ongoing efforts to improve CGMF presents a study of the sensitivitymore » of various neutron and gamma observables to several input parameters for Californium-252 spontaneous fission. Among the most influential parameters are those that affect the input yield distributions in fragment mass and total kinetic energy (TKE). A new scheme for representing Y(A,TKE) was implemented in CGMF using three fission modes, S1, S2 and SL. The sensitivity profiles were calculated for 17 total parameters, which show that the neutron multiplicity distribution is strongly affected by the TKE distribution of the fragments. The total excitation energy (TXE) of the fragments is shared according to a parameter RT, which is defined as the ratio of the light to heavy initial temperatures. The sensitivity profile of the neutron multiplicity shows a second order effect of RT on the mean neutron multiplicity. A final sensitivity profile was produced for the parameter alpha, which affects the spin of the fragments. Higher values of alpha lead to higher fragment spins, which inhibit the emission of neutrons. Understanding the sensitivity of the prompt neutron and gamma observables to the many CGMF input parameters provides a platform for the optimization of these parameters.« less

Chemical-exchange-sensitive MRI of amide, amine and NOE at 9.4 T versus 15.2 T.

PubMed

Chung, Julius Juhyun; Choi, Wonmin; Jin, Tao; Lee, Jung Hee; Kim, Seong-Gi

2017-09-01

Chemical exchange (CE)-sensitive MRI benefits greatly from stronger magnetic fields; however, field effects on CE-sensitive imaging have not yet been studied well in vivo. We have compared CE-sensitive Z-spectra and maps obtained at the fields of 9.4 T and 15.2 T in phantoms and rats with off-resonance chemical-exchange-sensitive spin lock (CESL), which is similar to conventional chemical exchange saturation transfer. At higher fields, the background peak at water resonance has less spread and the exchange rate relative to chemical shift decreases, thus CESL intensity is dependent on B 0 . For the in vivo amide and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) composite resonances of rat brains, intensities were similar for both magnetic fields, but effective amide proton transfer and NOE values obtained with three-point quantification or a curve fitting method were larger at 15.2 T due to the reduced spread of attenuation at the direct water resonance. When using intermediate exchange-sensitive irradiation parameters, the amine proton signal was 65% higher at 15.2 T than at 9.4 T due to a reduced ratio of exchange rate to chemical shift. In summary, increasing magnetic field provides enhancements to CE-sensitive signals in the intermediate exchange regime and reduces contamination from background signals in the slow exchange regime. Consequently, ultrahigh magnetic field is advantageous for CE-sensitive MRI, especially for amine and hydroxyl protons. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

3D graphene from CO 2 and K as an excellent counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

DOE PAGES

Wei, Wei; Stacchiola, Dario J.; Hu, Yun Hang

2017-07-19

3D graphene, which was synthesized directly from CO 2 via its exothermic reaction with liquid K, exhibited excellent performance as a counter electrode for a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The DSSC has achieved a high power conversion efficiency of 8.25%, which is 10 times larger than that (0.74%) of a DSSC with a counter electrode of the regular graphene synthesized via chemical exfoliation of graphite. The efficiency is even higher than that (7.73%) of a dye-sensitized solar cell with an expensive standard Pt counter electrode. This work provides a novel approach to use a greenhouse gas for DSSCs.

Experiment on search for neutron-antineutron oscillations using a projected UCN source at the WWR-M reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fomin, A. K.; Serebrov, A. P.; Zherebtsov, O. M.; Leonova, E. N.; Chaikovskii, M. E.

2017-01-01

We propose an experiment on search for neutron-antineutron oscillations based on the storage of ultracold neutrons (UCN) in a material trap. The sensitivity of the experiment mostly depends on the trap size and the amount of UCN in it. In Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI) a high-intensity UCN source is projected at the WWR-M reactor, which must provide UCN density 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than existing sources. The results of simulations of the designed experimental scheme show that the sensitivity can be increased by ˜ 10-40 times compared to sensitivity of previous experiment depending on the model of neutron reflection from walls.

Temperature sensors based on multimode chalcogenide fibre Bragg gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qian; Zeng, Jianghui; Zhu, Liang; Yang, Dandan; Zhang, Peiqing; Xu, Yinsheng; Wang, Xunsi; Nie, Qiuhua; Dai, Shixun

2018-04-01

In this work, a theoretical study was conducted on temperature sensing in Ge-Sb-Se multimode fibre Bragg grating (MM-FBG). The sensing characteristics of the designed MM-FBGs with different fibre parameters and operating wavelengths were calculated using a coupled model method. The temperature sensitivity of this MM-FBG was found to improve significantly by shifting the operating wavelength from telecom range to mid-infrared (MIR) and utilizing the wide transmission range of Ge-Sb-Se glasses. The temperature sensitivity of the proposed Ge-Sb-Se MM-FBG was calculated to be 0.0758 nm/°C at 1550 nm, which is 7.58 times higher than silica FBGs at 1550 nm, and the temperature sensitivity was calculated to be more than 0.16 nm/°C at 3390 nm, which is 2.2 times higher than that at 1550 nm. In addition, the proposed MM-FBGs provided multi-peak information, and the sensitivity of each peak was calculated to be comparable to the single-mode FBG. The proposed Ge-Sb-Se MM-FBG has great potential for temperature sensing in MIR because of its advantages of simple preparation, high coupling efficiency, multi-peak information and wide working window.

Volume dependency for culture of fungi from respiratory secretions and increased sensitivity of Aspergillus quantitative PCR.

PubMed

Fraczek, Marcin G; Kirwan, Marie B; Moore, Caroline B; Morris, Julie; Denning, David W; Richardson, Malcolm D

2014-02-01

Diagnosis of aspergillosis is often difficult. We compared fungal yields from respiratory specimens using the Health Protection Agency standard culture method (BSOP57), a higher volume undiluted culture method Mycology Reference Centre Manchester (MRCM) and Aspergillus quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Sputum, bronchial aspirate and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples (total 23) were collected from aspergillosis patients. One fraction of all samples was cultured using the MRCM method, one BSOP57 and one was used for qPCR. The recovery rate for fungi was significantly higher by MRCM (87%) than by BSOP57 (8.7%) from all 23 specimens. Sputum samples were 44% positive by MRCM compared to no fungi isolated (0%) by BSOP57. Bronchial aspirates were 75% positive by MRCM and 0% by BSOP57. BAL samples were positive in 20% by MRCM and 10% by BSOP57. qPCR was always more sensitive than culture (95.6%) from all samples. In general, over 100 mould colonies (81 Aspergillus fumigatus) were grown using the MRCM method compared with only one colony from BSOP57. This study provides a reference point for standardisation of respiratory sample processing in diagnostic laboratories. Culture from higher volume undiluted respiratory specimens has a much higher yield for Aspergillus than BSOP57. qPCR is much more sensitive than culture and the current UK method requires revision. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Future sensor system needs for staring arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, John Lester

2011-05-01

This is a systems application paper regarding how sensor systems may use future technology FPAs. A historical perspective is discussed along with lessons learned from previous technologies. Future system requirements for strained super-lattice (SLS), quantum dots (QDOT) and traditional quantum well infrared photo-diodes (QWIP) arrays will be presented from both a commercial and military perspective. New potential markets will open up in the future if certain FPA technologies can reduce cost and provide higher sensitivities at higher operating temperatures.

Tight focusing of higher orders Laguerre-Gaussian modes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Savelyev, Dmitry A., E-mail: dmitrey.savelyev@yandex.ru; Khonina, Svetlana N.; Samara State Aerospace University, 34 Moskovskoye Shosse, Samara 443086

2016-04-13

The spatial redistribution of the contribution of different electric field components provides a decrease in the size of the central focal spot for higher orders Laguerre-Gaussian modes. It was shown that when sharply focusing laser beams with vortex or special binary phase plate, a sub-wavelength light localization of separate vector field components is possible for any polarization type. This fact should be considered for the interaction of laser radiation with materials selectively sensitive to lateral and longitudinal components of the electromagnetic field.

Novel NMR tools to study structure and dynamics of biomembranes.

PubMed

Gawrisch, Klaus; Eldho, Nadukkudy V; Polozov, Ivan V

2002-06-01

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies on biomembranes have benefited greatly from introduction of magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR techniques. Improvements in MAS probe technology, combined with the higher magnetic field strength of modern instruments, enables almost liquid-like resolution of lipid resonances. The cross-relaxation rates measured by nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY) provide new insights into conformation and dynamics of lipids with atomic-scale resolution. The data reflect the tremendous motional disorder in the lipid matrix. Transfer of magnetization by spin diffusion along the proton network of lipids is of secondary relevance, even at a long NOESY mixing time of 300 ms. MAS experiments with re-coupling of anisotropic interactions, like the 13C-(1)H dipolar couplings, benefit from the excellent resolution of 13C shifts that enables assignment of the couplings to specific carbon atoms. The traditional 2H NMR experiments on deuterated lipids have higher sensitivity when conducted on oriented samples at higher magnetic field strength. A very large number of NMR parameters from lipid bilayers is now accessible, providing information about conformation and dynamics for every lipid segment. The NMR methods have the sensitivity and resolution to study lipid-protein interaction, lateral lipid organization, and the location of solvents and drugs in the lipid matrix.

Porphyrin-sensitized solar cells: systematic molecular optimization, coadsorption and cosensitization.

PubMed

Song, Heli; Liu, Qingyun; Xie, Yongshu

2018-02-15

As a promising low-cost solar energy conversion technique, dye-sensitized solar cells have undergone spectacular development since 1991. For practical applications, improvement of power conversion efficiency has always been one of the major research topics. Porphyrins are outstanding sensitizers endowed with strong sunlight harvesting ability in the visible region and multiple reaction sites available for functionalization. However, judicious molecular design in consideration of light-harvest, energy levels, operational dynamics, adsorption geometry and suppression of back reactions is specifically required for achieving excellent photovoltaic performance. This feature article highlights some of the recently developed porphyrin sensitizers, especially focusing on the systematic dye structure optimization approach in combination with coadsorption and cosensitization methods in pursuing higher efficiencies. Herein, we expect to provide more insights into the structure-performance correlation and molecular engineering strategies in a stepwise manner.

Parental overprotection increases interpersonal sensitivity in healthy subjects.

PubMed

Otani, Koichi; Suzuki, Akihito; Matsumoto, Yoshihiko; Kamata, Mitsuhiro

2009-01-01

The effect of parental rearing on interpersonal sensitivity was studied in 469 Japanese volunteers. Perceived parental rearing was assessed by the Parental Bonding Instrument, which consists of the factors of care and protection, and interpersonal sensitivity was measured by the Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM). In male subjects, higher IPSM scores were related to higher scores of paternal protection (P < .01) and maternal protection (P < .05). In female subjects, higher IPSM scores were related to higher scores of maternal protection (P < .001). The present study suggests that in both males and females, interpersonal sensitivity is increased by high protection of the same-sex parents and that in males there is an additional effect of high maternal protection.

Temperature measurement in the adult emergency department: oral, tympanic membrane and temporal artery temperatures versus rectal temperature.

PubMed

Bijur, Polly E; Shah, Purvi D; Esses, David

2016-12-01

The objective was to compare agreement between three non-invasive measures of temperature and rectal temperatures and to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of these measures to detect a rectal temperature of 38°C or higher. We conducted a study of the diagnostic accuracy of oral, tympanic membrane (TM) and temporal artery (TA) thermometry to measure fever in an urban emergency department (ED). Data were collected from adult patients who received rectal temperature measurement. Bland-Altman analysis was performed; sensitivity, specificity and 95% CIs were calculated. 987 patients were enrolled. 36% of the TM and TA readings differed by 0.5°C or more from rectal temperatures, 50% of oral temperatures. TM measures were most precise-the SD of the difference from rectal was 0.4°C TM, and 0.6°C for oral and TA (p<0.001). The sensitivities of a 38°C cutpoint on oral, TM and TA measures to detect a rectal temperature of 38°C or higher were: 37.0%, 68.3% and 71.1%, respectively (oral vs TM and TA p<0.001). The corresponding specificities were 99.4%, 98.2% and 92.3% (oral, TM and TA) with oral specificity significantly higher than the other two methods (p<0.01). TM and TA cutpoints of 37.5°C provided greater than 90% sensitivity to detect fever with specificity of 90% and 72%, respectively. None of the non-invasive methods met benchmarks for diagnostic accuracy using the criterion of 38°C to detect rectal temperature of 38°C. A TM cutpoint of 37.5°C provides maximum diagnostic accuracy of the three non-invasive measures. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Sensitivity: A Cross-Cultural Examination of American Domestic Students and Japanese Exchange Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sakurauchi, Yoko Hwang

2014-01-01

Global student mobility has become a dynamic force in American higher education. Integrating international students into diverse campus environments provides domestic as well as foreign students with enriched learning opportunities. However, a diverse campus climate itself will not make college students interculturally competent. Intentional…

The Radiation Sensitivity of Select Metal Chelate Polymers: Mechanistic Changes at Higher Energies.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-01

mass croducticn necessary for the lo-; cost devices currently on the market . Ai’houan electron beat litho- graphy can provide hiaher resolution, tne...nhotochemistrv of the uranvi ion. Them Soc Rev 3: 139-165 Charlesby A (195Ř) Molecular weight changes in degradation onln - chain polymers. Proc Royal Soc

Plasmon-enhanced tilted fiber Bragg gratings with oriented silver nanowire coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renoirt, J.-M.; Debliquy, M.; Albert, J.; Ianoul, A.; Caucheteur, C.

2014-05-01

(TFBG) covered by silver nanowires aligned perpendicularly to the fiber axis. TBFGs are a convenient way to measure surrounding refractive index, as they provide intrinsic temperature-insensitivity and preserve the optical fiber structural integrity. With bare TFBGs, sensitivity is about 60 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) while when coated with a gold thin film, surface plasmon resonance can be excited leading to a sensitivity about 600 nm/RIU. In our case, we show that localized plasmon resonances can be excited on silver nanowires. These nanowires (100 nm diameter and about 2.5 µm length) were synthetized by polyol process (ethylene glycol reducing silver nitrate in the presence of poly (vinyl pyrrolidone and sodium chloride). The nanowires were aligned and deposited perpendicularly to the fiber axis on the gratings using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique in order to maximise the coupling between azimuthally polarized light modes and the localized plasmons. Excitation of surface plasmons at wavelengths around 1.5 µm occurred, leading to a dip in the polarization dependent losses of the grating. This dip is highly dependent of the surrounding refractive index, leading to a sensitivity of 650 nm/RIU, which is a 10-fold increase compared to bare gratings. We obtain results equal or slightly higher than those obtained using a gold layer on TFBGs. In spite of the comparable bulk refractometric sensitivity, the use of these oriented nanowire layers provide significantly higher contact surface area for biochemical analysis using bioreceptors, and benefit from stronger polarization selectivity between azimuthal and radially polarized modes.

A High-Sensitivity Current Sensor Utilizing CrNi Wire and Microfiber Coils

PubMed Central

Xie, Xiaodong; Li, Jie; Sun, Li-Peng; Shen, Xiang; Jin, Long; Guan, Bai-ou

2014-01-01

We obtain an extremely high current sensitivity by wrapping a section of microfiber on a thin-diameter chromium-nickel wire. Our detected current sensitivity is as high as 220.65 nm/A2 for a structure length of only 35 μm. Such sensitivity is two orders of magnitude higher than the counterparts reported in the literature. Analysis shows that a higher resistivity or/and a thinner diameter of the metal wire may produce higher sensitivity. The effects of varying the structure parameters on sensitivity are discussed. The presented structure has potential for low-current sensing or highly electrically-tunable filtering applications. PMID:24824372

A high-sensitivity current sensor utilizing CrNi wire and microfiber coils.

PubMed

Xie, Xiaodong; Li, Jie; Sun, Li-Peng; Shen, Xiang; Jin, Long; Guan, Bai-ou

2014-05-12

We obtain an extremely high current sensitivity by wrapping a section of microfiber on a thin-diameter chromium-nickel wire. Our detected current sensitivity is as high as 220.65 nm/A2 for a structure length of only 35 μm. Such sensitivity is two orders of magnitude higher than the counterparts reported in the literature. Analysis shows that a higher resistivity or/and a thinner diameter of the metal wire may produce higher sensitivity. The effects of varying the structure parameters on sensitivity are discussed. The presented structure has potential for low-current sensing or highly electrically-tunable filtering applications.

Appreciation of learning environment and development of higher-order learning skills in a problem-based learning medical curriculum.

PubMed

Mala-Maung; Abdullah, Azman; Abas, Zoraini W

2011-12-01

This cross-sectional study determined the appreciation of the learning environment and development of higher-order learning skills among students attending the Medical Curriculum at the International Medical University, Malaysia which provides traditional and e-learning resources with an emphasis on problem based learning (PBL) and self-directed learning. Of the 708 participants, the majority preferred traditional to e-resources. Students who highly appreciated PBL demonstrated a higher appreciation of e-resources. Appreciation of PBL is positively and significantly correlated with higher-order learning skills, reflecting the inculcation of self-directed learning traits. Implementers must be sensitive to the progress of learners adapting to the higher education environment and innovations, and to address limitations as relevant.

The influence of viewing conditions on radiological diagnosis of periapical inflammation.

PubMed

Patel, N; Rushton, V E; Macfarlane, T V; Horner, K

2000-07-08

To determine the effect of viewing conditions upon diagnosis of early periapical inflammatory pathosis on intra-oral radiographs, and to examine the effect of observer experience upon diagnostic performance in this task. 50 observers examined 18 periapical radiographs using three different viewing conditions (room lighting; viewing box; viewing box with x2 magnification and masking). Their diagnoses were compared with an 'expert' diagnosis provided by repeated viewings of the films by two dental radiologists. Sensitivities and specificities were determined. When 'ideal' viewing conditions were used, optimal sensitivity (78%) and specificity (78%) were obtained. Use of a viewing box was associated with significantly higher specificity than the use of room lighting (P = 0.0016). Use of masking and x2 magnification was associated with significantly higher sensitivity than a viewing box alone (P = 0.004). There were few significant differences in diagnostic performance between observers, but qualified dental staff had significantly higher specificities than 4th year (P = 0.01) and 5th year (P = 0.01) students when a viewing box was used alone. This study on early periapical inflammatory pathosis gives support to guidelines which recommend the use of a viewing box, x2 magnification and masking for interpreting intra-oral radiographs. It also suggests that observer experience may influence interpretation of early periapical pathosis.

Unlocking higher harmonics in atomic force microscopy with gentle interactions.

PubMed

Santos, Sergio; Barcons, Victor; Font, Josep; Verdaguer, Albert

2014-01-01

In dynamic atomic force microscopy, nanoscale properties are encoded in the higher harmonics. Nevertheless, when gentle interactions and minimal invasiveness are required, these harmonics are typically undetectable. Here, we propose to externally drive an arbitrary number of exact higher harmonics above the noise level. In this way, multiple contrast channels that are sensitive to compositional variations are made accessible. Numerical integration of the equation of motion shows that the external introduction of exact harmonic frequencies does not compromise the fundamental frequency. Thermal fluctuations are also considered within the detection bandwidth of interest and discussed in terms of higher-harmonic phase contrast in the presence and absence of an external excitation of higher harmonics. Higher harmonic phase shifts further provide the means to directly decouple the true topography from that induced by compositional heterogeneity.

Development of dye-sensitized solar cells based on naturally extracted dye from the maqui berry (Aristotelia chilensis)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leyrer, Julio; Hunter, Renato; Rubilar, Monica; Pavez, Boris; Morales, Eduardo; Torres, Simonet

2016-10-01

The mini modules of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were investigated for their conversion efficiency using anthocyanin-enriched extracts from maqui berry, which to date has never been tested in a DSSC. Anthocyanins are a group of red, purple, violet and blue water-soluble polyphenolic pigments widely found in berry fruits. Maqui berries are a particularly rich source. The aqueous extract concentrations of maqui fruit were tested at 750 and 1500 mg of anthocyanin/L. The immersion time to produce sensitized TiO2 film was 8 h. According to the experimental results, the conversion efficiency of the DSSC prepared with 750 mg of anthocyanin/L was 0.14%, with an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.43 V, a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 0.38 mA/cm2, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.450. The conversion efficiency attained with 1500 mg of anthocyanin/L was 0.19%, with (VOC) of 0.45 V, (JSC) of 0.44 mA/cm2 and FF of 0.55. Therefore, a higher concentration brought about a higher photosensitized performance. The maqui extracts were successfully dye sensitized over a layer of TiO2 nanoparticles, providing useful information for further studies related to the use of natural pigments as sensitizers for solar cells.

Delay discounting, risk-taking, and rejection sensitivity among individuals with Internet and Video Gaming Disorders.

PubMed

Weinstein, Aviv; Abu, Hodaya Ben; Timor, Ayelet; Mama, Yaniv

2016-12-01

Background and aims There is a previous evidence for impulsivity in individuals with Internet and Video Gaming Disorders. The aim of this study was to examine whether Internet and video game addictions are associated with experiential delay discounting, risk-taking, and sensitivity to social rejection using computerized tasks and questionnaires. Methods Twenty participants (mean age 24, SD = 1.55) with high score on the Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire (POGQ) were compared with 20 participants (mean age 24.8, SD = 1.34) with low score on the POGQ. They performed on computerized Balloon Analog Risk Task and Experiential Delay discounting Task (EDT), and filled in the sensitivity to social rejection questionnaire. Results Participants with high POGQ scores had lower measures of delay discounting, higher measures of risk-taking, and higher measures of sensitivity to social rejection compared with participants with low POGQ scores. Discussion The results of this study support the previous evidence of risk-taking and provide new evidence for difficulties in delay discounting and sensitivity to social rejection among those who score high on Internet and video games. Conclusions The results suggest that Internet- and video game-addicted individuals seek immediate gratification and cannot wait for later reward. Furthermore, these individuals spend time in the virtual world, where they feel safe, and avoid social interactions presumably due to fears of social rejection.

Recent trends in high spin sensitivity magnetic resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blank, Aharon; Twig, Ygal; Ishay, Yakir

2017-07-01

Magnetic resonance is a very powerful methodology that has been employed successfully in many applications for about 70 years now, resulting in a wealth of scientific, technological, and diagnostic data. Despite its many advantages, one major drawback of magnetic resonance is its relatively poor sensitivity and, as a consequence, its bad spatial resolution when examining heterogeneous samples. Contemporary science and technology often make use of very small amounts of material and examine heterogeneity on a very small length scale, both of which are well beyond the current capabilities of conventional magnetic resonance. It is therefore very important to significantly improve both the sensitivity and the spatial resolution of magnetic resonance techniques. The quest for higher sensitivity led in recent years to the development of many alternative detection techniques that seem to rival and challenge the conventional ;old-fashioned; induction-detection approach. The aim of this manuscript is to briefly review recent advances in the field, and to provide a quantitative as well as qualitative comparison between various detection methods with an eye to future potential advances and developments. We first offer a common definition of sensitivity in magnetic resonance to enable proper quantitative comparisons between various detection methods. Following that, up-to-date information about the sensitivity capabilities of the leading recently-developed detection approaches in magnetic resonance is provided, accompanied by a critical comparison between them and induction detection. Our conclusion from this comparison is that induction detection is still indispensable, and as such, it is very important to look for ways to significantly improve it. To do so, we provide expressions for the sensitivity of induction-detection, derived from both classical and quantum mechanics, that identify its main limiting factors. Examples from current literature, as well as a description of new ideas, show how these limiting factors can be mitigated to significantly improve the sensitivity of induction detection. Finally, we outline some directions for the possible applications of high-sensitivity induction detection in the field of electron spin resonance.

An ultrasensitive bio-surrogate for nanoporous filter membrane performance metrology directed towards contamination control in microlithography applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Farhan; Mish, Barbara; Qiu, Jian; Singh, Amarnauth; Varanasi, Rao; Bedford, Eilidh; Smith, Martin

2016-03-01

Contamination tolerances in semiconductor manufacturing processes have changed dramatically in the past two decades, reaching below 20 nm according to the guidelines of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. The move to narrower line widths drives the need for innovative filtration technologies that can achieve higher particle/contaminant removal performance resulting in cleaner process fluids. Nanoporous filter membrane metrology tools that have been the workhorse over the past decade are also now reaching limits. For example, nanoparticle (NP) challenge testing is commonly applied for assessing particle retention performance of filter membranes. Factors such as high NP size dispersity, low NP detection sensitivity, and high NP particle-filter affinity impose challenges in characterizing the next generation of nanoporous filter membranes. We report a novel bio-surrogate, 5 nm DNA-dendrimer conjugate for evaluating particle retention performance of nanoporous filter membranes. A technique capable of single molecule detection is employed to detect sparse concentration of conjugate in filter permeate, providing >1000- fold higher detection sensitivity than any existing 5 nm-sized particle enumeration technique. This bio-surrogate also offers narrow size distribution, high stability and chemical tunability. This bio-surrogate can discriminate various sub-15 nm pore-rated nanoporous filter membranes based on their particle retention performance. Due to high bio-surrogate detection sensitivity, a lower challenge concentration of bio-surrogate (as compared to other NPs of this size) can be used for filter testing, providing a better representation of customer applications. This new method should provide better understanding of the next generation filter membranes for removing defect-causing contaminants from lithography processes.

Real-time myocardial perfusion imaging for pharmacologic stress testing: added value to single photon emission computed tomography.

PubMed

Korosoglou, Grigorios; Dubart, Alain-Eric; DaSilva, K Gaspar C; Labadze, Nino; Hardt, Stefan; Hansen, Alexander; Bekeredjian, Raffi; Zugck, Christian; Zehelein, Joerg; Katus, Hugo A; Kuecherer, Helmut

2006-01-01

Little is known about the incremental value of real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) as an adjunct to pharmacologic stress testing. This study was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of MCE to detect abnormal myocardial perfusion by technetium Tc 99m sestamibi-single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and anatomically significant coronary artery disease (CAD) by angiography. Myocardial contrast echocardiography was performed at rest and during vasodilator stress in consecutive patients (N = 120) undergoing SPECT imaging for known or suspected CAD. Myocardial opacification, wall motion, and tracer uptake were visually analyzed in 12 myocardial segments by 2 pairs of blinded observers. Concordance between the 2 methods was assessed using the kappa statistic. Of 1356 segments, 1025 (76%) were interpretable by MCE, wall motion, and SPECT. Sensitivity of wall motion was 75%, specificity 83%, and accuracy 81% for detecting abnormal myocardial perfusion by SPECT (kappa = 0.53). Myocardial contrast echocardiography and wall motion together yielded significantly higher sensitivity (85% vs 74%, P < .05), specificity of 83%, and accuracy of 85% (kappa = 0.64) for the detection of abnormal myocardial perfusion. In 89 patients who underwent coronary angiography, MCE and wall motion together yielded higher sensitivity (83% vs 64%, P < .05) and accuracy (77% vs 68%, P < .05) but similar specificity (72%) compared with SPECT for the detection of high-grade, stenotic (> or = 75%) coronary lesions. Assessment of myocardial perfusion adds value to conventional stress echocardiography by increasing its sensitivity for the detection of functionally abnormal myocardial perfusion. Myocardial contrast echocardiography and wall motion together provide higher sensitivity and accuracy for detection of CAD compared with SPECT.

PCR-based detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in blood and ocular samples for diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis.

PubMed

Bourdin, C; Busse, A; Kouamou, E; Touafek, F; Bodaghi, B; Le Hoang, P; Mazier, D; Paris, L; Fekkar, A

2014-11-01

PCR detection of Toxoplasma gondii in blood has been suggested as a possibly efficient method for the diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) and furthermore for genotyping the strain involved in the disease. To assess this hypothesis, we performed PCR with 121 peripheral blood samples from 104 patients showing clinical and/or biological evidence of ocular toxoplasmosis and from 284 (258 patients) controls. We tested 2 different extraction protocols, using either 200 μl (small volume) or 2 ml (large volume) of whole blood. Sensitivity was poor, i.e., 4.1% and 25% for the small- and large-volume extractions, respectively. In comparison, PCR with ocular samples yielded 35.9% sensitivity, while immunoblotting and calculation of the Goldmann-Witmer coefficient yielded 47.6% and 72.3% sensitivities, respectively. Performing these three methods together provided 89.4% sensitivity. Whatever the origin of the sample (ocular or blood), PCR provided higher sensitivity for immunocompromised patients than for their immunocompetent counterparts. Consequently, PCR detection of Toxoplasma gondii in blood samples cannot currently be considered a sufficient tool for the diagnosis of OT, and ocular sampling remains necessary for the biological diagnosis of OT. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Enhancing Bottom-up and Top-down Proteomic Measurements with Ion Mobility Separations

DOE PAGES

Baker, Erin Shammel; Burnum-Johnson, Kristin E.; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; ...

2015-07-03

Proteomic measurements with greater throughput, sensitivity and additional structural information enhance the in-depth characterization of complex mixtures and targeted studies with additional information and higher confidence. While liquid chromatography separation coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) measurements have provided information on thousands of proteins in different sample types, the additional of another rapid separation stage providing structural information has many benefits for analyses. Technical advances in ion funnels and multiplexing have enabled ion mobility separations to be easily and effectively coupled with LC-MS proteomics to enhance the information content of measurements. Finally, herein, we report on applications illustrating increased sensitivity, throughput,more » and structural information by utilizing IMS-MS and LC-IMS-MS measurements for both bottom-up and top-down proteomics measurements.« less

Smart zwitterionic membranes with on/off behavior for protein transport.

PubMed

Su, Yanlei; Zheng, Lili; Li, Chao; Jiang, Zhongyi

2008-09-25

Poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN)-based zwitterionic membranes, composed of PAN and poly( N, N-dimethyl- N-methacryloxyethyl- N-(3-sulfopropyl) copolymer, are electrolyte-sensitive smart membranes. The hydrophilicity was increased and protein adsorption was remarkably decreased for the membranes in response to environmental stimuli. FTIR spectroscopic analysis directly provided molecular-level observation of the enhanced dissociation and hydration of zwitterionic sulfobetaine dipoles at higher electrolyte concentrations. The smart PAN-based zwitterionic membranes can close or open channels for protein transport under different NaCl concentrations. The electrolyte-sensitive switch of on/off behavior for protein transport is reversible.

Tradeoffs of Using Administrative Claims and Medical Records to Identify the Use of Personalized Medicine for Patients with Breast Cancer

PubMed Central

Liang, Su-Ying; Phillips, Kathryn A.; Wang, Grace; Keohane, Carol; Armstrong, Joanne; Morris, William M.; Haas, Jennifer S.

2012-01-01

Background Administrative claims and medical records are important data sources to examine healthcare utilization and outcomes. Little is known about identifying personalized medicine technologies in these sources. Objectives To describe agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of administrative claims compared to medical records for two pairs of targeted tests and treatments for breast cancer. Research Design Retrospective analysis of medical records linked to administrative claims from a large health plan. We examined whether agreement varied by factors that facilitate tracking in claims (coding and cost) and that enhance medical record completeness (records from multiple providers). Subjects Women (35 – 65 years) with incident breast cancer diagnosed in 2006–2007 (n=775). Measures Use of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and gene expression profiling (GEP) testing, trastuzumab and adjuvant chemotherapy in claims and medical records. Results Agreement between claims and records was substantial for GEP, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy, and lowest for HER2 tests. GEP, an expensive test with unique billing codes, had higher agreement (91.6% vs. 75.2%), sensitivity (94.9% vs. 76.7%), and specificity (90.1% vs. 29.2%) than HER2, a test without unique billing codes. Trastuzumab, a treatment with unique billing codes, had slightly higher agreement (95.1% vs. 90%) and sensitivity (98.1% vs. 87.9%) than adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions Higher agreement and specificity were associated with services that had unique billing codes and high cost. Administrative claims may be sufficient for examining services with unique billing codes. Medical records provide better data for identifying tests lacking specific codes and for research requiring detailed clinical information. PMID:21422962

Correlations between serum trypsinogen-2 and pancreatic cancer.

PubMed

Cao, Jianbiao; Xia, Changhong; Cui, Tingting; Guo, Hanbin; Li, Haoran; Ren, Yongqiang; Wang, Shuai

2015-01-01

To investigate associations be- tween serum trypsinogen-2, pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer (PC) and determine cutoff values for PC diagnosis. We recruited 88 patients from Internal Medicine/Surgical Departments of General Military Hospital of Beijing PLA between 12/2009 and 6/2010. Serum samples were collected preoperatively from 23 PC patients, 30 pancreatitis patients and 35 healthy controls. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect trypsinogen-2 semiquantitatively. Serum trypsinogen-2 levels of PC and pancreatitis patients were significantly higher than those of controls (51.2 ± 80.3, 107.7 ± 98.1 vs. 1.0 ± 0.5, p = 0.03, p < 0.001) and significantly higher in pancreatitis vs. PC patients (107.7 ± 98.1 vs. 51.2 ± 80.3, p = 0.01). Higher Balthazar CT grades correlated with higher trypsinogen-2 in pancreatitis group. ROC curves for trypsinogen-2 revealed optimal cutoff value 1.8 as lower PC detection limit with 95.7% sensitivity and 91.4% specificity, and optimal cutoff value 19.9 for upper PC detection limit with 87.0% sensitivity and 97.1% specificity. Trypsinogen-2 levels correlated with pancreatic injury level. An AUC of 0.73 (95% Cl: 0.59-0.84, p = 0.002) distinguished PC from pancreatitis. Serum trypsinogen-2 is associated with PC and pancreatitis. Levels between 1.8 μg/L and 19.9 μg/L strongly suggest PC. Detection of serum trypsinogen-2 may provide simple, sensitive, specific non-invasive initial screening for early PC diagnosis.

Excitation-scanning hyperspectral imaging microscope

PubMed Central

Favreau, Peter F.; Hernandez, Clarissa; Heaster, Tiffany; Alvarez, Diego F.; Rich, Thomas C.; Prabhat, Prashant; Leavesley, Silas J.

2014-01-01

Abstract. Hyperspectral imaging is a versatile tool that has recently been applied to a variety of biomedical applications, notably live-cell and whole-tissue signaling. Traditional hyperspectral imaging approaches filter the fluorescence emission over a broad wavelength range while exciting at a single band. However, these emission-scanning approaches have shown reduced sensitivity due to light attenuation from spectral filtering. Consequently, emission scanning has limited applicability for time-sensitive studies and photosensitive applications. In this work, we have developed an excitation-scanning hyperspectral imaging microscope that overcomes these limitations by providing high transmission with short acquisition times. This is achieved by filtering the fluorescence excitation rather than the emission. We tested the efficacy of the excitation-scanning microscope in a side-by-side comparison with emission scanning for detection of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing endothelial cells in highly autofluorescent lung tissue. Excitation scanning provided higher signal-to-noise characteristics, as well as shorter acquisition times (300  ms/wavelength band with excitation scanning versus 3  s/wavelength band with emission scanning). Excitation scanning also provided higher delineation of nuclear and cell borders, and increased identification of GFP regions in highly autofluorescent tissue. These results demonstrate excitation scanning has utility in a wide range of time-dependent and photosensitive applications. PMID:24727909

Excitation-scanning hyperspectral imaging microscope.

PubMed

Favreau, Peter F; Hernandez, Clarissa; Heaster, Tiffany; Alvarez, Diego F; Rich, Thomas C; Prabhat, Prashant; Leavesley, Silas J

2014-04-01

Hyperspectral imaging is a versatile tool that has recently been applied to a variety of biomedical applications, notably live-cell and whole-tissue signaling. Traditional hyperspectral imaging approaches filter the fluorescence emission over a broad wavelength range while exciting at a single band. However, these emission-scanning approaches have shown reduced sensitivity due to light attenuation from spectral filtering. Consequently, emission scanning has limited applicability for time-sensitive studies and photosensitive applications. In this work, we have developed an excitation-scanning hyperspectral imaging microscope that overcomes these limitations by providing high transmission with short acquisition times. This is achieved by filtering the fluorescence excitation rather than the emission. We tested the efficacy of the excitation-scanning microscope in a side-by-side comparison with emission scanning for detection of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing endothelial cells in highly autofluorescent lung tissue. Excitation scanning provided higher signal-to-noise characteristics, as well as shorter acquisition times (300  ms/wavelength band with excitation scanning versus 3  s/wavelength band with emission scanning). Excitation scanning also provided higher delineation of nuclear and cell borders, and increased identification of GFP regions in highly autofluorescent tissue. These results demonstrate excitation scanning has utility in a wide range of time-dependent and photosensitive applications.

Nonlinear vibrational microscopy

DOEpatents

Holtom, Gary R.; Xie, Xiaoliang Sunney; Zumbusch, Andreas

2000-01-01

The present invention is a method and apparatus for microscopic vibrational imaging using coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering or Sum Frequency Generation. Microscopic imaging with a vibrational spectroscopic contrast is achieved by generating signals in a nonlinear optical process and spatially resolved detection of the signals. The spatial resolution is attained by minimizing the spot size of the optical interrogation beams on the sample. Minimizing the spot size relies upon a. directing at least two substantially co-axial laser beams (interrogation beams) through a microscope objective providing a focal spot on the sample; b. collecting a signal beam together with a residual beam from the at least two co-axial laser beams after passing through the sample; c. removing the residual beam; and d. detecting the signal beam thereby creating said pixel. The method has significantly higher spatial resolution then IR microscopy and higher sensitivity than spontaneous Raman microscopy with much lower average excitation powers. CARS and SFG microscopy does not rely on the presence of fluorophores, but retains the resolution and three-dimensional sectioning capability of confocal and two-photon fluorescence microscopy. Complementary to these techniques, CARS and SFG microscopy provides a contrast mechanism based on vibrational spectroscopy. This vibrational contrast mechanism, combined with an unprecedented high sensitivity at a tolerable laser power level, provides a new approach for microscopic investigations of chemical and biological samples.

Climate Sensitivity in the Anthropocene

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Previdi, M.; Liepert, B. G.; Peteet, Dorothy M.; Hansen, J.; Beerling, D. J.; Broccoli, A. J.; Frolking, S.; Galloway, J. N.; Heimann, M.; LeQuere, C.;

Background odour induces adaptation and sensitization of olfactory receptors in the antennae of houseflies.

PubMed

Kelling, F J; Ialenti, F; Den Otter, C J

2002-06-01

The presence of background odour was found to have a small but significant effect on the sensitivity of the antennal olfactory system of houseflies, Musca domestica Linnaeus (Diptera: Muscidae), to new pulses of odour. We show that cross-adaptation and cross-sensitization between a background odour of (+/-)-1-octen-3-ol and pulses of (+/-)-1-octen-3-ol, 2-pentanone and R-(+)-limonene can occur, confirming that olfactory receptor cells are sensitive to different odours. Background odour can increase the responses to low concentration odour pulses and decrease the responses to higher concentration odour pulses. It is suggested that background odour has a larger effect on olfactory receptor cells that respond with a tonic increase of spike frequency, giving information about the level of odour concentration, i.e. the 'static' environment. Cells that respond in a phasic way only provide information on the dynamics of the olfactory environment.

[Primary cervical cancer screening].

PubMed

Vargas-Hernández, Víctor Manuel; Vargas-Aguilar, Víctor Manuel; Tovar-Rodríguez, José María

2015-01-01

Cervico-uterine cancer screening with cytology decrease incidence by more than 50%. The cause of this cancer is the human papilloma virus high risk, and requires a sensitive test to provide sufficient sensitivity and specificity for early detection and greater interval period when the results are negative. The test of the human papilloma virus high risk, is effective and safe because of its excellent sensitivity, negative predictive value and optimal reproducibility, especially when combined with liquid-based cytology or biomarkers with viral load, with higher sensitivity and specificity, by reducing false positives for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or greater injury, with excellent clinical benefits to cervical cancer screening and related infection of human papilloma virus diseases, is currently the best test for early detection infection of human papillomavirus and the risk of carcinogenesis. Copyright © 2015 Academia Mexicana de Cirugía A.C. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Heart rate variability and pain: associations of two interrelated homeostatic processes.

PubMed

Appelhans, Bradley M; Luecken, Linda J

2008-02-01

Between-person variability in pain sensitivity remains poorly understood. Given a conceptualization of pain as a homeostatic emotion, we hypothesized inverse associations between measures of resting heart rate variability (HRV), an index of autonomic regulation of heart rate that has been linked to emotionality, and sensitivity to subsequently administered thermal pain. Resting electrocardiography was collected, and frequency-domain measures of HRV were derived through spectral analysis. Fifty-nine right-handed participants provided ratings of pain intensity and unpleasantness following exposure to 4 degrees C thermal pain stimulation, and indicated their thresholds for barely noticeable and moderate pain during three exposures to decreasing temperature. Greater low-frequency HRV was associated with lower ratings of 4 degrees C pain unpleasantness and higher thresholds for barely noticeable and moderate pain. High-frequency HRV was unrelated to measures of pain sensitivity. Findings suggest pain sensitivity is influenced by characteristics of a central homeostatic system also involved in emotion.

Yield performance of cowpea plant introductions grown in calcareous soils

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cowpea or Southernpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is an important legume crop used as a feed for livestock, as a green vegetable and for consumption of its dry beans which provide 22-25% protein. The crop is very sensitive to alkaline soil conditions. When grown at a soil pH of 7.5 or higher, co...

Towards a Culturally Sensitive and Deeper Understanding of "Rote Learning" and Memorisation of Adult Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Po-Li

2011-01-01

This article aims to provide evidence that "rote learning" or "memorisation" is a complex construct and is deeply embedded in the East Asian culture. An in-depth understanding of this learning approach is increasingly crucial considering the complex demography of contemporary higher education nowadays. Not only is there a rise…

Recent advances in surface plasmon resonance imaging: detection speed, sensitivity, and portability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Youjun; Hu, Rui; Wang, Lei; Gu, Dayong; He, Jianan; Wu, Shu-Yuen; Ho, Ho-Pui; Li, Xuejin; Qu, Junle; Gao, Bruce Zhi; Shao, Yonghong

2017-06-01

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor is a powerful tool for studying the kinetics of biomolecular interactions because they offer unique real-time and label-free measurement capabilities with high detection sensitivity. In the past two decades, SPR technology has been successfully commercialized and its performance has continuously been improved with lots of engineering efforts. In this review, we describe the recent advances in SPR technologies. The developments of SPR technologies focusing on detection speed, sensitivity, and portability are discussed in details. The incorporation of imaging techniques into SPR sensing is emphasized. In addition, our SPR imaging biosensors based on the scanning of wavelength by a solid-state tunable wavelength filter are highlighted. Finally, significant advances of the vast developments in nanotechnology-associated SPR sensing for sensitivity enhancements are also reviewed. It is hoped that this review will provide some insights for researchers who are interested in SPR sensing, and help them develop SPR sensors with better sensitivity and higher throughput.

Beyond gains and losses: the effect of need on risky choice in framed decisions.

PubMed

Mishra, Sandeep; Fiddick, Laurence

2012-06-01

Substantial evidence suggests people are risk-averse when making decisions described in terms of gains and risk-prone when making decisions described in terms of losses, a phenomenon known as the framing effect. Little research, however, has examined whether framing effects are a product of normative risk-sensitive cognitive processes. In 5 experiments, it is demonstrated that framing effects in the Asian disease problem can be explained by risk-sensitivity theory, which predicts that decision makers adjust risk acceptance on the basis of minimal acceptable thresholds, or need. Both explicit and self-determined need requirements eliminated framing effects and affected risk acceptance consistent with risk-sensitivity theory. Furthermore, negative language choice in loss frames conferred the perception of high need and led to the construction of higher minimal acceptable thresholds. The results of this study suggest that risk-sensitivity theory provides a normative rationale for framing effects based on sensitivity to minimal acceptable thresholds, or needs. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Peptide Functionalized Gold Nanorods for the Sensitive Detection of a Cardiac Biomarker Using Plasmonic Paper Devices.

PubMed

Tadepalli, Sirimuvva; Kuang, Zhifeng; Jiang, Qisheng; Liu, Keng-Ku; Fisher, Marilee A; Morrissey, Jeremiah J; Kharasch, Evan D; Slocik, Joseph M; Naik, Rajesh R; Singamaneni, Srikanth

2015-11-10

The sensitivity of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of metal nanostructures to adsorbates lends itself to a powerful class of label-free biosensors. Optical properties of plasmonic nanostructures are dependent on the geometrical features and the local dielectric environment. The exponential decay of the sensitivity from the surface of the plasmonic nanotransducer calls for the careful consideration in its design with particular attention to the size of the recognition and analyte layers. In this study, we demonstrate that short peptides as biorecognition elements (BRE) compared to larger antibodies as target capture agents offer several advantages. Using a bioplasmonic paper device (BPD), we demonstrate the selective and sensitive detection of the cardiac biomarker troponin I (cTnI). The smaller sized peptide provides higher sensitivity and a lower detection limit using a BPD. Furthermore, the excellent shelf-life and thermal stability of peptide-based LSPR sensors, which precludes the need for special storage conditions, makes it ideal for use in resource-limited settings.

Selective Intercultural Sensitivity to Different Sources of Cultural Identity: Study of Intercultural Sensitivity of Students at Teacher Education Programs of Georgia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabatadze, Shalva; Gorgadze, Natia

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the intercultural sensitivity of students in teacher educational programs at higher education institutes (HEIs) in Georgia. Design/methodology/approach: This research explored the intercultural sensitivity among 355 randomly selected students in teacher education programs at higher education…

Mathematical solution of multilevel fractional programming problem with fuzzy goal programming approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lachhwani, Kailash; Poonia, Mahaveer Prasad

2012-08-01

In this paper, we show a procedure for solving multilevel fractional programming problems in a large hierarchical decentralized organization using fuzzy goal programming approach. In the proposed method, the tolerance membership functions for the fuzzily described numerator and denominator part of the objective functions of all levels as well as the control vectors of the higher level decision makers are respectively defined by determining individual optimal solutions of each of the level decision makers. A possible relaxation of the higher level decision is considered for avoiding decision deadlock due to the conflicting nature of objective functions. Then, fuzzy goal programming approach is used for achieving the highest degree of each of the membership goal by minimizing negative deviational variables. We also provide sensitivity analysis with variation of tolerance values on decision vectors to show how the solution is sensitive to the change of tolerance values with the help of a numerical example.

Habituation and sensitization of aggression in bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana): testing the dual-process theory of habituation.

PubMed

Bee, M A

2001-09-01

The aggressive response of male bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) habituates with repeated broadcasts of acoustic stimuli simulating a new territorial neighbor. The effects of stimulus repetition rate and stimulus intensity on bullfrog aggressive responses were tested in a field experiment designed to test the assumptions of a dual-process theory of habituation. Synthetic advertisement calls were broadcast at 2 repetition rates and 2 intensities in a factorial design. Bullfrogs were more aggressive at the higher stimulus intensity at both repetition rates. Aggressive responses habituated more slowly at the higher stimulus intensity and slower repetition rate compared with other treatments. Several biotic and abiotic factors had small or negligible effects on aggressive responses. Although consistent with the operation of 2 opposing processes, habituation and sensitization, the data provide only partial support for the assumptions of dual-process theory.

Development of a highly sensitive immunochromatographic detection kit for H5 influenza virus hemagglutinin using silver amplification.

PubMed

Wada, Atsuhiko; Sakoda, Yoshihiro; Oyamada, Takayoshi; Kida, Hiroshi

2011-12-01

H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), has become a serious epizootic threat to the poultry population in Asia. In addition, significant numbers of human cases of HPAIV infection have been reported to date. To prevent the spread of HPAIV among humans and to allow for timely medical intervention, a rapid and high sensitive method is needed to detect and subtype the causative HPAIVs. In the present study, a silver amplification technique used in photographic development was combined with immunochromatography technologies and a highly sensitive and rapid diagnostic test to detect the hemagglutinin of H5 influenza viruses was developed. The sensitivity of the test kit was increased 500 times by silver amplification. The sensitivity of the method was more than 10 times higher than those of conventional rapid influenza diagnostic tests, which detect viral nucleoproteins. The diagnostic system developed in the present study can therefore provide rapid and highly sensitive results and will be useful for diagnosis of H5 HPAIV infection in humans and animals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermo-sensitive liposomes loaded with doxorubicin and lysine modified single-walled carbon nanotubes as tumor-targeting drug delivery system.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiali; Xie, Yingxia; Zhang, Yingjie; Huang, Heqing; Huang, Shengnan; Hou, Lin; Zhang, Huijuan; Li, Zhi; Shi, Jinjin; Zhang, Zhenzhong

2014-11-01

This report focuses on the thermo-sensitive liposomes loaded with doxorubicin and lysine-modified single-walled carbon nanotube drug delivery system, which was designed to enhance the anti-tumor effect and reduce the side effects of doxorubicin. Doxorubicin-lysine/single-walled carbon nanotube-thermo-sensitive liposomes was prepared by reverse-phase evaporation method, the mean particle size was 232.0 ± 5.6 nm, and drug entrapment efficiency was 86.5 ± 3.7%. The drug release test showed that doxorubicin released more quickly at 42℃ than at 37℃. Compared with free doxorubicin, doxorubicin-lysine/single-walled carbon nanotube-thermo-sensitive liposomes could efficiently cross the cell membranes and afford higher anti-tumor efficacy on the human hepatic carcinoma cell line (SMMC-7721) cells in vitro. For in vivo experiments, the relative tumor volumes of the sarcomaia 180-bearing mice in thermo-sensitive liposomes group and doxorubicin group were significantly smaller than those of N.S. group. Meanwhile, the combination of near-infrared laser irradiation at 808 nm significantly enhanced the tumor growth inhibition both on SMMC-7721 cells and the sarcomaia 180-bearing mice. The quality of life such as body weight, mental state, food and water intake of sarcomaia 180 tumor-bearing mice treated with doxorubicin-lysine/single-walled carbon nanotube-thermo-sensitive liposomes were much higher than those treated with doxorubicin. In conclusion, doxorubicin-lysine/single-walled carbon nanotube-thermo-sensitive liposomes combined with near-infrared laser irradiation at 808 nm may potentially provide viable clinical strategies for targeting delivery of anti-cancer drugs. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Performance of Thirteen Clinical Rules to Distinguish Bacterial and Presumed Viral Meningitis in Vietnamese Children

PubMed Central

Huy, Nguyen Tien; Thao, Nguyen Thanh Hong; Tuan, Nguyen Anh; Khiem, Nguyen Tuan; Moore, Christopher C.; Thi Ngoc Diep, Doan; Hirayama, Kenji

2012-01-01

Background and Purpose Successful outcomes from bacterial meningitis require rapid antibiotic treatment; however, unnecessary treatment of viral meningitis may lead to increased toxicities and expense. Thus, improved diagnostics are required to maximize treatment and minimize side effects and cost. Thirteen clinical decision rules have been reported to identify bacterial from viral meningitis. However, few rules have been tested and compared in a single study, while several rules are yet to be tested by independent researchers or in pediatric populations. Thus, simultaneous test and comparison of these rules are required to enable clinicians to select an optimal diagnostic rule for bacterial meningitis in settings and populations similar to ours. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Infectious Department of Pediatric Hospital Number 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The performance of the clinical rules was evaluated by area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) using the method of DeLong and McNemar test for specificity comparison. Results Our study included 129 patients, of whom 80 had bacterial meningitis and 49 had presumed viral meningitis. Spanos's rule had the highest AUC at 0.938 but was not significantly greater than other rules. No rule provided 100% sensitivity with a specificity higher than 50%. Based on our calculation of theoretical sensitivity and specificity, we suggest that a perfect rule requires at least four independent variables that posses both sensitivity and specificity higher than 85–90%. Conclusions No clinical decision rules provided an acceptable specificity (>50%) with 100% sensitivity when applying our data set in children. More studies in Vietnam and developing countries are required to develop and/or validate clinical rules and more very good biomarkers are required to develop such a perfect rule. PMID:23209715

Testing the woman abuse screening tool to identify intimate partner violence in Indonesia.

PubMed

Iskandar, Livia; Braun, Kathryn L; Katz, Alan R

2015-04-01

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a global public health problem. IPV prevalence in Indonesia has been estimated to be less than 1%, based on reported cases. It is likely that IPV prevalence is underreported in Indonesia, as it is in many other countries. Screening for IPV has been found to increase IPV identification, but no screening tools are in use in Indonesia. The aim of this study was to test the translated Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) for detecting IPV in Indonesia. The WAST was tested against a diagnostic interview by a trained psychologist on 240 women attending two Primary Health Centers in Jakarta. IPV prevalence and the reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of the WAST were estimated. Prevalence of IPV by diagnostic interview was 36.3%, much higher than published estimates. The most common forms of IPV identified were psychological (85%) and physical abuse (24%). Internal reliability of the WAST was high (α = .801). A WAST score of 13 (out of 24) is the recommended cutoff for identifying IPV, but only 17% of the Indonesian sample scored 13 or higher. Test sensitivity of the WAST with a cutoff score of 13 was only 41.9%, with a specificity of 96.8%. With a cutoff score of 10, the sensitivity improved to 84.9%, while the specificity decreased to 61.0%. Use of the WAST with a cutoff score of 10 provides good sensitivity and reasonable specificity and would provide a much-needed screening tool for use in Indonesia. Although a lower cutoff would yield a greater proportion of false positives, most of the true cases would be identified, increasing the possibility that women experiencing abuse would receive needed assistance. © The Author(s) 2014.

Performance of thirteen clinical rules to distinguish bacterial and presumed viral meningitis in Vietnamese children.

PubMed

Huy, Nguyen Tien; Thao, Nguyen Thanh Hong; Tuan, Nguyen Anh; Khiem, Nguyen Tuan; Moore, Christopher C; Thi Ngoc Diep, Doan; Hirayama, Kenji

2012-01-01

Successful outcomes from bacterial meningitis require rapid antibiotic treatment; however, unnecessary treatment of viral meningitis may lead to increased toxicities and expense. Thus, improved diagnostics are required to maximize treatment and minimize side effects and cost. Thirteen clinical decision rules have been reported to identify bacterial from viral meningitis. However, few rules have been tested and compared in a single study, while several rules are yet to be tested by independent researchers or in pediatric populations. Thus, simultaneous test and comparison of these rules are required to enable clinicians to select an optimal diagnostic rule for bacterial meningitis in settings and populations similar to ours. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Infectious Department of Pediatric Hospital Number 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The performance of the clinical rules was evaluated by area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) using the method of DeLong and McNemar test for specificity comparison. Our study included 129 patients, of whom 80 had bacterial meningitis and 49 had presumed viral meningitis. Spanos's rule had the highest AUC at 0.938 but was not significantly greater than other rules. No rule provided 100% sensitivity with a specificity higher than 50%. Based on our calculation of theoretical sensitivity and specificity, we suggest that a perfect rule requires at least four independent variables that posses both sensitivity and specificity higher than 85-90%. No clinical decision rules provided an acceptable specificity (>50%) with 100% sensitivity when applying our data set in children. More studies in Vietnam and developing countries are required to develop and/or validate clinical rules and more very good biomarkers are required to develop such a perfect rule.

Accuracy of visual inspection performed by community health workers in cervical cancer screening.

PubMed

Driscoll, Susan D; Tappen, Ruth M; Newman, David; Voege-Harvey, Kathi

2018-05-22

Cervical cancer remains the leading cause of cancer and mortality in low-resource areas with healthcare personnel shortages. Visual inspection is a low-resource alternative method of cervical cancer screening in areas with limited access to healthcare. To assess accuracy of visual inspection performed by community health workers (CHWs) and licensed providers, and the effect of provider training on visual inspection accuracy. Five databases and four websites were queried for studies published in English up to December 31, 2015. Derivations of "cervical cancer screening" and "visual inspection" were search terms. Visual inspection screening studies with provider definitions, colposcopy reference standards, and accuracy data were included. A priori variables were extracted by two independent reviewers. Bivariate linear mixed-effects models were used to compare visual inspection accuracy. Provider type was a significant predictor of visual inspection sensitivity (P=0.048); sensitivity was 15 percentage points higher among CHWs than physicians (P=0.014). Components of provider training were significant predictors of sensitivity and specificity. Community-based visual inspection programs using adequately trained CHWs could reduce barriers and expand access to screening, thereby decreasing cervical cancer incidence and mortality for women at highest risk and those living in remote areas with limited access to healthcare personnel. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Surface-enhanced localized surface plasmon resonance biosensing of avian influenza DNA hybridization using subwavelength metallic nanoarrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Shin Ae; Byun, Kyung Min; Kim, Kyujung; Jang, Sung Min; Ma, Kyungjae; Oh, Youngjin; Kim, Donghyun; Kim, Sung Guk; Shuler, Michael L.; Kim, Sung June

2010-09-01

We demonstrated enhanced localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing based on subwavelength gold nanoarrays built on a thin gold film. Arrays of nanogratings (1D) and nanoholes (2D) with a period of 200 nm were fabricated by electron-beam lithography and used for the detection of avian influenza DNA hybridization. Experimental results showed that both nanoarrays provided significant sensitivity improvement and, especially, 1D nanogratings exhibited higher SPR signal amplification compared with 2D nanohole arrays. The sensitivity enhancement is associated with changes in surface-limited reaction area and strong interactions between bound molecules and localized plasmon fields. Our approach is expected to improve both the sensitivity and sensing resolution and can be applicable to label-free detection of DNA without amplification by polymerase chain reaction.

Determining the sensitivity of transrectal ultrasonography on a consecutive series of prostate cancers in a clinical and screening setting.

PubMed

Ciatto, Stefano; Bonardi, Rita; Lombardi, Claudio; Zappa, Marco; Gervasi, Ginetta

2002-01-01

To evaluate the sensitivity at transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) for prostate cancer. A consecutive series of 170 prostate cancers identified by matching local cancer registry and TRUS archives at the Centro per lo Studio e la Prevenzione Oncologica of Florence. TRUS sensitivity was determined as the ratio of TRUS positive to total prostate cancers occurring at different intervals from TRUS date. Univariate and multivariate analyses of sensitivity determinants were performed. Sensitivity at 6 months, 1, 2 and 3 years after the test was 94.1% (95% CI, 90-98), 89.8% (95% CI, 85-95), 80.4% (95% CI, 74-87) and 74.1% (95% CI, 68-81%), respectively. A higher sensitivity (statistically significant) of TRUS was observed only if digital rectal examination was suspicious, whereas no association to sensitivity was observed for age, prostate-specific antigen or prostate-specific antigen density. The study provided a reliable estimate of TRUS sensitivity, particularly reliable being checked against a cancer registry: observed sensitivity was high, at least of the same magnitude of other cancer screening tests. TRUS, which is known to allow for considerable diagnostic anticipation and is more specific than prostate-specific antigen, might still be considered for its contribution to a screening approach.

A noncontact pneumatic esthesiometer for measurement of ocular sensitivity: a preliminary report.

PubMed

Vega, J A; Simpson, T L; Fonn, D

1999-11-01

The aim of this investigation was to evaluate a prototype noncontact pneumatic esthesiometer for measuring sensitivity of the eye. To evaluate the instrument's repeatability, central corneal sensitivity was recorded on two separate occasions with a 24-h interval between the two measures. In a separate experiment, corneal edema was induced with a thick hydrogel lens, and the eye was closed and patched. Corneal sensitivity was measured before wearing the lenses for 3 h, immediately after lens removal, and 15 min later. Corneal sensitivity also was measured before the instillation of a single drop of proparacaine (Alcaine, 0.5%) and at 2 and 18 min later. Sensitivity was measured at the corneal apex and at a temporal conjunctival location 3 mm from the limbus. A high correlation was found between days 1 and 2 (r = 0.90; p = 0.0001). The coefficient of repeatability (COR = 0.87 mm Hg) showed that 95% of the difference between test and retest measures were between +/-0.87 mm Hg. Corneal sensitivity decreased by 55% after lens-induced corneal swelling and by 159% after instillation of the topical anesthetic. Central corneal sensitivity was found to be significantly higher than that of the temporal conjunctiva (p = 0.0001). We conclude that this pneumatic esthesiometer provides repeatable and reliable measures of ocular-surface sensitivity.

Sensitivity Enhancement in Si Nanophotonic Waveguides Used for Refractive Index Sensing

PubMed Central

Shi, Yaocheng; Ma, Ke; Dai, Daoxin

2016-01-01

A comparative study is given for the sensitivity of several typical Si nanophotonic waveguides, including SOI (silicon-on-insulator) nanowires, nanoslot waveguides, suspended Si nanowires, and nanofibers. The cases for gas sensing (ncl ~ 1.0) and liquid sensing (ncl ~ 1.33) are considered. When using SOI nanowires (with a SiO2 buffer layer), the sensitivity for liquid sensing (S ~ 0.55) is higher than that for gas sensing (S ~ 0.35) due to lower asymmetry in the vertical direction. By using SOI nanoslot waveguides, suspended Si nanowires, and Si nanofibers, one could achieve a higher sensitivity compared to sensing with a free-space beam (S = 1.0). The sensitivity for gas sensing is higher than that for liquid sensing due to the higher index-contrast. The waveguide sensitivity of an optimized suspended Si nanowire for gas sensing is as high as 1.5, which is much higher than that of a SOI nanoslot waveguide. Furthermore, the optimal design has very large tolerance to the core width variation due to the fabrication error (∆w ~ ±50 nm). In contrast, a Si nanofiber could also give a very high sensitivity (e.g., ~1.43) while the fabrication tolerance is very small (i.e., ∆w < ±5 nm). The comparative study shows that suspended Si nanowire is a good choice to achieve ultra-high waveguide sensitivity. PMID:26950132

Sensitivity Enhancement in Si Nanophotonic Waveguides Used for Refractive Index Sensing.

PubMed

Shi, Yaocheng; Ma, Ke; Dai, Daoxin

2016-03-03

A comparative study is given for the sensitivity of several typical Si nanophotonic waveguides, including SOI (silicon-on-insulator) nanowires, nanoslot waveguides, suspended Si nanowires, and nanofibers. The cases for gas sensing (ncl ~ 1.0) and liquid sensing (ncl ~ 1.33) are considered. When using SOI nanowires (with a SiO₂ buffer layer), the sensitivity for liquid sensing (S ~ 0.55) is higher than that for gas sensing (S ~ 0.35) due to lower asymmetry in the vertical direction. By using SOI nanoslot waveguides, suspended Si nanowires, and Si nanofibers, one could achieve a higher sensitivity compared to sensing with a free-space beam (S = 1.0). The sensitivity for gas sensing is higher than that for liquid sensing due to the higher index-contrast. The waveguide sensitivity of an optimized suspended Si nanowire for gas sensing is as high as 1.5, which is much higher than that of a SOI nanoslot waveguide. Furthermore, the optimal design has very large tolerance to the core width variation due to the fabrication error (∆w ~ ±50 nm). In contrast, a Si nanofiber could also give a very high sensitivity (e.g., ~1.43) while the fabrication tolerance is very small (i.e., ∆w < ±5 nm). The comparative study shows that suspended Si nanowire is a good choice to achieve ultra-high waveguide sensitivity.

Long-circulating, pH-sensitive liposomes versus long-circulating, non-pH-sensitive liposomes as a delivery system for tumor identification.

PubMed

de Barros, André Luís Branco; Mota, Luciene das Graças; Soares, Daniel Crístian Ferreira; de Souza, Cristina Maria; Cassali, Geovanni Dantas; Oliveira, Mônica Cristina; Cardoso, Valbert Nascimento

2013-09-01

Bombesin (BBN) is a tetradecapeptide that binds specifically to gastrin-releasing peptide receptors in humans. Several forms of cancer, including lung, prostate, breast, and colon over-express receptors for bombesin-like peptides. Therefore, radiolabeled bombesin analogs might be useful for tumor identification. Nevertheless, it is well known that higher tumor uptake can yield images in higher quality. Hence, drug delivery systems, such as liposomes, can be used to achieve a higher concentration of radiotracer in tumor site, and also improve the radiotracer stability, since peptides can suffer easily degradation in vivo by natural plasma and tissue peptides. In this paper, we prepared long-circulating, pH-sensitive liposomes and long-circulation, non-pH sensitive liposomes. Both formulations were able to encapsulate the radiolabeled bombesin derivative (99mTc-BBN(7_14)), and also showing high in vitro stability. Biodistribution studies were performed in Ehrlich tumor bearing-mice to compare the ability of pH-sensitive and non-pH sensitive liposomes to deliver 99mTc-BBN(7_14) to tumor site. Results showed higher tumor uptake (2-fold) when pH-sensitive liposomes were used, suggesting that these vesicles can facilitate the access to the tumor by releasing the diagnostic agent into the ideal area. As a result, tumor-to-muscle ratio achieved with pH-sensitive liposomes was higher than that obtained with non-pH-sensitive formulation. In addition, scintigraphic images for pH-sensitive liposomes showed evident tumor uptake, corroborating with biodistribution data. Therefore, the results presented in this paper suggest that pH-sensitive liposomes are able to deliver more efficiently the radiolabeled bombesin analog. This finding poses a new possibility to improve images quality, since the tumor-to-muscle ratio was strongly enhanced.

Obese children experience higher plantar pressure and lower foot sensitivity than non-obese.

PubMed

da Rocha, Emmanuel Souza; Bratz, Denise Tiane Klein; Gubert, Larissa Colaço; de David, Ana; Carpes, Felipe P

2014-08-01

Children obesity is a risk factor for several dysfunctions and diseases, with negative effects on the morphology of the locomotor system, plantar pressure and body stability. A relationship between postural control and sensorimotor information has been assumed. However, there is few data on the effects of children obesity on the availability of sensorial information from the foot during standing. Twenty obese and twenty non-obese children were evaluated for foot sensitivity and plantar pressure during unipedal and bipedal stance. Data were compared between obese and non-obese participants, between foot regions and between legs. Obese children experiences higher plantar pressure and have lower foot sensitivity than non-obese. Additionally, obese children had similar sensitivity for different foot regions, as compared to the non-obese. Children obesity negatively influences foot sensitivity. Bipedal stance seemed more sensitive to differentiate between obese and non-obese. Higher plantar pressure and lower foot sensitivity in obese children may affect performance of weight bearing activities, contribute to higher risk of foot injuries and have potential implication for children footwear design and clinical physical examination. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Education-Adjusted Normality Thresholds for FDG-PET in the Diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease.

PubMed

Mainta, Ismini C; Trombella, Sara; Morbelli, Silvia; Frisoni, Giovanni B; Garibotto, Valentina

2018-06-05

A corollary of the reserve hypothesis is that what is regarded as pathological cortical metabolism in patients might vary according to education. The aim of this study is to assess the incremental diagnostic value of education-adjusted over unadjusted thresholds on the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET as a biomarker for Alzheimer disease (AD). We compared cortical metabolism in 90 healthy controls and 181 AD patients from the Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. The AUC of the ROC curve did not differ significantly between the whole group and the higher-education patients or the lower-education subjects. The threshold of wMetaROI values providing 80% sensitivity was lower in higher-education patients and higher in the lower-education patients, compared to the standard threshold derived over the whole AD collective, without, however, significant changes in sensitivity and specificity. These data show that education, as a proxy of reserve, is not a major confounder in the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET in AD and the adoption of education-adjusted thresholds is not required in daily practice. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Why are freeform telescopes less alignment sensitive than a traditional unobscured TMA?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Kevin P.; Schiesser, Eric; Rolland, Jannick P.

2015-10-01

As freeform optical systems emerge as interesting and innovative solutions for imaging in 3D packages there is an assumption they are going to be more sensitive particularly at assembly. While it is true that the clocking of the component becomes a relatively weak new tolerance, for the most effective new class of freeform systems the alignment sensitivity is actually lower in most cases than for a comparable traditional unobscured three mirror anastigmatic (TMA) telescope. Traditional unobscured TMA telescopes, whose designs emerged in the mid-70s and which begin to appear as hardware in the literature in the early 90s, are based on using increasingly offset apertures with otherwise coaxial rotationally symmetric mirrors. The mirrors (typically 3 to correct spherical, coma, and astigmatism) have evolved to contain more high order terms as the designs are pushed to more compact and wider field packages - the NIRCAM camera for the JWST is an excellent example of this [1]. As the higher order terms are added, the mirrors become increasingly sensitive to decenters and tilts. An emerging class of freeform telescopes that provide wider field of view and/or faster f/numbers than the traditional TMA are based on a strategy where the surface shape remains a low order Zernike-type surface even in compact, unobscured packages. This optical design strategy results in an optical form that is not only higher performance but simultaneously less sensitive to alignment.

Hunted Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii) Show Threat-Sensitive Responses to Human Presence

PubMed Central

Papworth, Sarah; Milner-Gulland, E. J.; Slocombe, Katie

2013-01-01

Responding only to individuals of a predator species which display threatening behaviour allows prey species to minimise energy expenditure and other costs of predator avoidance, such as disruption of feeding. The threat sensitivity hypothesis predicts such behaviour in prey species. If hunted animals are unable to distinguish dangerous humans from non-dangerous humans, human hunting is likely to have a greater effect on prey populations as all human encounters should lead to predator avoidance, increasing stress and creating opportunity costs for exploited populations. We test the threat sensitivity hypothesis in wild Poeppigi's woolly monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii) in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador, by presenting human models engaging in one of three behaviours “hunting”, “gathering” or “researching”. These experiments were conducted at two sites with differing hunting pressures. Visibility, movement and vocalisations were recorded and results from two sites showed that groups changed their behaviours after being exposed to humans, and did so in different ways depending on the behaviour of the human model. Results at the site with higher hunting pressure were consistent with predictions based on the threat sensitivity hypothesis. Although results at the site with lower hunting pressure were not consistent with the results at the site with higher hunting pressure, groups at this site also showed differential responses to different human behaviours. These results provide evidence of threat-sensitive predator avoidance in hunted primates, which may allow them to conserve both time and energy when encountering humans which pose no threat. PMID:23614003

Sensitizers in EUV chemically amplified resist: mechanism of sensitivity improvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vesters, Yannick; Jiang, Jing; Yamamoto, Hiroki; De Simone, Danilo; Kozawa, Takahiro; De Gendt, Stefan; Vandenberghe, Geert

2018-03-01

EUV lithography utilizes photons with 91.6 eV energy to ionize resists, generate secondary electrons, and enable electron driven reactions that produce acid in chemically amplified photoresist. Efficiently using the available photons is of key importance. Unlike DUV lithography, where photons are selectively utilized by photoactive compounds, photons at 13.5nm wavelength ionize almost all materials. Nevertheless, specific elements have a significantly higher atomic photon-absorption cross section at 91.6 eV. To increase photon absorption, sensitizer molecules, containing highly absorbing elements, can be added to photoresist formulations. These sensitizers have gained growing attention in recent years, showing significant sensitivity improvement. But there are few experimental evidences that the sensitivity improvement is due to the higher absorption only, as adding metals salts into the resist formulation can induce other mechanisms, like modification of the dissolution rate, potentially affecting patterning performance. In this work, we used different sensitizers in chemically amplified resist. We measured experimentally the absorption of EUV light, the acid yield, the dissolution rate and the patterning performance of the resists. Surprisingly, the absorption of EUV resist was decreased with addition of metal salt sensitizers. Nevertheless, the resist with sensitizer showed a higher acid yield. Sensitizer helps achieving higher PAG conversion to acid, notably due to an increase of the secondary electron generation. Patterning data confirm a significant sensitivity improvement, but at the cost of roughness degradation at high sensitizer loading. This can be explained by the chemical distribution of the sensitizer in the resist combined with a modification of the dissolution contrast, as observed by Dissolution Rate Monitor.

Four human Plasmodium species quantification using droplet digital PCR.

PubMed

Srisutham, Suttipat; Saralamba, Naowarat; Malleret, Benoit; Rénia, Laurent; Dondorp, Arjen M; Imwong, Mallika

2017-01-01

Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) is a partial PCR based on water-oil emulsion droplet technology. It is a highly sensitive method for detecting and delineating minor alleles from complex backgrounds and provides absolute quantification of DNA targets. The ddPCR technology has been applied for detection of many pathogens. Here the sensitive assay utilizing ddPCR for detection and quantification of Plasmodium species was investigated. The assay was developed for two levels of detection, genus specific for all Plasmodium species and for specific Plasmodium species detection. The ddPCR assay was developed based on primers and probes specific to the Plasmodium genus 18S rRNA gene. Using ddPCR for ultra-sensitive P. falciparum assessment, the lower level of detection from concentrated DNA obtained from a high volume (1 mL) blood sample was 11 parasites/mL. For species identification, in particular for samples with mixed infections, a duplex reaction was developed for detection and quantification P. falciparum/ P. vivax and P. malariae/ P. ovale. Amplification of each Plasmodium species in the duplex reaction showed equal sensitivity to singleplex single species detection. The duplex ddPCR assay had higher sensitivity to identify minor species in 32 subpatent parasitaemia samples from Cambodia, and performed better than real-time PCR. The ddPCR assay shows high sensitivity to assess very low parasitaemia of all human Plasmodium species. This provides a useful research tool for studying the role of the asymptomatic parasite reservoir for transmission in regions aiming for malaria elimination.

G-Band Vapor Radiometer Profiler (GVRP) Handbook

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Caddeau, MP

2010-06-23

The G-Band Vapor Radiometer Profiler (GVRP) provides time-series measurements of brightness temperatures from 15 channels between 170 and 183.310 GHz. Atmospheric emission in this spectral region is primarily due to water vapor, with some influence from liquid water. Channels between 170.0 and 176.0 GHz are particularly sensitive to the presence of liquid water. The sensitivity to water vapor of the 183.31-GHz line is approximately 30 times higher than at the frequencies of the two-channel microwave radiometer (MWR) for a precipitable water vapor (PWV) amount of less than 2.5 mm. Measurements from the GVRP instrument are therefore especially useful during low-humiditymore » conditions (PWV < 5 mm). In addition to integrated water vapor and liquid water, the GVRP can provide low-resolution vertical profiles of water vapor in very dry conditions.« less

Higher order sensitivity of solutions to convex programming problems without strict complementarity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malanowski, Kazimierz

1988-01-01

Consideration is given to a family of convex programming problems which depend on a vector parameter. It is shown that the solutions of the problems and the associated Lagrange multipliers are arbitrarily many times directionally differentiable functions of the parameter, provided that the data of the problems are sufficiently regular. The characterizations of the respective derivatives are given.

From Industry to Higher Education and Libraries: Building the Fast Response Library (FRL).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apostolou, A. S.; Skiadas, C. H.

In order to be effective in the coming millennium, libraries will need to measure their performance rigorously against the expectations and real needs of their customers. The library of the future will need to be a customer sensitive, knowledge creating, agile enterprise. It must provide value to every customer, where value is the customer's…

Cohesin-interacting protein WAPL-1 regulates meiotic chromosome structure and cohesion by antagonizing specific cohesin complexes

PubMed Central

Crawley, Oliver; Barroso, Consuelo; Testori, Sarah; Ferrandiz, Nuria; Silva, Nicola; Castellano-Pozo, Maikel; Jaso-Tamame, Angel Luis; Martinez-Perez, Enrique

2016-01-01

Wapl induces cohesin dissociation from DNA throughout the mitotic cell cycle, modulating sister chromatid cohesion and higher-order chromatin structure. Cohesin complexes containing meiosis-specific kleisin subunits govern most aspects of meiotic chromosome function, but whether Wapl regulates these complexes remains unknown. We show that during C. elegans oogenesis WAPL-1 antagonizes binding of cohesin containing COH-3/4 kleisins, but not REC-8, demonstrating that sensitivity to WAPL-1 is dictated by kleisin identity. By restricting the amount of chromosome-associated COH-3/4 cohesin, WAPL-1 controls chromosome structure throughout meiotic prophase. In the absence of REC-8, WAPL-1 inhibits COH-3/4-mediated cohesion, which requires crossover-fated events formed during meiotic recombination. Thus, WAPL-1 promotes functional specialization of meiotic cohesin: WAPL-1-sensitive COH-3/4 complexes modulate higher-order chromosome structure, while WAPL-1-refractory REC-8 complexes provide stable cohesion. Surprisingly, a WAPL-1-independent mechanism removes cohesin before metaphase I. Our studies provide insight into how meiosis-specific cohesin complexes are regulated to ensure formation of euploid gametes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10851.001 PMID:26841696

Prevalence of beryllium sensitization among Department of Defense conventional munitions workers at low risk for exposure.

PubMed

Mikulski, Marek A; Sanderson, Wayne T; Leonard, Stephanie A; Lourens, Spencer; Field, R William; Sprince, Nancy L; Fuortes, Laurence J

2011-03-01

To estimate the prevalence of beryllium sensitization among former and current Department of Defense workers from a conventional munitions facility. Participants were screened by using Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation Test. Those sensitized were offered clinical evaluation for chronic beryllium disease. Eight (1.5%) of 524 screened workers were found sensitized to beryllium. Although the confidence interval was wide, the results suggested a possibly higher risk of sensitization among workers exposed to beryllium by occasional resurfacing of copper-2% beryllium alloy tools compared with workers with the lowest potential exposure (odds ratio = 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 0.23-29.9). The findings from this study suggest that Department of Defense workers with low overall exposure to beryllium had a low prevalence of beryllium sensitization. Sensitization rates might be higher where higher beryllium exposures presumably occurred, although this study lacked sufficient power to confirm this.

A highly sensitive method for analysis of 7-dehydrocholesterol for the study of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome[S

PubMed Central

Liu, Wei; Xu, Libin; Lamberson, Connor; Haas, Dorothea; Korade, Zeljka; Porter, Ned A.

2014-01-01

We describe a highly sensitive method for the detection of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC), the biosynthetic precursor of cholesterol, based on its reactivity with 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD) in a Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction. Samples of biological tissues and fluids with added deuterium-labeled internal standards were derivatized with PTAD and analyzed by LC-MS. This protocol permits fast processing of samples, short chromatography times, and high sensitivity. We applied this method to the analysis of cells, blood, and tissues from several sources, including human plasma. Another innovative aspect of this study is that it provides a reliable and highly reproducible measurement of 7-DHC in 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase (Dhcr7)-HET mouse (a model for Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome) samples, showing regional differences in the brain tissue. We found that the levels of 7-DHC are consistently higher in Dhcr7-HET mice than in controls, with the spinal cord and peripheral nerve showing the biggest differences. In addition to 7-DHC, sensitive analysis of desmosterol in tissues and blood was also accomplished with this PTAD method by assaying adducts formed from the PTAD “ene” reaction. The method reported here may provide a highly sensitive and high throughput way to identify at-risk populations having errors in cholesterol biosynthesis. PMID:24259532

Higher Throughput Calorimetry: Opportunities, Approaches and Challenges

PubMed Central

Recht, Michael I.; Coyle, Joseph E.; Bruce, Richard H.

2010-01-01

Higher throughput thermodynamic measurements can provide value in structure-based drug discovery during fragment screening, hit validation, and lead optimization. Enthalpy can be used to detect and characterize ligand binding, and changes that affect the interaction of protein and ligand can sometimes be detected more readily from changes in the enthalpy of binding than from the corresponding free-energy changes or from protein-ligand structures. Newer, higher throughput calorimeters are being incorporated into the drug discovery process. Improvements in titration calorimeters come from extensions of a mature technology and face limitations in scaling. Conversely, array calorimetry, an emerging technology, shows promise for substantial improvements in throughput and material utilization, but improved sensitivity is needed. PMID:20888754

Enhanced sensitivity at higher-order exceptional points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodaei, Hossein; Hassan, Absar U.; Wittek, Steffen; Garcia-Gracia, Hipolito; El-Ganainy, Ramy; Christodoulides, Demetrios N.; Khajavikhan, Mercedeh

2017-08-01

Non-Hermitian degeneracies, also known as exceptional points, have recently emerged as a new way to engineer the response of open physical systems, that is, those that interact with the environment. They correspond to points in parameter space at which the eigenvalues of the underlying system and the corresponding eigenvectors simultaneously coalesce. In optics, the abrupt nature of the phase transitions that are encountered around exceptional points has been shown to lead to many intriguing phenomena, such as loss-induced transparency, unidirectional invisibility, band merging, topological chirality and laser mode selectivity. Recently, it has been shown that the bifurcation properties of second-order non-Hermitian degeneracies can provide a means of enhancing the sensitivity (frequency shifts) of resonant optical structures to external perturbations. Of particular interest is the use of even higher-order exceptional points (greater than second order), which in principle could further amplify the effect of perturbations, leading to even greater sensitivity. Although a growing number of theoretical studies have been devoted to such higher-order degeneracies, their experimental demonstration in the optical domain has so far remained elusive. Here we report the observation of higher-order exceptional points in a coupled cavity arrangement—specifically, a ternary, parity-time-symmetric photonic laser molecule—with a carefully tailored gain-loss distribution. We study the system in the spectral domain and find that the frequency response associated with this system follows a cube-root dependence on induced perturbations in the refractive index. Our work paves the way for utilizing non-Hermitian degeneracies in fields including photonics, optomechanics, microwaves and atomic physics.

Dandelions, tulips and orchids: evidence for the existence of low-sensitive, medium-sensitive and high-sensitive individuals.

PubMed

Lionetti, Francesca; Aron, Arthur; Aron, Elaine N; Burns, G Leonard; Jagiellowicz, Jadzia; Pluess, Michael

2018-01-22

According to empirical studies and recent theories, people differ substantially in their reactivity or sensitivity to environmental influences with some being generally more affected than others. More sensitive individuals have been described as orchids and less-sensitive ones as dandelions. Applying a data-driven approach, we explored the existence of sensitivity groups in a sample of 906 adults who completed the highly sensitive person (HSP) scale. According to factor analyses, the HSP scale reflects a bifactor model with a general sensitivity factor. In contrast to prevailing theories, latent class analyses consistently suggested the existence of three rather than two groups. While we were able to identify a highly sensitive (orchids, 31%) and a low-sensitive group (dandelions, 29%), we also detected a third group (40%) characterised by medium sensitivity, which we refer to as tulips in keeping with the flower metaphor. Preliminary cut-off scores for all three groups are provided. In order to characterise the different sensitivity groups, we investigated group differences regarding the Big Five personality traits, as well as experimentally assessed emotional reactivity in an additional independent sample. According to these follow-up analyses, the three groups differed in neuroticism, extraversion and emotional reactivity to positive mood induction with orchids scoring significantly higher in neuroticism and emotional reactivity and lower in extraversion than the other two groups (dandelions also differed significantly from tulips). Findings suggest that environmental sensitivity is a continuous and normally distributed trait but that people fall into three distinct sensitive groups along a sensitivity continuum.

Sensitivity to change of mobility measures in musculoskeletal conditions on lower extremities in outpatient rehabilitation settings.

PubMed

Navarro-Pujalte, Esther; Gacto-Sánchez, Mariano; Montilla-Herrador, Joaquina; Escolar-Reina, Pilar; Ángeles Franco-Sierra, María; Medina-Mirapeix, Francesc

2018-01-12

Prospective longitudinal study. To examine the sensitivity of the Mobility Activities Measure for lower extremities and to compare it to the sensitivity of the Physical Functioning Scale (PF-10) and the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) at week 4 and week 8 post-hospitalization in outpatient rehabilitation settings. Mobility Activities Measure is a set of short mobility measures to track outpatient rehabilitation progress: its scales have shown good properties but its sensitivity to change has not been reported. Patients with musculoskeletal conditions were recruited at admission in three outpatient rehabilitation settings in Spain. Data were collected at admission, week 4 and week 8 from an initial sample of 236 patients (mean age ± SD = 36.7 ± 11.1). Mobility Activities Measure scales for lower extremity; PF-10; and PSFS. All the Mobility Activities Measure scales were sensitive to both positive and negative changes (the Standardized Response Means (SRMs) ranged between 1.05 and 1.53 at week 4, and between 0.63 and 1.47 at week 8). The summary measure encompassing the three Mobility Activities Measure scales detected a higher proportion of participants who had improved beyond the minimal detectable change (MDC) than detected by the PSFS and the PF-10 both at week 4 (86.64% vs. 69.81% and 42.23%, respectively) and week 8 (71.14% vs. 55.65% and 60.81%, respectively). The three Mobility Activities Measure scales assessing the lower extremity can be used across outpatient rehabilitation settings to provide consistent and sensitive measures of changes in patients' mobility. Implications for rehabilitation All the scales of the Mobility Activities Measure for the lower extremity were sensitive to both positive and negative change across the follow-up periods. Overall, the summary measure encompassing the three Mobility Activities Measure scales for the lower extremity appeared more sensitive to positive changes than the Physical Functioning Scale, especially during the first four weeks of treatment. The summary measure also detected a higher percentage of participants with positive change that exceeded the minimal detectable change than the Patient-Specific Functional Scale and the Physical Functioning Scale at the first follow-up period. By demonstrating their consistency and sensitivity to change, the three Mobility Activities Measures scales can now be considered in order to track patients' functional progress. Mobility Activities Measure can be therefore used in patients with musculoskeletal conditions across outpatient rehabilitation settings to provide estimates of change in mobility activities focusing on the lower extremity.

Multi-colored immunochromatography using nanobeads for rapid and sensitive typing of seasonal influenza viruses.

PubMed

Sakurai, Akira; Takayama, Katsuyoshi; Nomura, Namiko; Yamamoto, Naoki; Sakoda, Yoshihiro; Kobayashi, Yukuharu; Kida, Hiroshi; Shibasaki, Futoshi

2014-12-01

Immunochromatography (IC) is an antigen-detection assay that plays an important role in the rapid diagnosis of influenza viruses because of its rapid turnaround and ease of use. Despite the usefulness of IC, the limit of detection of common IC kits is as high as 10(3)-10(4) plaque forming units (pfu) per reaction, resulting in their limited sensitivities. Early diagnosis within 24h would provide more appropriate timing of treatment. In this study, a multi-colored NanoAct™ bead IC was established to detect seasonal influenza viruses. This method has approximately 10-fold higher sensitivity than that of colloidal gold or colored latex bead IC assays, and does not require specific instruments. More notably, NanoAct™ bead IC can distinguish influenza A and B viruses from clinical samples with a straightforward readout composed of colored lines. Our results will provide new strategies for the diagnosis, treatment, and a chance to survey of influenza viruses in developing countries and in the field research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bone Composition Diagnostics: Photoacoustics Versus Ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lifeng; Lashkari, Bahman; Mandelis, Andreas; Tan, Joel W. Y.

2015-06-01

Ultrasound (US) backscatter from bones depends on the mechanical properties and the microstructure of the interrogated bone. On the other hand, photoacoustics (PA) is sensitive to optical properties of tissue and can detect composition variation. Therefore, PA can provide complementary information about bone health and integrity. In this work, a comparative study of US backscattering and PA back-propagating signals from animal trabecular bones was performed. Both methods were applied using a linear frequency modulation chirp and matched filtering. A 2.2 MHz ultrasonic transducer was employed to detect both signals. The use of the frequency domain facilitates spectral analysis. The variation of signals shows that in addition to sensitivity to mineral changes, PA exhibits sensitivity to changes in the organic part of the bone. It is, therefore, concluded that the combination of both modalities can provide complementary detailed information on bone health than either method separately. In addition, comparison of PA and US depthwise images shows the higher penetration of US. Surface scan images exhibit very weak correlation between US and PA which could be caused by the different signal generation origins in mechanical versus optical properties, respectively.

The contribution of reinforcement sensitivity to the personality-psychopathology hierarchical structure in childhood and adolescence.

PubMed

Slobodskaya, Helena R

2016-11-01

This study examined the contribution of reinforcement sensitivity to the hierarchical structure of child personality and common psychopathology in community samples of parent reports of children aged 2-18 (N = 968) and self-reports of adolescents aged 10-18 (N = 1,543) using the Inventory of Child Individual Differences-Short version (ICID-S), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ). A joint higher-order factor analysis of the ICID-S and SDQ scales suggested a 4-factor solution; congruence coefficients indicated replicability of the factors across the 2 samples at all levels of the personality-psychopathology hierarchy. The canonical correlation analyses indicated that reinforcement sensitivity and personality-psychopathology dimensions shared much of their variance. The main contribution of reinforcement sensitivity was through opposing effects of reward and punishment sensitivities. The superordinate factors Beta and Internalizing were best predicted by reinforcement sensitivity, followed by the Externalizing and Positive personality factors. These findings provide evidence for consistency of the hierarchical structure of personality and common psychopathology across informants and highlight the role of reinforcement systems in the development of normal and abnormal patterns of behavior and affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Investigating cellular network heterogeneity and modularity in cancer: a network entropy and unbalanced motif approach.

PubMed

Cheng, Feixiong; Liu, Chuang; Shen, Bairong; Zhao, Zhongming

2016-08-26

Cancer is increasingly recognized as a cellular system phenomenon that is attributed to the accumulation of genetic or epigenetic alterations leading to the perturbation of the molecular network architecture. Elucidation of network properties that can characterize tumor initiation and progression, or pinpoint the molecular targets related to the drug sensitivity or resistance, is therefore of critical importance for providing systems-level insights into tumorigenesis and clinical outcome in the molecularly targeted cancer therapy. In this study, we developed a network-based framework to quantitatively examine cellular network heterogeneity and modularity in cancer. Specifically, we constructed gene co-expressed protein interaction networks derived from large-scale RNA-Seq data across 8 cancer types generated in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. We performed gene network entropy and balanced versus unbalanced motif analysis to investigate cellular network heterogeneity and modularity in tumor versus normal tissues, different stages of progression, and drug resistant versus sensitive cancer cell lines. We found that tumorigenesis could be characterized by a significant increase of gene network entropy in all of the 8 cancer types. The ratio of the balanced motifs in normal tissues is higher than that of tumors, while the ratio of unbalanced motifs in tumors is higher than that of normal tissues in all of the 8 cancer types. Furthermore, we showed that network entropy could be used to characterize tumor progression and anticancer drug responses. For example, we found that kinase inhibitor resistant cancer cell lines had higher entropy compared to that of sensitive cell lines using the integrative analysis of microarray gene expression and drug pharmacological data collected from the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer database. In addition, we provided potential network-level evidence that smoking might increase cancer cellular network heterogeneity and further contribute to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (e.g., gefitinib) resistance. In summary, we demonstrated that network properties such as network entropy and unbalanced motifs associated with tumor initiation, progression, and anticancer drug responses, suggesting new potential network-based prognostic and predictive measure in cancer.

Disorder-specific cognitive profiles in major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Hendriks, Sanne M; Licht, Carmilla M M; Spijker, Jan; Beekman, Aartjan T F; Hardeveld, Florian; de Graaf, Ron; Penninx, Brenda W J H

2014-04-01

This investigation examines differences in cognitive profiles in subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Data were used from subjects with current MDD (n = 655), GAD (n = 107) and comorbid MDD/GAD (n = 266) diagnosis from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). The Composite Interview Diagnostic Instrument was used to diagnose MDD and GAD. Cognitive profiles were measured using the Leiden Index of Depression Sensitivity, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Results showed that differences in cognitive profiles between single MDD and single GAD subjects were present: scores on hopelessness/suicidality and rumination were significantly higher in MDD than GAD, whereas anxiety sensitivity for physical concerns and pathological worry were higher in GAD than MDD. The cognitive profile of comorbid MDD/GAD showed more extreme depression cognitions compared to single disorders, and a similar anxiety profile compared to single GAD subjects. Despite the commonalities in cognitive profiles in MDD and GAD, there are differences suggesting that MDD and GAD have disorder-specific cognitive profiles. Findings of this investigation give support for models like the cognitive content-specificity model and the tripartite model and could provide useful handles for treatment focus.

Slotted Photonic Crystal Sensors

PubMed Central

Scullion, Mark G.; Krauss, Thomas F.; Di Falco, Andrea

2013-01-01

Optical biosensors are increasingly being considered for lab-on-a-chip applications due to their benefits such as small size, biocompatibility, passive behaviour and lack of the need for fluorescent labels. The light guiding mechanisms used by many of them results in poor overlap of the optical field with the target molecules, reducing the maximum sensitivity achievable. This review article presents a new platform for optical biosensors, namely slotted photonic crystals, which provide higher sensitivities due to their ability to confine, spatially and temporally, the optical mode peak within the analyte itself. Loss measurements showed values comparable to standard photonic crystals, confirming their ability to be used in real devices. A novel resonant coupler was designed, simulated, and experimentally tested, and was found to perform better than other solutions within the literature. Combining with cavities, microfluidics and biological functionalization allowed proof-of-principle demonstrations of protein binding to be carried out. Higher sensitivities were observed in smaller structures than possible with most competing devices reported in the literature. This body of work presents slotted photonic crystals as a realistic platform for complete on-chip biosensing; addressing key design, performance and application issues, whilst also opening up exciting new ideas for future study. PMID:23503295

The effects of multiple chronic conditions on hospitalization costs and utilization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the United States: a nationally representative cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Skinner, Halcyon G; Coffey, Rosanna; Jones, Jenna; Heslin, Kevin C; Moy, Ernest

2016-03-01

The presence of multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) complicates inpatient hospital care, leading to higher costs and utilization. Multimorbidity also complicates primary care, increasing the likelihood of hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how MCCs relate to inpatient hospitalization costs and utilization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. The 2012 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases (SID) provided data to carry out a cross-sectional analysis of 1.43 million claims related to potentially preventable hospitalizations classified by the AHRQ Prevention Quality Indicator (PQI) composites. Categories of MCCs (0-1, 2-3, 4-5, and 6+) were examined in sets of acute, chronic, and overall PQIs. Multivariate models determined associations between categories of MCCs and 1) inpatient costs per stay, 2) inpatient costs per day, and 3) length of inpatient hospitalization. Negative binomial was used to model costs per stay and costs per day. The most common category observed was 2 or 3 chronic conditions (37.8 % of patients), followed by 4 or 5 chronic conditions (30.1 % of patients) and by 6+ chronic conditions (10.1 %). Compared with costs for patients with 0 or 1 chronic condition, hospitalization costs per stay for overall ambulatory care sensitive conditions were 19 % higher for those with 2 or 3 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.19-1.20), 32 % higher for those with 4 or 5 (95 % CI 1.31-1.32), and 31 % higher (95 % CI 1.30-3.32) for those with 6+ conditions. Acute condition stays were 11 % longer when 2 or 3 chronic conditions were present (95 % CI 1.11-1.12), 21 % longer when 4 or 5 were present (95 % CI 1.20-1.22), and 27 % longer when 6+ were present (95 % CI 1.26-1.28) compared with those with 0 or 1 chronic condition. Similar results were seen within chronic conditions. Associations between MCCs and total costs were driven by longer stays among those with more chronic conditions rather than by higher costs per day. The presence of MCCs increased inpatient costs for ambulatory care sensitive conditions via longer hospital stays.

Pressure and cold pain threshold reference values in a large, young adult, pain-free population.

PubMed

Waller, Robert; Smith, Anne Julia; O'Sullivan, Peter Bruce; Slater, Helen; Sterling, Michele; McVeigh, Joanne Alexandra; Straker, Leon Melville

2016-10-01

Currently there is a lack of large population studies that have investigated pain sensitivity distributions in healthy pain free people. The aims of this study were: (1) to provide sex-specific reference values of pressure and cold pain thresholds in young pain-free adults; (2) to examine the association of potential correlates of pain sensitivity with pain threshold values. This study investigated sex specific pressure and cold pain threshold estimates for young pain free adults aged 21-24 years. A cross-sectional design was utilised using participants (n=617) from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study at the 22-year follow-up. The association of site, sex, height, weight, smoking, health related quality of life, psychological measures and activity with pain threshold values was examined. Pressure pain threshold (lumbar spine, tibialis anterior, neck and dorsal wrist) and cold pain threshold (dorsal wrist) were assessed using standardised quantitative sensory testing protocols. Reference values for pressure pain threshold (four body sites) stratified by sex and site, and cold pain threshold (dorsal wrist) stratified by sex are provided. Statistically significant, independent correlates of increased pressure pain sensitivity measures were site (neck, dorsal wrist), sex (female), higher waist-hip ratio and poorer mental health. Statistically significant, independent correlates of increased cold pain sensitivity measures were, sex (female), poorer mental health and smoking. These data provide the most comprehensive and robust sex specific reference values for pressure pain threshold specific to four body sites and cold pain threshold at the dorsal wrist for young adults aged 21-24 years. Establishing normative values in this young age group is important given that the transition from adolescence to adulthood is a critical temporal period during which trajectories for persistent pain can be established. These data will provide an important research resource to enable more accurate profiling and interpretation of pain sensitivity in clinical pain disorders in young adults. The robust and comprehensive data can assist interpretation of future clinical pain studies and provide further insight into the complex associations of pain sensitivity that can be used in future research. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased sensitivity of 3D-Well enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for infectious disease detection using 3D-printing fabrication technology.

PubMed

Singh, Harpal; Shimojima, Masayuki; Fukushi, Shuetsu; Le Van, An; Sugamata, Masami; Yang, Ming

2015-01-01

Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay or ELISA -based diagnostics are considered the gold standard in the demonstration of various immunological reaction including in the measurement of antibody response to infectious diseases and to support pathogen identification with application potential in infectious disease outbreaks and individual patients' treatment and clinical care. The rapid prototyping of ELISA-based diagnostics using available 3D printing technologies provides an opportunity for a further exploration of this platform into immunodetection systems. In this study, a '3D-Well' was designed and fabricated using available 3D printing platforms to have an increased surface area of more than 4 times for protein-surface adsorption compared to those of 96-well plates. The ease and rapidity in designing-product development-feedback cycle offered through 3D printing platforms provided an opportunity for its rapid assessment, in which a chemical etching process was used to make the surface hydrophilic followed by validation through the diagnostic performance of ELISA for infectious disease without modifying current laboratory practices for ELISA. The higher sensitivity of the 3D-Well (3-folds higher) compared to the 96-well ELISA provides a potential for the expansion of this technology towards miniaturization platforms to reduce time, volume of reagents and samples needed for laboratory or field diagnosis of infectious diseases including applications in other disciplines.

Long-Term Associations of Justice Sensitivity, Rejection Sensitivity, and Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents

PubMed Central

Bondü, Rebecca; Sahyazici-Knaak, Fidan; Esser, Günter

2017-01-01

Depressive symptoms have been related to anxious rejection sensitivity, but little is known about relations with angry rejection sensitivity and justice sensitivity. We measured rejection sensitivity, justice sensitivity, and depressive symptoms in 1,665 9-to-21-year olds at two points of measurement. Participants with high T1 levels of depressive symptoms reported higher anxious and angry rejection sensitivity and higher justice sensitivity than controls at T1 and T2. T1 rejection, but not justice sensitivity predicted T2 depressive symptoms; high victim justice sensitivity, however, added to the stabilization of depressive symptoms. T1 depressive symptoms positively predicted T2 anxious and angry rejection and victim justice sensitivity. Hence, sensitivity toward negative social cues may be cause and consequence of depressive symptoms and requires consideration in cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression. PMID:28955257

Optimization of PET instrumentation for brain activation studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dahlbom, M.; Cherry, S.R.; Hoffman, E.J.

By performing cerebral blood flow studies with positron emission tomography (PET), and comparing blood flow images of different states of activation, functional mapping of the brain is possible. The ability of current commercial instruments to perform such studies is investigated in this work, based on a comparison of noise equivalent count (NEC) rates. Differences in the NEC performance of the different scanners in conjunction with scanner design parameters, provide insights into the importance of block design (size, dead time, crystal thickness) and overall scanner design (sensitivity and scatter fraction) for optimizing data from activation studies. The newer scanners with removablemore » septa, operating with 3-D acquisition, have much higher sensitivity, but require new methodology for optimized operation. Only by administering multiple low doses (fractionation) of the flow tracer can the high sensitivity be utilized.« less

Occupancy Modeling for Improved Accuracy and Understanding of Pathogen Prevalence and Dynamics

PubMed Central

Colvin, Michael E.; Peterson, James T.; Kent, Michael L.; Schreck, Carl B.

2015-01-01

Most pathogen detection tests are imperfect, with a sensitivity < 100%, thereby resulting in the potential for a false negative, where a pathogen is present but not detected. False negatives in a sample inflate the number of non-detections, negatively biasing estimates of pathogen prevalence. Histological examination of tissues as a diagnostic test can be advantageous as multiple pathogens can be examined and providing important information on associated pathological changes to the host. However, it is usually less sensitive than molecular or microbiological tests for specific pathogens. Our study objectives were to 1) develop a hierarchical occupancy model to examine pathogen prevalence in spring Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and their distribution among host tissues 2) use the model to estimate pathogen-specific test sensitivities and infection rates, and 3) illustrate the effect of using replicate within host sampling on sample sizes required to detect a pathogen. We examined histological sections of replicate tissue samples from spring Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha collected after spawning for common pathogens seen in this population: Apophallus/echinostome metacercariae, Parvicapsula minibicornis, Nanophyetus salmincola/ metacercariae, and Renibacterium salmoninarum. A hierarchical occupancy model was developed to estimate pathogen and tissue-specific test sensitivities and unbiased estimation of host- and organ-level infection rates. Model estimated sensitivities and host- and organ-level infections rates varied among pathogens and model estimated infection rate was higher than prevalence unadjusted for test sensitivity, confirming that prevalence unadjusted for test sensitivity was negatively biased. The modeling approach provided an analytical approach for using hierarchically structured pathogen detection data from lower sensitivity diagnostic tests, such as histology, to obtain unbiased pathogen prevalence estimates with associated uncertainties. Accounting for test sensitivity using within host replicate samples also required fewer individual fish to be sampled. This approach is useful for evaluating pathogen or microbe community dynamics when test sensitivity is <100%. PMID:25738709

Occupancy modeling for improved accuracy and understanding of pathogen prevalence and dynamics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colvin, Michael E.; Peterson, James T.; Kent, Michael L.; Schreck, Carl B.

2015-01-01

Most pathogen detection tests are imperfect, with a sensitivity < 100%, thereby resulting in the potential for a false negative, where a pathogen is present but not detected. False negatives in a sample inflate the number of non-detections, negatively biasing estimates of pathogen prevalence. Histological examination of tissues as a diagnostic test can be advantageous as multiple pathogens can be examined and providing important information on associated pathological changes to the host. However, it is usually less sensitive than molecular or microbiological tests for specific pathogens. Our study objectives were to 1) develop a hierarchical occupancy model to examine pathogen prevalence in spring Chinook salmonOncorhynchus tshawytscha and their distribution among host tissues 2) use the model to estimate pathogen-specific test sensitivities and infection rates, and 3) illustrate the effect of using replicate within host sampling on sample sizes required to detect a pathogen. We examined histological sections of replicate tissue samples from spring Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha collected after spawning for common pathogens seen in this population:Apophallus/echinostome metacercariae, Parvicapsula minibicornis, Nanophyetus salmincola/metacercariae, and Renibacterium salmoninarum. A hierarchical occupancy model was developed to estimate pathogen and tissue-specific test sensitivities and unbiased estimation of host- and organ-level infection rates. Model estimated sensitivities and host- and organ-level infections rates varied among pathogens and model estimated infection rate was higher than prevalence unadjusted for test sensitivity, confirming that prevalence unadjusted for test sensitivity was negatively biased. The modeling approach provided an analytical approach for using hierarchically structured pathogen detection data from lower sensitivity diagnostic tests, such as histology, to obtain unbiased pathogen prevalence estimates with associated uncertainties. Accounting for test sensitivity using within host replicate samples also required fewer individual fish to be sampled. This approach is useful for evaluating pathogen or microbe community dynamics when test sensitivity is <100%.

The Association Between Clinical Characteristics of Migraine and Brain GABA Levels: An Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Aguila, Maria-Eliza R; Rebbeck, Trudy; Leaver, Andrew M; Lagopoulos, Jim; Brennan, Patrick C; Hübscher, Markus; Refshauge, Kathryn M

2016-10-01

Migraine is prevalent and disabling yet is poorly understood. One way to better understand migraine is to examine its clinical characteristics and potential biomarkers such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The primary objective of this study was to explore whether relevant disease characteristics of migraine are associated with brain GABA levels. Twenty adults fulfilling the established diagnostic criteria for migraine and 20 age- and gender-matched controls completed this cross-sectional study. Pain, central sensitization, negative emotional state, and perceived disability were measured using Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire-2, Central Sensitization Inventory, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21, and Headache Impact Test-6, respectively. Secondary analysis of brain GABA levels of the same cohort measured using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was conducted. The migraine group had significantly higher scores than the control group on pain, central sensitization, and disability. Correlation analyses showed fair positive association between GABA levels and pain and central sensitization scores. No association was found between GABA levels and emotional state and disability. These findings are preliminary evidence supporting the use of questionnaires and GABA levels in characterizing migraine better and broadening the diagnostic process. These findings also strengthen the rationale for the role of GABA in migraine pathophysiology and corroborate the potential of GABA as a migraine biomarker. Higher pain and central sensitization scores were associated with increased brain GABA levels in individuals with migraine. These findings offer preliminary evidence for the usefulness of measuring pain and central sensitization in migraine and provide some support for the possible role of GABA in migraine pathophysiology and its potential as a diagnostic marker. Copyright © 2016 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential behavioral sensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO2) inhalation in rats

PubMed Central

Winter, Andrew; Ahlbrand, Rebecca; Naik, Devanshi; Sah, Renu

2017-01-01

Inhalation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is frequently employed as a biological challenge to evoke intense fear and anxiety. In individuals with panic disorder, CO2 reliably evokes panic attacks. Sensitivity to CO2 is highly heterogeneous among individuals, and although a genetic component is implicated, underlying mechanisms are not clear. Preclinical models that can simulate differential responsivity to CO2 are therefore relevant. In the current study we investigated CO2-evoked behavioral responses in four different rat strains: Sprague-Dawley (SD), Wistar (W), Long Evans (LE) and Wistar-Kyoto, (WK) rats. We also assessed tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH-2)-positive serotonergic neurons in anxiety/panic regulatory subdivisions of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DR), as well as dopamine β hydroxylase (DβH)-positive noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus, implicated in central CO2-chemosensitivity. Behavioral responsivity to CO2 inhalation varied between strains. CO2-evoked immobility was significantly higher in LE and WK rats as compared with W and SD cohorts. Differences were also observed in CO2-evoked rearing and grooming behaviors. Exposure to CO2 did not produce conditioned behavioral responses upon re-exposure to CO2 context in any strain. Reduced TPH-2 positive cell counts were observed specifically in the panic-regulatory dorsal raphe ventrolateral (DRVL)-ventrolateral periaqueductal grey (VLPAG) subdivision in CO2-sensitive strains. Conversely, DβH positive cell counts within the LC were significantly higher in CO2-sensitive strains. Collectively, our data provide evidence for strain dependent, differential CO2-sensitivity and potential differences in monoaminergic systems regulating panic and anxiety. Comparative studies between CO2-vulnerable and resistant strains may facilitate the mechanistic understanding of differential CO2-sensitivity in the development of panic and anxiety disorders. PMID:28087339

A cable-driven parallel manipulator with force sensing capabilities for high-accuracy tissue endomicroscopy.

PubMed

Miyashita, Kiyoteru; Oude Vrielink, Timo; Mylonas, George

2018-05-01

Endomicroscopy (EM) provides high resolution, non-invasive histological tissue information and can be used for scanning of large areas of tissue to assess cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions and their margins. However, current robotic solutions do not provide the accuracy and force sensitivity required to perform safe and accurate tissue scanning. A new surgical instrument has been developed that uses a cable-driven parallel mechanism (CPDM) to manipulate an EM probe. End-effector forces are determined by measuring the tensions in each cable. As a result, the instrument allows to accurately apply a contact force on a tissue, while at the same time offering high resolution and highly repeatable probe movement. 0.2 and 0.6 N force sensitivities were found for 1 and 2 DoF image acquisition methods, respectively. A back-stepping technique can be used when a higher force sensitivity is required for the acquisition of high quality tissue images. This method was successful in acquiring images on ex vivo liver tissue. The proposed approach offers high force sensitivity and precise control, which is essential for robotic EM. The technical benefits of the current system can also be used for other surgical robotic applications, including safe autonomous control, haptic feedback and palpation.

Functional paper-based SERS substrate for rapid and sensitive detection of Sudan dyes in herbal medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Mianmian; Li, Pan; Zhu, Qingxia; Wu, Meiran; Li, Hao; Lu, Feng

2018-05-01

There has been an increasing demand for rapid and sensitive techniques for the identification of Sudan compounds that emerged as the most often illegally added fat-soluble dyes in herbal medicine. In this report, we have designed and fabricated a functionalized filter paper consisting of gold nanorods (GNRs) and mono-6-thio-cyclodextrin (HS-β-CD) as a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate, in which the GNR provides sufficient SERS enhancement, and the HS-β-CD with strong chemical affinity toward GNR provides the inclusion compound to capture hydrophobic molecules. Moreover, the CD-GNR were uniformly assembled on filter paper cellulose through the electrostatic adsorption and hydrogen bond, so that the CD-GNR paper-based SERS substrate (CD-GNR-paper) demonstrated higher sensitivity for the determination of Sudan III (0.1 μM) and Sudan IV (0.5 μM) than GNRs paper-based SERS substrate (GNR-paper), with high stability after the storage in the open air for 90 days. Importantly, CD-GNR-paper can effectively collect the Sudan dyes from illegally adulterated onto samples of Resina Draconis with a simple operation, further open up new exciting opportunity for SERS detection of more compounds illegally added with high sensitivity and fast signal responses.

Optical nano-biosensing interface via nucleic acid amplification strategy: construction and application.

PubMed

Zhou, Hong; Liu, Jing; Xu, Jing-Juan; Zhang, Shu-Sheng; Chen, Hong-Yuan

2018-03-21

Modern optical detection technology plays a critical role in current clinical detection due to its high sensitivity and accuracy. However, higher requirements such as extremely high detection sensitivity have been put forward due to the clinical needs for the early finding and diagnosing of malignant tumors which are significant for tumor therapy. The technology of isothermal amplification with nucleic acids opens up avenues for meeting this requirement. Recent reports have shown that a nucleic acid amplification-assisted modern optical sensing interface has achieved satisfactory sensitivity and accuracy, high speed and specificity. Compared with isothermal amplification technology designed to work completely in a solution system, solid biosensing interfaces demonstrated better performances in stability and sensitivity due to their ease of separation from the reaction mixture and the better signal transduction on these optical nano-biosensing interfaces. Also the flexibility and designability during the construction of these nano-biosensing interfaces provided a promising research topic for the ultrasensitive detection of cancer diseases. In this review, we describe the construction of the burgeoning number of optical nano-biosensing interfaces assisted by a nucleic acid amplification strategy, and provide insightful views on: (1) approaches to the smart fabrication of an optical nano-biosensing interface, (2) biosensing mechanisms via the nucleic acid amplification method, (3) the newest strategies and future perspectives.

High hunger state increases olfactory sensitivity to neutral but not food odors.

PubMed

Stafford, Lorenzo D; Welbeck, Kimberley

2011-01-01

Understanding how hunger state relates to olfactory sensitivity has become more urgent due to their possible role in obesity. In 2 studies (within-subjects: n = 24, between-subjects: n = 40), participants were provided with lunch before (satiated state) or after (nonsatiated state) testing and completed a standardized olfactory threshold test to a neutral odor (Experiments 1 and 2) and discrimination test to a food odor (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 revealed that olfactory sensitivity was greater in the nonsatiated versus satiated state, with additionally increased sensitivity for the low body mass index (BMI) compared with high BMI group. Experiment 2 replicated this effect for neutral odors, but in the case of food odors, those in a satiated state had greater acuity. Additionally, whereas the high BMI group had higher acuity to food odors in the satiated versus nonsatiated state, no such differences were found for the low BMI group. The research here is the first to demonstrate how olfactory acuity changes as a function of hunger state and relatedness of odor to food and that BMI can predict differences in olfactory sensitivity.

Solvothermal Synthesis of Hierarchical TiO2 Microstructures with High Crystallinity and Superior Light Scattering for High-Performance Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

PubMed

Li, Zhao-Qian; Mo, Li-E; Chen, Wang-Chao; Shi, Xiao-Qiang; Wang, Ning; Hu, Lin-Hua; Hayat, Tasawar; Alsaedi, Ahmed; Dai, Song-Yuan

2017-09-20

In this article, hierarchical TiO 2 microstructures (HM-TiO 2 ) were synthesized by a simple solvothermal method adopting tetra-n-butyl titanate as the titanium source in a mixed solvent composed of N,N-dimethylformamide and acetic acid. Due to the high crystallinity and superior light-scattering ability, the resultant HM-TiO 2 are advantageous as photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. When assembled to the entire photovoltaic device with C101 dye as a sensitizer, the pure HM-TiO 2 -based solar cells showed an ultrahigh photovoltage up to 0.853 V. Finally, by employing the as-obtained HM-TiO 2 as the scattering layer and optimizing the architecture of dye-sensitized solar cells, both higher photovoltage and incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency value were harvested with respect to TiO 2 nanoparticles-based dye-sensitized solar cells, resulting in a high power conversion efficiency of 9.79%. This work provides a promising strategy to develop photoanode materials with outstanding photoelectric conversion performance.

High Redshift GRBs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gehrels, Neil; Cannizzo, John K.

2012-01-01

The Swift mission has opened a new, high redshift window on the universe. In this review we provide an overview of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science, describe the Swift mission, discuss high-z GRBs and tools for high-z studies, and look forward at future capabilities. A new mission concept - Lobster - is described that would monitor the X-ray sky at order of magnitude higher sensitivity than current missions.

Temperature sensitivity of methanogenesis in a thermokarst lake sediment core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heslop, J. K.; Walter Anthony, K. M.; Grosse, G.; Anthony, P.; Bondurant, A.

2016-12-01

Little is known about temperature sensitivity of permafrost organic carbon (OC) mineralization over time scales of years to centuries following thaw. Due to their formation and thaw histories, taliks (thaw bulbs) beneath thermokarst lakes provide a unique natural laboratory from which to examine how permafrost thawed in saturated anaerobic conditions responds to changes in temperature following long periods of time since thaw. We anaerobically incubated samples from a 590 cm thermokarst lake sediment core near Fairbanks, Alaska at four temperatures (0, 3, 10, and 25 ºC) bracketing observed talik temperatures. We show that since initial thaw 400 yr BP CH4 production shifts from being most sensitive to at lower (0-3 ºC; Q10-EC=1.15E7) temperatures to being most sensitive at higher (10-25 ºC; Q10-EC=67) temperatures. Frozen sediments collected from beneath the talik, thawed at the commencement of the incubation, had significant (p ≤ 0.05) increases in CH4 production rates at lower temperatures but did not show significant CH4 production rate increases at higher temperatures (10-25 ºC). We hypothesize the thawing of sediments removed a major barrier to C mineralization, leading to rapid initial permafrost C mineralization and preferential mineralization of the most biolabile OC compounds. In contrast, sediments which had been thawed beneath the lake for longer periods of time did not experience statistically significant increases in CH4 production at lower temperatures (0-10 ºC), but had high temperature sensitivities at higher temperatures (10-25 ºC). We believe these rate increases are due to warmer temperatures in the experimental incubations crossing activation energy thresholds, allowing previously recalcitrant fractions of OC to be utilized, and/or the presence of different microbial communities adapted to thawed sediments. Recently-deposited sediments at shallow depths in the lake core experienced increases in CH4 production across all incubation temperatures (Q10-ST=4.4).

Development of Electrochemiluminescent Serology Assays to Measure the Humoral Response to Antigens of Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

PubMed

Maifeld, Sarah V; Ro, Bodrey; Mok, Hoyin; Chu, Marla; Yu, Li; Yamagata, Ryan; Leonardson, Tansy; Chio, Vera; Parhy, Bandita; Park, Samuel; Carlson, Marcia; Machhi, Shushil; Ulbrandt, Nancy; Falsey, Ann R; Walsh, Edward E; Wang, C Kathy; Esser, Mark T; Zuo, Fengrong

2016-01-01

Sensitive and precise serology assays are needed to measure the humoral response to antigens of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) following natural infection or vaccination. We developed and evaluated a collection of electrochemiluminescent (ECL) serology assays using four RSV antigens (F, N, Ga and Gb). To assess the merits of ECL technology, the four ECL serology assays were evaluated using a well-characterized "gold standard" panel of acute and convalescent serum samples from fifty-nine RSV-positive and thirty RSV-negative elderly subjects (≥65 years old). The combined results from the four ECL assays demonstrated good concordance to the "gold standard" diagnosis, reaching 95% diagnostic sensitivity and 100% diagnostic specificity. Additionally, a combination of ECL assays provided higher diagnostic sensitivity than a commercially available diagnostic ELISA or cell-based microneutralization assay. In summary, these data demonstrate the advantages of using ECL-based serology assays and highlight their use as a sensitive diagnostic approach to detect recent RSV infection in an elderly population.

Improved detection sensitivity of γ-aminobutyric acid based on graphene oxide interface on an optical microfiber.

PubMed

Zhou, Jun; Huang, Yunyun; Chen, Chaoyan; Xiao, Aoxiang; Guo, Tuan; Guan, Bai-Ou

2018-05-11

Interfacing bio-recognition elements to optical materials is a longstanding challenge to manufacture sensitive biosensors and inexpensive diagnostic devices. In this work, a graphene oxide (GO) interface has been constructed between silica microfiber and bio-recognition elements to develop an improved γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) sensing approach. The GO interface, which was located at the site with the strongest evanescent field on the microfiber surface, improved the detection sensitivity by providing a larger platform for more bio-recognition element immobilization, and amplifying surface refractive index change caused by combination between bio-recognition elements and target molecules. Owing to the interface improvement, the microfiber has a three times improved sensitivity of 1.03 nm/log M for GABA detection, and hence a lowest limit of detection of 2.91 × 10-18 M, which is 7 orders of magnitude higher than that without the GO interface. Moreover, the micrometer-sized footprint and non-radioactive nature enable easy implantation in human brains for in vivo applications.

Preparation of pH-sensitive anionic liposomes designed for drug delivery system (DDS) application.

PubMed

Aoki, Asami; Akaboshi, Hikaru; Ogura, Taku; Aikawa, Tatsuo; Kondo, Takeshi; Tobori, Norio; Yuasa, Makoto

2015-01-01

We prepared pH-sensitive anionic liposomes composed solely of anionic bilayer membrane components that were designed to promote efficient release of entrapped agents in response to acidic pH. The pH-sensitive anionic liposomes showed high dispersion stability at neutral pH, but the fluidity of the bilayer membrane was enhanced in an acidic environment. These liposomes were rather simple and were composed of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), an anionic bilayer membrane component, and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate (Tween 80). In particular, the present pH-sensitive anionic liposomes showed higher temporal stability than those of conventional DMPC/DPPC liposomes. We found that pHsensitive properties strongly depended on the molecular structure, pKa value, and amount of an incorporated anionic bilayer membrane component, such as sodium oleate (SO), dimyristoylphosphatidylserine (DMPS), or sodium β-sitosterol sulfate (SS). These results provide an opportunity to manipulate liposomal stability in a pH-dependent manner, which could lead to the formulation of a high performance drug delivery system (DDS).

Ruthenium and osmium complexes that bear functional azolate chelates for dye-sensitized solar cells.

PubMed

Chi, Yun; Wu, Kuan-Lin; Wei, Tzu-Chien

2015-05-01

The preparation of sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) represents an active area of research for both sustainability and renewable energy. Both Ru(II) and Os(II) metal sensitizers offer unique photophysical and electrochemical properties that arise from the intrinsic electronic properties, that is, the higher propensity to form the lower-energy metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) transition, and their capability to support chelates with multiple carboxy groups, which serve as a bridge to the metal oxide and enable efficient injection of the photoelectron. Here we present an overview of the synthesis and testing of these metal sensitizers that bear functional azolate chelates (both pyrazolate and triazolate), which are capable of modifying the metal sensitizers in a systematic and beneficial manner. Basic principles of the molecular designs, the structural relationship to the photophysical and electrochemical properties, and performances of the as-fabricated DSSCs are highlighted. The success in the breakthrough of the synthetic protocols and potential applications might provide strong stimulus for the future development of technologies such as DSSCs, organic light-emitting diodes, solar water splitting, and so forth. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Anxiety Sensitivity and Nicotine Replacement Therapy Side Effects: Examining the Role of Emotion Dysregulation Among Treatment-Seeking Smokers.

PubMed

Zvolensky, Michael J; Paulus, Daniel J; Garey, Lorra; Raines, Amanda M; Businelle, Michael; Shankman, Stewart A; Manning, Kara; Goodwin, Renee D; Schmidt, Norman B

2017-11-01

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) significantly increases the likelihood of quit success at least over the short term, yet some smokers prematurely discontinue use. NRT side effects are often cited as the primary reason for medication discontinuation. The current study examined a theoretical pathway by which two smoking-related emotional vulnerabilities (anxiety sensitivity and emotion dysregulation) were related to the number of NRT (nicotine patch) side effects reported 1 week following a scheduled quit attempt. It was hypothesized that anxiety sensitivity would have an indirect effect on NRT side effects through emotion dysregulation. A total of 179 treatment-seeking, adult daily smokers with elevated anxiety sensitivity (47.5% male; M age = 39.73 years, SD = 13.87) were enrolled in a smoking cessation trial. Covariate-adjusted analyses provided support for the hypothesized pathway, such that emotion dysregulation explained the association between anxiety sensitivity and NRT side effects (b = 0.02, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [0.002, 0.03]; completely standardized estimate = .15). The findings underscore the importance of developing cessation treatments that incorporate techniques to enhance emotion regulation, particularly among smokers higher in anxiety sensitivity, to decrease the risk of NRT side effects.

Evidence that tRNA modifying enzymes are important in vivo targets for 5-fluorouracil in yeast

PubMed Central

Gustavsson, Marie; Ronne, Hans

2008-01-01

We have screened a collection of haploid yeast knockout strains for increased sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). A total of 138 5-FU sensitive strains were found. Mutants affecting rRNA and tRNA maturation were particularly sensitive to 5-FU, with the tRNA methylation mutant trm10 being the most sensitive mutant. This is intriguing since trm10, like many other tRNA modification mutants, lacks a phenotype under normal conditions. However, double mutants for nonessential tRNA modification enzymes are frequently temperature sensitive, due to destabilization of hypomodified tRNAs. We therefore tested if the sensitivity of our mutants to 5-FU is affected by the temperature. We found that the cytotoxic effect of 5-FU is strongly enhanced at 38°C for tRNA modification mutants. Furthermore, tRNA modification mutants show similar synthetic interactions for temperature sensitivity and sensitivity to 5-FU. A model is proposed for how 5-FU kills these mutants by reducing the number of tRNA modifications, thus destabilizing tRNA. Finally, we found that also wild-type cells are temperature sensitive at higher concentrations of 5-FU. This suggests that tRNA destabilization contributes to 5-FU cytotoxicity in wild-type cells and provides a possible explanation why hyperthermia can enhance the effect of 5-FU in cancer therapy. PMID:18314501

Constraining Δ G at Low-x with Double Longitudinal Spin Asymmetries for Forward Hadron and Di-Hadron Pairs in PHENIX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolin, Scott; Phenix Collaboration

2011-10-01

The gluon polarization, ΔG =∫01 g(x) dx , is constrained in the region 0 . 05 < x < 0 . 2 from measurements of double spin asymmetries, ALL, for inclusive hadron and jet production at mid-rapidity at RHIC. Theoretical analysis of experimental results shows that ∫0. 05 0 . 2 Δg(x) dx = 0 .013-0 . 120 + 0 . 106 . This is not large enough to account for the missing proton spin. However, Δg(x) is unconstrained at low-x, and a measurement sensitive to this region will provide important input for future global analyses. The measurement of ALL for inclusive hadrons and di-hadrons with the Muon Piston Calorimeter (MPC) 3 . 1 < η < 3 . 9 provides this sensitivity down to x 10-3 and will lead to the first constraints of Δg(x) at x < 0 . 05 . The di-hadron measurement is especially interesting as it is sensitive to the sign of ΔG and best constrains the parton kinematics giving the most precise access to xgluon. The inclusive measurement provides a looser constraint on the event kinematics but has a higher yield. We will present the status of these measurements for the 2009 dataset at √{ s} = 500 GeV and √{ s} = 200 GeV.

Searching for the full symphony of black hole binary mergers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harry, Ian; Bustillo, Juan Calderón; Nitz, Alex

2018-01-01

Current searches for the gravitational-wave signature of compact binary mergers rely on matched-filtering data from interferometric observatories with sets of modeled gravitational waveforms. These searches currently use model waveforms that do not include the higher-order mode content of the gravitational-wave signal. Higher-order modes are important for many compact binary mergers and their omission reduces the sensitivity to such sources. In this work we explore the sensitivity loss incurred from omitting higher-order modes. We present a new method for searching for compact binary mergers using waveforms that include higher-order mode effects, and evaluate the sensitivity increase that using our new method would allow. We find that, when evaluating sensitivity at a constant rate-of-false alarm, and when including the fact that signal-consistency tests can reject some signals that include higher-order mode content, we observe a sensitivity increase of up to a factor of 2 in volume for high mass ratio, high total-mass systems. For systems with equal mass, or with total mass ˜50 M⊙, we see more modest sensitivity increases, <10 %, which indicates that the existing search is already performing well. Our new search method is also directly applicable in searches for generic compact binaries.

Visible and Extended Near-Infrared Multispectral Imaging for Skin Cancer Diagnosis

PubMed Central

Rey-Barroso, Laura; Burgos-Fernández, Francisco J.; Delpueyo, Xana; Ares, Miguel; Malvehy, Josep; Puig, Susana

2018-01-01

With the goal of diagnosing skin cancer in an early and noninvasive way, an extended near infrared multispectral imaging system based on an InGaAs sensor with sensitivity from 995 nm to 1613 nm was built to evaluate deeper skin layers thanks to the higher penetration of photons at these wavelengths. The outcomes of this device were combined with those of a previously developed multispectral system that works in the visible and near infrared range (414 nm–995 nm). Both provide spectral and spatial information from skin lesions. A classification method to discriminate between melanomas and nevi was developed based on the analysis of first-order statistics descriptors, principal component analysis, and support vector machine tools. The system provided a sensitivity of 78.6% and a specificity of 84.6%, the latter one being improved with respect to that offered by silicon sensors. PMID:29734747

Far-forward collective scattering measurements by FIR polarimeter-interferometer on J-TEXT tokamak

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shi, P.; Chen, J., E-mail: jiech@hust.edu.cn; Gao, L.

The multi-channel three-wave polarimeter-interferometer system on J-TEXT tokamak has been exploited to measure far-forward collective scattering from electron density fluctuations. The diagnostic utilizes far infrared lasers operated at 432 μm with 17-channel vertical chords (3 cm chord spacing), covering the entire cross section of plasma. Scattering laser power is measured using a high-sensitivity Schottky planar diode mixer which can also detect polarimetric and interferometric phase simultaneously. The system provides a line-integrated measurement of density fluctuations with maximum measurable wave number: k{sub ⊥max} ≤ 2 cm{sup −1} and time response up to 350 kHz. Feasibility of the diagnostic has been tested,more » showing higher sensitivity to detect fluctuation than interferometric measurement. Capability of providing spatial-resolved information of fluctuation has also been demonstrated in preliminary experimental applications.« less

Self-calibrated correlation imaging with k-space variant correlation functions.

PubMed

Li, Yu; Edalati, Masoud; Du, Xingfu; Wang, Hui; Cao, Jie J

2018-03-01

Correlation imaging is a previously developed high-speed MRI framework that converts parallel imaging reconstruction into the estimate of correlation functions. The presented work aims to demonstrate this framework can provide a speed gain over parallel imaging by estimating k-space variant correlation functions. Because of Fourier encoding with gradients, outer k-space data contain higher spatial-frequency image components arising primarily from tissue boundaries. As a result of tissue-boundary sparsity in the human anatomy, neighboring k-space data correlation varies from the central to the outer k-space. By estimating k-space variant correlation functions with an iterative self-calibration method, correlation imaging can benefit from neighboring k-space data correlation associated with both coil sensitivity encoding and tissue-boundary sparsity, thereby providing a speed gain over parallel imaging that relies only on coil sensitivity encoding. This new approach is investigated in brain imaging and free-breathing neonatal cardiac imaging. Correlation imaging performs better than existing parallel imaging techniques in simulated brain imaging acceleration experiments. The higher speed enables real-time data acquisition for neonatal cardiac imaging in which physiological motion is fast and non-periodic. With k-space variant correlation functions, correlation imaging gives a higher speed than parallel imaging and offers the potential to image physiological motion in real-time. Magn Reson Med 79:1483-1494, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and leukocyte telomere length.

PubMed

Suzuki, Akihito; Matsumoto, Yoshihiko; Enokido, Masanori; Shirata, Toshinori; Goto, Kaoru; Otani, Koichi

2017-10-10

Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences located at the ends of chromosomes, and telomere length represents a biological marker for cellular aging. Interpersonal sensitivity, excessive sensitivity to the behavior and feelings of others, is one of the vulnerable factors to depression. In the present study, we examined the effect of interpersonal sensitivity on telomere length in healthy subjects. The subjects were 159 unrelated healthy Japanese volunteers. Mean age ± SD (range) of the subjects was 42.3 ± 7.8 (30-61) years. Interpersonal sensitivity was assessed by the Japanese version of the Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM). Leukocyte telomere length was determined by a quantitative real-time PCR method. Higher scores of the total IPSM were significantly (β = -0.163, p = 0.038) related to shorter telomere length. In the sub-scale analysis, higher scores of timidity were significantly (β = -0.220, p = 0.044) associated with shorter telomere length. The present study suggests that subjects with higher interpersonal sensitivity have shorter leukocyte telomere length, implying that interpersonal sensitivity has an impact on cellular aging.

Sensitivity of GC-EI/MS, GC-EI/MS/MS, LC-ESI/MS/MS, LC-Ag(+) CIS/MS/MS, and GC-ESI/MS/MS for analysis of anabolic steroids in doping control.

PubMed

Cha, Eunju; Kim, Sohee; Kim, Ho Jun; Lee, Kang Mi; Kim, Ki Hun; Kwon, Oh-Seung; Lee, Jaeick

2015-01-01

This study compared the sensitivity of various separation and ionization methods, including gas chromatography with an electron ionization source (GC-EI), liquid chromatography with an electrospray ionization source (LC-ESI), and liquid chromatography with a silver ion coordination ion spray source (LC-Ag(+) CIS), coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS) for steroid analysis. Chromatographic conditions, mass spectrometric transitions, and ion source parameters were optimized. The majority of steroids in GC-EI/MS/MS and LC-Ag(+) CIS/MS/MS analysis showed higher sensitivities than those obtained with other analytical methods. The limits of detection (LODs) of 65 steroids by GC-EI/MS/MS, 68 steroids by LC-Ag(+) CIS/MS/MS, 56 steroids by GC-EI/MS, 54 steroids by LC-ESI/MS/MS, and 27 steroids by GC-ESI/MS/MS were below cut-off value of 2.0 ng/mL. LODs of steroids that formed protonated ions in LC-ESI/MS/MS analysis were all lower than the cut-off value. Several steroids such as unconjugated C3-hydroxyl with C17-hydroxyl structure showed higher sensitivities in GC-EI/MS/MS analysis relative to those obtained using the LC-based methods. The steroids containing 4, 9, 11-triene structures showed relatively poor sensitivities in GC-EI/MS and GC-ESI/MS/MS analysis. The results of this study provide information that may be useful for selecting suitable analytical methods for confirmatory analysis of steroids. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Quantitative image cytometry measurements of lipids, DNA, CD45 and cytokeratin for circulating tumor cell identification in a model system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Futia, Gregory L.; Qamar, Lubna; Behbakht, Kian; Gibson, Emily A.

2016-04-01

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) identification has applications in both early detection and monitoring of solid cancers. The rarity of CTCs, expected at ~1-50 CTCs per million nucleated blood cells (WBCs), requires identifying methods based on biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity for accurate identification. Discovery of biomarkers with ever higher sensitivity and specificity to CTCs is always desirable to potentially find more CTCs in cancer patients thus increasing their clinical utility. Here, we investigate quantitative image cytometry measurements of lipids with the biomarker panel of DNA, Cytokeratin (CK), and CD45 commonly used to identify CTCs. We engineered a device for labeling suspended cell samples with fluorescent antibodies and dyes. We used it to prepare samples for 4 channel confocal laser scanning microscopy. The total data acquired at high resolution from one sample is ~ 1.3 GB. We developed software to perform the automated segmentation of these images into regions of interest (ROIs) containing individual cells. We quantified image features of total signal, spatial second moment, spatial frequency second moment, and their product for each ROI. We performed measurements on pure WBCs, cancer cell line MCF7 and mixed samples. Multivariable regressions and feature selection were used to determine combination features that are more sensitive and specific than any individual feature separately. We also demonstrate that computation of spatial characteristics provides higher sensitivity and specificity than intensity alone. Statistical models allowed quantification of the required sensitivity and specificity for detecting small levels of CTCs in a human blood sample.

Audio computer-assisted self interview compared to traditional interview in an HIV-related behavioral survey in Vietnam.

PubMed

Le, Linh Cu; Vu, Lan T H

2012-10-01

Globally, population surveys on HIV/AIDS and other sensitive topics have been using audio computer-assisted self interview for many years. This interview technique, however, is still new to Vietnam and little is known about its application and impact in general population surveys. One plausible hypothesis is that residents of Vietnam interviewed using this technique may provide a higher response rate and be more willing to reveal their true behaviors than if interviewed with traditional methods. This study aims to compare audio computer-assisted self interview with traditional face-to-face personal interview and self-administered interview with regard to rates of refusal and affirmative responses to questions on sensitive topics related to HIV/AIDS. In June 2010, a randomized study was conducted in three cities (Ha Noi, Da Nan and Can Tho), using a sample of 4049 residents aged 15 to 49 years. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three interviewing methods: audio computer-assisted self interview, personal face-to-face interview, and self-administered paper interview. Instead of providing answers directly to interviewer questions as with traditional methods, audio computer-assisted self-interview respondents read the questions displayed on a laptop screen, while listening to the questions through audio headphones, then entered responses using a laptop keyboard. A MySQL database was used for data management and SPSS statistical package version 18 used for data analysis with bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Rates of high risk behaviors and mean values of continuous variables were compared for the three data collection methods. Audio computer-assisted self interview showed advantages over comparison techniques, achieving lower refusal rates and reporting higher prevalence of some sensitive and risk behaviors (perhaps indication of more truthful answers). Premarital sex was reported by 20.4% in the audio computer-assisted self-interview survey group, versus 11.4% in the face-to-face group and 11.1% in the self-administered paper questionnaire group. The pattern was consistent for both male and female respondents and in both urban and rural settings. Men in the audio computer-assisted self-interview group also reported higher levels of high-risk sexual behavior--such as sex with sex workers and a higher average number of sexual partners--than did women in the same group. Importantly, item refusal rates on sensitive topics tended to be lower with audio computer-assisted self interview than with the other two methods. Combined with existing data from other countries and previous studies in Vietnam, these findings suggest that researchers should consider using audio computer-assisted self interview for future studies of sensitive and stigmatized topics, especially for men.

An analysis of sensitivity of CLIMEX parameters in mapping species potential distribution and the broad-scale changes observed with minor variations in parameters values: an investigation using open-field Solanum lycopersicum and Neoleucinodes elegantalis as an example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

da Silva, Ricardo Siqueira; Kumar, Lalit; Shabani, Farzin; Picanço, Marcelo Coutinho

2018-04-01

A sensitivity analysis can categorize levels of parameter influence on a model's output. Identifying parameters having the most influence facilitates establishing the best values for parameters of models, providing useful implications in species modelling of crops and associated insect pests. The aim of this study was to quantify the response of species models through a CLIMEX sensitivity analysis. Using open-field Solanum lycopersicum and Neoleucinodes elegantalis distribution records, and 17 fitting parameters, including growth and stress parameters, comparisons were made in model performance by altering one parameter value at a time, in comparison to the best-fit parameter values. Parameters that were found to have a greater effect on the model results are termed "sensitive". Through the use of two species, we show that even when the Ecoclimatic Index has a major change through upward or downward parameter value alterations, the effect on the species is dependent on the selection of suitability categories and regions of modelling. Two parameters were shown to have the greatest sensitivity, dependent on the suitability categories of each species in the study. Results enhance user understanding of which climatic factors had a greater impact on both species distributions in our model, in terms of suitability categories and areas, when parameter values were perturbed by higher or lower values, compared to the best-fit parameter values. Thus, the sensitivity analyses have the potential to provide additional information for end users, in terms of improving management, by identifying the climatic variables that are most sensitive.

Interdependency of Reactive Oxygen Species generating and scavenging system in salt sensitive and salt tolerant cultivars of rice.

PubMed

Kaur, Navdeep; Dhawan, Manish; Sharma, Isha; Pati, Pratap Kumar

2016-06-10

Salinity stress is a major constrain in the global rice production and hence serious efforts are being undertaken towards deciphering its remedial strategies. The comparative analysis of differential response of salt sensitive and salt tolerant lines is a judicious approach to obtain essential clues towards understanding the acquisition of salinity tolerance in rice plants. However, adaptation to salt stress is a fairly complex process and operates through different mechanisms. Among various mechanisms involved, the reactive oxygen species mediated salinity tolerance is believed to be critical as it evokes cascade of responses related to stress tolerance. In this background, the present paper for the first time evaluates the ROS generating and the scavenging system in tandem in both salt sensitive and salt tolerant cultivars of rice for getting better insight into salinity stress adaptation. Comparative analysis of ROS indicates the higher level of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lower level of superoxide ions (O(2-)) in the salt tolerant as compared to salt sensitive cultivars. Specific activity of ROS generating enzyme, NADPH oxidase was also found to be more in the tolerant cultivars. Further, activities of various enzymes involved in enzymatic and non enzymatic antioxidant defence system were mostly higher in tolerant cultivars. The transcript level analysis of antioxidant enzymes were in alignment with the enzymatic activity. Other stress markers like proline were observed to be higher in tolerant varieties whereas, the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) equivalents and chlorophyll content were estimated to be more in sensitive. The present study showed significant differences in the level of ROS production and antioxidant enzymes activities among sensitive and tolerant cultivars, suggesting their possible role in providing natural salt tolerance to selected cultivars of rice. Our study demonstrates that the cellular machinery for ROS production and scavenging system works in an interdependent manner to offer better salt stress adaptation in rice. The present work further highlights that the elevated level of H2O2 which is considered as a key determinant for conferring salt stress tolerance to rice might have originated through an alternative route of photocatalytic activity of chlorophyll.

Effect of recording duration on the diagnostic performance of multifocal visual-evoked potentials in high-risk ocular hypertension and early glaucoma.

PubMed

Fortune, Brad; Zhang, Xian; Hood, Donald C; Demirel, Shaban; Patterson, Emily; Jamil, Annisa; Mansberger, Steven L; Cioffi, George A; Johnson, Chris A

2008-01-01

To evaluate the effect on diagnostic performance of reducing multifocal visual-evoked potential (mfVEP) recording duration from 16 to 8 minutes per eye. Both eyes of 185 individuals with high-risk ocular hypertension or early glaucoma were studied. Two 8-minute mfVEP recordings were obtained for each eye in an ABBA order using VERIS. The first recording for each eye was compared against single run (1-Run) mfVEP normative data; the average of both recordings for each eye was compared against 2-Run normative data. Visual fields (VFs) were obtained by standard automated perimetry (SAP) within 22.3+/-27.0 days of the mfVEP. Stereo disc photographs and Heidelberg Retina Tomograph images were obtained together, within 24.8+/-50.4 days of the mfVEP and 33.1+/-62.9 days of SAP. Masked experts graded disc photographs as either glaucomatous optic neuropathy or normal. The overall Moorfields Regression Analysis result from the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph was used as a separate diagnostic classification. Thus, 4 diagnostic standards were applied in total, 2 based on optic disc structure alone and 2 others based on disc structure and SAP. Agreement between the 1-Run and 2-Run mfVEP was 90%. Diagnostic performance of the 1-Run mfVEP was similar to that of the 2-Run mfVEP for all 4 diagnostic standards. Sensitivity was slightly higher for the 2-Run mfVEP, whereas specificity was slightly higher for the 1-Run mfVEP. If higher sensitivity is sought, the 2-Run mfVEP will provide better discrimination between groups of eyes with relatively high signal-to-noise ratio (eg, early glaucoma or high-risk suspects). But if higher specificity is a more important goal, the 1-Run mfVEP provides adequate sensitivity and requires only half the test time. Considered alongside prior studies, the present results suggest that the 1-Run mfVEP is an efficient way to confirm (or refute) the extent of VF loss in patients with moderate or advanced glaucoma, particularly in those with unreliable VFs, including malingering or other "functional" forms of VF loss.

Perception and Control of Simulated Self Motion. Final Report for the Period April 1983-March 1987.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, Dean H.; And Others

This report includes three experiment sections. The first experiment tested sensitivity to loss in altitude and demonstrated that: (1) preview effects led to adaptation; (2) sensitivity decreased with higher flow rates; and (3) sensitivity increased with higher optical texture densities and fractional loss. The second and third experiments…

The Advanced Pair Telescope (APT) Mission Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, Stanley; Buckley, James H.

2008-01-01

We present a mission concept for the Advanced Pair Telescope (APT), a high-energy gamma-ray instrument with an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity, 6 sr field of view, and angular resolution a factor of 3-10 times that of GLAST. With its very wide instantaneous field-of-view and large effective area, this instrument would be capable of detecting GRBs at very large redshifts, would enable a very high resolution study of SNRs and PWN, and could provide hour-scale temporal resolution of transients from many AGN and galactic sources. The APT instrument will consist of a Xe time-projection-chamber tracker that bridges the energy regime between Compton scattering and pair production and will provide an unprecedented improvement in angular resolution; a thick scintillating-fiber trackerlcalorimeter that will provide sensitivity and energy resolution to higher energies and will possess a factor of 10 improvement in geometric factor over GLAST; and an anticoincidence detector using scintillator-tiles to reject charged particles. After the anticipated 10-years of GLAST operation , the APT instrument would provide continued coverage of the critial high-energy gamma-ray band (between 30 MeV to 100 GeV), providing an essential component of broad-band multiwavelength studies of the high-energy universe.

Numerical Modeling of STARx for Ex Situ Soil Remediation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerhard, J.; Solinger, R. L.; Grant, G.; Scholes, G.

2016-12-01

Growing stockpiles of contaminated soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons are an outstanding problem worldwide. Self-sustaining Treatment for Active Remediation (STAR) is an emerging technology based on smouldering combustion that has been successfully deployed for in situ remediation. STAR has also been developed for ex situ applications (STARx). This work used a two-dimensional numerical model to systematically explore the sensitivity of ex situ remedial performance to key design and operational parameters. First the model was calibrated and validated against pilot scale experiments, providing confidence that the rate and extent of treatment were correctly predicted. Simulations then investigated sensitivity of remedial performance to injected air flux, contaminant saturation, system configuration, heterogeneity of intrinsic permeability, heterogeneity of contaminant saturation, and system scale. Remedial performance was predicted to be most sensitive to the injected air flux, with higher air fluxes achieving higher treatment rates and remediating larger fractions of the initial contaminant mass. The uniformity of the advancing smouldering front was predicted to be highly dependent on effective permeability contrasts between treated and untreated sections of the contaminant pack. As a result, increased heterogeneity (of intrinsic permeability in particular) is predicted to lower remedial performance. Full-scale systems were predicted to achieve treatment rates an order of magnitude higher than the pilot scale for similar contaminant saturation and injected air flux. This work contributed to the large scale STARx treatment system that is being tested at a field site in Fall 2016.

Elucidation of the role of biological factors and device design in cerebral NIRS using an in vivo hematoma model based on high-intensity focused ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianting; Huang, Stanley; Myers, Matthew; Chen, Yu; Welle, Cristin; Pfefer, Joshua

2016-03-01

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is an emerging medical countermeasure for rapid, field detection of hematomas caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Bench and animal tests to determine NIRS sensitivity and specificity are needed. However, current animal models involving non-invasively induced, localized neural damage are limited. We investigated an in vivo murine hematoma model in which cerebral hemorrhage was induced noninvasively by high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) with calibrated positioning and parameters. To characterize the morphology of induced hematomas, we used skull-intact histological evaluation. A multi-wavelength fiber-optic NIRS system with three source-detector separation distances was used to detect hematoma A 1.1 MHz transducer produced consistent small-to-medium hematoma localized to a single hemisphere, along with bruising of the scalp, with a low mortality rate. A 220 kHz transducer produced larger, more diffuse hematomas, with higher variability in size and a correspondingly higher mortality rate. No skin bruising or blood accumulation between the skin and skull was observed following injury application with the 220 kHz transducer. Histological analysis showed higher sensitivity for larger hematomas (>4x4 mm2). NIRS optical density change after HIFU was able to detect all hematomas, with sensitivity dependent on wavelength and separation distance. While improvements in methods for validating cerebral blood distribution are needed, the HIFU hematoma model provided useful insights that will inform development of biologically relevant, performance test methods for cerebral NIRS systems.

Ultra-high aspect ratio titania nanoflakes for dye-sensitized solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Yang-Yao; El-Shall, Hassan

2017-12-01

Micron sized titania flakes with thickness about 40 nm were used in the titania pastes to assemble dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Using the same deposition method, better particle dispersion of titania flakes resulted in well bonded and integral films comparing to cracking of Degussa P25 nanoparticle films during the evaporation and sintering processes. There are two features of titania flakes which leads to improved conversion efficiency of DSSC: (1) Higher and stronger adsorption of N-719 dyes due to high specific surface area (2) Stronger light scattering of visible light spectrum because of micron scale wide in two dimensions of the flakes. The thickness of the conducting TiO2 was critical to the IV characteristics of DSSC such as the short-circuit current density (Isc) and open-circuit voltage (Voc). Under the same thickness basis, calcined titania flakes provided 5 times higher efficiency than the photoelectrodes consisted of Degussa P25 nanoparticles (7.4% vs. 1.2%).

Diagnosis of subclinical mastitis in Santa Inês and Morada Nova sheep in southeastern Brazil.

PubMed

Zafalon, Luiz Francisco; Santana, Raul Costa Mascarenhas; Pilon, Lucas Eduardo; Júnior, Guilherme Aparecido Fim

2016-06-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate different screening limits for the California mastitis test (CMT) and the somatic cell count (SCC) in previous diagnoses of subclinical mastitis in Santa Inês and Morada Nova ewes, which were reared under the same management conditions. Additionally, cutoff points were defined for SCC in accordance with the sensitivity and specificity of the test. A total of 907 mammary halves were subjected to CMT and SCC. The disease was confirmed by means of microbiological identification. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) were the microorganisms with highest occurrence. The CMT score of 1+ provided adequate sensitivity and specificity at all periods of lactation investigated. This score showed good agreement with SCC, >400,000 cells mL(-1). Higher cell counts favored higher diagnostic specificity. They can be used when producers have financial difficulties relating to treatment or culling of sheep with subclinical mastitis. However, producers should be warned about the risk of false-negative results in the flock.

Designing scalable product families by the radial basis function-high-dimensional model representation metamodelling technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pirmoradi, Zhila; Haji Hajikolaei, Kambiz; Wang, G. Gary

2015-10-01

Product family design is cost-efficient for achieving the best trade-off between commonalization and diversification. However, for computationally intensive design functions which are viewed as black boxes, the family design would be challenging. A two-stage platform configuration method with generalized commonality is proposed for a scale-based family with unknown platform configuration. Unconventional sensitivity analysis and information on variation in the individual variants' optimal design are used for platform configuration design. Metamodelling is employed to provide the sensitivity and variable correlation information, leading to significant savings in function calls. A family of universal electric motors is designed for product performance and the efficiency of this method is studied. The impact of the employed parameters is also analysed. Then, the proposed method is modified for obtaining higher commonality. The proposed method is shown to yield design solutions with better objective function values, allowable performance loss and higher commonality than the previously developed methods in the literature.

Comparison of the visual and intraocular optical performance of a refractive multifocal IOL with rotational asymmetry and an apodized diffractive multifocal IOL.

PubMed

Alió, Jorge L; Plaza-Puche, Ana B; Javaloy, Jaime; Ayala, María José

2012-02-01

To compare the visual outcomes and intraocular optical quality observed postoperatively in patients implanted with a rotationally asymmetric multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) and an apodized diffractive multifocal IOL. Seventy-four consecutive eyes of 40 cataract patients (age range: 36 to 79 years) were divided into two groups: zonal refractive group, 39 eyes implanted with a rotationally asymmetric multifocal IOL (Lentis Mplus LS-312 IOL, Oculentis GmbH); and diffractive group, 35 eyes implanted with an apodized diffractive multifocal IOL (ReSTOR SN6AD3, Alcon Laboratories Inc). Distance and near visual acuity outcomes, contrast sensitivity, intraocular optical quality, and defocus curves were evaluated during 3-month follow-up. Calculation of the intraocular aberrations was performed by subtracting corneal aberrations from total ocular aberrations. Uncorrected near visual acuity and distance-corrected near visual acuity were better in the diffractive group than in the zonal refractive group (P=.01), whereas intermediate visual acuity (defocus +1.00 and +1.50 diopters) was better in the zonal refractive group. Photopic contrast sensitivity was significantly better in the zonal refractive group (P=.04). Wavefront aberrations (total, higher order, tilt, primary coma) were significantly higher in the zonal refractive group than in the diffractive group (P=.02). Both multifocal IOLs are able to successfully restore visual function after cataract surgery. The zonal refractive multifocal IOL provides better results in contrast sensitivity and intermediate vision, whereas the diffractive multifocal IOL provides better near vision at a closer distance. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

The OMERACT Rheumatoid Arthritis Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scoring System: Updated Recommendations by the OMERACT MRI in Arthritis Working Group.

PubMed

Østergaard, Mikkel; Peterfy, Charles G; Bird, Paul; Gandjbakhch, Frédérique; Glinatsi, Daniel; Eshed, Iris; Haavardsholm, Espen A; Lillegraven, Siri; Bøyesen, Pernille; Ejbjerg, Bo; Foltz, Violaine; Emery, Paul; Genant, Harry K; Conaghan, Philip G

2017-11-01

The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scoring system (RAMRIS), evaluating bone erosion, bone marrow edema/osteitis, and synovitis, was introduced in 2002, and is now the standard method of objectively quantifying inflammation and damage by MRI in RA trials. The objective of this paper was to identify subsequent advances and based on them, to provide updated recommendations for the RAMRIS. MRI studies relevant for RAMRIS and technical and scientific advances were analyzed by the OMERACT MRI in Arthritis Working Group, which used these data to provide updated considerations on image acquisition, RAMRIS definitions, and scoring systems for the original and new RA pathologies. Further, a research agenda was outlined. Since 2002, longitudinal studies and clinical trials have documented RAMRIS variables to have face, construct, and criterion validity; high reliability and sensitivity to change; and the ability to discriminate between therapies. This has enabled RAMRIS to demonstrate inhibition of structural damage progression with fewer patients and shorter followup times than has been possible with conventional radiography. Technical improvements, including higher field strengths and improved pulse sequences, allow higher image resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio. These have facilitated development and validation of scoring methods of new pathologies: joint space narrowing and tenosynovitis. These have high reproducibility and moderate sensitivity to change, and can be added to RAMRIS. Combined scores of inflammation or joint damage may increase sensitivity to change and discriminative power. However, this requires further research. Updated 2016 RAMRIS recommendations and a research agenda were developed.

Estradiol Variability, Stressful Life Events and the Emergence of Depressive Symptomatology during the Menopause Transition

PubMed Central

Gordon, Jennifer L.; Rubinow, David R.; Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory A; Leserman, Jane; Girdler, Susan S.

2015-01-01

Objective To examine the role of estradiol fluctuation in triggering depressive symptoms in the menopause transition and assess the role of recent very stressful life events (VSLEs) as a moderating factor in this relationship. Methods 52 euthymic women in the menopause transition or early postmenopause (age 45–60) who were assigned to the placebo arm of a randomized controlled trial of hormone therapy provided the data for this report. At enrollment, women’s experience of recent VSLEs, depressive symptoms, serum estradiol and progesterone were assessed. At months 1, 8 and 14, depressive symptoms and hormones were re-assessed and participants underwent a stressor battery involving a speech and a mental arithmetic task. Participants rated their feelings of anxiety, fear, anger and rejection. The standard deviation of estradiol provided an index of hormone variability over the entire 14 months. Results Greater estradiol variability across the 14 months predicted greater depressive symptoms at month 14, though only in women reporting a higher number of VSLEs at baseline (39% of women reported ≤1 recent event). Greater estradiol variability also predicted greater feelings of rejection to the laboratory stressor at months 8 and 14. Furthermore, among women reporting higher VSLEs at baseline, feelings of rejection in response to the laboratory stressor at month 8 predicted depressive symptoms at month 14. Conclusion These data suggest estradiol variability may enhance emotional sensitivity to psychosocial stress, particularly sensitivity to social rejection. Combined with VSLEs proximate to the menopause transition, this increased sensitivity may contribute to the development of depressed mood. PMID:26529616

Association of visual sensory function and higher order visual processing skills with incident driving cessation

PubMed Central

Huisingh, Carrie; McGwin, Gerald; Owsley, Cynthia

2017-01-01

Background Many studies on vision and driving cessation have relied on measures of sensory function, which are insensitive to the higher order cognitive aspects of visual processing. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between traditional measures of visual sensory function and higher order visual processing skills with incident driving cessation in a population-based sample of older drivers. Methods Two thousand licensed drivers aged ≥70 were enrolled and followed-up for three years. Tests for central vision and visual processing were administered at baseline and included visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, sensitivity in the driving visual field, visual processing speed (Useful Field of View (UFOV) Subtest 2 and Trails B), and spatial ability measured by the Visual Closure Subtest of the Motor-free Visual Perception Test. Participants self-reported the month and year of driving cessation and provided a reason for cessation. Cox proportional hazards models were used to generate crude and adjusted hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals between visual functioning characteristics and risk of driving cessation over a three-year period. Results During the study period, 164 participants stopped driving which corresponds to a cumulative incidence of 8.5%. Impaired contrast sensitivity, visual fields, visual processing speed (UFOVand Trails B), and spatial ability were significant risk factors for subsequent driving cessation after adjusting for age, gender, marital status, number of medical conditions, and miles driven. Visual acuity impairment was not associated with driving cessation. Medical problems (63%), specifically musculoskeletal and neurological problems, as well as vision problems (17%) were cited most frequently as the reason for driving cessation. Conclusion Assessment of cognitive and visual functioning can provide useful information about subsequent risk of driving cessation among older drivers. In addition, a variety of factors, not just vision, influenced the decision to stop driving and may be amenable to intervention. PMID:27353969

MnO2 nanosheet mediated "DD-A" FRET binary probes for sensitive detection of intracellular mRNA.

PubMed

Ou, Min; Huang, Jin; Yang, Xiaohai; Quan, Ke; Yang, Yanjing; Xie, Nuli; Wang, Kemin

2017-01-01

The donor donor-acceptor (DD-A) FRET model has proven to have a higher FRET efficiency than donor-acceptor acceptor (D-AA), donor-acceptor (D-A), and donor donor-acceptor acceptor (DD-AA) FRET models. The in-tube and in-cell experiments clearly demonstrate that the "DD-A" FRET binary probes can indeed increase the FRET efficiency and provide higher imaging contrast, which is about one order of magnitude higher than the ordinary "D-A" model. Furthermore, MnO 2 nanosheets were employed to deliver these probes into living cells for intracellular TK1 mRNA detection because they can adsorb ssDNA probes, penetrate across the cell membrane and be reduced to Mn 2+ ions by intracellular GSH. The results indicated that the MnO 2 nanosheet mediated "DD-A" FRET binary probes are capable of sensitive and selective sensing gene expression and chemical-stimuli changes in gene expression levels in cancer cells. We believe that the MnO 2 nanosheet mediated "DD-A" FRET binary probes have the potential as a simple but powerful tool for basic research and clinical diagnosis.

Significant enhancement of power conversion efficiency for dye sensitized solar cell using 1D/3D network nanostructures as photoanodes

PubMed Central

Wang, Hao; Wang, Baoyuan; Yu, Jichao; Hu, Yunxia; Xia, Chen; Zhang, Jun; Liu, Rong

2015-01-01

The single–crystalline TiO2 nanorod arrays with rutile phase have attracted much attention in the dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) applications because of their superior chemical stability, better electron transport properties, higher refractive index and low production cost. However, it suffers from a low surface area as compared with TiO2 nanoparticle films. In order to enlarge the surface area of TiO2 nanorod arrays, the 1D nanorods/3D nanotubes sample was synthesized using a facile two-step hydrothermal process involving hydrothermal growth 1D/3D nanorods and followed by post-etching treatment. In such bi-layer structure, the oriented TiO2 nanorods layer could provide direct pathway for fast electron transportation, and the 3D nanotubes layer offers a higher surface area for dye loading, therefore, the 1D nanorods/3D nanotubes photoanode exhibited faster electron transport and higher surface area than either 1D or 3D nanostructures alone, and an highest efficiency of 7.68% was achieved for the DSSCs based on 1D nanorods/3D nanotubes photoanode with further TiCl4 treatment. PMID:25800933

Corn-Based Ethanol Production and Environmental Quality: A Case of Iowa and the Conservation Reserve Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Secchi, Silvia; Gassman, Philip W.; Williams, Jimmy R.; Babcock, Bruce A.

2009-10-01

Growing demand for corn due to the expansion of ethanol has increased concerns that environmentally sensitive lands retired from agricultural production and enrolled into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will be cropped again. Iowa produces more ethanol than any other state in the United States, and it also produces the most corn. Thus, an examination of the impacts of higher crop prices on CRP land in Iowa can give insight into what we might expect nationally in the years ahead if crop prices remain high. We construct CRP land supply curves for various corn prices and then estimate the environmental impacts of cropping CRP land through the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model. EPIC provides edge-of-field estimates of soil erosion, nutrient loss, and carbon sequestration. We find that incremental impacts increase dramatically as higher corn prices bring into production more and more environmentally fragile land. Maintaining current levels of environmental quality will require substantially higher spending levels. Even allowing for the cost savings that would accrue as CRP land leaves the program, a change in targeting strategies will likely be required to ensure that the most sensitive land does not leave the program.

Correlates of HIV stigma in HIV-positive women.

PubMed

Wagner, Anne C; Hart, Trevor A; Mohammed, Saira; Ivanova, Elena; Wong, Joanna; Loutfy, Mona R

2010-06-01

We examined the variables associated with HIV stigma in HIV-positive women currently living in Ontario, Canada. Based on previous literature, we predicted that variables of social marginalization (e.g., ethnicity, income, education), medical variables (e.g., higher CD4 count, lower viral load), and increased psychological distress would be associated with higher perceived HIV stigma among HIV-positive women. One hundred fifty-nine HIV-positive women between the ages of 18 and 52 in Ontario completed self-report measures of the aforementioned variables. Women were recruited through 28 AIDS service organizations, eight HIV clinics, and two community health centers. In multiple regression analyses, for women born in Canada, lower educational level and higher anxiety were associated with higher HIV stigma. For women born outside of Canada, having been judged by a physician in Canada for trying to become pregnant was associated with higher HIV stigma. For HIV-positive women born outside of Canada, negative judgment by a physician regarding intentions to become pregnant should be addressed to reduce perceived HIV stigma and vice versa. Health care providers should be trained in the provision of sensitive and effective health care for women living with HIV, especially when providing reproductive health care.

Theoretical screening of novel alkyne bridged zinc porphyrins as sensitizer candidates for dye-sensitized solar cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Xianxi; Du, Yuchang; Chen, Qianqian; Sun, Huafei; Pan, Tingting; Hu, Guiqi; Ma, Ruimin; Sun, Yuanwei; Li, Dacheng; Dou, Jianmin; Pan, Xu

2014-12-10

Alkyne bridged porphyrin sensitizers have attracted great attention in the field of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) because of their excellent photo-to-electric conversion efficiencies, among which YD2 has reached 11% while YD2-o-C8 has reached 11.9% solely and 12.3% co-sensitized with other sensitizers. Design and screening of porphyrin sensitizer candidates with wider electronic absorption spectra to further improve the photo-to-electric conversion efficiencies of corresponding solar cells is still very important. Twenty novel alkyne bridged zinc porphyrin sensitizer candidates composed of the donors diarylamino-, tri-4-methylphenyl-, tri-hydroxyl- and tri-amino-substituted zinc porphyrins as well as the selected acceptors E, M, Q, R and S have been designed and calculated at the density functional B3LYP level. YD2 and YD2-o-C8 are also calculated at the same level for comparison. The result shows that the sensitizer candidates all have smaller HOMO-LUMO gaps as well as wider and red-shifted absorption bands than those of YD2 and YD2-o-C8. Most of the sensitizer candidates have appropriate HOMO and LUMO energy levels relative to the redox potential of the mediator and the TiO2 conduction band, showing that they are promising to provide comparable or even higher photo-to-electric conversion efficiencies than 11% of YD-2 or 11.9% of YD2-o-C8. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theoretical screening of novel alkyne bridged zinc porphyrins as sensitizer candidates for dye-sensitized solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xianxi; Du, Yuchang; Chen, Qianqian; Sun, Huafei; Pan, Tingting; Hu, Guiqi; Ma, Ruimin; Sun, Yuanwei; Li, Dacheng; Dou, Jianmin; Pan, Xu

2014-12-01

Alkyne bridged porphyrin sensitizers have attracted great attention in the field of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) because of their excellent photo-to-electric conversion efficiencies, among which YD2 has reached 11% while YD2-o-C8 has reached 11.9% solely and 12.3% co-sensitized with other sensitizers. Design and screening of porphyrin sensitizer candidates with wider electronic absorption spectra to further improve the photo-to-electric conversion efficiencies of corresponding solar cells is still very important. Twenty novel alkyne bridged zinc porphyrin sensitizer candidates composed of the donors diarylamino-, tri-4-methylphenyl-, tri-hydroxyl- and tri-amino-substituted zinc porphyrins as well as the selected acceptors E, M, Q, R and S have been designed and calculated at the density functional B3LYP level. YD2 and YD2-o-C8 are also calculated at the same level for comparison. The result shows that the sensitizer candidates all have smaller HOMO-LUMO gaps as well as wider and red-shifted absorption bands than those of YD2 and YD2-o-C8. Most of the sensitizer candidates have appropriate HOMO and LUMO energy levels relative to the redox potential of the mediator and the TiO2 conduction band, showing that they are promising to provide comparable or even higher photo-to-electric conversion efficiencies than 11% of YD-2 or 11.9% of YD2-o-C8.

Discrimination of bladder cancer cells from normal urothelial cells with high specificity and sensitivity: combined application of atomic force microscopy and modulated Raman spectroscopy.

PubMed

Canetta, Elisabetta; Riches, Andrew; Borger, Eva; Herrington, Simon; Dholakia, Kishan; Adya, Ashok K

2014-05-01

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and modulated Raman spectroscopy (MRS) were used to discriminate between living normal human urothelial cells (SV-HUC-1) and bladder tumour cells (MGH-U1) with high specificity and sensitivity. MGH-U1 cells were 1.5-fold smaller, 1.7-fold thicker and 1.4-fold rougher than normal SV-HUC-1 cells. The adhesion energy was 2.6-fold higher in the MGH-U1 cells compared to normal SV-HUC-1 cells, which possibly indicates that bladder tumour cells are more deformable than normal cells. The elastic modulus of MGH-U1 cells was 12-fold lower than SV-HUC-1 cells, suggesting a higher elasticity of the bladder cancer cell membranes. The biochemical fingerprints of cancer cells displayed a higher DNA and lipid content, probably due to an increase in the nuclear to cytoplasm ratio. Normal cells were characterized by higher protein contents. AFM studies revealed a decrease in the lateral dimensions and an increase in thickness of cancer cells compared to normal cells; these studies authenticate the observations from MRS. Nanostructural, nanomechanical and biochemical profiles of bladder cells provide qualitative and quantitative markers to differentiate between normal and cancerous cells at the single cellular level. AFM and MRS allow discrimination between adhesion energy, elasticity and Raman spectra of SV-HUC-1 and MGH-U1 cells with high specificity (83, 98 and 95%) and sensitivity (97, 93 and 98%). Such single-cell-level studies could have a pivotal impact on the development of AFM-Raman combined methodologies for cancer profiling and screening with translational significance. Copyright © 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors Associated With Provider Burnout in the NICU

PubMed Central

Phibbs, Ciaran S.; Sexton, J. Bryan; Kan, Peiyi; Sharek, Paul J.; Nisbet, Courtney C.; Rigdon, Joseph; Trockel, Mickey; Profit, Jochen

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: NICUs vary greatly in patient acuity and volume and represent a wide array of organizational structures, but the effect of these differences on NICU providers is unknown. This study sought to test the relation between provider burnout prevalence and organizational factors in California NICUs. METHODS: Provider perceptions of burnout were obtained from 1934 nurse practitioners, physicians, registered nurses, and respiratory therapists in 41 California NICUs via a validated 4-item questionnaire based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The relations between burnout and organizational factors of each NICU were evaluated via t-test comparison of quartiles, univariable regression, and multivariable regression. RESULTS: Overall burnout prevalence was 26.7% ± 9.8%. Highest burnout prevalence was found among NICUs with higher average daily admissions (32.1% ± 6.4% vs 17.2% ± 6.7%, P < .001), higher average occupancy (28.1% ± 8.1% vs 19.9% ± 8.4%, P = .02), and those with electronic health records (28% ± 11% vs 18% ± 7%, P = .03). In sensitivity analysis, nursing burnout was more sensitive to organizational differences than physician burnout in multivariable modeling, significantly associated with average daily admissions, late transfer proportion, nursing hours per patient day, and mortality per 1000 infants. Burnout prevalence showed no association with proportion of high-risk patients, teaching hospital distinction, or in-house attending presence. CONCLUSIONS: Burnout is most prevalent in NICUs with high patient volume and electronic health records and may affect nurses disproportionately. Interventions to reduce burnout prevalence may be of greater importance in NICUs with ≥10 weekly admissions. PMID:28557756

Authentication of organic feed by near-infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics: a feasibility study.

PubMed

Tres, A; van der Veer, G; Perez-Marin, M D; van Ruth, S M; Garrido-Varo, A

2012-08-22

Organic products tend to retail at a higher price than their conventional counterparts, which makes them susceptible to fraud. In this study we evaluate the application of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a rapid, cost-effective method to verify the organic identity of feed for laying hens. For this purpose a total of 36 organic and 60 conventional feed samples from The Netherlands were measured by NIRS. A binary classification model (organic vs conventional feed) was developed using partial least squares discriminant analysis. Models were developed using five different data preprocessing techniques, which were externally validated by a stratified random resampling strategy using 1000 realizations. Spectral regions related to the protein and fat content were among the most important ones for the classification model. The models based on data preprocessed using direct orthogonal signal correction (DOSC), standard normal variate (SNV), and first and second derivatives provided the most successful results in terms of median sensitivity (0.91 in external validation) and median specificity (1.00 for external validation of SNV models and 0.94 for DOSC and first and second derivative models). A previously developed model, which was based on fatty acid fingerprinting of the same set of feed samples, provided a higher sensitivity (1.00). This shows that the NIRS-based approach provides a rapid and low-cost screening tool, whereas the fatty acid fingerprinting model can be used for further confirmation of the organic identity of feed samples for laying hens. These methods provide additional assurance to the administrative controls currently conducted in the organic feed sector.

Wavelet-based analysis of gastric microcirculation in rats with ulcer bleedings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlov, A. N.; Rodionov, M. A.; Pavlova, O. N.; Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya, O. V.; Berdnikova, V. A.; Kuznetsova, Ya. V.; Semyachkin-Glushkovskij, I. A.

2012-03-01

Studying of nitric oxide (NO) dependent mechanisms of regulation of microcirculation in a stomach can provide important diagnostic markers of the development of stress-induced ulcer bleedings. In this work we use a multiscale analysis based on the discrete wavelet-transform to characterize a latent stage of illness formation in rats. A higher sensitivity of stomach vessels to the NO-level in ill rats is discussed.

HPV Genotyping of Modified General Primer-Amplicons Is More Analytically Sensitive and Specific by Sequencing than by Hybridization

PubMed Central

Meisal, Roger; Rounge, Trine Ballestad; Christiansen, Irene Kraus; Eieland, Alexander Kirkeby; Worren, Merete Molton; Molden, Tor Faksvaag; Kommedal, Øyvind; Hovig, Eivind; Leegaard, Truls Michael

2017-01-01

Sensitive and specific genotyping of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is important for population-based surveillance of carcinogenic HPV types and for monitoring vaccine effectiveness. Here we compare HPV genotyping by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to an established DNA hybridization method. In DNA isolated from urine, the overall analytical sensitivity of NGS was found to be 22% higher than that of hybridization. NGS was also found to be the most specific method and expanded the detection repertoire beyond the 37 types of the DNA hybridization assay. Furthermore, NGS provided an increased resolution by identifying genetic variants of individual HPV types. The same Modified General Primers (MGP)-amplicon was used in both methods. The NGS method is described in detail to facilitate implementation in the clinical microbiology laboratory and includes suggestions for new standards for detection and calling of types and variants with improved resolution. PMID:28045981

HPV Genotyping of Modified General Primer-Amplicons Is More Analytically Sensitive and Specific by Sequencing than by Hybridization.

PubMed

Meisal, Roger; Rounge, Trine Ballestad; Christiansen, Irene Kraus; Eieland, Alexander Kirkeby; Worren, Merete Molton; Molden, Tor Faksvaag; Kommedal, Øyvind; Hovig, Eivind; Leegaard, Truls Michael; Ambur, Ole Herman

2017-01-01

Sensitive and specific genotyping of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is important for population-based surveillance of carcinogenic HPV types and for monitoring vaccine effectiveness. Here we compare HPV genotyping by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to an established DNA hybridization method. In DNA isolated from urine, the overall analytical sensitivity of NGS was found to be 22% higher than that of hybridization. NGS was also found to be the most specific method and expanded the detection repertoire beyond the 37 types of the DNA hybridization assay. Furthermore, NGS provided an increased resolution by identifying genetic variants of individual HPV types. The same Modified General Primers (MGP)-amplicon was used in both methods. The NGS method is described in detail to facilitate implementation in the clinical microbiology laboratory and includes suggestions for new standards for detection and calling of types and variants with improved resolution.

Interferometric sensitivity and entanglement by scanning through quantum phase transitions in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feldmann, P.; Gessner, M.; Gabbrielli, M.; Klempt, C.; Santos, L.; Pezzè, L.; Smerzi, A.

2018-03-01

Recent experiments demonstrated the generation of entanglement by quasiadiabatically driving through quantum phase transitions of a ferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a tunable quadratic Zeeman shift. We analyze, in terms of the Fisher information, the interferometric value of the entanglement accessible by this approach. In addition to the Twin-Fock phase studied experimentally, we unveil a second regime, in the broken axisymmetry phase, which provides Heisenberg scaling of the quantum Fisher information and can be reached on shorter time scales. We identify optimal unitary transformations and an experimentally feasible optimal measurement prescription that maximize the interferometric sensitivity. We further ascertain that the Fisher information is robust with respect to nonadiabaticity and measurement noise. Finally, we show that the quasiadiabatic entanglement preparation schemes admit higher sensitivities than dynamical methods based on fast quenches.

Highly Sensitive and Selective Gas Sensor Using Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Graphenes

PubMed Central

Some, Surajit; Xu, Yang; Kim, Youngmin; Yoon, Yeoheung; Qin, Hongyi; Kulkarni, Atul; Kim, Taesung; Lee, Hyoyoung

2013-01-01

New hydrophilic 2D graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets with various oxygen functional groups were employed to maintain high sensitivity in highly unfavorable environments (extremely high humidity, strong acidic or basic). Novel one-headed polymer optical fiber sensor arrays using hydrophilic GO and hydrophobic reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were carefully designed, leading to the selective sensing of volatile organic gases for the first time. The two physically different surfaces of GO and rGO could provide the sensing ability to distinguish between tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dichloromethane (MC), respectively, which is the most challenging issue in the area of gas sensors. The eco-friendly physical properties of GO allowed for faster sensing and higher sensitivity when compared to previous results for rGO even under extreme environments of over 90% humidity, making it the best choice for an environmentally friendly gas sensor. PMID:23736838

Molecular recognition using receptor-free nanomechanical infrared spectroscopy based on a quantum cascade laser

PubMed Central

Kim, Seonghwan; Lee, Dongkyu; Liu, Xunchen; Van Neste, Charles; Jeon, Sangmin; Thundat, Thomas

2013-01-01

Speciation of complex mixtures of trace explosives presents a formidable challenge for sensors that rely on chemoselective interfaces due to the unspecific nature of weak intermolecular interactions. Nanomechanical infrared (IR) spectroscopy provides higher selectivity in molecular detection without using chemoselective interfaces by measuring the photothermal effect of adsorbed molecules on a thermally sensitive microcantilever. In addition, unlike conventional IR spectroscopy, the detection sensitivity is drastically enhanced by increasing the IR laser power, since the photothermal signal comes from the absorption of IR photons and nonradiative decay processes. By using a broadly tunable quantum cascade laser for the resonant excitation of molecules, we increased the detection sensitivity by one order of magnitude compared to the use of a conventional IR monochromator. Here, we demonstrate the successful speciation and quantification of picogram levels of ternary mixtures of similar explosives (trinitrotoluene (TNT), cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX), and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN)) using nanomechanical IR spectroscopy. PMID:23346368

Measurement of cell respiration and oxygenation in standard multichannel biochips using phosphorescent O2-sensitive probes.

PubMed

Kondrashina, Alina V; Papkovsky, Dmitri B; Dmitriev, Ruslan I

2013-09-07

Measurement of cell oxygenation and oxygen consumption is useful for studies of cell bioenergetics, metabolism, mitochondrial function, drug toxicity and common pathophysiological conditions. Here we present a new platform for such applications which uses commercial multichannel biochips (μ-slides, Ibidi) and phosphorescent O2 sensitive probes. This platform was evaluated with both extracellular and intracellular O2 probes, several different cell types and treatments including mitochondrial uncoupling and inhibition, depletion of extracellular Ca(2+) and inhibition of V-ATPase and histone deacetylases. The results show that compared to the standard microwell plates currently used, the μ-slide platform provides facile O2 measurements with both suspension and adherent cells, higher sensitivity and reproducibility, and faster measurement time. It also allows re-perfusion and multiple treatments of cells and multi-parametric analyses in conjunction with other probes. Optical measurements are conducted on standard fluorescence readers and microscopes.

Flexible, highly sensitive pressure sensor with a wide range based on graphene-silk network structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ying; Tao, Lu-Qi; Wang, Dan-Yang; Zhang, Tian-Yu; Yang, Yi; Ren, Tian-Ling

2017-03-01

In this paper, a flexible, simple-preparation, and low-cost graphene-silk pressure sensor based on soft silk substrate through thermal reduction was demonstrated. Taking silk as the support body, the device had formed a three-dimensional structure with ordered multi-layer structure. Through a simple and low-cost process technology, graphene-silk pressure sensor can achieve the sensitivity value of 0.4 kPa - 1 , and the measurement range can be as high as 140 kPa. Besides, pressure sensor can have a good combination with knitted clothing and textile product. The signal had good reproducibility in response to different pressures. Furthermore, graphene-silk pressure sensor can not only detect pressure higher than 100 kPa, but also can measure weak body signals. The characteristics of high-sensitivity, good repeatability, flexibility, and comfort for skin provide the high possibility to fit on various wearable electronics.

Evaluation and Applications of Cloud Climatologies from CALIOP

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winker, David; Getzewitch, Brian; Vaughan, Mark

2008-01-01

Clouds have a major impact on the Earth radiation budget and differences in the representation of clouds in global climate models are responsible for much of the spread in predicted climate sensitivity. Existing cloud climatologies, against which these models can be tested, have many limitations. The CALIOP lidar, carried on the CALIPSO satellite, has now acquired over two years of nearly continuous cloud and aerosol observations. This dataset provides an improved basis for the characterization of 3-D global cloudiness. Global average cloud cover measured by CALIOP is about 75%, significantly higher than for existing cloud climatologies due to the sensitivity of CALIOP to optically thin cloud. Day/night biases in cloud detection appear to be small. This presentation will discuss detection sensitivity and other issues associated with producing a cloud climatology, characteristics of cloud cover statistics derived from CALIOP data, and applications of those statistics.

Evaluation of a dengue NS1 antigen detection assay sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of acute dengue virus infection.

PubMed

Hermann, Laura L; Thaisomboonsuk, Butsaya; Poolpanichupatam, Yongyuth; Jarman, Richard G; Kalayanarooj, Siripen; Nisalak, Ananda; Yoon, In-Kyu; Fernandez, Stefan

2014-10-01

Currently, no dengue NS1 detection kit has regulatory approval for the diagnosis of acute dengue fever. Here we report the sensitivity and specificity of the InBios DEN Detect NS1 ELISA using a panel of well characterized human acute fever serum specimens. The InBios DENV Detect NS1 ELISA was tested using a panel composed of 334 serum specimens collected from acute febrile patients seeking care in a Bangkok hospital in 2010 and 2011. Of these patients, 314 were found to have acute dengue by either RT-PCR and/or anti-dengue IgM/IgG ELISA. Alongside the InBios NS1 ELISA kit, we compared the performance characteristics of the BioRad Platelia NS1 antigen kit. The InBios NS1 ELISA Ag kit had a higher overall sensitivity (86% vs 72.8%) but equal specificity (100%) compared to the BioRad Platelia kit. The serological status of the patient significantly influenced the outcome. In primary infections, the InBios NS1 kit demonstrated a higher sensitivity (98.8%) than in secondary infections (83.5%). We found significant variation in the sensitivity of the InBios NS1 ELISA kit depending on the serotype of the dengue virus and also found decreasing sensitivity the longer after the onset of illness, showing 100% sensitivity early during illness, but dropping below 50% by Day 7. The InBios NS1 ELISA kit demonstrated high accuracy when compared to the initial clinical diagnosis with greater than 85% agreement when patients were clinically diagnosed with dengue illness. Results presented here suggest the accurate detection of circulating dengue NS1 by the InBios DENV Detect NS1 ELISA can provide clinicians with a useful tool for diagnosis of early dengue infections.

Plasmonic crystal based solid substrate for biomedical application of SERS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morasso, Carlo F.; Mehn, Dora; Picciolini, Silvia; Vanna, Renzo; Bedoni, Marzia; Gramatica, Furio; Pellacani, Paola; Frangolho, Ana; Marchesini, Gerardo; Valsesia, Andrea

2014-02-01

Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy is a powerful analytical technique that combines the excellent chemical specificity of Raman spectroscopy with the good sensitivity provided by the enhancement of the signal observed when a molecule is located on (or very close to) the surface of suitable nanostructured metallic materials. The availability of cheap, reliable and easy to use SERS substrates would pave the road to the development of bioanalytical tests that can be used in clinical practice. SERS, in fact, is expected to provide not only higher sensitivity and specificity, but also the simultaneous and markedly improved detection of several targets at the same time with higher speed compared to the conventional analytical methods. Here, we present the SERS activity of 2-D plasmonic crystals made by polymeric pillars embedded in a gold matrix obtained through the combination of soft-lithography and plasma deposition techniques on a transparent substrates. The use of a transparent support material allowed us to perform SERS detection from support side opening the possibility to use these substrates in combination with microfluidic devices. In order to demonstrate the potentialities for bioanalytical applications, we used our SERS active gold surface to detect the oxidation product of apomorphine, a well-known drug molecule used in Parkinson's disease which has been demonstrated being difficult to study by traditional HPLC based approaches.

Sensitivity of a numerical wave model on wind re-analysis datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavidas, George; Venugopal, Vengatesan; Friedrich, Daniel

2017-03-01

Wind is the dominant process for wave generation. Detailed evaluation of metocean conditions strengthens our understanding of issues concerning potential offshore applications. However, the scarcity of buoys and high cost of monitoring systems pose a barrier to properly defining offshore conditions. Through use of numerical wave models, metocean conditions can be hindcasted and forecasted providing reliable characterisations. This study reports the sensitivity of wind inputs on a numerical wave model for the Scottish region. Two re-analysis wind datasets with different spatio-temporal characteristics are used, the ERA-Interim Re-Analysis and the CFSR-NCEP Re-Analysis dataset. Different wind products alter results, affecting the accuracy obtained. The scope of this study is to assess different available wind databases and provide information concerning the most appropriate wind dataset for the specific region, based on temporal, spatial and geographic terms for wave modelling and offshore applications. Both wind input datasets delivered results from the numerical wave model with good correlation. Wave results by the 1-h dataset have higher peaks and lower biases, in expense of a high scatter index. On the other hand, the 6-h dataset has lower scatter but higher biases. The study shows how wind dataset affects the numerical wave modelling performance, and that depending on location and study needs, different wind inputs should be considered.

QSAR models of human data can enrich or replace LLNA testing for human skin sensitization

PubMed Central

Alves, Vinicius M.; Capuzzi, Stephen J.; Muratov, Eugene; Braga, Rodolpho C.; Thornton, Thomas; Fourches, Denis; Strickland, Judy; Kleinstreuer, Nicole; Andrade, Carolina H.; Tropsha, Alexander

2016-01-01

Skin sensitization is a major environmental and occupational health hazard. Although many chemicals have been evaluated in humans, there have been no efforts to model these data to date. We have compiled, curated, analyzed, and compared the available human and LLNA data. Using these data, we have developed reliable computational models and applied them for virtual screening of chemical libraries to identify putative skin sensitizers. The overall concordance between murine LLNA and human skin sensitization responses for a set of 135 unique chemicals was low (R = 28-43%), although several chemical classes had high concordance. We have succeeded to develop predictive QSAR models of all available human data with the external correct classification rate of 71%. A consensus model integrating concordant QSAR predictions and LLNA results afforded a higher CCR of 82% but at the expense of the reduced external dataset coverage (52%). We used the developed QSAR models for virtual screening of CosIng database and identified 1061 putative skin sensitizers; for seventeen of these compounds, we found published evidence of their skin sensitization effects. Models reported herein provide more accurate alternative to LLNA testing for human skin sensitization assessment across diverse chemical data. In addition, they can also be used to guide the structural optimization of toxic compounds to reduce their skin sensitization potential. PMID:28630595

Characterization of plasma cytokines in an infant population cohort of challenge-proven food allergy.

PubMed

Dang, T D; Tang, M L K; Koplin, J J; Licciardi, P V; Eckert, J K; Tan, T; Gurrin, L C; Ponsonby, A-L; Dharmage, S C; Allen, K J

2013-10-01

Sensitization to food allergens indicates the production of food-specific IgE; however, sensitization is not a definite indicator of allergic reaction upon ingestion (N Engl J Med, 344, 2001, 30: J Allergy Clin Immunol, 120, 2007, 491). Currently, food challenge is the best approach to identify the presence or absence of allergy. While 95% positive predictive values (PPVs) thresholds for sIgE can assist with identifying increased likelihood of allergy among those who are sensitized, there are no specific biological markers that differentiate between allergic and sensitized individuals. To determine whether plasma serum cytokine profiles predict (i) sensitization to peanut and egg and (ii) food allergy among sensitized infants. Peanut-sensitized (PT) and egg-sensitized 14-month-old infants and nonsensitized controls enrolled in HealthNuts, a population-based study of food allergy, underwent an oral food challenge (OFC). Blood was collected within 1 h after OFC. Serum levels of Th1, Th2 and regulatory cytokines were determined in allergic (n = 79), sensitized (n = 40) and nonsensitized, nonallergic (n = 37) infants by multiplex assay. Food-sensitized infants had significantly higher plasma IL-4, IL-13, IL-12p70 and lower IL-10 levels compared to nonsensitized infants. IL-10 and IL-6 levels were significantly higher in sensitized compared with allergic infants. Egg-allergic infants had significantly higher IL-13 and IL-12p70 levels compared to peanut-allergic (PA) infants. Levels of Th2-related cytokines in plasma are higher in food-sensitized infants, irrespective of clinical food allergy status. In contrast, IL-10 levels appear to predict food allergy among sensitized infants. Differences in IL-13 and IL-12p70 between egg- and peanut-allergic infants could help explain the different resolution rates of the allergies. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cross-cultural opening in German outpatient mental healthcare service: an exploratory study of structural and procedural aspects.

PubMed

Mösko, Mike-Oliver; Gil-Martinez, Fernanda; Schulz, Holger

2013-01-01

Mental healthcare services need to be sensitive towards the cultural needs of patients. Cross-cultural opening is an organizational process to fulfil these needs. This study aims to provide representative structural and procedural data regarding the use of German outpatient mental healthcare services by allochthonous patients, the diversity of psychotherapists in outpatient mental healthcare service, the cross-cultural encounters of therapists and the cross-cultural sensitivity of psychotherapists working in this healthcare area. Of all public outpatient psychotherapists in Hamburg, 81% (n = 485) participated in this survey. Regarding the distribution of the population in this metropolis, allochthonous therapists were underrepresented. Unlike the overall distribution of foreign inhabitants, the largest groups of immigrant therapists came from England, German-speaking countries and other countries within the European Union. The proportion of allochthonous patients in outpatient mental healthcare service was almost half of the proportion of the allochthonous in the general population. Psychotherapists with a migration background regarded themselves as having a higher level of cross-cultural sensitivity than their native colleagues, especially those who have had fewer cross-cultural encounters. Overall, psychotherapists named different challenges in providing cross-cultural treatment. For the German outpatient mental healthcare service to be more accessible to immigrants and their descendants, a greater number of bilingual psychotherapists must gain access to the mental healthcare service, and more advanced cross-cultural sensitivity training and supervision should be provided. German outpatient psychotherapists are culturally and linguistically diverse. Nevertheless, psychotherapists with a migration background are underrepresented in outpatient mental healthcare services. Patients with a migration background are also underrepresented in the German outpatient mental healthcare system. Because mental healthcare services must be sensitive and respectful towards patients' cultural and linguistic needs, the mental healthcare outpatient service must be more accessible to therapists who speak languages other than German and English. Psychotherapeutic treatment of patients with a migration background can be tremendously challenging because of other cultures' differing value systems. Prospective, advanced training in cross-cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural supervision should be provided. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Roles of Gibberellins and Abscisic Acid in Regulating Germination of Suaeda salsa Dimorphic Seeds Under Salt Stress

PubMed Central

Li, Weiqiang; Yamaguchi, Shinjiro; Khan, M. Ajmal; An, Ping; Liu, Xiaojing; Tran, Lam-Son P.

2016-01-01

Seed heteromorphism observed in many halophytes is an adaptive phenomenon toward high salinity. However, the relationship between heteromorphic seed germination and germination-related hormones under salt stress remains elusive. To gain an insight into this relationship, the roles of gibberellins (GAs) and abscisic acid (ABA) in regulating germination of Suaeda salsa dimorphic brown and black seeds under salinity were elucidated by studying the kinetics of the two hormones during germination of the two seed types with or without salinity treatment. Morphological analysis suggested that brown and black are in different development stage. The content of ABA was higher in dry brown than in black seeds, which gradually decreased after imbibition in water and salt solutions. Salt stress induced ABA accumulation in both germinating seed types, with higher induction effect on black than brown seeds. Black seeds showed lower germination percentage than brown seeds under both water and salt stress, which might be attributed to their higher ABA sensitivity rather than the difference in ABA content between black and brown seeds. Bioactive GA4 and its biosynthetic precursors showed higher levels in brown than in black seeds, whereas deactivated GAs showed higher content in black than brown seeds in dry or in germinating water or salt solutions. High salinity inhibited seed germination through decreasing the levels of GA4 in both seeds, and the inhibited effect of salt stress on GA4 level of black seeds was more profound than that of brown seeds. Taken together higher GA4 content, and lower ABA sensitivity contributed to the higher germination percentage of brown seeds than black seeds in water and salinity; increased ABA content and sensitivity, and decreased GA4 content by salinity were more profound in black than brown seeds, which contributed to lower germination of black seeds than brown seeds in salinity. The differential regulation of ABA and GA homeostases by salt stress in dimorphic seeds might provide a strategy for S. salsa plants to survive adverse environmental conditions. PMID:26793214

Sensitivity of Global Methane Bayesian Inversion to Surface Observation Data Sets and Chemical-Transport Model Resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lew, E. J.; Butenhoff, C. L.; Karmakar, S.; Rice, A. L.; Khalil, A. K.

2017-12-01

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. In efforts to control emissions, a careful examination of the methane budget and source strengths is required. To determine methane surface fluxes, Bayesian methods are often used to provide top-down constraints. Inverse modeling derives unknown fluxes using observed methane concentrations, a chemical transport model (CTM) and prior information. The Bayesian inversion reduces prior flux uncertainties by exploiting information content in the data. While the Bayesian formalism produces internal error estimates of source fluxes, systematic or external errors that arise from user choices in the inversion scheme are often much larger. Here we examine model sensitivity and uncertainty of our inversion under different observation data sets and CTM grid resolution. We compare posterior surface fluxes using the data product GLOBALVIEW-CH4 against the event-level molar mixing ratio data available from NOAA. GLOBALVIEW-CH4 is a collection of CH4 concentration estimates from 221 sites, collected by 12 laboratories, that have been interpolated and extracted to provide weekly records from 1984-2008. Differently, the event-level NOAA data records methane mixing ratios field measurements from 102 sites, containing sampling frequency irregularities and gaps in time. Furthermore, the sampling platform types used by the data sets may influence the posterior flux estimates, namely fixed surface, tower, ship and aircraft sites. To explore the sensitivity of the posterior surface fluxes to the observation network geometry, inversions composed of all sites, only aircraft, only ship, only tower and only fixed surface sites, are performed and compared. Also, we investigate the sensitivity of the error reduction associated with the resolution of the GEOS-Chem simulation (4°×5° vs 2°×2.5°) used to calculate the response matrix. Using a higher resolution grid decreased the model-data error at most sites, thereby increasing the information at that site. These different inversions—event-level and interpolated data, higher and lower resolutions—are compared using an ensemble of descriptive and comparative statistics. Analyzing the sensitivity of the inverse model leads to more accurate estimates of the methane source category uncertainty.

Preventable hospitalizations: does rurality or non-physician clinician supply matter?

PubMed

Nayar, Preethy; Nguyen, Anh T; Apenteng, Bettye; Yu, Fang

2012-04-01

This study examines the relationship between rurality as well as the proportion of non-physician clinicians and county rates of ambulatory care sensitive hospitalizations (ACSHs) for pediatric, adult and elderly populations in Nebraska. The study design was a cross-sectional observational study of county level factors that affect the county level rates of ACSHs using Poisson regression models. Rural (non-metro) counties have significantly higher ACSHs for both pediatric and adult population, but not for the elderly. Frontier counties have significantly higher adult ACSHs. The proportion of primary care providers who are non-physician clinicians does not have a significant association with ACSHs for any of the age groups. The results indicate that rurality may have a greater impact on pediatric and adult ACSHs and the proportion of NPCs in the primary care provider workforce does not significantly impact ACSH rates.

Chronic Stressors and Adolescents' Externalizing Problems: Genetic Moderation by Dopamine Receptor D4. The TRAILS Study.

PubMed

Zandstra, Anna Roos E; Ormel, Johan; Hoekstra, Pieter J; Hartman, Catharina A

2018-01-01

The existing literature does not provide consistent evidence that carriers of the Dopamine D4 Receptor 7-repeat allele are more sensitive to adverse environmental influences, resulting in enhanced externalizing problems, compared to noncarriers. One explanation is that the adverse influences examined in prior studies were not severe, chronic, or distressing enough to reveal individual differences in sensitivity reflected by DRD4-7R. This study examined whether the 7-repeat allele moderated the association between chronic stressors capturing multiple stressful aspects of individuals' lives and externalizing problems in adolescence. We expected that chronic stressor levels would be associated with externalizing levels only in 7-repeat carriers. Using Linear Mixed Models, we analyzed data from 1621 Dutch adolescents (52.2% boys), obtained in three measurement waves (mean age approximately 11, 13.5, and 16 years) from the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) population-based birth cohort and the parallel clinic-referred cohort. Across informants, we found that higher levels of chronic stressors were related to higher externalizing levels in 7-repeat carriers but not in noncarriers, as hypothesized. Although previous studies on the 7-repeat allele as a moderator of environmental influences on adolescents' externalizing problems have not convincingly demonstrated individual differences in sensitivity to adverse environmental influences, our findings suggest that adolescent carriers of the Dopamine D4 Receptor 7-repeat allele are more sensitive to chronic, multi-context stressors than noncarriers.

Spatial frequency discrimination learning in normal and developmentally impaired human vision

PubMed Central

Astle, Andrew T.; Webb, Ben S.; McGraw, Paul V.

2010-01-01

Perceptual learning effects demonstrate that the adult visual system retains neural plasticity. If perceptual learning holds any value as a treatment tool for amblyopia, trained improvements in performance must generalise. Here we investigate whether spatial frequency discrimination learning generalises within task to other spatial frequencies, and across task to contrast sensitivity. Before and after training, we measured contrast sensitivity and spatial frequency discrimination (at a range of reference frequencies 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 c/deg). During training, normal and amblyopic observers were divided into three groups. Each group trained on a spatial frequency discrimination task at one reference frequency (2, 4, or 8 c/deg). Normal and amblyopic observers who trained at lower frequencies showed a greater rate of within task learning (at their reference frequency) compared to those trained at higher frequencies. Compared to normals, amblyopic observers showed greater within task learning, at the trained reference frequency. Normal and amblyopic observers showed asymmetrical transfer of learning from high to low spatial frequencies. Both normal and amblyopic subjects showed transfer to contrast sensitivity. The direction of transfer for contrast sensitivity measurements was from the trained spatial frequency to higher frequencies, with the bandwidth and magnitude of transfer greater in the amblyopic observers compared to normals. The findings provide further support for the therapeutic efficacy of this approach and establish general principles that may help develop more effective protocols for the treatment of developmental visual deficits. PMID:20832416

A Geographic Mosaic of Climate Change Impacts on Terrestrial Vegetation: Which Areas Are Most at Risk?

PubMed Central

Ackerly, David D.; Cornwell, William K.; Weiss, Stuart B.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L.

2015-01-01

Changes in climate projected for the 21st century are expected to trigger widespread and pervasive biotic impacts. Forecasting these changes and their implications for ecosystem services is a major research goal. Much of the research on biotic responses to climate change has focused on either projected shifts in individual species distributions or broad-scale changes in biome distributions. Here, we introduce a novel application of multinomial logistic regression as a powerful approach to model vegetation distributions and potential responses to 21st century climate change. We modeled the distribution of 22 major vegetation types, most defined by a single dominant woody species, across the San Francisco Bay Area. Predictor variables included climate and topographic variables. The novel aspect of our model is the output: a vector of relative probabilities for each vegetation type in each location within the study domain. The model was then projected for 54 future climate scenarios, spanning a representative range of temperature and precipitation projections from the CMIP3 and CMIP5 ensembles. We found that sensitivity of vegetation to climate change is highly heterogeneous across the region. Surprisingly, sensitivity to climate change is higher closer to the coast, on lower insolation, north-facing slopes and in areas of higher precipitation. While such sites may provide refugia for mesic and cool-adapted vegetation in the face of a warming climate, the model suggests they will still be highly dynamic and relatively sensitive to climate-driven vegetation transitions. The greater sensitivity of moist and low insolation sites is an unexpected outcome that challenges views on the location and stability of climate refugia. Projections provide a foundation for conservation planning and land management, and highlight the need for a greater understanding of the mechanisms and time scales of potential climate-driven vegetation transitions. PMID:26115485

[Test and programme sensitivities of screening for colorectal cancer in Reggio Emilia].

PubMed

Campari, Cinzia; Sassatelli, Romano; Paterlini, Luisa; Camellini, Lorenzo; Menozzi, Patrizia; Cattani, Antonella

2011-01-01

to estimate the sensitivity of the immunochemical test for faecal occult blood (FOBT) and the sensitivity of the colorectal tumour screening programme in the province of Reggio Emilia. retrospective cohort study, including a sample of 80,357 people of both genders, aged 50-69, who underwent FOBT, during the first round of the screening programme in the province of Reggio Emilia, from April 2005 to December 2007. incidence of interval cancer. The proportional incidence method was used to estimate the sensitivity of FOBT and of the screening programme. Data were stratified according to gender, age and year of interval. the overall sensitivity of FOBT was 73.2% (95%IC 63.8-80.7). The sensitivity of FOBT was lower in females (70.5% vs 75.1%), higher in the 50-59 age group (78.6% vs 70.2%) and higher in the colon than rectum (75.1% vs 68.9%). The test had a significantly higher sensitivity in the 1st year of interval than in the 2nd (84.4% vs 60.5%; RR=0.39, 95%IC 0.22-0.70), a difference which was confirmed, also when data were stratified according to gender. The overall sensitivity of the programme is 70.9% (95%IC 61.5-78.5). No statistically significant differences were shown, if data were stratified according to gender, age or site. Again the sensitivity in the 1st year was significantly higher than in the 2nd year of interval (83.2% vs 57.0%; RR=0.41, 95%IC 0.24-0.69). Overall our data confirmed the findings of similar Italian studies, despite subgroup analysis showed some differences in sensitivity in our study.

Diminishing the side effect of mitomycin C by using pH-sensitive liposomes: in vitro characterization and in vivo pharmacokinetics

PubMed Central

Fang, Yi-Ping; Hu, Pei-Yu; Huang, Yaw-Bin

2018-01-01

Introduction Mitomycin C is an anticancer antibiotic agent that has the potential for broad-spectrum use against several cancers, including mammary cancers. Because its half-life is 17 min after a 30 mg intravenous bolus administration, the suitability of mitomycin C for wide use in the clinical setting is limited. Based on tumor pathophysiology, pH-sensitive liposomes could provide better tumor-targeted effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of diminishing the side effect of mitomycin C by using pH-sensitive liposomes. Materials and methods pH-sensitive liposomes was employed to deliver mitomycin C and evaluate the characterization, release behaviors, cytotoxicity, in vivo pharmacokinetics and biochemical assay. Results The results demonstrated that mitomycin C-loaded pH-sensitive liposomes had a particle diameter of 144.5±2.8 nm and an entrapment efficiency of 66.5%. The in vitro release study showed that the pH-sensitive liposome release percentages at pH 7.4 and pH 5.5 were approximately 47% and 93%, respectively. The cell viability of MCF-7 cells showed that both the solution and liposome group exhibited a concentration-dependent effect on cell viability. The MCF-7 cell uptake of pH-sensitive liposomes with a folate modification was higher which was indicated by an increased fluorescence intensity compared to that without a folate modification. The area under the concentration–time curve of mitomycin C-loaded pH-sensitive liposomes (18.82±0.51 µg·h/L) was significantly higher than that of the mitomycin C solution group (10.07±0.31 µg·h/L). The mean residence times of the mitomycin C-loaded and mitomycin C solution groups were 1.53±0.16 and 0.05 h, respectively. In addition, there was no significant difference in terms of Vss (p>0.05). Moreover, the half-life of pH-sensitive liposomes and the mitomycin C solution was 1.35±0.15 and 1.60±0.04 h, respectively. In terms of safety, mitomycin C-loaded pH-sensitive liposomes did not affect the platelet count and the levels of blood urea nitrogen and aspartate aminotransferase. Conclusion The positive results of pH-sensitive liposomes demonstrated maintained the cytotoxicity and decrease the side effect. PMID:29391780

Diminishing the side effect of mitomycin C by using pH-sensitive liposomes: in vitro characterization and in vivo pharmacokinetics.

PubMed

Fang, Yi-Ping; Hu, Pei-Yu; Huang, Yaw-Bin

2018-01-01

Mitomycin C is an anticancer antibiotic agent that has the potential for broad-spectrum use against several cancers, including mammary cancers. Because its half-life is 17 min after a 30 mg intravenous bolus administration, the suitability of mitomycin C for wide use in the clinical setting is limited. Based on tumor pathophysiology, pH-sensitive liposomes could provide better tumor-targeted effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of diminishing the side effect of mitomycin C by using pH-sensitive liposomes. pH-sensitive liposomes was employed to deliver mitomycin C and evaluate the characterization, release behaviors, cytotoxicity, in vivo pharmacokinetics and biochemical assay. The results demonstrated that mitomycin C-loaded pH-sensitive liposomes had a particle diameter of 144.5±2.8 nm and an entrapment efficiency of 66.5%. The in vitro release study showed that the pH-sensitive liposome release percentages at pH 7.4 and pH 5.5 were approximately 47% and 93%, respectively. The cell viability of MCF-7 cells showed that both the solution and liposome group exhibited a concentration-dependent effect on cell viability. The MCF-7 cell uptake of pH-sensitive liposomes with a folate modification was higher which was indicated by an increased fluorescence intensity compared to that without a folate modification. The area under the concentration-time curve of mitomycin C-loaded pH-sensitive liposomes (18.82±0.51 µg·h/L) was significantly higher than that of the mitomycin C solution group (10.07±0.31 µg·h/L). The mean residence times of the mitomycin C-loaded and mitomycin C solution groups were 1.53±0.16 and 0.05 h, respectively. In addition, there was no significant difference in terms of V ss ( p >0.05). Moreover, the half-life of pH-sensitive liposomes and the mitomycin C solution was 1.35±0.15 and 1.60±0.04 h, respectively. In terms of safety, mitomycin C-loaded pH-sensitive liposomes did not affect the platelet count and the levels of blood urea nitrogen and aspartate aminotransferase. The positive results of pH-sensitive liposomes demonstrated maintained the cytotoxicity and decrease the side effect.

Integrated titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles on interdigitated device electrodes (IDEs) for pH analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azizah, N.; Hashim, U.; Arshad, M. K. Md.; Gopinath, Subash C. B.; Nadzirah, Sh.; Farehanim, M. A.; Fatin, M. F.; Ruslinda, A. R.; Ayub, R. M.

2016-07-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles based Interdigitated Device Electrodes (IDEs) Nanobiosensor device was developed for intracellular biochemical detection. Fabrication and characterization of pH sensors using IDE nanocoated with TiO2 was studied in this paper. In this paper, a preliminary assessment of this intracellular sensor with electrical measurement under different pH levels. 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was used to enhance the sensitivity of titanium dioxide layer as well as able to provide surface modification by undergoing protonation and deprotonation process. Different types of pH solution provide different resistivity and conductivity towards the surface. Base solution has the higher current compared to an acid solution. Amine and oxide functionalized TiO2 based IDE exhibit pH-dependent could be understood in terms of the change in surface charge during protonation and deprotonation. The simple fabrication process, high sensitivity, and fast response of the TiO2 based IDEs facilitate their applications in a wide range of areas. The small size of semiconductor TiO2 based IDE for sensitive, label-free, real time detection of a wide range of biological species could be explored in vivo diagnostics and array-based screening.

Sensitive and reliable multianalyte quantitation of herbal medicine in rat plasma using dynamic triggered multiple reaction monitoring.

PubMed

Yan, Zhixiang; Li, Tianxue; Lv, Pin; Li, Xiang; Zhou, Chen; Yang, Xinghao

2013-06-01

There is a growing need both clinically and experimentally to improve the determination of the blood levels of multiple chemical constituents in herbal medicines. The conventional multiple reaction monitoring (cMRM), however, is not well suited for multi-component determination and could not provide qualitative information for identity confirmation. Here we apply a dynamic triggered MRM (DtMRM) algorithm for the quantification of 20 constituents in an herbal prescription Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang (BZYQT) in rat plasma. Dynamic MRM (DMRM) dramatically reduced the number of concurrent MRM transitions that are monitored during each MS scan. This advantage has been enhanced with the addition of triggered MRM (tMRM) for simultaneous confirmation, which maximizes the dwell time in the primary MRM quantitation phase, and also acquires sufficient MRM data to create a composite product ion spectrum. By allowing optimized collision energy for each product ion and maximizing dwell times, tMRM is significantly more sensitive and reliable than conventional product ion scanning. The DtMRM approach provides much higher sensitivity and reproducibility than cMRM. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New Ways to Detect Pediatric Sickle Cell Retinopathy: A Comprehensive Review.

PubMed

Pahl, Daniel A; Green, Nancy S; Bhatia, Monica; Chen, Royce W S

2017-11-01

Sickle retinopathy reflects disease-related vascular injury of the eye, which can potentially result in visual loss from vitreous hemorrhage or retinal detachment. Here we review sickle retinopathy among children with sickle cell disease, describe the epidemiology, pediatric risk factors, pathophysiology, ocular findings, and treatment. Newer, more sensitive ophthalmological imaging modalities are available for retinal imaging, including ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, and optical coherence tomography angiography. Optical coherence tomography angiography provides a noninvasive view of retinal vascular layers that could previously not be imaged and can be quantified for comparative or prospective analyses. Ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography provides a more comprehensive view of the peripheral retina than traditional imaging techniques. Screening for retinopathy by standard fundoscopic imaging modalities detects a prevalence of approximately 10%. In contrast, these more sensitive methods allow for more sensitive examination that includes the retina perimeter where sickle retinopathy is often first detectable. Use of these new imaging modalities may detect a higher prevalence of early sickle pathology among children than has previously been reported. Earlier detection may help in better understanding the pathogenesis of sickle retinopathy and guide future screening and treatment paradigms.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Azizah, N., E-mail: norazizahparmin84@gmail.com; Gopinath, Subash C. B.; Nadzirah, Sh.

Titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) nanoparticles based Interdigitated Device Electrodes (IDEs) Nanobiosensor device was developed for intracellular biochemical detection. Fabrication and characterization of pH sensors using IDE nanocoated with TiO{sub 2} was studied in this paper. In this paper, a preliminary assessment of this intracellular sensor with electrical measurement under different pH levels. 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was used to enhance the sensitivity of titanium dioxide layer as well as able to provide surface modification by undergoing protonation and deprotonation process. Different types of pH solution provide different resistivity and conductivity towards the surface. Base solution has the higher current compared to anmore » acid solution. Amine and oxide functionalized TiO{sub 2} based IDE exhibit pH-dependent could be understood in terms of the change in surface charge during protonation and deprotonation. The simple fabrication process, high sensitivity, and fast response of the TiO{sub 2} based IDEs facilitate their applications in a wide range of areas. The small size of semiconductor TiO{sub 2} based IDE for sensitive, label-free, real time detection of a wide range of biological species could be explored in vivo diagnostics and array-based screening.« less

Optical Detection of Ultrasound in Photoacoustic Imaging

PubMed Central

Dong, Biqin; Sun, Cheng; Zhang, Hao F.

2017-01-01

Objective Photoacoustic (PA) imaging emerges as a unique tool to study biological samples based on optical absorption contrast. In PA imaging, piezoelectric transducers are commonly used to detect laser-induced ultrasonic waves. However, they typically lack adequate broadband sensitivity at ultrasonic frequency higher than 100 MHz while their bulky size and optically opaque nature cause technical difficulties in integrating PA imaging with conventional optical imaging modalities. To overcome these limitations, optical methods of ultrasound detection were developed and shown their unique applications in photoacoustic imaging. Methods We provide an overview of recent technological advances in optical methods of ultrasound detection and their applications in PA imaging. A general theoretical framework describing sensitivity, bandwidth, and angular responses of optical ultrasound detection is also introduced. Results Optical methods of ultrasound detection can provide improved detection angle and sensitivity over significantly extended bandwidth. In addition, its versatile variants also offer additional advantages, such as device miniaturization, optical transparency, mechanical flexibility, minimal electrical/mechanical crosstalk, and potential noncontact PA imaging. Conclusion The optical ultrasound detection methods discussed in this review and their future evolution may play an important role in photoacoustic imaging for biomedical study and clinical diagnosis. PMID:27608445

The balance between caseins and whey proteins in cow's milk determines its allergenicity.

PubMed

Lara-Villoslada, F; Olivares, M; Xaus, J

2005-05-01

Cow's milk allergy is quite common in the first years of human life. Protein composition plays an important role in this pathology, particularly the casein/whey protein ratio. It is known that milks from different species have different sensitization capacities although their protein sources are quite similar. Thus, the objective of this work was to compare the allergenicity of native cow's milk and milk with a modified ratio of casein and whey proteins in a murine model of atopy. Twenty-four Balb/c mice were orally sensitized to native cow's milk or modified cow's milk with a casein/whey protein ratio of 40:60. During the sensitization period, the number of mice suffering from diarrhea was significantly higher in the native cow's milk-sensitized group than in the modified milk-sensitized group. Once mice were killed, plasma histamine levels were shown to be significantly higher in native cow's milk-sensitized mice. In addition, cow's milk proteins induced a higher lymphocyte sensitization in the native milk-sensitized mice, with a significant increase in the specific proliferation ratio of these cells. These results suggest that the balance between caseins and whey proteins plays an important role in the sensitization capacity of cow's milk, and its modification might be a way to reduce the allergenicity of cow's milk.

Highly accelerated acquisition and homogeneous image reconstruction with rotating RF coil array at 7T-A phantom based study.

PubMed

Li, Mingyan; Zuo, Zhentao; Jin, Jin; Xue, Rong; Trakic, Adnan; Weber, Ewald; Liu, Feng; Crozier, Stuart

2014-03-01

Parallel imaging (PI) is widely used for imaging acceleration by means of coil spatial sensitivities associated with phased array coils (PACs). By employing a time-division multiplexing technique, a single-channel rotating radiofrequency coil (RRFC) provides an alternative method to reduce scan time. Strategically combining these two concepts could provide enhanced acceleration and efficiency. In this work, the imaging acceleration ability and homogeneous image reconstruction strategy of 4-element rotating radiofrequency coil array (RRFCA) was numerically investigated and experimental validated at 7T with a homogeneous phantom. Each coil of RRFCA was capable of acquiring a large number of sensitivity profiles, leading to a better acceleration performance illustrated by the improved geometry-maps that have lower maximum values and more uniform distributions compared to 4- and 8-element stationary arrays. A reconstruction algorithm, rotating SENSitivity Encoding (rotating SENSE), was proposed to provide image reconstruction. Additionally, by optimally choosing the angular sampling positions and transmit profiles under the rotating scheme, phantom images could be faithfully reconstructed. The results indicate that, the proposed technique is able to provide homogeneous reconstructions with overall higher and more uniform signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) distributions at high reduction factors. It is hoped that, by employing the high imaging acceleration and homogeneous imaging reconstruction ability of RRFCA, the proposed method will facilitate human imaging for ultra high field MRI. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Value for money? Array genomic hybridization for diagnostic testing for genetic causes of intellectual disability.

PubMed

Regier, Dean A; Friedman, Jan M; Marra, Carlo A

2010-05-14

Array genomic hybridization (AGH) provides a higher detection rate than does conventional cytogenetic testing when searching for chromosomal imbalance causing intellectual disability (ID). AGH is more costly than conventional cytogenetic testing, and it remains unclear whether AGH provides good value for money. Decision analytic modeling was used to evaluate the trade-off between costs, clinical effectiveness, and benefit of an AGH testing strategy compared to a conventional testing strategy. The trade-off between cost and effectiveness was expressed via the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed via Monte Carlo simulation. The baseline AGH testing strategy led to an average cost increase of $217 (95% CI $172-$261) per patient and an additional 8.2 diagnoses in every 100 tested (0.082; 95% CI 0.044-0.119). The mean incremental cost per additional diagnosis was $2646 (95% CI $1619-$5296). Probabilistic sensitivity analysis demonstrated that there was a 95% probability that AGH would be cost effective if decision makers were willing to pay $4550 for an additional diagnosis. Our model suggests that using AGH instead of conventional karyotyping for most ID patients provides good value for money. Deterministic sensitivity analysis found that employing AGH after first-line cytogenetic testing had proven uninformative did not provide good value for money when compared to using AGH as first-line testing. Copyright (c) 2010 The American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Drought sensitivity changes over the last century at the North American savanna-forest boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heilman, K.; McLachlan, J. S.

2017-12-01

Future environmental changes can affect the sensitivity of tree growth to climate. Theses changes are of particular concern at biome boundaries where tree distribution could shift as a result of changes in both drought and drought sensitivity. One such region is the North American savanna-forest boundary, where increased CO2 and droughts could alter savanna and forest ecosystem distributions in two contrasting ways: 1). More severe droughts may increase drought sensitivity, favoring open savanna ecosystems or, 2). Increases in water use efficiency resulting from higher atmospheric CO2 may decrease drought sensitivity, promoting forest expansion. This study sought to understand whether the past 100 years of climate and CO2 changes have impacted regional tree growth-climate sensitivity. To test for these climate sensitivity changes, we measured the sensitivity of Quercus spp. radial growth to Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Tree growth sensitivity to climate can vary according to many factors, including: stand structure, available moisture, and tree age. To control for these factors, we sampled tree growth-climate responses at sites in both open and closed forests, and at both low and high annual precipitation. Within each site, we compared growth responses to climate between trees established under high CO2 conditions after 1950 (high CO2 young), and tree established before 1950 under low CO2 levels (low CO2 young). At most sites, low CO2 young have a higher drought sensitivity than higher CO2 young. These changes in the sensitivity to drought are consistent with CO2 enhancement of water use efficiency. Furthermore, these differences in drought sensitivity are higher at sites with high temperature and low precipitation, suggesting that the alleviation of drought is more likely in hot and dry regions. Thus, if CO2 enhancement is indeed occurring in these systems, lower growth sensitivity to drought in hot and dry regions could favor increased forest growth. If changes in drought sensitivity scale to ecosystem level, decreased drought sensitivity may have helped promote regional forest expansion.

Systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease prevalence in Canada: updated analyses across 7 provinces.

PubMed

Broten, Laurel; Aviña-Zubieta, J Antonio; Lacaille, Diane; Joseph, Lawrence; Hanly, John G; Lix, Lisa; O'Donnell, Siobhan; Barnabe, Cheryl; Fortin, Paul R; Hudson, Marie; Jean, Sonia; Peschken, Christine; Edworthy, Steven M; Svenson, Larry; Pineau, Christian A; Clarke, Ann E; Smith, Mark; Bélisle, Patrick; Badley, Elizabeth M; Bergeron, Louise; Bernatsky, Sasha

2014-04-01

To estimate systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease (SARD) prevalence across 7 Canadian provinces using population-based administrative data evaluating both regional variations and the effects of age and sex. Using provincial physician billing and hospitalization data, cases of SARD (systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, primary Sjögren syndrome, polymyositis/dermatomyositis) were ascertained. Three case definitions (rheumatology billing, 2-code physician billing, and hospital diagnosis) were combined to derive a SARD prevalence estimate for each province, categorized by age, sex, and rural/urban status. A hierarchical Bayesian latent class regression model was fit to account for the imperfect sensitivity and specificity of each case definition. The model also provided sensitivity estimates of different case definition approaches. Prevalence estimates for overall SARD ranged between 2 and 5 cases per 1000 residents across provinces. Similar demographic trends were evident across provinces, with greater prevalence in women and in persons over 45 years old. SARD prevalence in women over 45 was close to 1%. Overall sensitivity was poor, but estimates for each of the 3 case definitions improved within older populations and were slightly higher for men compared to women. Our results are consistent with previous estimates and other North American findings, and provide results from coast to coast, as well as useful information about the degree of regional and demographic variations that can be seen within a single country. Our work demonstrates the usefulness of using multiple data sources, adjusting for the error in each, and providing estimates of the sensitivity of different case definition approaches.

Characterization of an intraluminal differential frequency-domain photoacoustics system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lashkari, Bahman; Son, Jungik; Liang, Simon; Castelino, Robin; Foster, F. Stuart; Courtney, Brian; Mandelis, Andreas

2016-03-01

Cardiovascular related diseases are ranked as the second highest cause of death in Canada. Among the most important cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis. Current methods of diagnosis of atherosclerosis consist of angiography, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). None of these methods possesses adequate sensitivity, as the ideal technique should be capable of both depth profiling, as well as functional imaging. An alternative technique is photoacoustics (PA) which can perform deep imaging and spectroscopy. The presented study explores the application of wavelength-modulated differential photoacoustic radar (WM-DPAR) for characterizing arterial vessels. The wavelength-modulated differential photoacoustic technique was shown to be able to substantially increase the dynamic range and sensitivity of hemoglobin oxygenation level detection. In this work the differential PA technique was used with a very high frequency modulation range. To perform spectroscopic PA imaging, at least two wavelengths are required. The selected wavelengths for this work are 1210 nm and 980 nm. 1210 nm corresponds to the maximum optical absorption coefficient of cholesterol and cholesteryl esters which are the main constituents of plaques. Since water, elastin and collagen also have high absorption coefficients at 1210 nm, this wavelength alone cannot provide very high sensitivity and specificity. The additional wavelength, 980 nm corresponds to high absorption coefficient of those constituents of healthy artery tissue. The simultaneous application of the abovementioned wavelengths can provide higher sensitivity and improved specificity in detecting lipids in the arterial vessels.

SYMPOSIUM ON MULTIMODALITY CARDIOVASCULAR MOLECULAR IMAGING IMAGING TECHNOLOGY - PART 2

PubMed Central

de Kemp, Robert A.; Epstein, Frederick H.; Catana, Ciprian; Tsui, Benjamin M.W.; Ritman, Erik L.

2013-01-01

Rationale The ability to trace or identify specific molecules within a specific anatomic location provides insight into metabolic pathways, tissue components and tracing of solute transport mechanisms. With the increasing use of small animals for research such imaging must have sufficiently high spatial resolution to allow anatomic localization as well as sufficient specificity and sensitivity to provide an accurate description of the molecular distribution and concentration. Methods Imaging methods based on electromagnetic radiation, such as PET, SPECT, MRI and CT, are increasingly applicable due to recent advances in novel scanner hardware, image reconstruction software and availability of novel molecules which have enhanced sensitivity in these methodologies. Results Micro-PET has been advanced by development of detector arrays that provide higher resolution and positron emitting elements that allow new molecular tracers to be labeled. Micro-MRI has been improved in terms of spatial resolution and sensitivity by increased magnet field strength and development of special purpose coils and associated scan protocols. Of particular interest is the associated ability to image local mechanical function and solute transport processes which can be directly related to the molecular information. This is further strengthened by the synergistic integration of the PET with MRI. Micro-SPECT has been improved by use of coded aperture imaging approaches as well as image reconstruction algorithms which can better deal with the photon limited scan data. The limited spatial resolution can be partially overcome by integrating the SPECT with CT. Micro-CT by itself provides exquisite spatial resolution of anatomy, but recent developments of high spatial resolution photon counting and spectrally-sensitive imaging arrays, combined with x-ray optical devices, have promise for actual molecular identification by virtue of the chemical bond lengths of molecules, especially of bio-polymers. Conclusion With the increasing use of small animals for evaluating new clinical imaging techniques as well as providing increased insights into patho-physiological phenomena, the availability of improved detection systems, scanning protocols and associated software, the repertoire of molecular imaging is greatly increased in sensitivity and specificity. PMID:20457793

Adult attachment status predicts the developmental trajectory of maternal sensitivity in new motherhood among Chinese mothers.

PubMed

Liang, X; Wang, Z-Y; Liu, H-Y; Lin, Q; Wang, Z; Liu, Y

2015-01-01

to investigate adult attachment status in first-time mothers, and stability and/or changes in maternal sensitivity during infancy. longitudinal study using quantitative and qualitative methods, and statistical modelling. Three home visits were undertaken when the infant was approximately six, nine and 14 months old. The Adult-to-Parental Attachment Experience Survey was used, and scores for three dimensions were obtained: secure-autonomous, preoccupied and dismissive. Maternal sensitivity was assessed at each time point using the Maternal Behaviour Q-Sort by observing interaction between the mother and infant at home. homes and community settings in greater metropolitan Beijing, North China. 83 mothers and infants born in 2010 enrolled in this study. Data were missing for one or more time points in 20 cases. the mean score for maternal sensitivity tended to increase from six to 14 months. Post-hoc analyses of one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed that maternal sensitivity was significantly higher at 14 months than at six or nine months. An unconditional latent growth model (LGM) of maternal sensitivity, estimated using the Bayesian approach, provided a good fit for the data. Using three attachment-related variables as predictors in the conditional LGM, the model fitting indices were found to be sufficient, and the results suggested that the secure score positively predicted the intercept of the growth model, and the dismissive score negatively predicted both the intercept and slope of the growth model. maternal sensitivity increased over time during infancy. Furthermore, individual differences existed in the developmental trajectory, which was influenced by maternal attachment status. knowledge about attachment-related differences in the trajectory of first-time mothers' sensitivity to infants may help midwives and doctors to provide individualised information and support, with special attention given to mothers with a dismissive attachment status. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Template-free synthesis of porous ZnO/Ag microspheres as recyclable and ultra-sensitive SERS substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yanjun; Xu, Chunxiang; Lu, Junfeng; Zhu, Zhu; Zhu, Qiuxiang; Manohari, A. Gowri; Shi, Zengliang

2018-01-01

The porous structured zinc oxide (ZnO) microspheres decorated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been fabricated as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate for ultra-sensitive, highly reproducible and stable biological/chemical sensing of various organic molecules. The ZnO microspheres were hydrothermally synthesized without any template, and the Ag NPs decorated on microspheres via photochemical reaction in situ, which provided stable Ag/ZnO contact to achieve a sensitive SERS response. It demonstrates a higher enhancement factor (EF) of 2.44 × 1011 and a lower detection limit of 10-11 M-10-12 M. This porous SERS substrate could also be self-cleaned through a photocatalytic process and then further recycled for the detection of same or different molecules, such as phenol red (PhR), dopamine (DA) and glucose (GLU) with ultra-low concentration and it possessed a sensitive response. The excellent performances are attributed to morphology of porous microspheres, hybrid structure of semiconductor/metal and corresponding localized field enhancement of surface plasmons. Therefore, it is expected to design the recyclable ultra-sensitive SERS sensors for the detection of biological molecules and organic pollutant monitoring.

Effects of the pyrethroid insecticide gamma-cyhalothrin on aquatic invertebrates in laboratory and outdoor microcosm tests.

PubMed

van Wijngaarden, René P A; Barber, Ian; Brock, Theo C M

2009-02-01

The sensitivity of a range of freshwater lentic invertebrates to gamma-cyhalothrin (GCH), a single enantiomer of the synthetic pyrethroid lambda-cyhalothrin, was assessed in single species laboratory tests and an outdoor multi-species ecosystem test. The most sensitive species in the laboratory single species tests with GCH was Chaoborus obscuripes (96 h EC(50): 3.8 ng/l). The species sensitivity distribution curve, based on the laboratory 96 h EC(50) acute toxicity data for eight species, gave a median HC(5) value for GCH of 2.12 ng/l. The NOEC(community) derived from the multi-species ecosystem test was 5 ng/l, and the insects Chaoborus sp. and Caenis sp. were identified as the most sensitive species. The results indicate that the median HC(5), based on eight species selected to include those known to be sensitive to pyrethroids, provided a good estimation of the NOEC(community) for GCH. Furthermore, the results for GCH indicated that the endpoints typically used in higher-tier risk assessments for pesticides in Europe (HC(5) and NOEC(community)) were consistent with expectations when compared to the equivalent endpoints for the racemate LCH.

High surface plasmon resonance sensitivity enabled by optical disks.

PubMed

Dou, Xuan; Phillips, Blayne M; Chung, Pei-Yu; Jiang, Peng

2012-09-01

We report a systematic, experimental, and theoretical investigation on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing using optical disks with different track pitches, including Blu-ray disk (BD), digital versatile disk (DVD), and compact disk (CD). Optical reflection measurements indicate that CD and DVD exhibit much higher SPR sensitivity than BD. Both experiments and finite-difference time-domain simulations reveal that the SPR sensitivity is significantly affected by the diffraction order of the SPR peaks and higher diffraction order results in lower sensitivity. Numerical simulations also show that very high sensitivity (∼1600  nm per refractive index unit) is achievable by CDs.

Use of Capillary Blood Samples Leads to Higher Parasitemia Estimates and Higher Diagnostic Sensitivity of Microscopic and Molecular Diagnostics of Malaria than Venous Blood Samples.

PubMed

Mischlinger, Johannes; Pitzinger, Paul; Veletzky, Luzia; Groger, Mirjam; Zoleko-Manego, Rella; Adegnika, Ayola A; Agnandji, Selidji T; Lell, Bertrand; Kremsner, Peter G; Tannich, Egbert; Mombo-Ngoma, Ghyslain; Mordmüller, Benjamin; Ramharter, Michael

2018-05-25

Diagnosis of malaria is usually based on samples of peripheral blood. However, it is unclear whether capillary (CAP) or venous (VEN) blood samples provide better diagnostic performance. Quantitative differences of parasitemia between CAP and VEN blood and diagnostic performance characteristics were investigated. Patients were recruited between September 2015 and February 2016 in Gabon. Light microscopy and qPCR quantified parasitemia of paired CAP and VEN samples, whose preparation followed the exact same methodology. CAP and VEN performance characteristics using microscopy were evaluated against a qPCR gold-standard. Microscopy revealed a median (IQR) parasites/L of 495 (853,243) in CAP and 429 (524,074) in VEN samples manifesting in a +16.6% (p=0.04) higher CAPparasitemia compared with VENparasitemia. Concordantly, qPCR demonstrated that -0.278 (p=0.006) cycles were required for signal detection in CAP samples. CAPsensitivity of microscopy relative to the gold-standard was 81.5% (77.485.6%) versus VENsensitivity of 73.4% (68.878.1%), while CAPspecificity and VENspecificity were 91%. CAPsensitivity and VENsensitivity dropped to 63.3% and 45.9%, respectively for a sub-population of low-level parasitemias while specificities were 92%. CAP sampling leads to higher parasitemias compared to VEN sampling and improves diagnostic sensitivity. These findings may have important implications for routine diagnostics, research and elimination campaigns of malaria.

A human life-stage physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic model for chlorpyrifos: development and validation.

PubMed

Smith, Jordan Ned; Hinderliter, Paul M; Timchalk, Charles; Bartels, Michael J; Poet, Torka S

2014-08-01

Sensitivity to some chemicals in animals and humans are known to vary with age. Age-related changes in sensitivity to chlorpyrifos have been reported in animal models. A life-stage physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) model was developed to predict disposition of chlorpyrifos and its metabolites, chlorpyrifos-oxon (the ultimate toxicant) and 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy), as well as B-esterase inhibition by chlorpyrifos-oxon in humans. In this model, previously measured age-dependent metabolism of chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-oxon were integrated into age-related descriptions of human anatomy and physiology. The life-stage PBPK/PD model was calibrated and tested against controlled adult human exposure studies. Simulations suggest age-dependent pharmacokinetics and response may exist. At oral doses ⩾0.6mg/kg of chlorpyrifos (100- to 1000-fold higher than environmental exposure levels), 6months old children are predicted to have higher levels of chlorpyrifos-oxon in blood and higher levels of red blood cell cholinesterase inhibition compared to adults from equivalent doses. At lower doses more relevant to environmental exposures, simulations predict that adults will have slightly higher levels of chlorpyrifos-oxon in blood and greater cholinesterase inhibition. This model provides a computational framework for age-comparative simulations that can be utilized to predict chlorpyrifos disposition and biological response over various postnatal life stages. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How Nutrition Sensitive Are the Nutrition Policies of New Zealand Food Manufacturers? A Benchmarking Study.

PubMed

Doonan, Rebecca; Field, Penny

2017-12-19

Nutrition sensitive policy addresses the underlying determinants of nutrition-related disease and is a powerful tool in reducing the incidence of non-communicable disease. Some members of the food industry have long standing commitments to health-oriented nutrition policies. The aim of this study was to develop and apply a balanced scorecard of nutrition sensitive indicators to the policies of influential New Zealand food and beverage manufacturers and explore factors affecting policy processes. The average nutrition sensitivity score of the twenty influential manufacturers policies was 42 against a benchmark of 75. Some manufacturers performed well whilst others had substantial scope for improvement, the largest variation was in policy development and implementation, whereas nutrition quality was relatively consistent. Manufacturers with written policy ( n = 11) scored on average three times higher than their counterparts with verbal policy. The value a manufacturer placed on nutrition influenced whether formal nutrition policies were developed. The reputational risk of failing to deliver on publicly declared nutrition commitments acted as an informal accountability mechanism. We conclude the balanced scorecard offers a useful tool for assessing the nutrition sensitivity of influential food and beverage manufacturers' policies. Our results provide a baseline for repeat assessments of the nutrition sensitivity of food manufacturers' policies.

High sensitivity of contact-heat evoked potentials in "snake-eye" appearance myelopathy.

PubMed

Ulrich, A; Min, K; Curt, A

2015-10-01

To evaluate the sensitivity of dermatomal contact-heat evoked potentials (dCHEPs) compared to dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials (dSSEPs) and clinical sensory testing in patients with focal central cord myelopathy, referred to as "snake-eye" appearance myelopathy (SEAM). 33 patients with SEAM in neuroimaging underwent electrophysiological (dCHEPs, dSSEPs) and clinical testing of sensory function (light touch [LT] and pin prick [PP]) at segments above, at and below to the spinal cord lesion. In total, 151 dermatomes were tested (39 above, 112 at/below lesion). The sensitivity of dCHEPs (97.0%) was significantly higher compared to dSSEPs (23.3%, p<0.001), PP (66.7%, p=0.003) and LT (69.7%, p=0.006), respectively. The sensitivity of dCHEPs was highest when applied one to two segments caudally to the level of spinal cord lesion in MRI. dCHEPs are highly sensitive and superior to dSSEPs and clinical sensory testing in the diagnosis of SEAM. dCHEPs may complement the diagnosis in focal central cord myelopathies where clinical testing of sensory function and dSSEPs are less sensitive to provide conclusive findings. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

How Nutrition Sensitive Are the Nutrition Policies of New Zealand Food Manufacturers? A Benchmarking Study

PubMed Central

Doonan, Rebecca

2017-01-01

Nutrition sensitive policy addresses the underlying determinants of nutrition-related disease and is a powerful tool in reducing the incidence of non-communicable disease. Some members of the food industry have long standing commitments to health-oriented nutrition policies. The aim of this study was to develop and apply a balanced scorecard of nutrition sensitive indicators to the policies of influential New Zealand food and beverage manufacturers and explore factors affecting policy processes. Results: The average nutrition sensitivity score of the twenty influential manufacturers policies was 42 against a benchmark of 75. Some manufacturers performed well whilst others had substantial scope for improvement, the largest variation was in policy development and implementation, whereas nutrition quality was relatively consistent. Manufacturers with written policy (n = 11) scored on average three times higher than their counterparts with verbal policy. The value a manufacturer placed on nutrition influenced whether formal nutrition policies were developed. The reputational risk of failing to deliver on publicly declared nutrition commitments acted as an informal accountability mechanism. We conclude the balanced scorecard offers a useful tool for assessing the nutrition sensitivity of influential food and beverage manufacturers’ policies. Our results provide a baseline for repeat assessments of the nutrition sensitivity of food manufacturers’ policies. PMID:29257049

Sensitivity study on durability variables of marine concrete structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xin'gang; Li, Kefei

2013-06-01

In order to study the influence of parameters on durability of marine concrete structures, the parameter's sensitivity analysis was studied in this paper. With the Fick's 2nd law of diffusion and the deterministic sensitivity analysis method (DSA), the sensitivity factors of apparent surface chloride content, apparent chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor were analyzed. The results of the analysis show that the impact of design variables on concrete durability was different. The values of sensitivity factor of chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor were higher than others. Relative less error in chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation coefficient induces a bigger error in concrete durability design and life prediction. According to probability sensitivity analysis (PSA), the influence of mean value and variance of concrete durability design variables on the durability failure probability was studied. The results of the study provide quantitative measures of the importance of concrete durability design and life prediction variables. It was concluded that the chloride diffusion coefficient and its time dependent attenuation factor have more influence on the reliability of marine concrete structural durability. In durability design and life prediction of marine concrete structures, it was very important to reduce the measure and statistic error of durability design variables.

Status of miniature integrated UV resonance fluorescence and Raman sensors for detection and identification of biochemical warfare agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hug, William F.; Bhartia, Rohit; Taspin, Alexandre; Lane, Arthur; Conrad, Pamela; Sijapati, Kripa; Reid, Ray D.

2005-11-01

Laser induced native fluorescence (LINF) is the most sensitive method of detection of biological material including microorganisms, virus', and cellular residues. LINF is also a sensitive method of detection for many non-biological materials as well. The specificity with which these materials can be classified depends on the excitation wavelength and the number and location of observation wavelengths. Higher levels of specificity can be obtained using Raman spectroscopy but a much lower levels of sensitivity. Raman spectroscopy has traditionally been employed in the IR to avoid fluorescence. Fluorescence rarely occurs at wavelength below about 270nm. Therefore, when excitation occurs at a wavelength below 250nm, no fluorescence background occurs within the Raman fingerprint region for biological materials. When excitation occurs within electronic resonance bands of the biological target materials, Raman signal enhancement over one million typically occurs. Raman sensitivity within several hundred times fluorescence are possible in the deep UV where most biological materials have strong absorption. Since the Raman and fluorescence emissions occur at different wavelength, both spectra can be observed simultaneously, thereby providing a sensor with unique sensitivity and specificity capability. We will present data on our integrated, deep ultraviolet, LINF/Raman instruments that are being developed for several applications including life detection on Mars as well as biochemical warfare agents on Earth. We will demonstrate the ability to discriminate organic materials based on LINF alone. Together with UV resonance Raman, higher levels of specificity will be demonstrated. In addition, these instruments are being developed as on-line chemical sensors for industrial and municipal waste streams and product quality applications.

Medicare managed care plan performance: a comparison across hospitalization types.

PubMed

Basu, Jayasree; Mobley, Lee Rivers

2012-01-01

The study evaluates the performance of Medicare managed care (Medicare Advantage [MA]) Plans in comparison to Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) Plans in three states with historically high Medicare managed care penetration (New York, California, Florida), in terms of lowering the risks of preventable or ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) hospital admissions and providing increased referrals for admissions for specialty procedures. Using 2004 hospital discharge files from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP-SID) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ACSC admissions are compared with 'marker' admissions and 'referral-sensitive' admissions, using a multinomial logistic regression approach. The year 2004 represents a strategic time to test the impact of MA on preventable hospitalizations, because the HMOs dominated the market composition in that time period. MA enrollees in California experienced 22% lower relative risk (RRR= 0.78, p<0.01), those in Florida experienced 16% lower relative risk (RRR= 0.84, p<0.01), while those in New York experienced 9% lower relative risk (RRR=0.91, p<0.01) of preventable (versus marker) admissions compared to their FFS counterparts. MA enrollees in New York experienced 37% higher relative risk (RRR=1.37, p<0.01) and those in Florida had 41% higher relative risk (RRR=1.41, p<0.01)-while MA enrollees in California had 13% lower relative risk (RRR=0.87, p<0.01)-of referral-sensitive (versus marker) admissions compared to their FFS counterparts. While MA plans were associated with reductions in preventable hospitalizations in all three states, the effects on referral-sensitive admissions varied, with California experiencing lower relative risk of referral-sensitive admissions for MA plan enrollees. The lower relative risk of preventable admissions for MA plan enrollees in New York and Florida became more pronounced after accounting for selection bias.

C-arm flat-panel CT arthrography of the shoulder: Radiation dose considerations and preliminary data on diagnostic performance.

PubMed

Guggenberger, Roman; Ulbrich, Erika J; Dietrich, Tobias J; Scholz, Rosemarie; Kaelin, Pascal; Köhler, Christoph; Elsässer, Thilo; Le Corroller, Thomas; Pfammatter, Thomas; Alkadhi, Hatem; Andreisek, Gustav

2017-02-01

To investigate radiation dose and diagnostic performance of C-arm flat-panel CT (FPCT) versus standard multi-detector CT (MDCT) shoulder arthrography using MRI-arthrography as reference standard. Radiation dose of two different FPCT acquisitions (5 and 20 s) and standard MDCT of the shoulder were assessed using phantoms and thermoluminescence dosimetry. FPCT arthrographies were performed in 34 patients (mean age 44 ± 15 years). Different joint structures were quantitatively and qualitatively assessed by two independent radiologists. Inter-reader agreement and diagnostic performance were calculated. Effective radiation dose was markedly lower in FPCT 5 s (0.6 mSv) compared to MDCT (1.7 mSv) and FPCT 20 s (3.4 mSv). Contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in FPCT 20-s versus 5-s protocols. Inter-reader agreements of qualitative ratings ranged between к = 0.47-1.0. Sensitivities for cartilage and rotator cuff pathologies were low for FPCT 5-s (40 % and 20 %) and moderate for FPCT 20-s protocols (75 % and 73 %). FPCT showed high sensitivity (81-86 % and 89-99 %) for bone and acromioclavicular-joint pathologies. Using a 5-s protocol FPCT shoulder arthrography provides lower radiation dose compared to MDCT but poor sensitivity for cartilage and rotator cuff pathologies. FPCT 20-s protocol is moderately sensitive for cartilage and rotator cuff tendon pathology with markedly higher radiation dose compared to MDCT. • FPCT shoulder arthrography is feasible with fluoroscopy and CT in one workflow. • A 5-s FPCT protocol applies a lower radiation dose than MDCT. • A 20-s FPCT protocol is moderately sensitive for cartilage and tendon pathology.

Deciphering adverse effects of heavy metals on diverse wheat germplasm on irrigation with urban wastewater of mixed municipal-industrial origin.

PubMed

Ali, Zeshan; Mujeeb-Kazi, Abdul; Quraishi, Umar Masood; Malik, Riffat Naseem

2018-04-25

The current study provides one of the first attempts to identify tolerant, moderately sensitive, and highly sensitive wheat genotypes on the basis of heavy metal accumulation, biochemical attributes, and human health risk assessments on urban wastewater (UW) irrigation. Mean heavy metals (Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Mn) and macro-nutrients (Na, K, Ca, Mg) levels increased in the roots, stem, and grains of studied genotypes. Except K (stem > root > grain), all metals were accumulated in highest concentrations in roots followed by stem and grains. Principal component analyses (PCA) identified three groups of UW-irrigated genotypes which were confirmed by hierarchical agglomerative cluster analyses (HACA). Wheat genotypes with the lowest metal accumulation were regarded as tolerant, whereas those with maximum accumulation were considered highly sensitive. Tolerant genotypes showed the lowest hazard quotient for heavy metals, i.e., Co, Mn, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Cr, and hazard index (HI) values (adults, 2.04; children, 2.27) than moderately and highly sensitive genotypes. Higher health risks (HI) associated with moderate (adults 2.26; children 2.53) and highly sensitive (adults 2.52; children 2.82) genotypes revealed maximum uptake of heavy metals. The heatmap showed higher mean biochemical levels of chlorophyll, carotenoids, membrane stability index (MSI%), sugars, proteins, proline, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) in tolerant genotypes than remaining genotypes. With the lowest metal accumulation and advanced biochemical mechanisms to cope with the adverse effects of heavy metals in their plant bodies, tolerant genotypes present a better option for cultivation in areas receiving UW or similar type of wastewater.

On the origin of increased sensitivity and mass resolution using silicon masks in MALDI.

PubMed

Diologent, Laurent; Franck, Julien; Wisztorski, Maxence; Treizebre, Anthony; Focsa, Cristian; Fournier, Isabelle; Ziskind, Michael

2014-02-04

Since its development, MALDI has proved its performance in the analysis of intact biomolecules up to high molecular weights, regardless of their polarity. Sensitivity of MALDI instruments is a key point for breaking the limits of observing biomolecules of lower abundances. Instrumentation is one way to improve sensitivity by increasing ion transmission and using more sensitive detection systems. On the other side, improving MALDI ion production yields would have important outcomes. MALDI ion production is still not well-controlled and, indeed, the amount of ions produced per laser shot with respect to the total volume of desorbed material is very low. This has particular implications for certain applications, such as MALDI MS imaging where laser beam focusing as fine as possible (5-10 μm) is searched in order to reach higher spatial resolution images. However, various studies point out an intrinsic decrease in signal intensity for strong focusing. We have therefore been interested in developing silicon mask systems to decrease an irradiated area by cutting rather than focusing the laser beam and to study the parameters affecting sensitivity using such systems. For this, we systematically examined variation with laser fluence of intensity and spectral resolution in MALDI of standard peptides when using silicon-etched masks of various aperture sizes. These studies demonstrate a simultaneous increase in spectral resolution and signal intensity. Origin of this effect is discussed in the frame of the two-step ionization model. Experimental data in the low fluence range are fitted with an increase of the primary ionization through matrix-silicon edge contact provided by the masks. On the other hand, behavior at higher fluence could be explained by an effect on the secondary ionization via changes in the plume dynamics.

The utility of serum tryptase in the diagnosis of food-induced anaphylaxis.

PubMed

Wongkaewpothong, Patcharaporn; Pacharn, Punchama; Sripramong, Chaweewan; Boonchoo, Siribangon; Piboonpocanun, Surapon; Visitsunthorn, Nualanong; Vichyanond, Pakit; Jirapongsananuruk, Orathai

2014-07-01

This study investigates the utility of serum tryptase for the confirmation of shrimp-induced anaphylaxis. Patients with a history of shrimp allergy and positive skin prick tests (SPT) to commercial shrimp extract were recruited for shrimp challenges. Serum total tryptase was obtained at baseline and 60 min (peak) after the onset of symptoms. Thirty-nine patients were challenged. There were 12 patients with anaphylaxis, 20 with mild reactions and 7 without symptoms (control group). Characteristic features and baseline tryptase were not different among the 3 groups. The peak tryptase levels were higher than the baseline in anaphylaxis and mild reaction groups (P<0.05). The delta-tryptase (peak minus baseline) and the tryptase ratio (peak divided by baseline) in the anaphylaxis group were higher than the mild reaction and control groups (P<0.01). The optimum cut-off for peak tryptase to confirm anaphylaxis was 2.99 µg/L with 50% sensitivity, 85% specificity, 3.33 positive likelihood ratio (LR) and 0.59 negative LR. The manufacturer's cut-off for peak tryptase was >11.4 µg/L with 17% sensitivity, 100% specificity, infinity positive LR and 0.83 negative LR. The best cut-off for delta-tryptase was ≥0.8 µg/L with 83% sensitivity, 93% specificity, 11.86 positive LR and 0.18 negative LR. The best cut-off for tryptase ratio was ≥1.5 with 92% sensitivity, 96% specificity, 23 positive LR and 0.08 negative LR. The peak tryptase level should be compared with the baseline value to confirm anaphylaxis. The tryptase ratio provide the best sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative LR than a single peak serum tryptase for the confirmation of shrimp-induced anaphylaxis.

Cardiac troponin T determination by a highly sensitive assay in postmortem serum and pericardial fluid.

PubMed

González-Herrera, Lucas; Valenzuela, Aurora; Ramos, Valentín; Blázquez, Antonia; Villanueva, Enrique

2016-06-01

The main objective of this study was to test, for the first time, a highly sensitive cardiac troponin T (cTnThs) assay in postmortem serum and pericardial fluid and to evaluate cardiac troponin T (cTnT) levels and their stability after death at different postmortem intervals, in an attempt to determine the viability of the cTnThs assay in the postmortem diagnosis of the cause of death. cTnT levels were determined in serum and pericardial fluid samples taken from 58 cadavers at known postmortem intervals, whose causes of death were categorized into the following groups: (1) sudden cardiac deaths, (2) multiple trauma, (3) mechanical asphyxia, and (4) other natural deaths. cTnT was determined by inmunoassay, using the Troponin T highly sensitive STAT assay (Roche(®)). Average cTnT levels measured by a highly sensitive assay in postmortem serum were markedly higher than clinical serum levels. Moreover, similar results, higher cTnT levels in postmortem pericardial fluid, were obtained when compared to levels found in pericardial fluid taken from two living patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. cTnT levels in both postmortem fluids remained stable for up to 34 h after death. No differences in cTnT levels in either postmortem fluid by sex and age were detected. Levels of cTnT found in pericardial fluid in the other natural deaths group were significantly lower than the cTnT levels found in that postmortem fluid from any of the other causes of death groups. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that determination of cTnT by a highly sensitive assay in pericardial fluid can provide forensic pathologists with a complementary test to the diagnosis of cause of death.

Low Level Leaks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

NASA has transferred the improved portable leak detector technology to UE Systems, Inc.. This instrument was developed to detect leaks in fluid systems of critical launch and ground support equipment. This system incorporates innovative electronic circuitry, improved transducers, collecting horns, and contact sensors that provide a much higher degree of reliability, sensitivity and versatility over previously used systems. Potential commercial uses are pipelines, underground utilities, air-conditioning systems, petrochemical systems, aerospace, power transmission lines and medical devices.

Quality pain management outcomes: the power of place.

PubMed

Wild, L R; Mitchell, P H

2000-01-01

This study explores how an organization, as the context of care, influences nursing practice and a nursing-sensitive, quality health outcome-pain management. The results provide important insights into organizational patterns associated with favorable pain management-related outcomes as well as the congruence between and among subunits within the organization. Outcomes were most favorable on units where nurses had attitudes supportive of aggressive pain management and higher levels of coordination and discretion.

Medical Ethics and the Learner-Centred Approach: Developing Materials on Organ Transplant and Euthanasia in an English as a Foreign Language Classroom in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jamrichová, Valéria; Zamborová, Katarína

2016-01-01

A learner-centred approach puts students amidst the learning process and helps them become involved in that process. It provides an opportunity for students to choose and direct the course of the lesson. This approach is especially appropriate when dealing with ethical concerns that might be sensitive issues. When it comes to the sources for the…

X-ray imaging detectors for synchrotron and XFEL sources

PubMed Central

Hatsui, Takaki; Graafsma, Heinz

2015-01-01

Current trends for X-ray imaging detectors based on hybrid and monolithic detector technologies are reviewed. Hybrid detectors with photon-counting pixels have proven to be very powerful tools at synchrotrons. Recent developments continue to improve their performance, especially for higher spatial resolution at higher count rates with higher frame rates. Recent developments for X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) experiments provide high-frame-rate integrating detectors with both high sensitivity and high peak signal. Similar performance improvements are sought in monolithic detectors. The monolithic approach also offers a lower noise floor, which is required for the detection of soft X-ray photons. The link between technology development and detector performance is described briefly in the context of potential future capabilities for X-ray imaging detectors. PMID:25995846

Visual modelling suggests a weak relationship between the evolution of ultraviolet vision and plumage coloration in birds.

PubMed

Lind, O; Delhey, K

2015-03-01

Birds have sophisticated colour vision mediated by four cone types that cover a wide visual spectrum including ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths. Many birds have modest UV sensitivity provided by violet-sensitive (VS) cones with sensitivity maxima between 400 and 425 nm. However, some birds have evolved higher UV sensitivity and a larger visual spectrum given by UV-sensitive (UVS) cones maximally sensitive at 360-370 nm. The reasons for VS-UVS transitions and their relationship to visual ecology remain unclear. It has been hypothesized that the evolution of UVS-cone vision is linked to plumage colours so that visual sensitivity and feather coloration are 'matched'. This leads to the specific prediction that UVS-cone vision enhances the discrimination of plumage colours of UVS birds while such an advantage is absent or less pronounced for VS-bird coloration. We test this hypothesis using knowledge of the complex distribution of UVS cones among birds combined with mathematical modelling of colour discrimination during different viewing conditions. We find no support for the hypothesis, which, combined with previous studies, suggests only a weak relationship between UVS-cone vision and plumage colour evolution. Instead, we suggest that UVS-cone vision generally favours colour discrimination, which creates a nonspecific selection pressure for the evolution of UVS cones. © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2015 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

New scoring methodology improves the sensitivity of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) in clinical trials.

PubMed

Verma, Nishant; Beretvas, S Natasha; Pascual, Belen; Masdeu, Joseph C; Markey, Mia K

2015-11-12

As currently used, the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) has low sensitivity for measuring Alzheimer's disease progression in clinical trials. A major reason behind the low sensitivity is its sub-optimal scoring methodology, which can be improved to obtain better sensitivity. Using item response theory, we developed a new scoring methodology (ADAS-CogIRT) for the ADAS-Cog, which addresses several major limitations of the current scoring methodology. The sensitivity of the ADAS-CogIRT methodology was evaluated using clinical trial simulations as well as a negative clinical trial, which had shown an evidence of a treatment effect. The ADAS-Cog was found to measure impairment in three cognitive domains of memory, language, and praxis. The ADAS-CogIRT methodology required significantly fewer patients and shorter trial durations as compared to the current scoring methodology when both were evaluated in simulated clinical trials. When validated on data from a real clinical trial, the ADAS-CogIRT methodology had higher sensitivity than the current scoring methodology in detecting the treatment effect. The proposed scoring methodology significantly improves the sensitivity of the ADAS-Cog in measuring progression of cognitive impairment in clinical trials focused in the mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease stage. This provides a boost to the efficiency of clinical trials requiring fewer patients and shorter durations for investigating disease-modifying treatments.

Hierarchical Nanogold Labels to Improve the Sensitivity of Lateral Flow Immunoassay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serebrennikova, Kseniya; Samsonova, Jeanne; Osipov, Alexander

2018-06-01

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is a widely used express method and offers advantages such as a short analysis time, simplicity of testing and result evaluation. However, an LFIA based on gold nanospheres lacks the desired sensitivity, thereby limiting its wide applications. In this study, spherical nanogold labels along with new types of nanogold labels such as gold nanopopcorns and nanostars were prepared, characterized, and applied for LFIA of model protein antigen procalcitonin. It was found that the label with a structure close to spherical provided more uniform distribution of specific antibodies on its surface, indicative of its suitability for this type of analysis. LFIA using gold nanopopcorns as a label allowed procalcitonin detection over a linear range of 0.5-10 ng mL-1 with the limit of detection of 0.1 ng mL-1, which was fivefold higher than the sensitivity of the assay with gold nanospheres. Another approach to improve the sensitivity of the assay included the silver enhancement method, which was used to compare the amplification of LFIA for procalcitonin detection. The sensitivity of procalcitonin determination by this method was 10 times better the sensitivity of the conventional LFIA with gold nanosphere as a label. The proposed approach of LFIA based on gold nanopopcorns improved the detection sensitivity without additional steps and prevented the increased consumption of specific reagents (antibodies).

DNA detection using water-soluble conjugated polymers and peptide nucleic acid probes

PubMed Central

Gaylord, Brent S.; Heeger, Alan J.; Bazan, Guillermo C.

2002-01-01

The light-harvesting properties of cationic conjugated polymers are used to sensitize the emission of a dye on a specific peptide nucleic acid (PNA) sequence for the purpose of homogeneous, “real-time” DNA detection. Signal transduction is controlled by hybridization of the neutral PNA probe and the negative DNA target. Electrostatic interactions bring the hybrid complex and cationic polymer within distances required for Förster energy transfer. Conjugated polymer excitation provides fluorescein emission >25 times higher than that obtained by exciting the dye, allowing detection of target DNA at concentrations of 10 pM with a standard fluorometer. A simple and highly sensitive assay with optical amplification that uses the improved hybridization behavior of PNA/DNA complexes is thus demonstrated. PMID:12167673

On the coalescence-dispersion modeling of turbulent molecular mixing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Givi, Peyman; Kosaly, George

1987-01-01

The general coalescence-dispersion (C/D) closure provides phenomenological modeling of turbulent molecular mixing. The models of Curl and Dopazo and O'Brien appear as two limiting C/D models that bracket the range of results one can obtain by various models. This finding is used to investigate the sensitivtiy of the results to the choice of the model. Inert scalar mixing is found to be less model-sensitive than mixing accompanied by chemical reaction. Infinitely fast chemistry approximation is used to relate the C/D approach to Toor's earlier results. Pure mixing and infinite rate chemistry calculations are compared to study further a recent result of Hsieh and O'Brien who found that higher concentration moments are not sensitive to chemistry.

Design and characterization of a wearable macrobending fiber optic sensor for human joint angle determination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Ana S.; Catarino, André; Correia, Miguel V.; Frazão, Orlando

2013-12-01

The work presented here describes the development and characterization of intensity fiber optic sensor integrated in a specifically designed piece of garment to measure elbow flexion. The sensing head is based on macrobending incorporated in the garment, and the increase of curvature number was studied in order to investigate which scheme provided a good result in terms of sensitivity and repeatability. Results showed the configuration that assured a higher sensitivity (0.644 dBm/deg) and better repeatability was the one with four loops. Ultimately, this sensor can be used for rehabilitation purposes to monitor human joint angles, namely, elbow flexion on stroke survivors while performing the reach functional task, which is the most common upper-limb human gesture.

Risk factors for isolated sleep paralysis in an African American sample: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Ramsawh, Holly J; Raffa, Susan D; White, Kamila S; Barlow, David H

2008-12-01

Isolated sleep paralysis (ISP) is a temporary period of involuntary immobility that can occur at sleep onset or offset. It has previously been reported in association with both panic disorder (PD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study examined the association between ISP and several possible risk factors--anxiety sensitivity, trauma exposure, life stress, and paranormal beliefs--in a sample of African American participants with and without a history of ISP. Significant between-group differences were found for PD and PTSD diagnoses, anxiety sensitivity, life stress, and certain aspects of paranormal belief, with the ISP group being higher on all of these indices. No differences were found with regard to trauma exposure. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that PD, anxiety sensitivity, and life stress each contributed unique variance to ISP cognitive symptoms, whereas PTSD and paranormal beliefs did not. These results provide preliminary support for an association between ISP and anxiety sensitivity and corroborate previous reports of ISP's association with PD and life stress. The current trauma/PTSD findings are mixed, however, and warrant future research.

Electrically responsive materials based on polycarbazole/sodium alginate hydrogel blend for soft and flexible actuator application.

PubMed

Sangwan, Watchara; Petcharoen, Karat; Paradee, Nophawan; Lerdwijitjarud, Wanchai; Sirivat, Anuvat

2016-10-20

The electromechanical properties, namely the storage modulus sensitivity and bending, of sodium alginate (SA) hydrogels and polycarbazole/sodium alginate (PCB/SA) hydrogel blends under applied electric field was investigated. The electromechanical properties of the pristine SA were studied under effects of crosslinking types and SA molecular weights, whereas the PCB/SA hydrogel blends were studied under the effect of PCB concentrations. The storage modulus sensitivity and bending of the pristine SA as crosslinked by the ionic crosslinking agent were found to be higher than those of the covalent crosslinking. The storage modulus sensitivity and deflection of the SA increased monotonically with increasing molecular weight. The highest electromechanical response of the PCB/SA hydrogel blends was obtained from the blend with 0.10% v/v PCB as it provided surprisingly the highest ever storage modulus sensitivity, (G'-G'0)/G'0 where G'0 and G' are the storage modulus without and with applied electric field, respectively, at 18.5 under applied electric field strength of 800V/mm. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Field resistance of Phytophthora melonis to metalaxyl in South China].

PubMed

Wu, Yongguan; Lu, Shaofeng; Huang, Siliang; Fu, Gang; Chen, Liang; Xie, Dasen; Li, Qiqin; Cen, Zhenlu

2011-08-01

Phytophthora melonis is the casual agent of wax gourd and cucumber Phytophthora blight which becomes a constraint for sustainable production of the related crops. Metalaxyl is one of the principal fungicides for controlling the disease now. The objectives of the present study were: (1) to investigate the baseline sensitivity and field resistance of P. melonis to metalaxyl in South China; (2) to test the occurrence of metalaxyl-resistant mutants from metalaxyl-sensitive wild type strains exposed to the fungicide; and (3) to monitor the development of metalaxyl resistance in P. melonis population. Over 400 samples of wax gourd and cucumber Phytophthora blight were collected from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong province during 2007-2010, and 193 strains of P. melonis were isolated and purified. The sensitivity of the isolated strains to metalaxyl was tested using mycelial growth rate method in vitro and floating-leaf-disk method in vivo, respectively. The metalaxyl-sensitive strains were induced on PDA plates containing 10 microg/mL metalaxyl. The sensitive, moderately resistant and resistant strains were recorded as 29.0% , 18.1% and 52.8%, respectively, among 193 tested strains. The frequency and level of resistance of P. melonis from Guangdong were higher than that from Guangxi. The strains from cucumber was generally more resistant to metalaxyl than those from wax gourd. The metalaxyl-resistant strains were frequently detected as predominant populations in most of the sampling sites and the highest resistance index (4226.9) was confirmed. Metalaxyl-resistant (M1r) mutants could be isolated from approximately 60% of the sensitive wild-type strains. The resistance level of the M mutants was 189-407 times higher than that of their sensitive parental strains. The EC50 values of 9 sensitive strains from a sampling site without a record of phenylamide fungicide application ranged from 0.0429 to 0.5461 microg/mL. Their mean EC50 value (0.3200 +/- 0.1617 microg/mL) was considered as the baseline sensitivity of P. melonis to metalaxyl in South China. Metalaxyl-resistant strains universally occur in South China, especially in the vegetable-growing areas with a longer history of metalaxyl application. The establishment of the baseline sensitivity of P. melonis to metalaxyl will provide a science-based guide for evaluating and further monitoring resistance of the pathogen to the fungicide.

Three-dimensional waveform sensitivity kernels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marquering, Henk; Nolet, Guust; Dahlen, F. A.

1998-03-01

The sensitivity of intermediate-period (~10-100s) seismic waveforms to the lateral heterogeneity of the Earth is computed using an efficient technique based upon surface-wave mode coupling. This formulation yields a general, fully fledged 3-D relationship between data and model without imposing smoothness constraints on the lateral heterogeneity. The calculations are based upon the Born approximation, which yields a linear relation between data and model. The linear relation ensures fast forward calculations and makes the formulation suitable for inversion schemes; however, higher-order effects such as wave-front healing are neglected. By including up to 20 surface-wave modes, we obtain Fréchet, or sensitivity, kernels for waveforms in the time frame that starts at the S arrival and which includes direct and surface-reflected body waves. These 3-D sensitivity kernels provide new insights into seismic-wave propagation, and suggest that there may be stringent limitations on the validity of ray-theoretical interpretations. Even recently developed 2-D formulations, which ignore structure out of the source-receiver plane, differ substantially from our 3-D treatment. We infer that smoothness constraints on heterogeneity, required to justify the use of ray techniques, are unlikely to hold in realistic earth models. This puts the use of ray-theoretical techniques into question for the interpretation of intermediate-period seismic data. The computed 3-D sensitivity kernels display a number of phenomena that are counter-intuitive from a ray-geometrical point of view: (1) body waves exhibit significant sensitivity to structure up to 500km away from the source-receiver minor arc; (2) significant near-surface sensitivity above the two turning points of the SS wave is observed; (3) the later part of the SS wave packet is most sensitive to structure away from the source-receiver path; (4) the sensitivity of the higher-frequency part of the fundamental surface-wave mode is wider than for its faster, lower-frequency part; (5) delayed body waves may considerably influence fundamental Rayleigh and Love waveforms. The strong sensitivity of waveforms to crustal structure due to fundamental-mode-to-body-wave scattering precludes the use of phase-velocity filters to model body-wave arrivals. Results from the 3-D formulation suggest that the use of 2-D and 1-D techniques for the interpretation of intermediate-period waveforms should seriously be reconsidered.

Preventive behaviors by the level of perceived infection sensitivity during the Korea outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in 2015.

PubMed

Lee, Soon Young; Yang, Hee Jeong; Kim, Gawon; Cheong, Hae-Kwan; Choi, Bo Youl

2016-01-01

This study was performed to investigate the relationship between community residents' infection sensitivity and their levels of preventive behaviors during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in Korea. Seven thousands two hundreds eighty one participants from nine areas in Gyeonggi-do including Pyeongtaek, the origin of the outbreak in 2015 agreed to participate in the survey and the data from 6,739 participants were included in the final analysis. The data on the perceived infection sensitivity were subjected to cluster analysis. The levels of stress, reliability/practice of preventive behaviors, hand washing practice and policy credibility during the outbreak period were analyzed for each cluster. Cluster analysis of infection sensitivity due to the MERS outbreak resulted in classification of participants into four groups: the non-sensitive group (14.5%), social concern group (17.4%), neutral group (29.1%), and overall sensitive group (39.0%). A logistic regression analysis found that the overall sensitive group with high sensitivity had higher stress levels (17.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 13.77 to 23.00), higher reliability on preventive behaviors (5.81; 95% CI, 4.84 to 6.98), higher practice of preventive behaviors (4.53; 95% CI, 3.83 to 5.37) and higher practice of hand washing (2.71; 95% CI, 2.13 to 3.43) during the outbreak period, compared to the non-sensitive group. Infection sensitivity of community residents during the MERS outbreak correlated with gender, age, occupation, and health behaviors. When there is an outbreak in the community, there is need to maintain a certain level of sensitivity while reducing excessive stress, as well as promote the practice of preventive behaviors among local residents. In particular, target groups need to be notified and policies need to be established with a consideration of the socio-demographic characteristics of the community.

Development of a high-sensitivity BGO well counter for small animal PET studies.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Seiichi; Watabe, Hiroshi; Kanai, Yasukazu; Watabe, Tadashi; Imaizumi, Masao; Shimosegawa, Eku; Hatazawa, Jun

2012-01-01

In quantitative measurements of small animal PET studies, blood sampling is limited due to the small amounts of blood such animals can provide. In addition, injection doses are quite limited. In this situation, a high-sensitivity well counter would be useful for reducing the amount of the blood sample needed from small animals. Bismuth germinate (BGO) has a high stopping power for high-energy gamma rays compared to NaI(Tl), which is commonly used for conventional well counters. We have developed a BGO well counter and have tested it for blood-sampling measurements in small animals. The BGO well counter uses a square BGO block (59 × 59 × 50 mm) with a square open space (27 × 27 × 34 mm) in the center of the block. The BGO block was optically coupled to a 59-mm square-shaped photomultiplier tube (PMT). Signals from the PMT were digitally processed for the integration and energy window setting. The results showed that the energy spectrum of the BGO well counter measured with a Na-22 point source provided counts that were about 6 times higher for a 1022-keV (511 keV × 2) gamma peak than the spectrum of a 2-in. NaI(Tl) well counter. The relative sensitivity of the developed BGO well counter was 3.4 times higher than that of a NaI(Tl) well counter. The time activity curve of arterial blood was obtained successfully with the BGO well counter for a F-18-FDG study on rat. The BGO well counter will contribute to reducing the amount of sampled blood and to improving the throughput of quantitative measurements in small animal PET studies.

HMGB1 and Its Hyperacetylated Isoform are Sensitive and Specific Serum Biomarkers to Detect Asbestos Exposure and to Identify Mesothelioma Patients.

PubMed

Napolitano, Andrea; Antoine, Daniel J; Pellegrini, Laura; Baumann, Francine; Pagano, Ian; Pastorino, Sandra; Goparaju, Chandra M; Prokrym, Kirill; Canino, Claudia; Pass, Harvey I; Carbone, Michele; Yang, Haining

2016-06-15

To determine whether serum levels of high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) could differentiate malignant mesothelioma patients, asbestos-exposed individuals, and unexposed controls. Hyperacetylated and nonacetylated HMGB1 (together referred to as total HMGB1) were blindly measured in blood collected from malignant mesothelioma patients (n = 22), individuals with verified chronic asbestos exposure (n = 20), patients with benign pleural effusions (n = 13) or malignant pleural effusions not due to malignant mesothelioma (n = 25), and healthy controls (n = 20). Blood levels of previously proposed malignant mesothelioma biomarkers fibulin-3, mesothelin, and osteopontin were also measured in nonhealthy individuals. HMGB1 serum levels reliably distinguished malignant mesothelioma patients, asbestos-exposed individuals, and unexposed controls. Total HMGB1 was significantly higher in malignant mesothelioma patients and asbestos-exposed individuals compared with healthy controls. Hyperacetylated HMGB1 was significantly higher in malignant mesothelioma patients compared with asbestos-exposed individuals and healthy controls, and did not vary with tumor stage. At the cut-off value of 2.00 ng/mL, the sensitivity and specificity of serum hyperacetylated HMGB1 in differentiating malignant mesothelioma patients from asbestos-exposed individuals and healthy controls was 100%, outperforming other previously proposed biomarkers. Combining HMGB1 and fibulin-3 provided increased sensitivity and specificity in differentiating malignant mesothelioma patients from patients with cytologically benign or malignant non-mesothelioma pleural effusion. Our results are significant and clinically relevant as they provide the first biomarker of asbestos exposure and indicate that hyperacetylated HMGB1 is an accurate biomarker to differentiate malignant mesothelioma patients from individuals occupationally exposed to asbestos and unexposed controls. A trial to independently validate these findings will start soon. Clin Cancer Res; 22(12); 3087-96. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

High Resolution PET with 250 micrometer LSO Detectors and Adaptive Zoom

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cherry, Simon R.; Qi, Jinyi

2012-01-08

There have been impressive improvements in the performance of small-animal positron emission tomography (PET) systems since their first development in the mid 1990s, both in terms of spatial resolution and sensitivity, which have directly contributed to the increasing adoption of this technology for a wide range of biomedical applications. Nonetheless, current systems still are largely dominated by the size of the scintillator elements used in the detector. Our research predicts that developing scintillator arrays with an element size of 250 {micro}m or smaller will lead to an image resolution of 500 {micro}m when using 18F- or 64Cu-labeled radiotracers, giving amore » factor of 4-8 improvement in volumetric resolution over the highest resolution research systems currently in existence. This proposal had two main objectives: (i) To develop and evaluate much higher resolution and efficiency scintillator arrays that can be used in the future as the basis for detectors in a small-animal PET scanner where the spatial resolution is dominated by decay and interaction physics rather than detector size. (ii) To optimize one such high resolution, high sensitivity detector and adaptively integrate it into the existing microPET II small animal PET scanner as a 'zoom-in' detector that provides higher spatial resolution and sensitivity in a limited region close to the detector face. The knowledge gained from this project will provide valuable information for building future PET systems with a complete ring of very high-resolution detector arrays and also lay the foundations for utilizing high-resolution detectors in combination with existing PET systems for localized high-resolution imaging.« less

Paradoxical Pain Perception in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Unique Role of Anxiety and Dissociation.

PubMed

Defrin, Ruth; Schreiber, Shaul; Ginzburg, Karni

2015-10-01

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain often co-occur and exacerbate each other. Elucidating the mechanism of this co-occurrence therefore has clinical importance. Previously, patients with PTSD with chronic pain were found to demonstrate a unique paradoxical pain profile: hyperresponsiveness together with hyposensitivity to pain. Our aim was to examine whether 2 seemingly paradoxical facets of PTSD (anxiety and dissociation) underlie this paradoxical profile. Patients with PTSD (n = 32) and healthy control individuals (n = 43) underwent psychophysical testing and completed questionnaires. Patients with PTSD had higher pain thresholds and higher pain ratings to suprathreshold stimuli than control individuals. Pain thresholds were positively associated with dissociation levels and negatively associated with anxiety sensitivity levels. Experimental pain ratings were positively associated with anxiety sensitivity and negatively related to dissociation levels. Chronic pain intensity was associated with anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and pain catastrophizing. It appears that reduced conscious attention toward incoming stimuli, resulting from dissociation, causes delayed response in pain threshold measurement, whereas biases toward threatening stimuli and decreased inhibition, possibly caused by increased anxiety, are responsible for the intensification of experimental and chronic pain. The paradoxical facets of PTSD and their particular influences over pain perception seem to reinforce the coexistence of PTSD and chronic pain, and should be considered when treating traumatized individuals. This article provides new information regarding the underlying mechanism of the coexistence of PTSD and chronic pain. This knowledge could help to provide better management of PTSD and chronic pain among individuals in the aftermath of trauma. Copyright © 2015 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can administrative health utilisation data provide an accurate diabetes prevalence estimate for a geographical region?

PubMed

Chan, Wing Cheuk; Papaconstantinou, Dean; Lee, Mildred; Telfer, Kendra; Jo, Emmanuel; Drury, Paul L; Tobias, Martin

2018-05-01

To validate the New Zealand Ministry of Health (MoH) Virtual Diabetes Register (VDR) using longitudinal laboratory results and to develop an improved algorithm for estimating diabetes prevalence at a population level. The assigned diabetes status of individuals based on the 2014 version of the MoH VDR is compared to the diabetes status based on the laboratory results stored in the Auckland regional laboratory result repository (TestSafe) using the New Zealand diabetes diagnostic criteria. The existing VDR algorithm is refined by reviewing the sensitivity and positive predictive value of the each of the VDR algorithm rules individually and as a combination. The diabetes prevalence estimate based on the original 2014 MoH VDR was 17% higher (n = 108,505) than the corresponding TestSafe prevalence estimate (n = 92,707). Compared to the diabetes prevalence based on TestSafe, the original VDR has a sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 96%, positive predictive value of 76% and negative predictive value of 98%. The modified VDR algorithm has improved the positive predictive value by 6.1% and the specificity by 1.4% with modest reductions in sensitivity of 2.2% and negative predictive value of 0.3%. At an aggregated level the overall diabetes prevalence estimated by the modified VDR is 5.7% higher than the corresponding estimate based on TestSafe. The Ministry of Health Virtual Diabetes Register algorithm has been refined to provide a more accurate diabetes prevalence estimate at a population level. The comparison highlights the potential value of a national population long term condition register constructed from both laboratory results and administrative data. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The relationship of ethics education to moral sensitivity and moral reasoning skills of nursing students.

PubMed

Park, Mihyun; Kjervik, Diane; Crandell, Jamie; Oermann, Marilyn H

2012-07-01

This study described the relationships between academic class and student moral sensitivity and reasoning and between curriculum design components for ethics education and student moral sensitivity and reasoning. The data were collected from freshman (n = 506) and senior students (n = 440) in eight baccalaureate nursing programs in South Korea by survey; the survey consisted of the Korean Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire and the Korean Defining Issues Test. The results showed that moral sensitivity scores in patient-oriented care and conflict were higher in senior students than in freshman students. Furthermore, more hours of ethics content were associated with higher principled thinking scores of senior students. Nursing education in South Korea may have an impact on developing student moral sensitivity. Planned ethics content in nursing curricula is necessary to improve moral sensitivity and moral reasoning of students.

Maternal breast milk long-chain n-3 fatty acids are associated with increased risk of atopy in breastfed infants.

PubMed

Stoney, R M; Woods, R K; Hosking, C S; Hill, D J; Abramson, M J; Thien, F C K

2004-02-01

Australia has one of the highest prevalence rates internationally of allergic conditions, such as asthma and eczema. Atopy is one hallmark for the development of allergic disease and predisposes to allergic inflammation in the target organs. omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FAs) are thought to act as precursors to the formation of less active inflammatory mediators, with the potential to reduce inflammation. To investigate whether increased n-3 FA levels in maternal breast milk are associated with a lower risk of developing atopy in infancy. Subjects were part of the prospective Melbourne atopy cohort study, which involved 620 children born into families where at least one first-degree relative had an atopic disease. Some 224 women (mean age 31.4+/-4.2 (SD) years, with 73.2% (n=164) having self-reported atopy) provided either a colostrum (n=194) or 3-month expressed breast milk (EBM) sample (n=118). Maternal colostrum and 3-month EBM samples were analysed for FA content by gas chromatography. Skin prick tests (SPTs) to six common allergens were performed on infants at 6, 12 and 24 months of age and on mothers who agreed at study entry. For infants sensitized to foods at 6 months (n=29), the total n-3 FA level in the colostrum was significantly higher (P=0.004) as were levels of individual long-chain n-3 FAs, docosoapentaenoic acid (DPA, C22:5, P=0.001) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6, P=0.002) than in non-sensitized infants. Infants with aero-allergen sensitization at 24 months (n=30) had higher levels of the n-3 FA, DPA (P=0.002) and DHA (P=0.007), and similarly higher total n-3 FA (P=0.009) in maternal colostrum than those infants who were not sensitized. Higher n-3 FA levels in the colostrum do not appear to confer protection against, but may be a risk factor for, the eventual development of atopy in high-risk breastfed infants.

Access to Gender-Sensitive Higher Education in Eastern and Central Europe: Reflections on the CEPES Project "Good Practice in Promoting Gender Equality in Higher Education"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grunberg, Laura

2005-01-01

Summarizing the incomplete results of the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) program "Good Practice in Promoting Gender Equality in Higher Education," the author asks that any assessment of the progress made in the area of gender-sensitive education take regional specificities into account. The regional…

Cultural Sensitivity Among Clinical Nurses: A Descriptive Study.

PubMed

Yilmaz, Medine; Toksoy, Serap; Direk, Zübeyde Denizci; Bezirgan, Selma; Boylu, Münevver

2017-03-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the cultural sensitivity of nurses working in rural and urban hospitals in Turkey. The sampling of this descriptive and correlational study was composed of only 516 clinical nurses working in inpatient clinics. The data collection tools were the Socio-Demographic Questionnaire and the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale. A majority of the participating nurses experienced culture-related problems. Intercultural Sensitivity Scale results were partially high. The nurses had more problems in areas related to language barriers, patients' education level, and health perception about disease and religious beliefs when providing health care. Participants who were female, had an undergraduate or graduate education, had received in-service education on cultural care, or had taken transcultural nursing coursework obtained higher scores on the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale and its Interaction Engagement subscale. The cultural sensitivity level was 84.01 ± 9.1 (range = 43-107). The proportion of nurses who had received no in-service education was very high. They wanted to participate in an education program to gain better understanding of the culture of the society in which they lived. The results of the present study demonstrated that nurses should be prepared in cultural sensitivity and cultural competence. Continuing education and formal courses on cultural sensitivity for nursing professionals are essential for optimal health outcomes. Thus, inequalities in health could be prevented and the quality of health care could be improved. © 2017 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Sibship size, sibling cognitive sensitivity, and children's receptive vocabulary.

PubMed

Prime, Heather; Pauker, Sharon; Plamondon, André; Perlman, Michal; Jenkins, Jennifer

2014-02-01

The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between sibship size and children's vocabulary as a function of quality of sibling interactions. It was hypothesized that coming from a larger sibship (ie, 3+ children) would be related to lower receptive vocabulary in children. However, we expected this association to be moderated by the level of cognitive sensitivity shown by children's next-in-age older siblings. Data on 385 children (mean age = 3.15 years) and their next-in-age older siblings (mean age = 5.57 years) were collected and included demographic questionnaires, direct testing of children's receptive vocabulary, and videos of mother-child and sibling interactions. Sibling dyads were taped engaging in a cooperative building task and tapes were coded for the amount of cognitive sensitivity the older sibling exhibited toward the younger sibling. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted and showed an interaction between sibship size and sibling cognitive sensitivity in the prediction of children's receptive vocabulary; children exposed to large sibships whose next-in-age older sibling exhibited higher levels of cognitive sensitivity were less likely to show low vocabulary skills when compared with those children exposed to large sibships whose siblings showed lower levels of cognitive sensitivity. Children who show sensitivity to the cognitive needs of their younger siblings provide a rich environment for language development. The negative impact of large sibships on language development is moderated by the presence of an older sibling who shows high cognitive sensitivity.

First- and second-order contrast sensitivity functions reveal disrupted visual processing following mild traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Spiegel, Daniel P; Reynaud, Alexandre; Ruiz, Tatiana; Laguë-Beauvais, Maude; Hess, Robert; Farivar, Reza

2016-05-01

Vision is disrupted by traumatic brain injury (TBI), with vision-related complaints being amongst the most common in this population. Based on the neural responses of early visual cortical areas, injury to the visual cortex would be predicted to affect both 1(st) order and 2(nd) order contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs)-the height and/or the cut-off of the CSF are expected to be affected by TBI. Previous studies have reported disruptions only in 2(nd) order contrast sensitivity, but using a narrow range of parameters and divergent methodologies-no study has characterized the effect of TBI on the full CSF for both 1(st) and 2(nd) order stimuli. Such information is needed to properly understand the effect of TBI on contrast perception, which underlies all visual processing. Using a unified framework based on the quick contrast sensitivity function, we measured full CSFs for static and dynamic 1(st) and 2(nd) order stimuli. Our results provide a unique dataset showing alterations in sensitivity for both 1(st) and 2(nd) order visual stimuli. In particular, we show that TBI patients have increased sensitivity for 1(st) order motion stimuli and decreased sensitivity to orientation-defined and contrast-defined 2(nd) order stimuli. In addition, our data suggest that TBI patients' sensitivity for both 1(st) order stimuli and 2(nd) order contrast-defined stimuli is shifted towards higher spatial frequencies. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

What is the best way to diagnose and stage malignant pleural mesothelioma?

PubMed

Zahid, Imran; Sharif, Sumera; Routledge, Tom; Scarci, Marco

2011-02-01

A best evidence topic in thoracic surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was which diagnostic modality [computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), combination PET/CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] provides the best diagnostic and staging information in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Overall, 61 papers were found using the reported search, of which 14 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results are tabulated. We conclude that fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET is superior to MRI and CT but inferior to PET-CT, in terms of diagnostic specificity, sensitivity and staging of MPM. Four studies reported outcomes using FDG-PET to diagnose MPM. PET diagnosed MPM with high sensitivity (92%) and specificity (87.9%). Mean standardised uptake value (SUV) was higher in malignant than benign disease (4.91 vs. 1.41, P<0.0001). Lymph node metastases were detected with higher accuracy (80% vs. 66.7%) compared to extrathoracic disease. Three studies assessed the utility of PET-CT to diagnose MPM. Mean SUV was higher in malignant than benign disease (6.5 vs. 0.8, P<0.001). MPM was diagnosed with high sensitivity (88.2%), specificity (92.9%) and accuracy (88.9%). PET-CT had low sensitivity for stage N2 (38%) and T4 (67%) disease. CT-guided needle biopsy definitively diagnosed MPM after just one biopsy (100% vs. 9%) much more often than a 'blind' approach. CT had a lower success rate (92% vs. 100%) than thoracoscopic pleural biopsy but was equivalent to MRI in terms of detection of lymph node metastases (P=0.85) and visceral pleural tumour (P=0.64). CT had a lower specificity for stage II (77% vs. 100%, P<0.01) and stage III (75% vs. 100%, P<0.01) disease compared to PET-CT. Overall, the high specificity and sensitivity rates seen with open pleural biopsy make it a superior diagnostic modality to CT, MRI or PET for diagnosing patients with MPM.

Performance analysis of higher mode spoof surface plasmon polariton for terahertz sensing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yao, Haizi; Tu, Wanli; Zhong, Shuncong, E-mail: zhongshuncong@hotmail.com

2015-04-07

We investigated the spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) on 1D grooved metal surface for terahertz sensing of refractive index of the filling analyte through a prism-coupling attenuated total reflection setup. From the dispersion relation analysis and the finite element method-based simulation, we revealed that the dispersion curve of SSPP got suppressed as the filling refractive index increased, which cause the coupling resonance frequency redshifting in the reflection spectrum. The simulated results for testing various refractive indexes demonstrated that the incident angle of terahertz radiation has a great effect on the performance of sensing. Smaller incident angle will result in amore » higher sensitive sensing with a narrower detection range. In the meanwhile, the higher order mode SSPP-based sensing has a higher sensitivity with a narrower detection range. The maximum sensitivity is 2.57 THz/RIU for the second-order mode sensing at 45° internal incident angle. The proposed SSPP-based method has great potential for high sensitive terahertz sensing.« less

A hybrid cost-sensitive ensemble for imbalanced breast thermogram classification.

PubMed

Krawczyk, Bartosz; Schaefer, Gerald; Woźniak, Michał

2015-11-01

Early recognition of breast cancer, the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in women, is of crucial importance, given that it leads to significantly improved chances of survival. Medical thermography, which uses an infrared camera for thermal imaging, has been demonstrated as a particularly useful technique for early diagnosis, because it detects smaller tumors than the standard modality of mammography. In this paper, we analyse breast thermograms by extracting features describing bilateral symmetries between the two breast areas, and present a classification system for decision making. Clearly, the costs associated with missing a cancer case are much higher than those for mislabelling a benign case. At the same time, datasets contain significantly fewer malignant cases than benign ones. Standard classification approaches fail to consider either of these aspects. In this paper, we introduce a hybrid cost-sensitive classifier ensemble to address this challenging problem. Our approach entails a pool of cost-sensitive decision trees which assign a higher misclassification cost to the malignant class, thereby boosting its recognition rate. A genetic algorithm is employed for simultaneous feature selection and classifier fusion. As an optimisation criterion, we use a combination of misclassification cost and diversity to achieve both a high sensitivity and a heterogeneous ensemble. Furthermore, we prune our ensemble by discarding classifiers that contribute minimally to the decision making. For a challenging dataset of about 150 thermograms, our approach achieves an excellent sensitivity of 83.10%, while maintaining a high specificity of 89.44%. This not only signifies improved recognition of malignant cases, it also statistically outperforms other state-of-the-art algorithms designed for imbalanced classification, and hence provides an effective approach for analysing breast thermograms. Our proposed hybrid cost-sensitive ensemble can facilitate a highly accurate early diagnostic of breast cancer based on thermogram features. It overcomes the difficulties posed by the imbalanced distribution of patients in the two analysed groups. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Links between social environment and health care utilization and costs.

PubMed

Brault, Marie A; Brewster, Amanda L; Bradley, Elizabeth H; Keene, Danya; Tan, Annabel X; Curry, Leslie A

2018-01-01

The social environment influences health outcomes for older adults and could be an important target for interventions to reduce costly medical care. We sought to understand which elements of the social environment distinguish communities that achieve lower health care utilization and costs from communities that experience higher health care utilization and costs for older adults with complex needs. We used a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach. We classified community performance based on three outcomes: rate of hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions, all-cause risk-standardized hospital readmission rates, and Medicare spending per beneficiary. We conducted in-depth interviews with key informants (N = 245) from organizations providing health or social services. Higher performing communities were distinguished by several aspects of social environment, and these features were lacking in lower performing communities: 1) strong informal support networks; 2) partnerships between faith-based organizations and health care and social service organizations; and 3) grassroots organizing and advocacy efforts. Higher performing communities share similar social environmental features that complement the work of health care and social service organizations. Many of the supportive features and programs identified in the higher performing communities were developed locally and with limited governmental funding, providing opportunities for improvement.

High-resolution non-contact measurement of the electrical activity of plants in situ using optical recording

PubMed Central

Zhao, Dong-Jie; Chen, Yang; Wang, Zi-Yang; Xue, Lin; Mao, Tong-Lin; Liu, Yi-Min; Wang, Zhong-Yi; Huang, Lan

2015-01-01

The limitations of conventional extracellular recording and intracellular recording make high-resolution multisite recording of plant bioelectrical activity in situ challenging. By combining a cooled charge-coupled device camera with a voltage-sensitive dye, we recorded the action potentials in the stem of Helianthus annuus and variation potentials at multiple sites simultaneously with high spatial resolution. The method of signal processing using coherence analysis was used to determine the synchronization of the selected signals. Our results provide direct visualization of the phloem, which is the distribution region of the electrical activities in the stem and leaf of H. annuus, and verify that the phloem is the main action potential transmission route in the stems of higher plants. Finally, the method of optical recording offers a unique opportunity to map the dynamic bioelectrical activity and provides an insight into the mechanisms of long-distance electrical signal transmission in higher plants. PMID:26333536

Capturing Structural Heterogeneity in Chromatin Fibers.

PubMed

Ekundayo, Babatunde; Richmond, Timothy J; Schalch, Thomas

2017-10-13

Chromatin fiber organization is implicated in processes such as transcription, DNA repair and chromosome segregation, but how nucleosomes interact to form higher-order structure remains poorly understood. We solved two crystal structures of tetranucleosomes with approximately 11-bp DNA linker length at 5.8 and 6.7 Å resolution. Minimal intramolecular nucleosome-nucleosome interactions result in a fiber model resembling a flat ribbon that is compatible with a two-start helical architecture, and that exposes histone and DNA surfaces to the environment. The differences in the two structures combined with electron microscopy reveal heterogeneous structural states, and we used site-specific chemical crosslinking to assess the diversity of nucleosome-nucleosome interactions through identification of structure-sensitive crosslink sites that provide a means to characterize fibers in solution. The chromatin fiber architectures observed here provide a basis for understanding heterogeneous chromatin higher-order structures as they occur in a genomic context. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity enhancement of remotely coupled NMR detectors using wirelessly powered parametric amplification.

PubMed

Qian, Chunqi; Murphy-Boesch, Joseph; Dodd, Stephen; Koretsky, Alan

2012-09-01

A completely wireless detection coil with an integrated parametric amplifier has been constructed to provide local amplification and transmission of MR signals. The sample coil is one element of a parametric amplifier using a zero-bias diode that mixes the weak MR signal with a strong pump signal that is obtained from an inductively coupled external loop. The NMR sample coil develops current gain via reduction in the effective coil resistance. Higher gain can be obtained by adjusting the level of the pumping power closer to the oscillation threshold, but the gain is ultimately constrained by the bandwidth requirement of MRI experiments. A feasibility study here shows that on a NaCl/D(2) O phantom, (23) Na signals with 20 dB of gain can be readily obtained with a concomitant bandwidth of 144 kHz. This gain is high enough that the integrated coil with parametric amplifier, which is coupled inductively to external loops, can provide sensitivity approaching that of direct wire connection. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

DNA Electrochemistry Shows DNMT1 Methyltransferase Hyperactivity in Colorectal Tumors.

PubMed

Furst, Ariel L; Barton, Jacqueline K

2015-07-23

DNMT1, the most abundant human methyltransferase, is responsible for translating the correct methylation pattern during DNA replication, and aberrant methylation by DNMT1 has been linked to tumorigenesis. We have developed a sensitive signal-on electrochemical assay for the measurement of DNMT1 activity in crude tissue lysates. We have further analyzed ten tumor sets and have found a direct correlation between DNMT1 hyperactivity and tumorous tissue. In the majority of samples analyzed, the tumorous tissue has significantly higher DNMT1 activity than the healthy adjacent tissue. No such correlation is observed in measurements of DNMT1 expression by qPCR, DNMT1 protein abundance by western blotting, or DNMT1 activity using a radiometric DNA labeling assay. DNMT1 hyperactivity can result from both protein overexpression and enzyme hyperactivity. DNMT1 activity measured electrochemically provides a direct measure of activity in cell lysates and, as a result, provides a sensitive and early indication of cancerous transformation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A reevaluation of spectral ratios for lunar mare TiO2 mapping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Jeffrey R.; Larson, Stephen M.; Singer, Robert B.

1991-01-01

The empirical relation established by Charette et al. (1974) between the 400/560-nm spectral ratio of mature mare soils and weight percent TiO2 has been used extensively to map titanium content in the lunar maria. Relative reflectance spectra of mare regions show that a reference wavelength further into the near-IR, e.g., above 700 nm, could be used in place of the 560-nm band to provide greater contrast (a greater range of ratio values) and hence a more sensitive indicator of titanium content. An analysis of 400/730-nm ratio values derived from both laboratory and telescopic relative reflectance spectra suggests that this ratio provides greater sensitivity to TiO2 content than the 400/560-nm ratio. The increased range of ratio values is manifested in higher contrast 400/730-nm ratio images compared to 400/560-nm ratio images. This potential improvement in sensivity encourages a reevaluation of the original Charette et al. (1974) relation using the 400/730-nm ratio.

A proposed cutoff point of waist-to-height ratio for metabolic risk in African township adolescents.

PubMed

Kruger, H Salome; Faber, Mieke; Schutte, Aletta E; Ellis, Suria M

2013-03-01

A waist:height ratio (WHtR) higher than 0.5 has been proposed as a cutoff point for abdominal obesity in both sexes and at all ages. It is unknown if this cutoff point is appropriate for previously undernourished adolescents. We assessed the cutoff value of the WHtR associated with an increased metabolic risk in 178 black South African 14- to 18-y-old adolescents (69 boys, 109 girls). We measured weight, height, waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and blood pressure and calculated the WHtR and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Using receiver operating characteristics curve analyses, we assessed the WHtR with the highest sensitivity and specificity to discriminate adolescents with increased fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-IR, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and blood pressure from those with "normal" values. The WHtR cutoff points derived from the receiver operating characteristics curves ranged from 0.40 to 0.41, with best diagnostic value at 0.41. A WHtR of 0.40 had 80% sensitivity and 38.5% specificity to classify adolescents with fasting blood glucose level higher than 5.6 mmol/L (area under the curve [AUC] 0.57). A WHtR of 0.41 had 64% sensitivity and 58.5% specificity for a HOMA-IR higher than 3.4 (AUC 0.66), 55% sensitivity and 55.6% specificity for a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level higher than 1 mg/L (AUC 0.57), and 64% sensitivity and 50.2% specificity for a blood pressure higher than the age-, sex-, and height-specific 90th percentiles (AUC 0.56). Adolescents with a WHtR higher than 0.41 had an odds ratio of 2.46 (95% confidence interval 0.96-6.30) for having a HOMA-IR higher than 3.4. The WHtR cutoff to indicate metabolic risk for black South African adolescents is 0.41, which is lower than the proposed international cutoff of 0.5. The WHtR can be used for screening adolescents with components of the metabolic syndrome in intervention programs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inversion of high frequency surface waves with fundamental and higher modes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Xia, J.; Miller, R.D.; Park, C.B.; Tian, G.

2003-01-01

The phase velocity of Rayleigh-waves of a layered earth model is a function of frequency and four groups of earth parameters: compressional (P)-wave velocity, shear (S)-wave velocity, density, and thickness of layers. For the fundamental mode of Rayleigh waves, analysis of the Jacobian matrix for high frequencies (2-40 Hz) provides a measure of dispersion curve sensitivity to earth model parameters. S-wave velocities are the dominant influence of the four earth model parameters. This thesis is true for higher modes of high frequency Rayleigh waves as well. Our numerical modeling by analysis of the Jacobian matrix supports at least two quite exciting higher mode properties. First, for fundamental and higher mode Rayleigh wave data with the same wavelength, higher modes can "see" deeper than the fundamental mode. Second, higher mode data can increase the resolution of the inverted S-wave velocities. Real world examples show that the inversion process can be stabilized and resolution of the S-wave velocity model can be improved when simultaneously inverting the fundamental and higher mode data. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Cognitive judgement bias is associated with frequency of anticipatory behavior in bottlenose dolphins.

PubMed

Clegg, Isabella L K; Delfour, Fabienne

2018-03-01

Many animals display a suite of increased vigilance and/or activity responses in relation to upcoming events, termed "anticipatory behavior." Anticipatory behavior toward positive events has been suggested as a cross-species measure of affective state as it likely reflects the balance of the reward-sensitivity system: various studies suggest that animals in poorer welfare situations show higher or excessive levels of anticipation for positive events. Another tool for evaluating animals' affective state is cognitive bias testing, and although it has been attempted, a link has not yet been made between cognitive bias and anticipatory behavior levels. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in captivity increase the performance of behaviors such as surface-looking and spy-hopping in anticipation of training sessions during which food is provided. In this study we measured anticipatory behavior frequency in bottlenose dolphins prior to positive reinforcement training sessions, and assessed whether frequency of anticipatory behavior correlated with their performance on cognitive bias tasks. We found that higher frequencies of anticipatory behavior for training sessions was significantly associated with more pessimistic judgements in cognitive bias tests, supporting previous findings linking higher reward sensitivity with negative affective states. Anticipatory behavior is an easily measured activity and could represent a welfare indicator in dolphins as well as other animals in captive environments. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sensitivity of gravitational wave searches to the full signal of intermediate-mass black hole binaries during the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calderón Bustillo, Juan; Salemi, Francesco; Dal Canton, Tito; Jani, Karan P.

2018-01-01

The sensitivity of gravitational wave searches for binary black holes is estimated via the injection and posterior recovery of simulated gravitational wave signals in the detector data streams. When a search reports no detections, the estimated sensitivity is then used to place upper limits on the coalescence rate of the target source. In order to obtain correct sensitivity and rate estimates, the injected waveforms must be faithful representations of the real signals. Up to date, however, injected waveforms have neglected radiation modes of order higher than the quadrupole, potentially biasing sensitivity and coalescence rate estimates. In particular, higher-order modes are known to have a large impact in the gravitational waves emitted by intermediate-mass black holes binaries. In this work, we evaluate the impact of this approximation in the context of two search algorithms run by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration in their search for intermediate-mass black hole binaries in the O1 LIGO Science Run data: a matched filter-based pipeline and a coherent unmodeled one. To this end, we estimate the sensitivity of both searches to simulated signals for nonspinning binaries including and omitting higher-order modes. We find that omission of higher-order modes leads to biases in the sensitivity estimates which depend on the masses of the binary, the search algorithm, and the required level of significance for detection. In addition, we compare the sensitivity of the two search algorithms across the studied parameter space. We conclude that the most recent LIGO-Virgo upper limits on the rate of coalescence of intermediate-mass black hole binaries are conservative for the case of highly asymmetric binaries. However, the tightest upper limits, placed for nearly equal-mass sources, remain unchanged due to the small contribution of higher modes to the corresponding sources.

A hydrogeologic framework for characterizing summer streamflow sensitivity to climate warming in the Pacific Northwest, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safeeq, M.; Grant, G. E.; Lewis, S. L.; Kramer, M. G.; Staab, B.

2014-09-01

Summer streamflows in the Pacific Northwest are largely derived from melting snow and groundwater discharge. As the climate warms, diminishing snowpack and earlier snowmelt will cause reductions in summer streamflow. Most regional-scale assessments of climate change impacts on streamflow use downscaled temperature and precipitation projections from general circulation models (GCMs) coupled with large-scale hydrologic models. Here we develop and apply an analytical hydrogeologic framework for characterizing summer streamflow sensitivity to a change in the timing and magnitude of recharge in a spatially explicit fashion. In particular, we incorporate the role of deep groundwater, which large-scale hydrologic models generally fail to capture, into streamflow sensitivity assessments. We validate our analytical streamflow sensitivities against two empirical measures of sensitivity derived using historical observations of temperature, precipitation, and streamflow from 217 watersheds. In general, empirically and analytically derived streamflow sensitivity values correspond. Although the selected watersheds cover a range of hydrologic regimes (e.g., rain-dominated, mixture of rain and snow, and snow-dominated), sensitivity validation was primarily driven by the snow-dominated watersheds, which are subjected to a wider range of change in recharge timing and magnitude as a result of increased temperature. Overall, two patterns emerge from this analysis: first, areas with high streamflow sensitivity also have higher summer streamflows as compared to low-sensitivity areas. Second, the level of sensitivity and spatial extent of highly sensitive areas diminishes over time as the summer progresses. Results of this analysis point to a robust, practical, and scalable approach that can help assess risk at the landscape scale, complement the downscaling approach, be applied to any climate scenario of interest, and provide a framework to assist land and water managers in adapting to an uncertain and potentially challenging future.

Human papillomavirus testing and liquid-based cytology: results at recruitment from the new technologies for cervical cancer randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Ronco, Guglielmo; Segnan, Nereo; Giorgi-Rossi, Paolo; Zappa, Marco; Casadei, Gian Piero; Carozzi, Francesca; Dalla Palma, Paolo; Del Mistro, Annarosa; Folicaldi, Stefania; Gillio-Tos, Anna; Nardo, Gaetano; Naldoni, Carlo; Schincaglia, Patrizia; Zorzi, Manuel; Confortini, Massimo; Cuzick, Jack

2006-06-07

Although testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) has higher sensitivity and lower specificity than cytology alone for detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), studies comparing conventional and liquid-based cytology have had conflicting results. In the first phase of a two-phase multicenter randomized controlled trial, women aged 35-60 years in the conventional arm (n = 16,658) were screened using conventional cytology, and women in the experimental arm (n = 16,706) had liquid-based cytology and were tested for high-risk HPV types using the Hybrid Capture 2 assay. Women in the conventional arm were referred to colposcopy with atypical cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) or higher and those in the experimental arm were referred with ASCUS or higher cytology or with a positive (> or = 1 pg/mL) HPV test. Sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or higher (CIN2+) were calculated. The screening methods and referral criterion applied in the experimental arm had higher sensitivity than that in the conventional arm (relative sensitivity = 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03 to 2.09) but a lower PPV (relative PPV = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.23 to 0.66). With HPV testing alone at > or = 1 pg/mL and at > or = 2 pg/mL, the gain in sensitivity compared with the conventional arm remained similar (relative sensitivity = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.00 to 2.04 and relative sensitivity = 1.41, 95% CI = 0.98 to 2.01, respectively) but PPV progressively improved (relative PPV = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.33 to 0.98 and relative PPV = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.45 and 1.27, respectively). Referral based on liquid-based cytology alone did not increase sensitivity compared with conventional cytology (relative sensitivity = 1.06; 95% CI = 0.72 to 1.55) but reduced PPV (relative PPV = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.39 to 0.82). HPV testing alone was more sensitive than conventional cytology among women 35-60 years old. Adding liquid-based cytology improved sensitivity only marginally but increased false-positives. HPV testing using Hybrid Capture 2 with a 2 pg/mL cutoff may be more appropriate than a 1 pg/mL cutoff for primary cervical cancer screening.

Frequency dependence of trapped flux sensitivity in SRF cavities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Checchin, M.; Martinello, M.; Grassellino, A.

In this paper, we present the frequency dependence of the vortex surface resistance of bulk niobium accelerating cavities as a function of different state-of-the-art surface treatments. Higher flux surface resistance per amount of trapped magnetic field - sensitivity - is observed for higher frequencies, in agreement with our theoretical model. Higher sensitivity is observed for N-doped cavities, which possess an intermediate value of electron mean-free-path, compared to 120° C and EP/BCP cavities. Experimental results from our study showed that the sensitivity has a non-monotonic trend as a function of the mean-free-path, including at frequencies other than 1.3 GHz, and thatmore » the vortex response to the rf field can be tuned from the pinning regime to flux-flow regime by manipulating the frequency and/or the mean-free-path of the resonator, as reported in our previous studies. The frequency dependence of the trapped flux sensitivity to the amplitude of the accelerating gradient is also highlighted.« less

Frequency dependence of trapped flux sensitivity in SRF cavities

DOE PAGES

Checchin, M.; Martinello, M.; Grassellino, A.; ...

2018-02-13

In this paper, we present the frequency dependence of the vortex surface resistance of bulk niobium accelerating cavities as a function of different state-of-the-art surface treatments. Higher flux surface resistance per amount of trapped magnetic field - sensitivity - is observed for higher frequencies, in agreement with our theoretical model. Higher sensitivity is observed for N-doped cavities, which possess an intermediate value of electron mean-free-path, compared to 120° C and EP/BCP cavities. Experimental results from our study showed that the sensitivity has a non-monotonic trend as a function of the mean-free-path, including at frequencies other than 1.3 GHz, and thatmore » the vortex response to the rf field can be tuned from the pinning regime to flux-flow regime by manipulating the frequency and/or the mean-free-path of the resonator, as reported in our previous studies. The frequency dependence of the trapped flux sensitivity to the amplitude of the accelerating gradient is also highlighted.« less

The relationship between personality, dysfunctional parenting in childhood, and lifetime depression in a sample of employed Japanese adults.

PubMed

Sakado, K; Kuwabara, H; Sato, T; Uehara, T; Sakado, M; Someya, T

2000-10-01

Few studies have explored the relationship between personality, dysfunctional parenting in childhood, and adult depression. Parental rearing styles and personality scores as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and the Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM) were compared in a group of employed Japanese adults with and without a lifetime history of depression. The diagnosis was provided by the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime version (IDDL). To estimate the effects of the PBI and the IPSM scores on lifetime depression, a multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. Subjects with lifetime depression were seen to have significantly lower scores on the PBI 'care' and higher scores on the IPSM than the subjects without lifetime depression. Lower levels of maternal care and higher levels of 'interpersonal sensitivity' each independently increased the risk for lifetime depression. The findings of the present study may not be conclusive since the data were retrospectively obtained. Dysfunctional parenting and personality seem to be correlated by lifetime depression, but it is uncertain whether they are independent risk factors

Influence of dried Hokkaido pumpkin and ascorbic acid addition on chemical properties and colour of corn extrudates.

PubMed

Obradović, Valentina; Babić, Jurislav; Šubarić, Drago; Jozinović, Antun; Ačkar, Đurđica; Klarić, Ilija

2015-09-15

The influence of Hokkaido pumpkin powder (PP) addition to corn grits at levels 4%, 6%, and 8% and ascorbic acid (AA) addition at levels 0.5% and 1% was evaluated. Extrusion was done using a single-screw extruder at two temperature regimes: 135/170/170°C (E1) and 100/150/150°C (E2). Mathematical models that describe the influence of additives on the colour of extrudates were determined. Raw extrusion mixtures as well as obtained extrudates were tested for ascorbic acid, polyphenol, proteins, fat, crude fibre, ash and carotenoids content, and antioxidant activity. E1 extrusion regime acted favourably on polyphenols, crude fibre content, and antioxidant activity. It also caused higher fat degradation than E2 extrusion. Xanthophylls (lutein and zeaxanthin) were less sensitive to extrusion than carotenes (α-carotene, 9-cis-β-carotene and 13-cis-β-carotene). Ascorbic acid was more sensitive to higher extrusion temperatures (49-76% degradation). It provided protection to carotenoids and consequently the colour of the extrudates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Light collection optimization for composite photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells: Towards higher efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, X. Z.; Shen, W. Z., E-mail: wzshen@sjtu.edu.cn; Laboratory of Condensed Matter Spectroscopy and Opto-Electronic Physics, and Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control

2015-06-14

Composite photoanode comprising nanoparticles and one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure is a promising alternative to conventional photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Besides fast electron transport channels, the 1D nanostructure also plays as light scattering centers. Here, we theoretically investigate the light scattering properties of capsule-shaped 1D nanostructure and their influence on the light collection of DSCs. It is found that the far-field light scattering of a single capsule depends on its volume, shape, and orientation: capsules with bigger equivalent spherical diameter, smaller aspect ratio, and horizontal orientation demonstrate stronger light scattering especially at large scattering angle. Using Monte Carlo approach, wemore » simulated and optimized the light harvesting efficiency of the cell. Two multilayer composite photoanodes containing orderly or randomly oriented capsules are proposed. DSCs composed of these two photoanodes are promising for higher efficiencies because of their efficient light collection and superior electron collection. These results will provide practical guidance to the design and optimization of the photoanodes for DSCs.« less

Endogenous peripheral neuromodulators of the mammalian taste bud.

PubMed

Dando, Robin

2010-10-01

The sensitivity of the mammalian taste system displays a degree of plasticity based on short-term nutritional requirements. Deficiency in a particular substance may lead to a perceived increase in palatability of this substance, providing an additional drive to redress this nutritional imbalance through modification of intake. This alteration occurs not only in the brain but also, before any higher level processing has occurred, in the taste buds themselves. A brief review of recent advances is offered.

Heat-related mortality projections for cardiovascular and respiratory disease under the changing climate in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Li, Tiantian; Ban, Jie; Horton, Radley M; Bader, Daniel A; Huang, Ganlin; Sun, Qinghua; Kinney, Patrick L

2015-08-06

Because heat-related health effects tend to become more serious at higher temperatures, there is an urgent need to determine the mortality projection of specific heat-sensitive diseases to provide more detailed information regarding the variation of the sensitivity of such diseases. In this study, the specific mortality of cardiovascular and respiratory disease in Beijing was initially projected under five different global-scale General Circulation Models (GCMs) and two Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios (RCPs) in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s compared to the 1980s. Multi-model ensembles indicated cardiovascular mortality could increase by an average percentage of 18.4%, 47.8%, and 69.0% in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s under RCP 4.5, respectively, and by 16.6%,73.8% and 134% in different decades respectively, under RCP 8.5 compared to the baseline range. The same increasing pattern was also observed in respiratory mortality. The heat-related deaths under the RCP8.5 scenario were found to reach a higher number and to increase more rapidly during the 21(st) century compared to the RCP4.5 scenario, especially in the 2050s and the 2080s. The projection results show potential trends in cause-specific mortality in the context of climate change, and provide support for public health interventions tailored to specific climate-related future health risks.

Orthogonal Injection Ion Funnel Interface Providing Enhanced Performance for Selected Reaction Monitoring-Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

DOE PAGES

Chen, Tsung-Chi; Fillmore, Thomas L.; Prost, Spencer A.; ...

2015-06-24

The electrodynamic ion funnel facilitates efficient focusing and transfer of charged particles in the higher pressure regions (e.g. ion source interfaces) of mass spectrometers, and thus providing increased sensitivity. An “off-axis” ion funnel design has been developed to reduce the source contamination and interferences from, e.g. ESI droplet residue and other poorly focused neutral or charged particles with very high mass-to charge ratios. In this study a dual ion funnel interface consisting of an orthogonal higher pressure electrodynamic ion funnel (HPIF) and an ion funnel trap combined with a triple quadruple mass spectrometer was developed and characterized. An orthogonal ionmore » injection inlet and a repeller plate electrode was used to direct ions to an ion funnel HPIF at 9-10 Torr pressure. Several critical factors for the HPIF were characterized, including the effects of RF amplitude, DC gradient and operating pressure. Compared to the triple quadrupole standard interface more than 4-fold improvement in the limit of detection for the direct quantitative MS analysis of low abundance peptides was observed. Lastly, the sensitivity enhancement in liquid chromatography selected reaction monitoring (SRM) analyses of low abundance peptides spiked into a highly complex mixture was also compared with that obtained using a both commercial s-lens interface and a in-line dual ion funnel interface.« less

Clinical 3T MR imaging: mastering the challenges.

PubMed

Tanenbaum, Lawrence N

2006-02-01

3T MRI is ready to meet the needs of clinical practice. SAR limitations are minimized by technical advances and surface coils are available for all core applications. With appropriate adjustments to scanning protocols, one can master the challenges of scanning at 3T; studies of the brain, spine, chest, abdomen, pelvis, vasculature, and extremities can be consistently higher in quality than are those obtained at 1.5T. The superior studies that are obtainable at 3T have great appeal to clinicians who are sophisticated about MR technology in areas, such as neurology, orthopedics, vascular surgery, and oncology,and encourage a shift in referrals toward practices that invest in higher field technology. The greater sensitivity to magnetic susceptibility offers unique benefits in functional neuroimaging, and available software/hardware packages enhance clinical setting feasibility, which adds a source of new referrals. The greater overall signal of 3T can be manipulated to make scanning more comfortable and with less motion artifact because scan times could be half as long. Spectacular anatomic delineation that is provided by high-definition scanning at true 1024 resolution can improve preoperative assessment and may improve sensitivity to smaller lesions. 3T provides practices with an advantage that is sought increasingly by high field strength purchasers in a competitive market. Only cost considerations stand in the way of the eventual domination of 3T systems in the high field strength market.

Orthogonal Injection Ion Funnel Interface Providing Enhanced Performance for Selected Reaction Monitoring-Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

PubMed Central

Chen, Tsung-Chi; Fillmore, Thomas L.; Prost, Spencer A.; Moore, Ronald J.; Ibrahim, Yehia M.; Smith, Richard D.

2016-01-01

The electrodynamic ion funnel facilitates efficient focusing and transfer of charged particles in the higher-pressure regions (e.g., ion source interfaces) of mass spectrometers, thus providing increased sensitivity. An “off-axis” ion funnel design has been developed to reduce the source contamination and interferences from, e.g. ESI droplet residue and other poorly focused neutral or charged particles with very high mass-to-charge ratios. In this study, a dual ion funnel interface consisting of an orthogonal higher pressure electrodynamic ion funnel (HPIF) and an ion funnel trap combined with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was developed and characterized. An orthogonal ion injection inlet and a repeller plate electrode was used to direct ions to an ion funnel HPIF at a pressure of 9–10 Torr. Key factors for the HPIF performance characterized included the effects of RF amplitude, the DC gradient, and operating pressure. Compared to the triple quadrupole standard interface more than 4-fold improvement in the limit of detection for the direct quantitative MS analysis of low abundance peptides was observed. The sensitivity enhancement in liquid chromatography selected reaction monitoring (LC-SRM) analyses of low-abundance peptides spiked into a highly complex mixture was also compared with that obtained using both a commercial S-lens interface and an in-line dual-ion funnel interface. PMID:26107611

Heat-related mortality projections for cardiovascular and respiratory disease under the changing climate in Beijing, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Tiantian; Ban, Jie; Horton, Radley M.; Bader, Daniel A.; Huang, Ganlin; Sun, Qinghua; Kinney, Patrick L.

2015-08-01

Because heat-related health effects tend to become more serious at higher temperatures, there is an urgent need to determine the mortality projection of specific heat-sensitive diseases to provide more detailed information regarding the variation of the sensitivity of such diseases. In this study, the specific mortality of cardiovascular and respiratory disease in Beijing was initially projected under five different global-scale General Circulation Models (GCMs) and two Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios (RCPs) in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s compared to the 1980s. Multi-model ensembles indicated cardiovascular mortality could increase by an average percentage of 18.4%, 47.8%, and 69.0% in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s under RCP 4.5, respectively, and by 16.6%,73.8% and 134% in different decades respectively, under RCP 8.5 compared to the baseline range. The same increasing pattern was also observed in respiratory mortality. The heat-related deaths under the RCP8.5 scenario were found to reach a higher number and to increase more rapidly during the 21st century compared to the RCP4.5 scenario, especially in the 2050s and the 2080s. The projection results show potential trends in cause-specific mortality in the context of climate change, and provide support for public health interventions tailored to specific climate-related future health risks.

Heat-related mortality projections for cardiovascular and respiratory disease under the changing climate in Beijing, China

PubMed Central

Li, Tiantian; Ban, Jie; Horton, Radley M.; Bader, Daniel A.; Huang, Ganlin; Sun, Qinghua; Kinney, Patrick L.

2015-01-01

Because heat-related health effects tend to become more serious at higher temperatures, there is an urgent need to determine the mortality projection of specific heat-sensitive diseases to provide more detailed information regarding the variation of the sensitivity of such diseases. In this study, the specific mortality of cardiovascular and respiratory disease in Beijing was initially projected under five different global-scale General Circulation Models (GCMs) and two Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios (RCPs) in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s compared to the 1980s. Multi-model ensembles indicated cardiovascular mortality could increase by an average percentage of 18.4%, 47.8%, and 69.0% in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s under RCP 4.5, respectively, and by 16.6%,73.8% and 134% in different decades respectively, under RCP 8.5 compared to the baseline range. The same increasing pattern was also observed in respiratory mortality. The heat-related deaths under the RCP8.5 scenario were found to reach a higher number and to increase more rapidly during the 21st century compared to the RCP4.5 scenario, especially in the 2050s and the 2080s. The projection results show potential trends in cause-specific mortality in the context of climate change, and provide support for public health interventions tailored to specific climate-related future health risks. PMID:26247438

Combined photoacoustic and ultrasonic diagnosis of early bone loss and density variations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lashkari, Bahman; Mandelis, Andreas

2012-02-01

Over the past two decades, osteoporosis has been recognized among the most serious public health problems. Fortunately with the growing awareness of osteoporosis, new treatments have been developed for the prevention of fracture. At the same time, there is a rapid improvement in diagnostic methods. In this study biomedical photoacoustics (PA) is applied to the analysis of bone mineral concentration. The PA signal depends on optical as well as mechanical properties of the object and therefore has the potential to provide higher sensitivity to density variations compared with standard diagnostic methods, like ultrasound. A laser source with 800 nm wavelength and different ultrasonic transducers with resonance frequencies in the range 1 to 5 MHz were employed. The CW or frequency-domain (FD) PA radar method was utilized with linear frequency modulation chirps to provide temporal gating control over the transmitted signal and higher sensitivity in the detected signal. The laser intensity was set below the safety standards for skin exposure. The preliminary studies showed adequate optical absorption by cortical bone to generate measurable PA signals and the transmission of laser light through this layer. Experiments are focused on detection and evaluation of PA signals from in-vitro animal cortical bones with and without a trabecular sublayer. The trabecular layer is then diluted by chemical etching and differences in the PA signals are discussed.

The high-sweet-fat food craving among women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: emotional response, implicit attitude and rewards sensitivity.

PubMed

Yen, Ju-Yu; Chang, Shun-Jen; Ko, Chih-Hung; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Chen, Cheng-Sheng; Yeh, Yi-Chun; Chen, Cheng-Chung

2010-09-01

This study aimed to: (1) evaluate food craving and high-sweet-fat food craving across the menstrual cycle; (2) compare the craving and explicit/implicit emotional response to different food; and (3) investigate the reward sensitivity among PMDD and control groups. The PMDD group without treatment history and control group were evaluated for food craving, emotional response to food, implicit attitude task to food, and responsiveness to reward both in luteal and follicular phases. A total of 59 women with PMDD and 60 controls had completed the study. The results revealed that both PMDD diagnosis and luteal phase were associated with higher body mass index. The high-sweet-fat food provoked higher craving, positive emotional, and positive implicit response more than other foods. The luteal phase contributed to higher food and high-sweet-fat food cravings. Besides, the PMDD women had higher reward sensitivity, emotional response, positive implicit attitude, and craving response to high-sweet-fat foods. Further, the rewarding sensitivity was associated with emotional response to high-sweet-fat food which was associated with high-sweet-fat food craving. These results would suggest emotional response and implicit attitude might play a role for high-sweet-fat food craving of PMDD. Further, PMDD women with higher reward sensitivity should be a target group of intervention for high-sweet-fat food craving. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Overcoming Multidrug Resistance through the GLUT1-Mediated and Enzyme-Triggered Mitochondrial Targeting Conjugate with Redox-Sensitive Paclitaxel Release.

PubMed

Ma, Pengkai; Chen, Jianhua; Bi, Xinning; Li, Zhihui; Gao, Xing; Li, Hongpin; Zhu, Hongyu; Huang, Yunfang; Qi, Jing; Zhang, Yujie

2018-04-18

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is thought to be the major obstacle leading to the failure of paclitaxel (PTX) chemotherapy. To solve this problem, a glucose transporter-mediated and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2)-triggered mitochondrion-targeting conjugate [glucose-polyethylene glycol (PEG)-peptide-triphenylphosponium-polyamidoamine (PAMAM)-PTX] composed of a PAMAM dendrimer and enzymatic detachable glucose-PEG was constructed for mitochondrial delivery of PTX. The conjugate was characterized by a 30 nm sphere particle, MMP2-sensitive PEG outer layer detachment from PAMAM, and glutathione (GSH)-sensitive PTX release. It showed higher cellular uptake both in glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) overexpressing MCF-7/MDR monolayer cell (2D) and multicellular tumor spheroids (3D). The subcellular location study showed that it could specifically accumulate in the mitochondria. Moreover, it exhibited higher cytotoxicity against MCF-7/MDR cells, which significantly reverse the MDR of MCF-7/MDR cells. The MDR reverse might be caused by reducing the ATP content through destroying the mitochondrial membrane as well as by down-regulating P-gp expression. In vivo imaging and tissue distribution indicated more conjugate accumulated in the tumor of the tumor-bearing mice model. Consequently, the conjugate showed better tumor inhibition rate and lower body weight loss, which demonstrated that it possessed high efficiency and low toxicity. This study provides glucose-mediated GLUT targeting, MMP2-responsive PEG detachment, triphenylphosponium-mediated mitochondria targeting, and a GSH-sensitive intracellular drug release conjugate that has the potential to be exploited for overcoming MDR of PTX.

Modeling screening, prevention, and delaying of Alzheimer's disease: an early-stage decision analytic model

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Alzheimer's Disease (AD) affects a growing proportion of the population each year. Novel therapies on the horizon may slow the progress of AD symptoms and avoid cases altogether. Initiating treatment for the underlying pathology of AD would ideally be based on biomarker screening tools identifying pre-symptomatic individuals. Early-stage modeling provides estimates of potential outcomes and informs policy development. Methods A time-to-event (TTE) simulation provided estimates of screening asymptomatic patients in the general population age ≥55 and treatment impact on the number of patients reaching AD. Patients were followed from AD screen until all-cause death. Baseline sensitivity and specificity were 0.87 and 0.78, with treatment on positive screen. Treatment slowed progression by 50%. Events were scheduled using literature-based age-dependent incidences of AD and death. Results The base case results indicated increased AD free years (AD-FYs) through delays in onset and a reduction of 20 AD cases per 1000 screened individuals. Patients completely avoiding AD accounted for 61% of the incremental AD-FYs gained. Total years of treatment per 1000 screened patients was 2,611. The number-needed-to-screen was 51 and the number-needed-to-treat was 12 to avoid one case of AD. One-way sensitivity analysis indicated that duration of screening sensitivity and rescreen interval impact AD-FYs the most. A two-way sensitivity analysis found that for a test with an extended duration of sensitivity (15 years) the number of AD cases avoided was 6,000-7,000 cases for a test with higher sensitivity and specificity (0.90,0.90). Conclusions This study yielded valuable parameter range estimates at an early stage in the study of screening for AD. Analysis identified duration of screening sensitivity as a key variable that may be unavailable from clinical trials. PMID:20433705

Modeling screening, prevention, and delaying of Alzheimer's disease: an early-stage decision analytic model.

PubMed

Furiak, Nicolas M; Klein, Robert W; Kahle-Wrobleski, Kristin; Siemers, Eric R; Sarpong, Eric; Klein, Timothy M

2010-04-30

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) affects a growing proportion of the population each year. Novel therapies on the horizon may slow the progress of AD symptoms and avoid cases altogether. Initiating treatment for the underlying pathology of AD would ideally be based on biomarker screening tools identifying pre-symptomatic individuals. Early-stage modeling provides estimates of potential outcomes and informs policy development. A time-to-event (TTE) simulation provided estimates of screening asymptomatic patients in the general population age > or =55 and treatment impact on the number of patients reaching AD. Patients were followed from AD screen until all-cause death. Baseline sensitivity and specificity were 0.87 and 0.78, with treatment on positive screen. Treatment slowed progression by 50%. Events were scheduled using literature-based age-dependent incidences of AD and death. The base case results indicated increased AD free years (AD-FYs) through delays in onset and a reduction of 20 AD cases per 1000 screened individuals. Patients completely avoiding AD accounted for 61% of the incremental AD-FYs gained. Total years of treatment per 1000 screened patients was 2,611. The number-needed-to-screen was 51 and the number-needed-to-treat was 12 to avoid one case of AD. One-way sensitivity analysis indicated that duration of screening sensitivity and rescreen interval impact AD-FYs the most. A two-way sensitivity analysis found that for a test with an extended duration of sensitivity (15 years) the number of AD cases avoided was 6,000-7,000 cases for a test with higher sensitivity and specificity (0.90,0.90). This study yielded valuable parameter range estimates at an early stage in the study of screening for AD. Analysis identified duration of screening sensitivity as a key variable that may be unavailable from clinical trials.

Impulsivity in spontaneously hypertensive rats: Within-subjects comparison of sensitivity to delay and to amount of reinforcement.

PubMed

Orduña, Vladimir; Mercado, Eduardo

2017-06-15

Previous research has shown that spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) display higher levels of impulsive choice behavior, which is accompanied by a higher sensitivity to the delay of reinforcement, and by a normal sensitivity to the amount of reinforcement. Because those results were based on three different samples of subjects, in the present report we evaluated these three processes in the same individuals. SHR and WIS rats were exposed to concurrent-chains schedules in which the terminal links were manipulated to assess impulsivity, sensitivity to delay, and sensitivity to amount. For exploring impulsivity, a terminal link was associated with a small reinforcer (1 pellet) delivered after a short delay (2s) while the other terminal link was associated with a larger reinforcer (4 pellets) delivered after a longer delay (28s). For assessing sensitivity to delay, both alternatives delivered the same amount of reinforcement (1 pellet) and the only difference between them was in the delay before reinforcement delivery (2s vs 28s). For assessing sensitivity to amount, both alternatives were associated with the same delay (15s), but the alternatives differed in the amount of reinforcement (1 vs 4 pellets). In addition to replicating previously observed effects within-subjects, we were interested in analyzing different aspects of the regularity of rats' actions in the choice task. The results confirmed that previous findings were not a consequence of between-group differences: SHR were more impulsive and more sensitive to delay, while their sensitivity to amount was normal. Analyses of response regularity indicated that SHR subjects were more periodic in their responses to levers and in their feeder entries, had a higher number of short-duration bouts of responding, and made a substantially higher number of switches between the alternatives. We discuss the potential implications of these findings for the possible behavioral mechanisms driving the increased sensitivity to delay in SHR. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Explaining Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Use of High-Volume Hospitals

PubMed Central

Gray, Bradford H.; Schlesinger, Mark

2014-01-01

Racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to use higher-quality hospitals than whites. We propose that a higher level of information-related complexity in their local hospital environments compounds the effects of discrimination and more limited access to services, contributing to racial/ethnic disparities in hospital use. While minorities live closer than whites to high-volume hospitals, minorities also face greater choice complexity and live in neighborhoods with lower levels of medical experience. Our empirical results reveal that it is generally the overall context associated with proximity, choice complexity, and local experience, rather than differential sensitivity to these factors, that provides a partial explanation of the disparity gap in high-volume hospital use. PMID:25316717

Effect of Recording Duration on the Diagnostic Performance of Multifocal Visual-evoked Potentials in High-risk Ocular Hypertension and Early Glaucoma

PubMed Central

Fortune, Brad; Zhang, Xian; Hood, Donald C.; Demirel, Shaban; Patterson, Emily; Jamil, Annisa; Mansberger, Steven L.; Cioffi, George A.; Johnson, Chris A.

2010-01-01

Purpose To evaluate the effect on diagnostic performance of reducing multifocal visual-evoked potential (mfVEP) recording duration from 16 to 8 minutes per eye. Methods Both eyes of 185 individuals with high-risk ocular hypertension or early glaucoma were studied. Two 8-minute mfVEP recordings were obtained for each eye in an ABBA order using VERIS. The first recording for each eye was compared against single run (1-Run) mfVEP normative data; the average of both recordings for each eye was compared against 2-Run normative data. Visual fields (VFs) were obtained by standard automated perimetry (SAP) within 22.3±27.0 days of the mfVEP. Stereo disc photographs and Heidelberg Retina Tomograph images were obtained together, within 24.8±50.4 days of the mfVEP and 33.1±62.9 days of SAP. Masked experts graded disc photographs as either glaucomatous optic neuropathy or normal. The overall Moorfields Regression Analysis result from the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph was used as a separate diagnostic classification. Thus, 4 diagnostic standards were applied in total, 2 based on optic disc structure alone and 2 others based on disc structure and SAP. Results Agreement between the 1-Run and 2-Run mfVEP was 90%. Diagnostic performance of the 1-Run mfVEP was similar to that of the 2-Run mfVEP for all 4 diagnostic standards. Sensitivity was slightly higher for the 2-Run mfVEP, whereas specificity was slightly higher for the 1-Run mfVEP. Conclusions If higher sensitivity is sought, the 2-Run mfVEP will provide better discrimination between groups of eyes with relatively high signal-to-noise ratio (eg, early glaucoma or high-risk suspects). But if higher specificity is a more important goal, the 1-Run mfVEP provides adequate sensitivity and requires only half the test time. Considered alongside prior studies, the present results suggest that the 1-Run mfVEP is an efficient way to confirm (or refute) the extent of VF loss in patients with moderate or advanced glaucoma, particularly in those with unreliable VFs, including malingering or other “functional” forms of VF loss. PMID:18414101

Sex differences in how social networks and relationship quality influence experimental pain sensitivity.

PubMed

Vigil, Jacob M; Rowell, Lauren N; Chouteau, Simone; Chavez, Alexandre; Jaramillo, Elisa; Neal, Michael; Waid, David

2013-01-01

This is the first study to examine how both structural and functional components of individuals' social networks may moderate the association between biological sex and experimental pain sensitivity. One hundred and fifty-two healthy adults (mean age = 22yrs., 53% males) were measured for cold pressor task (CPT) pain sensitivity (i.e., intensity ratings) and core aspects of social networks (e.g., proportion of friends vs. family, affection, affirmation, and aid). Results showed consistent sex differences in how social network structures and intimate relationship functioning modulated pain sensitivity. Females showed higher pain sensitivity when their social networks consisted of a higher proportion of intimate types of relationship partners (e.g., kin vs. non kin), when they had known their network partners for a longer period of time, and when they reported higher levels of logistical support from their significant other (e.g., romantic partner). Conversely, males showed distinct patterns in the opposite direction, including an association between higher levels of logistical support from one's significant other and lower CPT pain intensity. These findings show for the first time that the direction of sex differences in exogenous pain sensitivity is likely dependent on fundamental components of the individual's social environment. The utility of a social-signaling perspective of pain behaviors for examining, comparing, and interpreting individual and group differences in experimental and clinical pain reports is discussed.

Impact of test sensitivity and specificity on pig producer incentives to control Mycobacterium avium infections in finishing pigs.

PubMed

van Wagenberg, Coen P A; Backus, Gé B C; Wisselink, Henk J; van der Vorst, Jack G A J; Urlings, Bert A P

2013-09-01

In this paper we analyze the impact of the sensitivity and specificity of a Mycobacterium avium (Ma) test on pig producer incentives to control Ma in finishing pigs. A possible Ma control system which includes a serodiagnostic test and a penalty on finishing pigs in herds detected with Ma infection was modelled. Using a dynamic optimization model and a grid search of deliveries of herds from pig producers to slaughterhouse, optimal control measures for pig producers and optimal penalty values for deliveries with increased Ma risk were identified for different sensitivity and specificity values. Results showed that higher sensitivity and lower specificity induced use of more intense control measures and resulted in higher pig producer costs and lower Ma seroprevalence. The minimal penalty value needed to comply with a threshold for Ma seroprevalence in finishing pigs at slaughter was lower at higher sensitivity and lower specificity. With imperfect specificity a larger sample size decreased pig producer incentives to control Ma seroprevalence, because the higher number of false positives resulted in an increased probability of rejecting a batch of finishing pigs irrespective of whether the pig producer applied control measures. We conclude that test sensitivity and specificity must be considered in incentive system design to induce pig producers to control Ma in finishing pigs with minimum negative effects. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sex Differences in How Social Networks and Relationship Quality Influence Experimental Pain Sensitivity

PubMed Central

Vigil, Jacob M.; Rowell, Lauren N.; Chouteau, Simone; Chavez, Alexandre; Jaramillo, Elisa; Neal, Michael; Waid, David

2013-01-01

This is the first study to examine how both structural and functional components of individuals’ social networks may moderate the association between biological sex and experimental pain sensitivity. One hundred and fifty-two healthy adults (mean age = 22yrs., 53% males) were measured for cold pressor task (CPT) pain sensitivity (i.e., intensity ratings) and core aspects of social networks (e.g., proportion of friends vs. family, affection, affirmation, and aid). Results showed consistent sex differences in how social network structures and intimate relationship functioning modulated pain sensitivity. Females showed higher pain sensitivity when their social networks consisted of a higher proportion of intimate types of relationship partners (e.g., kin vs. non kin), when they had known their network partners for a longer period of time, and when they reported higher levels of logistical support from their significant other (e.g., romantic partner). Conversely, males showed distinct patterns in the opposite direction, including an association between higher levels of logistical support from one’s significant other and lower CPT pain intensity. These findings show for the first time that the direction of sex differences in exogenous pain sensitivity is likely dependent on fundamental components of the individual’s social environment. The utility of a social-signaling perspective of pain behaviors for examining, comparing, and interpreting individual and group differences in experimental and clinical pain reports is discussed. PMID:24223836

Frequency organization and responses to complex sounds in the medial geniculate body of the mustached bat.

PubMed

Wenstrup, J J

1999-11-01

The auditory cortex of the mustached bat (Pteronotus parnellii) displays some of the most highly developed physiological and organizational features described in mammalian auditory cortex. This study examines response properties and organization in the medial geniculate body (MGB) that may contribute to these features of auditory cortex. About 25% of 427 auditory responses had simple frequency tuning with single excitatory tuning curves. The remainder displayed more complex frequency tuning using two-tone or noise stimuli. Most of these were combination-sensitive, responsive to combinations of different frequency bands within sonar or social vocalizations. They included FM-FM neurons, responsive to different harmonic elements of the frequency modulated (FM) sweep in the sonar signal, and H1-CF neurons, responsive to combinations of the bat's first sonar harmonic (H1) and a higher harmonic of the constant frequency (CF) sonar signal. Most combination-sensitive neurons (86%) showed facilitatory interactions. Neurons tuned to frequencies outside the biosonar range also displayed combination-sensitive responses, perhaps related to analyses of social vocalizations. Complex spectral responses were distributed throughout dorsal and ventral divisions of the MGB, forming a major feature of this bat's analysis of complex sounds. The auditory sector of the thalamic reticular nucleus also was dominated by complex spectral responses to sounds. The ventral division was organized tonotopically, based on best frequencies of singly tuned neurons and higher best frequencies of combination-sensitive neurons. Best frequencies were lowest ventrolaterally, increasing dorsally and then ventromedially. However, representations of frequencies associated with higher harmonics of the FM sonar signal were reduced greatly. Frequency organization in the dorsal division was not tonotopic; within the middle one-third of MGB, combination-sensitive responses to second and third harmonic CF sonar signals (60-63 and 90-94 kHz) occurred in adjacent regions. In the rostral one-third, combination-sensitive responses to second, third, and fourth harmonic FM frequency bands predominated. These FM-FM neurons, thought to be selective for delay between an emitted pulse and echo, showed some organization of delay selectivity. The organization of frequency sensitivity in the MGB suggests a major rewiring of the output of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus, by which collicular neurons tuned to the bat's FM sonar signals mostly project to the dorsal, not the ventral, division. Because physiological differences between collicular and MGB neurons are minor, a major role of the tecto-thalamic projection in the mustached bat may be the reorganization of responses to provide for cortical representations of sonar target features.

High-performance IR detector modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wendler, Joachim; Cabanski, Wolfgang; Rühlich, Ingo; Ziegler, Johann

2004-02-01

The 3rd generation of infrared (IR) detection modules is expected to provide higher video resolution, advanced functions like multi band or multi color capability, higher frame rates, and better thermal resolution. AIM has developed staring and linear high performance focal plane arrays (FPA) integrated into detector/dewar cooler assemblies (IDCA). Linear FPA"s support high resolution formats such as 1920 x 1152 (HDTV), 1280 x 960, or 1536 x 1152. Standard format for staring FPA"s is 640 x 512. In this configuration, QEIP devices sensitive in the 8 10 µm band as well as MCT devices sensitive in the 3.4 5.0 µm band are available. A 256 x 256 high speed detection module allows a full frame rate >800 Hz. Especially usability of long wavelength devices in high performance FLIR systems does not only depend on the classical electrooptical performance parameters such as NEDT, detectivity, and response homogeneity, but are mainly characterized by the stability of the correction coefficients used for image correction. The FPA"s are available in suited integrated detector/dewar cooler assemblies. The linear cooling engines are designed for maximum stability of the focal plane temperature, low operating temperatures down to 60K, high MTTF lifetimes of 6000h and above even under high ambient temperature conditions. The IDCA"s are equipped with AIM standard or custom specific command and control electronics (CCE) providing a well defined interface to the system electronics. Video output signals are provided as 14 bit digital data rates up to 80 MHz for the high speed devices.

Highly sensitive troponin T for risk stratification of acutely destabilized heart failure.

PubMed

Pascual-Figal, Domingo A; Casas, Teresa; Ordonez-Llanos, Jordi; Manzano-Fernández, Sergio; Bonaque, Juan C; Boronat, Miguel; Muñoz-Esparza, Carmen; Valdés, Mariano; Januzzi, James L

2012-06-01

A highly sensitive assay for troponin T (hsTnT) has been recently developed, which allows for the detection of even minor myocardial necrosis with high precision. It remains unexplored whether hsTnT provides incremental prognostic accuracy beyond conventional (c)TnT in patients with acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF). A total of 202 consecutive patients admitted with ADHF and without criteria for acute myocardial infarction were studied. Troponin T was measured using the highly sensitive assay and compared with the conventional method. Patients were clinically followed up at a median of 406 days, with a primary outcome measure of all-cause mortality. The high-sensitive assay detected measurable TnT in 98% of patients vs 56% for cTnT; 81% had an hsTnT above the 99th percentile for a healthy reference population, and it reclassified 60% of those with undetectable cTnT. Both TnT methods predicted the risk of death in adjusted multivariable Cox regression analyses, without a superiority of hsTnT over cTnT in the entire population (area under the curve 0.67 vs 0.71, P = .2). Among patients with a cTnT below 0.03 ng/mL (the lowest cut-point with <10% imprecision; n = 134), solely hsTnT improved the prediction of death over clinical risk factors (relative integrated discrimination improvement +36%, P = .01) and hsTnT above 20 pg/mL identified a significant higher risk of death (hazard ratio 4.7, 95% CI 1.6-13.8, P = .005). Among patients with ADHF, myocardial necrosis (as detected with the hsTnT assay) was nearly ubiquitous. The highly sensitive assay for TnT provides comparable prognostic information to cTnT overall, but among those in whom the cTnT method was less precise or frankly negative, the hsTnT assay provided prognostic information. Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Child and parent predictors of picky eating from preschool to school age.

PubMed

Steinsbekk, Silje; Bonneville-Roussy, Arielle; Fildes, Alison; Llewellyn, Clare H; Wichstrøm, Lars

2017-07-06

Picky eating is prevalent in childhood. Because pickiness concerns parents and is associated with nutrient deficiency and psychological problems, the antecedents of pickiness need to be identified. We propose an etiological model of picky eating involving child temperament, sensory sensitivity and parent-child interaction. Two cohorts of 4-year olds (born 2003 or 2004) in Trondheim, Norway were invited to participate (97.2% attendance; 82.0% consent rate, n = 2475) and a screen-stratified subsample of 1250 children was recruited. We interviewed 997 parents about their child's pickiness and sensory sensitivity using the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA). Two years later, 795 of the parents completed the interview. The Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) was used to assess children's temperament. Parent- child interactions were videotaped and parental sensitivity (i.e., parental awareness and appropriate responsiveness to children's verbal and nonverbal cues) and structuring were rated using the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS). At both measurement times, 26% of the children were categorized as picky eaters. Pickiness was moderately stable from preschool to school age (OR = 5.92, CI = 3.95, 8.86), and about half of those who displayed pickiness at age 4 were also picky eaters two years later. While accounting for pickiness at age 4, sensory sensitivity at age 4 predicted pickiness at age 6 (OR = 1.25, CI = 1.08, 2.23), whereas temperamental surgency (OR = 0.88, CI = 0.64, 1.22) and negative affectivity (OR = 1.17, CI = 0.75, 1.84) did not. Parental structuring was found to reduce the risk of children's picky eating two years later (OR = 0.90, CI = 0.82, 0.99), whereas parental sensitivity increased the odds for pickiness (OR = 1.10, CI = 1.00, 1.21). Although pickiness is stable from preschool to school age, children who are more sensory sensitive are at higher risk for pickiness two years later, as are children whose parents display relatively higher levels of sensitivity and lower levels of structuring. Our findings suggest that interventions targeting children's sensory sensitivity, as well as parental sensitivity and structuring, might reduce the risk of childhood pickiness. Health care providers should support parents of picky eaters in repeatedly offering unfamiliar and rejected foods to their children without pressure and acknowledging child autonomy.

Prescriber preference for a particular tumour necrosis factor antagonist drug and treatment discontinuation: population-based cohort

PubMed Central

Fisher, Anat; Bassett, Ken; Wright, James M; Brookhart, M Alan; Freeman, Hugh J; Dormuth, Colin R

2014-01-01

Objective To assess the effect of physician preference for a particular tumour necrosis factor α (TNF) antagonist on the risk of treatment discontinuation in rheumatoid arthritis. Design Population-based cohort study. Setting British Columbia administrative health data (inpatients, outpatients and pharmacy). Participants 2742 British Columbia residents who initiated a first course of a TNF antagonist between 2001 and December 2008, had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and were treated by 1 of 58 medium-volume to high-volume prescribers. Independent variable A level of physician preference for the drug (higher or lower) was assigned based on preceding prescribing records of the care-providing physician. Higher preference was defined as at least 60% of TNF antagonist courses initiated in the preceding year. Sensitivity analysis was conducted with different thresholds for higher preference. Main outcome measure Drug discontinuation was defined as a drug-free interval of 180 days or switching to another TNF antagonist, anakinra, rituximab or abatacept. The risk of discontinuation was compared between different levels of physician preference using survival analysis. Results Higher preference for the prescribed TNF antagonist was associated with improved persistence with the drug (4.28 years (95% CI 3.70 to 4.90) vs 3.27 (2.84 to 3.84), with log rank test p value of 0.017). The adjusted HR for discontinuation was significantly lower in courses of drugs with higher preference (0.85 (0.76 to 0.96)). The results were robust in a sensitivity analysis. Conclusions Higher physician preference was associated with decreased risk of discontinuing TNF antagonists in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This finding suggests that physicians who strongly prefer a specific treatment help their patients to stay on treatment for a longer duration. Similar research on other treatments is warranted. PMID:25270855

Selected elements in major minerals from bituminous coal as determined by INAA: Implications for removing environmentally sensitive elements from coal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Palmer, C.A.; Lyons, P.C.

1996-01-01

The four most abundant minerals generally found in Euramerican bituminous coals are quartz, kaolinite, illite and pyrite. These four minerals were isolated by density separation and handpicking from bituminous coal samples collected in the Ruhr Basin, Germany and the Appalachian basin, U.S.A. Trace-element concentrations of relatively pure (??? 99+%) separates of major minerals from these coals were determined directly by using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). As expected, quartz contributes little to the trace-element mass balance. Illite generally has higher trace-element concentrations than kaolinite, but, for the concentrates analyzed in this study, Hf, Ta, W, Th and U are in lower concentrations in illite than in kaolinite. Pyrite has higher concentrations of chalcophile elements (e.g., As and Se) and is considerably lower in lithophile elements as compared to kaolinite and illite. Our study provides a direct and sensitive method of determining trace-element relationships with minerals in coal. Mass-balance calculations suggest that the trace-element content of coal can be explained mainly by three major minerals: pyrite, kaolinite and illite. This conclusion indicates that the size and textural relationships of these major coal minerals may be a more important consideration as to whether coal cleaning can effectively remove the most environmentally sensitive trace elements in coal than what trace minerals are present.

ToF-SIMS and Laser-SNMS Imaging of Heterogeneous Topographically Complex Polymer Systems.

PubMed

Pelster, Andreas; Körsgen, Martin; Kurosawa, Takako; Morita, Hiromi; Arlinghaus, Heinrich F

2016-10-04

Heterogeneous polymer coatings, such as those used in organic electronics and medical devices, are of increasing industrial importance. In order to advance the development of these types of systems, analytical techniques are required which are able to determine the elemental and molecular spatial distributions, on a nanometer scale, with very high detection efficiency and sensitivity. The goal of this study was to investigate the suitability of laser postionization secondary neutral mass spectrometry (Laser-SNMS) with a 157 nm postionization laser beam to image structured polymer mixtures and compare the results with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) measurements using Bi 3 + primary ions. The results showed that Laser-SNMS is better suited than ToF-SIMS for unambiguous detection and submicrometer imaging of the wide range of polymers investigated. The data also showed that Laser-SNMS has the advantage of being much more sensitive (in general higher by more than an order of magnitude and peaking at up to 3 orders of magnitude) than ToF-SIMS while also showing superior performance on topographically complex structured insulating surfaces, due to significantly reduced field effects and a higher dynamic range as compared to ToF-SIMS. It is concluded that Laser-SNMS is a powerful complementary technique to ToF-SIMS for the analysis of heterogeneous polymers and other complex structured organic mixtures, providing submicrometer resolution and high sensitivity.

Comparative visual ecophysiology of mid-Atlantic temperate reef fishes

PubMed Central

Horodysky, Andrij Z.; Brill, Richard W.; Crawford, Kendyl C.; Seagroves, Elizabeth S.; Johnson, Andrea K.

2013-01-01

Summary The absolute light sensitivities, temporal properties, and spectral sensitivities of the visual systems of three mid-Atlantic temperate reef fishes (Atlantic spadefish [Ephippidae: Chaetodipterus faber], tautog [Labridae: Tautoga onitis], and black sea bass [Serranidae: Centropristis striata]) were studied via electroretinography (ERG). Pelagic Atlantic spadefish exhibited higher temporal resolution but a narrower dynamic range than the two more demersal foragers. The higher luminous sensitivities of tautog and black sea bass were similar to other benthic and demersal coastal mid-Atlantic fishes. Flicker fusion frequency experiments revealed significant interspecific differences at maximum intensities that correlated with lifestyle and habitat. Spectral responses of the three species spanned 400–610 nm, with high likelihood of cone dichromacy providing the basis for color and contrast discrimination. Significant day-night differences in spectral responses were evident in spadefish and black sea bass but not tautog, a labrid with characteristic structure-associated nocturnal torpor. Atlantic spadefish responded to a wider range of wavelengths than did deeper-dwelling tautog or black sea bass. Collectively, these results suggest that temperate reef-associated fishes are well-adapted to their gradient of brighter to dimmer photoclimates, representative of their unique ecologies and life histories. Continuing anthropogenic degradation of water quality in coastal environments, at a pace faster than the evolution of visual systems, may however impede visual foraging and reproductive signaling in temperate reef fishes. PMID:24285711

Radiosensitivity in plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nauman, A F

1979-01-01

The report presents a compilation of available data on the sensitivity of plants to ionizing radiation, and provides basic information on methods of determining such sensitivities, or of estimating radiosensitivities by calcuation of the nuclear factors upon which they depend. The scope of the data presented here is necessarily limited to the most generally useful radiobiological end points and to the most commonly-used types of radiation. Many of the factors which influence radiosensitivity, particularly nuclear factors, will be discussed. Emphasis will be upon whole-plant studies done at Brookhaven National Laboratory by A.H. Sparrow and his associates, since these studies aremore » the source of most of the available radiosensitivity data and of all the sensitivity predictions listed here. Data presented here include summaries of experimentally-determined radiosensitivities at various end points for both herbaceous and woody higher plants, and for a few species of ferns and lower plants. The algae and fungi have not been considered here due to space limitations.« less

TL and EPR studies of Cu, Ag and P doped Li2B4O7 phosphor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Can, N.; Karali, T.; Townsend, P. D.; Yildiz, F.

2006-05-01

Key characteristics of a newly prepared tissue-equivalent, highly sensitive thermoluminescence dosimeter, Li2B4O7:Cu,Ag,P, are presented. The material was developed at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, in the form of sintered pellets. A new preparation procedure has greatly increased the sensitivity of the basic copper activated lithium borate and the glow curve of Li2B4O7 : Cu,Ag,P consists of a well-defined main dosimetric peak situated at about 460-465 K with a sensitivity which is about four to five times higher than that of LiF : Mg,Ti (TLD-100). The exceptionally good response features of Li2B4O7 : Cu,Ag,P are attributed to the incorporation of Cu as a dopant. Both low and high temperature emission spectra are presented and the origins of the various emission bands are considered. Additional data are provided from electron paramagnetic resonance measurements.

Hard x-ray imager for the NeXT mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakazawa, Kazuhiro; Fukazawa, Yasushi; Kamae, Tuneyoshi; Kataoka, Jun; Kokubun, Motohide; Makishima, Kazuo; Mizuno, Tsunefumi; Murakami, Toshio; Nomachi, Masaharu; Tajima, Hiroyasu; Takahashi, Tadayuki; Tashiro, Makoto; Tamagawa, Toru; Terada, Yukikatsu; Watanabe, Shin; Yamaoka, Kazutaka; Yonetoku, Daisuke

2006-06-01

The hard X-ray imager (HXI) is the primary detector of the NeXT mission, proposed to explore high-energy non-thermal phenomena in the universe. Combined with a novel hard X-ray mirror optics, the HXI is designed to provide better than arc-minutes imaging capability with 1 keV level spectroscopy, and more than 30 times higher sensitivity compared with any existing hard X-ray instruments. The base-line design of the HXI is improving to secure high sensitivity. The key is to reduce the detector background as far as possible. Based on the experience of the Suzaku satellite launched in July 2005, the current design has a well-type tight active shield and multi layered, multi material imaging detector made of Si and CdTe. Technology has been under development for a few years so that we have reached the level where a basic detector performance is satisfied. Design tuning to further improve the sensitivity and reliability is on-going.

Modeling complex tone perception: grouping harmonics with combination-sensitive neurons.

PubMed

Medvedev, Andrei V; Chiao, Faye; Kanwal, Jagmeet S

2002-06-01

Perception of complex communication sounds is a major function of the auditory system. To create a coherent precept of these sounds the auditory system may instantaneously group or bind multiple harmonics within complex sounds. This perception strategy simplifies further processing of complex sounds and facilitates their meaningful integration with other sensory inputs. Based on experimental data and a realistic model, we propose that associative learning of combinations of harmonic frequencies and nonlinear facilitation of responses to those combinations, also referred to as "combination-sensitivity," are important for spectral grouping. For our model, we simulated combination sensitivity using Hebbian and associative types of synaptic plasticity in auditory neurons. We also provided a parallel tonotopic input that converges and diverges within the network. Neurons in higher-order layers of the network exhibited an emergent property of multifrequency tuning that is consistent with experimental findings. Furthermore, this network had the capacity to "recognize" the pitch or fundamental frequency of a harmonic tone complex even when the fundamental frequency itself was missing.

Toxicity of polyunsaturated aldehydes of diatoms to Indo-Pacific bioindicator organism Echinometra mathaei.

PubMed

Sartori, Davide; Gaion, Andrea

2016-01-01

Although it is well known suitability of early developmental stages of sea urchin as recommended model for pollutant toxicity testing, little is known about the sensitivity of Indo-Pacific species Echinometra mathaei to polyunsaturated aldehydes. In this study, the effect of three short chain aldehydes, 2,4-decadienal (DD), 2,4-octadienal (OD) and 2,4-heptadienal (HD), normally found in many diatoms, such as Skeletonema costatum, Skeletonema marinoi and Thalassiosira rotula, was evaluated on larval development of E. mathaei embryos. Aldehydes affected larval development in a dose-dependent manner, in particular HD>OD>DD; the results of this study highlighted the higher sensitivity of this species toward aldehydes compared with data registered for other sea urchin species. In comparison with studies reported in the literature, contrasting results were observed during our tests; therefore, an increasing toxic effect was registered with decreasing the chain length of aldehydes. This work could provide new insights in the development of new toxicological assays toward most sensitive species.

[Sun protection factor 50+ : Pro and contra].

PubMed

Herzinger, T

2017-05-01

The use of sunscreens with sun protection factors beyond 50 is controversial. In order to avoid misleading the consumer, several countries have already decided not to declare SPF beyond 50 on sunscreen products. Arguments against high SPF include the following: the risk of imbalanced protection, which could increase the risk of damage caused by longer-wave ultraviolet radiation; imparting a false sense of safety, which could lead to the extension of sun exposure times; health risks from higher concentrations of filter substances; and the only marginally higher blockade provided by high SPF sunscreens. On the other hand, it has been realized that the functional SPF of sunscreens remains far behind the declared SPF in the practical application and, therefore, the use of higher SPF in sensitive individuals and during strong UV exposure could make sense.

Sensitivity to coincidences and paranormal belief.

PubMed

Hadlaczky, Gergö; Westerlund, Joakim

2011-12-01

Often it is difficult to find a natural explanation as to why a surprising coincidence occurs. In attempting to find one, people may be inclined to accept paranormal explanations. The objective of this study was to investigate whether people with a lower threshold for being surprised by coincidences have a greater propensity to become believers compared to those with a higher threshold. Participants were exposed to artificial coincidences, which were formally defined as less or more probable, and were asked to provide remarkability ratings. Paranormal belief was measured by the Australian Sheep-Goat Scale. An analysis of the remarkability ratings revealed a significant interaction effect between Sheep-Goat score and type of coincidence, suggesting that people with lower thresholds of surprise, when experiencing coincidences, harbor higher paranormal belief than those with a higher threshold. The theoretical aspects of these findings were discussed.

210 Study on the Sensitization Rates to Airbone Pollen and Mold in Children

PubMed Central

Park, So Hyun; Lim, Dae Hyun; Son, Byong Kwan; Kim, Jeong Hee; Oh, In Bo; Kim, Yang Ho; Lee, Keun Hwa; Kim, Su Young; Hong, Sung Chul

2012-01-01

Background Aeroallergens are important causative factors for allergies such as allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and asthma. Previous studies for the sensitization rate to aeroallergen were based on those patient groups who had visited the pediatric allergy clinic. Compared to that, we inquired into the sensitization rates based on general school aged student population group in the city of Incheon, Jeju and Ulsan. Methods With informed consent, skin prick tests were performed on 5,094 students between April and June, 2010. Common 21 aeroallergens were used on elementary school student while middle and high school students were tested upon 28 allergens. 28 allergen list as positive control (1%Histamine), negative control (Normal saline), D.pteronyssinus, D.farinae, Citrus red mite, pollen (Birch, Alder, Oak, Japanese cedar, Pine, Willow, Elm, Maple, Bermuda grass, Timothy grass, Rye grass, Orchard, Meadow grass, Vernal grass, Mugwort, Japanese hop, Fat hen, Ragweed, Plantain), mold (Penicillatum, Asperugillus, Cladosporium, Alternaria) and 21 kinds of allergens that were used on elementary school students count as same as above except Elm, Rye grass, Orchard, Meadow grass, Vernal grass, Fat hen, Plantain. Results If arranged in rates of higher sensitization were D. pteronyssinus (25.79%), D. farinae (18.66%), Mugwort (6.20%), Willow (4.07%) in Incheon, D. pteronyssinus (33.35%), D. farinae (24.78%), Japanese cedar (15.36%), Alternaria (7.33%) in Jeju, D. pteronyssinus (32.79%), D. farinae (30.27%), Alder (10.13%), Birch (8.68%) in Ulsan respectively. The sensitization rate of Japanese cedar was statistically significantly higher in Jeju. The sensitization rate of Birch, Alder, Oak was higher in Ulsan. The sensitization rate of Ragweed was 0.99% in Incheon, 1.07% in Jeju, 0.81% in Ulsan. The sensitization rate of Mugwort in Incheon was 6.20% which was meaningfully higher in comparison to 2.32% of Jeju and 2.73% of Ulsan. The sensitization rate of Alternaria was 2.98% in Incheon, 7.33% in Jeju, 2.39% in Ulsan and as we can see it was higher in Jeju. The sensitization rate of Dermatophagoides had an increasing tendency with increasing age. Conclusions Changes in exposure rate to allergens with increasing ages brings changes in sensitization rates. And because there are changes in sensitization rates due to different regional living environmental status and discrepancies of surrounding biologic species, this would leave us there lies needs for subsequent studies and nationwide researches.

Shedding light on serpent sight: the visual pigments of henophidian snakes.

PubMed

Davies, Wayne L; Cowing, Jill A; Bowmaker, James K; Carvalho, Livia S; Gower, David J; Hunt, David M

2009-06-10

The biologist Gordon Walls proposed his "transmutation" theory through the 1930s and the 1940s to explain cone-like morphology of rods (and vice versa) in the duplex retinas of modern-day reptiles, with snakes regarded as the epitome of his hypothesis. Despite Walls' interest, the visual system of reptiles, and in particular snakes, has been widely neglected in favor of studies of fishes and mammals. By analyzing the visual pigments of two henophidian snakes, Xenopeltis unicolor and Python regius, we show that both species express two cone opsins, an ultraviolet-sensitive short-wavelength-sensitive 1 (SWS1) (lambda(max) = 361 nm) pigment and a long-wavelength-sensitive (LWS) (lambda(max) = 550 nm) pigment, providing the potential for dichromatic color vision. They also possess rod photoreceptors which express the usual rod opsin (Rh1) pigment with a lambda(max) at 497 nm. This is the first molecular study of the visual pigments expressed in the photoreceptors of any snake species. The presence of a duplex retina and the characterization of LWS, SWS1, and Rh1 visual pigments in henophidian snakes implies that "lower" snakes do not provide support for Walls' transmutation theory, unlike some "higher" (caenophidian) snakes and other reptiles, such as geckos. More data from other snake lineages will be required to test this hypothesis further.

Multispectral images of flowers reveal the adaptive significance of using long-wavelength-sensitive receptors for edge detection in bees.

PubMed

Vasas, Vera; Hanley, Daniel; Kevan, Peter G; Chittka, Lars

2017-04-01

Many pollinating insects acquire their entire nutrition from visiting flowers, and they must therefore be efficient both at detecting flowers and at recognizing familiar rewarding flower types. A crucial first step in recognition is the identification of edges and the segmentation of the visual field into areas that belong together. Honeybees and bumblebees acquire visual information through three types of photoreceptors; however, they only use a single receptor type-the one sensitive to longer wavelengths-for edge detection and movement detection. Here, we show that these long-wavelength receptors (peak sensitivity at ~544 nm, i.e., green) provide the most consistent signals in response to natural objects. Using our multispectral image database of flowering plants, we found that long-wavelength receptor responses had, depending on the specific scenario, up to four times higher signal-to-noise ratios than the short- and medium-wavelength receptors. The reliability of the long-wavelength receptors emerges from an intricate interaction between flower coloration and the bee's visual system. This finding highlights the adaptive significance of bees using only long-wavelength receptors to locate flowers among leaves, before using information provided by all three receptors to distinguish the rewarding flower species through trichromatic color vision.

Investigation of contact acoustic nonlinearities on metal and composite airframe structures via intensity based health monitoring.

PubMed

Romano, P Q; Conlon, S C; Smith, E C

2013-01-01

Nonlinear structural intensity (NSI) and nonlinear structural surface intensity (NSSI) based damage detection techniques were improved and extended to metal and composite airframe structures. In this study, the measurement of NSI maps at sub-harmonic frequencies was completed to provide enhanced understanding of the energy flow characteristics associated with the damage induced contact acoustic nonlinearity mechanism. Important results include NSI source localization visualization at ultra-subharmonic (nf/2) frequencies, and damage detection results utilizing structural surface intensity in the nonlinear domain. A detection metric relying on modulated wave spectroscopy was developed and implemented using the NSSI feature. The data fusion of the intensity formulation provided a distinct advantage, as both the single interrogation frequency NSSI and its modulated wave extension (NSSI-MW) exhibited considerably higher sensitivities to damage than using single-sensor (strain or acceleration) nonlinear detection metrics. The active intensity based techniques were also extended to composite materials, and results show both NSSI and NSSI-MW can be used to detect damage in the bond line of an integrally stiffened composite plate structure with high sensitivity. Initial damage detection measurements made on an OH-58 tailboom (Penn State Applied Research Laboratory, State College, PA) indicate the techniques can be transitioned to complex airframe structures achieving high detection sensitivities with minimal sensors and actuators.

Effects of various cavity designs on the performance of a CO2 TEA laser with an unstable resonator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhao, Yanzeng; Post, Madison J.; Lawrence, T. R.

1992-01-01

Unstable resonator modeling has been carried out for an injection-seeded CO2 transversely excited atmosphere (TEA) laser in the NOAA/ERL/Wave Propagation Laboratory (WPL) Doppler lidar to examine the effects of various cavity designs on the quality of the output beam. The results show the effects of an injection pinhole, electrode spacing, mirror tilt, and radial reflectivity function of the output coupler. The electrode spacing in this laser has negligible effect. The injection pinhole, however, produces complicated structures in the output patterns. If the pinhole is removed, the output pattern is much smoother, and the frequency jitter is smaller. Misalignment sensitivity is very closely related to the radial reflectivity function. The superparabolic function provides the highest coupling efficiency, largest beam size, and good collimation, but produces a slightly higher misalignment sensitivity compared with a parabolic function. The Gaussian function provides the lowest misalignment sensitivity, but it produces the smallest beam size and the largest beam divergence. Also, the coupling coefficient is 50 percent lower than the optimum value. Methods for using a flat diffraction grating in unstable resonators are also investigated. The best way is to use a flat grating/positive lens combination to replace the back concave mirror.

The Efficacy of Guanxinning Injection in Treating Angina Pectoris: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

PubMed Central

Jia, Yongliang; Leung, Siu-wai; Lee, Ming-Yuen; Cui, Guozhen; Huang, Xiaohui; Pan, Fongha

2013-01-01

Objective. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on Guanxinning injection (GXN) in treating angina pectoris were published only in Chinese and have not been systematically reviewed. This study aims to provide a PRISMA-compliant and internationally accessible systematic review to evaluate the efficacy of GXN in treating angina pectoris. Methods. The RCTs were included according to prespecified eligibility criteria. Meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the symptomatic (SYMPTOMS) and electrocardiographic (ECG) improvements after treatment. Odds ratios (ORs) were used to measure effect sizes. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and metaregression were conducted to evaluate the robustness of the results. Results. Sixty-five RCTs published between 2002 and 2012 with 6064 participants were included. Overall ORs comparing GXN with other drugs were 3.32 (95% CI: [2.72, 4.04]) in SYMPTOMS and 2.59 (95% CI: [2.14, 3.15]) in ECG. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and metaregression found no statistically significant dependence of overall ORs upon specific study characteristics. Conclusion. This meta-analysis of eligible RCTs provides evidence that GXN is effective in treating angina pectoris. This evidence warrants further RCTs of higher quality, longer follow-up periods, larger sample sizes, and multicentres/multicountries for more extensive subgroup, sensitivity, and metaregression analyses. PMID:23634167

Estimation of the sensitivity of various environmental sampling methods for detection of Salmonella in duck flocks.

PubMed

Arnold, Mark E; Mueller-Doblies, Doris; Gosling, Rebecca J; Martelli, Francesca; Davies, Robert H

2015-01-01

Reports of Salmonella in ducks in the UK currently rely upon voluntary submissions from the industry, and as there is no harmonized statutory monitoring and control programme, it is difficult to compare data from different years in order to evaluate any trends in Salmonella prevalence in relation to sampling methodology. Therefore, the aim of this project was to assess the sensitivity of a selection of environmental sampling methods, including the sampling of faeces, dust and water troughs or bowls for the detection of Salmonella in duck flocks, and a range of sampling methods were applied to 67 duck flocks. Bayesian methods in the absence of a gold standard were used to provide estimates of the sensitivity of each of the sampling methods relative to the within-flock prevalence. There was a large influence of the within-flock prevalence on the sensitivity of all sample types, with sensitivity reducing as the within-flock prevalence reduced. Boot swabs (individual and pool of four), swabs of faecally contaminated areas and whole house hand-held fabric swabs showed the overall highest sensitivity for low-prevalence flocks and are recommended for use to detect Salmonella in duck flocks. The sample type with the highest proportion positive was a pool of four hair nets used as boot swabs, but this was not the most sensitive sample for low-prevalence flocks. All the environmental sampling types (faeces swabs, litter pinches, drag swabs, water trough samples and dust) had higher sensitivity than individual faeces sampling. None of the methods consistently identified all the positive flocks, and at least 10 samples would be required for even the most sensitive method (pool of four boot swabs) to detect a 5% prevalence. The sampling of dust had a low sensitivity and is not recommended for ducks.

Real versus Artificial Variation in the Thermal Sensitivity of Biological Traits.

PubMed

Pawar, Samraat; Dell, Anthony I; Savage, Van M; Knies, Jennifer L

2016-02-01

Whether the thermal sensitivity of an organism's traits follows the simple Boltzmann-Arrhenius model remains a contentious issue that centers around consideration of its operational temperature range and whether the sensitivity corresponds to one or a few underlying rate-limiting enzymes. Resolving this issue is crucial, because mechanistic models for temperature dependence of traits are required to predict the biological effects of climate change. Here, by combining theory with data on 1,085 thermal responses from a wide range of traits and organisms, we show that substantial variation in thermal sensitivity (activation energy) estimates can arise simply because of variation in the range of measured temperatures. Furthermore, when thermal responses deviate systematically from the Boltzmann-Arrhenius model, variation in measured temperature ranges across studies can bias estimated activation energy distributions toward higher mean, median, variance, and skewness. Remarkably, this bias alone can yield activation energies that encompass the range expected from biochemical reactions (from ~0.2 to 1.2 eV), making it difficult to establish whether a single activation energy appropriately captures thermal sensitivity. We provide guidelines and a simple equation for partially correcting for such artifacts. Our results have important implications for understanding the mechanistic basis of thermal responses of biological traits and for accurately modeling effects of variation in thermal sensitivity on responses of individuals, populations, and ecological communities to changing climatic temperatures.

[Diagnostics of acute myocardial infarction in elderly patients].

PubMed

Bahrmann, P; Heppner, H J; Bahrmann, A; Christ, M; Bertsch, T; Sieber, C C

2011-06-01

The early diagnosis of an acute myocardial infarction (MI) is improved by the introduction of novel high-sensitivity troponin assays. These assays can measure low level myocardial injury not detectable by standard troponin assays. Especially in older patients who appear to have a higher basal troponin level, the results must always be judged in the context of the medical history, physical examination, electrocardiogram (ECG) and any further findings. Even small increases in high-sensitivity troponin indicate increased risk for death or MI during follow-up. In the case of MI an invasive strategy results in better survival rates compared with conservative therapy but at the expense of an increased risk of bleeding in elderly patients. This article provides an overview on the diagnosis of MI in elderly patients.

Evaluating Radiometric Sensitivity of LandSat 8 Over Coastal-Inland Waters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pahlevan, Nima; Wei, Jian-Wei; Shaaf, Crystal B.; Schott, John R.

2014-01-01

The operational Land Imager (OLI) aboard Landsat 8 was launched in February 2013 to continue the Landsat's mission of monitoring earth resources at relatively high spatial resolution. Compared to Landsat heritage sensors, OLI has an additional 443-nm band (termed coastal/aerosol (CA) band), which extends its potential for mapping/monitoring water quality in coastal/inland waters. In addition, OLI's pushbroom design allows for longer integration time and, as a result, higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Using a series of radiative transfer simulations, we provide insights into the radiometric sensitivity of OLI when studying coastal/inland waters. This will address how the changes in water constituents manifest at top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and whether the changes are resolvable at TOA (focal plane) relative to OLI's overall noise.

Improving the Sensitivity of Mass Spectrometer using a High-Pressure Electrodynamic Ion Funnel Interface

PubMed Central

Ibrahim, Yehia; Tang, Keqi; Tolmachev, Aleksey V.; Shvartsburg, Alexandre A.

2006-01-01

We report on a new electrodynamic ion funnel that operates at a pressure of 30 Torr with no loss of ion transmission. The enhanced performance compared to previous ion funnel designs optimized for pressures of <5 Torr was achieved by reducing the ion funnel capacitance and increasing the RF drive frequency (1.7 MHz) and amplitude (100-170 V peak-to-peak). No degradation of ion transmission was observed for pressures from 2 - 30 Torr. The ability to operate at higher pressure enabled a new tandem ion funnel mass spectrometer (MS) interface design that can accommodate a greater gas load. When combined with a multicapillary inlet, the interface provided more efficient introduction of ions, resulting in a significant enhancement in MS sensitivity and detection limits. PMID:16839773

183-GHz Radiometer Handbook - November 2006

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MP Cadeddu

2006-11-30

The G-Band Vapor Radiometer (GVR) provides time-series measurements of brightness temperatures from four double sideband channels centered at ± 1, ± 3, ± 7, and ± 14 GHz around the 183.31-GHz water vapor line. Atmospheric emission in this spectral region is primarily due to water vapor, with some influence from liquid water. The 183.31 ± 14-GHz channel is particularly sensitive to the presence of liquid water. The sensitivity to water vapor of the 183.31-GHz line is approximately 30 times higher than at the frequencies of the two-channel microwave radiometer (MWR) for a precipitable water vapor (PWV) amount of less thanmore » 2.5 mm. Measurements from this nstrument are therefore especially useful during low-humidity conditions (PWV < 5 mm).« less

Flow structure in continuous flow electrophoresis chambers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deiber, J. A.; Saville, D. A.

1982-01-01

There are at least two ways that hydrodynamic processes can limit continiuous flow electrophoresis. One arises from the sensitivity of the flow to small temerature gradients, especially at low flow rates and power levels. This sensitivity can be suppressed, at least in principle, by providing a carefully tailored, stabilizing temperature gradient in the cooling system that surrounds the flow channel. At higher power levels another limitation arises due to a restructuring of the main flow. This restructuring is caused by buoyancy, which is in turn affected by the electro-osmotic crossflow. Approximate solutions to appropriate partial differential equations have been computed by finite difference methods. One set of results is described here to illustrate the strong coupling between the structure of the main (axial) flow and the electro-osmotic flow.

Indoor fungal diversity in primary schools may differently influence allergic sensitization and asthma in children.

PubMed

Cavaleiro Rufo, João; Madureira, Joana; Paciência, Inês; Aguiar, Lívia; Pereira, Cristiana; Silva, Diana; Padrão, Patrícia; Moreira, Pedro; Delgado, Luís; Annesi-Maesano, Isabella; Oliveira Fernandes, Eduardo; Teixeira, João Paulo; Moreira, André

2017-06-01

Childhood exposure to microbiologic agents may influence the development of allergic and respiratory diseases. Apart from home, children spend most of their time at school, which represents an environment of significant exposure to indoor air microbes. Therefore, we aimed to assess how the prevalence of allergic sensitization and asthma in schoolchildren is affected by microbiologic exposure within classrooms. Spirometry with bronchodilation, exhaled nitric oxide measurements and skin-prick tests data were retrieved from 858 children aged 8-10 years attending 71 classrooms in 20 primary schools. Air samples were collected in all classrooms using a single-stage microbiologic air impactor through agar plates. Gram-negative endotoxins were collected using flow control pumps and analysed by limulus amebocyte lysate assay. Diversity scores were established as the number of different fungal species found in each classroom. Classrooms with increased diversity scores showed a significantly lower prevalence of children with atopic sensitization, but not asthma. The risk of sensitization increased with increasing endotoxin exposure in classrooms. Similarly, significantly higher concentrations of Penicillium spp were found in classrooms with a higher number of children with atopic sensitization. Although no causal relationships could be established, exposure to higher fungal diversity was protective against allergic sensitization but this was not seen for asthma. In contrast, higher exposure to Gram-negative endotoxins and Penicillium spp in primary school's classrooms was associated with increasing odds of allergic sensitization in children. © 2017 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Billing by residents and attending physicians in family medicine: the effects of the provider, patient, and visit factors.

PubMed

Al Achkar, Morhaf; Kengeri-Srikantiah, Seema; Yamane, Biniyam M; Villasmil, Jomil; Busha, Michael E; Gebke, Kevin B

2018-06-13

Medical billing and coding are critical components of residency programs since they determine the revenues and vitality of residencies. It has been suggested that residents are less likely to bill higher evaluation and management (E/M) codes compared with attending physicians. The purpose of this study is to assess the variation in billing patterns between residents and attending physicians, considering provider, patient, and visit characteristics. A retrospective cohort study of all established outpatient visits at a family medicine residency clinic over a 5-year period was performed. We employed the logistic regression methodology to identify residents' and attending physicians' variations in coding E/M service levels. We also employed Poisson regression to test the sensitivity of our result. Between January 5, 2009 and September 25, 2015, 98,601 visits to 116 residents and 18 attending physicians were reviewed. After adjusting for provider, patient, and visit characteristics, residents billed higher E/M codes less often compared with attending physicians for comparable visits. In comparison with attending physicians, the odds ratios for billing higher E/M codes were 0.58 (p = 0.01), 0.56 (p = 0.01), and 0.63 (p = 0.01) for the third, second, and first years of postgraduate training, respectively. In addition to the main factors of patient age, medical conditions, and number of addressed problems, the gender of the provider was also implicated in the billing variations. Residents are less likely to bill higher E/M codes than attending physicians are for similar visits. While these variations are known to contribute to lost revenues, further studies are required to explore their effect on patient care in relation to attendings' direct involvement in higher E/M-coded versus their indirect involvement in lower E/M-coded visits.

Postpartum depressive symptoms and maternal sensitivity: an exploration of possible social media-based measures.

PubMed

Dáu, Ana Luísa B T; Callinan, Laura S; Mayes, Linda C; Smith, Megan V

2017-02-01

This study examined the relationship between self-reported depressive symptoms, directly observed maternal sensitivity, and the content and themes of pictures posted on a mobile application. Data on 20 participants were analyzed. Results suggested that mothers' scoring as more intrusive on the maternal sensitivity scale tended to post a higher proportion of photos of themselves interacting with their babies. An association between higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms and a lower proportion of posts of baby smiling photos was also suggested.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, Jordan N.; Hinderliter, Paul M.; Timchalk, Charles

Sensitivity to chemicals in animals and humans are known to vary with age. Age-related changes in sensitivity to chlorpyrifos have been reported in animal models. A life-stage physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) model was developed to computationally predict disposition of CPF and its metabolites, chlorpyrifos-oxon (the ultimate toxicant) and 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy), as well as B-esterase inhibition by chlorpyrifos-oxon in humans. In this model, age-dependent body weight was calculated from a generalized Gompertz function, and compartments (liver, brain, fat, blood, diaphragm, rapid, and slow) were scaled based on body weight from polynomial functions on a fractional body weight basis. Bloodmore » flows among compartments were calculated as a constant flow per compartment volume. The life-stage PBPK/PD model was calibrated and tested against controlled adult human exposure studies. Model simulations suggest age-dependent pharmacokinetics and response may exist. At oral doses ≥ 0.55 mg/kg of chlorpyrifos (significantly higher than environmental exposure levels), 6 mo old children are predicted to have higher levels of chlorpyrifos-oxon in blood and higher levels of red blood cell cholinesterase inhibition compared to adults from equivalent oral doses of chlorpyrifos. At lower doses that are more relevant to environmental exposures, the model predicts that adults will have slightly higher levels of chlorpyrifos-oxon in blood and greater cholinesterase inhibition. This model provides a computational framework for age-comparative simulations that can be utilized to predict CPF disposition and biological response over various postnatal life-stages.« less

Mechanical properties of 2D and 3D braided textile composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norman, Timothy L.

1991-01-01

The purpose of this research was to determine the mechanical properties of 2D and 3D braided textile composite materials. Specifically, those designed for tension or shear loading were tested under static loading to failure to investigate the effects of braiding. The overall goal of the work was to provide a structural designer with an idea of how textile composites perform under typical loading conditions. From test results for unnotched tension, it was determined that the 2D is stronger, stiffer, and has higher elongation to failure than the 3D. It was also found that the polyetherether ketone (PEEK) resin system was stronger, stiffer, and had higher elongation at failure than the resin transfer molding (RTM) epoxy. Open hole tension tests showed that PEEK resin is more notch sensitive than RTM epoxy. Of greater significance, it was found that the 3D is less notch sensitive than the 2D. Unnotched compression tests indicated, as did the tension tests, that the 2D is stronger, stiffer, and has higher elongation at failure than the RTM epoxy. The most encouraging results were from compression after impact. The 3D braided composite showed a compression after impact failure stress equal to 92 percent of the unimpacted specimen. The 2D braided composite failed at about 67 percent of the unimpacted specimen. Higher damage tolerance is observed in textiles over conventional composite materials. This is observed in the results, especially in the 3D braided materials.

Improving LC-MS sensitivity through increases in chromatographic performance: comparisons of UPLC-ES/MS/MS to HPLC-ES/MS/MS.

PubMed

Churchwell, Mona I; Twaddle, Nathan C; Meeker, Larry R; Doerge, Daniel R

2005-10-25

Recent technological advances have made available reverse phase chromatographic media with a 1.7 microm particle size along with a liquid handling system that can operate such columns at much higher pressures. This technology, termed ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), offers significant theoretical advantages in resolution, speed, and sensitivity for analytical determinations, particularly when coupled with mass spectrometers capable of high-speed acquisitions. This paper explores the differences in LC-MS performance by conducting a side-by-side comparison of UPLC for several methods previously optimized for HPLC-based separation and quantification of multiple analytes with maximum throughput. In general, UPLC produced significant improvements in method sensitivity, speed, and resolution. Sensitivity increases with UPLC, which were found to be analyte-dependent, were as large as 10-fold and improvements in method speed were as large as 5-fold under conditions of comparable peak separations. Improvements in chromatographic resolution with UPLC were apparent from generally narrower peak widths and from a separation of diastereomers not possible using HPLC. Overall, the improvements in LC-MS method sensitivity, speed, and resolution provided by UPLC show that further advances can be made in analytical methodology to add significant value to hypothesis-driven research.

Higher sensory processing sensitivity, introversion and ectomorphism: New biomarkers for human creativity in developing rural areas

PubMed Central

Rizzo-Sierra, Carlos V; Leon-S, Martha E; Leon-Sarmiento, Fidias E

2012-01-01

The highly sensitive trait present in animals, has also been proposed as a human neurobiological trait. People having such trait can process larger amounts of sensory information than usual, making it an excellent attribute that allows to pick up subtle environmental details and cues. Furthermore, this trait correlates to some sort of giftedness such as higher perception, inventiveness, imagination and creativity. We present evidences that support the existance of key neural connectivity between the mentioned trait, higher sensory processing sensitivity, introversion, ectomorphism and creativity. The neurobiological and behavioral implications that these biomarkers have in people living in developing rural areas are discussed as well. PMID:22865969

Redox Signaling and Bioenergetics Influence Lung Cancer Cell Line Sensitivity to the Isoflavone ME-344

PubMed Central

Manevich, Yefim; Reyes, Leticia; Britten, Carolyn D.; Townsend, Danyelle M.

2016-01-01

ME-344 [(3R,4S)-3,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-8-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-chromen-7-ol] is a second-generation derivative natural product isoflavone presently under clinical development. ME-344 effects were compared in lung cancer cell lines that are either intrinsically sensitive or resistant to the drug and in primary immortalized human lung embryonic fibroblasts (IHLEF). Cytotoxicity at low micromolar concentrations occurred only in sensitive cell lines, causing redox stress, decreased mitochondrial ATP production, and subsequent disruption of mitochondrial function. In a dose-dependent manner the drug caused instantaneous and pronounced inhibition of oxygen consumption rates (OCR) in drug-sensitive cells (quantitatively significantly less in drug-resistant cells). This was consistent with targeting of mitochondria by ME-344, with specific effects on the respiratory chain (resistance correlated with higher glycolytic indexes). OCR inhibition did not occur in primary IHLEF. ME-344 increased extracellular acidification rates in drug-resistant cells (significantly less in drug-sensitive cells), implying that ME-344 targets mitochondrial proton pumps. Only in drug-sensitive cells did ME-344 dose-dependently increase the intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species and cause oxidation of total (mainly glutathione) and protein thiols and the concomitant immediate increases in NADPH levels. We conclude that ME-344 causes complex, redox-specific, and mitochondria-targeted effects in lung cancer cells, which differ in extent from normal cells, correlate with drug sensitivity, and provide indications of a beneficial in vitro therapeutic index. PMID:27255112

Effect of internal and external conditions on ionization processes in the FAPA ambient desorption/ionization source.

PubMed

Orejas, Jaime; Pfeuffer, Kevin P; Ray, Steven J; Pisonero, Jorge; Sanz-Medel, Alfredo; Hieftje, Gary M

2014-11-01

Ambient desorption/ionization (ADI) sources coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) offer outstanding analytical features: direct analysis of real samples without sample pretreatment, combined with the selectivity and sensitivity of MS. Since ADI sources typically work in the open atmosphere, ambient conditions can affect the desorption and ionization processes. Here, the effects of internal source parameters and ambient humidity on the ionization processes of the flowing atmospheric pressure afterglow (FAPA) source are investigated. The interaction of reagent ions with a range of analytes is studied in terms of sensitivity and based upon the processes that occur in the ionization reactions. The results show that internal parameters which lead to higher gas temperatures afforded higher sensitivities, although fragmentation is also affected. In the case of humidity, only extremely dry conditions led to higher sensitivities, while fragmentation remained unaffected.

Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Using the Blood Lymphocytes of Astronauts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

George, Kerry; Rhone, J.; Chappell, L. J.; Cucinotta, F. A.

2010-01-01

Cytogenetic analysis of blood lymphocytes remains the most sensitive and reliable method available for in vivo assessment of the biological effects of exposure to radiation and provides the most informative measurement of radiation induced health risks. To date chromosome damage has been assessed in lymphocytes from more than 30 astronauts before and after they participated in long-duration space missions of three months or more on board the International Space Station. For all individuals, the frequency of chromosome damage measured within a month of return from space was higher than their prefight yield and biodosimetry estimates lie within the range expected from physical dosimetry. Biodosimetry data provides a direct measurement of space radiation damage, which takes into account individual radiosensitivity in the presence of confounding factors such as microgravity and other stress conditions. In contrast to physical measurements, which are external to body and require multiple devices to detect all radiation types all of which have poor sensitivity to neutrons, biodosimetry is internal and includes the effects of shielding provided by the body itself plus chromosome damage shows excellent sensitivity to protons, heavy ions, and neutrons. In addition, chromosome damage is reflective of cancer risk and biodosimetry values can therefore be used to validate and develop risk assessment models that can be used to characterize excess health risk incurred by crewmembers. A review of astronaut biodosimetry data will be presented along with recent findings on the persistence of space radiation induced chromosome damage and the cytogenetic effects of repeat long duration missions

Compact LED-based full-field optical coherence microscopy for high-resolution high-speed in vivo imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogien, Jonas; Dubois, Arnaud

2017-02-01

This work reports on a compact full-field optical coherence microscopy (FF-OCM) setup specifically designed to meet the needs for in vivo imaging, illuminated by a high-brightness broadband light emitting diode (LED). Broadband LEDs have spectra potentially large enough to provide imaging spatial resolutions similar to those reached using conventional halogen lamps, but their radiance can be much higher, which leads to high speed acquisition and makes in vivo imaging possible. We introduce a FF-OCM setup using a 2.3 W broadband LED, with an interferometer designed to be as compact as possible in order to provide the basis for a portable system that will make it possible to fully benefit from the capacity for in vivo imaging by providing the ability to image any region of interest in real-time. The interferometer part of the compact FF-OCM setup weighs 210 g for a size of 11x11x5 cm3. Using this setup, a sub-micron axial resolution was reached, with a detection sensitivity of 68 dB at an imaging rate of 250 Hz. Due to the high imaging rate, the sensitivity could be improved by accumulation while maintaining an acquisition time short enough for in vivo imaging. It was possible to reach a sensitivity of 75 dB at a 50 Hz imaging rate. High resolution in vivo human skin images were obtained with this setup and compared with images of excised human skin, showing high similarity.

Punishment sensitivity modulates the processing of negative feedback but not error-induced learning.

PubMed

Unger, Kerstin; Heintz, Sonja; Kray, Jutta

2012-01-01

Accumulating evidence suggests that individual differences in punishment and reward sensitivity are associated with functional alterations in neural systems underlying error and feedback processing. In particular, individuals highly sensitive to punishment have been found to be characterized by larger mediofrontal error signals as reflected in the error negativity/error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) and the feedback-related negativity (FRN). By contrast, reward sensitivity has been shown to relate to the error positivity (Pe). Given that Ne/ERN, FRN, and Pe have been functionally linked to flexible behavioral adaptation, the aim of the present research was to examine how these electrophysiological reflections of error and feedback processing vary as a function of punishment and reward sensitivity during reinforcement learning. We applied a probabilistic learning task that involved three different conditions of feedback validity (100%, 80%, and 50%). In contrast to prior studies using response competition tasks, we did not find reliable correlations between punishment sensitivity and the Ne/ERN. Instead, higher punishment sensitivity predicted larger FRN amplitudes, irrespective of feedback validity. Moreover, higher reward sensitivity was associated with a larger Pe. However, only reward sensitivity was related to better overall learning performance and higher post-error accuracy, whereas highly punishment sensitive participants showed impaired learning performance, suggesting that larger negative feedback-related error signals were not beneficial for learning or even reflected maladaptive information processing in these individuals. Thus, although our findings indicate that individual differences in reward and punishment sensitivity are related to electrophysiological correlates of error and feedback processing, we found less evidence for influences of these personality characteristics on the relation between performance monitoring and feedback-based learning.

Ultrasonography for endoleak detection after endoluminal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

PubMed

Abraha, Iosief; Luchetta, Maria Laura; De Florio, Rita; Cozzolino, Francesco; Casazza, Giovanni; Duca, Piergiorgio; Parente, Basso; Orso, Massimiliano; Germani, Antonella; Eusebi, Paolo; Montedori, Alessandro

2017-06-09

People with abdominal aortic aneurysm who receive endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) need lifetime surveillance to detect potential endoleaks. Endoleak is defined as persistent blood flow within the aneurysm sac following EVAR. Computed tomography (CT) angiography is considered the reference standard for endoleak surveillance. Colour duplex ultrasound (CDUS) and contrast-enhanced CDUS (CE-CDUS) are less invasive but considered less accurate than CT. To determine the diagnostic accuracy of colour duplex ultrasound (CDUS) and contrast-enhanced-colour duplex ultrasound (CE-CDUS) in terms of sensitivity and specificity for endoleak detection after endoluminal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). We searched MEDLINE, Embase, LILACS, ISI Conference Proceedings, Zetoc, and trial registries in June 2016 without language restrictions and without use of filters to maximize sensitivity. Any cross-sectional diagnostic study evaluating participants who received EVAR by both ultrasound (with or without contrast) and CT scan assessed at regular intervals. Two pairs of review authors independently extracted data and assessed quality of included studies using the QUADAS 1 tool. A third review author resolved discrepancies. The unit of analysis was number of participants for the primary analysis and number of scans performed for the secondary analysis. We carried out a meta-analysis to estimate sensitivity and specificity of CDUS or CE-CDUS using a bivariate model. We analysed each index test separately. As potential sources of heterogeneity, we explored year of publication, characteristics of included participants (age and gender), direction of the study (retrospective, prospective), country of origin, number of CDUS operators, and ultrasound manufacturer. We identified 42 primary studies with 4220 participants. Twenty studies provided accuracy data based on the number of individual participants (seven of which provided data with and without the use of contrast). Sixteen of these studies evaluated the accuracy of CDUS. These studies were generally of moderate to low quality: only three studies fulfilled all the QUADAS items; in six (40%) of the studies, the delay between the tests was unclear or longer than four weeks; in eight (50%), the blinding of either the index test or the reference standard was not clearly reported or was not performed; and in two studies (12%), the interpretation of the reference standard was not clearly reported. Eleven studies evaluated the accuracy of CE-CDUS. These studies were of better quality than the CDUS studies: five (45%) studies fulfilled all the QUADAS items; four (36%) did not report clearly the blinding interpretation of the reference standard; and two (18%) did not clearly report the delay between the two tests.Based on the bivariate model, the summary estimates for CDUS were 0.82 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66 to 0.91) for sensitivity and 0.93 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.96) for specificity whereas for CE-CDUS the estimates were 0.94 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.98) for sensitivity and 0.95 (95% CI 0.90 to 0.98) for specificity. Regression analysis showed that CE-CDUS was superior to CDUS in terms of sensitivity (LR Chi 2 = 5.08, 1 degree of freedom (df); P = 0.0242 for model improvement).Seven studies provided estimates before and after administration of contrast. Sensitivity before contrast was 0.67 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.83) and after contrast was 0.97 (95% CI 0.92 to 0.99). The improvement in sensitivity with of contrast use was statistically significant (LR Chi 2 = 13.47, 1 df; P = 0.0002 for model improvement).Regression testing showed evidence of statistically significant effect bias related to year of publication and study quality within individual participants based CDUS studies. Sensitivity estimates were higher in the studies published before 2006 than the estimates obtained from studies published in 2006 or later (P < 0.001); and studies judged as low/unclear quality provided higher estimates in sensitivity. When regression testing was applied to the individual based CE-CDUS studies, none of the items, namely direction of the study design, quality, and age, were identified as a source of heterogeneity.Twenty-two studies provided accuracy data based on number of scans performed (of which four provided data with and without the use of contrast). Analysis of the studies that provided scan based data showed similar results. Summary estimates for CDUS (18 studies) showed 0.72 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.85) for sensitivity and 0.95 (95% CI 0.90 to 0.96) for specificity whereas summary estimates for CE-CDUS (eight studies) were 0.91 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.98) for sensitivity and 0.89 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.96) for specificity. This review demonstrates that both ultrasound modalities (with or without contrast) showed high specificity. For ruling in endoleaks, CE-CDUS appears superior to CDUS. In an endoleak surveillance programme CE-CDUS can be introduced as a routine diagnostic modality followed by CT scan only when the ultrasound is positive to establish the type of endoleak and the subsequent therapeutic management.

Effect of ammoniacal nitrogen on one-stage and two-stage anaerobic digestion of food waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ariunbaatar, Javkhlan, E-mail: jaka@unicas.it; UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft; Scotto Di Perta, Ester

Highlights: • Almost 100% of the biomethane potential of food waste was recovered during AD in a two-stage CSTR. • Recirculation of the liquid fraction of the digestate provided the necessary buffer in the AD reactors. • A higher OLR (0.9 gVS/L·d) led to higher accumulation of TAN, which caused more toxicity. • A two-stage reactor is more sensitive to elevated concentrations of ammonia. • The IC{sub 50} of TAN for the AD of food waste amounts to 3.8 g/L. - Abstract: This research compares the operation of one-stage and two-stage anaerobic continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) systems fed semi-continuouslymore » with food waste. The main purpose was to investigate the effects of ammoniacal nitrogen on the anaerobic digestion process. The two-stage system gave more reliable operation compared to one-stage due to: (i) a better pH self-adjusting capacity; (ii) a higher resistance to organic loading shocks; and (iii) a higher conversion rate of organic substrate to biomethane. Also a small amount of biohydrogen was detected from the first stage of the two-stage reactor making this system attractive for biohythane production. As the digestate contains ammoniacal nitrogen, re-circulating it provided the necessary alkalinity in the systems, thus preventing an eventual failure by volatile fatty acids (VFA) accumulation. However, re-circulation also resulted in an ammonium accumulation, yielding a lower biomethane production. Based on the batch experimental results the 50% inhibitory concentration of total ammoniacal nitrogen on the methanogenic activities was calculated as 3.8 g/L, corresponding to 146 mg/L free ammonia for the inoculum used for this research. The two-stage system was affected by the inhibition more than the one-stage system, as it requires less alkalinity and the physically separated methanogens are more sensitive to inhibitory factors, such as ammonium and propionic acid.« less

Can histogram analysis of MR images predict aggressiveness in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors?

PubMed

De Robertis, Riccardo; Maris, Bogdan; Cardobi, Nicolò; Tinazzi Martini, Paolo; Gobbo, Stefano; Capelli, Paola; Ortolani, Silvia; Cingarlini, Sara; Paiella, Salvatore; Landoni, Luca; Butturini, Giovanni; Regi, Paolo; Scarpa, Aldo; Tortora, Giampaolo; D'Onofrio, Mirko

2018-06-01

To evaluate MRI derived whole-tumour histogram analysis parameters in predicting pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm (panNEN) grade and aggressiveness. Pre-operative MR of 42 consecutive patients with panNEN >1 cm were retrospectively analysed. T1-/T2-weighted images and ADC maps were analysed. Histogram-derived parameters were compared to histopathological features using the Mann-Whitney U test. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed by ROC-AUC analysis; sensitivity and specificity were assessed for each histogram parameter. ADC entropy was significantly higher in G2-3 tumours with ROC-AUC 0.757; sensitivity and specificity were 83.3 % (95 % CI: 61.2-94.5) and 61.1 % (95 % CI: 36.1-81.7). ADC kurtosis was higher in panNENs with vascular involvement, nodal and hepatic metastases (p= .008, .021 and .008; ROC-AUC= 0.820, 0.709 and 0.820); sensitivity and specificity were: 85.7/74.3 % (95 % CI: 42-99.2 /56.4-86.9), 36.8/96.5 % (95 % CI: 17.2-61.4 /76-99.8) and 100/62.8 % (95 % CI: 56.1-100/44.9-78.1). No significant differences between groups were found for other histogram-derived parameters (p >.05). Whole-tumour histogram analysis of ADC maps may be helpful in predicting tumour grade, vascular involvement, nodal and liver metastases in panNENs. ADC entropy and ADC kurtosis are the most accurate parameters for identification of panNENs with malignant behaviour. • Whole-tumour ADC histogram analysis can predict aggressiveness in pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms. • ADC entropy and kurtosis are higher in aggressive tumours. • ADC histogram analysis can quantify tumour diffusion heterogeneity. • Non-invasive quantification of tumour heterogeneity can provide adjunctive information for prognostication.

A review of precipitation and temperature control on seedling emergence and establishment for ponderosa and lodgepole pine forest regeneration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petrie, Matthew; Wildeman, A.M.; Bradford, John B.; Hubbard, R.M.; Lauenroth, W.K.

2016-01-01

The persistence of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine forests in the 21st century depends to a large extent on how seedling emergence and establishment are influenced by driving climate and environmental variables, which largely govern forest regeneration. We surveyed the literature, and identified 96 publications that reported data on dependent variables of seedling emergence and/or establishment and one or more independent variables of air temperature, soil temperature, precipitation and moisture availability. Our review suggests that seedling emergence and establishment for both species is highest at intermediate temperatures (20 to 25 °C), and higher precipitation and higher moisture availability support a higher percentage of seedling emergence and establishment at daily, monthly and annual timescales. We found that ponderosa pine seedlings may be more sensitive to temperature fluctuations whereas lodgepole pine seedlings may be more sensitive to moisture fluctuations. In a changing climate, increasing temperatures and declining moisture availability may hinder forest persistence by limiting seedling processes. Yet, only 23 studies in our review investigated the effects of driving climate and environmental variables directly. Furthermore, 74 studies occurred in a laboratory or greenhouse, which do not often replicate the conditions experienced by tree seedlings in a field setting. It is therefore difficult to provide strong conclusions on how sensitive emergence and establishment in ponderosa and lodgepole pine are to these specific driving variables, or to investigate their potential aggregate effects. Thus, the effects of many driving variables on seedling processes remain largely inconclusive. Our review stresses the need for additional field and laboratory studies to better elucidate the effects of driving climate and environmental variables on seedling emergence and establishment for ponderosa and lodgepole pine.

Mechanistic mathematical modelling of mercaptopurine effects on cell cycle of human acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cells

PubMed Central

Panetta, J C; Evans, W E; Cheok, M H

2006-01-01

The antimetabolite mercaptopurine (MP) is widely used to treat childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). To study the dynamics of MP on the cell cycle, we incubated human T-cell leukaemia cell lines (Molt-4 sensitive and resistant subline and P12 resistant) with 10 μM MP and measured total cell count, cell cycle distribution, percent viable, percent apoptotic, and percent dead cells serially over 72 h. We developed a mathematical model of the cell cycle dynamics after treatment with MP and used it to show that the Molt-4 sensitive controls had a significantly higher rate of cells entering apoptosis (2.7-fold, P<0.00001) relative to the resistant cell lines. Additionally, when treated with MP, the sensitive cell line showed a significant increase in the rate at which cells enter apoptosis compared to its controls (2.4-fold, P<0.00001). Of note, the resistant cell lines had a higher rate of antimetabolite incorporation into the DNA of viable cells (>1.4-fold, P<0.01). Lastly, in contrast to the other cell lines, the Molt-4 resistant subline continued to cycle, though at a rate slower relative to its control, rather than proceed to apoptosis. This led to a larger S-phase block in the Molt-4 resistant cell line, but not a higher rate of cell death. Gene expression of apoptosis, cell cycle, and repair genes were consistent with mechanistic dynamics described by the model. In summary, the mathematical model provides a quantitative assessment to compare the cell cycle effects of MP in cells with varying degrees of MP resistance. PMID:16333308

The Relationship Between Higher Order Need Strength and Sensitivity to Environmental Variations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beehr, Terry A.; And Others

Higher order need strength (HONS) has been shown to moderate the relationship between work role characteristics and some traditional dependent variables in organizations. It was hypothesized that employees with strong HONS might be more sensitive to variability in their work environments than people with weaker HONS. This would happen because…

The Need for Context-Sensitive Measures of Educational Quality in Transnational Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pyvis, David

2011-01-01

This paper argues that the current approach to educational quality formation in transnational higher education promotes educational imperialism, and that guidelines and practices should be altered to embrace context-sensitive measures of quality. The claims are sustained by findings from a study that investigated how academics understood and…

Elevated levels of STAT1 in Fanconi anemia group A lymphoblasts correlate with the cells’ sensitivity to DNA interstrand crosslinking drugs

PubMed Central

Prieto-Remón, Inés; Sánchez-Carrera, Dámaso; López-Duarte, Mónica; Richard, Carlos; Pipaón, Carlos

2013-01-01

Progressive bone marrow failure starting in the first decade of life is one of the main characteristics of Fanconi anemia. Along with the bone marrow failure, this pathology is characterized by congenital malformations, endocrine dysfunction and an extraordinary predisposition to develop cancer. The fact that hematopoietic progenitor cells from subjects with Fanconi anemia are sensitive to both DNA-interstrand crosslinking agents and inflammatory cytokines, which are aberrantly overproduced in these patients, has led to different explanations for the causes of the bone marrow failure. We analyzed STAT1 expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from patients with Fanconi anemia group A and correlated this with aspects of the Fanconi anemia phenotype such as sensitivity to genotoxic agents or to inhibitory cytokines. We provide evidence of overexpression of STAT1 in FANCA-deficient cells which has both transcriptional and post-translational components, and is related to the constitutive activation of ERK in Fanconi anemia group A cells, since it can be reverted by treatment with U0126. STAT1 phosphorylation was not defective in the lymphoblasts, so these cells accumulated higher levels of active STAT1 in response to interferon gamma, probably in relation to their greater sensitivity to this cytokine. On the other hand, inhibition of STAT1 by genetic or chemical means reverted the hypersensitivity of Fanconi anemia group A lymphoblasts to DNA interstrand crosslinking agents. Our data provide an explanation for the mixed sensitivity of Fanconi anemia group A cells to both genotoxic stress and inflammatory cytokines and indicate new targets for the treatment of bone marrow failure in these patients. PMID:23585528

Ex vivo drug response profiling detects recurrent sensitivity patterns in drug-resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

PubMed

Frismantas, Viktoras; Dobay, Maria Pamela; Rinaldi, Anna; Tchinda, Joelle; Dunn, Samuel H; Kunz, Joachim; Richter-Pechanska, Paulina; Marovca, Blerim; Pail, Orrin; Jenni, Silvia; Diaz-Flores, Ernesto; Chang, Bill H; Brown, Timothy J; Collins, Robert H; Uhrig, Sebastian; Balasubramanian, Gnana P; Bandapalli, Obul R; Higi, Salome; Eugster, Sabrina; Voegeli, Pamela; Delorenzi, Mauro; Cario, Gunnar; Loh, Mignon L; Schrappe, Martin; Stanulla, Martin; Kulozik, Andreas E; Muckenthaler, Martina U; Saha, Vaskar; Irving, Julie A; Meisel, Roland; Radimerski, Thomas; Von Stackelberg, Arend; Eckert, Cornelia; Tyner, Jeffrey W; Horvath, Peter; Bornhauser, Beat C; Bourquin, Jean-Pierre

2017-03-16

Drug sensitivity and resistance testing on diagnostic leukemia samples should provide important functional information to guide actionable target and biomarker discovery. We provide proof of concept data by profiling 60 drugs on 68 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) samples mostly from resistant disease in cocultures of bone marrow stromal cells. Patient-derived xenografts retained the original pattern of mutations found in the matched patient material. Stromal coculture did not prevent leukemia cell cycle activity, but a specific sensitivity profile to cell cycle-related drugs identified samples with higher cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo as leukemia xenografts. In patients with refractory relapses, individual patterns of marked drug resistance and exceptional responses to new agents of immediate clinical relevance were detected. The BCL2-inhibitor venetoclax was highly active below 10 nM in B-cell precursor ALL (BCP-ALL) subsets, including MLL -AF4 and TCF3-HLF ALL, and in some T-cell ALLs (T-ALLs), predicting in vivo activity as a single agent and in combination with dexamethasone and vincristine. Unexpected sensitivity to dasatinib with half maximal inhibitory concentration values below 20 nM was detected in 2 independent T-ALL cohorts, which correlated with similar cytotoxic activity of the SRC inhibitor KX2-391 and inhibition of SRC phosphorylation. A patient with refractory T-ALL was treated with dasatinib on the basis of drug profiling information and achieved a 5-month remission. Thus, drug profiling captures disease-relevant features and unexpected sensitivity to relevant drugs, which warrants further exploration of this functional assay in the context of clinical trials to develop drug repurposing strategies for patients with urgent medical needs. © 2017 by The American Society of Hematology.

Individual differences in socioemotional sensitivity are an index of salience network function.

PubMed

Toller, Gianina; Brown, Jesse; Sollberger, Marc; Shdo, Suzanne M; Bouvet, Laura; Sukhanov, Paul; Seeley, William W; Miller, Bruce L; Rankin, Katherine P

2018-06-01

Connectivity in intrinsically connected networks (ICNs) may predict individual differences in cognition and behavior. The drastic alterations in socioemotional awareness of patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) are presumed to arise from changes in one such ICN, the salience network (SN). We examined how individual differences in SN connectivity are reflected in overt social behavior in healthy individuals and patients, both to provide neuroscientific insight into this key brain-behavior relationship, and to provide a practical tool to diagnose patients with early bvFTD. We measured SN functional connectivity and socioemotional sensitivity in 65 healthy older adults and 103 patients in the earliest stage [Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale score ≤1] of five neurodegenerative diseases [14 bvFTD, 29 Alzheimer's disease (AD), 20 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), 21 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), and 19 non-fluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA)]. All participants underwent resting-state functional imaging and an informant described their responsiveness to subtle emotional expressions using the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS). Higher functional connectivity in the SN, predominantly between the right anterior insula (AI) and both "hub" cortical and "interoceptive" subcortical nodes, predicted socioemotional sensitivity among healthy individuals, showing that socioemotional sensitivity is a behavioral marker of SN function, and particularly of right AI functional connectivity. The continuity of this relationship in both healthy and neurologically affected individuals highlights the role of socioemotional sensitivity as an early diagnostic marker of SN connectivity. Clinically, this is particularly important for identification of patients in the earliest stage of bvFTD, where the SN is selectively vulnerable. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of habitat suitability index models by global sensitivity and uncertainty analyses: a case study for submerged aquatic vegetation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zajac, Zuzanna; Stith, Bradley M.; Bowling, Andrea C.; Langtimm, Catherine A.; Swain, Eric D.

2015-01-01

Habitat suitability index (HSI) models are commonly used to predict habitat quality and species distributions and are used to develop biological surveys, assess reserve and management priorities, and anticipate possible change under different management or climate change scenarios. Important management decisions may be based on model results, often without a clear understanding of the level of uncertainty associated with model outputs. We present an integrated methodology to assess the propagation of uncertainty from both inputs and structure of the HSI models on model outputs (uncertainty analysis: UA) and relative importance of uncertain model inputs and their interactions on the model output uncertainty (global sensitivity analysis: GSA). We illustrate the GSA/UA framework using simulated hydrology input data from a hydrodynamic model representing sea level changes and HSI models for two species of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in southwest Everglades National Park: Vallisneria americana (tape grass) and Halodule wrightii (shoal grass). We found considerable spatial variation in uncertainty for both species, but distributions of HSI scores still allowed discrimination of sites with good versus poor conditions. Ranking of input parameter sensitivities also varied spatially for both species, with high habitat quality sites showing higher sensitivity to different parameters than low-quality sites. HSI models may be especially useful when species distribution data are unavailable, providing means of exploiting widely available environmental datasets to model past, current, and future habitat conditions. The GSA/UA approach provides a general method for better understanding HSI model dynamics, the spatial and temporal variation in uncertainties, and the parameters that contribute most to model uncertainty. Including an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis in modeling efforts as part of the decision-making framework will result in better-informed, more robust decisions.

Sensitive detection of chemical agents and toxic industrial chemicals using active open-path FTIRs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, William T.

2004-03-01

Active open-path FTIR sensors provide more sensitive detection of chemical agents than passive FTIRs, such as the M21 RSCAAL and JSLSCAD, and at the same time identify and quantify toxic industrial chemicals (TIC). Passive FTIRs are bistatic sensors relying on infrared sources of opportunity. Utilization of earth-based sources of opportunity limits the source temperatures available for passive chemical-agent FTIR sensors to 300° K. Active FTIR chemical-agent sensors utilize silicon carbide sources, which can be operated at 1500° K. The higher source temperature provides more than an 80-times increase in the infrared radiant flux emitted per unit area in the 7 to 14 micron spectral fingerprint region. Minimum detection limits are better than 5 μgm/m3 for GA, GB, GD, GF and VX. Active FTIR sensors can (1) assist first responders and emergency response teams in their assessment of and reaction to a terrorist threat, (2) provide information on the identification of the TIC present and their concentrations and (3) contribute to the understanding and prevention of debilitating disorders analogous to the Gulf War Syndrome for military and civilian personnel.

Bioconvective Assay As Alternative To Draize Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noever, David A.; Matsos, Helen C.

1993-01-01

Protocol to determine toxicities of chemicals implemented relatively cheaply by use of equipment and materials packaged in convenient kit form. Tests involve observation of macroscopic patterns formed at high concentrations of free-swimming protozoan species Tetrahymena pyriformis in liquid media. Provides more-sensitive indication of toxicity and costs less. Given that there are no data on toxicities of 70 to 80 percent of commercial chemicals, high cost of, and current opposition to, testing on higher animals, new protocol helps meet pressing need.

Differences in sensitivity to parenting depending on child temperament: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Slagt, Meike; Dubas, Judith Semon; Deković, Maja; van Aken, Marcel A G

2016-10-01

Several models of individual differences in environmental sensitivity postulate increased sensitivity of some individuals to either stressful (diathesis-stress), supportive (vantage sensitivity), or both environments (differential susceptibility). In this meta-analysis we examine whether children vary in sensitivity to parenting depending on their temperament, and if so, which model can best be used to describe this sensitivity pattern. We tested whether associations between negative parenting and negative or positive child adjustment as well as between positive parenting and positive or negative child adjustment would be stronger among children higher on putative sensitivity markers (difficult temperament, negative emotionality, surgency, and effortful control). Longitudinal studies with children up to 18 years (k = 105 samples from 84 studies, Nmean = 6,153) that reported on a parenting-by-temperament interaction predicting child adjustment were included. We found 235 independent effect sizes for associations between parenting and child adjustment. Results showed that children with a more difficult temperament (compared with those with a more easy temperament) were more vulnerable to negative parenting, but also profited more from positive parenting, supporting the differential susceptibility model. Differences in susceptibility were expressed in externalizing and internalizing problems and in social and cognitive competence. Support for differential susceptibility for negative emotionality was, however, only present when this trait was assessed during infancy. Surgency and effortful control did not consistently moderate associations between parenting and child adjustment, providing little support for differential susceptibility, diathesis-stress, or vantage sensitivity models. Finally, parenting-by-temperament interactions were more pronounced when parenting was assessed using observations compared to questionnaires. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations of water balance and thermal sensitivity of toads with macroclimatic characteristics of geographical distribution.

PubMed

Titon, Braz; Gomes, Fernando Ribeiro

2017-06-01

Interspecific variation in patterns of geographical distribution of phylogenetically related species of amphibians might be related to physiological adaptation to different climatic conditions. In this way, a comparative study of resistance to evaporative water loss, rehydration rates and sensitivity of locomotor performance to variations on hydration level and temperature was performed for five species of Bufonidae toads (Rhinella granulosa, R. jimi, R. ornata, R. schneideri and R. icterica) inhabiting different Brazilian biomes. The hypotheses tested were that, when compared to species inhabiting mesic environments, species living at hot and dry areas would show: (1) greater resistance to evaporative water loss, (2) higher rates of water uptake, (3) lower sensitivity of locomotor performance to dehydration and (4) lower sensitivity of locomotor performance at higher temperatures and higher sensitivity of locomotor performance at lower temperatures. This comparative analysis showed relations between body mass and interspecific variation in rehydration rates and resistance to evaporative water loss in opposite directions. These results might represent a functional compensation associated with relatively lower absorption areas in larger toads and higher evaporative areas in smaller ones. Moreover, species from the semi-arid Caatinga showed locomotor performance less sensitive to dehydration but highly affected by lower temperatures, as well greater resistance to evaporative water loss, when compared to the other species from the mesic Atlantic Forest and the savannah-like area called Cerrado. These results suggest adaptation patterns to environmental conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interpersonal sensitivity, coping ways and automatic thoughts of nursing students before and after a cognitive-behavioral group counseling program.

PubMed

Hiçdurmaz, Duygu; Öz, Fatma

2016-01-01

In order to provide optimal professional care to patients, nurses must possess a positive self-image and professional identity. High interpersonal sensitivity, coping problems and dysfunctional automatic thoughts can prevent nursing students to be self-confident and successful nurses. Helping nursing students experiencing interpersonal sensitivity problems via cognitive-behavioral counseling strategies can contribute to shape good nurses. This study aims to evaluate interpersonal sensitivity, ways of coping and automatic thoughts of nursing students before and after a cognitive behavioral group counseling program. An intervention study with 43 nursing students. Measurements were done before the counseling program, at the end of the program and 4.5months after the program. The students were chosen from a faculty of nursing in Turkey. 43 second and third year nursing students who were experiencing interpersonal sensitivity problems constituted the sample. Brief Symptom Inventory, Ways of Coping Inventory and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire were used for data collection. The students' scores of "interpersonal sensitivity", "hopeless" and "submissive" copings and "automatic thoughts" were significantly lower at the end of and 4.5months after the program than the scores before the program (Interpersonal sensitivity F=52.903, p=0.001; hopeless approach F=19.213, p=0.001; submissive approach F=4.326, p=0.016; automatic thoughts F=45.471, p=0.001). Scores of "self-confident", "optimistic" and "seeking social support" copings were higher at the end of and 4.5months after the program than the scores before the program (Self confident F=11.640, p=0.001; optimistic F=10.860, p=0.001; seeking social support F=10.411, p=0.001). This program helped the students to have better results at interpersonal sensitivity, ways of coping and automatic thoughts at the end of and 4.5 months after the program. We have reached the aim of the study. We suggest that such counseling programs should be regular and integrated into the services provided for students. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Examining Dark Triad traits in relation to sleep disturbances, anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty in young adults.

PubMed

Sabouri, Sarah; Gerber, Markus; Lemola, Sakari; Becker, Stephen P; Shamsi, Mahin; Shakouri, Zeinab; Sadeghi Bahmani, Dena; Kalak, Nadeem; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Brand, Serge

2016-07-01

The Dark Triad (DT) describes a set of three closely related personality traits, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between DT traits, sleep disturbances, anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty. A total of 341 adults (M=29years) completed a series of questionnaires related to the DT traits, sleep disturbances, anxiety sensitivity, and intolerance of uncertainty. A higher DT total score was associated with increased sleep disturbances, and higher scores for anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty. In regression analyses Machiavellianism and psychopathy were predictors of sleep disturbances, anxiety sensitivity, and intolerance of uncertainty. Results indicate that specific DT traits, namely Machiavellianism and psychopathy, are associated with sleep disturbances, anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty in young adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Climate sensitivity of shrub growth across the tundra biome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myers-Smith, Isla H.; Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Beck, Pieter S. A.; Wilmking, Martin; Hallinger, Martin; Blok, Daan; Tape, Ken D.; Rayback, Shelly A.; Macias-Fauria, Marc; Forbes, Bruce C.; Speed, James D. M.; Boulanger-Lapointe, Noémie; Rixen, Christian; Lévesque, Esther; Schmidt, Niels Martin; Baittinger, Claudia; Trant, Andrew J.; Hermanutz, Luise; Collier, Laura Siegwart; Dawes, Melissa A.; Lantz, Trevor C.; Weijers, Stef; Jørgensen, Rasmus Halfdan; Buchwal, Agata; Buras, Allan; Naito, Adam T.; Ravolainen, Virve; Schaepman-Strub, Gabriela; Wheeler, Julia A.; Wipf, Sonja; Guay, Kevin C.; Hik, David S.; Vellend, Mark

2015-09-01

Rapid climate warming in the tundra biome has been linked to increasing shrub dominance. Shrub expansion can modify climate by altering surface albedo, energy and water balance, and permafrost, yet the drivers of shrub growth remain poorly understood. Dendroecological data consisting of multi-decadal time series of annual shrub growth provide an underused resource to explore climate-growth relationships. Here, we analyse circumpolar data from 37 Arctic and alpine sites in 9 countries, including 25 species, and ~42,000 annual growth records from 1,821 individuals. Our analyses demonstrate that the sensitivity of shrub growth to climate was: (1) heterogeneous, with European sites showing greater summer temperature sensitivity than North American sites, and (2) higher at sites with greater soil moisture and for taller shrubs (for example, alders and willows) growing at their northern or upper elevational range edges. Across latitude, climate sensitivity of growth was greatest at the boundary between the Low and High Arctic, where permafrost is thawing and most of the global permafrost soil carbon pool is stored. The observed variation in climate-shrub growth relationships should be incorporated into Earth system models to improve future projections of climate change impacts across the tundra biome.

HCPCF-based in-line fiber Fabry-Perot refractometer and high sensitivity signal processing method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiaohui; Jiang, Mingshun; Sui, Qingmei; Geng, Xiangyi; Song, Furong

2017-12-01

An in-line fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) based on the hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) for refractive index (RI) measurement is proposed in this paper. The FPI is formed by splicing both ends of a short section of the HCPCF to single mode fibers (SMFs) and cleaving the SMF pigtail to a proper length. The RI response of the sensor is analyzed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. The results show that the FPI sensor has linear response to external RI and good repeatability. The sensitivity calculated from the maximum fringe contrast is -136 dB/RIU. A new spectrum differential integration (SDI) method for signal processing is also presented in this study. In this method, the RI is obtained from the integrated intensity of the absolute difference between the interference spectrum and its smoothed spectrum. The results show that the sensitivity obtained from the integrated intensity is about -1.34×105 dB/RIU. Compared with the maximum fringe contrast method, the new SDI method can provide the higher sensitivity, better linearity, improved reliability, and accuracy, and it's also convenient for automatic and fast signal processing in real-time monitoring of RI.

Highly anisotropic black phosphorous-graphene hybrid architecture for ultrassensitive plasmonic biosensing: Theoretical insight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Yufeng; Yu, Xiantong; Ouyang, Qingling; Shao, Yonghong; Song, Jun; Qu, Junle; Yong, Ken-Tye

2018-04-01

This study proposed a novel highly anisotropic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor employing emerging 2D black phosphorus (BP) and graphene atomic layers. Light absorption and energy loss were well balanced by optimizing gold film thickness and number of BP layers to generate the strongest SPR excitation. The proposed SPR biosensor was designed by the phase-modulation approach and is more sensitive to biomolecule bindings, providing 3 orders of magnitude higher sensitivity than the red-shift in SPR angle. Our results show the optimized configuration was 48 nm Au film coated with 4-layer BP crystal to produce the sharpest phase variation (up to 89.8975°), and lowest minimum reflectivity (1.9119  ×  10-7). Detection sensitivity up to 7.4914  ×  104 degree/refractive index unit is almost 4.5 times enhanced compared to monolayer graphene-based SPR sensors with 48 nm Au film. The anisotropic BP layers act as a polarizer, so the proposed SPR biosensor would exhibit optically tunable detection sensitivity, making it a promising candidate for exploring highly anisotropic platforms in biosensing.

Mouse Sensitization and Exposure Are Associated with Asthma Severity in Urban Children.

PubMed

Grant, Torie; Aloe, Charles; Perzanowski, Matthew; Phipatanakul, Wanda; Bollinger, Mary E; Miller, Rachel; Matsui, Elizabeth C

Mouse sensitization and exposure are associated with uncontrolled asthma, but whether they are associated with asthma severity, an intrinsic disease characteristic and long-term outcome predictor, is unclear. To examine relationships between mouse sensitization and/or exposure and asthma severity in urban children. A total of 645 children (5-17 years) with uncontrolled asthma underwent mouse sensitization evaluation. Sensitized children had mouse allergen measured in bedroom dust. Relationships between mouse sensitization, allergen levels, and asthma severity measures (treatment step and Composite Asthma Severity Index [CASI]) were examined using regression models adjusted for age, sex, atopy, study site, race, ethnicity, and insurance. The study population was predominantly minority (69.6% black, 20.8% Hispanic), low income (61.8%), and mouse sensitized (54.4%). Mean ± SD treatment step was 3.2 ± 1.6, equivalent to medium-dose inhaled corticosteroid. Mean ± SD CASI was 6.5 ± 3.4, reflecting moderate persistent asthma. Mouse sensitization was associated with higher treatment step (3.5 vs 2.9, mouse-sensitized vs nonsensitized, P < .001), independent of potential confounders (β [95% CI], 0.36 [0.07-0.64]; P = .01). Mouse sensitization was associated independently with CASI (β [95% CI], 0.82 [0.16-1.47]; P = .02). Among mouse-sensitized participants, higher bedroom floor and bed Mus m 1 were independently associated with treatment step (β [95% CI], 0.26 [0.09-0.43]; P = .002 and β [95% CI], 0.22 [0.01-0.43]; P = .04), respectively. Higher bedroom floor Mus m 1 was independently associated with CASI (β [95% CI], 0.43 [0.05-0.81]; P = .03). Mouse sensitization and exposure are associated with asthma severity, among low-income, minority children. Further studies are needed to determine whether reducing allergen exposure among mouse-sensitized patients with asthma can reduce severity, ultimately altering childhood asthma natural history. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity and positive predictive values of presurgical clinical diagnosis of excised benign and malignant skin tumors: a prospective study of 835 lesions in 778 patients.

PubMed

Har-Shai, Y; Hai, N; Taran, A; Mayblum, S; Barak, A; Tzur, E; Schafer, I; David, R; David, E; Linn, S

2001-12-01

This article reports on the sensitivity and positive predictive value of clinical diagnosis of benign and malignant skin tumors by expert plastic surgeons in an Israeli clinic. Most published reports have focused on the sensitivity of clinicians' diagnoses, a general measure of the physician's skill that does not predict the rate of accuracy of a physician's diagnoses. Our study of 835 lesions in 778 patients, one of the largest Israeli series, assesses the clinical diagnosis of malignant and benign skin tumors and is one of the few that provide information on the positive predictive value, the measure that is of interest to both physicians and patients. The majority of tumors were benign (56.8 percent), 31.6 percent were malignant, and 11.6 percent were premalignant. Among the 474 benign lesions, 46 percent were nevi. The most common nevi subclass was compound nevi (53 percent), 9 percent of the nevi were dysplastic, and 5 percent were blue nevi. The most common malignant tumor was basal cell carcinoma, accounting for 78 percent of malignant tumors. Although sensitivity for clinical diagnosis of malignancy was 91.3 percent, the positive predictive value for clinical diagnosis of malignancy was 71.3 percent. The sensitivity rate for clinically diagnosing premalignant tumors was 42.3 percent, whereas the positive predictive value for these diagnoses was higher (64.1 percent). The sensitivity rate for diagnosis of all benign lesions was 85.9 percent, and the positive predictive value was 94.2 percent. The sensitivity rate for diagnosis of all nevi was 87.6 percent, and the positive predictive value was 85.7 percent: i.e., only seven of the 218 pathologically proven diagnoses of nevi (3.2 percent) were falsely diagnosed as malignant lesions. Even more interestingly, five of the 223 clinical diagnoses of nevi (2.2 percent) were pathologically proven to be malignant melanomas, and seven were found to be premalignant lesions (3.1 percent). It was concluded that publications which report only on the sensitivity neglect to provide information of interest regarding the positive predictive value. Often, positive predictive value is qualitatively different from the sensitivity, and thus relying only on the sensitivity may lead to incorrect evaluation of a clinical judgment, which may result in erroneous surgical decisions.

Human adipose tissue expresses intrinsic circadian rhythm in insulin sensitivity.

PubMed

Carrasco-Benso, Maria P; Rivero-Gutierrez, Belen; Lopez-Minguez, Jesus; Anzola, Andrea; Diez-Noguera, Antoni; Madrid, Juan A; Lujan, Juan A; Martínez-Augustin, Olga; Scheer, Frank A J L; Garaulet, Marta

2016-09-01

In humans, insulin sensitivity varies according to time of day, with decreased values in the evening and at night. Mechanisms responsible for the diurnal variation in insulin sensitivity are unclear. We investigated whether human adipose tissue (AT) expresses intrinsic circadian rhythms in insulin sensitivity that could contribute to this phenomenon. Subcutaneous and visceral AT biopsies were obtained from extremely obese participants (body mass index, 41.8 ± 6.3 kg/m(2); 46 ± 11 y) during gastric-bypass surgery. To assess the rhythm in insulin signaling, AKT phosphorylation was determined every 4 h over 24 h in vitro in response to different insulin concentrations (0, 1, 10, and 100 nM). Data revealed that subcutaneous AT exhibited robust circadian rhythms in insulin signaling (P < 0.00001). Insulin sensitivity reached its maximum (acrophase) around noon, being 54% higher than during midnight (P = 0.009). The amplitude of the rhythm was positively correlated with in vivo sleep duration (r = 0.53; P = 0.023) and negatively correlated with in vivo bedtime (r = -0.54; P = 0.020). No circadian rhythms were detected in visceral AT (P = 0.643). Here, we demonstrate the relevance of the time of the day for how sensitive AT is to the effects of insulin. Subcutaneous AT shows an endogenous circadian rhythm in insulin sensitivity that could provide an underlying mechanism for the daily rhythm in systemic insulin sensitivity.-Carrasco-Benso, M. P., Rivero-Gutierrez, B., Lopez-Minguez, J., Anzola, A., Diez-Noguera, A., Madrid, J. A., Lujan, J. A., Martínez-Augustin, O., Scheer, F. A. J. L., Garaulet, M. Human adipose tissue expresses intrinsic circadian rhythm in insulin sensitivity. © FASEB.

High frequency mode shapes characterisation using Digital Image Correlation and phase-based motion magnification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina-Viedma, A. J.; Felipe-Sesé, L.; López-Alba, E.; Díaz, F.

2018-03-01

High speed video cameras provide valuable information in dynamic events. Mechanical characterisation has been improved by the interpretation of the behaviour in slow-motion visualisations. In modal analysis, videos contribute to the evaluation of mode shapes but, generally, the motion is too subtle to be interpreted. In latest years, image treatment algorithms have been developed to generate a magnified version of the motion that could be interpreted by naked eye. Nevertheless, optical techniques such as Digital Image Correlation (DIC) are able to provide quantitative information of the motion with higher sensitivity than naked eye. For vibration analysis, mode shapes characterisation is one of the most interesting DIC performances. Full-field measurements provide higher spatial density than classical instrumentations or Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry. However, the accurateness of DIC is reduced at high frequencies as a consequence of the low displacements and hence it is habitually employed in low frequency spectra. In the current work, the combination of DIC and motion magnification is explored in order to provide numerical information in magnified videos and perform DIC mode shapes characterisation at unprecedented high frequencies through increasing the amplitude of displacements.

Gene expression analysis using a highly sensitive DNA microarray for colorectal cancer screening.

PubMed

Koga, Yoshikatsu; Yamazaki, Nobuyoshi; Takizawa, Satoko; Kawauchi, Junpei; Nomura, Osamu; Yamamoto, Seiichiro; Saito, Norio; Kakugawa, Yasuo; Otake, Yosuke; Matsumoto, Minori; Matsumura, Yasuhiro

2014-01-01

Half of all patients with small, right-sided, non-metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) have negative results for the fecal occult blood test (FOBT). In the present study, the usefulness of CRC screening with a highly sensitive DNA microarray was evaluated in comparison with that by FOBT using fecal samples. A total of 53 patients with CRC and 61 healthy controls were divided into "training" and "validation sets". For the gene profiling, total RNA extracted from 0.5 g of feces was hybridized to a highly sensitive DNA chip. The expressions of 43 genes were significantly higher in the patients with CRC than in healthy controls (p<0.05). In the training set, the sensitivity and specificity of the DNA chip assay using six genes were 85.4% and 85.2%, respectively. On the other hand, in the validation set, the sensitivity and specificity of the DNA chip assay were 85.2% and 85.7%, respectively. The sensitivities of the DNA chip assay were higher than those of FOBT in cases of the small, right-sided, early-CRC, tumor invading up to the muscularis propria (i.e. surface tumor) subgroups. In particular, the sensitivities of the DNA chip assay in the surface tumor and early-CRC subgroups were significantly higher than those of FOBT (p=0.023 and 0.019, respectively.). Gene profiling assay using a highly sensitive DNA chip was more effective than FOBT at detecting patients with small, right-sided, surface tumor, and early-stage CRC.

Associations of serum adiponectin with skeletal muscle morphology and insulin sensitivity.

PubMed

Ingelsson, Erik; Arnlöv, Johan; Zethelius, Björn; Vasan, Ramachandran S; Flyvbjerg, Allan; Frystyk, Jan; Berne, Christian; Hänni, Arvo; Lind, Lars; Sundström, Johan

2009-03-01

Skeletal muscle morphology and function are strongly associated with insulin sensitivity. The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that circulating adiponectin is associated with skeletal muscle morphology and that adiponectin mediates the relation of muscle morphology to insulin sensitivity. This was a cross-sectional investigation of 461 men aged 71 yr, participants of the community-based Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men study. Measures included serum adiponectin, insulin sensitivity measured with euglycemic insulin clamp technique, and capillary density and muscle fiber composition determined from vastus lateralis muscle biopsies. In multivariable linear regression models (adjusting for age, physical activity, fasting glucose, and pharmacological treatment for diabetes), serum adiponectin levels rose with increasing capillary density (beta, 0.30 per 50 capillaries per square millimeter increase; P = 0.041) and higher proportion of type I muscle fibers (beta, 0.27 per 10% increase; P = 0.036) but declined with a higher proportion of type IIb fibers (beta, -0.39 per 10% increase; P = 0.014). Using bootstrap methods to examine the potential role of adiponectin in associations between muscle morphology and insulin sensitivity and the associations of capillary density (beta difference, 0.041; 95% confidence interval 0.001, 0.085) and proportion of type IIb muscle fibers (beta difference, -0.053; 95% confidence interval -0.107, -0.002) with insulin sensitivity were significantly attenuated when adiponectin was included in the models. Circulating adiponectin concentrations were higher with increasing skeletal muscle capillary density and in individuals with higher proportion of slow oxidative muscle fibers. Furthermore, our results indicate that adiponectin could be a partial mediator of the relations between skeletal muscle morphology and insulin sensitivity.

Macular Sensitivity Measured With Microperimetry in Stargardt Disease in the Progression of Atrophy Secondary to Stargardt Disease (ProgStar) Study: Report No. 7.

PubMed

Schönbach, Etienne M; Wolfson, Yulia; Strauss, Rupert W; Ibrahim, Mohamed A; Kong, Xiangrong; Muñoz, Beatriz; Birch, David G; Cideciyan, Artur V; Hahn, Gesa-Astrid; Nittala, Muneeswar; Sunness, Janet S; Sadda, SriniVas R; West, Sheila K; Scholl, Hendrik P N

2017-07-01

New outcome measures for treatment trials for Stargardt disease type 1 (STGD1) and other macular diseases are needed. Microperimetry allows mapping of light sensitivity of the macula and provides topographic information on visual function beyond visual acuity. To measure and analyze retinal light sensitivity of the macula in STGD1 using fundus-controlled perimetry (microperimetry). This was a multicenter prospective cohort study. A total of 199 patients and 326 eyes with molecularly confirmed (ABCA4) STGD1 underwent testing with the Nidek MP-1 microperimeter as part of the multicenter, prospective Natural History of the Progression of Atrophy Secondary to Stargardt Disease (ProgStar) study. Sensitivity of 68 retinal loci was tested, and the mean sensitivity (MS) was determined; each point was categorized as "normal," "relative," or "deep" scotoma. Mean sensitivity and the number of points with normal sensitivity, relative, or deep scotomas. Mean (SD) patient age was 34.2 (14.7) years, mean (SD) best-corrected visual acuity of all eyes was 47.8 (16.9) Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letter score (approximately 20/100 Snellen equivalent), and mean MS of all eyes of all 68 points was 11.0 (5.0) dB. The median number of normal points per eye was 49 (mean [SD], 41.3 [20.8]; range, 0-68); abnormal sensitivity and deep scotomas were more prevalent in the central macula. Mean sensitivity was lower in the fovea (mean [SD], 2.7 [4.4] dB) than in the inner (mean [SD], 6.8 [5.8] dB) and outer ring (mean [SD], 12.7 [5.3] dB). Overall MS per eye was 0.086 dB lower per year of additional age (95% CI, -0.13 to -0.041; P < .001) and 0.21 dB lower per additional year of duration of STGD1 (95% CI, -0.28 to -0.14; P < .001). Longer duration of STGD1 was associated with worse MS (β = -0.18; P < .001), with a lower number of normal test points (β = -0.71; P < .001), and with a higher number of deep scotoma points (β = -0.70; P < .001). We found 11 eyes with low MS (<6 dB) but very good best-corrected visual acuity of at least 72 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letter score (20/40 Snellen equivalent). We provide an extensive analysis of macular sensitivity parameters in STGD1 and demonstrate their association with demographic characteristics and vision. These data suggest microperimetry testing provides a more comprehensive assessment of retinal function and will be an important outcome measure in future clinical trials.

Immobilization of TiO2 Nanoparticles on Chlorella pyrenoidosa Cells for Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalysis

PubMed Central

Cai, Aijun; Guo, Aiying; Ma, Zichuan

2017-01-01

TiO2 nanoparticles are immobilized on chlorella cells using the hydrothermal method. The morphology, structure, and the visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity of the prepared chlorella/TiO2 composite are investigated by various methods. The chlorella/TiO2 composite is found to exhibit larger average sizes and higher visible-light intensities. The sensitization of the photosynthesis pigment originating from chlorella cells provides the anatase TiO2 with higher photocatalytic activities under the visible-light irradiation. The latter is linked to the highly efficient charge separation of the electron/hole pairs. The results also suggest that the photocatalytic activity of the composite remains substantial after four cycles, suggesting a good stability. PMID:28772899

The Relationship between Ethical Sensitivity, High Ability and Gender in Higher Education Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schutte, Ingrid; Wolfensberger, Marca; Tirri, Kirsi

2014-01-01

This study examined the ethical sensitivity of high-ability undergraduate students (n=731) in the Netherlands who completed the 28-item Ethical Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (ESSQ) developed by Tirri & Nokelainen (2007; 2011). The ESSQ is based on Narvaez' (2001) operationalization of ethical sensitivity in seven dimensions. The following…

Sensitivity of tropical carbon to climate change constrained by carbon dioxide variability.

PubMed

Cox, Peter M; Pearson, David; Booth, Ben B; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Huntingford, Chris; Jones, Chris D; Luke, Catherine M

2013-02-21

The release of carbon from tropical forests may exacerbate future climate change, but the magnitude of the effect in climate models remains uncertain. Coupled climate-carbon-cycle models generally agree that carbon storage on land will increase as a result of the simultaneous enhancement of plant photosynthesis and water use efficiency under higher atmospheric CO(2) concentrations, but will decrease owing to higher soil and plant respiration rates associated with warming temperatures. At present, the balance between these effects varies markedly among coupled climate-carbon-cycle models, leading to a range of 330 gigatonnes in the projected change in the amount of carbon stored on tropical land by 2100. Explanations for this large uncertainty include differences in the predicted change in rainfall in Amazonia and variations in the responses of alternative vegetation models to warming. Here we identify an emergent linear relationship, across an ensemble of models, between the sensitivity of tropical land carbon storage to warming and the sensitivity of the annual growth rate of atmospheric CO(2) to tropical temperature anomalies. Combined with contemporary observations of atmospheric CO(2) concentration and tropical temperature, this relationship provides a tight constraint on the sensitivity of tropical land carbon to climate change. We estimate that over tropical land from latitude 30° north to 30° south, warming alone will release 53 ± 17 gigatonnes of carbon per kelvin. Compared with the unconstrained ensemble of climate-carbon-cycle projections, this indicates a much lower risk of Amazon forest dieback under CO(2)-induced climate change if CO(2) fertilization effects are as large as suggested by current models. Our study, however, also implies greater certainty that carbon will be lost from tropical land if warming arises from reductions in aerosols or increases in other greenhouse gases.

Emotional nonacceptance within the context of traumatic event exposure: The explanatory role of anxiety sensitivity for traumatic stress symptoms and disability among Latinos in a primary care setting.

PubMed

Viana, Andres G; Paulus, Daniel J; Bakhshaie, Jafar; Garza, Monica; Valdivieso, Jeanette; Ochoa-Perez, Melissa; Lemaire, Chad; Cardoso, Jodi Berger; Zvolensky, Michael J

Research has found that Latinos (versus non-Latino Whites) evince higher rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet little attention has been given to intra-individual, emotion-related processes to explicate the higher incidence of these symptoms among Latinos. Participants included 183 trauma-exposed adult Latinos (88.5% female; Mage=37.7, SD=10.7 and 93.4% reported Spanish as their first language) who attended a community-based primary healthcare clinic in Houston. It was hypothesized that anxiety sensitivity would explain the relation between emotional nonacceptance and traumatic stress symptoms, namely re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal difficulties as well as overall disability. Additionally, it was expected that the observed effects would be evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by number of traumas reported, gender, age, marital status, educational status, years living in the U.S., and negative affectivity. Consistent with our hypotheses, difficulties accepting negative emotions were associated with increased trauma-related re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal difficulties. Additionally, anxiety sensitivity was an underlying mechanism in the association between emotional nonacceptance and all but one facet of traumatic stress symptoms (i.e., re-experiencing symptoms) and disability. Alternative models yielded no significant effects, providing greater confidence in the direction of the hypothesized effects. Findings are discussed in the context of their significance for informing the development of specialized intervention strategies that target anxiety sensitivity for Latinos in primary care with elevated risk for PTS and PTSD by their heightened levels of emotional nonacceptance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electrophysiological characteristics and pharmacological sensitivity of two lines of human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes coming from two different suppliers.

PubMed

Goineau, Sonia; Castagné, Vincent

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) are increasingly used as preclinical tool for predicting drug-induced QT prolongation and arrhythmias. This study was conducted to assess the electrophysiological characteristics and the pharmacological sensitivity of two commercialized hiPSC-CMs. The baseline electrophysiological characteristics measured with a multi-electrode array (MEA) technology differ between Cor.4U and iCell 2 : higher beat rate (+32bpm) and shorter field potential duration (FPD, -201ms) for Cor.4U. The FPD lengthening after cisapride (100nM: +65% versus +18%), quinidine (10μM: +65% versus +31%), sotalol (30μM: +90% versus +47%) or flecainide (3μM: +76% versus +22%) application appeared earlier in iCell 2 as compared to Cor.4U. Arrhythmia occurrence also appeared earlier in iCell 2 as compared to Cor.4U for the 3 substances mentioned above. The FPD shortening recorded after verapamil or nifedipine application was similar in both hiPSC-CMs. In conclusion, Cor.4U and iCell 2 hiPSC-CMs are both sensitive enough to detect drug-induced delayed or shortened repolarization and arrhythmia and can provide useful predictive cardiac electrophysiology data. Arrhythmias occurred at concentrations higher than clinical free maximum plasma concentrations with an overestimation of the risk with cisapride. However, quantitative differences of baseline electrophysiological characteristics or pharmacological sensitivity of both cell types have to be considered with caution during the interpretation of data. The new chemical entities included within a given drug development program should be evaluated in hiPSC-CMs coming from a single supplier. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Head impact exposure sustained by football players on days of diagnosed concussion.

PubMed

Beckwith, Jonathan G; Greenwald, Richard M; Chu, Jeffrey J; Crisco, Joseph J; Rowson, Steven; Duma, Stefan M; Broglio, Steven P; McAllister, Thomas W; Guskiewicz, Kevin M; Mihalik, Jason P; Anderson, Scott; Schnebel, Brock; Brolinson, P Gunnar; Collins, Michael W

2013-04-01

This study compares the frequency and severity of head impacts sustained by football players on days with and without diagnosed concussion and to identify the sensitivity and specificity of single-impact severity measures to diagnosed injury. One thousand two hundred eight players from eight collegiate football teams and six high school football teams wore instrumented helmets to measure head impacts during all team sessions, of which 95 players were diagnosed with concussion. Eight players sustained two injuries and one sustained three, providing 105 injury cases. Measures of head kinematics (peak linear and rotational acceleration, Gadd severity index, head injury criteria (HIC15), and change in head velocity (Δv)) and the number of head impacts sustained by individual players were compared between days with and without diagnosed concussion. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of each kinematic measure to diagnosed concussion using only those impacts that directly preceded diagnosis. Players sustained a higher frequency of impacts and impacts with more severe kinematic properties on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. Forty-five injury cases were immediately diagnosed after head impact. For these cases, peak linear acceleration and HIC15 were most sensitive to immediately diagnosed concussion (area under the curve = 0.983). Peak rotational acceleration was less sensitive to diagnosed injury than all other kinematic measures (P = 0.01), which are derived from linear acceleration (peak linear, HIC15, Gadd severity index, and Δv). Players sustained more impacts and impacts of higher severity on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. In addition, of historical measures of impact severity, those associated with peak linear acceleration are the best predictors of immediately diagnosed concussion.

Head Impact Exposure Sustained by Football Players on Days of Diagnosed Concussion

PubMed Central

Beckwith, Jonathan G.; Greenwald, Richard M.; Chu, Jeffrey J.; Crisco, Joseph J.; Rowson, Steven; Duma, Stefan M.; Broglio, Steven P.; McAllister, Thomas W.; Guskiewicz, Kevin M.; Mihalik, Jason P.; Anderson, Scott; Schnebel, Brock; Brolinson, P. Gunnar; Collins, Michael W.

2012-01-01

Purpose This study compares the frequency and severity of head impacts sustained by football players on days with and without diagnosed concussion and to identify the sensitivity and specificity of single impact severity measures to diagnosed injury. Methods 1,208 players from eight collegiate and six high school football teams wore instrumented helmets to measure head impacts during all team sessions, of which 95 players were diagnosed with concussion. Eight players sustained two injuries and one three, providing 105 injury cases. Measures of head kinematics (peak linear and rotational acceleration, Gadd Severity Index (GSI), Head Injury Criteria (HIC15), change in head velocity (Δv)) and the number of head impacts sustained by individual players were compared between days with and without diagnosed concussion. Receiver operator characteristic curves were generated to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of each kinematic measure to diagnosed concussion using only those impacts that directly preceded diagnosis. Results Players sustained a higher frequency of impacts and impacts with more severe kinematic properties on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. Forty-five injury cases were immediately diagnosed following head impact. For these cases, peak linear acceleration and HIC15 were most sensitive to immediately diagnosed concussion (AUC = 0.983). Peak rotational acceleration was less sensitive to diagnosed injury than all other kinematic measures (p = 0.01) which are derived from linear acceleration (peak linear, HIC15, GSI, and Δv). Conclusions Players sustain more impacts and impacts of higher severity on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. Additionally, of historical measures of impact severity, those associated with peak linear acceleration are the best predictors of immediately diagnosed concussion. PMID:23135363

Breast milk fatty acid composition has a long-term effect on the risk of asthma, eczema, and sensitization.

PubMed

van Elten, T M; van Rossem, L; Wijga, A H; Brunekreef, B; de Jongste, J C; Koppelman, G H; Smit, H A

2015-11-01

Levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and n-6 PUFAs in breast milk are associated with the development of allergic diseases up to school age. However, it is unknown whether this relationship persists when the child becomes older. We therefore studied the association between levels of n-3 PUFAs and n-6 PUFAs in breast milk of allergic- and nonallergic mothers and asthma, eczema and sensitization up to the age of 14 years. The study was nested in the ongoing PIAMA birth cohort. At the child's age of 3 months, 276 mothers provided a breast milk sample. Asthma (N total = 269) and eczema (N total = 274) were self-reported up to the child's age of 14 years. Specific serum IgE levels were measured at the ages of 4, 8 and 12 years (N total = 216). Generalized estimating equations analyses were used to take account of repeated observations. Asthma up to the age of 14 years is less prevalent in children of allergic mothers receiving breast milk with higher levels of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated (LCP) fatty acids (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.31-0.79), and more prevalent in children of nonallergic mothers receiving breast milk with higher levels of n-6LCP (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.14-3.03). Weaker associations in similar direction were observed for eczema and sensitization. Direction of associations were consistent and of similar magnitude throughout childhood. The association between breast milk fatty acid composition and asthma, eczema and sensitization persists up to the age of 14 years in children of both allergic and nonallergic mothers. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method based on Streptococcus agalactiae rSip-Pgk-FbsA fusion protein for detection of bovine mastitis.

PubMed

Bu, Ri-E; Wang, Jin-Liang; Wu, Jin-Hua; Xilin, Gao-Wa; Chen, Jin-Long; Wang, Hua

2017-03-01

The aim of this study was to establish a rapid and accurate method for the detection of the Streptococcus agalactiae antibody (SA-Ab) to determine the presence of the bovine mastitis (BM)-causative pathogen. The multi-subunit fusion protein rSip-Pgk-FbsA was prokaryotically expressed and purified. The triple activities of the membrane surface-associated proteins Sip, phosphoglycerate kinase (Pgk), and fibronectin (FbsA) were used as the diagnostic antigens to establish an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method for the detection of SA-Ab in BM. The optimal antigen coating concentration was 2 μg/mL, the optimal serum dilution was 1:160, and the optimal dilution of the enzyme-labeled secondary antibody was 1:6000. The sensitivity, specificity, and repeatability tests showed that the method established in this study had no cross-reaction with antibodies to Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis in the sera. The results of the sensitivity test showed that a positive result could be obtained even if the serum dilution reached 1:12,800, indicating the high sensitivity and good repeatability of the method. The positive coincidence rate of this method was 98.6%, which is higher than that of previous tests established with the Sip or Pgk mono-antigen fusion protein, respectively, demonstrating the relatively higher sensitivity of this newly established method. The detection rate for 389 clinical samples was 46.53%. The indirect ELISA method established in this study could provide a more accurate and reliable serological method for the rapid detection of S. agalactiae in cases of BM.

Using the Web to Collect Data on Sensitive Behaviours: A Study Looking at Mode Effects on the British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles

PubMed Central

Burkill, Sarah; Copas, Andrew; Couper, Mick P.; Clifton, Soazig; Prah, Philip; Datta, Jessica; Conrad, Frederick; Wellings, Kaye; Johnson, Anne M.; Erens, Bob

2016-01-01

Background Interviewer-administered surveys are an important method of collecting population-level epidemiological data, but suffer from declining response rates and increasing costs. Web surveys offer more rapid data collection and lower costs. There are concerns, however, about data quality from web surveys. Previous research has largely focused on selection biases, and few have explored measurement differences. This paper aims to assess the extent to which mode affects the responses given by the same respondents at two points in time, providing information on potential measurement error if web surveys are used in the future. Methods 527 participants from the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3), which uses computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) and self-interview (CASI) modes, subsequently responded to identically-worded questions in a web survey. McNemar tests assessed whether within-person differences in responses were at random or indicated a mode effect, i.e. higher reporting of more sensitive responses in one mode. An analysis of pooled responses by generalized estimating equations addressed the impact of gender and question type on change. Results Only 10% of responses changed between surveys. However mode effects were found for about a third of variables, with higher reporting of sensitive responses more commonly found on the web compared with Natsal-3. Conclusions The web appears a promising mode for surveys of sensitive behaviours, most likely as part of a mixed-mode design. Our findings suggest that mode effects may vary by question type and content, and by the particular mix of modes used. Mixed-mode surveys need careful development to understand mode effects and how to account for them. PMID:26866687

Development of novel Alicyclobacillus spp. isolation medium.

PubMed

Chang, S; Kang, D-H

2005-01-01

To develop a new isolation medium with higher recovery rates of Alicyclobacillus spp. SK agar was developed with optimized incubation temperature, pH, acidulant, Tween 80 concentration and divalent cation addition. Results indicate that detection of Alicyclobacillus spp. by SK agar was significantly higher (P > 0.05) than those obtained by K agar, orange serum agar, and potato dextrose agar. Current media used for Alicyclobacillus spp. isolation still resulted in high numbers of false negative products. The sensitivity of SK agar to Alicyclobacillus spp. allows detection of low numbers of Alicyclobacillus spp. and also provides a more higher isolation results compared with currently used media. SK agar will be useful to the fruit juice industry to obtain more accurate numbers of contaminant Alicyclobacillus spp. With this media, false negative samples can be reduced, and the likelihood of exported products being rejected can be greatly reduced.

Spatial patterns of simulated transpiration response to climate variability in a snow dominated mountain ecosystem

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christensen, L.; Tague, C.L.; Baron, Jill S.

2008-01-01

Transpiration is an important component of soil water storage and stream-flow and is linked with ecosystem productivity, species distribution, and ecosystem health. In mountain environments, complex topography creates heterogeneity in key controls on transpiration as well as logistical challenges for collecting representative measurements. In these settings, ecosystem models can be used to account for variation in space and time of the dominant controls on transpiration and provide estimates of transpiration patterns and their sensitivity to climate variability and change. The Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) model was used to assess elevational differences in sensitivity of transpiration rates to the spatiotemporal variability of climate variables across the Upper Merced River watershed, Yosemite Valley, California, USA. At the basin scale, predicted annual transpiration was lowest in driest and wettest years, and greatest in moderate precipitation years (R2 = 0.32 and 0.29, based on polynomial regression of maximum snow depth and annual precipitation, respectively). At finer spatial scales, responsiveness of transpiration rates to climate differed along an elevational gradient. Low elevations (1200-1800 m) showed little interannual variation in transpiration due to topographically controlled high soil moistures along the river corridor. Annual conifer stand transpiration at intermediate elevations (1800-2150 m) responded more strongly to precipitation, resulting in a unimodal relationship between transpiration and precipitation where highest transpiration occurred during moderate precipitation levels, regardless of annual air temperatures. Higher elevations (2150-2600 m) maintained this trend, but air temperature sensitivities were greater. At these elevations, snowfall provides enough moisture for growth, and increased temperatures influenced transpiration. Transpiration at the highest elevations (2600-4000 m) showed strong sensitivity to air temperature, little sensitivity to precipitation. Model results suggest elevational differences in vegetation water use and sensitivity to climate were significant and will likely play a key role in controlling responses and vulnerability of Sierra Nevada ecosystems to climate change. Copyright ?? 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Developing graduate student competency in providing culturally sensitive end of life care in critical care environments - a pilot study of a teaching innovation.

PubMed

Northam, Holly L; Hercelinskyj, Gylo; Grealish, Laurie; Mak, Anita S

2015-11-01

Australia's immigration policy has generated a rich diverse cultural community of staff and patients in critical care environments. Many different cultural perspectives inform individual actions in the context of critical care, including the highly sensitive area of end of life care, with nurses feeling poorly prepared to provide culturally sensitive end of life care. This article describes and evaluates the effectiveness of an educational innovation designed to develop graduate-level critical care nurses' capacity for effective interpersonal communication, as members of a multi-disciplinary team in providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care. A mixed method pilot study was conducted using a curriculum innovation intervention informed by The Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership Program (EXCELL),(1) which is a higher education intervention which was applied to develop the nurses' intercultural communication skills. 12 graduate nursing students studying critical care nursing participated in the study. 42% (n=5) of the participants were from an international background. Information about students' cultural learning was recorded before and after the intervention, using a cultural learning development scale. Student discussions of end of life care were recorded at Week 2 and 14 of the curriculum. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis and qualitative data was thematically analysed. Students demonstrated an increase in cultural learning in a range of areas in the pre-post surveys including understandings of cultural diversity, interpersonal skills, cross cultural interactions and participating in multicultural groups. Thematic analysis of the end of life discussions revealed an increase in the levels of nurse confidence in approaching end of life care in critical care environments. The EXCELL program provides an effective and supportive educational framework to increase graduate nurses' cultural learning development and competence to manage culturally complex clinical issues such as end of life care, and is recommended as a framework for health care students to learn the skills required to provide culturally competent care in a range of culturally complex health care settings. Copyright © 2015 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Autofluorescence imaging to optimize 5-ALA-induced fluorescence endoscopy of bladder carcinoma.

PubMed

Frimberger, D; Zaak, D; Stepp, H; Knüchel, R; Baumgartner, R; Schneede, P; Schmeller, N; Hofstetter, A

2001-09-01

To design an optical system for detecting autofluorescence (AF) of bladder tumors and to determine the success of reducing the false-positive rate of 5-aminolevulinic acid-induced fluorescence endoscopy (AFE). AFE provides significantly higher sensitivity in detecting and localizing bladder carcinoma compared with white light endoscopy. The specificity of AFE is equivalent to white light endoscopy, mostly because of the false-positive fluorescence of chronic cystitis lesions. Laser-induced spectral autofluorescence detection is also an efficient method in the diagnosis of bladder carcinoma. Bladder tissue was excited to AF using the D-Light (375 to 440 nm) after regular AFE with detection of fluorescence-positive areas. The optical image was produced using a special RGB camera. Biopsies were taken from AFE-positive areas, the peritumoral edges, and normal bladder mucosa. The AF images of the suspicious areas were compared with the AFE images and the histologic results. A total of 43 biopsies were histologically examined (24 benign and 19 neoplastic). AF imaging showed contrast differences between papillary tumors, flat lesions, and normal mucosa. The combination of AFE with AF raised the specificity of AFE alone from 67% to 88%. AF imaging is possible. The value of the method in reducing the false-positive rate of the highly sensitive AFE needs to be validated with higher numbers. The combination of AF with AFE had a 20% higher specificity than AFE alone in our study.

Enhanced Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Mesoporous-Macroporous TiO2 Photoanode Obtained Using ZnO Template

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Trang T. T.; Mathews, Nripan; Lam, Yeng-Ming; Mhaisalkar, Subodh

2017-06-01

Improved light harvesting efficiency can be achieved by enhancing the optical properties of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), leading to higher power conversion efficiency. By incorporating submicrometer cavities in TiO2 mesoporous film, using zinc oxide (ZnO) particles as a template, a bimodal pore size structure has been created, called a mesoporous-macroporous nanostructure. This photoanode structure consists of 20-nm TiO2 nanoparticles with two kinds of pores with size of 20 nm (mesopores) and 500 nm (macropores). Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction studies showed no trace of ZnO in the TiO2 after removal by TiCl4 treatment. Higher diffuse transmittance of this film compared with the standard transparent photoanode provides evidence of improved light scattering. When employed in a device, the incident-photon-to-current efficiency of ZnO-assisted devices showed enhancement at longer wavelengths, corresponding to the Mie light scattering effect with the macropores as scattering centers. This resulted in overall higher power conversion efficiency of the DSSC. In this work, a nonvolatile gel ionic liquid was used as the electrolyte to also demonstrate the benefit of this structure in combination with a viscous electrolyte and its promising application to prolong the stability of DSSCs.

Valence processing of first impressions in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

PubMed

Yu, Chi-Lin; Wang, Min-Ying; Hu, Jon-Fan

2016-05-25

Previous studies have suggested that the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) plays a central role in processing first impressions; however, little is known about how dmPFC processes different valences of first impressions. Moreover, it is still unclear as to whether the dmPFC shows lateralization or only induces different levels of activation when processing positive and negative impressions. To address these questions in the present study, the brain activities for the impression judgments expressed by participants were measured with near-infrared spectroscopy. For each real facial picture, participants were asked to evaluate their first impressions on a scale from 'bad' to 'good' using a keyboard. The results showed that although the right dmPFC has a higher sensitivity in processing impressions, both the hemispheres of dmPFC showed a significant trend where the activation of positive impressions was higher than the negative ones. Accordingly, it is proposed that the dmPFC acts as a single mechanism responsible for delineating the processing of first impressions rather than two lateralized systems. Therefore, a 'positivity dominance hypothesis' is also proposed, which states that dmPFC in both hemispheres have a higher sensitivity and priority for positive impressions than negative ones. The present study provides valuable findings with respect to the role of the dmPFC in the processes of first impression formation.

Development and comparative investigation of Ag-sensitive layer based SAW and QCM sensors for mercury sensing applications.

PubMed

Kabir, K M Mohibul; Sabri, Ylias M; Kandjani, Ahmad Esmaielzadeh; Ippolito, Samuel J; Bhargava, Suresh K

2016-04-21

Piezoelectric acoustic wave devices integrated with noble metal surfaces provide exciting prospects for the direct measurement of toxic gas species such as mercury (Hg) in the atmosphere. Even though gold (Au) based acoustic wave sensors have been utilized extensively for detecting Hg, the potential of using other metal surfaces such as silver (Ag) is yet to be thoroughly studied. Here, we developed Ag sensitive layer-based surface acoustic wave (SAW) and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors and focused on their comparative analysis for Hg sensing applications with parameters such as the sensor sensitivity, selectivity, adsorption/desorption isotherm and Hg diffusion into the surface thoroughly studied. The SAW sensor was fabricated with nickel (Ni) interdigitated transducer (IDT) electrodes and a Ag thin film on the delay line of the device. In the case of the QCM sensor, the electrodes were constructed of Ag thin film and simultaneously employed as a sensitive layer. Mercury sensing experiments were conducted for a range of concentrations between 24-365 ppbv without/with the presence of some common industrial interfering gas species (i.e. ammonia, acetaldehyde, ethyl mercaptan, dimethyl disulphide, methyl ethyl ketone and humidity) at various operating temperatures in the range of 35-95 °C. The SAW sensor was found to possess up to 70 times higher response magnitudes than its QCM counterpart at 35 °C while up to 30 and 23 times higher response magnitudes were observed for the SAW sensor at elevated temperatures of 75 and 95 °C, respectively. Furthermore, the SAW sensor showed good selectivity (>89%) toward Hg(0) vapor in the presence of all the interferents tested at an operating temperature of 75 °C while the QCM sensor exhibited significant cross-sensitivity when ethyl mercaptan was introduced along with Hg(0) vapor. Overall, it is indicative that Ag-based acoustic wave sensors do have great potential for Hg sensing applications, given that right operating conditions are applied.

A hybrid short read mapping accelerator

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The rapid growth of short read datasets poses a new challenge to the short read mapping problem in terms of sensitivity and execution speed. Existing methods often use a restrictive error model for computing the alignments to improve speed, whereas more flexible error models are generally too slow for large-scale applications. A number of short read mapping software tools have been proposed. However, designs based on hardware are relatively rare. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have been successfully used in a number of specific application areas, such as the DSP and communications domains due to their outstanding parallel data processing capabilities, making them a competitive platform to solve problems that are “inherently parallel”. Results We present a hybrid system for short read mapping utilizing both FPGA-based hardware and CPU-based software. The computation intensive alignment and the seed generation operations are mapped onto an FPGA. We present a computationally efficient, parallel block-wise alignment structure (Align Core) to approximate the conventional dynamic programming algorithm. The performance is compared to the multi-threaded CPU-based GASSST and BWA software implementations. For single-end alignment, our hybrid system achieves faster processing speed than GASSST (with a similar sensitivity) and BWA (with a higher sensitivity); for pair-end alignment, our design achieves a slightly worse sensitivity than that of BWA but has a higher processing speed. Conclusions This paper shows that our hybrid system can effectively accelerate the mapping of short reads to a reference genome based on the seed-and-extend approach. The performance comparison to the GASSST and BWA software implementations under different conditions shows that our hybrid design achieves a high degree of sensitivity and requires less overall execution time with only modest FPGA resource utilization. Our hybrid system design also shows that the performance bottleneck for the short read mapping problem can be changed from the alignment stage to the seed generation stage, which provides an additional requirement for the future development of short read aligners. PMID:23441908

Differences in Cardiometabolic Risk between Insulin-Sensitive and Insulin-Resistant Overweight and Obese Children.

PubMed

Khan, Unab I; McGinn, Aileen P; Isasi, Carmen R; Groisman-Perelstein, Adriana; Diamantis, Pamela M; Ginsberg, Mindy; Wylie-Rosett, Judith

2015-06-01

It is known that 15-30% overweight/obese adults do not suffer cardiometabolic consequences. There is limited literature examining factors that can be used to assess cardiometabolic health in overweight/obese children. If such factors can be identified, they would aid in differentiating those most in need for aggressive management. Baseline data from 7- to 12-year-old, overweight, and obese children enrolled in a weight management program at an urban hospital were analyzed. Homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) <2.6 was used to define insulin-sensitive and HOMA-IR ≥2.6 was used to defined insulin-resistant participants. Demographics, physical activity measures, and cardiometabolic risk factors were compared between the two phenotypes. Odds ratios (ORs) examining the association between intermediate endpoints (metabolic syndrome [MetS], nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD], systemic inflammation, and microalbuminuria) and the two metabolic phenotypes were evaluated. Of the 362 overweight/obese participants, 157 (43.5%) were insulin sensitive and 204 (56.5%) were insulin resistant. Compared to the insulin-sensitive group, the insulin-resistant group was older (8.6±1.6 vs. 9.9±1.7; p<0.001) and had a higher BMI z-score (1.89±0.42 vs. 2.04±0.42; p=0.001). After multivariable adjustment, compared to the insulin-sensitive group, the insulin-resistant group had higher odds of having MetS (OR, 5.47; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.72, 17.35; p=0.004) and NAFLD (OR, 8.66; 95% CI, 2.48, 30.31; p=0.001), but not systemic inflammation (OR, 1.06; 95% CI: 0.56, 2.03; p=0.86) or microalbuminuria (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 0.49, 6.04; p=0.403). Using a HOMA-IR value of ≥2.6, clinical providers can identify prepubertal and early pubertal children most at risk. Focusing limited resources on aggressive weight interventions may lead to improvement in cardiometabolic health.

Financial analysis of cardiovascular wellness program provided to self-insured company from pharmaceutical care provider's perspective.

PubMed

Wilson, Justin B; Osterhaus, Matt C; Farris, Karen B; Doucette, William R; Currie, Jay D; Bullock, Tammy; Kumbera, Patty

2005-01-01

To perform a retrospective financial analysis on the implementation of a self-insured company's wellness program from the pharmaceutical care provider's perspective and conduct sensitivity analyses to estimate costs versus revenues for pharmacies without resident pharmacists, program implementation for a second employer, the second year of the program, and a range of pharmacist wages. Cost-benefit and sensitivity analyses. Self-insured employer with headquarters in Canton, N.C. 36 employees at facility in Clinton, Iowa. Pharmacist-provided cardiovascular wellness program. Costs and revenues collected from pharmacy records, including pharmacy purchasing records, billing records, and pharmacists' time estimates. All costs and revenues were calculated for the development and first year of the intervention program. Costs included initial and follow-up screening supplies, office supplies, screening/group presentation time, service provision time, documentation/preparation time, travel expenses, claims submission time, and administrative fees. Revenues included initial screening revenues, follow-up screening revenues, group session revenues, and Heart Smart program revenues. For the development and first year of Heart Smart, net benefit to the pharmacy (revenues minus costs) amounted to dollars 2,413. All sensitivity analyses showed a net benefit. For pharmacies without a resident pharmacist, the net benefit was dollars 106; for Heart Smart in a second employer, the net benefit was dollars 6,024; for the second year, the projected net benefit was dollars 6,844; factoring in a lower pharmacist salary, the net benefit was dollars 2,905; and for a higher pharmacist salary, the net benefit was dollars 1,265. For the development and first year of Heart Smart, the revenues of the wellness program in a self-insured company outweighed the costs.

Towards retrievals of aerosol chemical composition from satellite observations by POLDER/PARASOL polarimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, L.; Dubovik, O.; Derimian, Y.; Lapyonok, T.; Schuster, G. L.; Ducos, F.

2016-12-01

The information about composition of aerosols has a great importance for monitoring and understanding of climate and environment dynamics. Such information can be obtained using situ measurements or chemical transport models. However, in situ sampling has limited spatial and temporal coverage, while estimations have large uncertainties. The present work enables the monitoring of aerosol chemical species from space-borne observations, providing observationally-based results with spatial and temporal coverage. Following the ideas of Schuster et al.(2005, 2009, 2016), we retrieve chemical composition directly from remote sensing measurements without intermediate retrieval of the refractive index (in contrast with Schuster's approach). This approach is expected to reduce the influence of modeling uncertainties, and to provide additional constraints in situations where remote sensing observations do not have enough spectral sensitivity to refractive index. One of principal difficulties is the identification of an adequate model for linking refractive index to chemical composition. Therefore, the initial effort of this work has focused on identifying an optimal "chemical composition to refractive index" conversion model. With that purpose, we first tested the retrieval approach using a simplified volume-weighting model and updated by the Maxwell Garnett mixing model. This concept was incorporated into the GRASP algorithm designed to retrieve an extended set of atmospheric parameters from remote sensing observations. Then a series of sensitivity tests using synthetic data of POLDER/PARASOL were conducted, and followed by inversion of real PARASOL observations. The sensitivity tests showed that these two models allow the retrieval to distinguish amongst the assumed chemical species. Results obtained from real PARASOL data demonstrated good agreement with the optical characteristics provided by AERONET (e.g., r2 of AOT 0.9). The obtained patterns of chemical component distribution agreed with known physical expectations. For example, the mass concentration of black and brown carbon in the biomass burning region was found five times higher than in the region mainly affected by dust. The mass concentration of quartz in western Africa is up to seven times higher than in southern Africa.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination for Hong Kong elderly in long-term care facilities.

PubMed

You, J H S; Wong, W C W; Ip, M; Lee, N L S; Ho, S C

2009-11-01

To compare cost and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained by influenza vaccination with or without pneumococcal vaccination in the elderly living in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Cost-effectiveness analysis based on Markov modelling over 5 years, from a Hong Kong public health provider's perspective, on a hypothetical cohort of LTCF residents aged > or = 65 years. Benefit-cost ratio (BCR) and net present value (NPV) of two vaccination strategies versus no vaccination were estimated. The cost and QALYs gained by two vaccination strategies were compared by Student's t-test in probabilistic sensitivity analysis (10,000 Monte Carlo simulations). Both vaccination strategies had high BCRs and NPVs (6.39 and US$334 for influenza vaccination; 5.10 and US$332 for influenza plus pneumococcal vaccination). In base case analysis, the two vaccination strategies were expected to cost less and gain higher QALYs than no vaccination. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, the cost of combined vaccination and influenza vaccination was significantly lower (p<0.001) than the cost of no vaccination. Both vaccination strategies gained significantly higher (p<0.001) QALYs than no vaccination. The QALYs gained by combined vaccination were significantly higher (p = 0.030) than those gained by influenza vaccination alone. The total cost of combined vaccination was significantly lower (p = 0.011) than that of influenza vaccination. Influenza vaccination with or without pneumococcal vaccination appears to be less costly with higher QALYs gained than no vaccination, over a 5-year period, for elderly people living in LTCFs from the perspective of a Hong Kong public health organisation. Combined vaccination was more likely to gain higher QALYs with lower total cost than influenza vaccination alone.

Relative contribution of Na+/K+ homeostasis, photochemical efficiency and antioxidant defense system to differential salt tolerance in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars.

PubMed

Wang, Ning; Qiao, Wenqing; Liu, Xiaohong; Shi, Jianbin; Xu, Qinghua; Zhou, Hong; Yan, Gentu; Huang, Qun

2017-10-01

In this study, the role of specific components of different coping strategies to salt load were identified. A pot experiment was conducted with four cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars (differing in salt-sensitivity) under salinity stress. Based on observed responses in growth performance and physiological characteristics, CZ91 was the most tolerant of the four cultivars, followed by cultivars CCRI44 and CCRI49, with Z571 being much more sensitive to salt stress. To perform this tolerant response, they implement different adaptative mechanisms to cope with salt-stress. The superior salt tolerance of CZ91 was conferred by at least three complementary physiological mechanisms: its ability to regulate K + and Na + transport more effectively, its higher photochemical efficiency and better antioxidant defense capacity. However, only one or a few specific components of these defense systems play crucial roles in moderately salt tolerant CCRI44 and CCRI49. Lower ROS load in CCRI44 may be attributed to simultaneous induction of antioxidant defenses by maintaining an unusually high level of SOD, and higher activities of CAT, APX, and POD during salt stress. CCRI49 could reduce the excess generation of ROS not only by maintaining a higher selective absorption of K + over Na + in roots across the membranes through SOS1, AKT1, and HAK5, but also by displaying higher excess-energy dissipation (e.g., higher ETR, P R and qN) during salt stress. Overall, our data provide a mechanistic explanation for differential salt stress tolerance among these cultivars and shed light on the different strategies employed by cotton cultivars to minimize the ill effects of stress. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Law enforcement duties and sudden cardiac death among police officers in United States: case distribution study

PubMed Central

Varvarigou, Vasileia; Farioli, Andrea; Korre, Maria; Sato, Sho; Dahabreh, Issa J

2014-01-01

Objective To assess the association between risk of sudden cardiac death and stressful law enforcement duties compared with routine/non-emergency duties. Design Case distribution study (case series with survey information on referent exposures). Setting United States law enforcement. Participants Summaries of deaths of over 4500 US police officers provided by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Officer Down Memorial Page from 1984 to 2010. Main outcome measures Observed and expected sudden cardiac death counts and relative risks for sudden cardiac death events during specific strenuous duties versus routine/non-emergency activities. Independent estimates of the proportion of time that police officers spend across various law enforcement duties obtained from surveys of police chiefs and front line officers. Impact of varying exposure assessments, covariates, and missing cases in sensitivity and stability analyses. Results 441 sudden cardiac deaths were observed during the study period. Sudden cardiac death was associated with restraints/altercations (25%, n=108), physical training (20%, n=88), pursuits of suspects (12%, n=53), medical/rescue operations (8%, n=34), routine duties (23%, n=101), and other activities (11%, n=57). Compared with routine/non-emergency activities, the risk of sudden cardiac death was 34-69 times higher during restraints/altercations, 32-51 times higher during pursuits, 20-23 times higher during physical training, and 6-9 times higher during medical/rescue operations. Results were robust to all sensitivity and stability analyses. Conclusions Stressful law enforcement duties are associated with a risk of sudden cardiac death that is markedly higher than the risk during routine/non-emergency duties. Restraints/altercations and pursuits are associated with the greatest risk. Our findings have public health implications and suggest that primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention efforts are needed among law enforcement officers. PMID:25406189

[Sap flow characteristics of Quercus liaotungensis in response to sapwood area and soil moisture in the loess hilly region, China].

PubMed

Lyu, Jin Lin; He, Qiu Yue; Yan, Mei Jie; Li, Guo Qing; Du, Sheng

2018-03-01

To examine the characteristics of sap flow in Quercus liaotungensis and their response to environmental factors under different soil moisture conditions, Granier-type thermal dissipation probes were used to measure xylem sap flow of trees with different sapwood area in a natural Q. liaotungensis forest in the loess hilly region. Solar radiation, air temperature, relative air humidity, precipitation, and soil moisture were monitored during the study period. The results showed that sap flux of Q. liaotungensis reached daily peaks earlier than solar radiation and vapor pressure deficit. The diurnal dynamics of sap flux showed a similar pattern to those of the environmental factors. Trees had larger sap flux during the period with higher soil moisture. Under the same soil moisture conditions, trees with larger diameter and sapwood areas had significantly higher sap flux than those with smaller diameter and sapwood areas. Sap flux could be fitted with vapor pressure deficit, solar radiation, and the integrated index of the two factors using exponential saturation function. Differences in the fitted curves and parameters suggested that sap flux tended to reach saturation faster under higher soil moisture. Furthermore, trees in the smaller diameter class were more sensitive to the changes of soil moisture. The ratio of daily sap flux per unit vapor pressure deficit under lower soil moisture condition to that under higher soil moisture condition was linearly correlated to sapwood area. The regressive slope in smaller diameter class was larger than that in bigger diameter class, which further indicated the higher sensitivity of trees with smaller diameter class to soil moisture. These results indicated that wider sapwood of larger diameter class provided a buffer against drought stress.

Law enforcement duties and sudden cardiac death among police officers in United States: case distribution study.

PubMed

Varvarigou, Vasileia; Farioli, Andrea; Korre, Maria; Sato, Sho; Dahabreh, Issa J; Kales, Stefanos N

2014-11-18

To assess the association between risk of sudden cardiac death and stressful law enforcement duties compared with routine/non-emergency duties. Case distribution study (case series with survey information on referent exposures). United States law enforcement. Summaries of deaths of over 4500 US police officers provided by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Officer Down Memorial Page from 1984 to 2010. Observed and expected sudden cardiac death counts and relative risks for sudden cardiac death events during specific strenuous duties versus routine/non-emergency activities. Independent estimates of the proportion of time that police officers spend across various law enforcement duties obtained from surveys of police chiefs and front line officers. Impact of varying exposure assessments, covariates, and missing cases in sensitivity and stability analyses. 441 sudden cardiac deaths were observed during the study period. Sudden cardiac death was associated with restraints/altercations (25%, n=108), physical training (20%, n=88), pursuits of suspects (12%, n=53), medical/rescue operations (8%, n=34), routine duties (23%, n=101), and other activities (11%, n=57). Compared with routine/non-emergency activities, the risk of sudden cardiac death was 34-69 times higher during restraints/altercations, 32-51 times higher during pursuits, 20-23 times higher during physical training, and 6-9 times higher during medical/rescue operations. Results were robust to all sensitivity and stability analyses. Stressful law enforcement duties are associated with a risk of sudden cardiac death that is markedly higher than the risk during routine/non-emergency duties. Restraints/altercations and pursuits are associated with the greatest risk. Our findings have public health implications and suggest that primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention efforts are needed among law enforcement officers. © Varvarigou et al 2014.

Heat-Related Mortality Projections for Cardiovascular and Respiratory Disease Under the Changing Climate in Beijing, China

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Tiantian; Ban, Jie; Horton, Radley M.; Bader, Daniel A.; Huang, Ganlin; Sun, Qinghua; Kinney, Patrick L.

2015-01-01

Because heat-related health effects tend to become more serious at higher temperatures, there is an urgent need to determine the mortality projection of specific heat-sensitive diseases to provide more detailed information regarding the variation of the sensitivity of such diseases. In this study, the specific mortality of cardiovascular and respiratory disease in Beijing was initially projected under five different global-scale General Circulation Models (GCMs) and two Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios (RCPs) in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s compared to the 1980s. Multi-model ensembles indicated cardiovascular mortality could increase by an average percentage of 18.4 percent, 47.8 percent, and 69.0 percent in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s under RCP 4.5, respectively, and by 16.6 percent, 73.8 percent and 134 percent in different decades respectively, under RCP 8.5 compared to the baseline range. The same increasing pattern was also observed in respiratory mortality. The heat-related deaths under the RCP 8.5 scenario were found to reach a higher number and to increase more rapidly during the 21st century compared to the RCP4.5 scenario, especially in the 2050s and the 2080s. The projection results show potential trends in cause-specific mortality in the context of climate change, and provide support for public health interventions tailored to specific climate-related future health risks.

Optical imaging of articular cartilage degeneration using near-infrared dipicolylamine probes.

PubMed

Hu, Xiang; Wang, Qian; Liu, Yang; Liu, Hongguang; Qin, Chunxia; Cheng, Kai; Robinson, William; Gray, Brian D; Pak, Koon Y; Yu, Aixi; Cheng, Zhen

2014-08-01

Articular cartilage is the hydrated tissue that lines the ends of long bones in load bearing joints and provides joints with a smooth, nearly frictionless gliding surface. However, the deterioration of articular cartilage occurs in the early stages of osteoarthritis (OA) and is clinically and radiographically silent. Here two cationic near infrared fluorescent (NIRF) dipicolylamine (DPA) probes, Cy5-DPA-Zn and Cy7-DPA-Zn, were prepared for cartilage degeneration imaging and OA early detection through binding to the anionic glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). The feasibility of NIRF dye labeled DPA-Zn probes for cartilage degeneration imaging was examined ex vivo and in vivo. The ex vivo studies showed that Cy5-DPA-Zn and Cy7-DPA-Zn not only showed the high uptake and electrostatic attractive binding to cartilage, but also sensitively reflected the change of GAGs contents. In vivo imaging study further indicated that Cy5-DPA-Zn demonstrated higher uptake and retention in young mice (high GAGs) than old mice (low GAGs) when administrated via local injection in mouse knee joints. More importantly, Cy5-DPA-Zn showed dramatic higher signals in sham joint (high GAGs) than OA side (low GAGs), through sensitive reflecting the change of GAGs in the surgical induced OA models. In summary, Cy5-DPA-Zn provides promising visual detection for early cartilage pathological degeneration in living subjects. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Classification of bladder cancer cell lines using Raman spectroscopy: a comparison of excitation wavelength, sample substrate and statistical algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerr, Laura T.; Adams, Aine; O'Dea, Shirley; Domijan, Katarina; Cullen, Ivor; Hennelly, Bryan M.

2014-05-01

Raman microspectroscopy can be applied to the urinary bladder for highly accurate classification and diagnosis of bladder cancer. This technique can be applied in vitro to bladder epithelial cells obtained from urine cytology or in vivo as an optical biopsy" to provide results in real-time with higher sensitivity and specificity than current clinical methods. However, there exists a high degree of variability across experimental parameters which need to be standardised before this technique can be utilized in an everyday clinical environment. In this study, we investigate different laser wavelengths (473 nm and 532 nm), sample substrates (glass, fused silica and calcium fluoride) and multivariate statistical methods in order to gain insight into how these various experimental parameters impact on the sensitivity and specificity of Raman cytology.

Individual differences in epistemic motivation and brain conflict monitoring activity.

PubMed

Kossowska, Małgorzata; Czarnek, Gabriela; Wronka, Eligiusz; Wyczesany, Miroslaw; Bukowski, Marcin

2014-06-06

It is well documented that motivation toward closure (NFC), defined as a desire for a quick and unambiguous answer to a question and an aversion to uncertainty, is linked to more structured, rigid, and persistent cognitive styles. However, the neurocognitive correlates of NFC have never been tested. Thus, using event-related potentials, we examined the hypothesis that NFC is associated with the neurocognitive process for detecting discrepancies between response tendencies and higher level intentions. We found that greater NFC is associated with lower conflict-related anterior cingulate activity, suggesting lower sensitivity to cues for altering a habitual response pattern and lower sensitivity to committing errors. This study provides evidence that high NFC acts as a bulwark against anxiety-producing uncertainty and minimizes the experience of error. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vision and visual navigation in nocturnal insects.

PubMed

Warrant, Eric; Dacke, Marie

2011-01-01

With their highly sensitive visual systems, nocturnal insects have evolved a remarkable capacity to discriminate colors, orient themselves using faint celestial cues, fly unimpeded through a complicated habitat, and navigate to and from a nest using learned visual landmarks. Even though the compound eyes of nocturnal insects are significantly more sensitive to light than those of their closely related diurnal relatives, their photoreceptors absorb photons at very low rates in dim light, even during demanding nocturnal visual tasks. To explain this apparent paradox, it is hypothesized that the necessary bridge between retinal signaling and visual behavior is a neural strategy of spatial and temporal summation at a higher level in the visual system. Exactly where in the visual system this summation takes place, and the nature of the neural circuitry that is involved, is currently unknown but provides a promising avenue for future research.

Plasmonic biosensor for label-free G-quadruplexes detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Suyan; Zhao, Fusheng; Santos, Greggy M.; Shih, Wei-Chuan

2016-03-01

G-quadruplex, readily formed by the G-rich sequence, potentially distributes in over 40 % of all human genes, such as the telomeric DNA with the G-rich sequence found at the end of the chromosome. The G-quadruplex structure is supposed to possess a diverse set of critical functions in the mammalian genome for transcriptional regulation, DNA replication and genome stability. However, most of the currently available methods for G-quadruplex identification are restricted to fluorescence techniques susceptible to poor sensitivity. It is essential to propose methods with higher sensitivity to specifically recognize the G-quadruplexes. In this study, we demonstrate a label-free plasmonic biosensor for G-quadruplex detection by relying on the advantages of nanoporous gold (NPG) disks that provide high-density plasmonic hot spots, suitable for molecular recognition capability without the requirement for labeling processes.

Efficient Flowline Simulations of Ice Shelf-Ocean Interactions: Sensitivity Studies with a Fully Coupled Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Ryan Thomas; Holland, David; Parizek, Byron R.; Alley, Richard B.; Nowicki, Sophie M. J.; Jenkins, Adrian

2013-01-01

Thermodynamic flowline and plume models for the ice shelf-ocean system simplify the ice and ocean dynamics sufficiently to allow extensive exploration of parameters affecting ice-sheet stability while including key physical processes. Comparison between geophysically and laboratory-based treatments of ice-ocean interface thermodynamics shows reasonable agreement between calculated melt rates, except where steep basal slopes and relatively high ocean temperatures are present. Results are especially sensitive to the poorly known drag coefficient, highlighting the need for additional field experiments to constrain its value. These experiments also suggest that if the ice-ocean interface near the grounding line is steeper than some threshold, further steepening of the slope may drive higher entrainment that limits buoyancy, slowing the plume and reducing melting; if confirmed, this will provide a stabilizing feedback on ice sheets under some circumstances.

ProteinSeq: High-Performance Proteomic Analyses by Proximity Ligation and Next Generation Sequencing

PubMed Central

Vänelid, Johan; Siegbahn, Agneta; Ericsson, Olle; Fredriksson, Simon; Bäcklin, Christofer; Gut, Marta; Heath, Simon; Gut, Ivo Glynne; Wallentin, Lars; Gustafsson, Mats G.; Kamali-Moghaddam, Masood; Landegren, Ulf

2011-01-01

Despite intense interest, methods that provide enhanced sensitivity and specificity in parallel measurements of candidate protein biomarkers in numerous samples have been lacking. We present herein a multiplex proximity ligation assay with readout via realtime PCR or DNA sequencing (ProteinSeq). We demonstrate improved sensitivity over conventional sandwich assays for simultaneous analysis of sets of 35 proteins in 5 µl of blood plasma. Importantly, we observe a minimal tendency to increased background with multiplexing, compared to a sandwich assay, suggesting that higher levels of multiplexing are possible. We used ProteinSeq to analyze proteins in plasma samples from cardiovascular disease (CVD) patient cohorts and matched controls. Three proteins, namely P-selectin, Cystatin-B and Kallikrein-6, were identified as putative diagnostic biomarkers for CVD. The latter two have not been previously reported in the literature and their potential roles must be validated in larger patient cohorts. We conclude that ProteinSeq is promising for screening large numbers of proteins and samples while the technology can provide a much-needed platform for validation of diagnostic markers in biobank samples and in clinical use. PMID:21980495

Surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy sensor and methods for using same

DOEpatents

Anderson, Brian Benjamin; Nave, Stanley Eugene

2002-01-01

A surface plasmon resonance ("SPR") probe with a detachable sensor head and system and methods for using the same in various applications is described. The SPR probe couples fiber optic cables directly to an SPR substrate that has a generally planar input surface and a generally curved reflecting surface, such as a substrate formed as a hemisphere. Forming the SPR probe in this manner allows the probe to be miniaturized and operate without the need for high precision, expensive and bulky collimating or focusing optics. Additionally, the curved reflecting surface of the substrate can be coated with one or multiple patches of sensing medium to allow the probe to detect for multiple analytes of interest or to provide multiple readings for comparison and higher precision. Specific applications for the probe are disclosed, including extremely high sensitive relative humidity and dewpoint detection for, e.g., moisture-sensitive environment such as volatile chemical reactions. The SPR probe disclosed operates with a large dynamic range and provides extremely high quality spectra despite being robust enough for field deployment and readily manufacturable.

The role of cone-beam breast-CT for breast cancer detection relative to breast density.

PubMed

Wienbeck, Susanne; Uhlig, Johannes; Luftner-Nagel, Susanne; Zapf, Antonia; Surov, Alexey; von Fintel, Eva; Stahnke, Vera; Lotz, Joachim; Fischer, Uwe

2017-12-01

To evaluate the impact of breast density on the diagnostic accuracy of non-contrast cone-beam breast computed tomography (CBBCT) in comparison to mammography for the detection of breast masses. A retrospective study was conducted from August 2015 to July 2016. Fifty-nine patients (65 breasts, 112 lesions) with BI-RADS, 5th edition 4 or 5 assessment in mammography and/or ultrasound of the breast received an additional non-contrast CBBCT. Independent double blind reading by two radiologists was performed for mammography and CBBCT imaging. Sensitivity, specificity and AUC were compared between the modalities. Breast lesions were histologically examined in 85 of 112 lesions (76%). The overall sensitivity for CBBCT (reader 1: 91%, reader 2: 88%) was higher than in mammography (both: 68%, p<0.001), and also for the high-density group (p<0.05). The specificity and AUC was higher for mammography in comparison to CBBCT (p<0.05 and p<0.001). The interobserver agreement (ICC) between the readers was 90% (95% CI: 86-93%) for mammography and 87% (95% CI: 82-91%) for CBBCT. Compared with two-view mammography, non-contrast CBBCT has higher sensitivity, lower specificity, and lower AUC for breast mass detection in both high and low density breasts. • Overall sensitivity for non-contrast CBBCT ranged between 88%-91%. • Sensitivity was higher for CBBCT than mammography in both density types (p<0.001). • Specificity was higher for mammography than CBBCT in both density types (p<0.05). • AUC was larger for mammography than CBBCT in both density types (p<0.001).

Diagnostic implications of a small-voxel reconstruction for loco-regional lymph node characterization in breast cancer patients using FDG-PET/CT.

PubMed

Koopman, Daniëlle; van Dalen, Jorn A; Arkies, Hester; Oostdijk, Ad H J; Francken, Anne Brecht; Bart, Jos; Slump, Cornelis H; Knollema, Siert; Jager, Pieter L

2018-01-16

We evaluated the diagnostic implications of a small-voxel reconstruction for lymph node characterization in breast cancer patients, using state-of-the-art FDG-PET/CT. We included 69 FDG-PET/CT scans from breast cancer patients. PET data were reconstructed using standard 4 × 4 × 4 mm 3 and small 2 × 2 × 2 mm 3 voxels. Two hundred thirty loco-regional lymph nodes were included, of which 209 nodes were visualised on PET/CT. All nodes were visually scored as benign or malignant, and SUV max and TB ratio (=SUV max /SUV background ) were measured. Final diagnosis was based on histological or imaging information. We determined the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity for both reconstruction methods and calculated optimal cut-off values to distinguish benign from malignant nodes. Sixty-one benign and 169 malignant lymph nodes were included. Visual evaluation accuracy was 73% (sensitivity 67%, specificity 89%) on standard-voxel images and 77% (sensitivity 78%, specificity 74%) on small-voxel images (p = 0.13). Across malignant nodes visualised on PET/CT, the small-voxel score was more often correct compared with the standard-voxel score (89 vs. 76%, p <  0.001). In benign nodes, the standard-voxel score was more often correct (89 vs. 74%, p = 0.04). Quantitative data were based on the 61 benign and 148 malignant lymph nodes visualised on PET/CT. SUVs and TB ratio were on average 3.0 and 1.6 times higher in malignant nodes compared to those in benign nodes (p <  0.001), on standard- and small-voxel PET images respectively. Small-voxel PET showed average increases in SUV max and TB ratio of typically 40% over standard-voxel PET. The optimal SUV max cut-off using standard-voxels was 1.8 (sensitivity 81%, specificity 95%, accuracy 85%) while for small-voxels, the optimal SUV max cut-off was 2.6 (sensitivity 78%, specificity 98%, accuracy 84%). Differences in accuracy were non-significant. Small-voxel PET/CT improves the sensitivity of visual lymph node characterization and provides a higher detection rate of malignant lymph nodes. However, small-voxel PET/CT also introduced more false-positive results in benign nodes. Across all nodes, differences in accuracy were non-significant. Quantitatively, small-voxel images require higher cut-off values. Readers have to adapt their reference standards.

Changes in Low-Value Services in Year 1 of the Medicare Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Program.

PubMed

Schwartz, Aaron L; Chernew, Michael E; Landon, Bruce E; McWilliams, J Michael

2015-11-01

Wasteful practices are widespread in the US health care system. It is unclear if payment models intended to improve health care efficiency, such as the Medicare accountable care organization (ACO) programs, discourage the provision of low-value services. To assess whether the first year of the Medicare Pioneer ACO program was associated with a reduction in use of low-value services. In a difference-in-differences analysis, we compared use of low-value services between Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries attributed to health care provider groups that entered the Pioneer program (ACO group) and beneficiaries attributed to other health care providers (control group) before (2009-2011) vs after (2012) Pioneer ACO contracts began. Data analysis was conducted from December 1, 2014, to June 27, 2015. Comparisons were adjusted for beneficiaries' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics as well as for geography. We decomposed estimates according to service characteristics (clinical category, price, and sensitivity to patient preferences) and compared estimates between subgroups of ACOs with higher vs lower baseline use of low-value services. Use of, and spending on, 31 services in instances that provide minimal clinical benefit, measured as annual service counts per 100 beneficiaries and price-standardized annual service spending per 100 beneficiaries. During the precontract period, trends in the use of low-value services were similar for the ACO and control groups. The first year of ACO contracts was associated with a differential reduction (95% CI) of 0.8 low-value services per 100 beneficiaries for the ACO group (-1.2 to -0.4; P < .001), corresponding to a 1.9% differential reduction in service quantity (-2.9% to -0.9%) and a 4.5% differential reduction in spending on low-value services (-7.5% to -1.4%; P = .004). Differential reductions were similar for services less sensitive vs more sensitive to patient preferences and for higher- vs lower-priced services. The ACOs with higher than their markets' mean baseline levels of low-value service use experienced greater service reductions (-1.2 services per 100 beneficiaries; -1.7 to -0.7; P < .001) than did ACOs with use below the mean (-0.2 services per 100 beneficiaries, -0.6 to -0.2; P = .41; P = .003 for test of difference between subgroups). During its first year, the Pioneer ACO program was associated with modest reductions in low-value services, with greater reductions for organizations providing more low-value care. Accountable care organization-like risk contracts may be able to discourage use of low-value services even without specifying services to target.

Diagnosis of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus infection in dairy goats by ELISA, PCR and Viral Culture.

PubMed

Panneum, S; Rukkwamsuk, T

2017-03-01

For preventive and control strategies of Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) infection in dairy goats, performance of the available diagnostic tests was described as one of the most important and necessary aspects. The study aimed at evaluating the diagnostic test performance, including PCR, ELISA and viral culture, for CAEV infection in dairy goats in Thailand. Blood samples of 29 dairy goats from five low- to medium-prevalence herds and one very low-prevalence herd were collected for PCR and ELISA methods. The performance of these two diagnostic methods was evaluated by comparing with cytopathic effects (CPE) in the co-cultivation of CAEV and primary synovial cells. Results indicated that sensitivity, specificity were, respectively, 69.6%, 100%, for PCR; and 95.7%, 83.3% for ELISA. The PCR assay tended to have lower sensitivity and higher specificity than ELISA. When multiple tests were applied, parallel testing provided sensitivity and specificity of 98.7% and 83.3%, while series testing showed sensitivity and specificity of 66.6% and 100% respectively. These results indicated that combination of ELISA and PCR provided some advantages and possibly offered optimal methods to detect CAEV-infected goats. Kappa value of the agreement between PCR and ELISA test was 0.34, indicating fair agreement. Regarding the possibility of antigenic variation between CAEV strains used in both PCR and ELISA assays, the actual circulating CAEV strain should be reviewed in order to develop and enhance the diagnostic tests using the CAE viral antigens derived from specific local strains of Thailand.

Novel Breast Imaging and Machine Learning: Predicting Breast Lesion Malignancy at Cone-Beam CT Using Machine Learning Techniques.

PubMed

Uhlig, Johannes; Uhlig, Annemarie; Kunze, Meike; Beissbarth, Tim; Fischer, Uwe; Lotz, Joachim; Wienbeck, Susanne

2018-05-24

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of machine learning techniques for malignancy prediction at breast cone-beam CT (CBCT) and to compare them to human readers. Five machine learning techniques, including random forests, back propagation neural networks (BPN), extreme learning machines, support vector machines, and K-nearest neighbors, were used to train diagnostic models on a clinical breast CBCT dataset with internal validation by repeated 10-fold cross-validation. Two independent blinded human readers with profound experience in breast imaging and breast CBCT analyzed the same CBCT dataset. Diagnostic performance was compared using AUC, sensitivity, and specificity. The clinical dataset comprised 35 patients (American College of Radiology density type C and D breasts) with 81 suspicious breast lesions examined with contrast-enhanced breast CBCT. Forty-five lesions were histopathologically proven to be malignant. Among the machine learning techniques, BPNs provided the best diagnostic performance, with AUC of 0.91, sensitivity of 0.85, and specificity of 0.82. The diagnostic performance of the human readers was AUC of 0.84, sensitivity of 0.89, and specificity of 0.72 for reader 1 and AUC of 0.72, sensitivity of 0.71, and specificity of 0.67 for reader 2. AUC was significantly higher for BPN when compared with both reader 1 (p = 0.01) and reader 2 (p < 0.001). Machine learning techniques provide a high and robust diagnostic performance in the prediction of malignancy in breast lesions identified at CBCT. BPNs showed the best diagnostic performance, surpassing human readers in terms of AUC and specificity.

Epicutaneous aeroallergen sensitization in atopic dermatitis infants - determining the role of epidermal barrier impairment.

PubMed

Boralevi, F; Hubiche, T; Léauté-Labrèze, C; Saubusse, E; Fayon, M; Roul, S; Maurice-Tison, S; Taïeb, A

2008-02-01

Sensitization to atopens is an early phenomenon that overlaps with the onset of atopic dermatitis (AD) in infancy. Early epidermal barrier impairment may facilitate the epicutaneous penetration of atopens. To correlate transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and aeroallergen sensitization in infants with AD. In this cross-sectional study we enrolled 59 AD children and 30 controls aged 3-12 months. Transepidermal water loss in uninvolved skin, specific immunoglobulin E, atopy patch test (APT) and skin prick tests were performed with respect to seven aeroallergens, i.e., Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, D. farinae, cat, dog, birch pollen, ambrosia, and cockroach. Environmental conditions were assessed by a questionnaire, and the house dust mite (HDM) concentration was determined in dust samples. Eighty-nine percent of AD infants had a positive APT vs one out of eleven controls. AD infants had a significantly higher mean TEWL than controls (27.4 vs 11.1 g/m(2)/h, P < 0001). Children with two or more positive APT had higher TEWL than the others (31.1 vs 19.0 g/m(2)/h, P < 0.025). No correlation was found between indoor APT results and exposure to HDM, cats, and dogs at home. This study confirms the high prevalence of delayed sensitization to indoor and outdoor aeroallergens in AD infants, and shows that the higher the TEWL, the higher the prevalence of sensitization to aeroallergens. These data are in favor of a major role of a constitutive epidermal barrier impairment in determining early atopen sensitization in infants with AD.

Association between atopic dermatitis and contact sensitization: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Hamann, Carsten R; Hamann, Dathan; Egeberg, Alexander; Johansen, Jeanne D; Silverberg, Jonathan; Thyssen, Jacob P

2017-07-01

It is unclear whether patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) have an altered prevalence or risk for contact sensitization. Increased exposure to chemicals in topical products together with impaired skin barrier function suggest a higher risk, whereas the immune profile suggests a lower risk. To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between AD and contact sensitization. The PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched for articles that reported on contact sensitization in individuals with and without AD. The literature search yielded 10,083 citations; 417 were selected based on title and abstract screening and 74 met inclusion criteria. In a pooled analysis, no significant difference in contact sensitization between AD and controls was evident (random effects model odds ratio [OR] = 0.891; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.771-1.03). There was a positive correlation in studies that compared AD patients with individuals from the general population (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.23-1.93) but an inverse association when comparing with referred populations (OR 0.753, 95% CI 0.63-0.90). Included studies used different tools to diagnose AD and did not always provide information on current or past disease. Patch test allergens varied between studies. No overall relationship between AD and contact sensitization was found. We recommend that clinicians consider patch testing AD patients when allergic contact dermatitis is suspected. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of menthol vapor on nasal sensitivity to chemical irritation.

PubMed

Wise, Paul M; Preti, George; Eades, Jason; Wysocki, Charles J

2011-10-01

Among other effects, menthol added to cigarettes may modulate sensory response to cigarette smoke either by masking "harshness" or contributing to a desirable "impact." However, harshness and impact have been imprecisely defined and assessed using subjective measures. Thus, the current experiments used an objective measure of sensitivity to chemical irritation in the nose to test the hypothesis that menthol vapor modulates sensitivity to chemical irritation in the airways. Nasal irritation thresholds were measured for 2 model compounds (acetic acid and allyl isothiocyanate) using nasal lateralization. In this technique, participants simultaneously sniff clean air in one nostril and chemical vapor in the other and attempt to identify the stimulated nostril. People cannot lateralize based on smell alone but can do so when chemicals are strong enough to feel. In one condition, participants were pretreated by sniffing menthol vapor. In a control condition, participants were pretreated by sniffing an odorless blank (within-subjects design). Pretreatment with menthol vapor decreased sensitivity to nasal irritation from acetic acid (participants required higher concentrations to lateralize) but increased sensitivity to allyl isothiocyanate (lower concentrations were required). The current experiments provide objective evidence that menthol vapor can modulate sensitivity to chemical irritation in the upper airways in humans. Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of chemicals and particulates, and further work will be needed to determine exactly how menthol modulates smoking sensation. A better understanding could lead to treatments tailored to help menthol smokers quit by replacing the sensation of mentholated cigarettes.

Relevance of sensitization to occupational allergy and asthma in the detergent industry.

PubMed

Basketter, David; Berg, Ninna; Kruszewski, Francis H; Sarlo, Katherine; Concoby, Beth

2012-01-01

There exists considerable historic experience of the relationship between exposure and both the induction of sensitization and the elicitation of respiratory symptoms from industrial enzymes of bacterial and fungal origin used in a wide variety of detergent products. The detergent industry in particular has substantial experience of how the control of exposure leads to limitation of sensitization with low risk of symptoms. However, the experience also shows that there are substantial gaps in knowledge, even when the potential occupational allergy problem is firmly under control, and also that the relationship between exposure and sensitization can be hard to establish. The latter aspect includes a poor appreciation of how peak exposures and low levels of exposure over time contribute to sensitization. Furthermore, while a minority of workers develop specific IgE, essentially none appear to have symptoms, a situation which appears to contradict the allergy dogma that, once sensitized, an individual will react to much lower levels of exposure. For enzymes, the expression of symptoms occurs at similar or higher levels than those that cause induction. In spite of some knowledge gaps, medical surveillance programs and constant air monitoring provide the tools for successful management of enzymes in the occupational setting. Ultimately, the knowledge gained from the occupational setting facilitates the completion of safety assessments for consumer exposure to detergent enzymes. Such assessments have been proven to be correct by the decades of safe use both occupationally and in consumer products.

Injectable MMP-sensitive alginate hydrogels as hMSC delivery systems.

PubMed

Fonseca, Keila B; Gomes, David B; Lee, Kangwon; Santos, Susana G; Sousa, Aureliana; Silva, Eduardo A; Mooney, David J; Granja, Pedro L; Barrias, Cristina C

2014-01-13

Hydrogels with the potential to provide minimally invasive cell delivery represent a powerful tool for tissue-regeneration therapies. In this context, entrapped cells should be able to escape the matrix becoming more available to actively participate in the healing process. Here, we analyzed the performance of proteolytically degradable alginate hydrogels as vehicles for human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) transplantation. Alginate was modified with the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-sensitive peptide Pro-Val-Gly-Leu-Iso-Gly (PVGLIG), which did not promote dendritic cell maturation in vitro, neither free nor conjugated to alginate chains, indicating low immunogenicity. hMSC were entrapped within MMP-sensitive and MMP-insensitive alginate hydrogels, both containing cell-adhesion RGD peptides. Softer (2 wt % alginate) and stiffer (4 wt % alginate) matrices were tested. When embedded in a Matrigel layer, hMSC-laden MMP-sensitive alginate hydrogels promoted more extensive outward cell migration and invasion into the tissue mimic. In vivo, after 4 weeks of subcutaneous implantation in a xenograft mouse model, hMSC-laden MMP-sensitive alginate hydrogels showed higher degradation and host tissue invasion than their MMP-insensitive equivalents. In both cases, softer matrices degraded faster than stiffer ones. The transplanted hMSC were able to produce their own collagenous extracellular matrix, and were located not only inside the hydrogels, but also outside, integrated in the host tissue. In summary, injectable MMP-sensitive alginate hydrogels can act as localized depots of cells and confer protection to transplanted cells while facilitating tissue regeneration.

[Cost-benefit analysis of the active screening of pulmonary tuberculosis in a recluse population entering prison].

PubMed

Martín, V; Domínguez, A; Alcaide, J

1997-01-01

In spanish prisons, tuberculosis is a serious problem of public health and health authorities don't take it seriously. To prove the efficiency of pulmonary tuberculosis case-finding on arrival at prison in order to get location resources in this activity. Cost-benefit analysis of a case-finding program compared with to wait for diagnostic to illness. The sensitivity of test was fixed in 80% and the specificity in 99.99%. The cost was based on market prices. Sensitivity analysis was done in every variables as well as tridimensional analysis in those one of more influence. The case-finding was efficient on prevalences of tuberculosis over 5 per mil. Its efficiency was hardly affected by discount social rates or the sensitivity of diagnostic tests. The prevalence of illness, the cost of diagnostic activities as well as the success of treatment and the specificity of diagnostic tests used had as influence on the efficiency model. The tridimensional analysis proved that the case-finding of pulmonary tuberculosis has efficiency on low prevalences (1 per thousand), provided the number of people cured is a 5% higher than the alternative one and the costs of case-finding less than 1,000 pesetas per subject. The case-finding pulmonary tuberculosis on arrival at prisons is of high efficiency. In a cost-opportunity situation (location of available resources, penitentiary and extrapenitentiary) the program is very efficacious taking into account the fact of higher prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in this people.

Financial analysis of technology acquisition using fractionated lasers as a model.

PubMed

Jutkowitz, Eric; Carniol, Paul J; Carniol, Alan R

2010-08-01

Ablative fractional lasers are among the most advanced and costly devices on the market. Yet, there is a dearth of published literature on the cost and potential return on investment (ROI) of such devices. The objective of this study was to provide a methodological framework for physicians to evaluate ROI. To facilitate this analysis, we conducted a case study on the potential ROI of eight ablative fractional lasers. In the base case analysis, a 5-year lease and a 3-year lease were assumed as the purchase option with a $0 down payment and 3-month payment deferral. In addition to lease payments, service contracts, labor cost, and disposables were included in the total cost estimate. Revenue was estimated as price per procedure multiplied by total number of procedures in a year. Sensitivity analyses were performed to account for variability in model assumptions. Based on the assumptions of the model, all lasers had higher ROI under the 5-year lease agreement compared with that for the 3-year lease agreement. When comparing results between lasers, those with lower operating and purchase cost delivered a higher ROI. Sensitivity analysis indicates the model is most sensitive to purchase method. If physicians opt to purchase the device rather than lease, they can significantly enhance ROI. ROI analysis is an important tool for physicians who are considering making an expensive device acquisition. However, physicians should not rely solely on ROI and must also consider the clinical benefits of a laser. (c) Thieme Medical Publishers.

AuNPs Hybrid Black ZnO Nanorods Made by a Sol-Gel Method for Highly Sensitive Humidity Sensing

PubMed Central

Zhang, Min; Lin, Cunchong; Zhang, Jun

2018-01-01

A highly sensitive self-powered humidity sensor has been realized from AuNPs hybrid black zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods prepared through a sol-gel method. XRD pattern reveals that both ZnO and ZnO/AuNPs exhibit a wurtzite structure. ZnO/AuNPs nanorods grow in a vertical alignment, which possesses high uniformity and forms dense arrays with a smaller diameter than that of ZnO nanoparticles. All ZnO/AuNPs and pure black ZnO show lower band gap energy than the typically reported 3.34 eV of pure ZnO. Furthermore, the band gap of ZnO/AuNPs nanocomposites is effectively influenced by the amount of AuNPs. The humidity sensing tests clearly prove that all the ZnO/AuNPs humidity sensors exhibit much higher response than that of ZnO sensors, and the sensitivity of such ZnO/AuNPs nanorods (6 mL AuNPs) display a change three orders higher than that of pure ZnO with relative humidity (RH) ranging from 11% to 95% at room temperature. The response and recovery time of the ZnO/AuNPs are 5.6 s and 32.4 s, respectively. This study of the construction of semiconductor/noble metal sensors provides a rational way to control the morphology of semiconductor nanomaterials and to design a humidity sensor with high performance. PMID:29342860

Improved Statistical Methods Enable Greater Sensitivity in Rhythm Detection for Genome-Wide Data

PubMed Central

Hutchison, Alan L.; Maienschein-Cline, Mark; Chiang, Andrew H.; Tabei, S. M. Ali; Gudjonson, Herman; Bahroos, Neil; Allada, Ravi; Dinner, Aaron R.

2015-01-01

Robust methods for identifying patterns of expression in genome-wide data are important for generating hypotheses regarding gene function. To this end, several analytic methods have been developed for detecting periodic patterns. We improve one such method, JTK_CYCLE, by explicitly calculating the null distribution such that it accounts for multiple hypothesis testing and by including non-sinusoidal reference waveforms. We term this method empirical JTK_CYCLE with asymmetry search, and we compare its performance to JTK_CYCLE with Bonferroni and Benjamini-Hochberg multiple hypothesis testing correction, as well as to five other methods: cyclohedron test, address reduction, stable persistence, ANOVA, and F24. We find that ANOVA, F24, and JTK_CYCLE consistently outperform the other three methods when data are limited and noisy; empirical JTK_CYCLE with asymmetry search gives the greatest sensitivity while controlling for the false discovery rate. Our analysis also provides insight into experimental design and we find that, for a fixed number of samples, better sensitivity and specificity are achieved with higher numbers of replicates than with higher sampling density. Application of the methods to detecting circadian rhythms in a metadataset of microarrays that quantify time-dependent gene expression in whole heads of Drosophila melanogaster reveals annotations that are enriched among genes with highly asymmetric waveforms. These include a wide range of oxidation reduction and metabolic genes, as well as genes with transcripts that have multiple splice forms. PMID:25793520

AuNPs Hybrid Black ZnO Nanorods Made by a Sol-Gel Method for Highly Sensitive Humidity Sensing.

PubMed

Zhang, Hongyan; Zhang, Min; Lin, Cunchong; Zhang, Jun

2018-01-13

A highly sensitive self-powered humidity sensor has been realized from AuNPs hybrid black zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods prepared through a sol-gel method. XRD pattern reveals that both ZnO and ZnO/AuNPs exhibit a wurtzite structure. ZnO/AuNPs nanorods grow in a vertical alignment, which possesses high uniformity and forms dense arrays with a smaller diameter than that of ZnO nanoparticles. All ZnO/AuNPs and pure black ZnO show lower band gap energy than the typically reported 3.34 eV of pure ZnO. Furthermore, the band gap of ZnO/AuNPs nanocomposites is effectively influenced by the amount of AuNPs. The humidity sensing tests clearly prove that all the ZnO/AuNPs humidity sensors exhibit much higher response than that of ZnO sensors, and the sensitivity of such ZnO/AuNPs nanorods (6 mL AuNPs) display a change three orders higher than that of pure ZnO with relative humidity (RH) ranging from 11% to 95% at room temperature. The response and recovery time of the ZnO/AuNPs are 5.6 s and 32.4 s, respectively. This study of the construction of semiconductor/noble metal sensors provides a rational way to control the morphology of semiconductor nanomaterials and to design a humidity sensor with high performance.

Structure formation in pH-sensitive hydrogels composed of sodium caseinate and N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan.

PubMed

Wei, Yanxia; Xie, Rui; Lin, Yanbin; Xu, Yunfei; Wang, Fengxia; Liang, Wanfu; Zhang, Ji

2016-08-01

The pH-sensitive hydrogels composed of sodium caseinate (SC) and N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan (NOCC) were prepared and a new method to characterize the gelation process was presented in this work. Reological tests suggested that RSC/NOCC=3/7 (the weight ratio of SC and NOCC) was the best ratio of hydrogel. The well-developed three-dimensional network structures in the hydrogel were confirmed by AFM. Two structural parameters, tIS and tCS, denoted as the initial and critical structure formation time, respectively, were used to provide an exact determination of the start of structure formation and description of gelation process. The gelation process strongly depended on temperature changes, a high temperature resulted in an early start of gelation. The non-kinetic model suggested the higher activation energy in the higher temperatures was disadvantageous to structure formation, and vice versa. Due to the smart gel reported here was very stable at room temperature, we believed that the gel is required for applications in drug delivery or could be exploited in the development of potential application as molecular switches in the future. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Examining the Latent Structure of Anxiety Sensitivity in Adolescents using Factor Mixture Modeling

PubMed Central

Allan, Nicholas P.; MacPherson, Laura; Young, Kevin C.; Lejuez, Carl W.; Schmidt, Norman B.

2014-01-01

Anxiety sensitivity has been implicated as an important risk factor, generalizable to most anxiety disorders. In adults, factor mixture modeling has been used to demonstrate that anxiety sensitivity is best conceptualized as categorical between individuals. That is, whereas most adults appear to possess normative levels of anxiety sensitivity, a small subset of the population appears to possess abnormally high levels of anxiety sensitivity. Further, those in the high anxiety sensitivity group are at increased risk of having high levels of anxiety and of having an anxiety disorder. This study was designed to determine whether these findings extend to adolescents. Factor mixture modeling was used to examine the best fitting model of anxiety sensitivity in a sample of 277 adolescents (M age = 11.0, SD = .81). Consistent with research in adults, the best fitting model consisted of two classes, one containing adolescents with high levels of anxiety sensitivity (n = 25), and another containing adolescents with normative levels of anxiety sensitivity (n = 252). Examination of anxiety sensitivity subscales revealed that the social concerns subscale was not important for classification of individuals. Convergent and discriminant validity of anxiety sensitivity classes were found in that membership in the high anxiety sensitivity class was associated with higher mean levels of anxiety symptoms, controlling for depression and externalizing problems, and was not associated with higher mean levels of depression or externalizing symptoms controlling for anxiety problems. PMID:24749756

Redox Signaling and Bioenergetics Influence Lung Cancer Cell Line Sensitivity to the Isoflavone ME-344.

PubMed

Manevich, Yefim; Reyes, Leticia; Britten, Carolyn D; Townsend, Danyelle M; Tew, Kenneth D

2016-08-01

ME-344 [(3R,4S)-3,4-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-8-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-chromen-7-ol] is a second-generation derivative natural product isoflavone presently under clinical development. ME-344 effects were compared in lung cancer cell lines that are either intrinsically sensitive or resistant to the drug and in primary immortalized human lung embryonic fibroblasts (IHLEF). Cytotoxicity at low micromolar concentrations occurred only in sensitive cell lines, causing redox stress, decreased mitochondrial ATP production, and subsequent disruption of mitochondrial function. In a dose-dependent manner the drug caused instantaneous and pronounced inhibition of oxygen consumption rates (OCR) in drug-sensitive cells (quantitatively significantly less in drug-resistant cells). This was consistent with targeting of mitochondria by ME-344, with specific effects on the respiratory chain (resistance correlated with higher glycolytic indexes). OCR inhibition did not occur in primary IHLEF. ME-344 increased extracellular acidification rates in drug-resistant cells (significantly less in drug-sensitive cells), implying that ME-344 targets mitochondrial proton pumps. Only in drug-sensitive cells did ME-344 dose-dependently increase the intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species and cause oxidation of total (mainly glutathione) and protein thiols and the concomitant immediate increases in NADPH levels. We conclude that ME-344 causes complex, redox-specific, and mitochondria-targeted effects in lung cancer cells, which differ in extent from normal cells, correlate with drug sensitivity, and provide indications of a beneficial in vitro therapeutic index. Copyright © 2016 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

The polarization and the fundamental sensitivity of 39K (133Cs)-85Rb-4He hybrid optical pumping spin exchange relaxation free atomic magnetometers.

PubMed

Liu, Jian-Hua; Jing, Dong-Yang; Wang, Liang-Liang; Li, Yang; Quan, Wei; Fang, Jian-Cheng; Liu, Wu-Ming

2017-07-28

The hybrid optical pumping spin exchange relaxation free (SERF) atomic magnetometers can realize ultrahigh sensitivity measurement of magnetic field and inertia. We have studied the 85 Rb polarization of two types of hybrid optical pumping SERF magnetometers based on 39 K- 85 Rb- 4 He and 133 Cs- 85 Rb- 4 He respectively. Then we found that 85 Rb polarization varies with the number density of buffer gas 4 He and quench gas N 2 , pumping rate of pump beam and cell temperature respectively, which will provide an experimental guide for the design of the magnetometer. We obtain a general formula on the fundamental sensitivity of the hybrid optical pumping SERF magnetometer due to shot-noise. The formula describes that the fundamental sensitivity of the magnetometer varies with the number density of buffer gas and quench gas, the pumping rate of pump beam, external magnetic field, cell effective radius, measurement volume, cell temperature and measurement time. We obtain a highest fundamental sensitivity of 1.5073 aT/Hz 1/2 (1 aT = 10 -18 T) with 39 K- 85 Rb- 4 He magnetometer between above two types of magnetometers when 85 Rb polarization is 0.1116. We estimate the fundamental sensitivity limit of the hybrid optical pumping SERF magnetometer to be superior to 1.8359 × 10 -2 aT/Hz 1/2 , which is higher than the shot-noise-limited sensitivity of 1 aT/Hz 1/2 of K SERF atomic magnetometer.

Individual Test Point Fluctuations of Macular Sensitivity in Healthy Eyes and Eyes With Age-Related Macular Degeneration Measured With Microperimetry.

PubMed

Barboni, Mirella Telles Salgueiro; Szepessy, Zsuzsanna; Ventura, Dora Fix; Németh, János

2018-04-01

To establish fluctuation limits, it was considered that not only overall macular sensitivity but also fluctuations of individual test points in the macula might have clinical value. Three repeated measurements of microperimetry were performed using the Standard Expert test of Macular Integrity Assessment (MAIA) in healthy subjects ( N = 12, age = 23.8 ± 1.5 years old) and in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) ( N = 11, age = 68.5 ± 7.4 years old). A total of 37 macular points arranged in four concentric rings and in four quadrants were analyzed individually and in groups. The data show low fluctuation of macular sensitivity of individual test points in healthy subjects (average = 1.38 ± 0.28 dB) and AMD patients (average = 2.12 ± 0.60 dB). Lower sensitivity points are more related to higher fluctuation than to the distance from the central point. Fixation stability showed no effect on the sensitivity fluctuation. The 95th percentile of the standard deviations of healthy subjects was, on average, 2.7 dB, ranging from 1.2 to 4 dB, depending on the point tested. Point analysis and regional analysis might be considered prior to evaluating macular sensitivity fluctuation in order to distinguish between normal variation and a clinical change. S tatistical methods were used to compare repeated microperimetry measurements and to establish fluctuation limits of the macular sensitivity. This analysis could add information regarding the integrity of different macular areas and provide new insights into fixation points prior to the biofeedback fixation training.

Investing the temporal and spatial scale variations of luminescence sensitivity of loess in the Chinese Loess Plateau since the last interglacial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, T.; Sun, J.; Gong, Z.

2017-12-01

The provenance of the eolian deposits on the Loess Plateau has long been one of the most important issues. Although the luminescence sensitivity of the quartz grains of desert sands has been used in tracing provenance, and the vertical variation of OSL sensitivity of Loess in the central Chinese Loess plateau (CLP) has been studied, it still remains uncertain about the temporal and spatial scale variations of luminescence sensitivity of loess. This paper chose the eolian deposits of Shimao (SM) section in the northern margin of the Chinese Loess Plateau and of Luochuan (LC) section in the central Chinese Loess Plateau. Firstly, the temporal scale variations of luminescence sensitivity of different quartz grians (38-64 and 64-90μm) from sand/loess of SM section have been studied respectively. Our results indicate that they both have similar trend in the strength of luminescence sensitivity, characterized by lower values in sand/loess beds and higher values in soils. The OSL sensitivity of quartz grains of the sand-loess-soil sequence shows very similar trend to the magnetic susceptibility fluctuations. Secondly, the spatial scale variations of luminescence sensitivity of loess in the Chinese Loess Plateau since the last interglacial were studied by comparing the values of SM section and LC section. The OSL sensitivity of quartz grains from the two sections since the last interglacial change synchronously. However, the OSL sensitivity values of quartz grains from the same loess/paleosol beds of LC section are higher than these values of SM section. We suggest that the temporal variation of OSL sensitivity of SM is main influenced by the retreat-advance of deserts. The spatial variation of OSL sensitivity mainly is due to the different sedimentary history, containing of repeated erosion, transport and deposition cycles which controlled by cyclic climatic change. The higher OSL sensitivity values of quartz grains in LC section relates of longer transport distance and of more sedimentary history than these values in SM section. Keywords: Luminescence sensitivity; Quartz; provenance; Loess Plateau

The effect of ethics training on students recognizing ethical violations and developing moral sensitivity.

PubMed

Baykara, Zehra Gocmen; Demir, Sevil Guler; Yaman, Sengul

2015-09-01

Moral sensitivity is a life-long cognitive ability. It is expected that nurses who work in a professional purpose at "curing human beings" should have a highly developed moral sensitivity. The general opinion is that ethics education plays a significant role in this sense to enhance the moral sensitivity in terms of nurses' professional behaviors and distinguish ethical violations. This study was conducted as intervention research for the purpose of determining the effect of the ethics training on fourth-year students of the nursing department recognizing ethical violations experienced in the hospital and developing ethical sensitivity. The study was conducted with 50 students, with 25 students each in the experiment and control groups. Students in the experiment group were provided ethics training and consultancy services. The data were collected through the data collection form, which consists of questions on the socio-demographic characteristics and ethical sensitivity of the students, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, and the observation form on ethical principle violations/protection in the clinic environment. The data were digitized on the computer with the SPSS for Windows 13.0 program. The data were evaluated utilizing number, percentile calculation, paired samples t-test, Wilcoxon test, and the McNemar test. The total Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire pre-test score averages of students in the experiment group were determined to be 93.88 ± 13.57, and their total post-test score averages were determined to be 89.24 ± 15.90. The total pre-test score averages of students in the control group were determined to be 91.48 ± 17.59, and their total post-test score averages were determined to be 97.72 ± 19.91. In the study, it was determined that the post-training ethical sensitivity of students in the experiment group increased; however, this was statistically not significant. Furthermore, it was determined that the number of ethical principle protection/violation observations and correct examples provided by students in the experiment group were higher than the control group and the difference was statistically significant. Written permission and ethical approval were obtained from the university where the study was conducted. Written consent was received from students accepting to participate in the study. As a result, ethics education given to students enables them to distinguish ethical violations in a hospital and make a proper observation in this issue. © The Author(s) 2014.

Underwater hearing sensitivity of a male and a female Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus).

PubMed

Kastelein, Ronald A; van Schie, Robbert; Verboom, Wim C; de Haan, Dick

2005-09-01

The unmasked underwater hearing sensitivities of an 8-year-old male and a 7-year-old female Steller sea lion were measured in a pool, by using behavioral psychophysics. The animals were trained with positive reinforcement to respond when they detected an acoustic signal and not to respond when they did not. The signals were narrow-band, frequency-modulated stimuli with a duration of 600 ms and center frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 32 kHz for the male and from 4 to 32 kHz for the female. Detection thresholds at each frequency were measured by varying signal amplitude according to the up-down staircase method. The resulting underwater audiogram (50% detection thresholds) for the male Steller sea lion showed the typical mammalian U-shape. His maximum sensitivity (77 dB re: 1 microPa, rms) occurred at 1 kHz. The range of best hearing (10 dB from the maximum sensitivity) was from 1 to 16 kHz (4 octaves). Higher hearing thresholds (indicating poorer sensitivity) were observed below 1 kHz and above 16 kHz. The maximum sensitivity of the female (73 dB re: 1 microPa, rms) occurred at 25 kHz. Higher hearing thresholds (indicating poorer sensitivity) were observed for signals below 16 kHz and above 25 kHz. At frequencies for which both subjects were tested, hearing thresholds of the male were significantly higher than those of the female. The hearing sensitivity differences between the male and female Steller sea lion in this study may be due to individual differences in sensitivity between the subjects or due to sexual dimorphism in hearing.

AlignerBoost: A Generalized Software Toolkit for Boosting Next-Gen Sequencing Mapping Accuracy Using a Bayesian-Based Mapping Quality Framework.

PubMed

Zheng, Qi; Grice, Elizabeth A

2016-10-01

Accurate mapping of next-generation sequencing (NGS) reads to reference genomes is crucial for almost all NGS applications and downstream analyses. Various repetitive elements in human and other higher eukaryotic genomes contribute in large part to ambiguously (non-uniquely) mapped reads. Most available NGS aligners attempt to address this by either removing all non-uniquely mapping reads, or reporting one random or "best" hit based on simple heuristics. Accurate estimation of the mapping quality of NGS reads is therefore critical albeit completely lacking at present. Here we developed a generalized software toolkit "AlignerBoost", which utilizes a Bayesian-based framework to accurately estimate mapping quality of ambiguously mapped NGS reads. We tested AlignerBoost with both simulated and real DNA-seq and RNA-seq datasets at various thresholds. In most cases, but especially for reads falling within repetitive regions, AlignerBoost dramatically increases the mapping precision of modern NGS aligners without significantly compromising the sensitivity even without mapping quality filters. When using higher mapping quality cutoffs, AlignerBoost achieves a much lower false mapping rate while exhibiting comparable or higher sensitivity compared to the aligner default modes, therefore significantly boosting the detection power of NGS aligners even using extreme thresholds. AlignerBoost is also SNP-aware, and higher quality alignments can be achieved if provided with known SNPs. AlignerBoost's algorithm is computationally efficient, and can process one million alignments within 30 seconds on a typical desktop computer. AlignerBoost is implemented as a uniform Java application and is freely available at https://github.com/Grice-Lab/AlignerBoost.

Whole-Body Single-Bed Time-of-Flight RPC-PET: Simulation of Axial and Planar Sensitivities With NEMA and Anthropomorphic Phantoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crespo, Paulo; Reis, João; Couceiro, Miguel; Blanco, Alberto; Ferreira, Nuno C.; Marques, Rui Ferreira; Martins, Paulo; Fonte, Paulo

2012-06-01

A single-bed, whole-body positron emission tomograph based on resistive plate chambers has been proposed (RPC-PET). An RPC-PET system with an axial field-of-view (AFOV) of 2.4 m has been shown in simulation to have higher system sensitivity using the NEMA NU2-1994 protocol than commercial PET scanners. However, that protocol does not correlate directly with lesion detectability. The latter is better correlated with the planar (slice) sensitivity, obtained with a NEMA NU2-2001 line-source phantom. After validation with published data for the GE Advance, Siemens TruePoint and TrueV, we study by simulation their axial sensitivity profiles, comparing results with RPC-PET. Planar sensitivities indicate that RPC-PET is expected to outperform 16-cm (22-cm) AFOV scanners by a factor 5.8 (3.0) for 70-cm-long scans. For 1.5-m scans (head to mid-legs), the sensitivity gain increases to 11.7 (6.7). Yet, PET systems with large AFOV provide larger coverage but also larger attenuation in the object. We studied these competing effects with both spherical- and line-sources immersed in a 27-cm-diameter water cylinder. For 1.5-m-long scans, the planar sensitivity drops one order of magnitude in all scanners, with RPC-PET outperforming 16-cm (22-cm) AFOV scanners by a factor 9.2 (5.3) without considering the TOF benefit. A gain in the effective sensitivity is expected with TOF iterative reconstruction. Finally, object scatter in an anthropomorphic phantom is similar for RPC-PET and modern, scintillator-based scanners, although RPC-PET benefits further if its TOF information is utilized to exclude scatter events occurring outside the anthropomorphic phantom.

Exposure to food cues moderates the indirect effect of reward sensitivity and external eating via implicit eating expectancies.

PubMed

Maxwell, Aimee L; Loxton, Natalie J; Hennegan, Julie M

2017-04-01

Previous research has suggested that the expectancy "eating is rewarding" is one pathway driving the relationship between trait reward sensitivity and externally-driven eating. The aim of the current study was to extend previous research by examining the conditions under which the indirect effect of reward sensitivity and external eating via this eating expectancy occurs. Using a conditional indirect effects approach we tested the moderating effect of exposure to food cues (e.g., images) relative to non-food cues on the association between reward sensitivity and external eating, via eating expectancies. Participants (N = 119, M = 18.67 years of age, SD = 2.40) were university women who completed a computerised food expectancies task (E-TASK) in which they were randomly assigned to either an appetitive food cue condition or non-food cue condition and then responded to a series of eating expectancy statements or self-description personality statements. Participants also completed self-report trait measures of reward sensitivity in addition to measures of eating expectancies (i.e., endorsement of the belief that eating is a rewarding experience). Results revealed higher reward sensitivity was associated with faster reaction times to the eating expectancies statement. This was moderated by cue-condition such that the association between reward sensitivity and faster reaction time was only found in the food cue condition. Faster endorsement of this belief (i.e., reaction time) was also associated with greater external eating. These results provide additional support for the proposal that individuals high in reward sensitivity form implicit associations with positive beliefs about eating when exposed to food cues. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Complementary MS Methods Assist Conformational Characterization of Antibodies with Altered S-S Bonding Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Lisa M.; Zhang, Hao; Cui, Weidong; Kumar, Sandeep; Sperry, Justin B.; Carroll, James A.; Gross, Michael L.

2013-06-01

As therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) become a major focus in biotechnology and a source of the next-generation drugs, new analytical methods or combination methods are needed for monitoring changes in higher order structure and effects of post-translational modifications. The complexity of these molecules and their vulnerability to structural change provide a serious challenge. We describe here the use of complementary mass spectrometry methods that not only characterize mutant mAbs but also may provide a general framework for characterizing higher order structure of other protein therapeutics and biosimilars. To frame the challenge, we selected members of the IgG2 subclass that have distinct disulfide isomeric structures as a model to evaluate an overall approach that uses ion mobility, top-down MS sequencing, and protein footprinting in the form of fast photochemical oxidation of proteins (FPOP). These three methods are rapid, sensitive, respond to subtle changes in conformation of Cys → Ser mutants of an IgG2, each representing a single disulfide isoform, and may be used in series to probe higher order structure. The outcome suggests that this approach of using various methods in combination can assist the development and quality control of protein therapeutics.

Ultraviolet B-Sensitive Rice Cultivar Deficient in Cyclobutyl Pyrimidine Dimer Repair.

PubMed Central

Hidema, J.; Kumagai, T.; Sutherland, J. C.; Sutherland, B. M.

1997-01-01

Repair of cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) in DNA is essential in most organisms to prevent biological damage by ultraviolet (UV) light. In higher plants tested thus far, UV-sensitive strains had higher initial damage levels or deficient repair of nondimer DNA lesions but normal CPD repair. This suggested that CPDs might not be important for biological lesions. The photosynthetic apparatus has also been proposed as a critical target. We have analyzed CPD induction and repair in the UV-sensitive rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivar Norin 1 and its close relative UV-resistant Sasanishiki using alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis. Norin 1 is deficient in cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimer photoreactivation and excision; thus, UV sensitivity correlates with deficient dimer repair. PMID:12223592

Prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus in the first trimester: comparison of C-reactive protein, fasting plasma glucose, insulin and insulin sensitivity indices.

PubMed

Ozgu-Erdinc, A Seval; Yilmaz, Saynur; Yeral, M Ilkin; Seckin, K Doga; Erkaya, Salim; Danisman, A Nuri

2015-11-01

To develop a predictive index based on high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting plasma insulin (FPI) measurements for early diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Healthy pregnant women who were screened for GDM during their first antenatal visit were included in this retrospective cohort study. FPG, FPI and serum hs-CRP concentrations were measured between weeks 11 and 14. A two-step glucose challenge test was carried out between gestational weeks 24 and 28. Fasting glucose/insulin ratio (FIGR), Homeostatic Model Assessment Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), HOMA-β indices and Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI) were used to estimate insulin sensitivity and β-cell function. Of the 450 women who were eligible for the study, 49 (11.2%) were diagnosed with GDM at weeks 24-28. The median FPG and hs-CRP levels were higher in the GDM diagnosed women compared to the others. Comparison of accuracy measures resulted in the highest specificity (87.2%; 95% CI 83.5-90.1) and diagnostic odds ratio (3.9; 95% CI 2.1-7.6) for hs-CRP. FPG and hs-CRP in the first trimester are correlated with later development of GDM in the pregnancy. In our study, FPG provided a better sensitivity while hs-CRP exhibited a better specificity for prediction of GDM.

Enhanced performance of porphyrin sensitized solar cell based on graphene quantum dots decorated photoanodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sehgal, Preeti; Narula, Anudeep Kumar

2018-05-01

Porphyrin sensitized solar cells (PSSC) has been successfully fabricated composed of graphene quantum dots (GQD) functionalized ZnO photoanodes, zinc tetrakis (4-carboxy phenyl)porphyrin (TCPPZn) as sensitizer and polypyrrole coated oxidised multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PPy/OMWCNT) as counter electrode. The effect of the concentration of GQD on the structural, morphological, photophysical and photovoltaic properties of GQD@ZnO, and GQD@ZnO/TCPPZn nanocomposites has also been investigated. Studies indicate that TCPPZn adsorbed on the surface on GQD@ZnO. Hot electron injection mechanism and multiple exciton generation from GQD to ZnO were mainly responsible for the photoexcitation response in PSSC. This study indicates that GQD can play role of sensitizer to some extent. The time decay measurements reveals the evidences of FRET mechanism, and synergistic interaction between GQD and TCPPZn. The Jsc, Voc, PCE of the corresponding PSSC devices enhanced initially and then decreased. Among all the devices fabricated, the PSSC with a 40% amount of GQD (GQD@ZnO/TCPPZn 40%) attains the best performance with the Jsc = 10.1 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.48, PCE = 2.45% FF = 0.507 higher than ZnO@TCPPZn device fabricated without GQD. Overall, this design provides a new concept for the development of photoanodes which derive better efficiency for dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and PSSC at economical low cost.

Language evaluation protocol for children aged 2 months to 23 months: analysis of sensitivity and specificity.

PubMed

Labanca, Ludimila; Alves, Cláudia Regina Lindgren; Bragança, Lidia Lourenço Cunha; Dorim, Diego Dias Ramos; Alvim, Cristina Gonçalves; Lemos, Stela Maris Aguiar

2015-01-01

To establish cutoff points for the analysis of the Behavior Observation Form (BOF) of children in the ages of 2 to 23 months and evaluate the sensitivity and specificity by age group and domains (Emission, Reception, and Cognitive Aspects of Language). The sample consisted of 752 children who underwent BOF. Each child was classified as having appropriate language development for the age or having possible risk of language impairment. Performance Indicators (PI) were calculated in each domain as well as the overall PI in all domains. The values for sensitivity and specificity were also calculated. The cutoff points for possible risk of language impairment for each domain and each age group were obtained using the receiver operating characteristics curve. The results of the study revealed that one-third of the assessed children have a risk of language impairment in the first two years of life. The analysis of BOF showed high sensitivity (>90%) in all categories and in all age groups; however, the chance of false-positive results was higher than 20% in the majority of aspects evaluated. It was possible to establish the cutoff points for all categories and age groups with good correlation between sensitivity and specificity, except for the age group of 2 to 6 months. This study provides important contributions to the discussion on the evaluation of the language development of children younger than 2 years.

Analysis of liquid-phase chemical detection using guided shear horizontal-surface acoustic wave sensors.

PubMed

Li, Zhonghui; Jones, Yolanda; Hossenlopp, Jeanne; Cernosek, Richard; Josse, Fabien

2005-07-15

Direct chemical sensing in liquid environments using polymer-guided shear horizontal surface acoustic wave sensor platforms on 36 degrees rotated Y-cut LiTaO3 is investigated. Design considerations for optimizing these devices for liquid-phase detection are systematically explored. Two different sensor geometries are experimentally and theoretically analyzed. Dual delay line devices are used with a reference line coated with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and a sensing line coated with a chemically sensitive polymer, which acts as both a guiding layer and a sensing layer or with a PMMA waveguide and a chemically sensitive polymer. Results show the three-layer model provides higher sensitivity than the four-layer model. Contributions from mass loading and coating viscoelasticity changes to the sensor response are evaluated, taking into account the added mass, swelling, and plasticization. Chemically sensitive polymers are investigated in the detection of low concentrations (1-60 ppm) of toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes in water. A low-ppb level detection limit is estimated from the present experimental measurements. Sensor properties are investigated by varying the sensor geometries, coating thickness combinations, coating properties, and curing temperature for operation in liquid environments. Partition coefficients for polymer-aqueous analyte pairs are used to explain the observed trend in sensitivity for the polymers PMMA, poly(isobutylene), poly(epichlorohydrin), and poly(ethyl acrylate) used in this work.

A Sensitive and Specific Diagnostic Panel to Distinguish Diffuse Astrocytoma from Astrocytosis: Chromosome 7 Gain with Mutant Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1 and p53

PubMed Central

Camelo-Piragua, Sandra; Jansen, Michael; Ganguly, Aniruddha; Kim, J. ChulMin; Cosper, Arjola K.; Dias-Santagata, Dora; Nutt, Catherine L.; Iafrate, A. John; Louis, David N.

2011-01-01

One of the major challenges of surgical neuropathology is the distinction of diffuse astrocytoma (World Health Organization [WHO] grade II) from astrocytosis. The most commonly used ancillary tool to solve this problem is p53 immunohistochemistry (IHC), but this is neither sensitive nor specific. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutations are common in lower grade gliomas, with most causing a specific amino acid change (R132H) that can be detected with a monoclonal antibody. IDH2 mutations are rare, but also occur in gliomas. In addition, gains of chromosome 7 are common in gliomas. In this study we assessed the status of p53, IDH1/2 and chromosome 7 to determine the most useful panel to distinguish astrocytoma from astrocytosis. We studied biopsy specimens from 21 WHO grade II diffuse astrocytomas and 20 reactive conditions. The single most sensitive test to identify astrocytoma is fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for chromosome 7 gain (76.2%). The combination of p53 and mutant IDH1 IHC provides a higher sensitivity (71.4%) than either test alone (47.8%); this combination offers a practical initial approach for the surgical pathologist. The best overall sensitivity (95%) is achieved when FISH for chromosome 7 gain is added to the p53-mutant IDH1 IHC panel. PMID:21343879

Novel pH-Sensitive Lipid Based Exo-Endocytosis Tracers Reveal Fast Intermixing of Synaptic Vesicle Pools

PubMed Central

Kahms, Martin; Klingauf, Jürgen

2018-01-01

Styryl dyes and genetically encoded pH-sensitive fluorescent proteins like pHluorin are well-established tools for the optical analysis of synaptic vesicle (SV) recycling at presynaptic boutons. Here, we describe the development of a new class of fluorescent probes based on pH-sensitive organic dyes covalently bound to lipids, providing a promising complementary assay to genetically encoded fluorescent probes. These new optical tracers allow a pure read out of membrane turnover during synaptic activity and visualization of multiple rounds of stimulation-dependent SV recycling without genetic perturbation. Measuring the incorporation efficacy of different dye-labeled lipids into budding SVs, we did not observe an enrichment of lipids with affinity for liquid ordered membrane domains. But most importantly, we found no evidence for a static segregation of SVs into recycling and resting pools. A small but significant fraction of SVs that is reluctant to release during a first round of evoked activity can be exocytosed during a second bout of stimulation, showing fast intermixing of SV pools within seconds. Furthermore, we found that SVs recycling spontaneously have a higher chance to re-occupy release sites than SVs recycling during high-frequency evoked activity. In summary, our data provide strong evidence for a highly dynamic and use-dependent control of the fractions of releasable or resting SVs. PMID:29456492

Eutrophication exacerbates the impact of climate warming on lake methane emission.

PubMed

Sepulveda-Jauregui, Armando; Hoyos-Santillan, Jorge; Martinez-Cruz, Karla; Walter Anthony, Katey M; Casper, Peter; Belmonte-Izquierdo, Yadira; Thalasso, Frédéric

2018-04-27

Net methane (CH 4 ) emission from lakes depends on two antagonistic processes: CH 4 production (methanogenesis) and CH 4 oxidation (methanotrophy). It is unclear how climate warming will affect the balance between these processes, particularly among lakes of different trophic status. Here we show that methanogenesis is more sensitive to temperature than methanotrophy, and that eutrophication magnifies this temperature sensitivity. Using laboratory incubations of water and sediment from ten tropical, temperate and subarctic lakes with contrasting trophic states, ranging from oligotrophic to hypereutrophic, we explored the temperature sensitivity of methanogenesis and methanotrophy. We found that both processes presented a higher temperature sensitivity in tropical lakes, followed by temperate, and subarctic lakes; but more importantly, we found that eutrophication triggered a higher temperature sensitivity. A model fed by our empirical data revealed that increasing lake water temperature by 2 °C leads to a net increase in CH 4 emissions by 101-183% in hypereutrophic lakes and 47-56% in oligotrophic lakes. We conclude that climate warming will tilt the CH 4 balance towards higher lake emission and that this impact will be exacerbated by the eutrophication of the lakes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Heat Treatment on the Sensitized Corrosion of the 5383-H116 Al-Mg Alloy

PubMed Central

Lin, Ying-Kai; Wang, Shing-Hai; Chen, Ren-Yu; Hsieh, Tso-Sheng; Tsai, Liren; Chiang, Chia-Chin

2017-01-01

In this study, the effects of heat treatment and sensitized corrosion on the 5383-H116 Al-Mg alloy were investigated for temperatures ranging from 100 to 450 °C. The results show that the heat treatment temperature is the main factor that causes changes to the microstructure and mechanical strength of the 5383-H116 Al-Mg alloy, inducing β-phase (Al3Mg2) precipitation in the form of a continuous layer along the grain boundaries. Intergranular corrosion was caused by the β-phase of the grain boundary precipitation, and the corrosion susceptibility of the recrystallized structure was significantly higher than the corrosion susceptibility of the recovered structure. According to the conductivity values detected, β-phase precipitation can enhance the 5383-H116 Al-Mg alloy conductivity, with the response due to structural dislocation density being higher than that due to the recrystallized structure. As such, the β-phase precipitation after sensitization is more significant than the β-phase precipitation prior to the sensitization, such that after sensitization, the conductivity rises to a significantly higher level than that exhibited by the recrystallization structure. PMID:28772635

I care, even after the first impression: Facial appearance-based evaluations in healthcare context.

PubMed

Mattarozzi, Katia; Colonnello, Valentina; De Gioia, Francesco; Todorov, Alexander

2017-06-01

Prior research has demonstrated that healthcare providers' implicit biases may contribute to healthcare disparities. Independent research in social psychology indicates that facial appearance-based evaluations affect social behavior in a variety of domains, influencing political, legal, and economic decisions. Whether and to what extent these evaluations influence approach behavior in healthcare contexts warrants research attention. Here we investigate the impact of facial appearance-based evaluations of trustworthiness on healthcare providers' caring inclination, and the moderating role of experience and information about the social identity of the faces. Novice and expert nurses rated their inclination to provide care when viewing photos of trustworthy-, neutral-, and untrustworthy-looking faces. To explore whether information about the target of care influences caring inclination, some participants were told that they would view patients' faces while others received no information about the faces. Both novice and expert nurses had higher caring inclination scores for trustworthy-than for untrustworthy-looking faces; however, experts had higher scores than novices for untrustworthy-looking faces. Regardless of a face's trustworthiness level, experts had higher caring inclination scores for patients than for unidentified individuals, while novices showed no differences. Facial appearance-based inferences can bias caring inclination in healthcare contexts. However, expert healthcare providers are less biased by these inferences and more sensitive to information about the target of care. These findings highlight the importance of promoting novice healthcare professionals' awareness of first impression biases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Clinical value of combined determination of serum and pleural effusion level of CEA,CYFRA21-1, TPS in the diagnosis of lung cancer].

PubMed

Huang, Fang; Wang, Xiao-li; Yang, Lian; Yin, Bin-xia; Geng, Yan; Li, Ting-ting

2008-04-01

To study the clinical value of combined determination of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin-19-fragments (CYFRA21-1) and tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) levels in both serum and pleural effusion in the diagnosis of lung cancer. The levels of CEA, CYFRA21-1 and TPS in serum and pleural effusion were measured in 78 patients with lung cancer and 45 patients with benign lung disease by using electrochemiluminescence and ELISA methods respectively. The levels of CEA, CYFRA21-1 and TPS in pleural effusion of patients with lung cancer were much higher than those with benign lung disease (P<0.01). The levels of CEA and TPS in serum of patients with lung cancer were much higher than those with benign lung disease (P<0.05, P<0.01). It was also found that the levels of these tumor markers in pleural effusion were higher and more sensitive than those in sera, especially TPS. TPS showed the highest sensitivity in single tumor marker detection, and TPS+CYFRA21-1+ CEA showed the highest sensitivity and accuracy in combined tumor marker detection for diagnosis of lung cancer in pleural effusion. The combined detection of CEA, CYFRA21-1 and TPS in pleural effusion showed higher sensitivity, better accuracy and higher clinical value than those in serum for diagnosis of lung cancer.

Who is More Affected by Ozone Pollution? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Bell, Michelle L.; Zanobetti, Antonella; Dominici, Francesca

2014-01-01

Ozone is associated with adverse health; however, less is known about vulnerable/sensitive populations, which we refer to as sensitive populations. We systematically reviewed epidemiologic evidence (1988–2013) regarding sensitivity to mortality or hospital admission from short-term ozone exposure. We performed meta-analysis for overall associations by age and sex; assessed publication bias; and qualitatively assessed sensitivity to socioeconomic indicators, race/ethnicity, and air conditioning. The search identified 2,091 unique papers, with 167 meeting inclusion criteria (73 on mortality and 96 on hospitalizations and emergency department visits, including 2 examining both mortality and hospitalizations). The strongest evidence for ozone sensitivity was for age. Per 10-parts per billion increase in daily 8-hour ozone concentration, mortality risk for younger persons, at 0.60% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.40, 0.80), was statistically lower than that for older persons, at 1.27% (95% CI: 0.76, 1.78). Findings adjusted for publication bias were similar. Limited/suggestive evidence was found for higher associations among women; mortality risks were 0.39% (95% CI: −0.22, 1.00) higher than those for men. We identified strong evidence for higher associations with unemployment or lower occupational status and weak evidence of sensitivity for racial/ethnic minorities and persons with low education, in poverty, or without central air conditioning. Findings show that some populations, especially the elderly, are particularly sensitive to short-term ozone exposure. PMID:24872350

Laser Doppler assessment of dermal circulatory changes in people with coronary artery disease.

PubMed

Agarwal, Sharad C; Allen, John; Murray, Alan; Purcell, Ian F

2012-07-01

Dermal microcirculation provides an easily accessible vasculature bed which can be used to assess endothelial mediated vasodilatation. We studied and compared microcirculatory changes in response to acetylcholine iontophoresis (ACh), local heating of the skin and reactive hyperaemia in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Forty eight patients with CAD were studied and compared with 25 age and sex matched control subjects. Vasodilatory changes in the dermal microcirculation were assessed in response to ACh iontophoresis, local heating of the skin and reactive hyperaemia using a laser Doppler flowmeter (LDF). Body mass index (BMI) and systolic BP were higher in people with CAD, (p=0.001, 0.043). The perfusion change (measured as absolute in agreement with our previous publish results) in response to ACh iontophoresis, local heating of the skin and reactive hyperaemia, in healthy controls was 234 (190-286), 90 (69-118), 139(106-172) arbitrary perfusion units (APU) compared to 161 (121-214), 50 (39-63), 116(77-143) APU in patients with CAD; p<0.03. The time to peak perfusion in response to reactive hyperaemia was significantly higher in patients with CAD, 14.1±4.0 vs 10.9±1.7s; p=0.001. There was a small but significant positive correlation between the perfusion change in response to ACh iontophoresis and local heating (r=0.31, p=0.035). On ROC curve analysis, perfusion changes with heating had higher sensitivity and specificity in discriminating patients with CAD from the healthy controls with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.86, with a specificity of 92% and sensitivity of 77% compared to a perfusion changes by reactive hyperaemia, AUC of 0.68 (41% sensitivity and 91% specificity) and ACh iontophoresis, AUC of 0.76 (88% sensitivity and 60% specificity). Vasodilatation in the dermal microcirculation measured by the three techniques is attenuated in patients with coronary artery disease. Local heating of the skin is a better discriminator of patients with CAD than ACh iontophoresis and reactive hyperaemia. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nanotechnology: a promising method for oral cancer detection and diagnosis.

PubMed

Chen, Xiao-Jie; Zhang, Xue-Qiong; Liu, Qi; Zhang, Jing; Zhou, Gang

2018-06-11

Oral cancer is a common and aggressive cancer with high morbidity, mortality, and recurrence rate globally. Early detection is of utmost importance for cancer prevention and disease management. Currently, tissue biopsy remains the gold standard for oral cancer diagnosis, but it is invasive, which may cause patient discomfort. The application of traditional noninvasive methods-such as vital staining, exfoliative cytology, and molecular imaging-is limited by insufficient sensitivity and specificity. Thus, there is an urgent need for exploring noninvasive, highly sensitive, and specific diagnostic techniques. Nano detection systems are known as new emerging noninvasive strategies that bring the detection sensitivity of biomarkers to nano-scale. Moreover, compared to current imaging contrast agents, nanoparticles are more biocompatible, easier to synthesize, and able to target specific surface molecules. Nanoparticles generate localized surface plasmon resonances at near-infrared wavelengths, providing higher image contrast and resolution. Therefore, using nano-based techniques can help clinicians to detect and better monitor diseases during different phases of oral malignancy. Here, we review the progress of nanotechnology-based methods in oral cancer detection and diagnosis.

Novel Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering-based Assays for Ultra-sensitive Detection of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

PubMed Central

Han, Jingjia; Qian, Ximei; Wu, Qingling; Jha, Rajneesh; Duan, Jinshuai; Yang, Zhou; Maher, Kevin O.; Nie, Shuming; Xu, Chunhui

2017-01-01

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are a promising cell source for regenerative medicine, but their derivatives need to be rigorously evaluated for residual stem cells to prevent teratoma formation. Here, we report the development of novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based assays that can detect trace numbers of undifferentiated hPSCs in mixed cell populations in a highly specific, ultra-sensitive, and time-efficient manner. By targeting stem cell surface markers SSEA-5 and TRA-1-60 individually or simultaneously, these SERS assays were able to identify as few as 1 stem cell in 106 cells, a sensitivity (0.0001%) which was ~2,000 to 15,000-fold higher than that of flow cytometry assays. Using the SERS assay, we demonstrate that the aggregation of hPSC-based cardiomyocyte differentiation cultures into 3D spheres significantly reduced SSEA-5+ and TRA-1-60+ cells compared with parallel 2D cultures. Thus, SERS may provide a powerful new technology for quality control of hPSC-derived products for preclinical and clinical applications. PMID:27509304

Proportional Topology Optimization: A New Non-Sensitivity Method for Solving Stress Constrained and Minimum Compliance Problems and Its Implementation in MATLAB

PubMed Central

Biyikli, Emre; To, Albert C.

2015-01-01

A new topology optimization method called the Proportional Topology Optimization (PTO) is presented. As a non-sensitivity method, PTO is simple to understand, easy to implement, and is also efficient and accurate at the same time. It is implemented into two MATLAB programs to solve the stress constrained and minimum compliance problems. Descriptions of the algorithm and computer programs are provided in detail. The method is applied to solve three numerical examples for both types of problems. The method shows comparable efficiency and accuracy with an existing optimality criteria method which computes sensitivities. Also, the PTO stress constrained algorithm and minimum compliance algorithm are compared by feeding output from one algorithm to the other in an alternative manner, where the former yields lower maximum stress and volume fraction but higher compliance compared to the latter. Advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method and future works are discussed. The computer programs are self-contained and publicly shared in the website www.ptomethod.org. PMID:26678849

Comparative study on deposition of fluorine-doped tin dioxide thin films by conventional and ultrasonic spray pyrolysis methods for dye-sensitized solar modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Icli, Kerem Cagatay; Kocaoglu, Bahadir Can; Ozenbas, Macit

2018-01-01

Fluorine-doped tin dioxide (FTO) thin films were produced via conventional spray pyrolysis and ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) methods using alcohol-based solutions. The prepared films were compared in terms of crystal structure, morphology, surface roughness, visible light transmittance, and electronic properties. Upon investigation of the grain structures and morphologies, the films prepared using ultrasonic spray method provided relatively larger grains and due to this condition, carrier mobilities of these films exhibited slightly higher values. Dye-sensitized solar cells and 10×10 cm modules were prepared using commercially available and USP-deposited FTO/glass substrates, and solar performances were compared. It is observed that there exists no remarkable efficiency difference for both cells and modules, where module efficiency of the USP-deposited FTO glass substrates is 3.06% compared to commercial substrate giving 2.85% under identical conditions. We demonstrated that USP deposition is a low cost and versatile method of depositing commercial quality FTO thin films on large substrates employed in large area dye-sensitized solar modules or other thin film technologies.

A Potentiometric Indirect Uric Acid Sensor Based on ZnO Nanoflakes and Immobilized Uricase

PubMed Central

Usman Ali, Syed M.; Ibupoto, Zafar Hussain; Kashif, Muhammad; Hashim, Uda; Willander, Magnus

2012-01-01

In the present work zinc oxide nanoflakes (ZnO-NF) structures with a wall thickness around 50 to 100 nm were synthesized on a gold coated glass substrate using a low temperature hydrothermal method. The enzyme uricase was electrostatically immobilized in conjunction with Nafion membrane on the surface of well oriented ZnO-NFs, resulting in a sensitive, selective, stable and reproducible uric acid sensor. The electrochemical response of the ZnO-NF-based sensor vs. a Ag/AgCl reference electrode was found to be linear over a relatively wide logarithmic concentration range (500 nM to 1.5 mM). In addition, the ZnO-NF structures demonstrate vast surface area that allow high enzyme loading which results provided a higher sensitivity. The proposed ZnO-NF array-based sensor exhibited a high sensitivity of ∼66 mV/ decade in test electrolyte solutions of uric acid, with fast response time. The sensor response was unaffected by normal concentrations of common interferents such as ascorbic acid, glucose, and urea. PMID:22736977

Large grain instruction and phonological awareness skill influence rime sensitivity, processing speed, and early decoding skill in adult L2 learners

PubMed Central

Brennan, Christine; Booth, James R.

2016-01-01

Linguistic knowledge, cognitive ability, and instruction influence how adults acquire a second orthography yet it remains unclear how different forms of instruction influence grain size sensitivity and subsequent decoding skill and speed. Thirty-seven monolingual, literate English-speaking adults were trained on a novel artificial orthography given initial instruction that directed attention to either large or small grain size units (i.e., words or letters). We examined how initial instruction influenced processing speed (i.e., reaction time (RT)) and sensitivity to different orthographic grain sizes (i.e., rimes and letters). Directing attention to large grain size units during initial instruction resulted in higher accuracy for rimes, whereas directing attention to smaller grain size units resulted in slower RTs across all measures. Additionally, phonological awareness skill modulated early learning effects, compensating for the limitations of the initial instruction provided. Collectively, these findings suggest that when adults are learning to read a second orthography, consideration should be given to how initial instruction directs attention to different grain sizes and inherent phonological awareness ability. PMID:27829705

Discussing a sensitive topic: Nurse practitioners' and physician assistants' communication strategies in managing patients with erectile dysfunction.

PubMed

Green, Roger; Kodish, Slavica

2009-12-01

To examine strategies used by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) when discussing the sensitive topic of erectile dysfunction (ED) with patients. A total of 456 NPs and PAs combined responded to a 22-item online survey posted on NP and PA association websites. Four derived categories reflect communication strategies that NPs and PAs applied when addressing ED: initiating the topic directly, initiating the topic with an introduction, initiating the topic when there is a high risk factor, and allowing the patient to bring up the topic. There was also interest in continuing education on the topic of ED and a perceived need for greater emphasis on developing communication strategies within the patient-provider relationship. There is no one best way to address the topic and different situations may require an approach best suited to the specifics of the situation. Therefore, no single "best practice" of discussing sensitive topics can be identified. Critical thinking skills and the ability to comprehend the totality of the situation are likely to be of higher importance.

Automatic detection of confusion in elderly users of a web-based health instruction video.

PubMed

Postma-Nilsenová, Marie; Postma, Eric; Tates, Kiek

2015-06-01

Because of cognitive limitations and lower health literacy, many elderly patients have difficulty understanding verbal medical instructions. Automatic detection of facial movements provides a nonintrusive basis for building technological tools supporting confusion detection in healthcare delivery applications on the Internet. Twenty-four elderly participants (70-90 years old) were recorded while watching Web-based health instruction videos involving easy and complex medical terminology. Relevant fragments of the participants' facial expressions were rated by 40 medical students for perceived level of confusion and analyzed with automatic software for facial movement recognition. A computer classification of the automatically detected facial features performed more accurately and with a higher sensitivity than the human observers (automatic detection and classification, 64% accuracy, 0.64 sensitivity; human observers, 41% accuracy, 0.43 sensitivity). A drill-down analysis of cues to confusion indicated the importance of the eye and eyebrow region. Confusion caused by misunderstanding of medical terminology is signaled by facial cues that can be automatically detected with currently available facial expression detection technology. The findings are relevant for the development of Web-based services for healthcare consumers.

REANALYSIS OF F-STATISTIC GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE SEARCHES WITH THE HIGHER CRITICISM STATISTIC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bennett, M. F.; Melatos, A.; Delaigle, A.

2013-04-01

We propose a new method of gravitational-wave detection using a modified form of higher criticism, a statistical technique introduced by Donoho and Jin. Higher criticism is designed to detect a group of sparse, weak sources, none of which are strong enough to be reliably estimated or detected individually. We apply higher criticism as a second-pass method to synthetic F-statistic and C-statistic data for a monochromatic periodic source in a binary system and quantify the improvement relative to the first-pass methods. We find that higher criticism on C-statistic data is more sensitive by {approx}6% than the C-statistic alone under optimal conditionsmore » (i.e., binary orbit known exactly) and the relative advantage increases as the error in the orbital parameters increases. Higher criticism is robust even when the source is not monochromatic (e.g., phase-wandering in an accreting system). Applying higher criticism to a phase-wandering source over multiple time intervals gives a {approx}> 30% increase in detectability with few assumptions about the frequency evolution. By contrast, in all-sky searches for unknown periodic sources, which are dominated by the brightest source, second-pass higher criticism does not provide any benefits over a first-pass search.« less

Finding the bottom and using it

PubMed Central

Sandoval, Ruben M.; Wang, Exing; Molitoris, Bruce A.

2014-01-01

Maximizing 2-photon parameters used in acquiring images for quantitative intravital microscopy, especially when high sensitivity is required, remains an open area of investigation. Here we present data on correctly setting the black level of the photomultiplier tube amplifier by adjusting the offset to allow for accurate quantitation of low intensity processes. When the black level is set too high some low intensity pixel values become zero and a nonlinear degradation in sensitivity occurs rendering otherwise quantifiable low intensity values virtually undetectable. Initial studies using a series of increasing offsets for a sequence of concentrations of fluorescent albumin in vitro revealed a loss of sensitivity for higher offsets at lower albumin concentrations. A similar decrease in sensitivity, and therefore the ability to correctly determine the glomerular permeability coefficient of albumin, occurred in vivo at higher offset. Finding the offset that yields accurate and linear data are essential for quantitative analysis when high sensitivity is required. PMID:25313346

High and Low Activity Rats: Elevated intrinsic physical activity drives resistance to diet induced obesity in non-bred rats

PubMed Central

Perez-Leighton, Claudio E.; Boland, Kelsey; Billington, Charles; Kotz, Catherine M.

2012-01-01

Humans and rodents show large variability in their individual sensitivity to diet-induced obesity, which has been associated with differences in intrinsic spontaneous physical activity (SPA). Evidence from genetic and out-bred rat obesity models shows that higher activity of the orexin peptides results in higher intrinsic SPA and protection against diet-induced obesity. Based on this, we hypothesized that naturally occurring variation in SPA and orexin signaling activity is sufficient to drive differences in sensitivity to diet-induced obesity. We analyzed orexin activity and sensitivity to diet-induced obesity in non-manipulated male Sprague Dawley rats selected for high and low intrinsic SPA. Our results defined a new model of differential DIO sensitivity, the high-activity and low activity-rats, and suggest that naturally occurring variations in intrinsic SPA cause differences in energy expenditure that are mediated by orexin signaling and alter DIO sensitivity. PMID:23404834

Blunted Ambiguity Aversion During Cost-Benefit Decisions in Antisocial Individuals.

PubMed

Buckholtz, Joshua W; Karmarkar, Uma; Ye, Shengxuan; Brennan, Grace M; Baskin-Sommers, Arielle

2017-05-17

Antisocial behavior is often assumed to reflect aberrant risk processing. However, many of the most significant forms of antisocial behavior, including crime, reflect the outcomes of decisions made under conditions of ambiguity rather than risk. While risk and ambiguity are formally distinct and experimentally dissociable, little is known about ambiguity sensitivity in individuals who engage in chronic antisocial behavior. We used a financial decision-making task in a high-risk community-based sample to test for associations between sensitivity to ambiguity, antisocial behavior, and arrest history. Sensitivity to ambiguity was lower in individuals who met diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder. Lower ambiguity sensitivity was also associated with higher externalizing (but not psychopathy) scores, and with higher levels of aggression (but not rule-breaking). Finally, blunted sensitivity to ambiguity also predicted a greater frequency of arrests. Together, these data suggest that alterations in cost-benefit decision-making under conditions of ambiguity may promote antisocial behavior.

Diffusion-weighted and T2-weighted MR imaging for colorectal liver metastases detection in a rat model at 7 T: a comparative study using histological examination as reference.

PubMed

Wagner, Mathilde; Maggiori, Léon; Ronot, Maxime; Paradis, Valérie; Vilgrain, Valérie; Panis, Yves; Van Beers, Bernard E

2013-08-01

To compare diffusion-weighted (DW) and T2-weighted MR imaging in detecting colorectal liver metastases in a rat model, using histological examination as a reference method. Eighteen rats had four liver injections of colon cancer cells. MR examinations at 7 T included FSE-T2-weighted imaging and SE-DW MR imaging (b = 0, 20 and 150 s/mm(2)) and were analysed by two independent readers. Histological examination was performed on 0.4-mm slices. McNemar's test was used to compare the sensitivities and the Wilcoxon matched pairs test to compare the average number of false-positives per rat. One hundred and sixty-six liver metastases were identified on histological examination. The sensitivity in detecting liver metastases was significantly higher on DW MR than on T2-weighted images (99/166 (60 %) (reader 1) and 92/166 (55 %) (reader 2) versus 77/166 (46 %), P ≤ 0.001), without an increase in false-positives per rat (P = 0.773/P = 0.850). After stratification according to metastasis diameter, DW MR imaging had a significantly higher sensitivity than T2-weighted imaging only for metastases with a diameter (0.6-1.2 mm) similar to that of the spatial resolution of MR imaging in the current study. This MR study with histological correlations shows the higher sensitivity of DW relative to T2-weighted imaging at 7 T for detecting liver metastases, especially small ones. • Diffusion weighted (DW) sequences are increasingly used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). • DW has higher sensitivity for liver metastases than T2-weighted imaging at 7 T. • This increase in sensitivity is especially marked for small liver metastasis detection. • This higher sensitivity is confirmed in an animal model with histological correlation. • DW imaging has the potential for earlier diagnosis of small liver metastases.

The metabolic phenotype of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) in childhood: heightened insulin sensitivity relative to body mass index.

PubMed

Haqq, Andrea M; Muehlbauer, Michael J; Newgard, Christopher B; Grambow, Steven; Freemark, Michael

2011-01-01

Insulin sensitivity is higher in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) than in body mass index-matched obese controls (OCs). Factors contributing to the heightened insulin sensitivity of PWS remain obscure. We compared the fasting levels of various hormones, cytokines, lipids, and liver function tests in 14 PWS patients and 14 OCs with those in 14 age- and gender-matched lean children (LC). We hypothesized that metabolic profiles of children with PWS are comparable with those of LC, but different from those of OCs. Leptin levels were comparable in PWS patients and OCs, suggesting comparable degrees of adiposity. Glucose levels were comparable among groups. However, fasting insulin concentrations and homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance index were lower in PWS patients than in OCs (P < 0.05) and similar to LC. Moreover, high-density lipoprotein levels were lower and triglycerides higher in OCs (P < 0.05) but not PWS patients. Total adiponectin, high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin and the HMW to total adiponectin ratio were higher in PWS patients (P < 0.05) than in OCs and similar to LC. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein and IL-6 levels were higher in OCs than in PWS patients or LC (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, PAI-1 levels were elevated in both OC and PWS patients. There were no group differences in glucagon-like peptide-1, macrophage chemoattractant protein-1, TNFα, IL-2, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-18, resistin, total or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase, or alanine aminotransferase. The heightened insulin sensitivity of PWS patients relative to OCs is associated with higher levels of adiponectin and lower levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and IL-6. Future studies will determine whether PWS children are protected from obesity comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Phenomenology of spectrally and temporally resolved infrared emissions from bomb detonations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gross, Kevin; Dills, Anthony; Tuttle, Ron; Perram, Glen

2002-10-01

The remote sensing of infrared signatures from exothermic reactions during military operations, including missile launches, muzzle flashes, and bomb detonations has been studied using fast FTIR techniques. Battle space characterization includes the ability to classify the munitions type, size, and other characteristics. One possible approach to munitions classification is to understand the spectral and temporal signatures from explosive ordinance. To investigate this possibility, experimental data has been collected remotely from ground-based sensors, processed, and analyzed for several conventional munitions. Field observations of 56 detonation events included a set of aircraft delivered ordnance and a series of static ground detonations for a variety of bomb sizes, types and environmental conditions. The emission is well represented by a gray body with continuously decreasing temperature and characteristic decay times of 1-4 s, providing only limited variability with detonation conditions. However, the fireball size times the emissivity as a function of time can be determined from the spectra without imaging and provides a more sensitive signature. The degree of temporal overlap as a function of frequency for a pair of detonation events provides a very sensitive discriminator for explosion conditions. The temporal overlap decreases with increasing emission frequency for all the observed events, indicating more information content at higher frequencies. Finally, the temporal nature of the emissions has been analyzed, providing a significant reduction in the dimensionality of the data.

Probabilistic parameter estimation of activated sludge processes using Markov Chain Monte Carlo.

PubMed

Sharifi, Soroosh; Murthy, Sudhir; Takács, Imre; Massoudieh, Arash

2014-03-01

One of the most important challenges in making activated sludge models (ASMs) applicable to design problems is identifying the values of its many stoichiometric and kinetic parameters. When wastewater characteristics data from full-scale biological treatment systems are used for parameter estimation, several sources of uncertainty, including uncertainty in measured data, external forcing (e.g. influent characteristics), and model structural errors influence the value of the estimated parameters. This paper presents a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework for the probabilistic estimation of activated sludge process parameters. The method provides the joint probability density functions (JPDFs) of stoichiometric and kinetic parameters by updating prior information regarding the parameters obtained from expert knowledge and literature. The method also provides the posterior correlations between the parameters, as well as a measure of sensitivity of the different constituents with respect to the parameters. This information can be used to design experiments to provide higher information content regarding certain parameters. The method is illustrated using the ASM1 model to describe synthetically generated data from a hypothetical biological treatment system. The results indicate that data from full-scale systems can narrow down the ranges of some parameters substantially whereas the amount of information they provide regarding other parameters is small, due to either large correlations between some of the parameters or a lack of sensitivity with respect to the parameters. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radiation resistance of asporogenous bacteria in frozen beef. Final report, Sep 1974--Feb 1975

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maxcy, R.B.; Rowley, D.B.; Annellis, A.

1976-03-01

A scheme was developed to isolate the most radiation resistant vegetative microbial cells occurring in beef. Selection of pure cultures and enrichment provided 16 apparently different isolates with higher radiation resistance than spores of Clostridium botulinum. Most of these bacteria were found to be Moraxella or Acinetobacter. They grew over a temperature range of 2 - 50 C. Preliminary data indicated the isolates to be relatively sensitive to heat and to limited oxygen. It would appear these organisms are rather widespread and frequent in nature. (GRA)

Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor conjugated mesoporous zinc oxide nanofibers for breast cancer diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Md. Azahar; Mondal, Kunal; Singh, Chandan; Dhar Malhotra, Bansi; Sharma, Ashutosh

2015-04-01

We report the fabrication of an efficient, label-free, selective and highly reproducible immunosensor with unprecedented sensitivity (femto-molar) to detect a breast cancer biomarker for early diagnostics. Mesoporous zinc oxide nanofibers (ZnOnFs) are synthesized by electrospinning technique with a fiber diameter in the range of 50-150 nm. Fragments of ZnOnFs are electrophoretically deposited on an indium tin oxide glass substrate and conjugated via covalent or electrostatic interactions with a biomarker (anti-ErbB2; epidermal growth factor receptor 2). Oxygen plasma treatment of the carbon doped ZnOnFs generates functional groups (-COOH, -OH, etc.) that are effective for the conjugation of anti-ErbB2. ZnOnFs without plasma treatment that conjugate via electrostatic interactions were also tested for comparison. Label-free detection of the breast cancer biomarker by this point-of-care device is achieved by an electrochemical impedance technique that has high sensitivity (7.76 kΩ μM-1) and can detect 1 fM (4.34 × 10-5 ng mL-1) concentration. The excellent impedimetric response of this immunosensor provides a fast detection (128 s) in a wide detection test range (1.0 fM-0.5 μM). The oxy-plasma treated ZnOnF immunoelectrode shows a higher association constant (404.8 kM-1 s-1) indicating a higher affinity towards the ErbB2 antigen compared to the untreated ZnOnF immunoelectrode (165.6 kM-1 s-1). This sensor is about an order of magnitude more sensitive than the best demonstrated in the literature based on different nanomaterials and about three orders of magnitude better than the ELISA standard for breast cancer biomarker detection. This proposed point-of-care cancer diagnostic offers several advantages, such as higher stability, rapid monitoring, simplicity, cost-effectiveness, etc., and should prove to be useful for the detection of other bio- and cancer markers.We report the fabrication of an efficient, label-free, selective and highly reproducible immunosensor with unprecedented sensitivity (femto-molar) to detect a breast cancer biomarker for early diagnostics. Mesoporous zinc oxide nanofibers (ZnOnFs) are synthesized by electrospinning technique with a fiber diameter in the range of 50-150 nm. Fragments of ZnOnFs are electrophoretically deposited on an indium tin oxide glass substrate and conjugated via covalent or electrostatic interactions with a biomarker (anti-ErbB2; epidermal growth factor receptor 2). Oxygen plasma treatment of the carbon doped ZnOnFs generates functional groups (-COOH, -OH, etc.) that are effective for the conjugation of anti-ErbB2. ZnOnFs without plasma treatment that conjugate via electrostatic interactions were also tested for comparison. Label-free detection of the breast cancer biomarker by this point-of-care device is achieved by an electrochemical impedance technique that has high sensitivity (7.76 kΩ μM-1) and can detect 1 fM (4.34 × 10-5 ng mL-1) concentration. The excellent impedimetric response of this immunosensor provides a fast detection (128 s) in a wide detection test range (1.0 fM-0.5 μM). The oxy-plasma treated ZnOnF immunoelectrode shows a higher association constant (404.8 kM-1 s-1) indicating a higher affinity towards the ErbB2 antigen compared to the untreated ZnOnF immunoelectrode (165.6 kM-1 s-1). This sensor is about an order of magnitude more sensitive than the best demonstrated in the literature based on different nanomaterials and about three orders of magnitude better than the ELISA standard for breast cancer biomarker detection. This proposed point-of-care cancer diagnostic offers several advantages, such as higher stability, rapid monitoring, simplicity, cost-effectiveness, etc., and should prove to be useful for the detection of other bio- and cancer markers. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr00194c

Are clinical impressions of adolescent substance use accurate?

PubMed

Wilson, Celeste R; Sherritt, Lon; Gates, Erin; Knight, John R

2004-11-01

To compare providers' impressions of adolescents' level of substance use with diagnostic classifications from a structured diagnostic interview. Secondary analysis of data was conducted from a validation study of the CRAFFT substance abuse screening test of 14- to 18-year-old medical clinic patients (n = 533) and their corresponding medical care providers (n = 109) at an adolescent clinic affiliated with a large tertiary care pediatric hospital. Medical care providers completed a form that recorded their clinical impressions of patients' level of alcohol and drug involvement (none, minimal, problem, abuse, dependence) and demographic characteristics. The form included brief diagnostic descriptions for each level of use. After the medical visit, patients completed the Adolescent Diagnostic Interview (ADI), a structured diagnostic interview that yields diagnoses of abuse and dependence according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). On the basis of their past 12 months of alcohol and drug use on the ADI interview, adolescents were classified into 5 mutually exclusive diagnostic groups. "None" was defined by no reported use of alcohol or drugs during the past year. "Minimal use" was defined as use of alcohol or drugs but no report of any substance-related problems. "Problem use" was defined as reporting 1 or more substance-related problems but no diagnosis of abuse or dependence. "Abuse" was defined by meeting any 1 of 4 DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for either alcohol or drug abuse but no diagnosis of dependence. "Dependence" was defined by meeting any 3 of 7 diagnostic criteria for either alcohol or drug dependence, with or without a diagnosis of abuse. Proportions were compared using Fisher exact test. Agreement was assessed with the weighted kappa, and these analyses were stratified by substance used (ie, alcohol vs drug) and demographic characteristics. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated from 2 x 2 tables. Compared with the criterion standard interview, providers identified significantly fewer patients with problem use and abuse and no patients with dependence. Of >100 patients whom the ADI classified with substance problem use, providers correctly identified 18. Of 50 patients who were classified with a diagnosis of alcohol or drug abuse, providers correctly identified 10. Of 36 patients who were classified with a diagnosis of alcohol or drug dependence, providers correctly identified none. For the 86 adolescents who were classified with a substance-related disorder (ie, abuse or dependence), providers' impressions were "none" (24.4%), "minimal use" (50%), "problem use" (15.1%), "abuse" (10.5%), and "dependence" (0%). There was only marginal agreement between providers' impressions and diagnoses related to alcohol use (kappa = .29), drug use (kappa = .31), and any substance use (kappa = .30). Kappa was not significantly affected by the patient's age, but it was by gender. Among boys, kappa was significantly higher for impressions of drug use versus alcohol use (kappa = .48 vs kappa = .27); and, among drug users, kappa was significantly higher among boys compared with girls (kappa = .48 vs kappa = .24). Kappa did not differ significantly across race/ethnicity subgroups, although there is a suggestive trend toward higher agreement for black non-Hispanic compared with white non-Hispanic adolescents (kappa = .35 vs kappa = .21). Kappa did not differ significantly on the basis of the visit type, but the size of this difference (kappa = .36 vs kappa = .24) suggests that the longer well-child visit yielded greater identification of substance-related pathology. Providers' impressions had a sensitivity of .63 for identifying use of alcohol or drugs. However, sensitivity was poor for identification of problem use (.14), abuse (.10), and dependence (0), whereas specificity and positive predictive values were high. Of the 86 adolescents with a diagnosis of abuse or dependence, 75.6% were correctly identified by providers as using substances; however, the level of use in 50% of these adolescents was reported by providers as minimal. In this study, clinical impressions of adolescents' alcohol/drug involvement underestimated substance-related pathology. When providers thought that use was present, there was a very high likelihood that a problem or disorder existed. The use of structured screening devices would likely improve identification of adolescents with substance-related pathology in primary care settings and should be considered for use with all adolescent patients, rather than only those who are perceived to be at higher risk.

Male circumcision decreases penile sensitivity as measured in a large cohort.

PubMed

Bronselaer, Guy A; Schober, Justine M; Meyer-Bahlburg, Heino F L; T'Sjoen, Guy; Vlietinck, Robert; Hoebeke, Piet B

2013-05-01

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT? AND WHAT DOES THE STUDY ADD?: The sensitivity of the foreskin and its importance in erogenous sensitivity is widely debated and controversial. This is part of the actual public debate on circumcision for non-medical reason. Today some studies on the effect of circumcision on sexual function are available. However they vary widely in outcome. The present study shows in a large cohort of men, based on self-assessment, that the foreskin has erogenous sensitivity. It is shown that the foreskin is more sensitive than the uncircumcised glans mucosa, which means that after circumcision genital sensitivity is lost. In the debate on clitoral surgery the proven loss of sensitivity has been the strongest argument to change medical practice. In the present study there is strong evidence on the erogenous sensitivity of the foreskin. This knowledge hopefully can help doctors and patients in their decision on circumcision for non-medical reason. To test the hypothesis that sensitivity of the foreskin is a substantial part of male penile sensitivity. To determine the effects of male circumcision on penile sensitivity in a large sample. The study aimed at a sample size of ≈1000 men. Given the intimate nature of the questions and the intended large sample size, the authors decided to create an online survey. Respondents were recruited by means of leaflets and advertising. The analysis sample consisted of 1059 uncircumcised and 310 circumcised men. For the glans penis, circumcised men reported decreased sexual pleasure and lower orgasm intensity. They also stated more effort was required to achieve orgasm, and a higher percentage of them experienced unusual sensations (burning, prickling, itching, or tingling and numbness of the glans penis). For the penile shaft a higher percentage of circumcised men described discomfort and pain, numbness and unusual sensations. In comparison to men circumcised before puberty, men circumcised during adolescence or later indicated less sexual pleasure at the glans penis, and a higher percentage of them reported discomfort or pain and unusual sensations at the penile shaft. This study confirms the importance of the foreskin for penile sensitivity, overall sexual satisfaction, and penile functioning. Furthermore, this study shows that a higher percentage of circumcised men experience discomfort or pain and unusual sensations as compared with the uncircumcised population. Before circumcision without medical indication, adult men, and parents considering circumcision of their sons, should be informed of the importance of the foreskin in male sexuality. © 2013 BJU International.

Comparative sensitivity of the cnidarian Exaiptasia pallida and a standard toxicity test suite: testing whole effluents intended for ocean disposal.

PubMed

Howe, P L; Reichelt-Brushett, A J; Krassoi, R; Micevska, T

2015-09-01

The sea anemone Exaiptasia pallida (formally Aiptasia pulchella) has been identified as a valuable test species for tropical marine ecotoxicology. Here, the sensitivities of newly developed endpoints for E. pallida to two unidentified whole effluents were compared to a standard suite of temperate toxicity test species and endpoints that are commonly used in toxicological risk assessments for tropical marine environments. For whole effluent 1 (WE1), a 96-h lethal concentration 50 % (LC50) of 40 (95 % confidence intervals, 30-54) % v/v and a 12-day LC50 of 12 (9-15) % v/v were estimated for E. pallida, exhibiting a significantly higher sensitivity than standard sub-lethal endpoints in Allorchestes compressa (96-h effective concentration 50 % (EC50) of >100 % v/v for immobilisation) and Hormosira banksii (72-h EC50 of >100 % v/v for germination), and a similar sensitivity to Mytilus edulis galloprovincialis larval development with a 48-h LC50 of 29 (28-30) % v/v. Sub-lethal effects of whole effluent 2 (WE2) on E. pallida pedal lacerate development resulted in an 8-day EC50 of 7 (3-11) % v/v, demonstrating comparable sensitivity of this endpoint to standardised sub-lethal endpoints in H. banksii (72-h EC50 of 11 (10-11) % v/v for germination), M. edulis galloprovincialis (48-h EC50 for larval development of 12 (9-14) % v/v) and Heliocidaris tuberculata (1-h EC50 of 13 (12-14) % v/v for fertilisation; 72-h EC50 of 26 (25-27) % v/v for larval development) and a significantly higher sensitivity than A. compressa immobilisation (96-h EC50 of >100 % v/v). The sensitivity of E. pallida compared to a standard test species suite highlights the value in standardising the newly developed toxicity test methods for inclusion in routine toxicological risk assessment of complex whole effluents. Importantly, this species provides an additional taxonomic group to the test species that are currently available for tropical marine ecotoxicology and, being a cnidarian, may represent important tropical marine environments including coral reefs.

A general moment expansion method for stochastic kinetic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ale, Angelique; Kirk, Paul; Stumpf, Michael P. H.

2013-05-01

Moment approximation methods are gaining increasing attention for their use in the approximation of the stochastic kinetics of chemical reaction systems. In this paper we derive a general moment expansion method for any type of propensities and which allows expansion up to any number of moments. For some chemical reaction systems, more than two moments are necessary to describe the dynamic properties of the system, which the linear noise approximation is unable to provide. Moreover, also for systems for which the mean does not have a strong dependence on higher order moments, moment approximation methods give information about higher order moments of the underlying probability distribution. We demonstrate the method using a dimerisation reaction, Michaelis-Menten kinetics and a model of an oscillating p53 system. We show that for the dimerisation reaction and Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics system higher order moments have limited influence on the estimation of the mean, while for the p53 system, the solution for the mean can require several moments to converge to the average obtained from many stochastic simulations. We also find that agreement between lower order moments does not guarantee that higher moments will agree. Compared to stochastic simulations, our approach is numerically highly efficient at capturing the behaviour of stochastic systems in terms of the average and higher moments, and we provide expressions for the computational cost for different system sizes and orders of approximation. We show how the moment expansion method can be employed to efficiently quantify parameter sensitivity. Finally we investigate the effects of using too few moments on parameter estimation, and provide guidance on how to estimate if the distribution can be accurately approximated using only a few moments.

The relevance of basophil allergen sensitivity testing to distinguish between severe and mild peanut-allergic children.

PubMed

Homšak, Matjaž; Silar, Mira; Berce, Vojko; Tomazin, Maja; Skerbinjek-Kavalar, Maja; Celesnik, Nina; Košnik, Mitja; Korošec, Peter

2013-01-01

Peanut sensitization is common in children. However, it is difficult to assess which children will react mildly and which severely. This study evaluated the relevance of basophil allergen sensitivity testing to distinguish the severity of peanut allergy in children. Twenty-seven peanut-sensitized children with symptoms varying from mild symptoms to severe anaphylaxis underwent peanut CD63 dose-response curve analysis with the inclusion of basophil allergen sensitivity calculation (CD-sens) and peanut component immunoglobulin E (IgE) testing. Eleven children who had experienced anaphylaxis to peanuts showed a markedly higher peanut CD63 response at submaximal allergen concentrations and CD-sens (median 1,667 vs. 0.5; p < 0.0001) than 16 children who experienced a milder reaction. Furthermore, a negative or low CD-sens to peanuts unambiguously excluded anaphylactic peanut allergy. Children with anaphylaxis have higher levels of Ara h 1, 2, 3 and 9 IgE, but comparable levels of IgE to Ara h 8 and whole-peanut extract. The diagnostic specificity calculated with a receiver operating characteristic analysis reached 100% for CD-sens and 73% for Ara h 2. We demonstrated that severe peanut allergy is significantly associated with higher basophil allergen sensitivity. This cellular test should facilitate a more accurate diagnosis of peanut allergy. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Neutron Imaging Developments at LANSCE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, Ron; Hunter, James; Schirato, Richard; Vogel, Sven; Swift, Alicia; Ickes, Tim; Ward, Bill; Losko, Adrian; Tremsin, Anton

2015-10-01

Neutron imaging is complementary to x-ray imaging because of its sensitivity to light elements and greater penetration of high-Z materials. Energy-resolved neutron imaging can provide contrast enhancements for elements and isotopes due to the variations with energy in scattering cross sections due to nuclear resonances. These cross section differences exist due to compound nuclear resonances that are characteristic of each element and isotope, as well as broader resonances at higher energies. In addition, multi-probe imaging, such as combined photon and neutron imaging, is a powerful tool for discerning properties and features in materials that cannot be observed with a single probe. Recently, we have demonstrated neutron imaging, both radiography and computed tomography, using the moderated (Lujan Center) and high-energy (WNR facility) neutron sources at LANSCE. Flat panel x-ray detectors with suitable scintillator-converter screens provide good sensitivity for both low and high neutron energies. Micro-Channel-Plate detectors and iCCD scintillator camera systems that provide the fast time gating needed for energy-resolved imaging have been demonstrated as well. Examples of recent work will be shown including fluid flow in plants and imaging through dense thick objects. This work is funded by the US Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, and performed by Los Alamos National Security LLC under Contract DE-AC52-06NA25396.

Accuracy of Referring Provider and Endoscopist Impressions of Colonoscopy Indication.

PubMed

Naveed, Mariam; Clary, Meredith; Ahn, Chul; Kubiliun, Nisa; Agrawal, Deepak; Cryer, Byron; Murphy, Caitlin; Singal, Amit G

2017-07-01

Background: Referring provider and endoscopist impressions of colonoscopy indication are used for clinical care, reimbursement, and quality reporting decisions; however, the accuracy of these impressions is unknown. This study assessed the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and overall accuracy of methods to classify colonoscopy indication, including referring provider impression, endoscopist impression, and administrative algorithm compared with gold standard chart review. Methods: We randomly sampled 400 patients undergoing a colonoscopy at a Veterans Affairs health system between January 2010 and December 2010. Referring provider and endoscopist impressions of colonoscopy indication were compared with gold-standard chart review. Indications were classified into 4 mutually exclusive categories: diagnostic, surveillance, high-risk screening, or average-risk screening. Results: Of 400 colonoscopies, 26% were performed for average-risk screening, 7% for high-risk screening, 26% for surveillance, and 41% for diagnostic indications. Accuracy of referring provider and endoscopist impressions of colonoscopy indication were 87% and 84%, respectively, which were significantly higher than that of the administrative algorithm (45%; P <.001 for both). There was substantial agreement between endoscopist and referring provider impressions (κ=0.76). All 3 methods showed high sensitivity (>90%) for determining screening (vs nonscreening) indication, but specificity of the administrative algorithm was lower (40.3%) compared with referring provider (93.7%) and endoscopist (84.0%) impressions. Accuracy of endoscopist, but not referring provider, impression was lower in patients with a family history of colon cancer than in those without (65% vs 84%; P =.001). Conclusions: Referring provider and endoscopist impressions of colonoscopy indication are both accurate and may be useful data to incorporate into algorithms classifying colonoscopy indication. Copyright © 2017 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.