cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SU‐E‐J‐169: A Guidance System Using Optical Patient Alignment (OPA) during Breast Radiotherapy

Purpose: To develop and evaluate an optical patient‐alignment system to assist in patient positioning during breast radiotherapy. Since the breast is a deformable organ of variable size and shape, standard setup procedures may be inadequate to position the breast properly for treatment. Methods: This method employs a standard digital camera, and an in‐house constructed calibration phantom (CP), composed of ten identifiable reflecting spheres, mounted on a wooden platform. A CTimage of the CP was acquired, to determine the 3D configuration of the spheres. For calibration, the CP is placed on the treatment couch and aligned to the collimator. A digital photograph of the CP is acquired, and a centroid‐finding technique is applied to this image to obtain the 2D coordinates of the spheres. These 2D coordinates, along with the known 3D model of the spheres, serves as input to an optimization routine based on the downhill‐simplex algorithm. The routine solves for the geometry of the camera location; i.e., the rotation and translation relating the camera to the CP, and therefore to the treatment room geometry. Using this information about the camera parameters, the 3D CT data can be projected onto the camera'simaging plane, and displayed on a monitor, superimposed on a live video of the patient. This would enable the therapist to view both the patient's current and desired positions, and guide in proper positioning.Results: In order to evaluate our method accuracy, simulated images were created of a virtual CP. Our results demonstrate an accuracy of 0.2 cm and 0.1 degrees, respectively, in translation and rotation Conclusions: we developed a method to calibrate an optical camerasystem, which can be used to superimpose a perspective projection of a CTimage on a patient's real‐time optical image. Displaying this visual information will assist in accurate setup during breast radiotherapy
Probing Patchy Reionization through τ-21 cm Correlation Statistics

We consider the cross-correlation between free electrons and neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization (EoR). The free electrons are traced by the optical depth to reionization τ, while the neutral hydrogen can be observed through 21 cm photon emission. As expected, this correlation is sensitive to the detailed physics of reionization. Foremost, if reionization occurs through the merger of relatively large halos hosting an ionizing source, the free electrons and neutral hydrogen are anticorrelated for most of the reionization history. A positive contribution to the correlation can occur when the halos that can form an ionizing source are small. A measurement of this sign change in the cross-correlation could help disentangle the bias and the ionization history. We estimate the signal-to-noise ratio of the cross-correlation using the estimator for inhomogeneous reionization τ-hat {sub lm} proposed by Dvorkin and Smith. We find that with upcoming radio interferometers and cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments, the cross-correlation is measurable going up to multipoles l ∼ 1000. We also derive parameter constraints and conclude that, despite the foregrounds, the cross-correlation provides a complementary measurement of the EoR parameters to the 21 cm and CMB polarization autocorrelations expected to be observed in the comingmore » decade.« less
Peroxidative activation of 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine to mutagenic products in the Salmonella typhimurium test

Abstract The direct and H 2 O 2 -dependent mutagenicity of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine (DCB) were compared in Salmonella tester strains TA98, TA98/1,8-DNP 6 , TA100 and TA102 using the Ames test. DCB exhibited both direct and H 2 O 2 -dependent mutagenicity to both tester strains TA98 and TA98/1,8-DNP 6 . This H 2 O 2 -dependent mutagenicity of DCB was prevented by horseradish peroxidase. DCB, in contrast to its effects in tester strains TA98, was not mutagenic to TA100 and TA102 either directly or in the presence of H 2 O 2 . These results suggest that mechanisms, perhaps enzymes endogenous to tester strains TA98, may play a role in the activation of DCB.
Sediment Analysis of a Prehistoric Rockshelter: The Abri Pataud

Rockshelter and cave-mouth deposits accumulate in specialized niches through the breakdown of the enclosing bedrock, the addition of windblown and fluvial sediment and, in the case of prehistoric sites, human habitation debris. Certain modifications of routine sediment analysis are necessary in order to realize the full potential of paleoenvironmental interpretation. These sediments are coarse, necessitating the collection of large samples, commonly 10–20 kg. The size and shape of the coarse fraction yields information on rockfalls, freeze-thaw activity, and weathering effects. Travertine and soil-carbonate coatings on the rock fragments indicate variations in ambient humidity and soil formation, respectively. Studies of the granulometry, mineralogy, and geochemistry of the fine fraction lead to conclusions concerning primarily the postdepositional modification of the sediments. Heavy minerals can be important in determining the provenience of the fine sediment. These methods of analysis are discussed in detail with the Abri Pataud as a specific example, and caution is urged in making regional generalizations from the study of a single site.
Cerebral angioendotheliomatosis in a dog.

A 6-year-old dog which presented with weakness of the hind limbs progressed to a cerebral disorder with altered sensorium. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein was elevated, but no cells were found. Autopsy revealed severe hemorrhages in the basal nuclei and diencephalon. Histology of the lesions showed many meningeal and parenchymal blood vessels filled with neoplastic mononuclear cells. Electron microscopy of the tumor cells demonstrated ribosomes, granular endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, and a few lysosomes. Immunocytochemical procedures to demonstrate Factor VIII-related antigen were negative. this appears to be the first recorded case of cerebral angioendotheliomatosis in domestic animals and closely resembles the syndrome in man.
ELAV Links Paused Pol II to Alternative Polyadenylation in the Drosophila Nervous System

Summary Alternative polyadenylation (APA) has been implicated in a variety of developmental and disease processes. A particularly dramatic form of APA occurs in the developing nervous system of flies and mammals, whereby various developmental genes undergo coordinate 3′ UTR extension. In Drosophila , the RNA-binding protein ELAV inhibits RNA processing at proximal polyadenylation sites, thereby fostering the formation of exceptionally long 3′ UTRs. Here, we present evidence that paused Pol II promotes recruitment of ELAV to extended genes. Replacing promoters of extended genes with heterologous promoters blocks normal 3′ extension in the nervous system, while extension-associated promoters can induce 3′ extension in ectopic tissues expressing ELAV. Computational analyses suggest that promoter regions of extended genes tend to contain paused Pol II and associated cis -regulatory elements such as GAGA. ChIP-seq assays identify ELAV in the promoter regions of extended genes. Our study provides evidence for a regulatory link between promoter-proximal pausing and APA.
Use of multimedia as an educational tool to improve human papillomavirus vaccine acceptability--a pilot study.

Abstract Objective To determine, through a pilot study, whether use of a video-based educational tool can influence overall human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine acceptability, views on vaccine mandates, school vaccination, and acceptable age for vaccination. Methods Written surveys addressing HPV knowledge and vaccine acceptability were administered to study participants from January to March 2007. An initial 32-question survey was completed, followed by an 8-minute educational video, and a post-video assessment. Results Out of 256 subjects, 73.0% watched the video and completed all surveys. Eighty percent of the subjects had heard of HPV, while 65.0% knew, prior to viewing the video, that the vaccine was available. Individual vaccine acceptability increased from 66.7% to78.0% after the video ( p = .0014). Prior to the video, 54.8% of subjects supported mandatory HPV vaccination, with 51.1% supporting school vaccination, and 66.7% accepting vaccination if it were free. After the video, these percentages increased to 72.6% ( p p p p Conclusion Using an educational video significantly increased overall HPV vaccine acceptability and acceptance in younger age groups. This may be an effective means of increasing awareness and acceptability of HPV vaccination.
Behavioral analogues of anxiety. Animal models

In the absence of fully characterized biological indexes, anxiety is at present measured as unpleasant effects reported verbally by patients. Because of the subjective nature of the syndrome, animal analogues have been difficult to design, but quests for new anxiolytics and a deeper understanding of the neurobiology of anxiety have fostered the development of several animal models. Usually, animals are exposed to exteroceptive or interoceptive stimuli which can be interpreted as capable of causing anxiety in humans. Then, the animals are observed for responses or behavioral deficits resulting from those stimuli in order to provide an index of anxiety. Behavioral responses that are reliably produced by those stimuli and that are also antagonized by anxiolytic drugs are accepted as analogues of anxiety. Exteroceptive stimuli, useful in this respect, consist of a variety of noxious treatments such as exposure to conflict-situations or unavoidable electric shock, whereas interoceptive stimuli consist of treatment with anxiogenic drugs or electrical stimulation of selected brain areas. Elicitation of unconditioned behavior or changes in the rate of conditioned (learned) responding have been employed as measures of anxiety responses following application of either exteroceptive or interoceptive stimuli. These measures, although useful in detecting anxiolytic drugs, possess several weaknesses. They suffer from difficulties in obtaining quantitative and objective data, they do not differentiate between anxiety and stress or fear, they are unable to measure further deterioration of behavior expected to occur when more potent anxiogenic stimuli are tested and they often present difficulty in differentiating direct motor effects of a number of stimuli are not related to anxiety. More recently, interest in the development of other analogues of anxiety has led to the use of drug-discrimination paradigms. In this approach, interoceptive discriminative stimuli, produced by anxiogenic drugs, are used as analogues of anxiety in animals. As an example of this approach, data are reviewed showing that pentylenetetrazol, an anxiogenic drug in humans, produces interoceptive stimuli which can be readily discriminated by rats. Further, these stimuli can be easily quantified through dose-response analysis. All known anxiogenic drugs generalize to pentylenetetrazol-induced interoceptive discriminative stimuli. Similarly, other anxiety-provoking situations in humans, such as withdrawal from dependence on benzodiazepines, also generalize to the pentylenetetrazol-induced stimuli. Alternatively, all known anxiolytic drugs antagonize these stimuli with a relative potency similar to
Koladeras, Literacy Educators of the Cape Verdean Diaspora: A Cape Verdean African Centered Call and Response Methodology

Koladeras are women who use call and response in impromptu songs that may contain proverbs, stories about the community, their life experiences, and who and what they see in their world from their own perspective. Via qualitative methods of (auto)ethnography, personal and life story narratives, and interviews, I look at how koladeras’ as literacy educators of multiple generations of Cape Verdeans. I identify African centered koladera literacies and discuss how have been passed down and taken different forms from generation to generation and next and argue for inclusion of these literacies in academia. More specifically, I argue that koladeras are literacy educators who have taught generations of Cape Verdeans how African centered Cape Verdean literacies challenge narrow, racist, classist, and sexist notions of literacy.
Momentum of optical Airy beams

We analyze and describe the evolution of the Poynting vector and angular momentum of the Airy beam as it propagates through space. A numerical approach is used to show the Poynting vector follows the tangent line of the direction of propagation. A similar approach is used to show that while the total angular momentum of the Airy beam is zero, the angular momentum of the main intensity peak and the Airy tail are non-zero. These beams have promise for applications in imaging and spectroscopy where a sample might interact with a changing momentum and spatially varying angular momentum.
γ-aminobutyric acidB receptors in the rat brain: Quantitative autoradiographic localization using [3H](−)-baclofen

Abstract The light microscopic localization of γ-aminobutyric acid B (GABA B receptors in the rat brain has been accomplished using in vitro autoradiography with [ 3 H]baclofen as a ligand. Initial biochemical studies indicated this compound specifically bound to slide-mounted tissue sections with high affinity in a saturable and readily reversible manner. Autoradiograms generated by labeled tissue sections demonstrated high grain densities over structures such as the interpeduncular nucleus, molecular layer of the cerebellum, superior colliculus, several thalamic nuclei and the superficial laminae of the cortex. The majority of the GABA B sites were found to exist in regions of the brain previously reported to have significant densities of GABA A sites present. A few areas were noted, however, where the distribution of GABA A and GABA B sites did not overlap.
ORGANIC VEGETABLE FARMING IN RURAL AREAS OF THE NORTHERN PROVINCE

This study investigates factors that contribute to the promotion of organic fanning in rural areas. The study concentrates on rural households in the Northern Province of South Africa where quite recently, organic farming seems to become more popular among households than conventional farming systems using fertilisers and other chemicals. The results suggest that the promotion of organic farming among rural households can better be achieved in favourable social environments such as educational levels and income status rather than conducive biophysical conditions such as good soil conditions. It is suggested that whereas suitable biophysical conditions are necessary for organic farming such factors should be complemented with suitable social conditions to achieve maximum results.
Stop-and-copy and one-bit reference counting

Abstract Wise, D.S., Stop-and-copy and one-bit reference counting, Information Processing Letters 46 (1993) 243-249. A stop-and-copy garbage collector updates one-bit reference counting with essentially no extra space and minimal memory cycles beyond the conventional collection algorithm. Any object that is uniquely referenced during a collection becomes a candidate for cheap recovery before the next one, or faster recopying if it remains uniquely referenced then. Since most objects stay uniquely referenced, subsequent collections run faster even if none are recycled between collections. This algorithm extends to generation scavenging, it admits uncounted references from roots, and it corrects conservatively stuck counters, that result from earlier uncertainty whether references were unique.