cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of intraoperative changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and postoperative delirium in older adults

Abstract Background Delirium is common after surgery, although the aetiology is poorly defined. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin important in neurotransmission and neuroplasticity. Decreased levels of BDNF have been associated with poor cognitive outcomes, but few studies have characterized the role of BDNF perioperatively. We hypothesized that intraoperative decreases in BDNF levels are associated with postoperative delirium. Methods Patients undergoing spine surgery were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Plasma BDNF was collected at baseline and at least hourly intraoperatively. Delirium was assessed using rigorous methods, including the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) and CAM for the intensive care unit. Associations of changes in BDNF and delirium were examined using regression models. Results Postoperative delirium developed in 32 of 77 (42%) patients. The median baseline BDNF level was 7.6 ng ml −1 [interquartile range (IQR) 3.0–11.2] and generally declined intraoperatively [median decline 61% (IQR 31–80)]. There was no difference in baseline BDNF levels by delirium status. However, the percent decline in BDNF was greater in patients who developed delirium [median 74% (IQR 51–82)] vs in those who did not develop delirium [median 50% (IQR 14–79); P =0.03]. Each 1% decline in BDNF was associated with increased odds of delirium in unadjusted {odds ratio [OR] 1.02 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00–1.04]; P =0.01}, multivariable-adjusted [OR 1.02 (95% CI 1.00–1.03); P =0.03], and propensity score–adjusted models [OR 1.02 (95% CI 1.00–1.04); P =0.03]. Conclusions We observed an association between intraoperative decline in plasma BDNF and delirium. These preliminary results need to be confirmed but suggest that plasma BDNF levels may be a biomarker for postoperative delirium.
Low-voltage microfluidic actuator driven by tension modificaton

This paper reports the theory, fabrication and testing of a new type of microfluidic actuator driven by electrically-induced changes in the tension of a thin elastic diaphragm. The actuator is extremely simple consisting of a pressurized fluid cavity bounded by two pre-tensed PDMS diaphragms. One of the diaphragms has an embedded thin shape memory alloy (SMA) coil along its periphery. When the SMA wire is electrically heated it contracts in length reducing the membrane tension and causing large deflections at the membrane center. We observed maximum deflections in the range of 400–600 μm on 36 mm diameter membranes at low voltages (110 V) for various SMA wire diameter and number of coil turns. The response bandwidth was ∼1 Hz.
Data analysis and application guidelines for the microgel field applications

Abstract Excess water production is a major problem in water-flooded mature oilfields. Recently, using microgel treatment as a conformance control method to reduce water production has drawn increasing attention in oil industry. The success of microgel treatments highly depends on in-depth understanding where and when microgel can be successfully applied, how to design the injection parameters, and how well the performances of microgel treatments in different reservoir conditions. To better solve these problems, a total of 154 field application data from microgel-treated injection wells was collected from 2005 to 2016. These data are statistically analyzed by using histograms, boxplots, and scatterplots. Histograms are used to analyze the reservoir and well characteristic data in order to find out where and when microgels are generally used. Scatterplots are used to uncover some general trends that can guide field engineers to design injection parameters and improve the treatment performances. Boxplots compare the injection parameters among different types of reservoirs and outline special cases that are far different from the majority of the cases. These special cases are further studied because they contain additional information during the treatment. Throughout the comprehensively data analysis, the application guidelines for microgel treatments are presented, which includes screening guidelines, design considerations, and treatment performances. The instructional guidelines can help to maximize the likelihood of microgel treatment projects being technically successful.
Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United States: A History of a Medical Treatment

In the nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries, American physicians treated women and girls for masturbation by removing the clitoris (clitoridectomy) or clitoral hood (female circumcision). During this same time, and continuing to today, physicians also performed female circumcision to enable women to reach orgasm. While the opposite purposes of these clitoral surgeries (to either contain a perceived excessive sexuality or to remedy a perceived lack of sexual responsiveness) may seem paradoxical, their use reflects a consistent medical conception of the clitoris as a sexual organ. In recent years both the popular media and academics have commented on the rising popularity in the United States of female genital cosmetic surgeries, including female circumcision, yet these discussions often assume such surgeries are new. In Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United States: A History of a Medical Treatment, Sarah Rodriguez presents an engaging and surprising history of surgeries on the clitoris, revealing what the therapeutic use of clitoridectomy and female circumcision tells us about changing (and not so changing) medical ideas concerning the female body and female sexuality. Sarah B. Rodriguez teaches at Northwestern University in the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program and in the Global Health Studies Program.
Late Gastrointestinal Complications of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Adults.

Abstract Gastrointestinal (GI) complications including graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in allogenic stem transplant recipients. Although several studies have previously looked into the acute GI complications, fewer smaller studies have reported late complications. In this large study we focus on the late (100 days post-transplant) GI complications in allogenic stem transplant recipients. In this single-center, retrospective study of all adult allogenic stem cell transplant recipients who had their transplant at Duke University over a 6-year period, 479 patients underwent allogenic stem cell transplant, of whom 392 recipients survived for at least 100 days post-transplant. Late GI symptoms were noted in 71 patients, prompting endoscopic evaluation. The primary endpoint of our study was the diagnosis of GI-GVHD based on endoscopic findings, whereas overall survival and nonrelapse mortality were the secondary endpoints. Of the 71 patients who underwent endoscopy, 45 (63%) had GI-GVHD. Of these 45 patients, 39 (87%) had late acute GVHD, 1 (2%) had chronic GVHD, and 5 patients (11%) had overlap disease. Of the patients who did not have GVHD, the symptoms were mostly related to infectious and inflammatory causes. Less common causes included drug toxicity, food intolerance, disease relapse, and motility issues. In a multivariate analysis the factors most indicative of GI-GVHD were histologic findings of apoptosis on the tissue specimen (odds ratio, 2.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.18 to 4.70; P = .015) and clinical findings of diarrhea (odds ratio, 5.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.25 to 23.54; P = .024). The median survival time from the first endoscopy was 8.5 months. The incidence of nonrelapse mortality at 6 months was 31% in patients with GI-GVHD and 19% in patients without GI-GVHD (P = .42). All patients with GI-GVHD were on steroid therapy, and 31% of them received total parenteral nutrition. In our population close to one-fifth of allogenic transplant recipients experienced late GI complications, warranting endoscopic evaluation. Most of these patients were found to have GI-GVHD that had a high incidence of nonrelapse mortality at 6 months and close to one-third of these patients needed total parenteral nutrition.
Getting It Together: Psychological Unity and Deflationary Accounts of Animal Metacognition

Experimenters claim some nonhuman mammals have metacognition. If correct, the results indicate some animal minds are more complex than ordinarily presumed. However, some philosophers argue for a deflationary reading of metacognition experiments, suggesting that the results can be explained in first-order terms. We agree with the deflationary interpretation of the data but we argue that the metacognition research forces the need to recognize a heretofore underappreciated feature in the theory of animal minds, which we call Unity. The disparate mental states of an animal must be unified if deflationary accounts of metacognition are to hold and untoward implications avoided. Furthermore, once Unity is acknowledged, the deflationary interpretation of the experiments reveals an elevated moral standing for the nonhumans in question.
A Call to the Helping Disciplines to Deconstruct Diversity and Race: an Essay on the Social Constructions of the “Other”

This article provides a contemporary deconstruction of diversity, race and intersecting identities in America. The authors challenge current conceptualizations of race/ethnicity and difference via social constructionist, contextual and critical approaches through an essay format. Considerations for the helping professions (i.e., counselors, psychologists, social workers and psychotherapists) are offered through various lenses, including historical, political, social and economic perspectives, providing the opportunity for continued professional dialogue towards the promotion and understanding of social justice.
Taste heterogeneity as an alternative form of endogeneity bias: Investigating the attitude-moderated effects of built environment and socio-demographics on vehicle ownership using latent class modeling

Abstract Vehicle ownership (VO) is of vital interest to transportation planning and policy, both in its own right and as a correlate of other travel-related behaviors. This study explores disaggregate relationships among socio-economic/demographic (SED) traits, the built environment (BE), and VO. Many previous studies have assumed that the importance of SED and BE variables to VO is homogeneous across the population, and have focused on the direct and mediated effects of those variables on VO. Here, we aim to account for heterogeneity in the effects of BE and SED, allowing those effects on VO to be moderated as a function of attitudes. Specifically, we use Latent Class Modeling (LCM), which probabilistically segments the sample so as to be homogeneous within and heterogeneous across segments, with respect to the choice process. Applied to a sample of 2385 commuters in Northern California, LCM outperforms an ordinary multinomial logit model and a deterministic segmentation model. The LCM identifies two classes: an “auto-oriented” segment, for which household size and income have stronger influences on vehicle ownership (compared to the other segment); and an “urbanite” segment, for which the BE generally has a stronger influence. This study contributes to better understanding the heterogeneity of an important travel-related choice process, and offers an alternative explanation to residential self-selection for an attitude-related endogeneity bias.
Building Bridges? An Assessment of Academic and Practitioner Perceptions with Observations for the Public Administration Classroom

Beginning in the 1940s, academics recognized a gap between themselves and practitioners and contemplated methods of reducing this divide. Evidence for this gap includes recognition that academics a...
Application of Tracer Theory to NSTS Experiments

The successful use of tracer sand to determine sediment transport rates relies on the two basic premises that the tracer behaves exactly in the same way as the native sand and that the motion of the tracer centroid can be determined. The centroid velocity provides an estimate of the transport velocity, which when multiplied by the thickness of the moving sand, yields the transport rate.
Sexually conditioned incentives: attenuation of motivational impact during dopamine receptor antagonism.

Abstract The motivational impact of sexually conditioned incentives was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, male Long–Evans rats copulated to ejaculation in the presence of one of two scents (orange or almond extract) on five separate occasions. On alternating days, subjects spent an equal amount of time in social isolation with the opposing scent. Following the 10-day conditioning regimen, subjects ran more rapidly down an operant runway toward a goalbox containing the sex-paired scent (CS+) compared to trials on which the isolation-paired scent (CS−) or no scent was provided. In Experiment 2, comparably conditioned male rats were first given a baseline runway trial with an unscented goalbox. The following day, subjects were pretreated with one of four doses of haloperidol (0.0, 0.075, 0.15, or 0.30 mg/kg ip) 45 min prior to being tested in the runway for their motivation to approach either the CS+ or CS− scents. Control subjects given vehicle injections performed comparably to subjects from Experiment 1, taking significantly less time to approach the CS+ than an unscented goalbox. This decrease in run latency was not observed in subjects within the 0.075 and 0.15 mg/kg haloperidol groups. Subjects in the 0.30 mg/kg haloperidol groups took significantly more time to approach both the CS+ and CS− compared to their baseline run times. These data reveal that an olfactory cue associated with sexual reward becomes a conditioned incentive capable of eliciting approach behavior, and that dopamine receptor antagonism (at moderate but not high doses) selectively attenuates this cue-induced motivation.
Tractor CAN bus interface tools and application development for real-time data analysis

Abstract Embedded electronic controllers connected via controller area network (CAN) are used extensively in modern off-road machinery to broadcast machine information for on-board processes and diagnostics. A variety of tools are commercially available to monitor and record CAN data for research and commercial uses. Some plug-and-play options are easy to set up but have limited customization. Others are more complex to configure but can be used to create fully customized and deployable real-time software applications. Several CAN data tools and software packages were evaluated to monitor and record machine and engine data. A proof-of-concept application was created with Matlab Vehicle Network Toolbox for real-time monitoring of diesel engine speed and load, and generation of a cumulative speed/load histogram based on SAE J1939 parameters. This study investigated four hardware and software CAN tool configurations that could be used for tractor CAN bus data acquisition. This study is not intended to be an exhaustive evaluation of all available CAN tools or their capabilities, rather it was intended to present information on several readily available hardware and software platforms and a method for creating a stand-alone custom application as a proof-of-concept for tractor CAN data analysis. The custom application developed will facilitate in-cab decision making for improved tractor management during field operations.
Mobility of Mass-Analyzed N + , N 2 + , N 3 + , and N 4 + Ions in Nitrogen Gas

Drift-velocity measurements as a function of $\frac{E}{{p}_{0}}$, the ratio of field intensity to normalized gas pressure, have been obtained for positive ions ${\mathrm{N}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{N}}_{3}^{+}$, and ${\mathrm{N}}_{4}^{+}$ in nitrogen gas using the "four-gauze" electrical shutter method of Tyndall et al. Extrapolation of the low-field measurements to zero field yields the values of the mobility ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{0}$, corrected to 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C: 2.54\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05, 1.70\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05, 1.90\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05, and 2.34\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$/V sec for ${\mathrm{N}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{N}}_{3}^{+}$, and ${\mathrm{N}}_{4}^{+}$, respectively. The actual data were obtained at gas temperatures 28-32\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C. The ions have been identified mass-spectrometrically during the process of measurement of the drift velocities. Gas pressure in the drift tube was in the 0.55-1.5 mm Hg range. Relative intensities of the four nitrogen ions were measured as functions of $\frac{E}{{p}_{0}}$. Approximate cross sections for formation of the secondary ions were also determined. The reversible reaction processes ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}^{+}$+${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ \ensuremath{\rightarrow} ${\mathrm{N}}_{4}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{N}}_{4}^{+}$+${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ \ensuremath{\rightarrow} ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}^{+}$+2${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ were observed experimentally.
ZERO DEGREES: GEOGRAPHIES OF THE PRIME MERIDIAN. By CHARLES W. WITHERS. x and 336 pp.; maps, diagrs., bibliog., index. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2017. ISBN 978067408818.

The creation of the grid formed by latitude and longitude was an important moment in capitalism's conquest of the world, making space smooth, fungible, and comprehensible by imposing order on an ot...
Algebra by the Eighth Grade: The Association Between Early Study of Algebra I and Students’ Academic Success

Using the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we examine the association between taking Algebra I by the eighth grade and students’ later achievements and advanced mathematics course-taking. To explore our research questions, we employ three distinct methods—regression analysis, fixed effects models, and propensity score matching. In all our analytic models, we consistently found that students who have taken Algebra I by the eighth grade are more likely to have higher achievements in the ninth and eleventh grades and to take classes beyond Calculus during high school. Although the study is correlational, considering the increasing number of students taking Algebra I by the eighth grade, its findings have meaningful implications for education policy, research, and practice.
Antitumor T-cell Immunity Contributes to Pancreatic Cancer Immune Resistance.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Pancreatic tumors are minimally infiltrated by T cells and are largely refractory to immunotherapy. Accordingly, the role of T-cell immunity in pancreatic cancer has been somewhat overlooked. Here, we hypothesized that immune resistance in pancreatic cancer was induced in response to antitumor T-cell immune responses and that understanding how pancreatic tumors respond to immune attack may facilitate the development of more effective therapeutic strategies. We now provide evidence that T-cell-dependent host immune responses induce a PDAC-derived myeloid mimicry phenomenon and stimulate immune resistance. Three KPC mouse models of pancreatic cancer were used: the mT3-2D (Kras+/LSL-G12D; Trp53+/LSL-R172H; Pdx1-Cre) subcutaneous and orthotopic models, as well as the KP1 (p48-CRE/LSL-Kras/Trp53 flox/flox ) subcutaneous model. KPC cancer cells were grown in immunocompetent and immunodeficient C57BL/6 mice and analyzed to determine the impact of adaptive immunity on malignant epithelial cells, as well as on whole tumors. We found that induced T-cell antitumor immunity, via signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1), stimulated malignant epithelial pancreatic cells to induce the expression of genes typically expressed by myeloid cells and altered intratumoral immunosuppressive myeloid cell profiles. Targeting the Janus Kinase (JAK)/STAT signaling pathway using the FDA-approved drug ruxolitinib overcame these tumor-protective responses and improved anti-PD-1 therapeutic efficacy. These findings provide future directions for treatments that specifically disable this mechanism of resistance in PDAC.
Genotyping atypical porcine pestivirus using NS5a

Atypical porcine pestivirus (APPV) is an emerging virus discovered in 2014 and it can cause congenital tremors in pigs. Molecular epidemiology serves as an essential tool in monitoring and controlling the disease. Virus epidemiology mainly relies on genome sequencing and phylogenetic characterization. Previous molecular epidemiology studies have been using different genes/regions for phylogeny, namely whole genome, Npro, and E2 coding sequences. However, with increasing number of APPV sequences available in GenBank, no systemic studies have been performed for detailed classification of APPV strains around the globe. The goal of this study is to propose a classification strategy or taxonomy of APPV strains at genotype, subgenotype, and isolate levels. A total of 76 whole genomes and 16 partial polyprotein coding sequences were analyzed for genetic variability and suitability of all individual genes for viral phylogenies. Our results revealed that, among all the viral genes, NS5a coding sequences were proved to be the most suitable alternative for tracing APPV strains supported by its capability of reproducing the same phylogenetic and evolutionary information as the whole viral genome did. Also, a reliable cutoff to accurately classify APPV at different levels is established. We propose a genotyping scheme with three well-defined genotypes (1-3) and 7 subgenotypes for genotype 1 (1.1-1.7). For whole genome analysis, a threshold value of 84%-91% pairwise identity allows separation of all APPV subgenotypes, whereas 80% identity clearly segregate the three major APPV genotypes. For NS5a gene analysis, 82%-91% identity allows subgenotype separation and 76% identity segregate APPV genotypes. Additionally, genetic distance of whole genome exhibits ≤8% in isolate level, 9%-14% in subgenotype level, and 17%-22% in genotype level, while for NS5a encoding sequences the genetic distance displays ≤9% in isolate level, 9.9%-19.1% in subgenotype level, and 21.6%-29.7% in genotype level. These allow a clear segregation among APPV genotypes, subgenotypes, and isolates. Therefore, the proposed strategy in this study provides a solid and improved basis for molecular phylogenetics to understand APPV genetic diversity, trace the origins and control the spread of new disease outbreaks.
Is Computational Thinking Critical Thinking

Jeannette Wing popularized the idea of computational thinking, which is the set of approaches typically used in computer science in order to solve a problem. In recent years, nationwide educational reform efforts have focused on expanding students’ exposure to and proficiency in computational thinking. It has even been argued that computational thinking is critical thinking. This paper assesses the relationship between critical thinking and computational thinking by examining different definitions of and frameworks for critical thinking, assessing the various definitions and manifestations of computational thinking, and then analyzing the extent to which computational thinking can be considered critical thinking, concluding by noting important gaps between computational thinking as frequently practiced and critical thinking as ideally constituted. The social implications of the lacunae in computational thinking will be briefly explored.
Secure Domain Adaptation with Multiple Sources.

Multi-source unsupervised domain adaptation (MUDA) is a recently explored learning framework, where the goal is to address the challenge of labeled data scarcity in a target domain via transferring knowledge from multiple source domains with annotated data. Since the source data is distributed, the privacy of source domains' data can be a natural concern. We benefit from the idea of domain alignment in an embedding space to address the privacy concern for MUDA. Our method is based on aligning the sources and target distributions indirectly via internally learned distributions, without communicating data samples between domains. We justify our approach theoretically and perform extensive experiments to demonstrate that our method is effective and compares favorably against existing methods.
Emotion Dysregulation Following Trauma: Shared Neurocircuitry of Traumatic Brain Injury and Trauma-Related Psychiatric Disorders.

Abstract The psychological trauma associated with events resulting in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important and frequently overlooked factor that may impede brain recovery and worsen mental health following TBI. Indeed, individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and TBI have significantly poorer clinical outcomes than individuals with a sole diagnosis. Emotion dysregulation is a common factor leading to poor cognitive and affective outcomes following TBI. Here, we synthesize how acute postinjury molecular processes stemming from either physical or emotional trauma may adversely impact circuitry subserving emotion regulation and ultimately yield long-term system-level functional and structural changes that are common to TBI and PTSD. In the immediate aftermath of traumatic injury, glucocorticoids stimulate excess glutamatergic activity, particularly in prefrontal cortex-subcortical circuitry implicated in emotion regulation. In human neuroimaging work, assessing this same circuitry well after the acute injury, TBI and PTSD show similar impacts on prefrontal and subcortical connectivity and activation. These neural profiles indicate that emotion regulation may be a useful target for treatment and early intervention to prevent the adverse sequelae of TBI. Ultimately, the success of future TBI and PTSD early interventions depends on the fields’ ability to address both the physical and emotional impact of physical injury.
Alpha-particle Nanotherapeutics Against Recurrent, Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer

1275 Introduction: Metastatic and/or recurrent chemoresistant Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is currently incurable. TNBC accounts for 12-17% of breast carcinomas with the lowest 5-year survival rates among all breast cancer patients. For such cases, key to the progression of the disease is the choice of therapeutics which need to be both tumor selective and potent against cancer cells. Alpha-particle therapy has been shown to be impervious to most resistance mechanisms. However, the diffusion-limited penetration depths of radionuclide nanocarriers (<50-80μm) combined with the short range of α-particles (40-100μm) result in only partial tumor irradiation. Objectives: Utilizing the α-particle emitter Actinium-225 (225Ac), we studied how the therapeutic potential of a general delivery strategy using nanometer-sized engineered nanoparticles (NPs) was affected by two key transport-driven properties: (1) the release from NPs, when in the tumor interstitium, of the highly diffusing 225Ac-DOTA that improves the uniformity of tumor irradiation by α-particles, and (2) the adhesion of NPs on the tumors’ ECM that increases NPs’ time-integrated concentrations within tumors and, therefore, the tumor-delivered radioactivities. Methods: On an orthotopic MDA-MB-231 TNBC murine model forming spontaneous metastases, we evaluated the MTD, biodistributions and control of tumor growth and/or spreading after administration of 225Ac-DOTA-encapsulating NPs, with different combinations of the two transport-driven properties. Results: At 83% of MTD, 225Ac-DOTA-encapsulating NPs with both properties (1) eliminated formation of spontaneous metastases (Figure 1 attached as an image) and (2) best inhibited the progression of orthotopic xenografts, compared to NPs lacking one or both properties. These findings were primarily affected by the extent of uniformity of the intratumoral microdistributions of 225Ac followed by the overall tumor uptake of radioactivity. At the MTD, long-term toxicities were not detected 9.5 months post-administration. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the potential of a general, transport-driven strategy enabling more uniform and prolonged solid tumor irradiation by α-particles without cell-specific targeting. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by a grant from the Elsa U. Pardee Foundation, the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant RSG-12-044-01, the National Science Foundation grant CBET1510015, and the Under Armour-Innovation Award.
Complex magnetic phases in the polar tetragonal intermetallic NdCoGe 3

Polar materials can host topological magnetic phases, which often emerge by applying a field to a modulated magnetic structure. Here, the authors investigate magnetism in the polar tetragonal material NdCoGe${}_{3}$ using physical property measurements and neutron diffraction. Detailed phase mapping reveals unreported magnetic phases, while neutron diffraction experiments demonstrate incommensurate magnetic order. The Nd moments are modulated in all lattice directions and candidate spin structures, include multi-$k$ configurations. NdCoGe${}_{3}$ is thus a potential host of topological spin textures, which also implies that the related members of this material family may be of interest for similar reasons.
SU-E-T-344: Dynamic Electron Beam Therapy Using Multiple Apertures in a Single Cut-Out

Purpose: Few leaf electron collimators (FLEC) or electron MLCs (eMLC) are highly desirable for dynamic electron beam therapies as they produce multiple apertures within a single delivery to achieve conformal dose distributions. However, their clinical implementation has been challenging. Alternatively, multiple small apertures in a single cut-out with variable jaw sizes could be utilized in a single dynamic delivery. In this study, we investigate dosimetric characteristics of such arrangement. Methods: Monte Carlo (EGSnrc/BEAMnrc/DOSXYnrc) simulations utilized validated Varian TrueBeam phase spaces. Investigated quantities included: Energy (6 MeV), jaw size (1×1 to 22×22 cm 2; centered to aperture), applicator/cut-out (15×15 cm2), aperture (1×1, 2×2, 3×3, 4×4 cm2), and aperture placement (on/off central axis). Three configurations were assessed: (1) single aperture on-axis, (2) single aperture off-axis, and (3) multiple apertures. Reference was configuration (1) with standard jaw size. Aperture placement and jaw size were optimized to maintain reference dosimetry and minimize leakage through unused apertures to <5%. Comparison metrics included depth dose and orthogonal profiles. Results: Configuration (1) and (2): Jaw openings were reduced to 10×10 cm2 without affecting dosimetry (gamma 2%/1mm) regardless of on- or off-axis placement. For smaller jaw sizes, reduced surface (<2%, 5% for 1×1 cm2 aperture) and increased Bremsstrahlung (<2%, 10% for 1×1 cm2 aperture) dose was observed. Configuration (3): Optimal aperture placement was in the corners (order: 1×1, 4×4, 2×2, 3×3 cm2) and jaw sizes were 4×4, 4×4, 7×7, and 5×5 cm2 (apertures: 1×1, 2×2, 3×3, 4×4 cm2 ). Asymmetric leakage was found from upper and lower jaws. Leakage was generally within 5% with a maximum of 10% observed for the 1×1 cm2 aperture irradiation. Conclusion: Multiple apertures in a single cut-out with variable jaw size can be used in a single dynamic delivery, providing a practical alternative to FLEC or eMLC. Future simulations will expand on all variables.
Factors Influencing the Cooperative Problem-Solving of People and Computers

It was the goal of this research to study the influence of different computer system designs on cooperative problem-solving performance. In particular, given that a computer has some knowledge about a domain, how should such knowledge be shared with the practitioner such that overall performance is improved? It was hypothesized that multiple factors contribute to performance changes, and that such factors may interact. In order to test these ideas, a formal, empirical study was conducted comparing the effectiveness of a critiquing system vs. a partially automated system when performing a medical diagnosis task. Thirty-two certified practitioners used one of the two systems to solve five test cases. The results showed that the design of the system interacted with the case characteristics and the competence level of the practitioners such that overall performance was slightly better with the partially automated system on cases where the computer's knowledge was competent (5.6% vs. 11.9% misdiagnosis rate) b...
Courtroom Discussions about Children's Sexual Abuse: An Examination of Prior Conversations about Disclosures, Non-Disclosures and Perpetrator Statements to Children about Abuse

This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in CGU Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact scholarship@cuc.claremont.edu. Recommended Citation Stolzenberg, Stacia N., "Courtroom Discussions about Children's Sexual Abuse: An Examination of Prior Conversations about Disclosures, Non-Disclosures and Perpetrator Statements to Children about Abuse" (2012). CGU Theses & Dissertations. Paper 61. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/61
Accuracy of mechanical torque-limiting devices for dental implants after clinical service

Abstract Statement of Problem Limited information is available regarding the accuracy of mechanical torque-limiting devices (MTLDs) after their clinical use. Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of 2 types of MTLDs (friction-style and spring-style) after clinical use. Material and methods Twenty-seven MTLDs in clinical service at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry were collected. Thirteen were friction-style and 14 were spring-style. A total of 6 different dental implant companies were represented (Astra Tech, Zimmer Dental, Biomet 3i, Straumann, Nobel Biocare, and Thommen Medical). All MTLDs had been in use for at least 6 months without being recalibrated, and all were tested to determine their accuracy in delivering target torque values. Statistical analysis used nonparametric tests to determine the accuracy of the MTLDs in delivering target torque values, and Bonferroni post hoc tests were used to assess pairwise comparisons. Results After clinical service, spring-style MTLDs were significantly more accurate than friction-style MTLDs ( P Conclusions Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that after clinical service, spring-style MTLDs were more accurate than friction-style MTLDs. All MTLDs delivered torque values within 10% of the target torque value.
Origins of Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer, one of the most frequently occurring human cancers, develops via two tracks referred to as papillary and nonpapillary that correspond to clinically different forms of the disease. Most bladder cancers are chemically induced, with tobacco smoking being the leading risk factor. Recent advances in bladder cancer research have enhanced our understanding of the origin of this disease from urothelial progenitor cells via field effects along papillary/luminal and nonpapillary/basal pathways. Evident from the outset of the disease, the diversity of the luminal and basal pathways, together with cell lineage tracing studies, postulates the origin of molecularly distinct subtypes from different uroprogenitor cells. The molecular mechanisms initiating field effects involve a new class of genes referred to as forerunner (FR) genes that generally map around major tumor suppressors such as RB1. These genes are silenced, predominantly by hypermethylation and less frequently by mutations, and drive the expansion of intraurothelial preneoplastic cells. Different FR genes are involved in various molecular subtypes of bladder cancer and they sensitize the uroprogenitor cells to the development of luminal and basal bladder cancers in animal models. In human bladder cancer, luminal and basal forms have dissimilar clinical behavior and response to conventional and targeted chemotherapeutic manipulations. These new research developments hold the promise of expanding our armamentarium of diagnostic and treatment options for patients with bladder cancer and improving our ability to select patients most likely to respond to a specific therapy.
Understanding the physical mechanism of transition to epileptic seizures

The mechanisms of generating epileptic seizures are still unknown. To identify the mechanisms that underlie the transition to seizure a combination of features that include firing rate, power spectrum and complexity measures were simultaneously analyzed. Pre-ictal periods are characterized by large fluctuations of firing rate which reflect local dysfunctional regulation of neuronal activity. This local dysfunction in neuronal activity is translated in changes of endogenous electric field within clustered regions with high frequency oscillations (HFO) that act at fundamental level of charge dynamics and lead to chaotic dynamics followed by electrical resonances. Right before the onset of seizures the presence of chaotic behavior becomes persistent and leads all types of cells to fire simultaneously and generate the transition to ictal state. The alteration in neuronal regulation and the nature of physical phenomena involved in this transition supports some models of seizure generation and rules out others.
FDFD microwave modeling of realistic, inhomogeneous breast tissue based on digital breast tomosynthesis priors for cancer detection

A multi-modal, non-invasive technique for breast cancer detection is described. Digital Breast Tomosynthesis- Microwave imaging is presented as a method to improve tumor detection in breast tissue. Dielectric contrast between cancerous tissue and healthy high water content breast tissue is an order of magnitude greater than radiological contrast, but microwave imaging resolution is poorer than X-ray. Combining the two, DBT provides a high resolution, 3D image of the internal tissue structure, which can be used as a prior background model for finite difference frequency domain (FDFD) simulation for microwave imaging. By subtracting the modeled, assumed healthy background field from the measured field, inconsistencies generated by the lesion are highlighted and the tumor can be detected and located.
In international trade apples do fall far from the tree: analysis of variation in quality of exports and imports in clothing industry

The paper analyses the distribution of unit values in clothing exports and imports to find results that are consistent all mainstream trade theories. Although richer countries on average export and import higher quality products, they import and export over a larger range of quality levels that partially overlaps with that of the poorer countries.
Technical Note-Waiting Time in an S-1, S Inventory System-Constant Service Time Case

The purpose of this note is to provide comparable results to Higa et al. Higa, I., A. Feyerherm, A. Machado. 1975. Waiting time in an S-1, S inventory system. Opns. Res.23 674-680. for the constant resupply time case. Since resupply times are seldom as variable as exponential, the waiting-time distribution for constant resupply times is of interest, at least as a standard of comparison.
Fatal vasculitis (periarteritis nodosa) of the coronary arteries: Angiographic ambiguities and absence of aneurysms at autopsy

A 30 year old man died during coronary artery bypass grafting for presumed premature atherosclerotic coronary disease. Autopsy revealed vasculitis with characteristics of periarteritis nodosa of the coronary arteries with severe luminal narrowing, but without aneurysms. This is the first report of a patient with these findings studied angiographically and at autopsy.
Finite Queues in Series with Exponential or Erlang Service Times-A Numerical Approach

This paper considers a queuing system consisting of N service channels in series where each channel has an exponential or Erlang holding time and except for the first channel a finite queue, and where the input process is such that the first queue is never empty. The measures considered are the steady-state mean output rate and mean number of customers in the system excluding the first queue. First, a procedure is described, for obtaining these measures, that is relatively efficient computationally. Second, an exceptionally efficient procedure is developed for approximating the mean output rate for the case of exponential holding times. It is demonstrated that this procedure provides an excellent approximation for most cases and that it is computationally feasible for large problems. Third, extensive new numerical results are obtained.
The dangers of cooking in Kakuma: How access to cooking fuel compromises the safety, dignity, and well-being of women living in refugee camps, a quantitative analysis

Background: In 2012, 250 incidents of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) were reported in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Due to the sensitive nature of SGBV, cases usually go unreported. Collecting firewood in unsafe locations leaves women vulnerable to SGBV and attacks. This study explores the relationship between firewood collection and incidences of SGBV in Kakuma through the Safe Access to Firewood and alternative Energy (SAFE) intervention. The study evaluated if the provision of fuel-efficient stoves and training on SGBV decreased the number of trips women take to collect firewood and increased the number of violent acts reported. Structure/Method/Design: The SAFE study divided 402 households into three groups: nonintervention, stove recipient only, and stove plus SGBV sensitization for both baseline and end line surveys. For this evaluation, the stove recipient only group and stove plus SGBV sensitization group were combined. Two outcome variables were chosen for analysis: the number of collection trips per week and if the participant reports incidences of SGBV. Overall, the number of firewood collection trips per week decreased. In the end line survey, the majority of respondents reported collecting firewood one to two times per week, in contrast to the baseline, at two to three times. For the intervention group, the proportion of respondents who reported incidences of SGBV increased by 14.21%. 76.29% of participants reported saving fuel with the fuel-efficient stove and all but two participants reported saving cooking time per day, with 34.04% saving 3 or more hours per day. Chisquared tests revealed the variables that were both statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval (P < 0.05) and practically significant for both outcome variables were type of fuel, if firewood is provided for free, and if the participant saved time and fuel. Results (Scientific Abstract)/Collaborative Partners (Programmatic Abstract): Data were retrieved from the World Food Progamme’s (WFP) SAFE study in Kakuma Refugee Camp. The WFP Kenya country and sub-office staff conducted the field missions and data collection. Summary/Conclusion: Important strengths of the study included the ability to conduct a study like this in Kakuma, filling a gap in research concerning fuel-efficient stoves, and the vast opportunities for expansion. Some challenges of the study were the difficulty in defining the measures of SGBV, the vulnerable state of a refugee population, and the relatively small sample size.
The use of PC-based risk management software in the process industries

Abstract The use of Risk Management techniques by the Chemical Process Industries (CPI) is growing, largely in response to new regulations that are directed at reducing the risk to the public caused by releases of hazardous chemicals. The purpose of this paper is to show how the use of risk management techniques in the CPI will be enhanced if software that is designed to meet the needs of the industry is developed and marketed. This involves addressing the following specific issues. 1. • Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP) have developed into a widespread and standard method of improving safety in the CPI. New risk management initiatives in the CPI need to understand the reason for the success of the HAZOP method, and to ensure that it is included in the overall software package. 2. • The nuclear Power Industry and CPI are similar to one another in many ways. It is natural to take the successful Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) software techniques that are used in the nuclear industry and to apply them to the CPI. However, in order to do so successfully, the differences as well as the similarities between the two industries need to be fully examined and understood. 3. • Although engineers working in the CPI have a strong, practical training in safety, their training in formal risk management is usually quite limited, indeed it is often non-existent. For example, until recently, very few chemical engineering courses included a section on risk management.
New concepts in the design and use of biological prosthetic valves

The natural aortic valve is a structure that has thus far eluded all attempts at duplication with synthetic materials. Real success in the replacement of the aortic valve has come about primarily through the use of biological devices, such as the porcine aortic valve xenograft. In the future, bioprostheses based more closely on the natural aortic valve may ultimately succeed where synthetic approaches have failed. Some recent advances in the design and development of bioprosthetic heart valves, such as the absence of a stent and the better preservation of the valve's natural biomechanical properties, show considerable promise in improving the long term durability of these devices. With a greater understanding of the structure/function relationship of the aortic valve at the micromechanical level, the future of bioprostheses may be even more biologically oriented than it is today.
Effect of nozzle type on runoff and yield of corn and sorghum under center pivot sprinkler systems

Corn (Zea mays L.) and grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) production were compared under impact and spray nozzled center pivot sprinkler systems. The crops were grown under two pairs of sprinkler systems located approximately 110 km apart. One system of each pair was equipped with high pressure (379 or 414 kPa) impact sprinkler heads and the other system was equipped with low pressure (172 or 207 kPa) spray nozzles. Half of each circle was planted to corn and half was planted to sorghum. Additionally, four tillage treatments were included in the experimental design (conventional tillage, conventional tillage + deep ripping, conventional tillage + diking, and minimum tillage). The evaporative losses from the high pressure system with impact sprinkler heads were not significantly different from the low pressure system with spray nozzles. The minimum tillage and deep ripped treatments reduced runoff while diking eliminated it. The two nozzle types did not produce significantly different grain sorghum yields; however, corn yielded significantly more under the high pressure system with impact sprinkler heads than under the low pressure system with spray nozzles. The different tillage treatments did not influence yields of either crop significantly.