Movement correction in DCE-MRI through windowed and reconstruction dynamic mode decomposition

Images of the kidneys using dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance renography (DCE-MRR) contains unwanted complex organ motion due to respiration. This gives rise to motion artefacts that hinder the clinical assessment of kidney function. However, due to the rapid change in contrast agent within the DCE-MR image sequence, commonly used intensity-based image registration techniques are likely to fail. While semi-automated approaches involving human experts are a possible alternative, they pose significant drawbacks including inter-observer variability, and the bottleneck introduced through manual inspection of the multiplicity of images produced during a DCE-MRR study. To address this issue, we present a novel automated, registration-free movement correction approach based on windowed and reconstruction variants of dynamic mode decomposition (WR-DMD). Our proposed method is validated on ten different healthy volunteers’ kidney DCEMRI data sets. The results, using block-matching-block evaluation on the image sequence produced by WR-DMD, show the elimination of 99% of mean motion magnitude when compared to the original data sets, thereby demonstrating the viability of automatic movement correction using WR-DMD

Topical Flunixin Meglumine Effects on Pain Associated Biomarkers after Dehorning

Twenty-four calves were dehorned and treated with either topical flunixin meglumine formulated for systemic absorption or a placebo. Biomarkers associated with pain were evaluated for up to 72 hour after the dehorning procedure. Plasma cortisol concentrations, 90 minutes post-dehorning, and mechanical nociception threshold at the control site were the only tested biomarkers where a significant difference was demonstrated. No other differences of biomarkers between the two dehorned groups were observed for any time points. Although this product is easy to dose and dispense, its effects on pain biomarkers appears to be negligible

Temperature Dependent Cyclic Deformation Mechanisms in Haynes 188 Superalloy

The cyclic deformation behavior of a wrought cobalt-base superalloy, Haynes 188, has been investigated over a range of temperatures between 25 and 1000 C under isothermal and in-phase thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) conditions. Constant mechanical strain rates (epsilon-dot) of 10(exp -3)/s and 10(exp -4)/s were examined with a fully reversed strain range of 0.8%. Particular attention was given to the effects of dynamic strain aging (DSA) on the stress-strain response and low cycle fatigue life. A correlation between cyclic deformation behavior and microstructural substructure was made through detailed transmission electron microscopy. Although DSA was found to occur over a wide temperature range between approximately 300 and 750 C the microstructural characteristics and the deformation mechanisms responsible for DSA varied considerably and were dependent upon temperature. In general, the operation of DSA processes led to a maximum of the cyclic stress amplitude at 650 C and was accompanied by pronounced planar slip, relatively high dislocation density, and the generation of stacking faults. DSA was evidenced through a combination of phenomena, including serrated yielding, an inverse dependence of the maximum cyclic hardening with epsilon-dot, and an instantaneous inverse epsilon-dot sensitivity verified by specialized epsilon-dot -change tests. The TMF cyclic hardening behavior of the alloy appeared to be dictated by the substructural changes occuring at the maximum temperature in the TMF cycle

Evaluation of homelessness services to adults in the secure estate

This evaluation aimed to assess how changes to legislative duties towards those leaving custody since 2015 had been implemented by local authorities, prisons and probation providers; what impact the changes had on housing prison leavers; and to identify areas of good practice in meeting the housing needs of prison leavers. Chapter 1 provide some understanding the policy context for the development and implementation of the National Pathway for Homelessness Services to Adults in the Secure Estate. Chapter 2 briefly covers the existing delivery arrangements for the pathway. A background paper accompanies this report and provides more in depth exploration of both these issues. Chapter 3 describes the methodology adopted to undertake the evaluation. In turn thereafter, chapters 4, 5 and 6 respectively present the findings in relation to the operation of the National Pathway at the reception, prerelease and community stages of a prisoner’s journey into and out of custody. In Chapter 7, better practices in relation to implementing the National Pathway are discussed. Finally in chapter 8 the evaluation findings are summarised and recommendations for improving practices are identified

Automated classification of single airborne particles from two-dimensional angle-resolved optical scattering (TAOS) patterns by non-linear filtering

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A sampling method for quantifying the information content of IASI channels

There is a vast amount of information about the atmosphere available from instruments on board satellites. One example is the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instrument, which measures radiances emitted from Earth’s atmosphere and surface in 8461 channels. It is difficult to transmit, store, and assimilate such a large amount of data. A practical solution to this has been to select a subset of a few hundred channels based on those that contain the most useful information. Different measures of information content for objective channel selection have been suggested for application to variational data assimilation. These include mutual information and the degrees of freedom for signal. To date, the calculation of these measures of information content has been based on the linear theory that is at the heart of operational variational data assimilation. However, the retrieval of information about the atmosphere from the satellite radiances can be highly nonlinear. Here, a sampling method for calculating the mutual information that is free from assumptions about the linearity of the relationship between the observed radiances and the state variables is examined. It is found that large linearization errors can indeed lead to large discrepancies in the value of mutual information. How this new estimate of information content can be used in channel selection is addressed, with particular attention given to the efficiency of the new method. It is anticipated that accounting for the nonlinearity in the channel selection will be beneficial when using nonlinear data assimilation methods currently in development

Lysosomal drug sequestration as a mechanism of drug resistance in vascular sarcoma cells marked by high CSF-1R expression

Human angiosarcoma and canine hemangiosarcoma are thought to arise from vascular tissue or vascular forming cells based upon their histological appearance. However, recent evidence indicates a hematopoietic or angioblastic cell of origin for these tumors. In support of this idea, we previously identified an endothelial-myeloid progenitor cell population with high expression of endothelial cell markers and the myeloid cell marker, colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R). Here, we further characterized these cells to better understand how their cellular characteristics may impact current therapeutic applications. We performed cell enrichment studies from canine hemangiosarcoma and human angiosarcoma cell lines to generate cell populations with high or low CSF-1R expression. We then utilized flow cytometry, side population and cell viability assays, and fluorescence based approaches to elucidate drug resistance mechanisms and to determine the expression of hematopoietic and endothelial progenitor cell markers. We demonstrated that cells with high CSF-1R expression enriched from hemangiosarcoma and angiosarcoma cell lines are more drug resistant than cells with little or no CSF-1R expression. We determined that the increased drug resistance may be due to increased ABC transporter expression in hemangiosarcoma and increased drug sequestration within cellular lysosomes in both hemangiosarcoma and angiosarcoma. We identified drug sequestration within cellular lysosomes as a shared drug resistance mechanism in human and canine vascular sarcomas marked by high CSF-1R expression. Taken together, our results demonstrate that studies in highly prevalent canine hemangiosarcoma may be especially relevant to understanding and addressing drug resistance mechanisms in both the canine and human forms of this disease

Understanding signaling cascades in melanoma

Understanding regulatory pathways involved in melanoma development and progression has advanced significantly in recent years. It is now appreciated that melanoma is the result of complex changes in multiple signaling pathways that affect growth control, metabolism, motility and the ability to escape cell death programs. Here we review the major signaling pathways currently known to be deregulated in melanoma with an implication to its development and progression. Among these pathways are Ras, B-Raf, MEK, PTEN, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3Ks) and Akt which are constitutively activated in a significant number of melanoma tumors, in most cases due to genomic change. Other pathways discussed in this review include the [Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT), transforming growth factor-beta pathways which are also activated in melanoma, although the underlying mechanism is not yet clear. As a paradigm for remodeled signaling pathways, melanoma also offers a unique opportunity for targeted drug development.Fil: Lopez Bergami, Pablo Roberto. Sanford-burnham Medical Research Institute; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Fitchmann, B. Sanford-burnham Medical Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Ronai, Ze´ev. Sanford-burnham Medical Research Institute; Estados Unido

Is metal theft committed by organized crime groups, and why does it matter?

Using the example of metal theft in the United Kingdom, this study used mixed methods to evaluate the accuracy of police estimates of the involvement of organised crime groups (OCGs) in crime. Police estimate that 20-30% of metal theft is committed by OCGs, but this study found that only 0.5% of metal thieves had previous convictions for offences related to OCGs, that only 1.3% were linked to OCGs by intelligence information, that metal thieves typically offended close to their homes and that almost no metal thefts involved sophisticated offence methods. It appears that police may over-estimate the involvement of OCGs in some types of crime. The reasons for and consequences of this over-estimation are discussed

DNA Testing Reveals the Putative Identity of JB55, a 19th Century Vampire Buried in Griswold, Connecticut

In 1990 in Griswold, Connecticut, archaeologists excavated a burial found in a "skull and crossbones" orientation. The lid of the 19th century coffin had brass tacks that spelled "JB55", the initials of the person lying there and age at death. JB55 had evidence of chronic pulmonary infection, perhaps tuberculosis. It is possible that JB55 was deemed a vampire due to his disease, and therefore had to be "killed" by mutilating his corpse. In an attempt to reveal the identity of JB55, DNA testing was performed. Ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel indicated European ancestry. A full Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) profile was obtained, belonging to haplogroup R1b. When the Y-STR profile was searched in the publicly accessible FamilyTreeDNA R1b Project website, the two closest matches had the surname "Barber". A search of historical records led to a death notice mentioning John Barber, whose son Nathan Barber was buried in Griswold in 1826. The description of Nathan Barber closely fits the burial of "NB13," found near JB55. By applying modern forensic DNA tools to a historical mystery, the identity of JB55 as John Barber, the 19th century Connecticut vampire, has been revealed