Modeling the Demand for food Safety and the Implications for Regulation

The modern theory of demand which underlies much of economic analysis of consumer behavior is based on the premise that consumption goods are pure and do not involve risks. However, that is clearly not the case where concerns about food safety are involved. The awareness of linkages between consumption of foods and adverse health effects indicates the need for a new framework for investigating demand for food and food safety, and for guiding the appropriate government response to achieve optimal regulation of food safety levels. We develop such a framework and show that when safety is endogenous to the consumer\u27s decision over a consumption bundle, perfect safety is not optimal. There are several implications of the model. Empirical analysis based on conventional demand theory may lack predictive power due to model misspecification and the unobserved survival probability function. Furthermore, if markets are perfectly competitive and consumers accurately informed about safety risk, there is no need for government regulation. However, when markets are not perfectly competitive, and answer is less clear-cut. And, risk differentiation may become a new basis for acquiring and exercising market power

Postnatal Regulation of Bone Growth by Muscle IGF-1

Interplay between muscle and bone is known to play an important role in growth modifications. Muscle loading from muscle hypertrophy promotes adjacent bone growth via Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1). Yet, in the absence of muscle hypertrophy, bone growth is not completely aborted indicating potential direct muscle paracrine role of muscle IGF-1 on bone. Maximizing growth potential and enhancing bone growth in mature bone in craniofacial skeleton is a significant benefit in orthodontic treatment. In this study, potential anabolic effect of muscle IGF-1 on post-natal mandibular growth is investigated. Methods: Four wild-type (WT) mice each at age of 6 weeks and 10 weeks; four dominant negative muscle specific IGF-1 receptor mice (MKR) each at age of 6 weeks and 10 weeks with one side masseter muscles injected with AAV-IGF-1 at 2 week of age were utilized. Four WT female and four WT male at age of 26 weeks with AAV-IGF-1 injection at age of 18 week were utilized. Muscle fiber size, mandibular bone lengths (sagittal and vertical) and condylar growth plate were evaluated from each animal. Results: Supplemental IGF-1 increased vertical mandibular bone growth in 6 weeks old MKR mice while 6 weeks old WT mice showed more increase in horizontal mandibular bone growth. There was no significant difference in mandibular growth in 10 weeks old WT and MKR mice. There was no significant effect of IGF-1 on muscle fiber size in both WT and MKR mice. Condylar growth plate analysis showed more mature form of chondrocytes with IGF-1 supplement. Conclusion: Post-natal muscle IGF-1 promoted bone growth in the absence of muscle hypertrophy

Dosi Xchange: A Modern Solution to a Laborious Easter Egg Hunt

In order for researchers at SLAC to develop their globally-recognized work on particle accelerators and such, they must adhere to the regulations outlined in the Occupational Radiation Protection Program (10 CFR 835) by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environment, Health, Safety, & Security. One of these requirements is to monitor areas that are or may be exposed to radiation. To do so, SLAC’s Radiation Protection Department is tasked with managing dosimeters (pictured below) at over 700 locations across the SLAC campus. Managing area dosimeters at SLAC is no simple feat. Because of the difficulty of locating a single dosimeter within a 426 acre industrial and laboratory facility, the biannual cycle of exchanging dosimeters is colloquially referred to as an “easter egg hunt.” Recurring issues in the original and current system are that the operation is slow, inefficient, prone to human error, and difficult to manage. With the problems listed above in mind, Ryan Ford had a vision to create a user-friendly iOS application that would greatly improve the efficiency of the operation and make it easier to manage 700 locations. This new app, called “Dosi Xchange”, was written in Swift 4.0 using Xcode, an integrated development environment developed by Apple

Perspectives on teaching with Wikipedia in writing courses before and during the pandemic

In this article, the authors discuss their perspectives on the Wikipedia writing assignment prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this assignment was well-suited for use in emergency situations to maintain learning. In particular, they explore how the Wikipedia writing assignment has helped their students fulfill various learning objectives of their undergraduate writing coursework, such as applying critical thinking skills, evaluating sources, writing neutral prose, and producing public-facing writing (Vetter et al., 2019). They present the implications of using Wikipedia to fulfill aspirations of inclusion and accessibility in demographically diverse writing classrooms and its role as a digital teaching tool during remote learning. In addition, the authors reflect upon their individual experiences using Wikipedia at their respective institutions and discuss their colleagues and students' feedback. The authors provide examples of their students' edited pages, along with specific assignment sheets and materials to illustrate how Wikipedia can be used effectively in the context of the writing class, both before and during the pandemic, to prepare students to be reflective practitioners and critical evaluators of information.http://cconlinejournal.org/dec_2022/ShettyChoi/Shetty2/Templates/UPDATEDWikipedia_BU_USC.htmlPublished versio

Additional file 3: of Investigating the pertussis resurgence in England and Wales, and options for future control

Graphical User Interface programme to present pertussis simulation model results

Comparison of Synthetic Computed Tomography Generation Methods, Incorporating Male and Female Anatomical Differences, for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Only Definitive Pelvic Radiotherapy

Purpose: There are several means of synthetic computed tomography (sCT) generation for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-only planning; however, much of the research omits large pelvic treatment regions and female anatomical specific methods. This research aimed to apply four of the most popular methods of sCT creation to facilitate MRI-only radiotherapy treatment planning for male and female anorectal and gynecological neoplasms. sCT methods were validated against conventional computed tomography (CT), with regard to Hounsfield unit (HU) estimation and plan dosimetry. Methods and Materials: Paired MRI and CT scans of 40 patients were used for sCT generation and validation. Bulk density assignment, tissue class density assignment, hybrid atlas, and deep learning sCT generation methods were applied to all 40 patients. Dosimetric accuracy was assessed by dose difference at reference point, dose volume histogram (DVH) parameters, and 3D gamma dose comparison. HU estimation was assessed by mean error and mean absolute error in HU value between each sCT and CT. Results: The median percentage dose difference between the CT and sCT was &lt;1.0% for all sCT methods. The deep learning method resulted in the lowest median percentage dose difference to CT at −0.03% (IQR 0.13, −0.31) and bulk density assignment resulted in the greatest difference at −0.73% (IQR −0.10, −1.01). The mean 3D gamma dose agreement at 3%/2 mm among all sCT methods was 99.8%. The highest agreement at 1%/1 mm was 97.3% for the deep learning method and the lowest was 93.6% for the bulk density method. Deep learning and hybrid atlas techniques gave the lowest difference to CT in mean error and mean absolute error in HU estimation. Conclusions: All methods of sCT generation used in this study resulted in similarly high dosimetric agreement for MRI-only planning of male and female cancer pelvic regions. The choice of the sCT generation technique can be guided by department resources available and image guidance considerations, with minimal impact on dosimetric accuracy.</p

Modeling the Demand for Food Safety and the Implications for Regulation

The modern theory of demand which underlies much of economic analysis of consumer behavior is based on the premise that consumption goods are pure and do not involve risks. However, that is clearly not the case where concerns about food safety are involved. The awareness of linkages between consumption of foods and adverse health effects indicates the need for a new framework for investigating demand for food and food safety, and for guiding the appropriate government response to achieve optimal regulation of food safety levels. We develop such a framework and show that when safety is endogenous to the consumer's decision over a consumption bundle, perfect safety is not optimal. There are several implications of the model. Empirical analysis based on conventional demand theory may lack predictive power due to model misspecification and the unobserved survival probability function. Furthermore, if markets are perfectly competitive and consumers accurately informed about safety risk, there is no need for government regulation. However, when markets are not perfectly competitive, and answer is less clear-cut. And, risk differentiation may become a new basis for acquiring and exercising market power.

The inner nuclear membrane protein NEMP1 supports nuclear envelope openings and enucleation of erythroblasts

Nuclear envelope membrane proteins (NEMPs) are a conserved family of nuclear envelope (NE) proteins that reside within the inner nuclear membrane (INM). Even though Nemp1 knockout (KO) mice are overtly normal, they display a pronounced splenomegaly. This phenotype and recent reports describing a requirement for NE openings during erythroblasts terminal maturation led us to examine a potential role for Nemp1 in erythropoiesis. Here, we report that Nemp1 KO mice show peripheral blood defects, anemia in neonates, ineffective erythropoiesis, splenomegaly, and stress erythropoiesis. The erythroid lineage of Nemp1 KO mice is overrepresented until the pronounced apoptosis of polychromatophilic erythroblasts. We show that NEMP1 localizes to the NE of erythroblasts and their progenitors. Mechanistically, we discovered that NEMP1 accumulates into aggregates that localize near or at the edge of NE openings and Nemp1 deficiency leads to a marked decrease of both NE openings and ensuing enucleation. Together, our results for the first time demonstrate that NEMP1 is essential for NE openings and erythropoietic maturation in vivo and provide the first mouse model of defective erythropoiesis directly linked to the loss of an INM protein

Optimisation and validation of an integrated magnetic resonance imaging-only radiotherapy planning solution

Background and purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-only treatment planning is gaining in popularity in radiation oncology, with various methods available to generate a synthetic computed tomography (sCT) for this purpose. The aim of this study was to validate a sCT generation software for MRI-only radiotherapy planning of male and female pelvic cancers. The secondary aim of this study was to improve dose agreement by applying a derived relative electron and mass density (RED) curve to the sCT. Method and materials: Computed tomography (CT) and MRI scans of forty patients with pelvic neoplasms were used in the study. Treatment plans were copied from the CT scan to the sCT scan for dose comparison. Dose difference at reference point, 3D gamma comparison and dose volume histogram analysis was used to validate the dose impact of the sCT. The RED values were optimised to improve dose agreement by using a linear plot. Results: The average percentage dose difference at isocentre was 1.2% and the mean 3D gamma comparison with a criteria of 1%/1 mm was 84.0% ± 9.7%. The results indicate an inherent systematic difference in the dosimetry of the sCT plans, deriving from the tissue densities. With the adapted REDmod table, the average percentage dose difference was reduced to −0.1% and the mean 3D gamma analysis improved to 92.9% ± 5.7% at 1%/1 mm. Conclusions: CT generation software is a viable solution for MRI-only radiotherapy planning. The option makes it relatively easy for departments to implement a MRI-only planning workflow for cancers of male and female pelvic anatomy.</p