Probing Relativity using Space-Based Experiments

An overview of space tests searching for small deviations from special relativity arising at the Planck scale is given. Potential high-sensitivity space-based experiments include ones with atomic clocks, masers, and electromagnetic cavities. We show that a significant portion of the coefficient space in the Standard-Model Extension, a framework that covers the full spectrum of possible effects, can be accessed using space tests. Some remarks on Lorentz violation in the gravitational sector are also given.Comment: 12 pages, invited talk at International Workshop, From Quantum to Cosmos, Warrenton, VA, USA, May 22-24, 200

Does early physical therapy intervention reduce opioid burden and improve functionality in the management of chronic lower back pain?

Introduction: Chronic lower back pain is a leading cause of disability in US adults. Opioid use continues to be controversial despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on chronic pain management to use nonpharmacologic and nonopioid pharmacologic interventions. The objectives of the study were to assess the impact of early physical therapy (PT) intervention on improving functionality and reducing opioid burden in patients with chronic lower back pain. Methods: A single-center, retrospective chart review of patients receiving ≥6 PT visits and treated with either opioids first (OF) or PT first (PTF) therapy for chronic lower back pain were evaluated. Concomitant use of nonopioid and nonpharmacologic therapy was permitted. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), a survey measuring functionality, was recorded for PTF group. Pain scores and medication use including opioids were collected at treatment initiation and completion. Results: One hundred and eighty patients were included in three groups: OF group (n = 60), PTF group (n = 60), and PTF + ODI group (n = 60). The PTF + ODI group had mean ODI reduction of 11.9% ( Discussion: Early PT resulted in improved functionality, decreased pain, and reduced medication use upon PT completion. These findings suggest PT, along with nonopioid modalities, are a viable first-line option for the management of chronic lower back pain

Cervical cancer control research in Vietnamese American communities.

Census data show that the U.S. Vietnamese population now exceeds 1,250,000. Cervical cancer among Vietnamese American women has been identified as an important health disparity. Available data indicate the cervical cancer disparity may be due to low Papanicolaou (Pap) testing rates rather than variations in human papillomavirus infection rates and/or types. The cervical cancer incidence rates among Vietnamese and non-Latina White women in California during 2000 to 2002 were 14.0 and 7.3 per 100,000, respectively. Only 70% of Vietnamese women who participated in the 2003 California Health Interview Survey reported a recent Pap smear compared with 84% of non-Latina White women. Higher levels of cervical cancer screening participation among Vietnamese women are strongly associated with current/previous marriage, having a usual source of care/doctor, and previous physician recommendation. Vietnamese language media campaigns and lay health worker intervention programs have been effective in increasing Pap smear use in Vietnamese American communities. Cervical cancer control programs for Vietnamese women should address knowledge deficits, enable women who are without a usual source of care to find a primary care doctor, and improve patient-provider communication by encouraging health-care providers to recommend Pap testing as well as by empowering women to ask for testing

How Service Dogs Enhance Veterans’ Occupational Performance in the Home: A Qualitative Perspective

Background: This qualitative study explored the lives of veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI) and how the partnerships with their service dogs supported improved occupational performance in their homes. Method: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with six veterans with PTSD and/or TBI who graduated and received their service dogs from the Paws and Stripes Program in Albuquerque, NM. Home activities of daily living (self-care, household tasks, leisure activities, and family and friend relationships) guided the interview questions. The individual interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded using qualitative data analysis software. Preliminary themes were independently developed by two graduate research assistants. Final themes and subthemes were generated by team consensus. Results: The overarching theme was veteran and service dog partnerships improved occupational performance in the home. Four primary themes arose that supported the overarching theme: (a) providing physical safety and peace of mind; (b) supporting healthy behaviors; (c) my service dog, my hero; and (d) influencing family and friend relationships. Discussion: Findings from this study support that veteran and service dog partnerships improved the veterans’ occupational performance in their homes. The service dogs assisted the veterans on physical and emotional levels and improved their healthy behaviors

Cell membrane array fabrication and assay technology

BACKGROUND: Microarray technology has been used extensively over the past 10 years for assessing gene expression, and has facilitated precise genetic profiling of everything from tumors to small molecule drugs. By contrast, arraying cell membranes in a manner which preserves their ability to mediate biochemical processes has been considerably more difficult. RESULTS: In this article, we describe a novel technology for generating cell membrane microarrays for performing high throughput biology. Our robotically-arrayed supported membranes are physiologically fluid, a critical property which differentiates this technology from other previous membrane systems and makes it useful for studying cellular processes on an industrialized scale. Membrane array elements consist of a solid substrate, above which resides a fluid supported lipid bilayer containing biologically-active molecules of interest. Incorporation of transmembrane proteins into the arrayed membranes enables the study of ligand/receptor binding, as well as interactions with live intact cells. The fluidity of these molecules in the planar lipid bilayer facilitates dimerization and other higher order interactions necessary for biological signaling events. In order to demonstrate the utility of our fluid membrane array technology to ligand/receptor studies, we investigated the multivalent binding of the cholera toxin B-subunit (CTB) to the membrane ganglioside GM(1). We have also displayed a number of bona fide drug targets, including bacterial endotoxin (also referred to as lipopolysaccharide (LPS)) and membrane proteins important in T cell activation. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated the applicability of our fluid cell membrane array technology to both academic research applications and industrial drug discovery. Our technology facilitates the study of ligand/receptor interactions and cell-cell signaling, providing rich qualitative and quantitative information

Real-time motion analytics during brain MRI improve data quality and reduce costs

Head motion systematically distorts clinical and research MRI data. Motion artifacts have biased findings from many structural and functional brain MRI studies. An effective way to remove motion artifacts is to exclude MRI data frames affected by head motion. However, such post-hoc frame censoring can lead to data loss rates of 50% or more in our pediatric patient cohorts. Hence, many scanner operators collect additional 'buffer data', an expensive practice that, by itself, does not guarantee sufficient high-quality MRI data for a given participant. Therefore, we developed an easy-to-setup, easy-to-use Framewise Integrated Real-time MRI Monitoring (FIRMM) software suite that provides scanner operators with head motion analytics in real-time, allowing them to scan each subject until the desired amount of low-movement data has been collected. Our analyses show that using FIRMM to identify the ideal scan time for each person can reduce total brain MRI scan times and associated costs by 50% or more

How Service Dogs Enhance Veterans ’ Occupational Performance in the Home: A Qualitative Perspective

Background: This qualitative study explored the lives of veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI) and how the partnerships with their service dogs supported improved occupational performance in their homes. Method: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with six veterans with PTSD and/or TBI who graduated and received their service dogs from the Paws and Stripes Program in Albuquerque, NM. Home activities of daily living (self-care, household tasks, leisure activities, and family and friend relationships) guided the interview questions. The individual interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded using qualitative data analysis software. Preliminary themes were independently developed by two graduate research assistants. Final themes and subthemes were generated by team consensus. Results: The overarching theme was veteran and service dog partnerships improved occupational performance in the home. Four primary themes arose that supported the overarching theme: (a) providing physical safety and peace of mind; (b) supporting healthy behaviors; (c) my service dog, my hero; and (d) influencing family and friend relationships. Discussion: Findings from this study support that veteran and service dog partnerships improved the veterans’ occupational performance in their homes. The service dogs assisted the veterans on physical and emotional levels and improved their healthy behaviors

Study of How Adiposity in Pregnancy has an Effect on outcomeS (SHAPES):protocol for a prospective cohort study

Introduction Maternal obesity increases the risk of multiple maternal and infant pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. Current UK guidelines use body mass index (BMI) to identify which women require additional care due to increased risk of complications. However, BMI may not accurately predict which women will develop complications during pregnancy as it does not determine amount and distribution of adipose tissue. Some adiposity measures (eg, waist circumference, ultrasound measures of abdominal visceral fat) can better identify where body fat is stored, which may be useful in predicting those women who need additional care.Methods and analysis This prospective cohort study (SHAPES, Study of How Adiposity in Pregnancy has an Effect on outcomeS) aims to evaluate the prognostic performance of adiposity measures (either alone or in combination with other adiposity, sociodemographic or clinical measures) to estimate risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Pregnant women (n=1400) will be recruited at their first trimester ultrasound scan (11+2–14+1 weeks’) at Newcastle upon Tyne National Health Service Foundation Trust, UK. Early pregnancy adiposity measures and clinical and sociodemographic data will be collected. Routine data on maternal and infant pregnancy outcomes will be collected from routine hospital records. Regression methods will be used to compare the different adiposity measures with BMI in terms of their ability to predict pregnancy complications. If no individual measure performs better than BMI, multivariable models will be developed and evaluated to identify the most parsimonious model. The apparent performance of the developed model will be summarised using calibration, discrimination and internal validation analyses.Ethics and dissemination Ethical favourable opinion has been obtained from the North East: Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 22/NE/0035). All participants provide informed consent to take part in SHAPES. Planned dissemination includes peer-reviewed publications and additional dissemination appropriate to target audiences, including policy briefs for policymakers, media/social-media coverage for public and conferences for researchTrial registration number ISRCTN82185177

Peptide bond formation in the protonated serine dimer following vacuum UV photon-induced excitation

Possible routes for intra-cluster bond formation (ICBF) in protonated serine dimers have been studied. We found no evidence of ICBF following low energy collision-induced dissociation (in correspondence with previous works), however, we do observe clear evidence for ICBF following photon absorption in the 4.6–14 eV range. Moreover, the comparison of photon-induced dissociation measurements of the protonated serine dimer to those of a protonated serine dipeptide provides evidence that ICBF, in this case, involves peptide bond formation (PBF). The experimental results are supported by ab initio molecular dynamics and exploration of several excited state potential energy surfaces, unraveling a pathway for PBF following photon absorption. The combination of experiments and theory provides insight into the PBF mechanisms in clusters of amino acids, and reveals the importance of electronic excited states reached upon UV/VUV light excitatio

Cost Analysis of Adjuvant Whole‑Brain Radiotherapy Treatment Versus No Whole‑Brain Radiotherapy After Stereotactic Radiosurgery and/or Surgery Among Adults with One to Three Melanoma Brain Metastases: Results from a Randomized Trial

Purpose We aimed to compare Australian health system costs at 12 months for adjuvant whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) treatment after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and/or surgery versus observation among adults with one to three melanoma brain metastases. We hypothesized that treatment with adjuvant WBRT and subsequent healthcare would be more expensive than SRS/surgery alone. Methods The analysis was conducted alongside a multicentre, randomized phase III trial. A bespoke cost questionnaire was used to measure healthcare use, including hospitalizations, specialist and primary care visits, imaging, and medicines over 12 months. Mean per-patient costs were calculated based on the quantity of resources used and unit costs, reported in Australian dollars ($AU), year 2018 values. Skewness of cost data was determined using normality tests and censor-adjusted costs reported using the Kaplan–Meier sample average method. The analysis of diference in mean costs at each 2-month time point and at 12 months was performed and checked using Kruskal–Wallis, generalized linear models with gamma distribution and log link, modifed Park test, ordinary least squares, and non-parametric bootstrapping. Results In total, 89 patients with similar characteristics at baseline were included in the cost analysis (n = 43 WBRT; n = 46 observation). Hospitalization cost was the main cost, ranging from 63 to 8912-monthly cost for WBRT was$AU71,138 ± standard deviation 41,475 and for observation $AU69,848 ± 33,233; p = 0.7426. The censor-adjusted 12-monthly cost for WBRT was$AU90,277 ± 36,274 and $AU82,080 ± 34,411 for observation. There was no signifcant diference in 2-monthly costs between groups (p > 0.30 for all models). Conclusions Most costs were related to inpatient hospitalizations associated with disease recurrence. Adding WBRT after local SRS/surgery for patients with one to three melanoma brain metastases did not signifcantly increase health system costs during the frst 12 months. Trial Registration ACTRN12607000512426, prospectively registered 14 September 200