Pathologic Correlation of PET-CT Based Auto Contouring for Radiation Planning in Lung Cancer

Purpose/Objective(s): Radiation therapy in lung cancer relies on CT and functional imaging (FDG-PET) to delineate tumor volumes. Semi-automatic contouring tools have been developed for PET to improve on the inter-observer bias of manual contouring and intrinsic differences in imaging equipment. A common method involves using a threshold at a given percentage of the max activity, which may be less accurate with smaller tumors and tumors with low source to background ratio. To overcome this deficiency, a gradient algorithm, which detects changes in image counts at the border of the tumor, has been developed. Few studies have correlated these methods to pathological specimens. American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 52nd Annual Meeting October 31 - November 4, San Diego, C

Wide-Scale Analysis of Human Functional Transcription Factor Binding Reveals a Strong Bias towards the Transcription Start Site

We introduce a novel method to screen the promoters of a set of genes with shared biological function, against a precompiled library of motifs, and find those motifs which are statistically over-represented in the gene set. The gene sets were obtained from the functional Gene Ontology (GO) classification; for each set and motif we optimized the sequence similarity score threshold, independently for every location window (measured with respect to the TSS), taking into account the location dependent nucleotide heterogeneity along the promoters of the target genes. We performed a high throughput analysis, searching the promoters (from 200bp downstream to 1000bp upstream the TSS), of more than 8000 human and 23,000 mouse genes, for 134 functional Gene Ontology classes and for 412 known DNA motifs. When combined with binding site and location conservation between human and mouse, the method identifies with high probability functional binding sites that regulate groups of biologically related genes. We found many location-sensitive functional binding events and showed that they clustered close to the TSS. Our method and findings were put to several experimental tests. By allowing a "flexible" threshold and combining our functional class and location specific search method with conservation between human and mouse, we are able to identify reliably functional TF binding sites. This is an essential step towards constructing regulatory networks and elucidating the design principles that govern transcriptional regulation of expression. The promoter region proximal to the TSS appears to be of central importance for regulation of transcription in human and mouse, just as it is in bacteria and yeast.Comment: 31 pages, including Supplementary Information and figure

Framework Report: The AIDS Accountability Workplace Scorecard, September 2011

The aim of the AIDS Accountability Workplace Scorecard is to improve HIV and AIDS workplace programmes in the countries and sectors most affected by the disease, and improve the health of employees, their families and communities. Through this initiative we will: / 1. Provide tools for HIV and AIDS workplace programme monitoring and evaluation AAI has developed scorecard tools for small, medium and large workplaces, which can be used to assess a global, regional or national HIV and AIDS programme or interventions at a specific workplace site. The scorecards can serve as both internal monitoring and evaluation tools and as assessments to present to stakeholders within and outside the organization. / 2. Publish annual Rankings of HIV and AIDS Workplace Programmes Scorecard users who wish to receive a ranking analysis and recommendations for how to improve their programmes can submit their scorecards to AAI. AAI ‘s ranking analysis will allow users to compare their performance with others and over time also measure their own progress. Respondents will be encouraged to publish their ranking in AAI’s yearly Ranking Reports. / 3. Share good practice The knowledge and good practices generated through the published rankings will be used to stimulate improved HIV and AIDS Workplace Programmes worldwide. Large networks of companies, trade union confederations, and national and international organizations can use the scorecard as a common framework for monitoring and evaluation of workplace programmes

Intimate partner violence in South Asian communities:Exploring the notion of 'shame' to promote understandings of migrant women's experiences

The notion of 'shame' is increasingly being recognized as a tool with some explanatory power to help promote understandings about a range of social problems. Through an exploration of migrant South Asian women's experiences of domestic violence and help-seeking practices, this article considers the relevance of the notion of shame as a unit of analysis to help contribute to the growing theoretical and empirical literature. This article sheds light on the meanings, events, processes and structures in the lives of migrant South Asian women respondents living in Hong Kong. Within the framework of the discussion on shame and intimate partner violence(IPV), the article also identifies the implications for social work practice

Lunasin and Bowman-Birk Protease Inhibitor Concentrations of Protein Extracts from Enzyme-Assisted Aqueous Extraction of Soybeans

Lunasin and Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor (BBI) are two soybean peptides to which health-promoting properties have been attributed. Concentrations of these peptides were determined in skim fractions produced by enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction processing (EAEP) of extruded full-fat soybean flakes (an alternative to extracting oil from soybeans with hexane) and compared with similar extracts from hexane-defatted soybean meal. Oil and protein were extracted by using countercurrent twostage EAEP of soybeans at 1:6 solids-to-liquid ratio, 50C, pH 9.0, and 120 rpm for 1 h. Protein-rich skim fractions were produced from extruded full-fat soybean flakes using different enzyme strategies in EAEP: 0.5% protease (wt/g extruded flakes) used in both extraction stages; 0.5% protease used only in the second extraction stage; no enzyme used in either extraction stage. Countercurrent two-stage protein extraction of air-desolventized, hexane-defatted soybean flakes was used as a control. Protein extraction yields increased from 66% to 89-96% when using countercurrent two-stage EAEP with extruded full-fat flakes compared to 85% when using countercurrent two-stage protein extraction of air-desolventized, hexane-defatted soybean flakes. Extruding full-fat soybean flakes reduced BBI activity. Enzymatic hydrolysis reduced BBI contents of EAEP skims. Lunasin, however, was more resistant to both enzymatic hydrolysis and heat denaturation. Although using enzymes in both EAEP extraction stages yielded the highest protein and oil extractions, reducing enzyme use to only the second stage preserved much of the BBI and Lunasin

Fair play:Perceived fairness in crowdsourcing competitions and the customer relationship-related consequences

TeleRehab enables the rehabilitation services to be delivered in distance by providing information exchange between patient with disabilities and the clinical professionals. The readiness step in any adoption of healthcare services should always be one of the requirements for a successful implementation of an innovation. However, little scholarly has been undertaken to study its influence on TeleRehab and the various barrier factors that influence its adoption. This research explores the barrier factors that influence the readiness of healthcare institution to adopt TeleRehab. This paper presents a semi-structured interview involving 23 clinical professionals of a case study on the issues of TeleRehab readiness in one rehabilitation centre in Malaysia. By applying thematic analysis, the study uncovers seven barriers that affect the TeleRehab readiness. This includes barriers of no urgency to change, less awareness, less involvement in planning, not enough exposure on e-Healthcare knowledge, resistance to change, low usage of hardware and software, and less connectivity. The study contributes to both TeleRehab management and technology readiness research in hospitals

Signal Transmission in the Auditory System

Contains table of contents for Section 3, an introduction, and reports on seven research projects.National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00194National Institutes of Health Grant P01 DC00119National Institutes of Health Grant F32 DC00073National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00473National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 DC00238National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 DC00235National Institutes of Health Grant 5 P01 DC00361National Institutes of Health Grant T32 DC00006Whitaker Health Sciences Fun

How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program