Quantitative determination of perithecium formation

Quantitative determination of perithecium formatio

UV Exposed Optical Fibers with Frequency Domain Reflectometry for Device Tracking in Intra-Arterial Procedures

Shape tracking of medical devices using strain sensing properties in optical fibers has seen increased attention in recent years. In this paper, we propose a novel guidance system for intra-arterial procedures using a distributed strain sensing device based on optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) to track the shape of a catheter. Tracking enhancement is provided by exposing a fiber triplet to a focused ultraviolet beam, producing high scattering properties. Contrary to typical quasi-distributed strain sensors, we propose a truly distributed strain sensing approach, which allows to reconstruct a fiber triplet in real-time. A 3D roadmap of the hepatic anatomy integrated with a 4D MR imaging sequence allows to navigate the catheter within the pre-interventional anatomy, and map the blood flow velocities in the arterial tree. We employed Riemannian anisotropic heat kernels to map the sensed data to the pre-interventional model. Experiments in synthetic phantoms and an in vivo model are presented. Results show that the tracking accuracy is suitable for interventional tracking applications, with a mean 3D shape reconstruction errors of 1.6 +/- 0.3 mm. This study demonstrates the promising potential of MR-compatible UV-exposed OFDR optical fibers for non-ionizing device guidance in intra-arterial procedures

Self-assembly of polyphosphazene immunoadjuvant with poly(ethylene oxide) enables advanced nanoscale delivery modalities and regulated pH-dependent cellular membrane activity

AbstractWater-soluble polyphosphazene polyacids, such as poly[di(carboxylatophenoxy)phosphazene] (PCPP), have been of significant interest due to their unique immunoadjuvant and vaccine delivery properties. We report that PCPP can spontaneously self-assemble into intermolecular complexes with common formulation excipients − polyethers in aqueous solutions at neutral pH through the establishment of hydrogen bonds. The resulting advanced PCPP delivery modalities can range from macromolecular assemblies at the nanoscale level to physically cross-linked hydrogels and the physical state can be modulated through varying polymer ratios and molecular weight of polyether. It has been demonstrated that such macromolecular complexes maintain protein-binding ability − a key characteristics of the delivery system. Importantly, the non-covalent modification of PCPP immunoadjuvant with polyethers introduces pH dependent membrane disruptive activity, which is not characteristic for PCPP itself, and is typically correlated to the ability of macromolecular carrier to facilitate endosomal escape. This can potentially affect the mechanism of immunoadjuvant action displayed by PCPP, afford means for its fine-tuning, as well as provide important insights for understanding the relationship between fundamental physico-chemical characteristics of polyphosphazene immunoadjuvants and their activity in vivo

Psychosocial functioning of children with learning disabilities: The relations between psychosocial subtypes and neuropsychological functioning at three age levels.

The aims of this study were threefold: (1) develop a psychosocial typology of children with LD; (2) assess the external validity of the resulting typology; (3) explore the relations between age and psychosocial functioning. To this end, a sample of 728 children with LD between the ages of 7 and 13 years was constructed. All children met a commonly used set of criteria for LD (including normal intelligence, evidence of underachievement on a standardized test of academic skills, and no evidence of primary psychopathology) that has demonstrated good performance in previous research. For some analyses, children were subdivided into three age levels: Young (7-8 years old; 201 subjects), Middle (9-10 years; 258 subjects), and Old (11-13 years; 269 subjects). Psychosocial functioning was defined by scores on the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC). Two methods were used for derivation of psychosocial subtypes. The first method employed k-means cluster analysis, applied separately to each of the Young, Middle and Old samples, using Euclidean distance as the dissimilarity measure calculated on 10 PIC scales transformed in such a manner as to emphasize profile shape over the elements of elevation and dispersion. The second method of classification involved assigning subjects to the subtypes of a prototypical typology derived in previous research on the basis of similarity of PIC profile shape. Overall, the results suggested that the patterns and level of psychosocial adaptation of children with LD are remarkably stable across the age range addressed in this study. It appears that as children with LD grow older they show no greater incidence of pathological patterns of psychosocial functioning. Although some children in this study showed evidence of relatively severe psychopathology, there was no evidence that, with increased age, level of psychosocial adaptation deteriorates. These results contradict the commonly held notion that children with LD are likely to develop psychopathology from the cumulative effects of negative academic and interpersonal experiences. Rather, they suggest that, when significant changes in the psychosocial functioning of children with LD are observed, other factors must be considered. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1991 .F847. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-01, Section: A, page: 0104. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1991

County-level USA: No Robust Relationship between Geoclimatic Variables and Cognitive Ability

Using a sample of ~3,100 U.S. counties, we tested geoclimatic explanations for why cognitive ability varies across geography. These models posit that geoclimatic factors will strongly predict cognitive ability across geography,even when a variety of common controls appear in the regression equations.Our results generally do not support UV radiation (UVR) based or other geoclimatic models. Specifically, although UVR alone predicted cognitive ability at the U.S. county-level (β = -.33), its validity was markedly reduced in the presence of climatic and demographic covariates (β = -.16), and was reduced even further with a spatial lag (β = -.10). For climate models,average temperature remained a significant predictor in the regression equation containing a spatial lag (β = .35). However, the effect was in the wrong direction relative to typical cold weather hypotheses. Moreover,when we ran the analyses separately by race/ethnicity, no consistent pattern appeared in the models containing the spatial lag. Analyses of gap sizes across counties were also generally inconsistent with predictions from the UVR model. Instead, results seemed to provide support for compositional models

Polarization surveys of the Galaxy

We report on sensitive 21cm and 11cm polarization surveys of the Galactic plane carried out with the Effelsberg 100-m telescope at arcmin angular resolution and some related work. Highly structured polarized emission is seen along the Galactic plane as well as up to very high Galactic latitudes. These observations reflect Faraday effects in the interstellar medium. Polarized foreground and background components along the line of sight, modified by Faraday rotation and depolarization, add in a complex way. The amplitudes of polarized emission features are highly frequency dependent. Small-scale components decrease in amplitude rapidly with increasing frequency. We stress the need for sensitive absolutely calibrated polarization data. These are essential for baseline setting and a correct interpretation of small-scale structures. Absolutely calibrated data are also needed to estimate the high-frequency polarized background. A recent study of polarized emission observed across the local Taurus-Auriga molecular cloud complexes indicates excessive synchrotron emission within a few hundred parsecs. These results suggest that possibly a large fraction of the Galactic high latitude total intensity and polarized emission is of local origin.Comment: 6 pages with 2 PS figures. To be published in "Astrophysical Polarized Backgrounds", eds. S. Cecchini, S. Cortiglioni, R. Sault and C. Sbarra, AIP Conf. Pro