Multiplexed broadband beam steering system utilizing high speed MEMS mirrors

We present a beam steering system based on micro-electromechanical systems technology that features high speed steering of multiple laser beams over a broad wavelength range. By utilizing high speed micromirrors with a broadband metallic coating, our system has the flexibility to simultaneously incorporate a wide range of wavelengths and multiple beams. We demonstrate reconfiguration of two independent beams at different wavelengths (780 and 635 nm) across a common 5x5 array with 4 us settling time. Full simulation of the optical system provides insights on the scalability of the system. Such a system can provide a versatile tool for applications where fast laser multiplexing is necessary.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitte

Rangeland Fires and Cheatgrass: Values at Risk and Support for Preservation

The high desert sagebrush ecosystems of the Great Basin evolved with fire. However, the introduction of cheatgrass (t. bromus), a highly flammable invasive annual grass, has contributed to the increased intensity and frequency of wildfires we have seen in recent years. Cheatgrass-fueled fires often kill native perennials, which creates openings for further cheatgrass expansion. Winters with more moisture than usual result in more cheatgrass and increased fire risk. Over time the result is ever larger areas dominated by cheatgrass and other invasive weeds that burn with greater frequency, and increasingly severe fire seasons

Recovery from Severe Mental Illness – Pilot Research Paving the Way

poster abstractThe ACT Center of Indiana is a research and training center devoted to helping organizations provide services to adults with severe mental illness that are based on the best research evidence and promote recovery. We briefly highlight 5 recent pilot studies that ultimately may help improve care. These involve measuring factors that promote recovery (pilot #1), strategies to involving family members in recovery (pilot #2), ensuring active participation of consumers (pilot#3), reducing burnout in staff (pilot #4), and cost-effective ways to measure program implementation (pilot #5)

The Emerging Epigenetic Landscape in Melanoma

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. The disease is driven by molecular alterations in oncogenic signaling pathways, such as mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K). Activating mutations in oncogenes, such as BRAF and NRAS, and inactivating mutations in tumor suppressors genes, such as PTEN, promote this disease by altering cellular processes involved in growth, survival, and migration. Therapies targeting critical nodes in these pathways have demonstrated efficacy in clinical trials, but their therapeutic potential has been limited by the rapid onset of drug resistance. Durable therapeutic responses have also been observed in patients receiving immunotherapy. However, this activity appears to be confined to a subset of patients, and combinations with targeted therapies have raised safety concerns. Accumulating evidence strongly suggests that the pathogenesis of melanoma is also shaped by the aberrant activity of epigenetic factors that regulate gene expression through the modification of DNA and chromatin. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the epigenetic alterations in melanoma and highlights the roles played by specific chromatin regulators during disease progression. We also discuss the clinical utility of both first and second generation epigenetic therapies in the melanoma setting, placing emphasis on the potential to overcome resistance to targeted therapies and to serve as priming agents for immunotherapies

The Work of Recovery on Two Assertive Community Treatment Teams

The compatibility of recovery work with the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model has been debated; and little is known about how to best measure the work of recovery. Two ACT teams with high and low recovery orientation were identified by expert consensus and compared on a number of dimensions. Using an interpretive, qualitative approach to analyze interview and observation data, teams differed in the extent to which the environment, team structure, staff attitudes, and processes of working with consumers supported principles of recovery orientation. We present a model of recovery work and discuss implications for research and practice

Impact of Illness Management and Recovery Programs on Hospital and Emergency Room Use by Medicaid Enrollees

Objective—Illness management and recovery is a structured program that helps consumers with severe mental illness learn effective ways to manage illness and pursue recovery goals. This study examined the impact of the program on health service utilization. Methods—This was a retrospective cohort study of five assertive community treatment (ACT) teams in Indiana that implemented illness management and recovery. With Medicaid claims data from July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2008, panel data were created with person-months as the level of analysis, resulting in 14,261 observations, for a total of 498 unique individuals. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were used to predict hospitalization days and emergency room visits, including covariates of demographic characteristics, employment status, psychiatric diagnosis, and concurrent substance use disorder. The main predictor variables of interest were receipt of illness management and recovery services, dropout from the program, and program graduation status. Results—Consumers who received some illness management and recovery services had fewer hospitalization days than those receiving only ACT. Graduates had fewer emergency room visits than did ACT-only consumers. Conclusions—This is the first study to examine the impact of illness management and recovery on service utilization. Controlling for a number of background variables, the study showed that illness management and recovery programs were associated with reduced inpatient hospitalization and emergency room use over and above ACT

Distilled: The Narrative Transformed (Exhibition Catalogue)

Inspired by place and process, Pinkney Herbert\u27s work is a spirited exploration in color and line derived from the sights, sounds, and energies of the two principal cities – Memphis and New York – in which this body of work was created. Graffiti-like gestures scrawl atop digital prints, which are collaged and integrated into his paintings. In this 30-year survey, we follow Pinkney Herbert on his transformative journey from the narrative into abstraction

The colour of paternity: extra-pair paternity in the wild Gouldian finch does not appear to be driven by genetic incompatibility between morphs.

In socially monogamous species, individuals can use extra-pair paternity and offspring sex allocation as adaptive strategies to ameliorate costs of genetic incompatibility with their partner. Previous studies on domesticated Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) demonstrated a genetic incompatibility between head colour morphs, the effects of which are more severe in female offspring. Domesticated females use differential sex allocation, and extra-pair paternity with males of compatible head colour, to reduce fitness costs associated with incompatibility in mixed-morph pairings. However, laboratory studies are an oversimplification of the complex ecological factors experienced in the wild, and may only reflect the biology of a domesticated species. This study aimed to examine the patterns of parentage and sex-ratio bias with respect to colour pairing combinations in a wild population of the Gouldian finch. We utilized a novel PCR assay that allowed us to genotype the morph of offspring before the morph phenotype develops, and to explore bias in morph paternity and selection at the nest. Contrary to previous findings in the laboratory, we found no effect of pairing combinations on patterns of extra-pair paternity, offspring sex ratio, or selection on morphs in nestlings. In the wild, the effect of morph incompatibility is likely much smaller, or absent, than was observed in the domesticated birds. Furthermore, the previously studied domesticated population is genetically differentiated from the wild population, consistent with the effects of domestication. It is possible that the domestication process fostered the emergence (or enhancement) of incompatibility between colour morphs previously demonstrated in the laboratory. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Integrating Assertive Community Treatment and Illness Management and Recovery for Consumers with Severe Mental Illness

This study examined the integration of two evidence-based practices for adults with severe mental illness: Assertive community treatment (ACT) and illness management and recovery (IMR) with peer specialists as IMR practitioners. Two of four ACT teams were randomly assigned to implement IMR. Over 2 years, the ACT–IMR teams achieved moderate fidelity to the IMR model, but low penetration rates: 47 (25.7%) consumers participated in any IMR sessions and 7 (3.8%) completed the program during the study period. Overall, there were no differences in consumer outcomes at the ACT team level; however, consumers exposed to IMR showed reduced hospital use over time

Optical Sensing Method for Screening Disease in Melon Seeds by Using Optical Coherence Tomography

We report a noble optical sensing method to diagnose seed abnormalities using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Melon seeds infected with Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) were scanned by OCT. The cross-sectional sensed area of the abnormal seeds showed an additional subsurface layer under the surface which is not found in normal seeds. The presence of CGMMV in the sample was examined by a blind test (n = 140) and compared by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The abnormal layers (n = 40) were quantitatively investigated using A-scan sensing analysis and statistical method. By utilizing 3D OCT image reconstruction, we confirmed the distinctive layers on the whole seeds. These results show that OCT with the proposed data processing method can systemically pick up morphological modification induced by viral infection in seeds, and, furthermore, OCT can play an important role in automatic screening of viral infections in seeds