Exploring Novel Contrast Agents with Anthropomorphic Mesh Models in MCNP

Breast cancer is the leading cancer in women with an estimated 13% of women in the United States developing a form of invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. The survival rate is estimated to be 85%, but the American Cancer Society estimates that early detection of breast cancer in the localized stage increases the breast cancer survival rate to 99%. However, early detection is dependent on the sensitivity of breast imaging techniques and currently, the sensitivity is suboptimal for women with dense breasts and obscure cancers. Recently, studies have indicated that exploring new contrast agents can provide access to improved sensitivity because of their potential to increase the effective Z of the target tissue. Furthermore, contrast-enhanced tomosynthesis is a viable imaging method that can provide a 3D view of the breast while providing tumor enhancement for improved visibility. This project aims to facilitate the search for practical contrast agents that can improve sensitivity during breast imaging. More specifically, the objective of this project is to find novel ways to improve the differentiation between tumor and glandular tissue by creating a realistic anthropomorphic model that not only considers the geometry of the breast but its physiological components as well. This project aims to combine tomosynthesis breast imaging methods with novel contrast agents to explore their efficacy and limitations. To achieve the goals of this project, several techniques are employed. A realistic tomosynthesis environment is created by constructing a detailed Hologic tomosynthesis breast imaging machine, including the source, flat-panel detector, and support equipment, using MCNP. Realistic breast phantoms that consider geometric and biophysical accuracy are created by incorporating a time dependency into the model. Once the contrast agents are incorporated, their efficacy is calculated by quantifying tumor visibility as a function of breast size, density, tumor location, tumor stage, and tumor type. After running simulations, this project will generate clear and accurate radiographs demonstrating the structural components of the breast and the effects of contrast enhancement on any embedded tumors. The results will provide an indication of the contrast agents that provide promise. The data acquired in this project will provide insight on the process of creating an anthropomorphic breast phantom for tomosynthesis studies, as well as insight on setbacks that are identified with the methods used. Contrast-enhanced tomosynthesis is clinically possible and is a promising technique for improving sensitivity. This project explores this technique and provides insight on possible ways to improve breast imaging sensitivity

Creating Anthropomorphic Models with Mesh Phantoms in MCNP to Simulate Mammography

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women as it accounts for about 25% of all female cancer cases. Studies have shown that early detection of breast cancer increases the chances of a positive prognosis amongst patients therefore it is crucial to provide accurate diagnosis tools in routine exams. Experimenting with new techniques and tools that can provide increased accuracy requires time-consuming and costly studies, therefore, simulating outcomes that have high potential can provide guidance for increased accuracy without requiring expensive tests. This project outlines the possibility of developing an advanced anthropomorphic mesh phantom of the breast to experiment different contrast agents with. The phantom would contain all the components of a real breast and it would be able to simulate the physiological and metabolic components that play a role in the outcome of a real tomosynthesis-mammography scan. This project focuses on creating a basic model of a breast and a tomosynthesis system that provides an indication on whether a simulation system can be produced. The materials used for this project include Abaqus/CAE software, Python, MCNP6.2, and scripting tools as well as resources on tomosynthesis equipment. The results demonstrated a positive outcome thus indicating that the model can be further developed to incorporate the multiple components of a real breast scan to increase the simulation’s realism. Further work on this project will focus on increasing the model’s complexity and incorporating contrast agents so that the efficacy of each can be explored

Researchers Rapidly Respond to Submarine Activity at Loihi Volcano, Hawaii

The largest swarm of earthquakes ever observed at a Hawaiian volcano occurred at Loihi Seamount during July and early August 1996. The earthquake activity formed a large summit pit crater similar to those observed at Kilauea, and hydrothermal activity led to the formation of intense hydrothermal plumes in the ocean surrounding the summit. To investigate this event, the Rapid Response Cruise (RRC) was dispatched to Loihi in early August and two previously planned LONO cruises (named for a Hawaiian warrior god) sailed in September and October on the R/V Kaimikai-O-Kanaloa. Calm weather and a newly refurbished ship provided excellent opportunities for documenting the volcanic, hydrothermal plume, vent, and biological activities associated with the earthquake swarm

A developmental approach to diversifying neuroscience through effective mentorship practices: perspectives on cross-identity mentorship and a critical call to action.

Many early-career neuroscientists with diverse identities may not have mentors who are more advanced in the neuroscience pipeline and have a congruent identity due to historic biases, laws, and policies impacting access to education. Cross-identity mentoring relationships pose challenges and power imbalances that impact the retention of diverse early career neuroscientists, but also hold the potential for a mutually enriching and collaborative relationship that fosters the mentee\u27s success. Additionally, the barriers faced by diverse mentees and their mentorship needs may evolve with career progression and require developmental considerations. This article provides perspectives on factors that impact cross-identity mentorship from individuals participating in Diversifying the Community of Neuroscience (CNS)-a longitudinal, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) R25 neuroscience mentorship program developed to increase diversity in the neurosciences. Participants in Diversifying CNS were comprised of 14 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career faculty who completed an online qualitative survey on cross-identity mentorship practices that impact their experience in neuroscience fields. Qualitative survey data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and resulted in four themes across career levels: (1) approach to mentorship and interpersonal dynamics, (2) allyship and management of power imbalance, (3) academic sponsorship, and (4) institutional barriers impacting navigation of academia. These themes, along with identified mentorship needs by developmental stage, provide insights mentors can use to better support the success of their mentees with diverse intersectional identities. As highlighted in our discussion, a mentor\u27s awareness of systemic barriers along with active allyship are foundational for their role

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Menstruation: science and society

© 2020 The Authors Women's health concerns are generally underrepresented in basic and translational research, but reproductive health in particular has been hampered by a lack of understanding of basic uterine and menstrual physiology. Menstrual health is an integral part of overall health because between menarche and menopause, most women menstruate. Yet for tens of millions of women around the world, menstruation regularly and often catastrophically disrupts their physical, mental, and social well-being. Enhancing our understanding of the underlying phenomena involved in menstruation, abnormal uterine bleeding, and other menstruation-related disorders will move us closer to the goal of personalized care. Furthermore, a deeper mechanistic understanding of menstruation—a fast, scarless healing process in healthy individuals—will likely yield insights into a myriad of other diseases involving regulation of vascular function locally and systemically. We also recognize that many women now delay pregnancy and that there is an increasing desire for fertility and uterine preservation. In September 2018, the Gynecologic Health and Disease Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development convened a 2-day meeting, “Menstruation: Science and Society” with an aim to “identify gaps and opportunities in menstruation science and to raise awareness of the need for more research in this field.” Experts in fields ranging from the evolutionary role of menstruation to basic endometrial biology (including omic analysis of the endometrium, stem cells and tissue engineering of the endometrium, endometrial microbiome, and abnormal uterine bleeding and fibroids) and translational medicine (imaging and sampling modalities, patient-focused analysis of menstrual disorders including abnormal uterine bleeding, smart technologies or applications and mobile health platforms) to societal challenges in health literacy and dissemination frameworks across different economic and cultural landscapes shared current state-of-the-art and future vision, incorporating the patient voice at the launch of the meeting. Here, we provide an enhanced meeting report with extensive up-to-date (as of submission) context, capturing the spectrum from how the basic processes of menstruation commence in response to progesterone withdrawal, through the role of tissue-resident and circulating stem and progenitor cells in monthly regeneration—and current gaps in knowledge on how dysregulation leads to abnormal uterine bleeding and other menstruation-related disorders such as adenomyosis, endometriosis, and fibroids—to the clinical challenges in diagnostics, treatment, and patient and societal education. We conclude with an overview of how the global agenda concerning menstruation, and specifically menstrual health and hygiene, are gaining momentum, ranging from increasing investment in addressing menstruation-related barriers facing girls in schools in low- to middle-income countries to the more recent “menstrual equity” and “period poverty” movements spreading across high-income countries

The CatWISE Preliminary Catalog: Motions from WISE{\it WISE} and NEOWISE{\it NEOWISE} Data

CatWISE is a program to catalog sources selected from combined ${\it WISE}$ and ${\it NEOWISE}$ all-sky survey data at 3.4 and 4.6 $\mu$m (W1 and W2). The CatWISE Preliminary Catalog consists of 900,849,014 sources measured in data collected from 2010 to 2016. This dataset represents four times as many exposures and spans over ten times as large a time baseline as that used for the AllWISE Catalog. CatWISE adapts AllWISE software to measure the sources in coadded images created from six-month subsets of these data, each representing one coverage of the inertial sky, or epoch. The catalog includes the measured motion of sources in 8 epochs over the 6.5 year span of the data. From comparison to ${\it Spitzer}$, the SNR=5 limits in magnitudes in the Vega system are W1=17.67 and W2=16.47, compared to W1=16.96 and W2=16.02 for AllWISE. From comparison to ${\it Gaia}$, CatWISE positions have typical accuracies of 50 mas for stars at W1=10 mag and 275 mas for stars at W1=15.5 mag. Proper motions have typical accuracies of 10 mas yr$^{-1}$ and 30 mas yr$^{-1}$ for stars with these brightnesses, an order of magnitude better than from AllWISE. The catalog is available in the WISE/NEOWISE Enhanced and Contributed Products area of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.Comment: 53 pages, 20 figures, 5 tables. Accepted by ApJ