Variation in the Thyrotropic Activity of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells Arises from Differential Expression of the Human Thyrotropin Receptor and Microheterogeneity of the Hormone.

The role of hCG as a stimulator of the human thyroid has been a subject of controversy, because discrepant results have been obtained in different in vitro assays. In an attempt to explain the variation observed in the thyroid response to hCG, we investigated the ability of hCG and that of its isoforms and glycosylation variants to inhibit [125I]bovine (b) TSH binding and stimulate adenylate cyclase in two clones, JP09 and JP26, of Chinese hamster ovary cells stably transfected with the human TSH receptor (hTSHr). The two clones differed with respect to the number of hTSHr expressed per cell (34,000 in JP09 and 2,000 in JP26 cells). Both responded extremely well to bTSH; the cAMP response to 0.001 IU/L bTSH was distinguishable from basal values. Interestingly, JP09 cells were readily stimulated by hCG (20-100 mg/L; 0.52-2.6 x 10(-6) mol/L) to release cAMP, whereas JP26 cells showed little if any response. Also, cAMP stimulation produced by asialo-hCG was 12-fold in JP09 cells and only 4-fold in JP26 cells compared to 45- and 67-fold stimulations by bTSH, respectively. Stimulation by asialo-hCG was approximately 30% that of bTSH in JP09 cells, but less than 6% in JP26 cells. When assessing the thyrotropic activity of the microheterogeneous isoforms of hCG, more alkaline pI forms were found to be more active than those of a more acidic pI regardless of whether they were derived from normal or molar pregnancy urine. Further studies with hCG, asialo-hCG, asialoagalacto-hCG, and deglycosylated hCG revealed that removal of sialic acid caused a marked increase in both its affinity for hTSHr and its cAMP-releasing potency, whereas removal of further carbohydrate, although it slightly enhanced receptor binding, was detrimental to adenylate cyclase activation. In conclusion, differences in hTSHr expression may cause a variation in the cAMP response to hCG or its glycosylation variants, as does the microheterogeneity of the hormone itself. These mechanisms may be responsible at least in part for the divergent responses of different cell types to hCG and render interpretation of the physiological meaning of the data obtained in recombinant receptor systems difficult

Application of synchronous text-based dialogue systems in mental health interventions: Systematic review

© Simon Hoermann, Kathryn L McCabe, David N Milne, Rafael A Calvo. Background: Synchronous written conversations (or "chats") are becoming increasingly popular as Web-based mental health interventions. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to evaluate and summarize the quality of these interventions. Objective: The aim of this study was to review the current evidence for the feasibility and effectiveness of online one-on-one mental health interventions that use text-based synchronous chat. Methods: A systematic search was conducted of the databases relevant to this area of research (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online [MEDLINE], PsycINFO, Central, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, IEEE, and ACM). There were no specific selection criteria relating to the participant group. Studies were included if they reported interventions with individual text-based synchronous conversations (ie, chat or text messaging) and a psychological outcome measure. Results: A total of 24 articles were included in this review. Interventions included a wide range of mental health targets (eg, anxiety, distress, depression, eating disorders, and addiction) and intervention design. Overall, compared with the waitlist (WL) condition, studies showed significant and sustained improvements in mental health outcomes following synchronous text-based intervention, and post treatment improvement equivalent but not superior to treatment as usual (TAU) (eg, face-to-face and telephone counseling). Conclusions: Feasibility studies indicate substantial innovation in this area of mental health intervention with studies utilizing trained volunteers and chatbot technologies to deliver interventions. While studies of efficacy show positive post-intervention gains, further research is needed to determine whether time requirements for this mode of intervention are feasible in clinical practice

Observation, modeling, and temperature dependence of doubly peaked electric fields in irradiated silicon pixel sensors

We show that doubly peaked electric fields are necessary to describe grazing-angle charge collection measurements of irradiated silicon pixel sensors. A model of irradiated silicon based upon two defect levels with opposite charge states and the trapping of charge carriers can be tuned to produce a good description of the measured charge collection profiles in the fluence range from 0.5x10^{14} Neq/cm^2 to 5.9x10^{14} Neq/cm^2. The model correctly predicts the variation in the profiles as the temperature is changed from -10C to -25C. The measured charge collection profiles are inconsistent with the linearly-varying electric fields predicted by the usual description based upon a uniform effective doping density. This observation calls into question the practice of using effective doping densities to characterize irradiated silicon.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX document, 10 figures. Presented at Pixel 2005 Workshop, Bonn, Sept 2005. Small cosmetic revisions in response to referee comments and to fix broken reference link

Extraction of electric field in heavily irradiated silicon pixel sensors

A new method for the extraction of the electric field in the bulk of heavily irradiated silicon pixel sensors is presented. It is based on the measurement of the Lorentz deflection and mobility of electrons as a function of depth. The measurements were made at the CERN H2 beam line, with the beam at a shallow angle with respect to the pixel sensor surface. The extracted electric field is used to simulate the charge collection and the Lorentz deflection in the pixel sensor. The simulated charge collection and the Lorentz deflection is in good agreement with the measurements both for non-irradiated and irradiated up to 1E15 neq/cm2 sensors.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures, presented at the 13th International Workshop on Vertex Detectors for High Energy Physics, September 13-18, 2004, Menaggio-Como, Italy. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.

A double junction model of irradiated silicon pixel sensors for LHC

In this paper we discuss the measurement of charge collection in irradiated silicon pixel sensors and the comparison with a detailed simulation. The simulation implements a model of radiation damage by including two defect levels with opposite charge states and trapping of charge carriers. The modeling proves that a doubly peaked electric field generated by the two defect levels is necessary to describe the data and excludes a description based on acceptor defects uniformly distributed across the sensor bulk. In addition, the dependence of trap concentrations upon fluence is established by comparing the measured and simulated profiles at several fluences and bias voltages.Comment: Talk presented at the 10th European Symposium on Semiconductor Detectors, June 12-16 2005, Wildbad Kreuth, Germany. 9 pages, 4 figure

Simulation of Heavily Irradiated Silicon Pixel Detectors

We show that doubly peaked electric fields are necessary to describe grazing-angle charge collection measurements of irradiated silicon pixel sensors. A model of irradiated silicon based upon two defect levels with opposite charge states and the trapping of charge carriers can be tuned to produce a good description of the measured charge collection profiles in the fluence range from 0.5x10^{14} Neq/cm^2 to 5.9x10^{14} Neq/cm^2. The model correctly predicts the variation in the profiles as the temperature is changed from -10C to -25C. The measured charge collection profiles are inconsistent with the linearly-varying electric fields predicted by the usual description based upon a uniform effective doping density. This observation calls into question the practice of using effective doping densities to characterize irradiated silicon. The model is now being used to calibrate pixel hit reconstruction algorithms for CMS.Comment: Invited talk at International Symposium on the Development of Detectors for Particle, AstroParticle and Synchrtron Radiation Experiments, Stanford Ca (SNIC06) 8 pages, LaTeX, 11 eps figure

Prop-oriented world rotation: enabling passive haptic feedback by aligning real and virtual objects in virtual reality

Availability of data and materials: All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.Code Availibility: Source code for the Unity build of the demonstration game and ’POWR’ itself can be found in the following repository: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7265808.Passive haptics have long been used to enhance the user’s experience in virtual reality (VR). However, creating props to be used in a virtual environment can be a complicated and lengthy process. Current research looks to create passive haptic props based on the layout of, or objects in, the user’s real environment. However, we identify three key limitations of current research. Firstly, procedural generation introduces many unknown variables into the design process, which complicates applying such techniques to scenarios requiring knowledge of the virtual environment’s layout ahead of time. Furthermore, such techniques limit the size and dimensions of the virtual space to that of the real space. Lastly, current research necessitates pre-scanning or real-time scanning of the user’s real environment, often requiring specialist equipment and expertise, thus limiting its generalisability. This research proposes Prop Oriented World Rotation, a technique that attempts to answer the aforementioned limitations and simplify the process of adding haptic feedback to VR applications. We implemented this technique in a demonstration game and give an overview of the steps taken to apply the technique in a real context. We analysed the demonstration system’s performance and conducted an initial user evaluation in three different physical environments. While our stress test of the system’s performance highlights the necessity for certain optimisations in complex environments, our initial user feedback suggests that users experienced a stronger sense of presence and feelings of safety in our passive haptics-enhanced environment. Hence, we conclude that our proposal has the potential to enhance experiences in VR with haptic feedback.Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions This research was conducted without any external funding

Drone-Based Thermal Imaging in the Detection of Wildlife Carcasses and Disease Management

Because animal carcasses often serve as reservoirs for pathogens, their location and removal are crucial in controlling the spread of diseases. During carcass decomposition, heat is emitted due to microbial activity and the development of maggots. Recent studies have shown that infrared sensors can be used to locate animal carcasses, but little is known about the factors influencing detection success. In this study, we investigated the potential of infrared technology to locate wild boar carcasses, as they play an important role in the spread of African swine fever. Specifically, we tested the effects of environmental and carcass conditions on the detection probability. A drone-based thermal camera was used to collect data during 379 flyovers of 42 wild boar carcasses in different stages of decomposition between September 2020 and July 2021. Generalized mixed-effect models and conditional inference trees were used to identify the environmental and carcass conditions that influenced the detection probability. Our results showed that the thermal camera accurately measured carcass temperature (R2 = 0.75, RMSE = 5.89°C). The probability of finding carcasses was higher in open habitats with air temperatures >3.0°C and thus conducive to maggot development (detection rate ≤80%). A forest canopy openness >29.3% and cloudy conditions or flights at dawn increased the detection rate. Moreover, carcasses infested with large amounts of maggots could be detected even in habitats with a more extensive canopy cover, whereas in dense forests, the detection probability was limited (6.4°C (≤62%). Our study demonstrates the utility of thermal imaging in searching for wild boar carcasses under specific environmental and carcass conditions and thus its use in supporting ground searches.publishedVersio