Women, Re-entry and Everyday Life: Time to Work?

This study focuses on women at various stages of re-entry into the community after involvement with the criminal justice system. In particular, it takes a close look at how the participants in the study manage their time in the face of the types of competing demands that are all too common to most people

Molecular analysis of intragenic recombination at the tryptophan synthetase locus in Neurospora crassa

Fifteen different classically generated and mapped mutations at the tryptophan synthetase locus in Neurospora crassa have been characterized to the level of the primary sequence of the gene. This sequence analysis has demonstrated that intragenic recombination is accurate to order mutations within one open reading frame. While classic genetic analysis correctly ordered the mutations, the position of mutations characterized by gene sequence analysis was more accurate. A leaky mutation was found to have a wild-type primary sequence. The presence of unique polymorphisms in the primary sequence of the trp-3 gene from strain 861 confirms that it has a unique history relative to the other strains studied. Most strains that were previously shown to be immunologically nonreactive with antibody preparations raised against tryptophan synthetase protein were shown to have nonsense mutations. This work defines 14 alleles of the N. crassa trp-3 gene.Citation: "Molecular analysis of intragenic recombination at the tryptophan synthetase locus in Neurospora crassa" (December 2013) A. Wiest D. Barchers M. Eaton R. Henderson R. Schnittker K. Mccluskey. Journal of Genetics, Indian Academy of Science. Volume 92 Issue 3. 523-528.Citation: Wiest, A., . . . & McCluskey, K. (2013). Molecular analysis of intragenic recombination at the tryptophan synthetase locus in Neurospora crassa. Journal of Genetics, 92(1), 523–528. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-013-0305-

Ordinal patterns in epileptic brains: Analysis of intracranial EEG and simultaneous EEG-fMRI

Epileptic seizures are associated with high behavioral stereotypy of the patients. In the EEG of epilepsy patients characteristic signal patterns can be found during and between seizures. Here we use ordinal patterns to analyze EEGs of epilepsy patients and quantify the degree of signal determinism. Besides relative signal redundancy and the fraction of forbidden patterns we introduce the fraction of under-represented patterns as a new measure. Using the logistic map, parameter scans are performed to explore the sensitivity of the measures to signal determinism. Thereafter, application is made to two types of EEGs recorded in two epilepsy patients. Intracranial EEG shows pronounced determinism peaks during seizures. Finally, we demonstrate that ordinal patterns may be useful for improving analysis of non-invasive simultaneous EEG-fMR

Selecting feasible trajectories for robot-based X-ray tomography by varying focus-detector-distance in space restricted environments

Computed tomography has evolved as an essential tool for non-destructive testing within the automotive industry. The application of robot-based computed tomography enables high-resolution CT inspections of components exceeding the dimensions accommodated by conventional systems. However, large-scale components, e.g. vehicle bodies, often exhibit trajectory-limiting elements. The utilization of conventional trajectories with constant Focus-Detector-Distances can lead to anisotropy in image data due to the inaccessibility of some angular directions. In this work, we introduce two approaches that are able to select suitable acquisitions point sets in scans of challenging to access regions through the integration of projections with varying Focus-Detector-Distances. The variable distances of the X-ray hardware enable the capability to navigate around collision structures, thus facilitating the scanning of absent angular directions. The initial approach incorporates collision-free viewpoints along a spherical trajectory, preserving the field of view by maintaining a constant ratio between the Focus-Object-Distance and the Object-Detector-Distance, while discreetly extending the Focus-Detector-Distance. The second methodology represents a more straightforward approach, enabling the scanning of angular sectors that were previously inaccessible on the conventional circular trajectory by circumventing the X-ray source around these collision elements. Both the qualitative and quantitative evaluations, contrasting classical trajectories characterized by constant Focus-Detector-Distances with the proposed techniques employing variable Focus-Detector-Distances, indicate that the developed methods improve the object structure interpretability for scans of limited accessibility

Cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction

The term cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction (CAID) comprises the distinctive spectrum of immune alterations associated with the course of end-stage liver disease. Systemic inflammation and immune deficiency are the key components of CAID. Their severity is highly dynamic and progressive, paralleling cirrhosis stage. CAID involves two different immune phenotypes: the low-grade systemic inflammatory phenotype and the high-grade systemic inflammatory phenotype. The low-grade systemic inflammatory phenotype can be found in patients with compensated disease or clinical decompensation with no organ failure. In this phenotype, there is an exaggerated immune activation but the effector response is not markedly compromised. The high-grade systemic inflammatory phenotype is present in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure, a clinical situation characterized by decompensation, organ failure and high short-term mortality. Along with high-grade inflammation, this CAID phenotype includes intense immune paralysis that critically increases the risk of infections and worsens prognosis. The intensity of CAID has important consequences on cirrhosis progression and correlates with the severity of liver insufficiency, bacterial translocation and organ failure. Therapies targeting the modulation of the dysfunctional immune response are currently being evaluated in preclinical and clinical studies

Prospective navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement for the reduction of artifacts

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the neuroimaging quality and accuracy of prospective real-time navigator-echo acquisition correction versus untriggered intrauterine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Twenty women in whom fetal motion artifacts compromised the neuroimaging quality of fetal MRI taken during the 28.7 ± 4week of pregnancy below diagnostic levels were additionally investigated using a navigator-triggered half-Fourier acquired single-shot turbo-spin echo (HASTE) sequence. Imaging quality was evaluated by two blinded readers applying a rating scale from 1 (not diagnostic) to 5 (excellent). Diagnostic criteria included depiction of the germinal matrix, grey and white matter, CSF, brain stem and cerebellum. Signal-difference-to-noise ratios (SDNRs) in the white matter and germinal zone were quantitatively evaluated. Imaging quality improved in 18/20 patients using the navigator echo technique (2.4 ± 0.58 vs. 3.65 ± 0.73 SD, p < 0.01 for all evaluation criteria). In 2/20 patients fetal movement severely impaired image quality in conventional and navigated HASTE. Navigator-echo imaging revealed additional structural brain abnormalities and confirmed diagnosis in 8/20 patients. The accuracy improved from 50% to 90%. Average SDNR increased from 0.7 ± 7.27 to 19.83 ± 15.71 (p < 0.01). Navigator-echo-based real-time triggering of fetal head movement is a reliable technique that can deliver diagnostic fetal MR image quality despite vigorous fetal movemen