The relative transmissivities of several commonly used ultrasonic coupling agents were measured to determine if there were significant differences in their effectiveness. Coupling media were ...evaluated in thin films to simulate clinical use. In order to minimize experimental error in this determination, transmitted energy was measured in the far field of the sonating transducer; the receiving transducer was angled slightly to minimize standing waves; and the sonating chamber was made as anechoic as possible. It was found that there is no practical difference in the transmissivities of the common coupling agents, except that hydrocortisone ointments and creams had lower transmissivities, probably due to microscopically entrapped air. When used as a thin film, absorption of ultrasound in the media was insignificant, and variation in transducer pressure was found to cause differences in energy transmitted greater than those found between the common coupling media. Consequently, it was concluded that coupling media can be chosen primarily on the basis of cost and convenience.
This report highlights two different types of cross-talk in the photodetectors of the miniTimeCube neutrino experiment. The miniTimeCube detector has 24 \(8 \times 8\)-anode Photonis MCP-PMTs ...Planacon XP85012, totalling 1536 individual pixels viewing the 2-liter cube of plastic scintillator.
We present the development of the miniTimeCube (mTC), a novel compact neutrino detector. The mTC is a multipurpose detector, aiming to detect not only neutrinos but also fast/thermal neutrons. ...Potential applications include the counterproliferation of nuclear materials and the investigation of antineutrino short-baseline effects. The mTC is a plastic 0.2% \(^{10}\)B - doped scintillator (13 cm)\(^3\) cube surrounded by 24 Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) photon detectors, each with an \(8\times8\) anode totaling 1536 individual channels/pixels viewing the scintillator. It uses custom-made electronics modules which mount on top of the MCPs, making our detector compact and able to both distinguish different types of events and reject noise in real time. The detector is currently deployed and being tested at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) nuclear reactor (20 MW\(_\mathrm{th}\)) in Gaithersburg, MD. A shield for further tests is being constructed, and calibration and upgrades are ongoing. The mTC's improved spatiotemporal resolution will allow for determination of incident particle directions beyond previous capabilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted mental health care delivery to digital platforms, videoconferencing, and other mobile communications. However, existing reviews of digital health interventions are ...narrow in scope and focus on a limited number of mental health conditions.
To address this gap, we conducted a comprehensive systematic meta-review of the literature to assess the state of digital health interventions for the treatment of mental health conditions.
We searched MEDLINE for secondary literature published between 2010 and 2021 on the use, efficacy, and appropriateness of digital health interventions for the delivery of mental health care.
Of the 3022 records identified, 466 proceeded to full-text review and 304 met the criteria for inclusion in this study. A majority (52%) of research involved the treatment of substance use disorders, 29% focused on mood, anxiety, and traumatic stress disorders, and >5% for each remaining mental health conditions. Synchronous and asynchronous communication, computerized therapy, and cognitive training appear to be effective but require further examination in understudied mental health conditions. Similarly, virtual reality, mobile apps, social media platforms, and web-based forums are novel technologies that have the potential to improve mental health but require higher quality evidence.
Digital health interventions offer promise in the treatment of mental health conditions. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital health interventions provide a safer alternative to face-to-face treatment. However, further research on the applications of digital interventions in understudied mental health conditions is needed. Additionally, evidence is needed on the effectiveness and appropriateness of digital health tools for patients who are marginalized and may lack access to digital health interventions.
Abstract
Background
Male and female rats were exposed to repeated restraint to determine how changes in serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) 1A receptors associate with stress ...hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis habituation.
Methods
In response to 2-hour episodes of restraint, repeated daily for 5 consecutive days, males and females displayed reliable declines in HPA output, indicated by diminished adrenocorticotropin and corticosterone secretory responses. Using the 5-HT 1A receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) as a pharmacological challenge for inducing hypothermia and elevations in plasma corticosterone, males displayed sensitized hypothermal responses after repeated restraint, whereas corticosterone responses to 8-OH-DPAT were enhanced in both sexes following single or repeated exposure.
Results
Only males showed elevations in 5-HT 1A receptor G-protein coupling responses in the dorsal raphe after repeated restraint, whereas only females showed an increase in 5-HT 1A receptor responses in the hippocampus following single or repeated exposure. G-protein coupling responses within both regions correlated positively with 5-HT 1A receptor binding capacity. Thus, despite expressing similar capacities for stress HPA axis habituation, males and females emerged from repeated restraint to show region-specific changes in 5-HT 1A receptor function that may be explained, at least in part, by changes in receptor availability.
Conclusions
Based on the hypothermal and corticosteroid responses to 8-OH-DPAT, the present data suggest that stress habituation is met by an increase in the sensitivity of presynaptic 5-HT 1A receptors in males and by an increase in the sensitivity of a population of postsynaptic receptors in both sexes.
Male and females appear equally capable of showing habituated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis output responses to repeated exposures of the same challenge. Whether this reflects, within ...males and females, common mechanisms of decreased neuronal activity within stress responding, afferents to the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH), the final common pathway to the HPA axis, has not been examined. Here we compared in adult male and female rats the extent to which declines in HPA axis responses to repeated restraint are met by habituated cellular (Fos) responses, in addition to changes in serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) expression and signaling, which normally stimulates the HPA axis. Thus, alterations in this component of HPA axis drive could provide an underlying basis for sex differences in adaptive responses. Males and females showed reliable declines in ACTH and corticosterone responses after 10 daily episodes of repeated restraint, recapitulated, in largest part, by similar regional patterns of Fos habituation, including within the PVH, several stress sensitive cell groups of the limbic forebrain, as well as within the raphe nucleus. Serotonin staining in the dorsal raphe and terminal profiles in the forebrain continued to reflect a higher pre-synaptic capacity for the 5-HT system in females. The sexual dimorphism encountered within the lateral septum and medial preoptic area of control animals was less distinguished in the repeat condition, however, whereas 5-HT varicosities in the PVH increased after repeated restraint only in females. Relative to their singly restrained counterparts, males displayed an increase in 5-HT 1 A receptor expression in the raphe nucleus after repeated restraint, whereas females showed a decrease in 5-HT 1 A mRNA levels in the hippocampus and in the zona incerta, representing the most proximal of cell groups expressing the 5-HT 1 A receptor in the vicinity of the PVH. In conclusion, similar regional profiles of cellular habituation in males and females suggest common CNS substrates of neuroendocrine adaptation. However, this process may be met by underlying sex differences in serotonergic control, given the respective roles for pre- and postsynaptic 5-HT 1 A receptors in mediating serotonin availability and signal transfer.
•Males and females are equally capable of expressing stress HPA axis habituation•Fos induction patterns suggest common CNS substrates of adaptation between the sexes•The serotonergic underpinnings of this process may be different in males and females•Results obtained provide insights into the plasticity of the serotonin system and stress resistance
The addition of glutathione to semen diluents enhanced the biological quality of frozen semen and maintained the motility of spermatozoa after thawing. Also the number of cows that conceived after ...the first insemination was significantly higher when the animals were inseminated with the semen
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