Biomechanical Modeling of the Pelvic System: Improving the Accuracy of Prostate Lesions Location in MRI–TRUS Fusion

Background: An accurate knowledge of prostate lesions relocation during biopsy is of great importance to prevent mispositioning of the needle and thus reduce the chance of faulty biopsy results (false negatives). Prostate lesions are visible in magnetic resonance images (MRI) but it is difficult for the practitioner to locate them at the time of performing a transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided biopsy. In this study, we present a new methodology that predicts both prostate deformation and lesion migration during the biopsy.Methods: A thee-dimensional (3-D) anatomy model of the pelvic region, based on medical images, is constructed. A finite element (FE) simulation of the organs motion and deformation as a result of the pressure exerted by the TRUS probe was carried out using the code_aster open source software. Initial positions of potential prostate lesions prior to biopsy are taken into consideration and the final location of each lesion is targeted in the FE simulation output.Results: Our 3-D FE simulations show that the effect of the pressure exerted by the TRUS probe is twofold as the prostate experiences both a motion (in the absolute frame of reference) and a deformation of its original shape. We targeted the relocation of five small prostate lesions when the TRUS probe exerts a force of 30 N on the rectum inner wall. The distance traveled by these lesions ranged between 5.6 and 13.9 mm. Moreover, we showed that as a result of the deformation of the prostate the resulting lesion migration might be very difficult to predict if the biopsy practitioner has to rely exclusively on a visual comparison of axial or sagittal prostate slices taken from MRI and TRUS images.Conclusions: The preliminary results presented here show that our new methodology can be of great help for improving the prediction of cancerous lesions location when a TRUS guided biopsy is performed. Moreover, the new methodology is completely developed on open source software, which means that its implementation would be affordable even for healthcare providers with small budgets.

Advances of relativity theory

Advances of relativity theory are in the replacement of the space-time model with time-invariant universal space that has a variable energy density. Every physical object with mass m and energy E is diminishing the energy density of space exactly for the amount of its energy. Lorentz factor has its origin in the variable density of universal space, we call it “superfluid quantum space”—SQS that is the primordial energy of the universe. Universal SQS is the absolute frame of reference for all observers as confirmed experimentally by the general positioning system, which demonstrates that the relative rate of clocks is valid for all observers. A planet's perihelion precession and the Sagnac effect are the results of the SQS dragging effect.

Advances of Relativity Theory

Advances of Relativity Theory are in the replacement of the space-time model with time-invariant universal space that has a variable energy density. Every physical object with mass m and energy E is diminishing the energy density of space exactly for the amount of its energy. Lorentz factor has its origin in the variable energy density of universal space, we call it "superfluid quantum space" - SQS that is the primordial energy of the universe. Universal SQS is the absolute frame of reference for all observers as confirmed experimentally by the GPS system, which demonstrates that the relative rate of clocks is valid for all observers. A planet's perihelion precession and the Sagnac effect are the results of the SQS dragging effect.

Are models of local hidden variables for the singlet polarization state necessarily constrained by the Bell inequality?

The Bell inequality is thought to be a common constraint shared by all models of local hidden variables that aim to describe the entangled states of two qubits. Since the inequality is violated by the quantum mechanical description of these states, it purportedly allows distinguishing in an experimentally testable way the predictions of quantum mechanics from those of models of local hidden variables and, ultimately, ruling the latter out. In this paper, we show, however, that the models of local hidden variables constrained by the Bell inequality all share a subtle, though crucial, feature that is not required by fundamental physical principles and, hence, it might not be fulfilled in the actual experimental setup that tests the inequality. Indeed, the disputed feature neither can be properly implemented within the standard framework of quantum mechanics and it is even at odds with the fundamental principle of relativity. Namely, the proof of the inequality requires the existence of a preferred absolute frame of reference (supposedly provided by the lab) with respect to which the hidden properties of the entangled particles and the orientations of each one of the measurement devices that test them can be independently defined through a long sequence of realizations of the experiment. We notice, however, that while the relative orientation between the two measurement devices is a properly defined physical magnitude in every single realization of the experiment, their global rigid orientation with respect to a lab frame is a spurious gauge degree of freedom. Following this observation, we were able to explicitly build a model of local hidden variables that does not share the disputed feature and, hence, it is able to reproduce the predictions of quantum mechanics for the entangled states of two qubits.

The Absolute Frame of Reference

The manuscript found the formula to calculate the real velocity of the earth and the maximum velocity in the universe, the values of the quantities after calculation as follows:V_earth = 1.852819296∗10^8 m/s.C_max = 4.8507438399∗10^8 m/s.In order to calculate the above results, the manuscript has built a reference frame transformation suitable for all types of motion(suitable for both linear motion and chaotic motion of the reference frame). This means that we will calculate the velocity of an object without using the distance S quantity of the object.

Advances of Relativity Theory

In this article, a bijective research methodology is applied where every element in the model corresponds to exactly one element in physical reality. An element in the physical reality X and the corresponding element in the model Y are related by the bijective function. A bijective research methodology confirms that the Lorentz factor has its origin in the variable density of universal space. A lower value of the space density corresponds to the higher value of the Lorentz factor. Universal space is not “empty”; space is the primordial energy of the universe. Universal space is the absolute frame of reference for all observers as confirmed experimentally by the GPS system, which demonstrates that the relative rate of clocks is valid for all observers. A planet's perihelion precession and the Sagnac effect are the results of the space rotation.

Framing the Opioid Crisis: Do Racial Frames Shape Beliefs of Whites Losing Ground?

Context: Although research has begun to examine perceptions of being on the losing side of politics, it has been confined to electoral politics. The context of health disparities, and particularly the opioid crisis, offers a case to explore whether frames that emphasize racial disadvantage activate loser perceptions and the political consequences of such beliefs. Methods: White survey participants (N = 1,549) were randomized into three groups: a control which saw no news article, or one of two treatment groups which saw a news article about the opioid crisis framed to emphasize either the absolute rates of opioid mortality among whites or the comparative rates of opioid mortality among whites compared to blacks. Findings: Among control group participants, perceiving oneself a political loser was unrelated to attitudes about addressing opioids, whereas those who perceived whites to be on the losing side of public health had a less empathetic response to the opioid crisis. The comparative frame led to greater beliefs that whites are on the losing side of public health, whereas the absolute frame led to more empathetic policy opinions. Conclusions: Perceptions that one's racial group has lost ground in the public health context could have political consequences that future research should explore.

Einstein

The confused state of theoretical physics in 1900 and the great unresolved issues are summarized, one of which led to the birth of quantum mechanics, and the other to relativity. How it seemed impossible to reconcile Bradley’s measurements of the speed of light with Fresnel’s Aether drag hypothesis, which was well supported by Fizeau’s measurements in Paris of the speed of light in a moving medium (flowing water). Maxwell’s equations predicted a constant speed of light, suggesting an absolute frame of reference in the universe, but did not “transform” in the same way as Newton’s equations from one moving observer to another. How Einstein made sense of all these rival theories and experimental results with his unifying theory of relativity, based on two assumptions. His life and work is discussed, and a simple explanation given of his relativity theory. How the failure of this search for an absolute frame of reference in our universe led him inexorably to perhaps the most famous equation in physics E = mc2, giving the energy release from nuclear explosions and the stars.

Lightspeed

This book tells the human story of one of mankind’s greatest intellectual adventures—how we understood that light travels at a finite speed, so that when we look up at the stars we are looking back in time. And how the search for an absolute frame of reference in the universe led inexorably to Einstein’s famous equation E = mc2 for the energy released by nuclear weapons which also powers our sun and the stars. From the ancient Greeks measuring the distance to the Sun, to today’s satellite navigation and Einstein’s theories, the book takes the reader on a gripping historical journey. How Galileo with his telescope discovered the moons of Jupiter and used their eclipses as a global clock, allowing travellers to find their longitude. How Roemer, noticing that the eclipses were sometimes late, used this delay to obtain the first measurement of the speed of light, which takes eight minutes to get to us from the Sun. From the international collaborations to observe the transits of Venus, including Cook’s voyage to Australia, to the extraordinary achievements of Young and Fresnel, whose discoveries eventually taught us that light travels as a wave but arrives as a particle, and the quantum weirdness which follows. In the nineteenth century we find Faraday and Maxwell, struggling to understand how light can propagate through the vacuum of space unless it is filled with a ghostly vortex Aether foam. We follow the brilliantly gifted experimentalists Hertz, discoverer of radio, Michelson with his search for the Aether wind, and Foucault and Fizeau with their spinning mirrors and lightbeams across the rooftops of Paris. The difficulties of sending messages faster than light, using quantum entanglement, and the reality of the quantum world conclude this saga.