Search

IsoPSA is a blood-based test that assesses prostate cancer (CaP) risk by partitioning and detecting cancer-specific structural isoforms of prostate specific antigen (PSA) with an aqueous 2- phase system.To validate the diagnostic performance of IsoPSA for High-Grade CaP and Any CaP risk on biopsy in men age ≥ 50 with total PSA ≥ 4 ng/ml.Prospective, multicenter study of 888 men scheduled for prostate biopsy at 8 academic and community sites between August 2015 and August 2020.IsoPSA test.Receiver operating characteristic and likelihood ratio analysis used to validate diagnostic performance for previously established IsoPSA Index cutoffs for High-Grade CaP (Gleason Score ≥ 7) and Any CaP (Gleason Score ≥ 6), compare IsoPSA to total PSA and % free PSA, and evaluate subgroups (total PSA 4-10 ng/ml, total PSA10 ng/ml, biopsy naïve, prior negative biopsy).The disease prevalence was 35.6% (High-Grade CaP) and 58.9% (Any CaP). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.783 (High-Grade CaP) and 0.770 (Any CaP). IsoPSA outperformed total PSA and % free PSA on area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, specificity, positive and negative predictive value at similar sensitivity. Using selected IsoPSA Index cutoffs, an estimated 46% (High-Grade CaP) and 42% (Any CaP) of biopsies could be avoided in low-risk patients. IsoPSA displayed statistically informative likelihood ratio-based predictive characteristics. IsoPSA maintained accuracy in clinically relevant subgroups.IsoPSA diagnostic performance and predictive value is validated for High-Grade CaP and Any CaP in men age ≥ 50 with total PSA ≥ 4 ng/ml undergoing diagnostic biopsy. IsoPSA outperforms total and % free PSA in discriminating the risk of prostate cancer on biopsy.IsoPSA has the potential to reduce unnecessary biopsies and improve the risk-benefit ratio for CaP early detection.

Background Free Open-Access Medical education (FOAM) use among residents continues to rise. However, it often lacks quality assurance processes and residents receive little guidance on quality assessment. The Academic Life in Emergency Medicine Approved Instructional Resources tool (AAT) was created for FOAM appraisal by and for expert educators and has demonstrated validity in this context. It has yet to be evaluated in other populations. Objectives We assessed the AAT's usability in a diverse population of practicing emergency medicine (EM) physicians, residents, and medical students; solicited feedback; and developed a revised tool. Methods As part of the Medical Education Translational Resources: Impact and Quality (METRIQ) study, we recruited medical students, EM residents, and EM attendings to evaluate five FOAM posts with the AAT and provide quantitative and qualitative feedback via an online survey. Two independent analysts performed a qualitative thematic analysis with discrepancies resolved through discussion and negotiated consensus. This analysis informed development of an initial revised AAT, which was then further refined after pilot testing among the author group. The final tool was reassessed for reliability. Results Of 330 recruited international participants, 309 completed all ratings. The Best Evidence in Emergency Medicine (BEEM) score was the component most frequently reported as difficult to use. Several themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: for ease of use-understandable, logically structured, concise, and aligned with educational value. Limitations include deviation from questionnaire best practices, validity concerns, and challenges assessing evidence-based medicine. Themes supporting its use include evaluative utility and usability. The author group pilot tested the initial revised AAT, revealing a total score average measure intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of moderate reliability (ICC = 0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0 to 0.962). The final AAT's average measure ICC was 0.88 (95% CI = 0.77 to 0.95). Conclusions We developed the final revised AAT from usability feedback. The new score has significantly increased usability, but will need to be reassessed for reliability in a broad population.

Particulate gas filters are a critical element in the purification systems used to ensure defect-free manufacturing in semiconductor industry. In atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes, these filters are typically operated under sub-atmospheric pressure conditions, but their filtration characteristics are, often, only known at atmospheric pressure. In this study, performance of a metal filter that is typically used in low-pressure ALD precursor delivery systems is studied experimentally and theoretically down to 4.5 kPa. The experimental procedure was designed to minimize the presence of multiply charged particles in the test aerosol for different operating pressures and flowrates. The experimental results suggest that most penetrating particle size only slightly varies with pressure, but the shape of the penetration curve and the maximum value of the penetration changes significantly with pressure. The experimental data are used to test predictions of filter performance at low pressures made using classical theory. The comparison results suggest that the combination of classical theory and manufacturer-specified parameters results in large errors in calculated penetration values at low pressures. Accurate predictions are seen to be possible for particle Stokes numbers less than 0.1, when an inhomogenous filtration model is used in combination with effective filter parameters that are obtained from experimental measurements of filter efficiency and pressure drop at atmospheric pressures. Copyright © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research

In areas with dense landownership patterns, management of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) depends upon collective decision making of landowners and hunters. To resolve conflicts associated with this commons dilemma, wildlife management associations (WMAs) have become a popular mechanism for coordinating wildlife management decisions in private land states, especially in Texas, USA. Social capital, represented by metrics such as trust, reciprocity, and community involvement, has been identified as an important determinant of the success of collaborative institutional arrangements. To determine the influence of social capital on the effectiveness of WMAs, we address 2 research questions: 1) do WMAs exhibit elements of social capital, and 2) what landowner characteristics affect elements of social capital within WMAs? We used a mail survey questionnaire to determine the effect of various factors on the activities and management practices in 4 WMAs in 2 regions in Texas: the Lower Post Oak Savannah (LPOS) and the Central Post Oak Savannah (CPOS). The LPOS landowners were members of larger associations, had generally acquired their land more recently, held more frequent meetings, and tended to have longer association membership than CPOS landowners, yet they exhibited lower social capital. The CPOS landowners owned significantly larger properties, and were predominantly absentee wealthy males that considered relaxation and hunting more important land uses than property ownership for a place to live. The smaller group size of the CPOS associations may be the most important factor in building and maintaining social capital. Intra-association trust, a primary measure of social capital, was positively influenced by the longevity of property ownership, the number of association meetings, the percentage of males in the association, and other factors. Conversely, negative influences on trust included absentee ownership and the proportion of woodland habitat present in each WMA. We suggest that deer are a common-pool resource whose populations are dependent upon collective action by stakeholders. Social capital building within landowner associations could facilitate the sustainable harvest of quality deer and possibly lead to cooperative management of other common-pool natural resources.

As nearly all of Texas’ rural lands are privately owned, landowner associations for the management of white-tailed deer and ground-water have become increasingly popular. Deer are a common-pool resource with transboundary characteristics, requiring landowner cooperation for effective management. Ground-water reserves are economically important to landowners, but are governed by the “rule of capture” whereby property rights are not defined. One ground-water association and four wildlife management associations (WMAs) were surveyed to characterize their member demographics, land use priorities, attitudes, and social capital. Members of the ground-water cooperative were part of a much larger, more heterogeneous, and more recently formed group than members of WMAs. They also placed greater importance on utilitarian aspects of their properties, as opposed to land stewardship for conservation as practiced by members of WMAs. If ground-water association members could be more locally organized with more frequent meetings, social capital and information sharing may be enhanced and lead to land stewardship practices for improved hydrologic functions and sustained ground-water supply. This, coupled with pumping rules assigned by the local ground-water district, could yield an effective strategy that is ecologically and hydrologicaly sound, and that allows rural provision of water supply to urban consumers.

Opportunities for wildlife undergraduates to engage in land conservation planning can bridge the gap between formal academic training and professional wildlife experiences. Land conservation plans are an important component in managing wildlife habitat. In 1995 state legislation offered Texas landowners the opportunity to remain under agricultural valuation (Texas House Bill 1358, Proposition 11, 1-d-1) by designating wildlife management activities as qualifying agricultural practices. To obtain a wildlife management tax valuation, a landowner must have an active, written wildlife management plan. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologists often provide technical guidance to landowners in this process. Allowing wildlife undergraduates to have an active role in this process offers a unique opportunity for them to gain practical “hands-on” experiences while improving their writing skills. Students enrolled in Wildlife Habitat Management and Conservation (WFSC 406) work in groups (3–4 students) to develop a management plan for 3 local landowners. In addition to writing an actual management plan, students gain experience in land surveying, vegetation sampling, GIS/GPS technology, and public speaking. Landowners receive 3 peer-reviewed management plans they can select from to implement on their property. Students assist TPWD biologists and Texas Cooperative Extension staff in providing technical guidance to local landowners. Wildlife education can be enhanced by integrating land conservation planning in the classroom via partnerships with natural resource agencies and landowners.

Filter media exhibit strong particle-size dependent capture characteristics that have a complicated dependence to filter properties and operating conditions. As simulation-based determination of the filtration characteristics of real media is very challenging, accurate experimental approaches are critically necessary. Conventionally, filter penetration measurements were made using test particles extracted from a differential mobility analyzer (DMA) and measuring the ratio of particle counts downstream of the filter to that upstream. Size-dependent filter penetration can be directly determined from these measurements if the DMA was operated at high resolution and the contribution of multiply charged particles was negligible. The accuracy of this well-established approach has, however, never been fully assessed. In this study, the influence of multiply charged particles to the filter efficiency measurements is determined using a system-modeling approach. The model results suggest that the contribution of multiply charged particles could significantly influence penetration results when the mode size of the test particles entering the DMA or the most penetrating particle size (MPPS) of the test filter are larger than ∼100 nm. Under such conditions, even if multiply charged particles constitute a small fraction of the test aerosol, they can significantly skew filter penetration results. For accurate calculation of filter penetration, two approaches are proposed: an improved filter test protocol and a new multiple-charge correction approach for calculation of size-dependent filter penetration from mobility-based measurements. The validity of the proposed approaches is established with experimental data.Copyright 2015 American Association for Aerosol Research

The main goal of this study is to perform simulations of droplet dynamics using Truchas, a LANL-developed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, and compare them to a computational study of Hysing et al.[IJNMF, 2009, 60:1259]. Understanding droplet dynamics is of fundamental importance in liquid-liquid extraction, a process used in the nuclear fuel cycle to separate various components. Simulations of a single droplet rising by buoyancy are conducted in two-dimensions. Multiple parametric studies are carried out to ensure the problem set-up is optimized. An Interface Smoothing Length (ISL) study and mesh resolution study are performed to verify convergence of the calculations. ISL is a parameter for the interface curvature calculation. Further, wall effects are investigated and checked against existing correlations. The ISL study found that the optimal ISL value is 2.5{Delta}x, with {Delta}x being the mesh cell spacing. The mesh resolution study found that the optimal mesh resolution is d/h=40, for d=drop diameter and h={Delta}x. In order for wall effects on terminal velocity to be insignificant, a conservative wall width of 9d or a nonconservative wall width of 7d can be used. The percentage difference between Hysing et al.[IJNMF, 2009, 60:1259] and Truchas for the velocity profiles vary from 7.9% tomore » 9.9%. The computed droplet velocity and interface profiles are found in agreement with the study. The CFD calculations are performed on multiple cores, using LANL's Institutional High Performance Computing.« less

The focus of this literature survey and review is model reduction methods and their application to rotor dynamic systems. Rotor dynamic systems require careful consideration in their dynamic models as they include unsymmetric stiffness, localized nonproportional damping, and frequency-dependent gyroscopic effects. The literature reviewed originates from both controls and mechanical systems analysis and has been previously applied to rotor systems. This survey discusses the previous literature reviews on model reduction, reduction methods applied to rotor systems, the current state of these reduction methods in rotor dynamics, and the ability of the literature to reduce the complexities of large order rotor dynamic systems but allow accurate solutions.