Application of parallel distributed processing to space based systems

The concept of using Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) to enhance automated experiment monitoring and control is explored. Recent very large scale integration (VLSI) advances have made such applications an achievable goal. The PDP machine has demonstrated the ability to automatically organize stored information, handle unfamiliar and contradictory input data and perform the actions necessary. The PDP machine has demonstrated that it can perform inference and knowledge operations with greater speed and flexibility and at lower cost than traditional architectures. In applications where the rule set governing an expert system's decisions is difficult to formulate, PDP can be used to extract rules by associating the information an expert receives with the actions taken

Montezuma Quail Management in Arizona

The Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae meamsi) has substantially different habitat requirements than other quails found in the U.S. They inhabit evergreen oak woodlands of mountain ranges in the Southwest and feed primarily on underground bulbs and tubers. Populations respond to summer precipitation because the vegetation which provides food and cover for Montezuma quail flourishes after the summer rains. Moderate to heavy grazing increases availability of Montezuma quail food plants, but resultant lack of cover precludes use of such sites. Montezuma quail avoid areas with greater than 50% forage utilization by ungulates. As with other Arizona quail species, hunting has been shown to have limited or no impact on the population level during the following years. Birds may be depleted in localized areas temporarily, but available habitat is re-occupied when pre-nesting dispersal occurs. Annual pre- and posthunt flush counts were conducted 1988-1996 by the Arizona Game & Fish Department, United States Forest Service, volunteers, and local quail hunters. Average covey size decreased during the hunting season, but the magnitude of the decrease was similar in unhunted populations. Montezuma quail populations fluctuate in response to habitat and weather conditions. A state-wide hunter questionnaire program estimated total harvest trends for Arizona. In addition, wing collection barrels had been placed in heavily hunted areas from 1981 to 1996 to obtain hunter-effort information and sex/age characteristics of the harvest. Data from these wings indicate average percentage of juveniles in the harvest was higher for Montezuma quail (x = 74.4%, range = 55.9-84.9%) than other Arizona quail species, such as Gambel\u27s (x = 65.6%, range = 23-77%). Hunters harvested an average of 2.2 Montezuma quail per day. In 3,107 hunter-days during this period, only 13 (0.4%) resulted in a limit of birds. Three of these limits occurred in 1996 when the bag limit was reduced from 15 to 8 Montezuma quail

NUT Midline Carcinoma in a Pregnant Woman

NUT midline carcinoma is a rare, highly aggressive tumor that involves midline structures, particularly in the head, neck and mediastinum. It is characterized by NUT gene translocations on chromosome 15. It typically impacts teenagers or young adults, and has a fulminant course leading to death in less than a year in most cases despite aggressive chemoradiotherapy. Due to its location, this tumor is frequently considered inoperable. We present a case of a sinonasal NUT midline carcinoma with orbital invasion discovered during the workup of sinusitis in a young, pregnant woman. The tumor was managed with definitive excision to negative margins followed by aggressive chemoradiation, with no evidence of recurrence for 12 months. We propose that diagnosis of NUT midline carcinoma should prompt recognition of the limitations of current medical therapy and rapid surgical intervention should be undertaken when possible

Identifying the favored mutation in a positive selective sweep.

Most approaches that capture signatures of selective sweeps in population genomics data do not identify the specific mutation favored by selection. We present iSAFE (for "integrated selection of allele favored by evolution"), a method that enables researchers to accurately pinpoint the favored mutation in a large region (∼5 Mbp) by using a statistic derived solely from population genetics signals. iSAFE does not require knowledge of demography, the phenotype under selection, or functional annotations of mutations

Sentinel Surveillance: A Reliable Way To Track Antibiotic Resistance in Communities?

We used population-based data to evaluate how often groups of randomly selected clinical laboratories accurately estimated the prevalence of resistant pneumococci and captured trends in resistance over time. Surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease was conducted in eight states from 1996 to 1998. Within each surveillance area, we evaluated the proportion of all groups of three, four, and five laboratories that estimated the prevalence of penicillin-nonsusceptible pneumococci (%PNSP) and the change in %PNSP over time. We assessed whether sentinel groups detected emerging fluoroquinolone resistance. Groups of five performed best. Sentinel groups accurately predicted %PNSP in five states; states where they performed poorly had high between-laboratory variation in %PNSP. Sentinel groups detected large changes in prevalence of nonsusceptibility over time but rarely detected emerging fluoroquinolone resistance. Characteristics of hospital-affiliated laboratories were not useful predictors of a laboratory’s %PNSP. Sentinel surveillance for resistant pneumococci can detect important trends over time but rarely detects newly emerging resistance profiles

Free Tissue Transfer for Central Skull Base Defect Reconstruction: Case Series and Surgical Technique

Objectives: Local reconstruction of central skull base defects may be inadequate for large defects or reoperative cases; free tissue transfer may be necessary. Inset of the flap and management of the pedicle can be challenging. We report our experience and approach. Methods: Retrospective review identifying seven patients with central skull base defects who underwent free flap reconstruction from 2016-2020. Results: Four patients with recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma, one with recurrent craniopharyngioma, one with clival-cervical chordoma, and one with meningioma of the middle cranial fossa were analyzed. Six defects were closed with an anterolateral thigh free flap and one with a radial forearm free flap. In two patients, the flap was secured in an onlay fashion to the defect via a Caldwell-Luc transmaxillary approach. In one patient, the flap was passed transorally, and the pedicle was delivered into the neck via Penrose drain. In two patients, a parapharyngeal technique and in two others, a retropharyngeal was used for nasopharyngeal inset with endoscopic assistance. There were no flap failures, with an average follow-up time of 20.1 (range 3.2 - 47.1) months. One patient required flap repositioning on postoperative day three due to midline shift and intracranial contents compression. The transoral inset flap necessitated flap repositioning on postoperative day 13 to improve the nasopharyngeal airway. Conclusion: Free flap reconstruction of the central skull base is challenging, but transmaxillary, transoral, parapharyngeal, and retropharyngeal approaches can be used with endoscopic assistance to ensure secure inset flap and avoid airway obstruction

Reducing Legionella Colonization of Water Systems with Monochloramine

Monochloramine reduced colonization in building hot water systems

Recurrent Chromosomal Copy Number Alterations in Sporadic Chordomas

The molecular events in chordoma pathogenesis have not been fully delineated, particularly with respect to copy number changes. Understanding copy number alterations in chordoma may reveal critical disease mechanisms that could be exploited for tumor classification and therapy. We report the copy number analysis of 21 sporadic chordomas using array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Recurrent copy changes were further evaluated with immunohistochemistry, methylation specific PCR, and quantitative real-time PCR. Similar to previous findings, large copy number losses, involving chromosomes 1p, 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 18, were more common than copy number gains. Loss of CDKN2A with or without loss of CDKN2B on 9p21.3 was observed in 16/20 (80%) unique cases of which six (30%) showed homozygous deletions ranging from 76 kilobases to 4.7 megabases. One copy loss of the 10q23.31 region which encodes PTEN was found in 16/20 (80%) cases. Loss of CDKN2A and PTEN expression in the majority of cases was not attributed to promoter methylation. Our sporadic chordoma cases did not show hotspot point mutations in some common cancer gene targets. Moreover, most of these sporadic tumors are not associated with T (brachyury) duplication or amplification. Deficiency of CDKN2A and PTEN expression, although shared across many other different types of tumors, likely represents a key aspect of chordoma pathogenesis. Sporadic chordomas may rely on mechanisms other than copy number gain if they indeed exploit T/ brachyury for proliferation