The Grizzly, February 14, 2008

Writer\u27s Strike May See a Silver Lining • Ellison Unveils Art Exhibit in Berman • Relief for Students? College Endowments Skyrocket • Ursinus Designs New Certificate for International Studies • Is Everybody Really Doing It? The Indictment of the Greek Community at Ursinus College Surprises Many • Ursinus Community Shares its Dirty Little Secrets • Focus the Nation and Environmentalism: No Longer Just for Hippies • UC Study Abroad Helpful Hints • Opinions: Lessons from Super Tuesday; Does The Times Need Bill Kristol?; Lessons from the Hormuz Strait • Ursinus Wrestlers Clinch Dual Meet • UC Indoor Track Teams Make Big Moves, Heat Up Competitionhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1755/thumbnail.jp

Effectiveness of an Inpatient Movement Disorders Program for Patients with Atypical Parkinsonism

This paper investigated the effectiveness of an inpatient movement disorders program for patients with atypical parkinsonism, who typically respond poorly to pharmacologic intervention and are challenging to rehabilitate as outpatients. Ninety-one patients with atypical parkinsonism participated in an inpatient movement disorders program. Patients received physical, occupational, and speech therapy for 3 hours/day, 5 to 7 days/week, and pharmacologic adjustments based on daily observation and data. Differences between admission and discharge scores were analyzed for the functional independence measure (FIM), timed up and go test (TUG), two-minute walk test (TMW), Berg balance scale (BBS) and finger tapping test (FT), and all showed significant improvement on discharge (P > .001). Clinically significant improvements in total FIM score were evident in 74% of the patients. Results were similar for ten patients whose medications were not adjusted. Patients with atypical parkinsonism benefit from an inpatient interdisciplinary movement disorders program to improve functional status

The Grizzly, April 3, 2008

Crude Awakening: Ways to Beat Surging Gas Pump Prices • Airband Turns 25 • Herpes Hindrance: Part Two • Literary Food Fest • Lou\u27s Too: The Charming Steak Shop • Fully Loaded EV Performance Attracts Full House • Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Goldsmith • Opinions: Fed Bailout? Fed, Butt Out!; Olympic Controversy • Men\u27s Lax Defeats McDaniel • Women\u27s Lax Shames McDanielhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1760/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, March 27, 2008

Escape Velocity Dance Troupe Gets Fully Loaded • Habitat for Humanity: Community Service with a Tan • Ways to Prepare for Fall Housing and Room Selection • Religion on Campus: Hillel, MSA, IV and More! • Herpes Hindrance: Part One • Fox and Hound Pub and Grill: Which One are You? • Ursinus Sororities Participate in Community Service • Scientific Look at the Truth is Beauty Equation • Quick Glance at Upcoming CAB and RHA Events • Myrin\u27s Edible Books Festival: Battle of the Most Literate Foods • Opinions: Pledge to Darfur; Vice Presidential Possibilities: Let\u27s Start the Speculation • A Magical Season • Bears Dominate ECAC Championships • Ursinus Tennis Teams Hope to Rack Up a Good Seasonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1759/thumbnail.jp

A Deep-Learning Algorithm to Predict Short-Term Progression to Geographic Atrophy on Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

IMPORTANCE: The identification of patients at risk of progressing from intermediate age-related macular degeneration (iAMD) to geographic atrophy (GA) is essential for clinical trials aimed at preventing disease progression. DeepGAze is a fully automated and accurate convolutional neural network-based deep learning algorithm for predicting progression from iAMD to GA within 1 year from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans. OBJECTIVE: To develop a deep-learning algorithm based on volumetric SD-OCT scans to predict the progression from iAMD to GA during the year following the scan. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective cohort study included participants with iAMD at baseline and who either progressed or did not progress to GA within the subsequent 13 months. Participants were included from centers in 4 US states. Data set 1 included patients from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 AREDS2 (Ancillary Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography) A2A study (July 2008 to August 2015). Data sets 2 and 3 included patients with imaging taken in routine clinical care at a tertiary referral center and associated satellites between January 2013 and January 2023. The stored imaging data were retrieved for the purpose of this study from July 1, 2022, to February 1, 2023. Data were analyzed from May 2021 to July 2023. EXPOSURE: A position-aware convolutional neural network with proactive pseudointervention was trained and cross-validated on Bioptigen SD-OCT volumes (data set 1) and validated on 2 external data sets comprising Heidelberg Spectralis SD-OCT scans (data sets 2 and 3). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Prediction of progression to GA within 13 months was evaluated with area under the receiver-operator characteristic curves (AUROC) as well as area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy. RESULTS: The study included a total of 417 patients: 316 in data set 1 (mean [SD] age, 74 [8]; 185 [59%] female), 53 in data set 2, (mean [SD] age, 83 [8]; 32 [60%] female), and 48 in data set 3 (mean [SD] age, 81 [8]; 32 [67%] female). The AUROC for prediction of progression from iAMD to GA within 1 year was 0.94 (95% CI, 0.92-0.95; AUPRC, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.85-0.95]; sensitivity, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.84-0.92]; specificity, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.87-0.92]) for data set 1. The addition of expert-annotated SD-OCT features to the model resulted in no improvement compared to the fully autonomous model (AUROC, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92-0.95; P = .19). On an independent validation data set (data set 2), the model predicted progression to GA with an AUROC of 0.94 (95% CI, 0.91-0.96; AUPRC, 0.92 [0.89-0.94]; sensitivity, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.74-0.98]; specificity, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.63-0.91]). At a high-specificity operating point, simulated clinical trial recruitment was enriched for patients progressing to GA within 1 year by 8.3- to 20.7-fold (data sets 2 and 3). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The fully automated, position-aware deep-learning algorithm assessed in this study successfully predicted progression from iAMD to GA over a clinically meaningful time frame. The ability to predict imminent GA progression could facilitate clinical trials aimed at preventing the condition and could guide clinical decision-making regarding screening frequency or treatment initiation

Free surface flows emerging from beneath a semi-infinite plate with constant vorticity

The free surface flow past a semi-infinite horizontal plate in a finite-depth fluid is considered. It is assumed that the fluid is incompressible and inviscid and that the flow approaches a uniform shear flow downstream. Exact relations are derived using conservation of mass and momentum for the case where the downstream free surface is flat. The complete nonlinear problem is solved numerically using a boundary integral method and these waveless solutions are shown to exist only when the height of the plate above the bottom is greater than the height of the uniform shear flow. Interesting results are found for various values of the constant vorticity. Solutions with downstream surface waves are also considered, and nonlinear results of this type are compared with linear results found previously. These solutions can be used to model the flow near the stern of a (two-dimensional) ship

Short Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index

BACKGROUND: Sleep duration may be an important regulator of body weight and metabolism. An association between short habitual sleep time and increased body mass index (BMI) has been reported in large population samples. The potential role of metabolic hormones in this association is unknown. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Study participants were 1,024 volunteers from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, a population-based longitudinal study of sleep disorders. Participants underwent nocturnal polysomnography and reported on their sleep habits through questionnaires and sleep diaries. Following polysomnography, morning, fasted blood samples were evaluated for serum leptin and ghrelin (two key opposing hormones in appetite regulation), adiponectin, insulin, glucose, and lipid profile. Relationships among these measures, BMI, and sleep duration (habitual and immediately prior to blood sampling) were examined using multiple variable regressions with control for confounding factors. A U-shaped curvilinear association between sleep duration and BMI was observed. In persons sleeping less than 8 h (74.4% of the sample), increased BMI was proportional to decreased sleep. Short sleep was associated with low leptin (p for slope = 0.01), with a predicted 15.5% lower leptin for habitual sleep of 5 h versus 8 h, and high ghrelin (p for slope = 0.008), with a predicted 14.9% higher ghrelin for nocturnal (polysomnographic) sleep of 5 h versus 8 h, independent of BMI. CONCLUSION: Participants with short sleep had reduced leptin and elevated ghrelin. These differences in leptin and ghrelin are likely to increase appetite, possibly explaining the increased BMI observed with short sleep duration. In Western societies, where chronic sleep restriction is common and food is widely available, changes in appetite regulatory hormones with sleep curtailment may contribute to obesity

Microscopic Investigation of Reversible Nanoscale Surface Size Dependent Protein Conjugation

Aβ1–40 coated 20 nm gold colloidal nanoparticles exhibit a reversible color change as pH is externally altered between pH 4 and 10. This reversible process may contain important information on the initial reversible step reported for the fibrillogenesis of Aβ (a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease). We examined this reversible color change by microscopic investigations. AFM images on graphite surfaces revealed the morphology of Aβ aggregates with gold colloids. TEM images clearly demonstrate the correspondence between spectroscopic features and conformational changes of the gold colloid