The roles of encoding and retrieval processes in associative and categorical memory illusions

Four experiments investigated the origin of associative and categorical memory illusions by comparing the effects of study and test associations on Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) and categorized lists. Experiments 1 and 2 found that levels of false recognition with both list types were increased by manipulations that facilitated the generation of associates at study (blocked presentation of study lists and explicit instructions to generate associates of studied items). Experiments 3 and 4 showed that manipulations designed to increase test associations (test-induced priming and part-set cuing) did not increase levels of false memory with either list type. These findings indicate that false memories produced by both DRM and categorized lists are influenced by associations activated at study but not by associations activated at test

Creating Prognostic Systems for Well-Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Using Machine Learning

Updates to staging models are needed to reflect a greater understanding of tumor behavior and clinical outcomes for well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas. We used a machine learning algorithm and disease-specific survival data of differentiated thyroid carcinoma from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program of the National Cancer Institute to integrate clinical factors to improve prognostic accuracy. The concordance statistic (C-index) was used to cut dendrograms resulting from the learning process to generate prognostic groups. We created one computational prognostic model (7 prognostic groups with C-index = 0.8583) based on tumor size (T), regional lymph nodes (N), status of distant metastasis (M), and age to mirror the contemporary American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system (C-index = 0.8387). We showed that adding histologic type (papillary and follicular) improved the survival prediction of the model. We also showed that 55 is the best cutoff of age in the model, consistent with the changes from the most recent 8th edition staging manual from AJCC. The demonstrated approach has the potential to create prognostic systems permitting data driven and real time analysis that can aid decision-making in patient management and prognostication

Population modelling and genetics of a critically endangered Madagascan palm Tahina spectabilis.

Madagascar is home to 208 indigenous palm species, almost all of them endemic and >80% of which are endangered. We undertook complete population census and sampling for genetic analysis of a relatively recently discovered giant fan palm, the Critically Endangered Tahina spectablis in 2008 and 2016. Our 2016 study included newly discovered populations and added to our genetic study. We incorporated these new populations into species distribution niche model (SDM) and projected these onto maps of the region. We developed population matrix models based on observed demographic data to model population change and predict the species vulnerability to extinction by undertaking population viability analysis (PVA). We investigated the potential conservation value of reintroduced planted populations within the species potential suitable habitat. We found that the population studied in 2008 had grown in size due to seedling regeneration but had declined in the number of reproductively mature plants, and we were able to estimate that the species reproduces and dies after approximately 70 years. Our models suggest that if the habitat where it resides continues to be protected the species is unlikely to go extinct due to inherent population decline and that it will likely experience significant population growth after approximately 80 years due to the reproductive and life cycle attributes of the species. The newly discovered populations contain more genetic diversity than the first discovered southern population which is genetically depauperate. The species appears to demonstrate a pattern of dispersal leading to isolated founder plants which may eventually lead to population development depending on local establishment opportunities. The conservation efforts currently put in place including the reintroduction of plants within the species potential suitable habitat if maintained are thought likely to enable the species to sustain itself but it remains vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts

Boronate ester cross-linked PVA hydrogels for the capture and H2O2-mediated release of active fluorophores

A new set of PVA hydrogels were formed using the boronate ester fluorescent probe, PF1 and the novel boronate fluorescent probe PT1 as the covalent crosslinkers. Treatment with aqueous H2O2 allowed triggered release of the fluorescent dye accompanied by complete dissolution of the hydroge

Poor access to kidney disease management services in susceptible patient populations in rural Australia is associated with increased aeromedical retrievals for acute renal care

Background Inequalities in access to renal services and acute care for rural and remote populations in Australia have been described but not quantified. Aim To describe: the coverage of renal disease management services in rural and remote Australia; and the characteristics of patients who had an aeromedical retrieval for renal disease by Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Methods Data from the RFDS, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and Health Direct were used to estimate provision of renal disease management services by geographic area. RFDS patient diagnostic data were prospectively collected from 2014 to 2018. Results Many rural and remote areas have limited access to regular renal disease management services. Most RFDS retrievals for renal disease are from regions without such services. The RFDS conducted 1636 aeromedical retrievals for renal disease, which represented 1.6% of all retrievals. Among retrieved patients, there was a higher proportion of men than women (54.6% vs 45.4%, P < 0.01), while indigenous patients (n = 546, 33.4%) were significantly younger than non‐indigenous patients (40.9 vs 58.5, P < 0.01). There were significant differences in underlying diagnoses triggering retrievals between genders, with males being more likely than females to be transferred with acute renal failure, calculus of the kidney and ureter, renal colic, obstructive uropathy, and kidney failure (all P < 0.01). Conversely, females were more likely to have chronic kidney disease, disorders of the urinary system, acute nephritic syndrome, tubulo‐interstitial nephritis, and nephrotic syndrome (all P < 0.01). Conclusion Aeromedical retrievals for acute care were from rural areas without regular access to renal disease prevention or management services

Between Metropole and Province: circulating botany in British museums, 1870–1940

Exchange of duplicate specimens was an important element of the relationship between metropolitan and regional museums in the period 1870–1940. Evidence of transfers of botanical museum objects such as economic botany specimens is explored for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and six museums outside the capital: Cambridge University Botanical Museum, National Museum Wales, Glasgow Museums, Liverpool World Museum, Manchester Museum and Warrington Museum. Botany became an important element in these museums soon after their foundation, sometimes relying heavily on Kew material as in the case of Glasgow and Warrington, and usually with a strong element of economic botany (except in the case of Cambridge). Patterns of exchange depended on personal connections and rarely took the form of symmetrical relationships. Botanical displays declined in importance at various points between the 1920s and 1960s, and today only Warrington Museum has a botanical gallery open to the public. However, botanical objects are finding new roles in displays on subjects such as local history, history of collections, natural history and migration

Rural and remote dental care: Patient characteristics and health care provision

Objective: To describe the characteristics of patients who used the Royal Flying Doctor Service dental clinics and determine Royal Flying Doctor Service and nonRoyal Flying Doctor Service dental service provision in mainland Australia. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: All Royal Flying Doctor Service dental clinics located throughout rural and remote Australia. Participants: All patients who accessed an Royal Flying Doctor Service dental clinic from April 2017 to September 2018. Interventions: Royal Flying Doctor Service mobile dental clinics. Main outcome measures: Patient demographics and dental procedures conducted (by age, sex and Indigenous status); and the dental service provision and coverage (Royal Flying Doctor Service and non-Royal Flying Doctor Service) within mainland rural and remote Australia. Results: There were 8992 patient episodes comprising 3407 individual patients with 27 897 services completed. There were 920 (27%) Indigenous and 1465 (43%) nonIndigenous patients (n = 1022 missing ethnicity data). The mean (SD) age was 31.5 (24.8) years; the age groups 5-9 years and 10-14 years received 17.6% and 15.1% of the services, respectively. There were 1124 (33%) men and 1295 (38%) women (n = 988 with missing sex data). Women were more likely (all P < .05) to receive preventive services, diagnostic services, restorative services, general services, endodontics and periodontics. Men were more likely (both P < .05) to receive oral surgery and prosthodontics. There are many rural and remote people required to travel more than 60 minutes by vehicle to access dental care. Conclusion: Without increasing dental provision and preventive services in rural areas, it seems likely that there are and will be unnecessary oral emergencies and hospitalisations

Ecological Invasion, Roughened Fronts, and a Competitor's Extreme Advance: Integrating Stochastic Spatial-Growth Models

Both community ecology and conservation biology seek further understanding of factors governing the advance of an invasive species. We model biological invasion as an individual-based, stochastic process on a two-dimensional landscape. An ecologically superior invader and a resident species compete for space preemptively. Our general model includes the basic contact process and a variant of the Eden model as special cases. We employ the concept of a "roughened" front to quantify effects of discreteness and stochasticity on invasion; we emphasize the probability distribution of the front-runner's relative position. That is, we analyze the location of the most advanced invader as the extreme deviation about the front's mean position. We find that a class of models with different assumptions about neighborhood interactions exhibit universal characteristics. That is, key features of the invasion dynamics span a class of models, independently of locally detailed demographic rules. Our results integrate theories of invasive spatial growth and generate novel hypotheses linking habitat or landscape size (length of the invading front) to invasion velocity, and to the relative position of the most advanced invader.Comment: The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com/content/8528v8563r7u2742