Development of Open-Set Word Recognition in Children: Speech-Shaped Noise and Two-Talker Speech Maskers

The goal of this study was to establish the developmental trajectories for children’s open-set recognition of monosyllabic words in each of two maskers: two-talker speech and speech-shaped noise

Data Management Tools to Measure the Impact of Core Facilities

The Biomolecular Research Center at Boise State University is a research core facility that supports the study of biomolecules with an emphasis on protein structure and function, molecular interactions, and imaging. The mission of the core is to facilitate access to instrumentation that might otherwise be unavailable because of the cost, training for new users, and scientific staff with specialized skills to support early-stage investigators, as well as more established senior investigators. Data collection and management of users and their research output is essential to understand the impact of the center on the research environment and research productivity. However, challenges are often encountered when trying to fully quantify the impact of a core facility on the institution, as well as on the career success of individual investigators. This challenge can be exacerbated under the conditions of unprecedented growth in biomedical research and shared core facility use that has been experienced at Boise State University, an institution of emerging research excellence. Responding to these challenges required new approaches to information management, reporting, assessment, and evaluation. Our specific data management, evaluation, and assessment challenges included 1) collection and management of annual reporting information from investigators, staff, and students in a streamlined manner that did not lead to reporting fatigue; 2) application of software for analyzing synergy among programs’ management strategy and investigator success; and 3) consolidation of core facility management, billing, and reporting capabilities into 1 cohesive system. The data management tools adopted had a beneficial effect by saving time, reducing administrative burden, and streamlining reporting. Practices implemented for data management have facilitated effective evaluation and future program planning. The substantial burden of assessment requirements necessitates early consideration of a strategy for data management to allow assessment of impact

Peak positions and shapes in neutron pair correlation functions from powders of highly anisotropic crystals

The effect of the powder average on the peak shapes and positions in neutron pair distribution functions of polycrystalline materials is examined. It is shown that for highly anisotropic crystals, the powder average leads to shifts in peak positions and to non-Gaussian peak shapes. The peak shifts can be as large as several percent of the lattice spacing

Systemic chemokine levels, coronary heart disease, and ischemic stroke events: The PRIME Study

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the association between systemic levels of the chemokine regulated on activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES/CCL5), interferon-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10/CXCL10), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2), and eotaxin-1 (CCL11) with future coronary heart disease (CHD) and ischemic stroke events and to assess their usefulness for CHD and ischemic stroke risk prediction in the PRIME Study. METHODS: After 10 years of follow-up of 9,771 men, 2 nested case-control studies were built including 621 first CHD events and 1,242 matched controls and 95 first ischemic stroke events and 190 matched controls. Standardized hazard ratios (HRs) for each log-transformed chemokine were estimated by conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: None of the 4 chemokines were independent predictors of CHD, either with respect to stable angina or to acute coronary syndrome. Conversely, RANTES (HR = 1.70; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–2.74), IP-10 (HR = 1.53; 95% CI 1.06–2.20), and eotaxin-1 (HR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.02–2.46), but not MCP-1 (HR = 0.99; 95% CI 0.68–1.46), were associated with ischemic stroke independently of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, hs-CRP, and fibrinogen. When the first 3 chemokines were included in the same multivariate model, RANTES and IP-10 remained predictive of ischemic stroke. Their addition to a traditional risk factor model predicting ischemic stroke substantially improved the C-statistic from 0.6756 to 0.7425 (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: In asymptomatic men, higher systemic levels of RANTES and IP-10 are independent predictors of ischemic stroke but not of CHD events. RANTES and IP-10 may improve the accuracy of ischemic stroke risk prediction over traditional risk factors

Eliciting a predatory response in the eastern corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) using live and inanimate sensory stimuli: implications for managing invasive populations

North America's Eastern corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) has been introduced to several islands throughout the Caribbean and Australasia where it poses a significant threat to native wildlife. Invasive snake control programs often involve trapping with live bait, a practice that, as well as being costly and labour intensive, raises welfare and ethical concerns. This study assessed corn snake response to live and inanimate sensory stimuli in an attempt to inform possible future trapping of the species and the development of alternative trap lures. We exposed nine individuals to sensory cues in the form of odour, visual, vibration and combined stimuli and measured the response (rate of tongue-flick [RTF]). RTF was significantly higher in odour and combined cues treatments, and there was no significant difference in RTF between live and inanimate cues during odour treatments. Our findings suggest chemical cues are of primary importance in initiating predation and that an inanimate odour stimulus, absent of simultaneous visual and vibratory cues, is a potential low-cost alternative trap lure for the control of invasive corn snake populations

Lack of association between serological evidence of past Coxiella burnetii infection and incident ischaemic heart disease: nested case-control study

BACKGROUND: Coxiella burnetii causes the common worldwide zoonotic infection, Q fever. It has been previously suggested that patients who had recovered from acute Q fever (whether symptomatic or otherwise) may be at increased risk of ischaemic heart disease. We undertook this study to determine if past infection with Coxiella burnetii, the aetiological agent of Q fever, is a risk factor for the subsequent development of ischaemic heart disease. METHODS: A nested case-control study within the Prospective Epidemiological Study of Myocardial Infarction (PRIME). The PRIME study is a cohort study of 10,593 middle-aged men undertaken in France and Northern Ireland in the 1990s. A total of 335 incident cases of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) were identified and each case was matched to 2 IHD free controls. Q fever seropositivity was determined using a commercial IgG ELISA method. RESULTS: Seroprevalence of Q fever in the controls from Northern Ireland and France were 7.8% and 9.0% respectively. No association was seen between seropositivity and age, smoking, lipid levels, or inflammatory markers. The unadjusted odds ratio (95% CI) for Q fever seropositivity in cases compared to controls was 0.95 (0.59, 1.57). The relationship was substantially unaltered following adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors and potential confounders. CONCLUSION: Serological evidence of past infection with C. burnetii was not found to be associated with an increased risk of IHD

Restoring Rivers and Floodplains for Habitat and Flood Risk Reduction: Experiences in Multi-Benefit Floodplain Management From California and Germany

Conventional flood control has emphasized structural measures such as levees, reservoirs, and engineered channels—measures that typically simplify river channels and cut them off from their floodplain, both with adverse environmental consequences. Structural measures tend to be rigid and not easily adapted to increased flooding regimes resulting from environmental change. Such actions also limit the natural hydrologic benefits of floodplains such as storing floodwaters, improving water quality, providing habitat for invertebrates and fish during periods of inundation, and supporting a multitude of cultural services. As these benefits are more widely recognized, policies are being adopted to encourage projects that reduce flood risks and restore floodplain ecosystems, while acknowledging the social-ecological context. The number of such projects, however, remains small. We assessed four multi-benefit floodplain projects (two in California, United States, and two in Germany) and characterized their drivers, history, and measures implemented. In both United States cases, the dominant driver behind the project was flood risk reduction, and ecosystem restoration followed, in one case inadvertently, in the other as a requirement to receive a subsidy for a flood risk reduction project. One German case was motivated by ecosystem restoration, but it was more widely accepted because it also offered flood management benefits. The fourth case was conceived in terms of balanced goals of flood risk reduction, ecosystem restoration, and recreation. We conclude that projects that both reduce flood risk and restore ecosystems are clearly possible and often cost-effective, and that they could be more widely implemented. The principal barriers are often institutional and regulatory, rather than technical

Systematically missing confounders in individual participant data meta-analysis of observational cohort studies.

One difficulty in performing meta-analyses of observational cohort studies is that the availability of confounders may vary between cohorts, so that some cohorts provide fully adjusted analyses while others only provide partially adjusted analyses. Commonly, analyses of the association between an exposure and disease either are restricted to cohorts with full confounder information, or use all cohorts but do not fully adjust for confounding. We propose using a bivariate random-effects meta-analysis model to use information from all available cohorts while still adjusting for all the potential confounders. Our method uses both the fully adjusted and the partially adjusted estimated effects in the cohorts with full confounder information, together with an estimate of their within-cohort correlation. The method is applied to estimate the association between fibrinogen level and coronary heart disease incidence using data from 154,012 participants in 31 cohort

Troponin I and cardiovascular risk prediction in the general population: the BiomarCaRE consortium

Our aims were to evaluate the distribution of troponin I concentrations in population cohorts across Europe, to characterize the association with cardiovascular outcomes, to determine the predictive value beyond the variables used in the ESC SCORE, to test a potentially clinically relevant cut-off value, and to evaluate the improved eligibility for statin therapy based on elevated troponin I concentrations retrospectively