Characterizing breast cancer response to neoadjuvant therapy based on biophysical modeling and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging data.

Personalized medicine efforts are focused on identifying biomarkers to guide individualizing neoadjuvant therapy regimens. In this work, we aim to validate a previously developed image data-driven mathematical modeling approach for dynamic characterization of breast cancer response to neoadjuvant therapy using a large, multi-site cohort. We retrospectively analyzed patients enrolled in the BMMR2 ACRIN 6698 subset at 10 institutions. Patients enrolled received four MRI examinations during neoadjuvant therapy with acquisitions at baseline (T 0 ), 3-weeks/early-treatment (T 1 ), 12-weeks/mid-treatment (T 2 ), and completion of therapy prior to surgery (T 3 ). A biophysical mathematical model of tumor growth is used extract metrics to characterize the dynamics of treatment response. Using predicted response at therapy conclusion and histogram summary metrics to quantify estimated tumor proliferation maps, we found univariate model-based metrics able to predict pathological response, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) ranging from 0.58 and 0.69 analyzing between T 0 and T 1 , and AUCs ranging from 0.72-0.76 analyzing between T 0 and T 2 . For hormone receptor (HR)-negative, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer patients our model-based metrics achieved an AUC of 0.9 analyzing between T 0 and T 1 and AUC of 1.0 analyzing between T 0 and T 2 . This data shows the significant promise in developing these imaging-based biophysical mathematical modeling methods of dynamic characterization into a clinical decision support tool for individualizing treatment regimens based on patient-specific response.

A warm jet in a cold ocean.

Unprecedented quantities of heat are entering the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait, particularly during summer months. Though some heat is lost to the atmosphere during autumn cooling, a significant fraction of the incoming warm, salty water subducts (dives beneath) below a cooler fresher layer of near-surface water, subsequently extending hundreds of kilometers into the Beaufort Gyre. Upward turbulent mixing of these sub-surface pockets of heat is likely accelerating sea ice melt in the region. This Pacific-origin water brings both heat and unique biogeochemical properties, contributing to a changing Arctic ecosystem. However, our ability to understand or forecast the role of this incoming water mass has been hampered by lack of understanding of the physical processes controlling subduction and evolution of this this warm water. Crucially, the processes seen here occur at small horizontal scales not resolved by regional forecast models or climate simulations; new parameterizations must be developed that accurately represent the physics. Here we present novel high resolution observations showing the detailed process of subduction and initial evolution of warm Pacific-origin water in the southern Beaufort Gyre.

Longitudinal changes in blood-based biomarkers in chronic moderate to severe traumatic brain injury: preliminary findings.

Objectives: This longitudinal study aims at 1) providing preliminary evidence of changes in blood-based biomarkers across time in chronic TBI and 2) relating these changes to outcome measures and cerebral structure and activity.Methods: Eight patients with moderate-to-severe TBI (7 males, 35 ± 7.6 years old, 5 severe TBI, 17.52 ± 3.84 months post-injury) were evaluated at monthly intervals across 6 time-points using: a) Blood-based biomarkers (GFAP, NSE, S100A12, SDBP145, UCH-L1, T-tau, P-tau, P-tau/T-tau ratio); b) Magnetic Resonance Imaging to evaluate changes in brain structure; c) Resting-state electroencephalograms to evaluate changes in brain function; and d) Outcome measures to assess cognition, emotion, and functional recovery (MOCA, RBANS, BDI-II, and DRS).Results: Changes in P-tau levels were found across time [p = .007]. P-tau was positively related to functional [p < .001] and cognitive [p = .006] outcomes, and negatively related to the severity of depression, 6 months later [R = -0.901; p =.006]. P-tau and P-tau/T-tau ratio were also positively correlated to shape change in subcortical areas such as brainstem [T(7) = 4.71, p = .008] and putamen [T(7) = 3.25, p = .012].Conclusions: Our study provides preliminary findings that suggest a positive relationship between P-tau and the recovery of patients with chronic TBI.

How Do Perceptions of Importance Support From a Reading Intervention Affect Students' Motivation, Engagement, and Comprehension?

Interventions can enhance students' motivation for reading, but few researchers have assessed the effects of the specific motivation-enhancing practices that comprise these interventions. Even fewer have evaluated how students' perceptions of different intervention practices impact their later motivation and academic outcomes. In this study, we utilized data from a study of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction, a program designed to enhance seventh-grade students' reading comprehension and motivation. We examined the effects of students perceiving one practice from this intervention, emphasizing the importance of reading, which was designed to enhance their task values for reading (Eccles-Parsons et al, 1983). Unexpectedly, structural equation modeling analyses showed that students' perceptions of importance support predicted their later competence-related beliefs, but not their task values. Students' competence-related beliefs predicted their reading comprehension and behavioral engagement, whereas students' task values predicted reading engagement. However, there were no significant indirect effects of perceiving importance support on students' reading outcomes.

Greater role for Atlantic inflows on sea-ice loss in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean.

Arctic sea-ice loss is a leading indicator of climate change and can be attributed, in large part, to atmospheric forcing. Here, we show that recent ice reductions, weakening of the halocline, and shoaling of the intermediate-depth Atlantic Water layer in the eastern Eurasian Basin have increased winter ventilation in the ocean interior, making this region structurally similar to that of the western Eurasian Basin. The associated enhanced release of oceanic heat has reduced winter sea-ice formation at a rate now comparable to losses from atmospheric thermodynamic forcing, thus explaining the recent reduction in sea-ice cover in the eastern Eurasian Basin. This encroaching "atlantification" of the Eurasian Basin represents an essential step toward a new Arctic climate state, with a substantially greater role for Atlantic inflows.

A qualitative analysis of New Zealand retailers' responses to standardised packaging legislation and tobacco industry opposition.

OBJECTIVES: Many of the approximately 8000 New Zealand retailers selling tobacco are small stores that tobacco companies have represented as victims of policy measures designed to reduce smoking. Despite this depiction, many retailers experience considerable ambivalence in selling tobacco, a product they know harms their customers. We explored how retailers perceived the proposed introduction of standardised (or 'plain') packaging and their assessment of arguments made by tobacco companies in submissions on proposed standardised packaging legislation. PARTICIPANTS: Using qualitative in-depth interviews, we recruited and interviewed 23 retailers of dairies (small convenience stores), small supermarkets, and service stations. ANALYSES: Data were analysed using a protocol-driven approach; this stance enabled direct analysis of tobacco companies' arguments, particularly those purporting to represent retailers' concerns. RESULTS: Retailers were concerned about the financial implications of standardised packaging and the effects it may have on their ability to provide rapid and efficient customer service. However, few thought standardised packaging would foster illicit trade or spawn further regulation; most placed public health goals ahead of tobacco companies' 'rights', and many supported government intervention to protect population health. CONCLUSIONS: Retailers held ambivalent views on standardised packaging; while they were concerned about short-term effects on their business, they recognised the harm smoking causes. Policymakers and health researchers could collaborate more effectively with retailers by assisting them to create financially viable roles more compatible with public health objectives.

Comparing Relations of Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement among Struggling and Advanced Adolescent Readers.

This longitudinal study examined the development of reading motivation, engagement, and achievement in early adolescence by comparing interrelations of these variables in struggling and advanced readers. Participants were 183 pairs of seventh grade students matched in gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and school attended. They completed measures of reading motivations, engagement and comprehension for information text as well as measures of general reading comprehension and reading fluency twice during the school year. Advanced readers showed stronger relations of motivation and engagement with achievement than struggling readers. However, motivation predicted concurrent engagement and growth in engagement similarly for struggling and advanced readers. These results are interpreted as support for the hypothesis that cognitive challenges limit the relations of motivation and engagement to achievement for struggling readers. The discussion also considers the impact of the focus on the information text genre on the relations observed and implications of the findings for achievement motivation theories.

Effects of Classroom Practices on Reading Comprehension, Engagement, and Motivations for Adolescents.

We investigated the roles of classroom supports for multiple motivations and engagement in students' informational text comprehension, motivation, and engagement. A composite of classroom contextual variables consisting of instructional support for choice, importance, collaboration, and competence, accompanied by cognitive scaffolding for informational text comprehension, was provided in four-week instructional units for 615 grade 7 students. These classroom motivational-engagement supports were implemented within integrated literacy/history instruction in the Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) framework. CORI increased informational text comprehension compared with traditional instruction (TI) in a switching replications experimental design. Students' perceptions of the motivational-engagement supports were associated with increases in students' intrinsic motivation, value, perceived competence, and increased positive engagement (dedication) more markedly in CORI than in TI, according to multiple regression analyses. Results extended the evidence for the effectiveness of CORI to literacy/history subject matter and informational text comprehension among middle school students. The experimental effects in classroom contexts confirmed effects from task-specific, situated experimental studies in the literature.

Modeling the Relationships Among Reading Instruction, Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement for Adolescents.

This study modeled the interrelationships of reading instruction, motivation, engagement, and achievement in two contexts, employing data from 1,159 seventh graders. In the traditional reading/language arts (R/LA) context, all students participated in traditional R/LA instruction. In the intervention R/LA context, 854 students from the full sample received Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) while the remainder continued to receive traditional R/LA. CORI emphasizes support for reading motivation, reading engagement, and cognitive strategies for reading informational text. Seven motivation constructs were included: four motivations that are usually positively associated with achievement (intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, valuing, and prosocial goals) and three motivations that are usually negatively associated with achievement (perceived difficulty, devaluing, and antisocial goals). Reading engagement was also represented by positive and negative constructs, namely dedication to and avoidance of reading. Gender, ethnicity, and income were statistically controlled in all analyses. In the traditional R/LA context, a total network model prevailed, in which motivation was associated with achievement both directly and indirectly through engagement. In contrast, in the intervention R/LA context, a dual-effects model prevailed, in which engagement and achievement were separate outcomes of instruction and motivation. The intervention R/LA context analyses revealed that CORI was associated with positive changes in motivation, engagement, and achievement relative to traditional R/LA instruction. The discussion explains why there were different relations in the two instructional contexts and demonstrates the importance of simultaneously examining both positive (affirming) and negative (undermining) forms of motivation and engagement.

Profiles of Motivation for Reading Among African American and Caucasian Students.

Previous research has investigated motivations for reading by examining positive, or affirming, motivations including intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. Related to them, we examined two negative, or undermining, motivations consisting of avoidance and perceived difficulty. We proposed that the motivations of intrinsic motivation and avoidance are relatively independent, and thus, can be combined to form meaningful profiles consisting of: avid, ambivalent, apathetic, and averse readers. With Grade 5 students we found that these motivations were relatively independent for both Caucasian and African American students. The two motivations uniquely explained a significant proportion of variance in reading comprehension and other cognitive reading variables. Although intrinsic motivation was stronger for Caucasians, avoidance was stronger for African Americans. The profile of the African American students contained higher proportions of averse and ambivalent readers than the Caucasian profile. The profile of avid readers showed higher reading achievement than the other profiles.

Impacts of comprehensive reading instruction on diverse outcomes of low- and high-achieving readers.

Low-achieving readers in Grade 5 often lack comprehension strategies, domain knowledge, word recognition skills, fluency, and motivation to read. Students with such multiple reading needs seem likely to benefit from instruction that supports each of these reading processes. The authors tested this expectation experimentally by comparing the effects of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) with traditional instruction (TI) on several outcomes in a 12-week intervention for low achievers and high achievers. Low achievers in the CORI group were afforded explicit instruction, leveled texts, and motivation support. Compared with TI students, CORI students scored higher on posttest measures of word recognition speed, reading comprehension on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, and ecological knowledge. CORI was equally effective for lower achievers and higher achievers. Explicitly supporting multiple aspects of reading simultaneously appeared to benefit diverse learners on a range of reading outcomes.

Improving learning outcomes: integration of standardized patients & telemedicine technology.

Innovative use of standardized patients (SPs) in a telemedicine environment can improve learning outcomes and clinical competencies. This randomized, cross-over study examined the relationship of technology-based strategies and the improvement of knowledge outcomes and competencies. Results showed that the innovative use of SPs and telemedicine, compared to a traditional distance learning teaching methodology, significantly improved learning outcomes. In addition, there was a significant increase in performance motivation and an interesting decrease in student satisfaction that may be linked to the pressure of performance-based learning. This article addresses knowledge improvement only.

Motivational and Cognitive Contributions to Students' Amount of Reading.

The amount that students read for enjoyment and for school is a major contributor to students' reading achievement and knowledge of the world. Consequently, it is important to identify the factors that predict amount of reading. A literature review revealed that motivation, strategy-use, and past reading achievement all may be expected to predict reading amount. To examine these variables, a total of 251 students in Grades 3 and 5 was administered questionnaires of these constructs and a reading test. Results showed that amount of reading for enjoyment was predicted most highly by motivation, when all other variables were controlled statistically in multiple-regression analyses. In contrast, amount of reading for school was predicted most highly by strategy use, when all other variables were controlled. However, these predictions were different for students in Grades 3 and 5. Findings of the study indicate that amount of reading is multiply determined by cognitive and motivational constructs, which is consistent with an engagement perspective on reading development. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Use of Petrifilm™ 3M to Assess Coliform Numbers on Lamb Carcasses.

Petrifilm™ (6410) was used directly on lamb carcasses to enumerate coliforms. Ten sampling locations (sites) on 30 carcasses were sampled at each of four separate meat processing establishments (works). The coliform counts obtained by this technique were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) to select the optimum sampling sites on the carcass and to assess the contamination of the carcass by gut flora at a particular establishment. There was a large variation between sites and between works. In general, works 3 and 4 produced cleaner carcasses than works 2, which in turn was cleaner than works 1. Since works 1, 2 and 4 used conventional dressing techniques and works 3 used the inverted dressing method, the coliform counts found at works 3 and 4 are achievable regardless of dressing technique. The coliform bacteria were most concentrated around the posterior pelvic rim and least prevalent at the carcass extremities. The posterior pelvic rim (sites 3 and 4) had higher (P<0.05) coliform counts than the exterior ventral flank area (sites 5, 6, 7 and 8), which in turn had higher (P<0.05) counts than the proximal hind and proximal fore limbs (sites 1, 2, 9 and 10) across all works. With in-line routine testing it is recommended that the majority of carcasses sampled should give coliform counts of less than 50 colony forming units (CFU)/20 cm2 for sites 4 and 8.