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Although commercial polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) production was banned in 1979 under the Toxics Substance Control Act, inadvertent generation of PCBs through a variety of chemical production processes continues to contaminate products and waste streams. In this research, a total of 39 consumer products purchased from local and online retailer stores were analyzed for 209 PCB congeners. Inadvertent PCBs (iPCBs) were detected from seven products, and PCB-11 was the only congener detected in most of the samples, with a maximum concentration exceeding 800 ng/g. Emission of PCB-11 to air was studied from one craft foam sheet product using dynamic microchambers at 40 °C for about 120 days. PCB-11 migration from the product to house dust was also investigated. The IAQX program was then employed to estimate the emissions of PCB-11 from 10 craft foam sheets to indoor air in a 30 m

Purpose: The TP53 tumor suppressor is frequently mutated in colon cancer, but the influence of such mutations on survival remains controversial. We investigated whether mutations in the DNA-binding domain of TP53 are associated with survival in stage III colon cancer.Experimental Design: The impact of TP53 genotype was prospectively evaluated in Cancer and Leukemia Group B 89803, a trial that randomized stage III colon cancer patients to receive adjuvant 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5FU/LV) or 5FU/LV with irinotecan (IFL).Results:TP53 mutations were identified in 274 of 607 cases. The presence of any TP53 mutation did not predict disease-free survival (DFS) or overall survival with either adjuvant regimen when men and women were considered together or as separate groups. However, outcome differences among women became apparent when tumor TP53 genotype was stratified as wild-type versus zinc- or non-zinc-binding mutations in the TP53 DNA-binding domain. DFS at 5 years was 0.59, 0.52, and 0.78 for women with TP53 wild-type tumors, and tumors with zinc- or non-zinc-binding mutations, respectively. Survival at 5 years for these same women was 0.72, 0.59, and 0.90, respectively. No differences in survival by TP53 genotype were observed in men.Conclusions: The presence of any TP53 mutation within the DNA-binding domain did not predict survival in stage III colon cancer. However, TP53 genotype was predictive of survival in women following adjuvant therapy. Future colon cancer therapeutic trials, with inclusion of correlative molecular markers, should be designed to permit evaluation of survival and/or response to treatment in women separately from men. Clin Cancer Res; 19(20); 5777–87. ©2013 AACR.

Supplementary Figures - PDF file 341K, Figure S1. CALGB 89803 Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) diagram. Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 89803 conducted a randomized trial of adjuvant therapy in patients with stage III colorectal cancers. The trial included prospective determination of the relationship between tumor TP53 mutational status, gender, and treatment outcome as a secondary study end point. CPT-11, irinotecan; FU, fluorouracil; LV, leucovorin. Figure S2. Kaplan-Meier estimates of disease-free survival related to TP53 status for men and women in CALGB 89803. A. DFS in the presence or absence of any TP53 mutation showed no differences among women (P = 0.16). B. Similarly, DFS in the presence or absence of any TP53 mutation showed no differences among men (P = 0.16). WT = wild type TP53; Mutant = any TP53 mutation in exons 5-8). Corresponding 5 year survival estimates are in Table 2, Rows 5 and 6. Figure S3. Kaplan-Meier estimates of disease-free survival related to TP53 status among men in CALGB 89803. Men whose tumors harbored wild-type (WT) TP53, or tumors with mutations in the zinc-binding (ZB) or non-zinc binding (NZB) domains of TP53 were treated with 5FU/LV (Figure S3A) or IFL (Figure S3B). No differences in survival according to TP53 genotype were observed among men treated with 5FU/LV (P = 0.65) or IFL, P = 0.14. Corresponding 5 year survival estimates are in Table 2, Rows 16-17. Figure S4. Kaplan-Meier estimates of disease-free survival related to TP53 status among women in CALGB 89803. Women whose tumors harbored wild-type TP53, or tumors with mutations in the zinc-binding (ZB) or non-zinc binding (NZB) domains of TP53 were treated with 5FU/LV or IFL. (A) Women with TP53 WT tumors experienced a statistically similar outcome on either treatment arm (P = 0.35. (B) Women whose tumors harbored ZB mutations may have benefited marginally from IFL as compared to 5FU/LV (P = 0.10). (C) Women whose tumors harbored NZB mutations experienced a trend toward better survival with 5FU/LV compared to IFL (P = 0.08)

Supplementary Information - PDF file 170K, methods for sequencing of TP53; ii) Table S1 giving the clinical and pathologic features of all patients enrolled in CALGB 89803 and the subset of patients in the current study as a function of TP53 genotype; iii) Table S2 giving the results of an exploratory analysis of DFS and OS as a function of treatment arm, TP53 genotype and gender; iv) Table S3 showing results of a multivariable analysis for DFS and OS with the following variables retained from a univariate analysis: sex,TP53 genotype, sex by TP53 genotype interaction, as well as pathologic variables; v) Supplementary Figure Legends

Diagnostic tools for voice disorders are lacking for primary care physicians. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may add to the armamentarium for physicians, decreasing the time to diagnosis and limiting the burden of dysphonia.Voice recordings of patients were collected from 2019 to 2021 using smartphones. The Saarbruecken dataset was included for comparison. Audio files were converted to mel-spectrograms using TensorFlow. Diagnostic categories were created to group pathology, including neurological and muscular disorders, inflammatory, mass lesions, and normal. The samples were further separated into sustained/a/and the rainbow passage.Two hundred three prospective samples and 1131 samples were used from the Saarbruecken database. The AI detected abnormal pathology with an F1-score of 98%. The artificial neural network (ANN) differentiated key pathologies, including unilateral paralysis, laryngitis, adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD), mass lesions, and normal samples with 39%-87% F-1 scores. The Calgary database models had higher F-1 scores in a head-to-head comparison to the Saarbruecken and combined datasets (87% vs. 58% and 50%). The AI outperformed otolaryngologists using a standardized test set of recordings (83% compared to 55% ± 15%).An AI tool was created to differentiate pathology by individual or categorical diagnosis with high evaluation metrics. Prospective data should be collected in a controlled fashion to reduce intrinsic variability between recordings. Multi-center data collaborations are imperative to increase the prediction capability of AI tools for detecting vocal cord pathology. We provide proof-of-concept for an AI tool to assist primary care physicians in managing dysphonic patients.3 Laryngoscope, 2022.

In 2008, Michigan State University was selected to establish the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). Construction of the FRIB accelerator was completed in January 2022. Phased accelerator commissioning with heavy ion beams started in 2017 with the normal-conducting ion source and radio-frequency quadrupole. In April 2021, the full FRIB driver linear accelerator (linac) was commissioned, with heavy ion beams accelerated to energies above 200 MeV/nucleon by 324 superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) resonators operating at 2 K and 4 K with liquid-helium cooling. In preparation for high-power operation, a liquid lithium charge stripper was commissioned with heavy ion beams up to uranium-238, followed by the simultaneous acceleration of multiple-charge-state heavy ion beams to energies above 200 MeV/nucleon. In December 2021, selenium-84 was produced with the FRIB target using a krypton-86 primary beam, demonstrating FRIB’s capability for scientific discovery.

Ground control failures continue to be one of the leading causes of injuries and fatalities in underground coal mining. The roof, rib, floor, and pillars are four areas of potential ground failures that miners, engineers, and consultants are continually evaluating. Quite often, these four underground structures are evaluated independently. A recent push to consider them as a system and in a similar manner as design engineers evaluate mechanical systems has highlighted the need to fully understand the interrelationship among the roof, rib, floor, and pillar. This relationship combines the geometry of the mine layout, geological environment, installed support, and even the timing of the coal extraction. Several studies using field observations and instrumentation show that these relationships can be independent at times, while being dependent in other scenarios. Cases with good roof conditions while the rib and floor deteriorate are contrasted with cases where the roof, rib, and floor deteriorate at the same time. The presented cases in this study demonstrate the importance of understanding the geological environment and mine design to ensure that the proper support is installed.

Background Trainees in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery must gain proficiency in a variety of challenging temporal bone surgical techniques. Traditional teaching has relied on the use of cadavers; however, this method is resource-intensive and does not allow for repeated practice. Virtual reality surgical training is a growing field that is increasingly being adopted in Otolaryngology. CardinalSim is a virtual reality temporal bone surgical simulator that offers a high-quality, inexpensive adjunct to traditional teaching methods. The objective of this study was to establish the face and content validity of CardinalSim through a national study. Methods Otolaryngologists and resident trainees from across Canada were recruited to evaluate CardinalSim. Ethics approval and informed consent was obtained. A face and content validity questionnaire with questions categorized into 13 domains was distributed to participants following simulator use. Descriptive statistics were used to describe questionnaire results, and either Chi-square or Fishers exact tests were used to compare responses between junior residents, senior residents, and practising surgeons. Results Sixty-two participants from thirteen different Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery programs were included in the study (32 practicing surgeons; 30 resident trainees). Face validity was achieved for 5 out of 7 domains, while content validity was achieved for 5 out of 6 domains. Significant differences between groups (p-value of p = 0.002) and two content validity domains (teaching drilling technique, p = 0.011 and overall teaching utility, p = 0.006). The assessment scores, global rating scores, and overall attitudes towards CardinalSim, were universally positive. Open-ended questions identified limitations of the simulator. Conclusion CardinalSim met acceptable criteria for face and content validity. This temporal bone virtual reality surgical simulation platform may enhance surgical training and be suitable for patient-specific surgical rehearsal for practicing Otolaryngologists.

The article reviews progress made in psychology toward defining the parameters of what Maslow called the “Good Person.” The article concludes that considerable empirical support has been found for the character traits Maslow associated with self-actualization. That is, the fundamental description of the “Good Person” has not changed significantly since Maslow’s original work with two exceptions. One, there is now considerable research on self-transcendence and transpersonal states. Two, cross-cultural research has shown that Maslow’s description of self-actualizing people was more dependent on social, historical, and cultural norms that he was aware of. These lines of research significantly expand Maslow’s thinking about the parameters of the “Good Person.”

"African American Children" examines social, health, and interpersonal factors as they relate to cognitive and psychological functioning in a sample of formerly homeless African American children ages three to six. Using an ecological model, the interplay between individual, family, and environmental factors is emphasized. Implications for social policy based on the significant findings of this study include early intervention and prevention programs to assist low-income mothers with psychological support, early prenatal care, drug treatment, and services to escape and recover from domestic violence. Tables. Bibliography. Appendices. Index.