"David C. Miller"

In the Arctic Ocean's southern Beaufort Sea (SB), the length of the sea ice melt season (i.e., period between the onset of sea ice break-up in summer and freeze-up in fall) has increased substantially since the late 1990s. Historically, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the SB have mostly remained on the sea ice year-round (except for those that came ashore to den), but recent changes in the extent and phenology of sea ice habitat have coincided with evidence that use of terrestrial habitat is increasing. We characterized the spatial behavior of polar bears spending summer and fall on land along Alaska's north coast to better understand the nexus between rapid environmental change and increased use of terrestrial habitat...

In vitro -derived platelets (PLTs), which could provide an alternative source of PLTs for patient transfusions, are formed from polyploid megakaryocytes (MKs) that extend long cytoplasmic projections, termed proplatelets (proPLTs). In this study, we compared polyploidization and proPLT formation (PPF) of MKs cultured on surfaces that either promote or inhibit protein adsorption and subsequent cell adhesion. A megakaryoblastic cell line exhibited increased polyploidization and arrested PPF on a low-attachment surface...

Ion pairing is a fundamental consideration in many areas of chemistry and has implications in a wide range of sciences and technologies that include batteries and organic photovoltaics. Ions in solution are known to inhabit multiple possible states, including free ions (FI), contact ion pairs (CIP), and solvent-separated ion pairs (SSIP). However, in solutions of organic radicals and nonmetal electrolytes, it is often difficult to distinguish between these states. In the first part of this work, we report evidence for the formation of SSIPs in low-polarity solvents and distinct measurements of CIP, SSIP, and FI, by using the ν(C≡N) infrared (IR) band of a nitrile-substituted fluorene radical anion...

BACKGROUND: Approximately one in six adults in the United States (U.S.) binge drinks. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that primary care physicians screen patients for such hazardous alcohol use, and when warranted, deliver a brief intervention. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine primary care residents' current practices, perceived barriers and confidence with conducting alcohol screening and brief interventions (SBI). DESIGN: This was a multi-site, cross-sectional survey conducted from March 2010 through December 2012...

A recently developed instrument for time-resolved infrared detection following pulse radiolysis has been used to measure the ν(C≡N) IR band of the radical anion of a CN-substituted fluorene in tetrahydrofuran. Specific vibrational frequencies can exhibit distinct frequency shifts due to ion pairing, which can be explained in the framework of the vibrational Stark effect. Measurements of the ratio of free ions and ion pairs in different electrolyte concentrations allowed us to obtain an association constant and free energy change for ion pairing...

General anesthetics are a heterogeneous group of small amphiphilic ligands that interact weakly at multiple allosteric sites on many pentameric ligand gated ion channels (pLGICs), resulting in either inhibition, potentiation of channel activity, or both. Allosteric principles imply that modulator sites must change configuration and ligand affinity during receptor state transitions. Thus, general anesthetics and related compounds are useful both as state-dependent probes of receptor structure and as potentially selective modulators of pLGIC functions...

A taxonomic review of the North American band-winged grasshopper genus Encoptolophus Scudder (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Oedipodinae) was conducted. This genus is hypothesized to be non-monophyletic following a cladistic analysis of the genera in the Chortophaga genus group. We examined all species currently classified in this genus group for morphological characters and one behavioral character. The phenotypic character data were combined with three mitochondrial genes: cytochrome c oxidase subunit II, 16S rRNA and 12S rRNA...

Infrared (IR) absorption bands often convey identifying information about molecules, but are usually weak, having molar absorption coefficients <200 M(-1) cm(-1). Here we report observation of radical anions and cations of conjugated oligomers and polymers of fluorene and thiophene that possess intense mid-infrared absorption coefficients as large as 50,000 M(-1) cm(-1), perhaps the largest known for molecular species. For anions of fluorene oligomers, Fn, n=2-4, IR intensities increase almost linearly with n, but with a slope much larger than one, indicating that the absorptions are not extensive properties...

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) encompasses several clinical syndromes that involve a progressive change in behavior and/or language; it is more common than Alzheimer's disease in early-onset dementia under the age of 60 years. In the behavioral variant of FTD (bvFTD) patients have social and emotional changes with prominent disinhibition, apathy, lack of empathy, changes in diet, and repetitive behaviors. Motor neuron disease or parkinsonism are seen in association with bvFTD. Frontal and/or temporal atrophy are often seen on structural brain imaging...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the interrater reliability of the new International Behavioural Variant FTD Criteria Consortium (FTDC) criteria for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). METHODS: Twenty standardized clinical case modules were developed for patients with a range of neurodegenerative diagnoses, including bvFTD, primary progressive aphasia (nonfluent, semantic, and logopenic variant), Alzheimer disease, and Lewy body dementia. Eighteen blinded raters reviewed the modules and 1) rated the presence or absence of core diagnostic features for the FTDC criteria, and 2) provided an overall diagnostic rating...

Anthracycline-treated childhood cancer survivors experience cardiac damage that results in decreased left ventricular (LV) mass, leading to increased LV wall stress, which underlies their greater risk of cardiomyopathy. Many of these survivors also are at risk of growth hormone (GH) abnormalities from cranial irradiation exposure, although it is unknown whether such exposure is associated with cardiotoxicity. Echocardiograms and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a marker of GH, were measured in 130 anthracycline-treated childhood cancer survivors, 59 of whom had been exposed to cranial irradiation, a mean 10 years after their cancer diagnosis...

BACKGROUND: Childhood cancer survivors are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which may be associated with traditional CVD risk factors. We used CVD risk aggregation instruments to describe survivor cardiometabolic health and compared their results with sibling controls. METHODS: Traditional CVD risk factors measured in 110 survivors and 31 sibling controls between 15 and 39 years old were aggregated using Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PDAY) scores and the Framingham Risk Calculator (FRC) and expressed as ratios...

The past two years have seen a dramatic increase in the available data on gene sequence and gene expression for cnidarians and other "lower" Metazoa, and a flurry of recent papers has drawn on these to address the origins of bilaterality. Cnidarian homologs of many genes that play key roles in the specification of both the A/P and D/V axes of bilaterians have been characterized, and their patterns of expression determined. Some of these expression patterns are consistent with the possibility of conservation of function between Cnidaria and Bilateria, but others clearly differ...

The purpose of this study was to quantify the consistency and precision of locating three-dimensional (3D) anatomic landmarks. The hypotheses tested are that these landmarks have characteristic and variable error patterns associated with their type and location. The consistency and precision of nine orthodontists identifying 32 landmarks of 19 patients were quantified. The cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) data were acquired using a Hitachi CB MercuRay system. Prior to the study, all examiners were calibrated with respect to the definitions of the landmarks and on the use of the software program (Dolphin) for identifying the landmarks...

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this research was to examine methods for assessing the shape and growth of the mandible 3 dimensionally. Furthermore, 1 method was defined and applied. METHODS: Thirty mandibles were assessed. An average or mean shape was determined, and the mandibles were ranked quantitatively, by using the root mean square (RMS), according to their variation from the mean. The rankings ranged from mandibles that were small, short, and narrow at the minus-RMS end, to large, tall, and broad at the plus-RMS end...

BACKGROUND: The coral skeleton consists of CaCO3 deposited upon an organic matrix primarily as aragonite. Currently galaxin, from Galaxea fascicularis, is the only soluble protein component of the organic matrix that has been characterized from a coral. Three genes related to galaxin were identified in the coral Acropora millepora. RESULTS: One of the Acropora genes (Amgalaxin) encodes a clear galaxin ortholog, while the others (Amgalaxin-like 1 and Amgalaxin-like 2) encode larger and more divergent proteins...

BACKGROUND: INTERMACS is a registry of FDA-approved durable mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices used for the strategies of destination therapy (DT) and bridge to transplantation (BTT) or recovery. This study identifies predictors for death and transplantation based on initial results from INTERMACS. METHODS: From June 23, 2006 to December 31, 2007, 420 patients from 75 institutions were prospectively entered into the INTERMACS database in which pre-implant data, indication for MCS device use, adverse events, demographics, hemodynamics, laboratory values and outcomes were recorded...

Electronic medical records (EMRs) are gaining increasing prominence in healthcare, however still have low market penetration. EMR implementation cost is a primary perceived barrier. Here we present a payback analysis on an outpatient EMR implementation, showing capital expense recovery (net of operating costs) at 6 years and now generating $6 million yearly in direct savings for our healthcare system.

We examined the efficacy of 2 treatments using environmental supports (e.g. signs, alarms, pill containers, checklists) to improve functional outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia. 120 participants were randomized into one of 3 treatment groups 1) Cognitive Adaptation Training (CAT; supports customized to individual cognitive impairments and behaviors and maintained on weekly home visits 2) Generic Environmental Supports (GES; a generic set of supports given to patients at a routine clinic visit and replaced on a monthly basis) and 3) treatment as usual (TAU)...