OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was to evaluate subjective and objective outcomes in patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis treated with TMJ alloplastic reconstruction (TMJR).STUDY DESIGN:All patients diagnosed with TMJ ankylosis that underwent TMJR at our institution between 2010 and 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 cohorts: bony and fibrous ankylosis. Subjective variables assessed were facial pain and headaches, TMJ pain, jaw function, diet, and disability. Objective variables assessed were maximum interincisal opening and lateral excursions. The Mann-Whitney test was employed to analyze subjective variables and an unpaired t-test was used to analyze the objective variables. P < .05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS:Twenty-eight patients met the inclusion criteria (21 female, 7 male). The mean age at the time of surgery was 42 years, and the mean number of prior TMJ surgeries was 3. A total of 52 TMJRs were performed in the 28 patients, and the mean follow-up time was 46 months. All subjective variables were significantly improved, and the mean maximum interincisal opening increased from 16.9 mm to 37.25 mm.CONCLUSIONS:The results of the study demonstrate that TMJR is an effective and reliable method for the management of both fibrous and bony TMJ ankylosis.

This note discusses how sexting can be defined and understood through multiple scenarios, compares current state approaches and the current federal proposal, and offers a contrary theory for federal legislation based upon consent between sexting parties.

The Ontario Breast Screening Program was expanded in 2011 to offer annual MRI and mammography to women with high‐risk genetic mutations (e.g., BRCA1/2) and women with strong family histories and ≥25% estimated lifetime risk of breast cancer. Data to support high‐risk screening is less clear in the nonmutation carrier group, as MRI has lower specificity among this population. The potential unintended consequences may be considerable and need to be explored. We aimed to describe the frequency of abnormal screens and biopsies.

Advancements in machine learning methods have yielded powerful natural language generation models. However, in general, these models have drawn concern for being both uninterpretable and uncontrollable. Model interpretability and control have become important topics of interest among researchers. We explore a variety of machine learning methods to classify the hidden states of language models. This classification enables model interpretation at a deep semantic level and is a necessary part of recently proposed model control methods. We show further that the use of language model hidden layers as text representations in classification tasks may be more reliable in some applications than more standard text representations.

MRI-based screening in women with a ≥ 25% lifetime risk of breast cancer , but no identifiable genetic mutations may be associated with false positives. This study examined the psychological impact of abnormal screens and biopsies in non-mutation carriers participating in high-risk screening with no personal history of breast cancer. Non-mutation carriers participating in the High-Risk Ontario Breast Screening Program at two sites were mailed demographic surveys, psychological scales, and chart review consent. Scales included the Consequences of Screening in Breast Cancer questionnaire, Lerman Breast Cancer Worry Scale, and Worry Interference Scale. Missing data were managed with multiple imputation. Multivariable regression was used to assess whether abnormal screens or biopsies were associated with adverse psychological effects. After contacting 465 participants, 169 non-mutation carriers were included. Median age was 46 years (range 30–65). Over a median 3 years of screening, 63.9% of women experienced at least one abnormal screen, and 24.9% underwent biopsies. Statements relating to cancer worry/anxiety scored highest, with 19.5% indicating they worried “a lot”. Higher scores among anxiety-related statements were strongly associated with higher dejection scores. Overall, coping and daily functioning were preserved. Women indicated some positive reactions to screening, including improved existential values and reassurance they do not have breast cancer. Abnormal screens and biopsies were not significantly associated with any psychological scale, even after adjustment for patient characteristics. Non-mutation carriers undergoing MRI-based screening had considerable baseline anxiety and cancer worry, although daily functioning was not impaired. Abnormal screens and biopsies did not appear to have adverse psychological effects.

It is notoriously difficult to control the behavior of artificial neural networks such as generative neural language models. We recast the problem of controlling natural language generation as that of learning to interface with a pretrained language model, just as Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) control the behavior of programs by altering hyperparameters. In this new paradigm, a specialized neural network (called a Neural Programming Interface or NPI) learns to interface with a pretrained language model by manipulating the hidden activations of the pretrained model to produce desired outputs. Importantly, no permanent changes are made to the weights of the original model, allowing us to re-purpose pretrained models for new tasks without overwriting any aspect of the language model. We also contribute a new data set construction algorithm and GAN-inspired loss function that allows us to train NPI models to control outputs of autoregressive transformers. In experiments against other state-of-the-art approaches, we demonstrate the efficacy of our methods using OpenAI's GPT-2 model, successfully controlling noun selection, topic aversion, offensive speech filtering, and other aspects of language while largely maintaining the controlled model's fluency under deterministic settings.

PURPOSE:The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of alloplastic temporomandibular joint (TMJ) total joint replacement (TJR) in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). MATERIALS AND METHODS:All patients with a formal diagnosis of JIA requiring a TMJ patient-specific TJR between 2010 and 2018 at The University of Texas-Health at San Antonio were retrospectively analyzed. To be included, patients must have had a formal diagnosis of JIA, complete records, and TMJ reconstruction with the TMJ Concepts patient-specific total joint prosthesis (TMJ Concepts, Ventura, CA). Clinical data acquisition was required at a minimum of 12 months after surgery (longest follow-up [LFU]). Subjective and objective analyses were performed using a 10-point visual analog scale at the preoperative and LFU time points. Surgical data at the perioperative and LFU time points were recorded for comparison. RESULTS:Twenty patients with JIA met the inclusion criteria. The mean visual analog scale measurements for facial pain, TMJ pain, jaw function, diet, and disability were all significantly reduced at LFU. The maximal interincisal opening with pain was increased from 33.5 mm preoperatively to 44 mm at LFU, and the mean maximal interincisal opening without pain was increased from 31.1 mm preoperatively to 43 mm at LFU. None of the patients had complications from their TMJ TJR. CONCLUSIONS:Alloplastic TMJ reconstruction is a safe and efficacious treatment option for the surgical management of end-stage TMJ disease in JIA patients.

Security vulnerabilities and software defects are prevalent in software systems, threatening every aspect of cyberspace. The complexity of modern software makes it hard to secure systems. Security vulnerabilities and software defects become a major target of cyberattacks which can lead to significant consequences. Manual identification of vulnerabilities and defects in software systems is very time-consuming and tedious. Many tools have been designed to help analyze software systems and to discover vulnerabilities and defects. However, these tools tend to miss various types of bugs. The bugs that are not caught by these tools usually include vulnerabilities and defects that are too complicated to find or do not fall inside of an existing rule-set for identification. It was hypothesized that these undiscovered vulnerabilities and defects do not occur randomly, rather, they share certain common characteristics. A methodology was proposed to detect the probability of a bug existing in a code structure. We used a comprehensive experimental evaluation to assess the methodology and report our findings.

To celebrate AGU's first 100 years, the Biogeosciences Early Career Committee looks toward the future by offering caregiver support to early-career conference attendees.

We present BYU-EVE, an open domain dialogue architecture that combines the strengths of hand-crafted rules, deep learning, and structured knowledge graph traversal in order to create satisfying user experiences. Rather than viewing dialogue as a strict mapping between input and output texts, EVE treats conversations as a collaborative process in which two jointly coordinating agents chart a trajectory through experiential space. A key element of this architecture is the use of conversational scaffolding, a technique which uses a (small) conversational dataset to define a generalized response strategy. We also take the innovative approach of integrating the agent’s self and user models directly within the knowledge graph. This allows EVE to discern topics of shared interest while simultaneously identifying areas of ambiguity or cognitive dissonance.

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) has been introduced as a viable alternative to heart transplantation primarily through the use of intracorporeal ventricular assist devices (VADs) for support of the left ventricle. However, certain clinical scenarios warrant biventricular mechanical support. One strategy for some patients is the excision of both ventricles and the implantation of two VAD pumps as a total artificial heart (TAH). This has recently been made possible by the improvements in device design and the small profile of centrifugal devices. This TAH approach remains experimental with many important challenges such as the device settings to balance the right and left circulation, the orientation of the devices and the outflow graft with their influence on hemolysis and stability, and the outcome of chronic support using such an orientation. This protocol aims to provide a reproducible approach for total artificial heart replacement with two intracorporeal centrifugal VADs in a cow model.

Borate bioactive glasses are biocompatible and enhance new bone formation, but the effect of their microstructure on bone regeneration has received little attention. In this study scaffolds of borate bioactive glass (1393B3) with three different microstructures (trabecular, fibrous, and oriented) were compared for their capacity to regenerate bone in a rat calvarial defect model. 12 weeks post-implantation the amount of new bone, mineralization, and blood vessel area in the scaffolds were evaluated using histomorphometric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The amount of new bone formed was 33%, 23%, and 15%, respectively, of the total defect area for the trabecular, oriented, and fibrous microstructures. In comparison, the percent new bone formed in implants composed of silicate 45S5 bioactive glass particles (250–300 μm) was 19%. Doping the borate glass with copper (0.4 wt.% CuO) had little effect on bone regeneration in the trabecular and oriented scaffolds, but significantly enhanced bone regeneration in the fibrous scaffolds (from 15 to 33%). The scaffolds were completely converted to hydroxyapatite within the 12 week implantation. The amount of hydroxyapatite formed, 22%, 35%, and 48%, respectively, for the trabecular, oriented, and fibrous scaffolds, increased with increasing volume fraction of glass in the as-fabricated scaffold. Blood vessels infiltrated into all the scaffolds, but the trabecular scaffolds had a higher average blood vessel area compared with the oriented and fibrous scaffolds. While all three scaffold microstructures were effective in supporting bone regeneration, the trabecular scaffolds supported more bone formation and may be more promising in bone repair.