476 Effect of Holding Period on Viability, Acrosome Status and Intracellular Zinc of Boar Sperm During Liquid Storage

Sperm capacitation results in acrosomal remodeling, increased membrane fluidity, plasma membrane fusability and hyperactivated sperm. Distinct sperm zinc signatures reflect intracellular zinc content, capacitation status, and viability. Therefore, flow cytometric assessment could be a useful tool to evaluate sperm quality and longevity during liquid storage of boar semen. Cooled semen (17°C) from commercial boars (n = 12) were assessed at Day-1, -4 and -7 after collection for motility (IVOS II, Hamilton Thorne, Beverly, MA), intracellular zinc and viability. Samples were stained with 8 µg/mL Hoecsht-33342 (Hoe), 1 µM FluoZinTM-3-AM (Zinc), 10 µM propidium iodide (PI) and 5.6 µg/mL PNA-Alexa647TM (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR), incubated for 30 min, washed with PBS, and aditionally incubated for 30 min. Acquisition and analysis of 20000 events were performed using Bio-Rad ZE5 Cell Analyzer (Hercules, CA) and FLowJoTM (Ashland, OR). Hoe+ events were gated into Zinc/PI plot to determine viable sperm with high Zinc (Zinc+/PI-). Likewise, Hoe+ events were gated into PI/PNA plot and then into Zinc histogram to detect viable-intact-acrosome with high Zinc (Zn+/PI-/PNA-). Data were analyzed by mixed model for repeated measures, Tukey-adjusted pairwise comparisons and Pearson’s correlation. Viable sperm at Day-1 (86.0±3.1; emmean±SM) and Day-4 (84.7±2.8) showed similar percentage of Zinc+ sperm, and both significantly higher compared to Day-7 (52.2±2.8). Also, viable-intact-acrosome sperm displayed similar percentage of Zinc+ sperm at Day-1 (93.8±3.4) and Day-4 (91.6±3.4) and both higher than sperm at Day-7 (64.5±3.1; P < 0.0001). Percentages of Zinc+ sperm were higher (P < 0.001) when viable sperm had intact acrosome within Day. Percentages of Zinc+ sperm strongly correlated to viable-intact-acrosome sperm (r=0.76, P < 0.0001) and total motility (r=0.65, P < 0.0001). We conclude that sperm having intact plasmatic membrane and acrosome display higher intracellular zinc content which is related to capacitated status, remaining non-capacitated until at least to Day-4 after collection in the tested extender.

Rallies around the flag-draped coffins: the electoral effects of security force casualties in terror attacks

Security forces are one of the main targets of political violence. This paper examines the effect of their casualties on electoral outcomes. Between two general elections in 2015, Turkey experienced a series of attacks that killed 153 members of its security forces. Based on the as-if random assignment of their funerals across the country, I estimate that government vote share increases in the funeral places of security force terror victims. However, in the localities with recurring funerals, it decreases by a similar percentage. These non-linear changes provide strong evidence for the rally theory.

Rallies around the Flag-Draped Coffins: The Electoral Effects of Security Force Casualties in Terror Attacks

Security forces are one of the main targets of political violence. This article examines the effect of their casualties on electoral outcomes. Between two general elections in 2015, Turkey experienced a series of attacks that killed 153 members of its security forces. Based on the as-if random assignment of their funerals across the country, I estimate that government vote share increases in the funeral places of security force terror victims. However, in the localities with recurring funerals, it decreases by a similar percentage. These non-linear changes provide strong evidence for the rally theory.

Effect of Self-reported Height on Occupational Rank Among Police Officers: Especially for Women it Pays to be Tall

This study among 725 male and 247 female police officers from The Netherlands examined the association between self-reported height and occupational rank from the perspective of sexual selection. Male and female police officers were taller than the average population. A larger percentage of women than of men was found in the lowest ranks, but in the leadership positions, there was a similar percentage of women as of men. Overall, but especially among women, height was linearly associated with occupational rank: the taller one was, the higher one’s rank. These effects were independent of educational level and age. The implications for evolutionary theorizing from the perspective of sexual selection on the effect of tallness on status and dominance among women are discussed.

Economic crisis and security concerns of wholesalers in Eastern European and Central Asian countries

We examine how the 2008-2009 global crisis affected wholesalers’ spending on security and their losses due to crime in Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The results indicate that a similar percentage of wholesalers paid for security pre- and post-crisis. The results also indicate that the wholesalers that paid for security spent less on security post-crisis. A higher percentage of the partnerships and the larger wholesalers spent money on security post-crisis when compared to the pre-crisis period. On the other hand, fewer shareholding firms with shares traded privately and fewer firms with one or more female owners spent money on security post-crisis when compared to pre-crisis. Especially smaller firms, firms that are not part of a larger firm and sole proprietorships spent less on security post-crisis. Also, fewer wholesalers experienced losses due to crime post-crisis when compared to the pre-crisis period. Finally, our results indicate that, after the crisis, crime was seen as less of an obstacle by these firms.

The health of pregnant female migrants: analysis and possibilities of management

The analysis of the results of complex study of health ofpregnant female migrants demonstrated that their health condition is significantly worse than in comparison group. The most of female migrants suffered from complications during pregnancy and delivery. The percentage of newborns delivered by female migrants without pathologic manifestations was 1.3 times less in comparison with similar percentage in women from comparison group. The developed situation is in many ways is caused by more unfavorable conditions of work and life of female migrants. Besides, it was established that percentage of female migrants without observation in maternity clinic was 19.7 times higher the similar percentage of women from comparison group. The registration prior to 12 weeks ofpregnancy was marked only in every forth female migrant. The percentage of female migrants with biochemical screening applied was three times lower. The analysis of medical social problems ofpregnant female migrants permitted to develop proposals related to management of their health at the expense of amelioration of medical social care including number of organizational, social and medical activities. The experts determined priorities in realization of proposed activities. The developed activities can be used as a background of program on health support of pregnant women from families of migrants as am integral part ofprograms ofpopulation health support.

LANGUAGE KINSHIP BETWEEN MANDARIN, HOKKIEN CHINESE AND JAPANESE (LEXICOSTATISTICS REVIEW)

Mandarin and Hokkien Chinese are well known having a tight kinship in a language family. Beside, Japanese also has historical relation with China in the eld of language and cultural development. Japanese uses Chinese characters named kanji with certain phonemic vocabulary adjustment, which is adapted into Japanese. This phonemic adjustment of kanji is called Kango. This research discusses about the kinship of Mandarin, Hokkien Chinese in Indonesia and Japanese Kango with lexicostatistics review. The method used is quantitative with lexicostatistics technique. Quantitative method nds similar percentage of 100-200 Swadesh vocabularies. Quantitative method with lexicostatistics results in a tree diagram of the language genetics. From the lexicostatistics calculation to the lexicon level, it is found that Mandarin Chinese (MC) and Japanese Kango (JK) are two different languages, because they are in a language group (stock) (29%); (2) JK and Indonesian Hokkien Chinese (IHC) are also two different languages, because they are in a language group (stock) (24%); and (3) MC and IHC belong to the same language family (42%).

LANGUAGE KINSHIP BETWEEN MANDARIN, HOKKIEN CHINESE AND JAPANESE (LEXICOSTATISTICS REVIEW)

Mandarin and Hokkien Chinese are well known having a tight kinship in a language family. Beside, Japanese also has historical relation with China in the eld of language and cultural development. Japanese uses Chinese characters named kanji with certain phonemic vocabulary adjustment, which is adapted into Japanese. This phonemic adjustment of kanji is called Kango. This research discusses about the kinship of Mandarin, Hokkien Chinese in Indonesia and Japanese Kango with lexicostatistics review. The method used is quantitative with lexicostatistics technique. Quantitative method nds similar percentage of 100-200 Swadesh vocabularies. Quantitative method with lexicostatistics results in a tree diagram of the language genetics. From the lexicostatistics calculation to the lexicon level, it is found that Mandarin Chinese (MC) and Japanese Kango (JK) are two different languages, because they are in a language group (stock) (29%); (2) JK and Indonesian Hokkien Chinese (IHC) are also two different languages, because they are in a language group (stock) (24%); and (3) MC and IHC belong to the same language family (42%).

Development of an Evidence-Based Algorithm to Guide IGH-Based Reflex Testing for Plasma Cell Neoplasms

FISH testing on bone marrow aspirates is routinely used in the genetic workup for patients with plasma cell neoplasms. However, characteristic low cellularity and low in vitro proliferation rates may limit the number of plasma cells available to comprehensively test recurrent and prognostically significant genetic markers. Plasma cell selection via CD138+ cell isolation or cytoplasmic Ig staining is often required to improve sensitivity, and still may yield insufficient or poor quality cells, and possibly false negative results. Our current Multiple Myeloma panel (MMP) is designed as a reflex test, where positive IGH break-apart (IGH-BAP) and negative t(11;14)/IGH-CCND1 fusion patterns direct subsequent testing for t(4;14)/IGH-FGFR3 and t(14;16)/IGH-MAF fusions. Included in the first tier panel are probes for common trisomies 9 and 15, 1q/CKS1B gain, and 17p/TP53 deletion. This strategy is cost-effective by prioritizing testing for the most common IGH translocation (11;14) first, but can be problematic with low cellularity and/or low percentage patterns. To improve this process, we retrospectively reviewed data from 294-reflexed MMPs encountered in our clinical laboratory in order to develop an evidence-based algorithm for reflex testing. IGH-BAP-positive (IGH-BAP+) signal patterns included RGF (rearrangement), RF (5' deletion), and GF (3' deletion). Positive results for t(4;14) or t(14;16) dual fusion (DF) probes were observed in 75 (25.5%) and 40 (13.9%) samples, respectively. The median differential positivity rate for BAP versus DF probes was 8.5% (range: 0-39.5%), demonstrating similar detection rates between these probe sets (r=0.94, Pearson correlation). Reflex testing was performed on 263 (89.5%) CD138+ enriched cell pellets. IGH-BAP positivity (IGH-BAP+) rates ranged from 3.5-98.0% in this cohort, where higher rates correlated with positive t(4;14) and t(14;16) results (median DF+ =78.5%; median DF- =50.8%; p=2.97E-9, t-Test). Of 68 CD138+ samples with low percentage IGH-BAP+ (≤30%), only seven (10.1%) cases were DF+, six of which had additional abnormal MMP signal patterns at a similar percentage to IGH-BAP, suggestive of a low-level plasma cell population in these samples. The single positive case showed the typical GRF pattern for IGH-BAP (12.0%; DF=15.0%). Of 61 DF- cases, IGH-BAP+ was the sole finding in 23 (37.7%) cases, 16 (26.2%) cases had additional patterns at a similar percentage to IGH-BAP, and 22 (36.0%) cases showed additional signal patterns at much higher percentages, >2.5 times that of IGH-BAP. These findings suggest reflex testing has limited value for CD138+ samples with low IGH-BAP+ rates, especially with IGH-BAP as the sole abnormality, as well as for reflex cases with additional patterns at a much higher percentage, as t(4;14) and t(14;16) should represent primary alterations in these samples. Across all cases in this dataset, the IGH-BAP RF or GF (partial deletion) pattern was observed in 10/110 (9.0%) DF+ cases compared to 75/178 (42.1%) DF- cases, indicating these patterns are less likely to represent true IGH rearrangements. The 5' IGH probe may be deleted due to normal VDJ recombination. Of the four 5' IGH deletion cases that were DF+, all cases showed a complex partial deletion pattern (e.g. 2R2F, 2RF, etc) whereas 44 (81.5%, n=54) DF- cases showed a simple RF pattern, suggesting reflex may have limited utility for the simple RF pattern. Of 31 unsorted samples, 19 (61.3%) were DF+, 14 of which (73.7%) had IGH-BAP+ ≤30%. There was no difference between median IGH-BAP+ percentages in this cohort (DF+=14.0%, DF-=17.5%; range=4.5-77.0%; p=0.236, t-Test). Most DF+ cases (89.5%, n=17) had other abnormal MMP signal patterns in addition to IGH-BAP; two cases showed IGH-BAP+ as a sole finding, both with GRF patterns. These findings indicate reflex testing should be performed for all unsorted samples with IGH-BAP pattern above established cut-offs unless additional MMP signal patterns are present at much higher percentage. We present an algorithm for PCN sample processing that incorporates sample type, signal patterns, and relative detection rates for IGH and other MMP probes in order to guide appropriate IGH reflex testing in the clinical laboratory setting. This method predicts a reduction of greater than 10-15 percent of reflexed cases based on retrospective analysis. Prospective results from implementation will also be presented. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Analyzing Medicare Payments to Otologists

The study objective was to analyze Medicare payment data to otologists compared to otolaryngologists, using the publicly released Centers for Medicare and Medic-aid Services dataset. Charges, payments, and common Current Procedural Terminology codes were obtained. Otology providers were selected from the roster of the American Otological Society. Descriptive statistics and unequal variance two-tailed t tests were used for comparisons between otologists (n = 147) and otolaryngologists (n = 8,318). The mean overall submitted charge was $204,851 per otology provider and was $211,209 per other otolaryngology providers (non-otologists) (p = 0.92). The mean payment to otologists was $56,191 (range: $297 to $555,274, standard deviation [SD] ±$68,540) and significantly lower (p = 0.005) than $77,275 to otolaryngologists (range: $94 to $2,123,900, SD ±$86,423). The mean submitted charge-to-payment ratio (fee multiplier) per otology provider was 3.87 (range 1.50 to 9.10, SD ±1.70), which was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than the ratio for otolaryngologists (mean 2.91; range: 1.25 to 17.51, SD ±1.22). Office visit evaluation and management (E&M) codes made up the majority in terms of use and payments. Interestingly, allergy-based services comprised a substantial amount of repeat use among a small subset of otologists. Audiology services were billed by a similar percentage of otologists and other otolaryngologists (52%), but otologists received a significantly higher overall payment for these services.