Prevalence of skin infections, infestations, and papular urticaria among adolescents in secondary schools in Calabar, Nigeria

Background: Acne is an inflammatory disorder of the pilosebaceous gland, and the most common dermatosis in adolescents globally. Infectious dermatoses are common in the tropics, but due to the paucity of epidemiologic surveys, not much is known about the prevalence and common types found in different sub-populations including adolescents.It is however presumed that the prevalence will be high and the pattern diverse. We therefore conducted a school-based survey to ascertain the prevalence and pattern of infectious dermatoses, infestations, and papular urticaria (insect bite reactions) in teenage adolescents in Calabar, Nigeria.Methods: A cross sectional observational survey of adolescents aged 13-19 years attending randomly selected secondary schools in Calabar, Nigeria. It involved the use of  questionnaires and subsequent whole body examination.Results: A total of 1447 senior secondary school students were examined. Infectious dermatoses, infestations, and papular urticaria (IDIP) were observed in 505 (34.9%) persons, among whom were 269 (53.3%) males, and 236 (46.7%) females (X2=34.87, p=<0.001). Fungal dermatoses constituted more than 90% of the diseases, the bulk of which was contributed by pityriasis versicolor [430 (79.6%)]. The six most common dermatoses in descending order of frequencies were Pityriasis versicolor, tinea, papular urticaria, candidiasis, furuncles, and viral warts.Conclusion: A high prevalence of cutaneous infections exists among teenage adolescents in Calabar, Nigeria. Males have a higher predisposition to fungal dermatoses. Control of the predominant cause of cutaneous infections – pityriasis versicolor, will significantly affect the prevalence of infectious dermatoses, and invariably, the burden of skin disorders in adolescents in Calabar, Nigeria.Keywords: Dermatoses, Infections, Adolescents, Nigeria, PrevalenceFunding: Self sponsore

Simple and Efficient Pseudorandom Generators from Gaussian Processes

We show that a very simple pseudorandom generator fools intersections of k linear threshold functions (LTFs) and arbitrary functions of k LTFs over n-dimensional Gaussian space. The two analyses of our PRG (for intersections versus arbitrary functions of LTFs) are quite different from each other and from previous analyses of PRGs for functions of halfspaces. Our analysis for arbitrary functions of LTFs establishes bounds on the Wasserstein distance between Gaussian random vectors with similar covariance matrices, and combines these bounds with a conversion from Wasserstein distance to "union-of-orthants" distance from [Xi Chen et al., 2014]. Our analysis for intersections of LTFs uses extensions of the classical Sudakov-Fernique type inequalities, which give bounds on the difference between the expectations of the maxima of two Gaussian random vectors with similar covariance matrices. For all values of k, our generator has seed length O(log n) + poly(k) for arbitrary functions of k LTFs and O(log n) + poly(log k) for intersections of k LTFs. The best previous result, due to [Gopalan et al., 2010], only gave such PRGs for arbitrary functions of k LTFs when k=O(log log n) and for intersections of k LTFs when k=O((log n)/(log log n)). Thus our PRG achieves an O(log n) seed length for values of k that are exponentially larger than previous work could achieve. By combining our PRG over Gaussian space with an invariance principle for arbitrary functions of LTFs and with a regularity lemma, we obtain a deterministic algorithm that approximately counts satisfying assignments of arbitrary functions of k general LTFs over {0,1}^n in time poly(n) * 2^{poly(k,1/epsilon)} for all values of k. This algorithm has a poly(n) runtime for k =(log n)^c for some absolute constant c>0, while the previous best poly(n)-time algorithms could only handle k = O(log log n). For intersections of LTFs, by combining these tools with a recent PRG due to [R. O\u27Donnell et al., 2018], we obtain a deterministic algorithm that can approximately count satisfying assignments of intersections of k general LTFs over {0,1}^n in time poly(n) * 2^{poly(log k, 1/epsilon)}. This algorithm has a poly(n) runtime for k =2^{(log n)^c} for some absolute constant c>0, while the previous best poly(n)-time algorithms for intersections of k LTFs, due to [Gopalan et al., 2010], could only handle k=O((log n)/(log log n))

Development of Department Writing Guide for Civil Engineering

This paper describes the development of a writing guide for a civil engineering department. Motivation for developing a writing guide came from several sources. Freshmen enrolled in an introduction to civil engineering course turned in writing assignments demonstrating a need for improvement. The introductory course is frequently taken concurrently with a required freshman level writing class and well before a required discipline specific advanced writing class, so this was generally expected. Continued issues in junior and senior level classes, however, have clarified the need for additional program focus on written communication. Students have continually expressed frustration at having to adapt to varying lab report expectations from different faculty members and, most importantly, capstone design reports have demonstrated that student writing is not at industry expectations. The writing guide was a collaborative effort between civil engineering faculty and writing studies faculty. The initial phase focused on defining the content of the writing guide: reports (lab, project, etc.), memos, homework submittals, figures, tables, equations, professional e-mails, and references. The second phase was to develop an outline for the rubrics; the goal was for the rubrics to be general enough to be adapted by each faculty member for a given assignment, but still provide students with a consistent outline to assess their writing prior to submitting it for grade. Finally, in the third phase, the level of detail in the writing guide was discussed. In order to be useful, the writing guide was made specific enough for the students to use it to successfully complete writing assignments but general enough to allow individual faculty to adapt assignments toward the specific outcomes in each course. Above all else, the main goal of the writing guide is to prepare students for real world written communication. Therefore, it must not leave students with the impression that there is a template that can be applied regardless of audience. These concerns were considered during the development of the writing guide and will be part of in-class writing instruction within both civil engineering and writing courses. Written work will be assessed using both university and ABET assessment processes. Example work collected as part of the ABET process from the Fall 2012 semester will be retroactively assessed using the newly developed rubrics. In addition, Fall 2014 work will be assessed as it is submitted. Spring 2015 work will represent the first semester using the department writing guide. Pre-writing guide assessments will be compared to assessments of writing after the department guide is introduced. By comparing work over the next several years, senior year writing submittals will be used to determine if a greater level of competency was achieved by students exposed to the writing guide for their entire undergraduate experience as compared to students who received the writing guide late in their undergraduate career

Cracking in asphalt materials

This chapter provides a comprehensive review of both laboratory characterization and modelling of bulk material fracture in asphalt mixtures. For the purpose of organization, this chapter is divided into a section on laboratory tests and a section on models. The laboratory characterization section is further subdivided on the basis of predominant loading conditions (monotonic vs. cyclic). The section on constitutive models is subdivided into two sections, the first one containing fracture mechanics based models for crack initiation and propagation that do not include material degradation due to cyclic loading conditions. The second section discusses phenomenological models that have been developed for crack growth through the use of dissipated energy and damage accumulation concepts. These latter models have the capability to simulate degradation of material capacity upon exceeding a threshold number of loading cycles.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Design and optimization of enzymatic activity in a de novo β-barrel scaffold

While native scaffolds offer a large diversity of shapes and topologies for enzyme engineering, their often unpredictable behavior in response to sequence modification makes de novo generated scaffolds an exciting alternative. Here we explore the customization of the backbone and sequence of a de novo designed eight stranded β-barrel protein to create catalysts for a retro-aldolase model reaction. We show that active and specific catalysts can be designed in this fold and use directed evolution to further optimize activity and stereoselectivity. Our results support previous suggestions that different folds have different inherent amenability to evolution and this property could account, in part, for the distribution of natural enzymes among different folds

Properties of Superconducting Mo, Mo2n and Trilayer Mo2n-Mo-Mo2n Thin Films

We present measurements of the properties of thin film superconducting Mo, Mo2N and Mo2N/Mo/Mo2N trilayers of interest for microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) applications. Using microwave resonator devices, we investigate the transition temperature, energy gaps, kinetic inductance, and internal quality factors of these materials. We present an Usadel-based interpretation of the trilayer transition temperature as a function of trilayer thicknesses, and a 2-gap interpretation to understand the change in kinetic inductance and internal resonance quality factor (Q) as a function of temperature

Is the Venner-PneuX Endotracheal Tube System a Cost-Effective Option for Post Cardiac Surgery Care?

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is common and costly. In a recent randomized controlled trial, the Venner-PneuX (VPX) endotracheal tube system (Qualitech Healthcare Limited, Maidenhead, United Kingdom) was found to be superior to standard endotracheal tubes (SET) in preventing VAP. However, VPX is considerably more expensive. We evaluated the costs and benefits of VPX to determine whether replacing SET with VPX is a cost-effective option for intensive care units. METHODS: We developed a decision analytic model to compare intubation with VPX or SET for patients requiring mechanical ventilation after cardiac operations. The model was populated with existing evidence on costs, effectiveness, and quality of life. Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses were conducted from a National Health Service hospital perspective. Uncertainty was assessed through deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Compared with SET, VPX is associated with an expected cost saving of £738 per patient. VPX led to a small increase in quality-adjusted life years, indicating that the device is overall less costly and more effective than SET. The probability of VPX being cost-effective at £30,000 per quality-adjusted life year is 97%. VPX would cease to be cost-effective if (1) it led to a risk reduction smaller than 0.02 compared with SET, (2) the acquisition cost of VPX was as high as £890, or (3) the cost of treating a case of VAP was lower than £1,450. CONCLUSIONS: VPX resulted in improved outcomes and savings that far offset the cost of the device, suggesting that replacing SET with VPX is overall beneficial. Findings were robust to extreme values of key variables

3D-cultured blastoids model human embryogenesis from pre-implantation to early gastrulation stages

Naive human pluripotent stem cells have the remarkable ability to self-organize into blastocyst-like structures ( blastoids ) that model lineage segregation in the pre-implantation embryo. However, the extent to which blastoids can recapitulate the defining features of human post-implantation development remains unexplored. Here, we report that blastoids cultured on thick three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrices capture hallmarks of early post-implantation development, including epiblast lumenogenesis, rapid expansion and diversification of trophoblast lineages, and robust invasion of extravillous trophoblast cells by day 14. Extended blastoid culture results in the localized activation of primitive streak marker TBXT and the emergence of embryonic germ layers by day 21. We also show that the modulation of WNT signaling alters the balance between epiblast and trophoblast fates in post-implantation blastoids. This work demonstrates that 3D-cultured blastoids offer a continuous and integrated in vitro model system of human embryonic and extraembryonic development from pre-implantation to early gastrulation stages

Fostering Youth-Led Innovations to Accelerate Progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A Guide for Policy Makers at COP28

In today’s world, to address the most pressing global challenges, education must equip all learners with the values, skills, and knowledge that nurture cooperation, resilience, respect for diversity, gender justice, and human rights. This concept is called Global Citizenship Education which is a target of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education. I commend the Mission 4.7 initiative facilitated by Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Development, UNESCO, UN SDSN and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, for playing a pivotal role in addressing SDG Target 4.7 and on the release of the “Fostering Youth-led Innovations to Accelerate Progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A Guide for Policymakers at COP28. The report recommends that policymakers create supportive environments for youth innovators by establishing or opening innovation hubs, incubators, and accelerators for young individuals. A key element is the renewed emphasis on integrating global citizenship and systems thinking into school curricula to foster sustainable development. Global Citizenship Education and youth empowerment is essential for a better future, I hope that this report contributes to shaping the agenda on SDG Target 4.7 at COP28 and beyond. H.E. Ban Ki-moon8th Secretary-General, United Nations Co-chair, Mission 4.7Co-chair, Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizen