Tracking the outcomes of independent living programs

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the outcomes of the Independent Living Program (ILP) of former foster youths who have aged out of foster care and group care in San Bernardino County of California using an exploratory and quantitative survey design

Relationship of High School Students' Knowledge of Child Development to Potential for Child Abuse

Family Relations and Child Developmen

Benchmarking of the Dose Planning Method (DPM) Monte Carlo code using electron beams from a racetrack microtron

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135135/1/mp1512.pd

Machine learning for automated quality assurance in radiotherapy: A proof of principle using EPID data description

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149320/1/mp13433_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149320/2/mp13433.pd

Bioactive Cembranoids from the Soft Coral Sinularia crassa

Eight new cembranoids, crassarines A–H (1–8) were isolated from the Formosan soft coral Sinularia crassa. Compounds 1–3 represent the rare cembranoids with a 1,12-oxa-bridged tetrahydrofuran ring, while 4 and 5 are the firstly discovered 1,11-oxa-bridged tetrahydropyranocembranoids. The absolute configuration of 6 was determined using the Mosher’s method. Compounds 6 and 8 were found to significantly inhibit the expression of both pro-inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 proteins at 10 μM, respectively, while compounds 4–8 were found to be non-cytotoxic toward the selected human liver cancer cells

Interruption of tuberculosis detection and care during the Ebola virus disease epidemic (2014–2015) in Liberia: time-series analyses for 2013–2017

Objective Interrupted time-series analyses, using 5 years of routinely collected health information system data, were conducted to estimate the magnitude of impact of the 2014–2015 Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic and determine trends in tuberculosis (TB) care services in Liberia. Methods A segmented linear regression model was used to generate estimates and predictions for trends for three TB service indicators before, during, and after EVD, from January 2013 to December 2017. Results It was found that the number of presumptive TB cases declined significantly at the start of the EVD outbreak, with an estimated loss of 3222 cases (95% confidence interval (CI) −5691 to −752; P = 0.014). There was also an estimated loss of 709 cases per quarter post-EVD (95% CI −1346 to −71; P = 0.032). However, over the post-EVD period, quarterly increases were observed in the proportion of smear-positive to presumptive cases (1.45%, 95% CI 0.38% to 2.5%; P = 0.011) and the proportion of treatment success to TB cases evaluated (3.3%, 95% CI 0.82% to 5.79%; P = 0.013). Conclusions These findings suggest that the EVD outbreak (2014–2015) negatively affected TB care services. Rigorous quantitative analyses can be used to assess the magnitude of interruption and advocate for preparedness in settings with limited healthcare capacity

Comparação entre os dados de Vento das Reanálises Meteorológicas Era-Interim e CFSR com os dados das Estações Automáticas do INMET no Rio Grande do Sul

Wind power is currently one of the sources of electricity the fastest growing worldwide. However, especially in Brazil, it is still very difficult to locate areas with reliable winds for the implementation of a wind farm, because there is not enough data density that guarante the wind farm efficiency. Thus, the development of models that simulate wind conditions are extremely important for studies and research in this area. In this way, weather reanalysis data can be used as input into high-resolution regional models, for example. Therefore, this work presents a study comparing two sets of weather Reanalysis of wind data - ERA-Interim and CFSR - with measured data from automated weather stations of the National Institute of Meteorology in the Rio Grande do Sul state in order to obtain the coefficient correlation of data from reanalysis with data measured for each measurement point and for every season. For better visualization of the correlation results, it is also built contour maps with correlation coefficient where can be seeing that the best performance of the CFSR reanalysis.A energia eólica é, atualmente, uma das fontes de eletricidade que mais crescem em todo o mundo. Porém, especialmente no Brasil, ainda é muito difícil a localização de regiões com ventos confiáveis para a implantação de um parque eólico pois não existe uma densidade de dados válidos que sirvam de garantia de eficiência do parque. Assim, o desenvolvimento de modelos que simulam as condições de vento são extremamente importantes para estudos e pesquisas na área. Neste sentido, dados de reanálises meteorológicas podem servir de entrada para o desenvolvimento de modelos regionais de alta resolução, por exemplo. Portanto, este trabalho apresenta um estudo de comparação de dois conjuntos de dados de vento de Reanálises meteorológicas - ERA-Interim e CFSR - com dados medidos nas estações meteorológicas automáticas do Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia no estado do Rio Grande do Sul com o propósito de obter o coeficiente de correlação dos dados das reanálises com os dados medidos para cada ponto de medição e para cada estação do ano. Para melhor visualização dos resultados de correlação, também é construido mapas de contorno com coeficiente de correlação onde observa-se um melhor desempenho da reanálise do CFSR

Long-Term Complications of Ebola Virus Disease: Prevalence and Predictors of Major Symptoms and the Role of Inflammation

Background Cohort studies have reported a high prevalence of musculoskeletal, neurologic, auditory, and visual complications among Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors. However, little is known about the host- and disease-related predictors of these symptoms and their etiological mechanisms. Methods The presence and patterns of 8 cardinal symptoms that are most commonly reported following EVD survival were assessed in the 326 EVD survivors who participated in the ongoing longitudinal Liberian EVD Survivor Study. At quarterly study visits, symptoms that developed since acute EVD were recorded and blood was collected for biomarkers of inflammation and immune activation. Results At baseline (mean 408 days from acute EVD), 75.5% of survivors reported at least 1 new cardinal symptom since surviving EVD, which in 85.8% was rated as highly interfering with life. Two or more incident symptoms were reported by 61.0% of survivors, with pairings of joint pain, headache, or fatigue the most frequent. Women were significantly more likely than men to report headache, while older age was significantly associated with musculoskeletal and visual symptoms. In analyses adjusted for multiple comparisons, no statistically significant association was found between any symptom and 26 markers of inflammation and immune activation. Symptom frequency remained largely unchanged during study follow-up. Conclusions Post-EVD complications occur in a majority of survivors and remain present more than 4 years after acute infection. An association between markers of inflammation and immune activation and individual symptoms was not found, suggesting an alternative etiology for persistent post-EVD symptomatology

Automating linear accelerator quality assurance

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135049/1/mp1415.pd