Time and Out-of-Pocket Costs Associated with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalization of Infants

AbstractObjectiveThe objective of this study was to quantify time spent plus out-of-pocket costs associated with confirmed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalization of infants not prophylaxed against RSV.MethodsA prospective survey was carried out at multiple tertiary care hospitals in the United States.PatientsThe patients consisted of a consecutive sample of infants <12 months, born between 33 and 35 weeks of gestation. One site also enrolled full-term infants hospitalized with confirmed RSV. Daily patient census identified eligible patients. Consenting caregivers of eligible subjects (n=84, 1 refusal) were interviewed on discharge day and by telephone ∼30 days following discharge regarding time and out-of-pocket costs due to RSV.ResultsTotal average out of pocket expenses were $643.69 (range$21–$16,867; SD$2,403) for premature and $214.42 (range$6–$827; SD$218) (P=.0158) for full-term subjects. Total average economic burden per admission was $4517.07 for premature and$2135.30 for full-term infants, including the value of lost productivity but excluding inpatient hospital and physician bills and lost income. Premature infants (n=48) had longer hospital stays (mean 6.9 days; SD 7.5 vs. 3.4 days; SD 2.6 days) (P=.001) with an associated mean total time spent by up to 5 adults of 281.7 hours (range 25–2819.7 hours; SD 465.8 hours) versus a mean of 139.7 hours (range 31.8–561.3 hours; SD 118.1 hours) for term infants (P=.109). Time and out-of-pocket costs continued after discharge.ConclusionsRSV hospitalization of infants is associated with substantial, previously unmeasured time and monetary losses. These losses continued following discharge. The economic burden on families and society appears heavier for infants born at 33 to 35 weeks of gestation than for full-term infants

Methods and systems for advanced spaceport information management

Advanced spaceport information management methods and systems are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes coupling a test system to the payload and transmitting one or more test signals that emulate an anticipated condition from the test system to the payload. One or more responsive signals are received from the payload into the test system and are analyzed to determine whether one or more of the responsive signals comprises an anomalous signal. At least one of the steps of transmitting, receiving, analyzing and determining includes transmitting at least one of the test signals and the responsive signals via a communications link from a payload processing facility to a remotely located facility. In one particular embodiment, the communications link is an Internet link from a payload processing facility to a remotely located facility (e.g. a launch facility, university, etc.)

Aphid gene expression following polerovirus acquisition is host species dependent

Upon acquisition of persistent circulative viruses such as poleroviruses, the virus particles transcytose through membrane barriers of aphids at the midgut and salivary glands via hemolymph. Such intricate interactions can influence aphid behavior and fitness and induce associated gene expression in viruliferous aphids. Differential gene expression can be evaluated by omics approaches such as transcriptomics. Previously conducted aphid transcriptome studies used only one host species as the source of virus inoculum. Viruses typically have alternate hosts. Hence, it is not clear how alternate hosts infected with the same virus isolate alter gene expression in viruliferous vectors. To address the question, this study conducted a transcriptome analysis of viruliferous aphids that acquired the virus from different host species. A polerovirus, cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV), which induced gene expression in the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, was assessed using four alternate hosts, viz., cotton, hibiscus, okra, and prickly sida. Among a total of 2,942 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 750, 310, 1,193, and 689 genes were identified in A. gossypii that acquired CLRDV from infected cotton, hibiscus, okra, and prickly sida, respectively, compared with non-viruliferous aphids that developed on non-infected hosts. A higher proportion of aphid genes were overexpressed than underexpressed following CLRDV acquisition from cotton, hibiscus, and prickly sida. In contrast, more aphid genes were underexpressed than overexpressed following CLRDV acquisition from okra plants. Only four common DEGs (heat shock protein, juvenile hormone acid O-methyltransferase, and two unannotated genes) were identified among viruliferous aphids from four alternate hosts. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotations indicated that the acquisition of CLRDV induced DEGs in aphids associated with virus infection, signal transduction, immune systems, and fitness. However, these induced changes were not consistent across four alternate hosts. These data indicate that alternate hosts could differentially influence gene expression in aphids and presumably aphid behavior and fitness despite being infected with the same virus isolate

Investigating the effects of planting date and Aphis gossypii management on reducing the final incidence of cotton leafroll dwarf virus

This is the first study to research management strategies for cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) in the southeastern U.S. The efficacy of aphid vector management to reduce final CLRDV incidence was investigated concurrent with efforts to monitor aphid population dynamics and timing of CLRDV spread. Adjusting the planting date and insecticide applications did not reduce the final incidence of CLRDV, which was confirmed in 60–100% of plants per plot using RT-PCR. Aphid population density was reduced, but not eliminated with foliar insecticide applications. Aphis gossypii was the only species observed on cotton and was the dominant species collected in pan traps. Three distinct periods of virus spread were detected with sentinel plants including early, mid-and late-season. Most virus spread occurred during large aphid dispersal events

Generating Temperature Flow for eta/s with Higher Derivatives: From Lifshitz to AdS

We consider charged dilatonic black branes in AdS_5 and examine the effects of perturbative higher derivative corrections on the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density eta/s of the dual plasma. The structure of eta/s is controlled by the relative hierarchy between the two scales in the plasma, the temperature and the chemical potential. In this model the background near-horizon geometry interpolates between a Lifshitz-like brane at low temperature, and an AdS brane at high temperatures -- with AdS asymptotics in both cases. As a result, in this construction the viscosity to entropy ratio flows as a function of temperature, from a value in the IR which is sensitive to the dynamical exponent z, to the simple result expected for an AdS brane in the UV. Coupling the scalar directly to the higher derivative terms generates additional temperature dependence, and leads to a particularly interesting structure for eta/s in the IR.Comment: Plots and references added. Journal version of the pape

Enhanced sensitivity for hyperspectral infrared chemical detection

The sensitivity of imaging, hyperspectral, passive remote sensors in the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) spectral region is currently limited by the ability to achieve an accurate, time-invariant, pixel-to-pixel calibration of the elements composing the Focal Plane Array (FPA). Pursuing conventional techniques to improve the accuracy of the calibration will always be limited by the trade-off between the time required to collect calibration data of improved precision and the drift in the pixel response that occurs on a timescale comparable to the calibration time. This paper will present the results from a study of a method to circumvent these problems. Improvements in detection capability can be realized by applying a quick, repetitive dither of the field of view (FOV) of the imager (by a small angular amount), so that radiance/spectral differences between individual target areas can be measured by a single FPA pixel. By performing this difference measurement repetitively both residual differences in the pixel-to-pixel calibration and l/f detector drift noise can effectively be eliminated. In addition, variations in the atmosphere and target scene caused by the motion of the sensor platform will cause signal drifts that this technique would be able to remove. This method allows improvements in sensitivity that could potentially scale as the square root of the observation time

A combined rocket-borne and ground-based study of the sodium layer and charged dust in the upper mesosphere

The Hotel Payload 2 rocket was launched on January 31st 2008 at 20.14 LT from the Andøya Rocket Range in northern Norway (69.31° N, 16.01° E). Measurements in the 75–105 km region of atomic O, negatively-charged dust, positive ions and electrons with a suite of instruments on the payload were complemented by lidar measurements of atomic Na and temperature from the nearby ALOMAR observatory. The payload passed within 2.58 km of the lidar at an altitude of 90 km. A series of coupled models is used to explore the observations, leading to two significant conclusions. First, the atomic Na layer and the vertical profiles of negatively-charged dust (assumed to be meteoric smoke particles), electrons and positive ions, can be modelled using a self-consistent meteoric input flux. Second, electronic structure calculations and Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Markus theory are used to show that even small Fe–Mg–silicates are able to attach electrons rapidly and form stable negatively-charged particles, compared with electron attachment to O2 and O3. This explains the substantial electron depletion between 80 and 90 km, where the presence of atomic O at concentrations in excess of 1010 cm−3 prevents the formation of stable negative ions

Kinetic and Structural Investigations of Novel Inhibitors of Human Epithelial 15-Lipoxygenase-2

Human epithelial 15-lipoxygenase-2 (h15-LOX-2, ALOX15B) is expressed in many tissues and has been implicated in atherosclerosis, cystic fibrosis and ferroptosis. However, there are few reported potent/selective inhibitors that are active ex vivo. In the current work, we report newly discovered molecules that are more potent and structurally distinct from our previous inhibitors, MLS000545091 and MLS000536924 (Jameson et al, PLoS One, 2014, 9, e104094), in that they contain a central imidazole ring, which is substituted at the 1-position with a phenyl moiety and with a benzylthio moiety at the 2-position. The initial three molecules were mixed-type, non-reductive inhibitors, with IC(50) values of 0.34 ± 0.05 μM for MLS000327069, 0.53 ± 0.04 μM for MLS000327186 and 0.87 ± 0.06 μM for MLS000327206 and greater than 50-fold selectivity versus h5-LOX, h12-LOX, h15-LOX-1, COX-1 and COX-2. A small set of focused analogs was synthesized to demonstrate the validity of the hits. In addition, a binding model was developed for the three imidazole inhibitors based on computational docking and a co-structure of h15-LOX-2 with MLS000536924. Hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) results indicate a similar binding mode between MLS000536924 and MLS000327069, however, the latter restricts protein motion of helix-α2 more, consistent with its greater potency. Given these results, we designed, docked, and synthesized novel inhibitors of the imidazole scaffold and confirmed our binding mode hypothesis. Importantly, four of the five inhibitors mentioned above are active in an h15-LOX-2/HEK293 cell assay and thus they could be important tool compounds in gaining a better understanding of h15-LOX-2’s role in human biology. As such, a suite of similar pharmacophores that target h15-LOX-2 both in vitro and ex vivo are presented in the hope of developing them as therapeutic agents