On the Spatial Distribution of Stellar Populations in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We measure the angular correlation function of stars in a region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) that spans 2 degrees by 1.5 degrees. We find that the correlation functions of stellar populations are represented well by exponential functions of the angular separation for separations between 2 and 40 arcmin (corresponding to ~ 30 pc and 550 pc for an LMC distance of 50 kpc). The inner boundary is set by the presence of distinct, highly correlated structures, which are the more familiar stellar clusters, and the outer boundary is set by the observed region's size and the presence of two principal centers of star formation within the region. We also find that the normalization and scale length of the correlation function changes systematically with the mean age of the stellar population. The existence of positive correlation at large separations (~300 pc), even in the youngest population, argues for large-scale hierarchical structure in current star formation. The evolution of the angular correlation toward lower normalizations and longer scale lengths with stellar age argues for the dispersion of stars with time. We show that a simple, stochastic, self-propagating star formation model is qualitatively consistent with this behavior of the correlation function.Comment: 30 pages, 13 Figures. Scheduled for publication in AJ in June 199

Cohort profile:The Scottish SHARE Mental Health (SHARE-MH) cohort - linkable survey, genetic and routinely collected data for mental health research

PURPOSE: The SHARE Mental Health (SHARE-MH) cohort was established to address the paucity of clinical and genetic data available for mental health research. The cohort brings together detailed mental health questionnaire responses, routinely collected electronic health data and genetic data to provide researchers with an unprecedented linkable dataset. This combination of data sources allows researchers to track mental health longitudinally, across multiple settings. It will be of interest to researchers investigating the genetic and environmental determinants of mental health, the experiences of those interacting with healthcare services, and the overlap between self-reported and clinically derived mental health outcomes.PARTICIPANTS: The cohort consists of individuals sampled from the Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE). To register for SHARE, individuals had to be over the age of 16 years and living in Scotland. Cohort participants were recruited by email and invited to take part in an online mental health survey. When signing up for SHARE, participants also provided written consent to the use of their electronic health records and genetic data-derived from spare blood samples-for research purposes.FINDINGS TO DATE: From 5 February 2021 to 27 November 2021, 9829 individuals completed a survey of various mental health topics, capturing information on symptoms, diagnoses, impact and treatment. Survey responses have been made linkable to electronic health records and genetic data using a single patient identifier. Linked data have been used to describe the cohort in terms of their demographics, self-reported mental health, inpatient and outpatient hospitalisations and dispensed prescriptions.FUTURE PLANS: The cohort will be improved through linkage to a broader variety of routinely collected data and to increasing amounts of genetic data obtained through blood sample diversion. We see the SHARE-MH cohort being used to drive forward novel areas of mental health research and to contribute to global efforts in psychiatric genetics.</p

Telemedicine Critical Care-Mediated Mortality Reductions in Lower-Performing Patient Diagnosis Groups: A Prospective, Before and After Study

OBJECTIVES: Studies evaluating telemedicine critical care (TCC) have shown mixed results. We prospectively evaluated the impact of TCC implementation on risk-adjusted mortality among patients stratified by pre-TCC performance. DESIGN: Prospective, observational, before and after study. SETTING: Three adult ICUs at an academic medical center. PATIENTS: A total of 2,429 patients in the pre-TCC (January to June 2016) and 12,479 patients in the post-TCC (January 2017 to June 2019) periods. INTERVENTIONS: TCC implementation which included an acuity-driven workflow targeting an identified “lower-performing” patient group, defined by ICU admission in an Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation diagnoses category with a pre-TCC standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of greater than 1.5. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was risk-adjusted hospital mortality. Risk-adjusted hospital length of stay (HLOS) was also studied. The SMR for the overall ICU population was 0.83 pre-TCC and 0.75 post-TCC, with risk-adjusted mortalities of 10.7% and 9.5% (p = 0.09). In the identified lower-performing patient group, which accounted for 12.6% (n = 307) of pre-TCC and 13.3% (n = 1671) of post-TCC ICU patients, SMR decreased from 1.61 (95% CI, 1.21–2.01) pre-TCC to 1.03 (95% CI, 0.91–1.15) post-TCC, and risk-adjusted mortality decreased from 26.4% to 16.9% (p \u3c 0.001). In the remaining (“higher-performing”) patient group, there was no change in pre- versus post-TCC SMR (0.70 [0.59–0.81] vs 0.69 [0.64–0.73]) or risk-adjusted mortality (8.5% vs 8.4%, p = 0.86). There were no pre- to post-TCC differences in standardized HLOS ratio or risk-adjusted HLOS in the overall cohort or either performance group. CONCLUSIONS: In well-staffed and overall higher-performing ICUs in an academic medical center, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation granularity allowed identification of a historically lower-performing patient group that experienced a striking TCC-associated reduction in SMR and risk-adjusted mortality. This study provides additional evidence for the relationship between pre-TCC performance and post-TCC improvement

Interpretation of psychiatric genome-wide association studies with multispecies heterogeneous functional genomic data integration.

Genome-wide association studies and other discovery genetics methods provide a means to identify previously unknown biological mechanisms underlying behavioral disorders that may point to new therapeutic avenues, augment diagnostic tools, and yield a deeper understanding of the biology of psychiatric conditions. Recent advances in psychiatric genetics have been made possible through large-scale collaborative efforts. These studies have begun to unearth many novel genetic variants associated with psychiatric disorders and behavioral traits in human populations. Significant challenges remain in characterizing the resulting disease-associated genetic variants and prioritizing functional follow-up to make them useful for mechanistic understanding and development of therapeutics. Model organism research has generated extensive genomic data that can provide insight into the neurobiological mechanisms of variant action, but a cohesive effort must be made to establish which aspects of the biological modulation of behavioral traits are evolutionarily conserved across species. Scalable computing, new data integration strategies, and advanced analysis methods outlined in this review provide a framework to efficiently harness model organism data in support of clinically relevant psychiatric phenotypes

Public Scholarship at Indiana University-Purdue University

Community engagement is a defining attribute of the campus, and the current Strategic Plan identifies a number of strategic actions to “Deepen our Commitment to Community Engagement.” In May 2015, A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on Public Scholarship was established in May, 2015 to address the campus strategic goals to “recognize and reward contributions to community engagement” and “define community engagement work…in Faculty Annual Reports and promotion and tenure guidelines.” At IUPUI, scholarly work occurs in research and creative activity, teaching, and/or service. In terms of promotion and tenure, faculty members must declare an area of excellence in one of these three domains. The FLC on Public Scholarship is a 3-year initiative co-sponsored by Academic Affairs and the Center for Service and Learning (CSL). Seven faculty members from across campus were selected to be part of the 2015-2016 FLC, and two co-chairs worked closely with CSL staff to plan and facilitate the ongoing work. The FLC is charged with defining public scholarship, identifying criteria to evaluate this type of scholarship, assist faculty in documenting their community-engaged work, and working with department Chairs and Deans in adapting criteria into promotion and tenure materials. The intended audiences for this work includes faculty, community-engaged scholars, public scholars, promotion and tenure committees, external reviewers, and department Chairs and Deans. The following provides background to the campus context and a brief summary of work to date, including definition and proposed criteria to evaluate public scholarship.IUPUI Center for Service and Learning; IUPUI Office of Academic Affair

Resolved Near-infrared Stellar Populations in Nearby Galaxies

We present near-infrared (NIR) color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) for the resolved stellar populations within 26 fields of 23 nearby galaxies (≲ 4 Mpc), based on images in the F110W and F160W filters taken with the Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The CMDs are measured in regions spanning a wide range of star formation histories, including both old dormant and young star-forming populations. We match key NIR CMD features with their counterparts in more familiar optical CMDs, and identify the red core helium-burning (RHeB) sequence as a significant contributor to the NIR flux in stellar populations younger than a few 100 Myr old. The strength of this feature suggests that the NIR mass-to-light ratio can vary significantly on short timescales in star-forming systems. The NIR luminosity of star-forming galaxies is therefore not necessarily proportional to the stellar mass. We note that these individual RHeB stars may also be misidentified as old stellar clusters in images of nearby galaxies. For older stellar populations, we discuss the CMD location of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the HST filter set and explore the separation of AGB subpopulations using a combination of optical and NIR colors. We empirically calibrate the magnitude of the NIR tip of the red giant branch in F160W as a function of color, allowing future observations in this widely adopted filter set to be used for distance measurements. We also analyze the properties of the NIR red giant branch (RGB) as a function of metallicity, showing a clear trend between NIR RGB color and metallicity. However, based on the current study, it appears unlikely that the slope of the NIR RGB can be used as an effective metallicity indicator in extragalactic systems with comparable data. Finally, we highlight issues with scattered light in the WFC3, which becomes significant for exposures taken close to a bright Earth limb

Chest Fat Quantification via CT Based on Standardized Anatomy Space in Adult Lung Transplant Candidates

Purpose Overweight and underweight conditions are considered relative contraindications to lung transplantation due to their association with excess mortality. Yet, recent work suggests that body mass index (BMI) does not accurately reflect adipose tissue mass in adults with advanced lung diseases. Alternative and more accurate measures of adiposity are needed. Chest fat estimation by routine computed tomography (CT) imaging may therefore be important for identifying high-risk lung transplant candidates. In this paper, an approach to chest fat quantification and quality assessment based on a recently formulated concept of standardized anatomic space (SAS) is presented. The goal of the paper is to seek answers to several key questions related to chest fat quantity and quality assessment based on a single slice CT (whether in the chest, abdomen, or thigh) versus a volumetric CT, which have not been addressed in the literature. Methods Unenhanced chest CT image data sets from 40 adult lung transplant candidates (age 58 ± 12 yrs and BMI 26.4 ± 4.3 kg/m2), 16 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 16 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and the remainder with other conditions were analyzed together with a single slice acquired for each patient at the L5 vertebral level and mid-thigh level. The thoracic body region and the interface between subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in the chest were consistently defined in all patients and delineated using Live Wire tools. The SAT and VAT components of chest were then segmented guided by this interface. The SAS approach was used to identify the corresponding anatomic slices in each chest CT study, and SAT and VAT areas in each slice as well as their whole volumes were quantified. Similarly, the SAT and VAT components were segmented in the abdomen and thigh slices. Key parameters of the attenuation (Hounsfield unit (HU) distributions) were determined from each chest slice and from the whole chest volume separately for SAT and VAT components. The same parameters were also computed from the single abdominal and thigh slices. The ability of the slice at each anatomic location in the chest (and abdomen and thigh) to act as a marker of the measures derived from the whole chest volume was assessed via Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) analysis. Results The SAS approach correctly identified slice locations in different subjects in terms of vertebral levels. PCC between chest fat volume and chest slice fat area was maximal at the T8 level for SAT (0.97) and at the T7 level for VAT (0.86), and was modest between chest fat volume and abdominal slice fat area for SAT and VAT (0.73 and 0.75, respectively). However, correlation was weak for chest fat volume and thigh slice fat area for SAT and VAT (0.52 and 0.37, respectively), and for chest fat volume for SAT and VAT and BMI (0.65 and 0.28, respectively). These same single slice locations with maximal PCC were found for SAT and VAT within both COPD and IPF groups. Most of the attenuation properties derived from the whole chest volume and single best chest slice for VAT (but not for SAT) were significantly different between COPD and IPF groups. Conclusions This study demonstrates a new way of optimally selecting slices whose measurements may be used as markers of similar measurements made on the whole chest volume. The results suggest that one or two slices imaged at T7 and T8 vertebral levels may be enough to estimate reliably the total SAT and VAT components of chest fat and the quality of chest fat as determined by attenuation distributions in the entire chest volume

What do older people do when sitting and why? Implications for decreasing sedentary behaviour

Background and Objectives: Sitting less can reduce older adults’ risk of ill health and disability. Effective sedentary behavior interventions require greater understanding of what older adults do when sitting (and not sitting), and why. This study compares the types, context, and role of sitting activities in the daily lives of older men and women who sit more or less than average. Research Design and Methods: Semistructured interviews with 44 older men and women of different ages, socioeconomic status, and objectively measured sedentary behavior were analyzed using social practice theory to explore the multifactorial, inter-relational influences on their sedentary behavior. Thematic frameworks facilitated between-group comparisons. Results: Older adults described many different leisure time, household, transport, and occupational sitting and non-sitting activities. Leisure-time sitting in the home (e.g., watching TV) was most common, but many non-sitting activities, including “pottering” doing household chores, also took place at home. Other people and access to leisure facilities were associated with lower sedentary behavior. The distinction between being busy/not busy was more important to most participants than sitting/not sitting, and informed their judgments about high-value “purposeful” (social, cognitively active, restorative) sitting and low-value “passive” sitting. Declining physical function contributed to temporal sitting patterns that did not vary much from day-to-day. Discussion and Implications: Sitting is associated with cognitive, social, and/or restorative benefits, embedded within older adults’ daily routines, and therefore difficult to change. Useful strategies include supporting older adults to engage with other people and local facilities outside the home, and break up periods of passive sitting at home

Tools to Assess Behavioral and Social Science Competencies in Medical Education: A Systematic Review

Behavioral and social science (BSS) competencies are needed to provide quality health care, but psychometrically validated measures to assess these competencies are difficult to find. Moreover, they have not been mapped to existing frameworks, like those from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate the quality of assessment tools used to measure BSS competencies