Screening for E-cigarette and Tobacco Use in Standardized Patient Encounters

E-cigarette usage has grown significantly in recent years, with over 5 million US middle and high school students reporting recent usage. The long-term health consequences of these devices are still being investigated, but it is known that e-cigarette aerosol could contain harmful substances including nicotine, heavy metals, and carcinogens. Therefore, it is important for physicians to ask patients about e-cigarette usage specifically, as this may contribute to future health problems. The goal of this study was to investigate if and how medical students screen for e-cigarette usage. Screening language was reviewed in standardized patient encounters, which are a type of assessment that medical students undergo in order to observe how they interact with simulated patients. Video-taped patient encounters were coded to examine the specific phrasing of questions related to tobacco usage, including initial and follow-up questions. The majority of students (97%) did not ask about e-cigarettes specifically. Most students (66%) simply asked, “Do you smoke?” Overall, the evidence shows that e-cigarette and vaping device usage is not being addressed specifically in these interactions. These results demonstrate a need for updated patient screening in regards to tobacco use. Because the majority of e-cigarette users report not knowing that the product contains nicotine, physicians must be made aware of their unknown effects on patient outcomes and the need to screen specifically about e-cigarette usage separately from smoking. Continuing medical education may also help address this gap since many cohorts of practicing physicians were training before the popularity of these types of devices.https://ir.library.louisville.edu/uars/1035/thumbnail.jp

The Nature and Frequency of the Gas Outbursts in Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko observed by the Alice Far-ultraviolet Spectrograph on Rosetta

Alice is a far-ultraviolet imaging spectrograph onboard Rosetta that, amongst multiple objectives, is designed to observe emissions from various atomic and molecular species from within the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The initial observations, made following orbit insertion in August 2014, showed emissions of atomic hydrogen and oxygen spatially localized close to the nucleus and attributed to photoelectron impact dissociation of H2O vapor. Weaker emissions from atomic carbon were subsequently detected and also attributed to electron impact dissociation, of CO2, the relative H I and C I line intensities reflecting the variation of CO2 to H2O column abundance along the line-of-sight through the coma. Beginning in mid-April 2015, Alice sporadically observed a number of outbursts above the sunward limb characterized by sudden increases in the atomic emissions, particularly the semi-forbidden O I 1356 multiplet, over a period of 10-30 minutes, without a corresponding enhancement in long wavelength solar reflected light characteristic of dust production. A large increase in the brightness ratio O I 1356/O I 1304 suggests O2 as the principal source of the additional gas. These outbursts do not correlate with any of the visible images of outbursts taken with either OSIRIS or the navigation camera. Beginning in June 2015 the nature of the Alice spectrum changed considerably with CO Fourth Positive band emission observed continuously, varying with pointing but otherwise fairly constant in time. However, CO does not appear to be a major driver of any of the observed outbursts.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

A neuronal-specific differentiation protein that directly modulates retinoid receptor transcriptional activation

BACKGROUND: The specificity of a nuclear receptor's ability to modulate gene expression resides in its ability to bind a specific lipophilic ligand, associate with specific dimerization partners and bind specific DNA sequences in the promoter regions of genes. This sequence of events appears to be the basis for targeting an additional regulatory complex composed of a variety of protein and RNA components that deliver signals for facilitation or inhibition of the RNA polymerase complex. Characterization of the tissue and cell-specific components of these coregulatory complexes appear to be integral to our understanding of nuclear receptor regulation of transcription. RESULTS: A novel yeast screen sensitive to retinoid-X receptor (RXR) transcriptional activation resulted in the isolation of the rat homologue of the mouse NPDC-1 gene. NPDC-1 has been shown to be involved in the control of neural cell proliferation and differentiation, possibly through interactions with the cell cycle promoting transcription factor E2F-1. Although the amino acid sequence of NPDC-1 is highly conserved between mouse, rat and human homologues, their tissue specific expression was seen to vary. A potential for direct protein:protein interaction between NPDC-1, RXR and retinoic acid receptor beta (RARβ) was observed in vitro and NPDC-1 facilitated RXR homodimer and RAR-RXR heterodimer DNA binding in vitro. Expression of NPDC-1 was also observed to repress transcription mediated by retinoid receptors as well as by several other nuclear receptor family members, although not in a universal manner. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that NPDC-1, through direct interaction with retinoid receptors, functions to enhance the transcription complex formation and DNA binding function of retinoid receptors, but ultimately repress retinoid receptor-mediated gene expression. As with NPDC-1, retinoids and their receptors have been implicated in brain development and these data provide a point of convergence for NPDC-1 and retinoid mediation of neuronal differentiation

LESSONS LEARNED Biosurveillance Mobile App Development Intern Competition (Summer 2013)

The purpose of the lessons learned document for the BEOWulf Biosurveillance Mobile App Development Intern Competition is to capture the project’s lessons learned in a formal document for use by other project managers on similar future projects. This document may be used as part of new project planning for similar projects in order to determine what problems occurred and how those problems were handled and may be avoided in the future. Additionally, this document details what went well with the project and why, so that other project managers may capitalize on these actions. Project managers may also use this document to determine who the project team members were in order to solicit feedback for planning their projects in the future. This document will be formally communicated with the organization and will become a part of the organizational assets and archives

Measurement of the hadronic activity in events with a Z and two jets and extraction of the cross section for the electroweak production of a Z with two jets in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FJHEP10%282013%29062.The first measurement of the electroweak production cross section of a Z boson with two jets (Zjj) in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV is presented, based on a data sample recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 5 fb(−1). The cross section is measured for the ℓℓjj (ℓ = e, μ) final state in the kinematic region m(ℓℓ) > 50 GeV, m(jj) > 120 GeV, transverse momenta p(j)(T)>25 GeV and pseudorapidity |η(j)| < 4.0. The measurement, combining the muon and electron channels, yields σ = 154 ± 24 (stat.) ± 46 (exp. syst.) ± 27 (th. syst.) ± 3 (lum.) fb, in agreement with the theoretical cross section. The hadronic activity, in the rapidity interval between the jets, is also measured. These results establish an important foundation for the more general study of vector boson fusion processes, of relevance for Higgs boson searches and for measurements of electroweak gauge couplings and vector boson scattering

Long-term safety of Mometasone Furoate administered via a dry powder inhaler in children: Results of an open-label study comparing Mometasone Furoate with Beclomethasone Dipropionate in children with persistent asthma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To assess the long-term pediatric safety of 2 doses of mometasone furoate administered via a dry powder inhaler (MF-DPI) for mild-to-moderate persistent asthma and compare them with that of beclomethasone dipropionate administered via a metered dose inhaler (BDP-MDI) in the treatment of persistent asthma. Both MF-DPI doses tested are twice the approved pediatric dosage of 100 μg once-daily (QD) for children aged 4–11 years.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Children (N = 233) aged 4–11 years were randomized to 52 weeks of treatment with MF-DPI 200 μg QD AM, MF-DPI 100 μg twice daily (BID), or BDP-MDI 168 μg BID. Patients had used inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) daily for ≥ 30 days before the screening visit and were on stable ICS doses for ≥ 2 weeks before screening. The primary safety variable was the incidence of adverse events. Secondary safety variables were laboratory tests (including cortisol concentrations), vital signs, and physical examination.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The incidence of adverse events was similar in all 3 treatment groups. The most frequently reported adverse event was upper respiratory tract infection, reported by 47%–49% of the MF-DPI-treated patients and 51% of the BPD-treated patients. Most adverse events were considered unrelated to study drug. The most frequently reported related adverse events were headache (MF-DPI 200 μg QD AM, 8%; MF-DPI 100 μg BID, 4%; BDP-MDI 168 μg BID, 2%) and oral candidiasis (4% in each treatment group). No clinically relevant changes in laboratory values, including plasma cortisol, vital signs, or physical examinations were noted in any treatment group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both MF-DPI doses were well tolerated, with no unusual or unexpected adverse events or safety concerns, and had a similar adverse event profile to that of BDP-MDI 168 μg BID.</p

Models for Estimating the Cold Hardiness of Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium cv. Sweetheart and Lapins) in Cold Climate Regions

Plant cold hardiness is a dynamic process, and seasonal changes occur through cold acclimation and deacclimation to help prevent lethal injury from the cold. Cold weather injury resulting from inadequate plant cold hardiness can result in significant economic losses to growers of perennial crops in temperate climates. The objective of the current study was to develop models that estimate the lethal temperature that causes 10%, 50%, and 90% mortality (LT10, LT50, LT90) to two cultivars of sweet cherry (Prunus avium) flower buds from the early fall through to spring. We parameterized regression models using lethal temperature data collected in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada, over six seasons (2013–17, 2019–20, 2021–22) for ‘Sweetheart’ sweet cherry and three seasons (2013–15, 2016–17) for ‘Lapins’ sweet cherry. These models incorporate parameters that are based on equations that describe chill and heat accumulation that rely on measures of hourly air temperature. Model evaluation and validation using several seasons of lethal temperature data not included in model development were completed. Models for estimating the cold hardiness of sweet cherry showed good agreement between model lethal temperature predictions and observed values for both sweet cherry cultivars. In addition, an open-access, interactive, web-based application was developed to access the outputs of these models in real time for use by growers, researchers, and extension workers. These current models of sweet cherry cold hardiness have potential application for use as a decision support tool for cold damage management as well as crop site suitability modeling

Inclusive b-hadron production cross section with muons in pp collisions at s√=7TeV

A measurement of the b-hadron production cross section in proton-proton collisions at s√=7TeVs=7TeV is presented. The dataset, corresponding to 85 nb−1, was recorded with the CMS experiment at the LHC using a low-threshold single-muon trigger. Events are selected by the presence of a muon with transverse momentum pμT>6GeVpTμ>6GeV with respect to the beam direction and pseudorapidity |η μ | < 2.1. The transverse momentum of the muon with respect to the closest jet discriminates events containing b hadrons from background. The inclusive b-hadron production cross section is presented as a function of muon transverse momentum and pseudorapidity. The measured total cross section in the kinematic acceptance is σ(pp → b + X → μ + X′) = 1.32 ± 0.01(stat) ± 0.30(syst) ± 0.15(lumi)μb