The Worst Law in Technology : How the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Allows Big Businesses to Collect and Sell Your Personal Information

For years, big businesses have been collecting and selling users’ personal information without permission. In attempts at preventing this practice, users have brought civil actions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), alleging a loss of personal privacy. As currently enacted, “personal privacy” is not included in the statutory definition of loss. Further, courts have been reluctant to interpret the CFAA broadly to cover loss of personal privacy claims. This note proposes that an amendment to the CFAA is necessary to close this gap in the statute’s coverage and better protect users’ right to privacy

Meta-analysis of neuron specific enolase in predicting pediatric brain injury outcomes

A reliable biomarker has not been identified to predict the outcome of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. Therefore, the present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the association between neuron specific enolase (NSE) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. Two independent reviewers searched electronic databases of EMBASE, Cochrane library, Medline and Scopus and then they summarized the results and did a quality control check. At the end, standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) and performance of NSE were assessed. 10 studies were included in the present meta-analysis. Average serum (SMD=1.3; 95 % CI: 0.5 to 2.1; p=0.001) and CSF levels (SMD=2.45; 95 % CI: 1.04 to 3.8; p<0.0001) of NSE biomarker were significantly higher in children with TBI with unfavorable outcome compared with other children. Serum NSE had an area under the curve, sensitivity and specificity of 0.75 (95 % CI: 0.72 to 0.79), 0.74 (95 % CI: 0.64 to 0.82) and 0.69 (95 % CI: 0.59 to 0.77), respectively in prediction outcome of TBI. Positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odds ratio of serum NSE were 2.4 (95 % CI: 1.7 to 3.3), 0.38 (95 % CI: 0.26 to 0.55) and 6.0 (95 % CI: 3.0 to 12.0), respectively. The results show that the performance of NSE is in a moderate level in prediction of unfavorable outcome in children with TBI. However, data in this aspect is not sufficient and more studies are needed

Rapid Acute Physiology Score versus Rapid Emergency Medicine Score in Trauma Outcome Prediction; a Comparative Study

Introduction: Rapid acute physiology score (RAPS) and rapid emergency medicine score (REMS) are two physiologic models for measuring injury severity in emergency settings. The present study was designed to compare the two models in outcome prediction of trauma patients presenting to emergency department (ED).Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, the two models of RAPS and REMS were compared regarding prediction of mortality and poor outcome (severe disability based on Glasgow outcome scale) of trauma patients presenting to the EDs of 5 educational hospitals in Iran (Tehran, Tabriz, Urmia, Jahrom and Ilam) from May to October 2016. The discriminatory power and calibration of the models were calculated and compared using STATA 11.Results: 2148 patients with the mean age of 39.50±17.27 years were studied (75.56% males). The area under the curve of REMS and RAPS in predicting in-hospital mortality were calculated to be 0.93 (95% CI: 0.92-0.95) and 0.899 (95% CI: 0.86-0.93), respectively (p=0.02). These measures were 0.92 (95% CI: 0.90-0.94) and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.83-0.90), respectively, regarding poor outcome (p=0.001). The optimum cut-off point in predicting outcome was found to be 3 for REMS model and 2 for RAPS model. The sensitivity and specificity of REMS and RAPS in the mentioned cut offs were 95.93 vs. 85.37 and 77.63 vs. 83.51, respectively, in predicting mortality. Calibration and overall performance of the two models were acceptable.Conclusion: The present study showed that adding age and level of arterial oxygen saturation to the variables included in RAPS model can increase its predictive value. Therefore, it seems that REMS could be used for predicting mortality and poor outcome of trauma patients in emergency setting

Worthing Physiological Score vs Revised Trauma Score in Outcome Prediction of Trauma patients; a Comparative Study

Introduction: Awareness about the outcome of trauma patients in the emergency department (ED) has become a topic of interest. Accordingly, the present study aimed to compare the rapid trauma score (RTS) and worthing physiological scoring system (WPSS) in predicting in-hospital mortality and poor outcome of trauma patients.Methods: In this comparative study trauma patients brought to five EDs in different cities of Iran during the year 2016 were included. After data collection, discriminatory power and calibration of the models were assessed and compared using STATA 11.Results: 2148 patients with the mean age of 39.50±17.27 years were included (75.56% males). The AUC of RTS and WPSS models for prediction of mortality were 0.86 (95% CI: 0.82-0.90) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87-0.94), respectively (p=0.006). RTS had a sensitivity of 71.54 (95% CI: 62.59-79.13) and a specificity of 97.38 (95% CI: 96.56-98.01) in prediction of mortality. These measures for the WPSS were 87.80 (95% CI: 80.38-92.78) and 83.45 (95% CI: 81.75-85.04), respectively. The AUC of RTS and WPSS in predicting poor outcome were 0.81 (95% CI: 0.77-0.85) and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.85-0.92), respectively (p&lt;0.0001).Conclusion: The findings showed a higher prognostic value for the WPSS model in predicting mortality and severe disabilities in trauma patients compared to the RTS model.  Both models had good overall performance in prediction of mortality and poor outcome

Subacute bilateral coronary ostial stenoses following cardiac catheterization and ptca

Accelerated coronary ostial stenosis is an infrequent late complication of coronary artery catheter instrumentation during aortic valve surgery, PTCA, or coronary angiography. We report the first case of bilateral coronary artery ostial stenoses developing after cardiac catheterization and right coronary artery PTCA. In patients with worsening angina following cardiac catheterization or PTCA, accelerated ostial stenoses should not be overlooked in the differential diagnosis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38216/1/1810230210_ftp.pd

Right Atrial Pressure Affects the Interaction between Lung Mechanics and Right Ventricular Function in Spontaneously Breathing COPD Patients

INTRODUCTION: It is generally known that positive pressure ventilation is associated with impaired venous return and decreased right ventricular output, in particular in patients with a low right atrial pressure and relative hypovolaemia. Altered lung mechanics have been suggested to impair right ventricular output in COPD, but this relation has never been firmly established in spontaneously breathing patients at rest or during exercise, nor has it been determined whether these cardiopulmonary interactions are influenced by right atrial pressure. METHODS: Twenty-one patients with COPD underwent simultaneous measurements of intrathoracic, right atrial and pulmonary artery pressures during spontaneous breathing at rest and during exercise. Intrathoracic pressure and right atrial pressure were used to calculate right atrial filling pressure. Dynamic changes in pulmonary artery pulse pressure during expiration were examined to evaluate changes in right ventricular output. RESULTS: Pulmonary artery pulse pressure decreased up to 40% during expiration reflecting a decrease in stroke volume. The decline in pulse pressure was most prominent in patients with a low right atrial filling pressure. During exercise, a similar decline in pulmonary artery pressure was observed. This could be explained by similar increases in intrathoracic pressure and right atrial pressure during exercise, resulting in an unchanged right atrial filling pressure. CONCLUSIONS: We show that in spontaneously breathing COPD patients the pulmonary artery pulse pressure decreases during expiration and that the magnitude of the decline in pulmonary artery pulse pressure is not just a function of intrathoracic pressure, but also depends on right atrial pressure

Dynamic control of proinflammatory cytokines Il-1β and Tnf-α by macrophages in zebrafish spinal cord regeneration

Spinal cord injury leads to a massive response of innate immune cells in non-regenerating mammals, but also in successfully regenerating zebrafish. However, the role of the immune response in successful regeneration is poorly defined. Here we show that inhibiting inflammation reduces and promoting it accelerates axonal regeneration in spinal-lesioned zebrafish larvae. Mutant analyses show that peripheral macrophages, but not neutrophils or microglia, are necessary for repair. Macrophage-less irf8 mutants show prolonged inflammation with elevated levels of Tnf-α and Il-1β. Inhibiting Tnf-α does not rescue axonal growth in irf8 mutants, but impairs it in wildtype animals, indicating a pro-regenerative role of Tnf-α. In contrast, decreasing Il-1β levels or number of Il-1β+ neutrophils rescue functional regeneration in irf8 mutants. However, during early regeneration, interference with Il-1β function impairs regeneration in irf8 and wildtype animals. Hence, inflammation is dynamically controlled by macrophages to promote functional spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish

The Worst Law in Technology : How the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Allows Big Businesses to Collect and Sell Your Personal Information

For years, big businesses have been collecting and selling users’ personal information without permission. In attempts at preventing this practice, users have brought civil actions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), alleging a loss of personal privacy. As currently enacted, “personal privacy” is not included in the statutory definition of loss. Further, courts have been reluctant to interpret the CFAA broadly to cover loss of personal privacy claims. This note proposes that an amendment to the CFAA is necessary to close this gap in the statute’s coverage and better protect users’ right to privacy