A mathematical model of contact tracing during the 2014-2016 west African ebola outbreak

The 2014-2016 West African outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) was the largest and most deadly to date. Contact tracing, following up those who may have been infected through contact with an infected individual to prevent secondary spread, plays a vital role in controlling such outbreaks. Our aim in this work was to mechanistically represent the contact tracing process to illustrate potential areas of improvement in managing contact tracing efforts. We also explored the role contact tracing played in eventually ending the outbreak. We present a system of ordinary differential equations to model contact tracing in Sierra Leonne during the outbreak. Using data on cumulative cases and deaths we estimate most of the parameters in our model. We include the novel features of counting the total number of people being traced and tying this directly to the number of tracers doing this work. Our work highlights the importance of incorporatingchanging behavior into one’s model as needed when indicated by the data and reported trends. Our results show that a larger contact tracing program would have reduced the death toll of the outbreak. Counting the total number of people being traced and including changes in behavior in our model led to better understanding of disease management

Analysis of sex and gender-specific research reveals a common increase in publications and marked differences between disciplines

Oertelt-Prigione S, Parol R, Krohn S, Preißner R, Regitz-Zagrosek V. Analysis of sex and gender-specific research reveals a common increase in publications and marked differences between disciplines. BMC Medicine. 2010;8(1): 70.© 2010 Oertelt-Prigione et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Tempering and Annealing in a Verdier-Stockmayer Polymer

Two Monte Carlo methods, simulated annealing and parallel tempering, were applied to a Verdier-Stockmayer polymer. The efficiency of the two algorithms in exploring the lowest energy state possible for the model polymers was measured by the number of energy-degenerate configurations (configurations that have the same energy but are structurally different). Parallel tempering consistently explored more energy-degenerate configurations as compared with simulated annealing

A redundant flight recovery system implementation during an octocopter failure

This research presents a redundant flight recovery system during a motor failure in an octocopter platform. This proposed recovery system exploits the property that the octocopter can be derived by combining two quadrotor systems. During motor failure, the octocopter switches to a stable quadrotor flight configuration while immediately landing the octocopter to prevent further damage to installed sensor and equipment and the octocopter platform. The redundant system utilizes PID and fuzzy logic controllers to stabilize altitude and attitude respectively. © 2016 IEEE

Comparison of Testing Methods for Detection of Decreased Linezolid Susceptibility Due to G2576T Mutation of the 23S rRNA Gene in Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis

E-test, Vitek 2, MicroScan, agar dilution, and disk diffusion were compared for detection of decreased linezolid susceptibility due to 23S rRNA gene G2576T mutation among 32 clinical Enterococcus strains initially reported as intermediate or resistant by E-test alone or Vitek 2 confirmed by E-test. Agar and broth dilution methods were in concordance with PCR detection of the mutation, and disk diffusion was somewhat less sensitive but equally specific

Totally Robotic vs Hybrid Abdominoperineal Resection: A Retrospective Multicenter Analysis

Introduction Laparoscopic abdominoperineal resection (APR) for low rectal cancers is technically demanding. Robotic assistance may be of help and can be hybrid (HAPR) or totally robotic (RAPR). The present study describes outcomes of robotic APR and compares both approaches. Material and methods A multicentric retrospective analysis of rectal cancer patients undergoing either HAPR or RAPR was conducted. Patients\u27 demographics, surgeons\u27 experience, oncologic results, and intraoperative and postoperative outcomes were collected. Results One hundred twenty‐five patients were included, 48 in HAPR group and 77 in RAPR group. Demographics and comorbidities were comparable. Operative time was reduced in RAPR group (266.9 ± 107.8 min vs 318.9 ± 75.1 min, P = .001). RAPR patients were discharged home more frequently (91.18% vs 66.67%, P = .001), and experienced fewer parastomal hernias (3.71% vs 9.86%, P = .001). Conclusion RAPR is safe and feasible with appropriate oncologic outcomes. Totally robotic approach reduces operative time and may improve functional outcomes

Totally Robotic vs Hybrid Abdominoperineal Resection: A Retrospective Multicenter Analysis

Introduction Laparoscopic abdominoperineal resection (APR) for low rectal cancers is technically demanding. Robotic assistance may be of help and can be hybrid (HAPR) or totally robotic (RAPR). The present study describes outcomes of robotic APR and compares both approaches. Material and methods A multicentric retrospective analysis of rectal cancer patients undergoing either HAPR or RAPR was conducted. Patients\u27 demographics, surgeons\u27 experience, oncologic results, and intraoperative and postoperative outcomes were collected. Results One hundred twenty‐five patients were included, 48 in HAPR group and 77 in RAPR group. Demographics and comorbidities were comparable. Operative time was reduced in RAPR group (266.9 ± 107.8 min vs 318.9 ± 75.1 min, P = .001). RAPR patients were discharged home more frequently (91.18% vs 66.67%, P = .001), and experienced fewer parastomal hernias (3.71% vs 9.86%, P = .001). Conclusion RAPR is safe and feasible with appropriate oncologic outcomes. Totally robotic approach reduces operative time and may improve functional outcomes