The United States COVID-19 Forecast Hub dataset

Academic researchers, government agencies, industry groups, and individuals have produced forecasts at an unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. To leverage these forecasts, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with an academic research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub. Launched in April 2020, the Forecast Hub is a dataset with point and probabilistic forecasts of incident cases, incident hospitalizations, incident deaths, and cumulative deaths due to COVID-19 at county, state, and national, levels in the United States. Included forecasts represent a variety of modeling approaches, data sources, and assumptions regarding the spread of COVID-19. The goal of this dataset is to establish a standardized and comparable set of short-term forecasts from modeling teams. These data can be used to develop ensemble models, communicate forecasts to the public, create visualizations, compare models, and inform policies regarding COVID-19 mitigation. These open-source data are available via download from GitHub, through an online API, and through R packages

Targeting genomic receptors in voided urine for confirmation of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Abstract Objectives The objective of this study is to validate a hypothesis that a non‐invasive optical imaging assay targeting genomic VPAC receptors on malignant cells shed in voided urine will represent either benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or prostatic cancer (PCa). Risk for BPH in men 50–70 years old is 50–70% and PCa is 17%. BPH and PCa can coexist in 20% of men with BPH. Most commonly practiced methods to diagnose BPH do not distinguish BPH from PCa. Patients (or Materials) and Methods Males with BPH (N = 97, 60.8 ± 6.3 years, prostate‐specific antigen 0.7 ± 0.4 ng/mL) and without oncologic disease (N = 35, 63.4 ± 5.8 years, prostate‐specific antigen < 1.5 ng/mL) signed informed consent form and provided voided urine. Urine was cytocentrifuged, cells collected on glass slide, fixed, treated with VPAC specific fluorophore TP4303 (Kd 3.1 × 10−8M), washed, incubated with DAPI and observed using a fluorescence microscope. Cells with no VPAC did not fluoresce (BPH) and those with VPAC had red‐orange fluorescence (PCa). Real‐time polymerase chain reaction analyses for VPAC and NKX3.1 assay for cell origin were performed. Results Eighty‐seven subjects were negative for VPAC expression. Positive VPAC expression was noted in 10 subjects. Patient chart review for clinical data on these 10 VPAC positive subjects showed five had nephrolithiasis, three had renal cysts, one had prostatitis and one was being treated with finasteride. Real‐time polymerase chain reaction analysis‐VPAC expressions for 7 normal and 12 BPH subjects were 1.31 ± 1.26 and 0.94 ± 0.89, respectively (P = 0.46). NKX3.1 showed cells of prostate origin for finasteride‐treated patient. Specificity for VPAC urine assay for excluding prostate cancer in this BPH cohort was 88.5%, positive predictive value 0.00% and negative predictive value 100%. Conclusion VPAC assay may contribute extensively for BPH diagnosis and warrant continued investigation

Priorities for cancer research in low- and middle-income countries:a global perspective

Cancer research currently is heavily skewed toward high-income countries (HICs), with little research conducted in, and relevant to, the problems of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This regional discordance in cancer knowledge generation and application needs to be rebalanced. Several gaps in the research enterprise of LMICs need to be addressed to promote regionally relevant research, and radical rethinking is needed to address the burning issues in cancer care in these regions. We identified five top priorities in cancer research in LMICs based on current and projected needs: reducing the burden of patients with advanced disease; improving access and affordability, and outcomes of cancer treatment; value-based care and health economics; quality improvement and implementation research; and leveraging technology to improve cancer control. LMICs have an excellent opportunity to address important questions in cancer research that could impact cancer control globally. Success will require collaboration and commitment from governments, policy makers, funding agencies, health care organizations and leaders, researchers and the public

7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Mathematical Sciences and its Applications-2024: Abstract Book

This book presents the abstracts of the selected contributions to the 7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Mathematical Sciences and its Applications (RAMSA 2024), held on 29 February- 02 March 2024, by the Department of Mathematics, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, India. RAMSA 2024 aims to assemble esteemed mathematicians, scientists, engineers, researchers from industry, and scholars, facilitating a platform for the exchange of ideas and discussions on recent advancements across various areas of mathematics. RAMSA-2024 provides an opportunity to delve into research findings and breakthroughs in mathematics, sciences, and engineering. This conference serves as a forum to address practical challenges encountered in different application domains and explore potential solutions. Conference Title: 7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Mathematical Sciences and its ApplicationsConference Acronym: RAMSA-2024Conference Date: 29 Feb-02 March 2024Conference Venue: Hybrid Mode (JIIT Noida &amp; Online)Conference Organizer: Department of Mathematics, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, Indi

7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Mathematical Sciences and its Applications-2024: Abstract Book

This book presents the abstracts of the selected contributions to the 7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Mathematical Sciences and its Applications (RAMSA 2024), held on 29 February- 02 March 2024, by the Department of Mathematics, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, India. RAMSA 2024 aims to assemble esteemed mathematicians, scientists, engineers, researchers from industry, and scholars, facilitating a platform for the exchange of ideas and discussions on recent advancements across various areas of mathematics. RAMSA-2024 provides an opportunity to delve into research findings and breakthroughs in mathematics, sciences, and engineering. This conference serves as a forum to address practical challenges encountered in different application domains and explore potential solutions. Conference Title: 7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Mathematical Sciences and its ApplicationsConference Acronym: RAMSA-2024Conference Date: 29 Feb-02 March 2024Conference Venue: Hybrid Mode (JIIT Noida &amp; Online)Conference Organizer: Department of Mathematics, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, Indi

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field