Push, Pull, and Spill: A Transdisciplinary Case Study in Municipal Open Government

Municipal open data raises hopes and concerns. The activities of cities produce a wide array of data, data that is vastly enriched by ubiquitous computing. Municipal data is opened as it is pushed to, pulled by, and spilled to the public through online portals, requests for public records, and releases by cities and their vendors, contractors, and partners. By opening data, cities hope to raise public trust and prompt innovation. Municipal data, however, is often about the people who live, work, and travel in the city. By opening data, cities raise concern for privacy and social justice. This article presents the results of a broad empirical exploration of municipal data release in the City of Seattle. In this research, parties affected by municipal practices expressed their hopes and concerns for open data. City personnel from eight prominent departments described the reasoning, procedures, and controversies that have accompanied their release of data. All of the existing data from the online portal for the city were joined to Municipal open data raises hopes and concerns. The activities of cities produce a wide array of data, data that is vastly enriched by ubiquitous computing. Municipal data is opened as it is pushed to, pulled by, and spilled to the public through online portals, requests for public records, and releases by cities and their vendors, contractors, and partners. By opening data, cities hope to raise public trust and prompt innovation. Municipal data, however, is often about the people who live, work, and travel in the city. By opening data, cities raise concern for privacy and social justice. Results suggest the need for more comprehensive measures to manage the risk latent in opening city data. Cities should maintain inventories of data assets, produce data management plans pertaining to the activities of departments, and develop governance structures to deal with issues as they arise—centrally and amongst the various departments—with ex ante and ex post protocols to govern the push, pull, and spill of data. In addition, cities should consider conditioned access to pushed data, conduct audits and training around public records requests, and develop standardized model contracts to protect against the spill of data by third parties

Sulfonylurea Receptor 1, Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel Subfamily M Member 4, and KIR6.2:Role in Hemorrhagic Progression of Contusion

Contusió cerebral; Glibenclamida; Progressió hemorràgica de contusióBrain contusion; Glibenclamide; Hemorrhagic progression of contusionContusión cerebral; Glibenclamida; Progresión hemorrágica de contusiónIn severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), contusions often are worsened by contusion expansion or hemorrhagic progression of contusion (HPC), which may double the original contusion volume and worsen outcome. In humans and rodents with contusion-TBI, sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR1) is upregulated in microvessels and astrocytes, and in rodent models, blockade of SUR1 with glibenclamide reduces HPC. SUR1 does not function by itself, but must co-assemble with either KIR6.2 or transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 4 (TRPM4) to form KATP (SUR1-KIR6.2) or SUR1-TRPM4 channels, with the two having opposite effects on membrane potential. Both KIR6.2 and TRPM4 are reportedly upregulated in TBI, especially in astrocytes, but the identity and function of SUR1-regulated channels post-TBI is unknown. Here, we analyzed human and rat brain tissues after contusion-TBI to characterize SUR1, TRPM4, and KIR6.2 expression, and in the rat model, to examine the effects on HPC of inhibiting expression of the three subunits using intravenous antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODN). Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunoreactivity was used to operationally define core versus penumbral tissues. In humans and rats, GFAP-negative core tissues contained microvessels that expressed SUR1 and TRPM4, whereas GFAP-positive penumbral tissues contained astrocytes that expressed all three subunits. Förster resonance energy transfer imaging demonstrated SUR1-TRPM4 heteromers in endothelium, and SUR1-TRPM4 and SUR1-KIR6.2 heteromers in astrocytes. In rats, glibenclamide as well as AS-ODN targeting SUR1 and TRPM4, but not KIR6.2, reduced HPC at 24 h post-TBI. Our findings demonstrate upregulation of SUR1-TRPM4 and KATP after contusion-TBI, identify SUR1-TRPM4 as the primary molecular mechanism that accounts for HPC, and indicate that SUR1-TRPM4 is a crucial target of glibenclamide.J.M.S is supported by grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs (I01BX002889), the Department of Defense (SCI170199), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (R01HL082517) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (R01NS060801; R01NS102589; R01NS105633); V.G. is supported by a grant from NINDS (NS061934)

Augmented Reality: A Technology and Policy Primer

The vision for AR dates back at least until the 1960s with the work of Ivan Sutherland. In a way, AR represents a natural evolution of information communication technology. Our phones, cars, and other devices are increasingly reactive to the world around us. But AR also represents a serious departure from the way people have perceived data for most of human history: a Neolithic cave painting or book operates like a laptop insofar as each presents information to the user in a way that is external to her and separate from her present reality. By contrast, AR begins to collapse millennia of distinction between display and environment. Today, a number of companies are investing heavily in AR and beginning to deploy consumer-facing devices and applications. These systems have the potential to deliver enormous value, including to populations with limited physical or other resources. Applications include hands-free instruction and training, language translation, obstacle avoidance, advertising, gaming, museum tours, and much more. AR also presents novel or acute challenges for technologists and policymakers, including privacy, distraction, and discrimination. This whitepaper—which grows out of research conducted across three units through the University of Washington’s interdisciplinary Tech Policy Lab—is aimed at identifying some of the major legal and policy issues AR may present as a novel technology, and outlines some conditional recommendations to help address those issues. Our key findings include: 1. AR exists in a variety of configurations, but in general, AR is a mobile or embedded technology that senses, processes, and outputs data in real-time, recognizes and tracks real-world objects, and provides contextual information by supplementing or replacing human senses. 2. AR systems will raise legal and policy issues in roughly two categories: collection and display. Issues tend to include privacy, free speech, and intellectual property as well as novel forms of distraction and discrimination. 3. We recommend that policymakers—broadly defined—engage in diverse stakeholder analysis, threat modeling, and risk assessment processes. We recommend that they pay particular attention to: a) the fact that adversaries succeed when systems fail to anticipate behaviors; and that, b) not all stakeholders experience AR the same way. 4. Architectural/design decisions—such as whether AR systems are open or closed, whether data is ephemeral or stored, where data is processed, and so on—will each have policy consequences that vary by stakeholder.https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/techlab/1000/thumbnail.jp

The RCSB Protein Data Bank: views of structural biology for basic and applied research and education.

The RCSB Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB, http://www.rcsb.org) provides access to 3D structures of biological macromolecules and is one of the leading resources in biology and biomedicine worldwide. Our efforts over the past 2 years focused on enabling a deeper understanding of structural biology and providing new structural views of biology that support both basic and applied research and education. Herein, we describe recently introduced data annotations including integration with external biological resources, such as gene and drug databases, new visualization tools and improved support for the mobile web. We also describe access to data files, web services and open access software components to enable software developers to more effectively mine the PDB archive and related annotations. Our efforts are aimed at expanding the role of 3D structure in understanding biology and medicine

Qualitative study exploring the feasibility, usability and acceptability of neonatal continuous monitoring technologies at a public tertiary hospital in Nairobi, Keny

Objective: To assess the feasibility, usability and acceptability of two non-invasive, multiparameter, continuous physiological monitoring (MCPM) technologies for use in neonates within a resource-constrained healthcare setting in sub-Saharan Africa. Design: A qualitative study using in-depth interviews and direct observations to describe healthcare professional and caregiver perspectives and experiences with investigational MCPM technologies from EarlySense and Sibel compared with selected reference technologies. Setting: Pumwani Maternity Hospital is a public, high-volume, tertiary hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Participants: In-depth interviews were conducted with five healthcare administrators, 12 healthcare providers and 10 caregivers. Direct observations were made of healthcare providers using the technologies on 12 neonates overall. Results: Design factors like non-invasiveness, portability, ease-of-use and ability to measure multiple vital signs concurrently emerged as key themes supporting the usability and acceptability of the investigational technologies. However, respondents also reported feasibility challenges to implementation, including overcrowding in the neonatal unit, lack of reliable access to electricity and computers, and concerns about cost and maintenance needs. To improve acceptability, respondents highlighted the need for adequate staffing to appropriately engage caregivers and dispel misconceptions about the technologies. Conclusion: Study participants were positive about the usefulness of the investigational technologies to strengthen clinical care quality and identification of at-risk neonates for better access to timely interventions. These technologies have the potential to improve equity of access to appropriate healthcare services and neonatal outcomes in sub-Saharan African healthcare facilities. However, health system strengthening is also critical to support sustainable uptake of technologies into routine care

Sulfonylurea Receptor 1, Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel Subfamily M Member 4, and KIR6.2:Role in Hemorrhagic Progression of Contusion

Altres ajuts: J.M.S is supported by grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs (I01BX002889), the Department of Defense (SCI170199), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (R01HL082517) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (R01NS060801; R01NS102589; R01NS105633); V.G. is supported by a grant from NINDS (NS061934).In severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), contusions often are worsened by contusion expansion or hemorrhagic progression of contusion (HPC), which may double the original contusion volume and worsen outcome. In humans and rodents with contusion-TBI, sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR1) is upregulated in microvessels and astrocytes, and in rodent models, blockade of SUR1 with glibenclamide reduces HPC. SUR1 does not function by itself, but must co-assemble with either KIR6.2 or transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 4 (TRPM4) to form K (SUR1-KIR6.2) or SUR1-TRPM4 channels, with the two having opposite effects on membrane potential. Both KIR6.2 and TRPM4 are reportedly upregulated in TBI, especially in astrocytes, but the identity and function of SUR1-regulated channels post-TBI is unknown. Here, we analyzed human and rat brain tissues after contusion-TBI to characterize SUR1, TRPM4, and KIR6.2 expression, and in the rat model, to examine the effects on HPC of inhibiting expression of the three subunits using intravenous antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODN). Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunoreactivity was used to operationally define core versus penumbral tissues. In humans and rats, GFAP-negative core tissues contained microvessels that expressed SUR1 and TRPM4, whereas GFAP-positive penumbral tissues contained astrocytes that expressed all three subunits. Förster resonance energy transfer imaging demonstrated SUR1-TRPM4 heteromers in endothelium, and SUR1-TRPM4 and SUR1-KIR6.2 heteromers in astrocytes. In rats, glibenclamide as well as AS-ODN targeting SUR1 and TRPM4, but not KIR6.2, reduced HPC at 24 h post-TBI. Our findings demonstrate upregulation of SUR1-TRPM4 and K after contusion-TBI, identify SUR1-TRPM4 as the primary molecular mechanism that accounts for HPC, and indicate that SUR1-TRPM4 is a crucial target of glibenclamide

The TJUH Hospital Medicine COVID19 Emergency Taskforce: A guiding light during the surge of spring 2020

What’s the Problem? In mid March 2020 a highly infectious and deadly disease appeared in Philadelphia that no American physician had ever treated before. The challenge of disseminating reliable and relevant information about a novel and dangerous pathogen across practice areas cannot be understated. Usual practices for communication and leadership are not designed to manage this kind of challenge