Prediction Model for H1N1 Disease

This research has used the H1N1 disease based on the data collected from outpatient clinics (private and public sectors) across Hong Kong with influenza like illness. The objective of this project is to develop a prediction model of H1N1 disease using Multilayer Perceptron. The experiment using WEKA machine learning tool produced the best parameter's values for the datasets. The General Methodology of Design Research (GMDR) and Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) has been used throughout the study as a guideline. Prediction model for H1N1 disease using MLP has been generated and MLP has performs the good result where the value of accuracy for the H1N1 disease is 88.57%

Evaluating a Community Based Homelessness Prevention Program: A Geographic Information System Approach

This article introduces and illustrates the application of Geographic Information System technology to examine patterns of social-services use in community-based interventions. By integrating management information system data from human service agencies and publicly accessible data from the U.S. Census within a specially-referenced framework, the study illustrates that GIS analysis could help managers and planners of social services to assess the extent to which program implementation reflects adherence to a program concept and identify geographical areas with the greatest unmet service needs. The article demonstrates the application of GIS technology, based on an analysis of a city-wide community-based homelessness prevention program in Philadelphia

The responses of Ht22 cells to oxidative stress induced by buthionine sulfoximine (BSO)

BACKGROUND: glutathione (GSH) is the most abundant thiol antioxidant in mammalian cells. It directly reacts with reactive oxygen species (ROS), functions as a cofactor of antioxidant enzymes, and maintains thiol redox potential in cells. GSH depletion has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurological diseases, particularly to Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of cellular antioxidant status and basic cell functions in the relatively early stages of GSH depletion. RESULTS: in this study, GSH was depleted by inhibition of glutamylcysteine synthetase using buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) treatment in Ht22, a neuronal cell line derived from mouse hippocampus. Treatment with BSO produced dose-dependent decreases in total GSH level, Fe3+-reducing ability (FRAP assay), Cu2+-reducing ability (Antioxidant Potential, AOP assay), and ABTS free radical scavenging ability (ABTS assay) of the cells, but the sensitivity of these indicators to dosage varied considerably. Most of the changes were completed during the first 8 hours of treatment. Cell viability was tested by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromid) assay, and cells at lower density in culture were found to be more sensitive to GSH depletion. The activity of antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), and copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) were affected by GSH depletion. A cDNA expression array assay of the effects of BSO treatment showed significantly decreased mRNA level for 3 genes, and significantly increased mRNA level for 10 genes, including the antioxidant enzymes Cu/Zn-SOD and thioredoxin peroxidase 2 (TPxII). CONCLUSIONS: the study suggests that there are BSO-sensitive and BSO-resistant pools of GSH in Ht22 cells, and that different categories of antioxidant react differently to GSH depletion. Further, the effect of GSH status on cell viability is cell density dependent. Finally, the alterations in expression or activity of several antioxidant enzymes provide insight into the various cellular responses to GSH depletion

Improving the identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in mainstream general practice

The project aim was to identify promising strategies to improve identification processes in mainstream general practice. To achieve this aim, the project explored three primary research questions. • What strategies to improve the identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in mainstream general practice have been trialled before and what is worth trialling (feasible and acceptable) in the future? • How can mainstream general practice be encouraged to improve identification processes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? • What are the links between improved identification and quality of care?The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute, which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development Strategy

Casting inorganic structures with DNA molds

We report a general strategy for designing and synthesizing inorganic nanostructures with arbitrarily prescribed three-dimensional shapes. Computationally designed DNA strands self-assemble into a stiff “nanomold” that contains a user-specified three-dimensional cavity and encloses a nucleating gold “seed.” Under mild conditions, this seed grows into a larger cast structure that fills and thus replicates the cavity. We synthesized a variety of nanoparticles with 3-nanometer resolution: three distinct silver cuboids with three independently tunable dimensions, silver and gold nanoparticles with diverse cross sections, and composite structures with homo- and heterogeneous components. The designer equilateral silver triangular and spherical nanoparticles exhibited plasmonic properties consistent with electromagnetism-based simulations. Our framework is generalizable to more complex geometries and diverse inorganic materials, offering a range of applications in biosensing, photonics, and nanoelectronics.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (Grant N000141310664)United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (Grant N000141210621)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future Program (Grant CMMI1334109

Priming healthy eating. You can't prime all the people all of the time.

OBJECTIVE: In the context of a food purchasing environment filled with advertising and promotions, and an increased desire from policy makers to guide individuals toward choosing healthier foods, this study tests whether priming methods that use healthy food adverts to increase preference for healthier food generalize to a representative population. METHODS: In two studies (Study 1 n = 143; Study 2 n = 764), participants were randomly allocated to a prime condition, where they viewed fruit and vegetable advertisements, or a control condition, with no advertisements. A subsequent forced choice task assessed preference between fruits and other sweet snacks. Additional measures included current hunger and thirst, dietary restraint, age, gender, education and self-reported weight and height. RESULTS: In Study 1, hunger reduced preferences for fruits (OR (95% CI) = 0.38 (0.26-0.56), p <0.0001), an effect countered by the prime (OR (95% CI) = 2.29 (1.33-3.96), p = 0.003). In Study 2, the effect of the prime did not generalize to a representative population. More educated participants, as used in Study 1, chose more fruit when hungry and primed (OR (95% CI) = 1.42 (1.13-1.79), p = 0.003), while less educated participants' fruit choice was unaffected by hunger or the prime. CONCLUSION: This study provides preliminary evidence that the effects of adverts on healthy eating choices depend on key individual traits (education level) and states (hunger), do not generalize to a broader population and have the potential to increase health inequalities arising from food choice.We gratefully acknowledge the participation of all NIHR Cambridge BioResource (CBR) volunteers. We thank the Cambridge BioResource staff for their help with volunteer recruitment, members of the Cambridge BioResource SAB and Management Committee for their support of our study and the National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre for funding. Access to CBR volunteers and their data and samples is governed by the CBR SAB. Documents describing access arrangements and contact details are available at http://www.cambridgebioresource.org.uk/. We are grateful to Chris Holmes and Sarah Walker for advice, comment and discussion on this work from a marketing perspective and to Graham Finlayson for use of the food images. The study was funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Program (Policy Research Unit in Behavior and Health [PR-UN-0409-10109]). The Department of Health had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.01.01

The genetic structure of Aedes aegypti populations is driven by boat traffic in the Peruvian Amazon.

In the Americas, as in much of the rest of the world, the dengue virus vector Aedes aegypti is found in close association with human habitations, often leading to high population densities of mosquitoes in urban settings. In the Peruvian Amazon, this vector has been expanding to rural communities over the last 10-15 years, but to date, the population genetic structure of Ae. aegypti in this region has not been characterized. To investigate the relationship between Ae. aegypti gene flow and human transportation networks, we characterized mosquito population structure using a panel of 8 microsatellite markers and linked results to various potential mechanisms for long-distance dispersal. Adult and immature Ae. aegypti (&gt;20 individuals per site) were collected from Iquitos city and from six neighboring riverine communities, i.e., Nauta, Indiana, Mazan, Barrio Florida, Tamshiaco, and Aucayo. FST statistics indicate significant, but low to moderate differentiation for the majority of study site pairs. Population structure of Ae. aegypti is not correlated with the geographic distance between towns, suggesting that human transportation networks provide a reasonable explanation for the high levels of population mixing. Our results indicate that Ae. aegypti gene flow among sub-populations is greatest between locations with heavy boat traffic, such as Iquitos-Tamshiaco and Iquitos-Indiana-Mazan, and lowest between locations with little or no boat/road traffic between them such as Barrio Florida-Iquitos. Bayesian clustering analysis showed ancestral admixture among three genetic clusters; no single cluster was exclusive to any site. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that human transportation networks, particularly riverways, are responsible for the geographic spread of Ae. aegypti in the Peruvian Amazon. Our findings are applicable to other regions of the world characterized by networks of urban islands connected by fluvial transport routes

Machine-Learning Recognition of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction from Magnetometry

The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), which is the antisymmetric part of the exchange interaction between neighboring local spins, winds the spin manifold and can stabilize non-trivial topological spin textures. Since topology is a robust information carrier, characterization techniques that can extract the DMI magnitude are important for the discovery and optimization of spintronic materials. Existing experimental techniques for quantitative determination of DMI, such as high-resolution magnetic imaging of spin textures and measurement of magnon or transport properties, are time consuming and require specialized instrumentation. Here we show that a convolutional neural network can extract the DMI magnitude from minor hysteresis loops, or magnetic "fingerprints" of a material. These hysteresis loops are readily available by conventional magnetometry measurements. This provides a convenient tool to investigate topological spin textures for next-generation information processing

Transcriptomes and pathways associated with infectivity, survival and immunogenicity in Brugia malayi L3

Background: Filarial nematode parasites cause serious diseases such as elephantiasis and river blindness in humans, and heartworm infections in dogs. Third stage filarial larvae (L3) are a critical stage in the life cycle of filarial parasites, because this is the stage that is transmitted by arthropod vectors to initiate infections in mammals. Improved understanding of molecular mechanisms associated with this transition may provide important leads for development of new therapies and vaccines to prevent filarial infections. This study explores changes in gene expression associated with the transition of Brugia malayi third stage larvae (BmL3) from mosquitoes into mammalian hosts and how these changes are affected by radiation. Radiation effects are especially interesting because irradiated L3 induce partial immunity to filarial infections. The underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the efficacy of such vaccines are unkown. Results: Expression profiles were obtained using a new filarial microarray with 18, 104 64-mer elements. 771 genes were identified as differentially expressed in two-way comparative analyses of the three L3 types. 353 genes were up-regulated in mosquito L3 (L3i) relative to cultured L3 (L3c). These genes are important for establishment of filarial infections in mammalian hosts. Other genes were up-regulated in L3c relative to L3i (234) or irradiated L3 (L3ir) (22). These culture-induced transcripts include key molecules required for growth and development. 165 genes were up-regulated in L3ir relative to L3c; these genes encode highly immunogenic proteins and proteins involved in radiation repair. L3ir and L3i have similar transcription profiles for genes that encode highly immunogenic proteins, antioxidants and cuticle components. Conclusion: Changes in gene expression that normally occur during culture under conditions that support L3 development and molting are prevented or delayed by radiation. This may explain the enhanced immunogenicity of L3ir. Gene Ontology and KEGG analyses revealed altered pathways between L3 types. Energy and "immune pathways" are up-regulated and may be needed for L3i invasion and survival, while growth and development are priorities for L3c. This study has improved our understanding of molecules involved in parasite invasion and immune evasion, potential targets of protective immunity, and molecules required for parasite growth and development

Priority Symptoms, Causes, and Self-Management Strategies Reported by AYAs With Cancer

Context Cancer and symptom experiences of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer can be highly variable, creating challenges for clinicians and researchers who seek to optimize AYAs\u27 health outcomes. Understanding the heuristics AYAs use to designate priority symptoms can provide insight into the meaning they assign to their symptoms and self-management behaviors. Objectives This study described the frequency and characteristics of priority symptoms. It qualitatively explored reasons for a symptom\u27s designation as a priority symptom, perceived causes of priority symptoms, and strategies AYAs use to manage priority symptoms. Methods Participants in this single-group, longitudinal study reported symptoms using a heuristics-based symptom reporting tool, the Computerized Symptom Capture Tool, at two scheduled visits for chemotherapy. AYAs designated priority symptoms and responded to three short answer questions: What makes this a priority symptom?, What do you think causes it?, and What do you do to make it better? Results Eighty-six AYAs, 15–29 years of age (median 19 years), identified 189 priority symptoms. Priority symptoms were of greater severity (t = 3.43; P \u3c 0.01) and distress (t = 4.02; P \u3c 0.01) compared with nonpriority symptoms. Lack of energy, nausea, difficulty sleeping, and pain comprised 39% of priority symptoms. Reasons for priority designation included the impact of the symptom and the attributes of the symptom. Categories of self-management strategies included “Physical Care Strategies,” “Things I take (or not),” and “Psychosocial Care Strategies.” Conclusion Supporting AYAs to identify their priority symptoms may facilitate a more personalized approach to care. Seeking the patient\u27s perspective regarding priority symptoms could enhance patient-clinician collaboration in symptom management