Economics of Disability Research Report #4: Estimates of the Prevalence of Disability, Employment Rates, and Median Household Size-Adjusted Income for People with Disabilities Aged 18 though 64 in the United States by State, 1980 through 2000

This report replicates Economics of Disability Reports 1, 2, and 3, with some minor changes. These reports contain the prevalence of a disability, employment rates, and median household size-adjusted income between states over the 1980s and 1990s. In response to the requests of state officials to generate statistics that reflect the population they serve, this report includes people aged 18 through 64 rather than people aged 25 through 61. The new age group is more likely to include those who enter the labor force after high school, during college, and post-college as well as those people who have decided not to take early retirement. In addition, at the request of state officials, the statistics in this report are not separated by gender because most government agencies do not make a strong distinction between men and women, even though men and women face different labor market conditions. This report uses data from the March Current Population Survey to estimate the prevalence of a disability, employment rate, and median household size-adjusted income among the non-institutionalized working-age (aged 18 through 64) civilian population in the United States, and for each state and the District of Columbia for the survey years 1981 through 2000 and income/employment years 1980 through 1999. Two definitions of disability that are commonly used in the literature—work limitation and work disability—are utilized. The prevalence of a work limitation and work disability varies greatly across states and over time. The employment rate of persons with work limitations relative to that of persons without a disability varies greatly across states. However, over the last 20 years the relative employment rate of those with work limitations dramatically declined overall and in most states. Consequently, the decrease in the relative employment rate for persons with work limitations induced the growth in the median household size-adjusted income of those with work limitations

Addressing current challenges in cancer immunotherapy with mathematical and computational modeling

The goal of cancer immunotherapy is to boost a patient's immune response to a tumor. Yet, the design of an effective immunotherapy is complicated by various factors, including a potentially immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, immune-modulating effects of conventional treatments, and therapy-related toxicities. These complexities can be incorporated into mathematical and computational models of cancer immunotherapy that can then be used to aid in rational therapy design. In this review, we survey modeling approaches under the umbrella of the major challenges facing immunotherapy development, which encompass tumor classification, optimal treatment scheduling, and combination therapy design. Although overlapping, each challenge has presented unique opportunities for modelers to make contributions using analytical and numerical analysis of model outcomes, as well as optimization algorithms. We discuss several examples of models that have grown in complexity as more biological information has become available, showcasing how model development is a dynamic process interlinked with the rapid advances in tumor-immune biology. We conclude the review with recommendations for modelers both with respect to methodology and biological direction that might help keep modelers at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy development.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of the Royal Society Interfac

A mathematical model of combined CD8 T cell costimulation by 4-1BB (CD137) and OX40 (CD134) receptors.

Combined agonist stimulation of the TNFR costimulatory receptors 4-1BB (CD137) and OX40(CD134) has been shown to generate supereffector CD8 T cells that clonally expand to greater levels, survive longer, and produce a greater quantity of cytokines compared to T cells stimulated with an agonist of either costimulatory receptor individually. In order to understand the mechanisms for this effect, we have created a mathematical model for the activation of the CD8 T cell intracellular signaling network by mono- or dual-costimulation. We show that supereffector status is generated via downstream interacting pathways that are activated upon engagement of both receptors, and in silico simulations of the model are supported by published experimental results. The model can thus be used to identify critical molecular targets of T cell dual-costimulation in the context of cancer immunotherapy

Quark-Antiquark Bound States in the Relativistic Spectator Formalism

The quark-antiquark bound states are discussed using the relativistic spectator (Gross) equations. A relativistic covariant framework for analyzing confined bound states is developed. The relativistic linear potential developed in an earlier work is proven to give vanishing meson$\to$ $q+\bar{q}$ decay amplitudes, as required by confinement. The regularization of the singularities in the linear potential that are associated with nonzero energy transfers (i.e. $q^2=0,q^{\mu}\neq0$) is improved. Quark mass functions that build chiral symmetry into the theory and explain the connection between the current quark and constituent quark masses are introduced. The formalism is applied to the description of pions and kaons with reasonable results.Comment: 31 pages, 16 figure

CPT anomaly: a rigorous result in four dimensions

The existence of a CPT anomaly is established for a particular four-dimensional Abelian lattice gauge theory with Ginsparg-Wilson fermions.Comment: LaTeX with elsart.cls, 24 pages, v3: published versio

Phenomenological interaction between current quarks

We construct a phenomenological model which describes the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking (DCSB) of QCD vacuum and reproduces meson spectra. Quark condensates, the pion decay constant, and meson spectra are well reproduced by phenomenological interaction which consists of a linear confining potential, a Coulombic potential, and the 't Hooft determinant interaction. In this model, the 't Hooft determinant interaction plays a important role not to only \eta,\eta' mass difference, but other meson masses through DCSB.Comment: 18 pages, LaTe

Mid-infrared VIPA Spectrometer for Rapid and Broadband Trace Gas Detection

We present and characterize a 2-D imaging spectrometer based on a virtually-imaged phased array (VIPA) disperser for rapid, high-resolution molecular detection using mid-infrared (MIR) frequency combs at 3.1 and 3.8 \mu m. We demonstrate detection of CH4 at 3.1 \mu m with >3750 resolution elements spanning >80 nm with ~600 MHz resolution in a <10 \mu s acquisition time. In addition to broadband detection, rapid, time-resolved single-image detection is demonstrated by capturing dynamic concentration changes of CH4 at a rate of ~375 frames per second. Changes in absorption above the noise floor of 5\times 10-4 are readily detected on the millisecond time scale, leading to important future applications such as real time monitoring of trace gas concentrations and detection of reactive intermediates

From Current to Constituent Quarks: a Renormalization Group Improved Hamiltonian-based Description of Hadrons

A model which combines the perturbative behavior of QCD with low energy phenomenology in a unified framework is developed. This is achieved by applying a similarity transformation to the QCD Hamiltonian which removes interactions between the ultraviolet cutoff and an arbitrary lower scale. Iteration then yields a renormalization group improved effective Hamiltonian at the hadronic energy scale. The procedure preserves the standard ultraviolet behavior of QCD. Furthermore, the Hamiltonian evolves smoothly to a phenomenological low energy behavior below the hadronic scale. This method has the benefit of allowing radiative corrections to be directly incorporated into nonperturbative many-body techniques. It is applied to Coulomb gauge QCD supplemented with a low energy linear confinement interaction. A nontrivial vacuum is included in the analysis via a Bogoliubov-Valatin transformation. Finally, the formalism is applied to the vacuum gap equation, the quark condensate, and the dynamical quark mass.Comment: 36 pages, RevTeX, 5 ps figures include

Nitric Oxide-Releasing Nanoparticles Prevent Propionibacterium acnes-Induced Inflammation by Both Clearing the Organism and Inhibiting Microbial Stimulation of the Innate Immune Response.

Propionibacterium acnes induction of IL-1 cytokines through the NLRP3 (NLR, nucleotide oligomerization domain-like receptor) inflammasome was recently highlighted as a dominant etiological factor for acne vulgaris. Therefore, therapeutics targeting both the stimulus and the cascade would be ideal. Nitric oxide (NO), a potent biological messenger, has documented broad-spectrum antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. To harness these characteristics to target acne, we used an established nanotechnology capable of generating/releasing NO over time (NO-np). P. acnes was found to be highly sensitive to all concentrations of NO-np tested, although human keratinocyte, monocyte, and embryonic zebra fish assays revealed no cytotoxicity. NO-np significantly suppressed IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-8, and IL-6 from human monocytes, and IL-8 and IL-6 from human keratinocytes, respectively. Importantly, silencing of NLRP3 expression by small interfering RNA did not limit NO-np inhibition of IL-1 β secretion from monocytes, and neither TNF-α nor IL-6 secretion, nor inhibition by NO-np was found to be dependent on this pathway. The observed mechanism by which NO-np impacts IL-1β secretion was through inhibition of caspase-1 and IL-1β gene expression. Together, these data suggest that NO-np can effectively prevent P. acnes-induced inflammation by both clearing the organism and inhibiting microbial stimulation of the innate immune response