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Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, research is needed to translate knowledge of vaccine attitudes into strategic interventions aiming to increase vaccine uptake. The current study gleaned formative data on vaccination attitudes among underserved Black populations in the United States, with particular focus on the impact of conversations between Black individuals and medical professionals. Historically, Black Americans have reported mistrust with the American healthcare system, as a result of systemic and systematic mistreatment. The current investigation aimed to better understand Black people's experiences with medical professionals within the novel context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, researchers facilitated community-engaged focus groups and individual interviews to better understand Black individuals' attitudes about COVID-19 vaccine uptake. In partnership with predominantly Black churches and a local university, investigators recruited community members to share their perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines, and interactions with the medical community. This insight can be used to strategically design messaging interventions grounded in theories of persuasion to promote vaccination, including boosters, among hesitant Black individuals. This audience insight is useful as individuals who remain hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccines may require tailored, sophisticated interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) represent a diverse group of hematologic malignancies derived from various cells. B-cell NHLs represent the largest fraction of lymphomas diagnosed and treated in the United States. Standard chemo-immunotherapies with rituximab and multiagent cytotoxic regimens have proven to be effective in the management of these lymphoproliferative neoplasms; nonetheless, a considerable fraction of patients still experience relapse or have treatment-refractory disease. Therapeutic advances using novel immunotherapeutic agents as well as cell-based treatments, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, have improved the outcomes of relapsed/refractory (R/R) B-cell NHL. Most of these new treatment strategies are not curative and most patients succumb to R/R disease, leaving this population with an unmet need for effective and well-tolerated therapeutic options. One of these up-and-coming options are bispecific antibodies (BsAb), either as single agent or in combination with other medications. Conclusion: BsAbs offer a novel "off the shelf" chemotherapy-free approach in the management of R/R B-cell NHL. Advancements in antibody construct design along with improved safety profile and clinical effectiveness of the most recent BsAbs suggest that these agents are a promising new option in the management of R/R B-cell NHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of inoculation theory has been confirmed by decades of empirical research, yet optimizing its effectiveness remains a vibrant line of investigation. The present research turns to psychological reactance theory for a means of enhancing the core mechanisms of inoculation--threat and refutational preemption. Findings from a multisite study indicate reactance enhances key resistance outcomes, including: threat, anger at attack message source, negative cognitions, negative affect, anticipated threat to freedom, anticipated attack message source derogation, perceived threat to freedom, perceived attack message source derogation, and counterarguing. Most importantly, reactance-enhanced inoculations result in lesser attitude change--the ultimate measure of resistance. (Contains 8 tables, 2 figures, and 6 notes.)

I numerically compute Borda-optimal, i.e., optimal based on the Borda count as the normative criterion, labour-income tax schedules for the United States. I do so in the context of a Mirrlees-style model with quasilinear preferences and a constant elasticity of labour supply. Because the Borda count is defined for finitely many alternatives, the computations restrict attention to a finite subset of the set of continuous, piecewise linear tax schedules with (in the baseline analysis) four or fewer pieces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden spread of COVID-19 infections in a region can catch its healthcare system by surprise. Can one anticipate such a spread and allow healthcare administrators to prepare for a surge a priori? We posit that the answer lies in distinguishing between two types of waves in epidemic dynamics. The first kind resembles a spatio-temporal diffusion pattern. Its gradual spread allows administrators to marshal resources to combat the epidemic. The second kind is caused by super-spreader events, which provide shocks to the disease propagation dynamics. Such shocks simultaneously affect a large geographical region and leave little time for the healthcare system to respond. We use time-series analysis and epidemiological model estimation to detect and react to such simultaneous waves using COVID-19 data from the time when the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus dominated the spread. We first analyze India's second wave from April to May 2021 that overwhelmed the Indian healthcare system. Then, we analyze data of COVID-19 infections in the United States (US) and countries with a high and low Indian diaspora. We identify the Kumbh Mela festival as the likely super-spreader event, the exogenous shock, behind India's second wave. We show that a multi-area compartmental epidemiological model does not fit such shock-induced disease dynamics well, in contrast to its performance with diffusion-type spread. The insufficient fit to infection data can be detected in the early stages of a shock-wave propagation and can be used as an early warning sign, providing valuable time for a planned healthcare response. Our analysis of COVID-19 infections in the US reveals that simultaneous waves due to super-spreader events in one country (India) can lead to simultaneous waves in other places. The US wave in the summer of 2021 does not fit a diffusion pattern either. We postulate that international travels from India may have caused this wave. To support that hypothesis, we demonstrate that countries with a high Indian diaspora exhibit infection growth soon after India's second wave, compared to countries with a low Indian diaspora. Based on our data analysis, we provide concrete policy recommendations at various stages of a simultaneous wave, including how to avoid it, how to detect it quickly after a potential super-spreader event occurs, and how to proactively contain its spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although fatal shootings on U.S. college campuses are statistically rare, students are routinely confronted with information suggesting that shootings are rampant and unavoidable. Pre-crisis interventions should address the threat of deceptive claims and restore beliefs that universities are capable of protecting students from violence. This experiment investigated the effectiveness of inoculation-based messages as a complementary approach to pre-crisis strategies for student resilience. Results revealed that, after reading about a simulated shooting, inoculated students had greater certainty and more positive beliefs in a university's ability to prevent and respond to a shooting. Findings suggest that inoculation can establish a buffer of confidence in an institution's crisis management infrastructure, even when faced with a shocking tragedy. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of foreign‐born residents continues to grow in the United States. One of the largest growing groups of immigrants is the population of Russian‐speakers moving from the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (Soviet Union/USSR). Like many other immigrants, Russian speakers present with various health concerns. Empirical literature indicates a gap in research that addresses culturally based beliefs and behaviors related to health in this group of immigrants. A qualitative ethnographic study that addresses the health‐related practices of Russian‐speaking immigrants was conducted on the East Coast of the United States. Twenty‐eight participants, ages 36–86, were interviewed, along with participant observation and analysis of documents. Data analysis revealed three related categories: perception of health, perception of illness, and health‐related practices. Perceptions of health were influenced by families and defined roles within the family. Perceptions of illness were outlined by approaches to disease management and remedies to illness. Subsequently, the health‐related practices of Russian‐speaking immigrants were molded by perceptions of health and illness. Further research is recommended to examine specific health‐related practices of Russian‐speaking immigrants in the United States and to explore more diverse groups within this aggregate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addiction is a prominent public health issue in the United States with the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reporting as many as 19.7 million Americans suffering from substance use disorder. Reaching long-term recovery and preventing relapse is often difficult. Twelve-step programs have shown success in facilitating long-term recovery, especially when facilitated in residential living setting. The exact motivators and challenges for such success are generally unique and individual to each resident, yet some common threads exist. Using semi-structured interviews (N = 31) of residents at a recovery housing facility, this study focused on identifying the common motivators and challenges experienced by the residents that facilitate and/or thwart their efforts to reach long-term recovery. Three motivators (transformation, support system, and optimism) and a challenge (external temptation) emerged from the conversations as key themes influencing the success of long-term recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a very diverse and rich assemblage of fossil fishes from the Upper Pennsylvanian (Missourian) interval of the Horquilla Formation in the Robledo Mountains of southern New Mexico, USA. The assemblage includes bransonelliforms, symmoriiforms, a ctenacanthiform, a jalodontid, euselachians, neoselachians, an orodontiform, a helodontiform, an eugeneodontiform, a petalodontiform, a psephodontid, an acanthodian and actinopterygians. For the first time, the vascularization system of the teeth of Adamantina, Bransonella, Helodus and Agassizodus has been studied using a micro-CT. Besides the diverse fish assemblage from the Robledo Mountains, some other new records of Paleozoic chondrichthyans in New Mexico are documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I update the last published list of Ohio ants to include 26 new species records and 38 name changes in species already on the list based on literature records, institutional collections, and contemporary collections made by the author or colleagues. At present, 143 species and morphospecies representing 30 native and 5 exotic genera and 7 subfamilies have been recorded for the state. Another seven species are removed from the Ohio ant fauna as they represent distribution anomalies, or are based on erroneous records. Known distribution data suggest that there is still a considerable potential for the discovery of more ant taxa in Ohio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, several copula-based approaches have been proposed for modeling stationary multivariate time series. All of them are based on vine copulas, and they differ in the choice of the regular vine structure. In this article, we consider a copula autoregressive (COPAR) approach to model the dependence of unobserved multivariate factors resulting from two dynamic factor models. However, the proposed methodology is general and applicable to several factor models as well as to other copula models for stationary multivariate time series. An empirical study illustrates the forecasting superiority of our approach for constructing an optimal portfolio of U.S. industrial stocks in the mean-variance framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide transfer of plants and animals outside their native ranges is an ever increasing problem for global biodiversity. Ants are no exception and many species have been transported to new locations often with profound negative impacts on local biota. The current study is based on data gathered since the publication of the "Ants of Ohio" in 2005. Here I expand on our knowledge of Ohio's myrmecofauna by contributing new records, new distributional information and natural history notes. The list presented here contains 10 species with origins in a variety of geographic regions, including South America, Europe, Asia, and Indo-Australia. Two distinct groups of exotics, somewhat dissimilar in their geographic origin, occur in Ohio: a) 3 species of temperate Eurasian origin that have established reproducing outdoor populations; and b) 7 tropical tramp species currently confined to man-made structures. Only Nylanderia flavipes (Smith, 1874) is currently seen to be of concern although its effects on local ant communities appear to be restricted largely to already disturbed habitats. A systematic sampling of disturbed areas, urban sites, plant nurseries and conservatories, where new arrivals can be expected, would extend and build upon our current knowledge of Ohio's exotic ant fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine real estate investment trust exchange-traded funds (REIT ETFs) and test for the existence of the “asymmetric beta puzzle” phenomenon in these financial instruments that are relatively new and are gaining popularity. The “asymmetric beta puzzle” phenomenon is used to identify the hedging and diversification benefits of a financial instrument. “Asymmetric beta puzzle” exists when betas in declining markets are higher than betas in advancing markets.Design/methodology/approach To study 14 REIT ETFs by using monthly and daily Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) data. Capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and Fama–French three-factor model were used to estimate betas in REIT ETFs and those in advancing and declining markets. Both the S&P 500 and the CRSP value-weighted indices were used in the beta estimation. Two hypotheses with regard to betas in both advancing and declining markets were defined and tested to test for the existence of the “asymmetric beta puzzle” phenomenon.Findings This study confirms the presence of the “asymmetric beta puzzle” in the data of monthly REIT ETFs as documented by Goldstein and Nelling (1999) and Chatrath et al. (2000) for REITs; however, this phenomenon was not found when using daily data, but quite the opposite – REIT ETF betas are higher in advancing markets than they are in declining markets – was found.Originality/value Goldstein and Nelling (1999) and Chatrath et al. (2000) identify the phenomenon of “the asymmetric REIT-beta puzzle” in monthly REIT’s returns. This study revisits the phenomenon identified in the aforementioned authors’ studies by using daily data and a relatively new real estate financial instrument – REIT ETFs. Therefore, this paper fills a void in the literature and would benefit both institutional and retail investors in their portfolio designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To combat violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the government has recently chosen to target individual corporate officers in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries instead of just sanctioning the companies themselves. Prosecution of these officers has proceeded under the responsible corporate officer doctrine, a doctrine created by the U.S. Supreme Court as a way to impose criminal liability for public welfare offenses under a strict liability standard. Recently, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services has used its statutory authority under the Social Security Act to exclude corporate officers convicted under this doctrine from participation in federal health care programs. These exclusions have devastating consequences for officers' careers. Because the responsible corporate officer doctrine was originally formed in the context of public welfare offenses, which are associated with minor penalties, the exclusions have gone beyond what the Court could have foreseen when it formed the doctrine. The Social Security Act should be amended to limit the exclusionary authority to only those officers who have been convicted of fraud, not those officers who are convicted solely using the burden-lowering responsible corporate officer doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a report on the second edition of the RevME workshop that took place on December 16 and 17, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. The workshop was attended by 50 participants representing leading hospitality/revenue management companies and universities from the USA, Canada, China, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Bulgaria, and included 19 stand-up academic and practitioner presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by rapid developments in sequencing technologies, proteomics and other progresses in biological sciences, new diagnostic tests are expected to play a growing role in medicine as well as in tailoring medical treatments to specific patients. The road of a test from bench top to patient is a difficult and incremental process. This report examines the barriers that exist to the introduction of new diagnostic investigations into routine medical practice. These barriers are manifold and include the burden of proof in establishing the scientific validity and clinical usefulness of a new test; regulatory hurdles; issues surrounding costs, coverage, and ensuring appropriate compensation for the work that goes into the development and delivery of a new test; a preference amongst physicians for traditional diagnostic methods that are often less formal and require a higher degree of expert analysis and interpretation; and resistance to more broad-based genetic testing by the general public, including ethical concerns about the possibility of genetics-based discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses foreign relations between Russia and the U.S. during the administrations of U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian Presidents Dmitrii Medvedev. The impact of the 2008 global financial crisis on these relations is explained, as is the development of relations between Russia and China. The author notes the success of the U.S.-Russia START III Treaty on nuclear arms reduction and U.S.-Russian rapprochement over the Iranian nuclear program. Other topics discussed include U.S. criticism of human rights in Russia and Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization.

The teeth of two new genera of jalodontid sharks have been found in the strata of the Middle Permian in the Guadalupe Mountains area of West Texas. Isacrodus marthae gen. et sp. nov. occurs in the Williams Ranch Member, Cutoff Formation, Roadian. A second taxon Texasodus varidentatus gen. et sp. nov. is found in beds of the Hegler and Pinery Members, Bell Canyon Formation, Upper Wordian–Lower Capitanian. The family Jalodontidae includes Jalodus, Adamantina and the two new genera; Isacrodus and Texasodus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gallstone ileus represents a rare complication (0,3-0,5%) of a serious, but common disease-gallstones, which affect around 10% of the population in the USA and Western Europe. Associated diseases (usually severe), elderly patients, delayed diagnosis and therapy due to late presentation to the hospital, account for the morbidity and mortality rates described in literature. We present the case of a patient with partial colon obstruction due to a large gallstone that was "lost during an emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The calculus eroded the intestinal wall, partially occluding the lumen, triggering recurrent Kerwsky-like, subocclusive episodes. The intraperitoneal abscess has spontaneously drained through the subhepatic drain and once the tube has been removed, a persistent intermittent fistula became obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garlic mustard, an invasive shade-tolerant species introduced to North America from Eurasia in the late 1860s, now is widely distributed throughout the US and Canada. The presence of garlic mustard results in displacement of understory species and subsequent decline in native plant diversity. By displacing native plants, garlic mustard can affect resource availability and habitat quality, and thereby affect animals across different trophic levels. However, these impacts have been documented infrequently. Our study focused on the small-scale effects of garlic mustard invasion on an abundant and important group of forest-floor arthropods. We evaluated the effects of garlic mustard on forest ant assemblages in invaded and non-invaded areas of two mesophytic forest fragments of northeastern Ohio. Plots invaded by garlic mustard showed reduced leaf litter depth, and an increased abundance of nonnative Amynthas earthworms. Sample-based rarefaction and similarity analyses revealed that the presence of garlic mustard, and the associated decrease in leaf litter depth, had no detectable effect on the observed and expected ant species richness and community composition. Rank-abundance distributions also were largely unchanged in garlic mustard invaded plots. Our results suggest that regional sylvan ant communities are unaffected by the generally presumed negative effects of garlic mustard invasions, or these effects may be more subtle or confounded by other dominating factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine the use of preventive health care practices of mammography, Pap smear, and breast self-exam in immigrant women from the former Soviet Union in Germany and the United States. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional exploratory study was used to examine the preventive health care practices of immigrant women in Germany and the United States. Sample: A convenience sample of 15 German immigrant women from the former Soviet Union were solicited from the Salztal Klinik in Germany and matched by age with 24 U.S. immigrant women from the former Soviet Union solicited from a community center for immigrants. Measurements: Data were collected using a demographic survey and the Language, Identity, and Behavior Acculturation Measure. Results: Significant differences were found between the German and U.S. immigrant groups in use of mammography (χ2 = 8.069, df = 1, p < .005) and Pap smear (χ2 = 7.245, df = 1, p < .008). Conclusion: The low use of mammography and Pap smear among German immigrant women may be related to differences in health care systems, age, and health beliefs. Further study is needed to determine the affects of age and health beliefs related to health promotion and disease prevention to better understand how to intervene and improve the health of immigrant women from the former Soviet Union. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives: Investigate the relationship between the dependent variable health outcome (perceived health status) and the independent variables population characteristics, (predisposing, which includes age, acculturation, months in the United States; enabling, which includes availability of medical insurance) and health behavior (personal health practices, which includes engaging in cancer screening of mammography, Pap smear, and breast self-exam) among immigrant women from the former Soviet Union. Design: Descriptive correlational design was used with Andersen's Behavioral Model as the conceptual framework. Sample: Convenience sample of 99 women, 18 years of age and older, was obtained from a community center. Measures: Demographic Information for Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union Survey (DIFSU) and Language, Identity, and Behavior Acculturation Survey (LIB) were used to collect data. Results: Younger women were more likely to have a Pap smear and consider their health status as good or excellent; those with better English language skills were more likely to conduct breast self-exam but considered their health status as poor or fair; having insurance was positively correlated with having a Pap smear; the longer women were in the United States, the more likely they were to receive a mammogram. The model indicated that age and language acculturation significantly predicted health status. Conclusion: Given the incidence of breast cancer in the United States, the results highlight women in need of interventions to help them understand the value of cancer screening behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new way to model HIV infection spreading through the use of dynamic complex networks. The heterogeneous population of HIV exposure groups is described through a unique network degree probability distribution. The time evolution of the network nodes is modelled by a Markov process and gives insight in HIV disease progression. The results are validated against historical data of AIDS cases in the USA as recorded by the Center of Disease Control. We find a remarkably good correspondence between the number of simulated and registered HIV cases, indicating that our approach to modelling the dynamics of HIV spreading through a sexual network is a valid approach that opens up completely new ways of reasoning about various medication scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current interest in returning to the Moon and Mars by 2030 makes cost effective and low mass health monitoring sensors essential for spacecraft development. In space, there are many surface measurements that are required to monitor the condition of the spacecraft including: surface temperature, radiation dose, and impact. Through the use of phosphors, these conditions can be monitored. Practical space-based phosphor sensors will depend heavily upon research investigating the resistance of phosphors to ionizing radiation and the ability to anneal or self-heal from damage caused by ionizing radiation. The cathodoluminescence (CL) testing was performed using the low energy electron system located at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. For the materials tested, several interesting results were observed. For most materials, increases in both beam energy and current density improved the CL fluorescence yield. It was also noted that YAG:Nd,Ce has the greatest near infrared intensity for any of the tested materials. The evaluation of dopant concentration in YPO4:Nd showed minimal differences in spectral shape and intensity. While the total electron dose was small, the intention was to maximize the number of irradiated materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides specifications for the international Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation Boiling Water Reactor Full-size Fine-mesh Bundle Test benchmark. It discusses the two phases of the benchmark including the void distribution and the critical power benchmarks. This project was officially approved by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency.

This article presents information's on the use of microorganisms in the biotechnology for the enhancement of oil recovery. The existing methods of oil field exploitation give the opportunity to extract no more than half of the geological resources of oil, from carbonate oil collectors, only 20% of oil is extracted. There are various chemical and physicochemical methods for enhancing oil recovery. The first works on oil microbiology that gained publicity were carried out in 1926 by Russian and American researchers simultaneously. The new stage of development of microbial technologies in Russia started in the 1970's.

In-situ experiments for investigation of the heterogeneity of fractured aquifer rock were performed by Russian and American scientists in the area of the Mayak Production Association, South Urals, Russia, in 1996. This paper presents a description of the different hydrological and geophysical methods for acquiring and processing the data and a comparison of preliminary hydrogeological results. The coincidence of determinations of hydraulic conductivities, using different field tests and methods for data analysis, permits us to recommend the processes described for use in detailed investigations of the transmissivity of fractured-rock aquifers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of flexibility and semiflexibility in a single molecule is a powerful design principle both in nature and in materials science. We present results on the conformational behavior of a single multiblock-copolymer chain, consisting of equal amounts of Flexible (F) and Semiflexible (S) blocks with different affinity to an implicit solvent. We consider a manifold of macrostates defined by two terms in the total energy: intermonomer interaction energy and stiffness energy. To obtain diagrams of states (pseudo-phase diagrams), we performed flat-histogram Monte Carlo simulations using the Stochastic Approximation Monte Carlo algorithm (SAMC). We have accumulated two-Dimensional Density of States (2D DoS) functions (defined on the 2D manifold of macrostates) for a SF-multiblock-copolymer chain of length N = 64 with block lengths b = 4, 8, 16, and 32 in two different selective solvents. In an analysis of the canonical ensemble, we calculated the heat capacity and determined its maxima and the most probable morphologies in different regions of the state diagrams. These are rich in various, non-trivial morphologies, which are formed without any specific interactions, and depend on the block length and the type of solvent selectivity (preferring S or F blocks, respectively). We compared the diagrams with those for the non-selective solvent and reveal essential changes in some cases. Additionally, we implemented microcanonical analysis in the "conformational" microcanonical ( N V U , where U is the potential energy) and the true microcanonical ( N V E , where E is the total energy) ensembles with the aim to reveal and classify pseudo-phase transitions, occurring under the change of temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and third most common cause of death from cancer. There is no effective treatment for liver cancer, and the survival rates are low with only 6% in the U.S. surviving five years. A novel nutrient mixture (NM) containing lysine, proline, ascorbic acid and green tea extract has exhibited anti-tumor activity in vivo and in vitro. We investigated the effect of NM on human hepatoma cell line in vitro and in vivo. After one week of isolation, 5-6 weeks old male athymic nude mice were inoculated with 3x106 SK-Hep-1 cells subcutaneously and randomly divided into two groups; group A was fed a regular diet and group B a regular diet supplemented with 0.5% NM. Four weeks later, the mice were sacrificed and their tumors were excised, weighed and processed for histology. We also tested the effect of NM in vitro on SK-Hep-1 cells, measuring cell proliferation by MTT assay, invasion through Matrigel, apoptosis by green caspase detection kit, MMP secretion by zymography, and morphology by H&E staining. NM inhibited the growth of SK-Hep-1 xenograft tumors by 50%. In vitro, NM exhibited 30% toxicity over the control at 500 and 1000 µg/ml concentration. Zymography demonstrated MMP-2 and MMP-9. NM inhibited the secretion of both MMPs in a dose dependent fashion, with virtual total inhibition at 1000 µg/ml. Invasion was inhibited at 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 µg/ml by 40%, 46%, 55%, 84% and 100% respectively. NM induced slight apoptosis at 100, considerable at 500 and significant at 1000 µg/ml NM. H&E staining showed no morphological changes up to 100 µg/ml. These results suggest that NM has therapeutic potential in treatment of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Evaluations from multiple perspectives are needed to determine whether syndromic classification of chief complaints is useful for outbreak detection. Objective: This study quantified the performance of a naïve Bayesian classifier, Complaint Classifer (CoCo), at syndromic classification from chief complaints by using a three-stage evaluation process. Methods: First, CoCo was evaluated to determine its level of technical accuracy in answering the question, "Can we accurately classify a chief-complaint string into a syndromic category?" For example, the area under the ROC curve of CoCo classifications were calculated into eight syndromes for 28,990 chief complaints from 30 hospitals in Utah during a 1-month period (Olszewski RT. Bayesian classification of triage diagnoses for the early detection of epidemics. In: Proceeding of the Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference; May 12-14, 2003; St. Augustine, FL. Menlo Park, CA: AAAI Press; 2003:412-6). Standard classifications were made by a physician reading only the chief complaints. Second, CoCo was evaluated to determine its performance at case classification to answer the question, "Does the syndromic classification from the chief complaint accurately represent the patient's clinical state?" For example, the sensitivity and specificity of the CoCo classification of 527,228 patients over a 13-year period in a single hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was measured (Chapman WW, Dowling JN, Wagner MM. Classification of emergency department chief complaints into seven syndromes: a retrospective analysis of 527,228 patients. Ann Emerg Med. In press 2005.). Reference standard classifications were assigned by syndromic groups of primary International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) discharge diagnoses. Third, CoCo was evaluated to determine its performance at outbreak detection to answer the question, "How timely and accurately can we detect a public health outbreak by monitoring chief-complaint classifications?" For example, by using the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) detection algorithm, the factors measured were timeliness, sensitivity, and specificity of chief complaints classified by CoCo for predicting outbreaks of pediatric respiratory and gastrointestinal illness (Ivanov O, Gesteland P, Hogan W, Mundorff MB, Wagner MM. Detection of pediatric respiratory and gastrointestinal outbreaks from free-text chief complaints. In: Proceedings of the American Medical Informatics Association Annual Fall Symposium; November 8-12, Washington, DC. Bethesda, MD: American Medical Informatics Association; 2003: 318-22.). Reference standard classification comprised ICD-9 discharge diagnoses of pneumonia, influenza, and bronchiolitis for respiratory illness and rotavirus and pediatric gastroenteritis for gastrointestinal illness. Results: For technical accuracy, areas under the ROC curve ranged from 78% for botulinic syndrome to 96% for respiratory syndrome. For case classification, sensitivity and specificity, respectively, were as follows: respiratory: 63%, 94%; botulinic: 30%, 99%; gastrointestinal: 69%, 95%; neurologic: 67%, 93%; rash: 47%, 99%; constitutional: 46%, 97%; and hemorrhagic: 75%, 99%. For outbreak detection, three respiratory and three gastrointestinal outbreaks were detected by CoCo with 100% sensitivity and specificity. Time series of chief complaints correlated with hospital admissions and preceded them by an average of 10.3 days for respiratory outbreaks and 29 days for gastrointestinal outbreaks. Conclusion: Three stages of evaluation are useful in determining the performance of syndromic surveillance from chief complaints.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]