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BackgroundData dashboards are published tools that present visualizations; they are increasingly used to display data about behavioral health, social determinants of health, and chronic and infectious disease risks to inform or support public health endeavors. Dashboards can be an evidence-based approach used by communities to influence decision-making in health care for specific populations. Despite widespread use, evidence on how to best design and use dashboards in the public health realm is limited. There is also a notable dearth of studies that examine and document the complexity and heterogeneity of dashboards in community settings. ObjectiveCommunity stakeholders engaged in the community response to the opioid overdose crisis could benefit from the use of data dashboards for decision-making. As part of the Communities That HEAL (CTH) intervention, community data dashboards were created for stakeholders to support decision-making. We assessed stakeholders’ perceptions of the usability and use of the CTH dashboards for decision-making. MethodsWe conducted a mixed methods assessment between June and July 2021 on the use of CTH dashboards. We administered the System Usability Scale (SUS) and conducted semistructured group interviews with users in 33 communities across 4 states of the United States. The SUS comprises 10 five-point Likert-scale questions measuring usability, each scored from 0 to 4. The interview guides were informed by the technology adoption model (TAM) and focused on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention to use, and contextual factors. ResultsOverall, 62 users of the CTH dashboards completed the SUS and interviews. SUS scores (grand mean 73, SD 4.6) indicated that CTH dashboards were within the acceptable range for usability. From the qualitative interview data, we inductively created subthemes within the 4 dimensions of the TAM to contextualize stakeholders’ perceptions of the dashboard’s usefulness and ease of use, their intention to use, and contextual factors. These data also highlighted gaps in knowledge, design, and use, which could help focus efforts to improve the use and comprehension of dashboards by stakeholders. ConclusionsWe present a set of prioritized gaps identified by our national group and list a set of lessons learned for improved data dashboard design and use for community stakeholders. Findings from our novel application of both the SUS and TAM provide insights and highlight important gaps and lessons learned to inform the design of data dashboards for use by decision-making community stakeholders. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04111939; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04111939

Abstract This paper presents the composite drought indicator (CDI) that Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan, and Tunisian government agencies now produce monthly to support operational drought management decision making, and it describes their iterative co-development processes. The CDI is primarily intended to monitor agricultural and ecological drought on a seasonal time scale. It uses remote sensing and modelled data inputs, and it reflects anomalies in precipitation, vegetation, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration. Following quantitative and qualitative validation assessments, engagements with policymakers, and consideration of agencies’ technical and institutional capabilities and constraints, we made changes to CDI input data, modelling procedures, and integration to tailor the system for each national context. We summarize validation results, drought modelling challenges and how we overcame them through CDI improvements, and we describe the monthly CDI production process and outputs. Finally, we synthesize procedural and technical aspects of CDI development and reflect on the constraints we faced as well as trade-offs made to optimize the CDI for operational monitoring to support policy decision-making—including aspects of salience, credibility, and legitimacy—within each national context.

Drought is considered among the most devastating climate hazards impacting civilizations, including human health, throughout history. It causes cumulative damages based on the five generally categorized meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, socioeconomic, and ecological droughts. Reducing damages at the local, regional, and global levels requires a better understanding of human (health) vulnerability to drought. While there are different studies to distinguish and measure vulnerabilities for the five aforementioned conditions, there is minimal effort to identify vulnerabilities to health impacts from drought. Our study aims to develop an analysis of vulnerability for Nebraska based on the established health effects associated with drought. We considered vulnerability as the interaction between exposure to drought and different sensitivity measures for a timespan, including the highest drought levels in the 21st century. To calculate the total sensitivities, we extracted ten initial variables and applied two well-known methods of dimensionality reduction and (Weighted) Additive Overlays of percentile-ranked values. The result showed the inadequacy of the former method for our study. We also grouped the sensitivity variables into socioeconomic, environmental, and water-related intervention categories and developed related intensity maps showing different spatial patterns. We calculated the drought exposure levels by adding the intensity, duration, and frequency of drought over the study period (2012–2016) and developed total vulnerability maps to determine the ten most vulnerable counties, of which nine are rural. The resulting three intervention category maps can help related experts find priority areas within Nebraska, and the final vulnerability maps can help distinguish the areas of concern for general state-wide planning. While the results and some sensitivity variables are unique to Nebraska, the provided framework and the inclusion of two different methods can guide other regions in similar studies.

FeSiB based soft magnetic flakes (SMFs; ϕ: 63-106 µm, t: 2-5 µm) coated with optimally thick (∼10 nm) SiO2 were fabricated as the potential magnetic material for pressed cores suitable for use in power inductors operating beyond 10 MHz. Such thin SMFs were produced by mechanical ball milling of commercially available thick (∼27 µm) ribbons followed by an optimized sol-gel coating in presence of a silane coupling agent. Milling helped to reduce ribbon thickness below the skin depth to minimize eddy current loss at high frequencies. The effect of milling (medium, duration, rotation speed, and ball-to-powder ratio) and coating conditions on the soft magnetic properties of the SMFs were investigated. An optimally tiny fraction of the milled flakes was allowed to become nanocrystalline, which augments saturation flux density (BS) and permeability (µ) without incurring additional losses. The results from X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy and magnetization measurement confirm that a stress-releasing post-annealing process reduced coercivity from ∼62 Oe to ∼6 Oe and enhanced the magnetic saturation moment from 126 emu/g to 142 emu/g without affecting the thin yet robust insulating SiO2 layer.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized genomics, decreasing sequencing costs and allowing researchers to draw correlations between diseases and DNA or RNA changes. Technical advances have enabled the analysis of RNA expression changes between single cells within a heterogeneous population, known as single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq). Despite resolving transcriptomes of cellular subpopulations, scRNA-seq has not replaced RNA-seq, due to higher costs and longer hands-on time. Here, we developed an automated workflow to increase throughput (up to 48 reactions) and to reduce by 75% the hands-on time of scRNA-seq library preparation, using the 10X Genomics Single Cell 3’ kit. After gel bead-in-emulsion (GEM) generation on the 10X Genomics Chromium Controller, cDNA amplification was performed, and the product was normalized and subjected to either the manual, standard library preparation method or a fully automated, walk-away method using a Biomek i7 Hybrid liquid handler. Control metrics showed that both quantity and quality of the single-cell gene expression libraries generated were equivalent in size and yield. Key scRNA-seq downstream quality metrics, such as unique molecular identifiers count, mitochondrial RNA content, and cell and gene counts, further showed high correlations between automated and manual workflows. Using the UMAP dimensionality reduction technique to visualize all cells, we were able to further correlate the results observed between the manual and automated methods (R=0.971). The method developed here allows for the fast, error-free, and reproducible multiplex generation of high-quality single-cell gene expression libraries.

The U.S. federal government’s requirements and guidance for wetland conservation are reflected in a series of federal laws, regulations, and policies. However, the degree to which these requirements are reflected in local planning efforts is unclear. This study using five components with 56 indicators evaluates how well wetland conservation efforts are integrated into 112 local comprehensive plans in Nebraska, USA. The results show that the majority of local comprehensive plans pay little direct attention to wetland conservation, although many conservation efforts are conducted under the umbrella of environmental protection frameworks. The indicators include water resource protection received the highest score and was the descriptor of natural or environmental resources and resulted in the highest level of local awareness on natural assets. The indicator of setting goals for no net loss of wetlands received the lowest score among all indicators, demonstrating a clear gap between the national vision and the local reality of wetland conservation. Findings suggest local governments need more direct and proactive inputs to improve wetland conservation. Further findings from this research provide a practical roadmap for planners globally, particularly for the developing countries, to integrate wetland conservation into the local planning systems.

The propagation of animal vocalizations in water and in air is a well-studied phenomenon, but sound produced by bark and wood-boring insects, which feed and reproduce inside trees, is poorly understood. Often being confined to the dark and chemically saturated habitat of wood, many bark- and woodborers have developed stridulatory mechanisms to communicate acoustically. Despite their ecological and economic importance and the unusual medium used for acoustic communication, very little is known about sound production in these insects, or their acoustic interactions inside trees. Here, we use bark beetles (Scolytinae) as a model system to study the effects of wooden tissue on the propagation of insect stridulations and propose algorithms for their automatic identification. We characterize distance dependence of the spectral parameters of stridulatory sounds, propose data-based models for the power decay of the stridulations in both outer and inner bark, provide optimal spectral ranges for stridulation detectability and develop automatic methods for their detection and identification. We also discuss the acoustic discernibility of species cohabitating the same log. The species tested can be acoustically identified with 99% of accuracy at distances up to 20 cm and detected to the greatest extent in the 2–6 kHz frequency band. Phloem was a better medium for sound transmission than bark.

Abstract Background The patient ranking process for donor lung allocation in the United States is carried out by a classification-based, computerized algorithm, known as the match system. Experts have suggested that a continuous, points-based allocation framework would better serve waiting list candidates by removing hard boundaries and increasing transparency into the relative importance of factors used to prioritize candidates. We applied discrete choice modeling to match run data to determine the feasibility of approximating current lung allocation policy by one or more composite scores. Our study aimed to demystify the points-based approach to organ allocation policy; quantify the relative importance of factors used in current policy; and provide a viable policy option that adapts the current, classification-based system to the continuous allocation framework. Methods Rank ordered logistic regression models were estimated using 6466 match runs for 5913 adult donors and 534 match runs for 488 pediatric donors from 2018. Four primary attributes are used to rank candidates and were included in the models: (1) medical priority, (2) candidate age, (3) candidate’s transplant center proximity to the donor hospital, and (4) blood type compatibility with the donor. Results Two composite scores were developed, one for adult and one for pediatric donor allocation. Candidate rankings based on the composite scores were highly correlated with current policy rankings (Kendall’s Tau ~ 0.80, Spearman correlation > 90%), indicating both scores strongly reflect current policy. In both models, candidates are ranked higher if they have higher medical priority, are registered at a transplant center closer to the donor hospital, or have an identical blood type to the donor. Proximity was the most important attribute. Under a points-based scoring system, candidates in further away zones are sometimes ranked higher than more proximal candidates compared to current policy. Conclusions Revealed preference analysis of lung allocation match runs produced composite scores that capture the essence of current policy while removing rigid boundaries of the current classification-based system. A carefully crafted, continuous version of lung allocation policy has the potential to make better use of the limited supply of donor lungs in a manner consistent with the priorities of the transplant community.

Lcapy is an open-source Python package for solving linear circuits symbolically. It uses a superposition of DC analysis, AC (phasor) analysis, transient (Laplace) analysis, and noise analysis. Expressions are evaluated using the computer algebra system SymPy. Lcapy can model circuits comprised of combinations of one-port and two-port networks or circuits specified using a netlist with a Spice-like notation. Lcapy can present the system of equations produced from nodal analysis, modified nodal analysis, loop analysis, and state-space analysis. Expressions can be formatted into many representations, parameterized, and transformed to other domains. Dimensional analysis is performed to reduce user errors and to present results with units. Both continuous and discrete signals are supported. Lcapy produces high-quality output. Textbook quality schematics in a number of different formats can be generated from netlists and customized for different conventions. Expressions can be formatted into LaTeX format for inclusion into a document or numerically evaluated and plotted. An overview of the features and capabilities of Lcapy is presented, along with implementation details and performance considerations.

Abstract Heatwaves cause excess mortality and physiological impacts on humans throughout the world, and climate change will intensify and increase the frequency of heat events. Many adaptation and mitigation studies use spatial distribution of highly vulnerable local populations to inform heat reduction and response plans. However, most available heat vulnerability studies focus on urban areas with high heat intensification by Urban Heat Islands (UHIs). Rural areas encompass different environmental and socioeconomic issues that require alternate analyses of vulnerability. We categorized Nebraska census tracts into four urbanization levels, then conducted factor analyses on each group and captured different patterns of socioeconomic vulnerabilities among resultant Heat Vulnerability Indices (HVIs). While disability is the major component of HVI in two urbanized classes, lower education, and races other than white have higher contributions in HVI for the two rural classes. To account for environmental vulnerability of HVI, we considered different land type combinations for each urban class based on their percentage areas and their differences in heat intensifications. Our results demonstrate different combinations of initial variables in heat vulnerability among urban classes of Nebraska and clustering of high and low heat vulnerable areas within the highest urbanized sections. Less urbanized areas show no spatial clustering of HVI. More studies with separation on urbanization level of residence can give insights into different socioeconomic vulnerability patterns in rural and urban areas, while also identifying changes in environmental variables that better capture heat intensification in rural settings.

Drought is an inescapable reality in many regions, including much of the western United States. With climate change, droughts are predicted to intensify and occur more frequently, making the imperative for drought management even greater. Many diverse actors – including private landowners, business owners, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and managers and policymakers within tribal, local, state, and federal government agencies – play multiple, often overlapping roles in preparing for and responding to drought. Managing water is, of course, one of the most important roles that humans play in both mitigating and responding to droughts; but, focusing only on “water managers” or “water management” fails to capture key elements related to the broader category of drought management. The respective roles played by those managing drought (as distinct from water managers), the interactions among them, and the consequences in particular contexts, are not well understood. Our team synthesized insights from 10 in-depth case studies to understand key facets of decision making about drought preparedness and response. We present a typology with four elements that collectively describe how decisions about drought preparedness and response are made (context and objective for a decision; actors responsible; choice being made or action taken; and how decisions interact with and influence other decisions). The typology provides a framework for system-level understanding of how and by whom complex decisions about drought management are made. Greater system-level understanding helps decision makers, program and research funders, and scientists to identify constraints to and opportunities for action, to learn from the past, and to integrate ecological impacts, thereby facilitating social learning among diverse participants in drought preparedness and response.

Interconnected food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus systems face many challenges to support human well-being (HWB) and maintain resilience, especially in arid and semiarid regions like New Mexico (NM), United States (US). Insufficient FEW resources, unstable economic growth due to fluctuations in prices of crude oil and natural gas, inequitable education and employment, and climate change are some of these challenges. Enhancing the resilience of such coupled socio-environmental systems depends on the efficient use of resources, improved understanding of the interlinkages across FEW system components, and adopting adaptable alternative management strategies. The goal of this study was to develop a framework that can be used to enhance the resilience of these systems. An integrated food, energy, water, well-being, and resilience (FEW-WISE) framework was developed and introduced in this study. This framework consists mainly of five steps to qualitatively and quantitatively assess FEW system relationships, identify important external drivers, integrate FEW systems using system dynamics models, develop FEW and HWB performance indices, and develop a resilience monitoring criterion using a threshold-based approach that integrates these indices. The FEW-WISE framework can be used to evaluate and predict the dynamic behavior of FEW systems in response to environmental and socioeconomic changes using resilience indicators. In conclusion, the derived resilience index can be used to inform the decision-making processes to guide the development of alternative scenario-based management strategies to enhance the resilience of ecological and socioeconomic well-being of vulnerable regions like NM.

The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), is regarded as one of the world's most pernicious invasive pest species, as it feeds on a wide range of economically important crops. During the autumn dispersal period, H. halys ultimately moves to potential overwintering sites, such as human-made structures or trees where it will alight and seek out a final overwintering location, often aggregating with other adults. The cues used during this process are unknown, but may involve vibrational signals. We evaluated whether vibrational signals regulate cluster aggregation in H. halys in overwintering site selection. We collected acoustic data for six weeks during the autumn dispersal period and used it to quantify movement and detect vibrational communication of individuals colonizing overwintering shelters. Both movement and vibrational signal production increased after the second week, reaching their maxima in week four, before decaying again. We found that only males produced vibrations in this context, yet there was no correlation between movement and vibrational signals, which was confirmed through playback experiments. The cues regulating the formation of aggregations remain largely unknown, but vibrations may indicate group size.

Abstract Background Measurement of microfibril angle (MFA) in the S2 layer of the cell walls of wood using speed of sound in wood has become a common way to estimate wood stiffness and stability. Measurements across the radius of a disc can be critical, but sonic testing needs to be validated against direct measurements of MFA. Methods A robotic machine that uses two transducers to detect the speed of sound through discs of wood from tree stems was validated by comparing its measurements with wood MFA, air-dry density, and modulus of elasticity assessed by X-ray diffractometry through the “Silviscan” system. Results Ultrasonic velocity (USV) was highly correlated with MFA but not with air-dry density. Variable moving averages were assessed in order to estimate the resolution of the USV measurements, and it appeared that the diameter of the swath detected by the transducers was between 23 and 30 mm. Conclusions It was concluded that MFA in wood samples can be assessed rapidly and cheaply using USV measurements but at lower resolution than assessments using X-ray diffractometry.

The ability to identify medical reversals and other low-value medical practices is an essential prerequisite for efforts to reduce spending on such practices. Through an analysis of more than 3000 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in three leading medical journals (the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine), we have identified 396 medical reversals. Most of the studies (92%) were conducted on populations in high-income countries, cardiovascular disease was the most common medical category (20%), and medication was the most common type of intervention (33%).

The connection between drought early warning information and the timing of rangeland managers’ response actions is not well understood. This study investigates U.S. Northern Plains range and livestock managers’ decision-making in response to the 2016 flash drought, by means of a postdrought survey of agricultural landowners and using the Protective Action Decision Model theoretical framework. The study found that managers acted in response to environmental cues, but that their responses were significantly delayed compared to when drought conditions emerged. External warnings did not influence the timing of their decisions, though on-farm monitoring and assessment of conditions did. Though this case focused only on a one-year flash drought characterized by rapid drought intensification, waiting to destock pastures was associated with greater losses to range productivity and health and diversity. This study finds evidence of unrealized potential for drought early warning information to support proactive response and improved outcomes for rangeland management.

Drought has recently become a significant topic in the Central European region. It has been observed that the drought phenomenon has severe impacts on the agriculture, hydrology, social, and economic sectors of lowland areas. This study focuses on how drought, defined as a precipitation shortage, occurs in higher altitudes of the Tatra National Park (Tatra Mts., Slovakia), which is a significant biological reserve of the Central European fauna and flora. The main goals of this research include identifying drought variability and its characteristics over the Tatra National Park in the West Carpathians (Slovakia), especially to characterizing drought variability and its spatial pattern across the Tatra National Park from 1961 to 2010 using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and standard Geographic Information System (GIS) methods. The results showed that frequency of drought occurrence has cyclic pattern with approximately 30-year period. The spatial analyses showed that precipitation shadow of the mountains influences the risk of drought occurrence. The drought-prone areas over the mountains are also identified.

Background This study evaluates the correlation between imatinib trough plasma concentrations (Cmin) and clinical response and safety in patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase in the Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor OPtimization and Selectivity (TOPS) trial.Design and Methods Patients were randomized 1:2 to 400 mg/day or 800 mg/day imatinib. Imatinib Cmin levels were collected at pre-dose before treatment, and at the end of months 1 (day 29), 6, 9, and 12.Results Imatinib Cmin were stable over time in the 400 mg/day dose arm, but showed a slight decrease in the 800 mg/day arm due to dose adjustments between months 1–6. The overall median imatinib Cmin levels were 1040, 1200, 1935, and 2690 ng/mL for the actual 300, 400, 600, and 800 mg/day doses, respectively. The rates of major molecular response (MMR) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, and complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) at 6 and 12 months were significantly lower among patients with the lowest imatinib Cmin levels at Day 29 (