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Domain-diverse research, that research which involves more than one domain of knowledge, has driven significant advances in science and technology. Recent interest has been shown in the United States for identifying and generalizing techniques for promoting success with such work. In this paper, an exemplar history of domain-diverse research is presented. Next, several forms of domain-diverse research are identified. A spotlight is cast on a particular type, known as “convergence”. Convergence is a problem-solving approach that focuses on integrating the life sciences and medicine on the one hand, with the physical sciences and engineering on the other. Next, the design process is proposed as an organizing framework for domain-diverse teamwork. Finally, the need for research and training in the forming and running of such project groups is explored.

Background/Objectives: Obesity is a chronic inflammatory disease that may impair immunity against SARS-Cov-2 in severe disease states. This study investigated whether the innate immune compartment is associated with obesity in severe COVID-19.Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled twenty-seven ICU COVID-19 patients that were assigned to obese (BMI≥30 kg/m², n=9) and non-obese (BMIResults: The frequency of monocytes was negatively correlated with BMI, while NK and neutrophils were positively associated (p HLA-DR expression on CD14+ monocytes was negatively associated with BMI (p=0.03) and total leukocytes (p=0.005). Patients with obesity also demonstrated a higher frequency of NK cells (p=0.01) and a hyperactivated phenotype (CD16+CD182+TREM-1+) in HD neutrophils (p=0.01). This phenotype was positively correlated with total leukocytes (p=0.01) and negatively correlated with the total numbers of HLA-DR+ monocytes in obese group (p=0.001). An increased expression of CD16 (p=0.01) and TREM-1+ (p=0.005) on mature HD neutrophils was detected in obese patients. In this group, CD16 was negatively correlated with IL-6 levels (p=0.03) and TREM-1+ positively correlated with PD-L1 on neutrophils (p=0.03). Furthermore, sTREM-1 levels correlated with PD-L1 of monocytes and LD neutrophils (p=0.02). Finally, aging may exacerbate cytotoxic and suppressive activity. Conclusion: Our data support that obesity differentially affected innate immune response in severe COVID-19 and highlight immune markers that should be further investigated as predictors for monitoring treatment in severe patients with comorbidities.

In this paper is described the first steps taken toward building an operational model of case management. Case management is a tool for coordinated services delivery when selection requires specialized skills or knowledge, there are a multitude of providers, and access involves difficult-to-navigate processes. First is presented a discussion of the domain-diverse research approach, and the meaning of case management. Then, a representative history of healthcare delivery is presented to provide background for the current fragmented state of service delivery. Next, the project team's efforts are presented: describing the process of case management; investigating the flow of information through the system using communication theory; and partially deconstructing the system using Conant's method. Finally, proposed future work is discussed.

It has been anticipated that the Internet of Things (IoT) will play a significant role in the design of enterprise systems. In this paper the components associated with the design of IoT enabled enterprise systems is examined. Next, the development of a small scale home security system is presented as a case study.

Howard University s newly acquired Fluorescence Activated Cytometric Sorter (FACS) has been integrated into the new flow cytometric core facility. The instrument became available and open to the research community on 4/20/2015. Currently, there are 11 researchers that have gone through instrument training (i.e. antibody panel setup and sample preparations). In the three months it has been active, six Howard University researchers have used the instrument, with three using the equipment twice per week. The instrument has been integrated with the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometric Analyzer and Life Technologies Countess Automated Cell Counter as ancillary supportive instrumentation.Briefly, researchers first use the Countess to determine the concentration of their samples; the countess has interchangeable LED light cubes for visualizing all the fluorescent detection channels that are available on the purchased FACS instrument. Next, the cells are sorted; results have yielded consistently 98% purity. Populations are further confirmed using the Accuri C6 (that was bundled with the purchase of the FACS instrument). Current researchers using the instrument have sciences that include bone reformation (Dazhi Yang), microbial ecologies (Patrick Ymele-Leki), cell cycle and cancer onset (Sharma Sudha), immunotherapies and antigen presentation biomaterials (M. Lipscomb, Kunle Kassim), and gene therapies (K. Washington).

There are problems which do not have analytical solutions and require algorithms (such as Backtracking) that use brute force. The time complexity of these algorithms is polynomial, so they lose their practical advantage for even small systems. In this study, we apply the hybrid algorithm to find the number of knights required to cover every square of a chessboard-looking table (a.k.a. Knights Covering Problem) to reduce time complexity. This approach simplifies the problem by removing the attacked cells in order to decrease the number of trial-and-error steps. The hybrid algorithm increases efficiency by reducing computation time. Our analysis shows 50% performance increment for 4-KCP.