Digital Commons Network^™

Implementation And Outcomes Of A Pilot Collaborative Surgical Hydrocele Training In Côte D'Ivoire, Kevin Montes, Georgina Angoa, Catherine M Bjerum, Adama Guira, Olivier K Kouadio, Allassane F Ouattara, Gary J Weil, Peter U Fischer, Aboulaye Meite, Benjamin G Koudou, Philip J Budge

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a neglected tropical disease that can cause hydrocele and its associated stigma, loss of economic productivity, and depression. Hydrocele surgery is an essential part of LF morbidity management but can be difficult for national programs to implement. To improve access to hydrocele surgeries in Côte d'Ivoire, we provided a WHO-certified surgical training for six surgical teams from five health districts in Côte d'Ivoire. We then evaluated the surgical outcomes and assessed the impact of hydrocele surgery on quality of life of hydrocelectomy patients. Preoperative and operative records were reviewed to describe baseline hydrocele characteristics and operative …

Microbial Co-Occurrences On Catheters From Long-Term Catheterized Patients, Taylor M Nye, Zongsen Zou, Chloe L P Obernuefemann, Jerome S Pinkner, Erin Lowry, Kent Kleinschmidt, Karla Bergeron, Aleksandra Klim, Karen W Dodson, Ana L Flores-Mireles, Jennifer N Walker, Daniel Garrett Wong, Alana Desai, Michael G Caparon, Scott J Hultgren

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), a common cause of healthcare-associated infections, are caused by a diverse array of pathogens that are increasingly becoming antibiotic resistant. We analyze the microbial occurrences in catheter and urine samples from 55 human long-term catheterized patients collected over one year. Although most of these patients were prescribed antibiotics over several collection periods, their catheter samples remain colonized by one or more bacterial species. Examination of a total of 366 catheter and urine samples identify 13 positive and 13 negative genus co-occurrences over 12 collection periods, representing associations that occur more or less frequently than expected …

Genome-Wide And Targeted Crispr Screens Identify Rnf213 As A Mediator Of Interferon Gamma-Dependent Pathogen Restriction In Human Cells, Sumit K Matta, Hinissan P Kohio, Pallavi Chandra, Adam Brown, John G Doench, Jennifer A Philips, Siyuan Ding, L David Sibley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

To define cellular immunity to the intracellular pathogen

Breast Cancer Incidence Among Us Women Aged 20 To 49 Years By Race, Stage, And Hormone Receptor Status, Shuai Xu, Sara Murtagh, Yunan Han, Fei Wan, Adetunji T Toriola

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Breast cancer in young women has a less favorable prognosis compared with older women. Yet, comprehensive data on recent trends and how period and cohort effects may affect these trends among young women are not well-known.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate breast cancer incidence among young women in the US over a 20-year period by race and ethnicity, hormone receptor status (estrogen receptor [ER] and progesterone receptor [PR]), tumor stage, and age at diagnosis, as well as how period and cohort effects may affect these trends.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results …

Hat: De Novo Variant Calling For Highly Accurate Short-Read And Long-Read Sequencing Data, Jeffrey K Ng, Tychele N Turner

2020-Current year OA Pubs

MOTIVATION: de novo variants (DNVs) are variants that are present in offspring but not in their parents. DNVs are both important for examining mutation rates as well as in the identification of disease-related variation. While efforts have been made to call DNVs, calling of DNVs is still challenging from parent-child sequenced trio data. We developed Hare And Tortoise (HAT) as an automated DNV detection workflow for highly accurate short-read and long-read sequencing data. Reliable detection of DNVs is important for human genomics and HAT addresses this need.

RESULTS: HAT is a computational workflow that begins with aligned read data (i.e. …

Organ Preservation And Survival By Clinical Response Grade In Patients With Rectal Cancer Treated With Total Neoadjuvant Therapy: A Secondary Analysis Of The Opra Randomized Clinical Trial, Hannah M Thompson, Steven R Hunt, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Assessing clinical tumor response following completion of total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer is paramount to select patients for watch-and-wait treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess organ preservation (OP) and oncologic outcomes according to clinical tumor response grade.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was secondary analysis of the Organ Preservation in Patients with Rectal Adenocarcinoma trial, a phase 2, nonblinded, multicenter, randomized clinical trial. Randomization occurred between April 2014 and March 2020. Eligible participants included patients with stage II or III rectal adenocarcinoma. Data analysis occurred from March 2022 to July 2023.

INTERVENTION: Patients were randomized …

Short-Stay Units Vs Routine Admission From The Emergency Department In Patients With Acute Heart Failure: The Ssu-Ahf Randomized Clinical Trial, Peter S Pang, Douglas Char, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: More than 80% of patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with acute heart failure (AHF) are hospitalized. With more than 1 million annual hospitalizations for AHF in the US, safe and effective alternatives are needed. Care for AHF in short-stay units (SSUs) may be safe and more efficient than hospitalization, especially for lower-risk patients, but randomized clinical trial data are lacking.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of SSU care vs hospitalization in lower-risk patients with AHF.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This multicenter randomized clinical trial randomly assigned low-risk patients with AHF 1:1 to SSU or hospital admission …

Hecatomb: An Integrated Software Platform For Viral Metagenomics, Michael J Roach, Sarah J Beecroft, Kathie A Mihindukulasuriya, Leran Wang, Anne Paredes, Luis Alberto Chica Cárdenas, Kara Henry-Cocks, Lais Farias Oliveira Lima, Elizabeth A Dinsdale, Robert A Edwards, Scott A Handley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Modern sequencing technologies offer extraordinary opportunities for virus discovery and virome analysis. Annotation of viral sequences from metagenomic data requires a complex series of steps to ensure accurate annotation of individual reads and assembled contigs. In addition, varying study designs will require project-specific statistical analyses.

FINDINGS: Here we introduce Hecatomb, a bioinformatic platform coordinating commonly used tasks required for virome analysis. Hecatomb means "a great sacrifice." In this setting, Hecatomb is "sacrificing" false-positive viral annotations using extensive quality control and tiered-database searches. Hecatomb processes metagenomic data obtained from both short- and long-read sequencing technologies, providing annotations to individual sequences …

Prospective Study To Characterize Adalimumab Exposure In Pediatric Patients With Rheumatic Diseases, Tatjana Welzel, Klervi Golhen, Andrew Atkinson, Verena Gotta, David Ternant, Jasmin B Kuemmerle-Deschner, Christine Michler, Gilbert Koch, Johannes N Van Den Anker, Marc Pfister, Andreas Woerner

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: In pediatric rheumatic diseases (PRD), adalimumab is dosed using fixed weight-based bands irrespective of methotrexate co-treatment, disease activity (DA) or other factors that might influence adalimumab pharmacokinetics (PK). In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) adalimumab exposure between 2-8 mg/L is associated with clinical response. PRD data on adalimumab is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze adalimumab PK and its variability in PRD treated with/without methotrexate.

METHODS: A two-center prospective study in PRD patients aged 2-18 years treated with adalimumab and methotrexate (G

RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients (14 per group), diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (71.4%), non-infectious uveitis (25%) or chronic recurrent …

Implications Of Preoperative Depression For Lumbar Spine Surgery Outcomes: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Saad Javeed, Braeden Benedict, Salim Yakdan, Samia Saleem, Justin K Zhang, Kathleen Botterbush, Madelyn R Frumkin, Angela Hardi, Brian Neuman, Jay F Piccirillo, Burel R Goodin, Thomas L Rodebaugh, Wilson Z Ray, Jacob K Greenberg, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Comorbid depression is common among patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease. Although a well-researched topic, the evidence of the role of depression in spine surgery outcomes remains inconclusive.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between preoperative depression and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) after lumbar spine surgery.

DATA SOURCES: A systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Embase, Scopus, PsychInfo, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov was performed from database inception to September 14, 2023.

STUDY SELECTION: Included studies involved adults undergoing lumbar spine surgery and compared PROMs in patients with vs those without depression. Studies evaluating the correlation between …

Lipid Nanodisc Scaffold And Size Alter The Structure Of A Pentameric Ligand-Gated Ion Channel, Vikram Dalal, Mark J Arcario, John T Petroff 2nd, Brandon K Tan, Noah M Dietzen, Michael J Rau, James A J Fitzpatrick, Grace Brannigan, Wayland W L Cheng

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Lipid nanodiscs have become a standard tool for studying membrane proteins, including using single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). We find that reconstituting the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel (pLGIC), Erwinia ligand-gated ion channel (ELIC), in different nanodiscs produces distinct structures by cryo-EM. The effect of the nanodisc on ELIC structure extends to the extracellular domain and agonist binding site. Additionally, molecular dynamic simulations indicate that nanodiscs of different size impact ELIC structure and that the nanodisc scaffold directly interacts with ELIC. These findings suggest that the nanodisc plays a crucial role in determining the structure of pLGICs, and that reconstitution of …

Fatty Acid Synthesis Suppresses Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Use, Anna Worthmann, Sangeeta Adak, Clay F Semenkovich, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are increasingly recognized for their health benefits, whereas a high production of endogenous fatty acids - a process called de novo lipogenesis (DNL) - is closely linked to metabolic diseases. Determinants of PUFA incorporation into complex lipids are insufficiently understood and may influence the onset and progression of metabolic diseases. Here we show that fatty acid synthase (FASN), the key enzyme of DNL, critically determines the use of dietary PUFA in mice and humans. Moreover, the combination of FASN inhibition and PUFA-supplementation decreases liver triacylglycerols (TAG) in mice fed with high-fat diet. Mechanistically, FASN inhibition …

A Dataset Of Digital Holograms Of Normal And Thalassemic Cells, Vahid Abbasian, Arash Darafsheh

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is an intriguing medical diagnostic tool due to its label-free and quantitative nature, providing high-contrast images of phase samples. By capturing both intensity and phase information, DHM enables the numerical reconstruction of quantitative phase images. However, the lateral resolution is limited by the diffraction limit, which prompted the recent suggestion of microsphere-assisted DHM to enhance the DHM resolution straightforwardly. The use of such a technique as a medical diagnostic tool requires testing and validation of the proposed assays to prove their feasibility and viability. This paper publishes 760 and 609 microsphere-assisted DHM images of normal and …

Contrast Response Function Estimation With Nonparametric Bayesian Active Learning, Dom C P Marticorena, Quinn Wai Wong, Jake Browning, Ken Wilbur, Samyukta Jayakumar, Pinakin Gunvant Davey, Aaron R Seitz, Jacob R Gardner, Dennis L Barbour

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Multidimensional psychometric functions can typically be estimated nonparametrically for greater accuracy or parametrically for greater efficiency. By recasting the estimation problem from regression to classification, however, powerful machine learning tools can be leveraged to provide an adjustable balance between accuracy and efficiency. Contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs) are behaviorally estimated curves that provide insight into both peripheral and central visual function. Because estimation can be impractically long, current clinical workflows must make compromises such as limited sampling across spatial frequency or strong assumptions on CSF shape. This article describes the development of the machine learning contrast response function (MLCRF) estimator, which …

Process Evaluation Of A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial To Assess The Efficacy And Safety Of A Quadruple Ultra-Low-Dose Treatment For Hypertension Within A Federally Qualified Health Center Network (Quartet Usa), Olutobi A Sanuade, Tyler A Jacobson, Adriana Quintana, Fallon M Flowers, Hiba Abbasi, My H Vu, Abigail S Baldridge, Jairo Mejia, Danielle Lazar, Jody D Ciolino, Mark D Huffman, Namratha R Kandula

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: This convergent parallel-design mixed-methods process evaluation of the QUARTET USA (Quadruple Ultra-Low-Dose Treatment for Hypertension USA) clinical trial (NCT03640312) explores patient and health care professional perceptions about the use of low-dose quadruple therapy (LDQT) as a novel strategy for hypertension management.

METHODS AND RESULTS: A survey of all 62 patients enrolled in the QUARTET USA trial was conducted. A subsample of 13 patients and 11 health care professionals, recruited via purposive sampling, took part in semistructured interviews. At enrollment, 68% of participants (mean [SD] age, 51.7 [11.5] years; 56% self-identified as Hispanic: Mexican ethnicity, 16% as Hispanic: other ethnicity, …

Trans-Ancestry Epigenome-Wide Association Meta-Analysis Of Dna Methylation With Lifetime Cannabis Use, Fang Fang, Laura J Bierut, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Cannabis is widely used worldwide, yet its links to health outcomes are not fully understood. DNA methylation can serve as a mediator to link environmental exposures to health outcomes. We conducted an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of peripheral blood-based DNA methylation and lifetime cannabis use (ever vs. never) in a meta-analysis including 9436 participants (7795 European and 1641 African ancestry) from seven cohorts. Accounting for effects of cigarette smoking, our trans-ancestry EWAS meta-analysis revealed four CpG sites significantly associated with lifetime cannabis use at a false discovery rate of 0.05

A Global Scoping Review Of Adaptations In Nurturing Care Interventions During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lidia Godoi, Simone Schenkman, Ana A Baumann, Aylene Bousquat, Gabriela Buccini

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, children faced a disproportionate burden of malnutrition and poor health outcomes. Nurturing care interventions (NCIs) including actions toward good health, adequate nutrition, responsive care, opportunities for early learning, and security and safety are critical for promoting equity. Due to the need for evidence-based responses and preparedness, we analyzed adaptations in NCIs' implementation strategies during COVID-19 according to the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications to Evidence-based Implementation Strategies (FRAME-IS).

METHOD: We conducted a global scoping review including peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature. The databases searched were PubMed, Embase, Scopus, BVS, Scielo, and Web of Science. This …

Sexual Dimorphism In Hepatic Ppar Alpha And Cyp4a12a Expression Is Associated With Reduced Development Of Drug-Induced Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis In Female Il-33-/- Mice, Chloe Thomas, Dolores B Njoku

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Males are at higher risk for developing metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) than females; however, mechanisms mediating sexual dimorphism in MASH development are not completely understood. Nutrition-based mouse models suggest that dysregulated fatty acid biosynthesis promotes MASH. Drugs recapitulate MASH without diet variabilities. This brief report investigates associations of sexual dimorphism with male susceptibility to MASH utilizing a drug-induced MASH model and focuses on very-long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis pathways. We assessed male and female mouse livers at 5 and 15 weeks following MASH induction by immunizations and age-matched un-immunized controls utilizing Western blot. Our results suggest that PPAR alpha and CYP4a12a …

Assessment Of Sociodemographic And Psychiatric Characteristics Of Transgender Adults Seen At A Midwest Tertiary Medical Center, Samuel Cortez, Dominic Moog, Elizabeth Baranski, Kelley Williams, Jinli Wang, Ginger Nicol, Thomas Baranski, Cynthia J Herrick

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The National Academy of Medicine has formally identified transgender adults as an understudied population in critical need of health research. While national surveys, like the US Transgender survey, have characterized higher rates of depression, anxiety, suicidality and socioeconomic need in the transgender community, studies have not examined the impact of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics on mental health related outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the sociodemographic and mental health characteristics of transgender adults seen at a large Midwest transgender clinic and to determine factors associated with self-reported mental health conditions.

METHODS: Descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study of new transgender patients 18 years …

Recarving The Future: Bridging Car T-Cell Therapy Gaps With Synthetic Biology, Engineering, And Economic Insights, Alaa Ali, John F Dipersio

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has revolutionized the treatment of hematologic malignancies, offering remarkable remission rates in otherwise refractory conditions. However, its expansion into broader oncological applications faces significant hurdles, including limited efficacy in solid tumors, safety concerns related to toxicity, and logistical challenges in manufacturing and scalability. This review critically examines the latest advancements aimed at overcoming these obstacles, highlighting innovations in CAR T-cell engineering, novel antigen targeting strategies, and improvements in delivery and persistence within the tumor microenvironment. We also discuss the development of allogeneic CAR T cells as off-the-shelf therapies, strategies to mitigate adverse effects, and …

Role Of Endogenous T1Ρ And Its Dispersion Imaging In Differential Diagnosis Of Cardiac Amyloidosis, Keyan Wang, Yong Zhang, Wenbo Zhang, Hongrui Jin, Jing An, Jingliang Cheng, Jie Zheng

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has demonstrated excellent performance in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis (CA). However, misdiagnosis occasionally occurs because the morphological and functional features of CA are non-specific. This study was performed to determine the value of non-contrast CMR T1ρ in the diagnosis of CA.

METHODS: This prospective study included 45 patients with CA, 30 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and 10 healthy controls (HCs). All participants underwent cine (whole heart), T1ρ mapping, pre- and post-contrast T1 mapping imaging (three slices), and late gadolinium enhancement using a 3T whole-body magnetic resonance imaging system. All participants underwent T1ρ at …

Preteen Suicide Risk Screening In The Pediatric Outpatient Setting: A Clinical Pathway, Laura Hennefield, Ellen-Ge Denton, Peggy G Chen, Arielle H Sheftall, Lynsay Ayer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

We are in a youth mental health crisis with unprecedented and staggeringly high rates of suicidal ideations and suicide behaviors in preteens. In the United States, 14.5% of children aged 9-10 have experienced suicidal thoughts and behaviors, including 1.3% with a suicide attempt. American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines call for universal suicide risk screening of youth aged 12 years and older during preventative health care visits and screening in preteens aged 8-11 years when clinically indicated. However, what constitutes a clinical indication at 8-11 years can be difficult to systematically detect, and pediatric practitioners may not be equipped with necessary …

Microglycodb: A Database Of Microbial Glycans Using Semantic Web Technologies, Sunmyoung Lee, Louis-David Leclercq, Yann Guerardel, Christine M Szymanski, Thomas Hurtaux, Tamara L Doering, Takane Katayama, Kiyotaka Fujita, Kazuhiro Aoki, Kiyoko F Aoki-Kinoshita

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Glycoconjugates are present on microbial surfaces and play critical roles in modulating interactions with the environment and the host. Extensive research on microbial glycans, including elucidating the structural diversity of the glycan moieties of glycoconjugates and polysaccharides, has been carried out to investigate the function of glycans in modulating the interactions between the host and microbes, to explore their potential applications in the therapeutic targeting of pathogenic species, and in the use as probiotics in gut microbiomes. However, glycan-related information is dispersed across numerous databases and a vast amount of literature, which makes it laborious and time-consuming to identify and …

First-In-Human Assessment Of Gut Permeability In Crohn's Disease Patients Using Fluorophore Technology, Lori R Holtz, B Darren Nix, Sewuese E Akuse, Carla Hall-Moore, Rodney D Newberry, Matthew A Ciorba, Parakkal Deepak, Maria Zulfiqar, Jeng-Jong Shieh, James R Johnson, I Rochelle Riley, Richard B Dorshow

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The dual sugar absorption test as a classic measure of human intestinal permeability has limited clinical utility due to lengthy and cumbersome urine collection, assay variability, and long turnaround. We aimed to determine if the orally administered fluorophore MB-102 (relmapirazin) (molecular weight [MW] = 372) compares to lactulose (L) (MW = 342) and rhamnose (R) (MW = 164)-based dual sugar absorption test as a measure of gut permeability in people with a spectrum of permeability including those with Crohn's disease (CD).

METHODS: We performed a single-center, randomized, open-label, crossover study comparing orally administered MB-102 (1.5 or 3.0 …

The Role Of Mek Inhibition In Pediatric Low-Grade Gliomas, Shehryar R Sheikh, Laura J Klesse, Ross Mangum, Ashley Bui, Benjamin I Siegel, Mohamed S Abdelbaki, Neha J Patel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pediatric low-grade gliomas (pLGGs) are the most common brain tumors in children. Many patients with unresectable tumors experience recurrence or long-term sequelae from standard chemotherapeutics. This mini-review explores the emerging role of MEK inhibitors in the management of pLGGs, highlighting their potential to transform current treatment paradigms. We review the molecular basis for therapeutic MEK inhibition in the context of pLGG, provide an evidence base for the use of the major MEK inhibitors currently available in the market for pLGG, and review the challenges in the use of MEKi inhibitors in this population.

Perspectives Of Traditional Herbal Medicines In Treating Retinitis Pigmentosa, Shihui Liu, Toshihiko Matsuo, Chie Matsuo, Takumi Abe, Jinghua Chen, Chi Sun, Qing Zhao

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Medicinal plants, also known as herbs, have been discovered and utilized in traditional medical practice since prehistoric times. Medicinal plants have been proven rich in thousands of natural products that hold great potential for the development of new drugs. Previously, we reviewed the types of Chinese traditional medicines that a Tang Dynasty monk Jianzhen (Japanese: Ganjin) brought to Japan from China in 742. This article aims to review the origin of Kampo (Japanese traditional medicine), and to present the overview of neurodegenerative diseases and retinitis pigmentosa as well as medicinal plants in some depth. Through the study of medical history …

Reinforcement Learning In Motor Skill Acquisition: Using The Reward Positivity To Understand The Mechanisms Underlying Short- And Long-Term Behavior Adaptation, Mariane F B Bacelar, Keith R Lohse, Juliana O Parma, Matthew W Miller

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: According to reinforcement learning, humans adjust their behavior based on the difference between actual and anticipated outcomes (i.e., prediction error) with the main goal of maximizing rewards through their actions. Despite offering a strong theoretical framework to understand how we acquire motor skills, very few studies have investigated reinforcement learning predictions and its underlying mechanisms in motor skill acquisition.

METHODS: In the present study, we explored a 134-person dataset consisting of learners' feedback-evoked brain activity (reward positivity; RewP) and motor accuracy during the practice phase and delayed retention test to investigate whether these variables interacted according to reinforcement learning …

An Innovation Bootcamp Model For Developing Youth-Led Hiv Self-Testing Delivery Strategies In Nigeria: Post-Designathon Capacity Building, Ucheoma Nwaozuru, Titilola Gbaja-Biamila, David Oladele, Olufunto Olusanya, Temitope Ojo, Juliet Iwelunmor, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Many designathons, hackathons, and similar participatory events suffer from minimal training and support after the events. Responding to this need, we organized a health innovation bootcamp: an intensive, team-based apprenticeship training with research and entrepreneurial rigor among young people in Nigeria to develop HIV self-testing (HIVST) delivery strategies for Nigerian youth. The purpose of this paper was to describe an innovation bootcamp that aimed to develop HIVST delivery strategies for Nigerian youth.

METHODS: The four-week, in-person innovation bootcamp, informed by youth participatory action research and comprised a series of workshops, took place in Lagos, Nigeria. The goal was to …

Best Practices In Robotic Magnetic Navigation-Guided Catheter Ablation Of Cardiac Arrhythmias, A Position Paper Of The Society For Cardiac Robotic Navigation, Anna M E Noten, Daniel H Cooper, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PREAMBLE: Robotic magnetic navigation (RMN)-guided catheter ablation (CA) technology has been used for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias for almost 20 years. Various studies reported that RMN allows for high catheter stability, improved lesion formation and a superior safety profile. So far, no guidelines or recommendations on RMN-guided CA have been published.

PURPOSE: The aim of this consensus paper was to summarize knowledge and provide recommendations on management of arrhythmias using RMN-guided CA as treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular arrhythmias (VA).

METHODOLOGY: An expert writing group, performed a detailed review of available literature, and drawing on their own …

Simplified Methods For Variance Estimation In Microbiome Abundance Count Data Analysis, Yiming Shi, Lili Liu, Jun Chen, Kristine M Wylie, Todd N Wylie, Molly J Stout, Chan Wang, Haixiang Zhang, Ya-Chen T Shih, Xiaoyi Xu, Ai Zhang, Sung Hee Park, Hongmei Jiang, Lei Liu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The complex nature of microbiome data has made the differential abundance analysis challenging. Microbiome abundance counts are often skewed to the right and heteroscedastic (also known as overdispersion), potentially leading to incorrect inferences if not properly addressed. In this paper, we propose a simple yet effective framework to tackle the challenges by integrating Poisson (log-linear) regression with standard error estimation through the Bootstrap method and Sandwich robust estimation. Such standard error estimates are accurate and yield satisfactory inference even if the distributional assumption or the variance structure is incorrect. Our approach is validated through extensive simulation studies, demonstrating its effectiveness …