A Theme-Based Course: Hydrogen as the Fuel of the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shultz, Mary Jane; Kelly, Matthew; Paritsky, Leonid; Wagner, Julia

2009-01-01

A theme-based course focusing on the potential role of hydrogen as a future fuel is described. Numerous topics included in typical introductory courses can be directly related to the issue of hydrogen energy. Beginning topics include Avogadro's number, the mole, atomic mass, gas laws, and the role of electrons in chemical transformations. Reaction…

Esther Dyson's Vision of the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Runyan, Andy

1999-01-01

Discusses a vision of the future based on Esther Dyson's views of the proliferation of the Internet. Topics include the Internet as a communication medium; electronic commerce; the role of education, including the role of teachers; intellectual property rights; and friction freedom in a new digital economy relating to pricing. (LRW)

Description of Workshop Series for Precollege Teachers on Women and Gender, Including Topics Covered, Readings Used, and Sample Handouts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, Anne

A 2-year curriculum transformation project for 12 humanities teachers from seven independent schools sought to help pre-college teachers integrate new information and insights based on women's studies and gender scholarship into their teaching. Topics covered during the workshops included the history of concern with women and gender; engenderment…

Sharing health information online in South Korea: motives, topics, and antecedents.

PubMed

Kye, S Y; Shim, M; Kim, Y C; Park, K

2017-10-11

This study aimed to examine the motives, topics and antecedents for sharing health information online among Korean Internet users. Eight hundred adults completed a web-based survey exploring the motives; topics; physical, cognitive, affective and environmental factors; and experiences relating to sharing health information online. The motives for not sharing information included information absence and inappropriateness. The most preferred topic was disease. Good subjective health was significantly associated with frequent information sharing while individuals with a history of disease involving themselves or family members were more likely to share health information than were those without such a history. Further, a higher level of depressed mood was related to a higher level of sharing. Internet-related self-efficacy and trust in information delivery channels were positively related to sharing. Future research could extend the factors related to information sharing to include the evaluation of shared information. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Topical Treatment of Degenerative Knee Osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Meng, Zengdong; Huang, Rongzhong

2018-01-01

This article reviews topical management strategies for degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. A search of Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane library using MeSH terms including "topical," "treatment," "knee" and "osteoarthritis" was carried out. Original research and review articles on the effectiveness and safety, recommendations from international published guidelines and acceptability studies of topical preparations were included. Current topical treatments included for the management of knee OA include topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, capsaicin, salicylates and physical treatments such as hot or cold therapy. Current treatment guidelines recommend topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as an alternative and even first-line therapy for OA management, especially among elderly patients. Guidelines on other topical treatments vary, from recommendations against their use, to in favor as alternative or simultaneous therapy, especially for patients with contraindications to other analgesics. Although often well-tolerated and preferred by many patients, clinical care still lags in the adoption of topical treatments. Aspects of efficacy, safety and patient quality of life data require further research. Copyright © 2018 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Organization's Orderly Interest Exploration: Inception, Development and Insights of AIAA's Topics Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, Jospeh R.; Morris, Allan T.

2007-01-01

Since 2003, AIAA's Computer Systems and Software Systems Technical Committees (TCs) have developed a database that aids technical committee management to map technical topics to their members. This Topics/Interest (T/I) database grew out of a collection of charts and spreadsheets maintained by the TCs. Since its inception, the tool has evolved into a multi-dimensional database whose dimensions include the importance, interest and expertise of TC members and whether or not a member and/or a TC is actively involved with the topic. In 2005, the database was expanded to include the TCs in AIAA s Information Systems Group and then expanded further to include all AIAA TCs. It was field tested at an AIAA Technical Activities Committee (TAC) Workshop in early 2006 through live access by over 80 users. Through the use of the topics database, TC and program committee (PC) members can accomplish relevant tasks such as: to identify topic experts (for Aerospace America articles or external contacts), to determine the interest of its members, to identify overlapping topics between diverse TCs and PCs, to guide new member drives and to reveal emerging topics. This paper will describe the origins, inception, initial development, field test and current version of the tool as well as elucidate the benefits and insights gained by using the database to aid the management of various TC functions. Suggestions will be provided to guide future development of the database for the purpose of providing dynamics and system level benefits to AIAA that currently do not exist in any technical organization.

Content Management and the Future of Academic Libraries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Yuhfen Diana; Liu, Mengxiong

2001-01-01

Discusses Internet-based electronic content management in digital libraries and considers the future of academic libraries. Topics include digital technologies; content management systems; standards; bandwidth; security and privacy concerns; legal matters, including copyrights and ownership; lifecycle; and multilingual access and interface. (LRW)

The Future of Public Broadcasting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bachrach, Judy

This script of "National Town Meeting," a public affairs program on National Public Radio, contains a panel discussion on the future of public broadcasting, during which panel members also answer questions from the audience. The topics discussed include programming and program content, production costs, public participation, funding, the…

Group Discussion Topics. Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Area Education Agency 7, Cedar Falls, IA.

A collection of group disussion topics, developed and field-tested by a group of Iowa teachers, is presented in this guide. Twenty-eight topics for K-6 students, 24 topics for K-12 students, and 7 topics for students in grades 7-12 are included. Warm-up activities are given for introducing some of the topics, and lists of questions to provoke…

MIT: Shaping the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manning, Kenneth R., Ed.

This book provides 16 essays by faculty and staff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) concerning what MIT is like today and offering a guide to its possible future. Emphasis is placed on local, national, and global issues, providing a current sampling of the state of concerns and opinions around MIT. Topics include the question of…

Communications and the Future: Prospects, Promises, and Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Didsbury, Howard F., Jr., Ed.

The 45 papers that comprise this book view the current telecommunications revolution and its developments and effects from a wide range of perspectives. Specific topics discussed in the papers include the following: (1) the future of literature; (2) Brazil and the information societies of the next century; (3) the future of language; (4)…

Identifying and prioritising systematic review topics with public health stakeholders: A protocol for a modified Delphi study in Switzerland to inform future research agendas

PubMed Central

Mütsch, Margot; Kien, Christina; Gerhardus, Ansgar; Lhachimi, Stefan K

2017-01-01

Introduction The Cochrane Collaboration aims to produce relevant and top priority evidence that responds to existing evidence gaps. Hence, research priority setting (RPS) is important to identify which potential research gaps are deemed most important. Moreover, RPS supports future health research to conform both health and health evidence needs. However, studies that are prioritising systematic review topics in public health are surprisingly rare. Therefore, to inform the research agenda of Cochrane Public Health Europe (CPHE), we introduce the protocol of a priority setting study on systematic review topics in several European countries, which is conceptualised as pilot. Methods and analysis We will conduct a two-round modified Delphi study in Switzerland, incorporating an anonymous web-based questionnaire, to assess which topics should be prioritised for systematic reviews in public health. In the first Delphi round public health stakeholders will suggest relevant assessment criteria and potential priority topics. In the second Delphi round the participants indicate their (dis)agreement to the aggregated results of the first round and rate the potential review topics with the predetermined criteria on a four-point Likert scale. As we invite a wide variety of stakeholders we will compare the results between the different stakeholder groups. Ethics and dissemination We have received ethical approval from the ethical board of the University of Bremen, Germany (principal investigation is conducted at the University of Bremen) and a certificate of non-objection from the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland (fieldwork will be conducted in Switzerland). The results of this study will be further disseminated through peer reviewed publication and will support systematic review author groups (i.a. CPHE) to improve the relevance of the groups´ future review work. Finally, the proposed priority setting study can be used as a framework by other systematic review groups when

Wind Shear radar program future plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robertson, Roy E.

1991-01-01

The status of the Windshear Radar Program at the Collins Air Transport Division of Rockwell International is given in viewgraph form. Topics covered include goals, modifications to the WXR-700 system, flight test plans, technical approaches, design considerations, system considerations, certification, and future plans.

Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathematics Teaching, 1972

1972-01-01

Topics discussed in this column include patterns of inverse multipliers in modular arithmetic; diagrams for product sets, set intersection, and set union; function notation; patterns in the number of partitions of positive integers; and tessellations. (DT)

Honoring the Past and Looking to the Future: Updates on Seminal Behavior Therapy Publications on Current Therapies and Future Directions.

PubMed

Newman, Michelle G

2016-11-01

This is the introduction to the second of two special issues in honor of the 50 th anniversary of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. The goal of this issue is to pay tribute to prior seminal Behavior Therapy publications on current therapies and future directions, to provide an updated review of important topics covered by these papers, and to make recommendations for the future. Each invited paper in this issue highlights a particular Behavior Therapy publication's contribution to our understanding and also provides an updated review or meta-analysis on the topic of the original paper. The topics covered here include review papers on current therapies such as cognitive and behavioral therapies, youth and family psychotherapy, unified protocols, and third-wave therapies. In addition, we include a review paper on implementation science, and meta-analyses on individualized psychotherapy, and culturally adapted interventions. With the two 50 th anniversary issues of Behavior Therapy, we hope to inspire additional research and discussion. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Regulatory Information By Topic

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA develops and enforces regulations that span many environmental topics, from acid rain reduction to wetlands restoration. Each topic listed below may include related laws and regulations, compliance enforcement information, policies guidance

Students' Interest in Geoscience Topics, Contexts and Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hemmer, Ingrid; Bayrhuber, Horst; Haubler, Peter; Hemmer, Michael; Hlawatsch, Sylke; Hoffmann, Lore; Raffelsiefer, Marion

2007-01-01

Geoscience topics are playing an increasingly important role with regard to the future of our planet. Consequently, they have been moving into the educational foreground because of their societal relevance. The question is, however: Are pupils interested in these topics? This is important didactically, for interest is both a prerequisite and a…

Workshops of the Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting: Defining the Future

PubMed Central

Huggins, Jane E.; Guger, Christoph; Allison, Brendan; Anderson, Charles W.; Batista, Aaron; Brouwer, Anne-Marie (A.-M.); Brunner, Clemens; Chavarriaga, Ricardo; Fried-Oken, Melanie; Gunduz, Aysegul; Gupta, Disha; Kübler, Andrea; Leeb, Robert; Lotte, Fabien; Miller, Lee E.; Müller-Putz, Gernot; Rutkowski, Tomasz; Tangermann, Michael; Thompson, David Edward

2014-01-01

The Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Meeting met June 3–7th, 2013 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California. The conference included 19 workshops covering topics in brain-computer interface and brain-machine interface research. Topics included translation of BCIs into clinical use, standardization and certification, types of brain activity to use for BCI, recording methods, the effects of plasticity, special interest topics in BCIs applications, and future BCI directions. BCI research is well established and transitioning to practical use to benefit people with physical impairments. At the same time, new applications are being explored, both for people with physical impairments and beyond. Here we provide summaries of each workshop, illustrating the breadth and depth of BCI research and high-lighting important issues for future research and development. PMID:25485284

Workshops of the Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting: Defining the Future.

PubMed

Huggins, Jane E; Guger, Christoph; Allison, Brendan; Anderson, Charles W; Batista, Aaron; Brouwer, Anne-Marie A-M; Brunner, Clemens; Chavarriaga, Ricardo; Fried-Oken, Melanie; Gunduz, Aysegul; Gupta, Disha; Kübler, Andrea; Leeb, Robert; Lotte, Fabien; Miller, Lee E; Müller-Putz, Gernot; Rutkowski, Tomasz; Tangermann, Michael; Thompson, David Edward

2014-01-01

The Fifth International Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Meeting met June 3-7 th , 2013 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California. The conference included 19 workshops covering topics in brain-computer interface and brain-machine interface research. Topics included translation of BCIs into clinical use, standardization and certification, types of brain activity to use for BCI, recording methods, the effects of plasticity, special interest topics in BCIs applications, and future BCI directions. BCI research is well established and transitioning to practical use to benefit people with physical impairments. At the same time, new applications are being explored, both for people with physical impairments and beyond. Here we provide summaries of each workshop, illustrating the breadth and depth of BCI research and high-lighting important issues for future research and development.

Powering the Future of Science and Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miley, Steven C.

2009-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews NASA's future of science and space exploration. The topics include: 1) NASA's strategic goals; 2) NASA around the Country; 3) Marshall's History; 4) Marshall's Missions; 5) Marshall Statistics: From Exploration to Opportunity; 6) Propulsion and Transportation Systems; 7) Life Support systems; 8) Earth Science; 9) Space Science; 10) NASA Innovation Creates New Jobs, Markets, and Technologies; 11) NASA Inspires Future Generations of Explorers; and 12) Why Explore?

Multiple superficial basal cell carcinomata--topical imiquimod versus curette and cryotherapy.

PubMed

Dixon, Anthony J

2005-01-01

Superficial basal cell carcinoma can be successfully managed by means other than surgical excision. Nonexcisional approaches include topical imiquimod, and curette and cryotherapy (C&C). This article discusses the management of an insulin dependent diabetic man aged 52 years presenting with 17 torso basal cell carcinomas (BCCs); mostly superficial BCCs (SBCCs). Half were treated with topical imiquimod. The remaining lesions were treated with curette and cryotherapy. All lesions resolved with proven histologic clearance. The patient considered C&C caused him less discomfort and disruption. He developed a late secondary infection in some sites treated with imiquimod. At 12 months there was no evidence of recurrence though new nodular BCCs and SBCCs had developed elsewhere on his upper torso. He has elected to have future SBCCs managed with C&C. While excisional surgery remains the benchmark management for nonmelanoma skin cancer, topical imiquimod and C&C are important options for treating SBCCs.

Identifying and prioritising systematic review topics with public health stakeholders: A protocol for a modified Delphi study in Switzerland to inform future research agendas.

PubMed

Hoekstra, Dyon; Mütsch, Margot; Kien, Christina; Gerhardus, Ansgar; Lhachimi, Stefan K

2017-08-04

The Cochrane Collaboration aims to produce relevant and top priority evidence that responds to existing evidence gaps. Hence, research priority setting (RPS) is important to identify which potential research gaps are deemed most important. Moreover, RPS supports future health research to conform both health and health evidence needs. However, studies that are prioritising systematic review topics in public health are surprisingly rare. Therefore, to inform the research agenda of Cochrane Public Health Europe (CPHE), we introduce the protocol of a priority setting study on systematic review topics in several European countries, which is conceptualised as pilot. We will conduct a two-round modified Delphi study in Switzerland, incorporating an anonymous web-based questionnaire, to assess which topics should be prioritised for systematic reviews in public health. In the first Delphi round public health stakeholders will suggest relevant assessment criteria and potential priority topics. In the second Delphi round the participants indicate their (dis)agreement to the aggregated results of the first round and rate the potential review topics with the predetermined criteria on a four-point Likert scale. As we invite a wide variety of stakeholders we will compare the results between the different stakeholder groups. We have received ethical approval from the ethical board of the University of Bremen, Germany (principal investigation is conducted at the University of Bremen) and a certificate of non-objection from the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland (fieldwork will be conducted in Switzerland). The results of this study will be further disseminated through peer reviewed publication and will support systematic review author groups (i.a. CPHE) to improve the relevance of the groups´ future review work. Finally, the proposed priority setting study can be used as a framework by other systematic review groups when conducting a priority setting study in a different context. �

Topical therapy for psoriasis: a promising future. Focus on JAK and phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors.

PubMed

Rafael, Adilia; Torres, Tiago

2016-01-01

Psoriasis is a common, chronic and disabling skin disorder affecting approximately 2% of the population, associated with significant negative impact on the patient's quality of life. Approximately 80% of those affected with psoriasis have mild-to-moderate forms and are usually treated with topical therapy, whereas phototherapy and systemic therapies are used for those with severe disease. In the past three decades, the major advances in psoriasis therapy have been in systemic agents for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis, particularly new immunomodulatory and biological molecules, while topical therapies have remained relatively unchanged over the past decades. Indeed, topical corticosteroids and vitamin D3 analogs are still the gold standard of therapy for mild-to-moderate psoriasis. Thus, there is a need to develop new and more effective topical agents in the short and long term, with a better efficacy and safety profile than corticosteroids and vitamin D3 analogs. Over the past five years, investigation into topical therapy has expanded, with exciting new drugs being developed. Preliminary results of these emerging agents that selectively target disease-defining pathogenic pathways seem to be promising, although long-term and large-scale studies assessing safety and efficacy are still lacking. The aim of this article was to review the clinical and research data of some emerging topical agents, focusing on Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription and phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitors, which are currently being investigated.

A Two-Century-Old Vision for the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuchs, Ira H.

1988-01-01

Discusses the necessity of acquiring and developing technological advances for use in the classroom to provide a vision for the future. Topics discussed include microcomputers; workstations; software; networks; cooperative endeavors in industry and academia; artificial intelligence; and the necessity for financial support. (LRW)

The Future of Educational Technology Is Past.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, P. David

1989-01-01

Discusses the field of educational technology and the need for new perspectives on the processes of learning, teaching, and doing research. Topics discussed include the scope of education; goal-directed feedback; control system theory; cybernetics and general system research; self-instruction; and suggestions for future planning for educational…

The Pharma Summit 2010: competing in the future healthcare system.

PubMed

Kibble, Alexandra

2010-04-01

The Pharma Summit 2010, held in London, included topics covering the future changes and developments that are expected in the pharmaceutical industry. This conference report highlights selected presentations on various visions for the future of the pharma industry, the expected revolution in healthcare, changes with patients driving healthcare innovation, the future of healthcare technology, and the outlook for the global economy and emerging markets in the pharma industry.

The Topical Evolution: Free Ions, Orthomolecular Agents, Phytochemicals, and Insect-Produced Substances

PubMed Central

Conner-Kerr, Teresa

2014-01-01

Significance: A variety of topical antiseptic substances have been used historically to treat open wounds with suspected tissue infection or that are slow to heal. However, the effectiveness of these substances in treating infected or recalcitrant wounds remains controversial. Recent Advances: Newly formulated topical antiseptics delivered through differing dressing technologies, such as ionic substances, hold the potential to limit the development of and treat antibiotic-resistant microbes in open wounds. Other topically delivered substances, such as insect-derived substances, orthomolecular agents, and phytochemicals, also present opportunities to optimize wound healing by decreasing tissue bioburden and facilitating the wound healing process. Critical Issues: Limited systemic perfusion of open wounds in individuals with certain diagnoses, such as peripheral arterial disease or necrotizing infection and the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant wound pathogens, suggests a continued role for topically applied antiseptic agents. Likewise, the failure of wounds to heal when treated with standard of care therapy opens the door to innovative treatment approaches that include the natural substances described in this article. Future Directions: Evidence for the use of select topical antiseptic agents from each of the aforementioned categories will be discussed in this article. Additional well-controlled clinical studies are needed to provide definitive recommendations for many of these topical agents. PMID:25126473

Selected Topics in Overset Technology Development and Applications At NASA Ames Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, William M.; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper presents a general overview of overset technology development and applications at NASA Ames Research Center. The topics include: 1) Overview of overset activities at NASA Ames; 2) Recent developments in Chimera Grid Tools; 3) A general framework for multiple component dynamics; 4) A general script module for automating liquid rocket sub-systems simulations; and 5) Critical future work.

Future perspectives on space psychology: Recommendations on psychosocial and neurobehavioural aspects of human spaceflight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De La Torre, Gabriel G.; van Baarsen, Berna; Ferlazzo, Fabio; Kanas, Nick; Weiss, Karine; Schneider, Stefan; Whiteley, Iya

2012-12-01

Recently the psychological effects of space flight have gained in attention. In uncovering the psychological challenges that individuals and teams can face, we need research options that integrate psychosocial aspects with behavioral, performance, technical and environmental issues. Future perspectives in Space Psychology and Human Spaceflight are reviewed in this paper. The topics covered include psychosocial and neurobehavioural aspects, neurocognitive testing tools, decision making, autonomy and delayed communications, well being, mental health, situational awareness, and methodology. Authors were members of a European Space Agency (ESA) Research Topical Team on Psychosocial and Behavioral Aspects of Human Spaceflight. They discuss the different topics under a common perspective of a theoretical and practical framework, showing interactions, relationships and possible solutions for the different aspects and variables in play. Recommendations for every topic are offered and summarized for future research in the field. The different proposed research ideas can be accomplished using analogs and simulation experiments, short- and long-duration bed rest, and in-flight microgravity studies. These topics are especially important for future Moon and Mars mission design and training.

EFF HOT Topics. Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2001

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Institute for Literacy, 2001

2001-01-01

HOT Topics is a new quarterly publication from the Equipped for the Future (EFF) National Center. HOT stands for Highlights On Teaching, and this publication is committed to providing teachers and tutors with tools and ideas for teaching using the EFF Framework and Standards. This first issue of HOT Topics focuses on strategies that use the EFF…

Topical treatment of psoriasis.

PubMed

Laws, Philip M; Young, Helen S

2010-08-01

The majority of patients with psoriasis can be safely and effectively treated with topical therapy alone, either under the supervision of a family physician or dermatologist. For those requiring systemic agents, topical therapies can provide additional benefit. Optimal use of topical therapy requires an awareness of the range and efficacy of all products. The review covers the efficacy and role of topical therapies including emollients, corticosteroids, vitamin D analogs, calcineurin inhibitors, dithranol, coal tar, retinoids, keratolyics and combination therapy. The report was prepared following a PubMed and Embase literature search up to April 2010. The paper provides a broad review of the relevant topical therapeutic options available in routine clinical practice for the management of psoriasis and a recommendation for selection of treatment. Topical therapies used appropriately provide a safe and effective option for the management of psoriasis. An awareness of the available products and their efficacy is key to treatment selection and patient satisfaction.

Topical Acne Treatments and Pregnancy

MedlinePlus

... are benzoyl peroxide, azelaic acid, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid. Prescription acne medications include tretinoin, adapalene, dapsone, and ... ACOG) recommends topical benzoyl peroxide, azelaic acid, topical salicylic acid and glycolic acid for treatment of acne in ...

Machine Learning-Based Classification of 38 Years of Spine-Related Literature Into 100 Research Topics.

PubMed

Sing, David C; Metz, Lionel N; Dudli, Stefan

2017-06-01

Retrospective review. To identify the top 100 spine research topics. Recent advances in "machine learning," or computers learning without explicit instructions, have yielded broad technological advances. Topic modeling algorithms can be applied to large volumes of text to discover quantifiable themes and trends. Abstracts were extracted from the National Library of Medicine PubMed database from five prominent peer-reviewed spine journals (European Spine Journal [ESJ], The Spine Journal [SpineJ], Spine, Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques [JSDT], Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine [JNS]). Each abstract was entered into a latent Dirichlet allocation model specified to discover 100 topics, resulting in each abstract being assigned a probability of belonging in a topic. Topics were named using the five most frequently appearing terms within that topic. Significance of increasing ("hot") or decreasing ("cold") topic popularity over time was evaluated with simple linear regression. From 1978 to 2015, 25,805 spine-related research articles were extracted and classified into 100 topics. Top two most published topics included "clinical, surgeons, guidelines, information, care" (n = 496 articles) and "pain, back, low, treatment, chronic" (424). Top two hot trends included "disc, cervical, replacement, level, arthroplasty" (+0.05%/yr, P < 0.001), and "minimally, invasive, approach, technique" (+0.05%/yr, P < 0.001). By journal, the most published topics were ESJ-"operative, surgery, postoperative, underwent, preoperative"; SpineJ-"clinical, surgeons, guidelines, information, care"; Spine-"pain, back, low, treatment, chronic"; JNS- "tumor, lesions, rare, present, diagnosis"; JSDT-"cervical, anterior, plate, fusion, ACDF." Topics discovered through latent Dirichlet allocation modeling represent unbiased meaningful themes relevant to spine care. Topic dynamics can provide historical context and direction for future research for aspiring investigators and trainees

DCEG scientists discuss researching cancer causes and training future researchers

Cancer.gov

Watch scientists in the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics discuss research into the causes of cancer at the population level. Topics include genome-wide association studies, HPV genomics, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and training future scientists.

What's in Your Techno-Future? Vendors Share Their Views.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerber, Carole

1995-01-01

Examines vendors' views on the future of CD-ROM technology. Topics include the library role, single point access, costs, tape backup, user-friendly library automation systems and databases, improved quality, the growth of Internet access, and perspectives on technology in schools. (AEF)

Mining nonterrestrial resources: Information needs and research topics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daemen, Jaak J. K.

1992-01-01

An outline of topics we need to understand better in order to apply mining technology to a nonterrestrial environment is presented. The proposed list is not intended to be complete. It aims to identify representative topics that suggest productive research. Such research will reduce the uncertainties associated with extrapolating from conventional earthbound practice to nonterrestrial applications. One objective is to propose projects that should put future discussions of nonterrestrial mining on a firmer, less speculative basis.

The Future in Education: Problems, Possibilities and Promise.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kierstead, Fred D., Ed.; And Others

1981-01-01

The nine articles in this special issue discuss topics on the future of education, including educational priorities for the 1990's, teacher education, educational technology, and culture and synergy as tools for educational and social reconstruction. Journal available from University of Oklahoma, College of Education, 434 Hawthorn Street, Norman,…

Future Mission Trends and their Implications for the Deep Space Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abraham, Douglas S.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation discusses the direction of future missions and it's significance to the Deep Space Network. The topics include: 1) The Deep Space Network (DSN); 2) Past Missions Driving DSN Evolution; 3) The Changing Mission Paradigm; 4) Assessing Future Mission Needs; 5) Link Support Trends; 6) Downlink Rate Trends; 7) Uplink Rate Trends; 8) End-to-End Link Difficulty Trends; 9) Summary: Future Mission Trend Drivers; and 10) Conclusion: Implications for the DSN.

Family psychology: Past and future reflections on the field.

PubMed

Parke, Ross D

2017-04-01

Prominent issues in the field of family psychology during my term as editor (1998-2003) of this journal were briefly noted, including a focus on marital issues, divorce, remarriage and family conflict. Parenting, attachment and parent-child relationships were also significant topics in this period. Special sections of the journal focused on cultural variations, families and the law, families and religion, and family routines and rituals. Several neglected issues that need more attention in the future were noted. These include the need to recognize the embeddedness of families in socioecological contexts, the importance of monitoring the impact of secular changes on families, and the value and limitations of viewing family psychology as a separate field. Other topics for a future agenda include the challenge of defining "family" in the midst of changing family forms, the effects of technological change on families, and the challenges of integrating biological research into the family psychology agenda. A multilevel bio-social approach to family research was recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Topical treatment of melasma.

PubMed

Bandyopadhyay, Debabrata

2009-01-01

Melasma is a common hypermelanotic disorder affecting the face that is associated with considerable psychological impacts. The management of melasma is challenging and requires a long-term treatment plan. In addition to avoidance of aggravating factors like oral pills and ultraviolet exposure, topical therapy has remained the mainstay of treatment. Multiple options for topical treatment are available, of which hydroquinone (HQ) is the most commonly prescribed agent. Besides HQ, other topical agents for which varying degrees of evidence for clinical efficacy exist include azelaic acid, kojic acid, retinoids, topical steroids, glycolic acid, mequinol, and arbutin. Topical medications modify various stages of melanogenesis, the most common mode of action being inhibition of the enzyme, tyrosinase. Combination therapy is the preferred mode of treatment for the synergism and reduction of untoward effects. The most popular combination consists of HQ, a topical steroid, and retinoic acid. Prolonged HQ usage may lead to untoward effects like depigmentation and exogenous ochronosis. The search for safer alternatives has given rise to the development of many newer agents, several of them from natural sources. Well-designed controlled clinical trials are needed to clarify their role in the routine management of melasma.

TOPICAL TREATMENT OF MELASMA

PubMed Central

Bandyopadhyay, Debabrata

2009-01-01

Melasma is a common hypermelanotic disorder affecting the face that is associated with considerable psychological impacts. The management of melasma is challenging and requires a long-term treatment plan. In addition to avoidance of aggravating factors like oral pills and ultraviolet exposure, topical therapy has remained the mainstay of treatment. Multiple options for topical treatment are available, of which hydroquinone (HQ) is the most commonly prescribed agent. Besides HQ, other topical agents for which varying degrees of evidence for clinical efficacy exist include azelaic acid, kojic acid, retinoids, topical steroids, glycolic acid, mequinol, and arbutin. Topical medications modify various stages of melanogenesis, the most common mode of action being inhibition of the enzyme, tyrosinase. Combination therapy is the preferred mode of treatment for the synergism and reduction of untoward effects. The most popular combination consists of HQ, a topical steroid, and retinoic acid. Prolonged HQ usage may lead to untoward effects like depigmentation and exogenous ochronosis. The search for safer alternatives has given rise to the development of many newer agents, several of them from natural sources. Well-designed controlled clinical trials are needed to clarify their role in the routine management of melasma. PMID:20101327

[Non adherence and topical steroids].

PubMed

Aubert, H; Barbarot, S

2012-01-01

Compliance raises very specific questions in dermatology related to the frequent use of local treatments: creams or ointments, including topical corticosteroids. The adherence in dermatology is a complex issue. It is difficult to quantify objectively because of the patient subjectivity, the constant adaptation to changes in the course of the disease, and due to the lack of adapted device. Moreover poor compliance may be related to topical corticosteroid phobia, defined as a fear vis-à-vis the topical corticosteroids, rational or not. The topical corticosteroid phobia is very common in the management of chronic inflammatory skin diseases especially in atopic dermatitis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Using NASA Space Imaging Technology to Teach Earth and Sun Topics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verner, E.; Bruhweiler, F. C.; Long, T.

2011-12-01

We teach an experimental college-level course, directed toward elementary education majors, emphasizing "hands-on" activities that can be easily applied to the elementary classroom. This course, Physics 240: "The Sun-Earth Connection" includes various ways to study selected topics in physics, earth science, and basic astronomy. Our lesson plans and EPO materials make extensive use of NASA imagery and cover topics about magnetism, the solar photospheric, chromospheric, coronal spectra, as well as earth science and climate. In addition we are developing and will cover topics on ecosystem structure, biomass and water on Earth. We strive to free the non-science undergraduate from the "fear of science" and replace it with the excitement of science such that these future teachers will carry this excitement to their future students. Hands-on experiments, computer simulations, analysis of real NASA data, and vigorous seminar discussions are blended in an inquiry-driven curriculum to instill confident understanding of basic physical science and modern, effective methods for teaching it. The course also demonstrates ways how scientific thinking and hands-on activities could be implemented in the classroom. We have designed this course to provide the non-science student a confident basic understanding of physical science and modern, effective methods for teaching it. Most of topics were selected using National Science Standards and National Mathematics Standards that are addressed in grades K-8. The course focuses on helping education majors: 1) Build knowledge of scientific concepts and processes; 2) Understand the measurable attributes of objects and the units and methods of measurements; 3) Conduct data analysis (collecting, organizing, presenting scientific data, and to predict the result); 4) Use hands-on approaches to teach science; 5) Be familiar with Internet science teaching resources. Here we share our experiences and challenges we face while teaching this course.

Religious Identity and Value Systems of Future Preschool Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petrova, Valentina F.

2016-01-01

This topic is urgent in Tatarstan (RF region) nowadays as young people, including students, future preschool teachers, actively join religious organizations. This paper presents facts of young people showing latent national and religious aggression, which can lead to religious extremism. The purpose of the research is to elicit the specific nature…

Women Shaping the Future. The Future of Work Discussion Kit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pine, Janet; Jackson, Sue; MacNeill, Kate

Designed to inform and empower women to participate in debates and decisions about the future of work in Australia, this kit provides everything needed to run a discussion session on the future of work with women in the community. It consists of a guide for users, workshop guide, topic sheets, and background reading. The guide for users introduces…

High Priority Future Research Needs for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Diagnosis and Treatment

PubMed Central

Patel, Kamal; Moorthy, Denish; Chan, Jeffrey A.; Concannon, Thomas W.; Ratichek, Sara J.; Chung, Mei; Balk, Ethan M.

2013-01-01

Study Objectives: To identify and prioritize future research needs (FRN) topics for diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: Twenty-one panel members represented six stake-holder categories: patients and the public, providers; purchasers of health care, payers, policymakers, and principal investigators. Building on a recently completed comparative effectiveness review, stakeholders nominated and discussed potential FRN topics. Stakeholders then nominated their top priority FRN topics based on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Effective Health Care Program Selection Criteria. From these nominations, the highest priority FRN topics were determined and were elaborated upon to include possible study designs to address the topics. Results: Thirty-seven topics were discussed and prioritized. The nine highest priority FRN topics included: cost-effectiveness of management strategies, defining age- and sex-specific criteria for OSA, evaluating routine preoperative screening for OSA, evaluating involvement of a sleep medicine specialist in diagnosis of OSA, evaluating clinical prediction rules, assessing the effect of treating sleep disordered breathing and long-term clinical outcomes, comparing treatments for patients who do not tolerate positive airway pressure, evaluating strategies to improve treatment compliance, and evaluating the association between sleep apnea severity and long-term clinical outcomes. Conclusions: While there are numerous specific research questions with low or insufficient strength of evidence for OSA management, OSA patients, their healthcare providers, and society at large would benefit from refocusing research efforts into the prioritized research questions and away from simple comparisons of short-term outcomes between specific interventions. Citation: Patel K; Moorthy D; Chan JA; Concannon TW. High priority future research needs for obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment. J Clin Sleep Med 2013

Topical Review: Adherence Interventions for Youth on Gluten-Free Diets.

PubMed

Holbein, Christina E; Carmody, Julia K; Hommel, Kevin A

2018-05-01

To summarize gluten-free diet (GFD) nonadherence risk factors, nonadherence rates, and current intervention research within an integrative framework and to develop a research agenda for the development and implementation of evidence-based GFD adherence interventions. Topical review of literature published since 2008 investigating GFD adherence in pediatric samples. Reviews of pediatric studies indicate GFD nonadherence rates ranging from 19 to 56%. There are few evidence-based, published pediatric GFD adherence interventions. Novel assessments of GFD adherence are promising but require further study. Nonmodifiable and modifiable factors within individual, family, community, and health systems domains must be considered when developing future interventions. Clinical implications are discussed. Avenues for future research include development and refinement of adherence assessment tools and development of evidence-based GFD adherence interventions. Novel technologies (e.g., GFD mobile applications) require empirical study but present exciting opportunities for adherence intervention.

An Agenda for the Future of Research in Honors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mariz, George

2016-01-01

Research in honors has become a priority for the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), and the phrase presents the honors community with an interesting ambiguity about the appropriate focus for future studies. Potential topics might include the progress of honors students in comparison to their non-honors cohorts; the criteria for selecting…

EFF HOT Topics: Strategies and Tools for Teaching with EFF. Volume 4, Number 1, Winter 2005

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bingman, Beth, Ed.

2005-01-01

"EFF HOT (Highlights on Teaching Topics) Topics" is a publication of the EFF (Equipped for the Future) Center for Training and Technical Assistance. Each issue concentrates on a specific topic, highlighting examples of actual practice and offering strategies and tools for using EFF in the classroom. In this issue, "HOT Topics" focuses on the…

Teaching Physics to Future Presidents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobsen, Bob

2015-03-01

We present Berkeley's ``Physics for Future Presidents'' course. Created by Prof. Richard Muller, this is an introductory course aimed at preparing our students to make decisions in a physical, technological world. Organized around large topical areas like ``Energy,'' ``Gravity and Force,'' ``Nuclei and Radioactivity,'' and ``Invisible Light,'' we can cover in some depth the scientific issues involved in large-scale energy production via renewable and non-renewable resources, satellites including capabilities and limitations, nuclear power production including risk and waste, UV exposure including discussion of the ozone layer and cancer risk, etc. Although only a small bit of algebra is used, it's a deeply quantitative course. The class is structured around (1) traditional text readings and homework for basic material (2) demo- and discussion-based lectures and (3) readings and essays based on current articles and events. This third component raises student engagement and improves their reasoning & skeptical skills. It also makes the course challenging for both STEM and non-STEM students, and for future teachers.

The Librarian and the Library User: What the Future Holds.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Electronic Library, 1997

1997-01-01

Discusses the role of information professionals in the future, based on a session at the Online Information 96 conference in London (England). Topics include equipment and software needs; technological advances; a trend toward distance education; how library users are adapting to change; interlibrary loans; online public access catalogs; and…

Fear and Trembling: Hong Kong Librarians Face Their Uncertain Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chepesiuk, Ron

1992-01-01

Discussion of the possible changes in Hong Kong in 1997 when rule passes to the People's Republic of China focuses on the uncertain future of libraries and librarians. Topics discussed include the political climate; the departure of qualified Chinese librarians; and the growth of libraries and computerized systems. (LRW)

Safety of topical corticosteroids in pregnancy.

PubMed

Chi, Ching-Chi; Wang, Shu-Hui; Wojnarowska, Fenella; Kirtschig, Gudula; Davies, Emily; Bennett, Cathy

2015-10-26

Topical corticosteroids are the most frequently prescribed dermatological treatment and are often used by pregnant women with skin conditions. However, little is known about their safety in pregnancy. To assess the effects of topical corticosteroids on pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women. This is an update of a review previously published in 2009. We updated our searches of the following databases to July 2015: the Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2015, Issue 6), MEDLINE, EMBASE, and LILACS. We also searched five trials registers and checked the reference lists of included studies, published reviews, articles that had cited the included studies, and one author's literature collection, for further references to relevant RCTs. Randomised controlled trials and cohort studies of topical corticosteroids in pregnant women, as well as case-control studies comparing maternal exposure to topical corticosteroids between cases and controls when studies reported pre-specified outcomes. The primary outcomes included mode of delivery, major congenital abnormality, birth weight, and preterm delivery (delivery before 37 completed weeks gestation); the secondary outcomes included foetal death, minor congenital abnormality, and low Apgar score (less than seven at 5 min). We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Two authors independently applied selection criteria, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the included studies. A third author was available for resolving differences of opinion. A further author independently extracted data from included studies that were conducted by authors of this systematic review. We included 7 new observational studies in this update, bringing the total number to 14, including 5 cohort and 9 case-control studies, with 1,601,515 study subjects.Most studies found no causal associations

HierarchicalTopics: visually exploring large text collections using topic hierarchies.

PubMed

Dou, Wenwen; Yu, Li; Wang, Xiaoyu; Ma, Zhiqiang; Ribarsky, William

2013-12-01

Analyzing large textual collections has become increasingly challenging given the size of the data available and the rate that more data is being generated. Topic-based text summarization methods coupled with interactive visualizations have presented promising approaches to address the challenge of analyzing large text corpora. As the text corpora and vocabulary grow larger, more topics need to be generated in order to capture the meaningful latent themes and nuances in the corpora. However, it is difficult for most of current topic-based visualizations to represent large number of topics without being cluttered or illegible. To facilitate the representation and navigation of a large number of topics, we propose a visual analytics system--HierarchicalTopic (HT). HT integrates a computational algorithm, Topic Rose Tree, with an interactive visual interface. The Topic Rose Tree constructs a topic hierarchy based on a list of topics. The interactive visual interface is designed to present the topic content as well as temporal evolution of topics in a hierarchical fashion. User interactions are provided for users to make changes to the topic hierarchy based on their mental model of the topic space. To qualitatively evaluate HT, we present a case study that showcases how HierarchicalTopics aid expert users in making sense of a large number of topics and discovering interesting patterns of topic groups. We have also conducted a user study to quantitatively evaluate the effect of hierarchical topic structure. The study results reveal that the HT leads to faster identification of large number of relevant topics. We have also solicited user feedback during the experiments and incorporated some suggestions into the current version of HierarchicalTopics.

Developing Modern Information Systems and Services: Africa's Challenges for the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chowdhury, G. G.

1996-01-01

Discusses the current state of information systems and services in Africa, examines future possibilities, and suggests areas for improvement. Topics include the lack of automation; CD-ROM databases for accessibility to information sources; developing low-cost electronic communication facilities; Internet connectivity; dependence on imported…

Australia's IT&T Future: A Strategic Analysis Report 1 July 1998.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Australian Library Journal, 1998

1998-01-01

Summarizes the GartnerGroup's views on issues in the information technology and telecommunications (IT&T) industry debate in Australia. Topics include attracting overseas investment to create a globally competitive industry; the government's role; perceived problems; the Internet and electronic commerce; and future issues, including…

Current Challenges and Future of Lipid nanoparticles formulations for topical drug application to oral mucosa, skin, and eye.

PubMed

Guilherme, Viviane A; Ribeiro, Ligia N M; Tofoli, Giovana Radomille; Franz-Montan, Michelle; de Paula, Eneida; de Jesus, Marcelo Bispo

2017-11-21

Topical drug administration offers an attractive route with minimal invasiveness. It also avoids limitations of intravenous administration such as the first pass metabolism and presystemic elimination within the gastrointestinal tract. Furthermore, topical drug administration is safe, have few side effects, is easy to apply, and offers a fast onset of action. However, the development of effective topical formulations still represents a challenge for the desired effect to be reached, locally or systemically. Solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers are particular candidates to overcome the problem of topical drug administration. The nanometric particle size of lipid nanoparticles favors the physical adhesion to the skin or mucosal, what can also be attained with the formation of hybrid (nanoparticles/polymer) systems. In this review, we discuss the major challenges for lipid nanoparticles formulations for topical application to oral mucosa, skin, and eye, highlighting the strategies to improve the performance of lipid nanoparticles for topical applications. Next, we critically analyzed the in vitro and in vivo approaches used to evaluate lipid nanoparticles performance and toxicity. We addressed some major drawbacks related to lipid nanoparticle topical formulations and concluded the key points that have to be overcome to help them to reach the market in topical formulations to oral mucosa, skin and eye. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

A Bibliometric Analysis on Cancer Population Science with Topic Modeling.

PubMed

Li, Ding-Cheng; Rastegar-Mojarad, Majid; Okamoto, Janet; Liu, Hongfang; Leichow, Scott

2015-01-01

Bibliometric analysis is a research method used in library and information science to evaluate research performance. It applies quantitative and statistical analyses to describe patterns observed in a set of publications and can help identify previous, current, and future research trends or focus. To better guide our institutional strategic plan in cancer population science, we conducted bibliometric analysis on publications of investigators currently funded by either Division of Cancer Preventions (DCP) or Division of Cancer Control and Population Science (DCCPS) at National Cancer Institute. We applied two topic modeling techniques: author topic modeling (AT) and dynamic topic modeling (DTM). Our initial results show that AT can address reasonably the issues related to investigators' research interests, research topic distributions and popularities. In compensation, DTM can address the evolving trend of each topic by displaying the proportion changes of key words, which is consistent with the changes of MeSH headings.

Modified protocol including topical minocycline in orabase to manage medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw cases.

PubMed

Karasneh, Jumana A; Al-Eryani, Kamal; Clark, Glenn T; Sedghizadeh, Parish P

2016-10-01

Management of medication-related osteone-crosis of the jaw (MRONJ) with active infection can be a serious challenge for clinicians. Based on Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) recommendations, we have tested a modified treatment protocol using topical minocycline. Five patients diagnosed with stage II or III MRONJ lesions were willing to consent to our protocol. In addition to conventional treatment as suggested by the AAOMS, such as, surgical debridement, chlorhexidine irrigation, and systemic antibiotics, we applied 10% minocycline to the lesions once a week for sustained local antibiotic delivery. All five patients reported pain relief after the first minocycline application. Complete healing occurred in three patients; case three healed completely after the third application, one case continues to improve toward resolution and one withdraws due to other non-relevant medical problem. In this study, we are reporting favorable results using a modified protocol with topical minocycline to treat MRONJ lesions. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Summary of SMIRT20 Preconference Topical Workshop – Identifying Structural Issues in Advanced Reactors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

William Richins; Stephen Novascone; Cheryl O'Brien

Summary of SMIRT20 Preconference Topical Workshop – Identifying Structural Issues in Advanced Reactors William Richins1, Stephen Novascone1, and Cheryl O’Brien1 1Idaho National Laboratory, US Dept. of Energy, Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA, e-mail: William.Richins@inl.gov The Idaho National Laboratory (INL, USA) and IASMiRT sponsored an international forum Nov 5-6, 2008 in Porvoo, Finland for nuclear industry, academic, and regulatory representatives to identify structural issues in current and future advanced reactor design, especially for extreme conditions and external threats. The purpose of this Topical Workshop was to articulate research, engineering, and regulatory Code development needs. The topics addressed by the Workshop were selectedmore » to address critical industry needs specific to advanced reactor structures that have long lead times and can be the subject of future SMiRT technical sessions. The topics were; 1) structural/materials needs for extreme conditions and external threats in contemporary (Gen. III) and future (Gen. IV and NGNP) advanced reactors and 2) calibrating simulation software and methods that address topic 1 The workshop discussions and research needs identified are presented. The Workshop successfully produced interactive discussion on the two topics resulting in a list of research and technology needs. It is recommended that IASMiRT communicate the results of the discussion to industry and researchers to encourage new ideas and projects. In addition, opportunities exist to retrieve research reports and information that currently exists, and encourage more international cooperation and collaboration. It is recommended that IASMiRT continue with an off-year workshop series on select topics.« less

Topical treatments for blepharokeratoconjunctivitis in children.

PubMed

O'Gallagher, Michael; Bunce, Catey; Hingorani, Melanie; Larkin, Frank; Tuft, Stephen; Dahlmann-Noor, Annegret

2017-02-07

Blepharokeratoconjunctivitis (BKC) is a type of inflammation of the surface of the eye and eyelids that involves changes of the eyelids, dysfunction of the meibomian glands, and inflammation of the conjunctiva and cornea. Chronic inflammation of the cornea can lead to scarring, vascularisation and opacity. BKC in children can cause significant symptoms including irritation, watering, photophobia and loss of vision from corneal opacity, refractive error or amblyopia.Treatment of BKC is directed towards modification of meibomian gland disease and the bacterial flora of lid margin and conjunctiva, and control of ocular surface inflammation. Although both topical and systemic treatments are used to treat people with BKC, this Cochrane review focuses on topical treatments. To assess and compare data on the efficacy and safety of topical treatments (including antibiotics, steroids, immunosuppressants and lubricants), alone or in combination, for BKC in children from birth to 16 years. We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (2016, Issue 6), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE ( January 1946 to 11 July 2016), Embase (January 1980 to 11 July 2016), the ISRCTN registry (www.isrctn.com/editAdvancedSearch), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 11 July 2016. We searched the reference lists of identified reports and the Science Citation Index to identify any additional reports of studies that met the inclusion criteria. We searched for randomised controlled trials that involved topical treatments in children up to 16 years of age with a clinical diagnosis of BKC. We planned to include studies that

Topical Therapies in Psoriasis

PubMed Central

Torsekar, R.; Gautam, Manjyot M.

2017-01-01

Topical therapy as monotherapy is useful in psoriasis patients with mild disease. Topical agents are also used as adjuvant for moderate-to-severe disease who are being concurrently treated with either ultraviolet light or systemic medications. Emollients are useful adjuncts to the treatment of psoriasis. Use of older topical agents such as anthralin and coal tar has declined over the years. However, they are cheaper and can still be used for the treatment of difficult psoriasis refractory to conventional treatment. Salicylic acid can be used in combination with other topical therapies such as topical corticosteroids (TCS) and calcineurin inhibitors for the treatment of thick limited plaques to increase the absorption of the latter into the psoriatic plaques. Low- to mid-potent TCS are used in facial/flexural psoriasis and high potent over palmoplantar/thick psoriasis lesions. The addition of noncorticosteroid treatment can also facilitate the avoidance of long-term daily TCS. Tacrolimus and pimecrolimus can be used for the treatment of facial and intertriginous psoriasis. Tazarotene is indicated for stable plaque psoriasis usually in combination with other therapies such as TCS. Vitamin D analogs alone in combination with TCS are useful in stable plaques over limbs and palmoplantar psoriasis. Topical therapies for scalp psoriasis include TCS, Vitamin D analogs, salicylic acid, coal tar, and anthralin in various formulations such as solutions, foams, and shampoos. TCS, vitamin D analogs, and tazarotene can be used in the treatment of nail psoriasis. PMID:28761838

Topicality and impact in social media: diverse messages, focused messengers.

PubMed

Weng, Lilian; Menczer, Filippo

2015-01-01

We have a limited understanding of the factors that make people influential and topics popular in social media. Are users who comment on a variety of matters more likely to achieve high influence than those who stay focused? Do general subjects tend to be more popular than specific ones? Questions like these demand a way to detect the topics hidden behind messages associated with an individual or a keyword, and a gauge of similarity among these topics. Here we develop such an approach to identify clusters of similar hashtags in Twitter by detecting communities in the hashtag co-occurrence network. Then the topical diversity of a user's interests is quantified by the entropy of her hashtags across different topic clusters. A similar measure is applied to hashtags, based on co-occurring tags. We find that high topical diversity of early adopters or co-occurring tags implies high future popularity of hashtags. In contrast, low diversity helps an individual accumulate social influence. In short, diverse messages and focused messengers are more likely to gain impact.

Topicality and Impact in Social Media: Diverse Messages, Focused Messengers

PubMed Central

Weng, Lilian; Menczer, Filippo

2015-01-01

We have a limited understanding of the factors that make people influential and topics popular in social media. Are users who comment on a variety of matters more likely to achieve high influence than those who stay focused? Do general subjects tend to be more popular than specific ones? Questions like these demand a way to detect the topics hidden behind messages associated with an individual or a keyword, and a gauge of similarity among these topics. Here we develop such an approach to identify clusters of similar hashtags in Twitter by detecting communities in the hashtag co-occurrence network. Then the topical diversity of a user’s interests is quantified by the entropy of her hashtags across different topic clusters. A similar measure is applied to hashtags, based on co-occurring tags. We find that high topical diversity of early adopters or co-occurring tags implies high future popularity of hashtags. In contrast, low diversity helps an individual accumulate social influence. In short, diverse messages and focused messengers are more likely to gain impact. PMID:25710685

Some Teaching Topics from Space Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balding, G. M.

1972-01-01

Short notes on a variety of science topics provide information derived from space sciences that can be used to add interest and up-to-date data to science lessons. Topics are arranged alphabetically from Alpha particles to X-rays, and include some from each of the physical, earth, and biological sciences. (AL)

Consumer Health. Bibliographies on Educational Topics No. 5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher Education, Washington, DC.

This document is the fifth in the series, BIBLIOGRAPHIES ON EDUCATIONAL TOPICS (BETS), providing topical searches of ERIC literature in the scope areas of teacher education and health education, physical education, and recreation education. Here, the subject of consumer health is treated bibliographically. Included are topics dealing with the wise…

Major research topics in combustion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hussaini, M.Y.; Kumar, A.; Voigt, R.G.

1992-01-01

The Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering (ICASE) and NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) hosted a workshop on October 2--4, 1989 to discuss some combustion problems of technological interest to LaRC and to foster interaction with the academic community in these research areas. The topics chosen for this purpose were flame structure, flame holding/extinction, chemical kinetics, turbulence-kinetics interaction, transition to detonation, and reacting free shear layers. This document contains the papers and edited versions of general discussions on these topics. The lead paper set the stage for the meeting by discussing the status and issues of supersonic combustionmore » relevant to the scramjet engine. Experts were then called upon to review the current knowledge in the aforementioned areas, to focus on how this knowledge can be extended and applied to high-speed combustion, and to suggest future directions of research in these areas.« less

Topical resiquimod protects against visceral infection with Leishmania infantum chagasi in mice.

PubMed

Craft, Noah; Birnbaum, Ron; Quanquin, Natalie; Erfe, Marie Crisel B; Quant, Cara; Haskell, Jacquelyn; Bruhn, Kevin W

2014-09-01

New prevention and treatment strategies are needed for visceral leishmaniasis, particularly ones that can be deployed simply and inexpensively in areas where leishmaniasis is endemic. Synthetic molecules that activate Toll-like receptor 7 and 8 (TLR7/8) pathways have previously been demonstrated to enhance protection against cutaneous leishmaniasis. We initially sought to determine whether the TLR7/8-activating molecule resiquimod might serve as an effective vaccine adjuvant targeting visceral leishmaniasis caused by infection with Leishmania infantum chagasi. Resiquimod was topically applied to the skin of mice either prior to or after systemic infection with L. infantum chagasi, and parasite burdens were assessed. Surprisingly, topical resiquimod application alone, in the absence of vaccination, conferred robust resistance to mice against future intravenous challenge with virulent L. infantum chagasi. This protection against L. infantum chagasi infection persisted as long as 8 weeks after the final topical resiquimod treatment. In addition, in mice with existing infections, therapeutic treatment with topical resiquimod led to significantly lower visceral parasite loads. Resiquimod increased trafficking of leukocytes, including B cells, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, and granulocytes, in livers and spleens, which are the key target organs of visceralizing infection. We conclude that topical resiquimod leads to systemic immune modulation and confers durable protection against visceralizing L. infantum chagasi infection, in both prophylactic and therapeutic settings. These studies support continued studies of TLR-modulating agents to determine mechanisms of protection and also provide a rationale for translational development of a critically needed, novel class of topical, preventative, and therapeutic agents for these lethal infections. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Topical Resiquimod Protects against Visceral Infection with Leishmania infantum chagasi in Mice

PubMed Central

Craft, Noah; Birnbaum, Ron; Quanquin, Natalie; Erfe, Marie Crisel B.; Quant, Cara; Haskell, Jacquelyn

2014-01-01

New prevention and treatment strategies are needed for visceral leishmaniasis, particularly ones that can be deployed simply and inexpensively in areas where leishmaniasis is endemic. Synthetic molecules that activate Toll-like receptor 7 and 8 (TLR7/8) pathways have previously been demonstrated to enhance protection against cutaneous leishmaniasis. We initially sought to determine whether the TLR7/8-activating molecule resiquimod might serve as an effective vaccine adjuvant targeting visceral leishmaniasis caused by infection with Leishmania infantum chagasi. Resiquimod was topically applied to the skin of mice either prior to or after systemic infection with L. infantum chagasi, and parasite burdens were assessed. Surprisingly, topical resiquimod application alone, in the absence of vaccination, conferred robust resistance to mice against future intravenous challenge with virulent L. infantum chagasi. This protection against L. infantum chagasi infection persisted as long as 8 weeks after the final topical resiquimod treatment. In addition, in mice with existing infections, therapeutic treatment with topical resiquimod led to significantly lower visceral parasite loads. Resiquimod increased trafficking of leukocytes, including B cells, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, and granulocytes, in livers and spleens, which are the key target organs of visceralizing infection. We conclude that topical resiquimod leads to systemic immune modulation and confers durable protection against visceralizing L. infantum chagasi infection, in both prophylactic and therapeutic settings. These studies support continued studies of TLR-modulating agents to determine mechanisms of protection and also provide a rationale for translational development of a critically needed, novel class of topical, preventative, and therapeutic agents for these lethal infections. PMID:25030052

Assessment of Emerging Networks to Support Future NASA Space Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Younes, Badri; Chang, Susan; Berman, Ted; Burns, Mark; LaFontaine, Richard; Lease, Robert

1998-01-01

Various issues associated with assessing emerging networks to support future NASA space operations are presented in viewgraph form. Specific topics include: 1) Emerging commercial satellite systems; 2) NASA LEO satellite support through commercial systems; 3) Communications coverage, user terminal assessment and regulatory assessment; 4) NASA LEO missions overview; and 5) Simulation assumptions and results.

The Database Business: Managing Today--Planning for Tomorrow. Issues and Futures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aitchison, T. M.; And Others

1988-01-01

Current issues and the future of the database business are discussed in five papers. Topics covered include aspects relating to the quality of database production; international ownership in the U.S. information marketplace; an overview of pricing strategies in the electronic information industry; and pricing issues from the viewpoints of online…

Aircraft Research and Technology for Future Fuels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

The potential characteristics of future aviation turbine fuels and the property effects of these fuels on propulsion system components are examined. The topics that are discussed include jet fuel supply and demand trends, the effects of refining variables on fuel properties, shekle oil processing, the characteristics of broadened property fuels, the effects of fuel property variations on combustor and fuel system performance, and combuster and fuel system technology for broadened property fuels.

Regulatory cross-cutting topics for fuel cycle facilities.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Denman, Matthew R.; Brown, Jason; Goldmann, Andrew Scott

This report overviews crosscutting regulatory topics for nuclear fuel cycle facilities for use in the Fuel Cycle Research & Development Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation and Screening study. In particular, the regulatory infrastructure and analysis capability is assessed for the following topical areas: Fire Regulations (i.e., how applicable are current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and/or International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fire regulations to advance fuel cycle facilities) Consequence Assessment (i.e., how applicable are current radionuclide transportation tools to support risk-informed regulations and Level 2 and/or 3 PRA) While not addressed in detail, the following regulatory topic is also discussed: Integrated Security,more » Safeguard and Safety Requirement (i.e., how applicable are current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations to future fuel cycle facilities which will likely be required to balance the sometimes conflicting Material Accountability, Security, and Safety requirements.)« less

Topical fluoride for caries prevention

PubMed Central

Weyant, Robert J.; Tracy, Sharon L.; Anselmo, Theresa (Tracy); Beltrán-Aguilar, Eugenio D.; Donly, Kevin J.; Frese, William A.; Hujoel, Philippe P.; Iafolla, Timothy; Kohn, William; Kumar, Jayanth; Levy, Steven M.; Tinanoff, Norman; Wright, J. Timothy; Zero, Domenick; Aravamudhan, Krishna; Frantsve-Hawley, Julie; Meyer, Daniel M.

2015-01-01

Background A panel of experts convened by the American Dental Association (ADA) Council on Scientific Affairs presents evidence-based clinical recommendations regarding professionally applied and prescription-strength, home-use topical fluoride agents for caries prevention. These recommendations are an update of the 2006 ADA recommendations regarding professionally applied topical fluoride and were developed by using a new process that includes conducting a systematic review of primary studies. Types of Studies Reviewed The authors conducted a search of MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library for clinical trials of professionally applied and prescription-strength topical fluoride agents—including mouthrinses, varnishes, gels, foams and pastes—with caries increment outcomes published in English through October 2012. Results The panel included 71 trials from 82 articles in its review and assessed the efficacy of various topical fluoride caries-preventive agents. The panel makes recommendations for further research. Practical Implications The panel recommends the following for people at risk of developing dental caries: 2.26 percent fluoride varnish or 1.23 percent fluoride (acidulated phosphate fluoride) gel, or a prescription-strength, home-use 0.5 percent fluoride gel or paste or 0.09 percent fluoride mouthrinse for patients 6 years or older. Only 2.26 percent fluoride varnish is recommended for children younger than 6 years. The strengths of the recommendations for the recommended products varied from “in favor” to “expert opinion for.” As part of the evidence-based approach to care, these clinical recommendations should be integrated with the practitioner's professional judgment and the patient's needs and preferences. PMID:24177407

Oral Health Disparities and the Future Face of America.

PubMed

Ebersole, J L; D'Souza, R; Gordon, S; Fox, C H

2012-11-01

The 4th Annual AADR Fall Focused Symposium (FFS), "Oral Health Disparities Research and the Future Face of America", took place on November 3-4, 2011 in Washington, DC. The FFS strategy was developed by the AADR to help provide additional opportunities for members to engage in research discussions during the year by identifying specific research topics of interest among the 21 Scientific Groups and 4 Networks of the IADR and targeting a focused topic area for the FFS. The conference attracted an international group of approximately 120 registrants, including participants from Canada, India, Mexico, and China; 4 oral sessions and 32 poster presentations were offered.

Future Directions for Transit Pricing : Proceedings of the September 1980 Conference on Transit Pricing Innovations

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-04-01

The purpose of the conference was to provide practical guidance to policy makers and transit operators on improved pricing policies and strategies. Topics covered include: trends and policies in future transit pricing; conventional and paratransit in...

Australasian emergency physicians: a learning and educational needs analysis. Part Four: CPD topics desired by emergency physicians.

PubMed

Dent, Andrew W; Weiland, Tracey J; Paltridge, Debbie

2008-06-01

To report the preferences of Fellows of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine for topics they would desire for their continuing professional development (CPD). A mailed survey of Fellows of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine asked for Likert type responses on the desirability of CPD on 15 procedural skills, 13 management skills, 11 clinical emergency topics, 9 topics related to teaching, 7 related to diagnostics and 5 evidence based practice topics. CPD in procedural skills of advanced and surgical airways, ED ultrasound, ventilation, skills, plastic procedures and regional anaesthesia were nominated as desirable by 85% of emergency physicians (EP). More than 90% desired CPD in ophthalmological, otorhinolaryngeal, neonatal and paediatric emergencies. Of diagnostic skills, more than 80% considered CPD on computerized tomography, electrocardiography and plain X-ray interpretation as desirable, well as CPD about teaching in general, simulation and preparing candidates for fellowship exams. Of the 12 management skills, 11 were seen as desirable topics by more than 70%, with counter disaster planning, giving feedback and dealing with complaints the most popular. All evidence based practice related skills, including interpreting statistics and undertaking literature searches were seen as desirable topics by more than 80% of EP. This information may assist in the planning of future educational interventions for emergency physicians. EP seek CPD on management, educational and other non clinical skills, as well as topics relating directly to patient care.

Development and Evaluation of Topical Gabapentin Formulations

PubMed Central

Alcock, Natalie; Hiom, Sarah; Birchall, James C.

2017-01-01

Topical delivery of gabapentin is desirable to treat peripheral neuropathic pain conditions whilst avoiding systemic side effects. To date, reports of topical gabapentin delivery in vitro have been variable and dependent on the skin model employed, primarily involving rodent and porcine models. In this study a variety of topical gabapentin formulations were investigated, including Carbopol® hydrogels containing various permeation enhancers, and a range of proprietary bases including a compounded Lipoderm® formulation; furthermore microneedle facilitated delivery was used as a positive control. Critically, permeation of gabapentin across a human epidermal membrane in vitro was assessed using Franz-type diffusion cells. Subsequently this data was contextualised within the wider scope of the literature. Although reports of topical gabapentin delivery have been shown to vary, largely dependent upon the skin model used, this study demonstrated that 6% (w/w) gabapentin 0.75% (w/w) Carbopol® hydrogels containing 5% (w/w) DMSO or 70% (w/w) ethanol and a compounded 10% (w/w) gabapentin Lipoderm® formulation were able to facilitate permeation of the molecule across human skin. Further pre-clinical and clinical studies are required to investigate the topical delivery performance and pharmacodynamic actions of prospective formulations. PMID:28867811

Software Past, Present, and Future: Views from Government, Industry and Academia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holcomb, Lee; Page, Jerry; Evangelist, Michael

2000-01-01

Views from the NASA CIO NASA Software Engineering Workshop on software development from the past, present, and future are presented. The topics include: 1) Software Past; 2) Software Present; 3) NASA's Largest Software Challenges; 4) 8330 Software Projects in Industry Standish Groups 1994 Report; 5) Software Future; 6) Capability Maturity Model (CMM): Software Engineering Institute (SEI) levels; 7) System Engineering Quality Also Part of the Problem; 8) University Environment Trends Will Increase the Problem in Software Engineering; and 9) NASA Software Engineering Goals.

Miscellaneous Topics in Computer-Aided Drug Design: Synthetic Accessibility and GPU Computing, and Other Topics.

PubMed

Fukunishi, Yoshifumi; Mashimo, Tadaaki; Misoo, Kiyotaka; Wakabayashi, Yoshinori; Miyaki, Toshiaki; Ohta, Seiji; Nakamura, Mayu; Ikeda, Kazuyoshi

2016-01-01

Computer-aided drug design is still a state-of-the-art process in medicinal chemistry, and the main topics in this field have been extensively studied and well reviewed. These topics include compound databases, ligand-binding pocket prediction, protein-compound docking, virtual screening, target/off-target prediction, physical property prediction, molecular simulation and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) prediction. Message and Conclusion: However, there are also a number of secondary or miscellaneous topics that have been less well covered. For example, methods for synthesizing and predicting the synthetic accessibility (SA) of designed compounds are important in practical drug development, and hardware/software resources for performing the computations in computer-aided drug design are crucial. Cloud computing and general purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) computing have been used in virtual screening and molecular dynamics simulations. Not surprisingly, there is a growing demand for computer systems which combine these resources. In the present review, we summarize and discuss these various topics of drug design.

Miscellaneous Topics in Computer-Aided Drug Design: Synthetic Accessibility and GPU Computing, and Other Topics

PubMed Central

Fukunishi, Yoshifumi; Mashimo, Tadaaki; Misoo, Kiyotaka; Wakabayashi, Yoshinori; Miyaki, Toshiaki; Ohta, Seiji; Nakamura, Mayu; Ikeda, Kazuyoshi

2016-01-01

Abstract: Background Computer-aided drug design is still a state-of-the-art process in medicinal chemistry, and the main topics in this field have been extensively studied and well reviewed. These topics include compound databases, ligand-binding pocket prediction, protein-compound docking, virtual screening, target/off-target prediction, physical property prediction, molecular simulation and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) prediction. Message and Conclusion: However, there are also a number of secondary or miscellaneous topics that have been less well covered. For example, methods for synthesizing and predicting the synthetic accessibility (SA) of designed compounds are important in practical drug development, and hardware/software resources for performing the computations in computer-aided drug design are crucial. Cloud computing and general purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) computing have been used in virtual screening and molecular dynamics simulations. Not surprisingly, there is a growing demand for computer systems which combine these resources. In the present review, we summarize and discuss these various topics of drug design. PMID:27075578

Revealing topics and their evolution in biomedical literature using Bio-DTM: a case study of ginseng.

PubMed

Chen, Qian; Ai, Ni; Liao, Jie; Shao, Xin; Liu, Yufeng; Fan, Xiaohui

2017-01-01

Valuable scientific results on biomedicine are very rich, but they are widely scattered in the literature. Topic modeling enables researchers to discover themes from an unstructured collection of documents without any prior annotations or labels. In this paper, taking ginseng as an example, biological dynamic topic model (Bio-DTM) was proposed to conduct a retrospective study and interpret the temporal evolution of the research of ginseng. The system of Bio-DTM mainly includes four components, documents pre-processing, bio-dictionary construction, dynamic topic models, topics analysis and visualization. Scientific articles pertaining to ginseng were retrieved through text mining from PubMed. The bio-dictionary integrates MedTerms medical dictionary, the second edition of side effect resource, a dictionary of biology and HGNC database of human gene names (HGNC). A dynamic topic model, a text mining technique, was used to emphasize on capturing the development trends of topics in a sequentially collected documents. Besides the contents of topics taken on, the evolution of topics was visualized over time using ThemeRiver. From the topic 9, ginseng was used in dietary supplements and complementary and integrative health practices, and became very popular since the early twentieth century. Topic 6 reminded that the planting of ginseng is a major area of research and symbiosis and allelopathy of ginseng became a research hotspot in 2007. In addition, the Bio-DTM model gave an insight into the main pharmacologic effects of ginseng, such as anti-metabolic disorder effect, cardioprotective effect, anti-cancer effect, hepatoprotective effect, anti-thrombotic effect and neuroprotective effect. The Bio-DTM model not only discovers what ginseng's research involving in but also displays how these topics evolving over time. This approach can be applied to the biomedical field to conduct a retrospective study and guide future studies.

Task-Driven Comparison of Topic Models.

PubMed

Alexander, Eric; Gleicher, Michael

2016-01-01

Topic modeling, a method of statistically extracting thematic content from a large collection of texts, is used for a wide variety of tasks within text analysis. Though there are a growing number of tools and techniques for exploring single models, comparisons between models are generally reduced to a small set of numerical metrics. These metrics may or may not reflect a model's performance on the analyst's intended task, and can therefore be insufficient to diagnose what causes differences between models. In this paper, we explore task-centric topic model comparison, considering how we can both provide detail for a more nuanced understanding of differences and address the wealth of tasks for which topic models are used. We derive comparison tasks from single-model uses of topic models, which predominantly fall into the categories of understanding topics, understanding similarity, and understanding change. Finally, we provide several visualization techniques that facilitate these tasks, including buddy plots, which combine color and position encodings to allow analysts to readily view changes in document similarity.

Topical cyclosporine for atopic keratoconjunctivitis.

PubMed

González-López, Julio J; López-Alcalde, Jesús; Morcillo Laiz, Rafael; Fernández Buenaga, Roberto; Rebolleda Fernández, Gema

2012-09-12

Ophthalmologica Europaea from 2005 to July 2011. We included randomised controlled trials only. Two review authors independently extracted data. Due to the small number of studies and the diversity of outcome measures, interventions and participants, we presented results narratively. We found three RCTs with a total of 58 participants that were eligible for inclusion. There was significant variability between the trials in interventions, methodology and outcome measures and therefore we did not perform meta-analysis.One study reported on the use of 2% CsA in maize oil and two on the use of a commercial emulsion of 0.05% CsA. Of these three studies, one showed a beneficial effect of topical CsA in controlling signs and symptoms of AKC, one in controlling signs of AKC and one did not show evidence of an improvement. Only two studies analysed the effect of topical CsA in reducing topical steroid use; one showed a significant reduction in topical steroid use with CsA, but the other did not show evidence of this improvement. No serious adverse events were reported in the trials. This systematic review highlights the relative scarcity of controlled clinical trials assessing the efficacy of topical CsA therapy in AKC and suggests that evidence on the efficacy and safety of topical CsA treatment in patients with CsA remains limited. However, the data suggest that topical CsA may provide clinical and symptomatic relief in AKC and may help to reduce topical steroid use in patients with steroid-dependent or steroid-resistant AKC. No serious adverse events were reported. Reported adverse events in patients treated with topical CsA include intense stinging and eyelid skin maceration. One patient in the placebo group developed a severe allergic response to maize antigens. However, the total number of patients in the trials was too small to assess the safety of this treatment.Additional well-designed and powered RCTs of topical CsA in AKC are needed. Ideal study designs should include adequate

SETI: A good introductory physics topic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hobson, Art

1997-04-01

If America is to achieve the science literacy that is essential to industrialized democracy, all students must study such topics as scientific methodology, pseudoscience, ozone depletion, and global warming. My large-enrollment liberal-arts physics course covers the great principles of physics along with several such philosophical and societal topics. It is easy to include the interdisciplinary context of physics in courses for non-scientists, because these courses are flexible, conceptual, and taught to students whose interests span a broad range. Students find these topics relevant and fascinating, leading to large enrollments by non-scientists even in courses labeled ''physics.'' I will discuss my approach to teaching the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI), a topic with lots of good physics and with connections to scientific methodology and pseudoscience. A textbook for this kind of course has been published, Physics: Concepts and Connections (Prentice-Hall, 1995).

Additional EIPC Study Analysis: Interim Report on High Priority Topics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hadley, Stanton W

Between 2010 and 2012 the Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) conducted a major long-term resource and transmission study of the Eastern Interconnection (EI). With guidance from a Stakeholder Steering Committee (SSC) that included representatives from the Eastern Interconnection States Planning Council (EISPC) among others, the project was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 involved a long-term capacity expansion analysis that involved creation of eight major futures plus 72 sensitivities. Three scenarios were selected for more extensive transmission- focused evaluation in Phase 2. Five power flow analyses, nine production cost model runs (including six sensitivities), and three capital cost estimations weremore » developed during this second phase. The results from Phase 1 and 2 provided a wealth of data that could be examined further to address energy-related questions. A list of 13 topics was developed for further analysis; this paper discusses the first five.« less

A study of an ethics education topic for undergraduate nursing students.

PubMed

Kalaitzidis, Evdokia; Schmitz, Karl

2012-01-01

The study aims to explore nursing students' perceptions of the relative value of various aspects of the ethical component of the undergraduate topic, 'Ethics and Law applied to Nursing' (topic NURS2104). To enable time for reflection on ethics in nursing, sampling occurred 1 year after successful completion of the above-mentioned topic and after successful completion of all but the final clinical experience components of the Bachelor of Nursing (BN) degree. A significant proportion of respondents perceived ethics education as relevant to professional practices. It is also noteworthy that the ethical decision-making strategies that had been incorporated into the topic (NURS2104) became transformed by the clinical experience of each particular student. While results of this study are not conclusive, they nevertheless provide important information for future nursing students on the evolutionary development of ethics education. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bed Bug Clearinghouse by Topic

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This information is intended to help states, communities, and consumers prevent and control bed bug infestations. Topics include bed bug biology and behavior, detection and monitoring, non-chemical techniques such as heat treatment, and pesticides.

Topical phenytoin for treating pressure ulcers.

PubMed

Hao, Xiang Yong; Li, Hong Ling; Su, He; Cai, Hui; Guo, Tian Kang; Liu, Ruifeng; Jiang, Lei; Shen, Yan Fei

2017-02-22

Pressure ulcers are common in clinical practice and pose a significant health problem worldwide. Apart from causing suffering to patients, they also result in longer hospital stays and increase the cost of health care. A variety of methods are used for treating pressure ulcers, including pressure relief, patient repositioning, biophysical strategies, nutritional supplementation, debridement, topical negative pressure, and local treatments including dressings, ointments and creams such as bacitracin, silver sulphadiazine, neomycin, and phenytoin. Phenytoin is a drug more commonly used in the treatment of epilepsy, but may play an important role in accelerating ulcer healing. To assess the effects of topical phenytoin on the rate of healing of pressure ulcers of any grade, in any care setting. In September 2016, we searched the following electronic databases to identify relevant randomized clinical trials: the Cochrane Wounds Specialised Register; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; the Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid Embase; and EBSCO CINAHL Plus. We handsearched conference proceedings from the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, European Wound Management Association and the Tissue Viability Society for all available years. We searched the references of the retrieved trials to identify further relevant trials. We also searched clinical trials registries to identify ongoing and unpublished studies. There were no restrictions with respect to language, date of publication or study setting. We included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) addressing the effects (both benefits and harms) of topical phenytoin on the healing of pressure ulcers of any grade compared with placebo or alternative treatments or no therapy, irrespective of blinding, language, and publication status. Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted information on participants, interventions, methods and results and assessed risk of bias using

Topical anesthesia in phacoemulsification.

PubMed

Waheeb, Saad

2010-09-01

To evaluate the efficacy of topical anesthesia; topical Benoxinate 0.4% (Oxybuprocaine) and Xylocaine (Lidocaine) gel, in selected cataract patients as an alternative to peribulbar or retrobulbar block anesthesia during cataract surgery. Prospective non-comparative evaluation of patients' and surgeon's satisfaction at the end of the procedure. Three hundred patients (300 eyes) were included in the study. The procedure was explained to patients with details regarding what will happen and what to expect during surgery. All patients received topical anesthesia with Benoxinate 0.4% eye drops and Xylocaine gel 2%. All surgeries were done by the same surgeon using the same machine (updated LEGACY phacoemulsifier, Alcon) and approach (clear corneal incision) and followed by a foldable intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. None of the patients had severe pain during the procedure; only 2% (six of 300) required use of intravenous sedation (Propofol), both the surgeon's and the patients' satisfaction were high. Eye movements and blepharospasm were not significant problems, and no serious complications occurred. Rate of vitreous loss due to posterior capsule tear/rupture was within literature reported range and not different from our previous experience. Topical anesthesia is a satisfactory and safe alternative to retrobulbar and peribulbar anesthesia for clear corneal phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation in selected cataract patients in the hands of experienced cataract surgeon.

Topical anesthesia in phacoemulsification

PubMed Central

Waheeb, Saad

2010-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of topical anesthesia; topical Benoxinate 0.4% (Oxybuprocaine) and Xylocaine (Lidocaine) gel, in selected cataract patients as an alternative to peribulbar or retrobulbar block anesthesia during cataract surgery. Materials and Methods: Prospective non-comparative evaluation of patients’ and surgeon’s satisfaction at the end of the procedure. Three hundred patients (300 eyes) were included in the study. The procedure was explained to patients with details regarding what will happen and what to expect during surgery. All patients received topical anesthesia with Benoxinate 0.4% eye drops and Xylocaine gel 2%. All surgeries were done by the same surgeon using the same machine (updated LEGACY phacoemulsifier, Alcon) and approach (clear corneal incision) and followed by a foldable intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Results: None of the patients had severe pain during the procedure; only 2% (six of 300) required use of intravenous sedation (Propofol), both the surgeon’s and the patients’ satisfaction were high. Eye movements and blepharospasm were not significant problems, and no serious complications occurred. Rate of vitreous loss due to posterior capsule tear/rupture was within literature reported range and not different from our previous experience. Conclusion: Topical anesthesia is a satisfactory and safe alternative to retrobulbar and peribulbar anesthesia for clear corneal phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation in selected cataract patients in the hands of experienced cataract surgeon. PMID:21120050

Topic Time Series Analysis of Microblogs

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

network, may be closer to a media distribution site, where the media is user produced [14]. Analysis of the text content includes both general models as...is generated by Instagram . Topic 80, Distance: 143.2101 Top words: 1. rawr 2. ˆ0ˆ 3. kill 4. jurassic 5. dinosaur Analysis: This topic is quite...data, lack of reliable event information, hidden temporal trends, and the vastly diverse nature of content . In the present work, we examine spatio

Exploring Research Topics and Trends in Nursing-related Communication in Intensive Care Units Using Social Network Analysis.

PubMed

Son, Youn-Jung; Lee, Soo-Kyoung; Nam, SeJin; Shim, Jae Lan

2018-05-04

This study used social network analysis to identify the main research topics and trends in nursing-related communication in intensive care units. Keywords from January 1967 to June 2016 were extracted from PubMed using Medical Subject Headings terms. Social network analysis was performed using Gephi software. Research publications and newly emerging topics in nursing-related communication in intensive care units were classified into five chronological phases. After the weighting was adjusted, the top five keyword searches were "conflict," "length of stay," "nursing continuing education," "family," and "nurses." During the most recent phase, research topics included "critical care nursing," "patient handoff," and "quality improvement." The keywords of the top three groups among the 10 groups identified were related to "neonatal nursing and practice guideline," "infant or pediatric and terminal care," and "family, aged, and nurse-patient relations," respectively. This study can promote a systematic understanding of communication in intensive care units by identifying topic networks. Future studies are needed to conduct large prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials to verify the effects of patient-centered communication in intensive care units on patient outcomes, such as length of hospital stay and mortality.

Nuclear Chemistry: Include It in Your Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atwood, Charles H.; Sheline, R. K.

1989-01-01

Some of the topics that might be included in a nuclear chemistry section are explored. Offers radioactivity, closed shells in nuclei, energy of nuclear processes, nuclear reactions, and fission and fusion as topics of interest. Provided are ideas and examples for each. (MVL)

Hot Topics on the Web: Strategies for Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diaz, Karen R.; O'Hanlon, Nancy

2001-01-01

Presents strategies for researching topics on the Web that are controversial or current in nature. Discusses topic selection and overviews, including the use of online encyclopedias; search engines; finding laws and pending legislation; advocacy groups; proprietary databases; Web site evaluation; and the continuing usefulness of print materials.…

Treatment of melasma with topical agents, peels and lasers: an evidence-based review.

PubMed

Rivas, Shelly; Pandya, Amit G

2013-10-01

Melasma is an acquired disorder of hyperpigmentation occurring on the face and predominantly affecting women of childbearing age. It is a chronic, often relapsing condition with a negative impact on quality of life. Current treatments for melasma are unsatisfactory. The aim of this article was to conduct an evidence-based review of interventions available for the treatment of melasma. A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed and the keywords 'melasma' or 'chloasma' in the title. The search was further refined by using a filter for 'controlled clinical trials' and 'randomized controlled trial'. The included studies were used to develop recommendations for treatment. The electronic search yielded a total of 80 citations. Forty studies were included in this review, which had a total of 2,912 participants. Three different therapeutic modalities were investigated-topical agents, chemical peels, and laser and light therapies. Topical depigmenting agents were found to be the most effective in treating moderate-to-severe melasma, with combination therapies, such as triple-combination therapy (hydroquinone, tretinoin, and fluocinolone acetonide), yielding the best results. Chemical peels as well as laser and light therapies were found to have moderate benefit but more studies are needed to determine their efficacy and long-term safety. Adverse events associated with treatment were mild and short-lasting and included skin irritation, dryness, burning, and erythema. The data could not be statistically pooled because of the heterogeneity of treatments and lack of consistency across study designs. Topical combination therapies were found to be more effective than monotherapy. Triple combination therapy was found to be the most effective, but approximately 40 % of patients develop erythema and peeling. Chemical peels and laser and light therapies produced mixed results, with increased risk of irritation and subsequent hyperpigmentation, particularly in darker

Hot Topics in Perioperative Antibiotics for Cataract Surgery.

PubMed

Kuklo, Patrycja; Grzybowski, Andrzej; Schwartz, Stephen G; Flynn, Harry W; Pathengay, Avinash

2017-01-01

Acute-onset postoperative endophthalmitis is an uncommon but potentially serious complication of cataract surgery. Since there are relatively few randomized clinical trials comparing the timing and administration of prophylactic antibiotics, there are wide variations in prevention practices around the world. Literature review. Antibiotics may be used before surgery, during surgery, or after surgery in an attempt to decrease the rates of endophthalmitis. Antibiotics may be delivered by various routes, including topical, subconjunctival, in the irrigating solution, or by bolus intracameral injection. Polymerase chain reaction and other DNA identification techniques for bacterial isolates and their antibiotic sensitivity profiles will play an important role in future management strategies. There is no consensus regarding the precise use of antibiotics in the perioperative period. Because of increased multidrug-resistant bacteria, evolving strategies are needed to address these issues. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

TOPICAL REVIEW: TeV mini black hole decay at future colliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casanova, Alex; Spallucci, Euro

2006-02-01

It is generally believed that mini black holes decay by emitting elementary particles with a black body energy spectrum. The original calculation leads to the conclusion that about the 90% of the black hole mass is radiated away in the form of photons, neutrinos and light leptons, mainly electrons and muons. With the advent of string theory, such a scenario must be updated by including new effects coming from the stringy nature of particles and interactions. The main modifications with respect to the original picture of black hole evaporation come from recent developments in non-perturbative string theory globally referred to as TeV-scale gravity. By taking for granted that black holes can be produced in hadronic collisions, then their decay must take into account that: (i) we live in a D3 brane embedded into a higher dimensional bulk spacetime; (ii) fundamental interactions, including gravity, are unified at the TeV energy scale. Thus, the formal description of the Hawking radiation mechanism has to be extended to the case of more than four spacetime dimensions and includes the presence of D-branes. This kind of topological defect in the bulk spacetime fabric acts as a sort of 'cosmic fly-paper' trapping electro-weak standard model elementary particles in our (3 + 1)-dimensional universe. Furthermore, unification of fundamental interactions at an energy scale many orders of magnitude lower than the Planck energy implies that any kind of fundamental particle, not only leptons, is expected to be emitted. A detailed understanding of the new scenario is instrumental for optimal tuning of detectors at future colliders, where, hopefully, this exciting new physics will be tested. In this review, we study higher dimensional black hole decay, considering not only the emission of particles according to the Hawking mechanism, but also their near-horizon QED/QCD interactions. The ultimate motivation is to build up a phenomenologically reliable scenario, allowing a clear

Development of Mobile Communications in Slovenia: Looking to the Future Global Information (Mobile/Internet) Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simonic, Tomaz; Mlinar, Tomi

2000-01-01

Discusses the planning and provision of mobile communications in Slovenia and suggests areas that will be developed in the future. Topics include the global mobile market; digital mobile networks; evolution from voice to multimedia services; wireless application protocol; the Internet; general packet radio service; and universal mobile…

Systemic and topical drugs for aging skin.

PubMed

Kockaert, Michael; Neumann, Martino

2003-08-01

The rejuvenation of aging skin is a common desire for our patients, and several options are available. Although there are some systemic methods, the most commonly used treatments for rejuvenation of the skin are applied topically. The most frequently used topical drugs include retinoids, alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), vitamin C, beta hydroxy acids, anti-oxidants, and tocopherol. Combination therapy is frequently used; particularly common is the combination of retinoids and AHAs. Systemic therapies available include oral retinoids and vitamin C. Other available therapies such as chemical peels, face-lifts, collagen, and botulinum toxin injections are not discussed in this article.

Selected topics in pediatric gastroenterology.

PubMed

Magne, Michael L

2006-05-01

This article discusses some of the more common gastrointestinal problems encountered in pediatric patients. Topics include infectious and endoparasitic disorders, congenital esophageal and hepatic disorders, and acute or chronic intestinal diseases. Diagnostic criteria as well as treatment guidelines are presented.

UHMS position statement: topical oxygen for chronic wounds.

PubMed

Feldmeier, J J; Hopf, H W; Warriner, R A; Fife, C E; Gesell, L B; Bennett, M

2005-01-01

A small body of literature has been published reporting the application of topical oxygen for chronic non-healing wounds . Frequently, and erroneously, this form of oxygen administration has been referred to as "topical hyperbaric oxygen therapy" or even more erroneously "hyperbaric oxygen therapy." The advocates of topical oxygen claim several advantages over systemic hyperbaric oxygen including decreased cost, increased safety, decreased complications and putative physiologic effects including decreased free radical formation and more efficient delivery of oxygen to the wound surface. With topical oxygen an airtight chamber or polyethylene bag is sealed around a limb or the trunk by either a constriction/tourniquet device or by tape and high flow (usually 10 liters per minute) oxygen is introduced into the bag and over the wound. Pressures just over 1.0 atmospheres absolute (atm abs) (typically 1.004 to 1.013 atm abs) are recommended because higher pressures could decrease arterial/capillary inflow. The premise for topical oxygen, the diffusion of oxygen into the wound adequate to enhance healing, is attractive (though not proven) and its delivery is certainly less complex and expensive than hyperbaric oxygen. When discussing the physiology of topical oxygen, its proponents frequently reference studies of systemic hyperbaric oxygen suggesting that mechanisms are equally applicable to both topical and systemic high pressure oxygen delivery. In fact, however, the two are very different. To date, mechanisms of action whereby topical oxygen might be effective have not been defined or substantiated. Conversely, cellular toxicities due to extended courses of topical oxygen have been reported, although, again these data are not conclusive, and no mechanism for toxicity has been examined scientifically. Generally, collagen production and fibroblast proliferation are considered evidence of improved healing, and these are both enhanced by hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Topical anesthesia for penetrating trabeculectomy.

PubMed

Sauder, Gangolf; Jonas, Jost B

2002-09-01

To evaluate the efficacy and clinical practicability of topical anesthesia in comparison with retrobulbar anesthesia for penetrating trabeculectomy. The prospective single-surgeon clinical interventional trial included 20 consecutive patients, who were randomly distributed into a topical anesthesia group ( n=10) and a retrobulbar anesthesia group ( n=10). In the topical anesthesia group, patients received preoperatively oxybuprocaine 0.4% eye drops and cocaine hydrochloride eye drops 10%. The patients of the retrobulbar group received 5 ml mepivacaine 2% injected into the retrobulbar space. To assess intraoperative pain, each patient was asked immediately after surgery to quantitate his/her pain using a 10-point pain rating scale. The topical anesthesia group and the retrobulbar anesthesia study group did not vary significantly in duration of surgery (21.5+/-3.37 min vs 20.2+/-4.46 min, P=0.31), preoperative intraocular pressure (32.2+/-14.62 mmHg vs 30.6+/-12.33 mmHg, P=0.22), postoperative intraocular pressure (8.0+/-4.47 mmHg vs 9.12+/-3.13 mmHg, P=0.64), subjective pain score by the patient (2.25+/-1.23 relative units vs 2.33+/-1.08 relative units ( P= 0.71), and practicability score by the surgeon (2.24+/-1.76 vs 2.56+/-1.58, P=0.82). In view of its clinical feasibility and its minimally invasive character, topical anesthesia may be an option for penetrating trabeculectomy.

Analysis of the EPSRC Principles of Robotics in regard to key research topics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gning, A.; Davis, D. N.; Cheng, Y.; Robinson, P.

2017-07-01

In this paper, we review the five rules published in EPSRC Principles of Robotics with a specific focus on future robotics research topics. It is demonstrated through a pictorial representation of the five rules that these rules are questionably not sufficient, overlapping and not explicitly reflecting the true challenges of robotics ethics in relation to the future of robotics research.

Diabetes topics associated with engagement on Twitter.

PubMed

Harris, Jenine K; Mart, Adelina; Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Caburnay, Charlene A

2015-05-07

Social media are widely used by the general public and by public health and health care professionals. Emerging evidence suggests engagement with public health information on social media may influence health behavior. However, the volume of data accumulating daily on Twitter and other social media is a challenge for researchers with limited resources to further examine how social media influence health. To address this challenge, we used crowdsourcing to facilitate the examination of topics associated with engagement with diabetes information on Twitter. We took a random sample of 100 tweets that included the hashtag "#diabetes" from each day during a constructed week in May and June 2014. Crowdsourcing through Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform was used to classify tweets into 9 topic categories and their senders into 3 Twitter user categories. Descriptive statistics and Tweedie regression were used to identify tweet and Twitter user characteristics associated with 2 measures of engagement, "favoriting" and "retweeting." Classification was reliable for tweet topics and Twitter user type. The most common tweet topics were medical and nonmedical resources for diabetes. Tweets that included information about diabetes-related health problems were positively and significantly associated with engagement. Tweets about diabetes prevalence, nonmedical resources for diabetes, and jokes or sarcasm about diabetes were significantly negatively associated with engagement. Crowdsourcing is a reliable, quick, and economical option for classifying tweets. Public health practitioners aiming to engage constituents around diabetes may want to focus on topics positively associated with engagement.

Topical treatment and combination approaches for vitiligo: new insights, new developments.

PubMed

Hossani-Madani, A R; Halder, R M

2010-02-01

Despite much research done involving elucidation of the pathogenesis of vitiligo, a precise cause is still not known. Prevalent hypotheses include the autoimmune, genetic, neural, self-destruction, growth factor deficiency, viral, and convergence theories, which have served as the basis for treatment formulation. Topical therapies have been a mainstay of vitiligo treatment, with or without phototherapy. Topical treatments used in the treatment of vitiligo include steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, vitamin D analogues, pseudocatalase, and depigmenting agents. Combination therapies are used to improve the success rate of repigmentation. In this article, we have examined randomized controlled trials utilizing topical treatments used as monotherapy or combination therapy. Although psoralen and khellin can be used as topical agents, used in conjunction with UV radiation, we have not included them in the review due to their inability to be used as monotherapy. We have also excluded less used or ineffective topical agents, such as melagenina, topical phenylalanine, topical L-DOPA, coal tar, anacarcin forte oil and topical minoxidil. According to current guidelines, a less than two month trial of potent or very potent topical corticosteroids or topical calcineurin inhibitors may be used for therapy of localized vitiligo (<20% skin surface area). Combinations of topical corticosteroids with excimer laser and UVA seem to be more effective than steroids alone. Pseudocatalase plus NB-UVB does not seem to be more effective than placebo with NB-UVB. Combinations of vitamin D analogues have varied efficacy based on which type is used and the type of UV light. Efficacy of calcineurin inhibitor combinations also vary based on the type used and UV light combined, with tacrolimus being more effective with excimer laser. Pimecrolimus has been effective with NB-UVB and excimer laser on facial lesions, and microdermabrasion on localized areas.

Vocational Education Today: Topical Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenway, Jane, Ed.; Tregenza, Karen, Ed.; Watkins, Peter, Ed.

This book contains 13 papers examining topical issues in vocational education and training (VET) in Victoria, Australia. The following papers are included: "Vocational Education and Schooling: The Changing Scene" (Jane Kenway, Sue Willis, Peter Watkins, Karen Tregenza); "The Enterprise Approach" (James Mulraney); "VET…

Reliability based design including future tests and multiagent approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villanueva, Diane

The initial stages of reliability-based design optimization involve the formulation of objective functions and constraints, and building a model to estimate the reliability of the design with quantified uncertainties. However, even experienced hands often overlook important objective functions and constraints that affect the design. In addition, uncertainty reduction measures, such as tests and redesign, are often not considered in reliability calculations during the initial stages. This research considers two areas that concern the design of engineering systems: 1) the trade-off of the effect of a test and post-test redesign on reliability and cost and 2) the search for multiple candidate designs as insurance against unforeseen faults in some designs. In this research, a methodology was developed to estimate the effect of a single future test and post-test redesign on reliability and cost. The methodology uses assumed distributions of computational and experimental errors with re-design rules to simulate alternative future test and redesign outcomes to form a probabilistic estimate of the reliability and cost for a given design. Further, it was explored how modeling a future test and redesign provides a company an opportunity to balance development costs versus performance by simultaneously designing the design and the post-test redesign rules during the initial design stage. The second area of this research considers the use of dynamic local surrogates, or surrogate-based agents, to locate multiple candidate designs. Surrogate-based global optimization algorithms often require search in multiple candidate regions of design space, expending most of the computation needed to define multiple alternate designs. Thus, focusing on solely locating the best design may be wasteful. We extended adaptive sampling surrogate techniques to locate multiple optima by building local surrogates in sub-regions of the design space to identify optima. The efficiency of this method

Topical antifungal agents: an update.

PubMed

Diehl, K B

1996-10-01

So many topical antifungal agents have been introduced that it has become very difficult to select the proper agent for a given infection. Nonspecific agents have been available for many years, and they are still effective in many situations. These agents include Whitfield's ointment, Castellani paint, gentian violet, potassium permanganate, undecylenic acid and selenium sulfide. Specific antifungal agents include, among others, the polyenes (nystatin, amphotericin B), the imidazoles (metronidazole, clotrimazole) and the allylamines (terbinafine, naftifine). Although the choice of an antifungal agent should be based on an accurate diagnosis, many clinicians believe that topical miconazole is a relatively effective agent for the treatment of most mycotic infections. Terbinafine and other newer drugs have primary fungicidal effects. Compared with older antifungal agents, these newer drugs can be used in lower concentrations and shorter therapeutic courses. Studies are needed to evaluate the clinical efficacies and cost advantages of both newer and traditional agents.

Microbiome and pancreatic cancer: A comprehensive topic review of literature

PubMed Central

Ertz-Archambault, Natalie; Keim, Paul; Von Hoff, Daniel

2017-01-01

AIM To review microbiome alterations associated with pancreatic cancer, its potential utility in diagnostics, risk assessment, and influence on disease outcomes. METHODS A comprehensive literature review was conducted by all-inclusive topic review from PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science. The last search was performed in October 2016. RESULTS Diverse microbiome alterations exist among several body sites including oral, gut, and pancreatic tissue, in patients with pancreatic cancer compared to healthy populations. CONCLUSION Pilot study successes in non-invasive screening strategies warrant further investigation for future translational application in early diagnostics and to learn modifiable risk factors relevant to disease prevention. Pre-clinical investigations exist in other tumor types that suggest microbiome manipulation provides opportunity to favorably transform cancer response to existing treatment protocols and improve survival. PMID:28348497

Dan Goldin Presentation: Pathway to the Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

In the "Path to the Future" presentation held at NASA's Langley Center on March 31, 1999, NASA's Administrator Daniel S. Goldin outlined the future direction and strategies of NASA in relation to the general space exploration enterprise. NASA's Vision, Future System Characteristics, Evolutions of Engineering, and Revolutionary Changes are the four main topics of the presentation. In part one, the Administrator talks in detail about NASA's vision in relation to the NASA Strategic Activities that are Space Science, Earth Science, Human Exploration, and Aeronautics & Space Transportation. Topics discussed in this section include: space science for the 21st century, flying in mars atmosphere (mars plane), exploring new worlds, interplanetary internets, earth observation and measurements, distributed information-system-in-the-sky, science enabling understanding and application, space station, microgravity, science and exploration strategies, human mars mission, advance space transportation program, general aviation revitalization, and reusable launch vehicles. In part two, he briefly talks about the future system characteristics. He discusses major system characteristics like resiliencey, self-sufficiency, high distribution, ultra-efficiency, and autonomy and the necessity to overcome any distance, time, and extreme environment barriers. Part three of Mr. Goldin's talk deals with engineering evolution, mainly evolution in the Computer Aided Design (CAD)/Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) systems. These systems include computer aided drafting, computerized solid models, virtual product development (VPD) systems, networked VPD systems, and knowledge enriched networked VPD systems. In part four, the last part, the Administrator talks about the need for revolutionary changes in communication and networking areas of a system. According to the administrator, the four major areas that need cultural changes in the creativity process are human-centered computing, an infrastructure

Energy future Santa Cruz: A citizens' plan for energy self-reliance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohn, J.; Stayton, R.

The results of a grassroots energy conservation project which involved more than 3,100 residents of Santa Cruz, California, is discussed. Citizens attended forums and town meetings to suggest ideas for solving the community's energy problems. These ideas were then evaluated by the Energy Future Advisory Board and compiled into the Energy Future Plan. The energy plan covers such topics as new residences, residential retrofit, automobile efficiency, farm efficiency, commercial greenhouses, local food production, commercial efficiency, land use planning, energy education and financing, and solar, wind, and ocean energy. An energy implementation guide and glossary are included.

Diabetes Topics Associated With Engagement on Twitter

PubMed Central

Mart, Adelina; Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Caburnay, Charlene A.

2015-01-01

Introduction Social media are widely used by the general public and by public health and health care professionals. Emerging evidence suggests engagement with public health information on social media may influence health behavior. However, the volume of data accumulating daily on Twitter and other social media is a challenge for researchers with limited resources to further examine how social media influence health. To address this challenge, we used crowdsourcing to facilitate the examination of topics associated with engagement with diabetes information on Twitter. Methods We took a random sample of 100 tweets that included the hashtag “#diabetes” from each day during a constructed week in May and June 2014. Crowdsourcing through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform was used to classify tweets into 9 topic categories and their senders into 3 Twitter user categories. Descriptive statistics and Tweedie regression were used to identify tweet and Twitter user characteristics associated with 2 measures of engagement, “favoriting” and “retweeting.” Results Classification was reliable for tweet topics and Twitter user type. The most common tweet topics were medical and nonmedical resources for diabetes. Tweets that included information about diabetes-related health problems were positively and significantly associated with engagement. Tweets about diabetes prevalence, nonmedical resources for diabetes, and jokes or sarcasm about diabetes were significantly negatively associated with engagement. Conclusion Crowdsourcing is a reliable, quick, and economical option for classifying tweets. Public health practitioners aiming to engage constituents around diabetes may want to focus on topics positively associated with engagement. PMID:25950569

Optimizing topical therapies for treating psoriasis: a consensus conference.

PubMed

Zeichner, Joshua A; Lebwohl, Mark G; Menter, Alan; Bagel, Jerry; Del Rosso, James Q; Elewski, Boni E; Feldman, Steven R; Kircik, Leon H; Koo, John; Gold, Linda Stein; Tanghetti, Emil

2010-09-01

In 2010, an expert committee of physicians and researchers in the field of dermatology working together as the Psoriasis Process of Care Consensus Panel developed consensus guidelines for the treatment of psoriasis. As much as possible, the guidelines were evidence based but also included the extensive clinical experience of the dermatologists. Psoriasis is a lifelong disease that requires long-term treatment and 80% of psoriasis patients have mild to moderate disease. Topical therapies play an important role in the treatment of psoriasis, especially in patients with mild to moderate disease. Patients usually start with monotherapy; however, in more severe cases (> 10% body surface area [BSA], severely impaired quality of life [QOL], or recalcitrant psoriatic lesions), multiple treatment modalities may be used as part of combination, sequential, or rotational therapeutic regimens. Main treatment options include topical steroids, systemic therapies, topical vitamin D treatments such as vitamin D3 ointment, retinoids, phototherapy, and biologic therapies. Other topical therapies include the following steroid-sparing agents: coal tar, anthralin, calcineurin inhibitors, keratolytics, and emollients. Therapeutic considerations also should focus on adherence, improving QOL, and promoting a good patient-physician relationship.

Toward the Greening of Our Minds: A New Special Topics Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marteel-Parrish, Anne E.

2007-01-01

A new special-topics course on green chemistry would help students to critically evaluate policy decisions in an environmentally conscientious manner. The actively acquired knowledge would allow students to spread the word about green chemistry in the long term to the world, where they would pursue their future goals of life.

What is the future of diabetic wound care?

PubMed

Sweitzer, Sarah M; Fann, Stephen A; Borg, Thomas K; Baynes, John W; Yost, Michael J

2006-01-01

With diabetes affecting 5% to 10% of the US population, development of a more effective treatment for chronic diabetic wounds is imperative. Clinically, the current treatment in topical wound management includes debridement, topical antibiotics, and a state-of-the-art topical dressing. State-of-the-art dressings are a multi-layer system that can include a collagen cellulose substrate, neonatal foreskin fibroblasts, growth factor containing cream, and a silicone sheet covering for moisture control. Wound healing time can be up to 20 weeks. The future of diabetic wound healing lies in the development of more effective artificial "smart" matrix skin substitutes. This review article will highlight the need for novel smart matrix therapies. These smart matrices will release a multitude of growth factors, cytokines, and bioactive peptide fragments in a temporally and spatially specific, event-driven manner. This timed and focal release of cytokines, enzymes, and pharmacological agents should promote optimal tissue regeneration and repair of full-thickness wounds. Development of these kinds of therapies will require multidisciplinary translational research teams. This review article outlines how current advances in proteomics and genomics can be incorporated into a multidisciplinary translational research approach for developing novel smart matrix dressings for ulcer treatment. With the recognition that the research approach will require both time and money, the best treatment approach is the prevention of diabetic ulcers through better foot care, education, and glycemic control.

Topical versus peribulbar anaesthesia for cataract surgery.

PubMed

Sauder, Gangolf; Jonas, Jost B

2003-12-01

To assess and compare the efficacy and safety of topical versus peribulbar anaesthesia in patients undergoing routine cataract surgery. The unicentre, prospective, randomized, clinical interventional trial included 140 consecutive patients undergoing routine cataract surgery performed by one of two surgeons. The patients were randomly distributed to either peribulbar anaesthesia or topical anaesthesia. To assess intraoperative pain, each patient was asked immediately after surgery to quantitate his/her pain using a 10-point pain rating scale. The study groups did not differ significantly in pain score (p=0.54), duration of surgery (p=0.52), anaesthesia-related intraoperative difficulties (p=0.17), postoperative visual acuity (p=0.94), overall intraoperative surgical complication rate, blood pressure rise (p=0.16) or blood oxygen saturation (p=0.74) Patient comfort and surgery-related complications did not differ between topical anaesthesia and peribulbar anaesthesia. As there are no significant differences between the two techniques in terms of subjective pain experienced by patients, intraoperative complications and postoperative visual outcome, and in view of the minimally invasive character of topical anaesthesia compared to peribulbar anaesthesia, the present study suggests the use of topical anaesthesia for routine cataract surgery.

TopicLens: Efficient Multi-Level Visual Topic Exploration of Large-Scale Document Collections.

PubMed

Kim, Minjeong; Kang, Kyeongpil; Park, Deokgun; Choo, Jaegul; Elmqvist, Niklas

2017-01-01

Topic modeling, which reveals underlying topics of a document corpus, has been actively adopted in visual analytics for large-scale document collections. However, due to its significant processing time and non-interactive nature, topic modeling has so far not been tightly integrated into a visual analytics workflow. Instead, most such systems are limited to utilizing a fixed, initial set of topics. Motivated by this gap in the literature, we propose a novel interaction technique called TopicLens that allows a user to dynamically explore data through a lens interface where topic modeling and the corresponding 2D embedding are efficiently computed on the fly. To support this interaction in real time while maintaining view consistency, we propose a novel efficient topic modeling method and a semi-supervised 2D embedding algorithm. Our work is based on improving state-of-the-art methods such as nonnegative matrix factorization and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding. Furthermore, we have built a web-based visual analytics system integrated with TopicLens. We use this system to measure the performance and the visualization quality of our proposed methods. We provide several scenarios showcasing the capability of TopicLens using real-world datasets.

Hierarchical models of very large problems, dilemmas, prospects, and an agenda for the future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richardson, J. M., Jr.

1975-01-01

Interdisciplinary approaches to the modeling of global problems are discussed in terms of multilevel cooperation. A multilevel regionalized model of the Lake Erie Basin is analyzed along with a multilevel regionalized world modeling project. Other topics discussed include: a stratified model of interacting region in a world system, and the application of the model to the world food crisis in south Asia. Recommended research for future development of integrated models is included.

Current Topics in Postnatal Behavioral Testing.

PubMed

Henck, Judith W; Elayan, Ikram; Vorhees, Charles; Fisher, J Edward; Morford, LaRonda L

2016-09-01

The study of developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) continues to be an important component of safety evaluation of candidate therapeutic agents and of industrial and environmental chemicals. Developmental neurotoxicity is considered to be an adverse change in the central and/or peripheral nervous system during development of an organism and has been primarily evaluated by studying functional outcomes, such as changes in behavior, neuropathology, neurochemistry, and/or neurophysiology. Neurobehavioral evaluations are a component of a wide range of toxicology studies in laboratory animal models, whereas neurochemistry and neurophysiology are less commonly employed. Although the primary focus of this article is on neurobehavioral evaluation in pre- and postnatal development and juvenile toxicology studies used in pharmaceutical development, concepts may also apply to adult nonclinical safety studies and Environmental Protection Agency/chemical assessments. This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium held during the 2015 American College of Toxicology annual meeting and includes a discussion of the current status of DNT testing as well as potential issues and recommendations. Topics include the regulatory context for DNT testing; study design and interpretation; behavioral test selection, including a comparison of core learning and memory systems; age of testing; repeated testing of the same animals; use of alternative animal models; impact of findings; and extrapolation of animal results to humans. Integration of the regulatory experience and scientific concepts presented during this symposium, as well as from subsequent discussion and input, provides a synopsis of the current state of DNT testing in safety assessment, as well as a potential roadmap for future advancement. © The Author(s) 2016.

Teaching about the Future: Tools, Topics, and Issues (Lessons for Grades 7-12).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haas, John D.; And Others

This document provides a set of lessons and other teaching aids for either a semester-length course on the future or to infuse a futures perspective into other secondary social studies courses. The lessons were designed to fit into many different courses but are particularly appropriate for U.S. history, government, civics, modern social problems,…

Formulation design for topical drug and nanoparticle treatment of skin disease.

PubMed

Raphael, Anthony P; Garrastazu, Gabriela; Sonvico, Fabio; Prow, Tarl W

2015-02-01

The skin has evolved to resist the penetration of foreign substances and particles. Topical therapeutic and cosmeceutical delivery is a growing field founded on selectively overcoming this barrier. Both the biology of the skin and the nature of the formulation/active ingredient must be aligned for efficient transcutaneous delivery. This review discusses the biological changes in the skin barrier that occur with common dermatological conditions. This context is the foundation for the discussion of formulation strategies to improve penetration profiles of common active ingredients in dermatology. Finally, we compare and contrast those approaches to recent advances described in the research literature with an eye toward the future of topical formulation design.

Topic Mastery and Flow of Thought of Indonesian Students Learning Psycholingustics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indah, Rohmani Nur

2016-01-01

This study focuses on evaluating students' topic mastery and flow of thought in their Psycholinguistics project paper. Assessing these two aspects means a lot since it will be helpful as a planning tool to approach future better instruction. It was conducted with Indonesian students taking Psycholinguistics course at Humanities Faculty of UIN…

Umberto Eco, l'esperanto, et le plurilinguisme de l'avenir (Umbert Eco, Esperanto, and the Multilingualism of the Future).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ertl, Istvan; Lo Jacomo, Francois

1994-01-01

An interview with Umberto Eco, novelist and linguist, addresses issues in international communication of the future, and particularly the role of Esperanto in a rapidly changing, culturally diverse world society. Topics discussed include translation, native language and multilingualism, and politics of language. (MSE)

Topical NSAIDs for acute pain in adults

PubMed Central

Massey, Thomas; Derry, Sheena; Moore, R Andrew; McQuay, Henry J

2014-01-01

Background Use of topical NSAIDs to treat acute musculoskeletal conditions is widely accepted in some parts of the world, but not in others. Their main attraction is their potential to provide pain relief without associated systemic adverse events. Objectives To review the evidence from randomised, double-blind, controlled trials on the efficacy and safety of topically applied NSAIDs in acute pain. Search methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, and our own in-house database to December 2009. We sought unpublished studies by asking personal contacts and searching on-line clinical trial registers and manufacturers web sites. Selection criteria We included randomised, double-blind, active or placebo (inert carrier)-controlled trials in which treatments were administered to adult patients with acute pain resulting from strains, sprains or sports or overuse-type injuries (twisted ankle, for instance). There had to be at least 10 participants in each treatment arm, with application of treatment at least once daily. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and validity, and extracted data. Numbers of participants achieving each outcome were used to calculate relative risk and numbers needed to treat (NNT) or harm (NNH) compared to placebo or other active treatment. Main results Forty-seven studies were included; most compared topical NSAIDs in the form of a gel, spray, or cream with a similar placebo, with 3455 participants in the overall analysis of efficacy. For all topical NSAIDs combined, compared with placebo, the number needed to treat to benefit (NNT) for clinical success, equivalent to 50% pain relief, was 4.5 (3.9 to 5.3) for treatment periods of 6 to 14 days. Topical diclofenac, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, and piroxicam were of similar efficacy, but indomethacin and benzydamine were not significantly better than placebo. Local skin reactions were generally mild and transient, and did not differ from

The first clinical experience on efficacy of topical flutamide on melasma compared with topical hydroquinone: a randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Adalatkhah, Hassan; Sadeghi-Bazargani, Homayoun

2015-01-01

Treatment of melasma is unsatisfactory most of the times. Hormonal role is shown to exist in pathogenesis of the melasma, and sex-hormone related drugs may have an effect on melasma. To investigate efficacy of 1% flutamide cream versus 4% hydroquinone cream on melasma. In a parallel randomized clinical trial, 74 women with melasma were allocated to receive a sunscreen along with 4% hydroquinone cream or 1% flutamide cream. Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI), mexameter melanin assay, and patient satisfaction were investigated. Mean age of the participants was 33.8 years. Mean length of time suffering from Melasma was 96.3 months. The subjects reported in average 1.1 hours per day of exposure to sunlight. Mean standardized total patient satisfaction score was 28.8 (standard deviation [SD] 17.2) in flutamide group patients versus 18 (SD 15.5) in control group (P<0.01). Regardless of treatment group, the skin darkness assessed upon MASI scales was reduced over the treatment course (P<0.001). Using mixed effects, longitudinal modeling showed better treatment efficacy based on MASI scale for flutamide group compared to the hydroquinone group (P<0.05). However, longitudinal analysis of mexameter scores did not reveal any significant difference in melanin measurements between flutamide and hydroquinone. Topical flutamide appeared as effective as topical hydroquinone in treating melasma using mexameter assessment but with a better MASI improvement trend and higher patient satisfaction in flutamide treatment versus topical hydroquinone. As the present study is possibly the first clinical experience on efficacy of topical flutamide on melasma, it would be quite unreasonable to recommend clinical use of it before future studies replicate the results on its efficacy and safety.

Topical anaesthetics for pain control during repair of dermal laceration.

PubMed

Tayeb, Baraa O; Eidelman, Anthony; Eidelman, Cristy L; McNicol, Ewan D; Carr, Daniel B

2017-02-22

Topical local anaesthetics provide effective analgesia for patients undergoing numerous superficial procedures, including repair of dermal lacerations. The need for cocaine in topical anaesthetic formulations has been questioned because of concern about adverse effects, thus novel preparations of cocaine-free anaesthetics have been developed. This review was originally published in 2011 and has been updated in 2017. To assess whether benefits of non-invasive topical anaesthetic application occur at the expense of decreased analgesic efficacy. To compare the efficacy of various single-component or multi-component topical anaesthetic agents for repair of dermal lacerations. To determine the clinical necessity for topical application of the ester anaesthetic, cocaine. For this updated review, we searched the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2016, Issue 11), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL; 2010 to December 2016), Embase (2010 to December 2016) and MEDLINE (2010 to December 2016). We did not limit this search by language or format of publication. We contacted manufacturers, international scientific societies and researchers in the field. Weemailed selected journalsand reviewed meta-registers of ongoing trials. For the previous version of this review, we searched these databases to November 2010. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the efficacy and safety of topical anaesthetics for repair of dermal laceration in adult and paediatric participants. Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. We contacted study authors for additional information when needed. We collected adverse event information from trial reports. We assessed methodological risk of bias for each included study and employed the GRADE approach to assess the overall quality of the evidence. The present updated review included 25 RCTs involving 3278 participants. The small

Systemic Change: Touchstones for the Future School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenlink, Patrick, Ed.

Given the current social and economic changes, American education must change in order to connect students to the future. This book is comprised of a collection of essays on the topic of systemic change in education. The book focuses on reform for the future by bringing together systems theory with detailed examples of strategies and cases that…

Effects of topical oxygen therapy on ischemic wound healing.

PubMed

Rao, Congqiang; Xiao, Liling; Liu, Hongwei; Li, Shenghong; Lu, Jinqiang; Li, Jiangxuan; Gu, Shixing

2016-01-01

[Purpose] This study evaluated the effects of topical oxygen therapy on the hind limb wounds of rats under ischemic conditions. [Subjects and Methods] Twelve injured rats were treated with topical oxygen on skin wounds located on the hind limb and compared with twelve injured control rats. Indexes including gross morphology of the wound, wound healing time, wound healing rate, and histological and immunohistochemical staining of sections of wound tissue were examined at different time points after intervention. [Results] The wound healing time was shorter in the topical oxygen therapy group than the control group. The wound healing rate and granulation tissue formation in the topical oxygen therapy group showed significant improvement on days 3, 7, and 14. Through van Gieson staining, the accumulation of collagen fiber in the topical oxygen therapy group was found to have improved when compared with the control group on day 7. Through semiquantitative immunohistochemical staining, many more new vessels were found in the topical oxygen therapy group compared with the model control group on day 7. [Conclusion] The results of the experiment showed that topical oxygen therapy improved ischemic wound healing.

Topical hexaminolevulinate photodynamic therapy for the treatment of persistent human papilloma virus infections and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

PubMed

Hillemanns, Peter; Einstein, Mark H; Iversen, Ole Erik

2015-02-01

Current treatments for high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/3) are mainly excisional procedures, which are associated with significant side effects and pose risks for future pregnancies. An effective and safe therapy is needed to reduce the requirement for surgical interventions in women of reproductive age. This review looks at the pharmacokinetic and clinical data for topical hexaminolevulinate (HAL) photodynamic therapy (PDT), which is currently entering late phase clinical trials for high-grade CIN. The authors include published studies in patients and volunteers but laboratory and animal studies have been excluded as have studies on other porphyrins such as Photofrin, 5-aminolevulinic acid, methyl aminolevulinate and studies reporting other clinical applications for HAL. Topical HAL PDT has potential as a non-surgical tissue-preserving treatment for CIN and persistent oncogenic human papilloma virus infections. HAL PDT selectively treats the entire epithelial sheet, without the tissue destruction seen in excisional procedures. The authors believe that this treatment could replace surgery in a large proportion of patients. It would be of particular value to the high percentage of women who are interested in future child-bearing. If the treatment is approved, it is very likely that physicians will want to use this treatment, as many patients will be keen to consider a non-surgical option.

IP Internal Movement and Topicalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuo, Pei-Jung

2009-01-01

In this dissertation, I investigate the phenomenon of internal topicalization cross-linguistically, using Chinese as a starting point. Internal topicalization refers to constructions in which a topic phrase is placed between the subject and the verb (in contrast to external topicalization, which involves a topic in the CP domain). I argue that…

Using Conversation Topics for Predicting Therapy Outcomes in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Howes, Christine; Purver, Matthew; McCabe, Rose

2013-01-01

Previous research shows that aspects of doctor-patient communication in therapy can predict patient symptoms, satisfaction and future adherence to treatment (a significant problem with conditions such as schizophrenia). However, automatic prediction has so far shown success only when based on low-level lexical features, and it is unclear how well these can generalize to new data, or whether their effectiveness is due to their capturing aspects of style, structure or content. Here, we examine the use of topic as a higher-level measure of content, more likely to generalize and to have more explanatory power. Investigations show that while topics predict some important factors such as patient satisfaction and ratings of therapy quality, they lack the full predictive power of lower-level features. For some factors, unsupervised methods produce models comparable to manual annotation. PMID:23943658

Essays on the Future of Continuing Education Worldwide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziegler, Warren L., Ed.

Topics chosen for these eight seminar papers divide basically into three categories: discussions on processes and methods for planning for the future of adult education; attempts to project into the future such worldwide problems as urbanism, conflict, the population explosion, and specific adult education trends; and discussion of the current…

Satisfaction level with topical versus peribulbar anesthesia experienced by same patient for phacoemulsification.

PubMed

Ahmad, Nauman; Zahoor, Abdul; Motowa, Saeed A; Jastaneiah, Saba; Riad, Waleed

2012-01-01

Various studies have assessed patient satisfaction with topical versus peribulbar anesthesia with conflicting results. Aim of study was to determine satisfaction level in same patient who gets topical anesthesia in one eye and peribulbar block in another eye. We propose that evaluation of various indicators of patient satisfaction will enable better selection of cases for topical anesthesia in the future. Eighty patients scheduled for phacoemulsification were enrolled in prospective, randomized, double-blind study. Each patient scheduled twice for one eye under topical anesthesia and other in peribulbar block. Pain, discomfort and pressure during application of local anesthetic, during phacoemulsification and at 2 hours after procedure were assessed on standard scales. Before discharge patient satisfaction level was checked with Iowa satisfaction with anesthesia scale (ISAS). The Student's t-test was used to determine the significance of IOWA score in both groups. P<0.05 was considered significant. Feeling of pain, pressure and discomfort scores during administration of topical anesthesia were all significantly lower compared to peribulbar anesthesia (P=0.004, 0.000, 0.002, respectively). In contrast, intraoperative scores were significantly higher in the topical anesthesia group compared to peribulbar anesthesia (P=0.022, 0.000, 0.000, respectively). Patient satisfaction measured with ISAS shows that peribulbar anesthesia with P=0.000 is strongly significant. Peribulbar anesthesia provided significantly better patient satisfaction in comparison with topical anesthesia when used for cataract surgery.

Topical Vehicle Formulations in the Treatment of Acne.

PubMed

Hoffman, Lauren K; Bhatia, Neal; Zeichner, Joshua; Kircik, Leon H

2018-06-01

Topical treatment is the mainstay of acne therapy. The most commonly prescribed topical medications for acne include benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin, and retinoids. Despite their effectiveness in treating mild to moderate acne vulgaris, these topical medications are found to be irritating, and are historically associated with poor tolerability and diminished patient adherence. Thus, choosing the right formulation that will be effective and well tolerated is essential. Novel formulations that optimize drug concentration and utilize improved delivery vehicles have helped to enhance the tolerability and efficacy, and allow for less frequent application or co-application of drugs that were previously considered incompatible. This article will review the goals of topical therapy for the treatment of acne, in addition to common therapies and their challenges. Advanced formulations and combination formulations of benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin, and tretinoin will also be discussed. J Drugs Dermatol. 2018;17(6 Suppl):s6-10.

Transportation Energy Futures: Freight Transportation Modal Shares: Scenarios for a Low-Carbon Future

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brogan, J. J.; Aeppli, A. E.; Brown, D. F.

2013-03-01

Freight transportation modes—truck, rail, water, air, and pipeline—each serve a distinct share of the freight transportation market. A variety of factors influence the modes chosen by shippers, carriers, and others involved in freight supply chains. Analytical methods can be used to project future modal shares, and federal policy actions could influence future freight mode choices. This report considers how these topics have been addressed in existing literature and offers insights on federal policy decisions with the potential to prompt mode choices that reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Assessment of topical versus oral ivermectin as a treatment for head lice.

PubMed

Ahmad, Hesham M; Abdel-Azim, Eman S; Abdel-Aziz, Rasha T

2014-01-01

Many medications are available for treatment of pediculosis capitis including ivermectin. Our aim is to compare the efficacy and safety of topical versus oral ivermectin in treatment of pediculosis capitis. Sixty-two patients with proved head lice infestation were included and divided into group I (31 patients; received single topical application of 1% ivermectin) and group II (31 patients; received single dose of oral ivermectin). Treatment was repeated after 1 week for nonresponders. At 1 week after treatment, the eradication rates and improvement of pruritus were significantly higher among patients who received topical than oral ivermectin. When a second treatment, topical or oral, was given to nonresponders, the cure rates of infestation and pruritus was 100% and 97% among patients treated with topical and oral ivermectin, respectively with no significant difference between the two groups. This study suggests that both topical and oral ivermectin demonstrate high efficacy and tolerability in treatment of pediculosis capitis. However, a single treatment with topical ivermectin provides significantly higher cure of infestation and faster relief of pruritus than oral ivermectin. In addition, whether topical or oral ivermectin is used to treat head lice, a second dose is required in some cases to ensure complete eradication. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Enhancing the Undergraduate Industrial Engineering Curriculum: Defining Desired Characteristics and Emerging Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eskandari, Hamidreza; Sala-Diakanda, Serge; Furterer, Sandra; Rabelo, Luis; Crumpton-Young, Lesia; Williams, Kent

2007-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to present the results of an initial research study conducted to identify the desired professional characteristics of an industrial engineer with an undergraduate degree and the emerging topic areas that should be incorporated into the curriculum to prepare industrial engineering (IE) graduates for the future workforce.…

Revealing Learner Interests through Topic Mining from Question-Answering Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dun, Yijie; Wang, Na; Wang, Min; Hao, Tianyong

2017-01-01

In a question-answering system, learner generated content including asked and answered questions is a meaningful resource to capture learning interests. This paper proposes an approach based on question topic mining for revealing learners' concerned topics in real community question-answering systems. The authors' approach firstly preprocesses all…

Incorporating Women and Crime Topics into Criminology Classes: Assignments, Exercises, and Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Richard A.

1987-01-01

Recommends a variety of books, assignments, exercises, and projects which can be incorporated into introductory criminology classes to compensate for the omission of topics on women and crime in textbooks and curricula. Includes a list of potential topics for writing assignments and a selection of films covering such topics as sexual harassment,…

Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of pain due to soft tissue injury: diclofenac epolamine topical patch

PubMed Central

Lionberger, David R; Brennan, Michael J

2010-01-01

The objective of this article is to review published clinical data on diclofenac epolamine topical patch 1.3% (DETP) in the treatment of acute soft tissue injuries, such as strains, sprains, and contusions. Review of published literature on topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), diclofenac, and DETP in patients with acute soft tissue injuries was included. Relevant literature was identified on MEDLINE using the search terms topical NSAIDs, diclofenac, diclofenac epolamine, acute pain, sports injury, soft tissue injury, strain, sprain, and contusion, and from citations in retrieved articles covering the years 1978–2008. Review of published, randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses shows that topical NSAIDs are significantly more effective than placebo in relieving acute pain; the pooled average relative benefit was 1.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.5–1.9). In a limited number of comparisons, topical and oral NSAIDs provided comparable pain relief, but the use of topical agents produced lower plasma drug concentrations and fewer systemic adverse events (AEs). The physical–chemical properties of diclofenac epolamine make it well suited for topical use. In patients with acute soft tissue injuries treated with DETP, clinical data report an analgesic benefit within hours of the first application, and significant pain relief relative to placebo within 3 days. Moreover, DETP displayed tolerability comparable with placebo; the most common AEs were pruritus and other application site reactions. Review of published literature suggests that DETP is generally safe and well tolerated, clinically efficacious, and a rational treatment option for patients experiencing acute pain associated with strains, sprains, and contusions, and other localized painful conditions. PMID:21197326

A Review of Topical Diclofenac Use in Musculoskeletal Disease

PubMed Central

Nair, Bindu; Taylor-Gjevre, Regina

2010-01-01

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly prescribed medications for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in humans and its prevalence rises with age. Oral NSAIDs have potential associated toxicities that must be monitored for and can limit the use of these drugs in certain populations including people of older age. Topical NSAIDs are now being recognized as an option for the treatment strategy of osteoarthritis. We review the efficacy and safety of one of the most common topical NSAIDS, topical diclofenac, for the treatment of osteoarthritis. PMID:27713334

The future of bibliographic standards in a networked information environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The main mission of the CENDI Cataloging Working Group is to provide guidelines for cataloging practices that support the sharing of database records among the CENDI agencies, and that incorporate principles based on cost effectiveness and efficiency. Recent efforts include the extension of COSATI Guidelines for the Cataloging of Technical Reports to include non-print materials, and the mapping of each agency's export file structure to USMARC. Of primary importance is the impact of electronic documents and the distributed nature of the networked information environment. Topics discussed during the workshop include the following: Trade-offs in Cataloging and Indexing Internet Information; The Impact on Current and Future Standards; A Look at WWW Metadata Initiatives; Standards for Electronic Journals; The Present and Future Search Engines; The Roles for Text Analysis Software; Advanced Search Engine Meets Metathesaurus; Locator Schemes for Internet Resources; Identifying and Cataloging Web Document Types; In Search of a New Bibliographic Record. The videos in this set include viewgraphs of charts and related materials of the workshop.

Topical hyperbaric oxygen and electrical stimulation: exploring potential synergy.

PubMed

Edsberg, Laura E; Brogan, Michael S; Jaynes, C David; Fries, Kristin

2002-11-01

Treatment of chronic wounds involves interventions ranging from dressings to surgery. Modalities gaining popularity in clinical settings include topical hyperbaric oxygen and electrical stimulation. A prospective, uncontrolled study was conducted to obtain preliminary observations and data about the effects of topical hyperbaric oxygen therapy and topical hyperbaric oxygen used with electrical stimulation on the healing of chronic wounds. All subjects were geriatric residents of long-term care facilities with Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers. Topical hyperbaric oxygen was applied daily to the wounds of eight subjects; three also received electrical stimulation. Initial wound size ranged from 87.75 cm2 to 7.04 cm2 with an average size of 30.1 +/- 28.5 (mean +/- sd) cm2. Healing times ranged from 8 to 49 weeks. After 4 weeks of treatment with topical hyperbaric oxygen, wound size decreased an average of 34.4% +/- 22.9%. Incidentally, the wounds of five of the eight subjects decreased more than 20%, for an average of 51.8% +/- 17.9%. No significant differences in healing were observed between patients receiving topical hyperbaric oxygen alone and those receiving topical hyperbaric oxygen/electrical stimulation. Preliminary data indicate that topical hyperbaric oxygen facilitates wound healing and full closure for pressure ulcers in patients with and without diabetes mellitus. A multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-blind controlled study is currently under way.

Aerodynamics Of Missiles: Present And Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nielsen, Jack N.

1991-01-01

Paper reviews variety of topics in aerodynamics of missiles. Describes recent developments and suggests areas in which future research fruitful. Emphasis on stability and control of tactical missiles. Aerodynamic problems discussed in general terms without reference to particular missiles.

The future of medical licensure in the United States.

PubMed

Thompson, James N

2006-12-01

Medical licensure in the United States is undergoing significant change. With calls for greater accountability and transparency, state medical boards and their membership association, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), are seeking ways to assure the public that physicians are maintaining their competence throughout the lifetime of their practice of medicine. At present, competence in cognitive, clinical, and communicative skills is regularly measured only at initial licensure. Yet, the public and policy-related organizations are demanding ongoing assessment of physicians' ability to safely and competently practice medicine. The author reports on activities that involve the FSMB and other national organizations, including the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, in planning for a future of increased accountability and transparency of the licensing and regulatory communities that oversee the practice of medicine. He notes that topics of discussion include possible nationalization of what has been traditionally state-based licensure. He raises questions about a future that may include specialty-based licensure and greater national and even international license portability.

[Prioritisation of topics for systematic reviews in hand surgery. Results of an expert survey].

PubMed

Schädel-Höpfner, M; Diener, M K; Eisenschenk, A; Lögters, T; Windolf, J

2011-02-01

Systematic reviews are fundamental decision-making tools for the assessment of the effectiveness of healthcare interventions and for determining future research fields. In the field of hand surgery, so far, there exists only a limited number of systematic reviews. According to the diversity and multitude of hand surgical topics, relevant fields for systematic reviews were identified by means of an expert ranking. A catalogue of 24 topics was extracted from publications of representative hand surgical journals. These topics were categorized and integrated into a questionnaire which was presented to 30 experts in the field of hand surgery. Every single topic had to be rated by marks from 1 (very relevant) to 5 (not relevant). Further topics could have been indicated. Averaging of the marks allowed to define a ranking and a prioritisation of the topics. 29 of 30 questionnaires were returned. The ranking showed scapholunate ligament injury, Kienboeck's disease and scaphoid nonunion to have the highest relevance, followed by 5 other topics dealing with wrist problems. The lowest relevance was attributed to neck fractures of the fifth metacarpal, ulnar collateral ligament injury of the thumb metacarpophalangeal joint and postoperative management following replantation. The results of the presented survey allow for a prioritisation of topics for systematic reviews in hand surgery. The ranking of the topics emphasises the particular relevance of injuries and diseases of the wrist. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The first clinical experience on efficacy of topical flutamide on melasma compared with topical hydroquinone: a randomized clinical trial

PubMed Central

Adalatkhah, Hassan; Sadeghi-Bazargani, Homayoun

2015-01-01

Background Treatment of melasma is unsatisfactory most of the times. Hormonal role is shown to exist in pathogenesis of the melasma, and sex-hormone related drugs may have an effect on melasma. Aim To investigate efficacy of 1% flutamide cream versus 4% hydroquinone cream on melasma. Methods In a parallel randomized clinical trial, 74 women with melasma were allocated to receive a sunscreen along with 4% hydroquinone cream or 1% flutamide cream. Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI), mexameter melanin assay, and patient satisfaction were investigated. Results Mean age of the participants was 33.8 years. Mean length of time suffering from Melasma was 96.3 months. The subjects reported in average 1.1 hours per day of exposure to sunlight. Mean standardized total patient satisfaction score was 28.8 (standard deviation [SD] 17.2) in flutamide group patients versus 18 (SD 15.5) in control group (P<0.01). Regardless of treatment group, the skin darkness assessed upon MASI scales was reduced over the treatment course (P<0.001). Using mixed effects, longitudinal modeling showed better treatment efficacy based on MASI scale for flutamide group compared to the hydroquinone group (P<0.05). However, longitudinal analysis of mexameter scores did not reveal any significant difference in melanin measurements between flutamide and hydroquinone. Conclusion Topical flutamide appeared as effective as topical hydroquinone in treating melasma using mexameter assessment but with a better MASI improvement trend and higher patient satisfaction in flutamide treatment versus topical hydroquinone. As the present study is possibly the first clinical experience on efficacy of topical flutamide on melasma, it would be quite unreasonable to recommend clinical use of it before future studies replicate the results on its efficacy and safety. PMID:26345129

Jobs for the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Business and Professional Women's Foundation, Washington, DC.

This guide is intended to assist women in selecting and preparing for occupations that will either be in demand or continue to be in demand in the future. The first part is a guide to evaluating an occupation. It covers the following topics: costs and benefits (skills needed, training requirements, availability of training, costs of training,…

Environmental Topics for Introductory Physics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodges, Laurent

1974-01-01

Presents selected environmental references with comparatively detailed descriptions for the purpose of helping high school and college physics teachers in selecting materials for their course. The topics include thermal pollution, space heating and cooling, atmospheric temperature distribution, radiation balance of the earth, sound and noises, and…

Teaching Difficult Topics with Primary Sources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Potter, Lee Ann

2011-01-01

"Difficult" or "challenging" topics to teach include racism, violence, genocide, bullying, gangs, abuse (physical, emotional, and substance), slavery, suffering, hatred, terrorism, war, disease, loss, addiction, and more. But by confronting them with students, in the safety of a classroom through thoughtfully constructed lessons (ones that take…

Future Professional Communication in Astronomy II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Accomazzi, Alberto

The present volume gathers together the talks presented at the second colloquium on the Future Professional Communication in Astronomy (FPCAII), held at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (Cambridge, MA) on 13-14 April 2010. This meeting provided a forum for editors, publishers, scientists, librarians and officers of learned societies to discuss the future of the field. The program included talks from leading researchers and practitioners and drew a crowd of approximately 50 attendees from 10 countries. These proceedings contain contributions from invited and contributed talks from leaders in the field, touching on a number of topics. Among them: The role of disciplinary repositories such as ADS and arXiv in astronomy and the physical sciences; Current status and future of Open Access Publishing models and their impact on astronomy and astrophysics publishing; Emerging trends in scientific article publishing: semantic annotations, multimedia content, links to data products hosted by astrophysics archives; Novel approaches to the evaluation of facilities and projects based on bibliometric indicators; Impact of Government mandates, Privacy laws, and Intellectual Property Rights on the evolving digital publishing environment in astronomy; Communicating astronomy to the public: the experience of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Topical Clonazepam Solution for the Management of Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Retrospective Study.

PubMed

Kuten-Shorrer, Michal; Treister, Nathaniel S; Stock, Shannon; Kelley, John M; Ji, Yisi D; Woo, Sook-Bin; Lerman, Mark A; Palmason, Stefan; Sonis, Stephen T; Villa, Alessandro

2017-01-01

To evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two concentrations of topical clonazepam solution in improving symptoms of burning mouth syndrome (BMS). A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients diagnosed with BMS and managed with topical clonazepam solution between 2008 and 2015. A 0.5-mg/mL solution was prescribed until 2012, when this was changed to a 0.1 mg/mL solution. Patients were instructed to swish with 5 mL for 5 minutes and spit two to four times daily. The efficacies of the two concentrations were compared using patient-reported outcome measures at the first follow-up, including the reported percentage of improvement in burning symptoms and the change in burning severity from baseline ranked on an 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS). Response to treatment was compared between the two concentrations using Wilcoxon rank sum test. A total of 57 subjects were included, 32 in the 0.1-mg/mL cohort and 25 in the 0.5-mg/mL cohort, and evaluated at a median follow-up of 7 weeks. The median overall percentage improvement was 32.5% in the 0.1-mg/mL cohort and 75% in the 0.5-mg/mL cohort. The median reduction in NRS score was 0.5 points in the 0.1-mg/mL cohort and 6 points in the 0.5-mg/mL cohort. The use of either outcome measure revealed that the response to treatment with the 0.5-mg/mL solution was superior to that of the 0.1 mg/mL solution (P < .01). These findings suggest that a 0.5-mg/mL topical clonazepam solution is effective in the management of BMS. Future randomized clinical trials are warranted.

Quark-gluon plasma (Selected Topics)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zakharov, V. I., E-mail: vzakharov@itep.ru

Introductory lectures to the theory of (strongly interacting) quark-gluon plasma given at the Winter School of Physics of ITEP (Moscow, February 2010). We emphasize theoretical issues highlighted by the discovery of the low viscosity of the plasma. The topics include relativistic hydrodynamics, manifestations of chiral anomaly in hydrodynamics, superfluidity, relativistic superfluid hydrodynamics, effective stringy scalars, holographic models of Yang-Mills theories.

The Future Is Coming: Electronic Health Records

MedlinePlus

... Current Issue Past Issues The Future Is Coming: Electronic Health Records Past Issues / Spring 2009 Table of ... special conference on the cutting-edge topic of electronic health records (EHR) on May 20-21, 2009, ...

Selected topics from classical bacterial genetics.

PubMed

Raleigh, Elisabeth A; Elbing, Karen; Brent, Roger

2002-08-01

Current cloning technology exploits many facts learned from classical bacterial genetics. This unit covers those that are critical to understanding the techniques described in this book. Topics include antibiotics, the LAC operon, the F factor, nonsense suppressors, genetic markers, genotype and phenotype, DNA restriction, modification and methylation and recombination.

Analysis of Students’ Incorrect Answers on the Topic of Roman Numerals in The Fourth-Grade of Primary School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selvianiresa, D.; Jupri, Al

2017-02-01

Mathematics has an important role in solving problems related to mathematical symbols. Mathematics topics are related to the daily life of students, as well as mathematics in the primary school level. In this paper, we report the results of research that aims to understand the difficulties of primary school students towards mathematics, especially on the topic of Roman numerals. The subject of this research included 38 students of fourth grade students from a primary school in the city of Bandung. The results showed that the teacher is more likely do the learning to deliver topic directly to students, rather than having to relatethe learning with a real context. In addition, after the teacher gave some exercises to students, we observed that there are some students’ answers that are unpredictable and made errors. Unexpected answers are caused by student’s unconscientious, misunderstanding, or inability to memorize in seven Roman numeral in general. The results of this analysis can be used to develop teacher competence in the teaching and learning process in the future. In this way, we expect the teacher can prepare various student responses to the given problems in the learning process.

Salicylic Acid Topical

MedlinePlus

... stinging in the area where you applied topical salicylic acid Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of ... of the eyes, face, lips, or tongue Topical salicylic acid may cause other side effects. Call your doctor if you have any unusual ...

Efficacy, tolerability and consumer acceptability of terbinafine topical spray versus terbinafine topical solution: a phase IIa, randomised, observer-blind, comparative study.

PubMed

Brown, Marc; Evans, Charles; Muddle, Andrew; Turner, Rob; Lim, Sian; Reed, Jessica; Traynor, Matt

2013-10-01

Tinea pedis is one of the world's most prevalent dermatophyte infections. MedSpray™ tinea pedis 1 % w/w (topical spray) is a novel, easy-to-use propellant-based spray formulation containing 1 % w/w terbinafine, requiring no manipulation at the site of infection. This is in contrast to the only formulation currently approved in Europe for single application (none are approved in the USA for single use), which is Lamisil(®) Once 1 % w/w (topical solution), containing 1 % w/w terbinafine hydrochloride, which requires manipulation on the affected area. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability and consumer acceptability of a topical spray versus a topical solution in the treatment of tinea pedis. This study is a phase IIa, randomised, observer-blind, non-inferiority comparative study of the topical spray compared with the topical solution over a 12-week study period. The study was conducted at Bioskin GmbH, Hamburg and Berlin. Patients (n = 120) who presented with the presence of interdigital tinea pedis caused by dermatophytes on one or both feet were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomly assigned between the two treatment groups. Either the topical spray or the topical solution was administered by the study nurse and consisted of a single application (equivalent to 20 mg of terbinafine per foot) on day 1 of the study. No further applications were made for the duration of the study. The hypothesis formulated before commencement of the study was that the topical spray would prove to be non-inferior to the topical solution. Efficacy assessments, including clinical signs and symptoms, mycology and microscopy were performed at baseline and 1, 6 and 12 weeks after treatment. The rate of mycological cure at week 1 was statistically equivalent for both treatments. There was a significant reduction in the overall clinical score as assessed by the Physician's Global Assessment of signs and symptoms for both treatment groups. The topical

Teaching Controversial Topics to Skeptical High School Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ford, K. S.

2012-12-01

Tennessee passes the "Monkey Bill" (HB 0368, SB 0893), North Carolina's state government passes a law to criminalize reference in state documents to scientific models that predict sea level rise to reach at least one meter by the next century, and public concern still lags far behind the scientific community's concern on climate change. The American public and even science teachers across the country seem to have lost faith in the ability of the scientific community to unify a strong message about several important scientific lessons, including global warming in particular. This lack of a unified message has weakened the ability of science teachers to effectively teach the lesson of global warming. For science teachers in strongly conservative areas of the country, it is much easier to omit difficult topics and avoid angering parents and school board members. Teachers who do feel strongly about scientifically proven, yet publically controversial topics CAN teach these topics in conservative areas by confirming students' belief systems by being honest and open about motivations surrounding both sides of controversial topics, and by using vocabulary that avoids triggering negative perceptions about these controversial topics. For true learning and change of preconceived opinion to take place, it is important for students to come to the understanding in their own minds in an open and safe learning environment instead of having the message "preached" to them, which only serves to make them feel unintelligent and defensive if they disagree. This presentation will include lessons learned from a practicing science teacher who works in a community that overwhelmingly disputes the validity of human impacts on climate change.

Overlapping meta-analyses on the same topic: survey of published studies.

PubMed

Siontis, Konstantinos C; Hernandez-Boussard, Tina; Ioannidis, John P A

2013-07-19

To assess how common it is to have multiple overlapping meta-analyses of randomized trials published on the same topic. Survey of published meta-analyses. PubMed. Meta-analyses published in 2010 were identified, and 5% of them were randomly selected. We further selected those that included randomized trials and examined effectiveness of any medical intervention. For eligible meta-analyses, we searched for other meta-analyses on the same topic (covering the same comparisons, indications/settings, and outcomes or overlapping subsets of them) published until February 2013. Of 73 eligible meta-analyses published in 2010, 49 (67%) had at least one other overlapping meta-analysis (median two meta-analyses per topic, interquartile range 1-4, maximum 13). In 17 topics at least one author was involved in at least two of the overlapping meta-analyses. No characteristics of the index meta-analyses were associated with the potential for overlapping meta-analyses. Among pairs of overlapping meta-analyses in 20 randomly selected topics, 13 of the more recent meta-analyses did not include any additional outcomes. In three of the four topics with eight or more published meta-analyses, many meta-analyses examined only a subset of the eligible interventions or indications/settings covered by the index meta-analysis. Conversely, for statins in the prevention of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery, 11 meta-analyses were published with similar eligibility criteria for interventions and setting: there was still variability on which studies were included, but the results were always similar or even identical across meta-analyses. While some independent replication of meta-analyses by different teams is possibly useful, the overall picture suggests that there is a waste of efforts with many topics covered by multiple overlapping meta-analyses.

Therapeutic Efficacy of a Combination Therapy of Topical 17α-Estradiol and Topical Minoxidil on Female Pattern Hair Loss: A Noncomparative, Retrospective Evaluation.

PubMed

Choe, Sung Jay; Lee, Solam; Choi, Jaewoong; Lee, Won-Soo

2017-06-01

A variety of agents have been used to treat female pattern hair loss (FPHL), including topical minoxidil, topical 17α-estradiol, oral anti-androgen agents, and mineral supplements. Compared with these single agent regimens, combination therapies could be a better therapeutic option in expectation of superior treatment outcome. This study was designed to determine the efficacy of a combination therapy consisting of topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil in Korean patients with FPHL. Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in 34 women who applied topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil once daily for more than 6 months. Phototrichogram analysis was performed before and after therapy. The efficacy was evaluated with respect to total hair count, hair caliber (as assessed by phototrichogram analysis), and photographic assessment. Total hair count and hair caliber both increased from baseline to 6 months in patients treated with the combination therapy of topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil ( p <0.001). Photographic assessment also revealed significant disease improvement, thus supporting the therapeutic efficacy. A combination therapy consisting of topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil can be tried as an effective treatment for FPHL.

GeneTopics - interpretation of gene sets via literature-driven topic models

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Annotation of a set of genes is often accomplished through comparison to a library of labelled gene sets such as biological processes or canonical pathways. However, this approach might fail if the employed libraries are not up to date with the latest research, don't capture relevant biological themes or are curated at a different level of granularity than is required to appropriately analyze the input gene set. At the same time, the vast biomedical literature offers an unstructured repository of the latest research findings that can be tapped to provide thematic sub-groupings for any input gene set. Methods Our proposed method relies on a gene-specific text corpus and extracts commonalities between documents in an unsupervised manner using a topic model approach. We automatically determine the number of topics summarizing the corpus and calculate a gene relevancy score for each topic allowing us to eliminate non-specific topics. As a result we obtain a set of literature topics in which each topic is associated with a subset of the input genes providing directly interpretable keywords and corresponding documents for literature research. Results We validate our method based on labelled gene sets from the KEGG metabolic pathway collection and the genetic association database (GAD) and show that the approach is able to detect topics consistent with the labelled annotation. Furthermore, we discuss the results on three different types of experimentally derived gene sets, (1) differentially expressed genes from a cardiac hypertrophy experiment in mice, (2) altered transcript abundance in human pancreatic beta cells, and (3) genes implicated by GWA studies to be associated with metabolite levels in a healthy population. In all three cases, we are able to replicate findings from the original papers in a quick and semi-automated manner. Conclusions Our approach provides a novel way of automatically generating meaningful annotations for gene sets that are directly

On the Future of American Higher Education: A Bibliography of Clark Kerr. Public Administration Series: Bibliography P-1033.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quay, Richard H.

A bibliography of publications authored, coauthored, or edited by Clark Kerr on the future of American higher education is presented. The specific topics of the publications, which cover 1939-1981, include the following: the failure of academic reform in the United States and Western Europe, changes and challenges ahead for community colleges,…

A novel lidocaine hydrochloride ophthalmic gel for topical ocular anesthesia

PubMed Central

Shah, HR; Reichel, E; Busbee, BG

2010-01-01

Topical anesthetics play an important role in the practice of ophthalmology, both for procedures in the office and in the operating room. The need for safe, long-acting topical ocular anesthetic agents is ongoing, and has been highlighted by the increase of intravitreal administration of pharmacologic agents. Current practices for ocular anesthesia include subconjunctival injection of 2% aqueous lidocaine, topical 2% lidocaine drops and topical 0.5% tetracaine. Tetracaine is not yet FDA approved, and is associated with corneal epithelial toxicity and delayed epithelial healing after multiple administrations. Lidocaine jelly (2%) preparations have been reported to be beneficial in several systemic procedures, including those of the upper airway, dental, urogenital, and gastrointestinal. It has been theorized, and recent studies support the idea, that gel formulations of lidocaine may enhance anesthetic effect, and therefore be superior to anesthetic solutions for topical cataract surgery. The viscous nature of gel formulations is thought to lengthen contact time, resulting in better anesthesia at lower drug concentrations. Furthermore, several studies suggest that lidocaine is bactericidal and bacteriostatic, and may have a supplementary role in preventing and treating surgical site infections. Akten™, lidocaine 3.5% gel (Akorn, Buffalo Grove, IIlinois) was FDA approved for all ophthalmic procedures in October 2008. This gel is a preservative-free, lidocaine-based anesthetic gel consisting of 35 mg/mL of lidocaine hydrochloride. We describe the properties, including chemical structure, indications, evidence of support, use, adverse effects, and precautions, which we believe enable Akten to provide superior anesthesia, while minimizing side effects. PMID:22915870

Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis.

PubMed

Mason, Anne R; Mason, James; Cork, Michael; Dooley, Gordon; Edwards, Gladys

2009-04-15

Chronic plaque psoriasis is the most common type of psoriasis and is characterised by redness, thickness and scaling. First line management of chronic plaque psoriasis is with topical treatments, including vitamin D analogues, topical corticosteroids, tar-based preparations, dithranol, salicylic acid and topical retinoids. To compare the effectiveness, tolerability and safety of topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis with placebo; to compare vitamin D analogues with other topical treatments. The Cochrane Skin Group's Trials Register was searched (2004/12). To update an unpublished 2002 review we also searched CENTRAL in The Cochrane Library (Issue 1,2005); MEDLINE (to 2005/02); EMBASE (to 2005/08); Science Citation Index (to 2005); Biosis (to 2005); Dissertation Abstracts (all publication years); Inside Conferences (all publication years); SIGLE (to 2005); National Research Register (all projects with a start date of 2001 to 2005); metaRegister of Current Controlled Trials. Randomised trials comparing treatments against placebo or against vitamin D analogues in people with chronic plaque psoriasis. One author extracted study data and assessed study quality. A second author checked these data. We routinely contacted triallists and companies for missing data. We extracted data on withdrawals and adverse events. The review included 131 RCTs with 21,448 participants. Vitamin D was significantly more effective than placebo, although there was a wide variation in effect size with the standardised mean difference (SMD) ranging from -0.82 (95% CI -1.34 to -0.29) to -1.90 (95% CI -2.09 to -1.71). With one exception, all corticosteroids performed better than placebo, with potent corticosteroids (SMD: -0.95 (95% CI: -1.11 to -0.80; I(2): 61.1%; 17 studies; 2386 participants)) having smaller benefits than very potent corticosteroids (SMD: -1.29 (95% CI: -1.45 to -1.13; I(2): 53.2%; 11 studies; 1571 participants)). Dithranol and tazarotene performed better than placebo

Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) in Redox and Electrochemistry of Experienced Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Brien, Stephanie

2017-01-01

Topic specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) is the basis by which knowledge of subject matter of a particular topic is conveyed to students. This includes students' prior knowledge, curricular saliency, what makes a topic easy or difficult to teach, representations, and teaching strategies. The goal of this study is to assess the…

Energy Options for the Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheffield, John; Obenschain, Stephen; Conover, David; Bajura, Rita; Greene, David; Brown, Marilyn; Boes, Eldon; McCarthy, Kathyrn; Christian, David; Dean, Stephen; Kulcinski, Gerald; Denholm, P. L.

2004-06-01

This paper summarizes the presentations and discussion at the Energy Options for the Future meeting held at the Naval Research Laboratory in March of 2004. The presentations covered the present status and future potential for coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass energy sources and the effect of measures for energy conservation. The longevity of current major energy sources, means for resolving or mitigating environmental issues, and the role to be played by yet to be deployed sources, like fusion, were major topics of presentation and discussion.

Through a Glass Darkly: Glimpses into the Future of Mass Spectrometry

PubMed Central

Cooks, R. Graham; Mueller, Thomas

2013-01-01

The paper has three parts, (i) a brief overview of the main achievements made using mass spectrometry across all the fields of science, (ii) a survey of some of the topics currently being pursued most activity, including both applications and fundamental studies, and (iii) some hints as to what the future of mass spectrometry might hold with particular emphasis on revolutionary changes in the subject. Emphasis is given to ambient methods of ionization and their use in disease diagnosis and to their use in combination with miniature mass spectrometers for in-situ measurements. Special attention goes to the chemical aspects of mass spectrometry, including its emerging role as a preparative method based on accelerated bimolecular reaction rates in solution and on ion soft landing as a means of surface tailoring. In summary, the paper covers the proud history, vibrant present and expansive future of mass spectrometry. PMID:24349920

Incorporating Topic Assignment Constraint and Topic Correlation Limitation into Clinical Goal Discovering for Clinical Pathway Mining.

PubMed

Xu, Xiao; Jin, Tao; Wei, Zhijie; Wang, Jianmin

2017-01-01

Clinical pathways are widely used around the world for providing quality medical treatment and controlling healthcare cost. However, the expert-designed clinical pathways can hardly deal with the variances among hospitals and patients. It calls for more dynamic and adaptive process, which is derived from various clinical data. Topic-based clinical pathway mining is an effective approach to discover a concise process model. Through this approach, the latent topics found by latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) represent the clinical goals. And process mining methods are used to extract the temporal relations between these topics. However, the topic quality is usually not desirable due to the low performance of the LDA in clinical data. In this paper, we incorporate topic assignment constraint and topic correlation limitation into the LDA to enhance the ability of discovering high-quality topics. Two real-world datasets are used to evaluate the proposed method. The results show that the topics discovered by our method are with higher coherence, informativeness, and coverage than the original LDA. These quality topics are suitable to represent the clinical goals. Also, we illustrate that our method is effective in generating a comprehensive topic-based clinical pathway model.

Incorporating Topic Assignment Constraint and Topic Correlation Limitation into Clinical Goal Discovering for Clinical Pathway Mining

PubMed Central

Xu, Xiao; Wei, Zhijie

2017-01-01

Clinical pathways are widely used around the world for providing quality medical treatment and controlling healthcare cost. However, the expert-designed clinical pathways can hardly deal with the variances among hospitals and patients. It calls for more dynamic and adaptive process, which is derived from various clinical data. Topic-based clinical pathway mining is an effective approach to discover a concise process model. Through this approach, the latent topics found by latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) represent the clinical goals. And process mining methods are used to extract the temporal relations between these topics. However, the topic quality is usually not desirable due to the low performance of the LDA in clinical data. In this paper, we incorporate topic assignment constraint and topic correlation limitation into the LDA to enhance the ability of discovering high-quality topics. Two real-world datasets are used to evaluate the proposed method. The results show that the topics discovered by our method are with higher coherence, informativeness, and coverage than the original LDA. These quality topics are suitable to represent the clinical goals. Also, we illustrate that our method is effective in generating a comprehensive topic-based clinical pathway model. PMID:29065617

A Course in... Topics in Random Media.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glandt, Eduardo D.

1988-01-01

Describes an engineering course for graduate study in random media. Summarizes random media as bulk properties of ordered and disordered two-phase materials. Gives course outline for one semester. Topics include: disordered systems, microstructure determination, survey of models, connectivity, and effective properties. (MVL)

[TOPICS-MDS: a versatile resource for generating scientific and social knowledge for elderly care].

PubMed

van den Brink, Danielle; Lutomski, Jennifer E; Qin, Li; den Elzen, Wendy P J; Kempen, Gertrudis I J M; Krabbe, Paul F M; Steyerberg, Ewout W; Muntinga, Maaike; Moll van Charante, Eric P; Bleijenberg, Nienke; Olde Rikkert, Marcel G M; Melis, René J F

2015-04-01

Developed as part of the National Care for the Elderly Programme (NPO), TOPICS-MDS is a uniform, national database on the health and wellbeing of the older persons and caregivers who participated in NPO-funded projects. TOPICS-MDS Consortium has gained extensive experience in constructing a standardized questionnaire to collect relevant health care data on quality of life, health services utilization, and informal care use. A proactive approach has been undertaken not only to ensure the standardization and validation of instruments but also the infrastructure for external data requests. Efforts have been made to promote scientifically and socially responsible use of TOPICS-MDS; data has been available for secondary use since early 2014. Through this data sharing initiative, researchers can explore health issues in a broader framework which may have not been possible within individual NPO projects; this broader framework is highly relevant for influencing health policy. In this article, we provide an overview of the development and on-going progress of TOPICS-MDS. We further describe how information derived from TOPICS-MDS can be applied to facilitate future scientific innovations and public health initiatives to improve care for frail older persons and their caregivers.

Topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents for diabetic cystoid macular oedema.

PubMed

Sahoo, Soumendra; Barua, Ankur; Myint, Kay Thi; Haq, Adnaan; Abas, Adinegara B L; Nair, N S

2015-02-16

of topically applied NSAIDs in the treatment of people with diabetic CMO aged 18 years of age or over. Two review authors independently assessed trial eligibility and screened all available titles and abstracts for inclusion. There were no discrepancies and we did not have to contact trial investigators for missing data. We did not identify any RCTs matching the inclusion criteria for this review. The review did not identify any RCTs investigating the effects of topical NSAIDs in the treatment of diabetic CMO. Most of the studies identified through the electronic searches had been conducted to analyse the effect of topical NSAIDs for pseudophakic CMO.In the absence of high quality evidence, clinicians need to use their clinical judgement and other low level evidence, such as observational non-randomised trials, to decide whether to use topical NSAIDs in cases of diabetic CMO.More research is needed to better understand the cause of this condition and its pathophysiology. This systematic review has identified the need for well designed, adequately powered RCTs to assess possible beneficial and adverse effects of topical NSAIDs in people with diabetic CMO. Future trials should aim to include a large sample size with an adequate follow-up period of up to one year.

Formulation, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of topical microbicides

PubMed Central

Adams, Jessica L.; Kashuba, Angela D.M.

2013-01-01

The development of safe topical microbicides that effectively prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a major goal in curbing the human immunodeficiency virus pandemic. A number of past failures resulting from mucosal toxicity or lack of efficacy have informed the field. Products that caused toxicity to the female genital tract mucosa, and thereby increased the likelihood of HIV acquisition, included nonoxynol 9, cellulose sulfate, and C31 G vaginal gel Savvy®. Topical products that were ineffective in preventing HIV infection include BufferGel®, Carraguard®, and PRO 2000®. Antiretroviral drugs such as tenofovir and dapivirine formulated into microbicide products have shown promise, but there is much to learn about ideal product formulation and acceptability, and drug distribution and disposition (pharmacokinetics). Current formulations for water-soluble molecules include vaginally or rectally applied gels, vaginal rings, films and tablets. Dosing strategies (e.g. coitally dependent or independent) will be based on the pharmacokinetics of the active ingredient and the tolerance for less than perfect adherence. PMID:22306523

Water: A Topic for All Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Malonne I.; Seimears, C. Matt

2008-01-01

The authors illustrate an effective lesson-planning technique known as unpacking for the broad topic of water. Interconnections among science disciplines are shown for numerous possible subtopics. Two lesson sets are included, the first dealing with properties of water and the second dealing with water as a resource. (Contains 1 table and 4…

Solid-State Lighting 2017 Suggested Research Topics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None, None

2017-09-29

A 2017 update to the Solid-State Lighting R&D Plan that is divided into two documents. The first document describes a list of suggested SSL priority research topics and the second document provides context and background, including information drawn from technical, market, and economic studies. Widely referenced by industry and government both here and abroad, these documents reflect SSL stakeholder inputs on key R&D topics that will improve efficacy, reduce cost, remove barriers to adoption, and add value for LED and OLED lighting solutions over the next three to five years, and discuss those applications that drive and prioritize the specificmore » R&D.« less

Solid-State Lighting 2017 Suggested Research Topics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None, None

A 2017 update to the Solid-State Lighting R&D Plan that is divided into two documents. The first document describes a list of suggested SSL priority research topics and the second document provides context and background, including information drawn from technical, market, and economic studies. Widely referenced by industry and government both here and abroad, these documents reflect SSL stakeholder inputs on key R&D topics that will improve efficacy, reduce cost, remove barriers to adoption, and add value for LED and OLED lighting solutions over the next three to five years, and discuss those applications that drive and prioritize the specificmore » R&D.« less

Topical medication instillation techniques for glaucoma

PubMed Central

Xu, Li; Wang, Xuemei; Wu, Meijing

2017-01-01

Background Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and the second most common cause of blindness after cataracts. The primary treatment for glaucoma aims to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) with the use of topical medicines. Topical medication instillation techniques, such as eyelid closure and nasolacrimal occlusion when instilling drops, have been proposed as potential methods to increase ocular absorption and decrease systemic absorption of the drops. Objectives To investigate the effectiveness of topical medication instillation techniques compared with usual care or another method of instillation of topical medication in the management of glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (2016, Issue 12), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to 8 December 2016), Embase Ovid (1947 to 8 December 2016), PubMed (1948 to 8 December 2016), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database) (1982 to 8 December 2016), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts Database (1970 to 8 December 2016), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com) (last searched 13 May 2013), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) (searched 8 December 2016) and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en) (searched 8 December 2016). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. Selection criteria We included randomized controlled trials which had compared any topical medication instillation technique with usual care or a different method of instillation of topical medication. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently screened records from the searches for eligibility, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted data. We followed methods recommended by Cochrane. Main results We identified two trials

Use of Topical Tacrolimus and Topical Pimecrolimus in Four European Countries: A Multicentre Database Cohort Study.

PubMed

Kuiper, Josephina G; van Herk-Sukel, Myrthe P P; Castellsague, Jordi; Pottegård, Anton; Berglind, Ingegärd Anveden; Dedman, Daniel; Gutierrez, Lia; Calingaert, Brian; Hallas, Jesper; Sundström, Anders; Gallagher, Arlene M; Kaye, James A; Pardo, Carolina; Rothman, Kenneth J; Perez-Gutthann, Susana

2018-05-07

Despite the concerns about a potential increased risk of skin cancer and lymphoma with the use of topical tacrolimus and pimecrolimus, no population-based studies have given an overview of the use of these drugs in Europe. To assess the use of topical tacrolimus and pimecrolimus in children and adults in Europe. Multicentre database cohort study comprising data from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and the UK. We analysed users of topical tacrolimus and pimecrolimus starting from the date of first availability (between 2002 and 2003) or start establishment of the prescription database in Sweden (2006) through 2011. Use was assessed separately for children (≤ 18 years) and adults. 32,052 children and 104,902 adults were treated with topical tacrolimus, and 32,125 children and 58,280 adults were treated with topical pimecrolimus. The number of users increased rapidly after first availability, especially for topical tacrolimus. Topical tacrolimus was more frequently used in all countries except Denmark. For both drugs, there was a decrease in users after 2004 in the Netherlands and Denmark and after 2005 in the UK, especially among children. This decrease was largest in Denmark. The decrease in the number of users was temporary for topical tacrolimus, while use remained relatively low for topical pimecrolimus. The number of topical tacrolimus and pimecrolimus users increased rapidly after regulatory approval. A transient reduction in topical tacrolimus use and a persistent reduction in topical pimecrolimus use was seen after 2004 in the Netherlands and Denmark and after 2005 in the UK.

Therapeutic Efficacy of a Combination Therapy of Topical 17α-Estradiol and Topical Minoxidil on Female Pattern Hair Loss: A Noncomparative, Retrospective Evaluation

PubMed Central

Choe, Sung Jay; Lee, Solam; Choi, Jaewoong

2017-01-01

Background A variety of agents have been used to treat female pattern hair loss (FPHL), including topical minoxidil, topical 17α-estradiol, oral anti-androgen agents, and mineral supplements. Compared with these single agent regimens, combination therapies could be a better therapeutic option in expectation of superior treatment outcome. Objective This study was designed to determine the efficacy of a combination therapy consisting of topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil in Korean patients with FPHL. Methods Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in 34 women who applied topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil once daily for more than 6 months. Phototrichogram analysis was performed before and after therapy. The efficacy was evaluated with respect to total hair count, hair caliber (as assessed by phototrichogram analysis), and photographic assessment. Results Total hair count and hair caliber both increased from baseline to 6 months in patients treated with the combination therapy of topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil (p<0.001). Photographic assessment also revealed significant disease improvement, thus supporting the therapeutic efficacy. Conclusion A combination therapy consisting of topical 0.025% 17α-estradiol and 3% minoxidil can be tried as an effective treatment for FPHL. PMID:28566902

Dapsone for topical use in extemporaneous preparations.

PubMed

Wohlrab, Johannes; Michael, Julia

2018-01-01

The sulfone dapsone has an established role in systemic therapy. Its pharmacological and toxicological properties are well known. Topically, dapsone is used in a gel formulation for the treatment of acne vulgaris. In addition, there have been individual case reports on the efficacy of topical dapsone preparations in the treatment of various neutrophilic dermatoses. To date, no finished medicinal product for topical use has been available in Germany. Against this background, we set out to develop extemporaneous preparations containing dapsone (5 %) that meet the quality requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia as well as the manufacturing requirements of the German Ordinance on the Operation of Pharmacies (ApBetrO). These formulations included the incorporation of dapsone in a hydrophobic cream base ("hydrophobe Basiscreme DAC") as well as in methylprednisolone aceponate 0.1 % ointment (alternatively, in the latter's cream base without active ingredient). Tests aimed at investigating the physical, chemical, and microbiological stability of these formulations showed them to meet the aforementioned quality requirements. The extemporaneous formulations presented herein broaden the therapeutic options for topical treatment, in particular for patients with chronic inflammatory dermatoses associated with a neutrophilic pathogenesis. © 2017 Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft (DDG). Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Teaching Climate Change to Future Teachers Using 'Real' Data: Challenges and Opportunities (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petcovic, H. L.; Barone, S.; Fulford, J.

2013-12-01

A climate-literate public is essential to resolving pressing problems related to global change. Future elementary teachers are a critical audience in climate and climate change education, as they will introduce children in early grades (USA grades K-8, children ages 5-14) to fundamentals of the climate system, natural and anthropogenic drivers of climate change, and impacts of global change on human and natural systems. Here we describe challenges we have encountered in teaching topics of the carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, past climate, recent anthropogenic change, and carbon footprints to future elementary teachers. We also describe how we have met (to varying degrees of success) these challenges in an introductory earth science course that is specifically designed for this audience. Two prominent challenges we have encountered are: the complex nature of the scientific content of climate change, and robust misconceptions held by our students about these topics. To address the first challenge, we attempt to adjust the scientific content to a level appropriate for future K-8 teachers, without sacrificing too much accuracy or critical detail. To address the second challenge, we explicitly discuss alternate conceptions of each topic. The use of authentic data sets can also address both of these challenges. Yet incorporating 'real' climate and paleoclimate data into the classroom poses still an additional challenge of instructional design. We use a variety of teaching approaches in our laboratory-based course including student-designed experiments, computer simulations, physical models, and authentic data sets. We have found that students strongly prefer the physical models and experiments, because these are 'hands-on' and perceived as easily adaptable to the K-8 classroom. Students often express dislike for activities that use authentic data sets (for example, an activity using graphs of CO2 and methane concentrations in Vostok ice cores), in particular because they

Reflections on the Last 25 Years of the American Otological Society and Thoughts on its Future.

PubMed

Welling, D Bradley; Jackler, Robert K

2018-04-01

To review contributions of the American Otological Society (AOS) over the most recent quarter century (1993-2018) and to comment on possible future evolution of the field during the quarter century to come. Retrospective review of selected topics from the AOS transactions, distinguished lectureships over the past 25 years, and selective reflection by the authors. Speculation on potential advances of the next quarter century derived from emerging topics in the current literature and foreseeable trends in science and technology are also proffered for consideration (and possible future ridicule). Integration of multiple disciplines including bioengineering, medical imaging, genetics, molecular biology, physics, and evidence based medicine have substantially benefitted the practice of otology over the past quarter century. The impact of the contributions of members of the AOS in these developments cannot be over estimated. Further scientific advancement will certainly accelerate change in the practice of otologic surgery and medicine over the coming decade in ways that will be marvelous to behold.

Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines: A Workshop to Identify the Challenges and Set Future Directions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DellaCorte, Chris; Pinkus, Oscar

2000-01-01

The following report represents a compendium of selected speaker presentation materials and observations made by Prof O. Pinkus at the NASA/ASME/Industry sponsored workshop entitled "Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines" held on September 15-17, 1999 in Albany, New York. The impetus for the workshop came from the ASME's Research Committee on Tribology whose goal is to explore new tribological research topics which may become future research opportunities. Since this subject is of current interest to other industrial and government entities the conference received cosponsorship as noted above. The conference was well attended by government, industrial and academic participants. Topics discussed included current tribological issues in gas turbines as well as the potential impact (drawbacks and advantages) of future tribological technologies especially foil air bearings and magnetic beatings. It is hoped that this workshop report may serve as a starting point for continued discussions and activities in oil-free turbomachinery systems.

Exploring supervised and unsupervised methods to detect topics in biomedical text

PubMed Central

Lee, Minsuk; Wang, Weiqing; Yu, Hong

2006-01-01

Background Topic detection is a task that automatically identifies topics (e.g., "biochemistry" and "protein structure") in scientific articles based on information content. Topic detection will benefit many other natural language processing tasks including information retrieval, text summarization and question answering; and is a necessary step towards the building of an information system that provides an efficient way for biologists to seek information from an ocean of literature. Results We have explored the methods of Topic Spotting, a task of text categorization that applies the supervised machine-learning technique naïve Bayes to assign automatically a document into one or more predefined topics; and Topic Clustering, which apply unsupervised hierarchical clustering algorithms to aggregate documents into clusters such that each cluster represents a topic. We have applied our methods to detect topics of more than fifteen thousand of articles that represent over sixteen thousand entries in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. We have explored bag of words as the features. Additionally, we have explored semantic features; namely, the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) that are assigned to the MEDLINE records, and the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) semantic types that correspond to the MeSH terms, in addition to bag of words, to facilitate the tasks of topic detection. Our results indicate that incorporating the MeSH terms and the UMLS semantic types as additional features enhances the performance of topic detection and the naïve Bayes has the highest accuracy, 66.4%, for predicting the topic of an OMIM article as one of the total twenty-five topics. Conclusion Our results indicate that the supervised topic spotting methods outperformed the unsupervised topic clustering; on the other hand, the unsupervised topic clustering methods have the advantages of being robust and applicable in real world settings. PMID:16539745

A heuristic approach to determine an appropriate number of topics in topic modeling

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Topic modelling is an active research field in machine learning. While mainly used to build models from unstructured textual data, it offers an effective means of data mining where samples represent documents, and different biological endpoints or omics data represent words. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is the most commonly used topic modelling method across a wide number of technical fields. However, model development can be arduous and tedious, and requires burdensome and systematic sensitivity studies in order to find the best set of model parameters. Often, time-consuming subjective evaluations are needed to compare models. Currently, research has yielded no easy way to choose the proper number of topics in a model beyond a major iterative approach. Methods and results Based on analysis of variation of statistical perplexity during topic modelling, a heuristic approach is proposed in this study to estimate the most appropriate number of topics. Specifically, the rate of perplexity change (RPC) as a function of numbers of topics is proposed as a suitable selector. We test the stability and effectiveness of the proposed method for three markedly different types of grounded-truth datasets: Salmonella next generation sequencing, pharmacological side effects, and textual abstracts on computational biology and bioinformatics (TCBB) from PubMed. Conclusion The proposed RPC-based method is demonstrated to choose the best number of topics in three numerical experiments of widely different data types, and for databases of very different sizes. The work required was markedly less arduous than if full systematic sensitivity studies had been carried out with number of topics as a parameter. We understand that additional investigation is needed to substantiate the method's theoretical basis, and to establish its generalizability in terms of dataset characteristics. PMID:26424364

Survey of selected topics relevant to bioprocess engineering. Technical note (Final)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hubbard, J.B.; Clark, E.J.; Levelt Sengers, J.M.H.

1990-05-01

The following is a collection of reports on topics considered important and generic in biotechnology and bioprocess engineering: (1) Isoelectric points of proteins; (2) Solubility and mass transfer of oxygen in bioreactors; (3) Solubility and mass transfer of carbon dioxide in bioreactors. The reports arose from a survey of the past and current biotechnology literature with special effort given to a critique of data measurement quality. The format is as follows. The technological importance of a topic is briefly discussed, followed by a critical review of relevant physical properties, data presentation, and measurement techniques. A conclusions and recommendations section summarizesmore » the findings and contains specific recommendations for future research projects. The last section consists of an annotated bibliography and references pertaining to the survey.« less

Future flavour physics experiments

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

The current status of flavour physics and the prospects for present and future experiments will be reviewed. Measurements in B‐physics, in which sensitive probes of new physics are the CKM angle γ, the Bs mixing phase ϕs, and the branching ratios of the rare decays B(s)0→μ+μ− , will be highlighted. Topics in charm and kaon physics, in which the measurements of ACP and the branching ratios of the rare decays K→πνν¯ are key measurements, will be discussed. Finally the complementarity of the future heavy flavour experiments, the LHCb upgrade and Belle‐II, will be summarised. PMID:26877543

Preliminary stop of the TOPical Imiquimod treatment of high-grade Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (TOPIC) trial.

PubMed

Koeneman, M M; Kruse, A J; Kooreman, L F S; Zur Hausen, A; Hopman, A H N; Sep, S J S; Van Gorp, T; Slangen, B F M; van Beekhuizen, H J; van de Sande, A J M; Gerestein, C G; Nijman, H W; Kruitwagen, R F P M

2017-02-07

The "TOPical Imiquimod treatment of high-grade Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia" (TOPIC) trial was stopped preliminary, due to lagging inclusions. This study aimed to evaluate the treatment efficacy and clinical applicability of imiquimod 5% cream in high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The lagging inclusions were mainly due to a strong patient preference for either of the two treatment modalities. This prompted us to initiate a new study on the same subject, with a non-randomized, open-label design: the 'TOPical Imiquimod treatment of high-grade Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (TOPIC)-3' study. Original TOPIC-trial: Medical Ethics Committee approval number METC13231; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02329171, 22 December 2014. TOPIC-3 study: Medical Ethics Committee approval number METC162025; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02917746, 16 September 2016.

Topics in Finance: Part II--Financial Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laux, Judy

2010-01-01

The second article in a series designed to supplement the introductory financial management course, this essay addresses financial statement analysis, including its impact on stock valuation, disclosure, and managerial behavior. [For "Topics in Finance Part I--Introduction and Stockholder Wealth Maximization," see EJ1060345.

Identifying Topics in Microblogs Using Wikipedia.

PubMed

Yıldırım, Ahmet; Üsküdarlı, Suzan; Özgür, Arzucan

2016-01-01

Twitter is an extremely high volume platform for user generated contributions regarding any topic. The wealth of content created at real-time in massive quantities calls for automated approaches to identify the topics of the contributions. Such topics can be utilized in numerous ways, such as public opinion mining, marketing, entertainment, and disaster management. Towards this end, approaches to relate single or partial posts to knowledge base items have been proposed. However, in microblogging systems like Twitter, topics emerge from the culmination of a large number of contributions. Therefore, identifying topics based on collections of posts, where individual posts contribute to some aspect of the greater topic is necessary. Models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), propose algorithms for relating collections of posts to sets of keywords that represent underlying topics. In these approaches, figuring out what the specific topic(s) the keyword sets represent remains as a separate task. Another issue in topic detection is the scope, which is often limited to specific domain, such as health. This work proposes an approach for identifying domain-independent specific topics related to sets of posts. In this approach, individual posts are processed and then aggregated to identify key tokens, which are then mapped to specific topics. Wikipedia article titles are selected to represent topics, since they are up to date, user-generated, sophisticated articles that span topics of human interest. This paper describes the proposed approach, a prototype implementation, and a case study based on data gathered during the heavily contributed periods corresponding to the four US election debates in 2012. The manually evaluated results (0.96 precision) and other observations from the study are discussed in detail.

Identifying Topics in Microblogs Using Wikipedia

PubMed Central

Yıldırım, Ahmet; Üsküdarlı, Suzan; Özgür, Arzucan

2016-01-01

Twitter is an extremely high volume platform for user generated contributions regarding any topic. The wealth of content created at real-time in massive quantities calls for automated approaches to identify the topics of the contributions. Such topics can be utilized in numerous ways, such as public opinion mining, marketing, entertainment, and disaster management. Towards this end, approaches to relate single or partial posts to knowledge base items have been proposed. However, in microblogging systems like Twitter, topics emerge from the culmination of a large number of contributions. Therefore, identifying topics based on collections of posts, where individual posts contribute to some aspect of the greater topic is necessary. Models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), propose algorithms for relating collections of posts to sets of keywords that represent underlying topics. In these approaches, figuring out what the specific topic(s) the keyword sets represent remains as a separate task. Another issue in topic detection is the scope, which is often limited to specific domain, such as health. This work proposes an approach for identifying domain-independent specific topics related to sets of posts. In this approach, individual posts are processed and then aggregated to identify key tokens, which are then mapped to specific topics. Wikipedia article titles are selected to represent topics, since they are up to date, user-generated, sophisticated articles that span topics of human interest. This paper describes the proposed approach, a prototype implementation, and a case study based on data gathered during the heavily contributed periods corresponding to the four US election debates in 2012. The manually evaluated results (0.96 precision) and other observations from the study are discussed in detail. PMID:26991442

Profiles of Opportunities to Learn for TEDS-M Future Secondary Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ting-Ying; Tang, Shu-Jyh

2013-01-01

This study used the data set from the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics to identify the profiles of opportunities to learn (OTL) regarding topics studied in teacher preparation programs by future secondary mathematics teachers from 15 participating countries. The topics of inquiry covered tertiary-level mathematics,…

Resource Letter AFHEP-1: Accelerators for the Future of High-Energy Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barletta, William A.

2012-02-01

This Resource Letter provides a guide to literature concerning the development of accelerators for the future of high-energy physics. Research articles, books, and Internet resources are cited for the following topics: motivation for future accelerators, present accelerators for high-energy physics, possible future machine, and laboratory and collaboration websites.

Hot Topics/New Initiatives | Drinking Water in New England ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2017-07-06

Information on Drinking Water in New England. Major Topics covered include: Conservation, Private Wells, Preventing Contamination, Drinking Water Sources, Consumer Confidence Reports, and Drinking Water Awards.

Insights from a Recent Meeting: Current Status and Future Directions in Magnesium Corrosion Research

DOE PAGES

Brady, Michael P.; Joost, William J.; David Warren, C.

2016-11-17

The United States Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office held a Technical Review Meeting entitled “Current Status and Future Directions in Magnesium Corrosion Research” at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in April 2016. Here current funded Mg corrosion projects presented their latest results, along with invited presentations from academic and industrial researchers in the area of Mg corrosion. This paper overviews select topics from the meeting, with an emphasis on relaying meeting discussion points regarding future needs in understanding and mitigating Mg corrosion, particularly for automotive applications. Topics highlighted include the need for pretreatments and coatings suitable for mass vehicle productionmore » of Mg components, particularly for dissimilar metal joints involving Mg, Al, or steel, and corrosion evaluation methods more relevant to automotive components and operating conditions. Finally, from a scientific perspective, the need for better fundamental understanding of Mg dissolution, hydrogen evolution, and film formation behavior was a recurring theme, as was phenomena related to microgalvanic coupling involving second phases and impurities in Mg.« less

Insights from a Recent Meeting: Current Status and Future Directions in Magnesium Corrosion Research

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brady, Michael P.; Joost, William J.; David Warren, C.

The United States Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office held a Technical Review Meeting entitled “Current Status and Future Directions in Magnesium Corrosion Research” at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in April 2016. Here current funded Mg corrosion projects presented their latest results, along with invited presentations from academic and industrial researchers in the area of Mg corrosion. This paper overviews select topics from the meeting, with an emphasis on relaying meeting discussion points regarding future needs in understanding and mitigating Mg corrosion, particularly for automotive applications. Topics highlighted include the need for pretreatments and coatings suitable for mass vehicle productionmore » of Mg components, particularly for dissimilar metal joints involving Mg, Al, or steel, and corrosion evaluation methods more relevant to automotive components and operating conditions. Finally, from a scientific perspective, the need for better fundamental understanding of Mg dissolution, hydrogen evolution, and film formation behavior was a recurring theme, as was phenomena related to microgalvanic coupling involving second phases and impurities in Mg.« less

Constructing Topic Models of Internet of Things for Information Processing

PubMed Central

Xin, Jie; Cui, Zhiming; Zhang, Shukui; He, Tianxu; Li, Chunhua; Huang, Haojing

2014-01-01

Internet of Things (IoT) is regarded as a remarkable development of the modern information technology. There is abundant digital products data on the IoT, linking with multiple types of objects/entities. Those associated entities carry rich information and usually in the form of query records. Therefore, constructing high quality topic hierarchies that can capture the term distribution of each product record enables us to better understand users' search intent and benefits tasks such as taxonomy construction, recommendation systems, and other communications solutions for the future IoT. In this paper, we propose a novel record entity topic model (RETM) for IoT environment that is associated with a set of entities and records and a Gibbs sampling-based algorithm is proposed to learn the model. We conduct extensive experiments on real-world datasets and compare our approach with existing methods to demonstrate the advantage of our approach. PMID:25110737

Constructing topic models of Internet of Things for information processing.

PubMed

Xin, Jie; Cui, Zhiming; Zhang, Shukui; He, Tianxu; Li, Chunhua; Huang, Haojing

2014-01-01

Internet of Things (IoT) is regarded as a remarkable development of the modern information technology. There is abundant digital products data on the IoT, linking with multiple types of objects/entities. Those associated entities carry rich information and usually in the form of query records. Therefore, constructing high quality topic hierarchies that can capture the term distribution of each product record enables us to better understand users' search intent and benefits tasks such as taxonomy construction, recommendation systems, and other communications solutions for the future IoT. In this paper, we propose a novel record entity topic model (RETM) for IoT environment that is associated with a set of entities and records and a Gibbs sampling-based algorithm is proposed to learn the model. We conduct extensive experiments on real-world datasets and compare our approach with existing methods to demonstrate the advantage of our approach.

Anticipatory guidance topics: are more better?

PubMed

Barkin, Shari L; Scheindlin, Benjamin; Brown, Caroline; Ip, Edward; Finch, Stacia; Wasserman, Richard C

2005-01-01

Anticipatory guidance is a cornerstone of primary care pediatrics. Despite the fact that retention of information is essential for later action, data are lacking on what parents recall immediately after the visit and 1 month later and how the total number of topics discussed affects this outcome. Parents and practitioners completed postvisit surveys of anticipatory guidance topics discussed during health-maintenance visits for children ages 2-11. Postvisit and 1 month later, parental recall was compared with provider report of topics discussed. We examined the relationship between parental recall and the total number of topics discussed. Families with children ages 2-11 years from across the United States participated in this study (N = 861). Providers reported discussing the topics of nutrition, car restraints, dental care, and reading aloud most often (72%- 93%). Concordance between parent and provider was high for all topics (72%-90%). Immediately postvisit, parents reported 6.33 (SD 2.9) as the mean number of topics discussed while providers reported 6.9 (SD 2.7) as the mean number of topics discussed. However, parental recall decreased significantly with more topics (> or =9) discussed. The same trend existed 1 month later. Providers and parents have good agreement about topics discussed or not discussed during a well-child visit; however, parental recall dwindles with increasing numbers of topics discussed. Rethinking well-child care to limit the total number of topics discussed is warranted.

Navy Recruit Training Optimization, Post 1980. Phase I: Current Assessment and Concept for the Future.

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-05-01

subjective in nature , -it provides a practical method for analyzing a mass of data, including data which can be utilized to predict probable future... nature and administered when the individual student is unable to maintain acceptable perfornance during the training cycle. Service-wide remedial...are directly related to the curriculum topics of recruit training. Others are of a broader nature related to general Navy problo•is which present a

Novel alginate-based nanocarriers as a strategy to include high concentrations of hydrophobic compounds in hydrogels for topical application.

PubMed

Nguyen, H T P; Munnier, E; Souce, M; Perse, X; David, S; Bonnier, F; Vial, F; Yvergnaux, F; Perrier, T; Cohen-Jonathan, S; Chourpa, I

2015-01-26

The cutaneous penetration of hydrophobic active molecules is of foremost concern in the dermatology and cosmetic formulation fields. The poor solubility in water of those molecules limits their use in hydrophilic forms such as gels, which are favored by patients with chronic skin disease. The aim of this work is to design a novel nanocarrier of hydrophobic active molecules and to determine its potential as an ingredient of a topical form. The nanocarrier consists of an oily core surrounded by a protective shell of alginate, a natural polysaccharide isolated from brown algae. These calcium alginate-based nanocarriers (CaANCs) were prepared at room temperature and without the use of organic solvent by an accelerated nanoemulsification-polymer crosslinking method. The size (hydrodynamic diameter ~200 nm) and surface charge (zeta potential ~ - 30 mV) of the CaANCs are both compatible with their application on skin. CaANCs loaded with a fluorescent label were stable in model hydrophilic galenic forms under different storage conditions. Curcumin was encapsulated in CaANCs with an efficiency of ~95%, fully retaining its antioxidant activity. The application of the curcumin-loaded CaANCs on excised human skin led to a significant accumulation of the active molecules in the upper layers of the skin, asserting the potential of these nanocarriers in active pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients topical delivery.

Novel alginate-based nanocarriers as a strategy to include high concentrations of hydrophobic compounds in hydrogels for topical application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, H. T. P.; Munnier, E.; Souce, M.; Perse, X.; David, S.; Bonnier, F.; Vial, F.; Yvergnaux, F.; Perrier, T.; Cohen-Jonathan, S.; Chourpa, I.

2015-06-01

The cutaneous penetration of hydrophobic active molecules is of foremost concern in the dermatology and cosmetic formulation fields. The poor solubility in water of those molecules limits their use in hydrophilic forms such as gels, which are favored by patients with chronic skin disease. The aim of this work is to design a novel nanocarrier of hydrophobic active molecules and to determine its potential as an ingredient of a topical form. The nanocarrier consists of an oily core surrounded by a protective shell of alginate, a natural polysaccharide isolated from brown algae. These calcium alginate-based nanocarriers (CaANCs) were prepared at room temperature and without the use of organic solvent by an accelerated nanoemulsification-polymer crosslinking method. The size (hydrodynamic diameter ˜200 nm) and surface charge (zeta potential ˜ - 30 mV) of the CaANCs are both compatible with their application on skin. CaANCs loaded with a fluorescent label were stable in model hydrophilic galenic forms under different storage conditions. Curcumin was encapsulated in CaANCs with an efficiency of ˜95%, fully retaining its antioxidant activity. The application of the curcumin-loaded CaANCs on excised human skin led to a significant accumulation of the active molecules in the upper layers of the skin, asserting the potential of these nanocarriers in active pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients topical delivery.

The Future of Virtual Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bainbridge, William Sims; Lutters, Wayne; Rhoten, Diana; Lowood, Henry

This book, like the May 2008 conference in World of Warcraft, ends with projections toward what the future might hold for virtual worlds. Every chapter thus far has included speculations about future directions, even while standing on data from the past. This last chapter, like the final session of the conference on which it is based, incorporates comments from dozens of participants into a stream of ideas. We have edited selected comments together with the panel's contributions. Our intention is to provide a portal from this book into a wider virtual community comprising researchers and residents in virtual worlds. The discussion surveys many recent lines of development, some of which have already been surveyed in scientific and historical literature, or by journalists (Au 2008; Castronova 2007; Guest 2007; Ludlow and Wallace 2007). Yet, many of the topics here have not received such attention. Considered as a set of socio-technical innovations, virtual worlds are not just about technical possibilities; they also inspired the participants to consider the economic bases for investing in those possibilities and the novel cultural, social, and artistic forms virtual worlds might offer.

Computational Fluid Dynamics: Past, Present, And Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kutler, Paul

1988-01-01

Paper reviews development of computational fluid dynamics and explores future prospects of technology. Report covers such topics as computer technology, turbulence, development of solution methodology, developemnt of algorithms, definition of flow geometries, generation of computational grids, and pre- and post-data processing.

Differential Topic Models.

PubMed

Chen, Changyou; Buntine, Wray; Ding, Nan; Xie, Lexing; Du, Lan

2015-02-01

In applications we may want to compare different document collections: they could have shared content but also different and unique aspects in particular collections. This task has been called comparative text mining or cross-collection modeling. We present a differential topic model for this application that models both topic differences and similarities. For this we use hierarchical Bayesian nonparametric models. Moreover, we found it was important to properly model power-law phenomena in topic-word distributions and thus we used the full Pitman-Yor process rather than just a Dirichlet process. Furthermore, we propose the transformed Pitman-Yor process (TPYP) to incorporate prior knowledge such as vocabulary variations in different collections into the model. To deal with the non-conjugate issue between model prior and likelihood in the TPYP, we thus propose an efficient sampling algorithm using a data augmentation technique based on the multinomial theorem. Experimental results show the model discovers interesting aspects of different collections. We also show the proposed MCMC based algorithm achieves a dramatically reduced test perplexity compared to some existing topic models. Finally, we show our model outperforms the state-of-the-art for document classification/ideology prediction on a number of text collections.

Topic Model for Graph Mining.

PubMed

Xuan, Junyu; Lu, Jie; Zhang, Guangquan; Luo, Xiangfeng

2015-12-01

Graph mining has been a popular research area because of its numerous application scenarios. Many unstructured and structured data can be represented as graphs, such as, documents, chemical molecular structures, and images. However, an issue in relation to current research on graphs is that they cannot adequately discover the topics hidden in graph-structured data which can be beneficial for both the unsupervised learning and supervised learning of the graphs. Although topic models have proved to be very successful in discovering latent topics, the standard topic models cannot be directly applied to graph-structured data due to the "bag-of-word" assumption. In this paper, an innovative graph topic model (GTM) is proposed to address this issue, which uses Bernoulli distributions to model the edges between nodes in a graph. It can, therefore, make the edges in a graph contribute to latent topic discovery and further improve the accuracy of the supervised and unsupervised learning of graphs. The experimental results on two different types of graph datasets show that the proposed GTM outperforms the latent Dirichlet allocation on classification by using the unveiled topics of these two models to represent graphs.

Comparison of efficacy of silicone gel, silicone gel sheeting, and topical onion extract including heparin and allantoin for the treatment of postburn hypertrophic scars.

PubMed

Karagoz, Huseyin; Yuksel, Fuat; Ulkur, Ersin; Evinc, Rahmi

2009-12-01

We compared the efficacy of silicone gel (Scarfade), silicone gel sheet (Epi-Derm), and topical onion extract including heparin and allantoin (Contractubex) for the treatment of hypertrophic scars. Forty-five postburn scars were included in the study. Patients with scars less than 6 months from injury were assigned at random to three groups each containing 15 scars, and their treatment was continued for 6 months. Scars were treated with Scarfade, Epiderm and Contractubex. Scar assessment was performed at the beginning of the treatment, and at the end of the sixth month when the treatment was completed by using the Vancouver scar scale. The difference between before and after treatment scores for each three groups was statistically significant. The difference between Scarfade group and Epi-Derm group was not significant; however, the differences of the other groups (Scarfade-Contractubex, Epiderm-Contractubex) were significant. Silicone products, either in gel or sheet, are superior to Contractubex in the treatment of the hypertrophic scar. The therapist should select the most appropriate agent according to the patient's need and guidelines of these signs.

Improvement in likelihood to donate blood after being offered a topical anesthetic.

PubMed

Watanabe, Kyle M; Jay, Jeffrey; Alicto, Christopher; Yamamoto, Loren G

2011-02-01

While there are many reasons people choose not to donate blood, pain sustained during the venipuncture portion of the blood donation process is likely one deterrent to volunteer donation. The purpose of this study was to survey the improvement in likelihood of donation if participants were given the option of a topical anesthetic cream prior to venipuncture. Over a three month period 316 adults (convenience sample) completed a one page survey consisting of twelve questions pertaining to blood donation. Participants were asked about their likelihood of donating blood in the near future (No Possibility, Possible, Likely, Certain). They were then informed of the possibility of using a topical anesthetic cream prior to donation. Subsequently, their likelihood of donating blood was reassessed. Fifty (16%) subjects reported an increased likelihood of donating blood if offered a topical anesthetic (p〈0.0001). Of these respondents reporting an increase in donation likelihood, eleven improved by 2 or more likelihood categories. Amongst the 169 participants who never donated blood, 34 (20%) reported an increased likelihood of donation after being told about the topical anesthetic cream, compared to 16 (10%) of the 147 subjects who had previously donated blood (p=0.02). The findings of this study suggest that providing a topical anesthetic had a positive effect on the study participants' likelihood of donating blood. This improvement was greater amongst those who have never donated blood. Hawaii Medical Journal Copyright 2011.

Future of the geoscience profession

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carleton, A.T.

1995-05-01

I want to discuss the future of the energy industry and the geoscience profession. That`s you and me. Is there a future for us? Will there be a need for petroleum? What will we use for energy in the future? Over the past several years, those of us in the energy business have witnessed remarkable changes in our industry and our profession. We must be able to change with the conditions if we are to survive them. To do so, some idea of what the future holds is essential. I will discuss what that future may be and will covermore » these topics: world population and energy demand, exploration and production outlook, environmental considerations, geoscience demographics, education, technology, and government. Much of the statistical data and some of the projections I will discuss have been taken from the report of AAPG`s 21st Century Committee, of which I was a member.« less

TOPICAL REVIEW: Advances and challenges in computational plasma science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, W. M.; Chan, V. S.

2005-02-01

Scientific simulation, which provides a natural bridge between theory and experiment, is an essential tool for understanding complex plasma behaviour. Recent advances in simulations of magnetically confined plasmas are reviewed in this paper, with illustrative examples, chosen from associated research areas such as microturbulence, magnetohydrodynamics and other topics. Progress has been stimulated, in particular, by the exponential growth of computer speed along with significant improvements in computer technology. The advances in both particle and fluid simulations of fine-scale turbulence and large-scale dynamics have produced increasingly good agreement between experimental observations and computational modelling. This was enabled by two key factors: (a) innovative advances in analytic and computational methods for developing reduced descriptions of physics phenomena spanning widely disparate temporal and spatial scales and (b) access to powerful new computational resources. Excellent progress has been made in developing codes for which computer run-time and problem-size scale well with the number of processors on massively parallel processors (MPPs). Examples include the effective usage of the full power of multi-teraflop (multi-trillion floating point computations per second) MPPs to produce three-dimensional, general geometry, nonlinear particle simulations that have accelerated advances in understanding the nature of turbulence self-regulation by zonal flows. These calculations, which typically utilized billions of particles for thousands of time-steps, would not have been possible without access to powerful present generation MPP computers and the associated diagnostic and visualization capabilities. In looking towards the future, the current results from advanced simulations provide great encouragement for being able to include increasingly realistic dynamics to enable deeper physics insights into plasmas in both natural and laboratory environments. This

Workshops of the Sixth International Brain–Computer Interface Meeting: brain–computer interfaces past, present, and future

PubMed Central

Huggins, Jane E.; Guger, Christoph; Ziat, Mounia; Zander, Thorsten O.; Taylor, Denise; Tangermann, Michael; Soria-Frisch, Aureli; Simeral, John; Scherer, Reinhold; Rupp, Rüdiger; Ruffini, Giulio; Robinson, Douglas K. R.; Ramsey, Nick F.; Nijholt, Anton; Müller-Putz, Gernot; McFarland, Dennis J.; Mattia, Donatella; Lance, Brent J.; Kindermans, Pieter-Jan; Iturrate, Iñaki; Herff, Christian; Gupta, Disha; Do, An H.; Collinger, Jennifer L.; Chavarriaga, Ricardo; Chase, Steven M.; Bleichner, Martin G.; Batista, Aaron; Anderson, Charles W.; Aarnoutse, Erik J.

2017-01-01

The Sixth International Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) Meeting was held 30 May–3 June 2016 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California, USA. The conference included 28 workshops covering topics in BCI and brain–machine interface research. Topics included BCI for specific populations or applications, advancing BCI research through use of specific signals or technological advances, and translational and commercial issues to bring both implanted and non-invasive BCIs to market. BCI research is growing and expanding in the breadth of its applications, the depth of knowledge it can produce, and the practical benefit it can provide both for those with physical impairments and the general public. Here we provide summaries of each workshop, illustrating the breadth and depth of BCI research and highlighting important issues and calls for action to support future research and development. PMID:29152523

Workshops of the Sixth International Brain-Computer Interface Meeting: brain-computer interfaces past, present, and future.

PubMed

Huggins, Jane E; Guger, Christoph; Ziat, Mounia; Zander, Thorsten O; Taylor, Denise; Tangermann, Michael; Soria-Frisch, Aureli; Simeral, John; Scherer, Reinhold; Rupp, Rüdiger; Ruffini, Giulio; Robinson, Douglas K R; Ramsey, Nick F; Nijholt, Anton; Müller-Putz, Gernot; McFarland, Dennis J; Mattia, Donatella; Lance, Brent J; Kindermans, Pieter-Jan; Iturrate, Iñaki; Herff, Christian; Gupta, Disha; Do, An H; Collinger, Jennifer L; Chavarriaga, Ricardo; Chase, Steven M; Bleichner, Martin G; Batista, Aaron; Anderson, Charles W; Aarnoutse, Erik J

2017-01-01

The Sixth International Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Meeting was held 30 May-3 June 2016 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California, USA. The conference included 28 workshops covering topics in BCI and brain-machine interface research. Topics included BCI for specific populations or applications, advancing BCI research through use of specific signals or technological advances, and translational and commercial issues to bring both implanted and non-invasive BCIs to market. BCI research is growing and expanding in the breadth of its applications, the depth of knowledge it can produce, and the practical benefit it can provide both for those with physical impairments and the general public. Here we provide summaries of each workshop, illustrating the breadth and depth of BCI research and highlighting important issues and calls for action to support future research and development.

User Participation and Participatory Design: Topics in Computing Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kautz, Karlheinz

1996-01-01

Discusses user participation and participatory design in the context of formal education for computing professionals. Topics include the current curriculum debate; mathematical- and engineering-based education; traditional system-development training; and an example of a course program that includes computers and society, and prototyping. (53…

Precocious puberty secondary to topical testosterone exposure.

PubMed

Franklin, Sherry Lynn; Geffner, Mitchell E

2003-01-01

We report a case of pronounced virilization, including marked penile and pubic hair growth, accelerated height velocity and skeletal maturation, and increased muscle mass in a 2.67 year-old boy resulting from presumed inadvertent, long-term exposure to a topical testosterone cream being used by his father.

Sea Changes. Topics in Marine Earth Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Awkerman, Gary L.

This publication is designed for use in standard science curricula to develop oceanologic manifestations of certain science topics. Included are teacher guides, student activities, and demonstrations designed to impart ocean science understanding to high school students. The principal theme of Changes in the Sea is presented in this particular…

Parent and Preschooler Newsletter: A Monthly Exploration of Early Childhood Topics, 2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolkoff, Sandra, Ed.; Schwartzberg, Neala S., Ed.

2003-01-01

This document consists of 10 monthly newsletter issues, in English- and Spanish-language versions, exploring topics related to early childhood behavior and parenting. Regularly appearing features include book recommendations, "Library Resources,""Preschoolers in the Kitchen,""Kids Crafts,""Research News," and "The Health Corner." Major topics of…

Topical anti-infective sinonasal irrigations: update and literature review.

PubMed

Lee, Jivianne T; Chiu, Alexander G

2014-01-01

Sinonasal anti-infective irrigations have emerged as a promising therapeutic modality in the comprehensive management of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), particularly in the context of recalcitrant disease. The purpose of this article was to delineate the current spectrum of topical anti-infective therapies available and evaluate their role in the treatment of CRS. A systematic literature review was performed on all studies investigating the use of topical antimicrobial solutions in the medical therapy of CRS. Anti-infective irrigations were stratified into topical antibacterial, antifungal, and additive preparations according to their composition and respective microbicidal properties. The use of topical antibiotic irrigations has been supported by low-level studies in the treatment of refractory CRS, with optimal results achieved in patients who have undergone prior functional endoscopic sinus surgery and received culture-directed therapy. Multiple evidence-based reviews have not established any clinical benefit with the administration of topical antifungals, and their use is not currently recommended in the management of routine CRS. Topical additives including surfactants may be beneficial as adjunctive treatment for recalcitrant CRS, but additional research is needed to investigate their efficacy in comparison with other agents and establish safety profiles. Topical anti-infective solutions are not recommended as first-line therapy for routine CRS but may be considered as a potential option for patients with refractory CRS who have failed traditional medical and surgical intervention. Additional research is necessary to determine which patient populations would derive the most benefit from each respective irrigation regimen and identify potential toxicities associated with prolonged use.

Fundamental biomechanics of the spine--What we have learned in the past 25 years and future directions.

PubMed

Oxland, Thomas R

2016-04-11

Since the publication of the 2nd edition of White and Panjabi׳s textbook, Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine in 1990, there has been considerable research on the biomechanics of the spine. The focus of this manuscript will be to review what we have learned in regards to the fundamentals of spine biomechanics. Topics addressed include the whole spine, the functional spinal unit, and the individual components of the spine (e.g. vertebra, intervertebral disc, spinal ligaments). In these broad categories, our understanding in 1990 is reviewed and the important knowledge or understanding gained through the subsequent 25 years of research is highlighted. Areas where our knowledge is lacking helps to identify promising topics for future research. In this manuscript, as in the White and Panjabi textbook, the emphasis is on experimental research using human material, either in vivo or in vitro. The insights gained from mathematical models and animal experimentation are included where other data are not available. This review is intended to celebrate the substantial gains that have been made in the field over these past 25 years and also to identify future research directions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prioritising public health guidance topics in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence using the Analytic Hierarchy Process.

PubMed

Reddy, B P; Kelly, M P; Thokala, P; Walters, S J; Duenas, A

2014-10-01

The Centre for Public Health (CPH), at the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for producing national guidance relating to the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of disease. Given the challenges of developing guidance in this area, choosing the most appropriate topics for further study is of fundamental importance. This paper explores the current prioritisation process and describes how the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA) technique, might be used to do so. A proposed approach is outlined, which was tested in a proof of concept pilot. This consisted of eight participants with experience of related NICE committees building scores for each topic together in a 'decision conference' setting. Criteria were identified and subsequently weighted to indicate the relative importance of each. Participants then collaboratively estimated the performance of each topic on each criterion. Total scores for each topic were calculated, which could be ranked and used as the basis for better informed discussion for prioritising topics to recommend to the Minister for future guidance. Sensitivity analyses of the dataset found it to be robust. Choosing the right topics for guidance at the earliest possible time is of fundamental importance to public health guidance, and judgement is likely to play an important part in doing so. MCDA techniques offer a potentially useful approach to structuring the problem in a rational and transparent way. NICE should consider carefully whether such an approach might be worth pursuing in the future.

Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines: A Workshop to Identify the Challenges and Set Future Directions. Revised

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DellaCorte, Chris; Pinkus, Oscar

2002-01-01

The following report represents a compendium of selected speaker presentation materials and observations made by Prof. O. Pinkus at the NASA/ASME/Industry sponsored workshop entitled "Tribological Limitations in Gas Turbine Engines" held on September 15-17, 1999 in Albany, New York. The impetus for the workshop came from the ASME's Research Committee on tribology whose goal is to explore new tribological research topics which may become future research opportunities. Since this subject is of current interest to other industrial and government entities the conference received cosponsorship as noted above. The conference was well attended by government, industrial, and academic participants. Topics discussed included current tribological issues in gas turbines as well as the potential impact (drawbacks and advantages) of future tribological technologies especially foil air bearings and magnetic bearings. It is hoped that this workshop report may serve as a starting point for continued discussions and activities in oil-free turbomachinery systems.

[Attitudes of alcoholics to addiction-related topics].

PubMed

Wetterling, T; Krömer-Olbrisch, T; Löw, R; Schneider, U

2001-11-01

In Germany the attitudes towards alcohol consumption and smoking are rather heterogeneous. Although it is well accepted that both behaviours are harmful and often lead to addiction, thus far the attitudes of alcoholics to addiction-related topics have not been evaluated. In this investigation 228 alcoholics were asked to complete a questionnaire of addiction-related topics. The attitudes were rather realistic, concerning the harmful effects of alcohol. The beliefs were only slightly influenced by personal involvement (e.g. divorce). Different opinions were given as to the riskiness of illegal drugs. The attitude towards the reasons of alcoholism are most important for therapeutical decisions. Only a third of the patients believed that they themselves were responsible for their addictive behaviour while nearly half accused socioeconomical factors. The curability of their alcoholism as well as their own competence to overcome alcoholism was estimated rather realistically by the patients. The results could not be generalized since the sample mainly consisted of alcoholics who themselves sought an alcohol-specific treatment service. Furthermore the data analysis shows that about 90 % of them regarded themselves as alcoholics. Future studies have to show whether these attitudes differ from those of the general population and from alcoholics not seeking-help.

The Future of African-Americans to the Year 2000. Summary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congressional Task Force on the Future of African-Americans, Washington, DC.

This summary report highlights the major features of a comprehensive analysis and forecast of the future of African-Americans. Section 1 discusses the future of the United States. Section 2, "The Past and Present," covers the following topics: (1) "Employment and Economic Development"; (2) "Health"; (3)…

Sub-Tenon's anaesthesia versus topical anaesthesia for cataract surgery.

PubMed

Guay, Joanne; Sales, Karl

2015-08-27

Local anaesthesia for cataract surgery can be provided by sub-Tenon's or topical anaesthesia. Both techniques offer possible advantages. This review, which originally was published in 2007 and was updated in 2014, was undertaken to compare these two anaesthetic techniques. Our objectives were to compare the effectiveness of topical anaesthesia (with or without intracameral local anaesthetic) versus sub-Tenon's anaesthesia in providing pain relief during cataract surgery. We reviewed pain during administration of anaesthesia, postoperative pain, surgical satisfaction with operating conditions and patient satisfaction with pain relief provided, and we looked at associated complications. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE and EMBASE (last search in November 2014) and the reference lists of published articles. We looked for conferences abstracts and trials in progress and placed no constraints on language or publication status. We included all randomized studies that compared sub-Tenon's anaesthesia versus topical anaesthesia for cataract surgery. We assessed trial quality and extracted data in the format allowing maximal data inclusion. We included eight studies in this updated review but could retain in the analysis only seven studies on 742 operated eyes of 617 participants. Two cross-over trials included 125 participants, and five parallel trials included 492 participants. These studies were published between 1997 and 2005. The mean age of participants varied from 71.5 years to 83.5 years. The female proportion of participants varied from 54% to 76%. Compared with sub-Tenon's anaesthesia, topical anaesthesia (with or without intracameral injection) for cataract surgery increases intraoperative pain but decreases postoperative pain at 24 hours. The amplitude of the effect (equivalent to 1.1 on a score from 0 to 10 for intraoperative pain, and to 0.2 on the same scale for postoperative pain at 24 hours), although statistically

Introduction to "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future, Volume II"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabinovich, Alexander B.; Fritz, Hermann M.; Tanioka, Yuichiro; Geist, Eric L.

2017-08-01

Twenty-two papers on the study of tsunamis are included in Volume II of the PAGEOPH topical issue "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future". Volume I of this topical issue was published as PAGEOPH, vol. 173, No. 12, 2016 (Eds., E. L. Geist, H. M. Fritz, A. B. Rabinovich, and Y. Tanioka). Three papers in Volume II focus on details of the 2011 and 2016 tsunami-generating earthquakes offshore of Tohoku, Japan. The next six papers describe important case studies and observations of recent and historical events. Four papers related to tsunami hazard assessment are followed by three papers on tsunami hydrodynamics and numerical modelling. Three papers discuss problems of tsunami warning and real-time forecasting. The final set of three papers importantly investigates tsunamis generated by non-seismic sources: volcanic explosions, landslides, and meteorological disturbances. Collectively, this volume highlights contemporary trends in global tsunami research, both fundamental and applied toward hazard assessment and mitigation.

A Content Analysis of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Topics in Multicultural Education Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jennings, Todd; Macgillivray, Ian K.

2011-01-01

This research examines the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) topics in 12 popular multicultural education textbooks. Following a line-by-line analysis of each textbook, the findings report the extent to which LGBT topics were included in each text and the themes that became apparent in how LGBT topics were treated. The…

'Hot Topics' in Astrophysics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maran, Stephen P.

2000-01-01

Three current topics in astrophysics are described here on the occasion of the joint meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Astronomical Society (Jan. 7-11, 2001, San Diego, Calif.). Many equally exciting topics--ranging from the dozens of newly discovered planets of sunlike stars to evidence suggesting that the expansion of the universe is accelerating--could have been chosen. The topics discussed are: (1) the habitability of Mars, (2) black holes, galaxy bulges, and the X-ray background, and (3) the greatest explosions since the Big Bang.

Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction - a Future Earth KAN initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frank, Dorothea; Reichstein, Markus

2017-04-01

The topic of Extreme Events in the context of global environmental change is both a scientifically challenging and exciting topic, and of very high societal relevance. The Future Earth Cluster initiative E3S organized in 2016 a cross-community/co-design workshop on Extreme Events and Environments from Climate to Society (http://www.e3s-future-earth.eu/index.php/ConferencesEvents/ConferencesAmpEvents). Based on the results, co-design research strategies and established network of the workshop, and previous activities, E3S is thriving to establish the basis for a longer-term research effort under the umbrella of Future Earth. These led to an initiative for a Future Earth Knowledge Action Network on Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction. Example initial key question in this context include: What are meaningful indices to describe and quantify impact-relevant (e.g. climate) extremes? Which system properties yield resistance and resilience to extreme conditions? What are the key interactions between global urbanization processes, extreme events, and social and infrastructure vulnerability and resilience? The long-term goal of this KAN is to contribute to enhancing the resistance, resilience, and adaptive capacity of socio-ecological systems across spatial, temporal and institutional scales, in particular in the light of hazards affected by ongoing environmental change (e.g. climate change, global urbanization and land use/land cover change). This can be achieved by enhanced understanding, prediction, improved and open data and knowledge bases for detection and early warning decision making, and by new insights on natural and societal conditions and governance for resilience and adaptive capacity.

Mental Mechanisms for Topics Identification

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Topics identification (TI) is the process that consists in determining the main themes present in natural language documents. The current TI modeling paradigm aims at acquiring semantic information from statistic properties of large text datasets. We investigate the mental mechanisms responsible for the identification of topics in a single document given existing knowledge. Our main hypothesis is that topics are the result of accumulated neural activation of loosely organized information stored in long-term memory (LTM). We experimentally tested our hypothesis with a computational model that simulates LTM activation. The model assumes activation decay as an unavoidable phenomenon originating from the bioelectric nature of neural systems. Since decay should negatively affect the quality of topics, the model predicts the presence of short-term memory (STM) to keep the focus of attention on a few words, with the expected outcome of restoring quality to a baseline level. Our experiments measured topics quality of over 300 documents with various decay rates and STM capacity. Our results showed that accumulated activation of loosely organized information was an effective mental computational commodity to identify topics. It was furthermore confirmed that rapid decay is detrimental to topics quality but that limited capacity STM restores quality to a baseline level, even exceeding it slightly. PMID:24744775

The Future of Nearshore Processes Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elko, N.; Feddersen, F.; Foster, D. L.; Holman, R. A.; McNinch, J.; Ozkan-Haller, H. T.; Plant, N. G.; Raubenheimer, B.; Elgar, S.; Hay, A. E.; Holland, K. T.; Kirby, J. T., Jr.; Lippmann, T. C.; Miller, J. K.; Stockdon, H. F.; Ashton, A. D.; Boehm, A. B.; Clark, D.; Cowen, E.; Dalyander, S.; Gelfenbaum, G. R.; Hapke, C. J.; MacMahan, J.; McNamara, D.; Mulligan, R. P.; Palmsten, M. L.; Ruggiero, P.; Sherwood, C. R.; Hsu, T. J.

2014-12-01

Over 70 members of the nearshore coastal processes research community convened in April 2014 to discuss a vision for the future of nearshore science while celebrating the memories and contributions of our recently departed colleague, Abby Sallenger. The participants reviewed community accomplishments over the past four decades. Federal agencies, including FEMA, NOAA, NPS, USGS, USACE, and NRL discussed the most pressing societal needs within the coastal zone. The group engaged in a retrospective of the last four decades of progress, assessed the current status and limitations of nearshore processes research, and developed a vision for the future that focuses on societally relevant problems. The top research topics identified included: Long-term Coastal Impacts: Meaningfully improve our understanding and prediction of the long-term coastal effects of sea level rise and changes in storminess patterns and associated efforts to protect coastal infrastructure. Extreme Events: Coastal flooding, overland flow, and concurrent morphological evolution during extreme events including the subsequent process of coastal recovery. Human and Ecosystem Health: Linkages between physical coastal processes (transport and mixing) and land-based pollution (pathogens, nutrients, toxic contaminants). Critical for addressing these research questions is enabling infrastructure, such as new observational tools and data sets, models, and nearshore-community communication and collaboration. Idea and concepts developed during the meeting (to be published in Shore and Beach) will be presented to foster collaboration and advocacy amongst the wider nearshore community. Meeting materials are available at: https://scripps.ucsd.edu/centers/nearshorefuture/.

Strategic issues for managing the future physician workforce.

PubMed

Kindig, D A

1996-01-01

Physician workforce issues were among the most hotly debated components of the recent national health care reform effort. What are the United States' goals for its physician workforce? Will market forces be adequate to achieve these goals, or will regulatory intervention be needed? This chapter provides public and private policymakers with a framework for arriving at reasonable conclusions about this important subcomponent of national health policy. Physician supply and requirements are discussed first. A picture of the current U.S. physician workforce is presented, together with details of its size and the physician-to-population ratio. Future growth of the physician workforce is projected, and future requirements are discussed along with the potential for both surpluses and shortages in some areas. Graduate medical education, a crucial topic in this discussion, is covered. The issue of substitution of nonphysician providers for physicians is considered next, with special attention paid to the capabilities of nonphysician providers in performing certain tasks, as well as the productivity and cost-effectiveness questions involved. While the physician supply in the United States may be adequate overall, gaps in service and problems with access to services persist in many rural and inner-city areas. The geographic distribution of the physician workforce and the balance of subspecialists and generalists are addressed. Other topics of discussion include the need for greater minority representation in the physician workforce and the evolving role of the physician executive. Finally, this chapter ends with a wrap-up of policy considerations and themes central to the new delivery system of the twenty-first century. These themes include market forces versus regulation, cost containment and workforce cost-effectiveness, the global role of the United States, and nonfinancial barriers to access to care, as well as the impact of technology and the role of physician scientists.

Delphi survey to identify topics to be addressed at the initial follow-up consultation after oesophageal cancer surgery.

PubMed

Jacobs, M; Henselmans, I; Macefield, R C; Blencowe, N S; Smets, E M A; de Haes, J C J M; Sprangers, M A G; Blazeby, J M; van Berge Henegouwen, M I

2014-12-01

There is no consensus among patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) on the topics that need to be addressed after oesophageal cancer surgery. The aim of this study was to identify these topics, using a two-round Delphi survey. In round 1, patients and HCPs (surgeons, dieticians, nurses) were invited to rate the importance of 49 topics. The proportion of panellists that considered a topic to be of low, moderate or high importance was then calculated for each of these two groups. Based on these proportions and the i.q.r., topics were categorized as: 'consensus to be included', 'consensus to be excluded' and 'no consensus'. Only topics in the first category were included in the second round. In round 2, panellists were provided with individual and group feedback. To be included in the final list, topics had to meet criteria for consensus and stability. There were 108 patients and 77 HCPs in the round 2 analyses. In general, patients and HCPs considered the same topics important. The final list included 23 topics and revealed that it was most important to address: cancer removed/lymph nodes, the new oesophagus, eating and drinking, surgery, alarming new complaints and the recovery period. The study provides surgeons with a list of topics selected by patients and HCPs that may be addressed systematically at the initial follow-up consultation after oesophageal cancer surgery. © 2014 BJS Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Correlated Topic Vector for Scene Classification.

PubMed

Wei, Pengxu; Qin, Fei; Wan, Fang; Zhu, Yi; Jiao, Jianbin; Ye, Qixiang

2017-07-01

Scene images usually involve semantic correlations, particularly when considering large-scale image data sets. This paper proposes a novel generative image representation, correlated topic vector, to model such semantic correlations. Oriented from the correlated topic model, correlated topic vector intends to naturally utilize the correlations among topics, which are seldom considered in the conventional feature encoding, e.g., Fisher vector, but do exist in scene images. It is expected that the involvement of correlations can increase the discriminative capability of the learned generative model and consequently improve the recognition accuracy. Incorporated with the Fisher kernel method, correlated topic vector inherits the advantages of Fisher vector. The contributions to the topics of visual words have been further employed by incorporating the Fisher kernel framework to indicate the differences among scenes. Combined with the deep convolutional neural network (CNN) features and Gibbs sampling solution, correlated topic vector shows great potential when processing large-scale and complex scene image data sets. Experiments on two scene image data sets demonstrate that correlated topic vector improves significantly the deep CNN features, and outperforms existing Fisher kernel-based features.

[Cataract surgery under topical anesthesia with oral anticoagulants].

PubMed

Wirbelauer, C; Weller, A; Häberle, H; Pham, D T

2004-09-01

Approximately 14 % of cataract surgery patients receive blood-thinning agents. In a prospective study, the influence of oral anticoagulants on intraoperative and postoperative hemorrhages in patients undergoing cataract surgery in topical anesthesia was investigated. 128 patients presenting for cataract surgery under oral anticoagulation were included. The mean preoperative prothrombin time was 39 +/- 18 %. Most patients (81 %) continued their oral anticoagulation (prothrombin time 34 +/- 13 %). All surgeries were performed in topical anesthesia. In 9 patients (7 %) an ocular hemorrhagic event was observed. These were not sight-threatening and resorbed spontaneously within a few days. Only one patient (0.8 %) had a slight hemorrhage in the anterior chamber. There were no differences (P > 0.05) between patients with or without hemorrhagic complications in the postoperative visual acuity, the intraocular pressure, the prothrombin time or the discontinuation of oral anticoagulants. Cataract surgery in topical anesthesia under oral anticoagulation did not increase the risk of sight-threatening hemorrhages. The continuation of oral anticoagulation seems particularly indicated for ambulatory cataract surgery.

The APRU Global Health Program: Past and Future.

PubMed

Samet, Jonathan; Withers, Mellissa

2016-01-01

The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is an international consortium of 45 universities in the Pacific Rim, representing 16 economies, 130 000 faculty members and more than two million students. The APRU Global Health Program aims to expand existing collaborative research efforts among universities to address regional and global health issues. Since its launch in 2007-08, the program has covered a significant range of topics including emerging public health threats, ageing and chronic diseases, infectious diseases and health security issues, among others. The Program's activities in research, training, and service around the globe illustrate the diverse dimensions of global health. In this paper, the major activities to date are outlined and future planned activities are discussed.

Something to talk about: Topics of conversation between romantic partners during military deployments.

PubMed

Carter, Sarah P; Osborne, Laura J; Renshaw, Keith D; Allen, Elizabeth S; Loew, Benjamin A; Markman, Howard J; Stanley, Scott M

2018-02-01

Long-distance communication has been frequently identified as essential to military couples trying to maintain their relationship during a deployment. Little quantitative research, however, has assessed the types of topics discussed during such communication and how those topics relate to overall relationship satisfaction. The current study draws on a sample of 56 Army couples who provided data through online surveys while the service member was actively deployed. These couples provided information on current marital satisfaction, topics discussed during deployment (problem talk, friendship talk, love talk), and how they communicated via synchronous media (e.g., phone calls, video calls) and letters during deployment. Nonparametric Friedman tests followed by paired t tests revealed that synchronous communication was primarily utilized for friendship talk, whereas letters included friendship talk and love talk in similar amounts. Both synchronous communication and letters included less problem talk than other topics. In mixed-level modeling, only topics of communication for synchronous media (not for letters) were related to relationship satisfaction. Love talk via synchronous media was related to higher relationship satisfaction, whereas problem talk via synchronous media was related to less relationship satisfaction. The current study offers the first quantitative assessment of topics within deployment communication media and associations with relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Special Topics Courses - A Happy Medium between Mini-Courses and Full-Coverage Courses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, John R.; And Others

1979-01-01

Describes a special topics program which allows students some choice in content to be studied. Topics include Continental Drift and Ice Ages, Geology and National Parks, the Coast of South Carolina, and Medical Geology. Student evaluations indicate positive attitudes towards the program. (MA)

Entering the Interaction Age: Implementing a Future Vision for Campus Learning Spaces...Today

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milne, Andrew J.

2007-01-01

Learning space design for higher education has become a popular topic of discussion as institutions attempt to chart a course for the future of their campuses. Several authors in EDUCAUSE publications have forecast the future for such spaces, a future infused with new and sometimes exotic-sounding technologies. Indeed, some discussions in the…

Topical antimicrobial agents for treating foot ulcers in people with diabetes.

PubMed

Dumville, Jo C; Lipsky, Benjamin A; Hoey, Christopher; Cruciani, Mario; Fiscon, Marta; Xia, Jun

2017-06-14

People with diabetes are at high risk for developing foot ulcers, which often become infected. These wounds, especially when infected, cause substantial morbidity. Wound treatments should aim to alleviate symptoms, promote healing, and avoid adverse outcomes, especially lower extremity amputation. Topical antimicrobial therapy has been used on diabetic foot ulcers, either as a treatment for clinically infected wounds, or to prevent infection in clinically uninfected wounds. To evaluate the effects of treatment with topical antimicrobial agents on: the resolution of signs and symptoms of infection; the healing of infected diabetic foot ulcers; and preventing infection and improving healing in clinically uninfected diabetic foot ulcers. We searched the Cochrane Wounds Specialised Register, CENTRAL, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations), Ovid Embase, and EBSCO CINAHL Plus in August 2016. We also searched clinical trials registries for ongoing and unpublished studies, and checked reference lists to identify additional studies. We used no restrictions with respect to language, date of publication, or study setting. We included randomised controlled trials conducted in any setting (inpatient or outpatient) that evaluated topical treatment with any type of solid or liquid (e.g., cream, gel, ointment) antimicrobial agent, including antiseptics, antibiotics, and antimicrobial dressings, in people with diabetes mellitus who were diagnosed with an ulcer or open wound of the foot, whether clinically infected or uninfected. Two review authors independently performed study selection, 'Risk of bias' assessment, and data extraction. Initial disagreements were resolved by discussion, or by including a third review author when necessary. We found 22 trials that met our inclusion criteria with a total of over 2310 participants (one study did not report number of participants). The included studies mostly had small numbers of participants (from 4 to 317

Caregivers who refuse preventive care for their children: the relationship between immunization and topical fluoride refusal.

PubMed

Chi, Donald L

2014-07-01

The aim of this study was to examine caregivers' refusal of preventive medical and dental care for children. Prevalence rates of topical fluoride refusal based on dental records and caregiver self-reports were estimated for children treated in 3 dental clinics in Washington State. A 60-item survey was administered to 1024 caregivers to evaluate the association between immunization and topical fluoride refusal. Modified Poisson regression models were used to estimate prevalence rate ratios (PRRs). The prevalence of topical fluoride refusal was 4.9% according to dental records and 12.7% according to caregiver self-reports. The rate of immunization refusal was 27.4%. In the regression models, immunization refusal was significantly associated with topical fluoride refusal (dental record PRR = 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32, 1.96; P < .001; caregiver self-report PRR = 6.20; 95% CI = 3.21, 11.98; P < .001). Caregivers younger than 35 years were significantly more likely than older caregivers to refuse both immunizations and topical fluoride (P < .05). Caregiver refusal of immunizations is associated with topical fluoride refusal. Future research should identify the behavioral and social factors related to caregiver refusal of preventive care with the goal of developing multidisciplinary strategies to help caregivers make optimal preventive care decisions for children.

Topical methotrexate pretreatment enhances the therapeutic effect of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy on hamster buccal pouch precancers.

PubMed

Yang, Deng-Fu; Lee, Jeng-Woei; Chen, Hsin-Ming; Hsu, Yih-Chih

2014-09-01

Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) is effective for treatment of human oral precancerous lesions. This animal study aimed to assess whether topical methotrexate (MTX) pretreatment could enhance the therapeutic effect of topical ALA-PDT on hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions. Twenty hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions were treated with either topical ALA-PDT with topical MTX pretreatment (topical MTX-ALA-PDT group, n = 10) or topical ALA-PDT alone (topical ALA-PDT group, n = 10). The intracellular protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) level in another 12 precancerous lesions (n = 6 for either the topical MTX-ALA or topical ALA group) was monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy. The intracellular PpIX reached its peak level in precancerous lesions 6.5 hours and 2.5 hours after topical ALA application for the topical MTX-ALA group (5.63-fold higher in the lesion than in the normal mucosa) and topical ALA group (2.42-fold higher in the lesion than in the normal mucosa), respectively. The complete response rate of precancerous lesions was 80% for the topical MTX-ALA-PDT group and 70% for the topical ALA-PDT group. In addition, the topical MTX-ALA-PDT group required a significantly lower mean treatment number (2.1 ± 0.6) to achieve complete response than the topical ALA-PDT group (4.4 ± 1.3, p < 0.001)). Moreover, the topical MTX-ALA-PDT group had a lower recurrence rate (12.5%) than the topical ALA-PDT group (28.6%). We conclude that topical MTX-pretreatment can increase intracellular PpIX production in hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions and significantly improves the outcomes of the precancerous lesions treated with topical ALA-PDT. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Topical treatment of psoriasis: questionnaire results on topical therapy accessibility and influence of body surface area on usage.

PubMed

Iversen, L; Lange, M M; Bissonette, R; Carvalho, A V E; van de Kerkhof, P C; Kirby, B; Kleyn, C E; Lynde, C W; van der Walt, J M; Wu, J J

2017-07-01

Topical treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis is first-line treatment and exhibits varying degrees of success across patient groups. Key factors influencing treatment success are physician topical treatment choice (high efficacy, low adverse events) and strict patient adherence. Currently, no formalized, international consensus guidelines exist to direct optimal topical treatment, although many countries have national guidelines. To describe and analyse cross-regional variations in the use and access of psoriasis topical therapies. The study was conducted as an observational cross-sectional study. A survey was distributed to dermatologists from the International Psoriasis Council (IPC) to assess topical therapy accessibility in 26 countries and to understand how body surface area (BSA) categories guide clinical decisions on topical use. Variation in the availability of tars, topical retinoids, dithranol and balneotherapy was reported. The vast majority of respondents (100% and 88.4%) used topical therapy as first-line monotherapy in situations with BSA < 3% and BSA between 3% and 10%, respectively. However, with disease severity increasing to BSA > 10%, the number of respondents who prescribe topical therapy decreased considerably. In addition, combination therapy of a topical drug and a systemic drug was frequently reported when BSA measured >10%. This physician survey provides new evidence on topical access and the influence of disease severity on topical usage in an effort to improve treatment strategies on a global level. © 2017 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Topical anaesthesia for needle-related pain in newborn infants.

PubMed

Foster, Jann P; Taylor, Christine; Spence, Kaye

2017-02-04

Hospitalised newborn neonates frequently undergo painful invasive procedures that involve penetration of the skin and other tissues by a needle. One intervention that can be used prior to a needle insertion procedure is application of a topical local anaesthetic. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical anaesthetics such as amethocaine and EMLA in newborn term or preterm infants requiring an invasive procedure involving puncture of skin and other tissues with a needle. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase and CINAHL up to 15 May 2016; previous reviews including cross-references, abstracts, and conference proceedings. We contacted expert informants. We contacted authors directly to obtain additional data. We imposed no language restrictions. Randomised, quasi-randomised controlled trials, and cluster and cross-over randomised trials that compared the topical anaesthetics amethocaine and eutectic mixture of local anaesthetics (EMLA) in terms of anaesthetic efficacy and safety in newborn term or preterm infants requiring an invasive procedure involving puncture of skin and other tissues with a needle DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: From the reports of the clinical trials we extracted data regarding clinical outcomes including pain, number of infants with methaemoglobin level 5% and above, number of needle prick attempts prior to successful needle-related procedure, crying, time taken to complete the procedure, episodes of apnoea, episodes of bradycardia, episodes of oxygen desaturation, neurodevelopmental disability and other adverse events. Eight small randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria (n = 506). These studies compared either EMLA and placebo or amethocaine and placebo. No studies compared EMLA and amethocaine. We were unable to meta-analyse the outcome of pain due to differing outcome measures and methods of reporting. For EMLA, two individual studies reported a statistically significant

Comparison of the stability of topical isotretinoin and topical tretinoin and their efficacy in acne.

PubMed

Elbaum, D J

1988-09-01

After 4 hours of exposure to incandescent light, 80% of 0.05% topical isotretinoin and 60% of 0.05% topical tretinoin preparations remained in their original form. In contrast, after 2 hours of exposure to fluorescent light only 25% of topical tretinoin and possibly 60% of topical isotretinoin remained in their original forms. Longer exposure to fluorescent light did not result in further breakdown, and the final breakdown of both preparations was similar. A 12-week, double-blind clinical trial comparing isotretinoin (0.05%) with tretinoin (0.05%) applied topically to patients with moderate acne was carried out. Both preparations caused significant reductions in papules and pustules. However, neither treatment was significantly superior to the other in the reduction of acne lesions. This may be because both preparations are rapidly broken down to similar products when exposed to fluorescent light.

Dressings and topical agents for preventing pressure ulcers.

PubMed

Moore, Zena E H; Webster, Joan

2013-08-18

Pressure ulcers, which are localised injury to the skin, or underlying tissue or both, occur when people are unable to reposition themselves to relieve pressure on bony prominences. Pressure ulcers are often difficult to heal, painful and impact negatively on the individual's quality of life. The cost implications of pressure ulcer treatment are considerable, compounding the challenges in providing cost effective, efficient health services. Efforts to prevent the development of pressure ulcers have focused on nutritional support, pressure redistributing devices, turning regimes and the application of various topical agents and dressings designed to maintain healthy skin, relieve pressure and prevent shearing forces. Although products aimed at preventing pressure ulcers are widely used, it remains unclear which, if any, of these approaches are effective in preventing the development of pressure ulcers. To evaluate the effects of dressings and topical agents on the prevention of pressure ulcers, in people of any age without existing pressure ulcers, but considered to be at risk of developing a pressure ulcer, in any healthcare setting. In February 2013 we searched the following electronic databases to identify reports of relevant randomised clinical trials (RCTs): the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library); Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (The Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations); Ovid EMBASE; and EBSCO CINAHL. We included RCTs evaluating the use of dressings, topical agents, or topical agents with dressings, compared with a different dressing, topical agent, or combined topical agent and dressing, or no intervention or standard care, with the aim of preventing the development of a pressure ulcer. We assessed trials for their appropriateness for inclusion and for their risk of bias. This was done by two review

On the Topical Structure of Medical Charts

PubMed Central

Archbold, Armar A.; Evans, David A.

1989-01-01

In a study of 55 H&P sections of hospital charts, we tested the hypothesis that topic-sub-topic sequencing is sufficiently regular to provide ‘missing’ information in the construction of explicit propositions from elliptical text. ‘Propositions’ were taken to be frames with the slots topic, sub-topic, method, site, attribute, value, and qualifier. Topic was identifiable in 96% of all cases; attribute-value pairs were uniquely recoverable from topics in 69% of all cases; site was co-determined by topic, method, and attribute. Our results suggest that uncertainties in the automated processing of H&P statements can be overcome by appealing to knowledge about the topical structure of medical charts.

The future of hydrogeology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Voss, Clifford I.

2005-01-01

“The Future of Hydrogeology” would seem to be an overly ambitious topic for a theme issue of Hydrogeology Journal or for any other journal. Only a modicum of common sense and experience provides the insight that predicting the future of a science is a task fraught with uncertainty that should be approached with caution and humility. Please be assured that the intent of this issue of the journal is not to predict the future but rather to instigate discussion and to inspire creative thinking about hydrogeology. In their articles, authors have presented personal opinions concerning the future evolution of their subjects based on their experience. This is an acceptable approach, considering that any view of the future can be no more than an educated guess. Most authors have given their opinion after an expert and insightful review of the evolution of their subject to the present time or after reviewing the current state of knowledge or practice of their subject. Consequently, this issue of the Hydrogeology Journal provides an exciting view of potential developments in crucial aspects of hydrogeology founded upon developments to date.

A proposal for including nomophobia in the new DSM-V

PubMed Central

Bragazzi, Nicola Luigi; Del Puente, Giovanni

2014-01-01

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is considered to be the gold standard manual for assessing the psychiatric diseases and is currently in its fourth version (DSM-IV), while a fifth (DSM-V) has just been released in May 2013. The DSM-V Anxiety Work Group has put forward recommendations to modify the criteria for diagnosing specific phobias. In this manuscript, we propose to consider the inclusion of nomophobia in the DSM-V, and we make a comprehensive overview of the existing literature, discussing the clinical relevance of this pathology, its epidemiological features, the available psychometric scales, and the proposed treatment. Even though nomophobia has not been included in the DSM-V, much more attention is paid to the psychopathological effects of the new media, and the interest in this topic will increase in the near future, together with the attention and caution not to hypercodify as pathological normal behaviors. PMID:24876797

A proposal for including nomophobia in the new DSM-V.

PubMed

Bragazzi, Nicola Luigi; Del Puente, Giovanni

2014-01-01

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is considered to be the gold standard manual for assessing the psychiatric diseases and is currently in its fourth version (DSM-IV), while a fifth (DSM-V) has just been released in May 2013. The DSM-V Anxiety Work Group has put forward recommendations to modify the criteria for diagnosing specific phobias. In this manuscript, we propose to consider the inclusion of nomophobia in the DSM-V, and we make a comprehensive overview of the existing literature, discussing the clinical relevance of this pathology, its epidemiological features, the available psychometric scales, and the proposed treatment. Even though nomophobia has not been included in the DSM-V, much more attention is paid to the psychopathological effects of the new media, and the interest in this topic will increase in the near future, together with the attention and caution not to hypercodify as pathological normal behaviors.

People, Law, and the Futures Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franks, Betty Barclay; Howard, Mary Kay

The technology being developed today will create an extensive array of new legal problems for the citizens of the future. This booklet outlines a study unit designed to introduce today's students to these problems and to the factors that will have to be considered in their solution. The course is organized around five topics: the changing nature…

On the Presentation of Pre-Calculus and Calculus Topics: An Alternate View

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davydov, Aleksandr; Sturm-Beiss, Rachel

2008-01-01

The orders of presentation of pre-calculus and calculus topics, and the notation used, deserve careful study as they affect clarity and ultimately students' level of understanding. We introduce an alternate approach to some of the topics included in this sequence. The suggested alternative is based on years of teaching in colleges within and…

A Content Analysis Exploring Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Topics in Foundations of Education Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macgillivray, Ian K.; Jennings, Todd

2008-01-01

This research analyzed the most widely used foundations of education textbooks for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) content. Because foundations of education coursework routinely introduces other diversity topics in education, the authors hold it is a good place to introduce LGBT topics. The ways in which LGBT topics are included in…

Tender Topics: Exploring Sensitive Issues with Pre-K through First Grade Children through Read-Alouds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mankiw, Sue; Strasser, Janis

2013-01-01

The topics including bullying, family diversity, homelessness, disabilities, and incarceration are often referred to as "tender topics." They can be difficult for teachers to explain to or discuss with children. In their work with children, families, and teachers, the authors have seen that it is not necessarily the topic that makes conversations…

Recent advances in topical anesthesia

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Topical anesthetics act on the peripheral nerves and reduce the sensation of pain at the site of application. In dentistry, they are used to control local pain caused by needling, placement of orthodontic bands, the vomiting reflex, oral mucositis, and rubber-dam clamp placement. Traditional topical anesthetics contain lidocaine or benzocaine as active ingredients and are used in the form of solutions, creams, gels, and sprays. Eutectic mixtures of local anesthesia cream, a mixture of various topical anesthetics, has been reported to be more potent than other anesthetics. Recently, new products with modified ingredients and application methods have been introduced into the market. These products may be used for mild pain during periodontal treatment, such as scaling. Dentists should be aware that topical anesthetics, although rare, might induce allergic reactions or side effects as a result of an overdose. Topical anesthetics are useful aids during dental treatment, as they reduce dental phobia, especially in children, by mitigating discomfort and pain. PMID:28879311

Discriminative Relational Topic Models.

PubMed

Chen, Ning; Zhu, Jun; Xia, Fei; Zhang, Bo

2015-05-01

Relational topic models (RTMs) provide a probabilistic generative process to describe both the link structure and document contents for document networks, and they have shown promise on predicting network structures and discovering latent topic representations. However, existing RTMs have limitations in both the restricted model expressiveness and incapability of dealing with imbalanced network data. To expand the scope and improve the inference accuracy of RTMs, this paper presents three extensions: 1) unlike the common link likelihood with a diagonal weight matrix that allows the-same-topic interactions only, we generalize it to use a full weight matrix that captures all pairwise topic interactions and is applicable to asymmetric networks; 2) instead of doing standard Bayesian inference, we perform regularized Bayesian inference (RegBayes) with a regularization parameter to deal with the imbalanced link structure issue in real networks and improve the discriminative ability of learned latent representations; and 3) instead of doing variational approximation with strict mean-field assumptions, we present collapsed Gibbs sampling algorithms for the generalized relational topic models by exploring data augmentation without making restricting assumptions. Under the generic RegBayes framework, we carefully investigate two popular discriminative loss functions, namely, the logistic log-loss and the max-margin hinge loss. Experimental results on several real network datasets demonstrate the significance of these extensions on improving prediction performance.

Topical glycopyrrolate reduces axillary hyperhidrosis.

PubMed

Baker, D M

2016-12-01

Oral anti-cholinergic medications reduce generalized hyperhidrosis, but the effectiveness of topical anticholinergic solutions on axillary hyperhidrosis is unclear. This study determines the initial effectiveness of 1% and 2% topical glycopyrrolate spray and compares this with Botulinum toxin type A injections for the management of axillary hyperhidrosis. In a non-randomized, consecutive patient, prospective questionnaire, treatment comparison study, 40 patients with axillary hyperhidrosis were allocated to one of four study groups (10 patients to each group): (a) 1% glycopyrrolate spray, (b) 2% glycopyrrolate spray, (c) subcutaneous Botulinum toxin type A injections, (d) no treatment. Clinical outcomes were measured by comparing a prospectively administered questionnaire, completed both pre-treatment and 6 weeks after starting treatment. Forty healthy volunteers without axillary hyperhidrosis completed the same questionnaire. The three treatment groups showed a significant (P < 0.05) improvement in their hyperhidrosis scores following treatment. The degree of improvement was less for the 1% glycopyrrolate group when compared with the Botulinum toxin type A group (P < 0.05), but there was no difference in treatment outcomes between the 2% glycopyrrolate and Botulinum toxin type A groups. No treatment group experienced reduced hyperhidrosis to a level similar to those without hyperhidrosis. Patients in both, the 2% glycopyrrolate and Botulinum toxin type A groups reported a significant improvement in axillary hyperhidrosis symptoms. These included reduction in psychologically precipitating factors (e.g. public speaking) and axillary hyperhidrosis-specific physical effects (e.g. limitation of clothing choice). Topical glycopyrrolate spray could provide a further treatment modality to manage axillary hyperhidrosis. © 2016 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Evaluation of a short-term topical interferon α-2b treatment for histologically proven melanoma and primary acquired melanosis with atypia.

PubMed

Garip, Aylin; Schaumberger, Markus M; Wolf, Armin; Herold, Tina R; Miller, Christina V; Klingenstein, Annemarie; Schebitz-Walter, Kirsten; Hintschich, Christoph R

2016-01-01

To evaluate the efficiency of series of 6-week treatments with brief intervals (6-week = 1 cycle) of topical Interferon α-2b (IFNα-2b) treatment in primary acquired melanosis (PAM) with atypia and melanoma of the conjunctiva. Five patients with biopsy-proven PAM with atypia and seven patients with melanoma of the conjunctiva, treated with topical IFNα-2b (1 million units/ml, 5 times daily), were included in the study. All patients had colour photographs and the tumour area was measured manually for each patient before and after treatment. The median age of 12 patients at initiation of treatment was 61.5 years (range 39-75 years). The mean therapy duration was 2.4 cycles (range 1-6 cycle). Compared to pretreatment lesion dimension, the mean decrease in tumour size were after the first cycle 66% (range 18-98%; p = 0.004; n = 10 patients), after the second cycle 55% (range 10-100%; p = 0.016; n = 7 patients), and after the third cycle 74% (range 23-100%; n = 3 patients). In one patient 6 cycles of topical IFNα-2b were needed. The decrease in size was 22% after the 4(th) cycle, 34% after the 5(th) cycle, and 98% after the 6(th) cycle. Our clinical experience demonstrates promising results of topical IFNα-2b treatment for PAM with atypia and melanoma of the conjunctiva without any local or systemic side effects. However, future multicenter prospective studies are recommended to confirm the efficiency and safety of topical IFNα-2b treatment.

No-anesthesia clear corneal phacoemulsification versus topical and topical plus intracameral anesthesia. Randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Pandey, S K; Werner, L; Apple, D J; Agarwal, A; Agarwal, A; Agarwal, S

2001-10-01

To compare the intraoperative pain scores during clear corneal phacoemulsification under no anesthesia, topical anesthesia, and topical plus intracameral anesthesia. Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital and Eye Research Center, Chennai, India. Seventy-five patients were randomized to have phacoemulsification under no anesthesia, topical anesthesia, or topical plus intracameral anesthesia. Uncooperative or illiterate patients and those with hard cataract, a shallow anterior chamber, or small pupils were excluded. A protocol was established for supplemental anesthesia in case of breakthrough pain during the surgery. Each patient was asked to grade the overall severity of intraoperative pain immediately after surgery on a 10-point visual analog scale. Also evaluated were the general discomfort during surgery, discomfort from the microscope lights, surgeon stress during surgery, and total surgical time. Comparison among the 3 groups was performed using an analysis of variance. No supplemental anesthesia was required in any group. No significant difference was noted in the mean scores of the subjective sensation of pain with or without topical anesthesia (P =.610). The mean scores of patient discomfort from the microscope lights and surgical time were also statistically insignificant. Patient discomfort and surgeon stress during surgery were significantly greater in the no-anesthesia group than in the topical and topical plus intracameral groups (P =.0235 and P = 0.0206, respectively). No-anesthesia clear corneal phacoemulsification was performed by a highly experienced, skilled surgeon without causing an unacceptable level of pain. However, this technique is not suitable for every cataract surgeon or patient.

Problematic topic transitions in dysarthric conversation.

PubMed

Bloch, Steven; Saldert, Charlotta; Ferm, Ulrika

2015-01-01

This study examined the nature of topic transition problems associated with acquired progressive dysarthric speech in the everyday conversation of people with motor neurone disease. Using conversation analytic methods, a video collection of five naturally occurring problematic topic transitions was identified, transcribed and analysed. These were extracted from a main collection of over 200 other-initiated repair sequences and a sub-set of 15 problematic topic transition sequences. The sequences were analysed with reference to how the participants both identified and resolved the problems. Analysis revealed that topic transition by people with dysarthria can prove problematic. Conversation partners may find transitions problematic not only because of speech intelligibility but also because of a sequential disjuncture between the dysarthric speech turn and whatever topic has come prior. In addition the treatment of problematic topic transition as a complaint reveals the potential vulnerability of people with dysarthria to judgements of competence. These findings have implications for how dysarthria is conceptualized and how specific actions in conversation, such as topic transition, might be suitable targets for clinical intervention.

Traditional Persian topical medications for gastrointestinal diseases

PubMed Central

Tafti, Laleh Dehghani; Shariatpanahi, Seyyed Mahyar; Damghani, Mahmoud Mahdavi; Javadi, Behjat

2017-01-01

Drug delivery across the skin is used for several millennia to ease gastrointestinal (GI) ailments in Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM). TPM topical remedies are generally being applied on the stomach, lower abdomen, lower back and liver to alleviate GI illnesses such as dyspepsia, gastritis, GI ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal worms and infections. The aim of the present study is to survey the topical GI remedies and plant species used as ingredients for these remedies in TPM. In addition, pharmacological activities of the mentioned plants have been discussed. For this, we searched major TPM textbooks to find plants used to cure GI problems in topical use. Additionally, scientific databases were searched to obtain pharmacological data supporting the use of TPM plants in GI diseases. Rosa × damascena, Pistacia lentiscus, Malus domestica, Olea europaea and Artemisia absinthium are among the most frequently mentioned ingredients of TPM remedies. β-asarone, amygdalin, boswellic acids, guggulsterone, crocin, crocetin, isomasticadienolic acid, and cyclotides are the most important phytochemicals present in TPM plants with GI-protective activities. Pharmacological studies demonstrated GI activities for TPM plants supporting their extensive traditional use. These plants play pivotal role in alleviating GI disorders through exhibiting numerous activities including antispasmodic, anti-ulcer, anti-secretory, anti-colitis, anti-diarrheal, antibacterial and anthelmintic properties. Several mechanisms underlie these activities including the alleviation of oxidative stress, exhibiting cytoprotective activity, down-regulation of the inflammatory cytokines, suppression of the cellular signaling pathways of inflammatory responses, improving re-epithelialization and angiogenesis, down-regulation of anti-angiogenic factors, blocking activity of acetylcholine, etc. PMID:28392893

Planetary protection implementation on future Mars lander missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howell, Robert; Devincenzi, Donald L.

1993-06-01

A workshop was convened to discuss the subject of planetary protection implementation for Mars lander missions. It was sponsored and organized by the Exobiology Implementation Team of the U.S./Russian Joint Working Group on Space Biomedical and Life Support Systems. The objective of the workshop was to discuss planetary protection issues for the Russian Mars '94 mission, which is currently under development, as well as for additional future Mars lander missions including the planned Mars '96 and U.S. MESUR Pathfinder and Network missions. A series of invited presentations was made to ensure that workshop participants had access to information relevant to the planned discussions. The topics summarized in this report include exobiology science objectives for Mars exploration, current international policy on planetary protection, planetary protection requirements developed for earlier missions, mission plans and designs for future U.S. and Russian Mars landers, biological contamination of spacecraft components, and techniques for spacecraft bioload reduction. In addition, the recent recommendations of the U.S. Space Studies Board (SSB) on this subject were also summarized. Much of the discussion focused on the recommendations of the SSB. The SSB proposed relaxing the planetary protection requirements for those Mars lander missions that do not contain life detection experiments, but maintaining Viking-like requirements for those missions that do contain life detection experiments. The SSB recommendations were found to be acceptable as a guide for future missions, although many questions and concerns about interpretation were raised and are summarized. Significant among the concerns was the need for more quantitative guidelines to prevent misinterpretation by project offices and better access to and use of the Viking data base of bio-assays to specify microbial burden targets. Among the questions raised were how will the SSB recommendations be integrated with existing

Planetary protection implementation on future Mars lander missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howell, Robert; Devincenzi, Donald L.

1993-01-01

A workshop was convened to discuss the subject of planetary protection implementation for Mars lander missions. It was sponsored and organized by the Exobiology Implementation Team of the U.S./Russian Joint Working Group on Space Biomedical and Life Support Systems. The objective of the workshop was to discuss planetary protection issues for the Russian Mars '94 mission, which is currently under development, as well as for additional future Mars lander missions including the planned Mars '96 and U.S. MESUR Pathfinder and Network missions. A series of invited presentations was made to ensure that workshop participants had access to information relevant to the planned discussions. The topics summarized in this report include exobiology science objectives for Mars exploration, current international policy on planetary protection, planetary protection requirements developed for earlier missions, mission plans and designs for future U.S. and Russian Mars landers, biological contamination of spacecraft components, and techniques for spacecraft bioload reduction. In addition, the recent recommendations of the U.S. Space Studies Board (SSB) on this subject were also summarized. Much of the discussion focused on the recommendations of the SSB. The SSB proposed relaxing the planetary protection requirements for those Mars lander missions that do not contain life detection experiments, but maintaining Viking-like requirements for those missions that do contain life detection experiments. The SSB recommendations were found to be acceptable as a guide for future missions, although many questions and concerns about interpretation were raised and are summarized. Significant among the concerns was the need for more quantitative guidelines to prevent misinterpretation by project offices and better access to and use of the Viking data base of bioassays to specify microbial burden targets. Among the questions raised were how will the SSB recommendations be integrated with existing

Topical vs. systemic treatments for acute otitis media.

PubMed

Thornton, Kathy; Parrish, Francie; Swords, Christine

2011-01-01

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common condition in children that is often treated with systemic antibiotic therapy; however, research suggests that non-complicated AOM will resolve spontaneously using only eardrops. To determine best practice for the use of systematic antibiotics compared to topical treatment of AOM, a systematic review of evidence was conducted. Cochrane, Medline, CINAHL, and other databases were searched. Inclusion criteria were studies published from 1995-2010 that included children with AOM and were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Five systematic reviews and five RCTs were included in the review. Current evidence recommends using topical and other alternative approaches for treating non-complicated AOM in children 2 years of age or older; however, many practitioners are not currently following these recommendations for various reasons. Additional research to address these reasons may help determine how to improve practitioner adherence to best practice evidence and guidelines to help reduce the unnecessary use of systemic antibiotics.

Topical microbicides--what's new?

PubMed

Karim, Quarraisha Abdool; Baxter, Cheryl; Karim, Salim Abdool

2013-07-01

Topical microbicides are an important, promising but complex HIV prevention technology under development. After 11 disappointing effectiveness trial outcomes of 6 candidate products (some tested as multiple doses and formulations) over the past 20 years, there is renewed optimism that a safe and effective microbicide will soon be available if the recent success of coitally linked use of the antiretroviral-based microbicide, 1% tenofovir gel, is confirmed. Studies of new antiviral agents, novel delivery mechanisms, and combination/multipurpose products that address challenges of adherence, enhance the effectiveness of tenofovir gel, and address sexual and reproductive health needs of men and women, including preventing HIV infection, are already underway.

Examination of the Topic-Specific Nature of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Teaching Electrochemical Cells and Nuclear Reactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Sevgi; Friedrichsen, Patricia M.; Boz, Yezdan; Hanuscin, Deborah L.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine experienced chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for two different topics in chemistry to better understand how PCK is specific to topic, including whether all components of PCK are topic-specific and to what degree. To explore the topic-specific nature of PCK, we examined two experienced…

Topical phenytoin nanostructured lipid carriers: design and development.

PubMed

Motawea, Amira; Borg, Thanaa; Abd El-Gawad, Abd El-Gawad H

2018-01-01

Phenytoin (PHT) is an antiepileptic drug that was reported to exhibit high wound healing activity. Nevertheless, its limited solubility, bioavailability, and inefficient distribution during topical administration limit its use. Therefore, this study aims to develop, characterize nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), and evaluate their potential in topical delivery of PHT to improve the drug entrapment efficiency and sustained release. The NLCs were prepared by hot homogenization followed by ultra sonication method using 2 3 factorial design. NLC formulations were characterized regarding their particle size (PS), zeta potential (ZP), entrapment efficiency percent (%EE), surface morphology, physicochemical stability, and in vitro release studies. The optimized NLC (F7) was further incorporated in 1%w/v carbopol gel and then characterized for appearance, pH, viscosity, stability, and in vitro drug release. The prepared NLCs were spherical in shape and possessed an average PS of 121.4-258.2 nm, ZP of (-15.4)-(-32.2) mV, and 55.24-88.80 %EE. Solid-state characterization revealed that the drug is dispersed in an amorphous state with hydrogen bond interaction between the drug and the NLC components. NLC formulations were found to be stable at 25 °C for six months. The stored F7-hydrogel showed insignificant changes in viscosity and drug content (p>.05) up to six months at 25 °C that pave a way for industrial fabrication of efficient PHT products. In vitro release studies showed a sustained release from NLC up to 48 h at pH 7.4 following non-Fickian Higuchi kinetics model. These promising findings encourage the potential use of phenytoin loaded lipid nanoparticles for future topical application.

Intelligent topical sentiment analysis for the classification of e-learners and their topics of interest.

PubMed

Ravichandran, M; Kulanthaivel, G; Chellatamilan, T

2015-01-01

Every day, huge numbers of instant tweets (messages) are published on Twitter as it is one of the massive social media for e-learners interactions. The options regarding various interesting topics to be studied are discussed among the learners and teachers through the capture of ideal sources in Twitter. The common sentiment behavior towards these topics is received through the massive number of instant messages about them. In this paper, rather than using the opinion polarity of each message relevant to the topic, authors focus on sentence level opinion classification upon using the unsupervised algorithm named bigram item response theory (BIRT). It differs from the traditional classification and document level classification algorithm. The investigation illustrated in this paper is of threefold which are listed as follows: (1) lexicon based sentiment polarity of tweet messages; (2) the bigram cooccurrence relationship using naïve Bayesian; (3) the bigram item response theory (BIRT) on various topics. It has been proposed that a model using item response theory is constructed for topical classification inference. The performance has been improved remarkably using this bigram item response theory when compared with other supervised algorithms. The experiment has been conducted on a real life dataset containing different set of tweets and topics.

The future of graduate and postdoctoral training in the biosciences.

PubMed

Hitchcock, Peter; Mathur, Ambika; Bennett, Jabbar; Cameron, Patricia; Chow, Christine; Clifford, Philip; Duvoisin, Robert; Feig, Andrew; Finneran, Kevin; Klotz, Diane M; McGee, Richard; O'Riordan, Mary; Pfund, Christine; Pickett, Christopher; Schwartz, Nancy; Street, Nancy E; Watkins, Elizabeth; Wiest, Jonathan; Engelke, David

2017-10-19

This article summarizes the outcomes of the second national conference on the Future of Bioscience Graduate and Postdoctoral Training. Five topics were addressed during the conference: diversity in leadership positions; mentoring; modernizing the curriculum; experiential learning; and the need for better data on trainees. The goal of the conference was to develop a consensus around these five topics and to recommend policies that can be implemented by academic and research institutions and federal funding agencies in the United States.

[Multicenter study comparing the efficacy and tolerance of topical ciprofloxacin (0.3%) versus topical gentamicin (0.3%) in the treatment of simple, non-cholesteatomaous chronic otitis media in the suppurative phase].

PubMed

Lorente, J; Sabater, F; Maristany, M; Jiménez, R; Menem, J; Viñas, J; Quesada, P; Traserra, J; Dicenta, M; Abelló, P

1995-01-01

A multicentre double-blind randomized study was carried out to compare topical ciprofloxacin and topical gentamicin in the treatment of simple non-cholesteatomatous purulent chronic otitis media. Three hundred and eight patients were included in the study, 159 treated with ciprofloxacin and 149 treated with gentamicin. The percentage of clinical success (elimination of otorrhoea) was 95% with ciprofloxacin and 94% with gentamicin (ns). Likewise, the percentage of bacteriological erradication was 96% with ciprofloxacin and 93% with gentamicin. Both drugs were well tolerated, without changes in the audiometric values. In these patients, topical ciprofloxacin shows the same efficacy as topical gentamicin without any potential ototoxic effect.

Ciclopirox Topical

MedlinePlus

... Use the applicator brush attached to the bottle cap to apply ciclopirox topical solution evenly to all ... can reach these areas. Wipe off the bottle cap and neck and replace the cap tightly on ...

Fluorouracil Topical

MedlinePlus

... caused by years of too much exposure to sunlight). Fluorouracil cream and topical solution are also used ... plan to avoid unnecessary or prolonged exposure to sunlight and UV light (such as tanning booths) and ...

Panel discussion: The future of IR astronomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caroff, Lawrence J.

1995-01-01

A panel discussion was held on the future of IR astronomy. The chairman gave a brief introduction to current planned programs for NASA and other space agencies, followed by short contributions from the six panel members on a variety of special topics. After that, a short question and answer session was held.

Topic Congruence and Topic Interest: How Do They Affect Second Language Reading Comprehension?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Sang-Ki

2009-01-01

Because human memory is largely reconstructive, people tend to reorganize and reevaluate an event in a way that is coherent to the truth values held in their belief system. This study investigated the role of topic congruence (defined as whether the reading content corresponds with readers' prior beliefs towards a contentious topic) in second…

Marshall Space Flight Center - Launching the Future of Science and Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shivers, Alisa; Shivers, Herbert

2010-01-01

Topics include: NASA Centers around the country, launching a legacy (Explorer I), Marshall's continuing role in space exploration, MSFC history, lifting from Earth, our next mission STS 133, Space Shuttle propulsion systems, Space Shuttle facts, Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, technologies/materials originally developed for the space program, astronauts come from all over, potential future missions and example technologies, significant accomplishments, living and working in space, understanding our world, understanding worlds beyond, from exploration to innovation, inspiring the next generation, space economy, from exploration to opportunity, new program assignments, NASA's role in education, and images from deep space including a composite of a galaxy with a black hole, Sagittarius A, Pillars of Creation, and an ultra deep field

The Effect of Testosterone Topical Solution in Hypogonadal Men With Suboptimal Response to a Topical Testosterone Gel.

PubMed

Burns, Patrick R; Kim, Edward D; Ruff, Dustin D; Seftel, Allen D

2018-05-01

This study evaluated the effect of axillary administration of a 2% testosterone solution (Axiron ® ) in hypogonadal (HGN) men who had had a suboptimal response to treatment with a commercially available topical testosterone gel. HGN men averaging 57 years old, with a mean body mass index of 31.9 kg/m 2 and median baseline testosterone level (T-level) of 185.2 ng/dL, who had failed to reach normal T-levels with a topical testosterone gel (Androgel 1.62%, Androgel, Testim, or Fortesta) were treated with a 2% testosterone solution until T-levels reached a normal range (from ≥300 to ≤1,050 ng/dL) or for up to 9 weeks. Outcomes included the cumulative percentage of men with a serum T-level in the normal range during treatment with Axiron and improvement in symptoms of low energy level and low sexual drive. During the study, 95% of HGN men (72/78) attained a T-level in the normal range. The median T-level at endpoint was 495.7 ng/dL, a threefold increase over baseline, p < .001, 70% achieving normal T-levels within the first 2 weeks of treatment. In a post hoc analysis, all subjects with baseline body mass indexes >35 kg/m 2 ( n = 19) achieved T-levels in the normal range. Prior to treatment, over 61% of subjects (48/78) reported impairment in either energy level or sexual drive. After treatment (or testosterone normalization), energy level improved in 75% of subjects and sexual drive improved in 70%. Topical 2% testosterone solution is a safe and effective treatment for HGN men who have had a suboptimal response to previous treatment with topical testosterone gels.

Caregivers Who Refuse Preventive Care for Their Children: The Relationship Between Immunization and Topical Fluoride Refusal

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine caregivers’ refusal of preventive medical and dental care for children. Methods. Prevalence rates of topical fluoride refusal based on dental records and caregiver self-reports were estimated for children treated in 3 dental clinics in Washington State. A 60-item survey was administered to 1024 caregivers to evaluate the association between immunization and topical fluoride refusal. Modified Poisson regression models were used to estimate prevalence rate ratios (PRRs). Results. The prevalence of topical fluoride refusal was 4.9% according to dental records and 12.7% according to caregiver self-reports. The rate of immunization refusal was 27.4%. In the regression models, immunization refusal was significantly associated with topical fluoride refusal (dental record PRR = 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32, 1.96; P < .001; caregiver self-report PRR = 6.20; 95% CI = 3.21, 11.98; P < .001). Caregivers younger than 35 years were significantly more likely than older caregivers to refuse both immunizations and topical fluoride (P < .05). Conclusions. Caregiver refusal of immunizations is associated with topical fluoride refusal. Future research should identify the behavioral and social factors related to caregiver refusal of preventive care with the goal of developing multidisciplinary strategies to help caregivers make optimal preventive care decisions for children. PMID:24832428

The topical treatment of psoriasis.

PubMed

van de Kerkhof, P C M; Vissers, W H P M

2003-01-01

According to the patients, improvement of efficacy, long-term safety and improvement of compliance are needed. The topical treatment has been innovated during the last decade. Most important are the introduction of two new classes of treatments: topical vitamin D(3) analogues and the retinoid tazarotene. To what extent, however, have we achieved developments which are in line with the needs as expressed by the patients? Improved efficacy has been realized by successful combinations of topical treatments. In particular, the combinations of dithranol, vitamin D(3) and tazarotene with a topical corticosteroid proved to be very effective with a reduced profile of side-effects. The efficacy of vitamin D(3) analogues and tazarotene is such that the efficacy of a potent corticosteroid (betamethasone-17-valerate) is approached; calcipotriol even showed an efficacy which is at least as good as this corticosteroid. The long-term safety of new compounds has been evaluated for at least 12 months in large studies. Remarkably for corticosteroids such information is available for only 12 weeks. However, intermittent applications of a topical corticosteroid in combination with another topical treatment provide an effective and safe long-term control of psoriasis. Compliance is a conditio sine qua non for an effective topical treatment. Important progress has been made to increase compliance. Short-contact dithranol has been popularized as an ambulatory treatment which is a highly effective approach as a care instruction programme. Formulations which are better from a cosmetical point of view have been developed for various topical treatments. Reduction of the frequency of applications proved to be possible for most treatments. Once daily applications for corticosteroids, vitamin D(3) analogues and retinoids have been developed, and intermittent applications, a few times per week, are possible for corticosteroids, which proved to be very effective with a reduced profile of side

Food reward system: current perspectives and future research needs

PubMed Central

Woods, Stephen C.; Pelchat, Marcia; Grigson, Patricia Sue; Stice, Eric; Farooqi, Sadaf; Khoo, Chor San; Mattes, Richard D.; Beauchamp, Gary K.

2015-01-01

This article reviews current research and cross-disciplinary perspectives on the neuroscience of food reward in animals and humans, examines the scientific hypothesis of food addiction, discusses methodological and terminology challenges, and identifies knowledge gaps and future research needs. Topics addressed herein include the role of reward and hedonic aspects in the regulation of food intake, neuroanatomy and neurobiology of the reward system in animals and humans, responsivity of the brain reward system to palatable foods and drugs, translation of craving versus addiction, and cognitive control of food reward. The content is based on a workshop held in 2013 by the North American Branch of the International Life Sciences Institute. PMID:26011903

Treatment of Annular Elastolytic Giant Cell Granuloma With Topical Tretinoin.

PubMed

Wagenseller, Aubrey; Larocca, Cecilia; Vashi, Neelam A

2017-07-01

Annular elastolytic giant cell granuloma, also known as actinic granuloma, is a rare skin condition with a chronic course that is often resistant to treatment. Literature is sparse, and only a handful of case reports are available to guide treatment decisions. Typical first line treatment options include topical and intralesional steroids, topical pimecrolimus, and cryotherapy. Resistant cases have been treated with cyclosporine, systemic steroids, antimalarials, and oral retinoids. In particular, acitretin and isotretinoin have shown success in three cases. However, these medications can have side effects and require frequent lab monitoring. We present a case of a 47-year-old woman with bilateral forearm lesions consistent with annular elastolytic giant cell granuloma who was successfully treated with topical tretinoin.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(7):699-700.

Topical anesthesia for transpupillary silicone oil removal combined with cataract surgery.

PubMed

Jonas, Jost B; Hugger, Philipp; Sauder, Gangolf

2005-09-01

To assess safety of topical anesthesia for transpupillary silicone oil removal in combination with cataract surgery. Department of Ophthalmology Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany. The clinical interventional study included 37 consecutive patients having transpupillary silicone oil removal combined with cataract surgery. Without exception, surgery was carried out in topical anesthesia for all patients. During the study period, there were no patients having transpupillary silicone oil removal in another type of local anesthesia than topical anesthesia. Topical anesthesia was achieved with oxybuprocaine 0.4% eyedrops installed 4 to 5 times prior to surgery. Cataract surgery was performed using the clear cornea technique with implantation of a foldable intraocular posterior chamber lens. Silicone oil was released through a planned posterior capsulotomy during cataract surgery prior to implantation of the intraocular lens (IOL). For all patients, surgery could be carried out in topical anesthesia without switching to peribulbar or any other type of anesthesia. None of the patients complained about severe pain intraoperatively or postoperatively. No severe complications such as expulsive hemorrhage, luxation of the IOL, or iris incarceration were encountered in any of the surgeries. Transpupillary silicone oil through a planned posterior capsulotomy during cataract surgery may be performed in topical surgery.

Prioritizing guideline topics: development and evaluation of a practical tool.

PubMed

Ketola, Eeva; Toropainen, Erja; Kaila, Minna; Luoto, Riitta; Mäkelä, Marjukka

2007-08-01

A clear process for selecting and adopting clinical practice guidelines in the new topic areas is needed. The aim of this study is to design and develop a practical tool to assess guideline topics that have been suggested to the organization responsible for producing guidelines. We carried out an iterative development, feasibility and validation study of a guideline topic prioritization tool. The setting included the guideline producer organization and the tax-funded health care system. In the first stage of the tool development, participants were researchers, members of the Current Care Board and experts from health care organizations. In the second stage, the evaluation was done internally within the project by three independent reviewers. The main outcome measures were responses to an evaluation questionnaire, qualitative process feedback and analysis of the performance of the instrument on a random set of guidelines. Evaluations by three independent reviewers revealed good agreement and face validity with respect to its feasibility as a planning tool at the guideline board level. Feedback from board members suggested that the instrument is useful in prioritizing guideline topics. This instrument was accepted for use by the Board. Further developments are needed to ensure feedback and acceptability of the instrument by those proposing topics.

"Two Cultures" Topics for General Studies Science Courses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, James H.

1982-01-01

Theses proposed in C. P. Snow's book "The Two Cultures," including uncommunicative scientific and literary groups, gap between rich and poor, overpopulation, and nuclear war remain viable topics. Discusses the scientific and literary cultural gap and what can be done in general studies science courses to ameliorate the condition.…

Topical amitriptyline and ketamine for the treatment of neuropathic pain.

PubMed

Mercadante, Sebastiano

2015-01-01

A neuropathy is a disturbance of function or pathological change in nerves. In some cases, peripheral neuropathic pain may occur due to a lesion or disease of the peripheral somatosensory nervous system. Efficacy of different agents for peripheral neuropathic pain conditions is less than optimal. The administration of topical analgesics might be an option, due to the potential of reduced adverse effects and increased patient compliance. There is major interest in compounding topical analgesics for peripheral neuropathic pain, but several challenges remain for this approach. Topical analgesics have the potential to be a valuable additional approach for the management of peripheral neuropathic pain. Topical amitriptyline-ketamine combination (AK) is a promising agent for peripheral neuropathic pain conditions. Some studies have shown its efficacy in neuropathic pain conditions. However, this data was not uniformely obtained and its role remains still controversial. Efficacy may depend on many factors, including the choice of the vehicle, the concentration, the pain site, and specific diseases. More studies are necessary to support the use of AK in clinical practice.

Topical retinoids in acne vulgaris: update on efficacy and safety.

PubMed

Thielitz, Anja; Gollnick, Harald

2008-01-01

Topical retinoids represent a mainstay of acne treatment because they expel mature comedones, reduce microcomedone formation, and exert anti-inflammatory effects. The first-generation retinoid tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid) and the synthetic third-generation polyaromatics adapalene and tazarotene are approved for acne treatment by the US FDA, whereas topical tretinoin, isotretinoin (13-cis retinoic acid), and adapalene are accredited in Canada and Europe. Topical retinoids have a favorable safety profile distinct from the toxicity of their systemic counterparts. Local adverse effects, including erythema, dryness, itching, and stinging, occur frequently during the early treatment phase. Their impact varies with the vehicle formation, skin type, frequency and mode of application, use of moisturizers, and environmental factors such as sun exposure or temperature. The broad anti-acne activity and safety profile of topical retinoids justifies their use as first-line treatment in most types of non-inflammatory and inflammatory acne. They are also suitable as long-term medications, with no risk of inducing bacterial resistance, for maintenance of remission after cessation of initial combination therapy.

Symbiosis: Rich, Exciting, Neglected Topic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowland, Jane Thomas

1974-01-01

Argues that the topic of symbiosis has been greatly neglected and underemphasized in general-biology textbooks. Discusses many types and examples of symbiosis, and provides an extensive bibliography of the literature related to this topic. (JR)

Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis.

PubMed

Mason, Anne R; Mason, James; Cork, Michael; Dooley, Gordon; Hancock, Helen

2013-03-28

Chronic plaque psoriasis is the most common type of psoriasis, and it is characterised by redness, thickness, and scaling. First-line management of chronic plaque psoriasis is with topical treatments, including vitamin D analogues, topical corticosteroids, tar-based preparations, dithranol, salicylic acid, and topical retinoids. To compare the effectiveness, tolerability, and safety of topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis, relative to placebo, and to similarly compare vitamin D analogues (used alone or in combination) with other topical treatments. We updated our searches of the following databases to February 2011: the Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register, CENTRAL in The Cochrane Library (2011, Issue 2), MEDLINE (from 1948), EMBASE (from 1980), Science Citation Index (from 2008), Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science (from 2008), BIOSIS (from 1993), Dissertation Abstracts via DialogClassic (all publication years), and Inside Conferences (all publication years).We identified ongoing and unpublished studies from the UK Clinical Research Network Study Portfolio and the metaRegister of Controlled Trials. We checked the bibliographies of published studies and reviews for further references to relevant trials, and we contacted trialists and companies for information about newly published studies.A separate search for adverse effects was undertaken in February 2011 using MEDLINE and EMBASE (from 2005).Final update searches for both RCTs and adverse effects were undertaken in August 2012. Although it has not been possible to incorporate RCTs and adverse effects studies identified through these final searches within this review, we will incorporate these into the next update. Randomised trials comparing active topical treatments against placebo or against vitamin D analogues (used alone or in combination) in people with chronic plaque psoriasis. One author extracted study data and assessed study quality. A second author checked these data. We

Visualization of e-Health Research Topics and Current Trends Using Social Network Analysis.

PubMed

Son, Youn-Jung; Jeong, Senator; Kang, Byeong-Gwon; Kim, Sun-Hyung; Lee, Soo-Kyoung

2015-05-01

E-health has been grown rapidly with significant impact on quality and safety of healthcare. However, there is a large gap between the postulated and empirically demonstrated benefits of e-health technologies and a need for a clearer mapping of its conceptual domains. Therefore, this study aimed to critically review the main research topics and trends of international e-health through social network analysis. Medical subject heading terms were used to retrieve 3,023 research articles published from 1979 through 2014 in the PubMed database. We extracted n-grams from the corpus using a text analysis program, generated co-occurrence networks, and then analyzed and visualized the networks using Pajek software. The hub and authority measures identified the most important research topics in e-health. Newly emerging topics by 4-year period units were identified as research trends. The most important research topics in e-health are personal health records (PHR), health information technology, primary care, mobile health, clinical decision support systems (CDSS), and so on. The eight groups obtained through ego network analysis can be divided into four semantically different areas, as follows: information technology, infrastructure, services, and subjects. Also, four historical trends in e-health research are identified: the first focusing on e-health and telemedicine; the second, PHR and monitoring; the third, CDSS and alert; and the fourth, mobile health and health literacy. This study promotes a systematic understanding of e-health by identifying topic networks, thereby contributing to the future direction of e-health research and education.

Comparison of topical capsaicin and topical turpentine Oil for treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy.

PubMed

Musharraf, Muhammad Usman; Ahmad, Zaheer; Yaqub, Zernab

2017-01-01

Diabetes Mellitus is a pandemic of the modern era owing to our rapidly deteriorating lifestyle. Painful diabetic neuropathy is one of the costliest and disabling complications of diabetes mellitus. No single treatment exists to prevent or reverse neuropathic changes or to provide total pain relief. Topical Capsaicin and Turpentine Oil are found to be effective in treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy. Patients of either gender with ages between 18 and 70 years having painful diabetic neuropathy already taking one oral drug for painful neuropathy and treatment for diabetes mellitus and an HbA1C less than 8.5% were included while Pregnant or lactating mothers, patients with chronic liver disease and patients with renal insufficiency (creatinine >3.0 mg/dl) and peripheral arterial disease were excluded from study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups (A & B) using computer generated random number table. Group A was given topical application of capsaicin while Group B was given topical application of commercially available turpentine oil over painful site on feet. 300 patients were equally divided in two groups. The patients in group A had a Visual Analog Pain Score of 7.91±5.10 at baseline and 5.10±1.343 after 3 months of treatment (p-value 0.0001). The patients in group B had a Visual Analog Pain Score of 7.83±1.012 at baseline and 5.20±1.187 after 3 months of treatment (p-value 0.0001). Chi Square test was applied to compare efficacy of both groups. It was noted that 71 (53%) had efficacy in group A and 63 (47%) had efficacy in the group B but the difference was not statistically significant. (p-value=0.399). It has been concluded that turpentine oil is effective in managing diabetic neuropathic pain similar to capsaicin cream.

Honoring the Past and Looking to the Future: Updates on Seminal Behavior Therapy Publications on Etiology and Mechanisms of Change.

PubMed

Newman, Michelle G

2016-09-01

This is the introduction to the first of two special issues in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. The goal of this issue is to pay tribute to prior seminal Behavior Therapy publications on etiology and mechanisms of change, to provide an updated review of important topics covered by these papers, and to make recommendations for the future. Each invited paper highlights a particular Behavior Therapy publication's contribution to our understanding and also provides an updated review or meta-analysis on the topic of the original paper. The topics covered here include mechanisms of etiology such as preparedness, reinforcement, and control. In terms of papers on mechanisms of change, we cover mechanisms related to extinction including fear activation, within- and between-session extinction, safety behaviors, and variables related to imagery. In addition, we examine principles related to generalization of learning and optimizing the impact of homework. With the two special issues of Behavior Therapy, we hope to inspire additional research and discussion. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Successful treatment of plasma cell cheilitis with topical tacrolimus: report of two cases.

PubMed

Hanami, Yuka; Motoki, Yoshikazu; Yamamoto, Toshiyuki

2011-02-15

Plasma cell cheilitis is an uncommon chronic inflammatory dermatitis that presents with flat to slightly elevated erosive erythematous plaques. It is histologically characterized by plasma cell infiltrates into the mucosa. Other than the lip, genital areas are often involved, which is called plasma cell balanitis or vulvitis. Plasma cell cheilitis is sometimes resistant to conventional topical corticosteroid therapy. Other choices include oral griseofulvin, topical cyclosporine, and intralesional corticosteroid injection, all of which occasionally fail to produce satisfactory results. Recent reports show that topical calcineurin inhibitors are effective for plasma cell cheilitis, balanitis, and vulvitis. However, there are so far only 2 reports of plasma cell cheilitis successfully treated with topical pimecrolimus and tacrolimus. We present herein two cases of plasma cell cheilitis, in which topical tacrolimus showed beneficial effects, suggesting that this immunomodulatory agent is a promising option for plasma cell cheilitis.

The future of graduate and postdoctoral training in the biosciences

PubMed Central

Bennett, Jabbar; Cameron, Patricia; Chow, Christine; Clifford, Philip; Duvoisin, Robert; Feig, Andrew; Finneran, Kevin; Klotz, Diane M; McGee, Richard; O'Riordan, Mary; Pfund, Christine; Pickett, Christopher; Schwartz, Nancy; Street, Nancy E; Watkins, Elizabeth; Wiest, Jonathan; Engelke, David

2017-01-01

This article summarizes the outcomes of the second national conference on the Future of Bioscience Graduate and Postdoctoral Training. Five topics were addressed during the conference: diversity in leadership positions; mentoring; modernizing the curriculum; experiential learning; and the need for better data on trainees. The goal of the conference was to develop a consensus around these five topics and to recommend policies that can be implemented by academic and research institutions and federal funding agencies in the United States. PMID:29049023

Combining Chemistry and Music to Engage Student Interest: Using Songs to Accompany Selected Chemical Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Last, Arthur M.

2009-01-01

The use of recorded music to add interest to a variety of lecture topics is described. Topics include the periodic table, the formation of ionic compounds, thermodynamics, carbohydrates, nuclear chemistry, and qualitative analysis. (Contains 1 note.)

Fibrin sealant: past, present, and future: a brief review.

PubMed

Spotnitz, William D

2010-04-01

Fibrin sealant is a two-component topical hemostat, sealant, and tissue adhesive consisting of fibrinogen and thrombin that has been used in the United States as a blood bank- or laboratory-derived product since the 1980s and has been commercially available since 1998. Initially, surgeons employed hospital-based materials because of the lack of availability of a commercially produced agent. At present, there are five U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved forms including products derived from pooled or autologous human plasma as well as bovine plasma. On-label indications include hemostasis, colonic sealing, and skin graft attachment. Recent clinical and experimental uses include tissue or mesh attachment, fistula closure, lymphatic sealing, adhesion prevention, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. The modern literature on fibrin sealant now exceeds 3000 articles and continues to expand. This brief review presents the history of this material, its present clinical use, and its future applications.

And then the internet happened: Thoughts on the future of concept mapping.

PubMed

McLinden, Daniel

2017-02-01

Over 25 years ago, in the late twentieth century, concept mapping emerged as a mixed method approach to inquiry that enables a group of people to conceptualize their thinking about a specific topic. Since then, the application of concept mapping has spread widely and an easy prediction for the future is that this trend is likely to continue; a more important and greater challenge is to think about the ways in which concept mapping may and should evolve. Discussed here are thoughts about the future of concept mapping including some predictions of likely directions and suggestions for new possibilities. Thoughts on the future are grounded in concept mapping applications that have emerged and gained ground in recent years; these include exploring wicked problems in communities and integrating concept mapping with other methods of inquiry. Thoughts on the future are also grounded in the social and cultural milieu in which we find ourselves at this time. The influence of social media and internet technologies has led to the emergence peer production and crowdsourcing as approaches to co-create information, knowledge, products and services. These tactics may create fertile ground for the further spread of concept mapping. This same collaborative milieu has produced the open software movement which in turn, offers opportunities to enhancing the methodology of concept mapping. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fueling the Future with Fungal Genomics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grigoriev, Igor V.; Cullen, Daniel; Hibbett, David

Fungi play important roles across the range of current and future biofuel production processes. From crop/feedstock health to plant biomass saccharification, enzyme production to bioprocesses for producing ethanol, higher alcohols or future hydrocarbon biofuels, fungi are involved. Research and development are underway to understand the underlying biological processes and improve them to make bioenergy production efficient on an industrial scale. Genomics is the foundation of the systems biology approach that is being used to accelerate the research and development efforts across the spectrum of topic areas that impact biofuels production. In this review, we discuss past, current and future advancesmore » made possible by genomic analyses of the fungi that impact plant/feedstock health, degradation of lignocellulosic biomass and fermentation of sugars to ethanol, hydrocarbon biofuels and renewable chemicals.« less

Evaluative Conditioning: Recent Developments and Future Directions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gast, Anne; Gawronski, Bertram; De Houwer, Jan

2012-01-01

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is generally considered to be one of the routes via which likes and dislikes are acquired. We identify recent trends in EC research and speculate about the topics that will dominate future research on EC. Many of the recent developments in EC research were shaped by functional definitions of EC that refer only to…

Topical corticosteroids and topical calcineurin inhibitors in the treatment of atopic dermatitis: focus on percutaneous absorption.

PubMed

Pariser, David

2009-01-01

The 2 primary classes of drugs used to treat atopic dermatitis (AD) are topical corticosteroids (TCSs) and topical calcineurin inhibitors (TCIs). For maximum efficacy, topical agents must efficiently penetrate the skin but, for optimal safety, should not be absorbed into the bloodstream. TCSs, a mainstay in AD treatment for more than 50 years, can potentially be absorbed into the systemic circulation, particularly when used on young children, for prolonged periods, or on areas of thin and sensitive skin, such as the eyelids, face, and flexures. There is a risk of cutaneous and systemic adverse events, including suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and related sequelae, especially when potent or superpotent TCSs are used for extended periods. Ideally, TCSs should be used for short periods (2-4 weeks), but clinical reality often necessitates longer use. TCIs also effectively and safely treat AD, with the most commonly observed local adverse events being skin irritation and burning. These agents have demonstrated good penetration of the skin with minimal systemic absorption, as evidenced by low blood concentrations, and can be used safely on thin and sensitive skin. The use of mid-potency TCSs to treat acute flares involving skin of normal thickness, followed by the introduction of TCIs for maintenance therapy, constitutes an appropriate application of both drug classes. Pharmacists with a clear understanding of how both types of agents affect the systemic circulation have the opportunity to inform patients and caregivers about benefits and limitations of different therapeutic agents, address patient concerns about adverse events, and help patients understand how to use medical therapies appropriately.

NASA Lewis Research Center Futuring Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boroush, Mark; Stover, John; Thomas, Charles

1987-01-01

On October 21 and 22, 1986, the Futures Group ran a two-day Futuring Workshop on the premises of NASA Lewis Research Center. The workshop had four main goals: to acquaint participants with the general history of technology forecasting; to familiarize participants with the range of forecasting methodologies; to acquaint participants with the range of applicability, strengths, and limitations of each method; and to offer participants some hands-on experience by working through both judgmental and quantitative case studies. Among the topics addressed during this workshop were: information sources; judgmental techniques; quantitative techniques; merger of judgment with quantitative measurement; data collection methods; and dealing with uncertainty.

Exploring the Multifaceted Topic of Climate Change in Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I. W.; Mills, E. W.; Nugnes, K. A.; Stimach, A. E.

2015-12-01

As the effects of climate change become more profound, climate literacy becomes increasingly important. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) responds to this need through the publication of Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate. Both publications incorporate the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the USGCRP's Third National Climate Assessment. Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive, multidisciplinary information related to various topics. Additionally, each chapter closes with a For Further Exploration essay, which addresses specific topics that complement a chapter concept. Web Resources, which encourage additional exploration of chapter content, and Scientific Literature, from which chapter content was derived can also be found at the conclusion of each chapter. Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics, including the scientific principles that govern Earth's climate system and basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate the system. Released in fall 2015, Living With Our Changing Climate takes a more narrow approach and investigates human and ecosystem vulnerabilities to climate change, the role of energy choices in affecting climate, actions humans can take through adaption, mitigation, and policy to lessen vulnerabilities, and psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial. While Living With Our Changing Climate is intended for programs looking to add a climate element into their curriculum, Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course. In a 2015 survey of California University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students using Our Changing Climate, 82% found it comfortable to read and utilized its interactive components and resources. Both ebooks illuminate the multidisciplinary aspect of climate change, providing the opportunity for a more sustainable future.

Ganciclovir ophthalmic gel 0.15% for the treatment of acute herpetic keratitis: background, effectiveness, tolerability, safety, and future applications

PubMed Central

Chou, Timothy Y; Hong, Bennett Y

2014-01-01

Eye disease due to herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a leading cause of ocular morbidity and the number one infectious cause of unilateral corneal blindness in the developed parts of the globe. Recurrent keratitis can result in progressive corneal scarring, thinning, and vascularization. Antiviral agents employed against HSV have primarily been nucleoside analogs. Early generation drugs included idoxuridine, iododesoxycytidine, vidarabine, and trifluridine. While effective, they tended to have low bioavailability and measurable local cellular toxicity due to their nonselective mode of action. Acyclovir 0.3% ointment is a more selective agent, and had become a first-line topical drug for acute HSV keratitis in Europe and other places outside of the US. Ganciclovir 0.15% gel is the most recently approved topical treatment for herpes keratitis. Compared to acyclovir 0.3% ointment, ganciclovir 0.15% gel has been shown to be better tolerated and no less effective in several Phase II and III trials. Additionally, topical ganciclovir does not cause adverse systemic side effects and is therapeutic at lower concentrations. Based on safety, efficacy, and tolerability, ganciclovir 0.15% gel should now be considered a front-line topical drug in the treatment of dendritic herpes simplex epithelial keratitis. Topics of future investigation regarding other potential uses for ganciclovir gel may include the prophylaxis of recurrent HSV epithelial keratitis, treatment of other forms of ocular disease caused by herpesviruses and adenovirus, and ganciclovir gel as an adjunct to antitumor therapy. PMID:25187721

Topical agents for oral cancer chemoprevention: A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Chau, Lucy; Jabara, Justin T; Lai, Wanda; Svider, Peter F; Warner, Blake M; Lin, Ho-Sheng; Raza, S Naweed; Fribley, Andrew M

2017-04-01

We review the use of topical chemoprevention agents in patients with oral potentially malignant disorders (PMD). A systematic review of studies on topical chemoprevention agents for oral PMD from 1946 to November 2016 was conducted using the MEDLINE database, Embase, and Cochrane Library. Data were extracted and analyzed from selected studies including study type, sample size, demographics, treatment length, response rate, follow-up time, adverse effects, and recurrence. Of 108 studies, twenty-four, representing 679 cases met the inclusion criteria. The clinical lesions evaluated included oral leukoplakia, erythroplakia (OEL), verrucous hyperplasia (OVH), oral lichen planus, larynx squamous cell carcinoma, and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The mean complete response rate for topical retinoid therapy was 32%. The mean complete response rate for 1% bleomycin therapy and 0.5% bleomycin was 40.2% and 25%, respectively. The complete response rate of OVH, OEL, and OSCC to photodynamic therapy ranged from 66.7% to 100%. There are a paucity of data examining topical treatment of oral PMDs. However, the use of topical agents among patients with oral lesions may be a viable complement or even alternative to traditional surgery, radiation, or systemic chemotherapy, with the advantage of reducing systemic side effects and sparing important anatomic structures. This study of 679 cases represents the largest pooled sample size to date, and the preliminary studies in this systematic review provide support for further inquiry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multi-Topic Tracking Model for dynamic social network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yuhua; Liu, Changzheng; Zhao, Ming; Li, Ruixuan; Xiao, Hailing; Wang, Kai; Zhang, Jun

2016-07-01

The topic tracking problem has attracted much attention in the last decades. However, existing approaches rarely consider network structures and textual topics together. In this paper, we propose a novel statistical model based on dynamic bayesian network, namely Multi-Topic Tracking Model for Dynamic Social Network (MTTD). It takes influence phenomenon, selection phenomenon, document generative process and the evolution of textual topics into account. Specifically, in our MTTD model, Gibbs Random Field is defined to model the influence of historical status of users in the network and the interdependency between them in order to consider the influence phenomenon. To address the selection phenomenon, a stochastic block model is used to model the link generation process based on the users' interests to topics. Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA) is used to describe the document generative process according to the users' interests. Finally, the dependence on the historical topic status is also considered to ensure the continuity of the topic itself in topic evolution model. Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm is utilized to estimate parameters in the proposed MTTD model. Empirical experiments on real datasets show that the MTTD model performs better than Popular Event Tracking (PET) and Dynamic Topic Model (DTM) in generalization performance, topic interpretability performance, topic content evolution and topic popularity evolution performance.

Update on the Systemic Risks of Superpotent Topical Steroids.

PubMed

Nakamura, Mio; Abrouk, Michael; Zhu, Henry; Farahnik, Benjamin; Koo, John; Bhutani, Tina

2017-07-01

INTRODUCTION: The potential for systemic effects due to percutaneous absorption of superpotent topical steroids has been a longstanding concern. The Food and Drug Administration currently recommends limiting the use of superpotent topical steroids to 50g per week for 2 or 4 consecutive weeks depending on the formulation, which is mostly based on the exact duration with which phase 3 clinical trials were allowed to be conducted per the FDA. This article reviews all published clinical incidence of adrenal adverse effects in the medical literature, specifically Cushing's syndrome (CS) and pathologic adrenal suppression (PAAS), to try to ascertain a more realistic limit for the safe use of superpotent topical steroids as it pertains to its potential systemic effects.

METHODS: Literature search was conducted using PubMed. Only cases of CS and PAAS secondary to the use of Class I superpotent topical steroids were included. Pediatric cases and full articles unavailable in English were excluded.

RESULTS: There were a total of 14 cases of CS and 5 cases of subsequent PAAS found in the current literature.

DISCUSSION: From our review of these cases, if the amount used per week is within FDA guidelines, it appears that patients needed to use superpotent topical steroids for far greater than 2 or 4 weeks to develop CS or PAAS. CS did not necessarily predict occurrence of PAAS, but in all cases CS appeared to be a prerequisite for developing PAAS. All cases of CS and all but one case of PAAS were reversible. If excessive amount of greater than 50g per week is avoided, it appears that superpotent topical steroids may be safe to use consecutively for months, perhaps even years, without causing systemic effects.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(7):643-648.

FutureCoast: "Listen to your futures"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfirman, S. L.; Eklund, K.; Thacher, S.; Orlove, B. S.; Diane Stovall-Soto, G.; Brunacini, J.; Hernandez, T.

2014-12-01

Two science-arts approaches are emerging as effective means to convey "futurethinking" to learners: systems gaming and experiential futures. FutureCoast exemplifies the latter: by engaging participants with voicemails supposedly leaking from the cloud of possible futures, the storymaking game frames the complexities of climate science in relatable contexts. Because participants make the voicemails themselves, FutureCoast opens up creative ways for people to think about possibly climate-changed futures and personal ways to talk about them. FutureCoast is a project of the PoLAR Partnership with a target audience of informal adult learners primarily reached via mobile devices and online platforms. Scientists increasingly use scenarios and storylines as ways to explore the implications of environmental change and societal choices. Stories help people make connections across experiences and disciplines and link large-scale events to personal consequences. By making the future seem real today, FutureCoast's framework helps people visualize and plan for future climate changes. The voicemails contributed to FutureCoast are spread through the game's intended timeframe (2020 through 2065). Based on initial content analysis of voicemail text, common themes include ecosystems and landscapes, weather, technology, societal issues, governance and policy. Other issues somewhat less frequently discussed include security, food, industry and business, health, energy, infrastructure, water, economy, and migration. Further voicemail analysis is examining: temporal dimensions (salient time frames, short vs. long term issues, intergenerational, etc.), content (adaptation vs. mitigation, challenges vs. opportunities, etc.), and emotion (hopeful, resigned, etc. and overall emotional context). FutureCoast also engaged audiences through facilitated in-person experiences, geocaching events, and social media (Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube). Analysis of the project suggests story

Explaining topic prevalence in answers to open-ended survey questions about climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tvinnereim, Endre; Fløttum, Kjersti

2015-08-01

Citizens’ opinions are crucial for action on climate change, but are, owing to the complexity of the issue, diverse and potentially unformed. We contribute to the understanding of public views on climate change and to knowledge needed by decision-makers by using a new approach to analyse answers to the open survey question `what comes to mind when you hear the words `climate change’?’. We apply automated text analysis, specifically structural topic modelling, which induces distinct topics based on the relative frequencies of the words used in 2,115 responses. From these data, originating from the new, nationally representative Norwegian Citizen Panel, four distinct topics emerge: Weather/Ice, Future/Impact, Money/Consumption and Attribution. We find that Norwegians emphasize societal aspects of climate change more than do respondents in previous US and UK studies. Furthermore, variables that explain variation in closed questions, such as gender and education, yield different and surprising results when employed to explain variation in what respondents emphasize. Finally, the sharp distinction between scepticism and acceptance of conventional climate science, often seen in previous studies, blurs in many textual responses as scepticism frequently turns into ambivalence.

An Uncommon Complication With Use of Topical Local Anesthetic Agents: Methemoglobinemia.

PubMed

Panikkath, Ragesh; Panikkath, Deepa; Wischmeyer, Jason

Although the use of topical local anesthetics is generally safe, several potentially fatal complications have been reported. Methemoglobinemia is a rare but potentially fatal complication. Methemoglobin is a naturally occurring oxidized metabolite of hemoglobin, and physiologic levels (<1%) are normal. Methemoglobinemia can be congenital or acquired. Several drugs including topical anesthetic agents like benzocaine can induce this condition. Sudden appearance of cyanosis, with a disproportionately better oxygen saturation of 85% after use of local anesthetics can be a helpful for diagnosis.

Topical Issue on Optical Particle Characterization and Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere: Part I

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Videen, Gorden; Kocifaj, Miroslav; Sun, Wenbo; Kai, Kenji; Kawamoto, Kazuaki; Horvath, Helmuth; Mishchenko, Michael

2015-01-01

Increasing our understanding of the Earth-atmosphere system has been a scientific and political priority for the last few decades. This system not only touches on environmental science, but it has applicability to our broader understanding of planetary atmospheres in general. While this issue focuses primarily on electromagnetics, other fundamental fields of science, including fluid and thermodynamics play major roles. In recent years, significant research efforts have led to advances in the fields of radiative transfer and electromagnetic scattering from irregularly shaped particles. Recently, several workshops and small conferences have taken place to promote the fusion of these efforts. Late in 2013, for instance, two such meetings took place. The Optical Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosols (OCAA) meeting took place in Smolenice, Slovakia to promote a better understanding of microphysical properties of aerosol particles, and the characterization of such atmospheric particles using optical techniques. A complementary conference was organized in Nagoya, Japan, the 3rd International Symposium on Atmospheric Light Scattering and Remote Sensing (ISALSaRS), whose goal is to fuse the advances achieved in particle characterization with remote-sensing techniques. While the focus of these meetings is slightly different, they represent the same aspects of this rapidly growing field. This Topical Issue is the first of two parts. Within this issue we analyze different aspects of the problem of atmospheric characterization and present a broad overview of the topical area. Research includes theory and experiment, ranging from fundamental microphysical properties of individual aerosol particles to broad characterizations of atmospheric properties. Since this is an active field, we also have encouraged the submission of ideas for new methodologies that may represent the future of the field.

Deep Unfolding for Topic Models.

PubMed

Chien, Jen-Tzung; Lee, Chao-Hsi

2018-02-01

Deep unfolding provides an approach to integrate the probabilistic generative models and the deterministic neural networks. Such an approach is benefited by deep representation, easy interpretation, flexible learning and stochastic modeling. This study develops the unsupervised and supervised learning of deep unfolded topic models for document representation and classification. Conventionally, the unsupervised and supervised topic models are inferred via the variational inference algorithm where the model parameters are estimated by maximizing the lower bound of logarithm of marginal likelihood using input documents without and with class labels, respectively. The representation capability or classification accuracy is constrained by the variational lower bound and the tied model parameters across inference procedure. This paper aims to relax these constraints by directly maximizing the end performance criterion and continuously untying the parameters in learning process via deep unfolding inference (DUI). The inference procedure is treated as the layer-wise learning in a deep neural network. The end performance is iteratively improved by using the estimated topic parameters according to the exponentiated updates. Deep learning of topic models is therefore implemented through a back-propagation procedure. Experimental results show the merits of DUI with increasing number of layers compared with variational inference in unsupervised as well as supervised topic models.

Current Topics in Sports-related Head Injuries: A Review

PubMed Central

NAGAHIRO, Shinji; MIZOBUCHI, Yoshifumi

2014-01-01

We review the current topic in sports-related head injuries including acute subdural hematoma (ASDH), concussion, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Sports-related ASDH is a leading cause of death and severe morbidity in popular contact sports like American football in the USA and judo in Japan. It is thought that rotational acceleration is most likely to produce not only cerebral concussion but also ASDH due to the rupture of a parasagittal bridging vein, depending on the severity of the rotational acceleration injury. Repeated sports head injuries increase the risk for future concussion, cerebral swelling, ASDH or CTE. To avoid fatal consequences or CTE resulting from repeated concussions, an understanding of the criteria for a safe post-concussion return to play (RTP) is essential. Once diagnosed with a concussion, the athlete must not be allowed to RTP the same day and should not resume play before the concussion symptoms have completely resolved. If brain damage has been confirmed or a subdural hematoma is present, the athlete should not be allowed to participate in any contact sports. As much remains unknown regarding the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of sports-related concussion, ASDH, and CTE, basic and clinical studies are necessary to elucidate the crucial issues in sports-related head injuries. PMID:25367588

Current topics in sports-related head injuries: a review.

PubMed

Nagahiro, Shinji; Mizobuchi, Yoshifumi

2014-01-01

We review the current topic in sports-related head injuries including acute subdural hematoma (ASDH), concussion, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Sports-related ASDH is a leading cause of death and severe morbidity in popular contact sports like American football in the USA and judo in Japan. It is thought that rotational acceleration is most likely to produce not only cerebral concussion but also ASDH due to the rupture of a parasagittal bridging vein, depending on the severity of the rotational acceleration injury. Repeated sports head injuries increase the risk for future concussion, cerebral swelling, ASDH or CTE. To avoid fatal consequences or CTE resulting from repeated concussions, an understanding of the criteria for a safe post-concussion return to play (RTP) is essential. Once diagnosed with a concussion, the athlete must not be allowed to RTP the same day and should not resume play before the concussion symptoms have completely resolved. If brain damage has been confirmed or a subdural hematoma is present, the athlete should not be allowed to participate in any contact sports. As much remains unknown regarding the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of sports-related concussion, ASDH, and CTE, basic and clinical studies are necessary to elucidate the crucial issues in sports-related head injuries.

Retention and application of Skylab experiences to future programs. [a postflight review of technical programs.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gillespie, V. G.; Kelly, R. O.

1974-01-01

The problems encountered and special techniques and procedures developed on the Skylab program are described along with the experiences and practical benefits obtained for dissemination and use on future programs. Three major topics are discussed: electrical problems, mechanical problems, and special techniques. Special techniques and procedures are identified that were either developed or refined during the Skylab program. These techniques and procedures came from all manufacturing and test phases of the Skylab program and include both flight and GSE items from component level to sophisticated spaceflight systems.

Treatment of vitiligo with the topical Janus kinase inhibitor ruxolitinib.

PubMed

Rothstein, Brooke; Joshipura, Deep; Saraiya, Ami; Abdat, Rana; Ashkar, Huda; Turkowski, Yana; Sheth, Vaneeta; Huang, Victor; Au, Shiu Chung; Kachuk, Courtney; Dumont, Nicole; Gottlieb, Alice B; Rosmarin, David

2017-06-01

Existing therapies for vitiligo are limited in efficacy and can be associated with undesirable side effects. Topical Janus kinase inhibitors may offer a new therapeutic option for vitiligo. We sought to assess the role of topical ruxolitinib 1.5% cream, a Janus kinase inhibitor, in vitiligo treatment. This 20-week, open-label, proof-of-concept trial of twice-daily topical ruxolitinib 1.5% cream was conducted in 12 patients with a minimum of 1% affected body surface area of vitiligo. The primary outcome was percent improvement in Vitiligo Area Scoring Index from baseline to week 20. Of 12 patients screened, 11 were enrolled and 9 completed the study (54.5% men; mean age, 52 years). Four patients with significant facial involvement at baseline had a 76% improvement in facial Vitiligo Area Scoring Index scores at week 20 (95% confidence interval, 53-99%; P = .001). A 23% improvement in overall Vitiligo Area Scoring Index scores was observed in all enrolled patients at week 20 (95% confidence interval, 4-43%; P = .02). Three of 8 patients responded on body surfaces and 1 of 8 patients responded on acral surfaces. Adverse events were minor, including erythema, hyperpigmentation, and transient acne. Limitations of the study include the small sample size and open-label study design. Topical ruxolitinib 1.5% cream provided significant repigmentation in facial vitiligo and may offer a valuable new treatment for vitiligo. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative effect of topical diclofenac and topical dexamethasone on anterior chamber flare and postoperative pain following rhegmatogenous retinal detachment surgery.

PubMed

Ben Yahia, Salim; Kahloun, Rim; Abroug, Nesrine; Kaibi, Imene; Laadhari, Ghassen; Jelliti, Bechir; Khairallah, Moncef

2016-10-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of topical diclofenac and topical dexamethasone on anterior chamber flare and postoperative pain following rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery. This prospective study included 40 eyes of 40 patients treated for RRD. Twenty-eight patients underwent scleral buckling and 12 patients underwent 20-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). For each surgical procedure, patients were postoperatively randomly divided into two groups: the first group received topical dexamethasone phosphate 0.1 % four times daily for 28 days; the second group received topical diclofenac sodium 0.1 % three times daily for 28 days. The inflammatory reaction in the anterior chamber was measured with laser flare photometry preoperatively and 1, 7, 14, 28, and 90 days postoperatively. Pain level was evaluated with Scott's visual analog scale at day 1, 7, 14, and 28 postoperatively. For patients treated with scleral buckling, there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding mean aqueous flare at day 1 (p = 0.096), day 7 (p = 0.435), day 14 (p = 0.510), day 28 (p = 0.583), and day 90 (p = 0.423). The group who received diclofenac had significantly lower pain score at days 7, 14, and 28 (p = 0.048, p = 0.017, and p = 0.028, respectively). For patients treated with PPV, there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding mean aqueous flare at day 1 (p = 0.400), day 7 (p = 0.728), day 14 (p = 0.843), day 28 (p = 0.939), and day 90 (p = 0.568). Patients who received diclofenac had significantly lower pain score at days 7, 14, and 28 (p = 0.032, p = 0.030, and p = 0.023, respectively). Topical diclofenac seems to be as potent as topical dexamethasone in managing postoperative inflammatory response induced by surgery for RRD with better analgesic effect. Both of them are consequences of blood-aqueous barrier and blood-retinal barrier breakdown.

U.S. and Israeli Young Women's Future Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michael, Rinat; Kim, TaeSun; Hutchison, Ashley; Cinamon, Rachel Gali; Gerstein, Lawrence H.; Park, Juno; Choi, Yuri; Bellare, Yamini; Collins, Rachael

2017-01-01

The current study investigated the content of future perceptions among 47 U.S. women and 48 Israeli women. Thematic analysis was used to explore participants' qualitative responses. Women's responses covered a wide range of topics, and were categorized into ten key themes: (a) work, (b) family/relationships, (c) property, (d) residence, (e)…

Planting seeds for the future of food.

PubMed

Green, Hilary; Broun, Pierre; Cakmak, Ismail; Condon, Liam; Fedoroff, Nina; Gonzalez-Valero, Juan; Graham, Ian; Lewis, Josette; Moloney, Maurice; Oniang'o, Ruth K; Sanginga, Nteranya; Shewry, Peter; Roulin, Anne

2016-03-30

The health and wellbeing of future generations will depend on humankind's ability to deliver sufficient nutritious food to a world population in excess of 9 billion. Feeding this many people by 2050 will require science-based solutions that address sustainable agricultural productivity and enable healthful dietary patterns in a more globally equitable way. This topic was the focus of a multi-disciplinary international conference hosted by Nestlé in June 2015, and provides the inspiration for the present article. The conference brought together a diverse range of expertise and organisations from the developing and industrialised world, all with a common interest in safeguarding the future of food. This article provides a snapshot of three of the recurring topics that were discussed during this conference: soil health, plant science and the future of farming practice. Crop plants and their cultivation are the fundamental building blocks for a food secure world. Whether these are grown for food or feed for livestock, they are the foundation of food and nutrient security. Many of the challenges for the future of food will be faced where the crops are grown: on the farm. Farmers need to plant the right crops and create the right conditions to maximise productivity (yield) and quality (e.g. nutritional content), whilst maintaining the environment, and earning a living. New advances in science and technology can provide the tools and know-how that will, together with a more entrepreneurial approach, help farmers to meet the inexorable demand for the sustainable production of nutritious foods for future generations. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Planting seeds for the future of food

PubMed Central

Broun, Pierre; Cakmak, Ismail; Condon, Liam; Fedoroff, Nina; Gonzalez‐Valero, Juan; Graham, Ian; Lewis, Josette; Moloney, Maurice; Oniang'o, Ruth K; Sanginga, Nteranya; Shewry, Peter; Roulin, Anne

2016-01-01

Abstract The health and wellbeing of future generations will depend on humankind's ability to deliver sufficient nutritious food to a world population in excess of 9 billion. Feeding this many people by 2050 will require science‐based solutions that address sustainable agricultural productivity and enable healthful dietary patterns in a more globally equitable way. This topic was the focus of a multi‐disciplinary international conference hosted by Nestlé in June 2015, and provides the inspiration for the present article. The conference brought together a diverse range of expertise and organisations from the developing and industrialised world, all with a common interest in safeguarding the future of food. This article provides a snapshot of three of the recurring topics that were discussed during this conference: soil health, plant science and the future of farming practice. Crop plants and their cultivation are the fundamental building blocks for a food secure world. Whether these are grown for food or feed for livestock, they are the foundation of food and nutrient security. Many of the challenges for the future of food will be faced where the crops are grown: on the farm. Farmers need to plant the right crops and create the right conditions to maximise productivity (yield) and quality (e.g. nutritional content), whilst maintaining the environment, and earning a living. New advances in science and technology can provide the tools and know‐how that will, together with a more entrepreneurial approach, help farmers to meet the inexorable demand for the sustainable production of nutritious foods for future generations. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. PMID:26619956

Space Resources for Teachers: Biology, Including Suggestions for Classroom Activities and Laboratory Experiments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Tom E.; And Others

This compilation of resource units concerns the latest developments in space biology. Some of the topics included are oxygen consumption, temperature, radiation, rhythms, weightlessness, acceleration and vibration stress, toxicity, and sensory and perceptual problems. Many of the topics are interdisciplinary and relate biology, physiology,…

Introduction to "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future, Volume I"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geist, Eric L.; Fritz, Hermann M.; Rabinovich, Alexander B.; Tanioka, Yuichiro

2016-12-01

Twenty-five papers on the study of tsunamis are included in Volume I of the PAGEOPH topical issue "Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future". Six papers examine various aspects of tsunami probability and uncertainty analysis related to hazard assessment. Three papers relate to deterministic hazard and risk assessment. Five more papers present new methods for tsunami warning and detection. Six papers describe new methods for modeling tsunami hydrodynamics. Two papers investigate tsunamis generated by non-seismic sources: landslides and meteorological disturbances. The final three papers describe important case studies of recent and historical events. Collectively, this volume highlights contemporary trends in global tsunami research, both fundamental and applied toward hazard assessment and mitigation.

Selected Topics in CVD Diamond Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koizumi, Satoshi; Nebel, Christoph E.; Nesladek, Milos

2006-10-01

Since the discovery of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond growth in 1976, the steady scientific progress often resulted in surprising new discoveries and breakthroughs. This brought us to the idea to publish the special issue Selected Topics in CVD Diamond Research in physica status solidi (a), reflecting such advancements and interesting results at the leading edge of diamond research.The present issue summarizes this progress in the CVD diamond field by selecting contributions from several areas such as superconductivity, super-excitonic radiation, quantum computing, bio-functionalization, surface electronic properties, the nature of phosphorus doping, transport properties in high energy detectors, CVD growth and properties of nanocrystalline diamond. In all these directions CVD diamond appears to be very competitive in comparison with other semiconducting materials.As Editors of this special issue, we must admit that the selection is biased by our opinion. Nonetheless, we are sure that each contribution introduces new ideas and results which will improve the understanding of the current level of physics and chemistry of this attractive wide-bandgap semiconductor and which will help to bring it closer to applications.All submissions were invited based on the contributions of the authors to their specific research field. The Feature Articles have the format of topical reviews to give the reader a comprehensive summary. Partially, however, they are written in research paper style to report new results of ongoing research.We hope that this issue will attract the attention of a broad community of scientists and engineers, and that it will facilitate the utilization of diamond in electronic applications and technologies of the future.

Pedagogical System of Future Teachers' Professional Thinking Culture Formation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abildina, Saltanat K.; Sarsekeyeva, Zhanar Y.; Aidarbekova, Kulzhan A.; Asetova, Zhannur B.; Adanov, Kuanysbek B.

2016-01-01

Research objective is to theoretically justify and to develop a pedagogical system of development of future teachers' professional thinking culture. In the research there are used a set of theoretical methods: systematic analysis of the philosophical, psychological and pedagogical literature on the researched topic; compilation and classification…

Journal rankings and directions for future research in health care management: A global perspective.

PubMed

Meese, Katherine A; O'Connor, Stephen J; Borkowski, Nancy; Hernandez, S Robert

2017-05-01

Despite the increasingly global nature of health care, much of the research about journal rankings and directions for future research in health care management is from a United States based viewpoint. There is a lack of information about influential journals and trends for health care management research from a global perspective. This exploratory study gathered the opinions of health care management researchers from 17 countries regarding which journals are considered most influential, popular research topics and areas needing more attention from the research community. An online survey was sent to individuals in high-income Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries who were identified through author relationships, academic institution websites, editorial boards of international journals, and academic and practitioner associations in the countries of interest. Results indicate that journal rankings vary substantially from prior published studies evaluating health care management journals and international ranking lists, and the list of influential journals includes a much more diverse array of publications. Respondents also indicated a diverse number of topics for current and future research, highlighting the global complexity of the field. The implications of this study are valuable to scholars evaluating outlets for disseminating research, and highlighting areas for collaborative research in health care management globally.

Jefferson Lab Science: Present and Future

DOE PAGES

McKeown, Robert D.

2015-02-12

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and associated experimental equipment at Jefferson Lab comprise a unique facility for experimental nuclear physics. Furthermore, this facility is presently being upgraded, which will enable a new experimental program with substantial discovery potential to address important topics in nuclear, hadronic, and electroweak physics. Further in the future, it is envisioned that the Laboratory will evolve into an electron-ion colliding beam facility.

Learning topic models by belief propagation.

PubMed

Zeng, Jia; Cheung, William K; Liu, Jiming

2013-05-01

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is an important hierarchical Bayesian model for probabilistic topic modeling, which attracts worldwide interest and touches on many important applications in text mining, computer vision and computational biology. This paper represents the collapsed LDA as a factor graph, which enables the classic loopy belief propagation (BP) algorithm for approximate inference and parameter estimation. Although two commonly used approximate inference methods, such as variational Bayes (VB) and collapsed Gibbs sampling (GS), have gained great success in learning LDA, the proposed BP is competitive in both speed and accuracy, as validated by encouraging experimental results on four large-scale document datasets. Furthermore, the BP algorithm has the potential to become a generic scheme for learning variants of LDA-based topic models in the collapsed space. To this end, we show how to learn two typical variants of LDA-based topic models, such as author-topic models (ATM) and relational topic models (RTM), using BP based on the factor graph representations.

Childhood leukaemia risks: from unexplained findings near nuclear installations to recommendations for future research.

PubMed

Laurier, D; Grosche, B; Auvinen, A; Clavel, J; Cobaleda, C; Dehos, A; Hornhardt, S; Jacob, S; Kaatsch, P; Kosti, O; Kuehni, C; Lightfoot, T; Spycher, B; Van Nieuwenhuyse, A; Wakeford, R; Ziegelberger, G

2014-09-01

Recent findings related to childhood leukaemia incidence near nuclear installations have raised questions which can be answered neither by current knowledge on radiation risk nor by other established risk factors. In 2012, a workshop was organised on this topic with two objectives: (a) review of results and discussion of methodological limitations of studies near nuclear installations; (b) identification of directions for future research into the causes and pathogenesis of childhood leukaemia. The workshop gathered 42 participants from different disciplines, extending widely outside of the radiation protection field. Regarding the proximity of nuclear installations, the need for continuous surveillance of childhood leukaemia incidence was highlighted, including a better characterisation of the local population. The creation of collaborative working groups was recommended for consistency in methodologies and the possibility of combining data for future analyses. Regarding the causes of childhood leukaemia, major fields of research were discussed (environmental risk factors, genetics, infections, immunity, stem cells, experimental research). The need for multidisciplinary collaboration in developing research activities was underlined, including the prevalence of potential predisposition markers and investigating further the infectious aetiology hypothesis. Animal studies and genetic/epigenetic approaches appear of great interest. Routes for future research were pointed out.

Immunomodulation and safety of topical calcineurin inhibitors for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

PubMed

Hultsch, Thomas; Kapp, Alexander; Spergel, Jonathan

2005-01-01

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic or chronically relapsing inflammatory skin condition that primarily affects children. Topical corticosteroids have been the mainstay of treatment since the late 1950s. While providing excellent short-term efficacy, topical corticosteroid usage is limited by potential adverse effects, including impairment of the function and viability of Langerhans cells/dendritic cells. The recently introduced topical calcineurin inhibitors pimecrolimus cream 1% (Elidel) and tacrolimus ointment 0.03 and 0.1% (Protopic) exhibit a more selective mechanism of action and do not affect Langerhans cells/dendritic cells. For the immune system of young children 'learning' to mount a balanced Th1/Th2 response, this selective effect has particular benefits. In clinical experience, topical calcineurin inhibitors have been shown to be a safe and effective alternative to topical corticosteroids in almost 7 million patients (>5 million on pimecrolimus; >1.7 million on tacrolimus). Topical pimecrolimus is primarily used in children with mild and moderate AD, whereas tacrolimus is used preferentially in more severe cases. None of the topical calcineurin inhibitors have been associated with systemic immunosuppression-related malignancies known to occur following long-term sustained systemic immunosuppression with oral immunosuppressants (e.g., tacrolimus, cyclosporine A, and corticosteroids) in transplant patients. Preclinical and clinical data suggest a greater skin selectivity and larger safety margin for topical pimecrolimus. (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

Topical drug delivery systems: a patent review.

PubMed

Singh Malik, Deepinder; Mital, Neeraj; Kaur, Gurpreet

2016-01-01

Topical administration is the favored route for local delivery of therapeutic agents due to its convenience and affordability. The specific challenge of designing a therapeutic system is to achieve an optimal concentration of a certain drug at its site of action for an appropriate duration. This review summarizes innovations from the past 3 years (2012-2015) in the field of topical drug delivery for the treatment of local infections of the vagina, nose, eye and skin. The review also throws some light on the anatomy and physiology of these organs and their various defensive barriers which affect the delivery of drugs administered topically. Topical administration has been gaining attention over the last few years. However, conventional topical drug delivery systems suffer from drawbacks such as poor retention and low bioavailability. The successful formulation of topical delivery products requires the careful manipulation of defensive barriers and selection of a soluble drug carrier. Extensive research is required to develop newer topical drug delivery systems aiming either to improve the efficacy or to reduce side effects compared to current patented systems.

Daily life activity routine discovery in hemiparetic rehabilitation patients using topic models.

PubMed

Seiter, J; Derungs, A; Schuster-Amft, C; Amft, O; Tröster, G

2015-01-01

Monitoring natural behavior and activity routines of hemiparetic rehabilitation patients across the day can provide valuable progress information for therapists and patients and contribute to an optimized rehabilitation process. In particular, continuous patient monitoring could add type, frequency and duration of daily life activity routines and hence complement standard clinical scores that are assessed for particular tasks only. Machine learning methods have been applied to infer activity routines from sensor data. However, supervised methods require activity annotations to build recognition models and thus require extensive patient supervision. Discovery methods, including topic models could provide patient routine information and deal with variability in activity and movement performance across patients. Topic models have been used to discover characteristic activity routine patterns of healthy individuals using activity primitives recognized from supervised sensor data. Yet, the applicability of topic models for hemiparetic rehabilitation patients and techniques to derive activity primitives without supervision needs to be addressed. We investigate, 1) whether a topic model-based activity routine discovery framework can infer activity routines of rehabilitation patients from wearable motion sensor data. 2) We compare the performance of our topic model-based activity routine discovery using rule-based and clustering-based activity vocabulary. We analyze the activity routine discovery in a dataset recorded with 11 hemiparetic rehabilitation patients during up to ten full recording days per individual in an ambulatory daycare rehabilitation center using wearable motion sensors attached to both wrists and the non-affected thigh. We introduce and compare rule-based and clustering-based activity vocabulary to process statistical and frequency acceleration features to activity words. Activity words were used for activity routine pattern discovery using topic models

Resources for Topics in Architecture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Noate, Judith, Comp.

This guide for conducting library research on topics in architecture or on the work of a particular architect presents suggestions for utilizing four categories of resources: books, dictionaries and encyclopedias, indexes, and a periodicals and series list (PASL). Two topics are researched as examples: the contemporary architect Richard Meier, and…

Linguistic Extensions of Topic Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd-Graber, Jordan

2010-01-01

Topic models like latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) provide a framework for analyzing large datasets where observations are collected into groups. Although topic modeling has been fruitfully applied to problems social science, biology, and computer vision, it has been most widely used to model datasets where documents are modeled as exchangeable…

Use of topical tretinoin and the development of noncutaneous adverse events: evidence from a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Shapiro, Stanley; Heremans, Annie; Mays, David A; Martin, Amber L; Hernandez-Medina, Marisol; Lanes, Stephan

2011-12-01

Topical retinoids have been in clinical use for the treatment of chronic skin conditions, including acne, photodamage, and psoriasis, for 30 years. A systematic literature review was conducted to assess the incidence of noncutaneous adverse events (AE) among patients treated with topical retinoids with a focus on topical tretinoin studies reported before the Veterans Affairs Topical Tretinoin Chemoprevention trial. Electronic literature searches were conducted in Embase and MEDLINE for literature reporting development of nonteratogenic, noncutaneous AE among patients treated with topical retinoids published through September 2008. The search yielded 2778 citations, of which 20 studies met inclusion criteria. Tretinoin was used in 14 of the studies. Other retinoids assessed included isotretinoin, adapalene, alitretinoin, and tazarotene. Within patients receiving topical tretinoin, 27.9% reported the occurrence of at least one noncutaneous AE. The majority of noncutaneous AE were transient and judged not to be related to tretinoin treatment. The conclusions of this study apply largely to tretinoin compared with other topical retinoids. Many of the included trials were designed to evaluate the efficacy of topical treatment and reporting of safety events concentrated on incidence of localized AE, rather than systemic or noncutaneous events. We found no clear evidence of a relationship between the use of topical tretinoin and the development of noncutaneous AE before a recent report of excess mortality in a clinical trial. The majority of noncutaneous AE reported by patients receiving topical retinoids consisted of nonsevere, nonspecific symptoms that were judged not to be related to treatment. Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tomorrow is Today: A Plan for Implementing the Study of the Future in the English Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, David

This course, designed to help students explore serious thoughts about the future of society, is intended for an English literature class at the advanced secondary level. The course consists of nine interrelated modules that deal with the following topics: current predictions about the future, with special attention to the film "Future Shock";…

Current Topics on Salvage Thoracic Surgery in Patients with Primary Lung Cancer.

PubMed

Uramoto, Hidetaka

2016-01-01

Salvage primary tumor resection is sometimes considered for isolated local failures after definitive chemoradiation, urgent matters, such as hemoptysis (palliative intent), and in cases judged to be contraindicated for chemotherapy or definite radiation due to severe comorbidities, despite an initial clinical diagnosis of stage III or IV disease. However, salvage surgery is generally considered to be technically more difficult, with a potentially higher morbidity. This review discusses the current topics on salvage thoracic surgery such as the definition of salvage surgery and its outcome, and future perspectives.

Link-topic model for biomedical abbreviation disambiguation.

PubMed

Kim, Seonho; Yoon, Juntae

2015-02-01

The ambiguity of biomedical abbreviations is one of the challenges in biomedical text mining systems. In particular, the handling of term variants and abbreviations without nearby definitions is a critical issue. In this study, we adopt the concepts of topic of document and word link to disambiguate biomedical abbreviations. We newly suggest the link topic model inspired by the latent Dirichlet allocation model, in which each document is perceived as a random mixture of topics, where each topic is characterized by a distribution over words. Thus, the most probable expansions with respect to abbreviations of a given abstract are determined by word-topic, document-topic, and word-link distributions estimated from a document collection through the link topic model. The model allows two distinct modes of word generation to incorporate semantic dependencies among words, particularly long form words of abbreviations and their sentential co-occurring words; a word can be generated either dependently on the long form of the abbreviation or independently. The semantic dependency between two words is defined as a link and a new random parameter for the link is assigned to each word as well as a topic parameter. Because the link status indicates whether the word constitutes a link with a given specific long form, it has the effect of determining whether a word forms a unigram or a skipping/consecutive bigram with respect to the long form. Furthermore, we place a constraint on the model so that a word has the same topic as a specific long form if it is generated in reference to the long form. Consequently, documents are generated from the two hidden parameters, i.e. topic and link, and the most probable expansion of a specific abbreviation is estimated from the parameters. Our model relaxes the bag-of-words assumption of the standard topic model in which the word order is neglected, and it captures a richer structure of text than does the standard topic model by considering

Clinical efficacy and safety of topical versus oral ivermectin in treatment of uncomplicated scabies.

PubMed

Ahmad, Hesham M; Abdel-Azim, Eman S; Abdel-Aziz, Rasha T

2016-01-01

Many medications are available for scabies treatment including oral and topical ivermectin. However, studies comparing these two forms as a scabies treatment are few. This study compares efficacy and safety of topical versus oral ivermectin as scabies treatment. The study included 62 confirmed uncomplicated scabies patients, divided into: Group I (32 patients, received topical ivermectin) and Group II (30 patients, received oral ivermectin). Patients were assessed, clinically and by KOH smear at 1, 2 and 4 weeks. Treatment was repeated after one week in patients with persistent infection. Adverse events were recorded. Most patients (87.5% and 73.5% in group I and group II respectively) were symptom free after a single treatment. A second treatment was required in 4 patients of group I and 8 patients of group II. However, 2 weeks after treatment symptoms and signs completely resolved in all cases with no recurrence at 4 weeks. This study suggests that both topical and oral ivermectin are safe and equally effective in treatment of uncomplicated scabies. Single treatment, whether topical or oral, is associated with high cure rate in a week post treatment. However, repeating treatment after one week may be required to achieve 100% cure. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Topical Botanical Agents for the Treatment of Psoriasis: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Farahnik, Benjamin; Sharma, Divya; Alban, Joseph; Sivamani, Raja K

2017-08-01

Patients with psoriasis often enquire about the use of numerous botanical therapeutics. It is important for dermatologists to be aware of the current evidence regarding these agents. We conducted a systematic literature search using the PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases for controlled and uncontrolled clinical trials that assessed the use of topical botanical therapeutics for psoriasis. The search included the following keywords: 'psoriasis' and 'plant' or 'herbal' or 'botanical'. We also reviewed citations within articles to identify additional relevant sources. We then further refined the results by route of administration and the topical botanical agents are reviewed herein. A total of 27 controlled and uncontrolled clinical trials addressing the use of topical botanical agents for psoriasis were assessed in this review. We found that the most highly studied and most efficacious topical botanical therapeutics were Mahonia aquifolium, indigo naturalis, aloe vera, and, to a lesser degree, capsaicin. The most commonly reported adverse effects were local skin irritation, erythema, pruritus, burning, and pain. However, the overall evidence for these therapeutics remains limited in quantity and quality. The literature addresses a large number of studies in regard to botanicals for the treatment of psoriasis. While most agents appear to be safe, further research is necessary before topical botanical agents can be consistently recommended to patients.

21 CFR 868.5170 - Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator. 868... topical anesthesia applicator. (a) Identification. A laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator is a device used to apply topical anesthetics to a patient's laryngotracheal area. (b) Classification. Class...

21 CFR 868.5170 - Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator. 868... topical anesthesia applicator. (a) Identification. A laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator is a device used to apply topical anesthetics to a patient's laryngotracheal area. (b) Classification. Class...

21 CFR 868.5170 - Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator. 868... topical anesthesia applicator. (a) Identification. A laryngotracheal topical anesthesia applicator is a device used to apply topical anesthetics to a patient's laryngotracheal area. (b) Classification. Class...

Key Factors in Planning a Sustainable Energy Future Including Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hedstrom, Lars; Saxe, Maria; Folkesson, Anders; Wallmark, Cecilia; Haraldsson, Kristina; Bryngelsson, Marten; Alvfors, Per

2006-01-01

In this article, a number of future energy visions, especially those basing the energy systems on hydrogen, are discussed. Some often missing comparisons between alternatives, from a sustainability perspective, are identified and then performed for energy storage, energy transportation, and energy use in vehicles. It is shown that it is important…

Encapsulation of cosmetic active ingredients for topical application--a review.

PubMed

Casanova, Francisca; Santos, Lúcia

2016-02-01

Microencapsulation is finding increasing applications in cosmetics and personal care markets. This article provides an overall discussion on encapsulation of cosmetically active ingredients and encapsulation techniques for cosmetic and personal care products for topical applications. Some of the challenges are identified and critical aspects and future perspectives are addressed. Many cosmetics and personal care products contain biologically active substances that require encapsulation for increased stability of the active materials. The topical and transdermal delivery of active cosmetic ingredients requires effective, controlled and safe means of reaching the target site within the skin. Preservation of the active ingredients is also essential during formulation, storage and application of the final cosmetic product. Microencapsulation offers an ideal and unique carrier system for cosmetic active ingredients, as it has the potential to respond to all these requirements. The encapsulated agent can be released by several mechanisms, such as mechanical action, heat, diffusion, pH, biodegradation and dissolution. The selection of the encapsulation technique and shell material depends on the final application of the product, considering physical and chemical stability, concentration, required particle size, release mechanism and manufacturing costs.

CT myocardial perfusion imaging: current status and future perspectives.

PubMed

Yang, Dong Hyun; Kim, Young-Hak

2017-07-01

Computed tomography myocardial perfusion (CTP) combined with coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) may constitute a "1-stop shop" for the noninvasive diagnosis of hemodynamically significant coronary stenosis during a single CT examination. CTP shows high diagnostic performance and provides incremental value over CCTA for the detection of hemodynamically significant coronary stenosis in patients with a high Agatston calcium score or coronary artery stents. Future studies should determine the optimal protocol and clinical value of CTP for guiding revascularization strategy and prognostication. In this article, we review the current status and future perspectives of CTP, focusing on technical considerations, clinical applications, and future research topics.

[Violence Prevention: A Topical Newsletter.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourland, Eric

1995-01-01

This newsletter theme issue addresses the issue of violence prevention in American schools and is based on presentations and discussions at the Workgroup To Improve the Quality of Technical Assistance around the Topic of Violence Prevention held in Washington, D.C. on June 12-14, 1995. The newsletter reports on the following presentation topics:…

The evolution and future of diversity at work.

PubMed

Roberson, Quinetta; Ryan, Ann Marie; Ragins, Belle Rose

2017-03-01

This article examines the evolution of diversity in the Journal of Applied Psychology. To begin, we explore foundations of the concept of diversity, including its appearance in both applied contexts and the scholarly literature. We then review the literature on diversity, including the development of its conceptualization and operationalizations over time, in the Journal and in the field of applied psychological science at large. We also examine the processes underlying the effects of diversity, and specific outcomes of diversity in organizations. To conclude, we offer a future research agenda that highlights diversity-related topics and issues important for advancing an understanding of diversity and moving the field forward, especially within the Journal. This work makes several contributions to research on diversity in organizations. First, we provide a lens for examining change in the study of diversity over time as well as a critical examination of the benefits and challenges associated with these changes. Second, we review the underlying mechanisms and key contextual influences on diversity effects in organizations. Third, our review examines the explanatory power of current diversity research and then uses this to develop a research agenda. By organizing the broad body of literature that exists on diversity, our article offers a sharp picture of what gaps in knowledge exist and where future research should focus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Topical Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention in Women: Becoming a Reality

PubMed Central

Verma, Natasha A.; Lee, Anna C.; Herold, Betsy C.

2011-01-01

Strategies to protect against sexual transmission of HIV include the development of products formulated for topical application, which limit the toxicities associated with systemic oral pre-exposure prophylaxis. Following several clinical trial failures, attention is now focused on antiretroviral (ARV) agents. Highly potent ARV topical formulations provide a female-controlled, targeted, and feasible option for HIV prevention. A recently completed tenofovir gel trial was the first to demonstrate significant protection against HIV acquisition. Topical ARVs have the advantage of delivering high concentration of drug at the site of transmission of HIV, with low systemic absorption. Sustained-release formulations, such as intravaginal rings, will likely improve adherence and can be designed to provide controlled and continuous delivery of ARV combinations. Further studies to test alternative dosing strategies and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships in the genital tract will provide valuable information as the field strives to improve upon the promising tenofovir gel trial results. PMID:21424725

Treatment of photoaged skin with topical tretinoin increases epidermal-dermal anchoring fibrils

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Woodley, D.T.; Briggaman, R.A.; Zelickson, A.S.

Topical 0.1% tretinoin or vehicle control was applied daily to the forearm skin of six caucasian adults for 4 months. Two-millimeter punch biopsy specimens were obtained from treatment sites at the beginning and end of the study period for electron microscopy. Anchoring fibrils within the epidermal-dermal junction of skin treatment sites were quantitated by blinded, standardized, computer-assisted morphometry. After 4 months of continual daily treatment, skin sites that received topical tretinoin showed double the anchoring fibril density compared with vehicle control sites. The possible mechanism by which topical tretinoin increases anchoring fibrils in skin include the drug's property of inhibitingmore » collagenase, a dermal enzyme that degrades anchoring fibril collagen. The authors speculate that increased numbers of collagenous anchoring fibrils within the papillary dermis of human skin is one of the connective-tissue correlates of the clinical improvement observed in photoaged skin after treatment with topical tretinoin.« less

Payment Services for Global Online Systems Including Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seebeck, Bill; And Others

1995-01-01

A panel of four conference presenters address issues related to paying for services provided through online systems. Discussion includes the following topics: metering devices; electronic/digital cash; working within existing banking/credit card structures; provision of payment mechanisms in countries without extensive credit card usage; and…

Topical Silicone Sheet Application in the Treatment of Hypertrophic Scars and Keloids.

PubMed

Westra, Iris; Pham, Hth; Niessen, Frank B

2016-10-01

Objective: Since the early 1980s, topical silicone sheets have been used in the treatment of hypertrophic scars and keloids.This study aimed to determine the optimal duration and application of these sheets. Design: multi-centered therapeutic study. Setting and participants: A total of 224 patients were included in this study; 205 patients with hypertrophic scars and 19 patients with keloids. Patients received treatment with a topical silicone sheet. Treated scars varied in age, ranging from two weeks to 62 years and treatment time ranged from one month to 16 months. Assessment of the scars was performed by the use of standardized study forms and digital photography. Measurements: Skin therapists objectively assessed the scars on its color, thickness, and elasticity. Patients themselves subjectively assessed their perception of their scar and their experience with the usage of the topical silicone sheet. Results: After applying the topical silicone sheet, all scars, regardless of type of scar and maturity, improved significantly in color, thickness, and elasticity. Conclusion: In this study, treatment with the topical silicone sheet showed significant improvement on both hypertrophic scars and keloids. Best results were reached when the silicone sheet was applied at least four hours per day.

Laser-assisted delivery of topical methotrexate - in vitro investigations.

PubMed

Taudorf, Elisabeth Hjardem

2016-06-01

maximum accumulation in deeper skin layers. Biodistribution of MTX occurred throughout the skin without being compromised by coagulation zones of varying thickness. The ratio of skin deposition versus transdermal permeation was constant, regardless of MAZ depth. Impact of transport kinetics on AFXL-assisted topical MTX delivery: MTX accumulated rapidly in AFXL-processed skin. MTX was detectable in mid-dermis after 15 min. and saturated the skin after 7 h at a ten-fold increased MTX-concentration compared to intact skin. Transdermal permeation stayed below 1.5% of applied MTX before skin saturation, and increased afterwards up to 8.0% at 24h. MTX distributed radially into the coagulation zone within 15 min of application and could be detected in surrounding skin at 1.5 h. Upon skin saturation, MTX had distributed in an entire mid-dermal skin section. In conclusion, adjusting laser parameters and application time may enable targeted treatments of dermatological disorders and potentially pose a future alternative to systemic MTX in selected dermatological disorders.

Geotechnical support and topical studies for nuclear waste geologic repositories

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1989-01-01

The present report lists the technical reviews and comments made during the fiscal year 1988 and summarizes the technical progress of the topical studies. In the area of technical assistance, there were numerous activities detailed in the next section. These included 24 geotechnical support activities, including reviews of 6 Study Plans (SP) and participation in 6 SP Review Workshops, review of one whole document Site Characterization Plan (SCP) and participation in the Assembled Document SCP Review Workshops by 6 LBL reviewers; the hosting of a DOE program review, the rewriting of the project statement of work, 2 trips to technicalmore » and planning meetings; preparation of proposed work statements for two new topics for DOE, and 5 instances of technical assistance to DOE. These activities are described in a Table in the following section entitled Geoscience Technical Support for Nuclear Waste Geologic Repositories.''« less

Topical Antimicrobials for Burn Infections – An Update

PubMed Central

Sevgi, Mert; Toklu, Ani; Vecchio, Daniela; Hamblin, Michael R

2014-01-01

The relentless rise in antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria and fungi, coupled with the high susceptibility of burn wounds to infection, and the difficulty of systemically administered antibiotics to reach damaged tissue, taken together have made the development of novel topical antimicrobials for burn infections a fertile area of innovation for researchers and companies. We previously covered the existing patent literature in this area in 2010, but the notable progress made since then, has highlighted the need for an update to bring the reader up to date on recent developments. New patents in the areas of topically applied antibiotics and agents that can potentiate the action of existing antibiotics may extend their useful lifetime. Developments have also been made in biofilm-disrupting agents. Antimicrobial peptides are nature’s way for many life forms to defend themselves against attack by pathogens. Silver has long been known to be a highly active antimicrobial but new inorganic metal derivatives based on bismuth, copper and gallium have emerged. Halogens such as chlorine and iodine can be delivered by novel technologies. A variety of topically applied antimicrobials include chitosan preparations, usnic acid, ceragenins and XF porphyrins. Natural product derived antimicrobials such as tannins and essential oils have also been studied. Novel techniques to deliver reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide in situ have been developed. Light-mediated techniques include photodynamic therapy, ultraviolet irradiation, blue light, low-level laser therapy and titania photocatalysis. Passive immunotherapy employs antibodies against pathogens and their virulence factors. Finally an interesting new area uses therapeutic microorganisms such as phages, probiotic bacteria and protozoa to combat infections. PMID:24215506

Topic segmentation via community detection in complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Arruda, Henrique F.; Costa, Luciano da F.; Amancio, Diego R.

2016-06-01

Many real systems have been modeled in terms of network concepts, and written texts are a particular example of information networks. In recent years, the use of network methods to analyze language has allowed the discovery of several interesting effects, including the proposition of novel models to explain the emergence of fundamental universal patterns. While syntactical networks, one of the most prevalent networked models of written texts, display both scale-free and small-world properties, such a representation fails in capturing other textual features, such as the organization in topics or subjects. We propose a novel network representation whose main purpose is to capture the semantical relationships of words in a simple way. To do so, we link all words co-occurring in the same semantic context, which is defined in a threefold way. We show that the proposed representations favor the emergence of communities of semantically related words, and this feature may be used to identify relevant topics. The proposed methodology to detect topics was applied to segment selected Wikipedia articles. We found that, in general, our methods outperform traditional bag-of-words representations, which suggests that a high-level textual representation may be useful to study the semantical features of texts.

Topical anesthesia without intracameral lidocaine in cataract surgery.

PubMed

Spiritus, A; Huygens, M; Callebaut, F

2000-01-01

To evaluate the efficacy of topical anesthesia with oxybuprocaïne 0.4% without intracameral lidocaïne as an alternative to peribulbar or retrobulbar anesthesia in cataract surgery. Fifty-eight patients (eighty-two eyes) were included in this study. All patients received topical anesthesia with oxybuprocaïne 0.4%. No intracameral lidocaïne was used at the start of the intervention. Seventy-five per cent of patients received oral sedation with lorazepam 2.5 mg. All surgery was done using a superior corneal incision and phacoemulsification followed by a foldable IOL implantation. Subjective pain was assessed at 4 intervals during surgery using a 4-point pain scale. All patients were evaluated for intraoperative eye motility and blepharospasm. Patient and surgeon satisfaction was measured with a 4-point satisfaction scale. 15% of patients experienced mild pain during phaco and 43% had mild pain during corneal suturing. No patient had severe pain during the operation. In 4% of patients, intracameral lidocaïne was used to relieve pain. The surgeon and patient satisfaction was high. No eye movements or blepharospasm were recorded in 75% and 62% of cases respectively. No serious complications occurred. Topical anesthesia is a safe and effective alternative to peribulbar and retrobulbar anesthesia in corneal cataract surgery for the experienced surgeon.

Topic segmentation via community detection in complex networks.

PubMed

de Arruda, Henrique F; Costa, Luciano da F; Amancio, Diego R

2016-06-01

Many real systems have been modeled in terms of network concepts, and written texts are a particular example of information networks. In recent years, the use of network methods to analyze language has allowed the discovery of several interesting effects, including the proposition of novel models to explain the emergence of fundamental universal patterns. While syntactical networks, one of the most prevalent networked models of written texts, display both scale-free and small-world properties, such a representation fails in capturing other textual features, such as the organization in topics or subjects. We propose a novel network representation whose main purpose is to capture the semantical relationships of words in a simple way. To do so, we link all words co-occurring in the same semantic context, which is defined in a threefold way. We show that the proposed representations favor the emergence of communities of semantically related words, and this feature may be used to identify relevant topics. The proposed methodology to detect topics was applied to segment selected Wikipedia articles. We found that, in general, our methods outperform traditional bag-of-words representations, which suggests that a high-level textual representation may be useful to study the semantical features of texts.

Efficacy and safety of topical diquafosol ophthalmic solution for treatment of dry eye: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials.

PubMed

Wu, Di; Chen, Wang Qi; Li, Ryan; Wang, Yan

2015-06-01

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical diquafosol ophthalmic solution for treatment of dry eye. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were identified to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical administration of diquafosol to patients with dry eyes. Data evaluation was based on endpoints including Schirmer test, tear film break-up time, ocular surface staining score, subjective symptom score, and adverse events. A total of 8 RCTs involving 1516 patients were selected based on the prespecified criteria. Significant improvement of Schirmer test values and tear film break-up time were reported in 40% (2 of 5) and 80% (4 of 5) studies, respectively. Ocular surface staining scores significantly decreased in 100% (fluorescein corneal staining, 6 of 6; Rose Bengal corneal and conjunctival staining, 4 of 4) RCTs. Symptoms significantly improved in 75% (6 of 8) RCTs in patients with dry eyes. No severe adverse events were reported with the concentration of diquafosol from 0.5% to 5%. Heterogeneity in study design prevented meta-analysis from statistical integration and summarization. Topical diquafosol seems to be a safe therapeutic option for the treatment of dry eye. The high variability of the selected RCTs compromised the strength of evidence and limits the determination of efficacy. However, the topical administration of diquafosol seems to be beneficial in improving the integrity of the epithelial cell layer of the ocular surface and mucin secretion in patients with dry eyes. This review indicates a need for standardized criteria and methods for evaluation to assess the efficacy of diquafosol in the future clinical trials.

A study of topics for distance education-A survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ratz, Joan M.; Schuster, Rudy M.; Marcy, Ann H.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify training topics and distance education technologies preferred by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees. This study was conducted on behalf of the National Conservation Training Center to support their distance education strategy planning and implementation. When selecting survey recipients, we focused on employees in positions involving conservation and environmental education and outreach programming. We conducted the study in two phases. First, we surveyed 72 employees to identify useful training topics. The response rate was 61 percent; respondents were from all regions and included supervisors and nonsupervisors. Five topics for training were identified: creating and maintaining partnerships (partnerships), technology, program planning and development (program planning), outreach methods to engage the community (outreach methods), and evaluation methods. In the second phase, we surveyed 1,488 employees to assess preferences for training among the five topics identified in the first survey and preferences among six distance education technologies: satellite television, video conferencing, audio conferencing, computer mediated training, written resources, and audio resources. Two types of instructor-led training were included on the survey to compare to the technology options. Respondents were asked what types of information, such as basic facts or problem solving skills, were needed for each of the five topics. The adjusted response rate was 64 percent; respondents were from all regions and included supervisors and nonsupervisors. The results indicated clear preferences among respondents for certain training topics and technologies. All five training topics were valued, but the topics of partnerships and technology were given equal value and were valued more than the other three topics. Respondents indicated a desire for training on the topics of partnerships, technology, program planning, and outreach methods. For

Eosinophilic Esophagitis: MedlinePlus Health Topic

MedlinePlus

... Esophagitis (EoE) (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology) Also in Spanish Latest News Eosinophilic Esophagitis May ... Pediatric and Adolescent Patients (American College of Gastroenterology) Topic Image Related Health Topics Eosinophilic Disorders Esophagus Disorders ...

Topical oxygen therapy results in complete wound healing in diabetic foot ulcers.

PubMed

Yu, Janelle; Lu, Suzanne; McLaren, Ann-Marie; Perry, Julie A; Cross, Karen M

2016-11-01

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a significant problem in an aging population. Fifteen percent of diabetics develop a DFU over their lifetime, which can lead to potential amputation. The 5-year survival rate after amputation is 31%, which is greater than the lifetime risk of mortality from cancer. Topical oxygen is a promising technique for the adjunctive therapy of chronic wounds including DFUs, but few controlled studies exist to support its clinical adoption. The aim of this study was to compare a portable topical oxygen delivery system in patients with nonhealing DFUs to standard best practice. Twenty patients were randomized into a topical oxygen group (n = 10), and a nonplacebo control group with regular dressings and standard care (n = 10), and attended the diabetic foot clinic once weekly for 8 weeks. Ulcer surface area over time was analyzed using standardized digital imaging software. DFUs were present without healing for a mean duration of 76 weeks prior to the study. They found a significant difference in healing rate between patients receiving topical oxygen and those receiving standard care. Topical oxygen, therefore, represents a potentially exciting new technology to shorten healing time in patients with nonhealing DFUs. More prospective randomized and powered studies are needed to determine the benefits of topical oxygen, but our current results are very promising. © 2016 by the Wound Healing Society.

Good and Bad Topics for Moral Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidman, Patricia; And Others

This paper reports the opinions about moral topics expressed by 140 elementary and secondary student teachers, 49 in Indiana and 91 in California. Teachers' judgments of the suitability of topics were collected via a questionnaire containing 20 topics in two versions. The presentation consists of: (1) a description of the opinionnaire teachers…

A Comparison of Evaluation Metrics for Biomedical Journals, Articles, and Websites in Terms of Sensitivity to Topic

PubMed Central

Fu, Lawrence D.; Aphinyanaphongs, Yindalon; Wang, Lily; Aliferis, Constantin F.

2011-01-01

Evaluating the biomedical literature and health-related websites for quality are challenging information retrieval tasks. Current commonly used methods include impact factor for journals, PubMed’s clinical query filters and machine learning-based filter models for articles, and PageRank for websites. Previous work has focused on the average performance of these methods without considering the topic, and it is unknown how performance varies for specific topics or focused searches. Clinicians, researchers, and users should be aware when expected performance is not achieved for specific topics. The present work analyzes the behavior of these methods for a variety of topics. Impact factor, clinical query filters, and PageRank vary widely across different topics while a topic-specific impact factor and machine learning-based filter models are more stable. The results demonstrate that a method may perform excellently on average but struggle when used on a number of narrower topics. Topic adjusted metrics and other topic robust methods have an advantage in such situations. Users of traditional topic-sensitive metrics should be aware of their limitations. PMID:21419864

A comparison of evaluation metrics for biomedical journals, articles, and websites in terms of sensitivity to topic.

PubMed

Fu, Lawrence D; Aphinyanaphongs, Yindalon; Wang, Lily; Aliferis, Constantin F

2011-08-01

Evaluating the biomedical literature and health-related websites for quality are challenging information retrieval tasks. Current commonly used methods include impact factor for journals, PubMed's clinical query filters and machine learning-based filter models for articles, and PageRank for websites. Previous work has focused on the average performance of these methods without considering the topic, and it is unknown how performance varies for specific topics or focused searches. Clinicians, researchers, and users should be aware when expected performance is not achieved for specific topics. The present work analyzes the behavior of these methods for a variety of topics. Impact factor, clinical query filters, and PageRank vary widely across different topics while a topic-specific impact factor and machine learning-based filter models are more stable. The results demonstrate that a method may perform excellently on average but struggle when used on a number of narrower topics. Topic-adjusted metrics and other topic robust methods have an advantage in such situations. Users of traditional topic-sensitive metrics should be aware of their limitations. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Futures Conditional.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theobald, Robert

The readings presented here are designed to help the reader perceive the future more vividly. Part one of the book suggests the various ways in which the future can be seen; it includes science fiction and the views of various analysts as to what the future holds. Part two collects printed materials about the future from various sources, including…

On recent advances and future research directions for computational fluid dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, A. J.; Soliman, M. O.; Manhardt, P. D.

1986-01-01

This paper highlights some recent accomplishments regarding CFD numerical algorithm constructions for generation of discrete approximate solutions to classes of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Following an overview of turbulent closure modeling, and development of appropriate conservation law systems, a Taylor weak-statement semi-discrete approximate solution algorithm is developed. Various forms for completion to the final linear algebra statement are cited, as are a range of candidate numerical linear algebra solution procedures. This development sequence emphasizes the key building blocks of a CFD RNS algorithm, including solution trial and test spaces, integration procedure and added numerical stability mechanisms. A range of numerical results are discussed focusing on key topics guiding future research directions.

K-Means Subject Matter Expert Refined Topic Model Methodology

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-01

Refined Topic Model Methodology Topic Model Estimation via K-Means U.S. Army TRADOC Analysis Center-Monterey 700 Dyer Road...January 2017 K-means Subject Matter Expert Refined Topic Model Methodology Topic Model Estimation via K-Means Theodore T. Allen, Ph.D. Zhenhuan...Matter Expert Refined Topic Model Methodology Topic Model Estimation via K-means 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER W9124N-15-P-0022 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c

Climate Change Impacts on Forest Succession and Future Productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohan, J. E.; Melillo, J. M.; Clark, J. S.; Schlesinger, W. H.

2012-12-01

Change in ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics with forest succession is a long-studied topic in ecology, and secondary forests currently comprise a significant proportion of the global land base. Although mature forests are generally more important for conserving species and habitats, early successional trees and stands typically have higher rates of productivity, including net ecosystem productivity (NEP), which represents carbon available for sequestration. Secondary forests undergoing successional development are thus major players in the current global carbon cycle, yet how forests will function in the future under warmer conditions with higher atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations is unknown. Future forest C dynamics will depend, in part, on future species composition. Data from "Forests of the Future" research in a number of global change experiments provide insights into how forests may look in terms of dominant species composition, and thus function, in a future world. Studies at Free-Air Carbon Dioxide (FACE) experiments at Duke Forest and other facilities, plus climate warming experiments such as those at the Harvard Forest, suggest a common underlying principle of vegetation responses to environmental manipulation: Namely, that shade-tolerant woody species associating with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi show greater growth stimulation than ectomycorrhizal-associating (ECM) trees which are more common in temperate and boreal forests (Fig. 1 of relative growth rates standardized by pre-treatment rates). This may be due in part to the role of AM fungi in obtaining soil phosphorus and inorganic forms of nitrogen for plant associates. In combination, these results suggest a shift in future forest composition towards less-productive tree species that generally acquire atmospheric CO2 at lower annual rates, as well as a competitive advantage extended to woody vines such as poison ivy. Due to higher atmospheric CO2 and warmer temperatures, forests of the

Turning I into me: Imagining your future self.

PubMed

Macrae, C Neil; Mitchell, Jason P; Tait, Kirsten A; McNamara, Diana L; Golubickis, Marius; Topalidis, Pavlos P; Christian, Brittany M

2015-12-01

A widely endorsed belief is that perceivers imagine their present selves using a different representational format than imagining their future selves (i.e., near future=first-person; distant future=third-person). But is this really the case? Responding to the paucity of work on this topic, here we considered how temporal distance influences the extent to which individuals direct their attention outward or inward during a brief imaginary episode. Using a non-verbal measure of visual perspective taking (i.e., letter-drawing task) our results confirmed the hypothesized relation between temporal distance and conceptions of the self. Whereas simulations of an event in the near future were dominated by a first-person representation of the self, this switched to a third-person depiction when the event was located in the distant future. Critically, this switch in vantage point was restricted to self-related simulations. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A systematic review of the evidence for topical use of ginger.

PubMed

Ding, Mingshuang; Leach, Matthew J; Bradley, Helen

2013-01-01

The use of ginger as a topical intervention is widely advocated in the popular media. However, there has been no attempt to date to synthesize the evidence for topically administered ginger. To systematically review and synthesize the best available evidence of effectiveness for topical ginger in any condition. CAM on PubMed, CINAHL, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, National Library of Australia, The Cochrane Library, TRIP, pertinent texts, and bibliographies of relevant papers. Data sources were systematically searched for studies investigating the clinical effectiveness of topical ginger, in any form and for any condition, regardless of study design. Studies were limited to those published between 1980 and 2010, and published in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, or Taiwanese. Data were extracted by two authors, independently, using standardized templates. Four studies met the inclusion criteria, including three randomized controlled trials and one non-randomized controlled trial. All studies differed in terms of study population, outcome measures, comparative interventions, and dose and form of ginger used, and thus, were not amenable to meta-analysis. Findings from all trials favored usage of ginger for most outcomes. However, the small sample sizes and inadequate methodological reporting indicate a high risk of bias and the need for caution when interpreting these results. Few studies have investigated the effectiveness of topically administered ginger for any condition. Until the findings of these studies are corroborated by more robust research, and the safety of ginger is adequately established, clinicians should remain cautious about using topical ginger in clinical practice. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Texas Future Farmers of America Poultry Judging Handbook. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradley, J. W.; And Others

This handbook is designed to help students in Texas prepare for Future Farmers of America (FFA) poultry judgings. The handbook is organized into five major sections that cover the following topics: organization of the Texas FFA poultry judging contest; judging production hens; judging production pullets; grading ready-to-cook broilers, fryers, or…

Temporal Topic Modeling to Assess Associations between News Trends and Infectious Disease Outbreaks.

PubMed

Ghosh, Saurav; Chakraborty, Prithwish; Nsoesie, Elaine O; Cohn, Emily; Mekaru, Sumiko R; Brownstein, John S; Ramakrishnan, Naren

2017-01-19

In retrospective assessments, internet news reports have been shown to capture early reports of unknown infectious disease transmission prior to official laboratory confirmation. In general, media interest and reporting peaks and wanes during the course of an outbreak. In this study, we quantify the extent to which media interest during infectious disease outbreaks is indicative of trends of reported incidence. We introduce an approach that uses supervised temporal topic models to transform large corpora of news articles into temporal topic trends. The key advantages of this approach include: applicability to a wide range of diseases and ability to capture disease dynamics, including seasonality, abrupt peaks and troughs. We evaluated the method using data from multiple infectious disease outbreaks reported in the United States of America (U.S.), China, and India. We demonstrate that temporal topic trends extracted from disease-related news reports successfully capture the dynamics of multiple outbreaks such as whooping cough in U.S. (2012), dengue outbreaks in India (2013) and China (2014). Our observations also suggest that, when news coverage is uniform, efficient modeling of temporal topic trends using time-series regression techniques can estimate disease case counts with increased precision before official reports by health organizations.

Temporal Topic Modeling to Assess Associations between News Trends and Infectious Disease Outbreaks

PubMed Central

Ghosh, Saurav; Chakraborty, Prithwish; Nsoesie, Elaine O.; Cohn, Emily; Mekaru, Sumiko R.; Brownstein, John S.; Ramakrishnan, Naren

2017-01-01

In retrospective assessments, internet news reports have been shown to capture early reports of unknown infectious disease transmission prior to official laboratory confirmation. In general, media interest and reporting peaks and wanes during the course of an outbreak. In this study, we quantify the extent to which media interest during infectious disease outbreaks is indicative of trends of reported incidence. We introduce an approach that uses supervised temporal topic models to transform large corpora of news articles into temporal topic trends. The key advantages of this approach include: applicability to a wide range of diseases and ability to capture disease dynamics, including seasonality, abrupt peaks and troughs. We evaluated the method using data from multiple infectious disease outbreaks reported in the United States of America (U.S.), China, and India. We demonstrate that temporal topic trends extracted from disease-related news reports successfully capture the dynamics of multiple outbreaks such as whooping cough in U.S. (2012), dengue outbreaks in India (2013) and China (2014). Our observations also suggest that, when news coverage is uniform, efficient modeling of temporal topic trends using time-series regression techniques can estimate disease case counts with increased precision before official reports by health organizations. PMID:28102319

Temporal Topic Modeling to Assess Associations between News Trends and Infectious Disease Outbreaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Saurav; Chakraborty, Prithwish; Nsoesie, Elaine O.; Cohn, Emily; Mekaru, Sumiko R.; Brownstein, John S.; Ramakrishnan, Naren

2017-01-01

In retrospective assessments, internet news reports have been shown to capture early reports of unknown infectious disease transmission prior to official laboratory confirmation. In general, media interest and reporting peaks and wanes during the course of an outbreak. In this study, we quantify the extent to which media interest during infectious disease outbreaks is indicative of trends of reported incidence. We introduce an approach that uses supervised temporal topic models to transform large corpora of news articles into temporal topic trends. The key advantages of this approach include: applicability to a wide range of diseases and ability to capture disease dynamics, including seasonality, abrupt peaks and troughs. We evaluated the method using data from multiple infectious disease outbreaks reported in the United States of America (U.S.), China, and India. We demonstrate that temporal topic trends extracted from disease-related news reports successfully capture the dynamics of multiple outbreaks such as whooping cough in U.S. (2012), dengue outbreaks in India (2013) and China (2014). Our observations also suggest that, when news coverage is uniform, efficient modeling of temporal topic trends using time-series regression techniques can estimate disease case counts with increased precision before official reports by health organizations.

Long-term topical corticosteroid use and risk of skin cancer: a systematic review.

PubMed

Ratib, Sonia; Burden-Teh, Esther; Leonardi-Bee, Jo; Harwood, Catherine; Bath-Hextall, Fiona

2018-06-01

The objective of this systematic review was to synthesize available research evidence to determine the risk of skin cancer in patients with long-term use of topical corticosteroids (TCS). Topical corticosteroids are one of the most commonly prescribed medicines in dermatology and the mainstay of the treatment of atopic dermatitis and other skin conditions such as psoriasis. They are often required for months or years to control the disease and ultimately restore patients' quality of life. In some patients, TCS may have a local immunosuppressive effect and theoretically increase the risk of skin cancer, whilst on the other hand TCS may decrease the risk of skin cancer in patients where TCS are used to treat inflammatory skin disease. To date, no systematic review has been performed to collate evidence on the effect of long-term TCS use on the risk of skin cancer. This review considered studies that included people of all ages, genders and ethnicities, including HIV and transplant participants or participants with genetic diseases (for example, Gorlin-Goltz syndrome) This review considered studies that evaluated long-term use of topical corticosteroids. "Long-term" was defined as using TCS more than once a week for a month or longer. The review included cohort, cross-sectional and case-control observational studies exploring the association between the stated intervention and outcomes. The primary outcome measures of interest were: non-melanoma skin cancer (keratinocyte carcinoma), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSSC), basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or melanoma skin cancer. Genital and oral skin cancers are considered to be slightly different so we did not include them in this review. We performed a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Embase and LILACS on November 9, 2017 to identify observational epidemiological studies assessing the association between long-term TCS use and skin cancer. We also searched EThOS at the British Library and three drug safety databases to

Research topics on EO systems for maritime platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dijk, Judith; Bijl, Piet; van den Broek, Sebastiaan P.; van Eijk, Alenxander M. J.

2014-10-01

Our world is constantly changing, and this has its effect on worldwide military operations. For example, there is a change from conventional warfare into a domain that contains asymmetric threats as well. The availability of high-quality imaging information from Electro-Optical (EO) sensors is of high importance, for instance for timely detection and identification of small threatening vessels in an environment with a large amount of neutral vessels. Furthermore, Rules of Engagement often require a visual identification before action is allowed. The challenge in these operations is to detect, classify and identify a target at a reasonable range, while avoiding too many false alarms or missed detections. Current sensor technology is not able to cope with the performance requirements under all circumstances. For example, environmental conditions can reduce the sensor range in such a way that the operational task becomes challenging or even impossible. Further, limitations in automatic detection algorithms occur, e.g. due to the effects of sun glints and spray which are not yet well-modelled in the detection filters. For these reasons, Tactical Decision Aids will become an important factor in future operations to select the best moment to act. In this paper, we describe current research within The Netherlands on this topic. The Defence Research and Development Programme "Multifunctional Electro-Optical Sensor Suite (MEOSS)" aims at the development of knowledge necessary for optimal employment of Electro-Optical systems on board of current and future ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy, in order to carry out present and future maritime operations in various environments and weather conditions.

Three Activities To Assist Biology Teachers in Presenting Conceptually Difficult Topics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Neil; Tulip, David

1997-01-01

Outlines three activities for different areas of biology that can serve as motivators for students or as demonstrations. Each activity is easy to organize and uses available materials. Topics include evolution, anaerobic respiration, and heat loss. (DDR)

Food reward system: current perspectives and future research needs.

PubMed

Alonso-Alonso, Miguel; Woods, Stephen C; Pelchat, Marcia; Grigson, Patricia Sue; Stice, Eric; Farooqi, Sadaf; Khoo, Chor San; Mattes, Richard D; Beauchamp, Gary K

2015-05-01

This article reviews current research and cross-disciplinary perspectives on the neuroscience of food reward in animals and humans, examines the scientific hypothesis of food addiction, discusses methodological and terminology challenges, and identifies knowledge gaps and future research needs. Topics addressed herein include the role of reward and hedonic aspects in the regulation of food intake, neuroanatomy and neurobiology of the reward system in animals and humans, responsivity of the brain reward system to palatable foods and drugs, translation of craving versus addiction, and cognitive control of food reward. The content is based on a workshop held in 2013 by the North American Branch of the International Life Sciences Institute. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute.

Systemic and Topical Use of Tranexamic Acid in Spinal Surgery: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Winter, Sebastian F.; Santaguida, Carlo; Wong, Jean; Fehlings, Michael G.

2015-01-01

Study Design Combination of narrative and systematic literature reviews. Objectives Massive perioperative blood loss in complex spinal surgery often requires blood transfusions and can negatively affect patient outcome. Systemic use of the antifibrinolytic agent tranexamic acid (TXA) has become widely used in the management of surgical bleeding. We review the clinical evidence for the use of intravenous TXA as a hemostatic agent in spinal surgery and discuss the emerging role for its complementary use as a topical agent to reduce perioperative blood loss from the surgical site. Through a systematic review of published and ongoing investigations on topical TXA for spinal surgery, we wish to make spine practitioners aware of this option and to suggest opportunities for further investigation in the field. Methods A narrative review of systemic TXA in spinal surgery and topical TXA in surgery was conducted. Furthermore, a systematic search (using PRISMA guidelines) of PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases as well as World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, ClinicalTrials.gov (National Institutes of Health), and International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number registries was conducted to identify both published literature and ongoing clinical trials on topical TXA in spinal surgery. Results Of 1,631 preliminary search results, 2 published studies were included in the systematic review. Out of 285 ongoing clinical trials matching the search criteria, a total of 4 relevant studies were included and reviewed. Conclusion Intravenous TXA is established as an efficacious hemostatic agent in spinal surgery. Use of topical TXA in surgery suggests similar hemostatic efficacy and potentially improved safety as compared with intravenous TXA. For spinal surgery, the literature on topical TXA is sparse but promising, warranting further clinical investigation and consideration as a clinical option in cases with

Sustaining PICA for Future NASA Robotic Science Missions Including NF-4 and Discovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stackpoole, Mairead; Venkatapathy, Ethiraj; Violette, Steve

2018-01-01

Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA), invented in the mid 1990's, is a low-density ablative thermal protection material proven capable of meeting sample return mission needs from the moon, asteroids, comets and other unrestricted class V destinations as well as for Mars. Its low density and efficient performance characteristics have proven effective for use from Discovery to Flag-ship class missions. It is important that NASA maintain this thermal protection material capability and ensure its availability for future NASA use. The rayon based carbon precursor raw material used in PICA preform manufacturing has experienced multiple supply chain issues and required replacement and requalification at least twice in the past 25 years and a third substitution is now needed. The carbon precursor replacement challenge is twofold - the first involves finding a long-term replacement for the current rayon and the second is to assess its future availability periodically to ensure it is sustainable and be alerted if additional replacement efforts need to be initiated. This paper reviews current PICA sustainability activities to identify a rayon replacement and to establish that the capability of the new PICA derived from an alternative precursor is in family with previous versions.

Jet Topics: Disentangling Quarks and Gluons at Colliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metodiev, Eric M.; Thaler, Jesse

2018-06-01

We introduce jet topics: a framework to identify underlying classes of jets from collider data. Because of a close mathematical relationship between distributions of observables in jets and emergent themes in sets of documents, we can apply recent techniques in "topic modeling" to extract jet topics from the data with minimal or no input from simulation or theory. As a proof of concept with parton shower samples, we apply jet topics to determine separate quark and gluon jet distributions for constituent multiplicity. We also determine separate quark and gluon rapidity spectra from a mixed Z -plus-jet sample. While jet topics are defined directly from hadron-level multidifferential cross sections, one can also predict jet topics from first-principles theoretical calculations, with potential implications for how to define quark and gluon jets beyond leading-logarithmic accuracy. These investigations suggest that jet topics will be useful for extracting underlying jet distributions and fractions in a wide range of contexts at the Large Hadron Collider.

Topical oxygen as an adjunct to wound healing: a clinical case series.

PubMed

Kalliainen, Loree K.; Gordillo, Gayle M.; Schlanger, Richard; Sen, Chandan K.

2003-01-01

BACKGROUND: Disrupted vasculature and high energy-demand to support processing and regeneration of wounded tissue are typical characteristics of a wound site. Oxygen delivery is a critical element for the healing of wounds. Clinical experience with adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of chronic wounds have shown that wound hyperoxia increases wound granulation tissue formation and accelerates wound contraction and secondary closure. Nevertheless, the physiologic basis for this modality remains largely unknown. Also, systemic hyperbaric oxygen therapy is associated with risks related to oxygen toxicity. Topical oxygen therapy represents a less explored modality in wound care. The advantages of topical oxygen therapy include low cost, lack of systemic oxygen toxicity, and the ability to receive treatment at home, making the benefits of oxygen therapy available to a much larger population of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over 9 months, seven surgeons treated 58 wounds in 32 patients with topical oxygen with follow-up ranging from 1 to 8 months. The data presented herein is a retrospective analysis of the results we have achieved using topical oxygen on complex wounds. RESULTS: Thirty-eight wounds in 15 patients healed while on topical oxygen. An additional five wounds in five patients had preoperative oxygen therapy; all wounds initially healed postoperatively. In two patients, wounds recurred post-healing. In ten wounds, topical oxygen had no effect; and two of those patients went on to require limb amputation. There were no complications attributable to topical oxygen. Three patients died during therapy and one died in the first postoperative month from underlying medical problems. Two patients were lost to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In this case series, topical oxygen had no detrimental effects on wounds and showed beneficial indications in promoting wound healing.

Developing topic-specific search filters for PubMed with click-through data.

PubMed

Li, J; Lu, Z

2013-01-01

Search filters have been developed and demonstrated for better information access to the immense and ever-growing body of publications in the biomedical domain. However, to date the number of filters remains quite limited because the current filter development methods require significant human efforts in manual document review and filter term selection. In this regard, we aim to investigate automatic methods for generating search filters. We present an automated method to develop topic-specific filters on the basis of users' search logs in PubMed. Specifically, for a given topic, we first detect its relevant user queries and then include their corresponding clicked articles to serve as the topic-relevant document set accordingly. Next, we statistically identify informative terms that best represent the topic-relevant document set using a background set composed of topic irrelevant articles. Lastly, the selected representative terms are combined with Boolean operators and evaluated on benchmark datasets to derive the final filter with the best performance. We applied our method to develop filters for four clinical topics: nephrology, diabetes, pregnancy, and depression. For the nephrology filter, our method obtained performance comparable to the state of the art (sensitivity of 91.3%, specificity of 98.7%, precision of 94.6%, and accuracy of 97.2%). Similarly, high-performing results (over 90% in all measures) were obtained for the other three search filters. Based on PubMed click-through data, we successfully developed a high-performance method for generating topic-specific search filters that is significantly more efficient than existing manual methods. All data sets (topic-relevant and irrelevant document sets) used in this study and a demonstration system are publicly available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/downloads/CQ_filter/

Developing Topic-Specific Search Filters for PubMed with Click-Through Data

PubMed Central

Li, Jiao; Lu, Zhiyong

2013-01-01

Summary Objectives Search filters have been developed and demonstrated for better information access to the immense and ever-growing body of publications in the biomedical domain. However, to date the number of filters remains quite limited because the current filter development methods require significant human efforts in manual document review and filter term selection. In this regard, we aim to investigate automatic methods for generating search filters. Methods We present an automated method to develop topic-specific filters on the basis of users’ search logs in PubMed. Specifically, for a given topic, we first detect its relevant user queries and then include their corresponding clicked articles to serve as the topic-relevant document set accordingly. Next, we statistically identify informative terms that best represent the topic-relevant document set using a background set composed of topic irrelevant articles. Lastly, the selected representative terms are combined with Boolean operators and evaluated on benchmark datasets to derive the final filter with the best performance. Results We applied our method to develop filters for four clinical topics: nephrology, diabetes, pregnancy, and depression. For the nephrology filter, our method obtained performance comparable to the state of the art (sensitivity of 91.3%, specificity of 98.7%, precision of 94.6%, and accuracy of 97.2%). Similarly, high-performing results (over 90% in all measures) were obtained for the other three search filters. Conclusion Based on PubMed click-through data, we successfully developed a high-performance method for generating topic-specific search filters that is significantly more efficient than existing manual methods. All data sets (topic-relevant and irrelevant document sets) used in this study and a demonstration system are publicly available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/downloads/CQ_filter/ PMID:23666447

Management and outcome of topical beta-blockerinduced atrioventricular block

PubMed Central

Özcan, Kazım Serhan; Güngör, Barış; Tekkeşin, Ahmet İlker; Altay, Servet; Ekmekçi, Ahmet; Toprak, Ercan; Yıldırım, Ersin; Çalık, Nazmi; Alper, Ahmet Taha; Gürkan, Kadir; Erdinler, İzzet; Osmonov, Damirbek

2015-01-01

Summary Background Topical beta-blockers have a well-established role in the treatment of glaucoma. We aimed to investigate the outcome of patients who developed symptomatic atrioventricular (AV) block induced by topical beta-blockers. Methods All patients admitted or discharged from our institution, the Siyami Ersek Training and Research Hospital, between January 2009 and January 2013 with a diagnosis of AV block were included in the study. Subjects using ophthalmic beta-blockers were recruited and followed for permanent pacemaker requirement during hospitalisation and for three months after discontinuation of the drug. A permanent pacemaker was implanted in patients in whom AV block persisted beyond 72 hours or recurred during the follow-up period. Results A total of 1 122 patients were hospitalised with a diagnosis of AV block and a permanent pacemaker was implanted in 946 cases (84.3%) during the study period. Thirteen patients using ophthalmic beta-blockers for the treatment of glaucoma and no other rate-limiting drugs were included in the study. On electrocardiography, eight patients had complete AV block and five had high-degree AV block. The ophthalmic beta-blockers used were timolol in seven patients (55%), betaxolol in four (30%), and cartelol in two cases (15%). The mean duration of ophthalmic beta-blocker treatment was 30.1 ± 15.9 months. After drug discontinuation, in 10 patients the block persisted and a permanent pacemaker was implanted. During follow up, one more patient required pacemaker implantation. Therefore in total, pacemakers were implanted in 11 out of 13 patients (84.6%). The pacemaker implantation rate did not differ according to the type of topical beta-blocker used (p = 0.37). The presence of infra-nodal block on electrocardiography was associated with higher rates of pacemaker implantation. Conclusion Our results indicate that topical beta-blockers for the treatment of glaucoma may cause severe conduction abnormalities and when AV

Treatment of pruritus with topically applied opiate receptor antagonist.

PubMed

Bigliardi, Paul L; Stammer, Holger; Jost, Gerhard; Rufli, Theo; Büchner, Stanislaw; Bigliardi-Qi, Mei

2007-06-01

Pruritus is the most common and distressing skin symptom, and treatment of itch is a problem for thousands of people. The currently available therapies are not very effective. Therefore there is an urgent need to find new effective topical drugs against itching. We conducted two separate studies to evaluate the efficacy of topically applied naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, in the treatment of severe pruritus. The objective of the first open study was to correlate the clinical efficacy of topically applied naltrexone in different pruritic skin disorders to a change of epidermal mu-opiate receptor (MOR) expression. The second study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study on pruritus in atopic dermatitis. Initially we performed an open pilot study on 18 patients with different chronic pruritic disorders using a topical formulation of 1% naltrexone for 2 weeks. A punch biopsy was performed in 11 patients before and after the application of the naltrexone cream and the staining of epidermal MOR was measured. Subsequently, a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial was performed with the same formulation. We included in this trial 40 patients with localized and generalized atopic dermatitis with severe pruritus. In the open study more than 70% of the patients using the 1% naltrexone cream experienced a significant reduction of pruritus. More interestingly, the topical treatment with naltrexone caused an increase of epidermal MOR staining. The regulation of the epidermal opioid receptor correlated with the clinical assessment. The placebo-controlled, crossover trial demonstrated clearly that the cream containing naltrexone had an overall 29.4% better effect compared with placebo. The formulation containing naltrexone required a median of 46 minutes to reduce the itch symptoms to 50%; the placebo, 74 minutes. We could only take biopsy specimens in 11 patients, which means that a satisfactory statistical analysis of the changes of epidermal

Report of a Meeting on Contemporary Topics in Zebrafish Husbandry and Care.

PubMed

Osborne, Nikki; Paull, Gregory; Grierson, Adam; Dunford, Karen; Busch-Nentwich, Elisabeth M; Sneddon, Lynne U; Wren, Natalie; Higgins, Joe; Hawkins, Penny

2016-12-01

A meeting on Contemporary Topics in Zebrafish Husbandry and Care was held in the United Kingdom in 2014, with the aim of providing a discussion forum for researchers, animal technologists, and veterinarians from academia and industry to share good practice and exchange ideas. Presentation topics included protocols for optimal larval rearing, implementing the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) in large-scale colony management, and environmental enrichment. The audience also participated in a survey of current practice relating to practical husbandry, cryopreservation, and the provision of enrichment.

Analyzing the history of Cognition using Topic Models.

PubMed

Cohen Priva, Uriel; Austerweil, Joseph L

2015-02-01

Very few articles have analyzed how cognitive science as a field has changed over the last six decades. We explore how Cognition changed over the last four decades using Topic Models. Topic Models assume that every word in every document is generated by one of a limited number of topics. Words that are likely to co-occur are likely to be generated by a single topic. We find a number of significant historical trends: the rise of moral cognition, eyetracking methods, and action, the fall of sentence processing, and the stability of development. We introduce the notion of framing topics, which frame content, rather than present the content itself. These framing topics suggest that over time Cognition turned from abstract theorizing to more experimental approaches. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recreational 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or 'ecstasy': Current perspective and future research prospects.

PubMed

Parrott, Andrew C; Downey, Luke A; Roberts, Carl A; Montgomery, Cathy; Bruno, Raimondo; Fox, Helen C

2017-08-01

The purpose of this article is to debate current understandings about the psychobiological effects of recreational 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or 'ecstasy'), and recommend theoretically-driven topics for future research. Recent empirical findings, especially those from novel topic areas were reviewed. Potential causes for the high variance often found in group findings were also examined. The first empirical reports into psychobiological and psychiatric aspects from the early 1990s concluded that regular users demonstrated some selective psychobiological deficits, for instance worse declarative memory, or heightened depression. More recent research has covered a far wider range of psychobiological functions, and deficits have emerged in aspects of vision, higher cognitive skill, neurohormonal functioning, and foetal developmental outcomes. However, variance levels are often high, indicating that while some recreational users develop problems, others are less affected. Potential reasons for this high variance are debated. An explanatory model based on multi-factorial causation is then proposed. A number of theoretically driven research topics are suggested, in order to empirically investigate the potential causes for these diverse psychobiological deficits. Future neuroimaging studies should study the practical implications of any serotonergic and/or neurohormonal changes, using a wide range of functional measures.

Medicare Part D Payments for Topical Steroids

PubMed Central

Song, Hannah; Adamson, Adewole

2017-01-01

Importance Rising pharmaceutical costs in the United States are an increasing source of financial burden for payers and patients. Although topical steroids are among the most commonly prescribed medications in dermatology, there are limited data on steroid-related spending and utilization. Objective To characterize Medicare and patient out-of-pocket costs for topical steroids, and to model potential savings that could result from substitution of the cheapest topical steroid from the corresponding potency class. Design, Setting, and Participants This study was a retrospective cost analysis of the Medicare Part D Prescriber Public Use File, which details annual drug utilization and spending on both generic and branded drugs from 2011 to 2015 by Medicare Part D participants who filled prescriptions for topical steroids. Main Outcomes and Measures Total and potential Medicare and out-of-pocket patient spending. Costs were adjusted for inflation and reported in 2015 dollars. Results Medicare Part D expenditures on topical steroids between 2011 and 2015 were $2.3 billion. Patients’ out-of-pocket spending for topical steroids over the same period was $333.7 million. The total annual spending increased from $237.6 million to $775.9 million, an increase of 226.5%. Patients’ annual out-of-pocket spending increased from $41.4 million to $101.8 million, an increase of 145.9%. The total number of prescriptions were 7.7 million in 2011 and 10.6 million in 2015, an increase of 37.0%. Generic medication costs accounted for 97.8% of the total spending during this time period. The potential health care savings and out-of-pocket patient savings from substitution of the cheapest topical steroid within the corresponding potency class were $944.8 million and $66.6 million, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance Most topical steroids prescribed were generic drugs. There has been a sharp increase in Medicare and out-of-pocket spending on topical steroids that is driven by higher

Efficacy of Topical Alpha Ointment (Containing Natural Henna) Compared to Topical Hydrocortisone (1%) in the Healing of Radiation-Induced Dermatitis in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

PubMed Central

Ansari, Mansour; Dehsara, Farzin; Mosalaei, Ahmad; Omidvari, Shapour; Ahmadloo, Niloofar; Mohammadianpanah, Mohammad

2013-01-01

Background: This two-arm, randomized clinical study aimed to compare efficacy between topical Alpha ointment and topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) in the healing of radiation-induced dermatitis in breast cancer patients. Methods: The inclusion criteria comprised newly pathologically proven, locally advanced breast cancer (treated with modified radical mastectomy followed by sequential adjuvant treatments, including chest wall radiotherapy [45-50.4 Gy]) and grade 2 and/or 3 chest wall dermatitis. The exclusion criteria were comprised of any underlying disease or medications interfering with the wound healing process, previous history of chest wall radiotherapy, and concurrent use of chemotherapy. Sixty eligible patients were randomly assigned to use either topical Alpha ointment (study arm, n=30) or topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) (control arm, n=30) immediately after receiving a total dose of 45-50 Gy chest wall radiotherapy. Results: The mean radiation dose was 49.1 Gy in the control arm and 48.8 Gy in the study arm. The mean dermatitis area was 13.54 cm2 in the control arm and 17.02 cm2 in the study arm. Topical Alpha ointment was more effective on the healing of radiation-induced dermatitis than was topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) (P=0.001). This effect was significant in the second week (P=0.007). In addition, Alpha ointment decreased the patients’ complaints such as pain (P<0.001), pruritus (P=0.009), and discharge (P=0.010) effectively and meaningfully. Conclusion: Topical Alpha ointment was more effective on the healing of radiation-induced dermatitis than was topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) in our patients with breast cancer. Trial Registration Numbers: IRCT201206099979N1, ACTRN12612000837820 PMID:24293782

Efficacy of topical alpha ointment (containing natural henna) compared to topical hydrocortisone (1%) in the healing of radiation-induced dermatitis in patients with breast cancer: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

PubMed

Ansari, Mansour; Farzin, Dehsara; Mosalaei, Ahmad; Omidvari, Shapour; Ahmadloo, Niloofar; Mohammadianpanah, Mohammad

2013-12-01

This two-arm, randomized clinical study aimed to compare efficacy between topical Alpha ointment and topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) in the healing of radiation-induced dermatitis in breast cancer patients. The inclusion criteria comprised newly pathologically proven, locally advanced breast cancer (treated with modified radical mastectomy followed by sequential adjuvant treatments, including chest wall radiotherapy [45-50.4 Gy]) and grade 2 and/or 3 chest wall dermatitis. The exclusion criteria were comprised of any underlying disease or medications interfering with the wound healing process, previous history of chest wall radiotherapy, and concurrent use of chemotherapy. Sixty eligible patients were randomly assigned to use either topical Alpha ointment (study arm, n=30) or topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) (control arm, n=30) immediately after receiving a total dose of 45-50 Gy chest wall radiotherapy. The mean radiation dose was 49.1 Gy in the control arm and 48.8 Gy in the study arm. The mean dermatitis area was 13.54 cm(2) in the control arm and 17.02 cm(2) in the study arm. Topical Alpha ointment was more effective on the healing of radiation-induced dermatitis than was topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) (P=0.001). This effect was significant in the second week (P=0.007). In addition, Alpha ointment decreased the patients' complaints such as pain (P<0.001), pruritus (P=0.009), and discharge (P=0.010) effectively and meaningfully. Topical Alpha ointment was more effective on the healing of radiation-induced dermatitis than was topical hydrocortisone cream (1%) in our patients with breast cancer. IRCT201206099979N1, ACTRN12612000837820.

Current Topics In STEM Education Policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glembo, Tyler

2015-04-01

The role of the federal government in education is a hotly debated topic in Congress, causing education to become deeply embedded in politics. Federal funding of education, although covering only about ten percent of total cost, has large impact in the classroom, from testing standards to low interest student loans. This talk will examine the current landscape in physics education including issues facing the community at a national/federal level and also legislation such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. We will also examine how stakeholders can develop effective messages and participate in discussions with policy makers.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ITER L mode confinement database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaye, S. M.; Greenwald, M.; Stroth, U.; Kardaun, O.; Kus, A.; Schissel, D.; DeBoo, J.; Bracco, G.; Thomsen, K.; Cordey, J. G.; Miura, Y.; Matsuda, T.; Tamai, H.; Takizuda, T.; Hirayama, T.; Kikuchi, H.; Naito, O.; Chudnovskij, A.; Ongena, J.; Hoang, G.

1997-09-01

This special topic describes the contents of an L mode database that has been compiled with data from Alcator C-Mod, ASDEX, DIII, DIII-D, FTU, JET, JFT-2M, JT-60, PBX-M, PDX, T-10, TEXTOR, TFTR and Tore Supra. The database consists of a total of 2938 entries, 1881 of which are in the L phase while 922 are ohmically heated only (ohmic). Each entry contains up to 95 descriptive parameters, including global and kinetic information, machine conditioning and configuration. The special topic presents a description of the database and the variables contained therein, and it also presents global and thermal scalings along with predictions for ITER. The L mode thermal confinement time scaling, determined from a subset of 1312 entries for which the τE,th are provided, is τE,th = 0.023Ip0.96BT0.03R1.83(R/a)0.06 κ0.64ne0.40Meff0.20P-0.73 in units of seconds, megamps, teslas, metres, -, -, 10-9 m-1

Topical NSAIDs effect on corneal sensitivity.

PubMed

Singer, Daniel D; Kennedy, John; Wittpenn, John R

2015-05-01

Topical nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are administered topically for a variety of ophthalmologic conditions. Brand diclofenac and brand ketorolac were previously shown to have topical anesthetic effects in addition to analgesic effects. Using the same method, we measured similar anesthetic effects of the 4 currently available topical NSAIDs--generic diclofenac, generic ketorolac, brand bromfenac, and brand nepafenac. Baseline corneal sensitivity was measured on 10 healthy adult volunteers with a Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometer. One drop of the agent being studied was applied to the right eye every 5 minutes for a total of 4 drops. Corneal sensitivity was measured immediately after the last topical application and every 15 minutes for 60 minutes. After a 1-week washout period, a different agent was studied until all 4 NSAIDs were evaluated. Corneal sensitivity profiles over time were similar for all NSAIDs. Corneal sensitivity decreased significantly from baseline immediately after topical application remaining flat from 0 to 30 minutes and then rising from 45 to 60 minutes back toward baseline in all treatment groups (P < 0.001). The maximal absolute drop in corneal sensitivity as measured by pressure thresholds was greatest for diclofenac [28.6 mm (95% confidence intervals {CI}, 19.8-37.4)], followed by ketorolac [21.1 mm (95% CI, 15.1-27.1)], bromfenac [16.9 mm (10.7-23.1)], and nepafenac [16.4 mm (95% CI, 12.7-20.1)]. Only diclofenac and nepafenac were statistically different in maximal decrease in sensitivity. All 4 currently available NSAIDs demonstrated anesthetic effects similar to brand diclofenac and brand ketorolac.

Surgery for esotropia under topical anesthesia.

PubMed

Tejedor, Jaime; Ogallar, Consuelo; Rodríguez, José M

2010-10-01

To compare a surgically adjusted dose of strabismus surgery using topical anesthesia in cooperative patients with dosage guidelines adapted to the surgeon's personal technique using sub-Tenon's anesthesia. Randomized, controlled, single-site clinical trial. Sixty patients with nonparalytic, nonrestrictive esotropia who were cooperative for surgery under topical anesthesia. Twenty-eight patients were assigned to topical anesthesia, and 32 patients were assigned to sub-Tenon's anesthesia. Visual acuity, refraction, and deviation angle were determined in all patients preoperatively and postoperatively, and stereoacuity was measured postoperatively. Deviation angle was measured by simultaneous and alternate prism and cover test, and stereoacuity was measured using Randot circles (Stereo Optical Co., Chicago, IL). The amount of surgery under topical anesthesia was adjusted intraoperatively. The amount of surgery used in the 2 treatment groups (measured in millimeters and millimeter/degree of deviation angle) and 6-month motor and stereoacuity outcomes. Patients in the topical group required 3.2 mm less surgery on average than those in the sub-Tenon's group (5.9 and 9.1 mm, respectively; 0.4 and 0.6 mm of recession/degree, respectively) (P<0.01). Motor success (84% and 75%, respectively, P=0.38) and stereoacuity (339.6 and 323.9 arc seconds, respectively, P=0.87) at 6 months were similar in the 2 groups. Topical anesthesia requires a smaller amount of surgery and number of operated muscles to correct esotropia compared with classic surgery guidelines adapted to the surgeon's personal technique. Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Updates of Topical and Local Anesthesia Agents.

PubMed

Boyce, Ricardo A; Kirpalani, Tarun; Mohan, Naveen

2016-04-01

As described in this article, there are many advances in topical and local anesthesia. Topical and local anesthetics have played a great role in dentistry in alleviating the fears of patients, eliminating pain, and providing pain control. Many invasive procedures would not be performed without the use and advances of topical/local anesthetics. The modern-day dentist has the responsibility of knowing the variety of products on the market and should have at least references to access before, during, and after treatment. This practice ensures proper care with topical and local anesthetics for the masses of patients entering dental offices worldwide. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Future of Low-Carbon Electricity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenblatt, Jeffery B.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Slaybaugh, Rachel

Here, we review future global demand for electricity and major technologies positioned to supply itwith minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: renewables (wind, solar, water, geothermal and biomass), nuclear fission, and fossil power with CO 2 capture and sequestration. Two breakthrough technologies (space solar power and nuclear fusion) are discussed as exciting but uncertain additional options for low net GHG emissions (“low-carbon”) electricity generation. Grid integration technologies (monitoring and forecasting of transmission and distribution systems, demand-side load management, energy storage, and load balancing with low-carbon fuel substitutes) are also discussed. For each topic, recent historical trends and future prospects are reviewed,more » along with technical challenges, costs and other issues as appropriate. While no technology represents an ideal solution, their strengths can be enhanced by deployment in combination, along with grid integration that forms a critical set of enabling technologies to assure a reliable and robust future low-carbon electricity system.« less

The Future of Low-Carbon Electricity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenblatt, Jeffery B.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Slaybaugh, Rachel

We review future global demand for electricity and major technologies positioned to supply it with minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: renewables (wind, solar, water, geothermal, and biomass), nuclear fission, and fossil power with CO2 capture and sequestration. We discuss two breakthrough technologies (space solar power and nuclear fusion) as exciting but uncertain additional options for low-net GHG emissions (i.e., low-carbon) electricity generation. In addition, we discuss grid integration technologies (monitoring and forecasting of transmission and distribution systems, demand-side load management, energy storage, and load balancing with low-carbon fuel substitutes). For each topic, recent historical trends and future prospects are reviewed,more » along with technical challenges, costs, and other issues as appropriate. Although no technology represents an ideal solution, their strengths can be enhanced by deployment in combination, along with grid integration that forms a critical set of enabling technologies to assure a reliable and robust future low-carbon electricity system.« less

The Future of Low-Carbon Electricity

DOE PAGES

Greenblatt, Jeffery B.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Slaybaugh, Rachel; ...

2017-07-10

Here, we review future global demand for electricity and major technologies positioned to supply itwith minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: renewables (wind, solar, water, geothermal and biomass), nuclear fission, and fossil power with CO 2 capture and sequestration. Two breakthrough technologies (space solar power and nuclear fusion) are discussed as exciting but uncertain additional options for low net GHG emissions (“low-carbon”) electricity generation. Grid integration technologies (monitoring and forecasting of transmission and distribution systems, demand-side load management, energy storage, and load balancing with low-carbon fuel substitutes) are also discussed. For each topic, recent historical trends and future prospects are reviewed,more » along with technical challenges, costs and other issues as appropriate. While no technology represents an ideal solution, their strengths can be enhanced by deployment in combination, along with grid integration that forms a critical set of enabling technologies to assure a reliable and robust future low-carbon electricity system.« less

Anesthesia: A Topic for Interdisciplinary Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Labianca, Dominick A.; Reeves, William J.

1977-01-01

Describes an interdisciplinary approach for teaching the topic of anesthesia as one aspect of a chemistry-oriented course for nonscience majors which focuses on timely topics such as the energy crisis and drugs. Historical treatment with the examination of literature is emphasized in teaching. (HM)

Topical application of tranexamic acid for the reduction of bleeding.

PubMed

Ker, Katharine; Beecher, Deirdre; Roberts, Ian

2013-07-23

Intravenous tranexamic acid reduces bleeding in surgery, however, its effect on the risk of thromboembolic events is uncertain and an increased risk remains a theoretical concern. Because there is less systemic absorption following topical administration, the direct application of tranexamic acid to the bleeding surface has the potential to reduce bleeding with minimal systemic effects. To assess the effects of the topical administration of tranexamic acid in the control of bleeding. We searched the Cochrane Injuries Group Specialised Register; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library; Ovid MEDLINE®, Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE® Daily and Ovid OLDMEDLINE®; Embase Classic + Embase (OvidSP); PubMed and ISI Web of Science (including Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Science Citation Index (SCI-EXPANDED & CPCI-S)). We also searched online trials registers to identify ongoing or unpublished trials. The search was run on the 31st May 2013. Randomised controlled trials comparing topical tranexamic acid with no topical tranexamic acid or placebo in bleeding patients. Two authors examined the titles and abstracts of citations from the electronic databases for eligibility. Two authors extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias for each trial. Outcome measures of interest were blood loss, mortality, thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction, stroke, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) and receipt of a blood transfusion. We included 29 trials involving 2612 participants. Twenty-eight trials involved patients undergoing surgery and one trial involved patients with epistaxis (nosebleed). Tranexamic acid (TXA) reduced blood loss by 29% (pooled ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69 to 0.72; P < 0.0001). There was uncertainty regarding the effect on death (risk ratio (RR) 0.28, 95% CI 0.06 to 1.34; P = 0.11), myocardial infarction (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.04 to 3.08; P

Reduction of serum TARC levels in atopic dermatitis by topical anti-inflammatory treatments.

PubMed

Yasukochi, Yumi; Nakahara, Takeshi; Abe, Takeru; Kido-Nakahara, Makiko; Kohda, Futoshi; Takeuchi, Satoshi; Hagihara, Akihito; Furue, Masutaka

2014-09-01

Serum thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) levels are associated with the disease activity of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and sensitively reflect short-term changes in skin conditions. The main treatment for AD is topical agent application. This study investigated the relationship between serum TARC levels and the dosage of topical agents, including corticosteroids and/or tacrolimus, in patients with AD. The serum TARC levels of 56 AD patients and the amounts of topical agents prescribed to them were investigated retrospectively. The weekly reduction in serum TARC levels and weekly dosage of topical agents among AD patients were compared and their associations were evaluated. The dosage of topical agents was closely related to serum TARC levels. One gram of strong rank steroid or the equivalent amount of steroid/tacrolimus is required to reduce serum TARC levels by 9.94 pg/mL weekly in moderate to severe AD patients. Higher initial TARC levels require more topical agent, which results in a more rapid decrease in TARC levels. The serum TARC levels and eosinophil numbers in peripheral blood are significantly correlated. Serum TARC level improvement and topical agent dosage are strongly correlated. TARC and eosinophil numbers are significantly correlated, but the wider range of TARC levels seems to be clinically more useful for monitoring AD severity. The serum TARC level is a very sensitive biomarker for monitoring the severity and treatment response in AD.

Hyperosmolar metabolic acidosis in burn patients exposed to glycol based topical antimicrobials-A systematic review.

PubMed

Leibson, Tom; Davies, Paige; Nickel, Cheri; Koren, Gideon

2018-06-01

The well documented susceptibility of burn patients to acquired infections via damaged skin mandates application of antimicrobial agents. These agents are dissolved in various vehicles that augment skin absorption thus allowing greater efficacy. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Propylene glycol (PropG) are among the most commonly used vehicles, and both have been used in numerous medications and cosmetic products over the past few decades. Rarely, burn patients treated with agents containing these glycols present with a life threatening systemic toxidrome of hyperosmolar metabolic acidosis. We present a systematic review of outcomes in burn patients treated with similar agents. Relevant studies were identified through systematic searches conducted in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CENTRAL (Ovid), and Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), from database inception to August 4th, 2016. All publications of clinical burn patient studies included at least one arm receiving a glycol based topical therapy. A total of 61 studies involving 10,282 patients and 4 different antimicrobial medications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Nine burn patients (0.09%) were documented to present with hyperosmolar metabolic acidosis during topical silver sulfadiazine treatment. Propylene glycol isolated from their blood accounted for the high osmole gap. This first systematic review found very few cases of documented hyperosmolar metabolic acidosis, all within one study that had set to specifically explore this toxidrome. High index of suspicion with frequent osmolar gap monitoring may help identify future toxicities in a timely manner. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

How Hierarchical Topics Evolve in Large Text Corpora.

PubMed

Cui, Weiwei; Liu, Shixia; Wu, Zhuofeng; Wei, Hao

2014-12-01

Using a sequence of topic trees to organize documents is a popular way to represent hierarchical and evolving topics in text corpora. However, following evolving topics in the context of topic trees remains difficult for users. To address this issue, we present an interactive visual text analysis approach to allow users to progressively explore and analyze the complex evolutionary patterns of hierarchical topics. The key idea behind our approach is to exploit a tree cut to approximate each tree and allow users to interactively modify the tree cuts based on their interests. In particular, we propose an incremental evolutionary tree cut algorithm with the goal of balancing 1) the fitness of each tree cut and the smoothness between adjacent tree cuts; 2) the historical and new information related to user interests. A time-based visualization is designed to illustrate the evolving topics over time. To preserve the mental map, we develop a stable layout algorithm. As a result, our approach can quickly guide users to progressively gain profound insights into evolving hierarchical topics. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method on Amazon's Mechanical Turk and real-world news data. The results show that users are able to successfully analyze evolving topics in text data.

The future of cerebral surgery: a kaleidoscope of opportunities.

PubMed

Elder, James B; Hoh, Daniel J; Oh, Bryan C; Heller, A Chris; Liu, Charles Y; Apuzzo, Michael L J

2008-06-01

nanotechnology. Part II presents advances in computational sciences and technological fields dependent on these developments. Future breakthroughs in the components of the "computer," including data storage, electrical circuitry, and computing hardware and techniques, are discussed. Additionally, important concepts in the refinement of virtual environments and the brain-machine interface are presented, as their incorporation into cerebral surgery is closely linked to advances in computing and electronics. Finally, Part III offers insights into the future evolution of surgical and nonsurgical diagnostic and therapeutic modalities that are important for the future cerebral surgeon. A number of topics relevant to cerebral surgery are discussed, including the operative environment, imaging technologies, endoscopy, robotics, neuromodulation, stem cell therapy, radiosurgery, and technical methods of restoration of neural function. Cerebral surgery in the near and distant future will reflect the application of these emerging technologies. As this article indicates, the key to maximizing the impact of these advancements in the clinical arena is continued collaboration between scientists and neurosurgeons, as well as the emergence of a neurosurgeon whose scientific grounding and technical focus are far removed from those of his predecessors.

Topical dissolved oxygen penetrates skin: model and method.

PubMed

Roe, David F; Gibbins, Bruce L; Ladizinsky, Daniel A

2010-03-01

It has been commonly perceived that skin receives its oxygen supply from the internal circulation. However, recent investigations have shown that a significant amount of oxygen may enter skin from the external overlying surface. A method has been developed for measuring the transcutaneous penetration of human skin by oxygen as described herein. This method was used to determine both the depth and magnitude of penetration of skin by topically applied oxygen. An apparatus consisting of human skin samples interposed between a topical oxygen source and a fluid filled chamber that registered changes in dissolved oxygen. Viable human skin samples of variable thicknesses with and without epidermis were used to evaluate the depth and magnitude of oxygen penetration from either topical dissolved oxygen (TDO) or topical gaseous oxygen (TGO) devices. This model effectively demonstrates transcutaneous penetration of topically applied oxygen. Topically applied dissolved oxygen penetrates through >700 microm of human skin. Topically applied oxygen penetrates better though dermis than epidermis, and TDO devices deliver oxygen more effectively than TGO devices. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Topical therapy of ulcerative colitis].

PubMed

Rogler, G; Beglinger, C; Mottet, C; Seibold, F; Gross, V

2011-11-16

The availability of new topical preparations for the treatment of left sided ulcerative colitis ulcerosa offers a therapy optimization for many patients. Rectal application of steroids and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is associated with fewer side effects and has a higher therapeutic efficacy in mild to moderate-active left-sided colitis as compared to a systemic therapy. Often it is argued that the patients' compliance is insufficient with a rectal therapy. However, with sufficient information on the proven advantages this is usually not the case. The rectal application of drugs in distal ulcerative colitis is suitable also for the maintenance of remission. Therefore the new therapy guidelines recommend topical therapy more than in former times. Subsequently, these manuscripts focussed specifically on the topical therapy of distal colitis, to elucidate that clear treatment advantages are present in daily practice.

Hyperphagia: Current Concepts and Future Directions Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Hyperphagia

PubMed Central

Heymsfield, Steven B.; Avena, Nicole M.; Baier, Leslie; Brantley, Phillip; Bray, George A.; Burnett, Lisa C.; Butler, Merlin G.; Driscoll, Daniel J.; Egli, Dieter; Elmquist, Joel; Forster, Janice L.; Goldstone, Anthony P.; Gourash, Linda M.; Greenway, Frank L.; Han, Joan C.; Kane, James G.; Leibel, Rudolph L.; Loos, Ruth J.F.; Scheimann, Ann O.; Roth, Christian L.; Seeley, Randy J.; Sheffield, Val; Tauber, Maïthé; Vaisse, Christian; Wang, Liheng; Waterland, Robert A.; Wevrick, Rachel; Yanovski, Jack A.; Zinn, Andrew R.

2014-01-01

Objective Hyperphagia is a central feature of inherited disorders (e.g., Prader–Willi Syndrome) in which obesity is a primary phenotypic component. Hyperphagia may also contribute to obesity as observed in the general population, thus raising the potential importance of common underlying mechanisms and treatments. Substantial gaps in understanding the molecular basis of inherited hyperphagia syndromes are present as are a lack of mechanistic of mechanistic targets that can serve as a basis for pharmacologic and behavioral treatments. Design and Methods International conference with 28 experts, including scientists and caregivers, providing presentations, panel discussions, and debates. Results The reviewed collective research and clinical experience provides a critical body of new and novel information on hyperphagia at levels ranging from molecular to population. Gaps in understanding and tools needed for additional research were identified. Conclusions This report documents the full scope of important topics reviewed at a comprehensive international meeting devoted to the topic of hyperphagia and identifies key areas for future funding and research. PMID:24574081

Hyperphagia: current concepts and future directions proceedings of the 2nd international conference on hyperphagia.

PubMed

Heymsfield, Steven B; Avena, Nicole M; Baier, Leslie; Brantley, Phillip; Bray, George A; Burnett, Lisa C; Butler, Merlin G; Driscoll, Daniel J; Egli, Dieter; Elmquist, Joel; Forster, Janice L; Goldstone, Anthony P; Gourash, Linda M; Greenway, Frank L; Han, Joan C; Kane, James G; Leibel, Rudolph L; Loos, Ruth J F; Scheimann, Ann O; Roth, Christian L; Seeley, Randy J; Sheffield, Val; Tauber, Maïthé; Vaisse, Christian; Wang, Liheng; Waterland, Robert A; Wevrick, Rachel; Yanovski, Jack A; Zinn, Andrew R

2014-02-01

Hyperphagia is a central feature of inherited disorders (e.g., Prader-Willi Syndrome) in which obesity is a primary phenotypic component. Hyperphagia may also contribute to obesity as observed in the general population, thus raising the potential importance of common underlying mechanisms and treatments. Substantial gaps in understanding the molecular basis of inherited hyperphagia syndromes are present as are a lack of mechanistic of mechanistic targets that can serve as a basis for pharmacologic and behavioral treatments. International conference with 28 experts, including scientists and caregivers, providing presentations, panel discussions, and debates. The reviewed collective research and clinical experience provides a critical body of new and novel information on hyperphagia at levels ranging from molecular to population. Gaps in understanding and tools needed for additional research were identified. This report documents the full scope of important topics reviewed at a comprehensive international meeting devoted to the topic of hyperphagia and identifies key areas for future funding and research. Copyright © 2013 The Obesity Society.

Report of a Meeting on Contemporary Topics in Zebrafish Husbandry and Care

PubMed Central

Osborne, Nikki; Paull, Gregory; Grierson, Adam; Dunford, Karen; Busch-Nentwich, Elisabeth M.; Sneddon, Lynne U.; Wren, Natalie; Higgins, Joe

2016-01-01

Abstract A meeting on Contemporary Topics in Zebrafish Husbandry and Care was held in the United Kingdom in 2014, with the aim of providing a discussion forum for researchers, animal technologists, and veterinarians from academia and industry to share good practice and exchange ideas. Presentation topics included protocols for optimal larval rearing, implementing the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) in large-scale colony management, and environmental enrichment. The audience also participated in a survey of current practice relating to practical husbandry, cryopreservation, and the provision of enrichment. PMID:27537782

Topical Treatments for Localized Neuropathic Pain.

PubMed

Casale, Roberto; Symeonidou, Z; Bartolo, M

2017-03-01

Topical therapeutic approaches in localized neuropathic pain (LNP) syndromes are increasingly used by both specialists and general practitioners, with a potentially promising effect on pain reduction. In this narrative review, we describe the available compounds for topical use in LNP syndromes and address their potential efficacy according to the literature. Local anaesthetics (e.g., lidocaine, bupivacaine and mepivacaine), as well as general anaesthetic agents (e.g., ketamine), muscle relaxants (e.g., baclofen), capsaicin, anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., diclofenac), salicylates, antidepressants (e.g., amitriptyline and doxepin), α2 adrenergic agents (e.g., clonidine), or even a combination of them have been tested in various applications for the treatment of LNP. Few of them have reached a sufficient level of evidence to support systematic use as treatment options. Relatively few systemic side effects or drug-drug interactions and satisfactory efficacy seem to be the benefits of topical treatments. More well-organized and tailored studies are necessary for the further conceptualization of topical treatments for LNP.

Topical Review: Integrating Findings on Direct Observation of Family Communication in Studies Comparing Pediatric Chronic Illness and Typically Developing Samples.

PubMed

Murphy, Lexa K; Murray, Caitlin B; Compas, Bruce E

2017-01-01

To review research on observed family communication in families with children with chronic illnesses compared with families with healthy, typically developing children, and to integrate findings utilizing a unifying family communication framework. Topical review of studies that have directly observed family communication in pediatric populations and included a typically developing comparison group. Initial findings from 14 studies with diverse approaches to quantifying observed family communication suggest that families with children with chronic illnesses may demonstrate lower levels of warm and structured communication and higher levels of hostile/intrusive and withdrawn communication compared with families with healthy, typically developing children. An integrative framework of family communication may be used in future studies that examine the occurrence, correlates, and mechanisms of family communication in pediatric populations.

Topical NSAIDs for chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults

PubMed Central

Derry, Sheena; Moore, R Andrew; Rabbie, Roy

2014-01-01

Background Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly taken orally, but they are also available in topical preparations to be applied to or rubbed onto the skin of a painful joint, typically one affected by arthritis, with the aim of relieving pain locally. Topical NSAIDs are widely used in some parts of the world for acute and chronic painful conditions, but have not been universally accepted until recently. One of the problems has been that older clinical studies were generally short, lasting four weeks or less, and short duration studies are not regarded as adequate in ongoing painful conditions. Objectives To examine the use of topical NSAIDs in chronic musculoskeletal pain, focusing on studies of high methodological quality, and examining the measured effect of the preparations according to study duration. The principal aim was to estimate treatment efficacy in longer duration studies of at least 8 weeks. Search methods A series of electronic searches, together with bibliographic searches, and searches of in-house databases were combined with electronic searches of clinical trial registers and manufacturers of topical NSAIDs, or companies known to be actively researching topical NSAIDs. There had to be at least 10 participants in each treatment arm, with application of treatment at least once daily. Selection criteria Randomised, double blind studies with placebo or active comparators, where at least one treatment was a topical NSAID product, in any topical formulation (cream, gel, patch, solution), in studies lasting at least two weeks. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently assessed study quality and validity, and extracted data. Numbers of participants achieving each outcome were used to calculate relative risk (RR) and numbers needed to treat (NNT) or harm (NNH) compared to placebo or other active treatment. Main results Information was available from 7688 participants in 34 studies from 32 publications; 23 studies

Topics in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1963-2015.

PubMed

Oh, JungSu; Stewart, Alan E; Phelps, Rosemary E

2017-11-01

Historical trends in a scientific field should be apparent in the changing content of journal articles over time. Using a topic modeling approach, a statistical method for quantifying the thematic content of text, 70 topics were extracted from the abstracts of 3,603 articles published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology from 1963 to 2015. After examining interpretability of 70 topics derived from the model, 64 meaningful topics and their trends were named. In addition, the authors also classified some of the related topics into 4 categories-counseling process and outcome, multiculturalism, research methodology, and vocational psychology. Counseling process and outcome related topics have decreased recently, while topics relating to multiculturalism and diversity have shown increasing trends. The authors also discussed trends that were observed and tried to account for the changing frequencies of some important research topics within these categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Methemoglobinemia secondary to topical benzocaine use in a lung transplant patient.

PubMed

LeClaire, Aimée C; Mullett, Timothy W; Jahania, M Salik; Flynn, Jeremy D

2005-02-01

To report a case of methemoglobinemia secondary to the administration of topical benzocaine spray in an anemic patient who had previously undergone a lung transplant. A 40-year-old white man with a past medical history significant for lung transplant acutely decompensated following oropharyngeal administration of topical benzocaine spray. Subsequent blood analysis revealed a methemoglobin concentration of 51.2%. Following the administration of a single dose of methylene blue 2 mg/kg intravenously, the patient's respiratory status dramatically improved and stabilized. Methemoglobinemia is a rare but potentially fatal condition that may be either acquired or congenital; however, the disorder is most commonly acquired secondary to exposure to oxidizing chemicals, which are often routinely prescribed medications, including benzocaine. Benzocaine can react with hemoglobin to form methemoglobin at a rate that exceeds reduction capabilities, which may result in oxygenation difficulty and respiratory distress. In severe or symptomatic methemoglobinemia, the treatment of choice is methylene blue. Application of the Naranjo probability scale established a highly probable relationship between topical benzocaine spray and methemoglobinemia and associated respiratory compromise. The risks of palliative use of topical benzocaine in patients with preexisting disorders that compromise oxygen delivery may outweigh any benefit. In our patient, anemia and lung disease increased his risk for clinically significant adverse respiratory events secondary to deficiencies or interferences in oxygen delivery. Topical benzocaine should be administered with caution and careful monitoring in such patient populations.

Physicians' Religious Topic Avoidance during Clinical Interactions.

PubMed

Villagran, Melinda M; MacArthur, Brenda L; Lee, Lauren E; Ledford, Christy J W; Canzona, Mollie R

2017-05-08

Religious and spiritual (R/S) conversations at the end-of-life function to help patients and their families find comfort in difficult circumstances. Physicians who feel uncertain about how to discuss topics related to religious beliefs may seek to avoid R/S conversations with their patients. This study utilized a two-group objective structured clinical examination with a standardized patient to explore differences in physicians' use of R/S topic avoidance tactics during a clinical interaction. Results indicated that physicians used more topic avoidance tactics in response to patients' R/S inquiries than patients' R/S disclosures; however, the use of topic avoidance tactics did not eliminate the need to engage in patient-initiated R/S interactions.

Physicians’ Religious Topic Avoidance during Clinical Interactions

PubMed Central

Villagran, Melinda M.; MacArthur, Brenda L.; Lee, Lauren E.; Ledford, Christy J. W.; Canzona, Mollie R.

2017-01-01

Religious and spiritual (R/S) conversations at the end-of-life function to help patients and their families find comfort in difficult circumstances. Physicians who feel uncertain about how to discuss topics related to religious beliefs may seek to avoid R/S conversations with their patients. This study utilized a two-group objective structured clinical examination with a standardized patient to explore differences in physicians’ use of R/S topic avoidance tactics during a clinical interaction. Results indicated that physicians used more topic avoidance tactics in response to patients’ R/S inquiries than patients’ R/S disclosures; however, the use of topic avoidance tactics did not eliminate the need to engage in patient-initiated R/S interactions. PMID:28481290

Topic Maps e-Learning Portal Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsevicova, Kamila

2006-01-01

Topic Maps, ISO/IEC 13250 standard, are designed to facilitate the organization and navigation of large collections of information objects by creating meta-level perspectives of their underlying concepts and relationships. The underlying structure of concepts and relations is expressed by domain ontologies. The Topics Maps technology can become…

Extracting Hot spots of Topics from Time Stamped Documents

PubMed Central

Chen, Wei; Chundi, Parvathi

2011-01-01

Identifying time periods with a burst of activities related to a topic has been an important problem in analyzing time-stamped documents. In this paper, we propose an approach to extract a hot spot of a given topic in a time-stamped document set. Topics can be basic, containing a simple list of keywords, or complex. Logical relationships such as and, or, and not are used to build complex topics from basic topics. A concept of presence measure of a topic based on fuzzy set theory is introduced to compute the amount of information related to the topic in the document set. Each interval in the time period of the document set is associated with a numeric value which we call the discrepancy score. A high discrepancy score indicates that the documents in the time interval are more focused on the topic than those outside of the time interval. A hot spot of a given topic is defined as a time interval with the highest discrepancy score. We first describe a naive implementation for extracting hot spots. We then construct an algorithm called EHE (Efficient Hot Spot Extraction) using several efficient strategies to improve performance. We also introduce the notion of a topic DAG to facilitate an efficient computation of presence measures of complex topics. The proposed approach is illustrated by several experiments on a subset of the TDT-Pilot Corpus and DBLP conference data set. The experiments show that the proposed EHE algorithm significantly outperforms the naive one, and the extracted hot spots of given topics are meaningful. PMID:21765568

Dissertation Research in Counseling Psychology: Topics, Methods, and Qualitative Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kopala, Mary; And Others

Findings from a survey that examined the vast scope of research training in counseling psychology programs and topical areas that are addressed in dissertation research are presented in this paper. The questionnaire included both open- and closed-ended questions and were completed by 166 recent graduates of doctoral programs in counseling…

CONFERENCE NOTE: European Optical Society, Topical Meeting Optical Metrology and Nanotechnology, Engelberg, Switzerland, 27 30 March 1994

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1993-01-01

This meeting, organized by the Paul Scherrer Institute's Department of Applied Solid State Physics, will be held from 27 30 March 1994 at the Hotel Regina-Titlis, Engelberg, Switzerland. The aim is to bring together scientists from two important fields of current research and increasing industrial relevance. Optical metrology is a traditional discipline of applied optics which reached the nanometre scale a long time ago. Nanotechnology is setting new limits and represents a major challenge to metrology, as well as offering new opportunities to optics. The meeting is intended to help define a common future for optical metrology and nanotechnology. Topics to be covered include: nanometre position control and measuring techniques ultrahigh precision interferometry scanning probe microscopy (AFM, SNOM, etc.) surface modification by scanning probe methods precision surface fabrication and characterization nanolithography micro-optics, diffractive optics components, including systems and applications subwavelength optical structures synthetic optical materials structures and technologies for X-ray optics. For further information please contact: Jens Gobrecht (Secretary), Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen-PSI, Switzerland.Tel. (41)56992529; Fax (41) 5698 2635.

A Thousand Topics for Composition: Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois English Bulletin, 1971

1971-01-01

For use by junior and senior high school English teachers and students in search of appropriate subjects for written compositions, this publication contains 1,237 topics compiled from a questionnaire sent to about 250 teachers. The topics are divided into categories: personal reminiscences, personal reactions, the familiar essay, description,…

EDITORIAL: International Workshop on Current Topics in Monte Carlo Treatment Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verhaegen, Frank; Seuntjens, Jan

2005-03-01

The use of Monte Carlo particle transport simulations in radiotherapy was pioneered in the early nineteen-seventies, but it was not until the eighties that they gained recognition as an essential research tool for radiation dosimetry, health physics and later on for radiation therapy treatment planning. Since the mid-nineties, there has been a boom in the number of workers using MC techniques in radiotherapy, and the quantity of papers published on the subject. Research and applications of MC techniques in radiotherapy span a very wide range from fundamental studies of cross sections and development of particle transport algorithms, to clinical evaluation of treatment plans for a variety of radiotherapy modalities. The International Workshop on Current Topics in Monte Carlo Treatment Planning took place at Montreal General Hospital, which is part of McGill University, halfway up Mount Royal on Montreal Island. It was held from 3-5 May, 2004, right after the freezing winter has lost its grip on Canada. About 120 workers attended the Workshop, representing 18 countries. Most of the pioneers in the field were present but also a large group of young scientists. In a very full programme, 41 long papers were presented (of which 12 were invited) and 20 posters were on display during the whole meeting. The topics covered included the latest developments in MC algorithms, statistical issues, source modelling and MC treatment planning for photon, electron and proton treatments. The final day was entirely devoted to clinical implementation issues. Monte Carlo radiotherapy treatment planning has only now made a slow entrée in the clinical environment, taking considerably longer than envisaged ten years ago. Of the twenty-five papers in this dedicated special issue, about a quarter deal with this topic, with probably many more studies to follow in the near future. If anything, we hope the Workshop served as an accelerator for more clinical evaluation of MC applications. The

Topical steroids in eosinophilic esophagitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials.

PubMed

Murali, Arvind R; Gupta, Ashutosh; Attar, Bashar M; Ravi, Venkatesh; Koduru, Pramoda

2016-06-01

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a clinicopathologic condition characterized by symptoms of esophageal dysfunction in the presence of eosinophil-predominant inflammation of esophageal mucosa. Topical steroids are recommended as first line pharmacologic therapy in EoE. We aimed to determine the efficacy of topical steroids in inducing histologic and clinical remission in children and adults with EoE. We performed a systematic search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, and Cochrane library databases for studies investigating the efficacy of topical steroids in EoE. We collected data on the number of patients, dose and duration of therapy, complete and partial histological response, and clinical improvement. We performed meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials using Review Manager version 5.2. We used funnel plots to evaluate for publication bias. Five studies that included 174 patients with EoE were included in the meta-analysis. Topical fluticasone was administered in three studies involving 114 patients, and topical budesonide in two studies involving 60 patients. Patients treated with topical steroids, as compared with placebo, had higher complete histological remission (odds ratio [OR] 20.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.03, 61.63) and partial histological remission (OR 32.20, 95% CI 6.82, 152.04). There was a trend towards improvement in clinical symptoms with topical steroids as compared with placebo but it did not reach statistical significance (OR 2.72, 95 %CI 0.90, 8.23). Topical corticosteroids seem to be effective in inducing histological remission but may not have similar significant impact in improving clinical symptoms of EoE. Studies with large sample size are needed to uniformly validate symptom improvement in EoE. © 2015 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Is combined topical with intravenous tranexamic acid superior than topical, intravenous tranexamic acid alone and control groups for blood loss controlling after total knee arthroplasty: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Lin, Chunmei; Qi, Yingmei; Jie, Li; Li, Hong-Biao; Zhao, Xi-Cheng; Qin, Lei; Jiang, Xin-Qiang; Zhang, Zhen-Hua; Ma, Liping

2016-12-01

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combined topical with intravenous tranexamic acid (TXA) versus topical, intravenous TXA alone or control for reducing blood loss after a total knee arthroplasty (TKA). In May 2016, a systematic computer-based search was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Chinese Wanfang database. This systematic review and meta-analysis were performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement criteria. Only patients prepared for primary TKA that administration combined topical with intravenous TXA with topical TXA, intravenous (IV) TXA, or control group for reducing blood loss were included. Eligible criteria were published RCTs about combined topical with intravenous TXA with topical alone or intravenous alone. The primary endpoint was the total blood loss and need for transfusion. The complications of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) were also compiled to assess the safety of combined topical TXA with intravenous TXA. Relative risks (RRs) with 95% CIs were estimated for dichotomous outcomes, and mean differences (MDs) with 95% CIs for continuous outcomes. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to appraise a risk of bias. Stata 12.0 software was used for meta-analysis. Fifteen studies involving 1495 patients met the inclusion criteria. The pooled meta-analysis indicated that combined topical TXA with intravenous TXA can reduce the total blood loss compared with placebo with a mean of 458.66 mL and the difference is statistically significant (MD = -458.66, 95% CI: -655.40 to 261.91, P < 0.001). Compared with intravenous TXA, combined administrated TXA can decrease the total blood loss, and the difference is statistically significant (MD = -554.03, 95% CI: -1066.21 to -41.85, P = 0.034). Compared with the topical administration TXA, the

Topical herbal therapies for treating osteoarthritis

PubMed Central

Cameron, Melainie; Chrubasik, Sigrun

2014-01-01

Background Before extraction and synthetic chemistry were invented, musculoskeletal complaints were treated with preparations from medicinal plants. They were either administered orally or topically. In contrast to the oral medicinal plant products, topicals act in part as counterirritants or are toxic when given orally. Objectives To update the previous Cochrane review of herbal therapy for osteoarthritis from 2000 by evaluating the evidence on effectiveness for topical medicinal plant products. Search methods Databases for mainstream and complementary medicine were searched using terms to include all forms of arthritis combined with medicinal plant products. We searched electronic databases (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL),MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, ISI Web of Science, World Health Organization Clinical Trials Registry Platform) to February 2013, unrestricted by language. We also searched the reference lists from retrieved trials. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials of herbal interventions used topically, compared with inert (placebo) or active controls, in people with osteoarthritis were included. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed the risk of bias of included studies and extracted data. Main results Seven studies (seven different medicinal plant interventions; 785 participants) were included. Single studies (five studies, six interventions) and non-comparable studies (two studies, one intervention) precluded pooling of results. Moderate evidence from a single study of 174 people with hand osteoarthritis indicated that treatment with Arnica extract gel probably results in similar benefits as treatment with ibuprofen (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) with a similar number of adverse events. Mean pain in the ibuprofen group was 44.2 points on a 100 point scale; treatment with Arnica gel reduced the pain by 4 points after three weeks: mean difference (MD

Conference report: hot topics in antibody-drug conjugate development.

PubMed

Thudium, Karen; Bilic, Sanela

2013-12-01

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists National Biotechnology Conference Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, San Diego, CA, USA, 19-23 May 2013 The National Biotechnology Conference, is a premier meeting for biotechnology professionals covering a broad range of hot topics in the biotechnology industry. Attracting participants from academia, industry and regulatory, this meeting features sessions that aim to address emerging subjects of interest and allows for open exchange between scientists. The 2013 conference featured leading researchers in the fields of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and immunogenicity. Herein, we present a summary of the ADC hot topics, including bioanalytical and PK considerations, quantitative evaluation of the impact of immunogenicity and ADME to understand ADC drug-drug interactions, and clinical considerations for ADC development. This article aims to summarize the recommendations that were made by the speakers during various sessions throughout the conference.

Developing Future Leaders: The Role of Reflection in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Cynthia

2008-01-01

Leadership development continues to be a topic of conversation, education, and research. Reflection has been named as one of the key competencies needed for effective leaders particularly as the workplace grows more complex and multicultural. But how does one develop reflective skill in college students, the leaders of the future? This paper…

Defining Priorities for Future Research: Results of the UK Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership

PubMed Central

Metcalfe, Leanne; O’Donoghue, Katriona; Ball, Simon T.; Beale, Angela; Beale, William; Hilton, Rachel; Hodkinson, Keith; Lipkin, Graham W.; Loud, Fiona; Marson, Lorna P.; Morris, Peter J.

2016-01-01

Background It has been suggested that the research priorities of those funding and performing research in transplantation may differ from those of end service users such as patients, carers and healthcare professionals involved in day-to-day care. The Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was established with the aim of involving all stakeholders in prioritising future research in the field. Methods The PSP methodology is as outlined by the James Lind Alliance. An initial survey collected unanswered research questions from patients, carers and clinicians. Duplicate and out-of-scope topics were excluded and the existing literature searched to identify topics answered by current evidence. An interim prioritisation survey asked patients and professionals to score the importance of the remaining questions to create a ranked long-list. These were considered at a final consensus workshop using a modified nominal group technique to agree a final top ten. Results The initial survey identified 497 questions from 183 respondents, covering all aspects of transplantation from assessment through to long-term follow-up. These were grouped into 90 unanswered “indicative” questions. The interim prioritisation survey received 256 responses (34.8% patients/carers, 10.9% donors and 54.3% professionals), resulting in a ranked list of 25 questions that were considered during the final workshop. Participants agreed a top ten priorities for future research that included optimisation of immunosuppression (improved monitoring, choice of regimen, personalisation), prevention of sensitisation and transplanting the sensitised patient, management of antibody-mediated rejection, long-term risks to live donors, methods of organ preservation, induction of tolerance and bioengineering of organs. There was evidence that patient and carer involvement had a significant impact on shaping the final priorities. Conclusions The final list of priorities relates to all stages of the

Defining Priorities for Future Research: Results of the UK Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership.

PubMed

Knight, Simon R; Metcalfe, Leanne; O'Donoghue, Katriona; Ball, Simon T; Beale, Angela; Beale, William; Hilton, Rachel; Hodkinson, Keith; Lipkin, Graham W; Loud, Fiona; Marson, Lorna P; Morris, Peter J

2016-01-01

It has been suggested that the research priorities of those funding and performing research in transplantation may differ from those of end service users such as patients, carers and healthcare professionals involved in day-to-day care. The Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was established with the aim of involving all stakeholders in prioritising future research in the field. The PSP methodology is as outlined by the James Lind Alliance. An initial survey collected unanswered research questions from patients, carers and clinicians. Duplicate and out-of-scope topics were excluded and the existing literature searched to identify topics answered by current evidence. An interim prioritisation survey asked patients and professionals to score the importance of the remaining questions to create a ranked long-list. These were considered at a final consensus workshop using a modified nominal group technique to agree a final top ten. The initial survey identified 497 questions from 183 respondents, covering all aspects of transplantation from assessment through to long-term follow-up. These were grouped into 90 unanswered "indicative" questions. The interim prioritisation survey received 256 responses (34.8% patients/carers, 10.9% donors and 54.3% professionals), resulting in a ranked list of 25 questions that were considered during the final workshop. Participants agreed a top ten priorities for future research that included optimisation of immunosuppression (improved monitoring, choice of regimen, personalisation), prevention of sensitisation and transplanting the sensitised patient, management of antibody-mediated rejection, long-term risks to live donors, methods of organ preservation, induction of tolerance and bioengineering of organs. There was evidence that patient and carer involvement had a significant impact on shaping the final priorities. The final list of priorities relates to all stages of the transplant process, including access to

Media depictions of health topics: challenge and stigma formats.

PubMed

Smith, Rachel

2007-01-01

This article explored the notion that media depictions of health concerns come in one of two formats: challenge and stigma. After explicating the five features that should appear in challenge format and the seven features of stigma formats, we analyzed the content of health messages in magazines, brochures, and posters (n = 75) in a metropolitan area. The results of a two-factor confirmatory factor model showed that the five suggested features for challenge formats did, indeed, appear together (alpha = .76), and the seven features for stigma formats, also, appeared together (alpha = .90), and showed no residual relationship. In other words, the results suggest that media depictions of health topics appear in either challenge or stigma formats (r = - .87). Health issues appearing in magazine advertisements and articles presented messages in challenge formats, while brochures and posters from largely nonprofit and government groups depicted health issues in stigma formats. Some health topics appeared most often in challenge formats (including cancer, heart disease, and scoliosis), while others appeared in stigma formats (including tuberculosis, hepatitis, smoking, and sexually transmitted diseases [STDs]). Findings suggest that media depictions of health differ, and the implications of stigma and challenge formats are discussed.

Topic models: A novel method for modeling couple and family text data

PubMed Central

Atkins, David C.; Rubin, Tim N.; Steyvers, Mark; Doeden, Michelle A.; Baucom, Brian R.; Christensen, Andrew

2012-01-01

Couple and family researchers often collect open-ended linguistic data – either through free response questionnaire items or transcripts of interviews or therapy sessions. Because participant's responses are not forced into a set number of categories, text-based data can be very rich and revealing of psychological processes. At the same time it is highly unstructured and challenging to analyze. Within family psychology analyzing text data typically means applying a coding system, which can quantify text data but also has several limitations, including the time needed for coding, difficulties with inter-rater reliability, and defining a priori what should be coded. The current article presents an alternative method for analyzing text data called topic models (Steyvers & Griffiths, 2006), which has not yet been applied within couple and family psychology. Topic models have similarities with factor analysis and cluster analysis in that topic models identify underlying clusters of words with semantic similarities (i.e., the “topics”). In the present article, a non-technical introduction to topic models is provided, highlighting how these models can be used for text exploration and indexing (e.g., quickly locating text passages that share semantic meaning) and how output from topic models can be used to predict behavioral codes or other types of outcomes. Throughout the article a collection of transcripts from a large couple therapy trial (Christensen et al., 2004) is used as example data to highlight potential applications. Practical resources for learning more about topic models and how to apply them are discussed. PMID:22888778

Topic models: a novel method for modeling couple and family text data.

PubMed

Atkins, David C; Rubin, Timothy N; Steyvers, Mark; Doeden, Michelle A; Baucom, Brian R; Christensen, Andrew

2012-10-01

Couple and family researchers often collect open-ended linguistic data-either through free-response questionnaire items, or transcripts of interviews or therapy sessions. Because participants' responses are not forced into a set number of categories, text-based data can be very rich and revealing of psychological processes. At the same time, it is highly unstructured and challenging to analyze. Within family psychology, analyzing text data typically means applying a coding system, which can quantify text data but also has several limitations, including the time needed for coding, difficulties with interrater reliability, and defining a priori what should be coded. The current article presents an alternative method for analyzing text data called topic models (Steyvers & Griffiths, 2006), which has not yet been applied within couple and family psychology. Topic models have similarities to factor analysis and cluster analysis in that they identify underlying clusters of words with semantic similarities (i.e., the "topics"). In the present article, a nontechnical introduction to topic models is provided, highlighting how these models can be used for text exploration and indexing (e.g., quickly locating text passages that share semantic meaning) and how output from topic models can be used to predict behavioral codes or other types of outcomes. Throughout the article, a collection of transcripts from a large couple-therapy trial (Christensen et al., 2004) is used as example data to highlight potential applications. Practical resources for learning more about topic models and how to apply them are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

The Importance and Interest of Introductory Psychology Textbook Topics: Student Opinions at Technical College, 2-, and 4-Year Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCann, Lee I.; Immel, Kathy R.; Kadah-Ammeter, Tammy L.; Adelson, Sarah K.

2016-01-01

Introductory psychology students at a technical college, 2-year community college, and a regional university rated how important textbook chapters or topics were to them now and in the future and how interesting they were. Importance and interest ratings were highly correlated, and the whole course was rated of greater importance and interest than…

Hot topics: Signal processing in acoustics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaumond, Charles F.

2005-09-01

Signal processing in acoustics is a multidisciplinary group of people that work in many areas of acoustics. We have chosen two areas that have shown exciting new applications of signal processing to acoustics or have shown exciting and important results from the use of signal processing. In this session, two hot topics are shown: the use of noiselike acoustic fields to determine sound propagation structure and the use of localization to determine animal behaviors. The first topic shows the application of correlation on geo-acoustic fields to determine the Greens function for propagation through the Earth. These results can then be further used to solve geo-acoustic inverse problems. The first topic also shows the application of correlation using oceanic noise fields to determine the Greens function through the ocean. These results also have utility for oceanic inverse problems. The second topic shows exciting results from the detection, localization, and tracking of marine mammals by two different groups. Results from detection and localization of bullfrogs are shown, too. Each of these studies contributed to the knowledge of animal behavior. [Work supported by ONR.

Evaluating topic model interpretability from a primary care physician perspective.

PubMed

Arnold, Corey W; Oh, Andrea; Chen, Shawn; Speier, William

2016-02-01

Probabilistic topic models provide an unsupervised method for analyzing unstructured text. These models discover semantically coherent combinations of words (topics) that could be integrated in a clinical automatic summarization system for primary care physicians performing chart review. However, the human interpretability of topics discovered from clinical reports is unknown. Our objective is to assess the coherence of topics and their ability to represent the contents of clinical reports from a primary care physician's point of view. Three latent Dirichlet allocation models (50 topics, 100 topics, and 150 topics) were fit to a large collection of clinical reports. Topics were manually evaluated by primary care physicians and graduate students. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests for Paired Samples were used to evaluate differences between different topic models, while differences in performance between students and primary care physicians (PCPs) were tested using Mann-Whitney U tests for each of the tasks. While the 150-topic model produced the best log likelihood, participants were most accurate at identifying words that did not belong in topics learned by the 100-topic model, suggesting that 100 topics provides better relative granularity of discovered semantic themes for the data set used in this study. Models were comparable in their ability to represent the contents of documents. Primary care physicians significantly outperformed students in both tasks. This work establishes a baseline of interpretability for topic models trained with clinical reports, and provides insights on the appropriateness of using topic models for informatics applications. Our results indicate that PCPs find discovered topics more coherent and representative of clinical reports relative to students, warranting further research into their use for automatic summarization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating Topic Model Interpretability from a Primary Care Physician Perspective

PubMed Central

Arnold, Corey W.; Oh, Andrea; Chen, Shawn; Speier, William

2015-01-01

Background and Objective Probabilistic topic models provide an unsupervised method for analyzing unstructured text. These models discover semantically coherent combinations of words (topics) that could be integrated in a clinical automatic summarization system for primary care physicians performing chart review. However, the human interpretability of topics discovered from clinical reports is unknown. Our objective is to assess the coherence of topics and their ability to represent the contents of clinical reports from a primary care physician’s point of view. Methods Three latent Dirichlet allocation models (50 topics, 100 topics, and 150 topics) were fit to a large collection of clinical reports. Topics were manually evaluated by primary care physicians and graduate students. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests for Paired Samples were used to evaluate differences between different topic models, while differences in performance between students and primary care physicians (PCPs) were tested using Mann-Whitney U tests for each of the tasks. Results While the 150-topic model produced the best log likelihood, participants were most accurate at identifying words that did not belong in topics learned by the 100-topic model, suggesting that 100 topics provides better relative granularity of discovered semantic themes for the data set used in this study. Models were comparable in their ability to represent the contents of documents. Primary care physicians significantly outperformed students in both tasks. Conclusion This work establishes a baseline of interpretability for topic models trained with clinical reports, and provides insights on the appropriateness of using topic models for informatics applications. Our results indicate that PCPs find discovered topics more coherent and representative of clinical reports relative to students, warranting further research into their use for automatic summarization. PMID:26614020

Microemulsion and Microemulsion-Based Gels for Topical Antifungal Therapy with Phytochemicals.

PubMed

Boonme, Prapaporn; Kaewbanjong, Jarika; Amnuaikit, Thanaporn; Andreani, Tatiana; Silva, Amélia M; Souto, Eliana B

2016-01-01

Skin fungal infections are regular injuries suffered by people living in tropical areas. Most common pathogens are Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton which can cause skin lesions in many parts of body. Topical antifungal phytochemicals are commonly used to avoid systemic adverse events and are more convenient for patient application than those administered by other routes. However, the effectiveness of topical treatments in eradicating fungal infection is more limited since the stratum corneum acts as the skin barrier, resulting in long treatment duration and low patient's compliance. The goal of this work is to identify optimized drug delivery systems to improve topic clinical efficacy. Microemulsions i.e. liquid dispersions of oil and water stabilized with an interfacial film of surfactant are well known drug delivery systems. A thickening agent may be included to form microemulsion-based gels to increase skin adhesion. Microemulsions and microemulsion-based gels can be loaded with several hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs because they are composed of both water and oil phases. Microemulsions and microemulsion-based gels can also be used for the delivery of many drugs including antifungal drugs through stratum corneum due to their capacity to act as skin penetration enhancement. In addition to a comprehensive review of microemulsion and microemulsion-based gels as suitable carriers for skin delivery of various antifungal drugs, this review also aims to discuss the delivery of antifungal phytochemicals.

Conceptual Design of a Space-Based Multimegawatt MHD Power System, Task 1 Topical Report; Volume 1: Technical Discussion

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-01

system requirements, design guidelines, and interface requirements has been prepared and included as Volume II of this Task 1 topical report. The Volume ...WAESD-TR-88-0002 Conceptual Design Of A Space-Based Multimegawatt MHD Power System ffA«kjjjjjTfc Task 1 Topical Report Volume I: Technical...Space-Based Multimegawatt MHD Power System: Task 1 Topical Report, Volume I: Technical Discussion Personal Author: Dana, RA. Corporate Author Or

Topical anaesthetic and tear film stability.

PubMed

Mengher, L S; Pandher, K S; Bron, A J

1986-02-01

The effect of unpreserved topical anaesthetic on tear film stability (0.4% oxybuprocaine hydrochloride) was investigated in a double masked randomised study in 12 healthy volunteers, using a noninvasive tear film break up technique (NIBUT). It was found that the topical anaesthetic did not reduce the pre-corneal tear film stability, contrary to the electron microscopic evidence.

Methods for studying sensitive family topics.

PubMed

Gelles, Richard J

1978-07-01

Researchers on sensitive topics in family relations face a number of obstacles, due to the private nature of the family and to ethical constraints on the study of humans. Difficulties in locating subjects, engaging their cooperation, and obtaining valid and reliable data are discussed, and methods are proposed for pursuing research on these important but frequently taboo topics.

The Future of Learning: From eLearning to mLearning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keegan, Desmond

The future of electronic learning was explored in an analysis that viewed the provision of learning at a distance as a continuum and traced the evolution from distance learning to electronic learning to mobile learning in Europe and elsewhere. Special attention was paid to the following topics: (1) the impact of the industrial revolution, the…