Major Topic Research Articles

Dynamic Associations Between Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Media Contents and Epidemic Measures During COVID-19: Infoveillance Study.

Health agencies have been widely adopting social media to disseminate important information, educate the public on emerging health issues, and understand public opinions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) widely used social media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic to communicate with the public and mitigate the disease in the United States. It is crucial to understand the relationships between the CDC's social media communications and the actual epidemic metrics to improve public health agencies' communication strategies during health emergencies. This study aimed to identify key topics in tweets posted by the CDC during the pandemic, investigate the temporal dynamics between these key topics and the actual COVID-19 epidemic measures, and make recommendations for the CDC's digital health communication strategies for future health emergencies. Two types of data were collected: (1) a total of 17,524 COVID-19-related English tweets posted by the CDC between December 7, 2019, and January 15, 2022, and (2) COVID-19 epidemic measures in the United States from the public GitHub repository of Johns Hopkins University from January 2020 to July 2022. Latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling was applied to identify key topics from all COVID-19-related tweets posted by the CDC, and the final topics were determined by domain experts. Various multivariate time series analysis techniques were applied between each of the identified key topics and actual COVID-19 epidemic measures to quantify the dynamic associations between these 2 types of time series data. Four major topics from the CDC's COVID-19 tweets were identified: (1) information on the prevention of health outcomes of COVID-19; (2) pediatric intervention and family safety; (3) updates of the epidemic situation of COVID-19; and (4) research and community engagement to curb COVID-19. Multivariate analyses showed that there were significant variabilities of progression between the CDC's topics and the actual COVID-19 epidemic measures. Some CDC topics showed substantial associations with the COVID-19 measures over different time spans throughout the pandemic, expressing similar temporal dynamics between these 2 types of time series data. Our study is the first to comprehensively investigate the dynamic associations between topics discussed by the CDC on Twitter and the COVID-19 epidemic measures in the United States. We identified 4 major topic themes via topic modeling and explored how each of these topics was associated with each major epidemic measure by performing various multivariate time series analyses. We recommend that it is critical for public health agencies, such as the CDC, to update and disseminate timely and accurate information to the public and align major topics with key epidemic measures over time. We suggest that social media can help public health agencies to inform the public on health emergencies and to mitigate them effectively.

Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin

Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin

Meeting report from the Prostate Cancer Foundation PSMA-directed radionuclide scientific working group.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) convened a PSMA-Directed Radionuclide Scientific Working Group on November 14, 2017, at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY. The meeting was attended by 35 global investigators with expertise in prostate cancer biology, radionuclide therapy, molecular imaging, prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted agents, drug development, and prostate cancer clinical trials. The goal of this meeting was to discuss the potential for using PSMA-targeted radionuclide agents for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer and to define the studies and clinical trials necessary for validating and optimizing the use of these agents. Several major topic areas were discussed including the overview of PSMA biology, lessons and applications of PSMA-targeted PET imaging, the nuances of designing PSMA-targeted radionuclide agents, clinical experiences with PSMA-targeted radionuclides, PCF-funded projects to accelerate PSMA-targeted radionuclide therapy, and barriers to the use of radionuclide treatments in widespread clinical practice. This article reviews the major topics discussed at the meeting with the goal of promoting research that will validate and optimize the use of PSMA-targeted radionuclide therapies for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

Understanding the topic evolution in a scientific domain: An exploratory study for the field of information retrieval

Abstract Understanding topic evolution in a scientific domain is essential for capturing key domain developments and facilitating knowledge transfer within and across domains. Using a data set on information retrieval (IR) publications, this paper examines how research topics evolve by analyzing the topic trends, evolving dynamics, and semantic word shifts in the IR domain. Knowledge transfer between topics and the developing status of the major topics have been recognized, which are represented by the merging and splitting of local topics in different time periods. Results show that the evolution of a major topic usually follows a pattern from adjusting status to mature status, and sometimes with re-adjusting status in between the evolving process. Knowledge transfer happens both within a topic and among topics. Word migration via topic channels has been defined, and three migration types (non-migration, dual-migration, and multi-migration) are distinguished to facilitate better understanding of the topic evolution.

Publishing Trends in the Field of Pediatric Emergency Medicine From 2004 to 2013.

To identify publishing trends within the field of pediatric emergency medicine between 2004 and 2013. We conducted a MEDLINE search of pediatric emergency medicine articles, filtered by clinical trial, published between 2004 and 2013 in ten journals from the fields of pediatrics, emergency medicine, general medicine, and pediatric emergency medicine. Each article was classified by journal type, study design, results (positive or negative/equivocal), age/type of subjects, and major topic (based on the objective of the study). Articles were stratified by publication period (2004-2008 or 2009-2013) to analyze trends. A total of 464 articles were analyzed. The majority of articles were described as randomized-controlled trials (47%) with negative/equivocal findings (70%). The most common major topics were pain management, asthma, sedation, bronchiolitis, resuscitation, simulation, and ultrasound. Over time, the percentage of articles published in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine journals increased (P = 0.0499) and the percentage for all study designs increased except for randomized controlled trials (P = 0.0089). There were no differences between the 2 publication periods when stratified by results, age/type of subjects, and major topic. By identifying these trends, we hope to encourage researchers to perform studies in the field of pediatric emergency medicine where deficiencies lie and to guide pediatric health care professionals to where published, evidence-based studies can be found in the medical literature.

Meeting Report From the Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Working Group on Radium-223.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) convened a Scientific Working Group Meeting on Radium-223 on September 8, 2016, at The Sidney Kimmel Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The meeting was attended by 18 investigators with expertise in radium-223, bone biology, molecular imaging, biomarkers, and prostate cancer clinical trials. The goal of this meeting was to discuss the known and unknown surroundings the therapeutic effects of the bone targeting agent radium-223, in bone metastatic prostate cancer therapy, and to outline the most critical studies needed to improve the clinical use of this agent. Three major topic areas were discussed: (1) the basic science of radium; (2) immuno-adjuvant properties of radium therapy; and (3) high impact clinical trials and correlative science. This article reviews the major topics discussed at the meeting for the purpose of accelerating studies that will improve the use of radium-223 in the treatment of prostate cancer patients. Prostate 77:245-254, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Developments in the field of allergy in 2014 through the eyes of Clinical and Experimental Allergy.

The pathogenesis of asthma continues to be a major topic of interest to our authors with reviews and original papers on the role of viruses, mechanisms of inflammation, biomarkers, and phenotypes of asthma being major topics. A number of papers described new treatments for asthma focusing on blocking the Th2 response reflecting the fact that two decades of work in this area is finally bearing fruit. The pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis is a growing area of interest, but there has been less on the genetics of airways disease than in previous years possibly reflecting the degree of rigour (and therefore a smaller body of work), with which these sorts of studies are now being undertaken. There continues to be a wide range of papers dealing with mechanisms of allergic disease ranging from clinical-based studies to basic research and the use of invivo animal models especially mice. As before, mechanisms and new approaches to immunotherapy are common themes. Several were published in the allergens section investigating modification of allergens to increase their effectiveness and reduce the risk of adverse events. Risk factors for allergic disease was a common theme in the epidemiology section and food allergy a common theme in clinical allergy with papers on the development of protocols to induce tolerance and attempts to find biomarkers to distinguish sensitization from allergic disease. This was another exciting year for the editors, and we hope the readers of the journal.

Mapping epidemiology's past to inform its future: metaknowledge analysis of epidemiologic topics in leading journals, 1974-2013.

An empiric perspective on what epidemiology has studied over time might inform discussions about future directions for the discipline. We aimed to identify the main areas of epidemiologic inquiry and determine how they evolved over time in 5 high-impact epidemiologic journals. We analyzed the titles and abstracts of 20,895 articles that were published between 1974 and 2013. In 5 time periods that reflected approximately equal numbers of articles, we identified the main topics by clustering terms based on co-occurrence. Infectious disease and cardiovascular disease epidemiology were the prevailing topics over the 5 periods. Cancer epidemiology was a major topic from 1974 to 2001 but disappeared thereafter. Nutritional epidemiology gained relative importance from 1974 to 2013. Environmental epidemiology appeared during 1996-2001 and continued to be important, whereas 2 clusters related to methodology and meta-analysis in genetics appeared during 2008-2013. Several areas of epidemiology, including injury or psychiatric epidemiology, did not make an appearance as major topics at any time. In an ancillary analysis of 6 high-impact general medicine journals, we found patterns of epidemiologic articles that were overall consistent with the findings in epidemiologic journals. This metaknowledge investigation allowed identification of the dominant topics in and conversely those that were absent from 5 major epidemiologic journals. We discuss implications for the field.

Selected Topics in Mutual Fund Distribution

This chapter working paper examines the channels through which mutual fund shares are distributed to investors: (1) direct, (2) advice, (3) retirement plan, (4) supermarket, and (5) institutional. The first four channels mainly serve individual investors. In the direct and institutional channels, fund distributors transact directly with investors in the sale and redemption of fund shares. In the other indirect channels, fund shareholders transact with funds through financial intermediaries. In 1980 the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rule 12b-1, which emphasizes the role of independent fund directors in monitoring fund use of assets for distribution. The rule also addresses conflicts of interest between funds and fund advisers when funds pay distribution fees to grow fund assets. This chapter investigates whether introducing and adopting 12b-1 plans have benefitted shareholders and fund managers.This chapter provides an in-depth discussion of important issues related to mutual fund distribution. Two major topics are fund distribution channel characteristics and rule 12b-1 fees and distribution. Distribution channel characteristics discussed include direct channel, advice channel, retirement channel, institutional channel, supermarket channel, and multiple-share classes. Rule 12b-1 fees and distribution discuss adoption of rule 12b-1, rule 12b-1 after adoption, current 12b-1 fees, and issues with 12b-1 fees. A final major topic discussed direct sold and broker-sold services.The 12b-1 fee compensates brokers for initial sales of fund shares, ongoing servicing of fund shareholder accounts, and advertising and promotion expenses. Higher broker sales increase fund adviser assets under management (higher inflows) and adviser profits−primary motivations. Additionally, higher fund share sales increase broker profits, while higher broker fund share sales increase the size and cost of fund portfolio trades, amounts of broker commissions, and execution fees. Higher 12b-1 fees increase fund outflows, but higher share sales increase fund inflows. 12b-1 fees are transparent direct line-item costs in fund expense ratios that motivate using multiple share classes in direct and broker (and other intermediary) sold funds, including sales of fund shares to large individual and institutional investors. Payments reduce current fund net asset values (NAVs) and shareholder returns. Lastly, 12b-1 fees provide major agency conflicts with shareholder interests and returns.

Visual illusions on the Internet: 15 years of change in technology and user behavior.

Abstract. Looking back over 15 years of demonstrating visual phenomena and optical illusions on the Internet, I will discuss two major topics. The first concerns the methodology used to present interactive visual experiments on the web, with respect to (a) wide accessibility, ie independent of browser and platform, (b) capable and elegant graphic user interface, (c) sufficient computational power, (d) ease of development and, finally, (e) future-proofing in an ever-changing online environment. The second major topic addresses some aspects of user behaviour, mainly temporal patterns (eg changes over weeks. years, long-term), which reveal that there are more visitors during office hours.

Depth versus breadth: How content coverage in high school science courses relates to later success in college science coursework

AbstractThis study relates the performance of college students in introductory science courses to the amount of content covered in their high school science courses. The sample includes 8310 students in introductory biology, chemistry, or physics courses in 55 randomly chosen U.S. colleges and universities. Students who reported covering at least 1 major topic in depth, for a month or longer, in high school were found to earn higher grades in college science than did students who reported no coverage in depth. Students reporting breadth in their high school course, covering all major topics, did not appear to have any advantage in chemistry or physics and a significant disadvantage in biology. Care was taken to account for significant covariates: socioeconomic variables, English and mathematics proficiency, and rigor of their preparatory high science course. Alternative operationalizations of depth and breadth variables result in very similar findings. We conclude that teachers should use their judgment to reduce coverage in high school science courses and aim for mastery by extending at least 1 topic in depth over an extended period of time. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 93:798–826, 2009

The decision-making process of us food and drug administration advisory committees on switches from prescription to over-the-counter status: A comparative case study

Background:The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and FDA advisory committees have been under increasing scrutiny as a result of media attention to safety concerns. Objective:This article compares the decision-making process of the FDA's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee (NDAC) in 3 cases of a proposed switch from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC) status involving a nicotine replacement therapy product, 2 statins, and an emergency oral contraceptive. Methods:This comparative case study reviewed written transcripts and slides from 4 NDAC committee meetings and a digital video disc recording of a later meeting held to reconsider one of the proposed switches. The focus was on the committee's discussion and deliberation processes. Content analysis and iterative coding were used to assess the level of participation by committee members and the extent to which committee discussion adhered to both the key draft list questions provided by the FDA and the published DeLap criteria for switches from prescription to OTC status. Other major themes and discussion topics were identified, and the voting process was analyzed. Results:In the absence of clearly defined meeting procedures, the advisory committees developed their own procedural standards. There were major differences between meetings in terms of the extent of discussion of the key draft list questions and adherence to the DeLap principles, discussion of other themes and topics, and voting methods. In each case, at least 1 major topic of discussion was not directly related to safety, efficacy, or self-use. Additional identified themes were the public health significance of a switch to OTC status, costs, and access. Conclusions:Variability in processes created discrepancies in the decision-making criteria used by the NDAC committees. There is a need to establish structured procedures to achieve an optimal level of uniformity and transparency in advisory committee processes.

“Translational” Legume Biology. Models to Crops

The last twenty years have been a period of rapid advance in our understanding of plant biology, metabolism, and genomics. In large part, these advances were facilitated by adoption of plant models, the first and most important being Arabidopsis thaliana. This paradigm was quickly adopted by other communities, resulting in, for example, the sequencing of the rice (Oryza sativa) genome. The legume community has not been immune and, for a wide variety of reasons, adopted two models, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus. The genome sequences of these two plants are expected by the end of 2006 (Young et al., 2005). With this as a backdrop, the legume community came together recently to access progress and to set future goals for legume comparative biology (Cross-Legume Advances through Genomics [CATG] Conference, Santa Fe, NM, December 14–15, 2004). A major topic was how to harness the information available in both legume and non-legume models to address needs across a wide variety of legume species. Comparative biology and, more specifically, comparative genomics (Zhu et al., 2005) were the major topics of conversation. Details and specific recommendations of this meeting can be found in this issue (Gepts et al., 2005). One notable outcome of this meeting was a community consensus to select soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) as the representative species (model) for the phaseolid legumes, which comprise many of the major legume crops, including common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). As shown by the research articles in this special issue, as well as those in the preceding legume issue (Vol. 131[3], 2003), it is clear that our knowledge of legumes is accelerating in step with other advances in plant biology. However, are there areas in which progress is moving slower than desired? Although molecular biology and genomics have clearly had a major impact on our general understanding of plant mechanisms, they have had significantly less impact on our understanding of crop plants or development of new bioproducts. The actions, such as outlined in the CATG conference report, seek to utilize the basic information gathered from models to investigate crop plants. These are indeed important steps. However, what concerted efforts are being made to translate this information into real benefit for farmers, the agricultural industry (including biotechnology), and consumers (you and me)? Webster's dictionary states that “translation implies the rendering from one language into another,” whereas “genomics” is generally considered the use of high-throughput methods to study both form and function of genomes. Therefore, plant translational genomics implies going from the language of genomics to that of practical application. In the future, metabolic engineering of legume products in cultures of transformed plants or microbes may convert current findings into advances for the pharmaceutical or food science industries. Currently, though, in most cases translation to applications uses the language of plant breeding. Even biotechnology applications require plant breeding in order to move target traits into suitable germplasm. In other words, today translational genomics implies the direct application of genomic resources to make plant breeding programs easier, effective, and more efficient. An examination of legume plant breeding shows a mixed record with a few notable successes in applying legume genomic information through marker-assisted selection. In other cases, little progress is being made in translating information, obtained at considerable public expense, into real utility. However, we note with some optimism the new emphasis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative to establish Coordinated Agricultural Projects with a specific focus on translational genomics. This and meetings such as the CATG conference should hopefully focus more effort and resources on the “language” gap that exists between basic discovery and practical application in legumes, as well as other important plant groups. We hope that the information found in this special issue will continue to convince young scientists of the wonderful careers that exist in both basic and applied legume biology.

Radio frequency electromagnetic fields: cancer, mutagenesis, and genotoxicity.

We present critiques of epidemiologic studies and experimental investigations, published mostly in peer-reviewed journals, on cancer and related effects from exposure to nonionizing electromagnetic fields in the nominal frequency range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz of interest to Subcommittee 4 (SC4) of the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (ICES). The major topics discussed are presented under the headings Epidemiologic and Other Findings on Human Exposure, Mammals Exposed In Vivo, Mammalian Live Tissues and Cell Preparations Exposed In Vitro, and Mutagenesis and Genotoxicity in Microorganisms and Fruit Flies. Under each major topic, we present minireviews of papers on various specific endpoints investigated. The section on Epidemiologic and Other Findings on Human Exposure is divided into two subsections, the first on possible carcinogenic effects of exposure from emitters not in physical contact with the populations studied, for example, transmitting antennas and other devices. Discussed in the second subsection are studies of postulated carcinogenic effects from use of mobile phones, with prominence given to brain tumors from use of cellular and cordless telephones in direct physical contact with an ear of each subject. In both subsections, some investigations yielded positive findings, others had negative findings, including papers directed toward experimentally verifying positive findings, and both were reported in a few instances. Further research on various important aspects may resolve such differences. Overall, however, the preponderance of published epidemiologic and experimental findings do not support the supposition that in vivo or in vitro exposures to such fields are carcinogenic.

3 Pairing Sites and the Role of Chromosome Pairing in Meiosis and Spermatogenesis in Male Drosophila

Mechanistic and regulatory aspects of meiotic chromosome pairing and segregation have received increasing attention in recent years. This review is concerned with the role of chromosomal sites and chromosome organization in pairing and sperm development in Drosophila. Two major topics are reviewed. The first concerns the distribution and identification of meiotic pairing sites in male Drosophila. Cytogenetic data show that pairing sites are distributed widely in the euchromatin of autosomes but are absent from centromeric heterochromatin. The reverse distribution holds for the X, where the major pairing site is located in the central region of the centric heterochromatin, co-mapping with the rDNA locus. Recent transgenic studies have demonstrated that this pairing site consists mainly of a 240-bp repeated sequence in the intergenic spacers of the rDNA repeats. These spacer repeats contain RNA polymerase I promoters, which must be functional for the repeats to have pairing activity, suggesting a mechanistic connection between pairing and transcription. The general idea that pairing sites coincide with transcribed sequences is discussed. The second major topic involves the effects of sex chromosome rearrangements on spermiogenesis. A variety of rearrangements involving the sex chromosomes, including heterochromatic deletions and translocations with autosomes, have been shown to lead either to meiotic drive or to sterility. Recent evidence strongly implicates the X chromosome pairing site in the etiology of these effects. These findings are discussed in terms of a novel model that interprets the spermiogenic disruptions associated with sex chromosome rearrangements as resulting from disabling of spermatids due to triggering of a checkpoint concerned with monitoring chromosome alignment at meiotic metaphase.

Development and Validation of a New Instrument to Assess the Readability of Spanish Prose

A MAJOR TOPIC IN READING RESEARCH, IN BOTH English and foreign language study, has been the assessment of the difficulty levels of instructional materials. Numerous studies have provided language educators, researchers, and textbook authors with theoretical and practical information concerning various readability techniques. Reading difficulty of selected materials can be determined in two diverse ways: first, through formulas, using as input only the syntactic and semantic elements extant in the material under examination;1 second, by measuring the readability of selected materials by testing a sample population and evaluating the mean scores of the group for each particular passage. Selection of either readability technique will depend upon the factors of time, availability of subjects, and the degree of accuracy required in assessing materials for target groups.2 This article is intended to familiarize readers with procedures utilized in the assessment of reading difficulty with particular emphasis on the development of a new and innovative instrument for use with Spanish materials. A survey of the literature indicates that little significant progress has been made in the area of the readability of prose in Spanish since the development of the Spaulding formula in 1956. Today's language educators require an objective and efficient method to determine the suitability of available materials for classroom use.

Religion-Recent Strands in Research

The term intersectionality references the critical insight that race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, ability, and age operate not as unitary, mutually exclusive entities, but rather as reciprocally constructing phenomena. Despite this ...Read More