The Immune Epitope Database (IEDB): 2024 update.

Over the past 20 years, the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB, iedb.org) has established itself as the foremost resource for immune epitope data. The IEDB catalogs published epitopes and their contextual experimental data in a freely searchable public resource.

A Disaster Response Complex for training of emergency responders in the Northwest United States.

The Disaster Response Complex (DRC) is a year-round training complex that specializes in training emergency responders in realistic indoor and outdoor environments. The outdoor site is comprised of 3 acres of secured customizable space for various exercises. The indoor site is designed to include an indoor facility with a full-size city street, complete with storefronts and motor vehicles that can be configured for emergency response training exercises, and a train or subway station where mockups of derailments can be simulated.

Maternal behaviors influence survival of ungulate neonates under heavy predation risk.

Predators impose top-down forces on prey populations, with the strength of those effects often varying over space and time and among demographic groups. In ungulates, predation risk is typically greatest for neonatal offspring, with some suggesting that predators can key in on adult activity to locate hidden neonates. However, few field studies to date have been able to directly assess the influence of maternal care on ungulate neonate survival.

Resource pulses shape seasonal and individual variation in the diet of an omnivorous carnivore.

Resource pulses are ecologically important phenomenon that occur in most ecosystems globally. Following optimal foraging theory, many consumers switch to pulsatile foods when available, examples of which include fruit mast and vulnerable young prey. Yet how the availability of resource pulses shapes the ecology of predators is still an emerging area of research; and how much individual variation there is in response to pulses is not well understood.

Forty years of struggle in North Carolina: Workplace segregation and fatal occupational injury rates.

Objective: To assess workplace segregation in fatal occupational injury from 1992 to 2017 in North Carolina.

Methods: We calculated occupational fatal injury rates within categories of occupation, industry, race, age, and sex; and estimated expected numbers of fatalities among Black and Hispanic male workers had they experienced the rates of White male workers. We also estimated the contribution of workforce segregation to disparities by estimating the expected number of fatalities among Black and Hispanic male workers had they experienced the industry and occupation patterns of White male workers.

Effects of a Social Media Intervention on Vaping Intentions: Randomized Dose-Response Experiment.

Background: e-Cigarette use, especially by young adults, is at unacceptably high levels and represents a public health risk factor. Digital media are increasingly being used to deliver antivaping campaigns, but little is known about their effectiveness or the dose-response effects of content delivery.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate (1) the effectiveness of a 60-day antivaping social media intervention in changing vaping use intentions and beliefs related to the stimulus content and (2) the dose-response effects of varying levels of exposure to the intervention on vaping outcomes, including anti-industry beliefs, vaping intentions, and other attitudes and beliefs related to vaping.

Longitudinal association between e-cigarette use and respiratory symptoms among US adults: Findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study Waves 4-5.

Background: We assessed longitudinal effects of e-cigarette use on respiratory symptoms in a nationally representative sample of US adults by combustible tobacco smoking status.

Methods: We analyzed Waves 4-5 public-use data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study. Study sample included adult respondents who reported no diagnosis of respiratory diseases at Wave 4, and completed Waves 4-5 surveys with no missing data on analytic variables (N = 15,291).

Twenty-five year occupational homicide mortality trends in North Carolina: 1992-2017.

Introduction: Determining industry of decedents and victim-perpetrator relationships is crucial to inform and evaluate occupational homicide prevention strategies. In this study, we examine occupational homicide rates in North Carolina (NC) by victim characteristics, industry and victim-perpetrator relationship from 1992 to 2017.

Methods: Occupational homicides were identified from records of the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner system and the NC death certificates.

Forty-year trends in fatal occupational injuries in North Carolina.

Background: We describe progress in the control of deaths on-the-job due to fatal occupational injury in North Carolina over the period 1978-2017.

Methods: Forty years of information on fatal occupational injuries in North Carolina has been assembled from medical examiners' reports and death certificates, supplemented by newspaper and police reports. Cases were defined as unintentional fatal occupational injuries among adults.

Fatal occupational injuries in North Carolina, 1992-2017.

Objectives: After declining for several decades, fatal occupational injury rates have stagnated in the USA since 2009. To revive advancements in workplace safety, interventions targeting at-risk worker groups must be implemented. Our study aims to identify these at-risk populations by evaluating disparities in unintentional occupational fatalities occurring in North Carolina (NC) from 1992 to 2017.

Assessing springtime vertebrate prey of sympatric mesopredators in the southeastern United States using metabarcoding analysis.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) colonized the eastern United States over the last century and formed a 3-species predator guild with bobcats (Lynx rufus) and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) across much of the southeastern United States. Diets among the three species vary along with respective impacts on game species such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). To determine predation impacts on vertebrate prey and dietary overlap in consumption of prey items, we assessed diets of coyote, bobcat, and gray fox during spring, coinciding with white-tailed deer fawning and wild turkey nesting and brood rearing.

Pathologic Nodal Staging Before SBRT for Early-stage NSCLC Does Not Impact Overall Survival: A Propensity Score-matched NCDB Analysis.

Objective: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for early-stage non-small cell carcinoma of the lung (NSCLC) is increasingly utilized. We sought to assess overall survival (OS) for early-stage NSCLC patients receiving SBRT depending on staging method.

Methods: Early-stage NSCLC patients treated with definitive SBRT were identified in the National Cancer Database (NCDB), and OS was determined based on method of staging.

Evaluation of response to incentive recruitment strategies in a social media-based survey.

Objective: This study aimed to examine varying incentives on acceptance to participate in an online survey on social media and to identify related demographic factors.

Methods: The study used Facebook and targeted its users aged 18 to 24 years in the United States. During recruitment, participants were randomized to one of the three types of incentives for survey completion, (1) a $5 gift card, (2) a lottery for a $200 gift card, and (3) a $5 gift card plus a lottery for a $200 gift card.

Disparities in Fatal Occupational Injury Rates in North Carolina, 1978-2017: Comparing Nonmanagerial Employees to Managers.

Background: We examined fatal occupational injuries among private-sector workers in North Carolina during the 40-year period 1978-2017, comparing the occurrence of fatal injuries among nonmanagerial employees to that experienced by managers.

Methods: We estimated a standardized fatal occupational injury ratio by inverse probability of exposure weighting, taking nonmanagerial workers as the target population. When this ratio measure takes a value greater than unity it signals settings in which nonmanagerial employees are not provided as safe a work environment as that provided for managers.

Association of Traumatic Knee Injury With Radiographic Evidence of Knee Osteoarthritis in Military Officers.

Objective: The association between knee injury and knee osteoarthritis (OA) is understudied relative to its importance, particularly in younger populations. This study was undertaken to examine the association of knee injury with radiographic features of knee OA in military officers, who have a physically demanding profession and high rates of knee injury.

Methods: Participants were recruited in 2015-2017 from an existing program that enrolled 6,452 military officers during 2004-2009.

Ultrasound Description of Follicular Development in the Louisiana Pinesnake (, Stull 1929).

Accurate monitoring of reproductive activity is necessary for success of captive breeding and recovery of endangered species. Using ultrasonography, we aimed to describe the stages of follicle development of the endangered Louisiana pinesnake (). Ultrasound procedures were performed weekly for 11 females during the 2020 reproductive season by submerging the last half of an unanesthetized female in water and using a 3.

The Measurement of Dose and Response for Smoking Behavior Change Interventions in the Digital Age: Systematic Review.

Background: There is little consensus regarding effective digital health interventions for diverse populations, which is due in part to the difficulty of quantifying the impact of various media and content and the lack of consensus on evaluating dosage and outcomes. In particular, digital smoking behavior change intervention is an area where consistency of measurement has been a challenge because of emerging products and rapid policy changes. This study reviewed the contents and outcomes of digital smoking interventions and the consistency of reporting to inform future research.

Treatment planning of total marrow irradiation with intensity-modulated spot-scanning proton therapy.

Purpose: The goal of this study is to investigate treatment planning of total marrow irradiation (TMI) using intensity-modulated spot-scanning proton therapy (IMPT). The dosimetric parameters of the intensity-modulated proton plans were evaluated and compared with the corresponding TMI plans generated with volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) using photon beams.

Methods: Intensity-modulated proton plans for TMI were created using the Monte Carlo dose-calculation algorithm in the Raystation 11A treatment planning system with spot-scanning proton beams from the MEVION S250i Hyperscan system.

Cryopreservation of Sperm from an Endangered Snake with Tests of Post-Thaw Incubation in Caffeine.

Cryopreservation of sperm to preserve the genetic diversity of declining populations is a promising technique to aid in the recovery of endangered species such as the Louisiana pinesnake (). However, this technique has been performed on only a handful of snake species and with limited success. Here, we tested a cryoprotective agent (CPA) mixture containing Lake's buffer with 10% ,-dimethyl formamide (DMF), 2% methanol, 5% clarified egg yolk, (/% final concentration) against 16 other CPA-treatment mixtures.

Assessing digital advertising exposure using a virtual experimental protocol.

Introduction: The rapid increase in online public education campaigns underscores the need for a better understanding of the effects of exposure to digital advertising and targeted individual-level outcomes. The goal of this study is to develop a virtual experimental protocol to evaluate the dose-response effects of individual-level exposure to digital video ads on campaign outcomes in a naturalistic online browsing context.

Methods: Young adults aged 18-24 years ( = 221) completed three 5 min viewing sessions on a realistic mock-up of the YouTube mobile app over a period of 2 weeks, followed by a 10-min survey after the third session.

Machine learning to design antimicrobial combination therapies: Promises and pitfalls.

Combination therapies can overcome antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and repurpose existing drugs. However, the large combinatorial space to explore presents a daunting challenge. In response, machine learning (ML) algorithms are being applied to identify novel synergistic drug interactions from millions of potential combinations.

First natural breeding of the endangered dusky gopher frog (Lithobates sevosus) in captivity.

To date, all captive breeding of the dusky gopher frog, Lithobates sevosus, a federally listed endangered species, has been accomplished using in vitro fertilization (IVF). Here, we describe multievent and highly fecund captive reproduction of dusky gopher frogs driven solely by natural environmental factors. Six pairs of L.