Condensin-mediated restriction of retrotransposable elements facilitates brain development in Drosophila melanogaster.

Neural stem and progenitor cell (NSPC) maintenance is essential for ensuring that organisms are born with proper brain volumes and head sizes. Microcephaly is a disorder in which babies are born with significantly smaller head sizes and cortical volumes. Mutations in subunits of the DNA organizing complex condensin have been identified in microcephaly patients.

Study COVID-19 Severity of Patients Admitted to Emergency Room (ER) with Chest X-ray Images.

We have conducted a study of the COVID-19 severity with the chest x-ray images, a private dataset collected from our collaborator St Bernards Medical Center. The dataset is comprised of chest x-ray images from 1,550 patients who were admitted to emergency room (ER) and were all tested positive for COVID-19. Our study is focused on the following two questions: (1) To predict patients hospital staying duration, based on the chest x-ray image which was taken when the patient was admitted to the ER.

A Changing World in Gene Therapy Research: Exciting Opportunities for Medical Advancement and Biosafety Challenges.

We previously reported on the United States' regulatory environment evolving to accommodate an emerging boom in gene therapy research. Several important developments have transpired in the 2 years since that article was published, including the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the drive for large-scale testing of vaccines containing recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules. This report highlights key developments in the field with a focus on biosafety and issues of note to biosafety professionals with responsibilities over clinical research.

Health impact of US military service in a large population-based military cohort: findings of the Millennium Cohort Study, 2001-2008.

Background: Combat-intense, lengthy, and multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have characterized the new millennium. The US military's all-volunteer force has never been better trained and technologically equipped to engage enemy combatants in multiple theaters of operations. Nonetheless, concerns over potential lasting effects of deployment on long-term health continue to mount and are yet to be elucidated.

The physical and mental health of a large military cohort: baseline functional health status of the Millennium Cohort.

Background: The US military is currently involved in large, lengthy, and complex combat operations around the world. Effective military operations require optimal health of deployed service members, and both mental and physical health can be affected by military operations.

Methods: Baseline data were collected from 77,047 US service members during 2001-2003 as part of a large, longitudinal, population-based military health study (the Millennium Cohort Study).

Complementary and alternative medicine use among US Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

Background: Recently, numerous studies have revealed an increase in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in US civilian populations. In contrast, few studies have examined CAM use within military populations, which have ready access to conventional medicine. Currently, the prevalence and impact of CAM use in US military populations remains unknown.

Millennium Cohort: the 2001-2003 baseline prevalence of mental disorders in the U.S. military.

Objectives: The 12-month prevalence of common mental illnesses in the United States is estimated to be 26%, accounting for an increasing fraction of all disability in the general population. The U.S.

Millennium Cohort: enrollment begins a 21-year contribution to understanding the impact of military service.

Objective: In response to health concerns of military members about deployment and other service-related exposures, the Department of Defense (DoD) initiated the largest prospective study ever undertaken in the U.S. military.

Myopericarditis following smallpox vaccination.

Myopericarditis has been a rare or unrecognized event after smallpox vaccinations with the New York City Board of Health strain of vaccinia virus (Dryvax; Wyeth Laboratories, Marietta, Pennsylvania). In this article, the authors report an attributable incidence of at least 140 clinical cases of myopericarditis per million primary smallpox vaccinations with this strain of vaccinia virus. Fifty-eight males and one female aged 21-43 years with confirmed or probable acute myopericarditis were detected following vaccination of 492,730 US Armed Forces personnel from December 15, 2002, through September 30, 2003.

Self-reported mental health among US military personnel prior and subsequent to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

There is much concern over the potential for short- and long-term adverse mental health effects caused by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This analysis used data from the Millennium Cohort Study to identify subgroups of US military members who enrolled in the cohort and reported their mental health status before the traumatic events of September 11 and soon after September 11. While adjusting for confounding, multivariable logistic regression, analysis of variance, and multivariate ordinal, or polychotomous logistic regression were used to compare 18 self-reported mental health measures in US military members who enrolled in the cohort before September 11, 2001 with those military personnel who enrolled after September 11, 2001.

Can we prevent a second 'Gulf War syndrome'? Population-based healthcare for chronic idiopathic pain and fatigue after war.

In the 1991 Gulf War less than 150 of nearly 700,000 deployed US troops were killed in action. Today, however, over 1 in 7 US veterans of the war has sought federal healthcare for related-health concerns, and fully 17% of UK Gulf War veterans describe themselves as suffering from the 'Gulf War syndrome', a set of poorly defined and heterogeneous ailments consisting mainly of chronic pain, fatigue, depression and other symptoms. Even though over 250 million dollars of federally funded medical research has failed to identify a unique syndrome, the debate regarding potential causes continues and has included oil well smoke, contagious infections, exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Incidence and follow-up of inflammatory cardiac complications after smallpox vaccination.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the follow-up of patients with vaccinia-associated myocarditis.

Background: With the threat of biological warfare, the U.S.

Chemical warfare and the Gulf War: a review of the impact on Gulf veterans' health.

It is unlikely that Gulf War veterans are suffering chronic effects from illnesses caused by chemical warfare nerve agent exposure. Extensive investigation and review by several expert panels have determined that no evidence exists that chemical warfare nerve agents were used during the Gulf War. At no time before, during, or after the war was there confirmation of symptoms among anyone, military or civilian, caused by chemical warfare nerve agent exposure.

Myopericarditis following smallpox vaccination among vaccinia-naive US military personnel.

Context: In the United States, the annual incidence of myocarditis is estimated at 1 to 10 per 100,000 population. As many as 1% to 5% of patients with acute viral infections involve the myocardium. Although many viruses have been reported to cause myopericarditis, it has been a rare or unrecognized event after vaccination with the currently used strain of vaccinia virus (New York City Board of Health).

The millennium Cohort Study: a 21-year prospective cohort study of 140,000 military personnel.

Does military service, in particular operational deployment, result in a higher risk of chronic illness among military personnel and veterans? The Millennium Cohort Study, the largest Department of Defense prospective cohort study ever conducted, will attempt to answer this question. The probability-based sample of 140,000 military personnel will be surveyed every 3 years during a 21-year period. The first questionnaire, scheduled for release in summer 2001, will be sent to 30,000 veterans who have been deployed to southwest Asia, Bosnia, or Kosovo since August 1997 and 70,000 veterans who have not been deployed to these conflict areas.

Protecting the health of United States military forces in Afghanistan: applying lessons learned since the Gulf War.

Four weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, US combat troops began bombing missions over Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. Additional Reserve and National Guard personnel were called to active duty to support the war effort and to ensure security throughout the United States. All of these troops will require health care and assistance during and after this war on terrorism.

Force health protection: 10 years of lessons learned by the Department of Defense.

The Department of Defense has applied lessons learned since the Persian Gulf War to develop the force health protection (FHP) strategy. The goal of this new, unified strategy is to protect the health of military members from medical and environmental hazards associated with military service to the maximum extent possible. FHP is an evolving strategy that seeks to balance the military health system's responsibilities to promote and sustain health and wellness throughout each person's military service; prevent acute and chronic illnesses and injuries during training and deployment; and rapidly stabilize, treat, and evacuate casualties.

The Recruit assessment Program: a program to collect comprehensive baseline health data from U.S. military personnel.

Pilot testing has begun on the Recruit Assessment Program (RAP). The RAP is a proposed Department of Defense (DoD) program for the routine collection of baseline demographic, medical, psychosocial, occupational, and health risk factor data from all U.S.