Sizing the Problem of Improving Discovery and Access to NIH-Funded Data: A Preliminary Study.

Objective: This study informs efforts to improve the discoverability of and access to biomedical datasets by providing a preliminary estimate of the number and type of datasets generated annually by research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The National Institutes of Health's Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative: capitalizing on biomedical big data.

Biomedical research has and will continue to generate large amounts of data (termed 'big data') in many formats and at all levels. Consequently, there is an increasing need to better understand and mine the data to further knowledge and foster new discovery. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has initiated a Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative to maximize the use of biomedical big data.

Sharing heterogeneous data: the national database for autism research.

The National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) is a secure research data repository designed to promote scientific data sharing and collaboration among autism spectrum disorder investigators. The goal of the project is to accelerate scientific discovery through data sharing, data harmonization, and the reporting of research results. Data from over 25,000 research participants are available to qualified investigators through the NDAR portal.

Validity of childhood adiposity classification in predicting adolescent overweight and obesity.

Objective: Identification of children at risk for adolescent overweight can assist in targeting interventions. Uncertainty remains regarding the validity of current body mass index (BMI) reference values in predicting future risk on a population basis. This study aimed to assess the validity of current childhood adiposity classifications in predicting adolescent overweight and obesity among Israeli youth.

Preventive effect of meningococcal vaccination in Israeli military recruits.

Background: Meningococcal disease remains a major concern in populations living under crowded conditions. Following the 1995 report of several cases of meningococcal disease in Israeli soldiers, the Department of Epidemiology of the Army Health Branch, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) adopted an immunization policy for all recruits. The aim of the study was to summarize the IDF experience to date.

Incidence of anemia and iron deficiency in strenuously trained adolescents: results of a longitudinal follow-up study.

Purpose: Combat soldiers have a higher prevalence of anemia than age- and gender-matched civilians. This may be caused by hemodilution, which is typical among athletes, or by reduced body iron stores. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of iron-deficiency anemia in recruits to the Israel Defense Force after 6 months of training.

[Development of an evidence-based managerial decision aid to assist in the provision of secondary medical services in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)].

Background: Increasing global expenditures on health, together with increased patient demand for quality and service, have created a need for health care management tools based on economic and quaLity-based criteria. Despite the recognition of this need, decision-support tools are Lacking. In the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), policy change and budgetary and quality constraints necessitated the development of an evidence-based managerial decision aid, to assist in providing medical services at acceptable quality and availability leveLs, while addressing economic concerns.

Diameter-by-age reference curves for the uterine cervix by computerized tomography.

Objective: To create diameter-by-age reference curves for the uterine cervix using computerized tomographic studies.

Methods: Measurements of the anterior-posterior (AP) and lateral diameters of nonpathological cervices were made at the level of the vaginal fornices in 499 computerized tomographic studies. Patients were grouped by 10-year age intervals.

Hypertension and socioeconomic status.

Purpose Of Review: The impact of socioeconomic status on hypertension is complicated and unclear. In this article, we review the findings of recently published studies pertaining to the association between socioeconomic status and hypertension. Specifically, we focus on several potentially modifiable modes of pathogenesis involved in this association, including education, occupation, and social environment.

Influenza vaccine refusal in Israeli young adults.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify correlates of noncompliance with influenza immunization among young adults and to determine the reasons leading to immunization refusal.

Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in 10 military bases during two consecutive annual Israel Defense Force influenza vaccination campaigns. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent correlates.

A radiological study on the anatomical proximity of the ureters and the cervix.

In order to evaluate risk factors for anatomical proximity between the cervix and the ureters the distance between the ureters and the cervix was measured in 499 computerized tomography (CT) studies at the most dorsal reflection of the ureters. The relationship between the ureter-cervical distance and the presence of pelvic pathology was assessed by correlation tests and regression analysis. Of the 499 CT studies, 252 demonstrated radiographic pathologies.

Evaluation of arterial compliance in polycythemia vera patients: short and long-term influence of phlebotomy.

Background: Thrombosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in polycythemia vera. Hypercoagulability is principally due to hyperviscosity of the whole blood, an exponential function of the hematocrit. PV is also associated with endothelial dysfunction that can predispose to arterial disease.

Perioperative predictors of successful hysteroscopic endometrial ablation.

Objective: To determine which perioperative factors influence the success of hysteroscopic endometrial ablation in patients with menorrhagia.

Study Design: A longitudinal study of 128 women who underwent hysteroscopic endometrial ablation or resection. Clinical data included age, uterine size, the presence of intramural or submucosal myomas and polyps, and length of follow-up from initial hysteroscopic ablation to re-ablation or hysterectomy ('failure').

Appropriateness of US and international BMI-for-age reference curves in defining adiposity among Israeli school children.

Effective surveillance of trends in paediatric overweight and obesity requires the establishment of valid cutoff values to identify children at risk. In Israel, standard values for childhood BMI-for-age are currently based on growth charts published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the appropriateness of using US reference values in populations outside the US is questionable, due to inherent differences in ethnicity, culture and socioeconomic status.

Beveled needle technique is not associated with low "take" rates in Israeli smallpox revaccination campaign.

Background: In its first large-scale smallpox vaccination campaign in the 20(th) century, Israel has experienced an exceptionally high rate of failure to achieve clinical take following vaccination. It was hypothesized that this failure rates might be attributed to the unique vaccination technique adopted in Israel, of using beveled needles rather than bifurcated needles.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively identified two cohorts vaccinated in the defined dates during the Israeli revaccination campaign, in which beveled needles and bifurcated needles were used alternately, and studied the impact of different covariates on clinical vaccination outcome measures.

Declining population immunity to mumps among Israeli military recruits.

Population-based seroepidemologic data on mumps have not been available in Israel since 1987, and the effects of mass immigration from the Commonwealth of Independent States during the 1990s have not been investigated. We conducted a seroprevalence study of mumps antibodies among 353 Israeli military recruits aged 18-19, based on a representative sample of sera collected in 1999. The overall seroprevalence rate was 83.

Ten-year trends in obesity among Israeli schoolchildren: 1990-2000.

Aim: To analyze trends in childhood body mass index (BMI) in Israel between 1990 and 2000, and to determine the proportion of obese children using US and population-specific reference values.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from 13 284 second- and fifth-grade schoolchildren were collected, including age, sex, height, weight, country of birth, and time since immigration. Age- and sex-specific BMI means and centiles were calculated, and the prevalence of obesity was determined using Israeli and US reference values.

Long-term immunity in young adults after a single dose of inactivated Hepatitis A vaccines.

We evaluated in a prospective study the immune response of naïve subjects to a single dose of inactivated Hepatitis A vaccine. Ninety-seven percent of the vaccinees sero-converted 1 month after vaccination and 93% were still positive 2 years later. All of the vaccinees had a strong booster response 2 years after the single dose.

Parental smoking and education as determinants of overweight in Israeli children.

Introduction: Obesity is a well-recognized risk factor for many chronic diseases. Pediatric overweight is an especially severe problem because its childhood onset increases the overall length of exposure to the detrimental effects of overweight, accelerates the onset of chronic disease, and affects children's physical, psychological, and social development. Several parental traits have been shown to be associated with an increased risk for childhood overweight.

Validity of self-assessment of skin reaction after smallpox vaccination.

Objective: Smallpox vaccinees should be evaluated for the presence of a major skin reaction ("take") one week after vaccination, but this could prove to be logistically infeasible in the context of an emergency mass-vaccination campaign. We validated a tool for self-evaluation of the vaccination site for presence of take.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, double-blinded, paired-measurement validation study of 174 non-naive adult vaccinees and their physician evaluators.