Publications by authors named "Self J"

Cerebral laterality is a widespread phenomenon across animals and refers to the specialization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain for perceptual, cognitive and behavioural tasks. Behavioural laterality occurs in several contexts, including foraging, mate selection, predator detection and tool manufacture. Behavioural laterality during nest building, however, has rarely been addressed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) cases and deaths in the United States fluctuated substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed multiple data sources to understand the factors contributing to these changes and estimated future TB trends.

Methods: We identified four mechanisms potentially contributing to observed TB trends during 2020-2023: immigration, respiratory contact rates, rates of accurate diagnosis and treatment initiation, and mortality rates for persons with TB disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Breakfast consumption is positively associated with academic achievement and diet quality among students, whereas skipping breakfast has been linked with poor mental health. Data from CDC's 2023 nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey were used to describe how often high school students ate breakfast in the past 7 days and the associations between skipping breakfast every day (ate breakfast on 0 of the past 7 days), experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, school connectedness, and self-reported grades. Prevalence estimates and corresponding 95% CIs were calculated, and t-tests were used to identify differences within demographic groups (e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Research revealed a total of 1766 ocular tuberculosis (OTB) cases in the US from 1993 to 2019, making up 1.6% of all extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) cases, with a significant increase observed during the last decade.
  • Patients with OTB were generally older, more likely to be US-born, and had higher rates of diabetes compared to those with other EPTB forms, while being less frequently HIV positive.
  • OTB cases were often not lab confirmed, primarily relied on interferon gamma release assay tests for diagnosis, and highlighted the need for further research to improve understanding and treatment of OTB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Despite significant progress made toward tuberculosis (TB) elimination, racial and ethnic disparities persist in TB incidence and case-fatality rates in the US.

Objective: To estimate the health outcomes and economic cost of TB disparities among US-born persons from 2023 to 2035.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Generalized additive regression models projecting trends in TB incidence and case-fatality rates from 2023 to 2035 were fit based on national TB surveillance data for 2010 to 2019 in the 50 US states and the District of Columbia among US-born persons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Despite an overall decline in tuberculosis incidence and mortality in the USA in the past two decades, racial and ethnic disparities in tuberculosis outcomes persist. We aimed to examine the extent to which inequalities in health and neighbourhood-level social vulnerability mediate these disparities.

Methods: We extracted data from the US National Tuberculosis Surveillance System on individuals with tuberculosis during 2011-19.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To validate and update the 2013 James Lind Alliance (JLA) Sight Loss and Vision Priority Setting Partnership (PSP)'s research priorities for Ophthalmology, as part of the UK Clinical Eye Research Strategy.

Methods: Twelve ophthalmology research themes were identified from the JLA report. They were allocated to five Clinical Study Groups of diverse stakeholders who reviewed the top 10 research priorities for each theme.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Amblyopia, the most common visual impairment of childhood, is a public health concern. An extended period of optical treatment before patching is recommended by the clinical guidelines of several countries. The aim of this study was to compare an intensive patching regimen, with and without extended optical treatment (EOT), in a randomised controlled trial.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

BACKGROUNDCulture-based diagnostics are the gold standard for diagnosing pulmonary TB (PTB). We characterized culture practices by comparing cases with documented sputum culture to those without.METHODSUsing multivariable logistic regression, we examined associations between PTB case characteristics and no documented sputum culture reported to the U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Elevated tuberculosis (TB) incidence rates have recently been reported for racial/ethnic minority populations in the United States. Tracking such disparities is important for assessing progress toward national health equity goals and implementing change.

Objective: To quantify trends in racial/ethnic disparities in TB incidence among U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how breaking down racial and ethnic data impacts the understanding of tuberculosis (TB) among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations in the U.S.
  • Analysis of data from 2001 to 2020 showed that TB incidence was significantly higher in non-Hispanic AI/AN alone individuals compared to the overall AI/AN group.
  • Differences in health risk factors were noted between non-Hispanic AI/AN and multiracial/Hispanic AI/AN individuals, indicating that not including the latter in studies could lead to misleading conclusions about health disparities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We fit a power law distribution to US foodborne disease outbreaks to assess underdetection and underreporting. We predicted that 788 fewer than expected small outbreaks were identified annually during 1998-2017 and 365 fewer during 2018-2019, after whole-genome sequencing was implemented. Power law can help assess effectiveness of public health interventions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

One of the current efforts of Li-ion battery technology research is to enable the operation of lithium-ion batteries in low temperature environments (<0 °C). However, the ternary phase diagrams of liquid electrolytes commonly used in lithium-ion cells are generally unknown. We herein study the liquidus surface of a ternary liquid electrolyte─up to 1 m LiPF in ethylene carbonate and ethyl methyl carbonate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines racial and ethnic disparities in tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment outcomes in the USA, using data from 2003 to 2019 to highlight differences along the TB continuum of care.
  • - Researchers analyzed national surveillance data to identify how various racial and ethnic groups, classified by US Census standards, experienced TB diagnosis (like diagnosis after death) and treatment results (such as treatment discontinuation and mortality during treatment).
  • - Findings revealed that non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native individuals faced higher risks of adverse TB outcomes compared to non-Hispanic White individuals, indicating persistent disparities in TB management and care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are an important prognostic indicator of visual ability in patients with nystagmus. However, VEP testing requires stable fixation, which is impossible with nystagmus. Fixation instability reduces VEP amplitude, and VEP reliability is therefore low in this important patient group.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

L-DOPA is deficient in the developing albino eye, resulting in abnormalities of retinal development and visual impairment. Ongoing retinal development after birth has also been demonstrated in the developing albino eye offering a potential therapeutic window in humans. To study whether human equivalent doses of L-DOPA/Carbidopa administered during the crucial postnatal period of neuroplasticity can rescue visual function, OCA C57BL/6 J-c2J OCA1 mice were treated with a 28-day course of oral L-DOPA/Carbidopa at 3 different doses from 15 to 43 days postnatal age (PNA) and for 3 different lengths of treatment, to identify optimum dosage and treatment length.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Little is known about co-occurring tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 in low TB incidence settings. We obtained a cross-section of 333 persons in the United States co-diagnosed with TB and COVID-19 within 180 days and compared them to 4,433 persons with TB only in 2020 and 18,898 persons with TB during 2017‒2019. Across both comparison groups, a higher proportion of persons with TB-COVID-19 were Hispanic, were long-term care facility residents, and had diabetes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A guideline is proposed that comprises the minimum items to be reported in research studies involving an eye tracker and human or non-human primate participant(s). This guideline was developed over a 3-year period using a consensus-based process via an open invitation to the international eye tracking community. This guideline will be reviewed at maximum intervals of 4 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Home visual acuity tests could ease pressure on ophthalmic services by facilitating remote review of patients. Home tests may have further utility in giving service users frequent updates of vision outcomes during therapy, identifying vision problems in an asymptomatic population, and engaging stakeholders in therapy.

Methods: Children attending outpatient clinics had visual acuity measured 3 times at the same appointment: Once by a registered orthoptist per clinical protocols, once by an orthoptist using a tablet-based visual acuity test (iSight Test Pro, Kay Pictures), and once by an unsupervised parent/carer using the tablet-based test.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF