Combating trade in illegal wood and forest products with machine learning.

Trade in wood and forest products spans the global supply chain. Illegal logging and associated trade in forest products present a persistent threat to vulnerable ecosystems and communities. Illegal timber trade has been linked to violations of tax and conservation laws, as well as broader transnational crimes.

A probabilistic approach to estimating timber harvest location.

Determining the harvest location of timber is crucial to enforcing international regulations designed to protect natural resources and to tackle illegal logging and associated trade in forest products. Stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA) can be used to verify claims of timber harvest location by matching levels of naturally occurring stable isotopes within wood tissue to location-specific ratios predicted from reference data ("isoscapes"). However, overly simple models for predicting isoscapes have so far limited the confidence in derived predictions of timber provenance.

Factors associated with discontinuation of treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension in the United States.

Information on factors leading to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatment discontinuation is limited. This study analyzed 12,902 new PAH medication users to identify predictors of treatment discontinuation. Treatment by accredited pulmonary hypertension centers and combination therapy with PAH agents from different classes were less likely to result in discontinuation.

Burden of Pertussis in Adults Aged 50 Years and Older: A Retrospective Database Study in England.

Introduction: Pertussis, a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis, affects people of all ages. Older adults are particularly susceptible to its severe outcomes and complications.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the incidence rate of pertussis among individuals aged ≥ 50 years was assessed during 2009-2018 using Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics databases, United Kingdom.

Nocturnal polyuria in women: results from the EpiNP study.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Data from a large US population-based, cross-sectional, epidemiological study (the EpiNP Study) were used to assess the symptoms and bother experienced by women with nocturnal polyuria (NP).

Methods: Consenting participants recruited from an online panel completed the baseline EpiNP survey online (Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Tool and urological comorbidities). All reporting ≥2 voids/night and a random sample of 100 respondents, each reporting 0 or 1 void/night were asked to complete a 3-day web-based bladder diary recording time, volume, and urgency rating of each void.

Differences in the Prevalence of Nocturnal Polyuria in the U.S. by Definition: Results from the Epidemiology of Nocturnal Polyuria Study.

Purpose: Prevalence data on nocturnal polyuria (NP), nocturia caused by overproduction of urine during sleep, is primarily limited to men and varies by NP definition. This U.S.

Context and Considerations for Use of Two Japanese Real-World Databases in Japan: Medical Data Vision and Japanese Medical Data Center.

In Japan, an increasing interest in real-world evidence for hypothesis generation and decision-making has emerged in order to overcome limitations and restrictions of clinical trials. We sought to characterize the context and concrete considerations of when to use Medical Data Vision (MDV) and JMDC databases, the main Japanese real-world data (RWD) sources accessible by pharmaceutical companies. Use cases for these databases, and related issues and considerations, were identified and summarized based on a literature search and experience-based knowledge.

Optimizing test approaches for the detection of exposed metal surfaces within a chromatographic flow path.

It is critical to the success of any chromatography-based assay that the performance of the LC instrument be checked for its readiness and ability to perform the intended analysis. This includes gaging the suitability of a system to fulfill the purpose of different types of methods. One type of analysis that requires special consideration is the analysis of compounds which are prone to a particular form of non-specific binding, namely metal adsorption, where analytes interact and potentially adsorb to metal contained within the chromatographic flow path.

Burden of Pertussis in Individuals with a Diagnosis of Asthma: A Retrospective Database Study in England.

Purpose: The impact of pertussis in individuals with asthma is not fully understood. We estimated the incidence, health care resource utilization (HCRU), and direct medical costs (DMC) of pertussis in patients with asthma.

Patients And Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the incidence rate of pertussis (identified using diagnostic codes) among individuals aged ≥50 years with an asthma diagnosis was assessed during 2009-2018 using Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics databases.

The Prevalence of Nocturnal Polyuria in the United States: Results from the Epidemiology of Nocturnal Polyuria Study.

Background: The prevalence of nocturnal polyuria (NP), which is passing large volumes of urine during the main sleep period, has been investigated primarily in middle-aged to older men. There is thus a gap in the NP evidence base for women and for younger individuals.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of nocturia due to NP in the USA.

Postural control assessment via Microsoft Azure Kinect DK: An evaluation study.

Background And Objective: Equipments generally used for entertainment, such as Microsoft Kinect, have been widely used for postural control as well. Such systems-compared to professional motion tracking systems-allow to obtain non-invasive and low-cost tracking. This makes them particularly suitable for the implementation of home rehabilitation systems.

Extended dual antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor 60 mg in patients with prior myocardial infarction: The design of ALETHEIA, a multi-country observational study.

Introduction: Clinical guidelines recommend extended treatment with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with ticagrelor 60 mg (twice daily) beyond 12 months in high-risk patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI) who have previously tolerated DAPT and are not at heightened bleeding risk. However, evidence on patterns of use and associated clinical outcomes in routine clinical practice is limited.

Methods: ALETHEIA is an observational, multi-country study, designed to describe characteristics, treatment persistence, and bleeding and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in post-MI patients who initiate ticagrelor 60 mg in routine clinical practice (NCT04568083).

Comparison of ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM Crosswalks Derived by Physician and Clinical Coder vs. Automated Methods.

Purpose: To evaluate whether automated methods are sufficient for deriving ICD-10-CM algorithms by comparing ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM crosswalks from general equivalence mappings (GEMs) with physician/clinical coder-derived crosswalks.

Patients And Methods: Forward mapping was used to derive ICD-10-CM crosswalks for 10 conditions. As a sensitivity analysis, forward-backward mapping (FBM) was also conducted for three clinical conditions.

Burden of Pertussis in COPD: A Retrospective Database Study in England.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may increase the risk and severity of pertussis infection. Health care resource utilization (HCRU) and direct medical costs (DMC) of treating pertussis among patients with COPD are unknown. Reported incidence of pertussis among individuals aged ≥ 50 years with COPD was assessed in Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics databases during 2009-2018 using a retrospective cohort design.

Healthcare resource utilization and cost among patients with type 1 diabetes in the United States.

Approximately 5%-10% of patients with diabetes are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), the incidence and prevalence of which is projected to increase through 2050. Despite this, T1DM-related health care resource utilization (HCRU) and economic burden in the United States have not been adequately assessed, since previous studies used various cost definitions and underlying methods to examine these outcomes. To assess HCRU and costs incurred by patients with T1DM in the United States.

Abdominal Imaging Findings in COVID-19: Preliminary Observations.

Background Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, a target of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), demonstrates its highest surface expression in the lung, small bowel, and vasculature, suggesting abdominal viscera may be susceptible to injury. Purpose To report abdominal imaging findings in patients with coronavirus disease 2019. Materials and Methods In this retrospective cross-sectional study, patients consecutively admitted to a single quaternary care center from March 27 to April 10, 2020, who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were included.

Treatment patterns and overall survival in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer in a real-world, US setting.

To conduct a retrospective analysis of electronic medical record data to understand real-world treatment patterns and overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We included n = 9656 adults (≥18 years) with metastatic NSCLC and no prior therapy. Data from 1 January 2013 to 31 January 2017 were analyzed.

How different is research done by the Patient-centered Outcomes Research Institute, and what difference does it make?

To determine whether research funded by the Patient-centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is consistent with the original aims of Congress and unique among other major USA funders. We compared a sample of funded projects from PCORI, NIH (Phase IV) and agency for healthcare research and quality (AHRQ; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act [ARRA]-based comparative effectiveness research funding) from 2014 to 2018 on number of outcomes/study, patient-centeredness of outcomes (those related to survival, function, symptoms and health-related quality of life) and other features that may characterize patient-centered research (e.g.

Fraud and misrepresentation in retail forest products exceeds U.S. forensic wood science capacity.

Fraud and misrepresentation in forest products supply chains is often associated with illegal logging, but the extent of fraud in the U.S. forest products market, and the availability of forensic expertise to detect it, is unknown.

Treatment patterns and overall survival in metastatic urothelial carcinoma in a real-world, US setting.

Background: Metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) treated with chemotherapy is associated with poor survival; however, as the field of immuno-oncology continues to evolve, new immunotherapies have recently become available. The current study aimed to assess real-world characteristics, treatment patterns, and overall survival (OS) of patients with mUC treated in the United States (US).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational analysis of patients with mUC from the Flatiron Health longitudinal database from 2011 to 2017.