Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 33, No. 1

• Ritual and Folklore in Pennsylvania\u27s Wyoming Region: Old to New World Wonder • Ordinary Architecture of the Pennsylvania Germans: The Turnpike Houses • Set thy House in Order : Inheritance Patterns of the Colonial Pennsylvania Germans • The Literature on Fences, Walls and Hedges as Cultural Landscape Features • Aldes un Neieshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/1101/thumbnail.jp

Semantic integration of clinical laboratory tests from electronic health records for deep phenotyping and biomarker discovery.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems typically define laboratory test results using the Laboratory Observation Identifier Names and Codes (LOINC) and can transmit them using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) standards. LOINC has not yet been semantically integrated with computational resources for phenotype analysis. Here, we provide a method for mapping LOINC-encoded laboratory test results transmitted in FHIR standards to Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) terms. We annotated the medical implications of 2923 commonly used laboratory tests with HPO terms. Using these annotations, our software assesses laboratory test results and converts each result into an HPO term. We validated our approach with EHR data from 15,681 patients with respiratory complaints and identified known biomarkers for asthma. Finally, we provide a freely available SMART on FHIR application that can be used within EHR systems. Our approach allows readily available laboratory tests in EHR to be reused for deep phenotyping and exploits the hierarchical structure of HPO to integrate distinct tests that have comparable medical interpretations for association studies

Impact and Lessons Learned from Mass Drug Administrations of Malaria Chemoprevention during the Ebola Outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia, 2014

Background: In October 2014, during the Ebola outbreak in Liberia healthcare services were limited while malaria transmission continued. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) implemented a mass drug administration (MDA) of malaria chemoprevention (CP) in Monrovia to reduce malaria-associated morbidity. In order to inform future interventions, we described the scale of the MDA, evaluated its acceptance and estimated the effectiveness. Methods: MSF carried out two rounds of MDA with artesunate/amodiaquine (ASAQ) targeting four neighbourhoods of Monrovia (October to December 2014). We systematically selected households in the distribution area and administered standardized questionnaires. We calculated incidence ratios (IR) of side effects using poisson regression and compared self-reported fever risk differences (RD) pre- and post-MDA using a z-test. Findings: In total, 1,259,699 courses of ASAQ-CP were distributed. All households surveyed (n = 222; 1233 household members) attended the MDA in round 1 (r1) and 96% in round 2 (r2) (212/222 households; 1,154 household members). 52% (643/1233) initiated ASAQ-CP in r1 and 22% (256/1154) in r2. Of those not initiating ASAQ-CP, 29% (172/590) saved it for later in r1, 47% (423/898) in r2. Experiencing side effects in r1 was not associated with ASAQ-CP initiation in r2 (IR 1.0, 95%CI 0.49–2.1). The incidence of self-reported fever decreased from 4.2% (52/1229) in the month prior to r1 to 1.5% (18/1229) after r1 (

Reported reasons for non-compliance with initiation of artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014*.

Reported reasons for non-compliance with initiation of artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014*.</p

A selection and optimization strategy for single-domain antibodies targeting the PHF6 linear peptide within the Tau intrinsically disordered protein

International audienceThe use of variable domain of the heavy-chain of the heavy- chain-only antibodies (VHHs) as disease-modifying bio- molecules in neurodegenerative disorders holds promises, including targeting of aggregation-sensitive proteins. Exploi- tation of their clinical values depends however on the capacity to deliver VHHs with optimal physico-chemical properties for their specific context of use. We described previously a VHH with high therapeutic potential in a family of neurodegenera- tive diseases called tauopathies. The activity of this promising parent VHH named Z70 relies on its binding within the central region of the tau protein. Accordingly, we carried out random mutagenesis followed by yeast two-hybrid screening to obtain optimized variants. The VHHs selected from this initial screen targeted the same epitope as VHH Z70 as shown using NMR spectroscopy and had indeed improved binding affinities ac- cording to dissociation constant values obtained by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. The improved affinities can be partially rationalized based on three-dimensional structures and NMR data of three complexes consisting of an optimized VHH and a peptide containing the tau epitope. Interestingly, the ability of the VHH variants to inhibit tau aggregation and seeding could not be predicted from their affinity alone. We indeed showed that the in vitro and in cellulo VHH stabilities are other limiting key factors to their efficacy. Our results demonstrate that only a complete pipeline of experiments, here described, permits a rational selection of optimized VHH var- iants, resulting in the selection of VHH variants with higher affinities and/or acting against tau seeding in cell models

Reported compliance and adherence with artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) among households targeted for mass drug administration (MDA) during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014.

<p>Reported compliance and adherence with artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) among households targeted for mass drug administration (MDA) during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014.</p

Steps of implementation of the mass drug administration (MDA) of artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014.

<p>Steps of implementation of the mass drug administration (MDA) of artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014.</p

Association between experiencing side effects of artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) in the first round of mass drug administration (MDA) with initiation of ASAQ-CP in the second round of the MDA, during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014 (Poisson regression).

<p>Association between experiencing side effects of artesunate/amodiaquine malaria chemoprevention (ASAQ-CP) in the first round of mass drug administration (MDA) with initiation of ASAQ-CP in the second round of the MDA, during the Ebola outbreak, Monrovia, Liberia, 2014 (Poisson regression).</p