A Placebo-Controlled, Pseudo-Randomized, Crossover Trial of Botanical Agents for Gulf War Illness: Curcumin (Curcuma longa), Boswellia (Boswellia serrata), and French Maritime Pine Bark (Pinus pinaster).

This report is part of a larger study designed to rapidly and efficiently screen potential treatments for Gulf War Illness (GWI) by testing nine different botanicals. In this placebo-controlled, pseudo-randomized, crossover clinical trial of 20 men with GWI, we tested three botanical agents with putative peripheral and central anti-inflammatory actions: curcumin (Curcuma longa), boswellia (Boswellia serrata), and French maritime pine bark extract (Pinus pinaster). Participants completed 30 +/- 3 days of baseline symptom reports, followed by 30 +/- 3 days of placebo, 30 +/- 3 days of lower-dose botanical, and 30 +/- 3 days of higher-dose botanical. Participants then repeated the process with a new botanical until completing up to three botanical cycles. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models. Curcumin reduced GWI symptom severity significantly more than placebo at both the lower (p < 0.0001) and higher (p = 0.0003) dosages. Boswellia was not more effective than placebo at reducing GWI symptoms at either the lower (p = 0.726) or higher (p = 0.869) dosages. Maritime pine was not more effective than placebo at the lower dosage (p = 0.954) but was more effective than placebo at the higher dosage (p = 0.006). This study provides preliminary evidence that curcumin and maritime pine may help alleviate symptoms of GWI. As a screening study, a final determination of the efficacy of these compounds for all individuals with GWI cannot be made, and further studies will need to be conducted to determine strength and durability of effects, as well as optimal dosage. These results suggest that GWI may, at least in part, involve systemic inflammatory processes. This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02909686) on 13 September 2016.

Partial Membership Latent Dirichlet Allocation for Soft Image Segmentation.

Topic models [e.g., probabilistic latent semantic analysis, latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), and supervised LDA] have been widely used for segmenting imagery. However, these models are confined to crisp segmentation, forcing a visual word (i.e., an image patch) to belong to one and only one topic. Yet, there are many images in which some regions cannot be assigned a crisp categorical label (e.g., transition regions between a foggy sky and the ground or between sand and water at a beach). In these cases, a visual word is best represented with partial memberships across multiple topics. To address this, we present a partial membership LDA (PM-LDA) model and an associated parameter estimation algorithm. This model can be useful for imagery, where a visual word may be a mixture of multiple topics. Experimental results on visual and sonar imagery show that PM-LDA can produce both crisp and soft semantic image segmentations; a capability previous topic modeling methods do not have.

Expanding a professional dental care system: experiences of Task Force 261 Multifunctional Medical Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-09.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-09, Task Force 261 Multifunctional Medical Battalion managed an extensive dental care system stretching throughout the Iraq theater of operations. We illustrate several of the unique challenges faced by Task Force 261's headquarters and its dental and area support companies, and describe the remedies emplaced by the Task Force. Personnel structure, the evacuation chain, supply and facility management, dental civil-military operations, detainee care, information technology applications, and public health initiatives are discussed in detail.

Preparation of kinase-biased compounds in the search for lead inhibitors of kinase targets.

This work describes the preparation of approximately 13,000 compounds for rapid identification of hits in high-throughput screening (HTS). These compounds were designed as potential serine/threonine or tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The library consists of various scaffolds, e.g., purines, oxindoles, and imidazoles, whereby each core scaffold generally includes the hydrogen bond acceptor/donor properties known to be important for kinase binding. Several of these are based upon literature kinase templates, or adaptations of them to provide novelty. The routes to their preparation are outlined. A variety of automation techniques were used to prepare >500 compounds per scaffold. Where applicable, scavenger resins were employed to remove excess reagents and when necessary, preparative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for purification. These compounds were screened against an 'in-house' kinase panel. The success rate in HTS was significantly higher than the corporate compound collection.

Applying a new conceptual framework to evaluate tuberculosis surveillance and action performance and measure the costs, Hillsborough County, Florida, 2002.

PURPOSE: Tuberculosis (TB) elimination is an important US public health goal and improving the performance of TB surveillance and action and reducing the costs will help achieve it. But, there exists the need to better evaluate the performance and measure the costs. METHODS: We pilot tested an evaluation strategy in Hillsborough County, Florida using a conceptual framework of TB surveillance and action with eight core and four support activities. To evaluate performance, we developed indicators and validated their accuracy, usefulness, and measurability. To measure the costs, we obtained financial information. RESULTS: In 2001, Hillsborough County reported 78 (7%) of the 1145 Florida TB cases. Nineteen (24%) were previously arrested. While 13 (68%) of the 19 were incarcerated during the 2 years prior to being reported, only 1 (5%) of 19 was reported from the jail. From 111 TB suspects, 219 (25%) of 894 sputum specimens were inadequately collected. Of the $1.08 million annual budget, 22% went for surveillance, 29% for support, and 49% for action. CONCLUSIONS: This conceptual framework allowed measurement of TB surveillance and action performance and cost. The evaluation performed using it revealed missed opportunities for detection of TB cases and wasted resources. This conceptual framework could serve as a model for evaluation of TB surveillance and action.

Stabilization of Heavy Metal Containing Hazardous Wastes with Byproducts from Advanced Clean Coal Technology Systems.

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the success of residues from advanced Clean Coal Technology (CCT) systems as stabilization agents for heavy metal containing hazardous wastes. In the context examined here, stabilization refers to techniques that reduce the toxicity of a waste by converting the hazardous constituents to a less soluble, mobile, or toxic form.1 Three advanced CCT byproducts were used: coal waste-fired circulating fluidized bed combustor residue, pressurized fluidized bed combustor residue, and spray drier residue. Seven metal-laden hazardous wastes were treated: three contaminated soils, two air pollution control dusts, wastewater treatment plant sludge, and sandblast waste. Each of the seven hazardous wastes was treated with each of the three CCT byproducts at dosages of 10, 30, and 50% by weight (byproduct:waste). The treatment effectiveness of each mixture was evaluated by the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure. Of the 63 mixtures evaluated, 21 produced non-hazardous residues. Treatment effectiveness can likely be attributed to mechanisms such as precipitation and encapsulation due to the formation of hydrated calcium silicates and calcium sulfo-alu-minates. Results indicate that these residues have potential beneficial uses to the hazardous waste treatment community, possibly substituting for costly treatment chemicals.