University of South Carolina

Recent decades have witnessed several infectious disease outbreaks, including the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which had catastrophic impacts on societies around the globe. At the same time, the twenty-first century has experienced an unprecedented era of technological development and demographic changes: exploding population growth, increased airline flights, and increased rural-to-urban migration, with an estimated 281 million international migrants worldwide in 2020, despite COVID-19 movement restrictions. In this review, we synthesized 195 research articles that examined the association between human movement and infectious disease outbreaks to understand the extent to which human mobility has increased the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. This article covers eight infectious diseases, ranging from respiratory illnesses to sexually transmitted and vector-borne diseases. The review revealed a strong association between human mobility and infectious disease spread, particularly strong for respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 and Influenza. Despite significant research into the relationship between infectious diseases and human mobility, four knowledge gaps were identified based on reviewed literature in this study: 1) although some studies have used big data in investigating infectious diseases, the efforts are limited (with the exception of COVID-19 disease), 2) while some research has explored the use of multiple data sources, there has been limited focus on fully integrating these data into comprehensive analyses, 3) limited research on the global impact of mobility on the spread of infectious disease with most studies focusing on local or regional outbreaks, and 4) lack of standardization in the methodology for measuring the impacts of human mobility on infectious disease spread. By tackling the recognized knowledge gaps and adopting holistic, interdisciplinary methods, forthcoming research has the potential to substantially enhance our comprehension of the intricate interplay between human mobility and infectious diseases.

Response to threatening environmental stimuli requires detection and encoding of important environmental features that dictate threat. Aversive events are highly salient, which promotes associative learning about stimuli that signal this threat. The nucleus accumbens is uniquely positioned to process this salient, aversive information and promote motivated output, through plasticity on the major projection neurons in the brain area. We describe a nucleus accumbens core local circuit whereby excitatory plasticity facilitates learning and recall of discrete aversive cues. We demonstrate that putative nucleus accumbens substance P release and long-term excitatory plasticity on dopamine 2 receptor-expressing projection neurons are required for cue-dependent fear learning. Additionally, we find that fear learning and recall is dependent on distinct projection neuron subtypes. Our work demonstrates a critical role for nucleus accumbens substance P in cue-dependent aversive learning.

A Generic Multi-Frequency Repetitive Control (GMFRC) scheme, is proposed to perfectly compensate for all kinds of periodic signals including multi-frequency signals, where multiple selective harmonic repetitive controllers in parallel are added into a stable instantaneous feedback control loop to achieve overall satisfactory performance. The GMFRC scheme provides a general framework for housing various repetitive control and even resonant control schemes in power electronic conversion and other extensive engineering applications. A universal approach to the analysis and synthesis of the digital GMFRC scheme has been developed, which includes the stability criteria and control gain rules. More important, the digital GMFRC controller is transformed into a general fractional-order one for exact compensation of multi-frequency signals and other fractional-order periodic signals in practice. An application example of a 5kVA three-phase PWM inverter under a fractional-order GMFRC scheme is provided. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed GMFRC scheme can force the inverter to produce required mono-frequency or multi-frequency voltages with high accuracy, fast response and good robustness.

This study (a) examined the associations among different performance metrics derived from different strategies (i.e., maximum and average scores) and trials from product-oriented measures of motor skills, and (b) explored how different performance metrics from product-oriented assessments of motor skills change in young children with typical development. Children ( N = 279; 156 girls; M age = 4.44 years) completed a battery of product-oriented assessments for throwing (in meters per second, five trials); kicking (in meters per second, five trials); jumping (in centimeters, five trials); running (in meters per second, two trials); and hopping (in meters per second, four trials—two preferred foot, two nonpreferred foot). A total of 36 performance metrics were derived—throw ( n = 7), kick ( n = 7), jump ( n = 7), run ( n = 4), and hop ( n = 11). Intraclass correlations examined reliability among performance metrics for each skill; linear mixed models examined whether variations changed across early childhood. There was excellent reliability among all performance metrics for each skill (all ICC > .90). Linear mixed models revealed that children’s motor performance improved for two metrics of the throw, five variations of the jump, and three metrics of the hop (all p < .05). Researchers should be aware that some performance metrics from product-oriented assessments (e.g., maximum and average of three or five trials) are highly related and change, whereas others do not.

We demonstrate for the first time heteroepitaxial metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) structures as radiation detectors for harsh environment applications. The Ni/ $\beta $ -Ga $_{\text{2}}$ O $_{\text{3}}$ /4H-SiC MOS structure has been achieved by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of $\beta $ -Ga $_{\text{2}}$ O $_{\text{3}}$ on high-quality detector-grade 4H-SiC epitaxial layers followed by the deposition of Ni gate contacts. The heterojunction devices with $\beta $ -Ga $_{\text{2}}$ O $_{\text{3}}$ epitaxial layers in the thickness range 50–500 nm deposited on 20- $\mu $ m-thick 4H-SiC epilayers have shown excellent rectification with barrier height up to 1.5 eV without any thermal annealing. The charge collection efficiency (CCE) of the detectors in pulse-height detection mode decreased systematically with an increase in the oxide layer thickness; however, the energy resolution did not show any such trend. Capacitance-mode deep-level transient spectroscopy (C-DLTS) measurements showed the presence of a defect level situated 1.2 eV below the conduction band minimum (CBM) of 4H-SiC identified as ON1 center. While the concentration of the potential trap center ( $\textit{Z}_{\text{1/2}}$ ) in the 4H-SiC layer did not vary noticeably, the $\textit{V}_{\text{O}}$ center showed strong dynamics with the oxide layer thickness and has been identified as the key defect in defining the ultimate detector resolution. Overall, the novel Ni/ $\beta $ -Ga $_{\text{2}}$ O $_{\text{3}}$ /4H-SiC MOS devices showed excellent radiation response, and due to the ultrawide bandgap of $\beta $ -Ga $_{\text{2}}$ O $_{\text{3}}$ , they are poised to be excellent ultraviolet (UV) detector extended to the deep UV region—a very important addition to its versatility of detecting wide range of radiation, including charge particles, $\gamma $ -/X-rays, and neutrons.

Rural residents face significant barriers in accessing mental health care, particularly as the demand for such services grows. Telemedicine has been proposed as an answer to rural gaps, but this service requires both access to appropriate technology and private space in the home to be useful. Our study documented longer travel time to mental health facilities in rural areas and greater barriers to digital devices for telemedicine access in those same areas. However, urban areas demonstrated greater household crowdedness than rural noncore areas when looking at private space within the home. Across ZIP Code Tabulation Areas located more than an estimated 30 minutes from the nearest outpatient care, 675,950 (13.1%) rural households versus 329,950 (6.4%) urban households had no broadband internet. The current Affordable Connectivity Program should target mental health underserved communities, especially in rural America, where the scarcity of digital access compounds travel burdens to mental health care.

Purpose: Chart notes provide a low-cost data source that could help characterize what occurs in treatment with sufficient precision to improve management of care. This study assessed the interrater reliability of treatment content coded from chart notes and evaluated its concordance with content coded from transcribed treatment sessions. Method: Fifty randomly selected and digitally recorded treatment events were transcribed and coded for practice content. Independent coders then applied the same code system to chart notes for these same treatment events. Analysis: We measured reliability and concordance of practice occurrence and extensiveness at two levels of specificity: practices (full procedures) and steps (subcomponents of those procedures). Results: For chart notes, practices had moderate interrater reliability (M k = 0.50, M ICC = 0.56) and steps had moderate (M ICC = 0.74) to substantial interrater reliability (M k = 0.78). On average, 2.54 practices and 5.64 steps were coded per chart note and 4.53 practices and 13.10 steps per transcript. Across sources, ratings for 64% of practices and 41% of steps correlated significantly, with those with significant correlations generally demonstrating moderate concordance (practice M r = 0.48; step M r = 0.47). Forty one percent of practices and 34% of steps from transcripts were also identified in the corresponding chart notes. Conclusion: Chart notes provide an accessible data source for evaluating treatment content, with different levels of specificity posing tradeoffs for validity and reliability, which in turn may have implications for chart note interfaces, training, and new metrics to support accurate, reliable, and efficient measurement of clinical practice.

An empirical model was developed to predict organic solvophobic effects using N‐phenylimide molecular balances functionalized with non‐polar alkyl groups. Solution studies and X‐ray crystallography confirmed intramolecular alkyl‐alkyl interactions in their folded conformers. The structural modularity of the balances allowed systematic variation of alkyl group lengths. Control balances were instrumental in isolating weak organic solvophobic effects by eliminating framework solvent‐solute effects. A 19F NMR label enabled analysis across 46 deuterated and non‐deuterated solvent systems. Linear correlations were observed between organic solvophobic effects and solvent cohesive energy density (ced) as well as changes in solvent‐accessible surface areas (SASA). Using these empirical relationships, a model was constructed to predict organic solvophobic interaction energy per unit area for any organic solvent with known CED values. The predicted interaction energies aligned with recent organic solvophobic measurements and literature values for the hydrophobic effect on non‐polar surfaces confirmed the model's accuracy and utility.

An empirical model was developed to predict organic solvophobic effects using N‐phenylimide molecular balances functionalized with non‐polar alkyl groups. Solution studies and X‐ray crystallography confirmed intramolecular alkyl‐alkyl interactions in their folded conformers. The structural modularity of the balances allowed systematic variation of alkyl group lengths. Control balances were instrumental in isolating weak organic solvophobic effects by eliminating framework solvent‐solute effects. A 19F NMR label enabled analysis across 46 deuterated and non‐deuterated solvent systems. Linear correlations were observed between organic solvophobic effects and solvent cohesive energy density (ced) as well as changes in solvent‐accessible surface areas (SASA). Using these empirical relationships, a model was constructed to predict organic solvophobic interaction energy per unit area for any organic solvent with known CED values. The predicted interaction energies aligned with recent organic solvophobic measurements and literature values for the hydrophobic effect on non‐polar surfaces confirmed the model's accuracy and utility.

Background Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Primary care offers an ideal setting to reach adults who smoke cigarettes and improve uptake of evidence-based cessation treatment. Although U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Guidelines recommend the 5As model (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) in primary care, there are many barriers to its implementation. Automated, comprehensive, and proactive tools are needed to overcome barriers. Our team developed and preliminarily evaluated a proactive electronic visit (e-visit) delivered via the Electronic Health Record patient portal to facilitate evidence-based smoking cessation treatment uptake in primary care, with promising initial feasibility and efficacy. This paper describes the rationale, design, and protocol for an ongoing Hybrid Type I effectiveness-implementation trial that will simultaneously assess effectiveness of the e-visit intervention for smoking cessation as well as implementation potential across diverse primary care settings. Methods The primary aim of this remote five-year study is to examine the effectiveness of the e-visit intervention vs. treatment as usual (TAU) for smoking cessation via a clinic-randomized clinical trial. Adults who smoke cigarettes are recruited across 18 primary care clinics. Clinics are stratified based on their number of primary care providers and randomized 2:1 to either e-visit or TAU. An initial baseline e-visit gathers information about patient smoking history and motivation to quit, and a clinical decision support algorithm determines the best evidence-based cessation treatment to prescribe. E-visit recommendations are evaluated by a patient’s own provider, and a one-month follow-up e-visit assesses cessation progress. Main outcomes include: (1) cessation treatment utilization (medication, psychosocial cessation counseling), (2) reduction in cigarettes per day, and (3) biochemically verified 7-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA) at six-months. We hypothesize that patients randomized to the e-visit condition will have better cessation outcomes (vs. TAU). A secondary aim evaluates e-visit implementation potential at patient, provider, and organizational levels using a mixed-methods approach. Implementation outcomes include acceptability, adoption, fidelity, implementation cost, penetration, and sustainability. Discussion This asynchronous, proactive e-visit intervention could provide substantial benefits for patients, providers, and primary care practices and has potential to widely improve reach of evidence-based cessation treatment. Trial registration NCT05493254.

Introduction Obesity is a significant health concern for veterans and individuals with spinal cord injury, yet screening for overweight/obesity can be challenging. This study examines how healthcare providers screen for overweight/obesity and the challenges encountered in identifying overweight/obesity in veterans and persons with spinal cord injury. Materials and Methods Healthcare providers who provide care for persons with spinal cord injury completed a semi-structured interview. The interview explored their perspectives on measuring overweight/obesity in persons with spinal cord injury and the challenges they faced. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes that emerged from the interviews. Results Twenty-five providers (88% female with an average experience of 9.6 ± 7.3 years in providing care for spinal cord injury patients) participated in the interviews. The themes described the health indicators and equipment used to assess overweight/obesity, provider concerns regarding measurement, and criteria for classifying overweight/obesity. Body weight and body mass index were the most commonly used indicators. However, concerns were raised regarding accuracy of these measures for spinal cord injury patients, as well as issues related to the accessibility, calibration, and usability of the equipment. Many providers reported using standard body mass index ranges and categories instead of those specific to spinal cord injury. Conclusion This study identified the most commonly used indicators of weight or body composition in veterans and persons with spinal cord injury and highlighted providers’ concerns with these measures. Future research is needed to identify the most feasible, accurate, and appropriate health indicators that could be used in a clinical setting to identify overweight and obesity in this population.