Do-It-Yourself Artificial Pancreas System and the OpenAPS Movement.

People with diabetes have been experimenting with and modifying their own diabetes devices and technologies for many decades in order to achieve the best possible quality of life and improving their long-term outcomes, including do-it-yourself (DIY) closed loop systems. Thousands of individuals use DIY closed loop systems globally, which work similarly to commercial systems by automatically adjusting and controlling insulin dosing, but are different in terms of transparency, access, customization, and usability. Initial outcomes seen by the DIY artificial pancreas system community are positive, and randomized controlled trials are forthcoming on various elements of DIYAPS technology.

[European Reference Network for Rare Neuromuscular Diseases (EURO-NMD). The history behind its constitution and the first steps]. / Le réseau européen de référence pour les maladies neuromusculaires rares (EURO-NMD) - De sa constitution à ses premiers pas.

TITLE: Le réseau européen de référence pour les maladies neuromusculaires rares (EURO-NMD) - De sa constitution à ses premiers pas. ABSTRACT: Il est bien établi que le nombre réduit de patients atteints d'une maladie rare (MR), la dispersion géographique de ceux-ci ainsi que le nombre réduit d'experts constituent des obstacles au diagnostic, à l'accès aux soins, à la recherche et au perfectionnement de l'expertise médicale. Pour surmonter ces obstacles, il est nécessaire de mettre en contact les experts du domaine et de mutualiser les ressources via des réseaux. Les réseaux européens de référence (ERNs), réseaux de professionnels de santé dispensant des soins hautement spécialisés, sont une initiative de la Commission Européenne (CE) visant à surmonter les problèmes liés aux MR et à améliorer l'accès au diagnostic, au traitement et aux soins pour les patients à travers l'Union Européenne.

Like a jar of flies? A study of self-control in an organizational social dilemma with large stakes.

We study the practice of self-control in an organizational social dilemma when the stakes are large, using 47 years of vital census data from 18th century Sweden. From 1750 to 1800, eighty percent of Sweden lived in a simple-structure organization called a bytvång or village commons. The amount of resources a village family received was a function of their size. During this period, crop failures left the population facing starvation. Using autoregressive time-series modeling, we test whether the people of Sweden continued to take steps toward increasing the stress on the commons by marrying and birthing children or practiced self-control. We find evidence that the peasantry-with little education, archaic agricultural practices, strong barriers to abortion and infanticide, and pressures by the Church and State to procreate-were less likely to marry and birth children (in or outside of wedlock) when the quality of the previous year's harvest was poor compared to when it was bounteous. Post hoc analyses support the idea that the reason behind declining fertility after a famine was human decision rather than human physiology. Our findings are consistent with the idea that human population growth is not a social dilemma called a collective trap-which has been the assumption for 50 years. Rather, human population growth may be an individual dilemma-suggesting that members of simple-structured organizations can unilaterally exercise self-control and manage resources through self-organizing.

The Odyssey's mythological network.

In this work, we study the mythological network of Odyssey of Homer. We use ordinary statistical quantifiers in order to classify the network as real or fictional. We also introduce an analysis of communities which allows us to see how network properties shall emerge. We found that Odyssey can be classified both as real and fictional network. This statement is supported as far as mythological characters are removed, which results in a network with real properties. The community analysis indicated to us that there is a power-law relationship based on the max degree of each community. These results allow us to conclude that Odyssey might be an amalgam of myth and of historical facts, with communities playing a central role.

Hepatic changes by benznidazole in a specific treatment for Chagas disease.

Chagas disease (Cd) is the third most common parasitic disease that causes damage to human health. Even a century after its description by Carlos Chagas and advances in its control, it remains a neglected disease. To eradicate the parasite or reduce the parasitic load, specific treatment for Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) is advisable; benznidazole (BNZ) is the drug that is currently prescribed. The purpose of this study is to report the adverse events (AE) due to the use of BNZ as a specific treatment for Cd, with a particular focus on hepatic changes. This was an observational, cross-sectional cohort study that included patients who were treated with BNZ. The medical records of patients who joined the Grupo de Estudo em doença de Chagas [Chagas Disease Study Group]/UNICAMP/Brazil and were treated with BNZ were reviewed for epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and AE parameters for the drug. The 204 patients who were assessed had an average age of 40.6 years ± 13.5 years, and 104 of them were women (50.98%). Fourteen (6.86%) individuals were in the acute phase of Cd, and 190 (93.13%) were in its chronic phase. AEs occurred in 85 patients (41.66%), 35 (41.17%) of whom had AEs related to the liver, characterized by an elevation of AST liver enzymes, ALT, alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltransferase (γGT). Other AEs that were observed included the following: 48 cases of cutaneous changes (56.47%), 8 cases of epigastric pain (9.41%), 7 cases of blood alteration (8.23%), and 3 cases of peripheral neuropathy (3.52%). Treatment was interrupted in 32 patients (37.64%) due to AD. Adverse events related to the liver secondary to the use of BNZ for Cd-specific treatment were frequent in this study and were characterized by an elevation of liver enzymes. Therefore, it is suggested that these enzymes be monitored during treatment with benznidazole.

Network theory may explain the vulnerability of medieval human settlements to the Black Death pandemic.

Epidemics can spread across large regions becoming pandemics by flowing along transportation and social networks. Two network attributes, transitivity (when a node is connected to two other nodes that are also directly connected between them) and centrality (the number and intensity of connections with the other nodes in the network), are widely associated with the dynamics of transmission of pathogens. Here we investigate how network centrality and transitivity influence vulnerability to diseases of human populations by examining one of the most devastating pandemic in human history, the fourteenth century plague pandemic called Black Death. We found that, after controlling for the city spatial location and the disease arrival time, cities with higher values of both centrality and transitivity were more severely affected by the plague. A simulation study indicates that this association was due to central cities with high transitivity undergo more exogenous re-infections. Our study provides an easy method to identify hotspots in epidemic networks. Focusing our effort in those vulnerable nodes may save time and resources by improving our ability of controlling deadly epidemics.

Pharmacoepidemiology at Nordic School of Public Health NHV: Examples from 1999 to 2014.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacoepidemiology is a branch of public health and had a place at the Nordic School of Public Health. Courses, Master's theses and Doctorates of Public Health (DrPH) in Pharmacoepidemiology were a relatively minor, but still important part of the school's activities. METHODS: This paper gives a short background, followed by some snapshots of the activities at NHV, and then some illustrative case-studies. These case-studies list their own responsible co-authors and have separate reference lists. RESULTS: In the Nordic context, NHV was a unique provider of training and research in pharmacoepidemiology, with single courses to complete DrPH training, as well as implementation of externally-funded research projects. CONCLUSIONS: With the closure of NHV at the end of 2014, it is unclear if such a comprehensive approach towards pharmacoepidemiology will be found elsewhere in the Nordic countries.

Olivia Records: The Production of a Movement.

This article looks at the early years of Olivia Records, setting the context for the historic release of the album Where Would I Be Without You. From its origins as a Washington, D.C.-based activist collective in 1973, Olivia became a hugely successful recording company, marketing radical lesbian recordings and performances that soon defined the "women's music" movement. Both artistically and politically, Olivia's woman-identified albums became the soundtrack for a generation awakening to lesbian activism. Pat Parker and Judy Grahn's 1976 spoken-word recording is a unique demonstration of Olivia's radical production values and expanding catalog.

Policy and system change and community coalitions: outcomes from allies against asthma.

Objectives. We assessed policy and system changes and health outcomes produced by the Allies Against Asthma program, a 5-year collaborative effort by 7 community coalitions to address childhood asthma. We also explored associations between community engagement and outcomes. Methods. We interviewed a sample of 1,477 parents of children with asthma in coalition target areas and comparison areas at baseline and 1 year to assess quality-of-life and symptom changes. An extensive tracking and documentation procedure and a survey of 284 participating individuals and organizations were used to ascertain policy and system changes and community engagement levels. Results. A total of 89 policy and system changes were achieved, ranging from changes in interinstitutional and intrainstitutional practices to statewide legislation. Allies children experienced fewer daytime (P = .008) and nighttime (P = .004) asthma symptoms than comparison children. In addition, Allies parents felt less helpless, frightened, and angry (P = .01) about their child's asthma. Type of community engagement was associated with number of policy and system changes. Conclusions. Community coalitions can successfully achieve asthma policy and system changes and improve health outcomes. Increased core and ongoing community stakeholder participation rather than a higher overall number of participants was associated with more change.

COSH groups--mobilizing workers, unions, and the community for health and safety: an interview with Joel Shufro.

An interview with Joel Shufro, Executive Director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health [NYCOSH], conducted shortly before he steps down after 34 years of service. Shufro discusses the recent history of the U.S. worker health and safety movement, including successes and failures of NYCOSH's efforts. He addresses some of the new issues COSH groups are facing as a result of declines in labor union density and the lack of effective government protection for large populations of workers, as well as assessing strategies that NYCOSH and other groups have adopted to strengthen and revive the U.S. health and safety movement.

Shepherding a flock of different fleece: a historical and social analysis of the unique attributes of the African American pastoral caregiver.

Scholars researching and writing on the roles of pastor-caregivers in predominantly black congregations have done so using models originally designed to examine the roles of pastor-caregivers in primarily white churches. This study offers a revised model based on the historical development and present reality of black churches that more closely matches the historical and present roles of the black pastor who can trace his or her roots back to African spiritual traditions.

Outdoor brothel culture: the un/making of a transsexual stroll in Vancouver's West End, 1975­1984.

In the mid-1970s, following a series of police raids on prostitution inside downtown nightclubs, a community of approximately 200 sex workers moved into Vancouver's West End neighborhood, where a small stroll had operated since the early 1970s. This paper examines the contributions made by three male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals of color to the culture of on-street prostitution in the West End. The trans women's stories address themes of fashion, working conditions, money, community formation, violence, and resistance to well-organized anti-prostitution forces. These recollections enable me to bridge and enrich trans history and prostitution history ­ two fields of inquiry that have under-represented the participation of trans women in the sex industry across the urban West. Acutely familiar with the hazards inherent in a criminalized, stigmatized trade, trans sex workers in the West End manufactured efficacious strategies of harm reduction, income generation, safety planning, and community building. Eschewing the label of "victim", they leveraged their physical size and style, charisma, contempt towards pimps, earning capacity, and seniority as the first workers on the stroll to assume leadership within the broader constituency of "hookers on Davie Street". I discover that their short-lived outdoor brothel culture offered only a temporary bulwark against the inevitability of eviction via legal injunction in July 1984, and the subsequent rise in lethal violence against all prostitutes in Vancouver, including MTF transsexuals.

Guilds and middle-class welfare, 1550­1800: provisions for burial, sickness, old age, and widowhood.

Guilds provided for masters' and journeymen's burial, sickness, old age, and widowhood. Guild welfare was of importance to artisans, to the functioning of guilds, to the myriad of urban social relations, and to the political economy. However, it is an understated and neglected aspect of guild activities. This article looks at welfare provision by guilds, with the aim of addressing four questions. Firstly, for which risks did guild welfare arrangements exist in the Netherlands between 1550 and 1800, and what were the coverage, contributions, benefit levels, and conditions? Secondly, can guild welfare arrangements be regarded as insurance? Thirdly, to what extent and how did guilds overcome classic insurance problems such as adverse selection, moral hazards, and correlated risks? Finally, what was the position of guild provision in the Dutch political economy and vis-à-vis poor relief?