To compare effectiveness of different biologic therapies and sequences in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) using real-world data from a large cohort with long exposure.
Demographic, ...disease, treatment and outcome data were retrieved for patients in the UK IBD BioResource. Effectiveness of treatment was based on persistence free of discontinuation or failure, analysed by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with inverse probability of treatment weighting to adjust for differences between groups.
13,222 evaluable patients received at least one biologic. In ulcerative colitis (UC) first line vedolizumab (VDZ) demonstrated superior effectiveness over five years compared to anti-TNF agents (p=0.006). VDZ was superior to both infliximab (IFX) and adalimumab (ADA) after ADA and IFX failure respectively (p<0.001 and p<0.001). Anti-TNF therapy showed similar effectiveness when used first-line, or after failure of VDZ. In Crohn's disease (CD) we found significant differences between first line treatments over ten years (p=0.045), with superior effectiveness of IFX compared to ADA in perianal CD. Non-anti-TNF biologics were superior to a second anti-TNF after first line anti-TNF failure in CD (p=0.035). Patients with UC or CD experiencing TNF-failure due to delayed loss of response or intolerance had superior outcomes when switching to a non-anti-TNF biologic, rather than a second anti-TNF.
We provide real-world evidence to guide biologic selection and sequencing in a range of common scenarios. Our findings challenge current guidelines regarding drug selection after loss of response to first anti-TNF.
People with seemingly impossible- to-overcome barriers can be found in every community, large and small, urban and rural. Oftentimes, these individuals may see themselves as unemployable, or find ...that the world around them deems them to be so. As a result, regardless of the level of job creation and business growth generated within a community, these individuals are at risk for being further and further left-behind. An increasingly important question facing the economic development profession today and into the future is as follows: whether what can be done to help high-barrier individuals -- those facing major obstacles from participating in the workforce and economy -- rise above their challenges and become productive members of society. To help answer this question, following is a case study on one high-performing and model-setting program that took place in Georgia. This program involved dynamic partnerships among workforce developers, human services providers, employment specialists, business connectors, employers, and mission-driven funders.
Visionaries like W. E. B. Du Bois opened the door to possibility and opportunity for the next generations of African American artists. Among those who benefited from and contributed to this legacy ...are award-winning African American authors and illustrators who created works that celebrate Black children, equality, and diversity. These artists encouraged, entertained, informed, and passed along accurate messages about African American culture and race. Artists like those I have celebrated in this article have created a pathway for those to come.
W. E. B. Du Bois founded The Brownies' Book magazine with co-founders Granville Dill and Jessie Redmon Fauset in 1920 whose target audience was Black children. A look at how the magazine fostered a ...new generation of black writers is offered.
Social media is increasingly used for social protest, but does online participation advance the aims of social movements, or does it undermine efforts for social change? We explore this question in ...the present thesis by examining how the use of social media for collective action shapes, and is shaped by, the social psychological concerns of technology users. Adopting a diverse approach in terms of research questions and methodology, we examine how collective action is affected by: (1) features of the digital environment, (2) internet-enabled modes of participation, and (3) digitally-facilitated communities. Our findings demonstrate that group-level representations of the self and salient others are integral to the relationship between digital technology and collective action. Ultimately, we argue that digital technology can act as both a psychological bridge and barrier between disparate groups and issues; in this way it can both facilitate and undermine mobilisation efforts and broader aims for social change.
As software and other high tech companies cluster near major metropolitan areas, they face similar changes with regard to labor recruitment and workforce development, quality of life, and other ...issues. While several metro areas have enacted high tech sectoral development strategies in their area, the concern by the software industry is whether metro areas can support their future growth and sustainability needs. The potential for rural communities to develop, attract, and support software companies is examined, looking specifically at Georgia. Workforce challenges have been identified as a leading barrier for rural Georgia as well as a key site selection concern for software firms.
Social media is increasingly used for social protest, but does online participation advance the aims of social movements, or does it undermine efforts for social change? We explore this question in ...the present thesis by examining how the use of social media for collective action shapes, and is shaped by, the social psychological concerns of technology users. Adopting a diverse approach in terms of research questions and methodology, we examine how collective action is affected by: (1) features of the digital environment, (2) internet-enabled modes of participation, and (3) digitally-facilitated communities. Our findings demonstrate that group-level representations of the self and salient others are integral to the relationship between digital technology and collective action. Ultimately, we argue that digital technology can act as both a psychological bridge and barrier between disparate groups and issues; in this way it can both facilitate and undermine mobilisation efforts and broader aims for social change.
To some, land-use planning and implementation through zoning to regulate land-uses in rural areas may appear to be anathema to rural economic development. This view would be shared by those who are ...concerned that any land-use regulation in weak rural economies could dissuade economic development investment. This article addresses such concerns head-on through statistical analysis combined with focus-group interviews. It is based on the first comprehensive study of its kind to address rural economic development issues related to land-use planning and zoning. The finding is that land-use planning and zoning implementation protects industrial and commercial development from conflicts with residential land uses and thus facilitates rural economic development, rather than impedes it. For rural communities seeking economic development, the implication is that planning and zoning supportive of industrial development may improve economic development prospects relative to its lack. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Too many Black children are forced to define themselves from a position of absence and misrepresentation. Because of the unjust and harmful messages prevalent in our society and given the ...discouraging trial outcome and senseless loss of life of Trayvon Martin, it is now more vital than ever to support our Black sons, by recalling textual accounts of struggle and perseverance, by consulting historic responses to racism, and by furthering all current efforts to represent truer stories of Black male life in America.
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