Theory-driven text analysis has made extensive use of psychological concept dictionaries, leading to a wide range of important results. These dictionaries have generally been applied through word ...count methods which have proven to be both simple and effective. In this paper, we introduce Distributed Dictionary Representations (DDR), a method that applies psychological dictionaries using semantic similarity rather than word counts. This allows for the measurement of the similarity between dictionaries and spans of text ranging from complete documents to individual words. We show how DDR enables dictionary authors to place greater emphasis on construct validity without sacrificing linguistic coverage. We further demonstrate the benefits of DDR on two real-world tasks and finally conduct an extensive study of the interaction between dictionary size and task performance. These studies allow us to examine how DDR and word count methods complement one another as tools for applying concept dictionaries and where each is best applied. Finally, we provide references to tools and resources to make this method both available and accessible to a broad psychological audience.
Summary
Damage to the plant water transport system through xylem cavitation is known to be a driver of plant death in drought conditions. However, a lack of techniques to continuously monitor xylem ...embolism in whole plants in vivo has hampered our ability to investigate both how this damage propagates and the possible mechanistic link between xylem damage and tissue death.
Using optical and fluorescence sensors, we monitored drought‐induced xylem embolism accumulation and photosynthetic damage in vivo throughout the canopy of a drought‐resistant conifer, Callitris rhomboidea, during drought treatments of c. 1 month duration.
We show that drought‐induced damage to the xylem can be monitored in vivo in whole trees during extended periods of water stress. Under these conditions, vulnerability of the xylem to cavitation varied widely among branchlets, with photosynthetic damage only recorded once > 90% of the xylem was cavitated.
The variation in branchlet vulnerability has important implications for understanding how trees like C. rhomboidea survive drought, and the high resistance of branchlets to tissue damage points to runaway cavitation as a likely driver of tissue death in C. rhomboidea branch tips.
Theory-driven text analysis has made extensive use of psychological concept dictionaries, leading to a wide range of important results. These dictionaries have generally been applied through word ...count methods which have proven to be both simple and effective. In this paper, we introduce Distributed Dictionary Representations (DDR), a method that applies psychological dictionaries using semantic similarity rather than word counts. This allows for the measurement of the similarity between dictionaries and spans of text ranging from complete documents to individual words. We show how DDR enables dictionary authors to place greater emphasis on construct validity without sacrificing linguistic coverage. We further demonstrate the benefits of DDR on two real-world tasks and finally conduct an extensive study of the interaction between dictionary size and task performance. These studies allow us to examine how DDR and word count methods complement one another as tools for applying concept dictionaries and where each is best applied. Finally, we provide references to tools and resources to make this method both available and accessible to a broad psychological audience.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a severe monogenic disease associated with high morbidity and mortality and a disproportionate burden on Black communities. Few population-based studies have examined the ...prevalence of comorbidities among persons with SCD. We estimated the prevalence of comorbidities experienced by individuals with SCD enrolled in employer-based health insurance plans in the US over their non-elderly lifetimes (0-64 years of age) with a retrospective cohort design using Truven Health MarketScan commercial claims data from 2007-2018. ICD-9/10 codes were used to identify individuals with SCD using a previously published algorithm. For this cohort, comorbidities associated with SCD were identified across 3 age categories (<18, 18-45, 46-64 years-old), based on the CMS Chronic Comorbidities Warehouse or SCD-specific diagnosis codes, when applicable. The total number of SCD patients available for analysis in each age category was 7,502 (<18 years), 10,183 (18-45 years) and 4,459 (46-64 years). Across all ages, vaso-occlusive pain, infections (non-specific), and fever were the most common comorbidities. Vaso-occlusive pain and infection were the most prevalent conditions for persons age <18- and 18-45-year-olds, while in the 46-54-year-old age group, infection and cardiovascular including pulmonary hypertension were most prevalent. Compared to persons <18 years old, the prevalence of vaso-occlusive pain, fever, and acute chest syndrome claims declined in older populations. The comorbidity burden of SCD is significant across all age groups. SCD patients experience comorbidities of age such as chronic pain, cardio-vascular conditions including pulmonary hypertension and renal disease at far higher rates than the general population. Novel disease modifying therapies in development have the potential to significantly reduce the comorbidity burden of SCD.
New techniques now make it possible to precisely and accurately determine the failure threshold of the plant vascular system during water stress. This creates an opportunity to understand the ...vulnerability of species to drought, but first, it must be determined whether damage to leaf function associated with xylem cavitation is reparable or permanent. This question is particularly relevant in crop plants such as wheat, which may have the capacity to repair xylem embolism with positive root pressure. Using wheat (Triticum aestivum, Heron), we employed non‐invasive imaging to find the water potential causing 50% xylem embolism (−2.87 ± 0.52 MPa) in leaves. Replicate plants were water‐stressed to varying degrees to induce embolism ranging from minimal to substantial. Plants were then rewatered to determine the reversibility of xylem damage and photosynthetic inhibition in glasshouse conditions. Rewatering after drought‐induced xylem cavitation did not induce visible refilling of embolized xylem, and embolized leaves showed photosynthetic impairment upon rewatering. This impairment was significant even after only 10–20% of leaf veins were embolized, and leaves accumulating >20% embolism died upon rewatering in 7/10 individuals. Photosynthetic damage and hydraulic decline occurred concurrently as wheat leaves dehydrated, and leaf shrinkage during drying was the best predictor of photosynthetic recovery.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a clinically heterogeneous disease with many acute and chronic complications driven by ongoing vaso-occlusion and hemolysis. It causes a disproportionate burden on Black ...and Hispanic communities. Our objective was to follow the SMDM/ISPOR Task Force recommendations for good practices and create a conceptual model of the progression of SCD under current clinical practice to inform cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) of promising curative therapies in the pipeline over a lifetime horizon.
We used consultations with experts, providers, and patients to identify acute events and chronic conditions in the conceptual model. We compared our model structure to previous CEA models of interventions for SCD, assessed the prevalence of the identified disease attributes in Medicaid and Medicare claims databases, and identified relevant outcomes following the 2nd Panel in CEA. We determined an appropriate modeling technique and relevant data sources for parameterizing the model.
The conceptual model structure included four dimensions of disease: chronic pain, acute events, chronic conditions, and treatment complications, spanning 26 disease attributes with significant impacts on health-related quality of life and resource. We modeled chronic pain separately to reflect its importance to patients and interaction with all other disease attributes. We identified additional data sources for health state utilities and non-medical costs and benefits of SCD. We will use a microsimulation model with age- and sex-specific transitions between health states predicted by patient demographic characteristics and disease history.
Developing the model structure through an explicit process of model conceptualization can increase the transparency and accuracy of results. We will populate the conceptual model with the data sources described and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of curative therapies.
Abstract
The ideal plant water transport system is one that features high efficiency and resistance to drought-induced damage (xylem cavitation), however, species rarely possess both. This may be ...explained by trade-offs between traits, yet thus far, no proposed trade-off has offered a universal explanation for the lack of water transport systems that are both highly drought-resistant and highly efficient. Here, we find evidence for a new trade-off, between growth rate and resistance to xylem cavitation, in the canopies of a drought-resistant tree species (Callitris rhomboidea). Wide variation in cavitation resistance (P50) was found in distal branch tips (<2 mm in diameter), converging to low variation in P50 in larger diameter stems (>2 mm). We found a significant correlation between cavitation resistance and distal branchlet internode length across branch tips in C. rhomboidea canopies. Branchlets with long internodes (8 mm or longer) were significantly more vulnerable to drought-induced xylem cavitation than shorter internodes (4 mm or shorter). This suggests that varying growth rates, leading to differences in internode length, drive differences in cavitation resistance in C. rhomboidea trees. The only distinct anatomical difference found between internodes was the pith size, with the average pith to xylem area in long internodes being five times greater than in short internodes. Understanding whether this trade-off exists within and between species will help us to uncover what drives and limits drought resistance across the world’s flora.
Air pollution caused by wildfire smoke is linked to adverse health outcomes, especially for people living with asthma.
To evaluate whether government rebates for high-efficiency particulate air ...(HEPA) filters, which reduce concentrations of smoke particles indoors, are cost effective in managing asthma and preventing exacerbations in British Columbia (BC), Canada.
We used a Markov model to analyze health states for asthma control, exacerbation severity, and death over a retrospective time horizon of 5 years (2018-2022). Concentrations of wildfire smoke-derived particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ⩽2.5 μm (PM
) from the Canadian Optimized Statistical Smoke Exposure Model and relevant literature informed the model. The base-case analysis assumed continuous use of a HEPA filter. Costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) resulting from varying rebates were computed for each Health Service Delivery Area (HSDA).
In the base-case analysis, HEPA filter use resulted in increased costs of $83.34 (SE, $1.03) and increased QALYs of 0.0011 (SE, 0.0001) per person. The average incremental cost-effectiveness ratio among BC HSDAs was $74,652/QALY (SE, $3,517), with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios ranging from $40,509 to $89,206 per QALY in HSDAs. Across the province, the intervention was projected to prevent 4,418 exacerbations requiring systemic corticosteroids, 643 emergency department visits, and 425 hospitalizations during the 5-year time horizon. A full rebate was cost effective in 1 of the 16 HSDAs across BC. The probability of cost-effectiveness ranged from 0.1% to 74.8% across HSDAs. A $100 rebate was cost effective in most HSDAs.
The cost-effectiveness of HEPA filters in managing wildfire smoke-related asthma issues in BC varies by region. Government rebates up to two-thirds of the filter cost are generally cost effective, with a full rebate being cost effective only in Kootenay Boundary.
This article comments on:
Thonglim A, Bortolami G, Delzon S, Larter M, Offringa R, Keurentjes JJB, Smets E, Balazadeh S, Lens F. 2023. Drought response in Arabidopsis displays synergistic ...coordination between stems and leaves. Journal of Experimental Botany 74, 1004–1021
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