Data from Global TravEpiNet provide insight into the characteristics and pretravel healthcare of US international travelers who are at increased risk of travel-associated illness due to itinerary, purpose of travel, or existing medical conditions. Improved understanding of this epidemiologically significant population may help target risk-reduction strategies and interventions to limit the spread of infections related to global travel.

In this article we perform von Neumann analysis of the difference equations that arise as a result of loop quantum gravity being applied to models of cosmology and black holes. In particular, we study the numerical stability of Bianchi I LRS (symmetric and non-symmetric constraint) and Schwarzschild interior (symmetric constraint) models, and find that there exist domains over which there are instabilities, generically. We also present explicit evolutions of wave-packets in these models and clearly demonstrate the presence of these instabilities.

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An increasing number of immunocompromised individuals are pursuing international travel, and a better understanding of their international travel patterns and pretravel health care is needed. We evaluated the clinical features, itineraries, and pretravel health care of 486 immunocompromised international travelers seen at Global TravEpiNet sites from January 2009 to June 2012. We used bivariate analyses and logistic regressions using random intercept models to compare demographic and travel characteristics, vaccines administered, and medications prescribed for immunocompromised travelers versus 30,702 immunocompetent travelers. Immunocompromised travelers pursued itineraries that were largely similar to those of immunocompetent travelers, with nearly one-third of such travelers visiting countries with low human development indices. Biological agents, including tumor necrosis factor blockers, were commonly used immunosuppressive medications among immunocompromised travelers. A strong collaboration between travel-medicine specialists, primary care doctors, and specialist physicians is needed to prepare immunocompromised people for international travel. Incorporating routine questioning and planning regarding travel into the primary care visits of immunocompromised people may be useful.

Voriconazole is a new triazole antifungal agent that is now the treatment of choice for invasive aspergillosis. Drug-induced myopathy has never previously been reported with voriconazole, although it is recognized with other triazole agents. We present a 34-year-old female African American renal transplant recipient, with a prior history of probable statin-induced myopathy, who developed severe generalized weakness with marked elevation of muscle enzymes and inflammatory changes on T2-weighted fat-suppressed STIR sequence magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after commencing voriconazole for treatment of invasive aspergillosis. Her symptoms resolved and creatine kinase normalized upon stopping the drug.Given the increased use of triazoles in immunosuppressed and transplant recipients, it is important for rheumatology consultants to include this entity in their differential diagnosis of weakness in such patients.

ABSTRACT:We provide some tests of the convex global underestimator Ž . CGU algorithm, which aims to find global minima on funnel-shaped energy landscapes. We use two different potential functions-the reduced Lennard᎐Jones cluster potential, and the modified Sun protein folding potential, to compare the CGU algorithm with the simplest versions of the traditional Ž . trajectory-based search methods, simulated annealing SA , and Monte Carlo Ž . MC . For both potentials, the CGU reaches energies lower on the landscapes than both SA and MC, even when SA and MC are given the same number of starting points as in a full CGU run or when all methods are given the same amount of computer time. The CGU consistently finds the global minima of the Lennard᎐Jones potential for all cases with up to at least n s 30 degrees of freedom. Finding the global or near-global minimum in the CGU method w Ž 3 .

BackgroundHands-on culinary medicine education for medical trainees has emerged as a promising tool for cardiovascular health promotion.PurposeTo determine whether virtual culinary medicine programming associates with Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) adherence and lifestyle medicine competencies among medical trainees across the USA.MethodA total of 1433 medical trainees across 19 sites over a 12-month period were included. The Cooking for Health Optimisation with Patients-Medical Trainees survey composed of 61 questions regarding demographics, nutritional attitudes, dietary habits including MedDiet score and lifestyle medicine counselling competencies. Multivariable logistic regression assessed the association of virtual culinary medicine education with MedDiet intake and nutritional attitudes.ResultsThere were 519 medical trainees who participated in virtual culinary medicine education and 914 medical trainees who participated in their standard nutrition curricula. More than one-half of participants were women (n=759) and the mean age was 27 years old. Compared with students enrolled in traditional nutrition curricula, participants in virtual culinary medicine education were 37% more likely to adhere to MedDiet guidelines for fruit intake (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.83, p=0.03). Virtual culinary medicine education was associated with higher proficiency in lifestyle medicine counselling categories, notably recommendations involving fibre (OR 4.03; 95% CI 3.05 to 5.34), type 2 diabetes prevention (OR 4.69; 95% CI 3.51 to 6.27) and omega fatty acids (OR 5.21; 95% CI 3.87 to 7.02). Virtual culinary medicine education had a similar, although higher magnitude association with MedDiet counselling competency (OR 5.73, 95% CI 4.26 to 7.70) when compared with historical data previously reported using hands-on, in-person culinary medicine courseware (OR 4.97, 95% CI 3.89 to 6.36).ConclusionsCompared with traditional nutritional educational curricula, virtual culinary medicine education is associated with higher MedDiet adherence and lifestyle medicine counselling competencies among medical trainees. Both virtual and hands-on culinary medicine education may be useful for cardiovascular health promotion.