University of Illinois at Chicago
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Does preoperative joint space affect accuracy in splint-based Le Fort I osteotomy?
No full textIn splint-based Le Fort I osteotomy (LFI), variations in condyle-fossa relationship can influence surgical accuracy. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the preoperative joint space (JS) on surgical errors. This retrospective study included patients status post splint-based maxilla-first LFI at a single institution in a 7-month period. Preoperative JS was measured on preoperative cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), while angular and linear surgical movements at the maxillary dental midline (U1) were measured using regional voxel-based registration. In 26 eligible subjects, the mean absolute linear and angular errors were 0.82-1.18 mm and 0.87-1.21°, respectively. The greatest superior and posterior preoperative JS correlated with mediolateral (P = 0.020) and anteroposterior (P = 0.019) error, respectively. JS was not associated with angular errors (P > 0.05). Laterality of the greater posterior preoperative JS was associated with the mediolateral linear error (P = 0.026). Regression analysis showed that 3.92 mm posterior preoperative JS resulted in 1 mm anteroposterior error, and a left-to-right posterior preoperative JS differential of 1.35 mm resulted in 1 mm mediolateral error. Vertical and anteroposterior preoperative JS can affect accuracy in maxilla-first splint-based LFI. Routine preoperative evaluation can help identify at-risk cases.</p
Responsiveness to city service requests, life satisfaction, and horizontal inequality: Does good local governance improve subjective well-being for all?
No full textThis research was presented at the 23rd annual conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies on July 23, 2025 in Luxembourg. It focused on answering two questions: (1) does good governance improve subjective well-being (SWB)? and (2) does good governance improve SWB for all? To answer (1), the case of Chicago, IL was investigated, modeling the correlation between local good governance (independent variable) and self-reported life satisfaction (dependent variable). To answer (2), the research further modeled the moderating impact of neighborhood-level racial demographics on the relationship in (1). The research found that good local governance does have a significant, positive impact on life satisfaction, but the relationship is significantly stronger in white neighborhoods than in Black and Latino neighborhoods. This research was later published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health at the citation below:Tharakan, D. P. L., & Ford, T. N. (2026). Responsiveness to City Service Requests, Life Satisfaction, and Horizontal Inequality: Does Good Local Governance Improve Subjective Well-Being for All? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(1), 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010132</p
Longitudinal Preceptor Assessment of Entrustable Professional Activities Across Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences
No full textThe objective was to evaluate the growth in pharmacy student performance in entrustable professional activity (EPA) assessments across the experiential curriculum based on preceptor assessments on an entrustment–supervision (ES) scale. This retrospective cohort study used assessments based on the 2016 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Core EPAs and an expanded ES scale during introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs/APPEs) in the third and fourth professional years from fall 2020 to fall 2023. The primary outcome was the change in ES level, assessed by preceptors over time. The secondary outcomes were growth rates across types of experiences, training environments, and experience order. A conditional growth curve model and ordinal mixed effects model were used to demonstrate discrete entrustment decisions. A total of 509 students received 12,426 assessments by 557 preceptors. Raw ES levels and unconditional growth curves for EPA show increases in entrustability from years P3 to P4. Comparing care settings, there was lower entrustment in inpatient than outpatient settings and at academic medical centers than other settings. There were no significant differences in ES levels regardless of which IPPE was taken first. However, when the first APPE was an inpatient medicine experience, ES levels across APPEs for EPA 3 were higher when compared to ambulatory care as the first APPE, and they were higher for EPA 5 when compared to community pharmacy as the first APPE. Paired with ES scales, EPAs can be integrated into pharmacy experiential curricula to demonstrate longitudinal growth in student entrustment.</p
"How could you be so oblivious?": Positive epistemic duties and oppressive ignorance
No full textAbstract: You’re on the train home after a long day. You exit at your station, still thinking about work. A few minutes later, you stop; something is off. It takes you a moment to realize that you missed a turn and obliviously walked several blocks in the wrong direction. This paper does three things. First, I identify and provide an account of a familiar phenomenon that I term obliviousness. On this account, obliviousness occurs when an agent non-deliberately fails to take a rational route to some belief p that is immediately available to them at t that they ought to have taken. I propose that an agent ought to take such a rational route to belief when this is directly relevant to pursuing an aim that S is or should be actively pursuing at t. Second, I argue that, despite the reference to aims in the account, obliviousness centrally involves an epistemic failure, thereby indicating that we have positive epistemic duties. As part of making this case, I sketch a non-ideal picture of epistemic normativity on which, in light of our human limitations, practical (including moral) factors help determine the scope of our epistemic duties—without thereby instrumentalizing epistemic rationality. Third, I show that obliviousness can function as oppressive ignorance. I highlight how social conditions shape key cognitive dispositions such as to cultivate patterns of ignorance in ways that often escape our deliberate control and awareness. This suggests that we have epistemic as well as moral reasons to ameliorate unjust social conditions.Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.</p
Time’s Up! The End of ESSER Funding and the Future of Illinois School Districts
No full textExecutive SummaryThe federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program delivered 7.8 billion for Illinois, to stabilize school operations during COVID-19, address learning loss, expand digital access, support student mental health, reduce class sizes, and sustain critical staffing. The expiration of this funding marks a pivotal turning point in K–12 education finance. Districts serving low-income students relied heavily on ESSER to launch and scale tutoring programs, extended learning opportunities, counseling services, and literacy initiatives that helped narrow post-pandemic achievement gaps. These districts now face mounting fiscal pressures that threaten to reverse hard-won gains. This Policy Brief examines ESSER’s sunset impact on the 2025–2026 school year and identifies state policy options to sustain its most effective interventions.What did Illinois districts spend ESSER funding on, and what progress was made?ESSER funds in Illinois have primarily been directed toward five focal areas (Illinois State Board of Education, 2025):Expanding tutoring and intervention programs to address learning lossInvesting in technology and broadband access for remote learningEnhancing mental health and social-emotional support servicesHiring additional staff and reducing class sizesImplementing COVID-19 safety protocols in school buildingsWhile comprehensive impact evaluation continues, available data show positive relationships between ESSER investment and student outcomes. Illinois districts allocating approximately 45% of ESSER funds to staffing maintained higher math and reading achievement on IAR and SAT assessments during the pandemic, while districts investing only 3% in staffing experienced larger achievement declines and slower recovery (Cashdollar et al., 2024).Chicago Public Schools exemplifies these patterns. Serving 17% of Illinois students (90% students of color, 71% low-income), CPS experienced larger pandemic-related achievement declines than the state average but demonstrated faster recovery rates in both IAR reading and math (Barragan Torres et al., 2024).What are the implications?With ESSER funding expired and Illinois facing budget challenges, districts that expanded tutoring, hired counselors and social workers, and reduced class sizes with federal dollars are now scaling back (ISBE, 2024). In turn, many districts expect larger class sizes, with many anticipating hiring delays or position losses (Smylie, 2025). Education stakeholders are watching how these changes affect student outcomes, especially for populations that benefited most from expanded services (FutureEd, 2024).</p
Integrating machine learning for treatment decisions in anterior open bite orthodontic cases: A retrospective study
No full textINTRODUCTION: This article explores the integration of machine learning (ML) algorithms to aid in treatment planning and extraction decisions for anterior open bite cases, leveraging demographic, clinical, and radiographic data to predict treatment outcomes and informed decision-making. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted using patient data from the University of Illinois Chicago Department of Orthodontics. Data included demographic, clinical, and radiographic information from 115 anterior open bite patients who successfully completed their treatment. ML algorithms, including random forest, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbor, and convolutional neural networks (CNN), were trained on a subset of the data to predict treatment outcomes. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed in the percentages of males and females between the extraction and nonextraction groups and cephalometric variables between the two groups, which include maxillary depth, maxillary height, SN-palatal plane, facial angle, facial axis-Ricketts, FMA, total facial height, lower facial height, SNA, SNB, and SN-MP e ML algorithms examined consisted of CNN2, CNN1, and Random Forest, which demonstrated the highest accuracy rates (∼83%), while k-Nearest Neighbor had the lowest (∼73%). Key features influencing accuracy included crowding, SN-palatal plane, SNA, FMA, molar relation, and facial height measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The study's evaluation of AI algorithms showed that CNN2, CNN1, and random forest had an accuracy of approximately 83% in classifying extraction versus nonextraction cases. Notably, features such as U-crowding, L-crowding, SN-palatal plane, SNA, FMA, molar relation, total facial height, lower facial height, and facial axis-Ricketts were most influential in achieving accuracy rates comparable to traditional methods.</p
<b>Depletion of Natural Killer Cells Enhances Wound Healing in Diabetic Mice</b>
No full textNatural Killer (NK cells) are known for their killing function in infection- and tumor-related responses, but also can shape immune responses involved in physiological processes such as wound healing. We recently reported that NK cells accumulate in skin wounds and express pro-inflammatory cytokines that may impede healing. Since impaired wound healing in diabetes is associated with persistent inflammation, the purpose of the present study was to determine whether NK cells contribute to impaired skin wound healing of diabetic mice. Here, we show that NK cells accumulate at higher levels in wounds in diabetic, and exhibit less mature phenotypes, compared to non-diabetic mice. In addition, local neutralization of CX3CL1 reduced NK cell accumulation in wounds of diabetic mice, suggesting that CX3CL1 plays a role in the infiltration of these cells to the wound site. Finally, depletion of NK cells in diabetic wounds improved re-epithelization and collagen deposition, suggesting that the elevated levels of NK cells contribute to impaired healing associated with diabetes.Cavalcante-Silva, J., & Koh, T. J. (2025). Depletion of natural killer cells enhances wound healing in diabetic mice. Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 117(5), qiaf044. https://doi.org/10.1093/jleuko/qiaf044</p
Island colonization in flowering plants is determined by the interplay of breeding system, lifespan, floral symmetry, and arrival opportunity
No full textAmong flowering plants, self-compatibility, longer lifespan, and generalized pollination syndrome are each thought to increase the lifetime odds of finding a mate, particularly in isolated locales. An accumulated body of evidence supports the role of breeding system in island colonization, but less is known about the impact of other traits and their interactions during establishment. We employ a global dataset of 3222 flowering plant species from 169 families to estimate the effects of traits on the probability of island occurrence. Our analyses additionally account for taxonomic group membership and assess the role of island arrival opportunity. Self-compatibility is strongly associated with island colonization. A longer lifespan and generalized pollination syndrome are also associated with increased island colonization, although this is influenced by their interaction with breeding system. The probability of island colonization is highly dependent on taxonomically conserved unmeasured traits and arrival opportunity. As expected, mate limitation appears to increase with dispersal distance, although many other factors are at play. We find that arrival opportunity and breeding system are the primary drivers of island colonization relative to other life-history traits we account for here, lending additional support for the positive role of uniparental reproduction in establishment following long-distance dispersal.</p
Neonatal birth trauma: identifying new risk factors and short-term outcomes
No full textBackground: Advancements in prenatal diagnosis and obstetric care have changed the epidemiology of neonatal birth trauma in developed countries. Improving women's access to health care is key to preventing, detecting, and treating conditions that increase pregnancy complications and adverse neonatal outcomes.
Objective: To identify new risk factors-focusing on social determinants of health-and short-term outcomes associated with neonatal birth trauma.
Study design: Term neonates with unexpected complications born between January 1, 2019, and March 31, 2023, at 10 diverse hospitals in our health system were identified using Perinatal Care-06 coding. Maternal and neonatal charts were reviewed and recorded in REDCap. Neonates with and without birth trauma were assigned to case and control groups, respectively. Risk factors were identified using Pearson chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression.
Results: Of 711 neonates, 187 (26.3%) experienced birth trauma, primarily scalp injuries (Caput Succedaneum 42%, Ecchymosis/Bruising 27%). There were no significant differences in race, language barriers, insurance type, marital status, prenatal care access, mean household income (zip code), gestational age, maternal height, birth weight, or head circumference (all p > 0.05). Significant differences were observed in maternal age (p = 0.042), gravidity (p = 0.04), and parity (p = 0.002), with affected mothers being younger, with fewer pregnancies and lower parity. Mothers with chronic or gestational hypertension, with or without preeclampsia, had higher odds of neonatal birth trauma (OR = 1.582, 95% CI: 1.081-2.316, p = 0.018). Emergent deliveries nearly tripled the odds (OR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.934-4.054, p p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Social determinants and prenatal care access did not significantly impact birth trauma. However, hypertension, exposure to epidural anesthesia and emergent delivery were associated with an increased risk.</p
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