107159 research outputs found
Sort by
Stool recognition for colorectal cancer detection through deep learning
No full textColorectal cancer is the most common cancer in Singapore and the third most common cancer worldwide. Blood in a person's stool is a symptom of this disease, and it is usually detected by the faecal occult blood test (FOBT). However, the FOBT presents several limitations: the collection process for the stool samples is tedious and unpleasant, the waiting period for results is around two weeks and costs are involved. In this research, we propose a simple-to-use, fast and cost-free alternative - a stool recognition neural network that determines if there is blood in one's stool (which indicates a possible risk of colorectal cancer) from an image of it. As this is a new classification task, there was limited data available, hindering classifier performance. Hence, various generative adversarial networks (GANs) (DiffAugment StyleGAN2, DCGAN, Conditional GAN) were trained to generate images of high fidelity to supplement the dataset. Subsequently, images generated by the GAN with the most realistic images (DiffAugment StyleGAN2) were concatenated to the classifier's training batch on-the-fly, improving accuracy to 94 %. This model was then deployed to a mobile app - Poolice, where users can take a photo of their stool and obtain instantaneous results if there is blood in their stool, prompting those who do to seek medical advice. As “early detection saves lives”, we hope our app built on our stool recognition neural network can help people detect colorectal cancer earlier, so they can seek treatment and have higher chances of survival
Selected drugs, therapeutic alternatives, and price benchmarks for IPAY 2027 Medicare drug price negotiation
No full textBACKGROUND: On or before November 1, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will report the agreed-upon negotiated prices (maximum fair prices [MFPs]) for the second round of up to 15 Medicare Part D drugs selected for price negotiation (Initial Price Applicability Year 2027). OBJECTIVE: To propose guideline-recommended therapeutic alternatives and estimate price benchmarks that may be considered by CMS for negotiation. METHODS: We identified US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved indications for the 15 drugs selected for negotiation. We used 2022 Medicare claims data to identify drug-specific beneficiary utilization. Medical claims with International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes for each indication were evaluated to estimate relative indication-specific utilization. We examined published clinical guidelines to identify and propose therapeutic alternatives for each drug and the most prevalent, FDA-approved indication. For negotiation price benchmarks, we report (1) the list price, (2) the estimated net price after manufacturer discounts, (3) the minimum statutory discount, and (4) the ceiling of the MFP. All price benchmarks were estimated at the product level, for a 30-day equivalent dosing, using Medicare Part D dashboard and IQVIA data. We also estimated net prices for the proposed therapeutic alternatives. RESULTS: Four drugs were identified to have 1 (deutetrabenazine, linaclotide, and nintedanib-esylate) or no (rifaximin) therapeutic alternative. Eight of the 15 selected drugs will have the ceiling price set by the minimum statutory discount. Four products (acalabrutinib, semaglutide, linagliptin, and sitagliptin/metformin) will include therapeutic alternatives and MFPs from the first round of negotiation. The selection of therapeutic alternatives and estimation of price benchmarks by CMS will set the initial conditions for subsequent price negotiation. CONCLUSIONS: These analyses identify the likely ceiling price and various initial price offer scenarios for the second round of Medicare price negotiation. We report price benchmarks and likely therapeutic alternatives to improve transparency around the opaque CMS negotiation process
Education during polarization: investigating the family experiences of students of NLM and MLN
No full textIn recent years, two central (federally funded) universities in India have consistently been in the limelight due to student-led activism on campus, garnering significant negative political and media attention. While one is left-leaning political affiliation, the other one takes the spotlight for being a minority institution. This chapter examines how, in the Indian subcontinent, an individual's choice of higher education and eventual career is primarily shaped by their family and, by extension, the family's political socialization. It uses 16 semi-structured interviews between students from both institutions to study their experiences at the epicenter of India's polarizing context. Through a qualitative thematic analysis of their responses, we study the tendency to sustain or appease one's family as a means of social acceptance and how it plays a significant role in ensuring kinship ties, where deviance is not merely frowned upon but also leads to severe consequences. By doing so, we aim to identify the family dynamics that arise from a student's educational choices as a member of an “otherized” institution. This will extend the scope of studying polarizing family dynamics in the South-Asian context
Archeology as a critical mode of inquiry in global politics
No full textThe reception of Michel Foucault’s work has been extensive in International Relations (IR). Yet the bulk of Foucauldian scholarship has favored genealogy, discourse, and governmentality at the expense of archeology. As a result, the discipline’s engagement with Foucault’s early writings and the elaborate meta-theoretical reflections he assembled in The Archeology of Knowledge has remained sporadic and dispersed. Despite decades of productive Foucauldian research agendas in IR, the question what an archeological outlook entails and what it might offer to the discipline therefore remains unanswered. In this article, I address this research gap by exploring what is at stake in archeology as a mode of inquiry and I argue that it bears unrealized critical and creative potentials for IR, International Political Sociology, and the study of global politics. Specifically, I aim to show that archeology aids in the craft of political ontologies: it can be mobilized to formulate interpretive strategies and conceptual tools for rendering visible the relational constitution and power-ridden emergence of the social worlds that we study and inhabit. The article critically interrogates the reception of Foucauldian ideas in IR and formulates an innovative plea for (re)turning to archeology and taking it seriously as a way of conducting critical IR research. Moreover, the article also contributes to conversations on critical methodology and the art of scholarly inquiry in IR and beyond by providing an in-depth discussion of how archeology can be mobilized and what work it may perform in empirical research endeavors
Pete Millwood. Improbable diplomats: how ping-pong players, musicians, and scientists remade US-China relations
No full textGames and gamification projects in the Australian public sector
No full textThis article surveys the arrival of gameful government into Australian public sector practice. Gameful government is a shorthand, descriptive term denoting the interpenetration of (video)games, and design elements and thinking from them, into public sector work. Knowledge of gameful government is limited, in Australia and internationally, due to localised usage, low visibility, and limited understanding beyond informed observers. Our study partially redresses this under‐exploration of public sector games and gamification, both empirically and ethically. To do so, we detail the history of gaming for public sector purposes, a story starting with wargaming. Then, we categorise past and current gameful Australian public sector projects into a typology with five categories: recruitment; training and learning; public communication and policy education; engagement; and implementation and evaluation. We analyse the typology categories and characteristic cases within them. Finally, we assess the benefits and risks of gameful government for citizens and public sector practice. Points for practitioners: Knowledge, skills, and practices from (video)game play and development are increasingly prevalent within the Australian public sector. This article descriptively terms this gameful government. Despite a range of current use cases—for recruitment, training and learning, public communication and policy education, public engagement, implementation, and evaluation—Australian public sector examples are localised, particularly in Defence. Realising the potential of games for public sector and societal ends will require broader acknowledgement and understanding of this practice, as part of larger shifts in public sector capability and technological transformation
The transnational flow of conspiracy theories reflects our fractured world
No full textOnline conspiracy theories can spread rapidly across the world. Yet as Zichen (Jess) Hu writes, the way conspiracy narratives are interpreted and reframed in different contexts reflects a fractured global order
Reorienting climate litigation in a time of backlash
No full textRestrictions on civil society may drive climate activists to shift from protest to litigation. However, challenges to judicial independence, deregulation, and anti-climate litigation mean that activists need to consider the conditions under which litigation leads to strengthened climate ambition and implementation