American Journal Experts (United States)

Human Biology is a young science asking the oldest of questions: Who are we? From what did we evolve? How did we deal with threats to our existence? What physiological and morphological adaptations did we develop that allowed our survival and fitness through evolutionary time? In the 21st century, after over three million years of human evolutionary change, what biological characteristics allow us to deal with the existential onslaught that is now affecting our daily lives? These questions are not just interesting in their own right, but their answers are fundamental to the future of our species and are critically important to addressing long-standing inequities in health outcomes among human populations around the world. Arguably, the most important characteristic of Homo sapiens is our ability to acquire and use knowledge to understand the world around us. In that acquisition, it is the identification of the problem, the sharing of the search, and the answers that allows our onward existence. Threats to the research that targets those specific questions are a threat to humanity. Since the dawn of the enlightenment in the 17th century, the speed with which we have been able to acquire and use knowledge has gathered pace, requiring ever more sophisticated methods of the sharing and transfer of knowledge through education so that the next generation profits from our endeavors and continues the journey. We believe that threats exist to the educational and research methods that are the basis of our academic freedom to explore existential questions. These threats to science and promotion of conspiracy theories must be identified and rejected. The consequences of the actions by the Trump administration are being felt across academia, research institutions, international development agencies, and in the broader global scientific community. As international organizations of Human Biologists, we believe that our collective voice must be heard at this time of crisis to argue for and create a constructive future pathway and not one that destroys the very advantages that have made our species so successful. We believe that government policies that emphasize deregulation, budget cuts, and restrictions on research and global engagement in the health and life sciences are ultimately destructive and must be objected to at every juncture. We join the voices of our colleagues internationally and through the American National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine when we agree that while we hold diverse political beliefs, we are united as researchers in wanting to protect independent scientific inquiry for the future of our species. Statement of Editorial Independence: The views expressed here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

No abstract available.

The integration of AI is anticipated to bring a major transformation to the quality, value, and impact of radiology on patient care and population health, as well as radiologists' workflows, over the next decade.AI technologies are already being applied across various dental specialties, including orthodontics.There are various applications of AI in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.AI is expected to ease the daily workload of physicians and reduce the incidence of misdiagnosis or underdiagnosis in dental practice.Although AI systems are a valuable resource in both dentistry and dental education, it's crucial to recognize that these technological advancements stem from human innovation and discovery.The ability of a machine to mimic intelligent human behaviors to perform complicated tasks like problem-solving, object and word recognition, and decision-making is known as artificial intelligence or AI [1,2].AI has gained popularity recently in several areas, including dentistry, where its uses in oral and maxillofacial imaging show significant promise.Because radiology creates digitally coded images, integrating AI into medical procedures is much simpler [3].Convolutional neural networks, which are capable of handling tasks including image categorization, detection, segmentation, registration, creation, and refinement, are the main focus of recent studies in oral and maxillofacial radiology [4].In this field, artificial intelligence systems have been developed for image analysis, forensic dentistry, radiography diagnosis, and picture quality enhancement [4].However, obtaining useful results necessitates large data sets, and oral and maxillofacial radiologists play a critical role in creating reliable and consistent datasets, which can take a lot of time.The use of AI is expected to bring about a dramatic revolution in the next ten years regarding the workflows of radiologists and the impact of radiology on population health and patient care.Dentists need to use their skills to evaluate patients, choose the best course of treatment, and make clinically sound prognostic judgments.They might, however, occasionally lack the expertise needed to act swiftly and decisively in clinical decisions.Applications of AI can be useful tools for improving performance and decision-making.AI is already being used in several dental specializations, such as orthodontics.The majority of current research focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) models that use artificial neural networks (ANNs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) [5].AI developments are anticipated to lessen the everyday burden on healthcare professionals and lower the number of dental misdiagnoses and underdiagnoses.Radiological image research encompasses tasks such as segmenting and classifying teeth, automatically labeling anatomical structures, performing cephalometric analysis, detecting early dental diseases and periodontal conditions, and using jaw radiographs to diagnose specific diseases like osteoporosis [6].

After three years of continuous Medicaid coverage as permitted by COVID-19-related waivers, in 2023 counties had to begin redeterminations of eligibility, "unwinding" this continuous coverage. As unwinding and eligibility determination continues, Medicaid expansion has begun, and county public health leaders are navigating uncertain but exciting waters. Lisa Macon Harrison, MPH, of Granville Vance Public Health, and Joshua Swift, MPH, of Forsyth County Department of Public Health, share their experiences, concerns, and hopes for the future.

The Leon Levine Foundation provides funding to health care, human services, and education nonprofits throughout North and South Carolina, with a focus on supporting self-reliance and Jewish values. The North Carolina Medical Journal sat down with President & CEO Tom Lawrence to learn how the Foundation is addressing health disparities.

This article provides a sociolinguistic assessment of Gansu Bonan, a Mongolic language in the Amdo sprachbund spoken by a small Muslim minority located in Jishishan County, Linxia Prefecture. The results show that, although vitality varies considerably between villages, the language overall is threatened by the encroachment of Northwest Mandarin. If current trends continue, the Bonan population is likely to eventually assimilate into the regionally dominant Hui minority, resulting in a loss of diversity among the Muslim communities of Amdo.

Women are representing a larger proportion of the military population than ever before. Thus, women are experiencing the effects of being in combat zones. Fifty-seven percent of discharged service women report moderate to high levels of combat exposure and traumatic experiences. [1] A major issue in returning from deployment is reintegrating into civilian life. This was an exploratory study to determine difficulties in reintegration for women veterans and servicewoman. It was found that women who served in combat, contrasted with those who did not, did not report any greater use of drugs nor problems reintegrating to civilian life, nor score higher on PTSD. Thus, serving in a combat zone did not create unique problems for these women. They did report one specific difference: being bothered by memories. This finding lends credibility to the results, as it makes sense that those women who served in a combat zone would have more significant negative memories than those women who did not serve in a combat zone. In general, the married veterans reported the least problems with reintegrating to civilian life. Thus, having that kind of support was very helpful. However, for those veterans who felt they needed psychological help after serving, the biggest problem was in relating to their spouse. Thus, these results reflect the importance of having a strong source of support when one leaves the military and returns to civilian life. Finally, these results show that these women veterans could handle their combat experience.