Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 25, 2014 / Notices 70187 

TOTAL ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN—HOURS

Type of 

respondent Form name Number of respondents 

Number 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total 

burden 

hours 

Charged at rate of Healthcare Providers and Suppliers.Form A ............................................. 240 1 11/60 44 

Charged at rate of Beneficiaries ....... Form A ............................................. 160 1 11/60 29 

Total ........................................... ........................................................... 400 1 11/60 73 

OS specifically requests comments on 

(1) the necessity and utility of the 

proposed information collection for the 

proper performance of the agency’s 

functions, (2) the accuracy of the 

estimated burden, (3) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected, and (4) the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology to minimize the information 

collection burden. 

Darius Taylor, 

Information Collection Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2014–27835 Filed 11–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4150–46–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the Secretary 

Findings of Research Misconduct 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) 

has taken final action in the following 

case: 

Dr. Igor Dzhura, Vanderbilt 

University: Based on an inquiry 

conducted and admission obtained by 

Vanderbilt University (VU) and 

additional analysis conducted by ORI in 

its oversight review, ORI found that Dr. 

Igor Dzhura, former Senior Research 

Associate, Department of Biomedical 

Engineering, VU, engaged in research 

misconduct in research supported by 

U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) funds, 

specifically National Heart, Lung, and 

Blood Institute (NHLBI), National 

Institutes of Health (NIH), grants R01 

HL070250, R01 HL062494, P01 

HL046681, and K08 HL03727, National 

Institute of Arthritis and 

Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 

(NIAMS), NIH, grant R01 AR044864, 

National Institute of Mental Health 

(NIMH), NIH, grant R01 MH063232, 

National Institute of Allergy and 

Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH, grant 

U01 AI06223, and National Cancer 

Institute (NCI), NIH, grant U54 

CA113007. 

ORI found that Respondent engaged 

in research misconduct by providing 

falsified and/or fabricated data to his 

supervisor and colleagues. Specifically, 

Respondent: 

• Submitted falsified cytosolic calcium 

buffering experiments to his research 

supervisor by misrepresenting 

apparent action potential traces; these 

actually were fluorescent calcium 

transients merged with sodium 

calcium exchange currents from a 

different experiment; Respondent 

admitted to falsely claiming ten 

replicates for each trace when only 

testing three to five cells 

• falsified sodium calcium exchange 

(NCX) activity in Very Long Chain 

Acid Dehydrogenase Deficient 

(VLCAD) mice versus wild type mice 

in a PowerPoint presentation by 

falsely labeling and manipulating 

NCX data from a different experiment 

testing an unrelated compound; the 

effect was to falsely claim a difference 

in NCX activity between the two 

mouse phenotypes 

• provided a falsified Figure 6C in a 

manuscript submitted to Nature Cell 

Biology, while claiming that the data 

were based on Respondent’s memory 

of his data that had purportedly been 

collected and lost; Respondent 

claimed to have tested one hundred 

fifty (150) cells for their action 

potential characteristics when the 

experimental record only accounted 

for approximately twenty (20). 

ORI found that Respondent engaged 

in research misconduct by falsifying 

and/or fabricating the research record of 

patch-clamp data. Specifically, 

Respondent: 

• Created a hierarchy of computer 

folders containing duplicated and 

renamed files; the falsified groups of 

files included eighty-two (82) groups 

of duplicated files with each group 

containing two to twenty-one (2–21) 

duplicates, which made it appear that 

experiments were conducted when 

they were not 

• used the falsified and/or fabricated 

data files in Figure 6 of a paper 

published in the American Journal of 

Physiology-Heart and Circulatory 

Physiology (292(5):H2202–H2211, 

2007), to represent Ca+ currents in 

cardiac myocytes from CLCAD-/- 

mice; specifically, Respondent 

claimed that Figure 6 represented 

results from seven (7) mice when the 

data files were three (3) sets of 

duplicated and renamed files plus one 

additional data file. All of the data 

files were part of larger groups of 

identical duplicated and renamed 

data files on the Respondent’s hard 

drive. 

ORI found that Respondent engaged 

in research misconduct by submitting 

and publishing multiple falsified and/or 

fabricated action potential traces and 

summary data in at least sixty-nine (69) 

images in twelve (12) different figures 

across seven (7) publications and three 

(3) grant applications by duplication 

and relabeling of traces; resizing, 

modifying, and splicing different traces; 

and modifying and/or duplicating bar 

graphs. 

The evidence established that 

Respondent engaged in research 

misconduct, as defined by the PHS 

regulation, in that he significantly 

departed from accepted research 

practices by engaging in the intentional 

and knowing fabrication and 

falsification of data files. 

Dr. Dzhura has entered into a 

Voluntary Exclusion Agreement 

(Agreement) and has voluntarily agreed 

for a period of three (3) years, beginning 

on October 29, 2014: 

(1) To exclude himself from any 

contracting or subcontracting with any 

agency of the United States Government 

and from eligibility or involvement in 

nonprocurement programs of the United 

States Government referred to as 

‘‘covered transactions’’ pursuant to 

HHS’ Implementation (2 CFR part 376 et 

seq) of OMB Guidelines to Agencies on 

Governmentwide Debarment and 

Suspension, 2 CFR part 180 (collectively 

the ‘‘Debarment Regulations’’); 


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70188 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 25, 2014 / Notices 

(2) to exclude himself from serving in 

any advisory capacity to PHS including, 

but not limited to, service on any PHS 

advisory committee, board, and/or peer 

review committee, or as a consultant; 

and 

(3) to retract or correct the following 

publications: 

• Nature Cell Biology 2:173–177, 2000 

• J. Physiol. 535(3):679–687, 2001 

• Circulation 106:1288–1293, 2002 

• J. Physiol. 545(2):399–406, 2002 

• J. Physiol. 550(3):731–738, 2003 

• FASEB J. 19:1573–1585, 2005 

• Molecular Cell 23:641–650, 2006 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Acting Director, Office of Research 

Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 

750, Rockville, MD 20852, (240) 453– 

8200. 

Donald Wright, 

Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity. 

[FR Doc. 2014–27813 Filed 11–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research 

and Quality, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

intention of the Agency for Healthcare 

Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) approve the proposed 

changes to the currently approved 

information collection project: ‘‘Medical 

Expenditure Panel Survey (AMPS) 

Household Component’’ In accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 

U.S.C. 3501–3521, AHRQ invites the 

public to comment on this proposed 

information collection. 

This proposed information collection 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on August 29th, 2014 and 

allowed 60 days for public comment. 

One comment was received. The 

purpose of this notice is to allow an 

additional 30 days for public comment. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received by December 26, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be submitted to: AHRQ’s OMB Desk 

Officer by fax at (202) 395–6974 

(attention: AHRQ’s desk officer) or by 

email at OIRA_submission@

omb.eop.gov (attention: AHRQ’s desk 

officer). 

Copies of the proposed collection 

plans, data collection instruments, and 

specific details on the estimated burden 

can be obtained from the AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 

Clearance Officer, (301) 427–1477, or by 

email at doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Project 

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

(MEPS) Household Component 

For over thirty years, results from the 

MEPS and its predecessor surveys (the 

1977 National Medical Care 

Expenditure Survey, the 1980 National 

Medical Care Utilization and 

Expenditure Survey and the 1987 

National Medical Expenditure Survey) 

have been used by OMB, DHHS, 

Congress and a wide number of health 

services researchers to analyze health 

care use, expenses and health policy. 

Major changes continue to take place 

in the health care system. The MEPS is 

needed to provide information about the 

current state of the health care system 

as well as to track changes over time. 

The MEPS permits annual estimates of 

use of health care and expenditures and 

sources of payment for that health care. 

It also permits tracking individual 

change in employment, income, health 

insurance and health status over two 

years. The use of the National Health 

Interview Survey (NHIS) as a sampling 

frame expands the MEPS analytic 

capacity by providing another data 

point for comparisons over time. 

Households selected for participation 

in the MEPS–HC are interviewed in 

person five times. These rounds of 

interviewing are spaced about 5 months 

apart. The interview will take place 

with a family respondent who will 

report for him/herself and for other 

family members. 

The MEPS–HC has the following goal: 

• To provide nationally 

representative estimates for the U.S. 

civilian noninstitutionalized population 

for health care use, expenditures, 

sources of payment and health 

insurance coverage. 

This study is being conducted by 

AHRQ through its contractor, Westat, 

pursuant to AHRQ’s statutory authority 

to conduct and support research on 

health care and on systems for the 

delivery of such care, including 

activities with respect to the cost and 

use of health care services and with 

respect to health statistics and surveys. 

42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(3) and (8); 42 U.S.C. 

299b–2. 

Method of Collection 

To achieve the goals of the MEPS–HC 

the following data collections are 

implemented: 

1. Household Component Core 

Instrument. The core instrument 

collects data about persons in sample 

households. Topical areas asked in each 

round of interviewing include condition 

enumeration, health status, health care 

utilization including prescribed 

medicines, expense and payment, 

employment, and health insurance. 

Other topical areas that are asked only 

once a year include access to care, 

income, assets, satisfaction with health 

plans and providers, children’s health, 

and adult preventive care. While many 

of the questions are asked about the 

entire reporting unit, which is typically 

a family, only one person normally 

provides this information. 

2. Adult Self Administered 

Questionnaire. A brief self-administered 

questionnaire (SAQ) will be used to 

collect self-reported (rather than 

through household proxy) information 

on health status, health opinions and 

satisfaction with health care for adults 

18 and older. The items on satisfaction 

with health care are a subset from the 

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare 

Providers and Systems. The health 

status items are from the Short Form 12 

Version 2, which has been widely used 

as a measure of self-reported health 

status in the United States, the Kessler 

Index of non-specific psychological 

distress, and the Patient Health 

Questionnaire. 

3. Diabetes Care SAQ. A brief selfadministered, paper-and-pencil 

questionnaire on the quality of diabetes 

care is administered once a year, during 

rounds 3 and 5, to persons identified as 

having diabetes. Included are questions 

about the number of times the 

respondent reported having a 

hemoglobin A1c blood test, whether the 

respondent reported having his or her 

feet checked for sores or irritations, 

whether the respondent reported having 

an eye exam in which his or her pupils 

were dilated, the last time the 

respondent had his or her blood 

cholesterol checked and whether the 

diabetes has caused kidney or eye 

problems. Respondents are also asked if 

their diabetes is being treated with diet, 

oral medications or insulin. 

4. Permission forms for the MEPS– 

MPC Provider and Pharmacy Survey. As 

in previous panels of the MEPS, we will 

ask respondents for permission to obtain 

supplemental information from their 

medical providers (hospitals, 

physicians, home health agencies and 

institutions) and pharmacies. 


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