Diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphism markers to identify hybridization between dromedary and Bactrian camels

This article sets out findings from a small-scale collaborative project evaluating the use of a self-audit tool to promote the development of information literacy in MA social work students at a university in the north of England. The project involved the use of the audit tool early in the first and second years of a two-year professional masters programme and, alongside this, completion of two evaluation questionnaires. Analysis of the data suggested substantially increased confidence(measured by self-report) in the identified skills over the first year of the programme. The authors recognise that many factors may contribute to improved confidence and skills. Nevertheless, students identified use of the tool and the signposting to resources within it as helpful, and most felt that the stated aims had been met

Prevention of HPV-Related Cancers in Norway: Cost-Effectiveness of Expanding the HPV Vaccination Program to Include Pre-Adolescent Boys

Background: Increasingly, countries have introduced female vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), causally linked to several cancers and genital warts, but few have recommended vaccination of boys. Declining vaccine prices and strong evidence of vaccine impact on reducing HPV-related conditions in both women and men prompt countries to reevaluate whether HPV vaccination of boys is warranted. Methods: A previously-published dynamic model of HPV transmission was empirically calibrated to Norway. Reductions in the incidence of HPV, including both direct and indirect benefits, were applied to a natural history model of cervical cancer, and to incidence-based models for other non-cervical HPV-related diseases. We calculated the health outcomes and costs of the different HPV-related conditions under a gender-neutral vaccination program compared to a female-only program. Results: Vaccine price had a decisive impact on results. For example, assuming 71% coverage, high vaccine efficacy and a reasonable vaccine tender price of $75 per dose, we found vaccinating both girls and boys fell below a commonly cited cost-effectiveness threshold in Norway ($83,000/quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained) when including vaccine benefit for all HPV-related diseases. However, at the current market price, including boys would not be considered ‘good value for money.’ For settings with a lower cost-effectiveness threshold ($30,000/QALY), it would not be considered cost-effective to expand the current program to include boys, unless the vaccine price was less than$36/dose. Increasing vaccination coverage to 90% among girls was more effective and less costly than the benefits achieved by vaccinating both genders with 71% coverage. Conclusions: At the anticipated tender price, expanding the HPV vaccination program to boys may be cost-effective and may warrant a change in the current female-only vaccination policy in Norway. However, increasing coverage in girls is uniformly more effective and cost-effective than expanding vaccination coverage to boys and should be considered a priority

Provider reported implementation of nutrition-related practices in childcare centers and family childcare homes in rural and urban Nebraska

Approximately 15 million children under age 6 are in childcare settings, offering childcare providers an opportunity to influence children’s dietary intake. Childcare settings vary in organizational structure – childcare centers (CCCs) vs. family childcare homes (FCCHs) – and in geographical location – urban vs. rural. Research on the nutrition-related best practices across these childcare settings is scarce. The objective of this study is to compare nutrition-related best practices of CCCs and FCCHs that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) in rural and urban Nebraska. Nebraska providers (urban n = 591; rural n = 579) reported implementation level, implementation difficulty and barriers to implementing evidence-informed food served and mealtime practices. Chi-square tests comparing CCCs and FCCHs in urban Nebraska and CCCs and FCCHs in rural Nebraska showed sub-optimal implementation for some practices across all groups, including limiting fried meats and high sugar/ high fat foods, using healthier foods or non-food treats for celebrations and serving meals family style. Significant differences (p \u3c .05) between CCCs and FCCHs also emerged, especially with regard to perceived barriers to implementing best practices. For example, CCCs reported not having enough money to cover the cost of meals for providers, lack of control over foods served and storage problems, whereas FCCHs reported lack of time to prepare healthier foods and sit with children during mealtimes. Findings suggest that policy and public health interventions may need to be targeted to address the unique challenges of implementing evidence-informed practices within different organizational structures and geographic locations

Examining Differences in Achievement of Physical Activity Best Practices Between Urban and Rural Child Care Facilities by Age

Go Nutrition and Physical activity Self Assessment in Child Care (NAP SACC) is an evidence based intervention developed to positively impact childhood obesity in early childhood education (ECE) facilities. One focus of Go NAP SACC is the development of physical activity best practices. However, little research has examined differences in achievement of best practices based on age of child and geographic location. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the achievement of physical activity best practices between urban and rural childcare facilities by age-specific recommendations (infants, toddlers, and preschoolers) and in the overall physical activity environment. Urban (n = 207) and rural (n = 218) ECE facilities completed the Go NAP SACC process. Data were analyzed using an ANCOVA. A majority of facilities reported exceeding best practices (79.5%), however significant differences were found on 18 best practices with urban facilities outscoring their rural counterparts on 17 of these items. A comparison by age found that urban facilities reported higher achievement of best practices among infants (60%) in comparison to toddlers (40%) or preschoolers (30%). Future studies should continue to explore the rural–urban context of physical activity practices across the early childhood age groups to ensure healthy physical development of children

Positive impact of pre-stroke surgery on survival following transient focal ischemia in hypertensive rats

We describe a positive influence of pre-stroke surgery on recovery and survival in a commonly used experimental stroke model. Two groups of male, stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSPs) underwent transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). Group 1 underwent the procedure without any prior intervention whilst group 2 had an additional general anaesthetic 6 days prior to tMCAO for a cranial burrhole and durotomy. Post-stroke recovery was assessed using a 32 point neurological deficit score and tapered beam walk and infarct volume determined from haematoxylin–eosin stained sections. In group 2 survival was 92% (n = 12) versus 67% in group 1 (n = 18). In addition, post-tMCAO associated weight loss was significantly reduced in group 2. There was no significant difference between the two groups in experimental outcomes: infarct volume (Group 1 317 ± 18.6 mm<sup>3</sup> versus Group 2 332 ± 20.4 mm<sup>3</sup>), and serial (day 0–14 post-tMCAO) neurological deficit scores and tapered-beam walk test. Drilling a cranial burrhole under general anaesthesia prior to tMCAO in SHRSP reduced mortality and gave rise to infarct volumes and neurological deficits similar to those recorded in surviving Group 1 animals. This methodological refinement has significant implications for animal welfare and group sizes required for intervention studies

Cervical screening during the COVID-19 pandemic: optimising recovery strategies

Disruptions to cancer screening services have been experienced in most settings as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ideally, programmes would resolve backlogs by temporarily expanding capacity; however, in practice, this is often not possible. We aim to inform the deliberations of decision makers in high-income settings regarding their cervical cancer screening policy response. We caution against performance measures that rely solely on restoring testing volumes to pre-pandemic levels because they will be less effective at mitigating excess cancer diagnoses than will targeted measures. These measures might exacerbate pre-existing inequalities in accessing cervical screening by disregarding the risk profile of the individuals attending. Modelling of cervical screening outcomes before and during the pandemic supports risk-based strategies as the most effective way for screening services to recover. The degree to which screening is organised will determine the feasibility of deploying some risk-based strategies, but implementation of age-based risk stratification should be universally feasible.Health Research BoardNational Health and Medical Research Council AustraliaCancer Research UKCancer Institute NSWNational Institutes of Health USANorwegian Cancer SocietyNational Cancer Centre Japa

The Impact of Different Screening Model Structures on Cervical Cancer Incidence and Mortality Predictions: The Maximum Clinical Incidence Reduction (MCLIR) Methodology

Background. To interpret cervical cancer screening model results, we need to understand the influence of model structure and assumptions on cancer incidence and mortality predictions. Cervical cancer cases and deaths following screening can be attributed to 1) (precancerous or cancerous) disease that occurred after screening, 2) disease that was present but not screen detected, or 3) disease that was screen detected but not successfully treated. We examined the relative contributions of each of these using 4 Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) models. Methods. The maximum clinical incidence reduction (MCLIR) method compares changes in the number of clinically detected cervical cancers and mortality among 4 scenarios: 1) no screening, 2) one-time perfect screening at age 45 that detects all existing disease and delivers perfect (i.e., 100% effective) treatment of all screen-detected disease, 3) one-time realistic-sensitivity cytological screening and perfect treatment of all screen-detected disease, and 4) one-time realistic-sensitivity cytological screening and realistic-effectiveness treatment of all screen-detected disease. Results. Predicted incidence reductions ranged from 55% to 74%, and mortality reduction ranged from 56% to 62% within 15 years of follow-up for scenario 4 across models. The proportion of deaths due to disease not detected by screening differed across the models (21%–35%), as did the failure of treatment (8%–16%) and disease occurring after screening (from 1%–6%). Conclusions. The MCLIR approach aids in the interpretation of variability across model results. We showed that the reasons why screening failed to prevent cancers and deaths differed between the models. This likely reflects uncertainty about unobservable model inputs and structures; the impact of this uncertainty on policy conclusions should be examined via comparing findings from different well-calibrated and validated model platforms