308 research outputs found

    Prospectus, September 2, 1974

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    FACULTY, STUDENTS CONQUER REGISTRATION; Enrollment Procedures Eased By Mail; Dr. Staerkel Welcomes Student Body; Lonnie & The Lugnutz Top Activities; All-College Cookout And Activity Day Schedule; Meeting Set For Prospectus Jobs; Campus Artist Needed For Cartoon Series; StuGo Prexy, Karen Coleman, Offers Welcome; Adjusting To College Life; Parking Regulations; Convocations Plans Activities; Debaters Defend Championships; Music Director Ernie Hoffman Looking For Interested Students; Athletic Season Review; Fast Freddy\u27s Football Forecast; Kirby Wins Babe Ruth Scholarship; Don Grothe New Links Coach; Classified Ads; Here Are Your P/C Student Officers; SIMS Lecture Sept. 10; P/C Bridge Club Opens Season In Sunday Session; Prospectus Staff Salary Increase; M*A*S*H Headlines Film Season; StuGo Works Through Summer; Theatre Troupe To Hold Auditionshttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1974/1011/thumbnail.jp

    The influence of biophysical and socio-economic factors on the effectiveness of private land conservation areas in preventing natural land cover loss across South Africa

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    There is increasing interest in the potential of private land conservation areas (PLCAs) as a complementary biodiversity conservation strategy to state-owned protected areas. However, there is limited understanding of how the diverse social-ecological contexts of PLCAs influence their effectiveness in conserving biodiversity. Here, we investigated how the effectiveness of South African PLCAs in conserving biodiversity varied across social-ecological contexts, using natural land cover as a proxy. Social-ecological contexts were represented by biophysical and legal factors (distance to towns and roads, elevation, slope, terrain ruggedness, rainfall, PLCA size, distance to state-owned national parks, and presence of legal protection) and, for a subset of commercially-operated PLCAs, management factors (adopted business model, and profitability). Biophysical and legal contextual factors had low explanatory power in the best model for the nationwide analysis (n = 5121 PLCAs). For a subset of PLCAs (n = 72) we found that effectiveness depended on the strategy they adopted to generate an income, as opposed to the amount of income itself. PLCAs that attracted high volumes of visitors to small properties to view charismatic "Big 5" wildlife were less effective in conserving natural land cover than larger, more exclusive "Big 5" PLCAs and those focused on hunting. Overall, site-specific management factors were better at explaining the effectiveness of PLCAs than biophysical factors. Our findings indicate that conservation practitioners and policy makers need to recognise the diverse goals, motivations and management models of PLCAs when considering how to support them in conserving biodiversity. Future studies could explore whether these trends hold for other proxies of biodiversity conservation, beyond land cover change.Peer reviewe

    B-type natriuretic peptide-guided treatment for heart failure

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    Background Heart failure is a condition in which the heart does not pump enough blood to meet all the needs of the body. Symptoms of heart failure include breathlessness, fatigue and fluid retention. Outcomes for patients with heart failure are highly variable; however on average, these patients have a poor prognosis. Prognosis can be improved with early diagnosis and appropriate use of medical treatment, use of devices and transplantation. Patients with heart failure are high users of healthcare resources, not only due to drug and device treatments, but due to high costs of hospitalisation care. B‐type natriuretic peptide levels are already used as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of heart failure, but could offer to clinicians a possible tool to guide drug treatment. This could optimise drug management in heart failure patients whilst allaying concerns over potential side effects due to drug intolerance. Objectives To assess whether treatment guided by serial BNP or NT‐proBNP (collectively referred to as NP) monitoring improves outcomes compared with treatment guided by clinical assessment alone. Search methods Searches were conducted up to 15 March 2016 in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library; MEDLINE (OVID), Embase (OVID), the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database in the Cochrane Library. Searches were also conducted in the Science Citation Index Expanded, the Conference Proceedings Citation Index on Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry and ClinicalTrials.gov. We applied no date or language restrictions. Selection criteria We included randomised controlled trials of NP‐guided treatment of heart failure versus treatment guided by clinical assessment alone with no restriction on follow‐up. Adults treated for heart failure, in both in‐hospital and out‐of‐hospital settings, and trials reporting a clinical outcome were included. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently selected studies for inclusion, extracted data and evaluated risk of bias. Risk ratios (RR) were calculated for dichotomous data, and pooled mean differences (MD) (with 95% confidence intervals (CI)) were calculated for continuous data. We contacted trial authors to obtain missing data. Using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, we assessed the quality of the evidence and GRADE profiler (GRADEPRO) was used to import data from Review Manager to create a 'Summary of findings' table. Main results We included 18 randomised controlled trials with 3660 participants (range of mean age: 57 to 80 years) comparing NP‐guided treatment with clinical assessment alone. The evidence for all‐cause mortality using NP‐guided treatment showed uncertainty (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.01; patients = 3169; studies = 15; low quality of the evidence), and for heart failure mortality (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.54 to 1.30; patients = 853; studies = 6; low quality of evidence). The evidence suggested heart failure admission was reduced by NP‐guided treatment (38% versus 26%, RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.80; patients = 1928; studies = 10; low quality of evidence), but the evidence showed uncertainty for all‐cause admission (57% versus 53%, RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.03; patients = 1142; studies = 6; low quality of evidence). Six studies reported on adverse events, however the results could not be pooled (patients = 1144; low quality of evidence). Only four studies provided cost of treatment results, three of these studies reported a lower cost for NP‐guided treatment, whilst one reported a higher cost (results were not pooled; patients = 931, low quality of evidence). The evidence showed uncertainty for quality of life data (MD ‐0.03, 95% CI ‐1.18 to 1.13; patients = 1812; studies = 8; very low quality of evidence). We completed a 'Risk of bias' assessment for all studies. The impact of risk of bias from lack of blinding of outcome assessment and high attrition levels was examined by restricting analyses to only low 'Risk of bias' studies. Authors' conclusions In patients with heart failure low‐quality evidence showed a reduction in heart failure admission with NP‐guided treatment while low‐quality evidence showed uncertainty in the effect of NP‐guided treatment for all‐cause mortality, heart failure mortality, and all‐cause admission. Uncertainty in the effect was further shown by very low‐quality evidence for patient's quality of life. The evidence for adverse events and cost of treatment was low quality and we were unable to pool results.</p

    Expenditure and resource utilisation for cervical screening in Australia

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    BACKGROUND The National Cervical Screening Program in Australia currently recommends that women aged 18-69 years are screened with conventional cytology every 2 years. Publicly funded HPV vaccination was introduced in 2007, and partly as a consequence, a renewal of the screening program that includes a review of screening recommendations has recently been announced. This study aimed to provide a baseline for such a review by quantifying screening program resource utilisation and costs in 2010. METHODS A detailed model of current cervical screening practice in Australia was constructed and we used data from the Victorian Cervical Cytology Registry to model age-specific compliance with screening and follow-up. We applied model-derived rate estimates to the 2010 Australian female population to calculate costs and numbers of colposcopies, biopsies, treatments for precancer and cervical cancers in that year, assuming that the numbers of these procedures were not yet substantially impacted by vaccination. RESULTS The total cost of the screening program in 2010 (excluding administrative program overheads) was estimated to be A194.8M.Weestimatedthatatotalof1.7millionprimaryscreeningsmearscosting194.8M. We estimated that a total of 1.7 million primary screening smears costing 96.7M were conducted, a further 188,900 smears costing 10.9Mwereconductedtofollow−uplowgradeabnormalities,70,900colposcopyand34,100histologicalevaluationstogethercosting10.9M were conducted to follow-up low grade abnormalities, 70,900 colposcopy and 34,100 histological evaluations together costing 21.2M were conducted, and about 18,900 treatments for precancerous lesions were performed (including retreatments), associated with a cost of 45.5Mfortreatmentandpost−treatmentfollow−up.Wealsoestimatedthat45.5M for treatment and post-treatment follow-up. We also estimated that 20.5M was spent on work-up and treatment for approximately 761 women diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. Overall, an estimated $23 was spent in 2010 for each adult woman in Australia on cervical screening program-related activities. CONCLUSIONS Approximately half of the total cost of the screening program is spent on delivery of primary screening tests; but the introduction of HPV vaccination, new technologies, increasing the interval and changing the age range of screening is expected to have a substantial impact on this expenditure, as well as having some impact on follow-up and management costs. These estimates provide a benchmark for future assessment of the impact of changes to screening program recommendations to the costs of cervical screening in Australia

    Effectiveness of private land conservation areas in maintaining natural land cover and biodiversity intactness

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    CITATION: Shumba, T. et al. 2020. Effectiveness of private land conservation areas in maintaining natural land cover and biodiversity intactness. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22:e00935, doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e00935.The original publication is available at https://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-ecology-and-conservationPrivate land conservation areas (PLCAs) are increasingly looked to for meeting the deficit left by state-owned protected areas in reaching global conservation targets. However, despite the increasing extent and recognition of PLCAs as a complementary conservation strategy, little research has been done to quantify their effectiveness; a critical consideration if they are to be counted towards international biodiversity conservation targets. The long history of PLCAs in South Africa provides an interesting case study to address this knowledge gap. Here, we quantified the effectiveness of South African PLCAs by comparing losses in natural land cover and biodiversity intactness within PLCAs with different levels of protection to that of unprotected control points. Points within PLCAs were matched with unprotected control points to test the prediction that if PLCAs offer effective protection, losses in natural land cover and biodiversity intactness would be significantly lower within their boundaries in comparison to unprotected controls exposed to similar conditions. Consequences of natural land cover loss on biodiversity intactness were thus assessed, thus advancing standard approaches for quantifying effectiveness. Between 1990 and 2013, PLCAs lost significantly less natural land cover (3%) and biodiversity intactness (2%) than matched unprotected areas (6% and 4%, respectively). Of the natural land cover lost within PLCAs, most was converted to cultivated land. Farms can support more species than other land uses (e.g. mines), a likely explanation for why losses in biodiversity intactness were less than losses in natural land cover. Contrary to the predicted pattern, effectiveness did not increase with level of protection; informal PLCAs with no legal protection had comparable natural land cover and biodiversity intactness retention to strictly protected PLCAs, with most losses recorded among PLCAs with moderate protection. This study provides the first national-scale evidence that PLCAs can be an effective mechanism for conserving natural land cover and biodiversity intactness, which is highly relevant given current discussions around their likely long-term biodiversity conservation capacity.Publisher's versio

    Survival outcomes after breast cancer surgery among older women with early invasive breast cancer in England: population-based cohort study

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    Background: This study assessed the influence of age, co-morbidity and frailty on 5-year survival outcomes after breast conservation surgery (BCS) with radiotherapy (RT) versus mastectomy (with or without RT) in women with early invasive breast cancer. Methods: Women aged over 50 years with early invasive breast cancer diagnosed in England (2014–2019) who had breast surgery were identified from Cancer Registry data. Survival estimates were calculated from a flexible parametric survival model. A competing risk approach was used for breast cancer–specific survival (BCSS). Standardized survival probabilities and cumulative incidence functions for breast cancer death were calculated for each treatment by age. Results: Among 101 654 women, 72.2% received BCS + RT and 27.8% received mastectomy. Age, co-morbidity and frailty were associated with overall survival (OS), but only age and co-morbidity were associated with BCSS. Survival probabilities for OS were greater for BCS + RT (90.3%) versus mastectomy (87.0%), and the difference between treatments varied by age (50 years: 1.9% versus 80 years: 6.5%). Cumulative incidence functions for breast cancer death were higher after mastectomy (5.1%) versus BCS + RT (3.9%), but there was little change in the difference by age (50 years: 0.9% versus 80 years: 1.2%). The results highlight the change in baseline mortality risk by age for OS compared to the stable baseline for BCSS. Conclusion: For OS, the difference in survival probabilities for BCS + RT and mastectomy increased slightly with age. The difference in cumulative incidence functions for breast cancer death by surgery type was small regardless of age. Evidence on real-world survival outcomes among older populations with breast cancer is informative for treatment decision-making

    Uptake of Direct Acting Antivirals for Hepatitis C Virus in a New England Medicaid Population, 2014-2017

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    Introduction Introduction of the direct acting antiviral (DAA) sofosbuvir (SOV) in 2013 offered significant improvement over previous options for hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment. Initial uptake was low in Medicaid and other populations, perhaps in part due to high drug cost and prior authorization (PA) restrictions related to fibrosis stage, prescribing provider specialty, and sobriety. Both the subsequent introduction of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (LDV/SOV), an all-oral regimen for most genotypes, and lifting of PA restrictions were expected to increase overall uptake, but little is known about recent prescribing patterns. We examined trends in DAA uptake in a Medicaid population and identified the effect of these two events on treatment initiation. Study Design An interrupted time series (ITS) design utilized enrollment, medical, and pharmacy claims from Medicaid enrollees in three New England states, 12/2013-12/2017. Trends in treatment uptake, defined as 1+ pharmacy claim for a DAA, were examined overall, by demographic characteristics, and prior to and after two time points: 10/2014 (LDV/SOV approval date) and 7/2016 (date PA restrictions affecting two-thirds of members were lifted). Chi-square evaluated demographic differences, segmented regression models examined trends. Study Population The population included members ages 18-64 years with HCV (2+ claims with ICD-9/10 code for HCV or 1+ claim for chronic HCV). Eligible individuals remained in the sample until treatment initiation or Medicaid disenrollment. Findings The analytic sample averaged 30,433 members with HCV per month, mean age 42.9 years, 60% male. In 2014 3.3% of eligible members initiated treatment, increasing to 7.7% in 2017 (p = Conclusion While initial uptake of DAAs was low in this multi-state Medicaid population, treatment initiation among eligible members increased through 2017. Introduction of new medications and lifting of PA restrictions led to an immediate increase in uptake followed by relatively flat monthly utilization. Policy implications Sharp increases in uptake after LDV/SOV introduction may indicate warehousing of members in anticipation of LDV/SOV approval; increases after PA restrictions were lifted indicates demand for treatment among those affected by restrictions. As a large percentage of the Medicaid HCV population remains untreated, planned provider interviews will help to understand barriers and facilitators of treatment for HCV

    A Chandra HETGS observation of the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Ark 564

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    We present results from a 50 ks observation of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Ark 564 with the Chandra HETGS. The spectra above 2 keV are modeled by a power-law with a photon-index of 2.56+/-0.06. We confirm the presence of the soft excess below about 1.5 keV. If we fit the excess with blackbody model, the best-fit temperature is 0.124 keV. Ark 564 has been reported to show a peculiar emission line-like feature at 1 keV in various observations using lower resolution detectors, and the Chandra grating spectroscopy rules out an origin of blends of several narrow emission lines. We detect an edge-like feature at 0.712 keV in the source rest frame. The preferred interpretation of this feature is combination of the O VII K-edge and a number of L-absorption lines from slightly ionized iron, which suggests a warm absorber with ionization parameter xi~1 and N_H ~ 10^21 cm^-2. These properties are roughly consistent with those of the UV absorber. We also detect narrow absorption lines of O VII, O VIII, Ne IX, Ne X, and Mg XI at the systemic velocity. From these lines, a second warm absorber having log xi ~ 2 and N_H ~ 10^21 cm^-2 is required.Comment: 22 pages, including 5 figures and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

    Impact of a Pilot Outreach Program upon Provider Awareness and Prescribing of a Concerning Opioid Combination Regimen

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    This pilot program was developed in response to a drug utilization review within a large Medicaid population that revealed some hazardous practices. Co-prescribing of opioids with benzodiazepines, gabapentin, and other stimulants occurred in more than 500 members, putting them at risk for additive central nervous system depression, misuse, abuse, and death from overdose. The poster presentation outlines the objectives, methods, and results of a telephonic outreach program that addressed these safety concerns. It captures prescriber awareness of the presence and risks of potentially deadly medication combinations among members in their care, with some intriguing results. Our experts provide health plans with framework and support to address the opioid epidemic head on with robust opioid medication management programs, evidence-based clinical guidelines, and prescriber outreach. Our interdisciplinary team’s innovative approach helps health plans decrease inappropriate opioid usage and while ensuring members maintain access to appropriate pain management. This presentation was given at the American Drug Utilization Review Society (ADURS) conference February 22-24, 2018 in Scottsdale, Arizona
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