Socioeconomic factors and self-reported health outcomes in African Americans with rheumatoid arthritis from the Southeastern United States: The contribution of childhood socioeconomic status

Background: There is abundant evidence that low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with worse health outcomes among people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA); however, the influence of socioeconomic disadvantage in early life has yet to be studied within that population. Methods: Data originated from the cross-sectional arm of the Consortium Evaluation of African-Americans with Rheumatoid Arthritis (CLEAR II), which recruited African-Americans with RA from six sites in the Southeastern United States. We used linear regression models to evaluate associations of parental homeownership status and educational level at participant time of birth with participant-reported fatigue (Visual Analog scale, cm), pain (Visual Analog scale, cm), disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire) and helplessness (Rheumatology Attitudes Index), independently of participant homeownership status and educational level. Models included random effects to account for intra-site correlations, and were adjusted for variables identified using backward selection, from: age, disease-duration, sex, medication use, body-mass index, smoking history. Results: Our sample included 516 CLEAR II participants with full data on demographics and covariates. 89 % of participants were women, the mean age was 54.7 years and mean disease duration was 10.8 years. In age adjusted models, parental non-homeownership was associated with greater fatigue (β = 0.75, 95 % CI = 0.36-1.14), disability (β = 0.12, 95 % CI = 0.04-0.19) and helplessness (β = 0.12, 95 % CI = 0.03-0.21), independently of participant homeownership and education; parental education had a further small influence on self-reported fatigue (β = 0.20, 95 % CI = 0.15-0.24). Conclusions: Parental homeownership, and to a small extent parental education, had modest but meaningful relationships with self-reported health among CLEAR II participants

CareSearch: finding and evaluating Australia's missing palliative care literature

BACKGROUND: Palliative care is an evolving specialty with a growing evidence base. However, evidence is less accessible than it could be with a lower than average conversion of conference abstracts to articles in peer-reviewed journals and the need for more accessible tools to support evidence-based practice (EBP) in palliative care. The CareSearch project involved identifying, collecting and evaluating Australia's "grey" palliative care literature and identifying international published literature missing from the electronic indexing systems. The literature was then catalogued and made publicly available through the CareSearch website. RESULTS: To date over 2,500 items have been included in the CareSearch database and can be accessed and searched through a publicly available website. Nearly 2,000 items are conference abstracts and 178 are theses or government, organisational and planning documents. A further 410 items relate to articles from palliative journals that are not indexed on a major bibliographic database. The website also provides tools and facilities to support palliative care practice and research. CONCLUSION: CareSearch is a new evidence resource for palliative practitioners, educators and researchers. The palliative community now has access to a more comprehensive literature base as well as a resource that supports the integration of knowledge into practice. This specialised data repository enables users to access information on the body of work that has shaped palliative care development and prevents the potential loss or duplication of research work. It also provides a template for other emerging disciplines to use in capturing their literature and evidence

Complete mtDNA genomes of Anopheles darlingi and an approach to anopheline divergence time

Abstract Background The complete sequences of the mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) of members of the northern and southern genotypes of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) darlingi were used for comparative studies to estimate the time to the most recent common ancestor for modern anophelines, to evaluate differentiation within this taxon, and to seek evidence of incipient speciation. Methods The mtDNAs were sequenced from mosquitoes from Belize and Brazil and comparative analyses of structure and base composition, among others, were performed. A maximum likelihood approach linked with phylogenetic information was employed to detect evidence of selection and a Bayesian approach was used to date the split between the subgenus Nyssorhynchus and other Anopheles subgenera. Results The comparison of mtDNA sequences within the Anopheles darlingi taxon does not provide sufficient resolution to establish different units of speciation within the species. In addition, no evidence of positive selection in any protein-coding gene of the mtDNA was detected, and purifying selection likely is the basis for this lack of diversity. Bayesian analysis supports the conclusion that the most recent ancestor of Nyssorhynchus and Anopheles+Cellia was extant ~94 million years ago. Conclusion Analyses of mtDNA genomes of Anopheles darlingi do not provide support for speciation in the taxon. The dates estimated for divergence among the anopheline groups tested is in agreement with the geological split of western Gondwana (95 mya), and provides additional support for explaining the absence of Cellia in the New World, and Nyssorhynchus in the Afro-Eurasian continents

DNA barcoding reveals both known and novel taxa in the Albitarsis Group (Anopheles: Nyssorhynchus) of Neotropical malaria vectors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mosquitoes belonging to the Albitarsis Group (<it>Anopheles</it>: <it>Nyssorhynchus</it>) are of importance as malaria vectors across the Neotropics. The Group currently comprises six known species, and recent studies have indicated further hidden biodiversity within the Group. DNA barcoding has been proposed as a highly useful tool for species recognition, although its discriminatory utility has not been verified in closely related taxa across a wide geographic distribution.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>DNA barcodes (658 bp of the mtDNA <it>Cytochrome c Oxidase </it>- <it>COI</it>) were generated for 565 <it>An. albitarsis </it>s.l. collected in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Trinidad and Venezuela over the past twenty years, including specimens from type series and type localities. Here we test the utility of currently advocated barcoding methodologies, including the Kimura-two-parameter distance model (K2P) and Neighbor-joining analysis (NJ), for determining species delineation within mosquitoes of the Neotropical Albitarsis Group of malaria vectors (<it>Anopheles</it>: <it>Nyssorhynchus</it>), and compare results with Bayesian analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Species delineation through barcoding analysis and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, fully concur. Analysis of 565 sequences (302 unique haplotypes) resolved nine NJ tree clusters, with less than 2% intra-node variation. Mean intra-specific variation (K2P) was 0.009 (range 0.002 - 0.014), whereas mean inter-specific divergence were several-fold higher at 0.041 (0.020 - 0.056), supporting the reported "barcoding gap". These results show full support for separate species status of the six known species in the Albitarsis Group (<it>An. albitarsis </it>s.s., <it>An. albitarsis </it>F, <it>An. deaneorum</it>, <it>An. janconnae</it>, <it>An. marajoara </it>and <it>An. oryzalimnetes</it>), and also support species level status for two previously detected lineages - <it>An. albitarsis </it>G &<it>An. albitarsis </it>I (designated herein). In addition, we highlight the presence of a unique mitochondrial lineage close to <it>An. deaneorum </it>and <it>An. marajoara </it>(<it>An. albitarsis </it>H) from Rondônia and Mato Grosso in southwestern Brazil. Further integrated studies are required to confirm the status of this lineage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>DNA barcoding provides a reliable means of identifying both known and undiscovered biodiversity within the closely related taxa of the Albitarsis Group. We advocate its usage in future studies to elucidate the vector competence and respective distributions of all eight species in the Albitarsis Group and the novel mitochondrial lineage (<it>An. albitarsis </it>H) recovered in this study.</p

Annual variations in the number of malaria cases related to two different patterns of Anopheles darlingi transmission potential in the Maroni area of French Guiana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With an Annual Parasite Incidence (API) of 132.1, in the high and moderate risks zones, the Maroni area of French Guiana has the second highest malaria incidence of South-America after Guyana (API = 183.54) and far above Brazil (API = 28.25). Malaria transmission is occurring despite strong medical assistance and active vector control, based on general WHO recommendations. This situation is generated by two main factors that are the social and cultural characteristics of this border area, where several ethnic groups are living, and the lack of understanding of transmission dynamics of the main mosquito vector, <it>Anopheles darlingi.</it> In this context, entomological data collected in two villages belonging to two different ethnic groups of the French border of the Maroni River, were retrospectively analysed to find out how the mosquito bionomics are related to the malaria transmission patterns.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were provided by human landing catches of mosquitoes carried out each month for two years in two villages belonging to two ethnic groups, the Amerindians Wayanas and the Aloukous of African origin. The mosquitoes were sorted by species, sex, date, hour and place of collection and processed for <it>Plasmodium sp</it>. parasite detection. The data were compiled to provide the following variables: human biting rates (HBR), parity rates (PR), numbers of infective bites (IB), entomological inoculation rates (EIR) and numbers of infected mosquitoes surviving enough to transmit (IMT). Spatial and temporal differences of variables between locations and during the night were tested by the Kruskall-Wallis analysis of variance to find out significant variations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The populations of the main mosquito vector <it>An. darlingi </it>showed significant variations in the spatial and temporal HBR/person/night and HBR/person/hour, IB/person/month and IB/person/hour, and IMT/village/night and IMT/village/hour. In the village of Loca (Aloukous), the IMT peaked from June to August with a very low transmission during the other months. The risks were higher during the first part of the night and an EIR of 10 infective bites per person and per year was estimated. In the village of Twenke (Wayanas), high level of transmission was reported all year with small peaks in March and October. The risk was higher during the second part of the night and an EIR of 5 infective bites per person and per year was estimated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>For the first time in the past 40 years, the mosquito bionomics was related to the malaria transmission patterns in French Guiana. The peak of malaria cases reported from August to October in the Maroni region is concomitant with the significant peak of <it>An. darlingi </it>IMT, reported from the village of Loca where transmission is higher. However, the persistent number of cases reported all year long may also be related to the transmission in the Amerindian villages. The <it>An. darlingi </it>bionomics for these two close populations were found significantly different and may explain why a uniform vector control method is inadequate. Following these findings, malaria prevention measures adapted to the local conditions are needed. Finally, the question of the presence of <it>An. darlingi </it>sub-species is raised.</p

Development and evaluation of a quality score for abstracts

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of abstracts for scientific meetings has been shown to suffer from poor inter observer reliability. A measure was developed to assess the formal quality of abstract submissions in a standardized way. METHODS: Item selection was based on scoring systems for full reports, taking into account published guidelines for structured abstracts. Interrater agreement was examined using a random sample of submissions to the American Gastroenterological Association, stratified for research type (n = 100, 1992–1995). For construct validity, the association of formal quality with acceptance for presentation was examined. A questionnaire to expert reviewers evaluated sensibility items, such as ease of use and comprehensiveness. RESULTS: The index comprised 19 items. The summary quality scores showed good interrater agreement (intra class coefficient 0.60 – 0.81). Good abstract quality was associated with abstract acceptance for presentation at the meeting. The instrument was found to be acceptable by expert reviewers. CONCLUSION: A quality index was developed for the evaluation of scientific meeting abstracts which was shown to be reliable, valid and useful