171 research outputs found
Retention of Low Income Children in Three Dental Studies Investigating Early Childhood Caries
Background: To our knowledge no dental studies have looked closely at subject retention, which is crucial to better understand oral health disparities. In this paper, we report retention rates and review and attempt to assess which retention strategies utilized in 3 dental research studies investigating ECC were effective for retaining WIC-enrolled children. The purpose of this paper is to discuss challenges that were encountered when working with these populations, describe characteristics of those not retained, and summarize some recommendations for future dental studies working at WIC sites. Methods: Three dental studies were conducted at WIC clinics in Iowa. Retention strategies focused on maintenance of contact over time, persistence in rescheduling appointments, utilization of incentives, high recruitment, and frequent communication with parents and program staff. Results: Retention rates in the studies ranged from 60 to 75 percent at the final research interventions. Studies were challenged by frequent moves of subjects, missed appointments, disconnected phones, busy schedules of parents, transportation problems, loss of child custody, family illness, and lack of interest. Those not retained in the studies were more likely to be younger, single, and less educated, with a lower household income and a non-Caucasian child. Lower retention was also associated with the presence of carious lesions. Conclusions: Despite many challenges, studies had good retention rates and benefited from the retention strategies. Future dental studies at WIC clinics may also benefit from arranging transportation, obtaining a free, 800 callback number, and offering after-hours appointments for working parents
HLA e malĂĄria em quatro diferentes grupos Ă©tnicos da ColĂŽmbia
HLA antigens and their relationship with malaria infection were studied in four different ethnic groups in Colombia (South America): two groups of indians (Kunas and Katios), one of negroes and a group of mixed ancestry. A total of 965 persons were studied, 415 with malaria and 550 as controls. HLA-A,B, and C antigen frequencies in the four groups are reported. The association of each HLA antigen with malaria infection due to P. vivax and to P. falciparum was evaluated. Negroes, Kunas and Katios indians variously lack from 6 to 9 of the HLA antigens found in the mixed group. In the designated ethnic groups, antigens B5, B13, B15, Cw2 and Cw4 showed borderline association with malaria infection. However, in the mixed ethnic group, statistically significant associations were found with malaria infection and the presence of A9, Aw19, B17, B35, and Z98 (a B21-B45: crossreacting determinant) with few differences when P. vivax infection and P. falciparum infection were considered individually. This finding may represent a lack of general resistance to malaria in the group that harbors antigens of Caucasian origin. These individuals have been in direct and permanent contact with malaria only in the past 65 years. In contrast, indians, both Kunas and Katios, and Negroes have lived for centuries in malaria endemic areas, and it is possible that a natural selection system has developed through which only those individuals able to initiate an acute immune response to malaria have survived.Foram estudados os antigenos HLA e a relação destes com a infecção malĂĄrica em 4 diferentes grupos Ă©tnicos da ColĂŽmbia (AmĂ©rica do Sul); dois grupos de Ăndios (Kunas e Katios), um grupo de negros e um grupo que apresentava ancestrais mistos. Foram estudadas 965 pessoas, das quais 415 com malĂĄria e 550 como controles. A freqĂŒĂȘncia dos antĂgenos HLA-A, B e C foram determinados nos quatro grupos estudados. A associação de cada antĂgeno HLA com a infecção por P. vivax e P. falciparum foi avaliada. Os antĂgenos HLA 6-9 encontrados no grupo de ancestrais mistos, de um modo geral nĂŁo foram observados nos grupos de negros e Ăndios (Kunas e Katios). Nos grupos Ă©tnicos mencionados, os antigenos B5, B13, B15, Cw2 e Cw4 apresentaram uma associação limĂtrofe com a infecção por malĂĄria. Entretanto, no grupo Ă©tnico de ancestrais mistos foi observada uma associação estatisticamente significativa com a infecção malĂĄrica, sendo que a presença de A9, Aw19, B17, B35 e Z98 (B21-B45: determinantes de reação cruzada) mostrou poucas diferenças quando as infecçÔes por P. vivax e P. falciparum foram consideradas individualmente. Esse achado pode representar, de um modo geral, uma falta de resistĂȘncia a malĂĄria no grupo portador de antigenos de origem caucasiana, os quais tem tido um contacto direto e permanente com a malĂĄria somente nos Ășltimos 65 anos. Em contraste, os Ăndios (Kunas e Katios) e os negros tem vivido durante sĂ©culos em ĂĄreas endĂȘmicas para malĂĄria, Ă© possĂvel que um sistema de seleção natural tenha sido desenvolvido permitindo que somente aqueles indivĂduos capazes de iniciar uma resposta imune Ă malĂĄria sobrevivam
Timing of primary tooth emergence among U.S. racial and ethnic groups
ObjectivesTo compare timing of tooth emergence among groups of American Indian (AI), Black and White children in the United States at 12 months of age.MethodsData were from two sources â a longitudinal study of a Northern Plains tribal community and a study with sites in Indiana, Iowa and North Carolina. For the Northern Plains study, all children (nâ=â223) were American Indian, while for the multisite study, children (nâ=â320) were from diverse racial groups. Analyses were limited to data from examinations conducted within 30 days of the childâs first birthday.ResultsAI children had significantly more teeth present (Mean: 7.8, Median: 8.0) than did Whites (4.4, 4.0, Pâ<â0.001) or Blacks (4.5, 4.0, Pâ<â0.001). No significant differences were detected between Black and White children (Pâ=â0.58). There was no significant sex difference overall or within any of the racial groups.ConclusionsTooth emergence occurs at a younger age for AI children than it does for contemporary White or Black children in the United States.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135387/1/jphd12154.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135387/2/jphd12154_am.pd
Prognosis for Improvement During Acute Rehabilitation as Measured by the Western Aphasia Battery
TB
Targeted antimicrobial activity of a specific IgGâSMAP28 conjugate against Porphyromonas gingivalis in a mixed culture
Antimicrobial peptides coupled to a ligand, receptor or antibody for a specific pathogenic bacteria could be used to develop narrow-spectrum pharmaceuticals with âtargetedâ antimicrobial activity void of adverse reactions often associated with the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. To assess the feasibility of this approach, in this study sheep myeloid antimicrobial peptide (SMAP) 28 was linked to affinity- and protein G-purified rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies specific to the outer surface of Porphyromonas gingivalis strain 381. The selective activity of the P. gingivalis IgGâSMAP28 conjugate was then assessed by adding it to an artificially generated microbial community containing P. gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Peptostreptococcus micros. The specificity of the P. gingivalis IgGâSMAP28 conjugate in this mixed culture was concentration-dependent. The conjugate at 50 ÎŒg protein/mL lacked specificity and killed P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. micros. The conjugate at 20 ÎŒg protein/mL was more specific and killed P. gingivalis. This is an initial step to develop a selective antimicrobial agent that can eliminate a specific periodontal pathogen, such as P. gingivalis, from patients with periodontal disease without harming the normal commensal flora
Pretest probability assessment derived from attribute matching
BACKGROUND: Pretest probability (PTP) assessment plays a central role in diagnosis. This report compares a novel attribute-matching method to generate a PTP for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We compare the new method with a validated logistic regression equation (LRE). METHODS: Eight clinical variables (attributes) were chosen by classification and regression tree analysis of a prospectively collected reference database of 14,796 emergency department (ED) patients evaluated for possible ACS. For attribute matching, a computer program identifies patients within the database who have the exact profile defined by clinician input of the eight attributes. The novel method was compared with the LRE for ability to produce PTP estimation <2% in a validation set of 8,120 patients evaluated for possible ACS and did not have ST segment elevation on ECG. 1,061 patients were excluded prior to validation analysis because of ST-segment elevation (713), missing data (77) or being lost to follow-up (271). RESULTS: In the validation set, attribute matching produced 267 unique PTP estimates [median PTP value 6%, 1(st)â3(rd )quartile 1â10%] compared with the LRE, which produced 96 unique PTP estimates [median 24%, 1(st)â3(rd )quartile 10â30%]. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.74 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.82) for the attribute matching curve and 0.68 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.77) for LRE. The attribute matching system categorized 1,670 (24%, 95% CI = 23â25%) patients as having a PTP < 2.0%; 28 developed ACS (1.7% 95% CI = 1.1â2.4%). The LRE categorized 244 (4%, 95% CI = 3â4%) with PTP < 2.0%; four developed ACS (1.6%, 95% CI = 0.4â4.1%). CONCLUSION: Attribute matching estimated a very low PTP for ACS in a significantly larger proportion of ED patients compared with a validated LRE
LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in
the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of
science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will
have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is
driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking
an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and
mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at
Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m
effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel
camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second
exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given
night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000
square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5
point-source depth in a single visit in will be (AB). The
project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations
by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg with
, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, ,
covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time
will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a
18,000 deg region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the
anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to . The
remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a
Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products,
including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion
objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures
available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie
Role of Secreted Conjunctival Mucosal Cytokine and Chemokine Proteins in Different Stages of Trachomatous Disease
Trachoma, a disease of antiquity dating back to the 16th century B.C.E., predominates among developing countries, where it remains the primary cause of preventable blindness worldwide. In trachoma, recurrent Chlamydia trachomatis bacterial infections during childhood are thought to result in inflammation and subsequent conjunctival scarring that can progress to trichiasis (TT; chronic trachoma; inversion of â„1 eyelash that touches the globe of the eye). The trachomatous follicular grade (TF; active disease) is a self-limiting disease, suggesting the coexistence of protective inflammatory proteins. The trachomatous inflammatory grade (TI; active disease) is more likely to progress to trachomatous scarring (TS; chronic trachoma). To date, there are only a handful of studies that have examined the immune response in trachoma, and these were primarily based on gene expression. Characterizing quantified conjunctival mucosal immune differences for secreted proteins among individuals with no, active, and chronic trachoma may identify protein biomarkers associated with protection versus disease, which would greatly aid our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of trachoma. In this study, we characterized 25 cytokine and chemokine proteins for all trachoma grades. We identified eight cytokines and chemokines as risk factors for chronic trachoma and four as protective. Together, these findings further characterize the immunopathologic responses involved during trachoma, which will likely aid in the design of a vaccine and immunomodulating therapeutics for trachoma
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