735 research outputs found
Implementation costs of a multi-component program to increase human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in a network of pediatric clinics
Introduction: HPV vaccination is both a clinically and cost-effective way to prevent HPV-related cancers. Increased focus on preventing HPV infection and HPV-related cancers has motivated development of strategies to increase adolescent vaccination rates. This analysis estimates the average cost associated with implementing programs aimed at increasing HPV vaccination from the perspective of the clinic decision makers. As providers and healthcare organizations consider vaccination initiatives, it is important for them to understand the costs associated with implementing these programs.
Methods: Healthcare provider assessment and feedback, reminders, and education; and parent education/reminder strategies were implemented in a large pediatric clinic network between October 2015 and February 2018 to improve HPV vaccination rates. A micro-costing method was used in 2018 to prospectively estimate program implementation costs with the clinic as the unit of analysis. A sensitivity analysis assessed the effects of variability in levels of participation.
Results: Assessment and feedback reports and provider education were implemented among 51 clinics at average per clinic cost of 368 respectively. Electronic vaccination reminders were delivered to providers and parents at a per clinic cost of 2,126 per clinic.
Conclusion: The four complimentary HPV evidence-based strategies were delivered at a total cost of 4,749 per clinic, including staff training and participant recruitment, reaching 155,000 HPV vaccine eligible adolescents
A genome-wide association study identifies a susceptibility locus for biliary atresia on 2p16.1 within the gene EFEMP1
Biliary atresia (BA) is a rare pediatric cholangiopathy characterized by fibrosclerosing obliteration of the extrahepatic bile ducts, leading to cholestasis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventual liver failure. The etiology of BA remains unknown, although environmental, inflammatory, infectious, and genetic risk factors have been proposed. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in a European-American cohort of 343 isolated BA patients and 1716 controls to identify genetic loci associated with BA. A second GWAS was performed in an independent European-American cohort of 156 patients with BA and other extrahepatic anomalies and 212 controls to confirm the identified candidate BA-associated SNPs. Meta-analysis revealed three genome-wide significant BA-associated SNPs on 2p16.1 (rs10865291, rs6761893, and rs727878; P < 5 Ă—10-8), located within the fifth intron of the EFEMP1 gene, which encodes a secreted extracellular protein implicated in extracellular matrix remodeling, cell proliferation, and organogenesis. RNA expression analysis showed an increase in EFEMP1 transcripts from human liver specimens isolated from patients with either BA or other cholestatic diseases when compared to normal control liver samples. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that EFEMP1 is expressed in cholangiocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells in liver specimens from patients with BA and other cholestatic diseases, but it is absent from cholangiocytes in normal control liver samples. Efemp1 transcripts had higher expression in cholangiocytes and portal fibroblasts as compared with other cell types in normal rat liver. The identification of a novel BA-associated locus, and implication of EFEMP1 as a new BA candidate susceptibility gene, could provide new insights to understanding the mechanisms underlying this severe pediatric disorder
Intraneural pseudocyst (so-called ganglion) in an unusual retroperitoneal periadnexal location?
A case of an unusual unilocular cystic lesion of diameter 7 cm located retroperitoneally in the pelvis in close
connection to the right adnexa of a 61 year-old woman is presented. Macroscopically, the lesion had a smooth
outer and inner surface and was filled with translucent fluid. Histological examination revealed a fibrous and
hyalinized wall which lacked a specific lining. Numerous nerve bundles in the cyst wall constituted the most
conspicuous element of its histology possibly with some contribution of perineurial and/or mesothelial components.
The morphology and immunohistochemistry speak for an intraneural pseudocyst sometimes called intraneural
ganglion cyst which is rare in this location
Seesaw Extended MSSM and Anomaly Mediation without Tachyonic Sleptons
Superconformal anomalies provide an elegant and economical way to understand
the soft breaking parameters in SUSY models; however, implementing them leads
to the several undesirable features including: tachyonic sleptons and
electroweak symmetry breaking problems in both the MSSM and the NMSSM. Since
these two theories also have the additonal problem of massless neutrinos, we
have reconsidered the AMSB problems in a class of models that extends the NMSSM
to explain small neutrino masses via the seesaw mechanism. In a recent paper,
we showed that for a class of minimal left-right extensions, a built-in
mechanism exists which naturally solves the tachyonic slepton problem and
provides new alternatives to the MSSM that also have automatic R-parity
conservation. In this paper, we discuss how electroweak symmetry breaking
arises in this model through an NMSSM-like low energy theory with a singlet
VEV, induced by the structure of the left-right extension and of the right
magnitude. We then study the phenomenological issues and find: the LSP is an
Higgsino-wino mix, new phenomenology for chargino decays to the LSP, degenerate
same generation sleptons and a potential for a mild squark-slepton degeneracy.
We also discuss possible collider signatures and the feasibility of dark matter
in this model.Comment: 40 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables; v3: Added addendum and three new
references; v4: Added reference that was inadvertently omitte
The physical determinants of the thickness of lamellar polymer crystals
Based upon kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of crystallization in a simple
polymer model we present a new picture of the mechanism by which the thickness
of lamellar polymer crystals is constrained to a value close to the minimum
thermodynamically stable thickness. This description contrasts with those given
by the two dominant theoretical approaches.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revte
When Anomaly Mediation is UV Sensitive
Despite its successes---such as solving the supersymmetric flavor
problem---anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking is untenable because of its
prediction of tachyonic sleptons. An appealing solution to this problem was
proposed by Pomarol and Rattazzi where a threshold controlled by a light field
deflects the anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking trajectory, thus evading
tachyonic sleptons. In this paper we examine an alternate class of deflection
models where the non-supersymmetric threshold is accompanied by a heavy,
instead of light, singlet. The low energy form of this model is the so-called
extended anomaly mediation proposed by Nelson and Weiner, but with potential
for a much higher deflection threshold. The existence of this high deflection
threshold implies that the space of anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking
deflecting models is larger than previously thought.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure (version to appear in JHEP
Electromagnetic controlled cortical impact device for precise, graded experimental traumatic brain injury
Genetically modified mice represent useful tools for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and attractive preclinical models for the development of novel therapeutics. Experimental methods that minimize the number of mice needed may increase the pace of discovery. With this in mind, we developed and characterized a prototype electromagnetic (EM) controlled cortical impact device along with refined surgical and behavioral testing techniques. By varying the depth of impact between 1.0 and 3.0 mm, we found that the EM device was capable of producing a broad range of injury severities. Histologically, 2.0-mm impact depth injuries produced by the EM device were similar to 1.0-mm impact depth injuries produced by a commercially available pneumatic device. Behaviorally, 2.0-, 2.5-, and 3.0-mm impacts impaired hidden platform and probe trial water maze performance, whereas 1.5-mm impacts did not. Rotorod and visible platform water maze deficits were also found following 2.5- and 3.0-mm impacts. No impairment of conditioned fear performance was detected. No differences were found between sexes of mice. Inter-operator reliability was very good. Behaviorally, we found that we could statistically distinguish between injury depths differing by 0.5 mm using 12 mice per group and between injury depths differing by 1.0 mm with 7-8 mice per group. Thus, the EM impactor and refined surgical and behavioral testing techniques may offer a reliable and convenient framework for preclinical TBI research involving mice
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