Advancing Vaccine Equity through Community-Based Organizations: Partnering for Vaccine Equity Program Annual Evaluation ReportYear One

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched the Partnering for Vaccine Equity (P4VE) program in 2020 to address racial and ethnic disparities in adult immunization rates, particularly for COVID-19 and influenza. In 2021, P4VE directed $156 million to over 500 national, state, and community-based organizations (CBOs) to improve equitable access to vaccination in communities by promoting vaccine confidence and addressing barriers to vaccination opportunities.The Urban Institute is partnering with CDC to support a subset of CBOs participating in the P4VE program. In the first year of the P4VE initiative (April 30, 2021, to April 29, 2022), the Urban Institute provided grant subawards and tailored program support and technical assistance to 29 CBOs. This report presents findings from an evaluation of CBOs' performance on P4VE program objectives in the first year, including challenges and successes CBOs experienced in their efforts to improve vaccine equity

The extended tails of Palomar 5: A ten degree arc of globular cluster tidal debris

Using wide-field photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) we recently showed that the Galactic globular cluster Palomar 5 is in the process of being tidally disrupted. Its tidal tails were initially detected in a 2.5 degree wide band along the celestial equator. A new analysis of SDSS data for a larger field now reveals that the tails of Pal 5 have a much larger spatial extent and can be traced over an arc of 10 deg across the sky, corresponding to a projected length of 4 kpc at the distance of the cluster. The number of former cluster stars found in the tails adds up to about 1.2 times the number of stars in the cluster. The radial profile of stellar surface density in the tails follows approximately a power law r^gamma with -1.5 < gamma < -1.2. The stream of debris from Pal 5 is significantly curved, which demonstrates its acceleration by the Galactic potential. The cluster is presently near the apocenter but has repeatedly undergone disk crossings in the inner part of the Galaxy leading to strong tidal shocks. Our results suggest that the observed debris originates mostly from mass loss within the last 2 Gyrs. The cluster is likely to be destroyed after the next disk crossing, which will happen in about 100 Myr. (abridged)Comment: 44 pages, including 14 figures (Figs.1,3 & 14 with decreased resolution), accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Natural climate solutions

Our thanks for inputs by L. Almond, A. Baccini, A. Bowman, S. CookPatton, J. Evans, K. Holl, R. Lalasz, A. Nassikas, M. Spalding, M. Wolosin, and expert elicitation respondents. Our thanks for datasets developed by the Hansen lab and the NESCent grasslands working group (C. Lehmann, D. Griffith, T. M. Anderson, D. J. Beerling, W. Bond, E. Denton, E. Edwards, E. Forrestel, D. Fox, W. Hoffmann, R. Hyde, T. Kluyver, L. Mucina, B. Passey, S. Pau, J. Ratnam, N. Salamin, B. Santini, K. Simpson, M. Smith, B. Spriggs, C. Still, C. Strömberg, and C. P. Osborne). This study was made possible by funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Woodbury was supported in part by USDA-NIFA Project 2011-67003-30205 Data deposition: A global spatial dataset of reforestation opportunities has been deposited on Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/record/883444). This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1710465114/-/DCSupplemental.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

[Folate, vitamin B12 and human health].

During the past decade the role of folate and vitamin B12 in human nutrition have been under constant re-examination. Basic knowledge on the metabolism and interactions between these essential nutrients has expanded and multiple complexities have been unraveled. These micronutrients have shared functions and intertwined metabolic pathways that define the size of the "methyl donor" pool utilized in multiple metabolic pathways; these include DNA methylation and synthesis of nucleic acids. In Chile, folate deficiency is virtually nonexistent, while vitamin B12 deficiency affects approximately 8.5-51% depending on the cut-off value used to define deficiency. Folate is found naturally mainly in vegetables or added as folic acid to staple foods. Vitamin B12 in its natural form is present only in foods of animal origin, which is why deficit is more common among strict vegetarians and populations with a low intake of animal foods. Poor folate status in vulnerable women of childbearing age increases the risk of neural tube birth defects, so the critical time for the contribution of folic acid is several months before conception since neural tube closure occurs during the first weeks of life. The absorption of vitamin B12 from food is lower in older adults, who are considered to have higher risk of gastric mucosa atrophy, altered production of intrinsic factor and acid secretion. Deficiency of these vitamins is associated with hematological disorders. Vitamin B12 deficiency can also induce clinical and sub-clinical neurological and of other disorders. The purpose of this review is to provide an update on recent advances in the basic and applied knowledge of these vitamins relative to human health

The influence of social factors on gender health

Male births exceed female births by 5-6% (for a sex ratio at birth of 1.05-1.06) while a women's life expectancy, on a global scale, is about 6 years longer. Thus within various age groups the male:female ratio changes over time. Until age 50 years men outnumber women; thereafter their numbers show a sharp decline. Consequently at age 80 years, there are many more women than men. An estimated 25% of this male excess mortality is due to biological causes, the rest being explained by behavioural, cultural and environmental factors. For both women and men, the main health risks related to lifestyle are smoking, alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. In the year 2010, overweight (BMI: 25-29 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI: >30 kg/m2) were responsible for over 3 million deaths, with similar relative risks in men and women for overweight and obesity. Smoking and alcohol are the major causes of the global gender gap in mortality. For women in some parts of the world however pregnancy is also hazardous. On a global scale, in 2013 about 300 000 deaths were related to pregnancy, with sub-Saharan Africa registering the highest maternal mortality: over 500 maternal deaths per 100 000 births. Additional woman's health risks arise from gender discrimination, including sex-selective abortion, violence against women and early child marriage. Providers should be aware of the effect that these risks can have on both reproductive and general health. © 2016 The Author

ACCESS, LRG-BEASTS, & MOPSS: Featureless Optical Transmission Spectra of WASP-25b and WASP-124b

We present new optical transmission spectra for two hot Jupiters: WASP-25b (M = 0.56~M$_J$; R = 1.23 R$_J$; P =~3.76 days) and WASP-124b (M = 0.58~M$_J$; R = 1.34 R$_J$; P = 3.37 days), with wavelength coverages of 4200 - 9100\AA\ and 4570 - 9940\AA, respectively. These spectra are from the ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (v.2) mounted on the New Technology Telescope (NTT) and Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera & Spectrograph on Magellan Baade. No strong spectral features were found in either spectra, with the data probing 4 and 6 scale heights, respectively. \texttt{Exoretrievals} and \texttt{PLATON} retrievals favor stellar activity for WASP-25b, while the data for WASP-124b did not favor one model over another. For both planets the retrievals found a wide range in the depths where the atmosphere could be optically thick ($\sim0.4\mu$ - 0.2 bars for WASP-25b and 1.6 $\mu$ -- 32 bars for WASP-124b) and recovered a temperature that is consistent with the planets' equilibrium temperatures, but with wide uncertainties (up to $\pm$430$^\circ$K). For WASP-25b, the models also favor stellar spots that are $\sim$500-3000$^\circ$K cooler than the surrounding photosphere. The fairly weak constraints on parameters are owing to the relatively low precision of the data, with an average precision of 840 and 1240 ppm per bin for WASP-25b and WASP-124b, respectively. However, some contribution might still be due to an inherent absence of absorption or scattering in the planets' upper atmospheres, possibly because of aerosols. We attempt to fit the strength of the sodium signals to the aerosol-metallicity trend proposed by McGruder et al. 2023, and find WASP-25b and WASP-124b are consistent with the prediction, though their uncertainties are too large to confidently confirm the trend.Comment: Accepted in AJ July 202

The methodology for developing a prospective meta-analysis in the family planning community

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prospective meta-analysis (PMA) is a collaborative research design in which individual sites perform randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and pool the data for meta-analysis. Members of the PMA collaboration agree upon specific research interventions and outcome measures, ideally before initiation but at least prior to any individual trial publishing results. This allows for uniform reporting of primary and secondary outcomes. With this approach, heterogeneity among trials contributing data for the final meta-analysis is minimized while each site maintains the freedom to design a specific trial. This paper describes the process of creating a PMA collaboration to evaluate the impact of misoprostol on ease of intrauterine device (IUD) insertion in nulliparous women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After the principal investigator developed a preliminary PMA protocol, he identified potential collaborating investigators at other sites. One site already had a trial underway and another site was in the planning stages of a trial meeting PMA requirements. Investigators at six sites joined the PMA collaborative. Each site committed to enroll subjects to meet a pre-determined total sample size. A final common research plan and site responsibilities were developed and agreed upon through email and face-to-face meetings. Each site committed to contribute individual patient data to the PMA collaboration, and these data will be analyzed and prepared as a multi-site publication. Individual sites retain the ability to analyze and publish their site's independent findings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All six sites have obtained Institutional Review Board approval and each has obtained individual funding to meet the needs of that site's study. Sites have shared resources including study protocols and consents to decrease costs and improve study flow. This PMA protocol is registered with the Cochrane Collaboration and data will be analyzed according to Cochrane standards for meta-analysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>PMA is a novel research method that improves meta-analysis by including several study sites, establishing uniform reporting of specific outcomes, and yet allowing some independence on the part of individual sites with respect to the conduct of research. The inclusion of several sites increases statistical power to address important clinical questions. Compared to multi-center trials, PMA methodology encourages collaboration, aids in the development of new investigators, decreases study costs, and decreases time to publication.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00613366">NCT00613366</a>, <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00886834">NCT00886834</a>, <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01001897">NCT01001897</a>, <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01147497">NCT01147497</a> and <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01307111">NCT01307111</a></p

Endogenous sex hormones and endometrial cancer risk in women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Epidemiological data show that reproductive and hormonal factors are involved in the etiology of endometrial cancer, but there is little data on the association with endogenous sex hormone levels. We analyzed the association between prediagnostic serum concentrations of sex steroids and endometrial cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition using a nested case–control design of 247 incident endometrial cancer cases and 481 controls, matched on center, menopausal status, age, variables relating to blood collection, and, for premenopausal women, phase of menstrual cycle. Using conditional regression analysis, endometrial cancer risk among postmenopausal women was positively associated with increasing levels of total testosterone, free testosterone, estrone, total estradiol, and free estradiol. The odds ratios (ORs) for the highest versus lowest tertile were 2.66 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.50–4.72; P=0.002 for a continuous linear trend) for estrone, 2.07 (95% CI 1.20–3.60; P=0.001) for estradiol, and 1.66 (95% CI 0.98–2.82; P=0.001) for free estradiol. For total and free testosterone, ORs for the highest versus lowest tertile were 1.44 (95% CI 0.88–2.36; P=0.05) and 2.05 (95% CI 1.23–3.42; P=0.005) respectively. Androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate were not associated with risk. Sex hormone-binding globulin was significantly inversely associated with risk (OR for the highest versus lowest tertile was 0.57, 95% CI 0.34–0.95; P=0.004). In premenopausal women, serum sex hormone concentrations were not clearly associated with endometrial cancer risk, but numbers were too small to draw firm conclusions. In conclusion, relatively high blood concentrations of estrogens and free testosterone are associated with an increased endometrial cancer risk in postmenopausal women