Screening and Counseling Practices Reported by Obstetrician–Gynecologists for Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Background: Obstetrician—gynecologists are important providers of primary health care to women, and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection screening practices and recommendations provided by obstetrician—gynecologists for HCV-infected patients are unknown. Methods: We surveyed American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Fellows, including 413 Fellows who were participating in the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network (CARN) and 650 randomly sampled Fellows, about HCV screening and counseling practices. Results: In total, 74% of CARN members and 44% of non-CARN members responded. Demographics and practice structure were similar between the two groups. More than 80% of providers routinely collected drug use and blood transfusion histories from their patients. Of the respondents, 49% always screened for HCV infection when patients had a history of injection drug use, and 35% screened all patientswho had received a blood transfusion before 1992. For HCV-infected patients, 47% of the physicians always advised against breastfeeding, 70% recommended condom use with a long-term steady partner, and 64% advised against alcohol consumption. Respondents who considered themselves to be primary care providers were no more likely to screen or provide appropriate counseling messages than were other providers. Conclusions: Most obstetrician—gynecologists are routinely collecting information that can be used to assess HCV infection risk, but HCV screening practices and counseling that are provided for those with HCV infection are not always consistent with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and ACOG recommendations

Community-Based Values for 2009 Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 Illnesses and Vaccination-Related Adverse Events

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate community-based values for avoiding pandemic influenza (A) H1N1 (pH1N1) illness and vaccination-related adverse events in adults and children. METHODS: Adult community members were randomly selected from a nationally representative research panel to complete an internet survey (response rate = 65%; n = 718). Respondents answered a series of time trade-off questions to value four hypothetical health state scenarios for varying ages (1, 8, 35, or 70 years): uncomplicated pH1N1 illness, pH1N1 illness-related hospitalization, severe allergic reaction to the pH1N1 vaccine, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. We calculated descriptive statistics for time trade-off amounts and derived quality adjusted life year losses for these events. Multivariate regression analyses evaluated the effect of scenario age, as well as respondent socio-demographic and health characteristics on time trade-off amounts. RESULTS: Respondents were willing to trade more time to avoid the more severe outcomes, hospitalization and Guillain-Barré syndrome. In our adjusted and unadjusted analyses, age of the patient in the scenario was significantly associated with time trade-off amounts (p-value<0.05), with respondents willing to trade more time to prevent outcomes in children versus adults. Persons who had received the pH1N1 vaccination were willing to trade significantly more time to avoid hospitalization, severe allergic reaction, and Guillain-Barré syndrome, controlling for other variables in adjusted analyses.(p-value<0.05) CONCLUSIONS: Community members placed the highest value on preventing outcomes in children, compared with adults, and the time trade-off values reported were consistent with the severity of the outcomes presented. Considering these public values along with other decision-making factors may help policy makers improve the allocation of pandemic vaccine resources

Cost-Effectiveness of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) Vaccination in the United States

Pandemic influenza A(H1N1) (pH1N1) was first identified in North America in April 2009. Vaccination against pH1N1 commenced in the U.S. in October 2009 and continued through January 2010. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of pH1N1 vaccination.A computer simulation model was developed to predict costs and health outcomes for a pH1N1 vaccination program using inactivated vaccine compared to no vaccination. Probabilities, costs and quality-of-life weights were derived from emerging primary data on pH1N1 infections in the US, published and unpublished data for seasonal and pH1N1 illnesses, supplemented by expert opinion. The modeled target population included hypothetical cohorts of persons aged 6 months and older stratified by age and risk. The analysis used a one-year time horizon for most endpoints but also includes longer-term costs and consequences of long-term sequelae deaths. A societal perspective was used. Indirect effects (i.e., herd effects) were not included in the primary analysis. The main endpoint was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio in dollars per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. Sensitivity analyses were conducted.For vaccination initiated prior to the outbreak, pH1N1 vaccination was cost-saving for persons 6 months to 64 years under many assumptions. For those without high risk conditions, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios ranged from $8,000-$52,000/QALY depending on age and risk status. Results were sensitive to the number of vaccine doses needed, costs of vaccination, illness rates, and timing of vaccine delivery.Vaccination for pH1N1 for children and working-age adults is cost-effective compared to other preventive health interventions under a wide range of scenarios. The economic evidence was consistent with target recommendations that were in place for pH1N1 vaccination. We also found that the delays in vaccine availability had a substantial impact on the cost-effectiveness of vaccination

Metagenomic analyses reveal previously unrecognized variation in the diets of sympatric Old World monkey species

Insectivory, or the consumption of insects and other arthropods, is a significant yet cryptic component of omnivorous primate diets. Here, we used high-throughput DNA sequencing to identify arthropods from fecal DNA and assess variation in insectivory by closely-related sympatric primates. We identified arthropod prey taxa and tested the hypothesis that variation in insectivory facilitates niche differentiation and coexistence among closely-related species with high dietary overlap. We collected 233 fecal samples from redtail (Cercopithecus ascanius; n = 118) and blue monkeys (C. mitis; n = 115) and used a CO1 metabarcoding approach to identify arthropod DNA in each fecal sample. Arthropod DNA was detected in 99% of samples (N = 223 samples), and a total of 68 families (15 orders) were identified. Redtails consumed arthropods from 54 families, of which 12 (21.8%) were absent from blue monkey samples. Blue monkeys consumed arthropods from 56 families, of which 14 (24.6%) were absent from redtail samples. For both species, &gt;97% of taxa present belonged to four orders (Araneae, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera). Redtail samples contained more Lepidoptera taxa (p&lt;0.05), while blue monkey samples contained more Araneae (p&lt;0.05). Blue monkeys consumed a greater diversity of arthropod taxa than redtail monkeys (p&lt;0.05); however, the average number of arthropod families present per fecal sample was greater in the redtail monkey samples (p&lt;0.05). These results indicate that while overlap exists in the arthropod portion of their diets, 20-25% of taxa consumed are unique to each group. Our findings suggest that variation in arthropod intake may help decrease dietary niche overlap and hence facilitate coexistence of closely-related primate species.</p

Effectiveness of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine for preschool-age children with chronic disease.

To estimate the effectiveness of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, we serotyped isolates submitted to the Pneumococcal Sentinel Surveillance System from 1984 to 1996 from 48 vaccinated and 125 unvaccinated children 2 to 5 years of age. Effectiveness against invasive disease caused by serotypes included in the vaccine was 63%. Effectiveness against serotypes in the polysaccharide vaccine but not in a proposed seven-valent protein conjugate vaccine was 94%

Biodiversity of protists and nematodes in the wild nonhuman primate gut

Documenting the natural diversity of eukaryotic organisms in the nonhuman primate (NHP) gut is important for understanding the evolution of the mammalian gut microbiome, its role in digestion, health and disease, and the consequences of anthropogenic change on primate biology and conservation. Despite the ecological significance of gut-associated eukaryotes, little is known about the factors that influence their assembly and diversity in mammals. In this study, we used an 18S rRNA gene fragment metabarcoding approach to assess the eukaryotic assemblage of 62 individuals representing 16 NHP species. We find that cercopithecoids, and especially the cercopithecines, have substantially higher alpha diversity than other NHP groups. Gut-associated protists and nematodes are widespread among NHPs, consistent with their ancient association with NHP hosts. However, we do not find a consistent signal of phylosymbiosis or host-species specificity. Rather, gut eukaryotes are only weakly structured by primate phylogeny with minimal signal from diet, in contrast to previous reports of NHP gut bacteria. The results of this study indicate that gut-associated eukaryotes offer different information than gut-associated bacteria and add to our understanding of the structure of the gut microbiome.Fil: Mann, Allison E.. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Mazel, Florent. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Lemay, Matthew A.. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Morien, Evan. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Billy, Vincent. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Kowalewski, Miguel Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia". Estación Biológica de Usos Múltiples (Sede Corrientes); ArgentinaFil: Di Fiore, Anthony. University of Texas at Austin; Estados UnidosFil: Link, Andrés. Universidad de los Andes; ColombiaFil: Goldberg, Tony L.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Tecot, Stacey. University of Arizona; Estados UnidosFil: Baden, Andrea L.. City University Of New York. Hunter College; Estados UnidosFil: Gomez, Andres. University of Minnesota; Estados UnidosFil: Sauther, Michelle L.. State University of Colorado at Boulder; Estados UnidosFil: Cuozzo, Frank P.. Lajuma Research Centre; SudáfricaFil: Rice, Gillian A. O.. Dartmouth College; Estados UnidosFil: Dominy, Nathaniel J.. Dartmouth College; Estados UnidosFil: Stumpf, Rebecca. University of Illinois at Urbana; Estados UnidosFil: Lewis, Rebecca J.. University of Texas at Austin; Estados UnidosFil: Swedell, Larissa. University of Cape Town; Sudáfrica. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Amato, Katherine. Northwestern University; Estados UnidosFil: Wegener Parfrey, Laura. University of British Columbia; Canad

A New Assessment of Robust Capuchin Monkey (Sapajus) Evolutionary History Using Genome-Wide SNP Marker Data and a Bayesian Approach to Species Delimitation

Robust capuchin monkeys, Sapajus genus, are among the most phenotypically diverse and widespread groups of primates in South America, with one of the most confusing and often shifting taxonomies. We used a ddRADseq approach to generate genome-wide SNP markers for 171 individuals from all putative extant species of Sapajus to access their evolutionary history. Using maximum likelihood, multispecies coalescent phylogenetic inference, and a Bayes Factor method to test for alternative hypotheses of species delimitation, we inferred the phylogenetic history of the Sapajus radiation, evaluating the number of discrete species supported. Our results support the recognition of three species from the Atlantic Forest south of the São Francisco River, with these species being the first splits in the robust capuchin radiation. Our results were congruent in recovering the Pantanal and Amazonian Sapajus as structured into three monophyletic clades, though new morphological assessments are necessary, as the Amazonian clades do not agree with previous morphology-based taxonomic distributions. Phylogenetic reconstructions for Sapajus occurring in the Cerrado, Caatinga, and northeastern Atlantic Forest were less congruent with morphology-based phylogenetic reconstructions, as the bearded capuchin was recovered as a paraphyletic clade, with samples from the Caatinga biome being either a monophyletic clade or nested with the blond capuchin monkey

Tropical field stations yield high conservation return on investment

Conservation funding is currently limited; cost-effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations’ conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID-19. We surveyed leaders of field stations across tropical regions that host primate research; 157 field stations in 56 countries responded. Respondents reported improved habitat quality and reduced hunting rates at over 80% of field stations and lower operational costs per km2 than protected areas, yet half of those surveyed have less funding now than in 2019. Spatial analyses support field station presence as reducing deforestation. These “earth observatories” provide a high return on investment; we advocate for increased support of field station programs and for governments to support their vital conservation efforts by investing accordingly.Additional co-authors: Ekwoge Abwe, Tanvir Ahmed, Marc Ancrenaz, Raphali R. Andriantsimanarilafy, Andie Ang, Filippo Aureli, Louise Barrett, Jacinta C. Beehner, Marcela E. Benítez, Bruna M. Bezerra, Júlio César Bicca-Marques, Dominique Bikaba, Robert Bitariho, Christophe Boesch, Laura M. Bolt, Ramesh Boonratana, Thomas M. Butynski, Gustavo R. Canale, Susana Carvalho, Colin A. Chapman, Dilip Chetry, Susan M. Cheyne, Marina Cords, Fanny M. Cornejo, Liliana Cortés-Ortiz, Camille N. Z. Coudrat, Margaret C. Crofoot, Drew T. Cronin, Alvine Dadjo, S. Chrystelle Dakpogan, Emmanuel Danquah, Tim R. B. Davenport, Yvonne A. de Jong, Stella de la Torre, Andrea Dempsey, Judeline C. Dimalibot, Rainer Dolch, Giuseppe Donati, Alejandro Estrada, Rassina A. Farassi, Peter J. Fashing, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Maria J. Ferreira da Silva, Julia Fischer, César F. Flores-Negrón, Barbara Fruth, Terence Fuh Neba, Lief Erikson Gamalo, Jörg U. Ganzhorn, Paul A. Garber, Smitha D. Gnanaolivu, Mary Katherine Gonder, Sery Ernest Gonedelé Bi, Benoit Goossens, Marcelo Gordo, Juan M. Guayasamin, Diana C. Guzmán-Caro, Andrew R. Halloran, Jessica A. Hartel, Eckhard W. Heymann, Russell A. Hill, Kimberley J. Hockings, Gottfried Hohmann, Naven Hon, Mariano G. Houngbédji, Michael A. Huffman, Rachel A. Ikemeh, Inaoyom Imong, Mitchell T. Irwin, Patrícia Izar, Leandro Jerusalinsky, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Beth A. Kaplin, Peter M. Kappeler, Stanislaus M. Kivai, Cheryl D. Knott, Intanon Kolasartsanee, Kathelijne Koops, Martin M. Kowalewski, Deo Kujirakwinja, Ajith Kumar, Quyet K. Le, Rebecca J. Lewis, Aung Ko Lin, Andrés Link, Luz I. Loría, Menladi M. Lormie, Edward E. Louis Jr., Ngwe Lwin, Suchinda Malaivijitnond, Lesley Marisa, Gráinne M. McCabe, W. Scott McGraw, Addisu Mekonnen, Pedro G. Méndez-Carvajal, Tânia Minhós, David M. Montgomery, Citlalli Morelos-Juárez, David Morgan, Amancio Motove Etingüe, Papa Ibnou Ndiaye, K. Anne-Isola Nekaris, Nga Nguyen, Vincent Nijman, Radar Nishuli, Marilyn A. Norconk, Luciana I. Oklander, Rahayu Oktaviani, Julia Ostner, Emily Otali, Susan E. Perry, Eduardo J. Pinel Ramos, Leila M. Porter, Jill D. Pruetz, Anne E. Pusey, Helder L. Queiroz, Mónica A. Ramírez, Guy Hermas Randriatahina, Hoby Rasoanaivo, Jonah Ratsimbazafy, Joelisoa Ratsirarson, Josia Razafindramanana, Onja H. Razafindratsima, Vernon Reynolds, Rizaldi Rizaldi, Martha M. Robbins, Melissa E. Rodríguez, Marleny Rosales-Meda, Crickette M. Sanz, Dipto Sarkar, Anne Savage, Amy L. Schreier, Oliver Schülke, Gabriel H. Segniagbeto, Juan Carlos Serio-Silva, Arif Setiawan, John Seyjagat, Felipe E. Silva, Elizabeth M. Sinclair, Rebecca L. Smith, Denise Spaan, Fiona A. Stewart, Shirley C. Strum, Martin Surbeck, Magdalena S. Svensson, Mauricio Talebi, Luc Roscelin Tédonzong, Bernardo Urbani, João Valsecchi, Natalie Vasey, Erin R. Vogel, Robert B. Wallace, Janette Wallis, Siân Waters, Roman M. Wittig, Richard W. Wrangham, Patricia C. Wright, Russell A. Mittermeie

A polymorphism of EGFR extracellular domain is associated with progression free-survival in metastatic colorectal cancer patients receiving cetuximab-based treatment

International audienceBackground: Cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), is currently used in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), but predictive factors for therapeutic response are lacking. Mutational status of KRAS and EGFR, and EGFR copy number are potential determinants of cetuximab activity.Methods: We analyzed tumor tissues from 32 EGFR-positive mCRC patients receiving cetuximab/irinotecan combination and evaluable for treatment response. EGFR copy number was quantified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). KRAS exon 1 and EGFR exons coding for extracellular regions were sequenced.Results: Nine patients experienced an objective response (partial response) and 23 were considered as nonresponders (12 with stable disease and 11 with progressive disease). There was no EGFR amplification found, but high polysomy was noted in 2 patients, both of which were cetuximab responders. No EGFR mutations were found but a variant of exon 13 (R521K) was observed in 12 patients, 11 of which achieved objective response or stable disease. Progression-free and overall survivals were significantly better in patients with this EGFR exon 13 variant. KRAS mutations were found in 14 cases. While there was a trend for an increased KRAS mutation frequency in nonresponder patients (12 mutations out of 23, 52%) as compared to responder patients (2 out of 9, 22%), authentic tumor response or long-term disease stabilization was found in KRAS mutated patients.Conclusion: This preliminary study suggests that: an increase in EGFR copy number may be associated with cetuximab response but is a rare event in CRC, KRAS mutations are associated with low response rate but do not preclude any cetuximab-based combination efficacy and EGFR exon 13 variant (R521K) may predict for cetuximab benefit

Origins and genetic legacy of prehistoric dogs

Dogs were the first domestic animal, but little is known about their population history and to what extent it was linked to humans. We sequenced 27 ancient dog genomes and found that all dogs share a common ancestry distinct from present-day wolves, with limited gene flow from wolves since domestication but substantial dog-to-wolf gene flow. By 11,000 years ago, at least five major ancestry lineages had diversified, demonstrating a deep genetic history of dogs during the Paleolithic. Coanalysis with human genomes reveals aspects of dog population history that mirror humans, including Levant-related ancestry in Africa and early agricultural Europe. Other aspects differ, including the impacts of steppe pastoralist expansions in West and East Eurasia and a near-complete turnover of Neolithic European dog ancestry