152 research outputs found
Molecular Epidemiology and Evolution of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Human Metapneumovirus
Moving beyond a limited follow-up in cost-effectiveness analyses of behavioral interventions
Background Cost-effectiveness analyses of behavioral interventions typically use a dichotomous outcome criterion. However, achieving behavioral change is a complex process involving several steps towards a change in behavior. Delayed effects may occur after an intervention period ends, which can lead to underestimation of these interventions. To account for such delayed effects, intermediate outcomes of behavioral change may be used in cost-effectiveness analyses. The aim of this study is to model cognitive parameters of behavioral change into a cost-effectiveness model of a behavioral intervention. Methods The cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of an existing dataset from an RCT in which an high-intensity smoking cessation intervention was compared with a medium-intensity intervention, was re-analyzed by modeling the stages of change of the Transtheoretical Model of behavioral change. Probabilities were obtained from the dataset and literature and a sensitivity analysis was performed. Results In the original CEA over the first 12 months, the high-intensity intervention dominated in approximately 58% of the cases. After modeling the cognitive parameters to a future 2nd year of follow-up, this was the case in approximately 79%. Conclusion This study showed that modeling of future behavioral change in CEA of a behavioral intervention further strengthened the results of the standard CEA. Ultimately, modeling future behavioral change could have important consequences for health policy development in general and the adoption of behavioral interventions in particular
Renal clearance of the thyrotropin-releasing hormone-like peptide pyroglutamyl-glutamyl-prolineamide in humans
TRH-like peptides have been identified that differ from TRH
(pGlu-His-ProNH2) in the middle amino acid. We have estimated TRH-like
immunoreactivity (TRH-LI) in human serum and urine by RIA with
TRH-specific antiserum 8880 or with antiserum 4319, which binds most
peptides with the structure pGlu-X-ProNH2. TRH was undetectable in serum
(< 25 pg/mL), but TRH-LI was detected with antiserum 4319 in serum of 27
normal subjects, 21 control patients, and 12 patients with carcinoid
tumors (range 17-45, 5-79, and 18-16,600 pg/mL, respectively). Because
serum was kept for at least 2 h at room temperature, which causes
degradation of TRH, pGlu-Phe-ProNH2, and pGlu-Tyr-ProNH2, serum TRH-LI is
not caused by these peptides. On high-performance liquid chromatography,
serum TRH-LI coeluted with pGlu-Glu-ProNH2 (< EEP-NH2), a peptide produced
in, among others, the prostate. Urine of normals and control patients also
contained TRH-LI (range 1.14-4.97 and 0.24-5.51 ng/mL, respectively), with
similar levels in males and females. TRH represented only 2% of urinary
TRH-LI, and anion-exchange chromatography and high-performance liquid
chromatography revealed that most TRH-LI in urine was < EEP-NH2. In
patients with carcinoid tumors, increased urinary TRH-LI levels were noted
(range 1.35-962.4 ng/mL). Urinary TRH-LI correlated positively with
urinary creatinine, and the urinary clearance rate of TRH-LI was similar
to the glomerular filtration rate. In addition, serum TRH-LI was increased
in 17 hemodialysis patients (43-373 pg/mL). This suggests that serum <
EEP-NH2 is cleared by glomerular filtration with little tubular
resorption. The possible role of the prostate as a source of urinary
TRH-LI was evaluated in 11 men with prostate cancer, showing a 25%
decrease in urinary TRH-LI excretion after prostatectomy (0.19 +/- 0.02
vs. 0.15 +/- 0.01 ng/mumol creatinine, mean +/- SEM). However, TRH-LI was
similar in spontaneously voided urine and in urine obtained through a
nephrostomy cannula from 16 patients with unilateral urinary tract
obstruction (0.15 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.14 +/- 0.01 ng/mumol creatinine). These
data indicate that: 1) TRH-LI in human serum represents largely < EEP-NH2,
which is cleared by renal excretion; 2) part of urinary < EEP-NH2 is
derived from prostatic secretion into the blood and not directly into
urine; and 3) urinary < EEP-NH2 can be used as marker for carcinoid
tumors
Renal clearance of the thyrotropin-releasing hormone-like peptide pyroglutamyl-glutamyl-prolineamide in humans
TRH-like peptides have been identified that differ from TRH
(pGlu-His-ProNH2) in the middle amino acid. We have estimated TRH-like
immunoreactivity (TRH-LI) in human serum and urine by RIA with
TRH-specific antiserum 8880 or with antiserum 4319, which binds most
peptides with the structure pGlu-X-ProNH2. TRH was undetectable in serum
(< 25 pg/mL), but TRH-LI was detected with antiserum 4319 in serum of 27
normal subjects, 21 control patients, and 12 patients with carcinoid
tumors (range 17-45, 5-79, and 18-16,600 pg/mL, respectively). Because
serum was kept for at least 2 h at room temperature, which causes
degradation of TRH, pGlu-Phe-ProNH2, and pGlu-Tyr-ProNH2, serum TRH-LI is
not caused by these peptides. On high-performance liquid chromatography,
serum TRH-LI coeluted with pGlu-Glu-ProNH2 (< EEP-NH2), a peptide produced
in, among others, the prostate. Urine of normals and control patients also
contained TRH-LI (range 1.14-4.97 and 0.24-5.51 ng/mL, respectively), with
similar levels in males and females. TRH represented only 2% of urinary
TRH-LI, and anion-exchange chromatography and high-performance liquid
chromatography revealed that most TRH-LI in urine was < EEP-NH2. In
patients with carcinoid tumors, increased urinary TRH-LI levels were noted
(range 1.35-962.4 ng/mL). Urinary TRH-LI correlated positively with
urinary creatinine, and the urinary clearance rate of TRH-LI was similar
to the glomerular filtration rate. In addition, serum TRH-LI was increased
in 17 hemodialysis patients (43-373 pg/mL). This suggests that serum <
EEP-NH2 is cleared by glomerular filtration wit
Computational Nuclear Physics and Post Hartree-Fock Methods
We present a computational approach to infinite nuclear matter employing
Hartree-Fock theory, many-body perturbation theory and coupled cluster theory.
These lectures are closely linked with those of chapters 9, 10 and 11 and serve
as input for the correlation functions employed in Monte Carlo calculations in
chapter 9, the in-medium similarity renormalization group theory of dense
fermionic systems of chapter 10 and the Green's function approach in chapter
11. We provide extensive code examples and benchmark calculations, allowing
thereby an eventual reader to start writing her/his own codes. We start with an
object-oriented serial code and end with discussions on strategies for porting
the code to present and planned high-performance computing facilities.Comment: 82 pages, to appear in Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer), "An
advanced course in computational nuclear physics: Bridging the scales from
quarks to neutron stars", M. Hjorth-Jensen, M. P. Lombardo, U. van Kolck,
Editor
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