Content Analysis of Digital Media Coverage of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine School-Entry Requirement Policy in Puerto Rico

BACKGROUND: In August 2018, Puerto Rico (PR) became the 4th state or territory in the United States to adopt a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine school-entry requirement, for students 11-12 years old. Evidence suggests that the content of media coverage may impact people\u27s perception of HPV vaccine and their willingness to vaccinate. This study aimed to analyze the content of digital news coverage related to the implementation of the policy in PR. METHODS: A content review was conducted of digital media published from January 2017 through December 2018. The content reviewed was carried out in two steps: 1) creating a matrix to summarize each article\u27s content about the policy and 2) qualitative analysis using a grounded theory approach. RESULTS: The search resulted in 34 articles obtained from 17 online local and international news outlets that reported the policy\u27s implementation. Analyses showed that 61% of the news articles did not mention the number of required doses, and 79% discussed the new policy concerning cancer prevention. In 2017, news coverage focused mostly on describing the policy, while 2018 coverage focused on controversies surrounding the implementation. Neutral emergent codes included: 1) Description of the policy; 2) Information about HPV related cancers; and 3) General information about HPV vaccine. Negative emergent codes included: 1) infringement to patient and parental autonomy; 2) Hesitancy from the political sector, and 3) Hesitancy from groups and coalitions. Positive content included: 1) knowledge and acceptance of HPV vaccine for cancer prevention; 2) importance of education and protective sexual behaviors; and 3) new vaccination law proposal. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the media coverage in PR was neutral and included limited information related to the vaccine, HPV, and HPV-related cancers. Neutral and negative themes could influence public concerns regarding the new policy, as well as HPV vaccination rates in PR

Utility of the Tourniquet Test and the White Blood Cell Count to Differentiate Dengue among Acute Febrile Illnesses in the Emergency Room

Dengue often presents with non-specific clinical signs, and given the current paucity of accurate, rapid diagnostic laboratory tests, identifying easily obtainable bedside markers of dengue remains a priority. Previous studies in febrile Asian children have suggested that the combination of a positive tourniquet test (TT) and leucopenia can distinguish dengue from other febrile illnesses, but little data exists on the usefulness of these tests in adults or in the Americas. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the TT and leucopenia (white blood cell count <5000/mm3) in identifying dengue as part of an acute febrile illness (AFI) surveillance study conducted in the Emergency Department of Saint Luke's Hospital in Ponce, Puerto Rico. From September to December 2009, 284 patients presenting to the ED with fever for 2–7 days and no identified source were enrolled. Participants were tested for influenza, dengue, leptospirosis and enteroviruses. Thirty-three (12%) patients were confirmed as having dengue; 2 had dengue co-infection with influenza and leptospirosis, respectively. An infectious etiology was determined for 141 others (136 influenza, 3 enterovirus, 2 urinary tract infections), and 110 patients had no infectious etiology identified. Fifty-two percent of laboratory-positive dengue cases had a positive TT versus 18% of patients without dengue (P<0.001), 87% of dengue cases compared to 28% of non-dengue cases had leucopenia (P<0.001). The presence of either a positive TT or leucopenia correctly identified 94% of dengue patients. The specificity and positive predictive values of these tests was significantly higher in the subset of patients without pandemic influenza A H1N1, suggesting improved discriminatory performance of these tests in the absence of concurrent dengue and influenza outbreaks. However, even during simultaneous AFI outbreaks, the absence of leucopenia combined with a negative tourniquet test may be useful to rule out dengue

Redalyc.Analysis of the effects of climate change on plant communities and mammals in México

Analysis of the effects of climate change on plant communities and mammals in México Atmósfera, vol. 24, núm. 1, enero, 2011, pp. 1-14 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Distrito Federal, México RESUMEN En el presente estudio se proponen dos enfoques metodológicos para el análisis del efecto del cambio climático sobre la biodiversidad, uno a nivel de zona bioclimática y otro a nivel de especie. Las salidas de tres modelos de cambio climático para el horizonte de tiempo 2050, se aplicaron a nueve zonas bioclimáticas de México y a 61 especies de mamíferos: ECHAM5/MPI, UKHADGEM1 y GFDL CM 2.0, cada uno con dos escenarios de emisiones, el A2 y el B2. Para el caso de las zonas bioclimáticas se utilizó un modelo logit multinomial basado en información de muestreos de vegetación, datos de clima e información de suelo para obtener las probabilidades de ocurrencia. En el caso de las especies de mamíferos se generaron para cada uno de ellos modelos de nicho ecológico y de sus distribuciones en el país dentro de cada zona bioclimática. Los resultados muestran que el ECHAM y Hadley coinciden en la tendencia hacia condiciones más secas fundamentalmente en el norte de México, en contraste con el GDFL con respuestas menos severas. Se observan diferencias de acuerdo a los escenarios de emisiones aplicados. Las respuestas a nivel específico coinciden a grandes rasgos con sus correspondientes zonas bioclimáticas. En general se prevé que para el 2050 casi la mitad de las especies analizadas perderán alrededor del 50% de su área de distribución como resultado del impacto del cambio climático. ABSTRACT The current study proposes two methodological approaches for analyzing the effects of climate change on biodiversity, one at the level of bioclimatic zone, and the other one at the species level. Three general cir- culation models were applied to nine bioclimatic zones and 61 species of mammals in México for the 2050 time horizon: ECHAM5/MPI, UKHADGEM1 and GFDL CM 2.0, each one with two emissions scenarios, A2 and B2. In the case of bioclimatic zones a multinomial logit model was used based on data from surveys of vegetation, climate data and soil information in order to obtain probabilities of occurrence. In the case of mammals, ecological niche models were made for each of them as well as models of their distribution in the country within each bioclimatic zone. The results show that ECHAM and Hadley coincide with tendencies towards drier conditions mainly in northern México, in contrast with GDFL with less severe results. Differences are noticed according to the applied emission scenarios. Results at a specific level coincide roughly with their corresponding bioclimatic zones. By 2050 it is generally expected that almost half of all analyzed species will lose around 50% of their area of distribution as a result of the impact of climate change

Morquio A Syndrome: Identification of Differential Patterns of Molecular Pathway Interactions in Bone Lesions

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IVA (MPS IVA; Morquio A syndrome) is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease (LSD) caused by deficiency of a hydrolase enzyme, N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase, and characterized clinically by mainly musculoskeletal manifestations. The mechanisms underlying bone involvement in humans are typically explored using invasive techniques such as bone biopsy, which complicates analysis in humans. We compared bone proteomes using DDA and SWATH-MS in wild-type and MPS IVA knockout mice (UNT) to obtain mechanistic information about the disease. Our findings reveal over 1000 dysregulated proteins in knockout mice, including those implicated in oxidative phosphorylation, oxidative stress (reactive oxygen species), DNA damage, and iron transport, and suggest that lactate dehydrogenase may constitute a useful prognostic and follow-up biomarker. Identifying biomarkers that reflect MPS IVA clinical course, severity, and progression have important implications for disease management

Differential adhesion regulates neurite placement via a retrograde zippering mechanism

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sengupta, T., Koonce, N. L., Vazquez-Martinez, N., Moyle, M. W., Duncan, L. H., Emerson, S. E., Han, X., Shao, L., Wu, Y., Santella, A., Fan, L., Bao, Z., Mohler, W. A., Shroff, H., & Colon-Ramos, D. A. Differential adhesion regulates neurite placement via a retrograde zippering mechanism. Elife, 10, (2021): e71171, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71171.During development, neurites and synapses segregate into specific neighborhoods or layers within nerve bundles. The developmental programs guiding placement of neurites in specific layers, and hence their incorporation into specific circuits, are not well understood. We implement novel imaging methods and quantitative models to document the embryonic development of the C. elegans brain neuropil, and discover that differential adhesion mechanisms control precise placement of single neurites onto specific layers. Differential adhesion is orchestrated via developmentally regulated expression of the IgCAM SYG-1, and its partner ligand SYG-2. Changes in SYG-1 expression across neuropil layers result in changes in adhesive forces, which sort SYG-2-expressing neurons. Sorting to layers occurs, not via outgrowth from the neurite tip, but via an alternate mechanism of retrograde zippering, involving interactions between neurite shafts. Our study indicates that biophysical principles from differential adhesion govern neurite placement and synaptic specificity in vivo in developing neuropil bundles.National Institutes of Health (R24-OD01647) Zhirong Bao William Mohler Daniel A Colón-Ramos National Institutes of Health (R01NS076558) Daniel A Colón-Ramos National Institutes of Health (DP1NS111778) Daniel A Colón-Ramos Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Faculty Scholar Award) Daniel A Colón-Ramos Marine Biological Laboratory (Whitman and Fellows program) Hari Shroff Daniel A Colón-Ramos Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Moore Grant) Hari Shroff Daniel A Colón-Ramos Gruber Foundation (Gruber Science Fellowship) Titas Sengupta National Institutes of Health (Predoctoral Training Program in Genetics NIH 2020 T32 GM.) Noelle L Koonce National Institutes of Health (F32-NS098616) Mark W Moyle National Institutes of Health (NIBIB Intramural Research Program) Hari Shroff National Institutes of Health (P30CA008748) Zhirong Ba

Esfuerzos realizados en Puerto Rico hacia la consolidación de políticas públicas para la prevención de cánceres asociados al VPH

El propósito de este informe especial es describir cronológicamente los eventos que contribuyeron al desarrollo y aprobación de la legislación e implementación del requisito escolar de vacunación en Puerto Rico (PR), con el fin de prevenir el VPH y los cánceres asociados a este. A partir del 2010, PR inició las aprobaciones de políticas públicas con el objetivo de mejorar el registro de casos de los cánceres y la cobertura de la vacuna contra el VPH a través de los planes médicos en adolescentes de 11 a 18 años. En el 2014, los esfuerzos científicos y comunitarios lograron documentar la magnitud de las enfermedades causadas por el VPH, y desarrollar en conjunto, estrategias de prevención y promoción de la vacuna contra el VPH. En agosto de 2018, PR logró ser uno de los primeros cuatro territorios de los Estados Unidos de América en implementar la vacuna contra el VPH como requisito escolar con el fin de disminuir la incidencia de cánceres asociados al VPH en la isla. En el 2019 se garantizó por ley que todo proveedor de vacunación debe reportar al Registro de Inmunización. El caso de PR demuestra que el desarrollo de políticas públicas junto con colaboraciones entre coaliciones académicas, científicas y comunitarias, logran cambios poblacionales y resultados medibles dirigidos a la prevención de VPH. Países con una problemática de salud pública similar podrían adoptar esfuerzos similares a los presentados, y alinearlos al objetivo de la Organización Mundial de la Salud: erradicación del cáncer cervical para 2030. The purpose of this special report is to describe chronologically the events that contributed to the development and approval of legislation and subsequent implementation of a school vaccination mandate in order to prevent HPV and HPV-associated cancers in Puerto Rico (PR). Starting in 2010, PR initiated public policy approvals aimed at improving cancer registries and HPV vaccine coverage through health insurance for adolescents aged 11 to 18 years. In 2014, scientific and community efforts succeeded in documenting the magnitude of morbidity caused by HPV and jointly developing HPV vaccine prevention and promotion strategies. In August 2018, PR became one of the first four territories of the United States of America to implement the HPV vaccine school entry requirement to decrease the incidence of HPV-associated cancers on the island. In 2019, it was enshrined in law that every immunization provider must submit immunization data to the Puerto Rico Immunization Registry. The case of PR demonstrates that public policy-making alongside collaboration between academic, scientific, and community coalitions can achieve population change and measurable outcomes aimed at HPV prevention. Countries with a similar public health problem could adopt efforts similar to those presented herein and align them with the World Health Organization goal of eradicating cervical cancer by 2030