Breast cancer screening practices of safety net clinics: Results of a needs assessment study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For low income and uninsured populations, safety net clinics are an important source of health care, including preventive services such as mammography screening. However, little is known about how well breast health is coordinated within the safety net clinic environment and what barriers patients encounter.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A needs assessment was conducted among eight community-based safety net clinics located in Montgomery County, Maryland to learn about breast cancer referral and screening procedures. Structured in-depth interviews were conducted with clinic staff during the summer of 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Safety net clinics reported that they routinely identified women who need mammography screening and referred women to mammography screening facilities. However, clinics were not aware of the limited number of free or low cost mammography screening slots available in the county or the waiting time to receive mammography services. Overall, screening barriers were common in the safety net system and only a few procedures were in place to help women overcome these barriers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Safety net clinics face multiple barriers in providing and coordinating breast cancer screening services for low income or uninsured patients. These barriers prevent the efficient allocation of mammography screening services and prevent underserved women from accessing an important preventive health service.</p

Transformation products of microcystin-RR with reactive species produced by radiolysis of water.

Microcystins (MCs) are potent cyclic-peptide toxins produced by cyanobacteria during freshwater bloom episodes. They can severely impact drinking water supplies and recreational waters. More than 300 MCs are known today, which are toxic, mainly by inhibiting protein phosphatases. MC-RR is an important congener, as shown in several bloom episodes. There are still serious gaps of knowledge regarding the reaction pathways and transformation products of MCs with reactive species which have a role in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) or in degradation processes in natural waters. In this study, we applied the principles of radiation chemistry of water to investigate the transformations of the less-studied MC-RR by a range of oxidizing (hydroxyl radical, superoxide ion, hydroperoxyl radical) and reducing (hydrogen atom, hydrated electron) species. We manipulated a steady-state radiation-chemical system using scavengers to investigate and quantify the effects of single species. We used high-resolution mass spectrometry combined with computational and visualization platforms to annotate MS features of transformation products and to compare the single-species reaction pathways. Our results contribute to risk assessment concerning the fate of MCs in water treatment processes and in the environment

Development and evaluation of a web-based breast cancer cultural competency course for primary healthcare providers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To develop and evaluate a continuing medical education (CME) course aimed at improving healthcare provider knowledge about breast cancer health disparities and the importance of cross-cultural communication in provider-patient interactions about breast cancer screening.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An interactive web-based CME course was developed and contained information about breast cancer disparities, the role of culture in healthcare decision making, and demonstrated a model of cross-cultural communication. A single group pre-/post-test design was used to assess knowledge changes. Data on user satisfaction was also collected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 132 participants registered for the CME with 103 completing both assessments. Differences between pre-/post-test show a significant increase in knowledge (70% vs. 94%; p < .001). Ninety-five percent of participants agreed that the web based training was an appropriate tool to train healthcare providers about cultural competency and health disparities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was an overall high level of satisfaction among all users. Users felt that learning objectives were met and the web-based format was appropriate and easy to use and suggests that web-based CME formats are an appropriate tool to teach cultural competency skills. However, more information is needed to understand how the CME impacted practice behaviors.</p

Intercalibration of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at start-up

Calibration of the relative response of the individual channels of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector was accomplished, before installation, with cosmic ray muons and test beams. One fourth of the calorimeter was exposed to a beam of high energy electrons and the relative calibration of the channels, the intercalibration, was found to be reproducible to a precision of about 0.3%. Additionally, data were collected with cosmic rays for the entire ECAL barrel during the commissioning phase. By comparing the intercalibration constants obtained with the electron beam data with those from the cosmic ray data, it is demonstrated that the latter provide an intercalibration precision of 1.5% over most of the barrel ECAL. The best intercalibration precision is expected to come from the analysis of events collected in situ during the LHC operation. Using data collected with both electrons and pion beams, several aspects of the intercalibration procedures based on electrons or neutral pions were investigated

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum