Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Dogs in Tehran, Iran

Background: Toxoplasma gondii infects a wide range of animals; felines are definitive hosts and other animals including the dogs are intermediate hosts. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in dogs in Tehran, capital of Iran and to investigate possi­ble associated risk factors.Methods: Three hundreds ninety six serum samples were collected during 2007-8 from the dogs. Col­lected samples were tested using an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) in dilutions of 1:16 and more. All procedures were carried out in Shahrekord University, Iran. All the data were analyzed using SPSS software, qui square test with confidence interval of 0.95.Results: From evaluated samples, 89 (22.47%) were positive in titers of at least 1:16. further evalua­tions in other dilutions showed positive results in dilutions of maximum 1:16 , 1:32, 1:64, 1:128 and 1:256 in 38, 29, 15, 2 and 5 dogs respectively. Investigation of the role of risk factors showed no sex predisposition while infection rate was significantly higher in dogs older than one year old. Living places were of significant importance; infection rate was significantly higher in stray or guard dogs in compare with household dogs (P<0.05). Conclusion: Relatively high seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in dogs in Tehran shows high environmental contamination. It is recommended that the dogs with suspected clinical signs be tested for T. gondii infection

Lessons From the First Comprehensive Molecular Characterization of Cell Cycle Control in Rodent Insulinoma Cell Lines

OBJECTIVE—Rodent insulinoma cell lines may serve as a model for designing continuously replicating human β-cell lines and provide clues as to the central cell cycle regulatory molecules in the β-cell

CSP ASSEMBLY RELIABILITY: COMMERCIAL AND HARSH ENVIRONMENTS

ABSTRACT The JPL-led CSP Consortium of enterprises representing government agencies and private companies has joined together to pool in-kind resources for developing the quality and reliability of chip scale packages (CSPs) for a variety of projects. Last year (1), team members reported their experience on technology implementation challenges, including design and build of both standard and microvia boards, assembly of two types of test vehicles, and preliminary aging and thermal cycling test results on trial test vehicles. Since then, more than 150 test vehicles, single-and double-sided, have been assembled and are presently being subjected to various environmental tests. This paper presents the experience of three consortium team companies on characterizing reliability behavior under four different thermal cycling environments. Lessons learned on assembly are given in a paper included in this proceedings

Adult Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus: Can Experts Agree on the Assessment of Disease Severity?

Objective The objective of this study was to test the severity rating of the signs and architectural changes for interrater reliability among world experts via analysis of lichen sclerosus (LS) photographs. Methods A recent Delphi consensus exercise established a list of symptoms, signs, and architectural changes, which experts feel are important to include in a severity scale. Photographs of vulvar LS were manually extracted from patient charts and 50 photographs with a range of severity of signs and architectural changes were chosen. Lichen sclerosus experts were invited to take part in the study and 3 dermatologists and 3 gynecologists were selected for their expertise and geographic variety. Raters assessed the photographs for multiple signs and architectural changes as well as an overall impression of disease severity on a 4-point Likert scale. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated. Results The intraclass correlation coefficients were very poor for individual signs and architectural changes as well as for overall disease severity when analyzed for all 6 raters as well as when analyzed with dermatologists' and gynecologists' responses grouped separately. There were no statistically significant correlations found. Conclusions Global experts were unable to agree on any signs, architectural changes, or an overall global impression to assess vulvar LS disease severity based on analysis of vulvar photographs. Standardized descriptions regarding what constitutes mild, moderate, and severe signs and anatomical changes are required before further scale development can occur

A National Measurement Framework to Assess and Improve Sickle Cell Care in 4 US Regions

ObjectivesCoordinated measurement strategies are needed to inform collaborative approaches to improve access to and quality of care for persons with sickle cell disease (SCD). The objective of our study was to develop a multilevel measurement strategy to assess improvements in access to and quality of care for persons with SCD in 4 US regions.MethodsFrom 2014 through 2017, regional grantees in the Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program collected administrative and patient-level electronic health record (EHR) data to assess quality improvement initiatives. Four grantees-covering 29 US states and territories and an SCD population of 56 720-used a collective impact model to organize their work. The grantees collected administrative data from state Medicaid and Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) at multiple points during 2014-2017 to assess improvements at the population level, and local patient-level data were abstracted from site-level EHRs at regular intervals to track improvements over time.ResultsAdministrative data were an important source of understanding population-level improvements but were delayed, whereas patient-level data were more sensitive to small-scale quality improvements.ConclusionsWe established a shared measurement approach in partnership with Medicaid and Medicaid MCO stakeholders that can be leveraged to effectively support quality improvement initiatives for persons with SCD in the United States