Point-of-Care Diagnostic Device for the Quantitative Analysis of Human Estradiol at Low-Picomolar Concentrations

A fundamental issue in healthcare is the development of cost-effective and reliable diagnostic assays. While still a relatively new field, paper-based analytical devices are emerging as inexpensive and portable methods of providing healthcare professionals with real-time diagnostic information. Furthermore, these devices can often be used at the point of care, thus eliminating the need for a myriad of time-consuming laboratory techniques. While the original goal of this project was to develop a paper-based lateral flow immunoassay capable of colorimetric quantitation, the device design was altered over the course of the past year. Upon testing, the originally proposed lateral flow assay lacked adequate sensitivity and reliability. Therefore, a novel three-dimensional paper-based analytical device was developed. This new device design utilizes enzymatic amplification to break down a biomatrix, ultimately producing a chronometric readout. This unique biomatrix can detect \u3c1 femtomole (10-15) of analyte, with degradation time being directly correlated to analyte concentration. Thus far, device storage conditions, viable pH ranges, and viable temperature ranges have been determined. While further refinement is still needed, these diagnostic devices have the potential to revolutionize point-of-care assays through the quantification of analytes in both field and clinical settings

The economics of abortion: costs, impacts, values, benefits, and stigma

Objective: To systematically search for and synthesize the social science literature on the consequences of abortion-related care, abortion policies, and abortion stigma on economic costs, benefits, impacts, and values at the micro- (i.e., abortion seekers and their households), meso- (i.e., communities and health systems), and macro- (i.e., societies and nation states) levels. Methods: We conduct a scoping review using the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) tool. Studies reporting on qualitative and/or quantitative data from any world region are considered. For inclusion, studies must examine one of the following economic outcomes at the micro- , meso-, and/or macro-levels: costs, benefits, impacts, and/or value of abortion-related care or abortion policies. Results: Our searches yielded 19,653 unique items, of which 365 items were included in our synthesis. The economic levels are operationalized as follows: at the micro-level we examine individual decision making, at the meso-level we consider the impact on abortion services and medical systems in context, and at the macro the impact of access to abortion services on broader indicators (e.g., women’s educational attainment). At the micro-economic level, results indicate that economic costs and consequences play an important role in women’s trajectories to abortion-related care. However, the types of costs that are studied are often unclear and tend to focus narrowly on costs to and at health facilities. Our evidence suggests that a much broader range of economic costs, impacts and values are likely to be important in a wide range of contexts. At the meso-economic level, we find that adapting to changes in laws and policies is costly for health facilities, and that financial savings can be realized while maintaining or even improving quality of abortion care services. At the macro-economic level, the evidence shows that post-abortion care services are expensive and can constitute a substantial portion of health budgets. Public sector coverage of abortion costs is sparse, and women bear most of the financial costs. Conclusions: This scoping review has uncovered a wealth of information about the economic costs, impacts, value, and benefits of abortion services and policies. The review also points to knowledge gaps, such as the ways in which women perceive the intersections between costs and quality of care, safety, and risk. Similarly, there is a dearth of methodological variation and innovation, with an abundance of studies using costing methods and regression analysis while other tools seen elsewhere in behavioral studies (such as discrete choice experiments and randomized control trials) are underexploited. This study provides a conceptual mapping of the economics of abortion in a new way, reinforcing some findings already well known while uncovering underexplored questions and methods

Urban American Indian Community Health Beliefs Associated with Addressing Cancer in the Northern Plains Region

American Indians residing in the Northern Plains region of the Indian Health Service experience some of the most severe cancer-related health disparities. We investigated ways in which the community climate among an American Indian population in an urban community in the Northern Plains region influences community readiness to address cancer. A Community Readiness Assessment, following the Community Readiness Model, conducted semi-structured interviews with eight educators, eight students, and eight community leaders from the American Indian community in Omaha’s urban American Indian population and established the Northern Plains region community at a low level of readiness to address cancer. This study reports on a subsequent qualitative study that analyzed all 24 interview transcriptions for emergent themes to help understand the prevailing attitude of the community toward cancer. A synthesis of six emergent themes revealed that the community’s perceptions of high levels of severity and barriers, paired with perceptions of low levels of susceptibility and benefits, lead to low levels of self-efficacy, all of which are reflected in minimal cues to action and little effort to address cancer. These findings, interpreted through the lens of the Health Belief Model, can inform the development of more community-based, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate approaches to address the multilevel determinants of health behaviors in relation to cancer among American Indians in the Northern Plains region

Kapsula

Selections from the 2015 Conference of the Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories Masters Progra

Kapsula

Selections from the 2015 Conference of the Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories Masters Progra

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Climate modeling of giant planets : the Saturnian seasonal stratosphere

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The relationship between executive functioning and weight loss and maintenance in children and parents participating in family-based treatment for childhood obesity.

We examined the relationship between executive function and weight loss among children (8-12 years) and parents enrolled in a behavioral weight-loss program. 150 overweight/obese children and their parents participated in a 6-month family-based weight-loss intervention and completed baseline (month 0), post-treatment (month 6) and 18-month follow-up assessments (month 24), which included Digit Span (DS), Stop Signal Task (SST), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Anthropometrics were additionally measured at mid-treatment (month 3) and 6-month follow-up (month 12). Children with more baseline WCST perseverative errors regained more weight (p = .002) at 18-month follow-up. Change in child BMIz was not associated with change in child executive function (p > .05) or parent executive function (p > .05). Among parents, baseline measure of DS-backward (p < .001) and post-treatment changes in WCST perseverative errors (p < .001) were associated with post-treatment changes in parent BMI. SST was not related to parent or child weight loss. Thus, children's baseline set-shifting was associated with weight regain during follow-up whereas changes in parent set-shifting was associated with changes in parent weight. Future research is needed to examine the relationship between executive function and weight loss and how this translates to intervention success for both overweight/obese children and participating parents

Design and implementation of a study evaluating extinction processes to food cues in obese children: the Intervention for Regulations of Cues Trial (iROC).

Obesity and its health sequelae affect a significant portion of children in the United States. Yet, the current gold-standard family-based behavioral weight-loss treatments are only effective for one-third of children long-term. Therefore, we developed iROC (Intervention for Regulation of Cues) to specifically target a method to decrease overeating in overweight children, based on learning theory, to inform and enhance interventions targeting diet and obesity in youth. This study will rigorously test extinction processes as a method of decreasing physiological and psychological responses to food cues in overweight and obese children. Through exposing children to their highly craved foods, and 'training the brain and body' to decrease overeating, we are hoping to produce longer-lasting weight loss or weight-gain prevention over time