Cost-Effectiveness of Health Care Interventions to Address Intimate Partner Violence: What Do We Know and What Else Should We Look for?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) creates a substantial burden of disease and significant costs to families, communities, and governments. Building the evidence for effective interventions to reduce violence and its sequelae requires increased use of economic evaluation to inform policy through the analysis of costs and potential savings of interventions. The authors review existing economic evaluations and present case studies of current research from the United Kingdom and Australia to illustrate the strengths and limitations of two approaches to generating economic evidence: economic evaluation alongside randomized controlled trials and economic modeling. Economic evaluation should always be considered in the design of IPV intervention research

MicroRNAs regulate tumor angiogenesis modulated by endothelial progenitor cells

Bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), contribute to the angiogenesis dependent growth of tumors in mice and humans. EPCs regulate the angiogenic switch via paracrine secretion of proangiogenic growth factors, and by direct luminal incorporation into sprouting nascent vessels. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of several cellular processes including angiogenesis; however, whether miRNAs contribute to BM-mediated angiogenesis has remained unknown. Here, we show that genetic ablation of microRNA processing enzyme Dicer, specifically in the BM, decreased the number of circulating EPCs, resulting in angiogenesis suppression and impaired tumor growth. Furthermore, genome-wide deep sequencing of small RNAs revealed tumor EPC-intrinsic miRNAs including miR-10b and miR-196b; which have been previously identified as key regulators of HOX signaling and adult stem cell differentiation. Notably, we found that both miR-10b and miR-196b, are responsive to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulation, and show elevated expression in human high-grade breast tumor vasculature. Strikingly, targeting miR-10b and miR-196b led to significant defects in angiogenesis-mediated tumor growth in mice. Targeting these miRNAs may constitute a novel strategy for inhibiting tumor angiogenesis

Does Physical Intimate Partner Violence Affect Sexual Health?: A Systematic Review

Forty years of published research (1966-2006) addressing physical intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual health was reviewed (51 manuscripts) and synthesized to determine (a) those sexual health indicators for which sufficient evidence is available to suggest a causal association and (b) gaps in the literature for which additional careful research is needed to establish causality and explain mechanisms for these associations. Sexual health was defined as a continuum of indicators of gynecology and reproductive health. IPV was consistently associated with sexual risk taking, inconsistent condom use, or partner nonmonogamy (23 of 27 studies), having an unplanned pregnancy or induced abortion (13 of 16 studies), having a sexually transmitted infection (17 of 24 studies), and sexual dysfunction (17 of 18 studies). A conceptual model was presented to guide further needed research addressing direct and indirect mechanisms by which physical, sexual, and psychological IPV affects sexual health