A pilot test of a self-guided, home-based intervention to improve condom-related sexual experiences, attitudes, and behaviors among young women

Objective: to conduct a pilot test of a brief, self-guided, home-based program designed to improve male condom use attitudes and behaviors among young women.Participants: women aged 18–24 years from a large Midwestern University reporting having had penile-vaginal sex with two or more partners in the past 3 months. Sixty-seven enrolled; 91.0% completed the study.Methods: a repeated measures design was used, with assessments occurring at baseline, immediately post-intervention (T2), and 30 days subsequent (T3).Results: condom use errors and problems decreased, condom-related attitudes and self-efficacy improved, and experiences of condom-protected sex were rated more positively when comparing baseline with T2 and T3 scores. Further, the proportion of condom-protected episodes more than doubled between T1 and T3 for those in the lowest quartile for condom use at baseline.Conclusion: this low-resource, home-based program improved condom-related attitudes and promoted the correct and consistent use of condoms

Use of Evidence-Based Interventions and Implementation Strategies to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in Federally Qualified Health Centers

While colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates have been increasing in the general population, rates are considerably lower in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which serve a large proportion of uninsured and medically vulnerable patients. Efforts to screen eligible patients must be accelerated if we are to reach the national screening goal of 80% by 2018 and beyond. To inform this work, we conducted a survey of key informants at FQHCs in eight states to determine which evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to promote CRC screening are currently being used, and which implementation strategies are being employed to ensure that the interventions are executed as intended. One hundred and forty-eight FQHCs were invited to participate in the study, and 56 completed surveys were received for a response rate of 38%. Results demonstrated that provider reminder and recall systems were the most commonly used EBIs (44.6%) while the most commonly used implementation strategy was the identification of barriers (84.0%). The mean number of EBIs that were fully implemented at the centers was 2.4 (range 0–7) out of seven. Almost one-quarter of respondents indicated that their FQHCs were not using any EBIs to increase CRC screening. Full implementation of EBIs was correlated with higher CRC screening rates. These findings identify gaps as well as the preferences and needs of FQHCs in selecting and implementing EBIs for CRC screening

Vascular stiffness mechanoactivates YAP/TAZ-dependent glutaminolysis to drive pulmonary hypertension.

Dysregulation of vascular stiffness and cellular metabolism occurs early in pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, the mechanisms by which biophysical properties of the vascular extracellular matrix (ECM) relate to metabolic processes important in PH remain undefined. In this work, we examined cultured pulmonary vascular cells and various types of PH-diseased lung tissue and determined that ECM stiffening resulted in mechanoactivation of the transcriptional coactivators YAP and TAZ (WWTR1). YAP/TAZ activation modulated metabolic enzymes, including glutaminase (GLS1), to coordinate glutaminolysis and glycolysis. Glutaminolysis, an anaplerotic pathway, replenished aspartate for anabolic biosynthesis, which was critical for sustaining proliferation and migration within stiff ECM. In vitro, GLS1 inhibition blocked aspartate production and reprogrammed cellular proliferation pathways, while application of aspartate restored proliferation. In the monocrotaline rat model of PH, pharmacologic modulation of pulmonary vascular stiffness and YAP-dependent mechanotransduction altered glutaminolysis, pulmonary vascular proliferation, and manifestations of PH. Additionally, pharmacologic targeting of GLS1 in this model ameliorated disease progression. Notably, evaluation of simian immunodeficiency virus-infected nonhuman primates and HIV-infected subjects revealed a correlation between YAP/TAZ-GLS activation and PH. These results indicate that ECM stiffening sustains vascular cell growth and migration through YAP/TAZ-dependent glutaminolysis and anaplerosis, and thereby link mechanical stimuli to dysregulated vascular metabolism. Furthermore, this study identifies potential metabolic drug targets for therapeutic development in PH.le Canceropole PACA; la Region PACA; le Conseil Departementale 06; I'INSERM; ARC; IBiSA; Conseil Departemental 06 de la Region PACA; NIH [HL096834, HL124021, P01-HL103455, R56-HL126525, R01-HL090339, HL61795, HL48743, HL108630, GM107618, HL007633, HL128802, HL121174]; American Heart Association; Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer; Fondation Bettencourt-Schueller; French National Research Agency [ANR-11-LABX-0028-01]; Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC) [PJA20131200325]; Gilead Sciences, Inc.Authors retain rights to present the work without prior permission in original, revised, adapted, or derivative form, provided that all such use is for personal or nonprofit (and noncommercial) benefit, is consistent with any employment agreement, and references the original publication citation. Examples: reproduction in nonprofit publications; lecture display (slides, overheads, or digitized media); hosting on personal or curriculum vitae-oriented websites; and inclusion in institutional and/or funding-body repositories.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]