Dupilumab-associated hypereosinophilia in severe asthma.

https://bit.ly/3JgZ5Ya.

Systematic Assessment for Difficult and Severe Asthma Improves Outcomes and Halves Oral Corticosteroid Burden Independent of Monoclonal Biologic Use.

Background: Guidelines endorse systematic assessment for severe asthma, with data indicating benefit across multiple outcome domains.

Objective: We examined which patients respond to systematic assessment and whether oral corticosteroid burden can be decreased independent of monoclonal biologic use.

Methods: Specialist-referred patients are assessed systematically for difficult asthma at our center.

Identification and selection of food safety-related risk factors to be included in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Establishment-based Risk Assessment model for Hatcheries.

Towards the continuous improvement of its inspection system, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is developing an Establishment-based Risk Assessment model for Hatcheries to allocate inspection resources based on the food safety risk associated with the Canadian hatcheries falling under its jurisdiction. The objectives of the current study were to identify and select critical food safety-related risk factors that would be included in this model, with a main focus on Salmonella. A literature review was used to develop a comprehensive list of risk factors that could potentially contribute to the food safety risk attributed to Canadian hatcheries operating in all production streams (breeders, layers, broilers, turkeys, waterfowl and game birds).

Source attribution at the food sub-product level for the development of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency risk assessment model.

Decreasing the health burden caused by foodborne pathogens is challenging and it depends on the identification of the most significant hazards and food sources causing illnesses, so adequate mitigation strategies can be implemented. In this regard, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has developed the Establishment-based Risk Assessment (ERA) model, so that a more effective and efficient allocation of resources can be assigned to the highest food safety risk areas. To assess risk, the model considers the type of food sub-products being manufactured by establishments and its scope is limited to the 17 most important foodborne pathogens representing the highest level of food safety risk.

Experiences With the Levonorgestrel Intrauterine System Among Clients, Providers, and Key Opinion Leaders: A Mixed-Methods Study in Nigeria.

Background: The levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG IUS) is one of the most effective contraceptive methods, and it has noncontraceptive health benefits, including treatment for women with heavy menstrual bleeding. In 2016, Marie Stopes International Organisation Nigeria (MSION) expanded LNG IUS provision through training and support to 9 mobile outreach teams, 105 social franchise clinics, and 20 public-sector providers in 17 states. Information about the LNG IUS was added to awareness-raising materials, and community mobilizers provided information on the LNG IUS alongside other voluntary family planning methods.

A Global Learning Agenda for the Levonorgestrel Intrauterine System (LNG IUS): Addressing Challenges and Opportunities to Increase Access.

The LNG IUS is one of the most effective forms of reversible contraception and has important noncontraceptive benefits but is currently not used at scale in any Family Planning 2020 focus country. A global working group developed a shared learning agenda to answer critical questions, harmonize approaches, avoid duplication, and facilitate introduction of the method within the context of informed choice.

Selection of risk factors to be included in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency risk assessment inspection model for food establishments.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is developing a risk assessment model for food establishments. Previous research on the significance of food safety risk factors determined by literature review and expert advice served as the bases for the current study, to further refine, discriminate and select the most important criteria to be included in the model. This process considered the availability of data sources, the clarity and measurability of the selected factors, undertook the elimination of lower-rated risk factors and grouped those with similar focus of attention, enabling the selection of a final list of risk factors for the model.

Nonadherence in the era of severe asthma biologics and thermoplasty.

Nonadherence to inhaled preventers impairs asthma control. Electronic monitoring devices (EMDs) can objectively measure adherence. Their use has not been reported in difficult asthma patients potentially suitable for novel therapies, biologics and bronchial thermoplasty.

Increasing Contraceptive Access for Hard-to-Reach Populations With Vouchers and Social Franchising in Uganda.

From 2001 to 2011, modern contraceptive prevalence in Uganda increased from 18% to 26%. However, modern method use, in particular use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) and permanent methods (PMs), remained low. In the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, only 1 of 5 married women used a LARC or PM even though 34% indicated an unmet need for contraception.

Increasing Access to Family Planning Choices Through Public-Sector Social Franchising: The Experience of Marie Stopes International in Mali.

Background: Mali has one of the world's lowest contraceptive use rates and a high rate of unmet need for family planning. In order to increase access to and choice of quality family planning services, Marie Stopes International (MSI) Mali introduced social franchising in public-sector community health centers (referred to as CSCOMs in Mali) in 3 regions under the MSI brand BlueStar.

Program Description: Potential franchisees are generally identified from CSCOMs who have worked with MSI outreach teams; once accredited as franchisees, CSCOMs receive training, supervision, family planning consumables and commodities, and support for awareness raising and demand creation.

Youth Voucher Program in Madagascar Increases Access to Voluntary Family Planning and STI Services for Young People.

Background: Young people often express a preference for seeking family planning information and services from the private sector. However, in many Marie Stopes International (MSI) social franchise networks, the proportion of young clients, and particularly those under 20 years of age, remains low. Marie Stopes Madagascar (MSM) piloted a youth voucher program that joins a supply-side intervention-youth-friendly social franchisee training and quality monitoring-with a corresponding demand-side-component, free vouchers that reduce financial barriers to family planning access for young people.

Establishing and Scaling-Up Clinical Social Franchise Networks: Lessons Learned From Marie Stopes International and Population Services International.

In many low- and middle-income countries, a majority of people seek health care from the private sector. However, fragmentation, poor economies of scale, inadequate financing, political opposition, a bias toward curative services, and weak regulatory and quality control systems pose serious challenges for the private sector. Social franchising addresses a number of these challenges by organizing small, independent health care businesses into quality-assured networks.

Older adults' responses to emotional stimuli: a cautionary note.

Thirty younger (mean age = 21 years) and 30 older (mean age = 73 years) adults were compared to determine if they had similar affective experiences to eight emotion films previously validated with young adults (Gross & Levenson, 1995). Participants rated their emotions, and heart rate was collected during two films of each emotion: amusement, anger, sadness, and fear. Older and younger adults were generally similar in their physiological and subjective responses to films, but with a few exceptions.

Dementia does not explain correlation between age and scores on Boston Naming Test.

The major purpose of this study was to determine if the correlation between age and performance on the Boston Naming Test that has been reported by some investigators results from inclusion of people in the early stages of dementia in those samples. The correlation between age and naming score was -.36 in 125 carefully evaluated nondemented individuals aged 60-88 years who were enrolled in the control group at an Alzheimer's Disease Research Center between 1985 and 1998.

Postnatal quality of life: a pilot study using the Mother-Generated Index.

Background: Although postnatal morbidity has been well documented in recent years, postnatal quality of life has not been addressed. A newly derived subjective measurement of postnatal quality of life (the Mother-Generated Index) combines a quantitative and qualitative evaluation.

Aims: This part of our pilot study aimed to compare the aspects of their lives nominated by women with low and high quality of life (Primary Index) scores, and to examine the respective importance of these areas.

Noun and verb retrieval in healthy aging.

This study tests the hypothesis that retrieval of object and action names declines at different rates with age. Uncued and cued performance on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and the Action Naming Test (ANT) were examined for 171 individuals from 50 to 88 years old. To control for differences in item difficulty, a subset of items from each of the two tests was selected for which uncued performance was equivalent in individuals in their 50s.