Matrix stiffness primes lymphatic tube formation directed by vascular endothelial growth factor-C.

Dysfunction of the lymphatic system is associated with a wide range of disease phenotypes. The restoration of dysfunctional lymphatic vessels has been hypothesized as an innovative method to rescue healthy phenotypes in diseased states including neurological conditions, metabolic syndromes, and cardiovascular disease. Compared to the vascular system, little is known about the molecular regulation that controls lymphatic tube morphogenesis.

Diffusion of Handwashing Knowledge and Water Treatment Practices From Mothers in an Antenatal Hygiene Promotion Program to Nonpregnant Friends and Relatives, Machinga District, Malawi.

Access to safe drinking water and improved hygiene are essential for preventing diarrheal diseases in low- and middle-income countries. Integrating water treatment and hygiene products into antenatal clinic care can motivate water treatment and handwashing among pregnant women. Free water hygiene kits (water storage containers, sodium hypochlorite water treatment solution, and soap) and refills of water treatment solution and soap were integrated into antenatal care and delivery services in Machinga District, Malawi, resulting in improved water treatment and hygiene practices in the home and increased maternal health service use.

The Authors Respond: Reframing the Value of Treatments for Relapsed Refractory Multiple Myeloma.

Funding for the Carlson et al. study was provided in part by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. Ollendorf, Synnott, Chapman, and Pearson disclosed grants from Blue Shield of California Foundation, California Health Care Foundation, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Aetna, AHIP, Anthem, Blue Shield of California, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, OmedaRx, United Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, Premera, AstraZeneca, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, National Pharmaceutical Council, Takeda, Pfizer, Novartis, Lilly, Spark Therapeutics, Sanofi, Prime Therapeutics, and Health Care Service Corporation.

Safe Water and Hygiene Integration with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Antenatal Services: Leveraging Opportunities for Public Health Interventions and Improved Service Uptake.

Integrating public health interventions with antenatal clinic (ANC) visits may motivate women to attend ANC, thereby improving maternal and neonatal health, particularly for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons. In 2009, in an integrated ANC/Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission program, we provided free hygiene kits (safe storage containers, water treatment solution, soap, and oral rehydration salts) to women at their first ANC visit and refills at subsequent visits. To increase fathers' participation, we required partners' presence for women to receive hygiene kits.

No-cost gym visits are associated with lower weight and blood pressure among non-Latino black and Latino participants with a diagnosis of hypertension in a multi-site demonstration project.

Well documented, persistent racial/ethnic health disparities in obesity and hypertension in the US demonstrate the continued need for interventions that focus on people of color who may be at higher risk. We evaluated a demonstration project funded by the CDC's Racial/Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program at four federally qualified health centers (FQHC) and YMCA fitness and wellness centers in Boston. No-cost YMCA memberships were offered from June 2014 to June 2015 to non-Latino black and Latino adults with a diagnosis of hypertension.

Referral Strategies to a Tobacco Quitline and Racial and/or Ethnic Differences in Participation.

Background: Tobacco use inflicts a disproportionate burden of disease on people of color. We evaluated the reach among African American and Hispanic smokers in Boston of 2 referral strategies to the Massachusetts quitline: (1) a provider-referred strategy based in pediatric and dental clinics and (2) a targeted media campaign to promote self-referral to the quitline.

Methods: Selected demographic characteristics of Boston quitline participants during the study period (2010-2012) were compared between strategies.

Cost-effectiveness of Drugs to Treat Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma in the United States.

Background: New 3-drug regimens have been developed and approved to treat multiple myeloma (MM). The absence of direct comparative data and the high cost of treatment support the need to assess the relative clinical and economic outcomes across all approved regimens.

Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of treatments for relapsed and/or refractory MM from a U.

Evaluating the impact of environmental interventions across 2 countries: the International Bikeshare Impacts on Cycling and Collisions Study (IBICCS) Study protocol.

Background: Few international studies examine public bicycle share programs (PBSP) health impacts. We describe the protocol for the International Bikeshare Impacts on Cycling and Collisions Study (IBICCS).

Methods: A quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups design was used.

Measuring and monitoring progress toward health equity: local challenges for public health.

To address health disparities, local health departments need high-resolution data on subpopulations and geographic regions, but the quality and availability of these data are often suboptimal. The Boston Public Health Commission and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health faced challenges in acquiring and using community-level data essential for the design and implementation of programs that can improve the health of those who have social or economic disadvantages. To overcome these challenges, both agencies used practical and innovative strategies for data management and analysis, including augmentation of existing population surveys, the use of combined data sets, and the generation of small-area estimates.

Comparison of indoor air quality in smoke-permitted and smoke-free multiunit housing: findings from the Boston Housing Authority.

Introduction: Secondhand smoke remains a health concern for individuals living in multiunit housing, where smoke has been shown to easily transfer between units. Building-wide smoke-free policies are a logical step for minimizing smoke exposure in these settings. This evaluation sought to determine whether buildings with smoke-free policies have less secondhand smoke than similar buildings without such policies.

A recurrent, multistate outbreak of salmonella serotype agona infections associated with dry, unsweetened cereal consumption, United States, 2008.

An outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Agona infections associated with nationwide distribution of cereal from Company X was identified in April 2008. This outbreak was detected using PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, which coincided with Company X's voluntary recall of unsweetened puffed rice and wheat cereals after routine product sampling yielded Salmonella Agona. A case patient was defined as being infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Agona, with illness onset from 1 January through 1 July 2008.

Long-term impact of integration of household water treatment and hygiene promotion with antenatal services on maternal water treatment and hygiene practices in Malawi.

A clinic-based program to integrate antenatal services with distribution of hygiene kits including safe water storage containers, water treatment solution (brand name WaterGuard), soap, and hygiene education, was implemented in Malawi in 2007 and evaluated in 2010. We surveyed 389 participants at baseline in 2007, and found and surveyed 232 (60%) participants to assess water treatment, test stored drinking water for residual chlorine (an objective measure of treatment), and observe handwashing technique at follow-up in 2010. Program participants were more likely to know correct water treatment procedures (67% versus 36%; P < 0.

Water treatment and handwashing behaviors among non-pregnant friends and relatives of participants in an antenatal hygiene promotion program in Malawi.

Access to safe drinking water and improved hygiene are essential for preventing diarrheal diseases. To integrate hygiene improvement with antenatal care, free hygiene kits (water storage containers, water treatment solution, soap) and educational messages were distributed to pregnant women at antenatal clinics in Malawi. We assessed water treatment and hygiene practices of 275 non-pregnant friends and relatives of the hygiene kit recipients at baseline and follow-up nine months later to measure program impact on non-participants in the same communities.

Integration of routine vaccination and hygiene interventions: a comparison of 2 strategies in Kenya.

Background: Hygiene interventions reduce child mortality from diarrhea. Vaccination visits provide a platform for delivery of other health services but may overburden nurses. We compared 2 strategies to integrate hygiene interventions with vaccinations in Kenya's Homa Bay district, 1 using community workers to support nurses and 1 using nurses.

Impact of integration of hygiene kit distribution with routine immunizations on infant vaccine coverage and water treatment and handwashing practices of Kenyan mothers.

Integration of immunizations with hygiene interventions may improve use of both interventions. We interviewed 1361 intervention and 1139 comparison caregivers about hygiene practices and vaccination history, distributed water treatment and hygiene kits to caregivers during infant vaccination sessions in intervention clinics for 12 months, and conducted a followup survey of 2361 intervention and 1033 comparison caregivers. We observed significant increases in reported household water treatment (30% vs 44%, P < .

2008 outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul infections associated with raw produce.

Background: Raw produce is an increasingly recognized vehicle for salmonellosis. We investigated a nationwide outbreak that occurred in the United States in 2008.

Methods: We defined a case as diarrhea in a person with laboratory-confirmed infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella enterica serotype Saintpaul.

Impact of the integration of water treatment and handwashing incentives with antenatal services on hygiene practices of pregnant women in Malawi.

Access to safe drinking water and improved hygiene are important for reducing morbidity and mortality from diarrhea. We surveyed 330 pregnant women who participated in an antenatal clinic-based intervention in Malawi that promoted water treatment and hygiene through distribution of water storage containers, sodium hypochlorite water treatment solution, soap, and educational messages. Program participants were more likely to know correct water treatment procedures (62% versus 27%, P < 0.

A prolonged outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo infections associated with multiple locations of a restaurant chain in Phoenix, Arizona, 2008.

An outbreak of Salmonella serotype Montevideo infections associated with multiple locations of restaurant chain A in Phoenix, AZ, was identified in July 2008. One infected individual reported eating at a chain A catered luncheon where others fell ill; we conducted a cohort study among attendees to identify the vehicle. Food and environmental samples collected at six chain A locations were cultured for Salmonella.

Mutational analysis of the promoter recognized by Chlamydia and Escherichia coli sigma(28) RNA polymerase.

sigma(28) RNA polymerase is an alternative RNA polymerase that has been postulated to have a role in developmental gene regulation in Chlamydia. Although a consensus bacterial sigma(28) promoter sequence has been proposed, it is based on a relatively small number of defined promoters, and the promoter structure has not been systematically analyzed. To evaluate the sequence of the sigma(28)-dependent promoter, we performed a comprehensive mutational analysis of the Chlamydia trachomatis hctB promoter, testing the effect of point substitutions on promoter activity.