Healthcare Costs and Resource Utilization in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Relapses Treated with H.P. Acthar Gel(®).

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder with large annual costs. This study evaluated utilization and costs for the management of MS relapses with H.P.

Crisaborole and its potential role in treating atopic dermatitis: overview of early clinical studies.

Atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by intense pruritus and eczematous lesions with up to 90% of patients presenting with mild to moderate disease. Current topical treatments for AD have not changed in over 15 years and are associated with safety concerns. In AD, overactivity of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), leads to inflammation and disease exacerbation.

A Phase II Trial Exploring the Success of Cryoablation Therapy in the Treatment of Invasive Breast Carcinoma: Results from ACOSOG (Alliance) Z1072.

Background: Cryoablation is a well-established technique to treat fibroadenomas. Pilot studies suggest this could be an effective non-surgical treatment for breast cancer. American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z1072 is a phase II trial exploring the effectiveness of cryoablation in the treatment of breast cancers.

Economic evaluation of price discounts and skill-building strategies on purchase and consumption of healthy food and beverages: The SHELf randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Pricing strategies are a promising approach for promoting healthier dietary choices. However, robust evidence of the cost-effectiveness of pricing manipulations on dietary behaviour is limited. We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of a 20% price reduction on fruits and vegetables and a combined skills-based behaviour change and price reduction intervention.

Health service use and costs for infant behaviour problems and maternal stress.

Aim: We aim to describe health service (HS) use in the first 6 months post-partum and to examine the associations between service costs, infant behaviour and maternal depressive symptoms.

Methods: Participants were 781 infants and mothers in Melbourne, Australia. Mothers reported infant feeding, sleeping and crying problems, depressive symptoms and health service use.

TGF-β activates APC through Cdh1 binding for Cks1 and Skp2 proteasomal destruction stabilizing p27kip1 for normal endometrial growth.

We previously reported that aberrant TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling in endometrial cancer (ECA) leads to continuous ubiquitylation of p27(kip1)(p27) by the E3 ligase SCF-Skp2/Cks1 causing its degradation, as a putative mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of this cancer. In contrast, normal intact TGF-β signaling prevents degradation of nuclear p27 by SCF-Skp2/Cks1 thereby accumulating p27 to block Cdk2 for growth arrest. Here we show that in ECA cell lines and normal primary endometrial epithelial cells, TGF-β increases Cdh1 and its binding to APC/C to form the E3 ligase complex that ubiquitylates Cks1 and Skp2 prompting their proteasomal degradation and thus, leaving p27 intact.

Academic Outcomes 2 Years After Working Memory Training for Children With Low Working Memory: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Working memory training may help children with attention and learning difficulties, but robust evidence from population-level randomized controlled clinical trials is lacking.

Objective: To test whether a computerized adaptive working memory intervention program improves long-term academic outcomes of children 6 to 7 years of age with low working memory compared with usual classroom teaching.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Population-based randomized controlled clinical trial of first graders from 44 schools in Melbourne, Australia, who underwent a verbal and visuospatial working memory screening.

Choosing foods for infants: a qualitative study of the factors that influence mothers.

Background: Examining the experiences of parents making food choices for infants is important because ultimately this influences what infants eat. Infancy is a critical period when food preferences and eating behaviour begin to develop, shaping dietary patterns, growth and health outcomes. There is limited evidence regarding what or why foods are chosen for infants.

Continuity of care by a primary midwife (caseload midwifery) increases women's satisfaction with antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care: results from the COSMOS randomised controlled trial.

Background: Continuity of care by a primary midwife during the antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods has been recommended in Australia and many hospitals have introduced a caseload midwifery model of care. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of caseload midwifery on women's satisfaction with care across the maternity continuum.

Methods: Pregnant women at low risk of complications, booking for care at a tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia, were recruited to a randomised controlled trial between September 2007 and June 2010.

Fit for the Eye: Aptamers in Ocular Disorders.

For any new class of therapeutics, there are certain types of indications that represent a natural fit. For nucleic acid ligands in general, and aptamers in particular, the eye has historically been an attractive site for therapeutic intervention. In this review, we recount the discovery and early development of three aptamers designated for use in ophthalmology, one approved (Macugen), and two in late-stage development (Fovista and Zimura).

Adapalene-benzoyl Peroxide Gel is Efficacious and Safe in Adult Female Acne, with a Profile Comparable to that Seen in Teen-aged Females.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adapalene 0.1% benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel in women aged 25 years or older via subgroup analysis of existing Phase 2 and 3 study data.

Population Outcomes of Three Approaches to Detection of Congenital Hearing Loss.

Background: Universal newborn hearing screening was implemented worldwide largely on modeled, not measured, long-term benefits. Comparative quantification of population benefits would justify its high cost.

Methods: Natural experiment comparing 3 population approaches to detecting bilateral congenital hearing loss (>25 dB, better ear) in Australian states with similar demographics and services: (1) universal newborn hearing screening, New South Wales 2003-2005, n = 69; (2) Risk factor screening (neonatal intensive care screening + universal risk factor referral), Victoria 2003-2005, n = 65; and (3) largely opportunistic detection, Victoria 1991-1993, n = 86.

Health Care Costs and Utilization in Patients Receiving Prescriptions for Long-acting Opioids for Acute Postsurgical Pain.

Objectives: Severe pain after joint replacement surgeries is common and is usually managed by opioid analgesics. We described joint replacement surgery patients who received prescriptions for long-acting opioids (LAOs) and compared their health care utilization and costs with postsurgical patients who did not receive LAO prescriptions.

Materials And Methods: Patients undergoing hip, knee, or shoulder replacement surgery between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011were included in the study and were classified by their exposure to LAOs.

Food insecurity in Australia: Implications for general practitioners.

Background: In Australia, it would appear that food is abundant. For a proportion of people, however, accessing enough food to eat can be a daily or weekly struggle.

Objective: This article provides a summary about the prevalence, causes and consequences of food insecurity that affects vulnerable populations in Australia, and discusses the implications for general practitioners (GPs).

Economic Models of Preventive Dentistry for Australian Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: To identify economic evaluation models and parameters that could be replicated or adapted to construct a generic model to assess cost-effectiveness of and prioritise a wide range of community-based oral disease prevention programmes in an Australian context.

Methods: The literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, ERIC, PsycINFO, CINHAL (EBSCOhost), EMBASE (Ovid), CRD, DARE, NHSEED, HTA, all databases in the Cochrane library, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases from their inception to November 2012.

Results: Thirty-three articles met the criteria for inclusion in this review (7 were Australian studies, 26 articles were international).

Lumbar Imaging With Reporting Of Epidemiology (LIRE)--Protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized trial.

Background: Diagnostic imaging is often the first step in evaluating patients with back pain and likely functions as a "gateway" to a subsequent cascade of interventions. However, lumbar spine imaging frequently reveals incidental findings among normal, pain-free individuals suggesting that treatment of these "abnormalities" may not be warranted. Our prior work suggested that inserting the prevalence of imaging findings in patients without back pain into spine imaging reports may reduce subsequent interventions.

High-level secretion of native recombinant human calreticulin in yeast.

Background: Calreticulin (CRT) resides in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and functions to chaperone proteins, ensuring proper folding, and intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis. Emerging evidence shows that CRT is a multifunctional protein with significant roles in physiological and pathological processes with presence both inside and outside of the ER, including the cell surface and extracellular space. These recent findings suggest the possible use of this ER chaperone in development of new therapeutic pharmaceuticals.

New and Emerging Treatments for Rosacea.

Rosacea is a common chronic inflammatory disorder that affects approximately 16 million Americans. The multifactorial pathophysiology of rosacea is not fully understood. Several new treatment options were recently US Food and Drug Administration approved or are in clinical trials.

Unfolding the complexities of ER chaperones in health and disease: report on the 11th international calreticulin workshop.

The 11th International Calreticulin workshop was held May 15-18, 2015 at New York University School of Medicine-Langone Medical Center, New York. The meeting highlighted many of the new discoveries in the past 2 years involving the important role of molecular chaperones in physiological and pathological processes. Crucial to the understanding of these disease processes was the role of chaperones in maintaining quality control of protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, the importance of Ca(2) regulation acting through its action in stress-related diseases, and the trafficking of glycoproteins to the cell surface.

Ivermectin 1% cream for rosacea.

The etiology of papulopustular rosacea (PPR) is not well understood yet appears to involve both the innate and adaptive immune response in addition to possible infestation with Demodex mites. Current treatments for PPR consist mainly of antibiotics. Ivermectin cream 1%, a new topical treatment for PPR, possesses both anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic properties.

Two-Year Outcomes of a Population-Based Intervention for Preschool Language Delay: An RCT.

Objective: We have previously shown short-term benefits to phonology, letter knowledge, and possibly expressive language from systematically ascertaining language delay at age 4 years followed by the Language for Learning intervention. Here, we report the trial's definitive 6-year outcomes.

Methods: Randomized trial nested in a population-based ascertainment.

Pediatric Appropriate Use Criteria Implementation Project: A Multicenter Outpatient Echocardiography Quality Initiative.

Background: Recently published appropriate use criteria (AUC) for initial pediatric outpatient transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) have not yet been evaluated for clinical applicability.

Objectives: This study sought to determine the appropriateness of TTE as currently performed in pediatric cardiology clinics, diagnostic yield of TTE for various AUC indications, and any gaps in the AUC document.

Methods: Data were prospectively collected from patients undergoing initial outpatient TTE in 6 centers.

Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a web-based healthy relationship tool and safety decision aid for women experiencing domestic violence (I-DECIDE).

Background: Domestic violence is a serious problem affecting the health and wellbeing of women globally. Interventions in health care settings have primarily focused on screening and referral, however, women often may not disclose abuse to health practitioners. The internet offers a confidential space in which women can assess the health of their relationships and make a plan for safety and wellbeing for themselves and their children.