Chlamydia testing patterns for commercially insured women, 2008.

Background: Annual chlamydia screening for sexually active women aged ≤25 years is recommended, and chlamydia testing rates have continuously increased. However, several studies have shown that many providers screen all women of reproductive age in public settings.

Purpose: To examine chlamydia testing patterns in private settings for women and young women aged 15-44 years (hereafter referred to as women).

Phylogenetic Analysis of Fusarium solani Associated with the Asian Longhorned Beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis.

Culture-independent analysis of the gut of a wood-boring insect, Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), revealed a consistent association between members of the fungal Fusarium solani species complex and the larval stage of both colony-derived and wild A. glabripennis populations. Using the translation elongation factor 1-alpha region for culture-independent phylogenetic and operational taxonomic unit (OTU)-based analyses, only two OTUs were detected, suggesting that genetic variance at this locus was low among A.

A gene for an extended phenotype.

Manipulation of host behavior by parasites and pathogens has been widely observed, but the basis for these behaviors has remained elusive. Gypsy moths infected by a baculovirus climb to the top of trees to die, liquefy, and "rain" virus on the foliage below to infect new hosts. The viral gene that manipulates climbing behavior of the host was identified, providing evidence of a genetic basis for the extended phenotype.

Appropriateness of probit-9 in the development of quarantine treatments for timber and timber commodities.

Following the increasing international phasing out of methyl bromide for quarantine purposes, the development of alternative treatments for timber pests becomes imperative. The international accreditation of new quarantine treatments requires verification standards that give confidence in the effectiveness of a treatment. Probit-9 mortality is a standard for treatment effectiveness that has its origin in fruit fly research, and has been adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture for fruit flies and several other pests.

Anovulatory bleeding in a 12-year-old as presenting sign for rare undifferentiated sarcoma.

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding is a common phenomenon in perimenarchal females. Though most cases of abnormal bleeding are due to anovulatory bleeding or bleeding disorders, rare cases are attributable to underlying malignancy.

Case: Here we report a 12-year-old female patient who presented with abnormal uterine bleeding three months after menarche.

Evaluation and management of adnexal mass in pregnancy.

With widespread use of ultrasound in early pregnancy, incidental adnexal masses are detected frequently. This article reviews the differential diagnosis, appropriate evaluation, and current treatment options for adnexal masses in pregnancy. With the increased sophistication of ultrasound, observation has become a more viable option.

2009 cervical cytology guidelines and chlamydia testing among sexually active young women.

Objective: An American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Practice Bulletin published in 2009 recommended that cervical cancer screening should begin at age 21 years and women younger than 30 years should be rescreened every 2 years rather than annually. The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect that decreased frequency of cervical cancer screening would have on chlamydia screening, which is recommended annually for sexually active women aged 25 years or younger.

Methods: Using an administrative database of medical claims from commercially insured girls and women, we compared annual chlamydia screening rates of sexually active adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 25 years in 2007 among those who underwent cervical cancer screening and those who were not screened for cervical cancer.

Smell with inspiration: the evolutionary significance of olfaction.

The olfactory receptor gene family is the largest in the mammalian genome (and larger than any other gene family in any other species), comprising 1% of genes. Beginning with a genetic radiation in reptiles roughly 200 million years ago, terrestrial vertebrates can detect millions of odorants. Each species has an olfactory repertoire unique to the genetic makeup of that species.

Dicer is required for the formation of white but not brown adipose tissue.

Dicer, an enzyme involved in microRNA maturation, is required for proper embryo gastrulation and tissue morphogenesis during mammalian development. Using primary cultures of fibroblasts and pre-adipocytes, we have previously shown that Dicer is essential for early stages of adipogenic cell differentiation. In this study, we have utilized Dicer-conditional mice to explore a role for Dicer and microRNA biogenesis in the terminal differentiation of adipocytes in vivo and in the formation of white and brown adipose tissue.

Computer control of microscopes using µManager.

With the advent of digital cameras and motorization of mechanical components, computer control of microscopes has become increasingly important. Software for microscope image acquisition should not only be easy to use, but also enable and encourage novel approaches. The open-source software package µManager aims to fulfill those goals.

Estimating the direct outpatient medical cost per episode of primary and secondary syphilis in the United States: insured population perspective, 2003-2007.

Background: No study has directly estimated the direct outpatient medical cost of care for primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis among the employer-sponsored commercially insured population in the United States.

Methods: We used international classification of diseases, ninth revision (ICD-9) codes to identify outpatient claims for persons diagnosed with P&S syphilis for 2003 through 2007 from the MarketScan database. Diagnostic test costs were also analyzed using current procedural terminology codes for syphilis tests.

STD screening of HIV-infected MSM in HIV clinics.

Background: National guidelines for the care of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons recommend asymptomatic routine screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Our objective was to determine whether providers who care for HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) followed these guidelines.

Methods: We abstracted medical records to evaluate STD screening at 8 large HIV clinics in 6 US cities.

Lethal temperature for pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, in infested wood using microwave energy.

To reduce the risks associated with global transport of wood infested with pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, microwave irradiation was tested at 14 temperatures in replicated wood samples to determine the temperature that would kill 99.9968% of nematodes in a sample of ≥ 100,000 organisms, meeting a level of efficacy of Probit 9. Treatment of these heavily infested wood samples (mean of > 1,000 nematodes/g of sapwood) produced 100% mortality at 56 °C and above, held for 1 min.

Contributions of immune responses to developmental resistance in Lymantria dispar challenged with baculovirus.

How the innate immune system functions to defend insects from viruses is an emerging field of study. We examined the impact of melanized encapsulation, a component of innate immunity that integrates both cellular and humoral immune responses, on the success of the baculovirus Lymantria dispar multiple nucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV) in its host L. dispar.

Utilization of health services in physician offices and outpatient clinics by adolescents and young women in the United States: implications for improving access to reproductive health services.

Purpose: We examined utilization patterns of adolescents and young women as they seek general and reproductive health services in physician offices and hospital outpatient clinics.

Methods: We analyzed physician office visits in the 2003-2006 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys, and hospital outpatient clinic visits in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys, to examine utilization patterns of females aged 9-26 years by 2-year age intervals and other characteristics such as physician specialty or clinic type.

Results: The number of visits to primary care physician offices increased with age, from 4.

Impact of viral enhancin genes on potency of Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus in L. dispar following disruption of the peritrophic matrix.

Enhancins are metalloproteases found in many betabaculoviruses and several alphabaculoviruses, which enhance alphabaculovirus potency by degrading a protein component of the peritrophic matrix (PM), facilitating passage of virions through this structure. Earlier studies on betabaculovirus enhancins within heterologous systems suggested that enhancins facilitate virion binding to midgut cells. We compared the potency of wild-type Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV) with that of single and double enhancin deletion viruses in L.

Trends in the diagnosis and treatment of ectopic pregnancy in the United States.

Objective: To estimate trends in the rates of diagnosis and treatment of ectopic pregnancy in the United States.

Methods: We analyzed data from a large administrative claims database of more than 200 U.S.

Pathogenesis of Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus in L. dispar and mechanisms of developmental resistance.

Lymantria dispar has a long historical association with the baculovirus Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV), which is one of the primary population regulators of L. dispar in the field. However, host larvae exhibit strong developmental resistance to fatal infection by LdMNPV; the LD50 in newly moulted fourth instars is 18-fold lower than in the middle of the instar (48-72 h post-moult).

Evaluating the use of male-produced pheromone components and plant volatiles in two trap designs to monitor Anoplophora glabripennis.

Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), commonly known as the Asian longhorned beetle, is a wood-boring invasive species introduced from Asia to North America and Europe in solid wood packing material. Efficient monitoring traps are needed to assess population density and dispersal in the field and to detect new introductions at ports of entry. For this purpose, we conducted field trapping experiments in China in the summers of 2007 and 2008.