A comparison of assessment tools for childcare centers in high vs. low resource settings.

Studies suggest issues may arise when using childcare setting assessment tools designed for high-resource settings in low-resource settings to assess and improve the quality of care, including placing disproportionate weight on features of the childcare environment that may not be available or culturally appropriate within the low-resource context. This study compares a novel assessment tool developed in and for low-income and low-resource settings with a standardized "gold standard" tool developed for use in high-resource settings. The study included a randomized sample of 34 childcare centers in a low-resource context that provided care for approximately 918.

A qualitative study about the public's perception of primary care providers.

Objective: With the growth of physician associates/assistants (PAs) and NPs providing primary care services, we sought to understand the public's perception of the different types of healthcare providers (HCPs) they might encounter in a clinical setting, such as primary care.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate public perceptions about various types of primary care providers (PCPs), identify public preferences for PCPs in relation to experience and training, and examine public preferences for PCP credentials.

Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with adults, and used inductive and deductive coding and reflexive thematic analysis to analyze the data.

Sex-specific Genetic Determinants of Right Ventricular Structure and Function.

Rationale: While sex differences in right heart phenotypes have been observed, the molecular drivers remain unknown.

Objectives: To provide biological insights into sex differences in the structure and function of the right ventricle (RV) using common genetic variation.

Methods: RV phenotypes were obtained from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in 18,156 women and 16,171 men from the UK Biobank.

HiCMC: High-Efficiency Contact Matrix Compressor.

Background: Chromosome organization plays an important role in biological processes such as replication, regulation, and transcription. One way to study the relationship between chromosome structure and its biological functions is through Hi-C studies, a genome-wide method for capturing chromosome conformation. Such studies generate vast amounts of data.

Right ventricular strain to systolic pulmonary artery pressure ratio in response to treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

https://bit.ly/4cRtREC.

Mobile Phone-Based Confidential Social Network Referrals for HIV Testing (CONSORT): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Critical to efforts to end the HIV epidemic is the identification of persons living with HIV who have yet to be diagnosed and engaged in care. Expanded HIV testing outreach efforts need to be both efficient and ambitious, targeting the social networks of persons living with HIV and those at above-average risk of undiagnosed HIV infection. The ubiquity of mobile phones across many high HIV prevalence settings has created opportunities to leverage mobile health (mHealth) technologies to engage social networks for HIV testing outreach, prevention, and treatment.

Genie: the first open-source ISO/IEC encoder for genomic data.

For the last two decades, the amount of genomic data produced by scientific and medical applications has been growing at a rapid pace. To enable software solutions that analyze, process, and transmit these data in an efficient and interoperable way, ISO and IEC released the first version of the compression standard MPEG-G in 2019. However, non-proprietary implementations of the standard are not openly available so far, limiting fair scientific assessment of the standard and, therefore, hindering its broad adoption.

Impact of enacted stigma on mental health, substance use, and HIV-related behaviors among sexual minority men in Zambia.

Sexual minority men (SMM) in Zambia face significant challenges including stigma, discrimination, and mental health issues, which further impact their HIV-related risk behaviors. This study aimed to investigate the associations between enacted stigma, substance abuse, HIV-related behaviors, and mental health (i.e.

Stigmatizing clinical setting erodes physician-patient interaction quality for sexual minority men through perceived HIV stigma and HIV infection concerns in Zambia.

This study investigated whether perceived HIV stigma and HIV infection concerns among healthcare providers (HCPs) mediate the association between stigmatizing clinical setting and their interaction quality with sexual minority men (SMM) patients in Zambia. In 2021, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with 91 HCPs offering HIV-related services to SMM in Zambia. Path analysis was conducted to examine the potential mediation effect of "perceived HIV stigma" and "HIV infection concern" among HCPs in the association between "stigmatizing clinical setting" and their "interaction quality with SMM".

Predictors of prior HIV testing and acceptance of a community-based HIV test offer among male bar patrons in northern Tanzania.

Community-based HIV testing offers an alternative approach to encourage HIV testing among men in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, we evaluated a community-based HIV testing strategy targeting male bar patrons in northern Tanzania to assess factors predictive of prior HIV testing and factors predictive of accepting a real-time HIV test offer. Participants completed a detailed survey and were offered HIV testing upon survey completion.

Leveraging Community Health Workers and a Responsive Digital Health System to Improve Vaccination Coverage and Timeliness in Resource-Limited Settings: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Type 1 Effectiveness-Implementation Hybrid Study.

Background: Tanzania is 1 of 20 countries where the majority of unvaccinated and undervaccinated children reside. Prior research identified substantial rural-urban disparities in the coverage and timeliness of childhood vaccinations in Tanzania, with children in rural settings being more likely to receive delayed or no vaccinations. Further research is necessary to identify effective and scalable interventions that can bridge rural-urban gaps in childhood vaccination while accounting for multifaceted barriers to vaccination.

Role Preferences in Medical Decision Making: Relevance and Implications for Health Preference Research.

Health preference research (HPR) is being increasingly conducted to better understand patient preferences for medical decisions. However, patients vary in their desire to play an active role in medical decisions. Until now, few studies have considered patients' preferred roles in decision making.

Physician-Patient Interaction Quality Mediates the Association Between HIV-Related Stigma and HIV-Prevention Behaviors Among Sexual Minority Men in Zambia.

HIV-related stigma is a major challenge to HIV prevention for sexual minority men (SMM) in Zambia, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate whether physician-patient interaction quality mediates the relationship between HIV-related stigma and HIV-prevention behaviors among SMM. Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey from 194 SMM (aged: mean = 24.

Residual risk identified in routine noninvasive follow-up assessments in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: The 2022 ESC/ERS guidelines on pulmonary hypertension recommend noninvasive risk assessments based on three clinical variables during follow-up in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We set out to test whether residual risk can be captured from routinely measured noninvasive clinical variables during follow-up in PAH.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 298 incident PAH patients from a German pulmonary hypertension centre who underwent routine noninvasive follow-up assessments including exercise testing, echocardiography, electrocardiography, pulmonary function testing and biochemistry.

American Indian/Alaska Native men are less likely to receive prostate-specific antigen testing and digital rectal exams from primary care providers than White men: a secondary analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2012-2018.

Purpose: (1) Identify the proportion of primary care visits in which American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) men receive a prostate-specific antigen test (PSAT)and/or a digital rectal exam (DRE), (2) describe characteristics of primary care visits in which AI/AN receive PSA and/or DRE, and (3) identify whether AI/AN receive PSA and/or DRE less often than non-Hispanic White (nHW) men.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) during 2013-2016 and 2018 and the NAMCS Community Health Center (CHC) datasets from 2012-2015. Weighted bivariate and multivariable tests analyzed the data to account for the complex survey design.

Associations Between Clinic-Based HIV Testing Guidelines and Population-Level HIV Testing Rates in the United States.

Between 2005 and 2006, the United States Preventive Services Task Force and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised their risk-based HIV testing guidelines to include universal HIV testing in routine health care. We examined trends in HIV testing and associations with changing policy recommendations using the 2000-2017 National Health Interview Surveys. Multivariable logistic regression and difference-in-difference approach were used to assess rates and correlates of HIV testing before and after the policy changes.

How Poor Is Your Sample? A Simple Approach for Estimating the Relative Economic Status of Small and Nonrepresentative Samples.

Background: Asset-based indices of living standards, or wealth indices, are widely used proxies for economic status; however, such indices are not readily available for small and nonrepresentative samples.

Methods: We describe a simple out-of-sample prediction approach that uses estimates from large and representative "reference" samples to calculate measures of relative economic status (e.g.

GVC: efficient random access compression for gene sequence variations.

Background: In recent years, advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have enabled the use of genomic information in many fields, such as precision medicine, oncology, and food quality control. The amount of genomic data being generated is growing rapidly and is expected to soon surpass the amount of video data. The majority of sequencing experiments, such as genome-wide association studies, have the goal of identifying variations in the gene sequence to better understand phenotypic variations.

Patient attitudes and beliefs associated with self-referral to physical therapy for musculoskeletal complaints: a qualitative study.

Background: Non-pharmacologic treatments such as physical therapy (PT) are advocated for musculoskeletal pain. Early access to PT through self-referral has been shown to decrease costs and improve outcomes. Although self-referral is permitted in most U.

[A Standard of Centers for Community Psychiatry in Lower-Saxonia - Checklist and Model Fidelity Scale].

Objective: Definition of a standard for structures and processes of Centers for Community Psychiatry (CCP) that aim at providing mobile, multiprofessional, complex and intensive outpatient care to patients with severe mental illness.

Methods: The standard was developed and consented using a mix-method approach and by involving all relevant stakeholders, including first hand experts and service providers of three CCP model-projects in Lower-Saxonia.

Results: The standard comprises a checklist with 12 binary and obligatory CCP features as well as a model fidelity scale with 45 scaled items in 9 dimensions.