Factors associated with decision outcomes along the planned oocyte cryopreservation pathway in a cohort of women who sought consultation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: To identify factors associated with three decision outcomes along the planned oocyte cryopreservation (POC) pathway: fertility assessment completion, POC uptake, and multiple POC cycles uptake.

Methods: A single-site retrospective cohort study of 425 patients who sought POC consultation from 2018-2022 before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: The mean age of patients at consultation was 35.

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Loss of Vascular and Epithelial Integrity in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background & Aims: The pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is multifactorial and includes epithelial barrier dysfunction, a key element at the interface between the gut lumen and the deeper intestinal layers. Beneath the epithelial barrier there is the vascular one representing the last barrier to avoid luminal antigen dissemination The aims of this study were to correlate morpho-functional aspects of epithelial and vascular barriers with symptom perception in IBS.

Methods: Seventy-eight healthy subjects (controls) and 223 patients with IBS were enrolled in the study and phenotyped according to validated questionnaires.

Tropical Data: Approach and Methodology as Applied to Trachoma Prevalence Surveys.

Purpose: Population-based prevalence surveys are essential for decision-making on interventions to achieve trachoma elimination as a public health problem. This paper outlines the methodologies of Tropical Data, which supports work to undertake those surveys.

Methods: Tropical Data is a consortium of partners that supports health ministries worldwide to conduct globally standardised prevalence surveys that conform to World Health Organization recommendations.

The Importance of Failure: How Doing Impact Surveys That Fail Saves Trachoma Programs Money.

Trachoma programs use annual antibiotic mass drug administration (MDA) in evaluation units (EUs) that generally encompass 100,000-250,000 people. After one, three, or five MDA rounds, programs undertake impact surveys. Where impact survey prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in 1- to 9-year-olds is ≥ 5%, ≥ 1 additional MDA rounds are recommended before resurvey.

Gender and neglected tropical disease front-line workers: Data from 16 countries.

Background: Delivery of preventive chemotherapy (PC) through mass drug administration (MDA) is used to control or eliminate five of the most common neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The success of an MDA campaign relies on the ability of drug distributors and their supervisors-the NTD front-line workers-to reach populations at risk of NTDs. In the past, our understanding of the demographics of these workers has been limited, but with increased access to sex-disaggregated data, we begin to explore the implications of gender and sex for the success of NTD front-line workers.

Thrombin generation measurement using the ST Genesia Thrombin Generation System in a cohort of healthy adults: Normal values and variability.

Background: Thrombin generation (TG) assays evaluate the balance between pro- and anticoagulant forces, to better assess bleeding and thrombotic risks. Although TG readouts obtained with the calibrated automated TG have been investigated in multiple clinical conditions, TG still needs standardization and clinical validation. The automated TG instrument ST Genesia® (STG, Stago, Asnières-sur-Seine, France) provides a normalization of TG parameters based on a reference plasma aiming to reduce the interlaboratory variability and the variability between different measurement runs.

The costs of monitoring trachoma elimination: Impact, surveillance, and trachomatous trichiasis (TT)-only surveys.

Background: Although trachoma causes more cases of preventable blindness than any other infectious disease, a combination of strategies is reducing its global prevalence. As a district moves toward eliminating trachoma as a public health problem, national programs conduct trachoma impact surveys (TIS) to assess whether to stop preventative interventions and trachoma surveillance surveys (TSS) to determine whether the prevalence of active trachoma has rebounded after interventions have halted. In some contexts, programs also conduct trachomatous trichiasis (TT)-only surveys.

The Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Case Study Exemplifying How Foreign Assistance Funding Can Be Catalytic in Reducing the Burden of Major Global Health Conditions.

In 2006, following direct advocacy and published rationale, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) established a neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) program to support the scale-up of integrated platforms to target the elimination and control of 5 NTDs-lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. By 2017, more than 2.3 billion NTD treatments had been delivered to at-risk populations in 25 countries, leveraging $19 billion in donated drugs-approximately $26 dollars in donated medicine per $1 spent by USAID.

Gender equity in mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases: data from 16 countries.

Background: Gender equity in global health is a target of the Sustainable Development Goals and a requirement of just societies. Substantial progress has been made towards control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) via mass drug administration (MDA). However, little is known about whether MDA coverage is equitable.

Completing Baseline Mapping of Trachoma in Uganda: Results of 14 Population-Based Prevalence Surveys Conducted in 2014 and 2018.

Purpose: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children aged 1-9 years, trichiasis in adults aged ≥15 years, and water and sanitation (WASH) indicators in 12 suspected-endemic districts in Uganda.

Methods: Surveys were undertaken in 14 evaluation units (EUs) covering 12 districts. Districts were selected based on a desk review in 2014 (four districts) and trachoma rapid assessments in 2018 (eight districts).

Completing Baseline Mapping of Trachoma in Nepal: Results of 27 Population-Based Prevalence Surveys Conducted in 2013 and 2014.

Purpose: Trachoma is endemic in parts of Nepal; implementation of the surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, environmental improvement (SAFE) strategy started in 2002. Some suspected-endemic districts had not previously been mapped. We aimed to estimate the prevalences of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) and trichiasis in those districts.

Trachoma in Viet Nam: results of 11 surveillance surveys conducted with the Global Trachoma Mapping Project.

Purpose: Following interventions against trachoma in Viet Nam, impact surveys conducted in 2003-2011 suggested that trachoma was no longer a public health problem. In 2014, we undertook surveillance surveys to estimate prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) and trichiasis.

Methods: A population-based prevalence survey was undertaken in 11 evaluation units (EUs) encompassing 24 districts, using Global Trachoma Mapping Project methods.

Are there differences in the growth adaptation processes of growing and mature organism models of short bowel syndrome?

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to present an experimental model of short bowel syndrome (SBS) in weaning rats and to compare the adaptative mechanisms of the remaining bowel in weaning rats and adult animals by means of morphometric, histologic and molecular methods.

Methods: Twenty-four weaning rats were divided into 3 groups of 8 animals, one control group and two short bowel groups (euthanasia after 4 and 21 days), and were compared with similar adult groups. Morphometric evaluations of the animals and histopathological and molecular studies of the remaining bowel were performed.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the Global Trachoma Mapping Project.

In collaboration with the health ministries that we serve and other partners, we set out to complete the multiple-country Global Trachoma Mapping Project. To maximize the accuracy and reliability of its outputs, we needed in-built, practical mechanisms for quality assurance and quality control. This article describes how those mechanisms were created and deployed.

Strengthening the links between mapping, planning and global engagement for disease elimination: lessons learnt from trachoma.

Background: Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness. Until recently, reliable data on the global extent of the disease, detailed plans for elimination, and government, donor and partner engagement were all inadequate.

Methods: The trachoma community undertook a systematic, three-pronged strategy to map trachoma district by district, develop national-level trachoma elimination plans, and create a framework for governments, donors and partners to convene and coordinate in support of trachoma elimination.

The cost of mapping trachoma: Data from the Global Trachoma Mapping Project.

Background: The Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP) was implemented with the aim of completing the baseline map of trachoma globally. Over 2.6 million people were examined in 1,546 districts across 29 countries between December 2012 and January 2016.

Surveillance Surveys for Reemergent Trachoma in Formerly Endemic Districts in Nepal From 2 to 10 Years After Mass Drug Administration Cessation.

Importance: To verify districts for elimination of blinding trachoma, the World Health Organization requires a population-based surveillance survey for follicular trachoma (TF) and trachomatous trichiasis (TT) 2 years after mass drug administration (MDA) activities have ceased. However, it is unknown if 2 years provides enough time to discover reemergence.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of trachoma from surveys among 4 districts in Nepal (Dailekh, Dang, Surkhet, and Kanchanpur) that had surveillance intervals of 2, 4, 8, and 10 years, respectively, after cessation of MDA.

Trachoma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Results of 46 Baseline Prevalence Surveys Conducted with the Global Trachoma Mapping Project.

Purpose: Trachoma was suspected to be endemic in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We aimed to estimate prevalences of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF), trichiasis, and water and sanitation (WASH) indicators in suspected-endemic Health Zones.

Methods: A population-based prevalence survey was undertaken in each of 46 Health Zones across nine provinces of DRC, using Global Trachoma Mapping Project methods.

Prevalence of Trachoma in Northern Benin: Results from 11 Population-Based Prevalence Surveys Covering 26 Districts.

Aims: We sought to evaluate trachoma prevalence in all suspected-endemic areas of Benin.

Methods: We conducted population-based surveys covering 26 districts grouped into 11 evaluation units (EUs), using a two-stage, systematic and random, cluster sampling design powered at EU level. In each EU, 23 villages were systematically selected with population proportional to size; 30 households were selected from each village using compact segment sampling.

Progress of Trachoma Mapping in Mainland Tanzania: Results of Baseline Surveys from 2012 to 2014.

Purpose: Following surveys in 2004-2006 in 50 high-risk districts of mainland Tanzania, trachoma was still suspected to be widespread elsewhere. We report on baseline surveys undertaken from 2012 to 2014.

Methods: A total of 31 districts were surveyed.

Baseline Trachoma Surveys in Kaskazini A and Micheweni Districts of Zanzibar: Results of Two Population-Based Prevalence Surveys Conducted with the Global Trachoma Mapping Project.

Purpose: Based on health care records and trachoma rapid assessments, trachoma was suspected to be endemic in Kaskazini A and Micheweni districts of Zanzibar. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF), and trachomatous trichiasis (TT) in each of those districts.

Methods: The survey was undertaken in Kaskazini A and Micheweni districts on Unguja and Pemba Islands, respectively.

Changing Practice: Frameworks From Implementation Science.

A critical time lag exists from the generation of new knowledge to integration into direct patient care. One effort to address this problem is through clinical initiatives to translate research findings into everyday practice at the unit, department, or institutional level. Such efforts can be particularly challenging when faced with the real-world conditions that healthcare professionals must confront in their day-to-day practice.