Annual Days With a Health Care Encounter for Children and Youth Enrolled in Medicaid: A Multistate Analysis.

Objective: To assess the number of days that children experienced a health care encounter and associations between chronic condition types and health care encounters.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of data from 5,082,231 children ages 0 to 18 years enrolled in Medicaid during 2017 in 12 US states contained in the IBM Watson Marketscan Medicaid Database. We counted and categorized enrollees' encounter days, defined as unique days a child had a health care visit, by type of health service.

A Blueprint for Change: Guiding Principles for a System of Services for Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs and Their Families.

Children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families continue to face challenges in accessing health care and other services in an integrated, family-centered, evidence-informed, culturally responsive system. More than 12 million, or almost 86%, of CYSHCN ages 1-17 years do not have access to a well-functioning system of services. Further, the inequities experienced by CYSHCN and their families, particularly those in under-resourced communities, highlight the critical need to address social determinants of health and our nation's approach to delivering health care.

Access to Services for Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs and Their Families: Concepts and Considerations for an Integrated Systems Redesign.

Access to services for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) have typically emphasized coverage, service, timeliness, and capability. Yet families of CYSHCN continue to describe a fragmented health care system with significant unmet needs. For many years, the concept of access to services has focused on the services themselves, rather than starting with the needs of CYSHCN and their families.

Transition Planning Among US Youth With and Without Special Health Care Needs.

Background: Researchers have shown that most youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) are not receiving guidance on planning for health care transition. This study examines current transition planning among US youth with and without special health care needs (SHCN).

Methods: The 2016 National Survey of Children's Health is nationally representative and includes 20 708 youth (12-17 years old).

Health Care Utilization and Unmet Need Among Youth With Special Health Care Needs.

Purpose: To examine unmet health needs and health care utilization among youth with special health care needs (YSHCN).

Methods: We analyzed data among youth aged 12-17 years using the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health. We conducted descriptive analyses comparing YSHCN with non-YSHCN, and bivariate and multivariable analyses examining associations between dependent and independent measures.

Frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles: clinical outcomes of single and double blastocyst transfers.

Purpose: To evaluate clinical outcomes of frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles when one or two blastocysts are transferred.

Methods: Retrospective chart review

Results: Two hundred forty-three frozen blastocyst transfer (FBT) cycles were analyzed. Clinical pregnancy rate (50.

Role for parasite genetic diversity in differential host responses to Trypanosoma brucei infection.

The postgenomic era has revolutionized approaches to defining host-pathogen interactions and the investigation of the influence of genetic variation in either protagonist upon infection outcome. We analyzed pathology induced by infection with two genetically distinct Trypanosoma brucei strains and found that pathogenesis is partly strain specific, involving distinct host mechanisms. Infections of BALB/c mice with one strain (927) resulted in more severe anemia and greater erythropoietin production compared to infections with the second strain (247), which, contrastingly, produced greater splenomegaly and reticulocytosis.

A major genetic locus in Trypanosoma brucei is a determinant of host pathology.

The progression and variation of pathology during infections can be due to components from both host or pathogen, and/or the interaction between them. The influence of host genetic variation on disease pathology during infections with trypanosomes has been well studied in recent years, but the role of parasite genetic variation has not been extensively studied. We have shown that there is parasite strain-specific variation in the level of splenomegaly and hepatomegaly in infected mice and used a forward genetic approach to identify the parasite loci that determine this variation.

The genetic map and comparative analysis with the physical map of Trypanosoma brucei.

Trypanosoma brucei is the causative agent of African sleeping sickness in humans and contributes to the debilitating disease 'Nagana' in cattle. To date we know little about the genes that determine drug resistance, host specificity, pathogenesis and virulence in these parasites. The availability of the complete genome sequence and the ability of the parasite to undergo genetic exchange have allowed genetic investigations into this parasite and here we report the first genetic map of T.

Allelic segregation and independent assortment in T. brucei crosses: proof that the genetic system is Mendelian and involves meiosis.

The genetic system on Trypanosoma brucei has been analysed by generating large numbers of independent progeny clones from two crosses, one between two cloned isolates of Trypanosoma brucei brucei and one between cloned isolates of T. b. brucei and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, Type 2.

Neutralisation of TGF beta or binding of VLA-4 to fibronectin prevents rat tendon adhesion following transection.

Following tendon injury, severe loss of function often occurs either as a result of obliteration of the synovial canal with fibrous scar tissue or from rupture of the repaired tendon. The role of cell engineering in tendon repair is to promote strong and rapid healing of tendon whilst at the same time facilitating rapid reconstitution of the synovial canal. Modification of the immediate inflammatory response around healing tendon has been found to be of value.

Expression of nitric oxide synthase and transforming growth factor-beta in crush-injured tendon and synovium.

This study examined the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in macrophage infiltrates within crush-injured digital flexor tendon and synovium of control rats and rats treated with N(G)-nitro-1-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (5 mg/kg). Release of TGF-beta from organ cultures of tendon, muscle, and synovium, and the effects of L-NAME treatment (in vitro and in vivo), on adhesion of peritoneal macrophages to epitenon monolayers were also investigated. The results showed that during normal tendon healing the levels of TGF-beta are high at first and gradually decrease after 3 weeks of injury to slightly above control uninjured levels.