Associations between family planning, healthcare access, and female education and vaccination among under-immunized children.

Background: Increasing childhood vaccination, family planning, healthcare access, and women's empowerment are targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Barriers to healthcare access impede vaccination; tackling goals holistically could create larger gains than siloed efforts. We studied Nepal, Senegal, and Zambia to test the association between childhood vaccinations and other SDG indicators to identify clustered deprivations.

Modeling the Impact of Proactive Community Case Management on Reducing Confirmed Malaria Cases in Sub-Saharan African Countries.

Malaria continues to be a major source of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Timely, accurate, and effective case management is critical to malaria control. Proactive community case management (ProCCM) is a new strategy in which a community health worker "sweeps" a village, visiting households at defined intervals to proactively provide diagnostic testing and treatment if indicated.

Potential Impact of a Diagnostic Test for Detecting Prepatent Guinea Worm Infections in Dogs.

Chad has seen a considerable reduction in cases of Guinea worm disease (or dracunculiasis) in domestic dogs in recent years. Tethering of dogs and application of Abate® larvicide to water sources appear to have contributed to this progress, but with 767 reported dog cases in 2021, accelerating elimination of the disease in Chad may require additional tools. We investigate the potential benefits of a hypothetical diagnostic test that could be capable of detecting prepatent infections in dogs.

Chronic back pain prevalence at small area level in England - the design and validation of a 2-stage static spatial microsimulation model.

Spatially disaggregated estimates provide valuable insights into the nature of a disease. They highlight inequalities, aid public health planning and identify avenues for further research. Spatial microsimulation is advantageous in that it can be used to create large microdata sets with intact microlevel relationships between variables, which allows analysis of relationships between variables locally.

Factors associated with vaccine coverage improvements in Senegal between 2005 and 2019: a quantitative retrospective analysis.

Objective: Senegal has demonstrated catalytic improvements in national coverage rates for early childhood vaccination, despite lower development assistance for childhood vaccines in Senegal compared with other low-income and lower-middle income countries. Understanding factors associated with historical changes in childhood vaccine coverage in Senegal, as well as heterogeneities across its 14 regions, can highlight effective practices that might be adapted to improve vaccine coverage elsewhere.

Design: Childhood vaccination coverage rates, demographic information and health system characteristics were identified from Senegal's Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Senegal national reports for years 2005-2019.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Potential Interventions for Guinea Worm Disease in Dogs in Chad Using Simulations.

Guinea worm (GW) disease (or dracunculiasis) is currently transmitted among dogs in Chad, which presents risks for the human population. We studied how interventions implemented at different levels might reduce the spread of GW disease (geographically and over time) and what levels of interventions might accelerate elimination. We built a multiple-water-source agent-based simulation model to analyze the disease transmission among dogs in Chad, as well as in geographic district clusters, and validated it using local infection data.

Understanding the burden of chronic back pain: a spatial microsimulation of chronic back pain at small area level across England.

Purpose: Chronic back pain (CBP) carries a significant burden. Understanding how and why CBP prevalence varies spatially, as well as the potential impact of policies to decrease CBP would prove valuable for public health planning. This study aims to simulate and map the prevalence of CBP at ward-level across England, identify associations which may explain spatial variation, and explore 'what-if' scenarios for the impact of policies to increase physical activity (PA) on CBP.

Beta2 glycoprotein I-derived therapeutic peptides induce sFlt-1 secretion to reduce melanoma vascularity and growth.

Melanoma, a form of skin cancer, is one of the most common cancers in young men and women. Tumors require angiogenesis to provide oxygen and nutrients for growth. Pro-angiogenic molecules such as VEGF and anti-angiogenic molecules such as sFlt-1 control angiogenesis.

Drivers and regulators of humoral innate immune responses to infection and cancer.

The complement cascade consists of cell bound and serum proteins acting together to protect the host from pathogens, remove cancerous cells and effectively links innate and adaptive immune responses. Despite its usefulness in microbial neutralization and clearance of cancerous cells, excessive complement activation causes an immune imbalance and tissue damage in the host. Hence, a series of complement regulatory proteins present at a higher concentration in blood plasma and on cell surfaces tightly regulate the cascade.

A mathematical model to describe survival among liver recipients from deceased donors with risk of transmitting infectious encephalitis pathogens.

Background: Between 2002 and 2013, the organs of 13 deceased donors with infectious encephalitis were transplanted, causing infections in 23 recipients. As a consequence, organs from donors showing symptoms of encephalitis (increased probability of infectious encephalitis (IPIE) organs) might be declined. We had previously characterized the risk of IPIE organs using data available to most transplant teams and not requiring special diagnostic tests.

Cellular response to collagen-elastin composite materials.

Collagen is used extensively in tissue engineering due to its biocompatibility, near-universal tissue distribution, low cost and purity. However, native tissues are composites that include diverse extracellular matrix components, which influence strongly their mechanical and biological properties. Here, we provide important new findings on the differential regulation, by collagen and elastin, of the bio-response to the composite material.

Assessment of risk for transplant-transmissible infectious encephalitis among deceased organ donors.

Background: There were 13 documented clusters of infectious encephalitis transmission via organ transplant from deceased donors to recipients during 2002-2013. Hence, organs from donors diagnosed with encephalitis are often declined because of concerns about the possibility of infection, given that there is no quick and simple test to detect causes of infectious encephalitis.

Methods: We constructed a database containing cases of infectious and non-infectious encephalitis.

Optimized oral cholera vaccine distribution strategies to minimize disease incidence: A mixed integer programming model and analysis of a Bangladesh scenario.

In addition to improved sanitation, hygiene, and better access to safe water, oral cholera vaccines can help to control the spread of cholera in the short term. However, there is currently no systematic method for determining the best allocation of oral cholera vaccines to minimize disease incidence in a population where the disease is endemic and resources are limited. We present a mathematical model for optimally allocating vaccines in a region under varying levels of demographic and incidence data availability.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for the rapid detection of Mycoplasma genitalium.

Mycoplasma genitalium is a sexually transmissible, pathogenic bacterium and a significant cause of nongonococcal urethritis in both men and women. Due to the difficulty of the culture of M. genitalium from clinical samples, the laboratory diagnosis of M.

Trichomonas vaginalis: Clinical relevance, pathogenicity and diagnosis.

Trichomonas vaginalis is the etiological agent of trichomoniasis, the most prevalent non-viral sexually transmitted disease worldwide. Trichomoniasis is a widespread, global health concern and occurring at an increasing rate. Infections of the female genital tract can cause a range of symptoms, including vaginitis and cervicitis, while infections in males are generally asymptomatic.

Automated medical resident rotation and shift scheduling to ensure quality resident education and patient care.

At academic teaching hospitals around the country, the majority of clinical care is provided by resident physicians. During their training, medical residents often rotate through various hospitals and/or medical services to maximize their education. Depending on the size of the training program, manually constructing such a rotation schedule can be cumbersome and time consuming.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification test for detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in urine samples and tolerance of the assay to the presence of urea.

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for open reading frame 1 (ORF1) of the glutamine synthetase gene of Neisseria gonorrhoeae was able to tolerate urea concentrations of ≤ 1.8 M, compared with a PCR assay that was functional at concentrations of <100 mM. The LAMP assay was as sensitive as the PCR assay while being faster and simpler to perform.

Comparative photodynamic evaluation of new phenothiazinium derivatives against Propionibacterium acnes.

The screening of recently patented derivatives of the standard phenothiazinium agents methylene blue and toluidine blue was carried out against Propionibacterium acnes, the main bacterium associated with acne vulgaris. Comparative tests were made using the topical agent benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and standard tetracyclines. Each of the photosensitizers employed, including the lead compounds, was photobactericidal at lower concentrations than BPO, and produced a much more rapid kill than the tetracyclines.

Development of a handoff continuity score to improve pediatric ICU physician schedule design for enhanced physician and patient continuity.

Introduction: Few studies investigate the benefits of familiarity or continuity during physician-to-physician handoff of inpatients. Factors such as how recently physicians (MDs) have worked and successive days caring for patients increase continuity, and thus could lead to enhanced handoff efficiency. Evaluating the efficacy of MD scheduling to enhance continuity is currently subjective.

The use of photosensitisers in acne treatment.

Whereas the standard approach to the treatment of acne vulgaris has involved both systemic and topical antibiotics and topical agents such as benzoyl peroxide, problems exist due to side effects, drug resistance and lack of compliance. The photoantimicrobial approach offers a rapid treatment for large areas of afflicted dermis, based on the generation of reactive oxygen species in situ. Various chemical types are available as a topical modality, both in respect of the photosensitising agent and the activating light source, the suggested therapeutic approach requiring medical supervision.

A framework for assessing patient crossover and health information exchange value.

Objective: To evaluate the benefit of a health information exchange (HIE) between hospitals, we examine the rate of crossover among neurosurgical inpatients treated at Emory University Hospital (EUH) and Grady Memorial Hospital (GMH) in Atlanta, Georgia. To inform decisions regarding investment in HIE, we develop a methodology analyzing crossover behavior for application to larger more general patient populations.

Design: Using neurosurgery inpatient visit data from EUH and GMH, unique patients who visited both hospitals were identified through classification by name and age at time of visit.

Infective endocarditis: changing aetiology of disease.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is an evolving disease resulting in high morbidity and mortality. Despite medical and diagnostic advances, the incidence of the disease has remained unchanged, reflecting the changing epidemiological and microbiological profile of IE. Classical risk factors such as rheumatic heart disease have now been overtaken by new risk factors including an ageing population, degenerative valve disease and intravenous drug use.

Health systems education yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

This paper traces the history of the application of industrial management engineering techniques to health systems problems. The educational background of early practitioners and the development of specialized health systems educational programs are described. Projections are made about the future of health systems engineering and health systems education.

Estimation of serum V kappa IIIb light chains in rheumatoid arthritis and correlation with CD5-positive B-cells.

The presence of V kappa IIIb light chains in the sera of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients has been evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). V kappa IIIb light chains have been confirmed to be largely restricted to IgM, and were rarely detected in the IgG fraction of sera. The concentration of total serum V kappa IIIb did not significantly vary with age, nor did it correlate with IgM-rheumatoid factor (RF) titre.

Idiotypic interactions between rheumatoid factors and other antibodies.

An internal network of antibody idiotypes and anti-idiotypes has been considered important in controlling the production of antibodies reactive with exogenous antigens, and a current hypothesis proposes that some autoantibodies may be auto-anti-idiotypes. RF is often associated with bacterial (notably streptococcal) infections, as well as occurring in RA. Experimental animals immunised with streptococcal cell wall peptidoglycan-polysaccharide (PG-PS) complexes produce serum RF-like antibodies.