Understanding the Perspectives of Key Stakeholders toward Medicare's Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) in the US.

Objectives: This study examines the perspectives of key stakeholders in home health toward Medicare's Home Health Value Based Purchasing (HHVBP) program, piloted among home health agencies (HHAs) in 9 states from 2016 to 2021, and based on initial performance, was expanded to the remaining 41 (nonpilot) states in January 2023.

Design: We conducted semistructured interviews wherein we inquired participants' views toward and experiences with HHVBP. We used convenience and purposive sampling to obtain diversity in HHA size, geography, and quality.

Safety of the Administration of an Inactivated PCV2a/PCV2b/ Vaccine to Pregnant and Lactating Sows and Gilts.

Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccination of gilts during acclimation has become a routine practice in commercial pig farms to homogenize herd immunity to PCV2 and reduce the impact of diseases associated with PCV2 infection, namely reproductive, respiratory, systemic, and other PCV2-associated diseases. The periodic mass vaccination of sows, with the same objectives, is also common. To ensure mass vaccination is an appropriate health management tool, demonstrating that the vaccine is safe in different sow/gilt physiological stages is necessary.

Tacrolimus/methotrexate vs tacrolimus/reduced-dose methotrexate/mycophenolate for graft-versus-host disease prevention.

Tacrolimus (Tac)/methotrexate (MTX) is standard graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis; however, is associated with several toxicities. Tac, reduced-dose MTX (mini-MTX), and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) have been used but never compared with standard MTX. We performed a randomized trial comparing Tac/MTX (full-MTX) with Tac/mini-MTX/MMF (mini-MTX/MMF) for GVHD prevention after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).

Efficacy Studies against PCV-2 of a New Trivalent Vaccine including PCV-2a and PCV-2b Genotypes and When Administered at 3 Weeks of Age.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a new trivalent vaccine containing inactivated Porcine Circovirus 1-2a and 1-2b chimeras and a bacterin administered to pigs around 3 weeks of age. This trivalent vaccine has already been proved as efficacious in a split-dose regimen but has not been tested in a single-dose scenario. For this purpose, a total of four studies including two pre-clinical and two clinical studies were performed.

Efficacy Studies of a Trivalent Vaccine Containing PCV-2a, PCV-2b Genotypes and When Administered at 3 Days of Age and 3 Weeks Later against Porcine Circovirus 2 (PCV-2) Infection.

Four studies under preclinical and clinical conditions were performed to evaluate the efficacy of a new trivalent vaccine against Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) infection. The product contained inactivated PCV-1/PCV-2a (cPCV-2a) and PCV-1/PCV-2b (cPCV-2b) chimeras, plus inactivated cell-free antigens, which was administered to piglets in a two-dose regime at 3 days of age and 3 weeks later. The overall results of preclinical and clinical studies show a significant reduction in PCV-2 viraemia and faecal excretion, and lower histopathological lymphoid lesions and PCV-2 immunohistochemistry scores in vaccinated pigs when compared to non-vaccinated ones.

Physical Activity Counseling and Documentation by Pediatric Residents in Primary Care: Before and After Introduction of the FITT Principle.

Physician training on physical activity (PA) counseling in patient care is highly variable. The objective of this study was to improve PA counseling by pediatric residents through introduction of the four components of PA, called the FITT principle (frequency, intensity, time, type). Pediatric residents (=30) received lectures, curriculum content, and an electronic smart-phrase addressing PA in obesity, including the FITT principle.

A bivalent porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), PCV2a-PCV2b, vaccine offers biologically superior protection compared to monovalent PCV2 vaccines.

Recent publications suggest PCV2 vaccine-induced protection is superior when the vaccine and challenge are closely matched. PCV2's evolutionary rate, propensity for recombination, and genotype shifting, all provide rationale for modernizing PCV2 vaccines. One mechanism to increase a vaccine's epitope breadth is by designing a bivalent vaccine.

Efficacy of a Modified Live Virus Vaccine against Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus 1 (PRRSV-1) Administered to 1-Day-Old Piglets in Front of Heterologous PRRSV-1 Challenge.

PRRSV is one of the most important viruses in the global swine industry and is often controlled by the use of modified live virus (MLV) vaccines. This study assessed the impact of a PRRSV-1 MLV vaccine applied to 1-day-old piglets challenged on day 28 of life with a PRRSV-1 field isolate (AUT15-33). Twenty-one piglets were vaccinated within 24 h of birth (T02), whereas 20 piglets were left unvaccinated (T01).

One Dose of a Novel Vaccine Containing Two Genotypes of Porcine Circovirus (PCV2a and PCV2b) and Conferred a Duration of Immunity of 23 Weeks.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and () are important swine pathogens for which vaccination is a key control strategy. Three separate studies were performed to evaluate the duration of immunity (DOI) conferred by a novel vaccine combining PCV2a/PCV2b and into a ready-to-use formulation. In each study, three-week-old naïve piglets were vaccinated (Day 0) and challenged 23-weeks later (Day 159) with either PCV2a, PCV2b or .

Cellular and humoral immunity following vaccination with two different PCV2 vaccines (containing PCV2a or PCV2a/PCV2b) and challenge with virulent PCV2d.

Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) associated disease is one of the most economically important swine diseases worldwide. Vaccines reduce PCV2 disease by inducing humoral immunity (neutralizing antibodies) and cell-mediated immunity (CMI) but may be improved by optimizing the immune response they induce. This study evaluated immune responses to a trivalent inactivated Porcine Circovirus (PCV) Type 1-Type 2a chimera (cPCV2a), cPCV2b and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (MH) (an experimental serial of Fostera® Gold PCV MH, also marketed as Circomax® Myco) vaccine or a bivalent recombinant PCV2a baculovirus expressed ORF2 capsid plus MH vaccine (Circumvent® PCV-M G2).

Assessment of the Impact of the Recombinant Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Horsens Strain on the Reproductive Performance in Pregnant Sows.

This study assessed the impact of a PRRSV (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus) recombinant strain (Horsens strain) on the reproductive performance of naïve pregnant sows in the last third of gestation. Fifteen sows were included: four negative reproductive controls (NTX), five infected with a PRRSV-1 field strain (Olot/91, T01), and six infected with the recombinant PRRSV-1 strain (Horsens strain, T02). Piglets were monitored until weaning.

Development of the Parent Perceptions of Physical Activity Scale (PPPAS): Results from two studies with parents of infants and toddlers.

Physical activity (PA) is important from birth to promote health and motor development. Parents of young children are gatekeepers of opportunities for PA, yet little is known about their perceptions of PA. We describe the development of the Parent Perceptions of Physical Activity Scale (PPPAS) across two studies (N = 241 parents).

Immune response development after vaccination of 1-day-old naïve pigs with a Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome 1-based modified live virus vaccine.

Background: The development of the innate and adaptive immune responses to (PRRSV) after vaccination of 1 day-old pigs with a PRRSV-1 based modified live virus (MLV) vaccine by intramuscular (IM) and intranasal (IN) routes was characterised, before and after challenge with a heterologous PRRSV-1 isolate at 18 weeks post-vaccination. Twenty-five PRRSV-seronegative piglets were used. At 1 day of age, pigs were administered with a single dose of vaccine via the IM ( = 10) or the IN route ( = 10).

Statistical analyses of chicken intestinal lesion scores in battery cage studies of anti-coccidial drugs.

Establishing the efficacy of an anti-coccidial drug in poultry begins with conducting multiple battery cage studies, where the target animals are challenged with single and mixed Eimeria species inoculum under controlled laboratory conditions. One of the primary outcomes in a battery cage study is the intestinal lesion score defined on a discrete ordinal scale of 0 to 4. So far, the statistical analysis of lesion scores has routinely employed the linear mixed model (LMM).

Vaccination of 1-day-old pigs with a porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) modified live attenuated virus vaccine is able to overcome maternal immunity.

Background: The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of maternally derived antibodies (MDA) on the efficacy of a PRRSV-1 based attenuated vaccine, when administered in 1 day-old piglets by the intramuscular route. The protective immunity of the modified live virus vaccine was evaluated in pigs born from seropositive sows, vaccinated at 1 day of age, upon inoculation with a PRRSV-1 isolate. The animals were challenged when the levels of MDAs detected by seroneutralization test (SNT) in the non-vaccinated control group became undetectable (10 weeks after vaccination).

Assessing Parent Perceptions of Physical Activity in Families of Toddlers With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: The Parent Perceptions of Physical Activity Scale (PPPAS).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine a new tool (PPPAS = Parent Perceptions of Physical Activity Scale-Preschool) developed to study parental perceptions of physical activity (PA) among parents of toddler and preschool age children.

Method: 143 children (mean age 31.65 months; 75% male) and their parents were recruited from a neurodevelopmental clinic.

Subsampling phase retrieval for rapid thermal measurements of heated microstructures.

A subsampling technique for real-time phase retrieval of high-speed thermal signals is demonstrated with heated metal lines such as those found in microelectronic interconnects. The thermal signals were produced by applying a current through aluminum resistors deposited on soda-lime-silica glass, and the resulting refractive index changes were measured using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a microscope objective and high-speed camera. The temperatures of the resistors were measured both by the phase-retrieval method and by monitoring the resistance of the aluminum lines.

Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Children and Adolescents with High Body Mass Index.

Consensus has yet to be achieved on whether obesity is inexorably tied to poor fitness. We tested the hypothesis that appropriate reference of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) variables to lean body mass (LBM) would eliminate differences in fitness between high-BMI (≥ 95th percentile, n = 72, 50% female) and normal-BMI (< 85th percentile, n = 142, 49% female), otherwise-healthy children and adolescents typically seen when referencing body weight. We measured body composition with dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and CPET variables from cycle ergometry using both peak values and submaximal exercise slopes (peak VO2, ΔVO2/ΔHR, ΔWR/ΔHR, ΔVO2/ΔWR, and ΔVE/ΔVCO2).

Monitoring and analysis of thermal deformation waves with a high-speed phase measurement system.

Thermal effects in optical substrates are vitally important in determining laser damage resistance in long-pulse and continuous-wave laser systems. Thermal deformation waves in a soda-lime-silica glass substrate have been measured using high-speed interferometry during a series of laser pulses incident on the surface. Two-dimensional images of the thermal waves were captured at a rate of up to six frames per thermal event using a quantitative phase measurement method.

Continuous-wave laser damage and conditioning of particle contaminated optics.

This paper describes the physical processes that occur when high-power continuous-wave laser light interacts with absorbing particles on a low-absorption optical surface. When a particulate-contaminated surface is illuminated by high-power continuous-wave laser light, a short burst of light is emitted from the surface, and the particles rapidly heat over a period of milliseconds to thousands of degrees Celsius, migrating over and evaporating from the surface. The surviving particles tend to coalesce into larger ones and leave a relatively flat residue on the surface.

Continuous-wave laser damage of uniform and nanolaminate hafnia and titania optical coatings.

The laser-damage thresholds of single material and nanolaminate thin films were compared under continuous-wave (CW) illumination conditions. Nanolaminate films consist of uniform material interrupted by the periodic insertion of one or more atomic layers of an alternative material. Hafnia and titania were used as the base materials, and the films were deposited using atomic-layer deposition.

Protective immunity to Salmonella enterica is partially serogroup specific.

Pre-harvest reduction of Salmonella carriage by swine would benefit both animal health and food quality. While vaccination is an attractive pre-harvest intervention to reduce Salmonella levels in swine, the large number of potential Salmonella enterica serovars found in swine makes it critical that vaccines provide broad serotype efficacy. In order to directly compare the relative efficacy of Salmonella vaccines against serogroup-matched and serogroup-unmatched Salmonella, we vaccinated pigs with two commercially available Salmonella vaccines (either serogroup B or serogroup C1) and challenged with serovar-matched, serogroup-matched or serogroup-unmatched challenge strains.

Vaccination of piglets up to 1 week of age with a single-dose Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccine induces protective immunity within 2 weeks against virulent challenge in the presence of maternally derived antibodies.

Enzootic pneumonia, resulting from infection with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, is of considerable economic importance to the pig industry and normally is controlled through active vaccination of piglets. We have demonstrated that administration of an inactivated Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccine to piglets less than 1 week old is efficacious under field conditions and reduces the level of lung lesions observed in comparison to that in control pigs. Here, the results of two separate studies, one in piglets with and the second one in piglets without maternal antibodies, conducted to satisfy the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia (monograph no.