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  • Kuhn Benton posted an update 1 week, 4 days ago

    21 (95%Cis 1.59,4.83) percentage points for the studies with no active control arms. The prevalence at endline, as a proportion of that at baseline, on average differed by 17.7%. In 10/35 assessments from 4/7 studies, the difference was more than 30%. We did not find evidence of the Hawthorne effect or repeat interview bias as explanations. Our findings largely supported non-differential misclassification (measurement error) as the most likely error and it was a greater problem for men.Conclusions Control arms are very valuable, but in VAW research their measures fluctuate. This must be considered in sample size calculations. We need more rigorous criteria for determining trial effect. Our findings suggest this may be an absolute change in prevalence of 7% and proportionate change of 0.4 or more (especially for studies in populations with lower IPV prevalence ( less then 20%)). More elaborate pre-defined outcomes are necessary for determining impact (or possible harms) of VAW prevention interventions.Background Social factors modulating stroke outcomes are found to be culturally and gender inclined. We examined social support and social constraints in Hausa women stroke survivors.Aim To determine social support and social constraints in Hausa women after stroke.Materials and methods Seventy-four (74) Hausa women stroke survivors were conveniently recruited from three tertiary health centers to participate in this cross-sectional study. Sociodemographic and stroke-related attributes of the participants were obtained. Perceived social support and social constraints were assessed using multidimentional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) and the social problem questionnaire (SPQ), respectively. The relationship and association between different variables were assessed using Pearson’s correlation and chi-square test, respectively.Results Majority of the participants (60.8%) reported adequate level of social support. Similarly, most participants reported fairly low level of social constraints in total family stress (91.9%) and nonchild-related stress (90.5%). None of the participants’ sociodemographic features had a significant relationship with either social support or social constraints (p > .05). Findings indicated an inverse relationship between social support and social constraint.Conclusion Findings of this study suggest that adequate social support potentially limits the level of social constraint encountered by women who suffered stroke. The Hausa culture seems to be impressive in characteristically demonstrating high level of social support as found in this study. It is recommended that physiotherapist should assist by providing educative programs that would increase caregiver’s knowledge of social support and how to develop it and cultural values that emphasize positive social interaction should be encouraged.Background MicroRNAs(miRNAs) can regulate T cell differentiation and plasticity by targeting their corresponding message RNAs (mRNAs), which play important roles in many autoimmune diseases. But the effect of miRNAs and their targeted mRNAs in acquired AA is not fully understood.Methods The Gene Expression Omnibus data-sets of bone marrow T cells in acquired AA patients were performed to integrated analysis. Differently expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) and mRNAs (DE-mRNAs) were identified. Target mRNAs of DE-miRNAs predicted by miRNet were compared with DE-mRNAs, the intersection mRNAs of two groups were negatively matched with the DE-miRNAs and defined as dysregulated mRNAs. GO and KEGG analyses for dysregulated mRNAs were performed. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks for dysregulated mRNAs were established. Modules in the PPI networks were identified, and the miRNA-mRNA networks were constructed.Results 40 DE-miRNAs and 1511 DE-mRNAs were accessed. 303 negative correlation pairs of miRNA-mRNA were identified. Hsa-mir-34a-5p, hsa-mir-195-5p and hsa-mir-424-5p may be the central hubs. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that dysregulated mRNAs were involved in T cell differentiation and plasticity. Finally, the miRNA-mRNA networks were constructed. Has-mir-34a-5p, hsa-mir-195-5p and hsa-mir-424-5p were all involved in the central network and the target mRNA for them were histone genes and histone methylation gene KMT2D.Conclusion The miRNA-mRNA network in our study show that hsa-mir-34a-5p, hsa-mir-195-5p, and hsa-mir-424-5p may regulate the T cell differentiation and plasticity by targeting histone gene expression and histone modification.We present the case of a patient with aplastic anemia (AA) who was treated with eltrombopag. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the disappearance of monosomy 7 after eltrombopag treatment. The patient was a 77-year-old woman with intraoral hematoma and purpura who was diagnosed with very severe AA with a normal karyotype. After combination therapy with rabbit antithymocyte globulin, cyclosporin, and granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), pancytopenia transiently improved. When pancytopenia worsened again, the patient was administered darbepoetin alfa for renal anemia and danazol. Bone marrow examination showed 2.5% blasts with the karyotype 45,XX,-7[17]/46,XX[3], and 87.0% of marrow cells had monosomy 7, as determined by 7q31 interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. Pancytopenia was considered owing to the evolution of myelodysplastic syndrome, and we stopped G-CSF and darbepoetin treatment. As she refused treatment with a hypomethylating agent, considering her age, eltrombopag was started against refractory pancytopenia after obtaining informed consent. She showed an improvement in pancytopenia and became transfusion independent. After 1 year of eltrombopag treatment, bone marrow examination revealed 0.7% blasts with the karyotype 46,XX[20] and without monosomy 7 clone by FISH analysis. After a further 1 year of eltrombopag treatment with dose tapering, she has achieved a complete response. This case suggested that eltrombopag treatment is not necessarily contraindicated in patients with monosomy 7.Older adults from racial and ethnic minority groups are likely to face disparities in their health as well as care experiences in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities just as they do in the United States as a whole. Policymakers in the United States face concerns around long-term services and supports to address the growing demands of a rapidly aging population through public and private sector initiatives. It is important to create inclusive and culturally responsive environments to meet the needs of diverse groups of older adults. In spite of federal policy that supports minority health and protects the well-being of long-term care facility residents, racial and ethnic disparities persist in long-term care facilities. This manuscript describes supports and gaps in the current United States’ federal policy to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in long-term care facilities. Implications for social workers are discussed and recommendations include efforts to revise portions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, amending regulations regarding long-term care facilities’ training and oversight, and tailoring the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program’s data collection, analysis, and reporting requirements to include racial and ethnic demographic data.Youth with neurologic conditions experience multiple life transitions. The transfer from pediatric to adult health care systems exemplifies one such complex and multifaceted transition that occurs in parallel with developmental, legal, and social changes that may influence the roles and responsibilities of youth and their caregivers. As a result, ethical situations, questions, and challenges may surface in transition care to which pediatric neurologists may be confronted. In this article, we focus on the topic of autonomy and situations that may arise in transition care in the context of pediatric neurology. Building from a clinical case, we present the concept of contextualized autonomy to work through the questions that arise in the case and propose ways of thinking through those challenging situations in transition care.The prognostic significance of the six-minute walk distance for lower extremity events in people with peripheral artery disease (PAD) is unknown. This longitudinal study assessed whether a poorer six-minute walk distance at baseline was associated with higher rates of subsequent lower extremity atherosclerotic disease events in PAD. A total of 369 patients (mean age 69.4 ± 10.0 years; mean ankle-brachial index (ABI) 0.67 ± 0.17; 31% women; 30% black individuals) from Chicago-area medical centers with PAD were enrolled. Participants underwent baseline six-minute walk testing and returned for annual study visits. Lower extremity events consisted of one or more of the following ABI decline greater than 15% or medical record adjudicated lower extremity revascularization, critical limb ischemia, or amputation. Selleckchem MALT1 inhibitor At a mean follow-up of 33.3 months, lower extremity events occurred in 66/123 (53.7%) people in the first (worst) tertile of six-minute walk performance, 55/124 (44.4%) in the second tertile, and 56/122 (45.9%) in the third (best) tertile. After adjusting for age, sex, race, ABI, comorbidities, and other confounders, participants in the first (worst) tertile of six-minute walk distance at baseline had higher rates of lower extremity events during follow-up, compared to those in the best tertile at baseline (HR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.17-2.60, p = 0.0067). Among people with PAD, a poorer six-minute walk distance was associated with higher rates of subsequent lower extremity PAD-related events after adjusting for confounders. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions that improve six-minute walk distance can reduce lower extremity adverse events in people with PAD.In vitro characterization of cell-free DNA using two-dimensional cell culture models is emerging as an important step toward an improved understanding of the physical and biological characteristics of cell-free DNA in human biology. However, precise measurement of the cell-free DNA in cell culture medium is highly dependent on the efficacy of the method used for DNA purification, and is often a juncture of experimental confusion. Therefore, in this study, we compared six commercially available cell-free DNA isolation kits for the recovery of cell-free DNA from the cell culture supernatant of a human bone cancer cell line (143B), including two magnetic bead-based manual kits, one automated magnetic bead-based extraction method, and three manual spin-column kits. Based on cell-free DNA quantitation and sizing, using the Qubit dsDNA HS assay and Bioanalyzer HS DNA assay, respectively, the different methods showed significant variability concerning recovery, reproducibility, and size discrimination. These findings highlight the importance of selecting a cell-free DNA extraction method that is appropriate for the aims of a study. For example, mutational analysis of cell-free DNA may be enhanced by a method that favors a high yield or is biased toward the isolation of short cell-free DNA fragments. In contrast, quantitative analysis of cell-free DNA in a comparative setting (e.g. measuring the fluctuation of cell-free DNA levels over time) may require the selection of a cell-free DNA isolation method that forgoes a high recovery for high reproducibility and minimal size bias.