Using telemedicine to improve asthma management in underserved communities has been shown to be highly effective. However, program operating costs are perceived as the main barrier to dissemination and scaling up. This study evaluated whether a novel, evidence-based School-Based Telemedicine Enhanced Asthma Management (SB-TEAM) program, designed to overcome barriers to care for families of urban school-aged children, can be financially sustainable in real-world urban school settings. Eligible children (n = 400) had physician-diagnosed asthma with persistent or poorly controlled symptoms at baseline. Total costs included the cost of implementing and running the SB-TEAM program, asthma-related health care costs, cost of caregiver lost productivity in wages related to child illness, and school absenteeism fees. Using data from the SB-TEAM study and national data on wages and equipment costs, the authors modeled low, actual, and high-cost scenarios. The actual cost of administering the SB-TEAM program averaged $344 per child. Expenses incurred by families for medical care ($982), caregiver productivity cost ($415), and school absenteeism costs ($284) in SB-TEAM were not different from the costs in the control group ($1594, $492, and $318 [P > 0.05]). The study findings remained robust under sensitivity analyses for various state- and school-specific regulations, staffing requirements, and wages. The authors concluded that the SB-TEAM program operating costs may be offset by the reduction in health care costs, caregiver lost wages, and school absenteeism associated with the program health benefit.A series of 2'-deoxy and novel 2'-O-methyl and 2'-O-(2-methoxyethyl) (2'-MOE) oligonucleotides with internucleotide methanesulfonyl (mesyl, μ) or 1-butanesulfonyl (busyl, β) phosphoramidate groups has been synthesized for evaluation as potential splice-switching oligonucleotides. Evaluation of their splice-switching activity in spinal muscular atrophy patient-derived fibroblasts revealed no significant difference in splice-switching efficacy between 2'-MOE mesyl oligonucleotide and the corresponding phosphorothioate (nusinersen). Yet, a survival study with model neonatal mice has shown the antisense 2'-MOE mesyl oligonucleotide to be inferior to nusinersen at the highest dose of 40 mg/kg. A reason for their lower activity in vivo as ascertained by cellular uptake study by fluorescent confocal microscopy in HEK293 cell line could possibly be ascribed to compromised endosomal release and/or nuclear uptake of the 2'-OMe or 2'-MOE μ- and β-oligonucleotides compared to their phosphorothioate analog.Little information has been compiled across studies about existing interventions to mitigate issues of medical financial hardship, despite growing interest in health care delivery. The purpose of this qualitative systematic scoping review was to examine content and outcomes of interventions to address medical financial hardship. PRISMA guidelines were applied to present results using PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL, published between January 1980 and August 2020. Additional studies were identified through reference lists of selected papers. Included studies focused on mitigating medical financial hardship from out-of-pocket (OOP) health care expenses as an intervention strategy with at least 1 evaluation component. Screening 2412 articles identified 339 articles for full-text review, 12 of which met inclusion criteria. Variation was found regarding targets and outcome measurement of intervention. Primary outcomes were in the following categories financial outcomes (eg, OOP expenses), behavioral outcomes, psychosocial, health care utilization, and health status. No included studies reported significant reduction in OOP expenses, perceptions of financial burden/toxicity, or health status. However, changes were observed for behavioral outcomes (adherence to treatment, patient needs addressed), some psychosocial outcomes (mental health symptoms, perceived support, patient satisfaction), and care utilization such as routine health care. No patterns were observed in the achievement of outcomes across studies based on intensity of intervention. Few rigorous studies exist in this emerging field, and studies have not shown consistent positive effects. Future research should focus on conceptual clarity of the intervention, align outcome measurement and achieve consensus around outcomes, and employ rigorous study designs, measurement, and outcome follow-up.Background Wound complications, primarily surgical site infections (SSIs), impose heavy a heavy burden on public health. This study aimed to compare the difference in the abilities of subcuticular sutures and staples to prevent SSIs after open abdominal surgery on the digestive system. Methods A comprehensive search in Ovid-MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library (Central Register of Controlled Trials) was performed in January 2021. This study was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The PICOS (population, intervention, control, outcome, study type) model was applied to guide study selection and data extraction. Results Six studies including 3,863 participants were included. According to analysis of SSI incidence, there was no obvious difference between the incidence of SSI when subcuticular sutures and staples were used (odds ratio [OR], 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-1.08; p = 0.15). In the subsequent subgroup analysis of different operation procedures, the pooled results also failed to show significance for upper gastrointestinal surgery (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.63-1.9; p = 0.75), lower gastrointestinal surgery (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.56-1.05; p = 0.1), or hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery (pooled OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.34-1.54; p = 0.4). Conclusions Subcuticular sutures and staples did not show differences in their ability to prevent SSI incidence after open abdominal operation. STING inhibitor C-178 manufacturer These results require further verification by large-scale, high-quality randomized controlled trials.Liu, Chunlei, Xu Chen, Ge Guo, Xiang Xu, Xin Li, Qingxia Wei, Yanying Shen, Hanlu Li, Jianxiu Hao, Ya Ping Tian, and Kunlun He. Effects of intermittent normoxia on chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular hypertrophy in rats. High Alt Med Biol. 22 184-192, 2021. Background Individuals with chronically low arterial oxygen tension owing to high altitude develop elevated rates of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy. However, the effects of the frequency and duration of normoxic exposure on PH and RV hypertrophy have not been adequately assessed; thus, we aimed to analyze the same. Materials and Methods PH and RV hypertrophy were induced in 60 rats using a hypobaric chamber. Of these 60 rats, every 10 were exposed to normoxic conditions for 30 minutes once (1T/D), three times (3T/D), or five times daily (5T/D), or for one 150-minute recovery daily (1LT/D). Furthermore, 10 rats were housed in a normoxic environment, and another 10 were subjected to continuous hypoxia.