Sample Selection in Randomized Trials With Multiple Target Populations

Practitioners and policymakers often want estimates of the effect of an intervention for their local community, e.g., region, state, county. In the ideal, these multiple population average treatment effect (ATE) estimates will be considered in the design of a single randomized trial. Methods for sample selection for generalizing the sample ATE to date, however, focus only on the case of a single target population. In this paper, I provide a framework for sample selection in the multiple population case, including three compromise allocations. I situate the methods in an example and conclude with a discussion of the implications for the design of randomized evaluations more generally.

Meet–Test–Treat for HCV management: patients’ and clinicians’ preferences in hospital and drug addiction services in Italy

Background It has been estimated that the incidence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) will not decline over the next 10 years despite the improved efficacy of antiviral therapy because most patients remain undiagnosed and/or untreated. This study aimed to investigate the opinion of relevant target populations on the practicability, effectiveness and best modalities of the test-and-treat approach in the fight against HCV in Italy. Methods A survey was delivered to patients with HCV from the general population, patients from drug addiction services, hospital physicians and healthcare providers for drug addiction services. Results For both hospital clinicians and SerD HCPs, tolerability is shown as the most important feature of a suitable treatment. Time to treatment (the time from first contact to initiation of treatment) is deemed important to the success of the strategy by all actors. While a tolerable treatment was the main characteristic in a preferred care pathway for general patients, subjects from drug addiction services indicated that a complete Meet–Test–Treat pathway is delivered within the habitual care center as a main preference. This is also important for SerD HCPs who are a strong reference for their patients; hospital clinicians were less aware of the importance of the patient-HCP relationship in this process. Conclusion The health system is bound to implement suitable pathways to facilitate HCV eradication. A Meet–Test–Treat program within the drug addiction services may provide good compliance from subjects mainly concerned with virus transmission.

LITERARY FOLKTALES PROMOTING CHILDREN'S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES/KARYA SASTRA YANG MENINGKATKAN KECERDASAN MULTIPEL ANAK-ANAK

The objective of this study wasto investigate how literary folktale narrations promoting children's multiple intelligences. In this study qualitative design was adopted. The target populations of this study were found in Awi zone. In this case, expert sampling was used to capture multiple intelligences entrenched in a meticulous manifestation of knowledge in folktales.Through purposive sampling 20 folktale narrators (10 females and 10 male) were interviewed and two group discussions were conducted. The result of the study showed that engagement of children within literary narrations enablesthem to promote their linguistic, logical, spatial, musical, natural, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and bodily kinesthetic intelligences. Result and discussion showed thatliterary folktale narrations promote social cohesion regardless of age and gender. The children at any talent stage were acquainted with how to use their multiple intelligent through learning and their life experiences. This hypothesis is significant to elementary education because teachers able to observe more recurrently that students learn in different ways. Therefore, there is close relationship between literacy and folklore in influencing naturalist intelligencechildrento make a distinction among animals, categorize, and use features of the environment.Keywords: children, folktale, intelligences, literaryAbstrakTujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk meneliti bagaimana narasi folktale yang meningkatkan kecerdasan multipel anak-anak. Dalam penelitian ini, digunakan desain kualitatif. Target populasi penelitian ini ditemukan di wilayah Awi. Dalam kasus ini, expert sampling digunakan untuk mengkaji kecerdasan multipel yang berakar dalam manifestasi pengetahuan folktale. Melalui purposive sampling(penyampelan berdasarkan tujuan), 20 pencerita folktale (10 perempuan dan 10 laki-laki) diwawancarai dan dua diskusi kelompok dilakukan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pelibatan anak-anak dalam narasi sastra memungkinkan mereka untuk meningkatkan kecerdasan linguistik, logis, spasial, musik, alami, interpersonal, dan kinestetik tubuh mereka. Hasil dan pembahasan ini menunjukkan bahwa narasi folktale meningkatkan hubungan sosial tanpa memandang usia dan jenis kelamin. Anak-anak pada setiap tahap bakat berkenalan dengan bagaimana menggunakan kecerdasan multipel mereka melalui pembelajaran dan pengalaman hidup mereka. Hipotesis ini sangat penting bagi pendidikan dasar guru dapat mengamati secara berulang-ulang bahwa siswa belajar dengan cara yang berbeda. Oleh karena itu, ada kaitan erat antara literasi dan cerita rakyat dalam memengaruhi kecerdasan alami anak-anak untuk membuat perbedaan di antara hewan, mengategorikannya, dan menggunakan karakteristik lingkungan. Kata Kunci: anak-anak, dongeng, kecerdasan, literasi

Deployment of Health Equity Strike Teams to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities in Arkansas, 2021

Minority populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and disparities have been noted in vaccine uptake. In the state of Arkansas, health equity strike teams (HESTs) were deployed to address vaccine disparities. A total of 13 470 vaccinations were administered by HESTs to 10 047 eligible people at 45 events. Among these individuals, 5645 (56.2%) were African American, 2547 (25.3%) were White, and 1068 (10.6%) were Hispanic. Vaccination efforts must specifically target populations that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):29–33. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306564 )

Enjeux Liés à la Traversée de la Frontière Bénino-Togolaise dans le Secteur Materi-Mandouri

Les zones frontalières sont des lieux spécifiques où s’effectuent des échanges des biens et des personnes. La présente recherche a pour objectif d’étudier les enjeux liés à la traversée de la frontière bénino-togolaise dans le secteur Materi-Mandouri. Pour atteindre cet objectif, des investigations ont été faites à partir de la collecte des données et informations aux moyens de la recherche documentaire, des observations directes sur le terrain, des entretiens et enquêtes auprès de 93 personnes du milieu de recherche choisies suivant la méthode de choix raisonné. Le traitement des données et l’analyse des résultats se sont focalisés sur l’analyse sociale et l’évaluation des gains auprès des populations cibles. Il ressort des résultats que le commerce (86,66 %), le transport (6,67 %) et la visite des parents (6,66 %) sont les principaux facteurs qui expliquent la présence d’un important flux de personnes dans le secteur de recherche. Aussi, les échanges transfrontaliers entre le Bénin et le Togo contribuent au développement de l’économie locale à travers le chargement, le transport de marchandise et les taxes perçues par les autorités locales. Cependant, les échanges transfrontaliers sont marqués par des contraintes d’ordre social, sécuritaire et infrastructurel. Il faut alors se poser la question de savoir si les actions actuelles permettent de tirer profit du potentiel économique de cette zone frontalière et de faciliter la traversée des populations. Border areas are specific places where people's goods are traded. The objective of this research is to study the issues related to the crossing of the Benin-Togolese border in the Materi-Mandouri sector. To achieve this objective, investigations were carried out from the collection of data and information by means of documentary research, direct observations in the field, interviews and surveys with 93 people from the research community chosen according to the method of reasoned choice. Data processing and outcome analysis focused on social analysis and evaluation of gains among target populations. The results show that trade (86.66%), transport (6.67%) and parental visits (6.66%) are the main factors explaining the presence of a large flow of people in the research sector. Also, cross-border trade between Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin contributes to the development of the local economy through loading, transport of goods and taxes collected by local authorities. However, cross-border trade is marked by social, security and infrastructural constraints. It is then necessary to ask the question of whether the current actions make it possible to take advantage of the economic potential of this border area and to facilitate the crossing of populations.

Discussion of Issues Related to Score Use and Interpretation of First Spoken and Signed Language Assessments

A standardized assessment of spoken languages will collect data from native, monolingual speakers, thus establishing the range of receptive and/or expressive abilities of children across different ages. Similarly, normative data for standardized assessments of signed language are established by collecting data from native signing deaf children. Where the difference arises is the way in which the normative data relate to the target populations and the individuals within those populations who are being assessed. While standardized assessments of spoken language are normed on and predominantly intended for use with native speakers of that language, standardized assessments of signed language are intrinsically designed for use with a heterogenous group of children, of whom only a minority have the opportunity of learning signed language as their native language. In this chapter, key items related to score use and interpretation in first language (L1) assessment that were presented in Chapters 2.1 and 2.2 will be jointly discussed by the authors.

Social Construction of Target Populations: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Policy Approaches to Perinatal Illicit Substance Screening

Perinatal illicit substance use is a nursing and public health issue. Current screening policies have significant consequences for birthing individuals and their families. Racial disparities exist in spite of targeted and universal screening policies and practices. Thus, new theoretical approaches are needed to investigate perinatal illicit substance use screening in hospital settings. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the social construction of target populations theory in the context of perinatal illicit substance use screening. Using the theoretical insights of this theory to interrogate the approaches taken by policy makers to address perinatal illicit substance use and screening provides the contextual framework needed to understand why specific policy tools were selected when designing public policy to address these issues. The analysis and evaluation of this theory was conducted using the theory description and critical reflection model.

A quantitative view of strategies to engineer cell-selective ligand binding

A critical property of many therapies is their selective binding to target populations. Exceptional specificity can arise from high-affinity binding to surface targets expressed exclusively on target cell types. In many cases, however, therapeutic targets are only expressed at subtly different levels relative to off-target cells. More complex binding strategies have been developed to overcome this limitation, including multi-specific and multivalent molecules, creating a combinatorial explosion of design possibilities. Guiding strategies for developing cell-specific binding are critical to employ these tools. Here, we employ a uniquely general multivalent binding model to dissect multi-ligand and multi-receptor interactions. This model allows us to analyze and explore a series of mechanisms to engineer cell selectivity, including mixtures of molecules, affinity adjustments, valency changes, multi-specific molecules and ligand competition. Each of these strategies can optimize selectivity in distinct cases, leading to enhanced selectivity when employed together. The proposed model, therefore, provides a comprehensive toolkit for the model-driven design of selectively binding therapies.

Evaluating complex interventions in international development

Complex interventions are those that are characterized by multiple components, multiple stakeholders, or multiple target populations. They may also be interventions that incorporate multiple processes of behavioral change. While such interventions are very common and receive a large proportion of development aid budgets, they are rarely subject to rigorous evaluations. The CEDIL Methods Working Paper, Evaluating Complex Interventions in International Development reviews promising methods for the evaluation of complex interventions that are new or have been used in a limited way. It offers a taxonomy of complex interventions in international development and draws on literature to discuss several methods that can be used to evaluate these interventions. The paper focuses its attention on methods that address causality and allow us to state conclusively whether an intervention works or not. It shows that several rigorous methods developed in different disciplines can be adapted and used to evaluate complex interventions in international development.