PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Improvement in the quality of VMMC made possible through the continuous quality improvement approach

The continuous quality improvement approach was introduced on a pilot basis to 30 sites across Uganda

2015-07-28
(Press-News.org) The continuous quality improvement (CQI) approach was introduced on a pilot basis to 30 sites across Uganda. This approach identified barriers in achieving national standards for voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), identified possible solutions to overcome these barriers, and carried out improvement plans to test these changes while collecting performance data to objectively measure whether they had bridged gaps. Teams used a 53-indicator quality assessment tool adapted by the Ministry of Health and based on the WHO VMMC Quality Toolkit as a management tool to measure progress across seven standards areas. Teams also measured client-level indicators through self-assessment of client records. Within one year of the start of the improvement efforts, the 30 sites achieved large improvements in compliance with the VMMC standards. PEPFAR and USAID supported the work through the Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems Project and ten different implementing partners across Uganda.

INFORMATION:

Read more about the improvements in the quality of voluntary medical male circumcision and the methods used on the PLOS ONE website.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

World's first bilateral hand transplant on child at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

2015-07-28
Surgeons at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) joined with colleagues from Penn Medicine recently to complete the world's first bilateral hand transplant on a child. Earlier this month, the surgical team successfully transplanted donor hands and forearms onto eight-year-old Zion Harvey who, several years earlier, had undergone amputation of his hands and feet and a kidney transplant following a serious infection. Led by L. Scott Levin, M.D., FACS*, Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Penn Medicine, Director of the Hand Transplantation Program ...

How to digitally stoke that old-time auction fever

2015-07-28
Whether online auctions are selling rare Pokemon cards or fine art, the science behind inciting the highest bids gets a boost from a paper to be published in the September issue of the Journal of Retailing. Researchers from Germany and Australia teamed up to explore how bidders' emotions are affected by different types of auctions and how those emotions affect their bidding. In "Auction Fever! How Time Pressure and Social Competition Affect Bidders' Arousal and Bids in Retail Auctions," the three authors - Marc T.P. Adam of the University of Newcastle, Professor ...

Sleepy fruitflies get mellow

2015-07-28
PHILADELPHIA - Whether you're a human, a mouse, or even a fruitfly, losing sleep is a bad thing, leading to physiological effects and behavioral changes. One example that has been studied for many years is a link between sleep loss and aggression. But it can be difficult to distinguish sleep loss effects from stress responses, especially in rodent or human models. A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania used fruitflies to probe deeper into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern aggression and sleep. They ...

Firms 'underinvest' in long-term cancer research

2015-07-28
Pharmaceutical firms "underinvest" in long-term research to develop new cancer-fighting drugs due to the greater time and cost required to conduct such research, according to a newly published study co-authored by MIT economists. Specifically, drugs to treat late-stage cancers are less costly to develop than drugs for earlier-stage cancers, partly because the late-stage drugs extend people's lives for shorter durations of time. This means that the clinical trials for such drugs get wrapped up more quickly, too -- and provide drug manufacturers more time to control patented ...

Penn Vet study shows immune cells in the skin remember and defend against parasites

2015-07-28
Just as the brain forms memories of familiar faces, the immune system remembers pathogens it has encountered in the past. T cells with these memories circulate in the blood stream looking for sites of new infection. Recently, however, researchers have shown that memory T cells specific to viral infections can also set up residence in particular tissues. There, they stand guard, ready to respond quickly to the first sign of reinfection. Now, research led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine shows that these resident memory T cells ...

New eye-tracker method shows 'preferred retinal location' in both eyes

2015-07-28
July 28, 2015 - Eyes with central vision loss adapt by developing a new fixation point in a different part of the retina, called the preferred retinal location (PRL). Now for the first time, a new method makes it possible to identify PRLs in both eyes simultaneously, reports a study in the August issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer. The new eye-tracker technique may help in developing visual rehabilitation approaches to improve binocular vision for the many older adults ...

Cellphones can steal data from 'air-gapped computers' according to Ben Gurion University researchers

2015-07-28
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...July 28, 2015 - Researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) Cyber Security Research Center have discovered that virtually any cellphone infected with a malicious code can use GSM phone frequencies to steal critical information from infected "air-gapped" computers. Air-gapped computers are isolated -- separated both logically and physically from public networks -- ostensibly so that they cannot be hacked over the Internet or within company networks. Led by BGU Ph.D. student Mordechai Guri, the research team discovered how to turn ...

Doctor Google: How age and other factors influence online health information searches

2015-07-28
Consumers have access to multiple Web sites to search for online health information and can be far more involved in managing their own medical issues than ever before. However, this wealth of resources can make finding accurate information difficult, especially because it is often spread across multiple sites. A new study published in the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making aims to evaluate the types of search strategies that Internet users adopt when trying to solve a complicated health problem. Joseph Sharit, a professor in the Department of Industrial ...

Endangered icebreakers: The future of Arctic research, exploration and rescue at risk

2015-07-28
Alexandria, VA - The United States' Icebreaker Fleet - operated by the U.S. Coast Guard - consists of just two ships that are used for everything from search and rescue to national security operations to scientific research. In our August cover story, EARTH Magazine examines the various roles icebreakers play, especially in Arctic research, and how insufficient funding is affecting the icebreakers' roles. Icebreakers are becoming more important every year, as more commerce is conducted in Arctic regions as seasonal ice cover decreases. Yet over recent fiscal cycles, Congress ...

Neurology researchers evaluate evidence base for tests for clinical cognitive assessment

2015-07-28
West Orange, NJ. July 28, 2015 Recommendations for improving clinical cognitive testing were reported by the American Academy of Neurology's (AAN) Behavioral Neurology Section (BNS) Group, led by Kirk R. Daffner, MD, of Boston, Mass. The Group focused on the Neurobehavioral Status Exam (NBSE), conducting evidence-based reviews of testing used for five domains - attention, language, memory, spatial cognition, and executive function). "Improving clinical cognitive testing" (doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001763) was published online ahead of print on July 10, 2015, in Neurology, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Can a Stevia-derived sweetener improve hair loss treatment?

Method to assess the status of wild reindeer may help with conservation efforts

Do imported cut flowers spread livestock viruses?

Does prior incarceration contribute to poor health later in life?

Could slime mold microbes be a source of potent antimicrobials?

Record-breaking 2024 Amazon fires drive unprecedented carbon emissions and ecosystem degradation

Birds thrive despite pollution from ‘forever’ chemicals

Deadwood brings wild orchids to life

Changes in gut microbiota influence which patients get AIG-related neuroendocrine tumors

Medicaid expansion linked to improved long-term survival in cancer patients

Women with surgical menopause may exit workforce earlier, but hormone therapy could help

Trailblazing Young Scientists honored with $250,000 prizes at Blavatnik National Awards Gala

Revolutionary blood test for ME / Chronic Fatigue unveiled

Calorie labelling linked to 2% average reduction in energy content of menu items

Widely prescribed opioid painkiller tramadol not that effective for easing chronic pain

Exercise snacks may boost cardiorespiratory fitness of physically inactive adults

15,000 women a year with breast cancer could benefit from whole genome sequencing, say researchers

Study highlights risks of Caesarean births to future pregnancies

GLP-1 agonists pose emerging challenge for PET-CT imaging, study finds

Scripps Research scientists unlock new patterns of protein behavior in cell membranes

Panama Canal may face frequent extreme water lows in coming decades

Flash Joule heating lights up lithium extraction from ores

COMBINEDBrain and MUSC announce partnership to establish biorepository for pediatric cerebrospinal fluid and CNS tissue bank

Questionable lead reporting for drinking water virtually vanished after Flint water crisis, study reveals

Assessing overconfidence among national security officials

Bridging two frontiers: Mitochondria & microbiota, Targeting Extracellular Vesicles 2025 to explore game-changing pathways in medicine

New imaging tech promises to help doctors better diagnose and treat skin cancers

Once dominant, US agricultural exports falter amid trade disputes and rising competition

Biochar from invasive weed shields rice from toxic nanoplastics and heavy metals

Rice University announces second cohort of Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows

[Press-News.org] Improvement in the quality of VMMC made possible through the continuous quality improvement approach
The continuous quality improvement approach was introduced on a pilot basis to 30 sites across Uganda