The utility of evaluation in optimizing implementation and improvement of HIV prevention programming.

The objective of this article is to describe Project PrIDE (PrEP Implementation, Data to Care, and Evaluation) through the lens of Evaluation Utilization and provide examples of how twelve funded health departments (HD) utilized evaluation findings to make decisions related to improving PrEP awareness and uptake, and/or enhancing capacity for data to care (D2C) activities. Each HD conducted a local evaluation (LE) and reported ongoing and planned utilization of evaluation findings in the final LE reports. Information from all reports was abstracted for qualitative analysis to identify main evaluation utilization themes. Findings showed that program evaluation was incorporated as early as the project development phase and designed with the goal of improving, and not just demonstrating the efficacy of the programs. Evaluation data were effectively utilized to improve PrEP and D2C activities, for example, by increasing community engagement throughout LEs, enhancing social media implementation, prioritizing the most effective referral sources at re-linking clients into HIV care, reducing client wait time between receiving PrEP referral and obtaining appointment with provider, and incorporating evaluation findings into program planning and development. Project PrIDE highlights the importance of a planned evaluation in providing ongoing improvements to HIV prevention services to better serve priority populations.

Informing the future of PrEP navigation: Findings from a five-site cluster evaluation.

The PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) Implementation, Data to Care and Evaluation (PrIDE) demonstration project funded 12 health departments (HD) (2016-2019) to scale up PrEP among sexual minorities at risk for HIV. Each health department (HD) conducted an evaluation of at least one local strategy, and, to maximize crossvalidation, an adapted cluster evaluation approach was employed. As a result, five HDs with similar evaluation questions regarding PrEP navigation were identified. Overall, PrEP navigation fit in well with HD clinics and community-based organizations. A hybrid model of patient, peer, and systems navigation linking clients to PrEP and social services was commonly used. Although there were no differences by setting regarding linking clients to PrEP providers, one HD demonstrated that having all PrEP services in the same location contributed the most to PrEP uptake. Navigator skill for case management and rapport building facilitated navigation, whereas staff turnover and lack of client health insurance were challenges. While one HD in a non-Medicaid expansion state was affected by health insurance issues the most, another HD demonstrated that providing payment assistance increased client PrEP use. The findings pinpoint PrEP navigation hybrid modality and having health insurance as promising strategies to increase PrEP uptake among priority groups.

microRNA dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases: A systematic review.

While the root causes for individual neurodegenerative diseases are distinct, many shared pathological features and mechanisms contribute to neurodegeneration across diseases. Altered levels of microRNAs, small non-coding RNAs involved in post transcriptional regulation of gene expression, are reported for numerous neurodegenerative diseases. Yet, comparison between diseases to uncover commonly dysregulated microRNAs during neurodegeneration in general is lagging. We performed a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications describing differential microRNA expression in neurodegenerative diseases and related animal models. We compiled the results from studies covering the prevalent neurodegenerative diseases in the literature: Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, age-related macular degeneration, ataxia, dementia, myotonic dystrophy, epilepsy, glaucoma, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and prion disorders. MicroRNAs which were dysregulated most often in these diseases and their models included miR-9-5p, miR-21-5p, the miR-29 family, miR-132-3p, miR-124-3p, miR-146a-5p, miR-155-5p, and miR-223-3p. Common pathways targeted by these predominant miRNAs were identified and revealed great functional overlap across diseases. We also identified a strong role for each microRNA in both the neural and immune components of diseases. microRNAs regulate broad networks of genes and identifying microRNAs commonly dysregulated across neurodegenerative diseases could cultivate novel hypotheses related to common molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration.

Perception and Modeling of Affective Qualities of Musical Instrument Sounds across Pitch Registers.

Composers often pick specific instruments to convey a given emotional tone in their music, partly due to their expressive possibilities, but also due to their timbres in specific registers and at given dynamic markings. Of interest to both music psychology and music informatics from a computational point of view is the relation between the acoustic properties that give rise to the timbre at a given pitch and the perceived emotional quality of the tone. Musician and nonmusician listeners were presented with 137 tones produced at a fixed dynamic marking (forte) playing tones at pitch class D# across each instrument's entire pitch range and with different playing techniques for standard orchestral instruments drawn from the brass, woodwind, string, and pitched percussion families. They rated each tone on six analogical-categorical scales in terms of emotional valence (positive/negative and pleasant/unpleasant), energy arousal (awake/tired), tension arousal (excited/calm), preference (like/dislike), and familiarity. Linear mixed models revealed interactive effects of musical training, instrument family, and pitch register, with non-linear relations between pitch register and several dependent variables. Twenty-three audio descriptors from the Timbre Toolbox were computed for each sound and analyzed in two ways: linear partial least squares regression (PLSR) and nonlinear artificial neural net modeling. These two analyses converged in terms of the importance of various spectral, temporal, and spectrotemporal audio descriptors in explaining the emotion ratings, but some differences also emerged. Different combinations of audio descriptors make major contributions to the three emotion dimensions, suggesting that they are carried by distinct acoustic properties. Valence is more positive with lower spectral slopes, a greater emergence of strong partials, and an amplitude envelope with a sharper attack and earlier decay. Higher tension arousal is carried by brighter sounds, more spectral variation and more gentle attacks. Greater energy arousal is associated with brighter sounds, with higher spectral centroids and slower decrease of the spectral slope, as well as with greater spectral emergence. The divergences between linear and nonlinear approaches are discussed.