Long-term interest rates have remained low despite a surge in the issuance of sovereign debt to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.

Penn State’s PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) project is continuing to connect and engage Pennsylvania families and keep schools informed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 04:15 pm (CNA).- As parishes and dioceses across the country deal with a drop in collections and the prospects of layoffs amid the pandemic, many parishes have managed to avail themselves of government loans designed to cover eight weeks of payroll expenses.

CBS News reported Friday that an estimated 12,000-13,000 of the 17,000 Catholic parishes in the U.S. had applied for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) payroll loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), and 9,000 so far had received them.

Guidance from the SBA on eligibility for the loans states that “no otherwise eligible organization will be disqualified from receiving a loan because of the religious nature, religious identity, or religious speech of the organization.”

Religious organizations are eligible for the loans as long as they meet the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit and employ 500 or fewer people, the SBA said.

“The PPP isn't about the federal government assisting houses of worship or churches,” Pat Markey, the executive director of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, told CBS News.

“PPP is about keeping people on payrolls, and a large segment of our society [in] the not for profit world...are churches and houses of worship. And they have people on payrolls too. So, if what this is about is keeping people on payrolls, then we all should have availability to do that.”

The Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference did not reply by press time to CNA’s request for additional comment.

Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act March 27 to help relieve the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The CARES Act initially authorized some $350 billion in loans to small businesses, intended to allow them to continue to pay their employees. The loans were given on a first come, first serve basis.

The second round of funding, with some $310 billion in additional funds available, began April 27.

The loans were capped at $10 million, were open to businesses with fewer than 500 employees per location, and were intended to cover two months of payroll costs.

The federal government promised to forgive the loans if a business used at least 75% of the funds to maintain its payroll at “pre-pandemic levels” for eight weeks after the loan is disbursed, the New York Times reports.

The remaining money could be used only to pay for certain expenses, such as a mortgage, rent, and utilities, according to the Times.

A survey of Protestant pastors by LifeWay Research found that about 40% had applied for PPP loans with more than half of them reporting being approved.

NPR reports that synagogues have also applied for government funding, though in a smaller proportion— of nearly 4,000 synagogues in the United States, about 250 were approved for PPP loans in the first round of lending, according to surveys by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

The PPP has been subject to some criticism since its launch, including from those who say business owners with criminal records have been excluded from the program thus far.

In addition, several large companies, such as Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, have received multi-million dollar loans through the program. Some of these large companies, such as Shake Shack, have since returned their loans.

Two New York dioceses— Rochester and Buffalo— are suing the Small Business Administration for access to PPP funds, after they were denied loans because of their bankruptcy status.

An SBA rule stipulated that the funds would not go to bankruptcy debtors. Both the dioceses of Rochester and Buffalo have filed for bankruptcy in the past several months, after being named in hundreds of clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed under New York Child Victims Protection Act.

 

Pursuant to Clearing Advisory 20-152 that was published on April 8th, the clearing house will switch the options pricing and valuation model to Bachelier to accommodate negative prices in the underlying futures and allow for listing of option contracts with negative strikes for the set of products specified in the link below. The switch will be effective for the margin cycle run at the end of trading tomorrow April 22, 2020 and will remain in place until further notice.

Click here for the full text of the advisory

20-170

The United Nations on Thursday issued a new appeal for $4.7 billion in funding to "protect millions of lives and stem the spread of coronavirus in fragile countries."

Rome, Italy, May 8, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See has called attention to the role of faith-based organizations in delivering U.S government relief funds to assist people who are suffering due to the coronavirus in Italy.

“The United States is funding NGOs and faith-based organizations that can effectively deliver critical assistance,” U.S. Ambassador Callista Gingrich told EWTN News May 6. 

“It’s important that American money be put to good use. Faith-based organizations are effective and trustworthy partners. They’re inspired by a sense of purpose and dedication to help those most in need,” the ambassador said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed $50 million to aid Italy as it responds to the outbreak, which includes $30 million in funding split between faith-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and public international organizations, an official from the embassy told CNA. 

This is part of the $900 million the U.S. government is contributing globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 6, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that $100 million will be used to support virus detection and control, and $28 million to support refugees and migrants.

While the U.S. government is still in the process of vetting which NGOs and faith-based organizations will be receiving funds in Italy, Ambassador Gingrich said that the assistance package includes funding for “some of our Vatican-affiliated partners here, in Italy.”

A USAID document published in April describes the work of Catholic Relief Services and Caritas in Bangladesh, Nepal, Lebanon, Liberia, Kenya, Guatemala, and Mexico in supporting health care among vulnerable populations. It also showcases the contributions of Islamic Relief USA, the Jewish Distribution Committee, World Vision, and Malteser International, the aid agency of the Order of Malta.

In Italy, Malteser International set up a hospital and donated 260 ventilators, and distributed food and medicine to elderly in isolation.

A symposium at the Vatican on government partnerships with faith-based organizations co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in October also highlighted the work of Caritas Internationalis, the Community of Sant’Egidio, and Aid to the Church in Need in providing humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. government has previously partnered with faith-based groups to provide emergency relief, defend religious freedom, and combat human trafficking, stating that faith-based organizations provide “unparalleled access to local populations and a fierce dedication to human dignity.”

In April, the embassy publicized the work of the evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse in creating and staffing an emergency field hospital in Cremona, Italy, in an online video. 

“As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, faith-based organizations are playing a vital role,” Gingrich said in the video. 

Nearly 30,000 people have died in Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, according to the Italian Ministry of Health’s statistics on May 7. At least 89,000 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Italy after a total of more than 215,000 cases were documented, mostly in the north of the country.

Due to Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has had to cancel several events it had scheduled for the spring, including a symposium, “Confronting the global rise of anti-Semitism,” scheduled to coincide with the opening of the Vatican’s archives on Pope Pius XII. 

However, the ambassador said that she has continued to speak with members of the diplomatic community via weekly video conferences.

“This pandemic will greatly affect our priorities and activities going forward. However, through meetings, symposiums, and cultural diplomacy, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See will continue our important work with the Vatican to advance peace, freedom, and human dignity around the world,” Gingrich said.

Young Somali believers take bold risks in sharing their faith with their families and community.

By Father Dave Pivonka, TOR

“This is the time of fulfillment.”

Those are the first words Jesus speaks to us in the Gospel of Mark. For 14 verses, he says nothing. He meets John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and he faces temptation in the wilderness. But through it all, he doesn’t say a word. Then, finally, Jesus speaks: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

The temptation, for most of us, is to hear those words in the past tense. We hear them as something Jesus said long ago to Jewish people in Roman-occupied Galilee.

But that’s not how the Scriptures work. They’re not simply a record of things that were said 2,000 years ago. They’re not a collection of history books like we find at our local library. They are “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword . . . and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

This means Scripture speaks to us today. Jesus speaks to us today. Right here. Right now. This is the time of fulfillment. This is the time Jesus invites us to know him and follow him and encounter the Kingdom of Heaven. But he doesn’t just invite us. In Mark 1:15, he also tells us how we answer that invitation: “Repent, and believe.”

The Greek word used there for “repent and believe” is metanoia. It implies a turning or a change of mind. So, what Jesus says is, “Turn away from sin, and turn toward me. Change your focus—from sin, from the world, from a culture of distraction—and focus on me instead.” Ultimately, he issues a call to conversion, a call to a new way of thinking and a new way of living. And he issues that call, not just to Peter, James, John, and the rest of the 12, but to you and me.

Which means the question for us is: how do we answer that call? How, here and now, do we repent and believe? How do we experience metanoia?

Last year, the team from 4PM Media and I attempted to answer that question, when we spent 17 days in the Holy Land, filming Metanoia, a new 10-part video series on conversion and discipleship.

But the trip turned out to be much more than that.

Shot on location in some of our faith’s most sacred places, including the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan, and the desert of temptations, Metanoia invites viewers to an encounter with Christ in both Scripture and history. It also invites each of us to look deep into our hearts, so we can hear how Christ is calling us to conversion.

For many Catholics, it’s tempting to think of conversion as a once and done event. It’s equally tempting to think of it as something other people need: that Jesus is calling other people to repent and believe—“those bishops and priests” or “those people who are in serious sin”—but not us. No, we think, it’s those people who need conversion. Never us. But in reality, it is always us.

Every one of us struggles in some way to live the Gospel. Every one of us has some area of our life that we have not handed over to Jesus. Every one of us, to some extent, bears some responsibility for the problems in the Church and world today.

That’s why conversion is a process each and every one of us must continually enter into. It’s a lifelong journey of being transformed by Christ and conformed to Christ. It’s never done. At least, not until we see Jesus face to face and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

And so, over the course of 10 weeks, Metanoia will invite Catholics to become the witness the world needs us to be and the disciples Jesus calls us to be. It does that by asking us to look at different areas of our life and faith—from our understanding of who Christ is and what it means to pray, to how we approach the Church’s more challenging teachings. It then invites us to think and pray about how Jesus calls us to conversion in those areas.

The whole series is really one big invitation to let God into every aspect of our life and transform it all.

Metanoia launches on Monday, February 3. Episodes will be available to watch at wildgoose.tv. I hope you join us. Because this is the time of fulfillment. Jesus is here. He has something for us right now. But we will never experience it if we don’t repent and believe. We will never experience it without metanoia.

Rome, Italy, May 8, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See has called attention to the role of faith-based organizations in delivering U.S government relief funds to assist people who are suffering due to the coronavirus in Italy.

“The United States is funding NGOs and faith-based organizations that can effectively deliver critical assistance,” U.S. Ambassador Callista Gingrich told EWTN News May 6. 

“It’s important that American money be put to good use. Faith-based organizations are effective and trustworthy partners. They’re inspired by a sense of purpose and dedication to help those most in need,” the ambassador said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed $50 million to aid Italy as it responds to the outbreak, which includes $30 million in funding split between faith-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and public international organizations, an official from the embassy told CNA. 

This is part of the $900 million the U.S. government is contributing globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 6, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that $100 million will be used to support virus detection and control, and $28 million to support refugees and migrants.

While the U.S. government is still in the process of vetting which NGOs and faith-based organizations will be receiving funds in Italy, Ambassador Gingrich said that the assistance package includes funding for “some of our Vatican-affiliated partners here, in Italy.”

A USAID document published in April describes the work of Catholic Relief Services and Caritas in Bangladesh, Nepal, Lebanon, Liberia, Kenya, Guatemala, and Mexico in supporting health care among vulnerable populations. It also showcases the contributions of Islamic Relief USA, the Jewish Distribution Committee, World Vision, and Malteser International, the aid agency of the Order of Malta.

In Italy, Malteser International set up a hospital and donated 260 ventilators, and distributed food and medicine to elderly in isolation.

A symposium at the Vatican on government partnerships with faith-based organizations co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in October also highlighted the work of Caritas Internationalis, the Community of Sant’Egidio, and Aid to the Church in Need in providing humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. government has previously partnered with faith-based groups to provide emergency relief, defend religious freedom, and combat human trafficking, stating that faith-based organizations provide “unparalleled access to local populations and a fierce dedication to human dignity.”

In April, the embassy publicized the work of the evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse in creating and staffing an emergency field hospital in Cremona, Italy, in an online video. 

“As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, faith-based organizations are playing a vital role,” Gingrich said in the video. 

Nearly 30,000 people have died in Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, according to the Italian Ministry of Health’s statistics on May 7. At least 89,000 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Italy after a total of more than 215,000 cases were documented, mostly in the north of the country.

Due to Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has had to cancel several events it had scheduled for the spring, including a symposium, “Confronting the global rise of anti-Semitism,” scheduled to coincide with the opening of the Vatican’s archives on Pope Pius XII. 

However, the ambassador said that she has continued to speak with members of the diplomatic community via weekly video conferences.

“This pandemic will greatly affect our priorities and activities going forward. However, through meetings, symposiums, and cultural diplomacy, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See will continue our important work with the Vatican to advance peace, freedom, and human dignity around the world,” Gingrich said.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 04:15 pm (CNA).- As parishes and dioceses across the country deal with a drop in collections and the prospects of layoffs amid the pandemic, many parishes have managed to avail themselves of government loans designed to cover eight weeks of payroll expenses.

CBS News reported Friday that an estimated 12,000-13,000 of the 17,000 Catholic parishes in the U.S. had applied for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) payroll loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), and 9,000 so far had received them.

Guidance from the SBA on eligibility for the loans states that “no otherwise eligible organization will be disqualified from receiving a loan because of the religious nature, religious identity, or religious speech of the organization.”

Religious organizations are eligible for the loans as long as they meet the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit and employ 500 or fewer people, the SBA said.

“The PPP isn't about the federal government assisting houses of worship or churches,” Pat Markey, the executive director of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, told CBS News.

“PPP is about keeping people on payrolls, and a large segment of our society [in] the not for profit world...are churches and houses of worship. And they have people on payrolls too. So, if what this is about is keeping people on payrolls, then we all should have availability to do that.”

The Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference did not reply by press time to CNA’s request for additional comment.

Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act March 27 to help relieve the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The CARES Act initially authorized some $350 billion in loans to small businesses, intended to allow them to continue to pay their employees. The loans were given on a first come, first serve basis.

The second round of funding, with some $310 billion in additional funds available, began April 27.

The loans were capped at $10 million, were open to businesses with fewer than 500 employees per location, and were intended to cover two months of payroll costs.

The federal government promised to forgive the loans if a business used at least 75% of the funds to maintain its payroll at “pre-pandemic levels” for eight weeks after the loan is disbursed, the New York Times reports.

The remaining money could be used only to pay for certain expenses, such as a mortgage, rent, and utilities, according to the Times.

A survey of Protestant pastors by LifeWay Research found that about 40% had applied for PPP loans with more than half of them reporting being approved.

NPR reports that synagogues have also applied for government funding, though in a smaller proportion— of nearly 4,000 synagogues in the United States, about 250 were approved for PPP loans in the first round of lending, according to surveys by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

The PPP has been subject to some criticism since its launch, including from those who say business owners with criminal records have been excluded from the program thus far.

In addition, several large companies, such as Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, have received multi-million dollar loans through the program. Some of these large companies, such as Shake Shack, have since returned their loans.

Two New York dioceses— Rochester and Buffalo— are suing the Small Business Administration for access to PPP funds, after they were denied loans because of their bankruptcy status.

An SBA rule stipulated that the funds would not go to bankruptcy debtors. Both the dioceses of Rochester and Buffalo have filed for bankruptcy in the past several months, after being named in hundreds of clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed under New York Child Victims Protection Act.

 

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience challenges navigating multiple systems to access services. Family navigation (FN) is a model to provide information and support to access appropriate services. Few studies have been used to examine FN’s effectiveness for families of children with ASD. This study used mixed methods to (1) characterize FN services received by a sample of families in the Autism Treatment Network; (2) examine change in parent-reported activation, family functioning, and caregiver strain; and (3) explore families’ experiences with FN services.

A Ukrainian pastor responds to nearly 100 per cent unemployment in his village by starting biofuel and cash crop business enterprises.

Nearly four years on from the day when Ellie Harrison's chips caused a national outcry, the artist is back to tell us more about why she did it – and how she survived that year in Glasgow in the media firing-line

MAY is normally a busy month behind the scenes for Gareth Chalmers and the ongoing uncertainty around sport hasn’t changed that a huge amount.

Within just a few weeks, the corona crisis has led to a collapse of over 90 percent of flight operations in the capital region. In light of this dramatic situation, the Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB) Executive Board concluded a works agreement ...

Millie Small, who died Tuesday at age 73 in London, was the first Jamaican artiste to score a hit on the British pop chart. Her version of My Boy Lollipop reached number two in 1964 and was also successful in the United States, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Tributes continue to come in following the passing of Jamaican music pioneer Millie Small, who died in London on Tuesday.Among those expressing condolences at the passing of the Small, whose cover of My Boy Lollipop catapulted the popularity of Jamaican music on the international stage, is culture and entertainment minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange.

There is no shortage of anguish on television news in Jamaica — from homicides to domestic abuse and missing children.It was while watching one of those newscasts that singer Hezron was inspired to write Resilience, a song released May 1 by his Hardshield Records.

NEW YORK (AP) — Idris Elba, who battled the coronavirus this year, has lent his voice to a new song about black men and mental health that will benefit pandemic relief efforts.

MOST people's memories of Millie Small in 1964 are of her climbing international charts with the massive hit song, My Boy Lollipop. But for Dennis Smith, it was her return to Jamaica that year that made the greatest impression.

OM Costa Rica has been hoping to initiate a sponsorship programme in the indigenous reservation of Talamanca. Now, they’re finally starting to see it happen.

"Indeed, there are so many variables as we ‘see’ vibrant communities develop among the least-reached peoples. As we work towards this vision, I nevertheless fall back on the age-old cliché that my father stressed repeatedly: 'We are not called to be successful, but called to be faithful.'"

Small outreach teams will share the life-changing message of the gospel with hundreds of women in brothels and on the street this Easter.

Ali Geake, Internal Communications Director, discusses the change living in another culture has had on her life and outlook.

OMer Joelma (Brazil) answers questions about her life and ministry in Cambodia.

By Kristy Dorsey

THE market for TV historians is crowded and fiercely competitive. Drop your guard for a second and Dan Snow or Bettany Hughes will be in the door and taking your gig faster than you can don a pair of those special white gloves all in the trade must have. Lucy Worsley made her name by combining immense knowledge – she is the chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces – with a steadfast dedication to raiding the dressing up box.

A seven-month investigation into an alleged sexual assault by a high school football player in a small Missouri town has set the internet ablaze.

President Donald Trump has invited a 6th-grade student from Wilmington, Del., to sit in first lady Melania Trump's box during Tuesday's annual address to Congress.

Looking for new ways to combat kids who bully, some communities are threatening to fine parents with no evidence that the approach is effective.

English-language-learner families are less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences and other school-related events, which means they miss out on important opportunities to communicate about their children's academic progress.

A woman whose home was damaged by the tsunami accepts Christ after witnessing the lives and attitudes of the volunteers working in her house.

OM Japan feels honoured to have played a small part in helping bring hope and relief to tsunami survivors.

Source: EFE Verde - La ex secretaria de cambio climático de la ONU que alcanzó el Acuerdo de París y actual directora del proyecto Misión 2020, Christiana Figueres, subraya que EE.UU. "se queda rezagado y pierde competitividad" abandonando el Acuerdo de París y cediendo a otros países el liderazgo de la economía baja en carbono.

The professionalism of physicians can have an impact on patient care and satisfaction and physician career success and is increasingly emphasized in residency training programs.

This study was an examination of the perspectives of families of pediatric patients and of pediatrics residents on the attributes of professionalism in physicians. Important overlaps were found between the attributes of professionalism prioritized by patient families and resident physicians. (Read the full article)

Preterm infants are exposed to inadequately managed painful procedures during their NICU stay, which can lead to altered pain responses. Nonpharmacologic approaches are established for the treatment of single painful procedures, but evidence for their effectiveness across time is lacking.

Oral sucrose with or without the added technique of facilitated tucking has a pain-relieving effect even in extremely premature infants undergoing repeated pain exposures; facilitated tucking alone seems to be less effective for repeated pain exposures over time. (Read the full article)

Children undergoing stem cell transplantation are thought to be at risk for increased distress, adjustment difficulties, and impaired health-related quality of life. Few interventions to improve adjustment and quality-of-life outcomes in this setting have been tested.

The excellent outcomes observed in all patient groups, including controls, may be a result of improvements in standard supportive care. Stem cell transplantation may not be as demanding as previously thought to be, and children undergoing this procedure appear resilient to the challenge. (Read the full article)

Strategies to assist patients in achieving optimal chronic disease self-management are critical. The complex family and regimen issues surrounding pediatric type 1 diabetes management suggest the need to integrate such strategies into routine clinical care.

This study demonstrates the efficacy of a practical, low-intensity behavioral intervention delivered during routine care for improving glycemic outcomes. Findings indicate that the approach may offer a potential model for integrating medical and behavioral sciences to improve health care. (Read the full article)

Numerous late preterm infants undergo repetitive heel lancing procedures during their first hours of life to evaluate glycemic control. Heel lances are painful and 25% glucose solution is effective on reducing procedural neonatal pain scores and crying behavior.

This noninferiority randomized controlled trial demonstrated that compared with breast milk, 25% glucose provided lower pain scores and reduced duration of cry. Further research is necessary to clarify breast milk’s mechanisms and efficacy on neonatal pain relief. (Read the full article)

This research presents the first 2 experimental studies on the short-term effects of smoking portrayal in movies on children’s beliefs about smoking.

Exposure to movie smoking from cartoon and family-oriented movies had no effect on implicit associations toward smoking. For smoking beliefs, effects were again small and only statistically significant for social norms regarding smoking. (Read the full article)

Trisomy 13 and 18 are conditions with 1-year survival rates of less than 10% and have traditionally been treated with palliative care. There are increasing reports of ethical dilemmas caused by parental requests for clinical interventions.

Parents who belong to social networks report an enriching family experience and describe surviving children as happy. Many of these parents describe challenging encounters with health care providers. (Read the full article)

Food insecurity has been linked to childhood obesity in a number of studies. Few studies have explored potential pathways through which food insecurity is related to child weight, especially in low-income families with young infants.

We found that food insecurity was related to maternal controlling feeding styles and concerns about the infants’ future weight. Early obesity prevention should aim to decrease food insecurity and to reduce controlling feeding styles in families who remain food insecure. (Read the full article)

Fever phobia is a ubiquitous problem throughout the world. As a result, fever is pharmacologically overtreated, and medical attention is frequently sought by worried parents.

Most Canadian parents fear their child’s fever, resulting in aggressive surveillance and treatment. Parents expect information about fever etiology and how to care for their ill child. Few parents expect antibiotics and satisfaction with care is high. (Read the full article)

The past several decades have seen a dramatic increase in the costs of health care and the prevalence of childhood activity limitations. More families with children are experiencing financial burden related to the cost of health care and insurance.

We find significant inequities in the occurrence of delayed or forgone needed health care for families with children as a result of high health care–related financial burden and having a child with an activity limitation. (Read the full article)

Reasons mothers cite for breastfeeding cessation vary across an infant's first year of life; however, once women stop breastfeeding, little is known about whether they breastfed as long as they desired or reasons why they did not meet their desired duration.

About 60% of mothers do not meet their desired breastfeeding duration. Mothers who do not breastfeed as long as they desire primarily cite concerns about maternal or child health and processes associated with breastfeeding as their reason to stop breastfeeding. (Read the full article)

Current recommendations to prevent warts focus on limiting the personal spread of human papillomavirus and transmission in public places, such as swimming pools; however, evidence on risk factors for developing warts is limited.

Cutaneous human papillomavirus in primary schoolchildren is primarily transmitted in the family and school class. This suggests that recommendations should shift toward reducing transmission in families and school classes. (Read the full article)

Despite proven health benefits, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates are among the lowest of all routine immunizations. No previous large-scale trial has compared the benefit of automated decision support directed at clinicians, families, or both in any context.

We found that a clinician-focused intervention was most effective for initiating the HPV vaccine series, whereas a family-focused intervention supported completion. Decision support directed at both clinicians and families most effectively promotes HPV vaccine series receipt. (Read the full article)

Internet, smartphones, and online social media offer new platforms for health promotion and disease management. Few studies have evaluated the use of digital technology among families receiving care in an urban pediatric primary care setting.

Caregivers in an urban pediatric primary care setting have access to and frequently use the Internet, smartphones, and online social media. These technologies may help reach a traditionally hard-to-reach population. (Read the full article)