Impact and Sustainability of Foreign Medical Aid: A Qualitative Study with Honduran Healthcare Providers.

Background: There is growing concern about the sustainability and long-term impact of short-term medical missions (STMMs)-an increasingly common form of foreign medical aid-given that brief engagements do little to address the underlying poverty and fragmented healthcare system that plagues many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In the absence of formal evaluations, unintended but serious consequences for patients and local communities may arise, including a lack of continuity of patient care, poor alignment with community needs, and cultural and language barriers.

Objective: We conducted semi-structured interviews with Honduran healthcare providers (n = 88) in 2015 to explore local providers' perceptions of the impact and sustainability of foreign medical aid on patient needs, community health, and the country's healthcare system.

In vitro-in vivo biotransformation and phase I metabolite profiling of benzo[a]pyrene in Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis) populations with different exposure histories.

Chronic exposure to pollution may lead populations to display evolutionary adaptations associated with cellular and physiological mechanisms of defense against xenobiotics. This could result in differences in the way individuals of the same species, but inhabiting different areas, cope with chemical exposure. In the present study, we explore two Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis) populations with different exposure histories for potential differences in the biotransformation of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), and conduct a comparative evaluation of in vitro and in vivo approaches to describe the applicability of new approach methodologies (NAMs) for biotransformation assessments.

Metabolomic-based assessment reveals dysregulation of lipid profiles in human liver cells exposed to environmental obesogens.

Significant attention has been given to the potential of environmental chemicals to disrupt lipid homeostasis at the cellular level. These chemicals, classified as obesogens, are abundantly used in a wide variety of consumer products. However, there is a significant lack of information regarding the mechanisms by which environmental exposure can contribute to the onset of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Bioreductively Activatable Prodrug Conjugates of Combretastatin A-1 and Combretastatin A-4 as Anticancer Agents Targeted toward Tumor-Associated Hypoxia.

The natural products combretastatin A-1 (CA1) and combretastatin A-4 (CA4) function as potent inhibitors of tubulin polymerization and as selective vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) in tumors. Bioreductively activatable prodrug conjugates (BAPCs) can enhance selectivity by serving as substrates for reductase enzymes specifically in hypoxic regions of tumors. A series of CA1-BAPCs incorporating methyl, -methyl, and dimethyl nitrothiophene triggers were synthesized together with corresponding CA4-BAPCs, previously reported by Davis ( , 5 (11), 2886), for comparison.

Corbicula fluminea rapidly accumulate pharmaceuticals from an effluent dependent urban stream.

Freshwater bivalve populations are stressed by watershed development at the global scale. Though pharmaceuticals released from wastewater treatment plant effluent discharges are increasingly reported to bioaccumulate in fish, an understanding of bioaccumulation in bivalves is less defined. In the present study, we examined accumulation of 12 target pharmaceuticals in C.

Inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus Cell Wall Biosynthesis by Desleucyl-Oritavancin: a Quantitative Peptidoglycan Composition Analysis by Mass Spectrometry.

Oritavancin is a lipoglycopeptide antibiotic that exhibits potent activities against vancomycin-resistant Gram-positive pathogens. Oritavancin differs from vancomycin by a hydrophobic side chain attached to the drug disaccharide, which forms a secondary binding site to enable oritavancin binding to the cross-linked peptidoglycan in the cell wall. The mode of action of secondary binding site was investigated by measuring the changes in the peptidoglycan composition of grown in the presence of desleucyl-oritavancin at subinhibitory concentration using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).

l-Leucine Increases Skeletal Muscle IGF-1 but Does Not Differentially Increase Akt/mTORC1 Signaling and Serum IGF-1 Compared to Ursolic Acid in Response to Resistance Exercise in Resistance-Trained Men.

Objective: Ursolic acid administration following resistance exercise increases mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) activity and skeletal muscle IGF-1 concentration in murines in a manner similar to l-leucine yet remains unexamined in humans. This study examined serum and skeletal muscle insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and Akt/mTORC1 signaling activity following ingestion of either ursolic acid or l-leucine immediately after resistance exercise.

Methods: Nine resistance-trained men performed 3 lower-body resistance exercise sessions involving 4 sets of 8-10 repetitions at 75%-80% one repetition maximum (1-RM) on the angled leg press and knee extension exercises.

Practice makes proficient: pigeons (Columba livia) learn efficient routes on full-circuit navigational traveling salesperson problems.

Visiting multiple locations and returning to the start via the shortest route, referred to as the traveling salesman (or salesperson) problem (TSP), is a valuable skill for both humans and non-humans. In the current study, pigeons were trained with increasing set sizes of up to six goals, with each set size presented in three distinct configurations, until consistency in route selection emerged. After training at each set size, the pigeons were tested with two novel configurations.

Comparison of contaminants of emerging concern removal, discharge, and water quality hazards among centralized and on-site wastewater treatment system effluents receiving common wastewater influent.

A comparative understanding of effluent quality of decentralized on-site wastewater treatment systems, particularly for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), remains less understood than effluent quality from centralized municipal wastewater treatment plants. Using a novel experimental facility with common influent wastewater, effluent water quality from a decentralized advanced aerobic treatment system (ATS) and a typical septic treatment system (STS) coupled to a subsurface flow constructed wetland (WET) were compared to effluent from a centralized municipal treatment plant (MTP). The STS did not include soil treatment, which may represent a system not functioning properly.

Pharmaceuticals in the environment: lessons learned for reducing uncertainties in environmental risk assessment.

Pharmaceuticals in the environment are often present at trace levels (e.g., ng/L) in surface waters and effluents of developed countries, yet represent contaminants of emerging concern.

Abnormal SDS-PAGE migration of cytosolic proteins can identify domains and mechanisms that control surfactant binding.

The amino acid substitution or post-translational modification of a cytosolic protein can cause unpredictable changes to its electrophoretic mobility during SDS-PAGE. This type of "gel shifting" has perplexed biochemists and biologists for decades. We identify a mechanism for "gel shifting" that predominates among a set of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) mutant hSOD1 (superoxide dismutase) proteins, post-translationally modified hSOD1 proteins, and homologous SOD1 proteins from different organisms.

Nitrosyl hydride (HNO) replaces dioxygen in nitroxygenase activity of manganese quercetin dioxygenase.

Quercetin dioxygenase (QDO) catalyzes the oxidation of the flavonol quercetin with dioxygen, cleaving the central heterocyclic ring and releasing CO. The QDO from Bacillus subtilis is unusual in that it has been shown to be active with several divalent metal cofactors such as Fe, Mn, and Co. Previous comparison of the catalytic activities suggest that Mn(II) is the preferred cofactor for this enzyme.

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in fish: results of a national pilot study in the United States.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are being increasingly reported in a variety of biological matrices, including fish tissue; however, screening studies have presently not encompassed broad geographical areas. A national pilot study was initiated in the United States to assess the accumulation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in fish sampled from five effluent-dominated rivers that receive direct discharge from wastewater treatment facilities in Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; and West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA. Fish were also collected from the Gila River, New Mexico, USA, as a reference condition expected to be minimally impacted by anthropogenic influence.

Herbicidal effects of sulfamethoxazole in Lemna gibba: using p-aminobenzoic acid as a biomarker of effect.

Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is among the most frequently detected antibiotics in the environment, heavily used in both human therapy and agriculture. Like other sulfonamides, SMX disrupts the folate biosynthetic pathway in bacteria, which was recently established as identical to that of plants, raising concerns over nontarget toxicity. Consequently, Lemna gibba was exposed to SMX to evaluate phytotoxic potency and mode of action (MOA) by HPLC-MS/MS measurement of p-aminobenzoic acid (pABA) metabolite levels, a precursor to folate biosynthesis and substrate of the target enzyme dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS).

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry screening methods for select UV filters, synthetic musks, alkylphenols, an antimicrobial agent, and an insect repellent in fish.

Two screening methods have been developed for simultaneous determination of ten extensively used personal care products (PCPs) and two alkylphenol surfactants in fish. The methods consisted of extraction, clean-up, derivatization and analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring (GC-SIM-MS) or gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) techniques. Among solvents tested to assess recovery of target compounds from 1-g tissue homogenates, acetone was selected as optimal for extracting compounds with dissimilar physicochemical properties from fish tissue.

Enantiospecific sublethal effects of the antidepressant fluoxetine to a model aquatic vertebrate and invertebrate.

Many contaminants are chiral compounds with enantiomers that may differ markedly in environmental fate, bioavailability, and toxicity. Enantiospecific environmental fate and ecotoxicological information are lacking for many chiral contaminants. The primary objective of this investigation included an assessment of potential enantiospecific differences in sublethal standardized and behavioral responses of the model organisms Pimephales promelas (teleost) and Daphnia magna (crustacean) to the widely prescribed chiral antidepressant fluoxetine.

Analysis of pharmaceuticals in fish using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) screening method has been developed targeting 23 pharmaceuticals and 2 metabolites with differing physicochemical properties in fish tissue. Reversed-phase separation of target compounds was achieved using a C18 column and a nonlinear gradient consisting of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid and methanol.

Enantiospecific toxicity of the beta-blocker propranolol to Daphnia magna and Pimephales promelas.

Propranolol is a widely prescribed, nonselective beta-adrenergic receptor-blocking agent. Propranolol has been detected in municipal effluents from the ng/L to the low-microg/L range. Like many therapeutics and other aquatic contaminants, propranolol is distributed as a racemic mixture ((R,S)-propranolol hydrochloride).