Novel point-of-care cytokine biomarker lateral flow test for the screening for sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis: study protocol of a multicentre multidisciplinary prospective observational clinical study to evaluate the performance and feasibility of the Genital InFlammation Test (GIFT).

Introduction: A prototype lateral flow device detecting cytokine biomarkers interleukin (IL)-1α and IL-1β has been developed as a point-of-care test-called the Genital InFlammation Test (GIFT)-for detecting genital inflammation associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and/or bacterial vaginosis (BV) in women. In this paper, we describe the rationale and design for studies that will be conducted in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Madagascar to evaluate the performance of GIFT and how it could be integrated into routine care.

Methods And Analysis: We will conduct a prospective, multidisciplinary, multicentre, cross-sectional and observational clinical study comprising two distinct components: a biomedical ('diagnostic study') and a qualitative, modelling and economic ('an integration into care study') part.

Lower Dose of 5 mL of 1% Lidocaine is More Suitable than the Conventional 10 mL for Caudal Block in Transrectal Prostate Biopsy: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: In Japan, caudal block with 1% lidocaine is commonly used for transrectal prostate biopsy. Although 10 mL of 1% lidocaine is commonly used, the appropriate dosage of 1% lidocaine has not been studied. Our hospital routinely uses two different doses (5 or 10 mL) of 1% lidocaine for caudal block for transrectal prostate biopsy.

Examining multiple funding flows to public healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries - results from case studies in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia and Vietnam.

Provider payment methods are traditionally examined by appraising the incentive signals inherent in individual payment mechanisms. However, mixed payment arrangements, which result in multiple funding flows from purchasers to providers, could be better understood by applying a systems approach that assesses the combined effects of multiple payment streams on healthcare providers. Guided by the framework developed by Barasa et al.

Financial issues in times of a COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital in Mali.

Background: This study examines how the functioning of healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic was affected by the government financing response, which was shaped by existing healthcare financing systems.

Methods: The study applied a single case study design at a tertiary hospital in Bamako during the 1st and 2nd waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were gathered through 51 in-depth interviews with hospital staff, participatory observation, and reviewing media articles and hospital financial records.

Lessons Learned from Field Experiences on Hospitals' Resilience to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Approach.

In this concluding article of the special issue, we examine lessons learned from hospitals' resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, and Mali. A quality lesson learned (QLL) results from a systematic process of collecting, compiling, and analyzing data derived ideally from sustained effort over the life of a research project and reflecting both positive and negative experiences. To produce QLLs as part of this research project, a guide to their development was drafted.

Understanding factors influencing the use of clinical guidelines in low-income and middle-income settings: a scoping review.

Objective: A scoping review was undertaken to determine the extent to which existing studies have examined factors influencing healthcare providers' use of clinical guidelines in low and middle-income country (LMIC) settings and determine which factors constrain or facilitate the use of clinical guidelines by healthcare providers.

Design: Scoping review.

Data Sources: The literature search was conducted using PubMed in January 2021.

Factors for Consideration When Setting Prices for Private Healthcare Providers Operating in Public Systems: A Comparison of France and Japan.

Background: Most publicly-funded health systems purchase healthcare from private providers, but the optimal purchasing arrangements between public purchasers and private healthcare providers are yet to be determined.

Objective: This study compares the healthcare purchasing arrangements made with private providers in 2 social health insurance (SHI)-based systems to identify factors that influence the prices paid for private healthcare service provision.

Results: France and Japan use different approaches to determine the payment arrangements with public and private providers.

Attributes and Organizational Factors that Enabled Innovation in Health Care Service Delivery during the COVID-19 Pandemic - Case Studies from Brazil, Canada and Japan.

Innovation by health service organizations can enable adaptation to and transformation of challenges caused by health shocks. Drawing on results from case studies in Brazil, Canada, and Japan, this study looked at innovations the study hospitals introduced in response to challenges caused by COVID-19 to identify: 1) attributes of the innovations that make them conducive to adoption; and 2) organizational factors that facilitate the creation and implementation of innovative health care approaches during health system shocks. Qualitative information was gathered using key informant interviews, participatory observations at the study hospitals and a review of relevant documentation.

How Hospitals Overcame Disruptions in the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study from Tokyo, Japan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious disruptions to health systems across the world. While the pandemic has not ended, it is important to better understand the resilience of health systems by looking at the response to COVID-19 by hospitals and hospital staff. Part of a multi-country study, this study looks at the first and second waves of the pandemic in Japan and examines disruptions experienced by hospitals because of COVID-19 and the processes through which they overcame those disruptions.

A three-dimensional investigation of mandibular deviation in patients with mandibular prognathism.

Background: Craniofacial disharmony in cases of jaw deformity associated with abnormal lateral deviation of the jaw mostly involves both the maxilla and mandible. However, it has been still difficult to capture the jaw deviation aspect in a 3-dimensional and quantitative techniques. In this study, we focused on 3-dimensional mandibular morphology and position of the condylar head in relation to the base of the skull in patients with mandibular prognathism, one of the most common jaw deformities.

How should support for hospital staff during health shocks be improved? A discussion from Japan's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human resources for health are at the center of healthcare service delivery and play an important role in ensuring the resilience of health systems. Utilizing the results from a case study examining hospital resilience during COVID-19, this article draws on the experience of individual hospital staff during the first and second waves of the pandemic, briefly describes government responses to support human resources for health during the early stages of the pandemic, and argues the importance of constructive discussions about strategies to create an enabling work environment for healthcare providers, both clinical and non-clinical, during future health shocks.

Learning from public health and hospital resilience to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: protocol for a multiple case study (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, and Mali).

Background: All prevention efforts currently being implemented for COVID-19 are aimed at reducing the burden on strained health systems and human resources. There has been little research conducted to understand how SARS-CoV-2 has affected health care systems and professionals in terms of their work. Finding effective ways to share the knowledge and insight between countries, including lessons learned, is paramount to the international containment and management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Systematic Chemogenetic Library Assembly.

Chemogenetic libraries, collections of well-defined chemical probes, provide tremendous value to biomedical research but require substantial effort to ensure diversity as well as quality of the contents. We have assembled a chemogenetic library by data mining and crowdsourcing institutional expertise. We are sharing our approach, lessons learned, and disclosing our current collection of 4,185 compounds with their primary annotated gene targets (https://github.

Examining purchasing reforms towards universal health coverage by the National Hospital Insurance Fund in Kenya.

Background: Kenya has prioritized the attainment of universal health coverage (UHC) through the expansion of health insurance coverage by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). In 2015, the NHIF introduced reforms in premium contribution rates, benefit packages, and provider payment methods. We examined the influence of these reforms on NHIF's purchasing practices and their implications for strategic purchasing and health system goals of equity, efficiency and quality.

Payment Arrangements for Private Healthcare Purchasing Under Publicly Funded Systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Issues and Implications.

This paper examines private healthcare purchasing under publicly financed health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to argue that the payment methods and rates applied to private and public health providers need careful attention to ensure equity, efficiency and quality in healthcare service provision. Specifically, public purchasers should develop a clear mechanism to establish justifiable payment rates for the purchase of private health services under publicly funded systems, using cost information and appropriate engagement with private health providers. In order to determine the validity of payment arrangements with private providers, clarification of the shared roles and responsibilities of public and private healthcare providers is required, including specification of types of services to be delivered by public and private providers, and the services for which public providers receive government budget and salaries above payments for other publicly funded services.

Strategic Purchasing: The Neglected Health Financing Function for Pursuing Universal Health Coverage in Low-and Middle-Income Countries Comment on "What's Needed to Develop Strategic Purchasing in Healthcare? Policy Lessons from a Realist Review".

Sanderson et al's realist review of strategic purchasing identifies insights from two strands of theory: the economics of organisation and inter-organisational relationships. Our findings from a programme of research conducted by the RESYST (Resilient and Responsive Health Systems) consortium in seven countries echo these results, and add to them the crucial area of organisational capacity to implement complex reforms. We identify key areas for policy development.

For more than money: willingness of health professionals to stay in remote Senegal.

Background: Poor distribution of already inadequate numbers of health professionals seriously constrains equitable access to health services in low- and middle-income countries. The Senegalese Government is currently developing policy to encourage health professionals to remain in areas defined as 'difficult'. Understanding health professional's preferences is crucial for this policy development.

Strategic purchasing for universal health coverage: examining the purchaser-provider relationship within a social health insurance scheme in Nigeria.

Background: In an attempt to achieve universal health coverage, Nigeria introduced a number of health insurance schemes. One of them, the Formal Sector Social Health Insurance Programme (FSSHIP), was launched in 2005 to provide health cover to federal government and formal private sector employees. It operates with two levels of purchasers, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and health maintenance organisations (HMOs).

Do beneficiaries' views matter in healthcare purchasing decisions? Experiences from the Nigerian tax-funded health system and the formal sector social health insurance program of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Background: Purchasing is a health financing function that involves the transfer of pooled resources to providers on behalf of a covered population. Little attention has been paid to the extent to which the views of that population  are reflected in purchasing decisions. This article explores how purchasers in two financing mechanisms: the Formal Sector Social Health Insurance Programme (FSSHIP) operating under the Nigerian National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and the tax-funded health system perform their roles in light of their responsibilities to the populations.

Effect of Lorenzo's Oil on Hepatic Gene Expression and the Serum Fatty Acid Level in abcd1-Deficient Mice.

Lorenzo's oil is known to decrease the saturated very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) level in the plasma and skin fibroblasts of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) patients. However, the involvement of Lorenzo's oil in in vivo fatty acid metabolism has not been well elucidated. To investigate the effect of Lorenzo's oil on fatty acid metabolism, we analyzed the hepatic gene expression together with the serum fatty acid level in Lorenzo's oil-treated wild-type and abcd1-deficient mice.

Detection of unusual very-long-chain fatty acid and ether lipid derivatives in the fibroblasts and plasma of patients with peroxisomal diseases using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Metabolic changes occur in patients with peroxisomal diseases owing to impairments in the genes involved in peroxisome function. For diagnostic purposes, saturated very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) such as C24:0 and C26:0, phytanic acid, pristanic acid, and plasmalogens are often measured as metabolic hallmarks. As the direct pathology of peroxisomal disease is yet to be fully elucidated, we sought to explore the fatty acid species that accumulate in patients with peroxisomal diseases.

A mother's choice: a qualitative study of mothers' health seeking behaviour for their children with acute diarrhoea.

Background: Diarrhoea presents a considerable health risk to young children and is one of the leading causes of infant mortality. Although proven cost-effective interventions exist, South Africa is yet to reach the Sustainable Development Goals set for the elimination of preventable under-five mortality and water-borne diseases. The rural study area in the Eastern Cape of South Africa continues to have a parallel health system comprising traditional and modern healthcare services.

Potent, Selective, and Orally Bioavailable Inhibitors of VPS34 Provide Chemical Tools to Modulate Autophagy in Vivo.

Autophagy is a dynamic process that regulates lysosomal-dependent degradation of cellular components. Until recently the study of autophagy has been hampered by the lack of reliable pharmacological tools, but selective inhibitors are now available to modulate the PI 3-kinase VPS34, which is required for autophagy. Here we describe the discovery of potent and selective VPS34 inhibitors, their pharmacokinetic (PK) properties, and ability to inhibit autophagy in cellular and mouse models.

[Successful Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for a Patient with Nearly Fatal Hypoxemia Induced by Transfusion-related Acute Lung Injury].

Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is known to be the leading cause of transfusion-related mortality. A nearly fatal case of postoperative TRALI, successfully managed with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), is reported. The patient was a 70-year-old woman for whom laparoscopic nephrectomy was planned.