Objectives: This study sought to assess undergraduate students' knowledge and attitudes surrounding perceived self-efficacy and threats in various common emergencies in communities of higher education.
Methods: Self-reported perceptions of knowledge and skills, as well as attitudes and beliefs regarding education and training, obligation to respond, safety, psychological readiness, efficacy, personal preparedness, and willingness to respond were investigated through 3 representative scenarios via a web-based survey.
Results: Among 970 respondents, approximately 60% reported their university had adequately prepared them for various emergencies while 84% reported the university should provide such training.
Breastfeeding represents a strong selective factor for shaping the infant gut microbiota. Besides providing nutritional requirements for the infant, human milk is a key source of oligosaccharides, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), and diverse microbes in early life. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of human milk microbiota and oligosaccharides on the composition of infant faecal microbiota at one, three, and nine months postpartum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPer Research Letter article type, we are not including an abstract.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis pilot study investigated the use of Generative AI using ChatGPT to produce Boolean search strings to query PubMed. The goals were to determine if ChatGPT could be used in search string formation and if so, which approach was most effective. Research outputs from published systematic reviews were compared to outputs from AI generated search strings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are becoming more frequently used in the treatment of many types of malignant cancers by disinhibiting T-cell activation, which promotes the destruction of cancer cells. This disinhibition can also result in autoimmune conditions, like endocrinopathies.
Case: We report a case of a 78-year-old male patient with malignant mesothelioma treated with combination ICI therapy who presented with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) with no history of diabetes mellitus or hyperglycemia.
Abstract: Commercial fishing is a dangerous profession with known hazards for musculoskeletal injuries, yet minimal examination of microbiological or attendant psychosocial hazards from water- and food-borne pathogens like Vibrio vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus exists. Improving knowledge of Vibrio -related hazards addresses Total Worker Health® concerns for commercial fisheries workers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
October 2024
Despite decades of research documenting the consequences of naturalized and invasive plant species on ecosystem functions, our understanding of the functional underpinnings of these changes remains rudimentary. This is partially due to ineffective scaling of trait differences between native and naturalized species to whole plant communities. Working with data from over 75,000 plots and over 5,500 species from across the United States, we show that changes in the functional composition of communities associated with increasing abundance of naturalized species mirror the differences in traits between native and naturalized plants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurodegenerative disorders alter mitochondrial functions, including the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Mitochondrial complex III (CIII) generates ROS implicated in redox signaling, but its triggers, targets, and disease relevance are not clear. Using site-selective suppressors and genetic manipulations together with mitochondrial ROS imaging and multiomic profiling, we found that CIII is the dominant source of ROS production in astrocytes exposed to neuropathology-related stimuli.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the last 15 years activity of diagnostic flow cytometry services have evolved from monitoring of CD4 T cell subsets in HIV-1 infection to screening for primary and secondary immune deficiencies syndromes and assessment of immune constitution following B cell depleting therapy and transplantation. Changes in laboratory activity in high income countries have been driven by initiation of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in HIV-1 regardless of CD4 T cell counts, increasing recognition of primary immune deficiency syndromes and the wider application of B cell depleting therapy and transplantation in clinical practice. Laboratories should use their experience in standardization and quality assurance of CD4 T cell counting in HIV-1 infection to provide immune monitoring services to patients with primary and secondary immune deficiencies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is used as an antineoplastic agent in distinct cancer types. Increasing evidence suggests that the gut microbiota might modulate 5-FU efficacy and toxicity, potentially affecting the patient's prognosis. The current experimental study investigated 5-FU-induced microbiota alterations, as well as the potential of prebiotic fibre mixtures (M1-M4) to counteract these shifts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Obtaining real-world data from routine clinical care is of growing interest for scientific research and personalized medicine. Despite the abundance of medical data across various facilities - including hospitals, outpatient clinics, and physician practices - the intersectoral exchange of information remains largely hindered due to differences in data structure, content, and adherence to data protection regulations. In response to this challenge, the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII) was launched in Germany, focusing initially on university hospitals to foster the exchange and utilization of real-world data through the development of standardized methods and tools, including the creation of a common core dataset.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: During an infodemic, timely, reliable, and accessible information is crucial to combat the proliferation of health misinformation. While message testing can provide vital information to make data-informed decisions, traditional methods tend to be time- and resource-intensive. Recognizing this need, we developed the rapid message testing at scale (RMTS) approach to allow communicators to repurpose existing social media advertising tools and understand the full spectrum of audience engagement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Food-insecure households commonly rely on food pantries to supplement their nutritional needs, a challenge that was underscored during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food pantries, and the food banks that supply them, face common challenges in meeting variable client volume and dietary needs under normal and emergency (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAstrocytic receptors influence cognitive function and can promote behavioral deficits in disease. These effects may vary based on variables such as biological sex, but it is not known if the effects of astrocytic receptors are dependent on sex. We leveraged in vivo gene editing and chemogenetics to examine the roles of astrocytic receptors in spatial memory and other processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
February 2024
Glucose and amino acid metabolism are critical for glioblastoma (GBM) growth, but little is known about the specific metabolic alterations in GBM that are targetable with FDA-approved compounds. To investigate tumor metabolism signatures unique to GBM, we interrogated The Cancer Genome Atlas for alterations in glucose and amino acid signatures in GBM relative to other human cancers and found that GBM exhibits the highest levels of cysteine and methionine pathway gene expression of 32 human cancers. Treatment of patient-derived GBM cells with the FDA-approved single cysteine compound N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced GBM cell growth and mitochondrial oxygen consumption, which was worsened by glucose starvation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisaster Med Public Health Prep
February 2024
Objective: Disasters exacerbate inequities in health care. Health systems use the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) to plan and coordinate their disaster response. This study examines how 2 health systems prioritized equity in implementing the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and identifies factors that influenced implementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurologic disease and the most common cause of dementia. Classic pathology in AD is characterized by inflammation, abnormal presence of tau protein, and aggregation of β-amyloid that disrupt normal neuronal function and lead to cell death. Deficits in communication also occur during disease progression and significantly reduce health, well-being, and quality of life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPropolis was collected from honeybee hives in three geographically distinct Algerian climates and extracts were characterized for composition and bioactivity. Bees were identified as native subspecies using an in-silico DraI mtDNA COI-COII test. Over 20 compounds were identified in extracts by LC-MS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Appropriate early intervention is beneficial but dependent on accurate and timely diagnoses. This has been affected by long waiting lists for face-to-face clinical services, in part due to pandemic lockdowns, with telehealth introduced in many services to continue clinical services. This pilot clinical study investigated the feasibility of integrating a specially-designed telepractice autism assessment tool into a tertiary diagnostic service.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJt Comm J Qual Patient Saf
January 2024
Background: Disasters exacerbate health inequities, with historically marginalized populations experiencing unjust differences in health care access and outcomes. Health systems plan and respond to disasters using the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), an organizational structure that centralizes communication and decision-making. The HICS does not have an equity role or considerations built into its standard structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity-related metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) are major global health issues, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The underlying factors are both diverse and complex, incorporating biological as well as cultural considerations. A role for ethnicity - a measure of self-perceived cultural affiliation which encompasses diet, lifestyle and genetic components - in susceptibility to metabolic diseases such as T2D is well established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVeterinary personnel are an essential yet often underappreciated workforce, critical for zoonotic disease prevention and response efforts that impact human health. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, the veterinary workforce supported emergency responses by promoting zoonotic disease risk communication, sharing animal health expertise, and boosting laboratory surge capacity against SARS-CoV-2 in animals and people. However, small animal veterinary workers (SAVWs), similar to healthcare workers, faced organizational challenges in providing clinical care to family pets, including those susceptible to SARS-CoV-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAstrocytes are emerging as key regulators of cognitive function and behavior. This review highlights some of the latest advances in the understanding of astrocyte roles in different behavioral domains across lifespan and in disease. We address specific molecular and circuit mechanisms by which astrocytes modulate behavior, discuss their functional diversity and versatility, and highlight emerging astrocyte-targeted treatment strategies that might alleviate behavioral and cognitive dysfunction in pathologic conditions.
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