Publications by authors named "Bergman A"

Aims: This study aimed to conduct a phase 2 proof-of-concept and safety study to evaluate the effect of ENIBARCIMAB (EN), a non-neutralizing humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the N-terminus of adrenomedullin (ADM), administered immediately after stabilization with standard of care (SoC) treatment, in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure (AHF).

Methods And Results: This prospective, open-label, controlled, interventional, multicenter, dose-escalation study was conducted at two cardiology sites in Indonesia. Patients were divided into two interventional groups sequentially receiving 0.

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Coinfection with human papillomavirus (HPV) and HIV compounds the risks of developing cervical, anal, and HPV-associated oral neoplasia. Safe prophylactic vaccines are available to prevent HPV infections in people with HIV(PWH). Yet, vaccine efficacy and duration of protection remain questionable.

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Tumors escape immune detection and elimination through a variety of mechanisms. Here, we used prostate cancer as a model to examine how androgen-dependent tumors undergo immune evasion through downregulation of the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI). We report that response to immunotherapy in late-stage prostate cancer is associated with elevated MHC expression.

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Background: The Patient and Community Perspectives Towards Tuberculosis are the most common measure of tuberculosis (TB) stigma in sub-Saharan Africa. The instrument and its sub-scales (patient and community) have been quantitatively validated but have not undergone qualitative exploration in South Africa.

Methods: We explored whether the Patient Perspectives Towards Tuberculosis adequately represents stigma as experienced by people with TB in South Africa.

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Geographic disparities in access to inpatient procedures are a significant issue within the US healthcare system. This study introduces the Procedure Access Inequality (PAI) index, a standardized metric to quantify these disparities while adjusting for disease prevalence. Using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases, we analyzed inpatient procedure data from 18 states between 2016 and 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Phenotypic plasticity in cancer, particularly prostate cancer (PCa), leads to resistance against androgen receptor-targeted therapies, highlighting the need to understand its driving mechanisms to prevent resistance emergence.
  • - The study found that loss of the tristetraprolin (TTP) gene (ZFP36) increases NF-κB activation, correlating with more aggressive disease and recurrence, especially when PTEN, another key driver in PCa, is also lost.
  • - Targeting the NF-κB pathway with an inhibitor (DMAPT) showed promising therapeutic effects in tumors exhibiting co-loss of ZFP36 and PTEN, suggesting a potential new treatment strategy for castration-resistant PCa.
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Background: Despite effective vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, clinical burden persists. An unmet need exists for additional effective agents with safety profiles allowing use across a broad population. Ibuzatrelvir is an orally bioavailable SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitor that has demonstrated in vitro antiviral activity and low potential for safety concerns, including drug-drug interactions.

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Article Synopsis
  • Androgen receptor signaling inhibitors (ARSIs) have improved the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but many patients develop resistance to these therapies over time.
  • Researchers analyzed genetic and transcriptomic changes in tumors before and after ARSI treatment to understand the underlying mechanisms of this resistance.
  • They found that alterations enhancing androgen receptor signaling and low levels of somatostatin receptor 1 (SSTR1) are linked to reduced therapy effectiveness, suggesting that targeting SSTR1 could be a potential strategy to improve outcomes for mCRPC patients.
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Background: Tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment (TPT) is a long-standing recommendation for children exposed to TB but remains poorly implemented. Home-based contact management may increase access and coverage of TPT among children exposed to TB in their households.

Methods: Sixty in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants including program managers, TB providers (known as TB focal persons), health extension workers and caregivers whose children had recently engaged with TB prevention services in Oromia, Ethiopia in 2021 to understand the barriers and facilitators to providing home-based TB prevention services for children aged < 15 years.

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Objective: To assess the effectiveness of evidence-based quality improvement (EBQI) as an implementation strategy to expand the use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) within nonspecialty settings.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We studied eight facilities in one Veteran Health Administration (VHA) region from October 2015 to September 2022 using administrative data.

Study Design: Initially a pilot, we sequentially engaged seven of eight facilities from April 2018 to September 2022 using EBQI, consisting of multilevel stakeholder engagement, technical support, practice facilitation, and data feedback.

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ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) system released by OpenAI on November 30th, 2022, has upended scientific and educational paradigms, reshaping the way that we think about teaching, writing, and now research. Since that time, qualitative data analytic software programs such as ATLAS.ti have quickly incorporated AI into their programs to assist with or even replace human coding.

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Persistent pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use reduces the risk of HIV infection, yet uptake lags among those with the greatest need. Sexual identity stigma may be a significant barrier to PrEP awareness and use among high-risk communities. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether sexual identity was related to PrEP awareness and use.

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Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS, also known as celiac artery compression syndrome, celiac axis syndrome, celiac trunk compression syndrome, Dunbar syndrome, or Harjola-Marable syndrome) is a rare condition characterized by abdominal pain attributed to the compression of the celiac artery and celiac ganglia by the median arcuate ligament. Pain can occur post-prandially and may be accompanied by weight loss, nausea, or vomiting. Following angiographic diagnosis, current definitive treatment may include open or laparoscopic decompression surgery with celiac ganglion removal (if affected), which has been found to provide relief.

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The mosquito is a prominent vector for arboviruses, but the breadth of mosquito viruses that infects this specie is not fully understood. In the broadest global survey to date of over 200 small RNA samples, we detected viral small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and Piwi interacting RNAs (piRNAs) arising from mosquito viruses. We confirmed that most academic laboratory colonies of lack persisting viruses, yet two commercial strains were infected by a novel tombus-like virus.

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Fc-fusion proteins are an emerging class of protein therapeutics that combine the properties of biological ligands with the unique properties of the fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain of an immunoglobulin G (IgG). Due to their diverse higher-order structures (HOSs), Fc-fusion proteins remain challenging characterization targets within biopharmaceutical pipelines. While high-resolution biophysical tools are available for HOS characterization, they frequently demand extended time frames and substantial quantities of purified samples, rendering them impractical for swiftly screening candidate molecules.

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We report on the stabilization of ferromagnetic skyrmions in zero external magnetic fields, in exchange-biased systems composed of ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic (FM-AFM) bilayers. By performing atomistic spin dynamics simulations, we study cases of compensated, uncompensated, and partly uncompensated FM-AFM interfaces, and investigate the impact of important parameters such as temperature, inter-plane exchange interaction, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, and magnetic anisotropy on the skyrmions appearance and stability. The model with an uncompensated FM-AFM interface leads to the stabilization of individual skyrmions and skyrmion lattices in the FM layer, caused by the effective field from the AFM instead of an external magnetic field.

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People with serious mental illness (SMI) have lower rates of use of preventative medical services and higher rates of mortality compared to the general population. Research shows that specialized primary care medical homes improve the health care of patients with SMI and are feasible to implement, safe, and more effective than usual care. However, specialized medical homes remain uncommon and model dissemination limited.

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Background: Top-tier general and specialty scientific journals serve as a bellwether for national research priorities. We hypothesize that military-relevant publications are underrepresented in the scientific literature and that such publications decrease significantly during peacetime.

Methods: We identified high impact journals in the fields of Medicine, Surgery and Critical Care and developed Boolean searches for military-focused topics using National Library of Medicine Subject Headings terms.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates genomic changes, specifically copy number variants (CNVs), in a cohort of Ashkenazi Jewish centenarians, their children, and unrelated controls, to understand factors influencing longevity.
  • - Among 670 participants, it was found that centenarians had more total CNVs compared to controls, but they retained better genomic integrity, indicated by a lower total length of lost genomic material.
  • - The research also revealed that offspring had the highest number of unique CNVs, which may contribute to longevity preservation, with significant genomic regions linked to crucial biological functions identified.
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Article Synopsis
  • The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) program in 2017 to enhance mental health and substance use services in primary care practices.
  • This study analyzes the impact of CPC+ on access to mental health and substance use treatment among adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing those in CPC+ practices to those in non-CPC+ practices.
  • Results showed that patients with opioid use disorder in CPC+ practices received more prescriptions for medications like buprenorphine and anxiolytics compared to those in non-CPC+ practices, indicating better access to necessary treatments.
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Background: Both cabazitaxel and lutetium-177 prostate-specific membrane antigen (Lu-PSMA) improve survival in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) after an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor and docetaxel, but there are limited data regarding Lu-PSMA activity after cabazitaxel.

Objective: To assess the activity of Lu-PSMA and determinants of outcomes after cabazitaxel in mCRPC.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A retrospective analysis was conducted of consecutive mCRPC patients from eight European centers treated with Lu-PSMA after cabazitaxel.

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Background: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommended lowering their estimated tolerable daily intake (TDI) for bisphenol A (BPA) 20,000-fold to . BPA is an extensively studied high production volume endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) associated with a vast array of diseases. Prior risk assessments of BPA by EFSA as well as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have relied on industry-funded studies conducted under good laboratory practice protocols (GLP) requiring guideline end points and detailed record keeping, while also claiming to examine (but rejecting) thousands of published findings by academic scientists.

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