Development and evaluation of a kangaroo mother care implementation model in South Ethiopia.

Aim: To develop a model for increasing the coverage of kangaroo mother care (KMC), which involved ≥8 h of skin-to-skin contact per day and exclusive breastfeeding, for small babies with birth weight < 2000 g in South Ethiopia.

Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted between June 2017 and January 2019 at four hospitals and their catchment areas. Iterative cycles of implementation, program learning and evaluation were used to optimise KMC implementation models.

Scaling up Kangaroo Mother Care in Ethiopia and India: a multi-site implementation research study.

Objectives: Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), prolonged skin-to-skin care of the low birth weight baby with the mother plus exclusive breastfeeding reduces neonatal mortality. Global KMC coverage is low. This study was conducted to develop and evaluate context-adapted implementation models to achieve improved coverage.

Barriers for kangaroo mother care (KMC) acceptance, and practices in southern Ethiopia: a model for scaling up uptake and adherence using qualitative study.

Background: Globally, approximately 15 million babies are born preterm every year. Complications of prematurity are the leading cause of under-five mortality. There is overwhelming evidence from low, middle, and high-income countries supporting kangaroo mother care (KMC) as an effective strategy to prevent mortality in both preterm and low birth weight (LBW) babies.

Kangaroo Mother Care implementation research to develop models for accelerating scale-up in India and Ethiopia: study protocol for an adequacy evaluation.

Introduction: Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is the practice of early, continuous and prolonged skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the baby with exclusive breastfeeding. Despite clear evidence of impact in improving survival and health outcomes among low birth weight infants, KMC coverage has remained low and implementation has been limited. Consequently, only a small fraction of newborns that could benefit from KMC receive it.

Comprehensive analysis of yeast ESCRT-III composition in single ESCRT-III deletion mutants.

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT)-III is associated with a multitude of cellular processes involving membrane remodeling and abscission. The exact composition of ESCRT-III and the contribution of individual ESCRT-III family members to these diverse functions is unclear. Most of the currently available information about ESCRT-III was obtained with tagged, largely non-functional proteins, which may not correctly reflect the situation.

Interactions in the ESCRT-III network of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Here, we examine the genetic interactions between ESCRT-III mutations in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. From the obtained interaction network, we make predictions about alternative ESCRT-III complexes. By the successful generation of an octuple deletion strain using the CRISPR/Cas9 technique, we demonstrate for the first time that ESCRT-III activity as a whole is not essential for the life of a yeast cell.

Harbouring group B streptococci in a neonatal intensive care unit led to an outbreak among preterm infants.

We report a nosocomial outbreak with group B streptococci (GBS) in a level two neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Sachs' Children and Youth Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, in 2014. There were five very preterm infants with severe late-onset septicaemia, and 10 further infants were colonised. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing genetic characterisation showed that one GBS strain was the cause: serotype Ia, sequence type 23, clonal complex 23.

Preclinical Bioassay of a Polypropylene Mesh for Hernia Repair Pretreated with Antibacterial Solutions of Chlorhexidine and Allicin: An In Vivo Study.

Introduction: Prosthetic mesh infection constitutes one of the major complications following hernia repair. Antimicrobial, non-antibiotic biomaterials have the potential to reduce bacterial adhesion to the mesh surface and adjacent tissues while avoiding the development of novel antibiotic resistance. This study assesses the efficacy of presoaking reticular polypropylene meshes in chlorhexidine or a chlorhexidine and allicin combination (a natural antibacterial agent) for preventing bacterial infection in a short-time hernia-repair rabbit model.

Evidence for a Nonendosomal Function of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ESCRT-III-Like Protein Chm7.

Endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) proteins are involved in a number of cellular processes, such as endosomal protein sorting, HIV budding, cytokinesis, plasma membrane repair, and resealing of the nuclear envelope during mitosis. Here we explored the function of a noncanonical member of the ESCRT-III protein family, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ortholog of human CHMP7. Very little is known about this protein.

Phenotypic and molecular insights into CASK-related disorders in males.

Background: Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in the X-linked CASK gene cause progressive microcephaly with pontine and cerebellar hypoplasia (MICPCH) and severe intellectual disability (ID) in females. Different CASK mutations have also been reported in males. The associated phenotypes range from nonsyndromic ID to Ohtahara syndrome with cerebellar hypoplasia.

Long-term persistence and effects of fetal microchimerisms on disease onset and status in a cohort of women with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: The discovery of a fetal cells transfer to the mother is a phenomenon with multiple implications for autoimmunity and tolerance. The prevalence and meaning of the feto-maternal microchimerism (MC) in rheumatic diseases has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of fetal MC in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and to investigate the association of MC with disease onset and current status.

Neonatal progeria: increased ratio of progerin to lamin A leads to progeria of the newborn.

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is an important model disease for premature ageing. Affected children appear healthy at birth, but develop the first symptoms during their first year of life. They die at an average age of 13 years, mostly because of myocardial infarction or stroke.

Pro-inflammatory effector Th cells transmigrate through anti-inflammatory environments into the murine fetus.

The presence of maternal DNA or even maternal cells within the offspring (microchimerism) has been reported for many fetal tissues, including the liver, heart, and spleen. Microchimerism is believed to be involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases; however, the cellular origin of this phenomenon remains unknown. Here, we determined whether differentiated T lymphocytes could transmigrate through the immunosuppressive environment of the placenta to reach the fetus.

Old-New World and trans-African disjunctions of Thamnosma (Rutaceae): intercontinental long-distance dispersal and local differentiation in the succulent biome.

Premise Of The Study: The succulent biome is highly fragmented throughout the Old and New World. The resulting disjunctions on global and regional scales have been explained by various hypotheses. To evaluate these, we used Thamnosma, which is restricted to the succulent biome and has trans-Atlantic and trans-African disjunctions.

Painful medial knee compartment syndrome in over-45 year-olds: I--medical or surgical management: a series of 174 patients.

Introduction: There is at present no consensus on the management of degenerative medial meniscus lesions in patients aged over 45 years without proven osteoarthritis, especially given that the causal relation between degenerative meniscal lesion and osteoarthritis remains controversial. A prospective multicenter non randomized study was therefore performed. The principal objective was to assess surgeons' practice in the management of degenerative medial meniscus lesions.

Equisetum species show uniform epicuticular wax structures but diverse composition patterns.

Background And Aims: Only few data on the epicuticular waxes (EWs) of horsetails are available. This contribution therefore focuses on the wax micromorphology and chemical composition of Equisetum species of the subgenera Equisetum and Hippochaete.

Methodology: Distribution patterns and structural details of EW on the shoots were studied by scanning electron microscopy.

Tissue-engineered ligament: implant constructs for tooth replacement.

Aim: A tissue-engineered periodontal ligament (PDL) around implants would represent an important new therapeutic tool to replace lost teeth. The PDL is the key to tooth anchoring; it connects tooth root and alveolar bone, and it sustains bone formation.

Materials And Methods: Cells were isolated from PDL and cultured in a bioreactor on titanium pins.

Quality, stability, and safety data of packed red cells and plasma processed by gravity separation using a new fully integrated hollow-fibre filter device.

Background. We developed a completely closed system based on gravity separation without centrifugation steps for separation of whole blood. With this new system we compared quality and stability of the processed blood components (PRC and plasma) with respect to classical preparation.

The Stockholm Neonatal Family Centered Care Study: effects on length of stay and infant morbidity.

Objective: Parental involvement in the care of preterm infants in NICUs is becoming increasingly common, but little is known about its effect on infants' length of hospital stay and infant morbidity. Our goal was to evaluate the effect of a new model of family care (FC) in a level 2 NICU, where parents could stay 24 hours/day from admission to discharge.

Methods: A randomized, controlled trial was conducted in 2 NICUs (both level 2), including a standard care (SC) ward and an FC ward, where parents could stay from infant admission to discharge.

Early postnatal BMI adaptation is regulated during a fixed time period and mainly depends on maternal BMI.

In the present study, we investigated whether there are critical time periods which influence the course of BMI during the first 6 years of life. From 5,433 children who participated in preschool examinations those 212 children were selected who crossed the BMI percentiles as a result of an extreme postnatal BMI rise (from <10th to 90th percentile) or fall (from >90th to <10th percentile) or who have persistently low or high BMI both at birth and at the age of 6 years. Forty children with a BMI close to the 50th percentile both at birth and age 6 years were selected to serve as controls.

Serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) plays a critical role in the onset of fructose-induced hepatic steatosis in mice.

Elevated dietary fructose intake, altered intestinal motility, and barrier function may be involved in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Because intestinal motility and permeability are also regulated through the bioavailability of serotonin (5-HT), we assessed markers of hepatic injury in serotonin reuptake transporter knockout (SERT(-/-)) and wild-type mice chronically exposed to different monosaccharide solutions (30% glucose or fructose solution) or water for 8 wk. The significant increase in hepatic triglyceride, TNF-alpha, and 4-hydroxynonenal adduct as well as portal endotoxin levels found in fructose-fed mice was associated with a significant decrease of SERT and the tight-junction occludin in the duodenum.

Small-scale diversity and succession of fungi in the detritusphere of rye residues.

Transport of litter carbon in the detritusphere might determine fungal abundance and diversity at the small scale. Rye residues were applied to the surface of soil cores with two different water contents and incubated at 10 degrees C for 2 and 12 weeks. Fungal community structure was analysed by constructing clone libraries of 18S rDNA and subsequent sequencing.

Response of total and nitrate-dissimilating bacteria to reduced N deposition in a spruce forest soil profile.

A field-scale manipulation experiment conducted for 16 years in a Norway spruce forest at Solling, Central Germany, was used to follow the long-term response of total soil bacteria, nitrate reducers and denitrifiers under conditions of reduced N deposition. N was experimentally removed from throughfall by a roof construction ('clean rain plot'). We used substrate-induced respiration (SIR) to characterize the active fraction of soil microbial biomass and potential nitrate reduction to quantify the activity of nitrate reducers.