Supporting social justice through equity-based actions for a sustainable future in animal genetics (at the 39th International Society for Animal Genetics Conference).

The 39th International Society for Animal Genetics conference (ISAG) was held for the first time in Africa under the theme 'Animal genetics for a sustainable future' in 2023. The conference convened scientists, policy makers, industry professionals, and students from interdisciplinary fields to share and discuss the latest developments in the space of animal genetics. Since its inception as a society, ISAG has sought to provide a platform advocating for a just and equitable future in animal genetics.

Impact of adjunct bezlotoxumab for preventing infection recurrence in patients post - hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: Patients post hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) are highly susceptible to infection (CDI). Exposure to antibiotic treatment, chemotherapeutic disruption to bacterial microbiome, immunosuppressive therapy, and prolonged hospitalizations synergistically contribute to the risk of CDI and its recurrence. The purpose of this study is to assess if the adjunctive administration of bezlotoxumab decreases the rate of recurrent CDI in patients post-HSCT.

A human-centered approach for sharing patient experiences through digital storytelling: a research through design study.

This article outlines a human-centered approach to developing digital patient stories, for sharing their experiences in health care, while preserving patient and others' privacy. Employing a research-through-design approach, the study proposes a design solution using visualization and digital storytelling to document patients' and families' experiences and emotions, as well as their interactions with healthcare professionals in the postnatal unit. By transforming selected observational data into animated stories, this approach has the potential to elicit empathy, stimulate stakeholder engagement, and serve as a practical training tool for clinicians.

Optimized machine learning approaches to combine surface-enhanced Raman scattering and infrared data for trace detection of xylazine in illicit opioids.

Infrared absorption spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy were integrated into three data fusion strategies-hybrid (concatenated spectra), mid-level (extracted features from both datasets) and high-level (fusion of predictions from both models)-to enhance the predictive accuracy for xylazine detection in illicit opioid samples. Three chemometric approaches-random forest, support vector machine, and -nearest neighbor algorithms-were employed and optimized using a 5-fold cross-validation grid search for all fusion strategies. Validation results identified the random forest classifier as the optimal model for all fusion strategies, achieving high sensitivity (88% for hybrid, 92% for mid-level, and 96% for high-level) and specificity (88% for hybrid, mid-level, and high-level).

A review on the effects of flavan-3-ols, their metabolites, and their dietary sources on gut barrier integrity.

Impairment of gut barrier integrity is associated with the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, and coeliac disease. While many aspects of diet have been linked to improved barrier function, (poly)phenols, a broad group of bioactive phytochemicals, are of potential interest. The (poly)phenolic sub-class, flavan-3-ols, have been investigated in some detail owing to their abundance in commonly consumed foods, including grapes, tea, apples, cocoa, berries, and nuts.