Contextual barriers to infection prevention and control program implementation in hospitals in Latin America: a mixed methods evaluation.

Background: Infection prevention and control (IPC) programs are essential to prevent and control the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms in healthcare facilities (HCFs). The current implementation of these programs in Latin America remains largely unknown.

Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of IPC program implementation in HCFs from Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, and Argentina, March-July 2022.

TRPV1 Activation Antagonizes High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity at Thermoneutrality and Enhances UCP-1 Transcription via PRDM-16.

Body weight is a balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Energy expenditure is mainly governed by physical activity and adaptive thermogenesis. Adaptive dietary thermogenesis in brown and beige adipose tissue occurs through mitochondrial uncoupling protein (UCP-1).

Upadacitinib monotherapy versus methotrexate monotherapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: efficacy and safety through 5 years in the SELECT-EARLY randomized controlled trial.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib monotherapy versus methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy over 5 years among MTX-naïve patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the long-term extension (LTE) of the phase 3 SELECT-EARLY trial.

Methods: Patients were randomized to receive upadacitinib 15 mg or 30 mg or MTX. Patients who did not achieve CDAI remission and had < 20% improvement in tender and swollen joint counts at week 26 received rescue therapy (addition of MTX in the upadacitinib group and addition of upadacitinib in the MTX group).

Performance of risk scores in predicting mortality at 3, 6, and 12 months in patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia.

Background: Risk scores (RS) evaluate the likelihood of short-term mortality in patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, there is a scarcity of evidence to determine the risk of long-term mortality. This article aims to compare the effectiveness of 16 scores in predicting mortality at three, six, and twelve months in adult patients with CAP.

Thyroid Hormones and Diabetes in Euthyroid Hispanic/Latino Adults of Diverse Backgrounds: HCHS/SOL.

Context: Previous studies have demonstrated associations of endogenous thyroid hormones with diabetes; less is known about stages of diabetes development at which they are operative, mechanisms of associations, and the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis.

Objective: This study examined associations of thyroid hormones with incident prediabetes and diabetes and with changes in glycemic traits in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), the largest cohort of Hispanic/Latino adults with diverse backgrounds in the United States.

Methods: The study includes 592 postmenopausal euthyroid women and 868 euthyroid men aged 45 to 74 years without diabetes at baseline participating in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL).

Dilute gluconic acid pretreatment and fermentation of wheat straw to ethanol.

Gluconic acid's potential as a wheat straw pretreatment agent was studied at different concentrations (0.125-1 M) and temperatures (160-190 °C) for 30 min, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. 0.

Soil radioactivity in the highest volcanic region of Northern Andes.

This work studied the spatial pattern of four natural radionuclides (Ra, Ra, Th and K) as well as one artificial one (Cs) in soils in the Chimborazo province (Ecuador), which belongs to the North Andes of South America. Soil samples were collected considering the Ecuador geological map. Statistical analyses showed that activity concentrations of Ra, Ra, Th do not exceed the worldwide average, while one geological unit exceeds the worldwide average for K.

The work experiences and needs of lone community psychologists: Exploring diversity of settings and identities.

Community psychologists (CPs) are committed to value-based praxis, an interdisciplinary orientation, and an ecological approach to community collaboration in pursuit of social justice and liberation. Because no setting is immune to the impacts of the intersecting systems of oppression in which we are embedded, CPs end up working in a wide array of settings, and often as the only CP in the setting. This dynamic-operating as a "lone" CP-may be rewarding as the CP is able to provide unique value at work, or may present specific challenges, particularly if the CP's sense of community or mattering is compromised.

An Intraluminal Parasitic Leiomyoma of the Sigmoid Colon and Potential Pathogenetic Mechanisms.

Uterine leiomyomas are the most common benign tumor of the female pelvis. Parasitic leiomyomas are an extremely rare entity of leiomyoma occurrence found at extrauterine sites. They are mostly diagnosed in patients with a history of gynecologic procedures and morcellators use during laparoscopic leiomyoma resection.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with rheumatic diseases in Latin America.

The objective of our study was to describe knowledge, attitudes and practices of Latin-American rheumatology patients regarding management and follow-up of their disease during COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using a digital anonymous survey. Rheumatic patients ≥ 18 years from non-English-speaking PANLAR countries were included.

Rheumatology Training in Latin America: A Collaborative Study by the Pan American League of Associations for Rheumatology.

Background/objective: Demand for rheumatology care has steadily increased in recent years. The number of specialists in this field, however, seems insufficient. No recent studies have diagnosed the attributes of rheumatology training in Latin America.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Rheumatology Practice in Latin America.

Objective: To describe the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on Latin American rheumatologists from a professional, economic, and occupational point of view.

Methods: We conducted an observational cross-sectional study using an online survey sent to rheumatologists of each non-English-speaking country member of the Pan American League of Rheumatology Associations (PANLAR). A specific questionnaire was developed.

Disorder-Enhanced and Disorder-Independent Transport with Long-Range Hopping: Application to Molecular Chains in Optical Cavities.

Overcoming the detrimental effect of disorder at the nanoscale is very hard since disorder induces localization and an exponential suppression of transport efficiency. Here we unveil novel and robust quantum transport regimes achievable in nanosystems by exploiting long-range hopping. We demonstrate that in a 1D disordered nanostructure in the presence of long-range hopping, transport efficiency, after decreasing exponentially with disorder at first, is then enhanced by disorder [disorder-enhanced transport (DET) regime] until, counterintuitively, it reaches a disorder-independent transport (DIT) regime, persisting over several orders of disorder magnitude in realistic systems.

Emergency Hysterectomy in a Hemodynamically Unstable Patient: A Case of Uterine Leiomyosarcoma.

Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a common gynecological complaint in reproductive aged women. In this case report, we present a case of emergency total hysterectomy performed in a hemodynamically unstable patient due to AUB. Based on pelvic ultrasound (US) and CT scan along with the prevalence of uterine smooth muscle tumors, leiomyomatous uterus was the most likely preoperative diagnosis.

Design of an algorithm for the diagnostic approach of patients with joint pain.

Background: Rheumatic diseases are a reason for frequent consultation with primary care doctors. Unfortunately, there is a high percentage of misdiagnosis.

Objective: To design an algorithm to be used by primary care physicians to improve the diagnostic approach of the patient with joint pain, and thus improve the diagnostic capacity in four rheumatic diseases.

Engaging Underrepresented Adolescents in Authentic Scientific Settings: Scientist Role Models and Improving Psychosocial Outcomes.

There is a critical need for more effective comprehensive programs to increase the number of underrepresented minority students pursuing scientific careers. Science education often is fragmented, delivered with single-focused approaches - traditional classroom lectures, or hands-on-activities, or conducting research. The current paper examines a comprehensive biomedical research program that integrated classroom teaching, hands-on-activities, conducting a research study, and mentoring from scientists in authentic scientific settings.

Understanding the factors influencing low-income caregivers' perceived value of a federal nutrition programme, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Objective: Retention of participants has been an issue in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). It has been suggested that the perceived value of WIC may affect whether participants remain in the programme. The present study aimed to explore this phenomenon.

Using Community-Driven, Participatory Qualitative Inquiry to Discern Nuanced Community Health Needs and Assets of Chicago's La Villita, a Mexican Immigrant Neighborhood.

In predominately immigrant neighborhoods, the nuances of immigrant life in the ethnic enclave have important, yet underappreciated impact on community health. The complexities of immigrant experiences are essential to unpacking and addressing the impact of acculturative processes on observed racial, ethnic, and class-based health disparities in the United States. These insights because they are largely unexplored are best captured qualitatively through academic-community research partnership.

Adhesion to the host cell surface is sufficient to mediate entry into epithelial cells.

The intestinal epithelium is the first physiological barrier breached by the Gram-positive facultative pathogen during an in vivo infection. binds to the epithelial host cell receptor E-cadherin, which mediates a physical link between the bacterium and filamentous actin (F-actin). However, the importance of anchoring the bacterium to F-actin through E-cadherin for bacterial invasion has not been tested directly in epithelial cells.

Cell-Cell Junctions Organize Structural and Signaling Networks.

Cell-cell junctions link cells to each other in tissues, and regulate tissue homeostasis in critical cell processes that include tissue barrier function, cell proliferation, and migration. Defects in cell-cell junctions give rise to a wide range of tissue abnormalities that disrupt homeostasis and are common in genetic abnormalities and cancers. Here, we discuss the organization and function of cell-cell junctions primarily involved in adhesion (tight junction, adherens junction, and desmosomes) in two different epithelial tissues: a simple epithelium (intestine) and a stratified epithelium (epidermis).

HPV Vaccine-Related Knowledge, Beliefs, Acceptability, and Uptake Among Latinas Who Prefer English and Those Who Prefer Spanish.

Latinas compose almost 10% of the U.S. population and suffer the highest incidence of and one of the highest mortality rates from cervical cancer.