β-alanine supplementation in adults with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled feasibility trial.

Objective: Overweight and obesity are characterized by excess adiposity and systemic, chronic, low-grade inflammation, which is associated with several metabolic disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and tolerability of β-alanine supplementation and to explore the effects on cardiometabolic health and cardiovascular, hepatic, and renal function in adults with overweight and obesity.

Methods: A total of 27 adults (44% female; mean [SD], age: 58 [10] years, BMI: 31.

Fostering Collaborative Practice Through Interprofessional Education.

Background And Objectives: Health care leaders use interprofessional collaborative practice as a strategy to improve health outcomes, and they have stressed its importance in the education of primary care medical providers to apply public health concepts like the social determinants of health and community collaborations. Interprofessional education (IPE) prepares students from different professions for collaborative practice as they enter the health workforce by developing core competencies. Understanding the importance of IPE is vital toward improving person and client-centered care and population health outcomes.

Searching for Asymmetric and Heavily Precessing Binary Black Holes in the Gravitational Wave Data from the LIGO Third Observing Run.

Leveraging the features of the GstLAL pipeline, we present the results of a matched filtering search for asymmetric binary black hole systems with heavily misaligned spins in LIGO and Virgo data taken during the third observing run. Our target systems show strong imprints of precession whereas current searches have nonoptimal sensitivity in detecting them. After measuring the sensitivity improvement brought by our search over standard spin-aligned searches, we report the detection of 30 gravitational wave events already discovered in the latest version of the Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog.

Revisiting the ecology and evolution of burying beetle behavior (Staphylinidae: Silphinae).

Investigating fundamental processes in biology requires the ability to ground broad questions in species-specific natural history. This is particularly true in the study of behavior because an organism's experience of the environment will influence the expression of behavior and the opportunity for selection. Here, we provide a review of the natural history and behavior of burying beetles of the genus to provide the groundwork for comparative work that showcases their remarkable behavioral and ecological diversity.

Time trends in positive gonorrhoea diagnoses at the Christchurch Sexual Health Service (2012-2022): a data audit study.

Background Gonorrhoea infections and antimicrobial resistance are rising in many countries, particularly among men who have sex with men, and an increasing proportion of infection is detected at extragenital sites. This study assessed trends in gonorrhoea diagnoses and antibiotic resistance at a sexual health service in New Zealand that followed national guidelines for specimen collection. Methods Routinely-collected data from Canterbury Health Laboratories of specimens taken at the Christchurch Sexual Health Service 2012-2022 were audited.

enzyme SME-2 isolated from sputum in New Zealand.

Introduction: The enzymes (SMEs) are chromosomally encoded Ambler Class A carbapenem-hydrolysing β-lactamases, which distinctively express resistance to carbapenems while remaining susceptible to extended-spectrum cephalosporins. Global reports of SMEs are infrequent. Here we describe the isolation of an SME-2-producing from the sputum of a patient who was hospitalized at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand.

Physiological Roles of Carnosine in Myocardial Function and Health.

Carnosine is a pleiotropic histidine-containing dipeptide synthesized from β-alanine and l-histidine, with the intact dipeptide and constituent amino acids being available from the diet. The therapeutic application of carnosine in myocardial tissue is promising, with carnosine playing a potentially beneficial role in both healthy and diseased myocardial models. This narrative review discusses the role of carnosine in myocardial function and health, including an overview of the metabolic pathway of carnosine in the myocardial tissue, the roles carnosine may play in the myocardium, and a critical analysis of the literature, focusing on the effect of exogenous carnosine and its precursors on myocardial function.

Characterization of basal ganglia volume changes in the context of HIV and polysubstance use.

HIV and psychoactive substances can impact the integrity of the basal ganglia (BG), a neural substrate of cognition, motor control, and reward-seeking behaviors. This study assessed BG gray matter (GM) volume as a function of polysubstance (stimulant and opioid) use and HIV status. We hypothesized that comorbid polysubstance use and HIV seropositivity would alter BG GM volume differently than would polysubstance use or HIV status alone.

WIN site inhibition disrupts a subset of WDR5 function.

WDR5 nucleates the assembly of histone-modifying complexes and acts outside this context in a range of chromatin-centric processes. WDR5 is also a prominent target for pharmacological inhibition in cancer. Small-molecule degraders of WDR5 have been described, but most drug discovery efforts center on blocking the WIN site of WDR5, an arginine binding cavity that engages MLL/SET enzymes that deposit histone H3 lysine 4 methylation (H3K4me).

Core pathway proteins and the molecular basis of planar polarity in the zebrafish gastrula.

The planar polarization of cells and subcellular structures is critical for embryonic development. Coordination of this polarity can provide cells a sense of direction in relation to the anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral body axes. Fly epithelia use a core pathway comprised of transmembrane (Van Gogh/Strabismus, Frizzled, and Flamingo/Starry night) and cytoplasmic (Prickle or Spiny-legs, Dishevelled, and Diego) proteins to communicate directional information between cells and thereby promote the uniform orientation of structures such as hairs.

Kingella kingae Spondylodiscitis: Treatment Failure With Flucloxacillin.

Kingella kingae infections generally respond well to most beta-lactam antibiotics. We investigated an antibiotic treatment failure in a 3-year-old with K. kingae L3-4 spondylodiscitis.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run.

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection.

Can transparency and accountability programs improve health? Experimental evidence from Indonesia and Tanzania.

We assess the impact of a transparency and accountability program designed to improve maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes in Indonesia and Tanzania. Co-designed with local partner organizations to be community-led and non-prescriptive, the program sought to encourage community participation to address local barriers in access to high quality care for pregnant women and infants. We evaluate the impact of this program through randomized controlled trials (RCTs), involving 100 treatment and 100 control communities in each country.

Higher levels of physical activity are associated with reduced tethering and migration of pro-inflammatory monocytes in males with central obesity.

Despite evidence that monocyte migration is accentuated by central adiposity, the impact of physical activity (PA) and exercise, particularly in the post-prandial state, on limiting migration are not established. We hypothesised that PA and a single bout of walking exercise would be associated with reduced ex vivo monocyte tethering and migration in middleaged males with central obesity (CO). Objective levels of PA were measured for 7 days in lean males (LE, N=12, mean (SD) age 39 (10) years, waist circumference 81.

Estimating Population Abundance of Burying Beetles Using Photo-Identification and Mark-Recapture Methods.

Successful conservation and management of protected wildlife populations require reliable population abundance data. Traditional capture-mark-recapture methods can be costly, time-consuming, and invasive. Photographic mark-recapture (PMR) is a cost-effective, minimally invasive way to study population dynamics in species with distinct markings or color patterns.

Single-Shot Liposomal Bupivacaine Reduces Postoperative Narcotic Use Following Outpatient Rotator Cuff Repair: A Prospective, Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Liposomal bupivacaine (LB) theoretically is longer-acting compared with conventional bupivacaine. The purpose of this study was to compare conventional bupivacaine combined with dexamethasone (control group), LB combined with conventional bupivacaine (LB group), and LB combined with dexamethasone and conventional bupivacaine (LBD group) in a perineural interscalene nerve block during ambulatory arthroscopic rotator cuff repair to determine if LB decreased postoperative narcotic consumption and pain. The effect of supplemental dexamethasone on prolonging the analgesic effect of LB was also assessed.

Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA.

We present our current best estimate of the plausible observing scenarios for the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA gravitational-wave detectors over the next several years, with the intention of providing information to facilitate planning for multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves. We estimate the sensitivity of the network to transient gravitational-wave signals for the third (O3), fourth (O4) and fifth observing (O5) runs, including the planned upgrades of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. We study the capability of the network to determine the sky location of the source for gravitational-wave signals from the inspiral of binary systems of compact objects, that is binary neutron star, neutron star-black hole, and binary black hole systems.

Behavioral constraints on local adaptation and counter-gradient variation: Implications for climate change.

Resource allocation to growth, reproduction, and body maintenance varies within species along latitudinal gradients. Two hypotheses explaining this variation are local adaptation and counter-gradient variation. The local adaptation hypothesis proposes that populations are adapted to local environmental conditions and are therefore less adapted to environmental conditions at other locations.

Comparison of the performance of three variations of the Carbapenem Inactivation Method (CIM, modified CIM [mCIM] and in-house method (iCIM)) for the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales and non-fermenters.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the performance of an in-house CIM (iCIM) modification with the CIM and mCIM for the detection of carbapenemase production in 149 well characterised isolates (70 carbapenemase producers and 79 non-carbapenemase producers).

Methods: Isolates were tested using the CIM, mCIM and iCIM procedures. The gold standard was genotypic characterisation by PCR.