Double jeopardy: How lower levels of support during COVID-19 exacerbated the relationship between loneliness and distress.

While the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress is well documented, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are less clear. One factor known to be related to loneliness as well as psychological distress, is social support, with some studies suggesting that support-both received and provided-can serve as a mechanism to reduce the distress associated with loneliness. In this paper we examine the mediating role of both aspects of support in the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress in the COVID-19 context.

Dissecting the BCG Response to Macrophage Infection to Help Prioritize Targets for Anti-Tuberculosis Drug and Vaccine Discovery.

New strategies are required to reduce the worldwide burden of tuberculosis. Intracellular survival and replication of after macrophage phagocytosis is a fundamental step in the complex host-pathogen interactions that lead to granuloma formation and disease. Greater understanding of how the bacterium survives and thrives in these environments will inform novel drug and vaccine discovery programs.

Hammock and nesting in preterm infants: randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To compare the physiological variables and the sleep-wake pattern presented by preterm in nesting and hammock positions after diaper change.

Method: This is a crossover randomized controlled trial. It was conducted with 20 preterm infants who, after diaper change, were placed in nests or hammocks.

Development and Validation of a Novel Stability-Indicating Reversed-Phase Ion-Pair Chromatographic Method for the Quantitation of Impurities in Marbofloxacin Tablets.

A stability-indicating isocratic reversed-phase ion-pair chromatographic method was designed for the separation of impurities in the presence of degradation products. Marbofloxacin tablets and a placebo were exposed to the stress conditions of oxidative, acid, base, humidity, thermal, and photolytic degradation. Significant and moderate degradation was observed in acidic and oxidative stress conditions, respectively.

Pelvic and hip kinematics during single-leg drop-landing are altered in sports participants with long-standing groin pain: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the differences in three-dimensional pelvic and hip kinematics during a single-leg drop-landing task in active sports participants with long-standing groin pain compared to healthy matched controls.

Design: This was a descriptive study incorporating a cross-sectional design.

Setting: The study was conducted at the Unit for Human Movement Analysis, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Fiberoptic Contact-Force Sensing Electrophysiological Catheters: How Precise Is the Technology?

Background: Contact-force (CF) sensing catheters are increasingly used in electrophysiological procedures due to their efficacy and safety profile. As data about the accuracy of fiberoptic CF technology are scarce, we sought to quantify it using in vitro experiments.

Methods And Results: A force sensor was built with a flexible membrane to allow exact reference force measurements for each set of experiments.

Knowledge of healthcare professionals on the evaluation and treatment of neonatal pain.

Objective: to identify knowledge of healthcare professionals on the management, evaluation and treatment of pain in a neonatal unit in a municipality of Rio de Janeiro.

Method: descriptive, exploratory study with quantitative analysis. Data were analyzed using the software R.

A survey of knowledge and practices regarding prevention of unintended pregnancies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the gaps in Kansas physician assistant practices and knowledge regarding prevention of unintended pregnancies with the aim of reducing the unintended pregnancy rate.

Methods: A survey targeting all licensed physician assistants in Kansas (N = 733) was developed based on a literature review of contraceptive behaviors, unintended pregnancy data, and providers' practices.

Results: The response rate was 22%.

A bipartite interaction between Hsp70 and CHIP regulates ubiquitination of chaperoned client proteins.

The ubiquitin ligase CHIP plays an important role in cytosolic protein quality control by ubiquitinating proteins chaperoned by Hsp70/Hsc70 and Hsp90, thereby targeting such substrate proteins for degradation. We present a 2.91 Å resolution structure of the tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain of CHIP in complex with the α-helical lid subdomain and unstructured tail of Hsc70.

Maternal mood and concordant maternal and infant salivary cortisol during heel lance while in kangaroo care.

Background: Maternal kangaroo care (MKC) is a naturalistic intervention that alleviates neonatal pain, and mothers are assumed to play a stress regulatory role in MKC. Yet, no MKC infant pain study has examined relationship between maternal and infant stress reactivity concurrently, or whether post-partum depression and/or anxiety (PPDA) alters maternal and neonatal stress response and the regulatory effects of MKC.

Objectives: To examine the concordance of salivary cortisol reactivity between 42 mothers and their stable preterm infants during routine infant heel lance (HL) while in MKC and to compare salivary cortisol between groups of mothers with and without PPDA and their infants.

Crystal structure of the nucleotide-binding domain of mortalin, the mitochondrial Hsp70 chaperone.

Mortalin, a member of the Hsp70-family of molecular chaperones, functions in a variety of processes including mitochondrial protein import and quality control, Fe-S cluster protein biogenesis, mitochondrial homeostasis, and regulation of p53. Mortalin is implicated in regulation of apoptosis, cell stress response, neurodegeneration, and cancer and is a target of the antitumor compound MKT-077. Like other Hsp70-family members, Mortalin consists of a nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) and a substrate-binding domain.

[Human milk for neonatal pain relief during ophthalmoscopy].

Ophthalmoscopy performed for the early diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is painful for preterm infants, thus necessitating interventions for minimizing pain. The present study aimed to establish the effectiveness of human milk, compared with sucrose, for pain relief in premature infants subjected to ophthalmoscopy for the early diagnosis of ROP. This investigation was a pilot, quasi-experimental study conducted with 14 premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a university hospital.

Interaction of antimicrobial preservatives with blow-fill-seal packs: correlating sorption with solubility parameters.

The aim of this work was to study the interaction of four commonly used ophthalmic antimicrobial preservatives [benzyl alcohol (BA), chlorbutol (CBL), benzalkonium chloride (BKC), and chlorhexidine gluconate (CG)] with Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) packs. Effect of packaging material [low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP)], humidity (25% RH, 75% RH) and concentration (0.5, 1.

Sorption of antimicrobial agents in blow-fill-seal packs.

The present work studies the interaction of methyl paraben (MPB) and propyl paraben (PPB), two widely used antimicrobial agents in multi-dose ophthalmic formulations, with 5 mL, low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) blow-fill-seal (BFS) packs, by subjecting the systems to accelerated stability conditions of 40°C/25% RH. The effect of pH, paraben concentration, and relative humidity (RH) on the sorption loss of both the parabens was studied. Additionally, the effects of buffer species and buffer strength on MPB sorption were studied.

Degradation of parabens by Pseudomonas beteli and Burkholderia latens.

p-Hydroxybenzoic acid esters (parabens) are commonly used antimicrobial preservatives in pharmaceutical formulations. Two microorganisms, isolated from non-sterile methyl paraben (MP) and propyl paraben (PP) solutions, were found to degrade the respective parabens. Identification by 16S rRNA partial gene sequencing revealed them to be Pseudomonas beteli and Burkholderia latens, respectively.

Ablation of atrial fibrillation utilizing robotic catheter navigation in comparison to manual navigation and ablation: single-center experience.

Background: Robotic catheter navigation and ablation either with magnetic catheter driving or with electromechanical guidance have emerged in the recent years for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare our center's experience of atrial fibrillation ablation using the Hansen Robotic Medical System with our current manual ablation technique in terms of acute and chronic success, as well as procedure time and radiation exposure to both the patient and the operator.

Methods: A total of 390 consecutive patients with symptomatic and drug-resistant atrial fibrillation (289 males, 62 +/- 11 years) were prospectively enrolled in the study.

Planned early birth versus expectant management (waiting) for prelabour rupture of membranes at term (37 weeks or more).

Background: Prelabour rupture of membranes at term is managed expectantly or by elective birth, but it is not clear if waiting for birth to occur spontaneously is better than intervening.

Objectives: To assess the effects of planned early birth versus expectant management for women with term prelabour rupture of membranes on fetal, infant and maternal wellbeing.

Search Strategy: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group Trials Register (November 2004), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library, Issue 4, 2004), MEDLINE (1966 to November 2004) and EMBASE (1974 to November 2004).

Oral betamimetics for maintenance therapy after threatened preterm labour.

Background: Some women who have threatened to give birth prematurely, subsequently settle. They may then take oral tocolytic maintenance therapy to prevent preterm birth and to prolong gestation.

Objectives: To assess the effects of oral betamimetic maintenance therapy after threatened preterm labour for preventing preterm birth.

Engineering select physical properties of cross-linked red blood cells and a simple a priori estimation of their efficacy as an oxygen delivery vehicle within the context of a hepatic hollow fiber bioreactor.

Bovine red blood cells (bRBCs) can potentially provide a simplistic and economic means of improving oxygenation within hollow fiber (HF) bioreactor cell cultures. Bovine RBCs are also interesting since many of their physical properties can be altered as a result of glutaraldehyde (G) cross-linking. Cross-linking bRBCs produces an oxygen carrier that is expected to be beneficial under specific circumstances (i.

Treatment for women with postpartum iron deficiency anaemia.

Background: Postpartum anaemia is associated with breathlessness, tiredness, palpitations and maternal infections. Blood transfusions or iron supplementation have been used in the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia. Recently other anaemia treatments, in particular erythropoietin therapy, have also been used.

Single or multiple embryo transfer following in vitro fertilisation for improved neonatal outcome: a systematic review of the literature.

Background: The aim of the current review was to determine if single versus two or more embryos, or double versus three or more embryos, transferred to the woman of a subfertile couple at in vitro fertilisation (IVF) maximises the likelihood of pregnancy, while minimising the likelihood of multiple pregnancy and adverse sequelae.

Methods: Studies were identified that reported maternal, infant and cost outcomes following embryo transfer at IVF.

Results: Three randomised trials and 17 cohort studies were included.

[Uterine rupture at the Niamey Central Maternity Reference Center, Nigeria. Epidemiologic features and prevention strategies].

The authors have documented 50 cases of U.R., out 2,151 normal deliveries.