Developing Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems Comprising an Artemether-Lumefantrine Fixed-Dose Combination to Treat Malaria.

Background: Despite attempts to control malaria, poor drug bioavailability means malaria still places enormous pressure on health globally. It has been found that the solubility of highly lipophilic compounds can be enhanced through lipid formulations, e.g.

UNITY: A low-field magnetic resonance neuroimaging initiative to characterize neurodevelopment in low and middle-income settings.

Measures of physical growth, such as weight and height have long been the predominant outcomes for monitoring child health and evaluating interventional outcomes in public health studies, including those that may impact neurodevelopment. While physical growth generally reflects overall health and nutritional status, it lacks sensitivity and specificity to brain growth and developing cognitive skills and abilities. Psychometric tools, e.

Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Case-Finding Strategies: Scoping Review.

Background: Finding individuals with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is important to control the pandemic and improve patient clinical outcomes. To our knowledge, systematic reviews assessing the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of different DR-TB case-finding strategies to inform research, policy, and practice, have not been conducted and the scope of primary research is unknown.

Objective: We therefore assessed the available literature on DR-TB case-finding strategies.

Illness is more prevalent than injury in trail runners participating in a mountainous ultra trail race.

Objectives: Trail running is a popular off-road sport involving running in natural environments over various terrains, often in remote locations. This study aims to investigate the epidemiology and risk factors of injuries and illnesses, i.e.

Consensus on the definition and attributes of person-centered teamwork: An e-Delphi study.

Background: Effective health care relies on person-centeredness and teamwork, which are known to improve outcomes. These two concepts have been defined individually, but we could not find a definition of the combined concept. A preliminary definition was developed through a concept analysis; however, consensus on the concept has not been reached.

Adherence to heart failure treatment in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Aims: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is characterized by left ventricular (LV) dysfunction developing towards the end of pregnancy or in the first months postpartum. Although about 60% of women with PPCM (the majority of which are prescribed evidence based heart failure [HF] medications) show LV recovery within 6 to 12 months, others remain with persistently impaired LV function. Poor adherence to medical therapy represents a major cause of avoidable hospitalizations, disability, and death in other cardiovascular conditions.

Consensus on the content of an instrument to measure person-centred teamwork: An e-Delphi study.

Aims And Objectives: To establish consensus on items to be included in an instrument to measure person-centred teamwork in a hospital setting. The objective was to identify the items through a methodological literature review. Refine the items and obtain consensus on the items.

Use of global sagittal flexibility to predict proximal junctional kyphosis after spinal deformity surgery.

Objective: Sagittal alignment is an important predictor of functional outcomes after surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD). A rigid spinal column may create a large lever arm that may impact the rate of proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) after ASD surgery. In this study, the authors sought to determine whether relatively low preoperative global spinal flexibility (i.

Mental Health in Ultra-Endurance Runners: A Systematic Review.

Background: Among ultra-endurance runners (UER), the mental, behavioral, and physical demands of training/competition can result in maladaptive outcomes. Mental health issues are common in athletes and can impact psychology, physical health, and performance.

Objective: To synthesize information regarding the incidence/prevalence and factors associated with mental health issues among UER.

First report of Fusarium wilt of Cavendish bananas caused by f. sp. Tropical Race 4 in the Grande Comoros Island.

Fusarium wilt of banana, caused by the soil-borne pathogen f. sp. (Foc), is a major constraint to banana production worldwide (Viljoen .

The effect of psychological factors on financial behaviour among older Australians: Evidence from the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic.

The current study investigated the association between psychological factors and financial behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in older people. Older people were chosen compared to other age groups because of the relatively greater impact in this age group of suboptimal financial decisions on future financial wellbeing. We hypothesised that the psychological factors facilitating general wellbeing during the COVID-I9 pandemic, i.

Permeation of Phytochemicals of Selected Psychoactive Medicinal Plants across Excised Sheep Respiratory and Olfactory Epithelial Tissues.

The intranasal route of drug administration offers an opportunity to bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver compounds directly into the brain. Scientific evidence exists for medicinal plants (e.g.

A Global Assessment of the State of Plant Health.

The Global Plant Health Assessment (GPHA) is a collective, volunteer-based effort to assemble expert opinions on plant health and disease impacts on ecosystem services based on published scientific evidence. The GPHA considers a range of forest, agricultural, and urban systems worldwide. These are referred to as (Ecoregion × Plant System), i.

A prospective study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vitamin E and levocarnitine prophylaxis against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in adult breast cancer patients.

Background: Doxorubicin induces acute and chronic cardiotoxicity. This study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vitamin E and levocarnitine (EL) as cardioprotective agents against acute doxorubicin cardiotoxicity in female adult breast cancer patients.

Methods: A prospective, randomized controlled study was conducted in patients treated with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC).

Maternal and Paternal Dietary Quality and Dietary Inflammation Associations with Offspring DNA Methylation and Epigenetic Biomarkers of Aging in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Study.

Background: Early-life nutritional exposures may contribute to offspring epigenetic modifications. However, few studies have evaluated parental dietary quality effects on offspring DNA methylation (DNAm).

Objectives: We aim to fill this gap by elucidating the influence of maternal and paternal whole-diet quality and inflammatory potential on offspring DNAm in the Lifeways Cross-generation cohort.

The staphylococcal biofilm protein Aap mediates cell-cell adhesion through mechanically distinct homophilic and lectin interactions.

The accumulation phase of staphylococcal biofilms relies on both the production of an extracellular polysaccharide matrix and the expression of bacterial surface proteins. A prototypical example of such adhesive proteins is the long multidomain protein Aap (accumulation-associated protein) from , which mediates zinc-dependent homophilic interactions between Aap B-repeat regions through molecular forces that have not been investigated yet. Here, we unravel the remarkable mechanical strength of single Aap-Aap homophilic bonds between living bacteria and we demonstrate that intercellular adhesion also involves sugar binding through the lectin domain of the Aap A region.

A multi-species evaluation of digital wildlife monitoring using the Sigfox IoT network.

Bio-telemetry from small tags attached to animals is one of the principal methods for studying the ecology and behaviour of wildlife. The field has constantly evolved over the last 80 years as technological improvement enabled a diversity of sensors to be integrated into the tags (e.g.

An Investigation on Drug Permeability of Sheep Nasal Epithelial Tissue Membranes from the Respiratory and Olfactory Regions.

Background: Besides systemic drug delivery, the intranasal route of administration has shown potential for direct nose-to-brain drug delivery, which has gained popularity because it bypasses the blood-brain barrier.

Objective: The region in the nose from which the epithelial tissue membrane is excised to conduct ex vivo permeation studies for nasal drug delivery studies may be of importance, but the permeability of the epithelium from the different nasal regions has not yet been investigated in the sheep model.

Methods: The permeation of five selected model compounds (i.

CT Utilization in a Level One Trauma Center in South Africa.

Introduction Computed tomography (CT) imaging forms an important component in the evaluation and management of patients with traumatic injuries. Many South African emergency departments (EDs) have a significant trauma-related workload, especially in the public sector, where there are limitations in resources relating to CT scanners. It is important to gauge the impact of traumatic injuries on CT utilization.

Safety and Efficacy of the NVX-CoV2373 Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine at Completion of the Placebo-Controlled Phase of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The recombinant protein-based vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, demonstrated 89.7% efficacy against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a phase 3, randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled trial in the United Kingdom. The protocol was amended to include a blinded crossover.

Retention of medical officers in the district health services of the Western Cape, South Africa: An exploratory descriptive qualitative study.

Background: An adequate health workforce is an essential building block of effective health systems. In South Africa, medical officers (MOs) are a key component of service delivery in district health services. The Stellenbosch University Family Physician Research Network in the Western Cape identified that retention of MOs was a key issue.

Propolis: chemical diversity and challenges in quality control.

Unlabelled: Propolis is a resinous natural product produced by honeybees using beeswax and plant exudates. The chemical composition of propolis is highly complex, and varies with region and season. This inherent chemical variability presents several challenges to its standardisation and quality control.