Flexible Peptide Linkers Enhance the Antimicrobial Activity of Surface-Immobilized Bacteriolytic Enzymes.

Chemical linkers are frequently used in enzyme immobilization to improve enzyme flexibility and activity, whereas peptide linkers, although ubiquitous in protein engineering, are much less explored in enzyme immobilization. Here, we report peptide-linker-assisted noncovalent immobilization of the bacteriolytic enzyme lysostaphin (Lst) to generate anti- Staphylococcus aureus surfaces. Lst was immobilized through affinity tags onto a silica surface (glass slides) and nickel nitrilotriacetic acid (NiNTA) agarose beads via silica-binding peptides (SiBPs) or a hexahistidine tag (His-tag) fused at the C-terminus of Lst, respectively.

Exploring Social Justice Advocacy in Dietetic Education: A Content Analysis.

Purpose: To explore the extent to which knowledge- and skill-based learning regarding social justice and/or social justice advocacy is included in the course descriptions of required courses of accredited, English-speaking dietitian training programs in Canada.

Methods: This study is a mixed-methods content analysis of required course descriptions sampled from university academic calendars for accredited, English-speaking dietitian training programs across Canada.

Results: Quantitative analysis showed that required course descriptions (n = 403) included few instances of social justice-related terminology (n = 63).

Risk Factors for Manipulation Under Anesthesia and/or Lysis of Adhesions After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Background: In the currently published literature, a higher risk for developing arthrofibrosis after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction has been reported for female patients, adolescents, early surgery or concomitant procedures, and the use of a patellar tendon autograft. There is a lack of evidence regarding other graft choices or factors.

Hypothesis: Multiple risk factors will play a significant role in the development of arthrofibrosis after ACL reconstruction.

Protocol for a program of research from the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit: Promoting optimal aging at home for older adults with multimorbidity.

Background: The goal of the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU) is to promote optimal aging at home for older adults with multimorbidity (≥2 chronic conditions) and to support their family/friend caregivers. This protocol paper reports the rationale and plan for this patient-oriented, cross-jurisdictional research program.

Objectives: The objectives of the ACHRU research program are (i) to codesign integrated and person-centered interventions with older adults, family/friend caregivers, and providers; (ii) to examine the feasibility of newly designed interventions; (iii) to determine the intervention effectiveness on Triple Aim outcomes: health, patient/caregiver experience, and cost; (iv) to examine intervention context and implementation barriers and facilitators; (v) to use diverse integrated knowledge translation (IKT) strategies to engage knowledge users to support scalability and sustainability of effective interventions; and (vi) to build patient-oriented research capacity.

"Please listen to me": A cross-sectional study of experiences of seniors and their caregivers making housing decisions.

Background: Little is known about the decision-making experiences of seniors and informal caregivers facing decisions about seniors' housing decisions when objective decision making measures are used.

Objectives: To report on seniors' and caregivers' experiences of housing decisions.

Design: A cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach supplemented by qualitative data.

Normal fluid stresses are prevalent in rotary ventricular assist devices: A computational fluid dynamics analysis.

Despite the evolution of ventricular assist devices, ventricular assist device patients still suffer from complications due to the damage to blood by fluid dynamic stress. Since rotary ventricular assist devices are assumed to exert mainly shear stress, studies of blood damage are based on shear flow experiments. However, measurements and simulations of cell and protein deformation show normal and shear stresses deform, and potentially damage, cells and proteins differently.

Adapting the Quality Maternal and Newborn Care (QMNC) Framework to evaluate models of antenatal care: A pilot study.

Background: Recent evidence indicates that continuity models of maternity care result in improved clinical and psychosocial outcomes, but their causal mechanisms are poorly understood. The recent Lancet Series on Midwifery's Quality Maternal and Newborn Care Framework describes five components of quality care and their associated characteristics. As an initial step in developing this Framework into an evaluation toolkit, we transformed its components and characteristics into a topic guide to assess stakeholder perceptions and experiences of care provided and received.

Home Care Case Managers' Integrated Care of Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review.

Purpose Of Study: The purpose of this scoping review was to explore peer-reviewed research and gray literature to examine the extent, range, and nature of available research that describes how home care case managers (HCCMs) provide integrated care for older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs); identify how case management standards of practice correspond with functions of integrated care; identify facilitators and barriers to case management and integrated care delivery; and propose a framework to describe how HCCMs can use case management standards to provide integrated care to older adults with MCCs.

Primary Practice Setting: Community, home care settings.

Methodology And Sample: Scoping review; older adults older than 65 years with MCCs, case managers and health care professionals who provide care for older adults with MCCs.

Association of Plasma Lipids and Polar Metabolites with Low Bone Mineral Density in Singaporean-Chinese Menopausal Women: A Pilot Study.

The diagnosis of osteoporosis is mainly based on clinical examination and bone mineral density assessments. The present pilot study compares the plasma lipid and polar metabolite profiles in blood plasma of 95 Singaporean-Chinese (SC) menopausal women with normal and low bone mineral density (BMD) using an untargeted metabolomic approach. The primary finding of this study was the association between lipids and femoral neck BMD in SC menopausal women.

Addressing Racism in Medical Education An Interactive Training Module.

Background And Objectives: Education of health care clinicians on racial and ethnic disparities has primarily focused on emphasizing statistics and cultural competency, with minimal attention to racism. Learning about racism and unconscious processes provides skills that reduce bias when interacting with minority patients. This paper describes the responses to a relationship-based workshop and toolkit highlighting issues that medical educators should address when teaching about racism in the context of pernicious health disparities.

Serum metabolomics using ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in lactating dairy cows following a single dose of sporidesmin.

Introduction: Photosensitization is a common clinical sign in cows suffering from liver damage caused by the mycotoxin sporidesmin. This disease, called facial eczema (FE), is of major importance in New Zealand. Current techniques for diagnosing animals with subclinical sporidesmin-induced liver damage (i.

Temporal pattern of emotions and cognitive load during simulation training and debriefing.

Background: In the simulated clinical environment, there is a perceived benefit to the emotional activation experienced by learners; however, potential harm of excessive and/or negative emotions has also been hypothesized. An improved understanding of the emotional experiences of learners during each phase of the simulation session will inform instructional design.

Methods: In this observational study, we asked 174 first-year medical students about their emotional state upon arrival to the simulation lab (t1).

Automated Syntactic Analysis of Language Abilities in Persons with Mild and Subjective Cognitive Impairment.

In this work we analyze the syntactic complexity of transcribed Swedish-language picture descriptions using a variety of automated syntactic features, and investigate the features' predictive power in classifying narratives from people with subjective and mild cognitive impairment and healthy controls. Our results indicate that while there are no statistically significant differences, syntactic features can still be moderately successful at distinguishing the participant groups when used in a machine learning framework.

Low pyrrolizidine alkaloid levels in perennial ryegrass is associated with the absence of a homospermidine synthase gene.

Background: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are a class of secondary metabolites that function as feeding deterrents in a range of different plant species. In perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) the only PAs that have been identified are the thesinine-rhamnoside group, which displays significant genetic variation.

A combination of lipidomics, MS imaging, and PET scan imaging reveals differences in cerebral activity in rat pups according to the lipid quality of infant formulas.

We evaluated the effect of adding docosahexaenoic:arachidonic acids (3:2) (DHA+ARA) to 2 representative commercial infant formulas on brain activity and brain and eye lipids in an artificially reared rat pup model. The formula lipid background was either a pure plant oil blend, or dairy fat with a plant oil blend (1:1). Results at weaning were compared to breast milk-fed pups.

Experimental measurement and numerical modelling of dye washout for investigation of blood residence time in ventricular assist devices.

Ventricular assist devices have become the standard therapy for end-stage heart failure. However, their use is still associated with severe adverse events related to the damage done to the blood by fluid dynamic stresses. This damage relates to both the stress magnitude and the length of time the blood is exposed to that stress.

Distribution of fatty acids and phospholipids in different table cuts and co-products from New Zealand pasture-fed Wagyu-dairy cross beef cattle.

Wagyu beef products are marketed as luxury goods to discerning consumers and the lipid content and composition are important drivers of wagyu product value. Wagyu beef is an extensively marbled meat product, well characterised for its tenderness and flavour. In New Zealand, pasture-fed Wagyu-dairy beef production is increasing to meet demand for ultra-premium meat products.

Multiplexed Profiling of Single Extracellular Vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are a family of cell-originating, membrane-enveloped nanoparticles with diverse biological function, diagnostic potential, and therapeutic applications. While EV can be abundant in circulation, their small size (∼4 order of magnitude smaller than cells) has necessitated bulk analyses, making many more nuanced biological explorations, cell of origin questions, or heterogeneity investigations impossible. Here we describe a single EV analysis (SEA) technique which is simple, sensitive, multiplexable, and practical.

Community Program Improves Quality of Life and Self-Management in Older Adults with Diabetes Mellitus and Comorbidity.

Objectives: To compare the effect of a 6-month community-based intervention with that of usual care on quality of life, depressive symptoms, anxiety, self-efficacy, self-management, and healthcare costs in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 2 or more comorbidities.

Design: Multisite, single-blind, parallel, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Four communities in Ontario, Canada.