Introduction: For many Kenyans, high-quality primary health care (PHC) services remain unavailable, inaccessible, or unaffordable. To address these challenges, the Government of Kenya has committed to strengthening the country's PHC system by introducing a comprehensive package of PHC services and promoting the efficient use of existing resources through its primary care network approach. Our study estimated the costs of delivering PHC services in public sector facilities in seven sub-counties, comparing actual costs to normative costs of delivering Kenya's PHC package and determining the corresponding financial resource gap to achieving universal coverage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBone tissue engineering is an emerging field of regenerative medicine, with a wide array of biomaterial technologies and therapeutics employed. However, it is difficult to objectively compare these various treatments during various stages of tissue response. Metabolomics is rapidly emerging as a powerful analytical tool to establish broad-spectrum metabolic signatures for a target biological system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMarine deep subsurface sediment is often a microbial environment under energy-limited conditions. However, microbial life has been found to persist and even thrive in deep subsurface environments. The Mariana forearc represents an ideal location for determining how microbial life can withstand extreme conditions including pH 10-12.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Technol Assess Health Care
December 2022
Objective: The objective of Health Technology Assessment International's 6th Latin America Policy Form, held in 2021, was to explore the implementation of deliberative processes in the framework of health technology assessment (HTA) and how agencies in the region could involve stakeholders in this process.
Methods: This paper is based on a preparatory survey, a background document, and the deliberative work of participants at the virtual Forum conducted in 2021. There were ninety-one participants in the open session and fifty-two in the closed sessions, representing twelve countries and diverse areas of the health sector.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care
December 2021
The large population of emaciated horses continues to be an issue troubling the equine industry. However, little is known regarding the collection of equine metabolites (metabolome) during a malnourished state and the changes that occur throughout nutritional rehabilitation. In this study, ten emaciated horses underwent a refeeding process, during which blood samples were collected for a blood chemistry panel and metabolomics analysis via ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To provide an update on the use of health technology assessment (HTA) in Asia and lessons for countries seeking to advance HTA.
Methods: Build upon the research by Chootipongchaivat and the World Health Organization identifying eighteen "factors conducive to the development of HTA in Asia." These factors were used to create a balanced scorecard to assess the progress of HTA, measuring progress against each factor in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Cattle induced to ovulate a small, physiologically immature preovulatory follicle had reduced oocyte developmental competence that resulted in decreased embryo cleavage and day 7 embryo quality compared with animals induced to ovulate a more advanced follicle. RNA-sequencing was performed on oocytes and their corresponding cumulus cells approximately 23 h after gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) administration to induce the preovulatory gonadotropin surge suggested reduced capacity for glucose metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation in the cumulus cells and oocytes from follicles ≤11.7 mm, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeat stress (HS) is devastating to poultry production sustainability worldwide. In addition to its adverse effects on growth, welfare, meat quality, and mortality, HS alters the gut integrity, leading to dysbiosis and leaky gut syndrome; however, the underlying mechanisms are not fully defined. Here, we used a high-throughput mass spectrometric metabolomics approach to probe the metabolite profile in the duodenum of modern broilers exposed to acute (AHS, 2 h) or chronic cyclic (CHS, 8 h/day for 2 weeks) HS in comparison with thermoneutral (TN) and pair-fed birds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSea anemones produce venoms characterized by a complex mixture of low molecular weight compounds, proteins and peptides acting on voltage-gated ion channels. Mammal sperm cells, like neurons, are characterized by their ion channels. Calcium channels seem to be implicated in pivotal roles such as motility and capacitation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMuscle builders frequently consume protein supplements, but little is known about their effect on the gut microbiota. This study compared the gut microbiome and metabolome of self-identified muscle builders who did or did not report consuming a protein supplement. Twenty-two participants (14 males and 8 females) consumed a protein supplement (PS), and seventeen participants (12 males and 5 females) did not (No PS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent scientific evidence suggests that traits energy and fatigue are two unique unipolar moods with distinct mental and physical components. This exploratory study investigated the correlation between mental energy (ME), mental fatigue (MF), physical energy (PE), physical fatigue (PF), and the gut microbiome. The four moods were assessed by survey, and the gut microbiome and metabolome were determined from 16 S rRNA analysis and untargeted metabolomics analysis, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInduced ovulation of small pre-ovulatory follicles reduced pregnancy rates, embryo survival, day seven embryo quality, and successful embryo cleavage in beef cows undergoing fixed-time artificial insemination. RNA-sequencing of oocytes and associated cumulus cells collected from pre-ovulatory follicles 23 h after gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) administration to induce the pre-ovulatory gonadotropin surge suggested reduced capacity for glucose metabolism in cumulus cells of follicles ≤11.7 mm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMotor learning skills are reliable indicators of behavioral acquisition and cognitive disorders. The ease with which learning skills are measured disparities the complexity of the interpretation concerning neural plasticity. Conversely, a wealth of information regarding metabolic derangements has long been reported with direct connection to high sucrose diets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVertebrate decomposition processes have important ecological implications and, in the case of human decomposition, forensic applications. Animals, especially domestic pigs (), are frequently used as human analogs in forensic decomposition studies. However, recent research shows that humans and pigs do not necessarily decompose in the same manner, with differences in decomposition rates, patterns, and scavenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCost Eff Resour Alloc
October 2020
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s12962-018-0127-6.].
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWoody breast (WB) myopathy is significantly impacting modern broilers and is imposing a huge economic burden on the poultry industry worldwide. Yet, its etiology is not fully defined. In a previous study, we have shown that hypoxia and the activation of its upstream mediators (AKT/PI3K/mTOR) played a key role in WB myopathy, and supplementation of quantum blue (QB) can help to reduce WB severity via modulation of hypoxia-related pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe over-enrichment of nitrogen (N) in the environment has contributed to severe and recurring harmful cyanobacterial blooms, especially by the non-N -fixing Microcystis spp. N chemical speciation influences cyanobacterial growth, persistence and the production of the hepatotoxin microcystin, but the physiological mechanisms to explain these observations remain unresolved. Stable-labelled isotopes and metabolomics were employed to address the influence of nitrate, ammonium, and urea on cellular physiology and production of microcystins in Microcystis aeruginosa NIES-843.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Staphylococcus aureus is considered one of the most important human pathogens, and its levels of resistance to methicillin have increased even in strains isolated from people without nosocomial risk factors. Molecular analysis is essential for understanding the patterns of dissemination. The objective of this study was to identify community-acquired methicillin-resistant S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEffective graft technologies for bone repair have been a primary focus in the field of bone tissue engineering. We have previously fabricated and examined a nanocomposite composed of polyurethane, nano-hydroxyapatite, and decellularized bone particles, which demonstrated osteobiologic characteristics. To evaluate the underlying mechanisms of this biomaterial, human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell seeded scaffolds were assessed using a combinatorial approach of transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMembrane lipids are key determinants in the regulation of voltage-gated ion channels. Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP), a native membrane phospholipid, has been involved in the maintenance of the current amplitude and in the voltage-independent regulation of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCC). However, the nature of the PIP regulation on VGCC has not been fully elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in the use of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) to support health technology assessment (HTA) agencies for setting healthcare priorities. However, its implementation to date has been criticized for being "entirely mechanistic," ignoring opportunity costs, and not following best practice guidelines. This article provides guidance on the use of MCDA in this context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of naringenin in healthy adults consuming whole-orange (Citrus sinensis) extract.
Methods And Methods: In a single-ascending-dose randomized crossover trial, 18 adults ingested doses of 150 mg (NAR150), 300 mg (NAR300), 600 mg (NAR600) and 900 mg (NAR900) naringenin or placebo. Each dose or placebo was followed by a wash-out period of at least 1 week.