Unveiling the Silent Crisis Amidst Tackling Hepatitis B in African Prisons - A Public Health Emergency.

Background: Hepatitis B is one of the major global health issues, which presents a particularly severe challenge within the confines of African prisons, characterized by high rates of transmission and limited access to adequate healthcare. The prevalence of Hepatitis B in these settings represents a silent crisis.

Objective: This research highlights the critical public health emergency posed by Hepatitis B in African prisons, underscoring the need for urgent intervention and comprehensive strategies.

A systematic review of the gut microbiome, metabolites, and multi-omics biomarkers across the colorectal cancer care continuum.

The gut microbiome and the microbial metabolome contribute to treatment efficacy and treatment outcomes across the cancer care spectrum. This study systematically reviewed the existing literature between 2007 to March 2022 to elucidate the role of gut microbiota-metabolite biomarkers in colorectal cancer (CRC) care and treatment-related outcomes. Using Covidence, all studies identified were screened by title and abstract, followed by a full-text review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and data extraction.

Beyond the gender binary: a survey of gender marginalization and social boundaries in Australian jazz and improvisation.

Jazz and improvisation have typically been associated with ideals of freedom and liberty; however, in practice these genres are known to be constrained by entrenched patterns of male domination and gender discrimination. Despite a large number of qualitative accounts evidencing persistent sexism and gender exclusion in the field, there exists a lack of empirical data to assess the scale of this phenomenon and substantiate smaller-scale research on gender inequality. In this paper, we employ boundary theory to report on a quantitative investigation of gender marginalization in jazz and improvisation in the Australian context, positioning gender as a symbolic boundary resulting in the social exclusion and marginalization of gender diverse individuals and women.

Novel lactoferrin-conjugated gallium complex to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa wound infection.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the leading causes of opportunistic infections such as chronic wound infection that could lead to multiple organ failure and death. Gallium (Ga) ions are known to inhibit P. aeruginosa growth and biofilm formation but require carrier for localized controlled delivery.

The Effects of Exercise on Telomere Length in Persons With Heart Failure.

Background: Telomere length is reduced in persons with heart failure (HF). Inflammation is a putative mechanism contributing to telomere shortening. Although physical activity is known to increase telomere length, its effects in HF are unknown.

Parallel recovery of chromatin accessibility and gene expression dynamics from frozen human regulatory T cells.

Epigenetic features such as DNA accessibility dictate transcriptional regulation in a cell type- and cell state- specific manner, and mapping this in health vs. disease in clinically relevant material is opening the door to new mechanistic insights and new targets for therapy. Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin Sequencing (ATAC-seq) allows chromatin accessibility profiling from low cell input, making it tractable on rare cell populations, such as regulatory T (Treg) cells.

A feasibility and acceptability study of screening the parents/guardians of pediatric dental patients for the social determinants of health.

Background: The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age. Lack of SDOH training of dental providers on SDOH may result in suboptimal care provided to pediatric dental patients and their families. The purpose of this pilot study is to report the feasibility and acceptability of SDOH screening and referral by pediatric dentistry residents and faculty in the dental clinics of Family Health Centers at NYU Langone (FHC), a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) network in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Effect of difficulty of task on throwing performance and coping strategies in team handball.

In this study the effect of level of opposition on throwing performance and coping strategies in the jump throw was examined in elite, amateur, and adolescent players in team handball. Twenty four participants consisting of 13 female elite junior handball players (age: 15.5 ± 0.

The associations of maternal and children's gut microbiota with the development of atopic dermatitis for children aged 2 years.

Background: It is critical to investigate the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms in the development of atopic dermatitis. The microbiota hypothesis suggested that the development of allergic diseases may be attributed to the gut microbiota of mother-offspring pairs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among maternal-offspring gut microbiota and the subsequent development of atopic dermatitis in infants and toddlers at 2 years old.

Perceptions of Inclusivity and Sustainability in Urban Sanitation in Global South Cities.

Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) calls for sustainable urban sanitation services for all, but the definitions of "inclusion" and "sustainability" within the framework leave room for interpretation. This study aims to provide an initial understanding of how these terms are currently interpreted by a range of sanitation actors in six cities of the Global South. Urban sanitation professionals from private (n = 16), public (n = 28), non-governmental (n = 43), and academic (n = 10) institutions were interviewed using a standardized tool, and data was analyzed to identify themes and trends.

A Pilot Study of the Gut Microbiota Associated With Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Disturbance Among Chinese and Korean Immigrants in the United States.

Context: Depression is prevalent among Asian Americans (AsA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and depression often leads to sleep disturbance in this population. The gut microbiota (GM) plays a critical role in mental health and sleep quality, and the composition of the GM is largely unknown among AsA.

Objectives: Examine associations of the GM with depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance among Chinese and Korean American immigrants.

Stromal remodeling regulates dendritic cell abundance and activity in the tumor microenvironment.

Stimulatory type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) engage in productive interactions with CD8 effectors along tumor-stroma boundaries. The paradoxical accumulation of "poised" cDC1s within stromal sheets is unlikely to simply reflect passive exclusion from tumor cores. Drawing parallels with embryonic morphogenesis, we hypothesized that invasive margin stromal remodeling generates developmentally conserved cell fate cues that regulate cDC1 behavior.

Differences in progression by surgical specialty: a national cohort study.

Unlabelled: The aim of surgical training across the 10 surgical specialties is to produce competent day 1 consultants. Progression through training in the UK is assessed by the Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP).

Objective: This study aimed to examine variation in ARCP outcomes within surgical training and identify differences in outcomes between specialties.

Long-term perturbation of the peripheral immune system months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly infectious respiratory virus which is responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It is increasingly clear that recovered individuals, even those who had mild COVID-19, can suffer from persistent symptoms for many months after infection, a condition referred to as "long COVID", post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, or post COVID-19 condition. However, despite the plethora of research on COVID-19, relatively little is known about the molecular underpinnings of these long-term effects.

Optimization of Blood Handling and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell Cryopreservation of Low Cell Number Samples.

Background: Rural/remote blood collection can cause delays in processing, reducing PBMC number, viability, cell composition and function. To mitigate these impacts, blood was stored at 4 °C prior to processing. Viable cell number, viability, immune phenotype, and Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) release were measured.

Personal Characteristics Associated with Progression in Trauma and Orthopaedic Specialty Training: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Aim: To identify demographic factors, including protected characteristics, and training specific factors which predict a nonstandard Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP) outcome during Trauma and Orthopedic Specialty training in the United Kingdom (UK).

Method: A longitudinal cohort study using data from UKMED was performed. ARCP outcome was the primary outcome measure.

Exposure to Air Pollution in Rural Malawi: Impact of Cooking Methods on Blood Pressure and Peak Expiratory Flow.

We made static and personal PM measurements with a miniature monitor (RTI MicroPEM) to characterise the exposure of women cooking with wood and charcoal in indoor and outdoor locations in rural Malawi, together with measurements of blood pressure and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). Mean PM concentrations of 1338 and 31 µg/m were observed 1 m from cookstove locations during cooking with wood and charcoal, respectively. Similarly, mean personal PM exposures of 706 and 94 µg/m were observed during cooking with wood and charcoal, respectively.

The quantitative impact of COVID-19 on surgical training in the United Kingdom.

Background: COVID-19 has had a global impact on all aspects of healthcare including surgical training. This study aimed to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on operative case numbers recorded by surgeons in training, and annual review of competency progression (ARCP) outcomes in the UK.

Methods: Anonymized operative logbook numbers were collated from electronic logbook and ARCP outcome data from the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Programme database for trainees in the 10 surgical specialty training specialties.

The impact of frailty on trauma outcomes using the Clinical Frailty Scale.

Background: Population ageing is a worldwide phenomenon; thanks to improvements in medical care and living standards. The Office of National Statistics in the UK predicts that the fastest growing age group in coming decades will be those over 85 years. This is reflected in Trauma Audit and Research Network data, which has highlighted a shift in caseload from a majority of young males to elderly patients at UK Major Trauma Centres (MTC).

The impact of COVID-19 on surgical training: a systematic review.

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused global disruption to health care. Non-urgent elective surgical cases have been cancelled, outpatient clinics have reduced and there has been a reduction in the number of patients presenting as an emergency. These factors will drastically affect the training opportunities of surgical trainees.