Publications by authors named "Howe S"

Background: Sow longevity and reproductivity are essential in the modern swine industry. Although many studies have focused on the genetic and genomic factors for selection, little is known about the associations between the microbiome and sows with longevity in reproduction.

Results: In this study, we collected and sequenced rectal and vaginal swabs from 48 sows, nine of which completed up to four parities (U4P group), exhibiting reproductive longevity.

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Carbohydrate (CHO) gels are a staple among endurance athletes. When ingested during competition, CHO gels can improve endurance performance by acting as an external energy substrate, sparing endogenous glycogen, mitigating the risk of hypoglycemia, and engaging the central nervous system via receptors in the mouth and gastrointestinal tract. However, published studies and a growing number of anecdotal reports have raised concerns about possible energy and macronutrient deficiencies in several products.

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Purpose: Skin cancer, a significant global health problem, imposes financial and workload burdens on the Dutch healthcare system. Artificial intelligence (AI) for diagnostic augmentation has gained momentum in dermatology, but despite significant research on adoption, acceptance, and implementation, we lack a holistic understanding of why technologies (do not) become embedded in the healthcare system. This study utilizes the concept of legitimacy, omnipresent but underexplored in health technology studies, to examine assumptions guiding the integration of an AI mHealth app for skin lesion cancer risk assessment in the Dutch healthcare system.

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Breastfeeding is widely regarded as the optimal form of feeding infants, as it provides both nutritional and physiological benefits. For example, breastfed infants generate greater intraoral suction and have higher amplitude muscle activities compared to bottle-fed infants, with downstream implications for motor function, development, and health. One mechanism that might explain these physiological differences is the structure of the nipple an infant is feeding on.

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Background: Dynamic transmission models are often used to provide epidemiological guidance for pandemic policy decisions. However, how economic evaluation is typically incorporated into this technique to generate cost-effectiveness estimates of pandemic policy responses has not previously been reviewed.

Methods: We systematically searched the Embase, PubMed and Scopus databases for dynamic epidemiological modelling studies that incorporated economic evaluation of public health and social measures (PHSMs), with no date restrictions, on 7 July 2024.

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Systemic vaccination of macaques with V1-deleted (ΔV1) envelope immunogens reduce the risk of SIV acquisition by approximately 60%, with protective roles played by V2-specific ADCC and envelope-specific mucosal IL-17NKp44 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). We investigated whether increased mucosal responses to V2 benefit vaccine efficacy by delivering oral nanoparticles (NPs) that release V2-scaffolded on Typhoid Toxin B (TTB) to the large intestine. Strikingly, mucosal immunization of male macaques abrogated vaccine efficacy with control TTB or empty NPs, but vaccine efficacy of up to 47.

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Article Synopsis
  • Social camouflaging (SC) is when autistic people change their behavior to fit in with others, which can sometimes hurt their mental health.
  • A recent study looked at how SC develops, its effects, and why people do it, finding that wanting to protect themselves and connect with others motivates these behaviors.
  • The review showed that SC behaviors are more common in females and pointed out that these behaviors can lead to challenges in relationships and how someone sees themselves.
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Research participants report interest in receiving genetic research results. How best to return results remains unclear. In this randomized pilot study, we sought to assess the feasibility of returning actionable research results through a two-step process including a patient-centered digital intervention as compared with a genetic counselor (GC) in the Penn Medicine biobank.

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We report the isolation and draft genome sequence of a novel member of the bovine nasal microbiota. The genome, which is estimated to be 90.5% complete, is composed of one contig comprising 2,363,349 bp with a GC content of 36.

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Identifying immune correlates of protection is a major challenge in AIDS vaccine development. Anti-Envelope antibodies have been considered critical for protection against SIV/HIV (SHIV) acquisition. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of an SHIV vaccine against SIVmac251 challenge, where the role of antibody was excluded, as there was no cross-reactivity between SIV and SHIV envelope antibodies.

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Introduction: Current vaccines against COVID-19 administered via parenteral route have limited ability to induce mucosal immunity. There is a need for an effective mucosal vaccine to combat SARS-CoV-2 virus replication in the respiratory mucosa. Moreover, sex differences are known to affect systemic antibody responses against vaccines.

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Loss of long-term hematopoietic stem cell (LT-HSC) function ex vivo hampers the success of clinical protocols that rely on culture. However, the kinetics and mechanisms through which this occurs remain incompletely characterized. In this study, through time-resolved single-cell RNA sequencing, matched in vivo functional analysis, and the use of a reversible in vitro system of early G1 arrest, we defined the sequence of transcriptional and functional events that occur during the first ex vivo division of human LT-HSCs.

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Article Synopsis
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a deadly neurodegenerative disease that presents various clinical challenges and complex genetics, complicating understanding and treatment efforts.* -
  • To address this, researchers created human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from different ALS patients - including sporadic and familial cases - as well as healthy controls.* -
  • These iPSCs can be used to develop 2D and 3D models of ALS, aiding in the study of disease mechanisms and the identification of potential therapies.*
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The neural connectivity among the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus is a critical component of infant feeding physiology. Central integration of oral and pharyngeal afferents alters motor outputs to structures that power swallowing, but the potential effects of esophageal afferents on preesophageal feeding physiology are unclear. These effects may explain the prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in infants suffering from gastroesophageal reflux (GER), though the mechanism underlying this relationship remains unknown.

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Objectives: People living in subsidised low-income housing are more likely to smoke and experience secondhand smoke exposure compared to the general population. While tobacco control interventions have yielded substantial population health benefits, people living in subsidised housing experience a greater burden of tobacco-related harms. We synthesised existing peer-reviewed and grey literature to determine tobacco control interventions that have been implemented in subsidised housing globally, and to understand their impact on smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

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Background: Germline cancer genetic testing has become a standard evidence-based practice, with established risk reduction and screening guidelines for genetic carriers. Access to genetic services is limited in many places, which leaves many genetic carriers unidentified and at risk for late diagnosis of cancers and poor outcomes. This poses a problem for childhood cancer survivors, as this is a population with an increased risk for subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMN) due to cancer therapy or inherited cancer predisposition.

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Filgrastim is approved for several indications, including reduction of the incidence and duration of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and for stem cell mobilization. The filgrastim biosimilar, EP2006, has been available in Europe since 2009, and in the United States since 2015. In this time, preclinical and clinical data used to support the approval of EP2006 have been published.

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Background And Objectives: Altered metabolism is observed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, without a standardized methodology to define metabolic changes, our understanding of factors contributing to and the clinical significance of altered metabolism in ALS is limited.

Methods: We aimed to determine how geographic variation in metabolic rates influences estimates and accuracy of predicted resting energy expenditure (REE) in patients with ALS and controls, while validating the effectiveness of cohort-specific approaches in predicting altered metabolic rate in ALS.

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Background: Aotearoa-New Zealand (A/NZ) was the first country to pass a comprehensive commercial tobacco endgame strategy into law. Key components include the denicotinisation of smoked tobacco products and a major reduction in tobacco retail outlets. Understanding the potential long-term economic impacts of such measures is important for government planning.

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The US National Library of Medicine has created and maintained the PubMed® database, a collection of over 33.8 million records that contain citations and abstracts from the biomedical and life sciences literature. This database is an important resource for researchers and information service providers alike.

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Seven-day sublethal toxicity tests were performed with the freshwater invertebrates Ceriodaphnia dubia, Hyalella azteca, and Chironomus dilutus to determine the effects of per- or polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) of varying chain length within four classes: perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs), perfluoroalkane sulfonamides, and fluorotelomer sulfonic acids. In general, toxicity increased with increasing chain length, but the slopes of these relationships varied markedly by species and chemical class. The toxicity of individual PFCAs was similar among species.

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Background: Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most devastating disease affecting beef and dairy cattle producers in North America. An emerging area of interest is the respiratory microbiome's relationship with BRD. However, results regarding the effect of BRD on respiratory microbiome diversity are conflicting.

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