Biotics and bacterial function: impact on gut and host health.

The human gut microbiota, the vast community of microbes inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract, plays a pivotal role in maintaining health. Bacteria are the most abundant organism, and the composition of bacterial communities is strongly influenced by diet. Gut bacteria can degrade complex dietary carbohydrates to produce bioactive compounds such as short-chain fatty acids.

Classifying compounds as prebiotics - scientific perspectives and recommendations.

Microbiomes provide key contributions to health and potentially important therapeutic targets. Conceived nearly 30 years ago, the prebiotic concept posits that targeted modulation of host microbial communities through the provision of selectively utilized growth substrates provides an effective approach to improving health. Although the basic tenets of this concept remain the same, it is timely to address certain challenges pertaining to prebiotics, including establishing that prebiotic-induced microbiota modulation causes the health outcome, determining which members within a complex microbial community directly utilize specific substrates in vivo and when those microbial effects sufficiently satisfy selectivity requirements, and clarification of the scientific principles on which the term 'prebiotic' is predicated to inspire proper use.

The association of experiences of medical mistrust and mistreatment and ever considering self-managing an abortion.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of ever considering self-managing an abortion (SMA) and its associations with experiences of medical mistrust and mistreatment in a nationally representative sample.

Study Design: In 2021-22, we conducted a national, cross-sectional, online probability-based survey of US people assigned female at birth ages 15-49. Among those who had ever been pregnant, we ran weighted multivariable logistic regressions to examine whether having had difficulty trusting medical providers and/or experiencing medical mistreatment was associated with SMA consideration.

Insights into retrofitting fellowships in family planning with principles of equality, race, and cultural literacy.

Unlabelled: The Centering Equality, Race, and Cultural Literacy in Family Planning (CERCL-FP) program aims to break racial silence and dismantle structural racism in the field of family planning, by providing racial equity workshops and trainings.

Objective: The objective of this study was to begin a multi-phased, rigorous evaluation to determine the impact and outcomes of the work of CERCL-FP.

Study Design: A needs assessment with former graduates and current directors of fellowships in family planning was conducted using qualitative interviews.

Developing an Educational Resource Aimed at Improving Adolescent Digital Health Literacy: Using Co-Design as Research Methodology.

Background: Adolescence is a key developmental period that affects lifelong health and is impacted by adolescents regularly engaging with digital health information. Adolescents need digital health literacy (DHL) to effectively evaluate the quality and credibility of such information, and to navigate an increasingly complex digital health environment. Few educational resources exist to improve DHL, and few have involved adolescents during design.

Optical perturbation of Agtr1a-containing neurons and afferents within the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract modulates sodium intake.

Angiotensin-II (Ang-II) production is driven by deviations in blood volume and osmolality, and serves the role of regulating blood pressure and fluid intake to maintain cardiovascular and hydromineral homeostasis. These actions are mediated by Ang-II acting on its type 1a receptor (AT1aR) within the central nervous system and periphery. Of relevance, AT1aR are expressed on sensory afferents responsible for conveying cardiovascular information to the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS).

"Because I Was a Criminal and Drug Addict.": Experiences of Anti-Black Gendered Racism and Reproductive Injustice Among Black Pregnant and Postpartum Women with a Substance Use Disorder and Incarceration and Family Policing Histories.

Racism pervades the US criminal legal and family policing systems, particularly impacting cases involving women with a history of a substance use disorder (SUD). Laws criminalizing SUD during pregnancy disproportionately harm Black women, as do family policing policies around family separation. Discrimination within intersecting systems may deter Black pregnant women with a SUD from seeking evidence-based pregnancy and substance use care.

Grace Under Pressure: a mixed methods impact assessment of a verbatim theatre intervention to improve healthcare workplace culture.

Background: Healthcare workplace mistreatment has been documented globally. Poor workplace behaviour, ranging from incivility to bullying and harassment, is common in healthcare, and contributes significantly to adverse events in healthcare, poor mental health among healthcare workers, and to attrition in the healthcare workforce, particularly in junior years. Poor workplace behaviour is often normalised, and is difficult to address.

An Economic Evaluation of a Web-Based Management Support System for Children With Urinary Incontinence: The eADVICE Trial.

Purpose: Children who require specialist outpatient care typically wait substantial periods during which their condition may progress, making treatment more difficult and costly. Timely and effective therapy during this period may reduce the need for lengthy specialist care. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of an individualized, evidence-informed, web-based program for children with urinary incontinence awaiting a specialist appointment (Electronic Advice and Diagnosis Via the Internet following Computerized Evaluation [eADVICE]) compared to usual care.

Acceptability of hepatitis C screening and treatment during pregnancy in pregnant women in Egypt, Pakistan, and Ukraine: A cross-sectional survey.

Chronic hepatitis C (HCV) in women of childbearing age is a major public health concern with ∼15 million women aged 15-49 years living with HCV globally in 2019. Evidence suggests HCV in pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy and infant outcomes. This includes ∼6% risk of infants acquiring HCV vertically, and this is the leading cause of HCV in children globally.

Evaluation of the Accuracy, Credibility, and Readability of Statin-Related Websites: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) represents the greatest burden of mortality worldwide, and statins are the most commonly prescribed drug in its management. A wealth of information pertaining to statins and their side effects is on the internet; however, to date, no assessment of the accuracy, credibility, and readability of this information has been undertaken.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the quality (accuracy, credibility, and readability) of websites likely to be visited by the general public undertaking a Google search of the side effects and use of statin medications.

Xylazine co-occurrence with illicit fentanyl is a growing threat in the Deep South: a retrospective study of decedent data.

Background: Xylazine is a dangerous veterinary sedative found mainly in illicit fentanyl in the Northeast and Midwest. Its role in the Deep South overdose crisis is not well-characterized.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of autopsy data in Jefferson County, Alabama to identify trends in xylazine prevalence among people who fatally overdosed from June 2019 through June 2023.

Post-mortem formation of ethanol: Is 1-propanol a reliable marker? A proof-of-concept study using an in vitro putrefactive environment setup.

Ethanol is the psychoactive substance identified most frequently in post-mortem specimens. Unfortunately, interpreting post-mortem ethanol concentrations can be difficult because of post-mortem alcohol redistribution and the possibility of post-mortem alcohol neogenesis. Indeed, in the time interval between death and sample collection, the decedent may be exposed to non-controlled environments for an extended period, promoting microbial colonization.

Alleviating Hypertension by Selectively Targeting Angiotensin Receptor-Expressing Vagal Sensory Neurons.

Cardiovascular homeostasis is maintained, in part, by neural signals arising from arterial baroreceptors that apprise the brain of blood volume and pressure. Here, we test whether neurons within the nodose ganglia that express angiotensin type-1a receptors (referred to as NG) serve as baroreceptors that differentially influence blood pressure (BP) in male and female mice. Using -Cre mice and Cre-dependent AAVs to direct tdTomato to NG, neuroanatomical studies revealed that NG receive input from the aortic arch, project to the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), and synthesize mechanosensitive ion channels, To evaluate the functionality of NG, we directed the fluorescent calcium indicator (GCaMP6s) or the light-sensitive channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) to -containing neurons.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Web-Based Management Support System for Children With Urinary Incontinence: The eADVICE Trial.

Purpose: Children referred to specialist outpatient clinics by primary care providers often have long waiting times before being seen. We assessed whether an individualized, web-based, evidence-informed management support for children with urinary incontinence while waiting reduced requests for specialist appointments.

Materials And Methods: A multicenter, waitlisted randomized controlled trial was conducted for children (5-18 years) with urinary incontinence referred to tertiary pediatric continence clinics.

Establishing genetic manipulation for novel strains of human gut bacteria.

Recent years have seen the development of high-accuracy and high-throughput genetic manipulation techniques, which have greatly improved our understanding of genetically tractable microbes. However, challenges remain in establishing genetic manipulation techniques in novel organisms, owing largely to exogenous DNA defence mechanisms, lack of selectable markers, lack of efficient methods to introduce exogenous DNA and an inability of genetic vectors to replicate in their new host. In this review, we describe some of the techniques that are available for genetic manipulation of novel microorganisms.

Support for criminalization of self-managed abortion (SMA): A national representative survey.

Objective: Since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal right to abortion, there is a heightened need to understand public opinion about the criminalization of people who attempt to end their pregnancies outside the formal healthcare setting, referred to as self-managed abortion (SMA).

An Opportunity to See the Heart Defect Physically: Medical Student Experiences of Technology-Enhanced Learning with 3D Printed Models of Congenital Heart Disease.

Unlabelled: Three-dimensional (3D) printing is increasingly used in medical education and paediatric cardiology. A technology-enhanced learning (TEL) module was designed to accompany 3D printed models of congenital heart disease (CHD) to aid in the teaching of medical students. There are few studies evaluating the attitudes and perceptions of medical students regarding their experience of learning about CHD using 3D printing.

Reducing Fear to Help Build Healthy Families: Investing in Non-Punitive Approaches to Helping People with Substance Use Disorder.

Background: Many pregnant and parenting people with substance use disorders (SUD) refrain from seeking perinatal care or treatment for their SUD for fear of being treated poorly by health care providers and/or triggering a child welfare investigation. For those who do seek treatment, there are relatively few clinicians willing and able to prescribe medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) to pregnant people. Both stigma and lack of access to treatment put many pregnant and parenting people at risk.