Disproportionate preponderance of HPV genotypes associated with anogenital warts among HIV-positive MSM.

Background: In this study, we characterized the HPV genotype distribution in a population of 489 adults already positive for HPV DNA. The study population was divided into two groups: 244 HIV-positive (HIV+) men who have sex with men (MSM) undergoing routine anal screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and 245 women undergoing routine cervical cancer screening. Acknowledging the fact that women and MSM represent two independent circles of sexual practices, which are-largely-exclusive of each other, we were interested in determining if particular genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) disproportionately predominate in one of these circles compared to the other.

Convenings as a tool for enhancing implementation strategies: lessons from the Black Women First initiative.

Background: The Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project identified 73 strategies for supporting the implementation of a novel intervention and evidence-informed practices. In this paper, we explore convenings, which engage stakeholders in proactive dialogues, as a mechanism to deliver multiple strategies that support sites adapting and implementing evidence-informed bundled interventions for Black women with HIV.

Methods: We use an instrumental case study design to explore strategies embedded in biannual convenings hosted by the Black Women First Initiative (BWF) Evaluation and Technical Assistance Provider (ETAP).

Frozen/Thawed Samples Can Replace Fresh Samples for Assignment of ISI to Secondary Thromboplastin Standards for Multiple Reagent/Instrument Combinations: Data to Support Possible Revision of WHO Guidelines.

Background: Calibration of thromboplastins is required for accurate calculation of the international normalised ratio (INR). Accurate INR results are required for optimal dosing of vitamin K antagonists. Decreases in vitamin K antagonist usage have made the recruitment of sample sets for international sensitivity index (ISI) calibrations more difficult.

Pharyngeal gonococcal infection and the sensitivity of oral gargle samples in comparison to self-collected throat swabs for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae in persons in Tyrol, Austria.

Purpose: Asymptomatic pharyngeal gonorrhoea could play an important role in transmission and should be screened for in persons at risk. We investigated the sensitivity of oral gargle samples to detect N. gonorrhoea and describe the frequency of infection by anatomical site.

The effect of vibrotactile stimulation on hypoxia-induced irregular breathing and apnea in preterm rabbits.

Background: Manual tactile stimulation is used to counteract apnea in preterm infants, but it is unknown when this intervention should be applied. We compared an anticipatory to a reactive approach using vibrotactile stimulation to prevent hypoxia induced apneas.

Methods: Preterm rabbit kittens were prematurely delivered and randomized to either group.

Sustained inflation improves initial lung aeration in newborn rabbits with a diaphragmatic hernia.

Background: Infants with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (DH) have underdeveloped lungs and require mechanical ventilation after birth, but the optimal approach is unknown. We hypothesised that sustained inflation (SI) increases lung aeration in newborn kittens with a DH.

Methods: In pregnant New Zealand white rabbits, a left-sided DH was induced in two fetal kittens per doe at 24-days gestation (term = 32 days); litter mates acted as controls.

All-cause hospitalisation among people living with HIV according to gender, mode of HIV acquisition, ethnicity, and geographical origin in Europe and North America: findings from the ART-CC cohort collaboration.

Background: Understanding demographic disparities in hospitalisation is crucial for the identification of vulnerable populations, interventions, and resource planning.

Methods: Data were from the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC) on people living with HIV in Europe and North America, followed up between January, 2007 and December, 2020. We investigated differences in all-cause hospitalisation according to gender and mode of HIV acquisition, ethnicity, and combined geographical origin and ethnicity, in people living with HIV on modern combination antiretroviral therapy (cART).

Osteoarthritis Disease Severity in the Temporomandibular Joint and the Knee Joint: A Comparative Cadaveric Study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the level of disease severity in a pilot cohort of temporomandibular joints (TMJs) and compare them to the pathology findings previously characterized in cadaveric knee joints.

Design: Thirty-one intact TMJs from 17 cadaveric donors were harvested and arthritic lesioning seen in the knee joint was investigated on the condyle and the fossa of the TMJ. Prevalence of gross alterations was equated and disease severity was determined for sex- and age-based donor pools using a validated, osteoarthritis (OA) disease severity scale (DSS).

Assessing lung aeration using ultrasound after birth in near-term lambs at risk of respiratory distress.

Background: Optimizing respiratory support after birth requires real-time feedback on lung aeration. We hypothesized that lung ultrasound (LUS) can accurately monitor the extent and progression of lung aeration after birth and is closely associated with oxygenation.

Methods: Near-term (140 days gestation, term ∼147 days), spontaneously breathing lambs with normal (controls;  = 10) or elevated lung liquid levels (EL; = 9) were delivered by Caesarean section and monitored for four hours after birth.

Printable Perovskite Diodes for Broad-Spectrum Multienergy X-Ray Detection.

Multienergy X-ray detection is critical to effectively differentiate materials in a variety of diagnostic radiology and nondestructive testing applications. Silicon and selenium X-ray detectors are the most common for multienergy detection; however, these present poor energy discrimination across the broad X-ray spectrum and exhibit limited spatial resolution due to the high thicknesses required for radiation attenuation. Here, an X-ray detector based on solution-processed thin-film metal halide perovskite that overcomes these challenges is introduced.

Microhardness, Indentation Size Effect and Real Hardness of Plastically Deformed Austenitic Hadfield Steel.

Microhardness testing is a widely used method for measuring the hardness property of small-scale materials. However, pronounced indentation size effect (ISE) causes uncertainties when the method is used to estimate the real hardness. In this paper, three austenitic Hadfield steel samples of different plastic straining conditions were subjected to Vickers microhardness testing, using a range of loads from 10 to 1000 g.

Effect of prenatal diaphragmatic hernia on pulmonary arterial morphology.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a major cause of severe lung hypoplasia and pulmonary hypertension in the newborn. While the pulmonary hypertension is thought to result from abnormal vascular development and arterial vasoreactivity, the anatomical changes in vascular development are unclear. We have examined the 3D structure of the pulmonary arterial tree in rabbits with a surgically induced diaphragmatic hernia (DH).

Precise phase retrieval for propagation-based images using discrete mathematics.

The ill-posed problem of phase retrieval in optics, using one or more intensity measurements, has a multitude of applications using electromagnetic or matter waves. Many phase retrieval algorithms are computed on pixel arrays using discrete Fourier transforms due to their high computational efficiency. However, the mathematics underpinning these algorithms is typically formulated using continuous mathematics, which can result in a loss of spatial resolution in the reconstructed images.

Quantifying lung aeration in neonatal lambs at birth using lung ultrasound.

Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a safe and non-invasive tool that can potentially assess regional lung aeration in newborn infants and reduce the need for X-ray imaging. LUS produces images with characteristic artifacts caused by the presence of air in the lung, but it is unknown if LUS can accurately detect changes in lung air volumes after birth. This study compared LUS images with lung volume measurements from high-resolution computed tomography (CT) scans to determine if LUS can accurately provide relative measures of lung aeration.

Accurate measures of changes in regional lung air volumes from chest x-rays of small animals.

. To develop a robust technique for calculating regional volume changes within the lung from x-ray radiograph sequences captured during ventilation, without the use of computed tomography (CT)..

Novel intravesical therapeutics in the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: Horizon scanning.

Introduction: Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is a common and heterogeneous disease; many patients develop recurrent or progress to muscle-invasive disease. Intravesical drug therapy is a pillar in the current management of NMIBC; notwithstanding, Mitomycin C (MMC) and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) have numerous limitations including international supply issues, and local and systemic toxicity. Here we review novel intravesical therapeutic options and drug delivery devices with potential for clinical use in the treatment of NMIBC.

Physoxia Influences Global and Gene-Specific Methylation in Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSC) possess unlimited proliferation, self-renewal, and a differentiation capacity spanning all germ layers. Appropriate culture conditions are important for the maintenance of self-renewal, pluripotency, proliferation, differentiation, and epigenetic states. Oxygen concentrations vary across different human tissues depending on precise cell location and proximity to vascularisation.

Dark-field tomography of an attenuating object using intrinsic x-ray speckle tracking.

We investigate how an intrinsic speckle tracking approach to speckle-based x-ray imaging is used to extract an object's effective dark-field (DF) signal, which is capable of providing object information in three dimensions. The effective DF signal was extracted using a Fokker-Planck type formalism, which models the deformations of illuminating reference beam speckles due to both coherent and diffusive scatter from the sample. Here, we assumed that (a) small-angle scattering fans at the exit surface of the sample are rotationally symmetric and (b) the object has both attenuating and refractive properties.