Referral Networks, Racial Inequity, and Hospital Quality for Open Heart Surgery.

Background: Differences in the quality of hospitals where Black and White patients receive coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery have been documented. We examined the contributions of physician networks to the gap.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of all Medicare fee-for-service Black and White patients undergoing elective CABG during 2017 to 2019; the primary care physicians and cardiologists treating them for 12 months before surgery (the patients' physician network); and CABG-performing hospitals within 100 miles of each patient.

How to Diagnose Abhorrent Science.

What makes certain scientific research controversial? And when does scientific research go beyond being merely controversial to be something far worse? We propose a diagnostic framework for distinguishing between scientific research that is merely controversial and that which is abhorrent. Our framework places research projects along two axes of a value-harm map. Most research, fortunately, is both valuable and harmless.

Longitudinal changes in tenofovir and tenofovir-diphosphate concentrations among pregnant women using oral PrEP for HIV prevention: Findings from Durban, South Africa.

Background: Pregnant women are vulnerable to HIV acquisition. Oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is safe and effective for use during pregnancy. We describe PrEP adherence among pregnant women using multiple measures.

Use of tenofovir-based PrEP among pregnant women in South Africa.

Objective: We developed Healthy Families-PrEP to support perinatal women to use HIV prevention strategies.

Design: Single arm study to evaluate PrEP use among pregnant women exposed to the intervention.

Methods: We offered safer conception counselling including TDF/FTC as PrEP with adherence support (Healthy Families-PrEP) for women planning for pregnancy in South Africa with a partner with HIV or unknown serostatus.

Effect of pandemic influenza A virus PB1 genes of avian origin on viral RNA polymerase activity and pathogenicity.

Zoonotic influenza A virus (IAV) infections pose a substantial threat to global health. The influenza RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) comprises the PB2, PB1, and PA proteins. Of the last four pandemic IAVs, three featured avian-origin PB1 genes.