Intracranial Empyema in Children: A Single-center Retrospective Case Series.

We conducted a retrospective, observational study of 42 children with intracranial empyema admitted to a pediatric neurosurgical center over a 9-year period. Intracranial empyema is rare, but causes significant morbidity and mortality. Twenty-eight cases had neurosurgical source control, more commonly for subdural collections.

A systematic review of economic evaluations of interventions targeting childhood overweight and obesity.

This systematic review critically appraised and synthesized evidence from economic evaluations of interventions targeting childhood excess weight. We conducted systematic searches in 11 databases from inception to April 19, 2023. Studies were eligible if they evaluated interventions targeting children up to 18 years and the study intervention(s) targeted childhood excess weight or sought to improve diet or physical activity, regardless of the type of economic evaluation or the underpinning study design.

COVID-19 Vaccines: Ensuring Social Justice and Health Equity among Refugees in Africa.

COVID-19 poses a particular threat to refugees in Africa. Overcrowded living conditions and lack of effective sanitation make refugees highly vulnerable to infection. Furthermore, migration has the potential to undermine measures to control viral spread.

COVID-19 and its threat to refugees in Africa.

Although it is widely accepted that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has adversely affected the Global South's most vulnerable refugee communities, they have received little attention. There have been gaps in testing, which is fundamental to treat and isolate patients and make data-driven decisions to protect the refugee community. Therefore, it is imperative to holistically implement policies to curtail COVID-19 in refugee camps to ensure that refugees are safe and protected from the pandemic.

Site-specific conjugation of antifreeze proteins onto polymer-stabilized nanoparticles.

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) have many potential applications, ranging from cryobiology to aerospace, if they can be incorporated into materials. Here, a range of engineered AFP mutants were prepared and site-specifically conjugated onto RAFT polymer-stabilized gold nanoparticles to generate new hybrid multivalent ice growth inhibitors. Only the SNAP-tagged AFPs lead to potent 'antifreeze' active nanomaterials with His-Tag capture resulting in no activity, showing the mode of conjugation is essential.

Double-Modified Glycopolymers from Thiolactones to Modulate Lectin Selectivity and Affinity.

Multivalent glycomaterials show high affinity toward lectins but are often nonselective as they lack the precise 3-D presentation found in native glycans. Here, thiolactone chemistry is exploited to enable the synthesis of glycopolymers with both a primary binding (galactose) and a variable secondary binding unit in close proximity to each other on the linker. These polymers are used to target the Cholera toxin B subunit, CTxB, inspired by its native branched glycan target, GM-1.

Multivalent Presentation of Ice Recrystallization Inhibiting Polymers on Nanoparticles Retains Activity.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has emerged as the most potent mimic of antifreeze (glyco)proteins ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity, despite its lack of structural similarities and flexible, rather than rigid, backbone. The precise spacing of hydroxyl groups is hypothesized to enable PVA to recognize the prism planes of ice but not the basal plane, due to hydroxyl pattern matching of the ice surface giving rise to the macroscopic activity. Here, well-defined PVA derived from reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization is immobilized onto gold nanoparticles to enable the impact of nanoscale assembly and confinement on the observed IRI activity.

Multivalent Antimicrobial Polymer Nanoparticles Target Mycobacteria and Gram-Negative Bacteria by Distinct Mechanisms.

Because of the emergence of antimicrobial resistance to traditional small-molecule drugs, cationic antimicrobial polymers are appealing targets. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a particular problem, with multi- and total drug resistance spreading and more than a billion latent infections globally. This study reports nanoparticles bearing variable densities of poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) and the unexpected and distinct mechanisms of action this multivalent presentation imparts against Escherichia coli versus Mycobacterium smegmatis (model of M.

Synthesis and characterisation of glucose-functional glycopolymers and gold nanoparticles: study of their potential interactions with ovine red blood cells.

Carbohydrate-protein interactions can assist with the targeting of polymer- and nano-delivery systems. However, some potential protein targets are not specific to a single cell type, resulting in reductions in their efficacy due to undesirable non-specific cellular interactions. The glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1) is expressed to different extents on most cells in the vasculature, including human red blood cells and on cancerous tissue.