Efficacy and Safety of DRG/3TC for Prophylaxis of HIV Perinatal Transmission: A Pilot Study (PREGNANCY).

Background: The prevention of perinatal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission depends on the safe and effective use of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Simplifying treatment reduces drug exposure for both mother and child. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of dolutegravir (DTG) plus lamivudine (3TC) for antiretroviral-naive pregnant women with HIV.

Biotechnological potential of silver nanoparticles synthesized by green method to control phytopathogenic bacteria: contributions from a proteomic analysis.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized through green synthesis routes are widely used as antimicrobial agents due to their advantages such as biocompatibility, stability, sustainability, speed and cost-effectiveness. Although AgNPs appear to be more potent than silver ions, the mechanisms related to their antibacterial activity are not yet fully understood. The most common proposed mechanism of AgNPs' toxicity so far is the release of silver ions and/or specific functions of the particles.

Usefulness of mindfulness for the management of anxiety, stress, and quality of life in infertile women. A clinical exploratory study.

Background: Infertility increases stress and affects life quality. Mindfulness reduces stress and improves life quality, but its role in infertility remains unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of mindfulness on stress and quality of life of women with infertility.

APR-246 as a radiosensitization strategy for mutant p53 cancers treated with alpha-particles-based radiotherapy.

Radiation therapy (RT) remains a common treatment for cancer patients worldwide, despite the development of targeted biological compounds and immunotherapeutic drugs. The challenge in RT lies in delivering a lethal dose to the cancerous site while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues. Low linear energy transfer (low-LET) and high linear energy transfer (high-LET) radiations have distinct effects on cells.

First measurements of radon-220 diffusion in mice tumors, towards treatment planning in diffusing alpha-emitters radiation therapy.

Background: Diffusing alpha-emitters radiation therapy ("Alpha-DaRT") is a new method for treating solid tumors with alpha particles, relying on the release of the short-lived alpha-emitting daughter atoms of radium-224 from interstitial sources inserted into the tumor. Alpha-DaRT tumor dosimetry is governed by the spread of radium's progeny around the source, as described by an approximate framework called the "diffusion-leakage model". The most important model parameters are the diffusion lengths of radon-220 and lead-212, and their estimation is therefore essential for treatment planning.

Proteomics: Unraveling the Cross Talk Between Innate Immunity and Disease Pathophysiology, Diagnostics, and Treatment Options.

Inflammation is crucial in diseases, and proteins play a key role in the interplay between innate immunity and pathology. This review explores how proteomics helps understanding this relationship, focusing on diagnosis and treatment. We explore the dynamic innate response and the significance of proteomic techniques in deciphering the complex network of proteins involved in prevalent diseases, including infections, cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders.

Small-vessel vasculitis leading to severe acute kidney injury after ipilimumab: a case report.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are effective monoclonal antibodies used in cancer treatment, particularly in metastatic melanoma. They target proteins responsible for cancer cells evading the immune system. However, their use can lead to immune-related adverse events, with the skin and gastrointestinal tract being commonly affected.

Risk factors for low humoral response to BNT-162b2 in hemodialysis patients.

Introduction: Maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients are at higher risk of both infection and mortality associated with the new SARS-CoV-2. Immunization through large-scale vaccination is the cornerstone of infection prevention in this population. This study aims to identify risk factors for low response to the BNT-162b2 (Pfizer BioNTech) vaccine in an HD cohort.

Extracellular vesicles of the Gram-positive gut symbiont Bifidobacterium longum induce immune-modulatory, anti-inflammatory effects.

The gut microbiota is now well known to affect the host's immune system. One way of bacterial communication with host cells is via the secretion of vesicles, small membrane structures containing various cargo. Research on vesicles secreted by Gram-positive gut bacteria, their mechanisms of interaction with the host and their immune-modulatory effects are still relatively scarce.

Variation in hypodermic radular teeth of the snail auger Hastula cinerea (Born, 1778) (Gastropoda:Terebridae).

Gastropods of the superfamily Conoidea are present in high diversity in the oceans and are characterized by having modified foregut anatomy and radular morphology. This study provides details on variations in the radula teeth of the species Hastula cinerea, which have hypodermic radula teeth of the toxoglossan type and are part of the Terebridae family - inserted in the Conoidea superfamily. Hastula cinerea specimens were collected at Flecheiras beach, Trairi, Ceará, Brazil.

Diffusing alpha-emitters radiation therapy in combination with temozolomide or bevacizumab in human glioblastoma multiforme xenografts.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is at present an incurable disease with a 5-year survival rate of 5.5%, despite improvements in treatment modalities such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy [e.g.

Evaluation of heat treatment for inactivation of norovirus genogroup II in foods.

The effective food processing technology is a key step in eliminating human noroviruses in foods mainly due to their stability in diverse environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rising temperatures for inactivation of norovirus genogroup (G) II and murine norovirus 1 in samples of tomato sauce (72-74 °C for 1 min) and ground meat (100 °C for 30 min). Spiking experiments were carried out in triplicate using TRIzol® reagent method associated with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) TaqMan™ system combined with previous free RNA digestion.

Thromboelastometry demonstrates endogenous coagulation activation in nonsevere and severe COVID-19 patients and has applicability as a decision algorithm for intervention.

In patients with severe forms of COVID-19, thromboelastometry has been reported to display a hypercoagulant pattern. However, an algorithm to differentiate severe COVID-19 patients from nonsevere patients and healthy controls based on thromboelastometry parameters has not been developed. Forty-one patients over 18 years of age with positive qRT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 were classified according to the severity of the disease: nonsevere (NS, n = 20) or severe (S, n = 21).

Humoral response to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in peritoneal and hemodialysis patients: A comparative study.

Introduction: Maintenance dialysis patients (MDP) are at higher risk of exposure with increased mortality from COVID-19 with generalized immunization becoming the cornerstone in prevention. This study aims to compare humoral response between hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

Materials And Methods: Observational prospective study following HD and PD programs from a Portuguese Center receiving BNT162b2 vaccine.

Cancer Cells Shuttle Extracellular Vesicles Containing Oncogenic Mutant p53 Proteins to the Tumor Microenvironment.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) shed by cancer cells play a major role in mediating the transfer of molecular information by reprogramming the tumor microenvironment (TME). (encoding the p53 protein) is the most mutated gene across many cancer types. Mutations in not only result in the loss of its tumor-suppressive properties but also results in the acquisition of novel gain-of-functions (GOF) that promote the growth of cancer cells.

Molecular and Cellular Biomarkers of COVID-19 Prognosis: Protocol for the Prospective Cohort TARGET Study.

Background: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world's attention has been focused on better understanding the relation between the human host and the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as its action has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Objective: In this context, we decided to study certain consequences of the abundant cytokine release over the innate and adaptive immune systems, inflammation, and hemostasis, comparing mild and severe forms of COVID-19.

Methods: To accomplish these aims, we will analyze demographic characteristics, biochemical tests, immune biomarkers, leukocyte phenotyping, immunoglobulin profile, hormonal release (cortisol and prolactin), gene expression, thromboelastometry, neutralizing antibodies, metabolic profile, and neutrophil function (reactive oxygen species production, neutrophil extracellular trap production, phagocytosis, migration, gene expression, and proteomics).

Designing inhalable metal organic frameworks for pulmonary tuberculosis treatment and theragnostics via spray drying.

Inhalable metal organic framework (MOF) aerosols have been developed via spray drying as a therapy for multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB). The CuPOA (pyrazinoate acid) MOFs can be tailored to exhibit a respirable mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of 2.6 μm.

Phosphoproteomic Analysis of Rat Neutrophils Shows the Effect of Intestinal Ischemia/Reperfusion and Preconditioning on Kinases and Phosphatases.

Intestinal ischemia reperfusion injury (iIRI) is a severe clinical condition presenting high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Some of the systemic consequences of IRI can be prevented by applying ischemic preconditioning (IPC), a series of short ischemia/reperfusion events preceding the major ischemia. Although neutrophils are key players in the pathophysiology of ischemic injuries, neither the dysregulation presented by these cells in iIRI nor the protective effect of iIPC have their regulation mechanisms fully understood.

Thermal Defect Engineering of Precious Group Metal-Organic Frameworks: A Case Study on Ru/Rh-HKUST-1 Analogues.

A methodology is introduced for controlled postsynthetic thermal defect engineering (TDE) of precious group metal-organic frameworks (PGM-MOFs). The case study is based on the Ru/Rh analogues of the archetypical structure [Cu(BTC)] (HKUST-1; BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate). Quantitative monitoring of the TDE process and extensive characterization of the samples employing a complementary set of analytical and spectroscopic techniques reveal that the compositionally very complex TDE-MOF materials result from the elimination and/or fragmentation of ancillary ligands and/or linkers.

Assessment of the microbiological quality of natural mineral waters according to the manufacturing time of 20 L returnable packs in Brazil.

This study aimed to assess the microbiological quality of natural mineral waters commercialized in 20 L returnable packs in Brazil by investigating the presence of bacteria and viruses in packs with different manufacturing times (Tm). With this purpose, 99 water samples from 33 lots (n = 3/batch) of 15 brands, obtained from packs with three intervals of Tm, were analyzed. Total coliforms (16.

Biological Properties of a Novel Multifunctional Host Defense Peptide from the Skin Secretion of the Chaco Tree Frog, .

In recent years, the number of new antimicrobial drugs launched on the market has decreased considerably even though there has been an increase in the number of resistant microbial strains. Thus, antimicrobial resistance has become a serious public health problem. Amphibian skin secretions are a rich source of host defense peptides, which generally are cationic and hydrophobic molecules, with a broad-spectrum of activity.