Carotid-Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity in Children in South Africa: Reference Values for the Vicorder Device.

Atherosclerosis often starts in childhood, tracking to adulthood. In children, early vascular disease can be detected as arterial stiffness. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity is considered the non-invasive gold standard method for measuring arterial stiffness and widely accepted for use in children.

A randomized controlled, trial on effects of mobile phone text messaging in combination with motivational interviewing versus standard infant feeding counselling on breastfeeding and child health outcomes, among women living with HIV.

Background: Despite efforts to promote optimal breastfeeding practices, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is low in South Africa. We conducted a trial to determine whether text messaging plus motivational interviewing prolonged exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life and improved child health outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a randomized parallel group-controlled trial between July 2022 and May 2024, at a secondary-level healthcare facility.

Neurokinin-1 receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell influence sensitivity to social defeat stress and stress-induced alcohol consumption in male mice.

Chronic social defeat stress (SDS) is a widely employed preclinical model of depression involving repeated exposure to physical defeats using a resident-intruder model in male mice. Exposure to SDS induces depressive-like phenotypes including anhedonia, social withdrawal, and increased drug and alcohol consumption. Previously, we found that expression of the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) is increased in the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of mice that are sensitive to this stressor and increase their alcohol intake.