Developing nurse and midwife centred rostering principles using co-design: a mixed-methods study.

Background: Current nursing and midwifery rosters are based on guidelines which may no longer adequately meet the needs of health services or staff and often result in decreased job satisfaction, poor health and wellbeing, and high turnover. Little is known about the rostering needs and preferences of contemporary nurses and midwives in Australia. The aim of this study was to identify the rostering concerns, needs and preferences of nurses and midwives, and co-design acceptable, equitable and feasible rostering principles.

The Effect of Direct-Fed Lactobacillus Species on Milk Production and Methane Emissions of Dairy Cows.

Using direct-fed microbials to mitigate enteric methane emissions could be sustainable and acceptable to both consumers and producers. Forty lactating, multiparous, Holstein-Friesian cows were randomly allocated one of two treatments: (1) a base of ad libitum vetch (Vicia sativa) hay and 7.0 kg DM/d of a grain mix, or (2) the basal diet plus 10 mL of MYLO (Terragen Biotech Pty Ltd.

The impact of COVID-19 on multi-month dispensing (MMD) policies for antiretroviral therapy (ART) and MMD uptake in 21 PEPFAR-supported countries: a multi-country analysis.

Introduction: Increasing access to multi-month dispensing (MMD) of antiretroviral therapy (ART) supports treatment continuity and viral load suppression for people living with HIV (PLHIV) and reduces burden on health facilities. During the COVID-19 response, PEPFAR worked with ministries of health to scale up MMD and expand eligibility to new groups of PLHIV, including children and pregnant/breastfeeding women. We analysed PEPFAR program data to understand the impact of the policy changes on actual practice.

A Commitment to HIV Diagnostic Accuracy - a comment on "Towards more accurate HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-site evaluation of HIV RDTs and risk factors for false positives 'and' HIV misdiagnosis in sub-Saharan Africa: a performance of diagnostic algorithms at six testing sites".

As part of the global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is committed to the provision of high-quality services and ensuring testing accuracy.

The Critical Role of Supply Chains in Preventing Human Immunodeficiency Virus Drug Resistance in Low- and Middle-Income Settings.

The functioning of the supply chain may be a driving factor behind the development of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug resistance (HIVDR) in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Additionally, the effectiveness of supply chains will likely impact the scale-up of both viral-load monitoring and HIVDR testing. This article describes the complexities of global supply chains relevant for LMICs and presents early data on stock-outs and drug substitutions in several countries supported by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Milk protein concentration, estimated breeding value for fertility, and reproductive performance in lactating dairy cows.

Milk protein concentration in dairy cows has been positively associated with a range of measures of reproductive performance, and genetic factors affecting both milk protein concentration and reproductive performance may contribute to the observed phenotypic associations. It was of interest to assess whether these beneficial phenotypic associations are accounted for or interact with the effects of estimated breeding values for fertility. The effects of a multitrait estimated breeding value for fertility [the Australian breeding value for daughter fertility (ABV fertility)] on reproductive performance were also of interest.

Strategies to reduce risks in ARV supply chains in the developing world.

Key strategies of the main ARV procurement program for PEPFAR to reduce supply chain risks include: (1) employing pooled procurement to reduce procurement and shipping costs and to accommodate changing country needs by making stock adjustments at the regional level, and (2) establishing regional distribution centers to facilitate faster turnaround of orders within defined catchment areas.

Testicular germ cell tumors exhibit evidence of hormone dependence.

The aim of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are hormone-dependent cancers. Human TGCT cells were implanted in the left testis of male severe combined immunodeficient mice receiving either no treatment or hormone manipulation treatment [blockade of gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion and/or signaling using leuprolide or leuprolide plus exogenous testosterone]. Real-time RT-PCR analysis was used to determine the expression profiles of hormone pathway-associated genes.

Altered messenger RNA and protein expressions for insulin-like growth factor family members in clear cell and papillary renal cell carcinomas.

Background: The purpose of the present paper was to describe the pattern of expression of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) and its regulatory binding proteins (IGFBP) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: The expressions of mRNA and protein for various IGF members were assessed in 24 paired normal and malignant human renal tissues (16 clear cell and 8 papillary RCC) using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Paired tissue samples were also obtained from six patients with oncocytoma in order to compare the specificity of changes in IGF/IGFBP expression between tumors derived from proximal (RCC) and distal (oncocytoma) tubular epithelium.

Endothelin axis expression is markedly different in the two main subtypes of renal cell carcinoma.

Background: The endothelin axis has been implicated in cancer growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis, but to the authors' knowledge the expression of endothelin genes has not been defined in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: Tissue specimens were harvested from both normal and tumor-affected regions at the time of radical nephrectomy from 35 patients with RCC (22 with clear cell RCC [ccRCC] and 13 with papillary RCC [PRCC]). Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis determined the expression profile of the preproendothelins (PPET-1, PPET-2, and PPET-3), the endothelin receptors (ET(A) and ET(B)), and the endothelin-converting enzymes (ECE-1 and ECE-2).

The cryptic ushA gene (ushA(c)) in natural isolates of Salmonella enterica (serotype Typhimurium) has been inactivated by a single missense mutation.

Two mutational mechanisms, both supported by experimental studies, have been proposed for the evolution of new or improved enzyme specificities in bacteria. One mechanism involves point mutation(s) in a gene conferring novel substrate specificity with partial or complete loss of the original (wild-type) activity of the encoded product. The second mechanism involves gene duplication followed by silencing (inactivation) of one of these duplicates.