Disparities in self-reported exposure to tobacco marketing among youth and young adults from low-socioeconomic status neighbourhoods in Mexico City.

Exposure to tobacco marketing is positively associated with smoking initiation and behaviours. There is limited literature examining disparities among reported exposure in low- and middle-income countries. This study sought to fill this gap with a survey among 1427 adolescents and 889 adult smokers in Mexico City in 2020.

COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among children less than 12 years of age in the United States.

Objectives: To describe the characteristics, healthcare resource use and costs associated with initial hospitalization and readmissions among pediatric patients with COVID-19 in the US.

Methods: Hospitalized pediatric patients, 0-11 years of age, with a primary or secondary discharge diagnosis code for COVID-19 (ICD-10 code U07.1) were selected from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2021 in the US Premier Healthcare Database Special Release (PHD SR).

Levels of Parental Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Hesitancy and Their Reasons for Not Intending to Vaccinate: Insights From the 2019 National Immunization Survey-Teen.

Purpose: A nuanced understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine hesitancy is key to tailoring public health interventions to reach HPV vaccination goals in the United States. We aimed to understand the spectrum of parental vaccine hesitancy and identify reasons for lack of vaccination.

Methods: Using cross-sectional data from the 2019 National Immunization Survey-Teen, we examined parents of adolescents aged 13-17 years who had not initiated HPV vaccination.

Multiregion Trauma Center Follow-Up Protocol for Transferred Trauma Patients.

Background: Trauma centers routinely utilize the Injury Severity Score for performance improvement. Yet, transferring facilities do not always have access to patients' final Injury Severity Score.

Objective: The purpose of this project was to develop and implement a multiregion Injury Severity Score follow-up feedback protocol for transferring facilities to receive standardized information on patient treatment and the ability to calculate an accurate follow-up Injury Severity Score of transferred patients.

Contextualizing Engagement With Health Information on Facebook: Using the Social Media Content and Context Elicitation Method.

Background: Most of what is known regarding health information engagement on social media stems from quantitative methodologies. Public health literature often quantifies engagement by measuring likes, comments, and/or shares of posts within health organizations' Facebook pages. However, this content may not represent the health information (and misinformation) generally available to and consumed by platform users.

Is self-reported park proximity associated with perceived social disorder? Findings from eleven cities in Latin America.

Parks and greenspaces can enhance personal health in various ways, including among others, through psychological restoration and improved well-being. However, under certain circumstances, parks may also have adverse effects by providing isolated and hidden spaces for non-normative and crime-related activities. This study uses a survey conducted by the Development Bank of Latin America in a cross-sectional representative sample of 7,110 respondents in eleven Latin-American cities.

Development of microsatellite markers for population genetics of biting midges and a potential tool for species identification of Culicoides sonorensis Wirth & Jones.

Background: Proper vector surveillance relies on the ability to identify species of interest accurately and efficiently, though this can be difficult in groups containing cryptic species. Culicoides Latreille is a genus of small biting flies responsible for the transmission of numerous pathogens to a multitude of vertebrates. Regarding pathogen transmission, the C.

Assessing colony elimination in multicolonial ants: Estimating field efficacy of insecticidal baits against the invasive dark rover ant (Brachymyrmex patagonicus).

Background: A frequent goal of pest management strategies targeting social insects is total colony elimination. Insecticidal baits are highly effective at controlling social insect pests, although their ability to provide total colony elimination has only been well studied in a few species. Genetically testing colony elimination in many urban pest ants can be challenging due to indistinct colony boundaries observed in unicolonial, invasive species; however, some pest ants, such as the dark rover ant (Brachymyrmex patagonicus), maintain strict colony borders through aggression towards non-nestmates.

Mammalian Cell Spheroids on Mixed Organic-Inorganic Superhydrophobic Coating.

Three-dimensional cell culture has become a reliable method for reproducing in vitro cellular growth in more realistic physiological conditions. The surface hydrophobicity strongly influences the promotion of cell aggregate formation. In particular, for spheroid formation, highly water-repellent coatings seem to be required for the significant effects of the process.

Crowdsourced PrEP Promotion Messages for an HIV High-Burden Area: A Framework-Based Content Analysis.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an important and highly effective HIV prevention strategy, but its uptake remains low, particularly among marginalized populations at high risk of HIV. Innovative and community-driven promotion strategies, such as open contests, are needed to address disparities. This directed content analysis uses a PrEP-specific adaptation of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model to identify themes related to PrEP use reflected in community-generated submissions (n = 73) from an open contest conducted to elicit crowdsourced health promotion messages on PrEP in Baltimore, Maryland.

Associations of Urban Environment Features with Hypertension and Blood Pressure across 230 Latin American Cities.

Background: Features of the urban physical environment may be linked to the development of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for global burden of disease.

Objectives: We examined associations of urban physical environment features with hypertension and blood pressure measures in adults across 230 Latin American cities.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study we used health, social, and built environment data from the SALud URBana en América Latina (SALURBAL) project.

Evaluation of the efficacy of polymeric antigen BLSOmp31 formulated in a new cage-like particle adjuvant (ISPA) administered by parenteral or mucosal routes against Brucella ovis in BALB/c mice.

Brucella ovis is an economically important cause of epididymitis in rams worldwide. Polymeric BLSOmp31 was previously identified as a protective immunogen against this pathogen. In this study, BLSOmp31 was formulated with a modified version of ISCOMATRIX adjuvant called ISPA (BLSOmp31/ISPA) and was administered in BALB/C by the subcutaneous and ocular route.

COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness among immunocompromised populations: a targeted literature review of real-world studies.

Introduction: From July through October of 2021, several countries issued recommendations for increased COVID-19 vaccine protection for individuals with one or more immunocompromised (IC) conditions. It is critically important to understand the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of COVID-19 vaccines among IC populations as recommendations are updated over time in response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Areas Covered: A targeted literature review was conducted to identify real-world studies that assessed COVID-19 VE in IC populations between December 2020 and September 2021.

Elevated glutamate and decreased glutamine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with MELAS syndrome.

Background: Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous disorder caused by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in the MT-TL1 gene. The pathophysiology of neurological manifestations is still unclear, but neuronal hyperexcitability and neuron-astrocyte uncoupling have been suggested. Glutamatergic neurotransmission is linked to glucose oxidation and mitochondrial metabolism in astrocytes and neurons.

Long-term mortality rates and associated risk factors following primary and revision knee arthroplasty : 107,121 patients from the Scottish Arthroplasty Project.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the long-term mortality rate, and to identify factors associated with this, following primary and revision knee arthroplasty (KA).

Methods: Data from the Scottish Arthroplasty Project (1998 to 2019) were retrospectively analyzed. Patient mortality data were linked from the National Records of Scotland.

Diel investments in metabolite production and consumption in a model microbial system.

Organic carbon transfer between surface ocean photosynthetic and heterotrophic microbes is a central but poorly understood process in the global carbon cycle. In a model community in which diatom extracellular release of organic molecules sustained growth of a co-cultured bacterium, we determined quantitative changes in the diatom endometabolome and the bacterial uptake transcriptome over two diel cycles. Of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) peaks in the diatom endometabolites, 38% had diel patterns with noon or mid-afternoon maxima; the remaining either increased (36%) or decreased (26%) through time.

Validation of blood arsenic and manganese assessment from archived clotted erythrocyte fraction in an urban cohort of mother-child dyads.

Exposure to arsenic (As) and manganese (Mn) from contaminated food, drinking water and dust are linked to a host of adverse health effects. The recent discovery of unmonitored community exposures to hazardous levels of metals, as seen in the Flint Water Crisis and East Chicago, have demonstrated a need for novel biomonitoring methods utilizing samples other than whole blood. Here, we present a method utilizing clotted erythrocyte fraction samples, a blood component commonly archived in biorepositories, to predict whole blood levels of As and Mn.

Characterization of Human Keratinocyte Cell Lines for Barrier Studies.

Epidermal cell models are critical for studying skin biology. The gold standard used by the scientific community has historically been primary cell cultures from discarded tissue, typically from neonates (foreskin). Although directly applicable to humans, this system suffers from multiple issues, including substantial donor-to-donor variability and a finite number of divisions in culture.

Testing Bidirectional Within-Person Associations between Mindful Attention and Sleep in Adolescence.

Developments during adolescence increase risk for sleep problems. Research in adults suggests mindfulness and sleep are associated, with two different theoretical explanations for direction of effects. Our goal was to directly test these competing theoretical models at the daily level in adolescents using objective and self-reported measurements of sleep.

Evaluation of COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections among immunocompromised patients fully vaccinated with BNT162b2.

Objective: To evaluate COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections among immunocompromised (IC) individuals.

Methods: Individuals vaccinated with BNT162b2 were selected from the US HealthVerity database (10 December 2020 July 2021). COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections were examined in fully vaccinated (≥14 days after 2nd dose) IC individuals (IC cohort), 12 mutually exclusive IC condition groups, and a non-IC cohort.

Worldwide Prevalence of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Identification of variable epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is important for the selection of appropriate targeted therapies. This meta-analysis was conducted to provide a worldwide overview of EGFR mutation and submutation (specifically exon 19 deletions, exon 21 L858R substitutions, and others) prevalence, and identify important covariates that influence EGFR mutation status in patients with advanced NSCLC to address this clinical data gap.

Methods: Embase and MEDLINE in Ovid were searched for studies published between 2004 and 2019 with cohorts of ≥ 50 adults with EGFR mutations, focusing on stage III/IV NSCLC (≤ 20% of patients with stage I/II NSCLC).

Activation of canonical Wnt signaling accelerates intramembranous bone regeneration in male mice.

Canonical Wnt signaling plays an important role in skeletal development, homeostasis, and both endochondral and intramembranous repair. While studies have demonstrated that the inhibition of Wnt signaling impairs intramembranous bone regeneration, how its activation affects intramembranous bone regeneration has been underexplored. Therefore, we sought to determine the effects of activation of canonical Wnt signaling on intramembranous bone regeneration by using the well-established marrow ablation model.

A contraction approach to dynamic optimization problems.

An infinite-horizon, multidimensional optimization problem with arbitrary yet finite periodicity in discrete time is considered. The problem can be posed as a set of coupled equations. It is shown that the problem is a special case of a more general class of contraction problems that have unique solutions.