Advances in the therapeutic potentials of ligands of the apelin receptor APJ.

Angiotensin II protein J receptor, APJ, is a type A G protein coupled receptor. Endogenous apelin and elabela peptides stimulate APJ via distinct signalling profiles. A complex signalling map of elabela-stimulated APJ was published in 2022.

Formative qualitative research to guide implementation of the Collaborative Care Model in a low-barrier HIV clinic.

Integrated behavioral healthcare interventions have increased access to care for people with behavioral health conditions in primary care settings. However, they have not been widely implemented in low-barrier HIV care settings where undertreated behavioral health needs remain high. We conducted a formative qualitative evaluation, using in-depth interviews with purposively selected stakeholders ( = 13) and patients ( = 16), to identify anticipated barriers and facilitators to integrating care for depression and opioid use disorder for people with HIV via the Collaborative Care Model at a low-barrier HIV clinic.

Effect of a multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention on body composition in people with osteoarthritis: Secondary analysis of the "Plants for Joints" randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The Plants for Joints (PFJ) intervention significantly improved pain, stiffness, and physical function, and metabolic outcomes, in people with metabolic syndrome-associated osteoarthritis (MSOA). This secondary analysis investigated its effects on body composition.

Method: In the randomized PFJ study, people with MSOA followed a 16-week intervention based on a whole-food plant-based diet, physical activity, and stress management, or usual care.

Methicillin-resistant outbreak in a Dutch equine referral clinic.

In 2020 and 2022, nine cases of surgical site infections with a methicillin-resistant (MRSA) were diagnosed in horses in an equine referral clinic. Sixteen isolates (horses, =9; environment, =3; and staff members, =4) were analysed retrospectively using Nanopore whole-genome sequencing to investigate the relatedness of two suspected MRSA outbreaks (2020 and 2022). The MRSA isolates belonged to ST398 and ST612.

Theory, Measurement, and Psychometric Properties of Risk and Protective Factors for Drug Misuse Among Adolescents Living on or near the Cherokee Nation Reservation.

A team of tribe-based behavioral health specialists and university-based researchers partnered to implement a cluster randomized trial for the prevention of drug misuse among adolescents attending public high schools on or near the Cherokee Nation Reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. The conceptual framework, which guided intervention and measurement design for the trial, incorporates indigenous knowledge and worldviews with empirically-based frameworks and evidence-based practices. Our goal is to serve multicultural youth, families, and schools and to provide a model of effective strategies for wide dissemination.

Methodology for adapting a co-created early childhood development intervention and implementation strategies for use by frontline workers in India and Guatemala: a systematic application of the FRAME-IS framework.

There is little evidence on optimizing the effectiveness and implementation of evidence-based early childhood development (ECD) interventions when task-shifted to frontline workers. In this Methods Forum paper, we describe our adaptation of the International Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD) for task-shifting to frontline workers in Guatemala and India. In 2021-2022, implementers, trainers, frontline workers, caregivers, and international GMCD experts collaborated to adapt the GMCD for a task shifted implementation by frontline workers.

A direct comparison in diagnostic performance of CDUS, FDG-PET/CT and MRI in patients suspected of giant cell arteritis.

Objectives: This study directly compares diagnostic performance of Colour Duplex Ultrasound (CDUS), Fluor-18-deoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography (FDG-PET/CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in patients suspected of giant cell arteritis (GCA).

Methods: Patients with suspected GCA were included in a nested-case control pilot study. CDUS, whole body FDG-PET/CT and cranial MRI were performed within 5 working days after initial clinical evaluation.

Safety Evaluation of an Intranasally Applied Cocktail of Strains in Pigs.

Three strains from the nasal microbiota of healthy pigs were identified as candidates for reducing MRSA in pigs. The safety of nasal administration of a cocktail of these strains was examined in new-born piglets. Six days pre-farrowing, twelve sows were assigned to the placebo or cocktail group ( = 6/group).

Evolving views on the first two ligands of the angiotensin II type 2 receptor. From putative antagonists to potential agonists?

The renin-angiotensin system is one of the most complex regulatory systems that controls multiple organ functions. One of its key components, angiotensin II (Ang II), stimulates two G-protein coupled class A receptors: the Ang II type 1 (AT1) receptor and the Ang II type 2 (AT2) receptor. While stimulation of the AT1 receptor causes G-protein-dependent signaling and arrestin recruitment, the AT2 receptor seems to have a constitutively active-like conformation and appears to act via G-protein-dependent and -independent pathways.

Application of the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) compilation of strategies to health intervention implementation in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Background: The Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project developed a compilation of implementation strategies that are intended to standardize reporting and evaluation. Little is known about the application of ERIC in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We systematically reviewed the literature on the use and specification of ERIC strategies for health intervention implementation in LMICs to identify gaps and inform future research.

Development of novel composite data quality scores to evaluate facility-level data quality in electronic data in Kenya: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

Background: In this evaluation, we aim to strengthen Routine Health Information Systems (RHIS) through the digitization of data quality assessment (DQA) processes. We leverage electronic data from the Kenya Health Information System (KHIS) which is based on the District Health Information System version 2 (DHIS2) to perform DQAs at scale. We provide a systematic guide to developing composite data quality scores and use these scores to assess data quality in Kenya.

Higher rates of mental health screening of adolescents recorded after provider training using simulated patients in a Kenyan HIV clinic: results of a pilot study.

Background: Kenyan adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) experience a dual burden of HIV and common mental disorders (CMD). HIV clinics are a key entry point for AGYW in need of integrated CMD and HIV care; however, rates of screening and referral for CMDs are low. Our objective was to test an evidence-based provider training strategy, simulated patient encounters (SPEs), on CMD service delivery for AGYW in a Kenyan HIV clinic.

Serological Survey of Retrovirus and Coronavirus Infections, including SARS-CoV-2, in Rural Stray Cats in The Netherlands, 2020-2022.

Stray cats can host (zoonotic) viral pathogens and act as a source of infection for domestic cats or humans. In this cross-sectional (sero)prevalence study, sera from 580 stray cats living in 56 different cat groups in rural areas in The Netherlands were collected from October 2020 to July 2022. These were used to investigate the prevalence of the cat-specific feline leukemia virus (FeLV, n = 580), the seroprevalence of the cat-specific feline viruses feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV, n = 580) and feline coronavirus (FCoV, n = 407), and the zoonotic virus severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2, n = 407) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs).

Goal Attainment Scale in tinnitus (GAS-T): treatment goal priorities by chronic tinnitus patients in a real-world setting.

Purpose: Standard treatment for tinnitus is cognitive behavioral therapy, although level of evidence of effectiveness is low. There is need for a Goal Attainment Scale to evaluate treatment effects based on patient satisfaction. Preliminary work in a clinical sample has identified six common personal treatment goals.

Gut Colonization by ESBL-Producing Escherichia coli in Dogs Is Associated with a Distinct Microbiome and Resistome Composition.

The gut microbiome of humans and animals acts as a reservoir of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC). Dogs are known for having a high prevalence of ESBL-EC in their gut microbiota, although their ESBL-EC carrier status often shifts over time. We hypothesized that the gut microbiome composition of dogs is implicated in ESBL-EC colonization status.

Dissecting the roles of MBD2 isoforms and domains in regulating NuRD complex function during cellular differentiation.

The Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylation (NuRD) complex is a crucial regulator of cellular differentiation. Two members of the Methyl-CpG-binding domain (MBD) protein family, MBD2 and MBD3, are known to be integral, but mutually exclusive subunits of the NuRD complex. Several MBD2 and MBD3 isoforms are present in mammalian cells, resulting in distinct MBD-NuRD complexes.

Refining the Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) framework for data use at the local level: An integrative review.

Introduction: Foundational to a well-functioning health system is a strong routine health information system (RHIS) that informs decisions and actions at all levels of the health system. In the context of decentralization across low- and middle-income countries, RHIS has the promise of supporting sub-national health staff to take data-informed actions to improve health system performance. However, there is wide variation in how "RHIS data use" is defined and measured in the literature, impeding the development and evaluation of interventions that effectively promote RHIS data use.

A multidisciplinary lifestyle program for metabolic syndrome-associated osteoarthritis: the "Plants for Joints" randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of the "Plants for Joints" multidisciplinary lifestyle program in patients with metabolic syndrome-associated osteoarthritis (MSOA).

Design: Patients with hip or knee MSOA were randomized to the intervention or control group. The intervention group followed a 16-week program in addition to usual care based on a whole food plant-based diet, physical activity, and stress management.

Towards criteria and symptoms of constipation in people with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: A Delphi study.

Background: Chronic constipation is common in people with intellectual disabilities, and seems to be highly prevalent in people with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (SPIMD). However, there is no current widely accepted definition for the constipation experienced by these individuals.

Aim: This Delphi study aims to compile a list of operationalized criteria and symptoms of constipation in people with SPIMD based on practical experiences of and consensus between experts supporting them.

Adolescent Advertising Exposure to Cannabis Products in Rural Oklahoma via Medical Dispensaries.

Objective: We assess cannabis advertising exposure among adolescents in rural Oklahoma from medical dispensaries.

Method: Our mixed-methods study identified medical dispensaries within a 15-minute drive time of rural Oklahoma high schools. Study staff completed observational data collection forms and took photographs of each dispensary.

Early effects of COVID-19 on maternal and child health service disruption in Mozambique.

Unlabelled: This article is part of the Research Topic 'Health Systems Recovery in the Context of COVID-19 and Protracted Conflict'.

Introduction: After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, more than 184 million cases and 4 million deaths had been recorded worldwide by July 2021. These are likely to be underestimates and do not distinguish between direct and indirect deaths resulting from disruptions in health care services.

Distant embolisation in infective endocarditis: characteristics and outcomes.

Background: Infective endocarditis is a severe and potentially lethal cardiac disease. Recognition of the clinical features of endocarditis, such as distant embolisation, and adequate treatment should be initiated promptly given the grim perspective of upcoming virulent pathogens.

Methods: We report on our registry-based experience with outcomes of consecutive patients with infective endocarditis with distant embolisation.

Prevalence and associated factors of common mental disorders in primary care settings in Sofala Province, Mozambique.

Background: In Mozambique, the prevalence of common mental illness in primary care is not well established.

Aims: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of, and associated factors for, common mental illness in patients accessing primary care services in three Ministry of Health clinics in Mozambique.

Method: Adult patients were recruited from the waiting rooms of prenatal, postpartum and general out-patient consultations.