Frequent and severe occurrences of harmful algal blooms increasingly threaten human health by the release of microcystins (MCs). Urgent attention is directed toward managing MCs, as evidenced by rising HAB-related do not drink/do not boil advisories due to unsafe MC levels in drinking water. UV/chlorine treatment, in which UV light is applied simultaneously with chlorine, showed early promise for effectively degrading MC-LR to values below the World Health Organization's guideline limits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Current guidance to furlough health care staff with mild COVID-19 illness may prevent the spread of COVID-19 but may worsen nursing home staffing shortages as well as health outcomes that are unrelated to COVID-19.
Objective: To compare COVID-19-related with non-COVID-19-related harms associated with allowing staff who are mildly ill with COVID-19 to work while masked.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This modeling study, conducted from November 2023 to June 2024, used an agent-based model representing a 100-bed nursing home and its residents, staff, and their interactions; care tasks; and resident and staff health outcomes to simulate the impact of different COVID-19 furlough policies over 1 postpandemic year.
Bipolar disorder (BP) is a recurring psychiatric condition characterized by alternating episodes of low energy (depressions) followed by manias (high energy). Cortical network activity produced by GABAergic interneurons may be critical in maintaining the balance in excitatory/inhibitory activity in the brain during development. Initially, GABAergic signaling is excitatory; with maturation, these cells undergo a functional switch that converts GABA channels from depolarizing (excitatory) to hyperpolarizing (inhibitory), which is controlled by the intracellular concentration of two chloride transporters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the past sixty years, scientists have been warning about climate change and its impacts on human health, but evidence suggests that many may not be heeding these concerns. This raises the question of whether new communication approaches are needed to overcome the unique challenges of communicating what people can do to slow or reverse climate change. To better elucidate the challenges of communicating about the links between human activity, climate change and its effects, and identify potential solutions, we developed a systems map of the factors and processes involved based on systems mapping sessions with climate change and communication experts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
August 2024
Background: Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a promising treatment for food allergy. Prior studies demonstrate significant differences among food-allergic individuals across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic groups. Disparities in OIT have not been evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives/aims: The primary aim of this study was to assess the current standard of shoulder radiographs in Ireland. The secondary aim of this study was to determine whether orthopaedic surgeons in Ireland are of the opinion that a national protocol is required, and what this protocol should consist of.
Methods: A national audit of shoulder trauma series x-rays performed in emergency departments was conducted.
Background: Despite the prevalence of sexual assault presentations to emergency departments (ED) in the United States, current access to sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) and emergency contraception (EC) in EDs is unknown.
Methods: In this study we employed a "secret shopper," cross-sectional telephonic survey. A team attempted phone contact with a representative sample of EDs and asked respondents about the availability of SANEs and EC in their ED.
Background: With efforts underway to develop a universal coronavirus vaccine, otherwise known as a pan-coronavirus vaccine, this is the time to offer potential funders, researchers, and manufacturers guidance on the potential value of such a vaccine and how this value may change with differing vaccine and vaccination characteristics.
Methods: Using a computational model representing the United States (U.S.
Importance: There are considerable socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in youth physical activity (PA) levels. For example, studies show that lower-SES youth are less active, have lower participation in organized sports and physical education classes, and have more limited access to PA equipment.
Objective: To determine the potential public health and economic effects of eliminating disparities in PA levels among US youth SES groups.
Objectives: To evaluate the epidemiologic, clinical, and economic value of an annual nursing home (NH) COVID-19 vaccine campaign and the impact of when vaccination starts.
Design: Agent-based model representing a typical NH.
Setting And Participants: NH residents and staff.
Natural organic matter (NOM) plays a critical role in the mobilization and bioavailability of metals and metalloids in the aquatic environment. Selenium (Se), an environmental contaminant of aquatic systems, has drawn increasing attention over the years. While Se is a vital micronutrient to human beings, animals and plants, excess Se intake may pose serious long-term risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: A recent study based on a large osteological collection reported an association between clavicle fractures and osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint. No clinical study has yet addressed this potential association. Other radiographic parameters such as the critical shoulder angle have been associated with the risk of glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUranium (U) waste, generated at a variety of mines and nuclear production sites, migrates in the subsurface, posing a serious threat to contaminate groundwater systems. In this study, batch equilibrium and kinetic experiments, geochemical modeling and solid phase characterization were conducted to investigate the impact of Cr(VI), a common co-contaminant, on the adsorption of U(VI) to quartz, plagioclase feldspar, and carbonate-dominated sediment (≤2 mm). Batch experiments were performed under slightly alkaline conditions (7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are often referred to as legacy perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Human exposure to PFAS leads to severe negative health impacts including cancers, infertility, and dysfunction in the kidneys. Steady-state absorbance, fluorescence, and circular dichroism (CD) methods were used to study the interactions between PFOA and Hb.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe evolution of bisindolyl maleimides and indolyl maleimide derivatives and their unique biological activities have stimulated great interest in medicinal chemistry programs. Bisindolylmaleimide (BIM)-type compounds arise from natural sources such as arcyriarubin and are biosynthetically related to indolocarbazoles. BIMs are commonly the immediate synthetic precursors of indolocarbazoles, lacking a central bond between the two aromatic units and making them more flexible and drug-like.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: A recent publication has suggested that expedited time to theater in gastroschisis results in higher rates of primary closure and decreases the length of stay (LOS). This study primarily aims to assess the impact of time to first management of neonates with gastroschisis on the LOS.
Methods: Neonates admitted between August 2013 and August 2020 with gastroschisis were included.
Mate preferences and mating-related behaviours are hypothesised to change over the menstrual cycle to increase reproductive fitness. Recent large-scale studies suggest that previously reported hormone-linked behavioural changes are not robust. The proposal that women's preference for associating with male kin is down-regulated during the ovulatory (high-fertility) phase of the menstrual cycle to reduce inbreeding has not been tested in large samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is debate around the clinical significance of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi detection in low numbers using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Propidium monoazide (PMA) qPCR has been used to differentiate DNA from viable and nonviable bacterial cells.
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