Multi-omic profiling a defined bacterial consortium for treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection.

Donor-derived fecal micrrasobiota treatments are efficacious in preventing recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI), but they have inherently variable quality attributes, are difficult to scale and harbor the risk of pathogen transfer. In contrast, VE303 is a defined consortium of eight purified, clonal bacterial strains developed for prevention of rCDI. In the phase 2 CONSORTIUM study, high-dose VE303 was well tolerated and reduced the odds of rCDI by more than 80% compared to placebo.

Does social support buffer the impact of stress on health among people living with sickle cell disease? A cross-sectional study.

In this cross-sectional study, we examined the contributions of social support in mitigating the burden that sickle cell disease (SCD) has on the well-being of patients living with the condition. SCD patients ( = 139) in Nigeria completed measures of sickle cell distress, social support, and quality of life. Although we found that SCD distress was strongly associated with poorer quality of life, across domains; social support did not mitigate the impact that SCD distress had on the quality of life of patients.

Hospital staff's experiences of unsafe staffing levels and employers' responses to their concerns: a survey.

There is a wealth of evidence that demonstrates a link between inadequate nurse staffing levels and suboptimal patient care. Over the last decade, policies and legislation on safe nurse staffing levels have been developed for specific settings and countries in the UK, all of which emphasise employers' responsibility in responding to staff's concerns about unsafe staffing. However, the effectiveness of mechanisms for monitoring and responding to such concerns is unclear.

Parotidectomy Trends Toward Outpatient for Benign Disease.

Objective: We evaluate the safety of outpatient parotidectomy. We evaluate factors that lead to planned admission and compare costs. We evaluate trends toward outpatient, and the outcomes of switching admission status, total versus superficial approach, and ambulatory versus hospital site.

Ready, Set, Sort! A User-Guide to Card Sorts for Community-Engaged Empirical Bioethics.

We demonstrate the fruitfulness of using card sort activities as an engagement method by detailing community consultation for ethical, legal, and social implications of sociogenomics. Readers are provided with a user-guide for card sort engagement through: (1) an overview of the card sort activity and its merits for engagement, (2) detailed methods of sorting for values-elicitation and prioritization goals, and (3) strategies to design this approach for other participatory research designs. Our intent is to add to meaningful exchanges between community engaged researchers and empirical bioethicists.

Hypothyroidism Predicts Fistula Development Following Salvage Oropharyngectomy.

Importance: Previous work demonstrated postoperative hypothyroidism adversely affects wound healing in salvage laryngectomy. Currently, no studies have evaluated the association between wound healing and hypothyroidism in patients undergoing salvage oropharyngectomy.

Objective: The primary objective was studying hypothyroidism and other factors associated with oropharyngocutaneous fistula development and fistula requiring reoperation within 30 days after salvage oropharyngectomy.

Regenerative potentials of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells derived exosomes or its combination with zinc in recovery of degenerated circumvallate papilla following surgical bilateral transection of glossopharyngeal nerve in rats.

Background: Taste buds' innervation is necessary to sustain their cell turnover, differentiated taste buds and nerve fibers in circumvallate papilla (CVP) disappear following glossopharyngeal nerve transection. Normally, taste buds recover to baseline number in about 70 days. Bone marrow stem cell (BM-MSC) derived exosomes or their combination with Zinc chloride are used to assess their potential to speed up the regeneration process of CVP following bilateral deafferentation.

The mechanistic pathway induced by fenpropathrin toxicity: Oxidative stress, signaling pathway, and mitochondrial damage.

Fenpropathrin (FNP) is a kind of insecticide and acaricide known as pyrethroid. It is very effective, has a wide range of activities, and works quickly. Internationally, it is commonly considered the most powerful pyrethroid insecticide.

Patient-Initiated Communication After Parotidectomy.

Objectives: We sought to study the incidence of patient-initiated communication after parotidectomy, identify patient and surgical factors associated with patient-initiated communication, and evaluate trends and possible areas for improvement.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent parotidectomy without combined procedures from 2018 to 2022 in a single tertiary-care institution was performed. We reviewed all patient communications documented within the electronic medical record within 30 days of discharge.

The Key Features of a Genetic Nondiscrimination Policy: A Delphi Consensus Statement.

Importance: Governments worldwide have become increasingly cognizant of the spread of genetic discrimination (negative treatment or harm on the basis of actual or presumed genetic characteristics). Despite efforts by a number of governments to establish regulations addressing this phenomenon, public concern about genetic discrimination persists.

Objective: To identify key elements of an optimal genetic nondiscrimination policy and inform policymakers as they seek to allay genetic nondiscrimination and related public anxieties.

Transoral robotic surgery for pediatric upper airway pathology: An institutional update.

Objective: Provide an update on our institution's experience with utilizing transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in pediatric airway surgery and compare these results to surgery by traditional methods.

Methods: Pediatric patients who underwent TORS for treatment of upper airway pathology between 2010 and 2021 at our institution were retrospectively identified and compared to patients with the same or similar pathology who underwent a traditional (open or endoscopic) surgical approach over the same time period. Outcomes of interest included patient demographics, operative times, adverse events, hospital length of stay (LOS), and modified barium swallow (MBSS) results.

Staphylococcus aureus adapts to exploit collagen-derived proline during chronic infection.

Staphylococcus aureus is a pulmonary pathogen associated with substantial human morbidity and mortality. As vaccines targeting virulence determinants have failed to be protective in humans, other factors are likely involved in pathogenesis. Here we analysed transcriptomic responses of human clinical isolates of S.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and workplace genetic testing: Knowledge and perceptions of employed adults in the United States.

Workplace wellness programs are an emerging avenue for health-related genetic testing, with some large employers now offering such testing to employees. Employees' knowledge and concerns regarding genetic discrimination may impact their decision-making about and uptake of workplace genetic testing (wGT). This study describes employed adults' objective knowledge of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and evaluates how this knowledge correlates with attitudes and beliefs regarding wGT.

Lipid Specificity of the Fusion of Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles with the Host Membrane.

Bacterial membrane vesicles (MVs) facilitate the long-distance delivery of virulence factors crucial for pathogenicity. The entry and trafficking mechanisms of virulence factors inside host cells are recently emerging; however, whether bacterial MVs can fuse and modulate the physicochemical properties of the host lipid membrane and membrane lipid parameter for fusion remains unknown. In this study, we reconstituted the interaction of bacterial MVs with host cell lipid membranes and quantitatively showed that bacterial MV interaction increases the fluidity, dipole potential, and compressibility of a biologically relevant multicomponent host membrane upon fusion.

A proposal for an inclusive working definition of genetic discrimination to promote a more coherent debate.

Genetic discrimination is an evolving phenomenon that impacts fundamental human rights such as dignity, justice and equity. Although, in the past, various definitions to better conceptualize genetic discrimination have been proposed, these have been unable to capture several key facets of the phenomenon. In this Perspective, we explore definitions of genetic discrimination across disciplines, consider criticisms of such definitions and show how other forms of discrimination and stigmatization can compound genetic discrimination in a way that affects individuals, groups and systems.

Pharyngeal Mucosal Margin Vessel Counts Predict Pharyngocutaneous Fistula in Salvage Laryngectomy.

Objective: We evaluated vessel counts in the pharyngeal mucosal margins of patients who underwent salvage laryngectomy to establish whether mucosal vascularity might predict fistula risk.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Tertiary Medical Center.

Psychological Status as an Effect Modifier of the Association Between Allergy Symptoms and Allergy Testing.

Objective: Patient-reported outcome measures, while valuable, may not correlate with diagnostic test results. To better understand this potential discrepancy, our objective was to determine whether psychological health is an effect modifier of the association between patient-reported allergy outcome scores and allergy test results.

Study Design: Prospective outcomes study.

A Primer for Utilizing Deep Learning and Abdominal MRI Imaging Features to Monitor Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease Progression.

Abdominal imaging of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) has historically focused on detecting complications such as cyst rupture, cyst infection, obstructing renal calculi, and pyelonephritis; discriminating complex cysts from renal cell carcinoma; and identifying sources of abdominal pain. Many imaging features of ADPKD are incompletely evaluated or not deemed to be clinically significant, and because of this, treatment options are limited. However, total kidney volume (TKV) measurement has become important for assessing the risk of disease progression (i.

The mollifying effect of Sambucus nigra extract on StAR gene expression, oxidative stress, and apoptosis induced by fenpropathrin in male rats.

Fenpropathrin (FNP) is a man-made insecticide of to the pyrethroid class, commonly employed in agricultural and horticultural practices. However, it has a prolonged persistence in the environment. Sambucus nigra, also referred to as SN, is a botanical species recognized for its notable antioxidant characteristics.

Lipid A modification of colistin-resistant does not alter innate immune response in a mouse model of pneumonia.

Polymyxin resistance in carbapenem-resistant bacteria is associated with high morbidity and mortality in vulnerable populations throughout the world. Ineffective antimicrobial activity by these last resort therapeutics can occur by transfer of , a plasmid-mediated resistance gene, causing modification of the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and disruption of the interactions between polymyxins and lipid A. Whether this modification alters the innate host immune response or carries a high fitness cost in the bacteria is not well established.

Health care utilization and behavior changes after workplace genetic testing at a large US health care system.

Purpose: This study explored employee health behavior changes and health care utilization after workplace genetic testing (wGT). Wellness-program-associated wGT seeks to improve employee health, but the related health implications are unknown.

Methods: Employees of a large US health care system offering wGT (cancer, heart disease, and pharmacogenomics [PGx]) were sent electronic surveys.