Myasthenia Gravis as a Paraneoplastic Manifestation of Renal Cell Carcinoma: More Than a Coincidence?

Background: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease primarily caused by autoantibodies against nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) at the neuromuscular junction. However, extrathymic malignancies need to be considered in the elderly population.

Purpose: Although thymic malignancy is the most common tumour association, several extrathymic malignancies complicated with myasthenia gravis have been reported.

Floodplain forests drive fruit-eating fish diversity at the Amazon Basin-scale.

Unlike most rivers globally, nearly all lowland Amazonian rivers have unregulated flow, supporting seasonally flooded floodplain forests. Floodplain forests harbor a unique tree species assemblage adapted to flooding and specialized fauna, including fruit-eating fish that migrate seasonally into floodplains, favoring expansive floodplain areas. Frugivorous fish are forest-dependent fauna critical to forest regeneration via seed dispersal and support commercial and artisanal fisheries.

An integrated framework to guide evidence-informed public health policymaking.

Evidence-informed policymaking emphasizes that policy decisions should be informed by the best available evidence from research and follow a systematic and transparent approach. For public health policymaking we can learn from existing practices of transparent, evidence-informed decision-making for clinical practice, medicines, and medical technology. We review existing evidence-to-decision frameworks, as well as frameworks and theories for policymaking to address the political dimension of policymaking, and use this analysis to propose an integrated framework to guide evidence-informed policymaking.

Anatomical, subset, and HIV-dependent expression of viral sensors and restriction factors.

We developed viral sensor and restriction factor-cytometry by time of flight (VISOR-CyTOF), which profiles 19 viral sensors and restriction factors (VISORs) simultaneously in single cells, and applied it to 41 postmortem tissues from people with HIV. Mucosal myeloid cells are well equipped with SAMHD1 and sensors of viral capsid and DNA while CD4 T cells are not. In lymph node CD4 Tfh, VISOR expression patterns reflect those favoring integration but blocking HIV gene expression, thus favoring viral latency.

A prospective multi-site study to evaluate the performance and usability of an oral fluid-based HIV self-test in Canada.

Background: Blood and oral fluid-based HIV self-tests are important for reaching the undiagnosed living with HIV. The study objectives were to evaluate the oral fluid-based OraQuick® HIV Self-Test (HIV-ST) performance in comparison to laboratory reference testing; determine if laypersons can correctly perform the HIV-ST; document if intended users can successfully interpret pre-made contrived positive, negative, and invalid results; and document if intended users can understand the key messages in the product labeling.

Methods: This prospective study enrolled consenting adult intended users of HIV self-testing from six community health centres in four Canadian provinces between June 2022 and January 2024.