Optimizing and Sustaining Clinical Outcomes in 88 US Hospitals Post-Pandemic: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Background: Optimizing outcomes of hospitalized patients anchors on standardizing processes in medical management, interventions to reduce the risk of decompensation, and prompt intervention when a patient decompensates.

Methods: A quality improvement initiative (optimized sepsis and respiratory compromise management, reducing health care-associated infection and medication risk, swift management of the deteriorating patient, feedback on performance, and accountability) was implemented in a multistate health system. The primary outcome was risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality.

A tool for the assessment of the risk drivers and public perception of WASH in South Africa.

Unlabelled: Temporal trend analysis of the Google-search volumes and terms related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in South Africa was performed using a computer plugin between January 2004 and June 2022. This study was conducted as WASH has played an important role in the containment of the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and it is also one of the most effective and easiest-to-deploy tools in decreasing risk from infectious diseases. For the WASH-related terms, the monthly search volumes ranged from the minimum average of 480 for pit latrines to the maximum of 30236 for diarrhea or diarrhoea for the studied period.

Generation of epitope-specific hCG aptamers through a novel targeted selection approach.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone used as a biomarker for several medical conditions, including pregnancy, trophoblastic and nontrophoblastic cancers. Most commercial hCG tests rely on a combination of antibodies, one of which is usually specific to the C-terminal peptide of the β-subunit. However, cleavage of this region in many hCG degradation variants prevents rapid diagnostic tests from quantifying all hCG variants in serum and urine samples.

Nanopore MinION Sequencing Generates a White Spot Syndrome Virus Genome from a Pooled Cloacal Swab Sample of Domestic Chickens in South Africa.

White spot syndrome virus is a highly contagious pathogen affecting shrimp farming worldwide. The host range of this virus is primarily limited to crustaceans, such as shrimps, crabs, prawns, crayfish, and lobsters; however, several species of non-crustaceans, including aquatic insects, piscivorous birds, and molluscs may serve as the vectors for ecological dissemination. The present study was aimed at studying the faecal virome of domestic chickens () in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Long-term safety of tenapanor in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in the T3MPO-3 study.

Background: Tenapanor, a first-in-class, minimally systemic inhibitor of intestinal sodium/hydrogen exchanger isoform 3 (NHE3), is approved for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) in adults based on two randomized, placebo-controlled, phase III studies (T3MPO-1 [NCT02621892], T3MPO-2 [NCT02686138]). The open-label T3MPO-3 extension study (NCT02727751) enrolled patients who completed these studies to investigate long-term safety and tolerability of tenapanor.

Methods: Patients who completed T3MPO-1 (16 weeks) or T3MPO-2 (26 weeks) were eligible for enrollment in T3MPO-3.