Publications by authors named "RP Smith"

spp. and hepatitis E virus (HEV) are significant foodborne zoonotic pathogens that impact the health of livestock, farmers, and the general public. This study aimed to identify biosecurity measures (BSMs) against these pathogens on swine farms in Europe, the United States, and Canada.

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Objective: We sought to compare our results of patients treated with Cs-131 prostate brachytherapy (PB) as monotherapy to recently published results of patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy.

Methods: We analyzed data from patients treated at our institution with Cs-131 PB as monotherapy who had at least 5 years of follow-up and who prospectively completed expanded prostate cancer index composite questionnaires at baseline, 1 year, 2 years, and 5 years. We compared our data with the recently published data from radiation therapy oncology group (RTOG) 0938 and PACE-B (NCT01584258).

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Viscoelastic hemostatic assays (VHAs) have become a valuable tool in guiding transfusion therapy, particularly in trauma care. While various forms of VHA exist, all provide a quantitative assessment of clot kinetics, strength, and dissolution. Studies have demonstrated that VHA can reduce both mortality and utilization of blood products in the general population.

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Methodologies for source attribution (SA) of foodborne illnesses comprise a rapidly expanding suite of techniques for estimating the most important source or sources of human infection. Recently, the increasing availability of whole genome sequencing (WGS) data for a wide range of bacterial strains has led to the development of novel SA methods. These techniques utilize the unique features of bacterial genomes adapted to different host types and hence offer increased resolution of the outputs.

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Background: The incidence of tick-borne diseases is increasing across the USA, with cases concentrated in the northeastern and midwestern regions of the country. Ixodes scapularis is one of the most important tick-borne disease vectors and has spread throughout the northeastern USA over the past four decades, with established populations in all states of the region.

Methods: To better understand the rapid expansion of I.

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Background: Emotional regulation difficulties in those with narcissistic personality disorder can cause problematic social and occupational functioning and inhibit treatment. Identifying which aspects of emotion regulation difficulties narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) patients have can help inform treatment. Adult psychiatric inpatients (N = 108) were assessed on measures of emotion regulation.

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  • Harmful algal blooms caused by cyanobacteria pose risks to ecosystems, the economy, and human health, with a focus on how nutrient introduction affects gene expression.
  • Through mesocosm experiments, researchers discovered that adding nitrogen (specifically urea) resulted in longer-lasting blooms by enhancing key biological processes like photosynthesis and toxin production.
  • The study highlights potential biomarkers for bloom longevity and sheds light on the mechanisms that allow cyanobacteria to thrive, which could aid in developing strategies to manage and mitigate these harmful blooms.
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We describe a case of uterine rupture in the presence of abnormally invasive placentation, with fetal survival despite a long rupture-to-delivery interval (19.5 hours). The patient had previously had an intrapartum stillbirth delivered via caesarean section with an atypical uterine incision at 34 weeks' gestation.

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Unlabelled: The inoculum effect has been observed for nearly all antibiotics and bacterial species. However, explanations accounting for its occurrence and strength are lacking. Previous work found that the relationship between [ATP] and growth rate can account for the strength and occurrence of the inoculum effect for bactericidal antibiotics.

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Background And Objective: In-vitro fertilization (IVF) with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has become increasingly prevalent even in cases without significant male factor infertility; however, stagnant live-birth rates, both nationally and internationally, have driven more research into sperm selection. To date, nothing has replaced swim-up and density-gradient preparation methods and therefore we sought to review the state of the science.

Methods: A PubMed search was performed between years of 1989 and 2024 for English research articles reporting data on sperm selection technology in assisted reproductive technology.

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Deer tick virus (DTV), also known as Powassan virus lineage II, is a rising health concern due to increased recognition as a cause of human encephalitis. Since European tick-borne encephalitis virus persists in nature in enzootic foci (i.e.

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  • New technology can make mental healthcare better, but patients need to trust their doctors, the organizations, and the technology itself.
  • Building trust is complicated; it involves personal relationships, the reputation of healthcare systems, and how reliable the technology is.
  • The paper discusses challenges to building this trust, like a patient’s background and understanding of technology, and aims to improve mental healthcare with digital solutions by focusing on trust.
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  • - The study examined how coagulation parameters, measured through TEG (thromboelastography), relate to the risk of late-resolving multiple organ failure (LRMOF) in patients at high risk for post-injury complications.
  • - Out of 742 patients analyzed, while those with normal TEG values had lower rates of LRMOF compared to those with coagulation issues, multivariable analysis showed no significant link between coagulation profiles and LRMOF risk.
  • - The findings suggest that, contrary to initial assumptions, coagulation status may not be a significant factor in predicting the development of LRMOF in these patients.
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Powassan virus lineage II or deer tick virus (DTV) is a rare but increasingly reported human infection in the United States transmitted by Ixodes scapularis ticks. The virus is thought to be maintained in environmental foci that are optimal for tick and vertebrate reservoirs, but details on DTV ecology are poorly understood. We investigated DTV tick infection rates and reservoir host abundance in a focus of consistent DTV activity in Maine, USA.

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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 is a prevalent zoonotic pathogen in European pig farms, posing a significant public health risk primarily through the foodborne route. The study aimed to identify effective biosecurity measures for controlling HEV transmission on pig farms, addressing a critical gap in current knowledge. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, fecal samples from gilts, dry sows, and fatteners were collected on 231 pig farms of all farm types across nine European countries.

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The surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in commensal from livestock at slaughter is widely employed to assess the potential for risk to humans. There is currently a limited understanding of AMR in Bangladesh poultry at retail in live bird markets, with studies focussing solely on phenotypic characterisation of resistance. To address this evidence gap we performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole genome sequencing on obtained from chickens from live bird markets in Dhaka in 2018 ( = 38) and 2020 ( = 45).

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  • The study investigates cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) in Lake Okeechobee, analyzing microbial communities through extensive sequencing data from a year of samples collected during bloom seasons.
  • Findings suggest distinct ecological zones with varying physical and chemical properties lead to "hotspots" for blooms, with microbial interactions playing a crucial role in bloom resilience and severity, particularly regarding nutrient utilization and defense mechanisms.
  • The research highlights the diversity of cyanobacterial communities and introduces novel species, emphasizing the importance of understanding microbial ecosystems in managing and predicting the occurrence of these harmful algal blooms.
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The inoculum effect has been observed for nearly all antibiotics and bacterial species. However, explanations accounting for its occurrence and strength are lacking. We previously found that growth productivity, which captures the relationship between [ATP] and growth, can account for the strength of the inoculum effect for bactericidal antibiotics.

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Introduction: With the emergence of imaged-based planning and hybrid applicators the complexity of gynecologic brachytherapy has dramatically increased. Despite the known advantages of brachytherapy, notable national declines in utilization of brachytherapy have been documented. Clearly improved education in the sphere of gynecologic brachytherapy is needed.

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In a nature reserve in southern Maine, we removed invasive Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii de Candolle) along sections of forested recreational trails that ran through dense barberry infestations. Barberry thickets provide questing substrate and a protective microclimate for blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis Say), and trail users could brush up against encroaching barberry and acquire ticks. Trailside barberry removal will reduce or eliminate encroaching tick questing substrate and could reduce trailside questing tick abundance by creating a microclimate more hostile to ticks.

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  • Livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) can spread from pigs to workers at abattoirs, posing health risks, so researchers used genomic techniques to investigate this issue.
  • Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was conducted on 85 LA-MRSA strains from six abattoirs to determine their genetic relationships and identify shared clones, showing that all strains belonged to a specific lineage (CC398) and were primarily of spa type t011.
  • The analysis revealed that transmission likely happens during farm handling, transport, or at abattoirs, indicating that better biosecurity and disinfection practices are needed to protect workers from LA-MRSA contamination.
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Bacterial growth and metabolic rates are often closely related. However, under antibiotic selection, a paradox in this relationship arises: antibiotic efficacy decreases when bacteria are metabolically dormant, yet antibiotics select for resistant cells that grow fastest during treatment. That is, antibiotic selection counterintuitively favors bacteria with fast growth but slow metabolism.

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Background: Consumption of pork and pork products is a major source of human infection with Salmonella. Salmonella is typically subclinical in pigs, making it difficult to identify infected pigs. Therefore, effective surveillance of Salmonella in pigs critically relies on good knowledge on how well the diagnostic tests used perform.

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