Improvement of a mouse infection model to capture chronic physiology in cystic fibrosis.

Laboratory models are central to microbiology research, advancing the understanding of bacterial physiology by mimicking natural environments, from soil to the human microbiome. When studying host-bacteria interactions, animal models enable investigators to examine bacterial dynamics associated with a host, and in the case of human infections, animal models are necessary to translate basic research into clinical treatments. Efforts toward improving animal infection models are typically based on reproducing host genotypes/phenotypes and disease manifestations, leaving a gap in how well the physiology of microbes reflects their behavior in a human host.

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intervention to Promote HPV Uptake Among Young Women Who Attend Subsidized Clinics.

Objective: To evaluate the preliminary efficacy, acceptability, and feasibility of Step Up to Prevention, a technology-enhanced intervention to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination uptake among young minority and low-income women.

Design: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Two federally supported outpatient clinics in a large city in the northeastern United States.

Biomolecular profiles of Arctic sea-ice diatoms highlight the role of under-ice light in cellular energy allocation.

Arctic sea-ice diatoms fuel polar marine food webs as they emerge from winter darkness into spring. Through their photosynthetic activity they manufacture the nutrients and energy that underpin secondary production. Sea-ice diatom abundance and biomolecular composition vary in space and time.

Co-option of a conserved host glutamine transporter facilitates aphid/ metabolic integration.

Organisms across the tree of life colonize novel environments by partnering with bacterial symbionts. These symbioses are characterized by intimate integration of host/endosymbiont biology at multiple levels, including metabolically. Metabolic integration is particularly important for sap-feeding insects and their symbionts, which supplement nutritionally unbalanced host diets.

Application of a quantitative framework to improve the accuracy of a bacterial infection model.

Laboratory models are critical to basic and translational microbiology research. Models serve multiple purposes, from providing tractable systems to study cell biology to allowing the investigation of inaccessible clinical and environmental ecosystems. Although there is a recognized need for improved model systems, there is a gap in rational approaches to accomplish this goal.

Breastfeeding Awareness and Empowerment (BAE): A Black Women-Led Approach to Promoting a Multigenerational Culture of Health.

1 Background: Critical gaps in the U.S. healthcare system perpetuate adverse reproductive health outcomes for Black people.

Ocean acidification alters the nutritional value of Antarctic diatoms.

Primary production in the Southern Ocean is dominated by diatom-rich phytoplankton assemblages, whose individual physiological characteristics and community composition are strongly shaped by the environment, yet knowledge on how diatoms allocate cellular energy in response to ocean acidification (OA) is limited. Understanding such changes in allocation is integral to determining the nutritional quality of diatoms and the subsequent impacts on the trophic transfer of energy and nutrients. Using synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, we analysed the macromolecular content of selected individual diatom taxa from a natural Antarctic phytoplankton community exposed to a gradient of fCO levels (288-1263 µatm).

"Not a perfect situation, but..." A single-practice survey of patient experience of phone consultations during COVID-19 Alert Level 4 in New Zealand.

Aim: To explore patients' experiences of virtual consultations during the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown in New Zealand.

Method: A single-practice retrospective phone survey exploring patients' satisfaction with the phone consultation process during Alert Level 4 lockdown.

Results: Of 259 eligible patients, 108 (42%) participated in the survey.

Proactively providing contraception to New Zealand adolescents.

High adolescent pregnancy rates in New Zealand (NZ) are influenced by limited access to contraception. In this paper, we discuss using a proactive contraception provision (PCP) model to overcome barriers that prevent effective contraceptive uptake. After outlining steps taken to assess acceptability of PCP in NZ, we cover three issues to consider with PCP: the range of contraceptives that should be offered, the age range that should be approached, and finally whether to include adolescents without uteruses.

A Preliminary Evaluation of Interrater Reliability and Concurrent Validity of Open-Ended Indirect Assessment.

Indirect assessments are a commonly used component of functional behavior assessment by behavior analysts in practice who work with individuals with severe behavior disorders. Although used frequently, closed-ended indirect assessments have repeatedly been shown to have low to moderate interrater reliability and poor concurrent validity with functional analysis. Recently, the use of open-ended interviews has become more commonly adopted in applied clinical practice, despite no studies evaluating the psychometric properties of such assessments.

'We're kidding ourselves if we say that contraception is accessible': a qualitative study of general practitioners' attitudes towards adolescents' use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC).

INTRODUCTION Adolescents' uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) in New Zealand is low. We created the concept of a proactive LARC provision programme to overcome barriers to LARC uptake. Previously, this concept was discussed with adolescents and positively received.

A qualitative analysis of adolescents' opinions of proactive long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) provision.

Aim: In New Zealand, there are sexually active adolescents who are using poor or no methods of contraception, and who do not intend to become pregnant. The most effective methods of contraception suitable to this population are long acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods. A proactive LARC provision (PLP) programme has been proposed, and this study investigates whether such a model would be acceptable to adolescents.

The Critical Care Resuscitation Unit Transfers More Patients From Emergency Departments Faster and Is Associated With Improved Outcomes.

Background: Transfer delays of critically ill patients from other hospitals' emergency departments (EDs) to an appropriate referral hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) are associated with poor outcomes.

Objectives: We hypothesized that an innovative Critical Care Resuscitation Unit (CCRU) would be associated with improved outcomes by reducing transfer times to a quaternary care center and times to interventions for ED patients with critical illnesses.

Methods: This pre-post analysis compared 3 groups of patients: a CCRU group (patients transferred to the CCRU during its first year [July 2013 to June 2014]), a 2011-Control group (patients transferred to any ICU between July 2011 and June 2012), and a 2013-Control group (patients transferred to other ICUs between July 2013 and June 2014).

Trading amino acids at the aphid- symbiotic interface.

Plant sap-feeding insects are widespread, having evolved to occupy diverse environmental niches despite exclusive feeding on an impoverished diet lacking in essential amino acids and vitamins. Success depends exquisitely on their symbiotic relationships with microbial symbionts housed within specialized eukaryotic bacteriocyte cells. Each bacteriocyte is packed with symbionts that are individually surrounded by a host-derived symbiosomal membrane representing the absolute host-symbiont interface.

Closing the Gap between Need and Uptake: a Case for Proactive Contraception Provision to Adolescents.

In New Zealand, there are adolescents who are at risk of pregnancy and who do not want to become pregnant, but are not using contraception. Cost and other barriers limit access to contraception. To address the gap between contraceptive need and contraceptive access, this paper puts forward the concept of proactive contraception provision, where adolescents are offered contraceptives directly.

Assessing adequacy of emergency provider documentation among interhospital transferred patients with acute aortic dissection.

Background: Acute aortic dissection (AoD) is a hypertensive emergency often requiring the transfer of patients to higher care hospitals; thus, clinical care documentation and compliance with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is crucial. The study assessed emergency providers (EP) documentation of clinical care and EMTALA compliance among interhospital transferred AoD patients.

Methods: This retrospective study examined adult patients transferred directly from a referring emergency department (ED) to a quaternary academic center between January 1, 2011 and September 30, 2015.

Emergency Providers' Pain Management in Patients Transferred to Intensive Care Unit for Urgent Surgical Interventions.

Introduction: Pain is the most common complaint for an emergency department (ED) visit, but ED pain management is poor. Reasons for poor pain management include providers' concerns for drug-seeking behaviors and perceptions of patients' complaints. Patients who had objective findings of long bone fractures were more likely to receive pain medication than those who did not, despite pain complaints.

Development of the NowIKnow Mobile Application to Promote Completion of HPV Vaccine Series Among Young Adult Women.

Objective: To identify salient beliefs about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine completion among young adult women who live in economically disadvantaged urban communities and to describe the integration of those beliefs into the development of a mobile health (mHealth) application to promote vaccine completion.

Design: Theory-based, community-informed, mHealth application development process.

Setting: Two federally supported family planning clinics in a large metropolitan area in the Northeastern region of the United States.

Gene Family Expansions in Aphids Maintained by Endosymbiotic and Nonsymbiotic Traits.

Facilitating the evolution of new gene functions, gene duplication is a major mechanism driving evolutionary innovation. Gene family expansions relevant to host/symbiont interactions are increasingly being discovered in eukaryotes that host endosymbiotic microbes. Such discoveries entice speculation that gene duplication facilitates the evolution of novel, endosymbiotic relationships.