Attitudes, Beliefs, and Predictors of Gestational Weight Gain and Postpartum Weight Retention in South Africa: A Mixed Methods Analysis.

Suboptimal gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with pregnancy complications and postpartum weight retention (PPWR). Little data exists about GWG and PPWR attitudes and beliefs in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) to inform interventions. We examined GWG and PPWR attitudes, beliefs, and intentions among pregnant people, with and without HIV, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Trichoderma gets by with a little help from Streptomyces: fungal-bacterial symbiosis in plant growth promotion.

This article comments on: 2024. Local signal from T22 induces host transcriptome and endophytic microbiome leading to growth promotion in sorghum. Journal of Experimental Botany , https://doi.

Microbial community and functional shifts across agricultural and urban landscapes within a Lake Erie watershed.

The role of sediment microbial communities in regulating the loss and retention of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems has been increasingly recognised. However, in the Great Lakes, where nutrient mitigation focuses on harmful algal blooms, there are limited studies examining the fundamental role of water/sediment microbes in nutrient biogeochemical cycling. Little is understood in this regard considering the increase in anthropogenic pressure on in-stream biological processes impacting nutrient flux to lakes.

Duties, tasks, knowledge and skills of an obesity medicine physician: A practice analysis.

Background: Given the evolving nature of obesity medicine, periodic evaluation of its clinical practice is needed to ensure that certification requirements address real-world experience. Practice analysis is a systematic approach to define a field's body of knowledge, and its results can inform the content outline and examination blueprint for a certification examination. This study describes the 2023 practice analysis conducted by the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM).

TGF-β trap of AdAPT-001 turns up the heat on tumors and turns down checkpoint blocker resistance.

At the ASCO 2024 meeting, Anthony P Conley, coauthor on this editorial, presented promising data from the phase 1/2 clinical trial called BETA PRIME (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04673942) with AdAPT-001 plus a checkpoint inhibitor (CI). All participants gave informed consent to participate in BETA PRIME before taking part.

A Pilot Study: Treatment of High Alcohol Consumption in a Novel Minipig Model of Alcohol Use Disorder.

Three medications are FDA approved in the US for treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), and a few others are used off-label. Patient compliance and efficacy in the broader population are major hurdles for current AUD medications. As a consequence, there is an urgent need for improved pharmacotherapeutics to complement behavioral approaches.

Alginate/organo-selenium composite hydrogel beads: Dye adsorption and bacterial deactivation.

Post-COVID-19, the risk and spread of germs, coupled with wastewater contamination, have become critical concerns. Wastewater contains waterborne bacteria and various contaminants like dye molecules, threatening water safety. Traditional adsorption methods address pollutant removal or pathogen inactivation separately, but a dual-action solution is increasingly essential.

CAR expression in invasive breast carcinoma and its effect on adenovirus transduction efficiency.

Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women, with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) as the two most common forms of invasive breast cancer. While estrogen receptor positive (ER+) IDC and ILC are treated similarly, the multifocality of ILC presents challenges in detection and treatment, worsening long-term clinical outcomes in patients. With increasing documentation of chemoresistance in ILC, additional treatment options are needed.

Complete Growth Inhibition of by Organo-Selenium-Incorporated Urinary Catheter Material.

To further investigate the inhibition of 's in vitro growth and biofilm formation by an organo-selenium-incorporated polyurethane (PU) catheter material. , , and were incubated in vitro with organo-selenium and control polyurethane catheter materials in the presence of glutathione. Growth was evaluated by a colony-forming-unit (CFU) count and visualized with confocal laser scanning microscopy.

Lost at SCLC: a review of potential platinum sensitizers.

The expression "lost at sea" means to be confused or perplexed. By extension, lost at SCLC references the current confusion about how to circumvent the chemoresistance, particularly platinum resistance, which so plagues the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) that in 2012 the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated it a "recalcitrant cancer." Over a decade later, despite the approval of immune checkpoint inhibitors and the conditional approval of lurbinectedin, the prognosis for ES-SCLC, and especially platinum-resistant ES-SCLC, has scarcely improved.

Selenium Bandages and Cotton Cloth That Kill Microorganisms in Wounds.

Introduction: The material of a bandage plays an important role in wound management. Microorganisms can colonize the dressing and release toxins, which create dead cells in the wound. This allows the microorganisms to bind the dead cells and infect the wound.

Characterization of a CXCR4 antagonist TIQ-15 with dual tropic HIV entry inhibition properties.

The chemokine co-receptors CXCR4 and CCR5 mediate HIV entry and signal transduction necessary for viral infection. However, to date only the CCR5 antagonist maraviroc is approved for treating HIV-1 infection. Given that approximately 50% of late-stage HIV patients also develop CXCR4-tropic virus, clinical anti-HIV CXCR4 antagonists are needed.

Functional Characterisation of Surfactant Protein A as a Novel Prophylactic Means against Oncogenic HPV Infections.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection poses a significant health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where limited healthcare access and awareness hinder vaccine accessibility. To identify alternative HPV targeting interventions, we previously reported on surfactant protein A (SP-A) as a novel molecule capable of recognising HPV16 pseudovirions (HPV16-PsVs) and reducing infection in a murine cervicovaginal HPV challenge model. Building on these findings, our current study aimed to assess SP-A's suitability as a broad-spectrum HPV-targeting molecule and its impact on innate immune responses.

Treponema pallidum Periplasmic and Membrane Proteins Are Recognized by Circulating and Skin CD4+ T Cells.

Background: Histologic and serologic studies suggest the induction of local and systemic Treponema pallidum-specific CD4+ T-cell responses to T. pallidum infection. We hypothesized that T.

Experimental Investigation of Low-Frequency Distributed Acoustic Sensor Responses to Two Parallel Propagating Fractures.

Low-frequency distributed acoustic sensing (LF-DAS) is a diagnostic tool for hydraulic fracture propagation with far-field monitoring using fiber optic sensors. LF-DAS senses strain rate variation caused by stress field change due to fracture propagation. Fiber optic sensors are installed in the monitoring wells in the vicinity of a fractured well.

Hypothesis: AdAPT-001 and pseudoprogression - when seeing is not necessarily believing.

The purpose of this commentary is to highlight the high occurrence of clinical pseudoprogression and delayed responses that have been observed to date with the locally injected oncolytic adenovirus, AdAPT-001, currently in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (NCT04673942) for the treatment of treatment-refractory tumors. Not surprisingly, these have led to confusion about response assessment and whether to continue patients on treatment. AdAPT-001 carries a transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta trap (TGF-β), which sequesters TGF-β, a cytokine that potently regulates inflammation, fibrosis, and immunosuppression in cancer.

Homologous recombination deficiency should be tested for in patients with advanced stage high-grade serous ovarian cancer aged 70 years and over.

Objective: Due to limited data on homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) in older patients (≥ 70 years) with advanced stage high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC), we aimed to determine the rates of HRD at diagnosis in this age group.

Methods: From the Phase 3 trial VELIA the frequency of HRD and BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants (PVs) was compared between younger (< 70 years) and older participants. HRD and somatic(s) BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants (PVs) were determined at diagnosis using Myriad myChoice® CDx and germline(g) BRCA1/2 PVs using Myriad BRACAnalysis CDx®.

(Dis)honorably discharged: identifying policy gaps in military-civilian reintegration.

Despite the substantial transition assistance available for honorably separating servicemembers, 75% of US veterans report difficulties with the transition to civilian life. For the 16% of veterans who separate with less-than-honorable discharges, these difficulties are compounded by the lack of structural support from the US military. Social stigma, limited transition programming, and loss of benefits create a perfect storm of barriers for these discharged servicemembers.

Gastric mucosa as a rare recurrence location of endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma.

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with a prevalence of 25.7 per 100,000 women per year (Mahdy et al., 2023).

periplasmic and membrane proteins are recognized by circulating and skin CD4+ T cells.

Background: Histologic and serologic studies suggest the induction of local and systemic ( )-specific CD4+ T cell responses to infection. We hypothesized that -specific CD4+ T cells are detectable in blood and in the skin rash of secondary syphilis and persist in both compartments after treatment.

Methods: PBMC collected from 67 participants were screened by IFNγ ELISPOT response to sonicate.

Testing the feasibility of the QuitAid smoking cessation intervention in a randomized factorial design in an independent, rural community pharmacy.

Background: Adult smoking rates in the USA are highest in economically depressed rural Appalachia. Pharmacist-delivered tobacco cessation support that incorporates medication therapy management (such as the QuitAid intervention) is a promising approach to address this need.

Methods: Twenty-four adult smokers recruited between September and November 2021 through an independent pharmacy in rural Appalachia were randomized in a non-blinded 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design to (1) pharmacist delivered QuitAid intervention (yes vs.

Rapid binding to protofilament edge sites facilitates tip tracking of EB1 at growing microtubule plus-ends.

EB1 is a key cellular protein that delivers regulatory molecules throughout the cell via the tip-tracking of growing microtubule plus-ends. Thus, it is important to understand the mechanism for how EB1 efficiently tracks growing microtubule plus-ends. It is widely accepted that EB1 binds with higher affinity to GTP-tubulin subunits at the growing microtubule tip, relative to GDP-tubulin along the microtubule length.