Pre-exposure prophylaxis implementation gaps among people vulnerable to HIV acquisition: a cross-sectional analysis in two communities in western Kenya, 2021-2023.

Introduction: Despite the increasing availability of prevention tools like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV incidence remains disproportionately high in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined PrEP awareness, uptake and persistence among participants enrolling into an HIV incidence cohort in Kenya.

Methods: We used cross-sectional enrolment data from the Multinational Observational Cohort of HIV and other Infections (MOCHI) in Homa Bay and Kericho, Kenya.

Using the Health Belief Model to Understand Why Making Oral HIV Self-Testing Available to Truck Drivers in Kenya Had Little Impact on Six-Month Testing.

Research has found that offering HIV self-testing (HIVST) to truckers in Kenya increased testing rates at baseline but not over 6-month follow-up. We explored possible explanations based on the Health Belief Model by assessing HIV risk perception, self-efficacy, and fatalism as possible effect modifiers of the impact of offering HIVST (intervention n = 150) versus standard of care (SOC n = 155) on 6-month testing on the multiplicative and additive scales using log binomial and linear binomial regression and stratifying on significant modifiers. We found significant interaction between the intervention and fatalism on both the multiplicative (p = 0.

De Novo Crohn's Disease Diagnosed in the Setting of Acute SARS-Cov-2 Infection Requiring Escalation of Infliximab Therapy Guided by Personalized Pharmacokinetics.

Here, we describe a 7-year-old girl who was diagnosed with an early-onset Crohn's disease in the setting of COVID-19 illness. Her disease process responded poorly to standard infliximab dosing, necessitating repeat hospitalizations and red blood cell transfusions. Remission was subsequently induced using a personalized infliximab pharmacokinetic profile based on therapeutic drug monitoring.

Pulse Spray Drying for Bovine Skimmed Milk Powder Production.

Pulse Spray Drying (PSD) has potential as a sustainable means of skimmed milk powder (SMP) production. In this study, powders were obtained from PSD using different drying outlet temperatures (70, 80, 90 and 100 °C), and their characteristics were compared to those of traditional Spray Drying (SD). Native whey proteins were well preserved and Solubility Indexes were over 98% in all cases, despite powders obtained by PSD displaying lower solubility than the SD ones.

People in Ecuador and the United States conceptualize compassion differently: The role of avoided negative affect.

Even people from frequently studied cultural contexts differ in how they conceptualize compassion, partly because of differences in how much they want to avoid feeling negative. To broaden this past work, we include participants from an understudied cultural context and start to examine the process through which culture shapes compassion. Based on ethnographic and empirical studies that include Ecuadorians, we predicted that Ecuadorians would want to avoid feeling negative less compared to U.

Can sPD-1 and sPD-L1 Plasma Concentrations Predict Treatment Response among Patients with Extraparenchymal Neurocysticercosis?

Extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis (EP-NC) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening disease that responds poorly to initial anthelmintic drug therapy. A depressed specific reactivity of peripheral lymphocytes and an increased level of specific Tregs accompanies EP-NC. The immune checkpoint pathway PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 downregulates effector T cells, causing specific immune suppression in chronic diseases.

Impact of the First Year of the COVID-19 on Unmet Healthcare Need among New York City Adults: a Universal Healthcare Experiment.

We examined the impact of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic on unmet healthcare need among New Yorkers and potential differences by race/ethnicity and health insurance. Data from the Community Health Survey, collected in 2018, 2019, and 2020, were merged to compare unmet healthcare need within the past 12 months during the pandemic versus the 2 years prior to 2020. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models evaluated change in unmet healthcare need overall, and we assessed whether race/ethnicity or health insurance status modified the association.

Separation of α-Lactalbumin-Enriched Fractions from Caprine and Ovine Native Whey Concentrate by Combining Membrane and High-Pressure Processing.

Whey from goat and sheep have been gaining attention in the last few years for their nutritional properties. Unfortunately, β-Lg, not found in human milk, may trigger infant allergies if used in infant food formulations, so there is a growing interest in developing ingredients derived from whey with higher α-La/β-Lg ratios. The objective of this work was to study the effect of high-pressure processing (HPP) on caprine and ovine native whey concentrates (NWC) in order to obtain α-Lactalbumin (α-La)-enriched fractions.

Fusion crystallization reveals the behavior of both the 1TEL crystallization chaperone and the TNK1 UBA domain.

Human thirty-eight-negative kinase-1 (TNK1) is implicated in cancer progression. The TNK1-UBA domain binds polyubiquitin and plays a regulatory role in TNK1 activity and stability. Sequence analysis suggests an unusual architecture for the TNK1 UBA domain, but an experimentally-validated molecular structure is undetermined.

Decreasing the flexibility of the TELSAM-target protein linker and omitting the cleavable fusion tag improves crystal order and diffraction limits.

Unlabelled: TELSAM crystallization promises to become a revolutionary tool for the facile crystallization of proteins. TELSAM can increase the rate of crystallization and form crystals at low protein concentrations without direct contact between TELSAM polymers and, in some cases, with very minimal crystal contacts overall (Nawarathnage ., 2022).

Low responsiveness of peripheral lymphocytes in extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis.

Background: The morbidity and mortality of extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis (EP-NC) remain high and effectiveness of current medical treatment is suboptimal. Various factors have been implicated in the severity of EP-NC and in the poor response to treatment, but the possible role of host immune and endocrine systems has not yet been examined thoroughly.

Methodology/principal Findings: 42 participants with EP-NC before receiving standard treatment and 25 healthy controls were included in the study.

Impact of weight gain with dolutegravir on antiretroviral adherence and viral suppression in four African countries.

Objective: We hypothesized that total body weight (TBW) gain after switching antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/lamivudine/dolutegravir (TLD) may negatively impact ART adherence and viral load (VL) and therefore sought to examine these associations.

Methods: The ongoing African Cohort Study (AFRICOS) enrols people with HIV at 12 facilities in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda supported by The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Among ART-experienced participants who switched to TLD, we used multivariable multinomial logistic regression to examine associations between pre-/post-TLD changes in percentage TBW (≥5% gain, <5% change, ≥5% loss) and changes in self-reported ART adherence (0, 1-2, ≥3 days missed doses in past 30 days) and VL [(<50 copies/mL (undetectable), 50-999 copies/mL (detectable, but suppressed), ≥1000 copies/mL (unsuppressed)].

Infiltrating Wound Vacuum-Assisted Closure With Topical Amphotericin for Mucormycosis Infection of the Achilles Tendon.

Background: The rarity and heterogeneity of mucormycosis make treatment variable, and no prospective or randomized clinical trials exist in plastic surgery literature. The use of wound vacuum-assisted closure in combination with the instillation of amphotericin B to treat cutaneous mucormycosis is not well documented.

Case Presentation: A 53-year-old man underwent left Achilles tendon reconstruction with allograft after a complete tear during exercise.

Eculizumab-related drug reaction in a patient with neuromyelitis optica.

Eculizumab is approved for treatment of antibody positive neuromyelitis optica, myasthenia gravis, and hematologic disorders like paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. Drug rash has not yet been reported as a side effect of eculizumab. We report a case of a cutaneous drug reaction soon after introduction of eculizumab therapy in a patient with refractory neuromyelitis optica.

Separation of α-Lactalbumin Enriched Fraction from Bovine Native Whey Concentrate by Combining Membrane and High-Pressure Processing.

Whey exhibits interesting nutritional properties, but its high β-Lactoglobulin (β-Lg) content could be a concern in infant food applications. In this study, high-pressure processing (HPP) was assessed as a β-Lg removal strategy to generate an enriched α-Lactalbumin (α-La) fraction from bovine native whey concentrate. Different HPP treatment parameters were considered: initial pH (physiological and acidified), sample temperature (7-35 °C), pressure (0-600 MPa) and processing time (0-490 s).

Evaluating effect modification by HIV testing history to understand the mechanisms behind the impact of announcing HIV self-testing availability in a clinic system in Kenya.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, truckers and female sex workers (FSWs) have high HIV risk and face challenges accessing HIV testing. Adding HIV self-testing (HIVST) to standard of care (SOC) programs increases testing rates. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood.

Antibacterial Efficacy against of Different Desensitizing Dentifrices: A Comparison Study.

Aim: To evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of desensitizing dentifrices.

Material And Methods: An experimental, , longitudinal, analytical, and prospective study was carried out. Subsequently, the following groups were formed: vs Vitis® Sensible.

Preferences, beliefs, and attitudes about oral fluid and blood-based HIV self-testing among truck drivers in Kenya choosing not to test for HIV.

Introduction: Clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa support that HIV self-testing (HIVST) can increase testing rates in difficult-to-reach populations. However, trials mostly evaluate oral fluid HIVST only. We describe preferences for oral fluid vs.

Neurocysticercosis in Latin America: Current epidemiological situation based on official statistics from four countries.

Background: Neurocysticercosis (NC) is one of the major parasitic diseases affecting the central nervous system and is endemic in much of Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. Its epidemiology is difficult to assess, although official registries are available in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico.

Methodology/principal Findings: Using official statistics, we assessed trends in NC hospitalization rates during 1998-2019 in Brazil and Ecuador, during 2004-2019 in Mexico, and during 2009-2019 in Colombia.