Dynamic co-clustering and self-sorting in interactive protocell populations.

The design and implementation of collective actions in model protocell communities is an on-going challenge in synthetic protobiology. Herein, we covalently graft alginate or chitosan onto the outer surface of semipermeable enzyme-containing silica colloidosomes to produce hairy catalytic protocells with pH-switchable membrane surface charge. Binary populations of the enzymatically active protocells exhibit self-initiated stimulus-responsive changes in spatial organization such that the mixed community undergoes alternative modes of electrostatically induced self-sorting and reversible co-clustering.

Perspectives of In-Hospital Intramuscular Naltrexone and Oral Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Study of Addiction Clinicians and Hospitalized Patients.

Background: Alcohol-related hospitalizations are rising; however, medications for alcohol use disorder (M-AUD) are underprescribed despite their effectiveness to reduce heavy drinking. In-hospital administration of intramuscular (IM)-naltrexone may reduce negative health outcomes among people with AUD who are unable to take daily MAUD.

Objective: To assess addiction clinicians' perceptions of offering and administering IM-naltrexone and to assess hospitalized patients' perspectives on their alcohol use and acceptance of MAUD.

Chemomechanical Self-Oscillatory Microgel Motility in Stratified Chemical Media.

The design of chemomechanical self-oscillators, which execute oscillations in the presence of constant stimuli lacking periodicity, is a step toward the development of autonomous and interactive soft robotic systems. This work presents a simple design of prolonged chemomechanical oscillatory movement in a microgel system capable of buoyant motility within stratified chemical media containing spatially localized sinking and floating stimuli. Three design elements are developed: a stimuli-responsive membranized calcium alginate microgel, a Percoll density gradient for providing stratified antagonistic chemical media, and transduction of microgel particle size actuation into buoyant motility via membrane-mediated displacement of the Percoll media.

Negative spillover due to constraints on care delivery: a potential source of bias in pragmatic clinical trials.

Background: Pragmatic clinical trials evaluate the effectiveness of health interventions in real-world settings. Negative spillover can arise in a pragmatic trial if the study intervention affects how scarce resources are allocated across patients in the intervention and comparison groups.

Main Body: Negative spillover can lead to overestimation of treatment effect and harm to patients assigned to usual care in trials of diverse health interventions.

Overexpressed Palladin Rescues Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) Pedestal Lengths in ArpC2 Depleted Cells.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) causes diarrheal disease. Once ingested, these extracellular pathogens attach to the intestinal epithelial cells of their host, collapse the localized microvilli, and generate actin-rich structures within the host cells that are located beneath the attached bacteria, called "pedestals." Palladin is an actin-associated protein that cross-links and stabilizes actin filaments.