Publications by authors named "S Wiersma"

Article Synopsis
  • The 2030 UN Agenda aims to eliminate STIs as a public health threat, but data on STI prevalence, especially among men in middle and low-income countries, is insufficient.
  • The study analyzed survey data from military personnel across several African countries (Cameroon, Chad, DRC, etc.) between 2013-2018 to estimate active syphilis prevalence and its associations with demographic factors.
  • Results showed low syphilis prevalence (<1%) in most countries, with notably higher rates in Chad (6.2%) and DRC (15.5%), highlighting a critical need for better epidemiological surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Cardiac fibrosis is a key indicator of poor long-term outcomes in heart transplant patients, and this study examined its clinical determinants and biomarkers using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).
  • Researchers studied 48 heart transplant recipients, focusing on factors like donor-recipient weight mismatch and how it correlates with types of cardiac fibrosis.
  • The findings revealed that weight mismatch is linked to both focal and interstitial fibrosis, with B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) being the only biomarker associated with interstitial fibrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Xanthan, a bacterial polysaccharide, is widespread in industrial applications, particularly as a food additive. However, little is known about the process of xanthan synthesis on the proteome level, even though is frequently used for xanthan fermentation. A label-free LC-MS/MS method was employed to study the protein changes during xanthan fermentation in minimal medium.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Adolescents have poorer outcomes across the HIV cascade compared with adults. We aimed to assess progress in HIV case finding, antiretroviral treatment (ART), viral load coverage (VLC), and viral load suppression (VLS) among adolescents enrolled in the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)-supported programs over a 3-year period that included the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We analyzed PEPFAR program data in 28 countries/regions for adolescents aged 10-19 years between year 1 (October 2017to September 2018), year 2 (October 2018 to September 2019), and year 3 (October 2019 to September 2020).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: With countries moving towards reaching the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goal to achieve HIV epidemic control, there are going to be an unprecedented number of persons who will need to be tested, treated, and regularly monitored for viral suppression. However, most of the countries with the greatest burden of HIV/AIDS experience regular stock outages which could be detrimental to reaching these targets. ART and other commodities such as HIV test kits and laboratory supplies need to be readily and consistently available to achieve these targets.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF