Uptake of a Partner Notification Model for HIV Among Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender Women in Tijuana, Mexico.

Undiagnosed HIV infection is common among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) in Latin America. We examined uptake of a partner notification (PN) model among MSM and TW in Tijuana, Mexico. Forty-six HIV-positive MSM/TW enrolled as index patients, and reported 132 MSM/TW sexual partners for PN.

Implications of Tourist-Macaque Interactions for Disease Transmission.

During wildlife tourism, proximity or actual contact between people and animals may lead to a significant risk of anthropozoonotic disease transmission. In this paper, we use social network analysis, disease simulation modelling and data on animal health and behaviour to investigate such risks at a site in Morocco, where tourists come to see wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Measures of individual macaques' network centrality-an index of the strength and distribution of their social relationships and thus potentially their ability to spread disease-did not show clear and consistent relationships with their time spent in close proximity to, or rate of interacting with, tourists.

Trade-offs in the production of animal vocal sequences: insights from the structure of wild chimpanzee pant hoots.

Background: Vocal sequences - utterances consisting of calls produced in close succession - are common phenomena in animal communication. While many studies have explored the adaptive benefits of producing such sequences, very little is known about how the costs and constraints involved in their production affect their form. Here, we investigated this issue in the chimpanzee () pant hoot, a long and structurally complex vocal sequence comprising four acoustically distinct phases - introduction, build-up, climax and let-down.

Field Measurements of Inadvertent Ingestion Exposure to Metals.

The determinants of inadvertent occupational ingestion exposure are poorly understood, largely due to a lack of available exposure measurement data. In this study, perioral exposure wipes were used as a surrogate for inadvertent ingestion exposure to measure exposure to eight metals (chromium, nickel, aluminium, cobalt, lead, arsenic, manganese, and tin) among 38 workers at 5 work sites in the UK. This work was done alongside a previously reported observational study of hand/object-to-mouth contact frequency.

Ferumoxytol-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in acute myocarditis.

Objectives: Ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO)-enhanced MRI can detect tissue-resident macrophage activity and identify cellular inflammation within tissues. We hypothesised that USPIO-enhanced MRI would provide a non-invasive imaging technique that would improve the diagnosis and management of patients with acute myocarditis.

Methods: Ten volunteers and 14 patients with suspected acute myocarditis underwent T2, T2* and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) 3T MRI, with further T2* imaging at 24 hours after USPIO (ferumoxytol, 4 mg/kg) infusion, at baseline and 3 months.

Isolation and Structural Characterization of Echinocystic Acid Triterpenoid Saponins from the Australian Medicinal and Food Plant Acacia ligulata.

The Australian plant Acacia ligulata has a number of traditional food and medicinal uses by Australian Aboriginal people, although no bioactive compounds have previously been isolated from this species. Bioassay-guided fractionation of an ethanolic extract of the mature pods of A. ligulata led to the isolation of the two new echinocystic acid triterpenoid saponins, ligulatasides A (1) and B (2), which differ in the fine structure of their glycan substituents.

Impact of partial fuel switch on household air pollutants in sub-Sahara Africa.

Over 700 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa depend on solid biomass fuel and use simple cookstoves in poorly ventilated kitchens, which results in high indoor concentrations of household air pollutants. Switching from biomass to biogas as a cooking fuel can reduce airborne emissions of fine particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO), but households often only partially convert to biogas, continuing to use solid biomass fuels for part of their daily cooking needs. There is little evidence of the benefits of partial switching to biogas.

A randomized, multicenter, open-label, blinded end point trial comparing the effects of spironolactone to chlorthalidone on left ventricular mass in patients with early-stage chronic kidney disease: Rationale and design of the SPIRO-CKD trial.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with increased left ventricular (LV) mass and arterial stiffness. In a previous trial, spironolactone improved these end points compared with placebo in subjects with early-stage CKD, but it is not known whether these effects were specific to the drug or secondary to blood pressure lowering.

Aim: The aim was to investigate the hypothesis that spironolactone is superior to chlorthalidone in the reduction of LV mass while exerting similar effects on blood pressure.

Central and non-central networks, cognition, clinical symptoms, and polygenic risk scores in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder that may be the result of aberrant connections between specific brain regions rather than focal brain abnormalities. Here, we investigate the relationships between brain structural connectivity as described by network analysis, intelligence, symptoms, and polygenic risk scores (PGRS) for schizophrenia in a group of patients with schizophrenia and a group of healthy controls. Recently, researchers have shown an interest in the role of high centrality networks in the disorder.

Correlates of androgens in wild male Barbary macaques: Testing the challenge hypothesis.

Investigating causes and consequences of variation in hormonal expression is a key focus in behavioral ecology. Many studies have explored patterns of secretion of the androgen testosterone in male vertebrates, using the challenge hypothesis (Wingfield, Hegner, Dufty, & Ball, 1990; The American Naturalist, 136(6), 829-846) as a theoretical framework. Rather than the classic association of testosterone with male sexual behavior, this hypothesis predicts that high levels of testosterone are associated with male-male reproductive competition but also inhibit paternal care.

Characterising the Exposure of Prison Staff to Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke.

Second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) is an avoidable and harmful exposure in the workplace but >25000 prison staff continue to be exposed on a daily basis in the UK and many more worldwide. SHS exposures in prisons are incompletely understood but may be considerable given the large proportion of smoking prisoners and limited ventilation. This study characterized the exposure of prison staff to SHS in all 15 prisons in Scotland using multiple methods.

Exploring the Biological and Mechanical Properties of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Using USPIO MRI and Peak Tissue Stress: A Combined Clinical and Finite Element Study.

Inflammation detected through the uptake of ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and finite element (FE) modelling of tissue stress both hold potential in the assessment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture risk. This study aimed to examine the spatial relationship between these two biomarkers. Patients (n = 50) > 40 years with AAA maximum diameters > = 40 mm underwent USPIO-enhanced MRI and computed tomography angiogram (CTA).

Assessment of Haemodynamic Response to Nonselective Beta-Blockers in Portal Hypertension by Phase-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Angiography.

A significant unmet need exists for accurate, reproducible, noninvasive diagnostic tools to assess and monitor portal hypertension (PHT). We report the first use of quantitative MRI markers for the haemodynamic assessment of nonselective beta-blockers (NSBB) in PHT. In a randomized parallel feasibility study in 22 adult patients with PHT and a clinical indication for NSBB, we acquired haemodynamic data at baseline and after 4 weeks of NSBB (propranolol or carvedilol) using phase-contrast MR angiography (PC-MRA) in selected intra-abdominal vessels.

Ferumoxytol-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging assessing inflammation after myocardial infarction.

Objectives: Macrophages play a central role in the cellular inflammatory response to myocardial infarction (MI) and predict subsequent clinical outcomes. We aimed to assess temporal changes in cellular inflammation and tissue oedema in patients with acute MI using ultrasmallsuperparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO)-enhanced MRI.

Methods: Thirty-one patients were recruited following acute MI and followed up for 3 months with repeated T2 and USPIO-enhanced T2*-mapping MRI.

Using air quality monitoring to reduce second-hand smoke exposure in homes: The AFRESH feasibility study.

Introduction: Few interventions to reduce second-hand smoke in homes where children are present have been successful. A novel intervention was developed that included personal air-quality feedback. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of delivering this theory-based intervention through small third-sector organisations in deprived areas within Scotland.

Synthesis and antibacterial activity of 5-methylphenanthridium derivatives as FtsZ inhibitors.

5-Methylphenanthridium derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity and cell division inhibitory activity against various Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. Among them, compounds 5A2, 5B1, 5B2, 5B3, 5C1 and 5C2 displayed the best on-target antibacterial activity with an MIC value of 4µg/mL against B. subtilis ATCC9372 and S.

Recommendations of the Oligonucleotide Safety Working Group's Formulated Oligonucleotide Subcommittee for the Safety Assessment of Formulated Oligonucleotide-Based Therapeutics.

The use of lipid formulations has greatly improved the ability to effectively deliver oligonucleotides and has been instrumental in the rapid expansion of therapeutic development programs using oligonucleotide drugs. However, the development of such complex multicomponent therapeutics requires the implementation of unique, scientifically sound approaches to the nonclinical development of these drugs, based upon a hybrid of knowledge and experiences drawn from small molecule, protein, and oligonucleotide therapeutic drug development. The relative paucity of directly applicable regulatory guidance documents for oligonucleotide therapeutics in general has resulted in the generation of multiple white papers from oligonucleotide drug development experts and members of the Oligonucleotide Safety Working Group (OSWG).

A latent measure explains substantial variance in white matter microstructure across the newborn human brain.

A latent measure of white matter microstructure (g ) provides a neural basis for information processing speed and intelligence in adults, but the temporal emergence of g during human development is unknown. We provide evidence that substantial variance in white matter microstructure is shared across a range of major tracts in the newborn brain. Based on diffusion MRI scans from 145 neonates [gestational age (GA) at birth range 23-41 weeks], the microstructural properties of eight major white matter tracts were calculated using probabilistic neighborhood tractography.

Biological activity and LC-MS/MS profiling of extracts from the Australian medicinal plant Acacia ligulata (Fabaceae).

Acacia ligulata A.Cunn. ex Benth.

Adverse prognosis associated with asymmetric myocardial thickening in aortic stenosis.

Aims: Asymmetric wall thickening has been described in patients with aortic stenosis. However, it remains poorly characterized and its prognostic implications are unclear. We hypothesized this pattern of adaptation is associated with advanced remodelling, left ventricular decompenzation, and a poor prognosis.

Effectiveness of interventions to reduce household air pollution and/or improve health in homes using solid fuel in low-and-middle income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Cookstove intervention programs have been increasing over the past two (2) decades in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) across the globe. However, there remains uncertainty regarding the effects of these interventions on household air pollution concentrations, personal exposure concentrations and health outcomes.

Objectives: The primary objective was to determine if household air pollution (HAP) interventions were associated with improved indoor air quality (IAQ) in households in LMICs.

Brain Development in Fetuses of Mothers with Diabetes: A Case-Control MR Imaging Study.

Background And Purpose: Offspring exposed to maternal diabetes are at increased risk of neurocognitive impairment, but its origins are unknown. With MR imaging, we investigated the feasibility of comprehensive assessment of brain metabolism (H-MRS), microstructure (DWI), and macrostructure (structural MRI) in third-trimester fetuses in women with diabetes and determined normal ranges for the MR imaging parameters measured.

Materials And Methods: Women with singleton pregnancies with diabetes ( = 26) and healthy controls ( = 26) were recruited prospectively for MR imaging studies between 34 and 38 weeks' gestation.

Development and use of an Arctic charr cell line to study antiviral responses at extremely low temperatures.

Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) are the northernmost distributed freshwater fish and can grow at water temperatures as low as 0.2 °C. Other teleost species have impaired immune function at temperatures that Arctic charr thrive in, and thus, charr may maintain immune function at these temperatures.

Histograms of Oriented 3D Gradients for Fully Automated Fetal Brain Localization and Robust Motion Correction in 3 T Magnetic Resonance Images.

Fetal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a rapidly emerging diagnostic imaging tool. However, automated fetal brain localization is one of the biggest obstacles in expediting and fully automating large-scale fetal MRI processing. We propose a method for automatic localization of fetal brain in 3 T MRI when the images are acquired as a stack of 2D slices that are misaligned due to fetal motion.