Progress towards the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in four counties of Eastern Equatoria State, Republic of South Sudan.

Background: Trachoma is targeted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for elimination as a public health problem by 2030. Trachoma impact surveys using standardised methodology are recommended to monitor progress towards elimination and to determine eligibility for continued surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, and environmental improvement (SAFE) interventions. From 2007 to 2015, four counties of Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan, received three to five rounds of mass drug administration with antibiotics.

Correlates of Trachoma Recrudescence: Results from 51 District-Level Trachoma Surveillance Surveys in Amhara, Ethiopia.

Trachoma recrudescence is a serious concern for trachoma control programs. Programs define recrudescence as the return of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) prevalence above elimination threshold (≥5%) on district-level trachoma surveillance surveys (TSSs). This study aimed to determine potential correlates of trachoma recrudescence within a historically highly endemic region.

Sexually dimorphic DNA methylation and gene expression patterns in human first trimester placenta.

Background: Fetal sex and placental development impact pregnancy outcomes and fetal-maternal health, but the critical timepoint of placenta establishment in first trimester is understudied in human pregnancies.

Methods: Pregnant subjects were recruited in late first trimester (weeks 10-14) at time of chorionic villus sampling, a prenatal diagnostic test. Leftover placenta tissue was collected and stored until birth outcomes were known, then DNA and RNA were isolated from singleton, normal karyotype pregnancies resulting in live births.

Sacrococcygeal chordoma with spontaneous regression due to a large hemorrhagic component.

Chordoma is a malignant bone tumor originating from notochordal remnants, most commonly occurring at the sacrococcygeal junction. We present a case of a 70-year-old male with chronic pain in the lower lumbar spine. MRI performed elsewhere revealed a large tumor that involved S4, S5, and the coccyx with a presacral soft tissue component.

Antenatal Endotoxin Induces Dysanapsis in Experimental Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), the chronic lung disease of prematurity, is characterized by impaired lung development with sustained functional abnormalities due to alterations of airways and the distal lung. Although clinical studies have shown striking associations between antenatal stress and BPD, little is known about the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms. Whether dysanapsis, the concept of discordant growth of the airways and parenchyma, contributes to late respiratory disease as a result of antenatal stress is unknown.

Efficacy and safety of raltegravir plus lamivudine maintenance therapy.

Background: Decreasing medication burden with raltegravir plus lamivudine in virologically suppressed persons with HIV (PWH) maintained efficacy and was well tolerated at 24 weeks, but more comprehensive data over longer follow-up are required.

Methods: Prospective 48 week extension phase of the raltegravir plus lamivudine arm from a previous 24 week pilot randomized clinical trial in which virologically suppressed PWH were randomized 2:1 to switch to fixed-dose combination 150 mg lamivudine/300 mg raltegravir twice daily or to continue therapy. In this 48 week extension phase, raltegravir was dosed at 1200 mg/day and lamivudine 300 mg/day.

A systematic review of genome-wide analyses of methylation changes associated with assisted reproductive technologies in various tissues.

Importance: Because analytic technologies improve, increasing amounts of data on methylation differences between assisted reproductive technology (ART) and unassisted conceptions are available. However, various studies use different tissue types and different populations in their analyses, making data comparison and integration difficult.

Objective: To compare and integrate data on genome-wide analyses of methylation differences due to ART, allowing exposure of overarching themes.

Role of voltage-gated proton channel (Hv1) in cancer biology.

The acid-base characteristics of tumor cells and the other elements that compose the tumor microenvironment have been topics of scientific interest in oncological research. There is much evidence confirming that pH conditions are maintained by changes in the patterns of expression of certain proton transporters. In the past decade, the voltage-gated proton channel (Hv1) has been added to this list and is increasingly being recognized as a target with onco-therapeutic potential.

Infertility and treatments used have minimal effects on first-trimester placental DNA methylation and gene expression.

Objective: To determine whether deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation alterations exist in the first-trimester human placenta between conceptions using fertility treatments and those that do not and, if so, whether they are the result of underlying infertility or fertility treatments. We also assessed whether significant alterations led to changes in gene expression.

Design: We compared DNA methylation of the first-trimester placenta from singleton pregnancies that resulted in live births from unassisted, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and non-IVF fertility treatment (NIFT) conceptions using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array.

Immunological and virological findings in a patient with exceptional post-treatment control: a case report.

Background: Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) is effective in suppressing viral replication, HIV-1 persists in reservoirs and rebounds after ART has been stopped. However, a very few people (eg, elite and post-treatment controllers) are able to maintain viral loads below detection limits without ART, constituting a realistic model for long-term HIV remission. Here, we describe the HIV control mechanisms of an individual who showed exceptional post-treatment control for longer than 15 years.

Sex at the interface: the origin and impact of sex differences in the developing human placenta.

The fetal placenta is a source of hormones and immune factors that play a vital role in maintaining pregnancy and facilitating fetal growth. Cells in this extraembryonic compartment match the chromosomal sex of the embryo itself. Sex differences have been observed in common gestational pathologies, highlighting the importance of maternal immune tolerance to the fetal compartment.

Highly Efficient Autologous HIV-1 Isolation by Coculturing Macrophage With Enriched CD4 T Cells From HIV-1 Patients.

We described a novel HIV autologous isolation method based in coculturing macrophages and CD4T-cell-enriched fractions from peripheral blood collected from antiretroviral-treated (ART) HIV patients. This method allows the isolation of high viral titers of autologous viruses, over 10HIV RNA copies/ml, and reduces the time required to produce necessary amounts for virus for use as antigens presented by monocyte-derived myeloid cells in HIV therapeutic vaccine approaches. By applying these high titer and autologous virus produced in the patient-derived cells, we intended to elicit a boost of the immunological system response in HIV therapeutic vaccines in clinical trials.

Fire as a driver and mediator of predator-prey interactions.

Both fire and predators have strong influences on the population dynamics and behaviour of animals, and the effects of predators may either be strengthened or weakened by fire. However, knowledge of how fire drives or mediates predator-prey interactions is fragmented and has not been synthesised. Here, we review and synthesise knowledge of how fire influences predator and prey behaviour and interactions.

Effect of Intranodally Administered Dendritic Cell-Based HIV Vaccine in Combination With Pegylated Interferon α-2a on Viral Control Following ART Discontinuation: A Phase 2A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Functional cure has been proposed as an alternative to lifelong antiretroviral therapy and therapeutic vaccines represent one of the most promising approaches.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and effect on viral dynamics of a therapeutic vaccine produced with monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MD-DC) loaded with a high dose of heat-inactivated autologous (HIA) HIV-1 in combination with pegylated interferon alpha 2a (IFNα-2a) in people with chronic HIV-1.

Results: Twenty-nine male individuals on successful ART and with CD4+ ≥450 cells/mm were randomized 1:1:1:1 to receive three ultrasound-guided inguinal intranodal immunizations, one every 2 weeks: (1) vaccine ~10 MD-DC pulsed with HIA-HIV-1 (10 HIV RNA copies) ( = 8); (2) vaccine plus three doses of 180 mcg IFNα-2a at weeks 4-6 ( = 6); (3) placebo = saline ( = 7); and (4) placebo plus three doses of 180 mcg IFNα-2a ( = 8).

Circulating trophoblast cell clusters for early detection of placenta accreta spectrum disorders.

Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) is a high-risk obstetrical condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Current clinical screening modalities for PAS are not always conclusive. Here, we report a nanostructure-embedded microchip that efficiently enriches both single and clustered circulating trophoblasts (cTBs) from maternal blood for detecting PAS.

Osteosynthesis or primary arthrodesis for displaced intra-articular calcaneus fractures Sanders type IV - A systematic review.

Background: Displaced intra-articular calcaneus fractures (DIACF) Sanders type IV represent a challenge in its management and questions remain about the best treatment option available. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of primary subtalar arthrodesis (PSTA) and osteosynthesis in these fractures.

Methods: Studies concerning DIACF Sanders type IV, from 2005 to 2020 were systematically reviewed.

How fire interacts with habitat loss and fragmentation.

Biodiversity faces many threats and these can interact to produce outcomes that may not be predicted by considering their effects in isolation. Habitat loss and fragmentation (hereafter 'fragmentation') and altered fire regimes are important threats to biodiversity, but their interactions have not been systematically evaluated across the globe. In this comprehensive synthesis, including 162 papers which provided 274 cases, we offer a framework for understanding how fire interacts with fragmentation.