Publications by authors named "Walker G"

Malaria parasite infection weakens colonization resistance against serovar () Typhimurium. Typhimurium is a member of the Enterobacterales, a taxon that increases in abundance when the colonic microbiota is disrupted or when the colonic mucosa is inflamed. However, here, we show that infection of mice with enhances Typhimurium colonization by weakening host control in the upper GI tract.

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Objectives: To determine if sleep quality, fatigue, anxiety, depressive symptoms, or perceptions of sport participation differ between high-, moderate-, and low-specialized high school athletes with or without prior injuries.

Methods: During pre-participation physical examinations (PPE), high school athletes completed questionnaires on sport specialization level, history of time-loss orthopedic injury, perceptions of sport participation, as well as sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)), fatigue, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®)). Athletes were grouped according to sport specialization level and history of prior time-loss orthopedic injury.

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Background: In the phase III OlympiAD trial, olaparib significantly increased progression-free survival (PFS) compared with chemotherapy of physician's choice in patients with germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm), human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The phase IIIb LUCY trial assessed the clinical effectiveness of olaparib in similar patients, in a setting reflecting clinical practice.

Methods: This open-label, single-arm trial of olaparib (300 mg, twice daily) enrolled patients with BRCAm, HER2-negative mBC who had received taxane and/or anthracycline in the (neo)adjuvant/metastatic setting and not more than two lines of prior chemotherapy for mBC.

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Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, with many patients experiencing recurrence following treatment. Antigens delivered on virus-like particles (VLPs) induce a targeted immune response and here we investigated whether the co-delivery of multiple antigens could induce a superior anti-cancer response for BC immunotherapy. VLPs were designed to recombinantly express murine survivin and conjugated with an aberrantly glycosylated mucin-1 (MUC1) peptide using an intracellular cleavable bis-arylhydrazone linker.

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A review of the uses and evidence for the EGSYS score, which predicts the likelihood that syncope is from a cardiac cause.

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Objective: To psychometrically assess the Children and Young People-Mental Health Self-harm Assessment in Paediatric healthcare Environments (CYP-MH SAPhE) instrument for the identification of immediate risk of self-harm in CYP, aged 10-19 years, in acute paediatric wards or emergency departments.

Design: The CYP-MH SAPhE Instrument was developed through a robust scoping review and Delphi consensus with 30 clinicians/topic experts. To evaluate the psychometric properties, a multicentre exploratory study was conducted.

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Antibodies against coronavirus spike protein potently protect against infection and disease, but whether such protection can be extended to variant coronaviruses is unclear. This is exemplified by a set of iconic and well-characterized monoclonal antibodies developed after the 2003 SARS outbreak, including mAbs m396, CR3022, CR3014 and 80R, which potently neutralize SARS-CoV-1, but not SARS-CoV-2. Here, we explore antibody engineering strategies to change and broaden their specificity, enabling nanomolar binding and potent neutralization of SARS-CoV-2.

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Phytoglycogen nanoparticles (PhG NPs), a single-molecule highly branched polysaccharide, exhibit excellent water retention, due to the abundance of close-packed hydroxyl groups forming hydrogen bonds with water. Here we report lubrication properties of close-packed adsorbed monolayers of PhG NPs acting as boundary lubricants. Using direct surface force measurements, we show that the hydrated nature of the NP layer results in its striking lubrication performance, with two distinct confinement-controlled friction coefficients.

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Urinary tract infections are leading causes of hospital admissions. Accurate and timely diagnosis is important due to increasing morbidity and mortality from antimicrobial resistance. We evaluated a polymerase chain reaction test (Acuitas AMR Gene Panel with the Acuitas Lighthouse Software) for detection of 5 common uropathogens (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis) and antibiotic resistance genes directly from urine for prediction of phenotypic resistance.

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Purpose This study investigated the relationship between word production rates (WPRs) and phonological error rates (PERs) in generative and responsive tasks in logopenic progressive aphasia (lvPPA). We examined whether a portion of the reduced WPR during generative tasks related directly to phonological impairments affecting PER on all tasks, irrespective of other task differences that contributed to WPR. Method Two cognitive psychometric models were hypothesized and fit to the total number of words produced and the number of phonological errors produced by 22 participants on 10 tasks.

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Our purpose was to compare the clinical and injury characteristics of concussion patients with a receded near point of convergence (NPC) vs those without a receded NPC. Concussion patients were seen within 14 days of injury. We compared those with receded a NPC (>6 cm) break point distance and those with a normal NPC distance on symptom, behavioral, and clinical assessments.

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Nowadays, sustainable materials are receiving significant attention due to the fact that they will be crucial for the development of the next generation of products and devices. In the present work, hydrogels have been successfully synthesized using lignin which is non-valorized biopolymer from the paper industry. Hydrogels were prepared via crosslinking with Poly(ethylene) glycol diglycidyl ether (PEGDGE).

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Biologics can be combined with liquid polymer materials and electrospun to produce a dry nanofibrous scaffold. Unlike spray-drying and freeze-drying, electrospinning minimizes the physiological stress on sensitive materials, and nanofiber mat properties such as hydrophobicity, solubility, and melting temperature can be tuned based on the polymer composition. In this study, we explored the dry formulation of a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine by electrospinning VLP derived from rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus modified to carry the MHC-I gp100 tumor-associated antigen epitope.

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The application of in-line Raman spectroscopy to monitor the formation of a 1:1 cocrystal of ibuprofen (IBU) as a BCS class II drug and nicotinamide as coformer using hot-melt extrusion (HME) was investigated. The process was monitored over different experimental conditions inserting the Raman probe before the extruder die. Partial least square (PLS) was applied as a robust chemometric technique to build predictive models at different levels of chemometric by dividing the experimental data set into calibration and validation subsets.

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Continuous co-crystallization in a twin-screw granulator is a promising technology. In order to fundamentally optimize the process flow, it is necessary to investigate the kinetics of molecular interactions within the mixture and the effect of these interactions on co-crystal formation. In this study, the processes governing the co-crystallization of ibuprofen and nicotinamide were considered.

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Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased volumes of stroke admissions and mechanical thrombectomy were reported. The study's objective was to examine whether subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions demonstrated similar declines.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study across 6 continents, 37 countries and 140 comprehensive stroke centres.

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Discovery of novel cocrystal systems and improvement of their physicochemical properties dominates the current literature on cocrystals yet the required end-product formulation is rarely addressed. Drug product manufacturing includes complex API solid state processing steps such as milling, granulation, and tableting. These all require high mechanical stress which can lead to solid-state phase transformations into polymorphs and solvates, or lead to dissociation of cocrystals into their individual components.

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Purpose: Intrauterine levonorgestrel (LNG-IUD) is used to treat patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma (EAC) and endometrial hyperplasia with atypia (EHA) but limited evidence is available on its effectiveness. The study determined the extent to which LNG-IUD with or without metformin (M) or weight loss (WL) achieves a pathological complete response (pCR) in patients with EAC or EHA.

Patients And Methods: This phase II randomized controlled clinical trial enrolled patients with histologically confirmed, clinically stage 1 FIGO grade 1 EAC or EHA; a body mass index > 30 kg/m2; a depth of myometrial invasion of less than 50% on MRI; a serum CA125 ≤ 30 U/mL.

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Cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) oligonucleotides are commonly-used vaccine adjuvants to promote the activation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs). To mount an effective immune response, CpG needs to be internalized and bind to its endosomal Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR-9) inside the APCs. Using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, this article presents the cellular uptake data of the amino-dextran nanoparticle (aDNP) and aDNP loaded with CpG immobilized on its surface by either electrostatic adsorption or covalent conjugation.

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In this study, an image processing technique is implemented to measure complete two-dimensional particle size and liquid content distribution (2D-distribution) of the granules produced in twin screw granulation (TSG). The effects of liquid binder viscosity and liquid to solid ratio (L/S) on the 2D-distribution, and the residence time distribution were studied. The effect of screw configuration on granule formation at different conditions was also investigated, were the mean residence time distribution (MRTD) in conveying elements decreases with the increase of L/S ratio and viscosity.

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Purpose: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) secondary to a basilar artery occlusion (BAO) carries a poor prognosis, especially in cases of severe symptoms, such as coma at presentation. Despite a lack of evidence, mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is often performed as the procedural risks are felt to be minimal compared to the natural history. We sought to evaluate MT efficacy and safety in comatose BAO patients.

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Gender-based violence continues to be a leading determinant of South Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic. As such, gender socialisation and de-normalisation of gender inequality and violence remain principal objectives for public health organisations. This article discusses youth reception of a mass media HIV/AIDS prevention campaign targeting gender inequality.

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