Addressing STIs through managed care: opportunities in Medicaid and beyond.

The US is facing a growing epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), with over 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis reported in 2021 and again in 2022. This public health crisis disproportionately affects youth and racial and ethnic minority communities, exacerbating barriers to accessing sexual health services.

Lack of Hierarchical Survival Prognosis in AJCC Staging for Colon and Rectal Cancer-Implications for Future Summary Stage Classification.

Background: Current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging for colorectal cancer utilizes TNM framework groups disease based on extent and provides prognostic information, ideally with a hierarchical logic. We sought to evaluate survival as a function of stage within the 8 edition AJCC staging system for colon and rectal cancer.

Methods: Patients with primary colon or rectal cancer diagnosed 2010-2016 were identified from the National Cancer Database (NCDB).

Best Practices for Delivering Neoadjuvant Therapy in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Importance: Neoadjuvant therapy (NT) is an increasingly used treatment strategy for patients with localized pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Little research has been conducted on cancer care delivery during NT, and the standards for optimal delivery of NT have not been defined.

Objective: To develop consensus best practices for delivering NT to patients with localized PDAC.

Prospective, multi-site evaluation of the Cepheid Xpert Xpress CoV-2 test on nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs.

Unlabelled: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues its largely aseasonal spread with millions of cases per year. Highly sensitive, point-of-care testing is critical for rapid detection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and initiation of antiviral therapy to avert adverse health outcomes and reduce onward transmission of the virus. While hundreds of COVID-19 diagnostics received emergency use authorization from the FDA during the pandemic, significantly fewer have navigated the course to FDA clearance or approval.

The reverse transsulfuration pathway affects the colonic microbiota and contributes to colitis in mice.

Cystathionine γ-lyase (CTH) is a critical enzyme in the reverse transsulfuration pathway, the major route for the metabolism of sulfur-containing amino acids, notably converting cystathionine to cysteine. We reported that CTH supports gastritis induced by the pathogen Helicobacter pylori. Herein our aim was to investigate the role of CTH in colonic inflammation.

Overview and Methods for the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System - United States, 2023.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) is a set of surveys that tracks a broad range of behaviors, experiences, and conditions that can lead to poor health among high school students. The system includes a nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and separate school-based YRBSs conducted by states, tribes, territories, and local school districts. For the 2023 national YRBS, CDC made changes to the sampling method, survey administration mode, and questionnaire.

Vaccination generates functional progenitor tumor-specific CD8 T cells and long-term tumor control.

Background: Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies are an important treatment for patients with advanced cancers; however, only a subset of patients with certain types of cancer achieve durable remission. Cancer vaccines are an attractive strategy to boost patient immune responses, but less is known about whether and how immunization can induce long-term tumor immune reprogramming and arrest cancer progression. We developed a clinically relevant genetic cancer mouse model in which hepatocytes sporadically undergo oncogenic transformation.

Nucleus subtype classification using inter-modality learning.

Understanding the way cells communicate, co-locate, and interrelate is essential to understanding human physiology. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining is ubiquitously available both for clinical studies and research. The Colon Nucleus Identification and Classification (CoNIC) Challenge has recently innovated on robust artificial intelligence labeling of six cell types on H&E stains of the colon.

Anti-DEFA5 Monoclonal Antibody Clones 1A8 and 4F5 Immunoreactive Bioassay for Diagnosing Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Robust evidence suggests that the aberrant expression of α defensin 5 protein (DEFA5) in colon inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) underlies the distinct pathogenesis of Crohn's colitis, can be exploited as a reliable diagnostic biomarker to differential diagnosis of Crohn's colitis (CC) from Ulcerative colitis (UC) in otherwise indeterminate colitis (IC). We evaluated the specificity of the commercially available anti-DEFA5 antibodies and showed further validation of their appropriateness for a given application is required.

Methods: We established two mouse monoclonal DEFA5 antibody clones 1A8 and 4F5 by immunizing the mice with purified recombinant protein and validated the specificity, selectivity and cross reactivity in recognizing the endogenous and recombinant DEFA5 protein, especially for Immunohistochemistry, Western blot, Immunoprecipitation, or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Identification and multimodal characterization of a specialized epithelial cell type associated with Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a complex chronic inflammatory disorder with both gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal manifestations associated immune dysregulation. Analyzing 202,359 cells from 170 specimens across 83 patients, we identify a distinct epithelial cell type in both terminal ileum and ascending colon (hereon as 'LND') with high expression of LCN2, NOS2, and DUOX2 and genes related to antimicrobial response and immunoregulation. LND cells, confirmed by in-situ RNA and protein imaging, are rare in non-IBD controls but expand in active CD, and actively interact with immune cells and specifically express IBD/CD susceptibility genes, suggesting a possible function in CD immunopathogenesis.

Comprehensive molecular profiling of multiple myeloma identifies refined copy number and expression subtypes.

Multiple myeloma is a treatable, but currently incurable, hematological malignancy of plasma cells characterized by diverse and complex tumor genetics for which precision medicine approaches to treatment are lacking. The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation's Relating Clinical Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma to Personal Assessment of Genetic Profile study ( NCT01454297 ) is a longitudinal, observational clinical study of newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma (n = 1,143) where tumor samples are characterized using whole-genome sequencing, whole-exome sequencing and RNA sequencing at diagnosis and progression, and clinical data are collected every 3 months. Analyses of the baseline cohort identified genes that are the target of recurrent gain-of-function and loss-of-function events.

Geographic Distribution of Rabies Virus and Genomic Sequence Alignment of Wild and Vaccine Strains, Kenya.

Rabies, a viral disease that causes lethal encephalitis, kills ≈59,000 persons worldwide annually, despite availability of effective countermeasures. Rabies is endemic in Kenya and is mainly transmitted to humans through bites from rabid domestic dogs. We analyzed 164 brain stems collected from rabid animals in western and eastern Kenya and evaluated the phylogenetic relationships of rabies virus (RABV) from the 2 regions.

Early Implementation and Outcomes Among People with HIV Who Accessed Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine at Two Ryan White Clinics in the U.S. South.

The use of long-acting injectable cabotegravir/rilpivirine (LAI-CAB/RPV) as maintenance therapy for persons with HIV (PWH), which may improve treatment access and outcomes, though real-world data on uptake are limited, was studied at two Ryan White clinics in Atlanta, Georgia. Among PWH referred from 4/1/2021 to 9/15/2022 to switch to LAI-CAB/RPV, characteristics were ascertained at time of referral; and disposition (initiated; ineligible; uninterested; pending) was recorded as of 9/15/2022. Among patients initiated on CAB/RPV, we assessed the drug procurement process and clinical outcomes through 6/1/2023.

Community Leadership Institute for Equity: Planning Processes and Procedures to Develop Partnered Conferences.

Background: Community-partnered participatory research (CPPR) is a research approach that supports equitable collaboration of community and academic co-leaders in research and policy. Despite CPPR's 25-year history, infrastructure supporting community members in bidirectional learning has not been formalized.

Objective: This paper describes processes and procedures using CPPR to plan conferences to develop community leadership training infrastructure.

The IFITM5 mutation in osteogenesis imperfecta type V is associated with an ERK/SOX9-dependent osteoprogenitor differentiation defect.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) type V is the second most common form of OI, distinguished by hyperplastic callus formation and calcification of the interosseous membranes, in addition to the bone fragility. It is caused by a recurrent, dominant pathogenic variant (c.-14C>T) in interferon-induced transmembrane protein 5 (IFITM5).

Correction: Linking bacterial enterotoxins and alpha defensin 5 expansion in the Crohn's colitis: A new insight into the etiopathogenetic and differentiation triggers driving colonic inflammatory bowel disease.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Inhibition of EGFR/ErbB does not protect against toxin B.

is a common cause of diarrhea and mortality, especially in immunosuppressed and hospitalized patients. is a toxin-mediated disease, but the host cell receptors for toxin B (TcdB) have only recently been revealed. Emerging data suggest TcdB interacts with receptor tyrosine kinases during infection.

Comparing Methods to Genetically Engineer Bacteriophage and Increase Host Range.

Introduction: Antibacterial resistance is an emerging problem in military medicine. Disruptions to the health care systems in war-torn countries that result from ongoing conflict can potentially exacerbate this problem and increase the risk to U.S.

Cost effectiveness and decision analysis for national airport screening options to reduce risk of COVID-19 introduction in Uganda, 2020.

Introduction: Early during the COVID-19 outbreak, various approaches were utilized to prevent COVID-19 introductions from incoming airport travellers. However, the costs and effectiveness of airport-specific interventions have not been evaluated.

Methods: We evaluated policy options for COVID-19-specific interventions at Entebbe International Airport for costs and impact on COVID-19 case counts, we took the government payer perspective.

Generation of a humanized mAce2 and a conditional hACE2 mouse models permissive to SARS-COV-2 infection.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains a public health concern and a subject of active research effort. Development of pre-clinical animal models is critical to study viral-host interaction, tissue tropism, disease mechanisms, therapeutic approaches, and long-term sequelae of infection. Here, we report two mouse models for studying SARS-CoV-2: A knock-in mAce2 mouse that expresses a mouse-human hybrid form of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor under the endogenous mouse Ace2 promoter, and a Rosa26 conditional knock-in mouse carrying the human ACE2 allele (Rosa26).

Vaccination generates functional progenitor tumor-specific CD8 T cells and long-term tumor control.

Background: Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies are an important treatment for patients with advanced cancers; however only a subset of patients with certain types of cancer achieves durable remissions. Cancer vaccines are an attractive strategy to boost patient immune responses, but less is known about whether and how immunization can induce long-term tumor immune reprogramming and arrest cancer progression. We developed a clinically-relevant genetic cancer mouse model in which hepatocytes sporadically undergo oncogenic transformation.

A human milk oligosaccharide prevents intestinal inflammation in adulthood via modulating gut microbial metabolism.

Observational evidence suggests that human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) promote the growth of commensal bacteria in early life and adulthood. However, the mechanisms by which HMOs benefit health through modulation of gut microbial homeostasis remain largely unknown. 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL) is the most abundant oligosaccharide in human milk and contributes to the essential health benefits associated with human milk consumption.