Event-driven PrEP beyond cisgender men who have sex with men.

Despite advancements in existing antiretroviral-based prevention strategies, including daily oral, locally acting, and injectable options, there is a pressing need for more inclusive and flexible event-driven pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) strategies for all. Event-driven or intermittent dosing of PrEP in populations beyond cisgender men who have sex with men would offer a promising alternative by fitting prevention into the diverse lifestyles of affected populations and thereby advancing health equity. Evidence from PrEP clinical trials, pharmacokinetic studies, modelling studies, and real-world observational research suggests that event-driven PrEP could be a flexible and inclusive option, yet optimal dosing has not been established across sex and gender spectrums.

Global Epidemiology of Alcohol-Related Liver Disease, Liver Cancer, and Alcohol Use Disorder, 2000-2021.

Background/aims: Alcohol represents a leading burden of disease worldwide, including alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-related liver disease (ALD). We aim to assess the global burden of AUD, ALD, and alcohol-attributable primary liver cancer between 2000-2021.

Methods: We registered the global and regional trends of AUD, ALD, and alcohol-related liver cancer using data from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 Study, the largest and most up-to-date global epidemiology database.

Cad1 turns ATP into phage poison.

Type III CRISPR-Cas executes a multifaceted anti-phage response, activating effectors such as a nuclease or membrane depolarizer. In a recent Cell paper, Baca and Majumder et al. report an accessory effector, Cad1, which deaminates ATP into ITP, causing ITP accumulation and host growth arrest, thereby inhibiting phage propagation.

Polar lipids and proteins in milk fat globule membranes as players in spontaneous lipolysis in cow's milk.

A study of the lipidome and proteome was performed on milk fat globule membranes (MFGM) originating from milk samples from high (HL) and low (LL) lipolysis groups of cows. Combined univariate and multivariate statistical analyses proposed a set of variables highly associated to contrasted samples with regard to milk lipolysis. Milk from HL group were related to 4 phosphatidylinositols, 8 phosphatidylcholines, 1 sphingomyelin and 27 proteins, among them the phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine ratio and ORM1 may contribute to the membrane remodeling of the MFGM.

Use of vaginal pessary in women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse: Risk factors for failure one year after insertion.

Introduction: Vaginal pessaries are offered as a first-line treatment for symptoms associated with pelvic organ prolapse (POP). The objective of our study was to identify risk factors for failure of pessary use within 1 year of insertion.

Materials And Methods: We prospectively included women who accepted a pessary fitting for symptomatic POP.

Comparison of oxytocin use between singleton and twin pregnancies during induction of labor: A multicenter case-control study.

Objective: To compare the oxytocin doses used during induction, relative to the number of labor hours, between singleton and twin pregnancies.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective case-control study in two tertiary referral centers in France. Women with twin pregnancies who underwent labor induction with oxytocin in each center were eligible.

Prevalence rate of high-grade cytological lesions of the cervix in women aged under 25 years in French Guiana.

Introduction: The incidence of cervical cancer in French Guiana is among the highest worldwide. It ranks 5th among all cancers and is the 2nd most common cancer in women after breast cancer. The primary objective of this study was to establish the proportion of high-grade cytological lesions of the cervix in women under 25 years of age who underwent a cervico-uterine smear (CUS) in French Guiana over a 10-year period.

Perineal deformation during forceps, vacuum and OdonAssist™ assisted vaginal deliveries: A simulation study based on advanced image processing.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse influence of the fetal head position and the type of instrument used (forceps, vacuum, OdonAssist™) on perineal deformation, during simulated vaginal deliveries monitored by stereophotogrammetry.

Methods: An exploratory study was conducted using mannequins simulating vaginal births. Fifty simulated deliveries were performed with different fetal head positions and instruments: Pajot's forceps, Kiwi-vacuum, and OdonAssist™.

Comparison of fractionation methods to assess Ni impact on anaerobic digestion: Filtration versus DGT.

Excess of trace elements (TE) significantly alters the performances of anaerobic digestors (AD). Due to interactions with organic matter in particular, only a small fraction of TE can effectively interact with the biomass. However, assessing the bioavailable fraction of TE remains an issue.

Copper and zinc isotope fractionation during phototrophic biofilm growth.

Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) are two trace metals that exhibit both limiting and toxic effects on aquatic microorganisms. However, in contrast to good knowledge of these metal interactions with individual microbial cultures, the biofilm, complex natural consortium of microorganisms, remains poorly understood with respect to its control on Cu and Zn in the aquatic environments. Towards constraining the magnitude and mechanisms of Cu and Zn isotope fractionation in the presence of phototrophic biofilms composed of different proportion of diatoms, green algae and cyanobacteria, we studied long-term growth in a rotating annular bioreactor and quantified the uptake of metals and their isotope fractionation at environmentally-relevant Cu and Zn concentrations.

Quantitative study of microplastic degradation in urban hydrosystems: Comparing in situ environmentally aged microplastics vs. artificially aged materials generated via accelerated photo-oxidation.

The degradation of plastic waste is a major research challenge due to the adverse impacts of microplastic weathering on the environment and ecosystems. As a major source of plastic contamination comes from urban hydrosystems, studying MP degradation prior to their environmental dissemination is crucial. Through a combination of field sampling and laboratory experiments, this study provides a thorough statistical degradation comparison analysis between polyethylene in situ environmentally aged microplastics and artificially aged films.

Loudness of snoring, not apnea-hypopnea index, is associated with hyperactivity behavior in snoring children and adolescents.

Study Objectives: It is unknown whether loudness of snoring or hypoxic burden are related to higher hyperactivity scores in habitually snoring children and whether this effect is impacted by the severity of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). This study investigates the prevalence of hyperactivity in children with habitual snoring and the independent effects of loudness of snoring, as reported by the parents, hypoxic burden and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome's severity (OSAS) on hyperactivity, as measured by the Conners' Parent Rating Scale-Hyperactivity Index (CPRS-HI).

Methods: Children with habitual snoring aged 3-18 years were recruited for an overnight polysomnography reporting apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and hypoxic burden, acoustic rhinometry, clinical examination and parental questionnaires assessing snoring loudness and CPRS-HI.

Chemical inhibition of eIF4A3 abolishes UPF1 recruitment onto mRNA encoding NMD factors and restores their expression.

Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD) is a key control mechanism of RNA quality widely described to target mRNA harbouring Premature Termination Codon (PTC). However, recent studies suggested the existence of non-canonical pathways which remain unresolved. One of these alternative pathways suggested that specific mRNA could be targeted through their 3' UTR (Untranslated Region), which contain various elements involved in mRNA stability regulation.

PFAS contamination in tap water: Target and suspect screening of zwitterionic, cationic, and anionic species across Canada and beyond.

This study investigated the occurrence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including anionic, cationic, and zwitterionic compounds, in drinking water. Between 2021-2023, an expanded list of 76 target PFAS was screened in tap water samples mainly from Canada, but also including tap water samples from the Eastern United States, Mexico, South America (Argentina), the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Cuba), Africa (Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Morocco, Rwanda, Tunisia), Europe (France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and Asia (Japan, Vietnam, Iran, and Türkiye). An additional ∼ 200 suspect-target PFAS were screened using high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry.

Transfer of motor and strategy learning in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD): A scoping review.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a developmental disorder that affects the learning and execution of motor skills. Little is known about their ability to transfer their learning, i.e.

Detection of Echinococcus spp. and other taeniid species in lettuces and berries: Two international multicenter studies from the MEmE project.

Cystic and alveolar echinococcosis are severe zoonotic diseases characterized by long asymptomatic periods lasting months or years. Viable Echinococcus spp. eggs released into the environment through the feces of canids can infect humans through accidental ingestion via hand-to-mouth contact or consumption of contaminated food or water.

Are there unconscious visual images in aphantasia? Development of an implicit priming paradigm.

For some people the experience of visual imagery is lacking, a condition recently referred to as aphantasia. So far, most of the studies on aphantasia rely on subjective reports, leaving the question of whether mental images can exist without reaching consciousness unresolved. In the present study, the formation of mental images was estimated in individuals with aphantasia without explicitly asking them to generate mental images.

Automated segmentation of deep brain structures from Inversion-Recovery MRI.

Methods for the automated segmentation of brain structures are a major subject of medical research. The small structures of the deep brain have received scant attention, notably for lack of manual delineations by medical experts. In this study, we assessed an automated segmentation of a novel clinical dataset containing White Matter Attenuated Inversion-Recovery (WAIR) MRI images and five manually segmented structures (substantia nigra (SN), subthalamic nucleus (STN), red nucleus (RN), mammillary body (MB) and mammillothalamic fascicle (MT-fa)) in 53 patients with severe Parkinson's disease.

Investigating 3-CMC metabolism: Insights from liver microsomes and postmortem biological matrix.

3-Chloromethcathinone (3-CMC) is a synthetic cathinone that has been identified as a new psychoactive substance (NPS) by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Despite its increasing prevalence in the recreational drug market since 2014, scientific literature on 3-CMC remains limited. This study employed a multi-step approach to investigate 3-CMC metabolism.

Efficacy of a vein visualisation device for facilitating peripheral venous line placement in adult patients with sickle cell disease: A randomised clinical trial.

Background: Intravenous (IV) access is often required for the treatment of vaso-occlusive crises in patients with sickle cell disease, but can be particularly challenging due to recurrent venous damage. The AccuVein® device, uses near-infrared light technology to visualise veins for easier venepuncture.

Methods: A randomised, controlled trial of the efficacy of the AccuVeinAV400® device in the replacement of peripheral venous lines during a vaso-occlusive crisis was conducted at two centres in France.

Preliminaries to artificial consciousness: A multidimensional heuristic approach.

The pursuit of artificial consciousness requires conceptual clarity to navigate its theoretical and empirical challenges. This paper introduces a composite, multilevel, and multidimensional model of consciousness as a heuristic framework to guide research in this field. Consciousness is treated as a complex phenomenon, with distinct constituents and dimensions that can be operationalized for study and for evaluating their replication.

Coupling tree-ring and geomorphic analyses to reconstruct the 1950s massive Glacier Lake Outburst Flood at Grosse Glacier, Chilean Patagonia.

Over recent decades, global warming has led to sustained glacier mass reduction and the formation of glacier lakes dammed by potentially unstable moraines. When such dams break, devastating Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) can occur in high mountain environments with catastrophic effects on populations and infrastructure. To understand the occurrence of GLOFs in space and time, build frequency-magnitude relationships for disaster risk reduction or identify regional links between GLOF frequency and climate warming, comprehensive databases are critically needed.

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics for free-surface and multiphase flows: a review.

The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is expanding and applied to more and more fields, particularly in engineering. The majority of current SPH developments deal with free-surface and multiphase flows, especially for situations where geometrically complex interface configurations are involved. The present review article covers the last 25 years of development of the method to simulate such flows, discussing the related specific features of the method.