Nurses' Experience of Peacebuilding: International Perspectives.

Introduction: Nursing is a moral endeavor that embodies humanitarian responses to human suffering. Nurses understand the impact of direct and indirect violence on the health of individuals and communities around the world. The intersections of health, justice, caring, and peace are important considerations for the profession.

The effect of an intervention to reduce aflatoxin consumption from 6 to 18 mo of age on length-for-age z-scores in rural Tanzania: a cluster-randomized trial.

Background: Linear growth faltering continues to negatively affect children in low- and middle-income countries and is associated with poor cognitive, developmental, and educational outcomes. Laboratory and observational data suggest that aflatoxin (AF) is a contributor to stunting.

Methods: The Mycotoxin Mitigation Trial was a cluster-randomized, community-based 2-group trial conducted in Kongwa District, Tanzania, between 2018 and 2020.

Processing complementary foods to reduce mycotoxins in a medium scale Tanzanian mill: A hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach.

Designing and implementing processing procedures for producing safe complementary foods in dynamic and unregulated food systems where common food staples are frequently contaminated with mycotoxins is challenging. This paper presents lessons about minimizing aflatoxins (AF) in groundnut flour and AF and/or fumonisins (FUM) in maize and groundnut pre-blended flour for complementary feeding in the context of a dietary research intervention in rural Tanzania. The flours were processed in collaboration with Halisi Products Limited (Halisi), a medium scale enterprise with experience in milling cereal-based flours in Arusha, Tanzania.

Expansion of the phenotypic spectrum of KARS1-related disorders to include arthrogryposis multiplex congenita and summary of experiences with lysine supplementation.

There are currently multiple disorders of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases described, including KARS1-related disorder resulting from dysfunctional lysyl-tRNA synthetases. In this report, we describe four novel KARS1 variants in three affected individuals, two of whom displayed arthrogryposis-like phenotypes, suggestive of phenotypic expansion. We also highlight subjective clinical improvement in one subject following lysine supplementation in conjunction with a protein-fortified diet, suggesting its potential as a novel treatment modality for KARS1-related disorders.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and intrusive thoughts in the postpartum period: Associations with trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms.

In a community sample of trauma-exposed postpartum individuals (N = 167; mean age = 30, 90% White; 61.7% completed bachelor's degree or higher) longitudinally completed self-report measures on PTSD, depressive, and Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms (specifically checking, ordering, washing, and obsessing symptoms), preoccupation with intrusive postpartum thoughts/neutralising strategies, and trauma exposure at 4 and 12 weeks postpartum. PTSD symptoms were strongly associated with all OCD symptoms (r = 0.

"The Graves Cannot Be Dug Fast Enough": Excess Deaths Among US Amish and Mennonites During the 1918 Flu Pandemic.

Estimating the lethal impact of a pandemic on a religious community with significant barriers to outsiders can be exceedingly difficult. Nevertheless, Stein and colleagues (2021) developed an innovative means of arriving at such an estimate for the lethal impact of COVID-19 on the Amish community in 2020 by counting user-generated death reports in the widely circulated Amish periodical The Budget. By comparing monthly averages of reported deaths before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stein and colleagues were able to arrive at a rough estimate of "excess deaths" during the first year of the pandemic.

Nurses' lived experience of peacebuilding.

Nursing has a unique opportunity to address issues of structural violence that contribute to poor health outcomes. Models for designing nursing care relative to the social determinants of health can be adapted from the discipline of peace studies and the phenomenon of peacebuilding. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of peacebuilding from the perspective of community or public health nurses.

Is chloroplast size optimal for photosynthetic efficiency?

Improving photosynthetic efficiency has recently emerged as a promising way to increase crop production in a sustainable manner. While chloroplast size may affect photosynthetic efficiency in several ways, we aimed to explore whether chloroplast size manipulation can be a viable approach to improving photosynthetic performance. Several tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) lines with contrasting chloroplast sizes were generated via manipulation of chloroplast division genes to assess photosynthetic performance under steady-state and fluctuating light.

Provision of low-aflatoxin local complementary porridge flour reduced urinary aflatoxin biomarker in children aged 6-18 months in rural Tanzania.

Aflatoxins are toxic secondary metabolites of fungi that colonize staple food crops, such as maize and groundnut, frequently used in complementary feeding. In preparation for a large trial, this pilot study examined if provision of a low-aflatoxin infant porridge flour made from local maize and groundnuts reduced the prevalence of a urinary aflatoxin biomarker in infants. Thirty-six infants aged 6-18 months were included from four villages in Kongwa District, Tanzania.

The gut microbiome and early-life growth in a population with high prevalence of stunting.

Stunting affects one-in-five children globally and is associated with greater infectious morbidity, mortality and neurodevelopmental deficits. Recent evidence suggests that the early-life gut microbiome affects child growth through immune, metabolic and endocrine pathways. Using whole metagenomic sequencing, we map the assembly of the gut microbiome in 335 children from rural Zimbabwe from 1-18 months of age who were enrolled in the Sanitation, Hygiene, Infant Nutrition Efficacy Trial (SHINE; NCT01824940), a randomized trial of improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and infant and young child feeding (IYCF).

The nurse as peacebuilder: Intersections of health and peace.

The purpose of this review is to examine peacebuilding as a concept relevant to nursing practice. A historical view of Lilian Wald's contribution to public health nursing sets the stage for nursing's commitment to the ethics of social justice and responsibility to address the social determinants of health as root causes to health inequities. The interweaving of health and peace are highlighted through exploration of works from leading organizations in health and nursing, nationally and globally.

Determination of Urinary Mycotoxin Biomarkers Using a Sensitive Online Solid Phase Extraction-UHPLC-MS/MS Method.

In the course of assessing the human exposure to mycotoxins, biomarker-based approaches have proven to be important tools. Low concentration levels, complex matrix compositions, structurally diverse analytes, and the large size of sample cohorts are the main challenges of analytical procedures. For that reason, an online solid phase extraction-ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (online SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed, allowing for the sensitive, robust, and rapid analysis of 11 relevant mycotoxins and mycotoxin metabolites in human urine.

Maternal fecal microbiome predicts gestational age, birth weight and neonatal growth in rural Zimbabwe.

Background: Preterm birth and low birth weight (LBW) affect one in ten and one in seven livebirths, respectively, primarily in low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC) and are major predictors of poor child health outcomes. However, both have been recalcitrant to public health intervention. The maternal intestinal microbiome may undergo substantial changes during pregnancy and may influence fetal and neonatal health in LMIC populations.

Complementary feeding in Kongwa, Tanzania: Findings to inform a mycotoxin mitigation trial.

Complementary feeding of 6- to 24-month-old infants and young children with adequate, safe and developmentally appropriate food is essential to child health. Inappropriate complementary foods and feeding practices are linked to the high incidences of undernutrition among infant and young children in most developing countries, including Tanzania. Mycotoxin risk is an additional concern, given the documented presence of aflatoxin and fumonisin in food systems of Africa, especially maize and groundnut.

Synergistic effects of long-term herbivory and previous fire on fine-scale heterogeneity of prescribed grassland burns.

Grassland and savanna ecosystems, important for both livelihoods and biodiversity conservation, are strongly affected by ecosystem drivers such as herbivory, fire, and drought. Interactions among fire, herbivores and vegetation produce complex feedbacks in these ecosystems, but these have rarely been studied in the context of fuel continuity and resultant fire heterogeneity. We carried out 36 controlled burns within replicated experimental plots that had allowed differential access by wild and domestic large herbivores since 1995 in a savanna ecosystem in Kenya.

Residence time determines invasiveness and performance of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) in North America.

While biological invasions have the potential for large negative impacts on local communities and ecological interactions, increasing evidence suggests that species once considered major problems can decline over time. Declines often appear driven by natural enemies, diseases or evolutionary adaptations that selectively reduce populations of naturalised species and their impacts. Using permanent long-term monitoring locations, we document declines of Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) in eastern North America with distinct local and regional dynamics as a function of patch residence time.

Multi-Institution Research and Education Collaboration Identifies New Antimicrobial Compounds.

New antibiotics are urgently needed to address increasing rates of multidrug resistant infections. Seventy-six diversely functionalized compounds, comprising five structural scaffolds, were synthesized and tested for their ability to inhibit microbial growth. Twenty-six compounds showed activity in the primary phenotypic screen at the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD).

Protocol for the trial to establish a causal linkage between mycotoxin exposure and child stunting: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: The number of stunted children has fallen globally but continues to increase in Africa. Stunting is estimated to contribute to 14-17% of child deaths under 5 years of age and is a risk factor for poor cognitive and motor development and educational outcomes. Inadequate dietary intake and disease are thought to be the immediate causes of undernutrition and stunting.

AN EXPLORATORY CASE SERIES ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF PRIMAL REFLEX RELEASE TECHNIQUE™ TO IMPROVE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HAMSTRING STRAIN.

Background/purpose: Hamstring strain (HS), a common condition found among the injured physically active population, is often treated with rest, stretching, and modalities. Primal Reflex Release Technique™ (PRRT™) is a manual therapy technique used to treat pain caused by over-stimulation of the body's primal reflexes. The purpose of this case series was to explore the immediate effects of PRRT™ for treating hamstring strains.

Gathering Diverse Perspectives to Tackle "Wicked Problems": Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Educational Placement.

Among students receiving behavioral health and special education services, racial/ethnic minority students are consistently overrepresented in settings separate from general classrooms. Once separated, many young people struggle to improve academically and face significant difficulty upon trying to return to a general education setting. Given the complex, ongoing, and multifaceted nature of this challenge, racial/ethnic disproportionality can be identified as a "wicked problem," for which solutions are not easily identified.

A primer on traumatic brain injury for nursing faculty.

Incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is increasing on campuses. Despite growing media attention and athletic program protocols to address the issue, many are unaware of the potential effects such an injury can cause. This may be true for nursing faculty who teach or advise students recovering from TBI.

Fire disturbance disrupts an acacia ant-plant mutualism in favor of a subordinate ant species.

Although disturbance theory has been recognized as a useful framework in examining the stability of ant-plant mutualisms, very few studies have examined the effects of fire disturbance on these mutualisms. In myrmecophyte-dominated savannas, fire and herbivory are key drivers that could influence ant-plant mutualisms by causing complete colony mortality and/or decreasing colony size, which potentially could alter dominance hierarchies if subordinate species are more fire resilient. We used a large-scale, replicated fire experiment to examine long-term effects of fire on acacia-ant community composition.

Differential 3-bromopyruvate inhibition of cytosolic and mitochondrial human serine hydroxymethyltransferase isoforms, key enzymes in cancer metabolic reprogramming.

The cytosolic and mitochondrial isoforms of serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT1 and SHMT2, respectively) are well-recognized targets of cancer research, since their activity is critical for purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis and because of their prominent role in the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells. Here we show that 3-bromopyruvate (3BP), a potent novel anti-tumour agent believed to function primarily by blocking energy metabolism, differentially inactivates human SHMT1 and SHMT2. SHMT1 is completely inhibited by 3BP, whereas SHMT2 retains a significant fraction of activity.

Synergistic effects of fire and elephants on arboreal animals in an African savanna.

Disturbance is a crucial determinant of animal abundance, distribution and community structure in many ecosystems, but the ways in which multiple disturbance types interact remain poorly understood. The effects of multiple-disturbance interactions can be additive, subadditive or super-additive (synergistic). Synergistic effects in particular can accelerate ecological change; thus, characterizing such synergies, the conditions under which they arise, and how long they persist has been identified as a major goal of ecology.

The antitumor agent 3-bromopyruvate has a short half-life at physiological conditions.

Clinical research is currently exploring the validity of the anti-tumor candidate 3-bromopyruvate (3-BP) as a novel treatment for several types of cancer. However, recent publications have overlooked rarely-cited earlier work about the instability of 3-BP and its decay to 3-hydroxypyruvate (3-HP) which have obvious implications for its mechanism of action against tumors, how it is administered, and for precautions when preparing solutions of 3-BP. This study found the first-order decay rate of 3-BP at physiological temperature and pH has a half-life of only 77 min.