Efficacy, immunogenicity, and safety of an investigational maternal respiratory syncytial virus prefusion F protein-based vaccine.

Background: In this phase 3 trial of an investigational maternal respiratory syncytial virus prefusion F protein-based vaccine (RSVPreF3-Mat), a higher rate of preterm birth was observed in the vaccine (6.8%) versus the placebo group (4.9%).

Oral Regimens for Rifampin-Resistant, Fluoroquinolone-Susceptible Tuberculosis.

Background: For decades, poor treatment options and low-quality evidence plagued care for patients with rifampin-resistant tuberculosis. The advent of new drugs to treat tuberculosis and enhanced funding now permit randomized, controlled trials of shortened-duration, all-oral treatments for rifampin-resistant tuberculosis.

Methods: We conducted a phase 3, multinational, open-label, randomized, controlled noninferiority trial to compare standard therapy for treatment of fluoroquinolone-susceptible, rifampin-resistant tuberculosis with five 9-month oral regimens that included various combinations of bedaquiline (B), delamanid (D), linezolid (L), levofloxacin (Lfx) or moxifloxacin (M), clofazimine (C), and pyrazinamide (Z).

Acellular Dermal Matrices in Reconstructive Pediatric Complex Lower Limb Trauma: An Observational Study.

Background: Contemporary research has shown that acellular dermal matrices can benefit adult lower extremity traumatic injuries; however, its use in children has not been explored.

Objective: This study aims to explore the use of acellular dermal matrices in pediatric complex lower extremity trauma.

Methods: This single-center retrospective observational cohort study of children with complex lower extremity trauma treated with Pelnac™, commercial acellular dermal matrices, was conducted at a tertiary hospital in South Africa from 2010 to 2017.

Exploring the relationship between established HIV risk factors and depressive symptoms amongst young women without HIV in two sites in South Africa.

Purpose: Adolescent girls are at high risk for depression and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition. Poor mental health can increase vulnerability to risky sexual behaviours. Therefore, this study aims to determine the prevalence of depressive symptomology and explore the convergence of HIV risk factors with depressive symptoms amongst cis-gender adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in rural KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and peri-urban Western Cape (WC) communities in South Africa.

Low levels of Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia among patients receiving antiretroviral therapy at the treatment centre of the Regional Hospital Bamenda, Northwest Cameroon.

Background: Malaria and HIV are leading causes of death in Africa, including Cameroon. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is expected to boost immunity and reduce vulnerability to opportunistic infections. Reports on comorbidities including malaria are common in Cameroon.

"They never appear on TV and if they have, I might have missed that moment." How publics in South Africa and Germany view visible scientists.

Academic interest in scientists who regularly appear in the media dates back to Rae Goodell's seminal book "The visible scientists", in which she lists distinct characteristics of visible scientists, including being controversial, articulate, colorful, and reputable as a scientist. Visible scientists thus share relevant media-related characteristics that stand out in their portrayal as a group and are reminiscent of other celebrities' characteristics. However, questions arise: what is special about the celebrity being a scientist? How many and what types of scientists fall into this category? What are the peers' and the public's expectations towards the social role of the visible scientist? To date, work on visible scientists has focused on theorizing them in the context of the relationship between science and its publics and empirical studies have mainly sought to characterize visible scientists and focused on single countries.

Simultaneous Unbinned Differential Cross-Section Measurement of Twenty-Four Z+jets Kinematic Observables with the ATLAS Detector.

Z boson events at the Large Hadron Collider can be selected with high purity and are sensitive to a diverse range of QCD phenomena. As a result, these events are often used to probe the nature of the strong force, improve Monte Carlo event generators, and search for deviations from standard model predictions. All previous measurements of Z boson production characterize the event properties using a small number of observables and present the results as differential cross sections in predetermined bins.

Global trends in thyroid cancer 1990-2021: an analysis based on the GBD 2021.

This study evaluated the global burden of thyroid cancer (TC) from 1990 to 2021, analyzing its association with sociodemographic factors, sex, age, risk factors, and future projections. Using 2021 Global Burden of Disease data, we analyzed TC incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) across populations. Risk factors were assessed, and future trends forecasted using the Bayesian age-period-cohort model.

Update on the evolving landscape of pneumococcal capsule types: new discoveries and way forward.

SUMMARY (the "pneumococcus") is a significant human pathogen. The key determinant of pneumococcal fitness and virulence is its ability to produce a protective polysaccharide (PS) capsule, and anti-capsule antibodies mediate serotype-specific opsonophagocytic killing of bacteria. Notably, immunization with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) has effectively reduced the burden of disease caused by serotypes included in vaccines but has also spurred a relative upsurge in the prevalence of non-vaccine serotypes.

Microbial surveillance versus cytokine responsiveness in native and non-native house sparrows.

The success of introduced species often relies on flexible traits, including immune system traits. While theories predict non-natives will have weak defences due to decreased parasite pressure, effective parasite surveillance remains crucial, as infection risk is rarely zero and the evolutionary novelty of infection is elevated in non-native areas. This study examines the relationship between parasite surveillance and cytokine responsiveness in native and non-native house sparrows, hypothesizing that non-natives maintain high pathogen surveillance while avoiding costly inflammation.

Understanding the cost-utility of implementing HIV self-testing with digital-based supports.

Introduction: HIV self-testing (HIVST) is an innovative strategy that has been shown to increase uptake of HIV testing compared to conventional facility-based testing. HIVST implementation with digital-based supports may help facilitate testing accessibility and linkage to care after a reactive self-test. Economic evidence around community-based implementation of HIVST is growing; however, economic evidence around digital-based HIVST approaches remains limited.

Prevalence, risk and resilience factors of mental health conditions among female sex workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Female sex workers are a vulnerable hard-to-reach group. Research in this field is scarce due to several issues, such as methodological difficulties or societal stigmatization. Most of the available literature focuses on sexually transmittable diseases.

Knowledge and Awareness of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review Protocol.

Introduction: About 39.9 million people were living with HIV as of 2023, and HIV is more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective in HIV prevention.

Factors influencing livestock ownership and herd intensity among smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

This study explores the factors influencing smallholder farmers' decisions on livestock ownership and herd size in the context of climate change. A cross-sectional approach was employed, using a multi-stage sampling method to survey 600 smallholder farmers, 495 of whom were engaged in livestock production. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and analysed using a double hurdle model.

Surgery camp for Colostomy reversals at a referral hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Aim: An end colostomy is a potentially life-saving surgical intervention, but postoperative ostomy management is challenging in resource-limited settings. Socioeconomic, health system, and surgical capacity barriers may delay colostomy reversal. A surgery camp model for addressing the burden of unreversed colostomies has not previously been undertaken in Malawi.

Hydrocephalus, healing, and disrupted daily living: exploring maternal experiences at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi.

Background: Each year, nearly 400,000 new cases of paediatric hydrocephalus are estimated to occur worldwide, and almost half of these cases are expected to affect children in Africa. At Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), an urban tertiary hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, located in south-east Africa, around 200 children received neurosurgical treatment for hydrocephalus in 2023. These children require lifelong follow-up and care, which places significant demands on their caregivers.

Unraveling the Role of Water in Isothermal Methanol Partial Oxidation to Methyl Formate on Gold: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study.

Since water is both a product and a common reactant impurity in the (partial) methanol oxidation to methyl formate (MeFo) on gold, its effect on the isothermal selectivity to methyl formate was investigated under well-defined single-collision conditions employing pulsed molecular beam experiments and in situ IRAS measurements. Both a flat Au(111) and a stepped Au(332) surface were used as model catalysts to elucidate how water affects the reactivity of low-coordinated step sites as compared to (111) terrace sites employing a range of reaction conditions. The interactions of water with methanol/methoxy as well as with oxygen species are addressed.

Longitudinal impact of past-year reproductive coercion on contraceptive use dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from eight population-based cohorts.

Background: Reproductive coercion (RC) is a type of abuse where a partner intentionally attempts to interfere with fertility through deception or violence, often by manipulating one's contraceptive use or reproductive decision-making. Cross-sectional studies on the magnitude of RC across sub-Saharan Africa have noted associations with contraceptive use. No studies have longitudinally examined RC experiences as related to future contraceptive dynamics, including discontinuation or forgoing use altogether.

Putting one health to the test: Operational challenges and critical reflections from the global South.

One Health as a policy framework to tackle zoonoses has gained wide-ranging validation with multiple international organizations throwing their collective might behind it. Such endorsement has convinced several governments to adopt One Health as a national strategy to address zoonoses. Although some argue that One Health is so many things that there are in fact multiple 'One Healths', others find that most international policy documents that use the One Health framing contain certain key recommendations, with intersectoral coordination and disease surveillance prominent among them.

Exploring the anti-inflammatory potential of vitamin D in cardiometabolic diseases.

The prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases is rising, and this is fuelled by inflammation, which tends to be worse in individuals with vitamin D (VD) deficiency. While non-steroidal anti-inflammatory interventions are available, they present with coagulation events. Hence, alternative therapy in the form of VD supplements is gaining research interest.

Pollination ecotypes and the origin of plant species.

Ecological niche shifts are a key driver of phenotypic divergence and contribute to isolating barriers among lineages. For many groups of organisms, the history of these shifts and associated trait-environment correlations are well-documented at the macroevolutionary level. However, the processes that generate these patterns are initiated below the species level, often by the formation of ecotypes in contrasting environments.

ZSM-5 Zeolite Synthesis from Coal Fly Ash Synthesised Silica: Sole Silica & Alumina Source.

This study explores the synthesis of ZSM-5 zeolite using high-purity mesoporous silica exclusively derived from coal fly ash (CFA), eliminating the need for additional silica or alumina sources. Traditional ZSM-5 synthesis relies on costly and environmentally harmful pure chemicals, whereas this approach utilizes CFA, an industrial byproduct, addressing both cost and sustainability concerns. The synthesized ZSM-5 zeolite demonstrates exceptional purity, with a surface area of 455.

Novel Quinoline Schiff-Bases as Mtb DNA Gyrase Inhibitors - A Combined In Vitro and In Silico Study.

A new series of quinoline Schiff-bases was designed, synthesized, and characterized using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS analysis. Further, all the compounds were screened for their antitubercular, antibacterial, and antifungal activity, and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined. Among all, compound 7f displayed a significantly potent broad-spectrum antitubercular and antimicrobial activity against most of the tested strains of bacteria and fungi, with MIC values in the range of 1.