Reliability of various Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Methods for Piperacillin/tazobactam in challenging Escherichia coli isolates.

Piperacillin/tazobactam antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) against Enterobacterales can be challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the reproducibility of various automated (Vitek®2) and non-automated AST methods (broth microdilution (BMD), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test strip, and disk diffusion) for piperacillin/tazobactam in 'challenging' E. coli isolates.

The Impact of Intracervical Terlipressin on Intravasation and Venous Embolization During Transcervical Myomectomy and Endometrium resection: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Study Objective: To investigate whether intracervical injection of terlipressin during hysteroscopic surgery could reduce the amount of intravasation, the incidence and severity of gas embolism, and the COHb levels in the blood.

Design: Randomized double-blind controlled trial.

Setting: Gynecologic surgical unit in a general hospital.

The Role of the LINC Complex in Ageing and Microgravity.

The Linker of Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton (LINC) complex plays a crucial role in connecting the nuclear envelope to the cytoskeleton, providing structural support to the nucleus and facilitating mechanical signaling between the extracellular environment and the nucleus. Research in mechanobiology onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and in simulated microgravity (SMG) highlight the importance of gravity in functional mechanotransduction. Although the altered gravity research regarding mechanobiology has been greatly focused on the cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix (ECM), recent research demonstrates that SMG also induces changes in nuclear mechanics and gene expression patterns, which have been shown to be LINC complex dependent.

Finerenone and new-onset diabetes in heart failure: a prespecified analysis of the FINEARTS-HF trial.

Background: Data on the effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist therapy on HbA levels and new-onset diabetes are conflicting. We aimed to examine the effect of oral finerenone, compared with placebo, on incident diabetes in the Finerenone Trial to Investigate Efficacy and Safety Superior to Placebo in Patients with Heart Failure (FINEARTS-HF) trial.

Methods: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 6001 participants with heart failure with New York Heart Association functional class II-IV, left ventricular ejection fraction 40% or higher, evidence of structural heart disease, and elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels were randomly assigned to finerenone or placebo, administered orally.

'Entanglement of nursing care': A theoretical proposition to understand the complexity of nursing work and division of labour.

Ongoing challenges in the provision of care, driven by growing care complexity and nursing shortages, prompt us to reconsider the basis for efficient division of nursing labour. In organising nursing work, traditionally the focus has been on identifying nursing tasks that can be delegated to other less expensive and less highly educated staff, in order to make best use of scarce resources. We argue that nursing care activities are connected and intertwined.

Quantification of heavy metal exposure in a British population cohort links total mercury levels in plasma with skin tissue-specific changes in mitochondrial-related gene expression.

Heavy metals in our direct environment have profound effects on human health and while some are essential for life, others can be toxic. In vivo studies often focus on clinical features caused by overexposure to, or by deprivation of a heavy metal. However, to understand the cellular impact of heavy metals on health, studies in healthy volunteers before symptom onset are needed.

Nonpharmacological interventions to promote sleep in the adult critical patients unit: A scoping review.

Background: Sleep and circadian rhythms are markedly altered in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Numerous factors related to the patient and the ICU environment affect the ability to initiate and maintain sleep. Therefore, nonpharmacological interventions could play an essential role in improving sleep and circadian rhythm.

The (in)dependence of single-cell data inferences on model constructs.

Recent developments in single-cell analysis have revolutionized basic research and have garnered the attention of the forensic domain. Though single-cell analysis is not new to forensics, the ways in which these data can be generated and interpreted are. Modern interpretation strategies report likelihood ratios that rely on a model of the world that is a simplification of it.

PEGylated Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor and Plerixafor Enhance Autologous Stem and Progenitor Cell Mobilization and Transplantation in Pediatric Patients.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is used to restore bone marrow function after high-dose chemotherapy. For apheresis, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is standard of care, but obtaining sufficient stem cells can be challenging. Other mobilization agents include plerixafor and PEGylated G-CSF (PEG-G-CSF).

'Having children is like rain, as they say in our region': exploring refugees' reproductive agency.

Migrants with refugee backgrounds in the Netherlands face significant reproductive health challenges, including higher rates of unintended pregnancies and limited access to contraception. This study explores how post-migration realities affect the reproductive agency of refugees from Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea and Syria. Utilising a participatory approach, eight peer researchers from these communities conducted eight focus-group discussions and 118 in-depth interviews, involving four migrant grassroots organisations and two Dutch non-governmental organisations.

Canada and the Netherlands: Rhetoric versus Reality in the Evolution of Solidarity Underpinning Universal Health Coverage.

Since the mid-twentieth century, the shared goal of healthcare systems of Canada and the Netherlands has been to achieve broad healthcare access and coverage for citizens despite their health system differences. However, the rhetoric of "state" control in Canada and "market" control in the Netherlands belies very different realities in both countries. A longer historical perspective uncovers the discrepancies between the rhetoric and reality of solidarity that has emerged - and still exists - in both countries.

Fluoroquinolones and rifampin combination in the backdrop of heteroresistant tuberculosis.

The impact of heteroresistance on tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes is unclear, as is the role of different rifampin and isoniazid exposures on developing resistance mutations. Hollow fiber system model of TB (HFS-TB) units were inoculated with drug-susceptible () and treated with isoniazid and rifampin exposure identified in a clinical trial as leading to treatment failure and acquired drug resistance. Systems were sampled for drug concentration measurements, estimation of total and drug-resistant , and small molecule overlapping reads (SMOR) analysis for the detection of heteroresistance.

Prolonged incubation time unwarranted for acute periprosthetic joint infections.

Unlabelled: Current laboratory protocols for periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) involve a standard 10- to 14-day incubation period. However, recent evidence indicates considerable variability in the time to diagnosis (TTD) between acute and chronic PJIs. TTD is also influenced by the employed culture media and sample types.

Target-agnostic identification of human antibodies to sexual forms reveals cross-stage recognition of glutamate-rich repeats.

Circulating sexual stages of ) can be transmitted from humans to mosquitoes, thereby furthering the spread of malaria in the population. It is well established that antibodies can efficiently block parasite transmission. In search for naturally acquired antibodies targets on sexual stages, we established an efficient method for target-agnostic single B cell activation followed by high-throughput selection of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) reactive to sexual stages of in the form of gametes and gametocyte extracts.

Pulsed-Current Operation Enhances HO Production on a Boron-Doped Diamond Mesh Anode in a Zero-Gap PEM Electrolyzer.

A niobium (Nb) mesh electrode was coated with boron-doped diamond (BDD) using chemical vapor deposition in a custom-built hot-filament reactor. The BDD-functionalized mesh was tested in a zero-gap electrolysis configuration and evaluated for the anodic formation of HO by selective oxidation of water, including the analysis of the effects on Faradaic efficiency towards HO (FEH2O2) induced by pulsed electrolysis. A low electrolyte flow rate (V⋅) was found to result in a relatively high concentration of HO in single-pass electrolysis experiments.

Assessing platelet-derived extracellular vesicles for potential as therapeutic targets in cardiovascular diseases.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEV) have attracted extensive attention in cardiovascular disease research in recent years because their cargo is involved in a variety of pathophysiological processes, such as thrombosis, immune response, promotion or inhibition of inflammatory response, promotion of angiogenesis as well as cell proliferation and migration.

Areas Covered: This review explores the role of PEV in various cardiovascular diseases (such as atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and heart failure), with relation to its molecular cargo (nucleic acids, bioactive lipids, proteins) and aims to provide new insights in the pathophysiologic role of PEV, and methods for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases based on PEV.

A unified approach to SimpleTreat input and settings for wastewater treatment removal predictions.

SimpleTreat has become a common tool used in ecological risk assessments to estimate the removal efficiency of a chemical from a secondary wastewater treatment plant and hence inform on release to the environment. Organization A, Organization B, and Organization C performed a comparative study of SimpleTreat predictions and parameter selection methodologies across the three organizations. SimpleTreat versions 3.

Effect of the Electrolyte on the Oxygen Reduction Reaction with PCN-224(Co).

Electrocatalysis in metal-organic frameworks is an interplay between the diffusion of charges, the intrinsic catalytic rate, and the mass-transport of reactants through the pores. Here a systematic study is carried out to investigate the role of the electrolyte nature and concentration on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with the PCN-224(Co) MOF in aqueous electrolyte. It was found that the ORR activity is slightly influenced by the nature of the ions in solution, providing that the ionic strength is high enough to minimize the resistivity during the measurement.

AF-FLOW Global Registry Confirms Validity of Electrographic Flow Mapping as a Phenotyping Tool for Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: Electrographic flow (EGF) mapping allows for the visualization of global atrial wavefront propagations. One mechanism of initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF) is stimulation from EGF-identified focal sources that serve as driver sites of fibrillatory conduction. Electrographic flow consistency (EGFC) further quantifies the concordance of observed wavefront patterns, indicating that a healthier substrate shows more organized wavefront propagation and higher EGFC.

Ankle-foot orthoses for improving walking in adults with calf muscle weakness due to neuromuscular disorders.

Background: Calf muscle weakness is a common symptom in slowly progressive neuromuscular disorders that lead to walking problems like instability and increased walking effort. The mainstay of treatment to improve walking in this population is the provision of ankle-foot-orthoses (AFOs). Since we are not aware of an up-to-date and complete overview of the effects of AFOs used for calf muscle weakness in slowly progressive neuromuscular disorders, we reviewed the evidence for the effectiveness of AFOs to improve walking in this patient group, in order to support clinical decision-making.

Molecular Insights into the Adsorption of Deposit Control Additives from Hydrocarbon Fuels.

Engine deposits can reduce performance and increase emissions, particularly for modern direct-injection fuel delivery systems. Surfactants known as deposit control additives (DCAs) adsorb and self-assemble on the surface of deposit precursors to keep them suspended in the fuel. Here, we show how molecular simulations can be used to virtually screen the ability of surfactants to bind to polyaromatic hydrocarbons, comprising a major class of carbonaceous deposits.