Mondfulness

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE: Timely access to supportive and palliative care (PC) remains a challenge. A proposed solution is to trigger an automatic referral process to PC by pre-determined clinical criteria. This study sought to co-design with patients and providers an automatic PC referral process for patients newly diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. METHODS: In Step 1 of this work, nine one on one phone interviews were conducted with advanced lung cancer patients on their perspectives on the acceptability of phone contact by a specialist PC provider triggered by an automatic referral process...

Extending molecular imaging into the shortwave-infrared (SWIR, 900-1400 nm) region provides deep tissue visualization of biomolecules in the living system resulting from the low tissue autofluorescence and scattering. Looking at the Food and Drug Administration-approved and clinical trial near-infrared (NIR) probes, only indocyanine green (ICG) and its analogues have been approved for biomedical applications. Excitation wavelength less than 800 nm limits these probes from deep tissue penetration and noninvasive fluorescence imaging...

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) became a part of the eukaryotic genome through endogenization millions of years ago. Moreover, they have lost their innate capability of virulence or replication. Nevertheless, in eukaryotic cells, they actively engage in various activities that may be advantageous or disadvantageous to the cells. The mechanisms by which transcription is triggered and implicated in cellular processes are complex. Owing to the diversity in the expression of transcription factors (TFs) in cells and the TF-binding motifs of viruses, the comprehensibility of ERV initiation and its impact on cellular functions are unclear...

Determinants of HIV-1 latency establishment are yet to be elucidated. HIV reservoir comprises a rare fraction of infected cells that can survive host and virus-mediated killing. In vitro reporter models so far offered a feasible means to inspect this population, but with limited capabilities to dissect provirus silencing dynamics. Here, we describe a new HIV reporter model, HIV-Timer of cell kinetics and activity (HIV-Tocky) with dual fluorescence spontaneous shifting to reveal provirus silencing and reactivation dynamics...

BACKGROUND: Globally, at least 3 million TB patients are missed every year. In Zambia, the TB treatment coverage increased from 66% in 2020 to 92% in 2022. Involvement of all levels of health care service delivery is critical to finding all the missing TB patients. METHODS: A survey was undertaken in 15 private facilities in Lusaka district of Zambia using a structured tool administered by project team and a district health team member. Data collected during the survey was analysed and results were used to determine the type of TB services that were offered as well as barriers and enablers to TB service provision...

BACKGROUND: A prominent neuroscientific theory of drug addiction is the incentive sensitization model. Individual differences in the tendency to ascribe motivational salience to cues that predict reward, and involuntary "sign-tracking" (orientation towards) such cues have been identified as potentially important in understanding vulnerability to addiction and relapse. However, to date this behaviour has not been assessed in a treatment-seeking clinical population, who typically represent those most susceptible to alcohol-related harms and episodes of relapse...

BACKGROUND: Zambia is among the 30 high-burden countries for tuberculosis (TB), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-associated TB, and multi-drug resistant/rifampicin resistant TB with over 5000 children developing TB every year. However, at least 32% of the estimated children remain undiagnosed. We assessed healthcare workers' (HCWs) knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards childhood TB and the factors associated with good KAP towards childhood TB. METHODS: Data was collected at two primary healthcare facilities in Lusaka, Zambia from July to August 2020...

BACKGROUND: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is increasingly common and contributes to a range of health and social problems. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid recognised for its anticonvulsant, anxiolytic and antipsychotic effects with no habit-forming qualities. Results from a Phase IIa randomised clinical trial suggest that treatment with CBD for four weeks reduced non-prescribed cannabis use in people with CUD. This study examines the efficacy, safety and quality of life of longer-term CBD treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe CUD...

While wet waste hydrothermal liquefaction technology has a high biofuel yield, a significant amount of the carbon and nitrogen in the feedstock reports to the aqueous-phase product. Pretreatment of this stream before sending to a conventional wastewater plant is essential or at the very least, advisable. In this work, techno-economic and life-cycle assessments were conducted for the state-of-technology baseline and four aqueous-phase product treatment and monetization options based on experimental data. These options can cut minimum fuel selling prices by up to 13 % and life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 39 % compared to the baseline...

Photoinduced concerted multiple-bond rotation has been proposed in some biological systems. However, the observation of such phenomena in synthetic systems, in other words, the synthesis of molecules that undergo photoinduced multiple-bond rotation upon photoirradiation, has been a challenge in the photochemistry field. Here we describe a chalcogen-substituted benzamide system that exhibits photoinduced dual bond rotation in heteroatom-containing bonds. Introduction of the chalcogen substituent into a sterically hindered benzamide system provides sufficient kinetic stability and photosensitivity to enable the photoinduced concerted rotation...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Pertussis (whooping cough) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in infants world-wide, and continues to be a public health concern despite high vaccination coverage. The disease, caused by bacterium Bordetella pertussis, is present in all countries. Before vaccines became widely available in the 1950s, pertussis was one of the most common childhood diseases worldwide. According to WHO, estimation of deaths was 4 millions/year in 1950 and 100 000/year in 2015. But morbidity remains important with a high circulation of the bacterium determining atypical clinical forms after whole cell or acellular vaccines use...

INTRODUCTION: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading infectious cause of stillbirth, and neonatal morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Vaginal and rectovaginal swab samples were obtained from 274 intrapartum pregnant women in Democratic Republic of the Congo, to be analysed for GBS DNA detection, in parallel by the point-of-care BIOSYNEX AMPLIFLASH® GBS assay (Biosynex SA, Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France), and by reference quantitative PCR (qPCR)...

PURPOSE: The United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends vaccination against meningococcal serogroups A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY) for all 11-12-year-olds, with a booster dose for 16-year-olds, and against meningococcal serogroup B (MenB) for 16-23-year-olds under shared clinical decision-making (SCDM). However, uptake of the MenB vaccine and the MenACWY booster dose is low. This study investigated United States physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding recommending MenB and MenACWY vaccines to non-high-risk older adolescents and young adults...

Médecins du Monde France is involved in supporting sex workers in reducing health risks, and has highlighted the fragility of this population with regard to current legislative measures concerning sex work. These multiple constraints have negative repercussions in terms of access to health rights, but also in terms of their work.

Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) catalyzes the pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent decarboxylative condensation of L-serine and palmitoyl-CoA to form 3-ketodihydrosphingosine (KDS). Although SPT was shown to synthesize corresponding products from amino acids other than L-serine, it is still arguable whether SPT catalyzes the reaction with D-serine, which is a question of biological importance. Using high substrate and enzyme concentrations, KDS was detected after the incubation of SPT from Sphingobacterium multivorum with D-serine and palmitoyl-CoA...

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and employs angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as the receptor. Although the expression of ACE2 is crucial for cellular entry, we found that the interaction between ACE2 and the Spike (S) protein in the same cells led to its downregulation through degradation in the lysosomal compartment via the endocytic pathway. Interestingly, the ability of the S protein from previous variants of concern (VOCs) to downregulate ACE2 was variant-dependent and correlated with disease severity...