Search

Reported cases of dengue caused by dengue virus (DENV) are increasing. DENV (genus vivirus, family Flaviviridae) is composed of 4 genetically distinct serotypes, DENV-1-4. In 2023, a total of 4.6 [...]

The 4th World Congress of Electroporation (Copenhagen, 9-13 October 2022) provided a unique opportunity to convene leading experts in pulsed electric fields (PEF). PEF-based therapies harness electric fields to produce therapeutically useful effects on cancers and represent a valuable option for a variety of patients. As such, irreversible electroporation (IRE), gene electrotransfer (GET), electrochemotherapy (ECT), calcium electroporation (Ca-EP), and tumour-treating fields (TTF) are on the rise. Still, their full therapeutic potential remains underappreciated, and the field faces fragmentation, as shown by parallel maturation and differences in the stages of development and regulatory approval worldwide. This narrative review provides a glimpse of PEF-based techniques, including key mechanisms, clinical indications, and advances in therapy; finally, it offers insights into current research directions. By highlighting a common ground, the authors aim to break silos, strengthen cross-functional collaboration, and pave the way to novel possibilities for intervention. Intriguingly, beyond their peculiar mechanism of action, PEF-based therapies share technical interconnections and multifaceted biological effects (e.g., vascular, immunological) worth exploiting in combinatorial strategies.

IntroductionProspective memory (PM) is the ability to create and execute future tasks. It is comprised of two components: cue detection and intention retrieval. PM is essential for performing high-level goals, a proficiency extremely important in college populations. Anxiety is a prevalent psychological experience in college populations that may be associated with impairments in PM. The present study examined PM performance and anxiety in college students, using neurophysiology to measure the mechanism of impairment.MethodsAfter self-reporting anxiety levels, 80 participants completed an event-based, focal PM task while two event-related potentials were recorded from an electroencephalogram: the N300 to assess cue detection, and the prospective positivity to assess intention retrieval.ResultsThe results demonstrated that, when controlling for age and gender, higher state anxiety was significantly associated with lower PM accuracy (β = −0.27, p = 0.020) and lower prospective positivity amplitude (β = −0.04, p = 0.021). Lower prospective positivity amplitude was significantly associated with lower PM accuracy (β = 0.27, p = 0.015). Higher state anxiety was significantly indirectly associated with lower PM accuracy mediated by lower prospective positivity amplitude (ab = −0.11, p = 0.047).DiscussionThese findings suggest intention retrieval could be a key component in supporting PM for college students with high state anxiety.

Background. In the United States, no published guidelines promote exposure to technical variants (ie, living donor or split liver) during transplant fellowship. Simulation with hands-on liver models may improve training in transplantation. This pilot study addressed 3 overall goals (material and model creation tools, recruitment rates and assessment of workload, and protocol adherence). Methods. A patient-specific hands-on liver model was constructed from clinical imaging, and it needed to be resilient and realistic. Multiple types of materials were tested between January 2020 and August 2022. Participants were recruited stepwise. A left lateral segmentectomy simulation was conducted between August 2022 and December 2022 to assess protocol adherence. Results. Digital anatomy 3-dimensional printing was considered the best option for the hands-on liver model. The recruitment rate was 100% and 47% for junior attendings and surgical residents, respectively. Ten participants were included and completed all the required surveys. Seven (70%) and 6 (60%) participants “agreed” that the overall quality of the model and the material were acceptable for surgical simulation. Five participants (50%) “agreed” that the training improved their surgical skills. Nine participants (90%) “strongly agreed” that similar sessions should be included in surgical training programs. Conclusions. Three-dimensional hands-on liver models have the advantage of tactile feedback and were rated favorably as a potential training tool. Study enrollment for further studies is possible with the support of leadership. Rigorous multicenter designs should be developed to measure the actual impact of 3-dimensional hands-on liver models on surgical training.

Abstract Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a global health problem with severe consequences, leading to behavioral, cognitive, and neurobiological disturbances. While consensus on treatments is still ongoing, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has emerged as a promising approach for medication-resistant disorders, including substance use disorders. In this context, here we present the SUDMEX-TMS, a Mexican dataset from an rTMS clinical trial involving CUD patients. This longitudinal dataset comprises 54 CUD patients (including 8 females) with data collected at five time points: baseline (T0), two weeks (T1), three months (T2), six months (T3) follow-up, and twelve months (T4) follow-up. The clinical rTMS treatment followed a double-blinded randomized clinical trial design (n = 24 sham/30 active) for 2 weeks, followed by an open-label phase. The dataset includes demographic, clinical, and cognitive measures, as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data collected at all time points, encompassing structural (T1-weighted), functional (resting-state fMRI), and multishell diffusion-weighted (DWI-HARDI) sequences. This dataset offers the opportunity to investigate the impact of rTMS on CUD participants, considering clinical, cognitive, and multimodal MRI metrics in a longitudinal framework.

Background: Breastfeeding provides several positive health benefits for the newborn child, yet breastfeeding rates remain low in the United States (US). Theory-based approaches have the potential to improve breastfeeding promotion interventions. Hence, the study examined the correlates of intention to breastfeed among US pregnant women based on the multi-theory model (MTM) of health behavior change. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a 36-item online survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 315 pregnant women in the US. The instrument was psychometrically validated for face, content, and construct validity by a panel of six experts over two rounds. Further, construct validation was done by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Hierarchical regression modeling was employed to explain the intention to start breastfeeding and sustain exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months and with complementary foods for up to 24 months. Results: Internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha was found to be acceptable. It was found that behavioral confidence and changes in the physical environment positively affected the initiation of breastfeeding (P

Desde una perspectiva bioantropológica las mediciones antropométricas en adultos son exhaustivamente utilizadas en la evaluación morfológica de poblaciones argentinas extintas. La mayoría de los estudios antropométricos en adultos argentinos contemporáneos se limitan a la evaluación de talla, peso e IMC. El objetivo de este trabajo fue describir otras variables antropométricas en adultos del Noroeste argentino (NOA) y compararlas con una referencia internacional. Los datos de peso, talla, perímetros (brazo, muslo, pierna, cintura) y pliegues (tríceps, subescapular) proceden de 881 individuos (526 mujeres; 355 varones) sanos de 20-60 años de edad de distintas localidades de Catamarca y Jujuy. Se calcularon estadísticos descriptivos (media y DS) por sexo y dos PALABRAS CLAVE adultos; Noroeste Argentino; perímetros; pliegues; antropometría grupos de edad: 20-39 y 40-60 años. Las comparaciones se establecieron con adultos de EEUU de origen mejicano (Centers for Disease Control, CDC 2003-2006) con la prueba t. Se calcularon los percentilos con el método LMS. En ambos sexos y grupos de edad los adultos del NOA presentaron valores significativamente inferiores a los de la referencia en todas las variables consideradas, excepto para pliegues tricipital y subescapular en varones de 40-60 años. No se han encontrado antecedentes antropométricos comparables semejantes para poblaciones argentinas y del NOA. El perfil antropométrico de los adultos del NOA difiere significativamente con respecto a la población de referencia con un origen étnico afín.

APOBEC3, an enzyme subfamily that plays a role in virus restriction by generating mutations at particular DNA motifs or mutational hotspots, can drive viral mutagenesis with host-specific preferential hotspot mutations contributing to pathogen variation. While previous analysis of viral genomes from the 2022 Mpox (formerly Monkeypox) disease outbreak has shown a high frequency of C>T mutations at TC motifs, suggesting recent mutations are human APOBEC3-mediated, how emerging monkeypox virus (MPXV) strains will evolve as a consequence of APOBEC3-mediated mutations remains unknown. By measuring hotspot under-representation, depletion at synonymous sites, and a combination of the two, we analyzed APOBEC3-driven evolution in human poxvirus genomes, finding varying hotspot under-representation patterns. While the native poxvirus molluscum contagiosum exhibits a signature consistent with extensive coevolution with human APOBEC3, including depletion of TC hotspots, variola virus shows an intermediate effect consistent with ongoing evolution at the time of eradication. MPXV, likely the result of recent zoonosis, showed many genes with more TC hotspots than expected by chance (over-representation) and fewer GC hotspots than expected (under-representation). These results suggest the MPXV genome: (1) may have evolved in a host with a particular APOBEC GC hotspot preference, (2) has inverted terminal repeat (ITR) regions-which may be exposed to APOBEC3 for longer during viral replication-and longer genes likely to evolve faster, and therefore (3) has a heightened potential for future human APOBEC3-meditated evolution as the virus spreads in the human population. Our predictions of MPXV mutational potential can both help guide future vaccine development and identification of putative drug targets and add urgency to the task of containing human Mpox disease transmission and uncovering the ecology of the virus in its reservoir host.

Gender and sexuality are contentious political issues in the US, with a resurgence of traditional master narratives for gender following decades of advances for gender equality. To understand how today’s LGBTQ+ youth navigate this narrative landscape in a polymedia context, we conducted social media tour interviews with 20 LGBTQ+ adolescents (aged 16–19), recording audiovisual data as they guided us through important posts on their top three public social media platforms. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we found that our participants were engaging with both longstanding master narratives (e.g., traditional gender roles) and contemporary alternative narratives (e.g., gender as non-binary) using three key navigational strategies for engaging with narratives on social media platforms: seeking and sharing information, creating queer community, and making choices about visibility and permanence. The meaning and purpose of these strategies for participants, both individually and collectively, could not be fully understood apart from three key navigational contexts: the traditional gender narrative, white liberal community context, and platform affordances. Our results demonstrate that narrative engagement for contemporary LGBTQ+ adolescents is deeply influenced by personal polymedia environments, identity intersections, and power structures shaping possibilities for individual identity expression and collective cultural transformation.

As renewable energy sources interconnected to the electric grid increase, deploying distributed energy storage systems along the grid is a viable solution to sustain grid stability. One of the critical aspects of any energy storage system is its efficiency in transferring power to the grid. Another important aspect is managing high power levels in a short time and being easily expandable in terms of energy capacity and power handling. For this reason, supercapacitors are suitable energy storage devices to fulfill these requisites. This article focuses on analyzing the losses and improving the efficiency of a supercapacitor energy storage system based on a modular multilevel converter, which accomplishes all the abovementioned functions and capabilities. The analyzed energy storage system is based on submodules, including the power electronic interface and the supercapacitors. Hence, the system can be easily expanded because the submodule provides the functions of balancing the energy storage devices, the DC/AC, and the DC/DC conversions by using the modular multilevel converter topology approach. Therefore, any number of submodules can be connected, and the operator can make an array of the desired power, energy, and voltage ratings. This study details a probabilistic loss analysis for the proposed supercapacitor energy storage system and presents a case study using 3000F supercapacitor cells for a 6.6 kW single-phase system. The improved submodule version is validated through simulations and experimentally with a lab-scale prototype. The results show how the proposed methodology increases the system's overall efficiency with a 95 % confidence level.

Hydatidosis is a zoonosis, caused by a cestode ( Echinococcus) . Management will depend on the organs affected by the infection and the response to medical treatment. Therapy may be clinical in early stages, but in case of poor response to drug therapy, surgery is the preferred choice. We present two cases in young females, the first case is with Hydatid cysts in both lungs and liver, she received initial medical treatment with lack of response, and surgery was indicated to resect the pulmonary and hepatic lesions. The second case is of a female with Hydatid cysts in the right lung. She was misdiagnosed at the beginning thinking of pneumonia and pulmonary abscess but after further investigation, hydatid cysts were the diagnosis, due to symptoms consistent with thoracic pain and persistent cough and the size of the cyst, surgery was indicated.

RESUMEN La mayoría de literatura académica sobre transiciones proviene del Norte global y se adecúa a sus marcos epistemológicos y estructuras socio-económicas (visiones tecnologicistas acríticas de la racionalidad capitalista hegemónica). Este artículo pretende aportar una visión desde y para el Sur sobre cómo entender las transiciones ecosociales. A partir de siete experiencias de Economía Social y Solidaria, se realizó un ejercicio de co-construcción de conocimiento colectivo identificando prioridades y dimensiones de cambio social, desde un enfoque acorde a los territorios y experiencias concretas de la región andina. Éste consistió en: cuestionarios y análisis textual mediante el software Iramuteq; y un encuentro presencial. El objetivo es identificar y seleccionar las dimensiones a sistematizar al analizar las transiciones ecosociales desde la región andina.

Background: The Health Institute for Well-being (INSABI) in Mexico offers an online course on Primary Health Care (PHC) that contributes to the implementation of the Model of Health Care for Well-Being (MAS-Bienestar). This study, conducted in a general hospital in the highly populated area of Acapulco in the state of Guerrero on the southwestern coast of Mexico, provides a unique perspective on PHC implementation. Objetive: To determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding PHC in the healthcare personnel of a secondary hospital in Mexico. Materials and methods: A self-administered KAP questionnaire was used in a cross-sectional study involving 200 health-care workers at the Hospital General Renacimiento. Results: The mean knowledge score was 6.58 (SD = 1.7), and 59 % of participants (n = 117) had a score above the mean, while the mean practice score was 5.96 (SD = 1.38) and 34 % of the participants (n = 68) were above the mean. The final multiple linear regression model showed that time working in the hospital and having previously been trained in PHC were significant factors for knowledge. At the same time, gender was substantial for practices, with females scoring significantly lower on this dimension. After attitude was dichotomized into positive and negative, a binary logistic regression model showed that positive attitudes were associated with taking the PHC course. Conclusions: While most of the participants had positive KAP to PHC, there was a general notion that PHC only involved healthcare workers at the first level. Training in PHC is essential to improving the knowledge and attitudes of healthcare personnel.

La Sentencia de la Corte Constitucional aparentemente cerró la discusión sobre el alcance del art. 233 de la CRE en lo que respecta al peculado. Se afirma serían autores tanto servidores públicos como sujetos que no ostenten esta condición, independientemente de sus conductas. La resolución es insatisfactoria. En la misma no se confrontó si el contenido del precepto constitucional era suficiente para cumplir con la determinación que requiere la tipificación de una conducta. El debate no puede cerrarse sin alcanzar estos niveles de análisis. El objetivo de este artículo es desafar esta decisión, presentando argumentos que no fueron considerados, y a través de estos, cuestionar las conclusiones alcanzadas. Desde la explicación de lo que es un intraneus y un extraneus, se plantea otras formas de interpretar el art. Entre las alternativas, se selecciona la que se cree que guarda armonía con todo el sistema de normas. El art. fija la necesidad de que en el peculado se sancione como autores a no servidores públicos y a privados, pero no es suficiente para ser aplicado directamente. Es el principio de legalidad el que cumple con el mandato de determinación. Finalmente, se resalta que la norma penal sí contempla supuestos donde pueden intervenir como autores personas sin la calidad de servidores públicos, casos en los que existe certeza sobre la conducta prohibida.

Brevibacillus laterosporus, an endospore-forming, aerobic, Gram-positive bacillus, is not only a potential biocontrol agent against plant pathogens but also a rare cause of human infection. Its pathogenicity in humans, especially in immunocompetent individuals, is still not fully understood. Skin infections caused by B. laterosporus are typically opportunistic, entering the skin through cuts, wounds, or other breaches in the skin’s protective barrier, as in the case presented here.

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) limits the efficacy of treatments for malignant brain tumors, necessitating innovative approaches to breach the barrier. This study introduces burst sine wave electroporation (B-SWE) as a strategic modality for controlled BBB disruption without extensive tissue ablation and compares it against conventional pulsed square wave electroporation-based technologies such as high-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE). Using an in vivo rodent model, B-SWE and H-FIRE effects on BBB disruption, tissue ablation, and neuromuscular contractions are compared. Equivalent waveforms were designed for direct comparison between the two pulsing schemes, revealing that B-SWE induces larger BBB disruption volumes while minimizing tissue ablation. While B-SWE exhibited heightened neuromuscular contractions when compared to equivalent H-FIRE waveforms, an additional low-dose B-SWE group demonstrated that a reduced potential can achieve similar levels of BBB disruption while minimizing neuromuscular contractions. Repair kinetics indicated faster closure post B-SWE-induced BBB disruption when compared to equivalent H-FIRE protocols, emphasizing B-SWE's transient and controllable nature. Additionally, finite element modeling illustrated the potential for extensive BBB disruption while reducing ablation using B-SWE. B-SWE presents a promising avenue for tailored BBB disruption with minimal tissue ablation, offering a nuanced approach for glioblastoma treatment and beyond.

A promising pollution control technology is cold plasma driven chemical processing. The plasma is a pulsed electric gas discharge inside a near atmospheric-pressure-temperature reactor. The system is energized by a continuous stream of very short high-voltage pulses. The exhaust gas to be treated flows through the reactor. The methods applied involve the development of robust cold plasma systems, industrial applications and measuring technologies. Tests of the systems were performed at many industrial sites and involved control of airborne VOC (volatile organic compound) and odor. Electrical, chemical and odor measuring data were collected with state-of-the-art methods. To explain the test data an approximate solution of global reaction kinetics of pulsed plasma chemistry was developed. It involves the Lambert function and, for convenience, a simple approximation of it. The latter shows that the amount of removal, in good approximation, is a function of a single variable. This variable is electric plasma power divided by gas flow divided by input concentration. In the results sections we show that in some cases up to 99% of volatile pollution can be removed at an acceptable energy requirement. In the final sections we look into future efficiency enhancements by implementation of (sub)nanosecond pulsed plasma and solid state high-voltage technology and by integration with catalyst technology.

Microglial research has advanced considerably in recent decades yet has been constrained by a rolling series of dichotomies such as "resting versus activated" and "M1 versus M2." This dualistic classification of good or bad microglia is inconsistent with the wide repertoire of microglial states and functions in development, plasticity, aging, and diseases that were elucidated in recent years. New designations continuously arising in an attempt to describe the different microglial states, notably defined using transcriptomics and proteomics, may easily lead to a misleading, although unintentional, coupling of categories and functions. To address these issues, we assembled a group of multidisciplinary experts to discuss our current understanding of microglial states as a dynamic concept and the importance of addressing microglial function. Here, we provide a conceptual framework and recommendations on the use of microglial nomenclature for researchers, reviewers, and editors, which will serve as the foundations for a future white paper.