Delivery

Despite the well-known importance of high-quality care before and after delivery, not every mother and newborn in India receive appropriate antenatal and postnatal care (ANC/PNC). Using India's National Family Health Surveys (2015-2016 and 2019-2021), we quantified the socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in the utilization of ANC/PNC among women aged 15-49 years and their newborns (N = 161,225 in 2016; N = 150,611 in 2021). For each of the eighteen ANC/PNC components, we assessed absolute and relative inequalities by household wealth (poorest vs...

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infections and uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the main etiological agent of UTIs. UPEC can persist in bladder cells protected by immunological defenses and antibiotics and intracellular behavior leads to difficulty in eradicating the infection. The aim of this paper is to design, prepare and characterize surfactant-based nanocarriers (niosomes) able to entrap antimicrobial drug and potentially to delivery and release antibiotics into UPEC-infected cells...

INTRODUCTION: Effective and safe vaccines against COVID-19 are essential to achieve global control of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Using faith centres may offer a promising route for promoting higher vaccine uptake from certain minority ethnic groups known to be more likely to be vaccine hesitant. METHODS: This cross-sectional study explored attendees' perceptions, experiences of being offered, and receiving COVID-19 vaccination in a local mosque in Woking, Surrey, UK...

This study aimed to assess and compare diverse formulations of ivermectin-loaded liposomes, employing lipid film hydration and ethanol injection methods. Three lipids (DOPC, SPC, and DSPC) were used in predetermined molar ratios. A total of 18 formulations were created, and a factorial design determined the optimal formulation based on particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency. The average mean particle size, PDI and zeta potential of the selected formulations (F1, F2, F7, F9, and F11) was, respectively, 196...

The care of the dyad affected by opioid use disorder (OUD) requires a multi-disciplinary approach that can be challenging for institutions to develop and maintain. However, over the years, many institutions have developed quality improvement (QI) initiatives aimed at improving outcomes for the mother, baby, and family. Over time, QI efforts targeting OUD in the perinatal period have evolved from focusing separately on the mother and baby to efforts addressing care of the dyad and family during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum...

Recently, our group developed a synergistic brain drug delivery method to achieve simultaneous transcranial hyperthermia and localized blood-brain barrier opening via MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS). In a rodent model, we demonstrated that the ultrasound power required for transcranial MRgFUS hyperthermia was significantly reduced by injecting microbubbles (MBs). However, the specific mechanisms underlying the power reduction caused by MBs remain unclear. The present study aims to elucidate the mechanisms of MB-enhanced transcranial MRgFUS hyperthermia through numerical studies using the finite element method...

Microglia play vital roles in embryonic and post-natal development, homeostasis, and pathogen defence in the central nervous system. Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based methods have emerged as an important source for the study of human microglia in vitro. Classical approaches to differentiate hiPSCs into microglia suffer from limitations including extended culture periods, consistency, and efficiency. More recently, forward programming has arisen as a promising alternative for the manufacture of bulk quantities of human microglia...

INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia (PE) is a fundamental cause of preterm labor, intrauterine growth restriction, and persistent postpartum hypertension. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between 24-h urinary protein excretion, serum markers, and placental growth factor and their adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with PE. METHODS: A total of 126 pregnant women with PE (86 cases of mild PE and 40 cases of severe PE, assigned to the observation group) who came to our hospital from March 2019 to December 2021 for regular obstetric checkups and delivery were selected, with 60 healthy pregnant women assigned to the control group...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of comprehensive nursing combined with thermal insulation measures on the awakening agitation (EA) of cesarean section parturient under general anesthesia and maternal and infant safety. METHODS: A total of 136 cesarean section parturients under general anesthesia admitted in our hospital from May 2020 to November 2023 were picked as the research objects following the random, double-blind method. All patients have no mental illness and can clearly reflect their physical state...

Health systems often fail people with disabilities, which might contribute to their shorter life expectancy and poorer health outcomes than people without disabilities. This Review provides an overview of the existing evidence on health inequities faced by people with disabilities and describes existing approaches to making health systems disability inclusive. Our Review documents a broad range of health-care inequities for people with disabilities (eg, lower levels of cancer screening), which probably contribute towards health differentials...

Telomerase activity is directly affected by the laminin receptor precursor (LRP) protein, a highly conserved nonintegrin transmembrane receptor, which has been shown to have therapeutic effects in ageing, and age-related diseases. Recently, it has been found that overexpression of LRP-FLAG, by plasmid transfection, leads to a significant increase in telomerase activity in cell culture models. This may indicate that upregulation of LRP can be used to treat various age-related diseases. However, transfection is not a viable treatment strategy for patients...

BACKGROUND: UK cancer deaths remain high; primary care is key for earlier cancer diagnosis as half of avoidable delays occur here. Improvement is possible through lower referral thresholds, better guideline adherence, and better safety netting systems. Few interventions target whole practice teams. We developed a novel whole practice team intervention to address this. AIM: To test the feasibility and acceptability of a novel, complex behavioural intervention 'ThinkCancer!' for assessment in a subsequent Phase III trial...

Although CAR-T cell therapy has emerged as a game-changer in cancer immunotherapy several bottlenecks limit its widespread use as a front-line therapy. Current protocols for the production of CAR-T cells rely mainly on the use of lentiviral/retroviral vectors. Nevertheless, according to the safety concerns around the use of viral vectors, there are several regulatory hurdles to their clinical use. Large-scale production of viral vectors under "Current Good Manufacturing Practice" (cGMP) involves rigorous quality control assessments and regulatory requirements that impose exorbitant costs on suppliers and as a result, lead to a significant increase in the cost of treatment...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The use of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) in lung cancer is increasing. However, there is no consensus on the most appropriate treatment planning and delivery practice for lung SBRT. To gauge the range of practice, quantify its variability and identify where consensus might be achieved, ESTRO surveyed the medical physics community. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online survey was distributed to ESTRO's physicist membership in 2022, covering experience, dose and fractionation, target delineation, dose calculation and planning practice, imaging protocols, and quality assurance...

Plant-derived bioactive macromolecules (i.e., proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids) were prepared as extracellular vesicles (EVs). Plant-derived EVs are gaining pharmaceutical research interest because of their bioactive components and delivery properties. The spherical nanosized EVs derived from Raphanus sativus L. var. caudatus Alef microgreens previously showed antiproliferative activity in HCT116 colon cancer cells from macromolecular compositions (predominantly proteins). To understand the mechanism of action, the biological activity studies, i...

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the cardiac protective effects and molecular mechanisms of electroacupuncture (EA) pre-treatment in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced Cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pre-treatment with EA was performed 30 min before intraperitoneal injection of LPS. Cardiac function changes in mice of the EA + LPS group were observed using electrocardiography, echocardiography, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and compared with the LPS group...

Inhibiting the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), a pro-inflammatory cytokine widely distributed in the serum and synovial fluid, is important for managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Despite the good therapeutic effects of TNF-α small interfering RNA (TNF-α siRNA) in RA animal models, safe and efficient siRNA delivery systems that retain stability are lacking. We introduced a novel therapy using milk-derived exosomes(mEXOs)-encapsulated TNF-α siRNA-coated cryomicroneedle (cryoMN) patch and evaluated its efficacy via local transdermal administration through acupoints in RA treatment...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating lung disease with a high mortality rate due to limited treatment options. Current therapies cannot effectively reverse the damage caused by IPF. Research suggests that promoting programmed cell death (apoptosis) in myofibroblasts, the key cells driving fibrosis, could be a promising strategy. However, inducing apoptosis in healthy cells like epithelial and endothelial cells can cause unwanted side effects. This project addresses this challenge by developing a targeted approach to induce apoptosis specifically in myofibroblasts...

BACKGROUND: Clinical documentation improvement programs are utilized by most healthcare systems to enhance provider documentation. Suggestions are sent to providers in a variety of ways, and are commonly referred to as coding queries. Responding to these coding queries can require significant provider time and do not often align with workflows. To enhance provider documentation in a more consistent manner without creating undue burden, alternative strategies are required. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a real-time documentation assistance tool, named AutoDx, on the volume of coding queries and encounter level outcome metrics, including case-mix index (CMI)...

Therapeutic outcomes of local biomolecule delivery to the central nervous system (CNS) using bulk biomaterials are limited by inadequate drug loading, neuropil disruption, and severe foreign body responses. Effective CNS delivery requires addressing these issues and developing well-tolerated, highly-loaded carriers that are dispersible within local neural parenchyma. Here, we synthesized biodegradable trehalose-based polyelectrolyte oligomers using facile A2:B3:AR thiol-ene Michael addition reactions that form complex coacervates upon mixing of oppositely charged oligomers...