Rates of unplanned adolescent pregnancy and unsafe induced abortions are very high in Sub-Saharan African countries including Tanzania. Despite their availability and accessibility, modern family ...planning methods are reported to be critically underutilized by adolescents. This study is part of a broader study that aims to develop a curriculum that will be used in training health professionals by investigating the sexual health training needs of health providers and students in Tanzania.
This study describes the perceptions of health professionals and students on the provision of contraceptives to adolescents.
Qualitative formative assessment type of research was conducted using 18 focus groups stratified among health professionals and students (midwives, nurses, and medical doctors). Study participants were presented with the theoretical scenario of a 14-year-old girl who sought contraceptive services at a family planning clinic. This theoretical scenario was used to determine how health professionals and students would handle the case. Thematic analysis guided the examination and determination of data results.
Three main themes emerged from the data, including (1) knowledge about the provision of contraceptives to adolescents, (2) perception of the adolescents' right to contraceptive use, and (3) barriers to the provision of contraceptives to adolescents. Participants stated that having a baseline knowledge of contraceptive services for adolescents and their rights to contraceptives would trigger their decision on offering the contraceptive. On the other hand, being unaware of the reproductive health rights for adolescents, judgmental behavior of providers, as well as religious and cultural dynamics were all found to be major barriers for providers to offer contraceptive services to the 14-year-old adolescent girl in the theoretical scenario.
These findings support the need for comprehensive sexual health education in Tanzanian health professional training programs.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Several forms of human sarcoma, lymphoma, and leukemia are characterized by somatically acquired chromosome translocations that result in fusion genes that encode chimeric transcription factors with ...oncogenic properties. We have used cDNA microarrays containing 1238 cDNAs to investigate the gene expression profile of a group of seven alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) cell lines characterized by the presence of the PAX3-FKHR fusion gene. Using the method of multidimensional scaling to represent the relationships among the cell lines in two-dimensional Euclidean space, we determined that ARMS cells show a consistent pattern of gene expression, which allows the cells to be clustered together. By searching across the seven ARMS cell lines, we found that 37 of 1238 genes were most consistently expressed in ARMS relative to a reference cell line. Only three of these genes have been previously reported to be expressed in ARMS. Among these 37 were genes related to both primary (PAX3-FKHR) and secondary (CDK4) genetic alterations in ARMS. These results in ARMS demonstrate the potential of cDNA microarray technology to elucidate tumor-specific gene expression profiles in human cancers.
Metagenomics has transformed our understanding of microbial diversity across ecosystems, with recent advances enabling
assembly of genomes from metagenomes. These metagenome-assembled genomes are ...critical to provide ecological, evolutionary, and metabolic context for all the microbes and viruses yet to be cultivated. Metagenomes can now be generated from nanogram to subnanogram amounts of DNA. However, these libraries require several rounds of PCR amplification before sequencing, and recent data suggest these typically yield smaller and more fragmented assemblies than regular metagenomes.
Here we evaluate
assembly methods of 169 PCR-amplified metagenomes, including 25 for which an unamplified counterpart is available, to optimize specific assembly approaches for PCR-amplified libraries. We first evaluated coverage bias by mapping reads from PCR-amplified metagenomes onto reference contigs obtained from unamplified metagenomes of the same samples. Then, we compared different assembly pipelines in terms of assembly size (number of bp in contigs ≥ 10 kb) and error rates to evaluate which are the best suited for PCR-amplified metagenomes.
Read mapping analyses revealed that the depth of coverage within individual genomes is significantly more uneven in PCR-amplified datasets versus unamplified metagenomes, with regions of high depth of coverage enriched in short inserts. This enrichment scales with the number of PCR cycles performed, and is presumably due to preferential amplification of short inserts. Standard assembly pipelines are confounded by this type of coverage unevenness, so we evaluated other assembly options to mitigate these issues. We found that a pipeline combining read deduplication and an assembly algorithm originally designed to recover genomes from libraries generated after whole genome amplification (single-cell SPAdes) frequently improved assembly of contigs ≥10 kb by 10 to 100-fold for low input metagenomes.
PCR-amplified metagenomes have enabled scientists to explore communities traditionally challenging to describe, including some with extremely low biomass or from which DNA is particularly difficult to extract. Here we show that a modified assembly pipeline can lead to an improved
genome assembly from PCR-amplified datasets, and enables a better genome recovery from low input metagenomes.
Across Africa, there are strong cultural taboos against masturbation.
As part of a broader study investigating sexual health training needs of the health providers, researchers conducted a study to ...investigate how masturbation is addressed as a clinical issue in clinics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
An exploratory qualitative study design conducted in June 2019 involving 18 focus groups among health care providers and students in the health professions (midwives, nurses, medical doctors). A total of 61 health care students and 58 health providers were interviewed. The study participants were purposively selected and the design was purposively stratified to examine findings across the 3 main health care providers and by experience (clinicians vs students). A semistructured interview guide in Kiswahili language was used. The study participants were presented a case scenario of a 14-year-old boy who was found masturbating in his room by his father, and asked how this case would be handled in a clinical setting. Data were transcribed in Kiswahili and Translated to English.
Inductive-deductive thematic analysis was performed. Major themes and subthemes were identified.
Two main themes emerged: (i) knowledge about the management of masturbation and (ii) views about the effects of masturbation. Clinical interventions providers would try to include normalization of masturbation as a pubescent behavior combined with advice to stop the adolescent from masturbating, a recommendation to watch for negative effects immediately postmasturbation, and referral to a psychologist for treatment. Across providers and students, masturbation in adolescence was seen as clinically problematic, potentially leading to multiple issues in adulthood including sexual dissatisfaction with a spouse, psychological dependency, and erectile dysfunction, loss of sexual sensitivity in intercourse, premature ejaculation, and penis size reduction. Several participants mentioned they received no training about masturbation to guide their clinical practice.
These findings affirm the need for comprehensive sexual health training in Tanzanian universities.
Use of stratified design by profession and experience allowed to explore if there appear to be differences between students and experienced providers. The findings cannot be generalizable to all health professional students and providers across Tanzania.
When designing sexual health curricula for Tanzania, it is important to include accurate information about masturbation as a normal and healthy sexual practice to address widely held myths about its effects on health, and to train providers in how to counsel when concerns and inaccurate information are brought to the clinical encounter. Mushy SE, Rosser BRS, Ross MW, et al. The Management of Masturbation as a Sexual Health Issue in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A Qualitative Study of Health Professionals’ and Medical Students’ Perspectives. J Sex Med 2021;18:1690–1697.
Inheritance of a mutant
BRCA1
or
BRCA2
gene (numbers 113705 and 600185, respectively, in Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, a catalogue of inherited diseases) confers a lifetime risk of breast ...cancer of 50 to 85 percent and a lifetime risk of ovarian cancer of 15 to 45 percent.
1
–
6
These germ-line mutations account for a substantial proportion of inherited breast and ovarian cancers,
7
but it is likely that additional susceptibility genes will be discovered.
8
,
9
Certain pathological features can help to distinguish breast tumors with
BRCA1
mutations from those with
BRCA2
mutations. Tumors with
BRCA1
mutations are high-grade cancers with . . .
Abstract
Intracellular/autocrine complement proteins have emerged as critical regulators of human Th1 induction and contraction. T cells contain both intracellular C3 and C5 activation systems, with ...intracellular C3aR1 and C5aR1 stimulation driving T cell homeostatic survival and normal Th1 IFNg production, respectively. Here we demonstrate how the intracellular/autocrine C5 system is regulated by using T cells from the first described patient with C5aR2 deficiency. This patient suffers from an autoinflammatory syndrome, with enhanced inflammatory Th responses and a profound loss of naïve CD4 T cells in the blood (95% have a memory phenotype). Thus, in contrast to intracellular C5aR1 stimulation, cell surface expressed C5aR2 is an important negative regulator of inflammatory Th induction. While both C5aR1 and C5aR2 can bind C5a, we found that the carboxypeptidase-processed form of C5a, C5a-desArg, was twice as potent as C5a in reducing Th1 induction. In addition, carboxypeptidase M (CPM) expression was highly induced upon T cell activation indicating that CPM may be mediating T cell-derived C5a-desArg generation and C5aR2 stimulation. In this vein, activation of CRISPR/Cas9 generated CPMKO T cells, or of T cells in the presence of a CPM inhibitor, induced Th1 hyper-induction, which was rescued by addition of a C5aR2 agonist and reduced by adding C5a-desArg, but not C5a. The in vivo importance of T cell-expressed CPM and autocrine C5aR2 activation is demonstrated by the enhanced inflammatory Th responses in Cpm −/−mice and increased pathology caused by Cpm −/−T cells in a T cell transfer colitis model. These data highlight the importance of intracellular/autocrine C5 system regulation by CPM through C5aR2 signaling in T cell responses.
Refraction Microtremor (ReMi) is a relatively new technique which utilises ambient noise generated from urban infrastructure in addition to the natural seismic energy to generate shear wave models of ...the subsurface. This paper presents the geological setting, field acquisition parameters, problems and limitations of data collection and results of a survey conducted in a shallow marine harbour in Papua New Guinea. The primary objective was to undertake an assessment of the viability of Marine ReMi to obtain subsurface parameters to assist in an overarching geotechnical study taking place on site. The subsurface parameters that the investigation was aiming to define included shear strength and stratigraphy. The environment in which this trial was undertaken was a shallow marine environment containing paleochannels, coral, marine sediments and landslide material.
The field setup used was designed to target shallow features and establish their shear wave velocities. The setup consisted of using 10Hz Hydrophones at 2m separation, with a record length of 20 seconds stacked 8 times. During collection it was found that relying on ambient noise alone was insufficient to gain the required data resolution. To provide additional energy a controlled source in the form of a bolt airgun was utilised with shots being taken at arbitrary locations off the line and up to three times each stack. Inversion of the data was undertaken as per standard passive seismic inversion.
The results of the investigation show that through careful processing and analysis accurate models of S-wave velocities beneath the ocean floor can be successfully achieved using ReMi. We were able to cross correlate the results with traditional marine geophysical techniques, land based geophysics and physical observations to gain a better understanding of the accuracy of the modelled Marine ReMi data compared with other data streams. This correlation shows that the results are comparable in both structures and velocities to the other data streams.
Abstract BACKGROUND We aimed to assess frequency, patterns and potential prognostic impact of initial and early dissemination in pediatric patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and ...diffuse midline glioma, H3K27-altered (DMG). METHODS 199 patients (age, 0-18 years) with DIPG/DMG and positive CSF cytology and/or metastases on MRI at diagnosis (Types 1-3) were identified within the SIOPE and International DIPG/DMG Registries. Data on metastatic first progression (PD) in DIPG/DMG (Type 4) were analyzed from the HIT-HGG-2007/2013 trials. RESULTS Dissemination at diagnosis was present in 5% of patients with DIPG/DMG (16.9% in non-pontine DMG). For all 199 patients with initially disseminated pontine (n=166) and non-pontine DMG (n=33), median overall survival (OS) was 10±0.5 months and progression-free survival (PFS) was 6.6±0.2 months. Tumor cells in the CSF without metastases on initial MRI (Type 1) were detected in 12 patients. Four patients had no primary tumor but primary extensive leptomeningeal dissemination resembling diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor, molecularly confirmed as DMG, with aggressive course (Type 2). 183 DIPG/DMG patients were identified with primary tumor and metastases on MRI at diagnosis (Type 3). OS and PFS was superior in patients receiving additional treatment to radiotherapy (n=124), without significant differences between focal and craniospinal irradiation. Metastatic spread at first progression (Type 4) occurred in 32.1% (65.3% in non-pontine DMG) of 224 HIT-HGG patients with DMG and recorded PD. OS of patients with metastatic PD was inferior to local PD (median, 10.8±0.9 vs. 13.3±0.9 months, p=0.005), as was post-progression survival (median, 3.1±0.4 vs. 5.2±0.5 months, p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS We observed a propensity for early dissemination in (especially non-pontine) DMG. While additional treatment beyond radiotherapy seems beneficial, preventing dissemination at progression (e.g., by upfront CSI) may help to prolong survival of patients with DMG and possibly provide options for further therapy.
South-East Asia is among the least studied regions for the growing issue of marine debris pollution, despite being a major contributor towards global marine debris. In the present study, we provide ...the preliminary results from the MARsCI project, a survey protocol designed to utilise citizen science to facilitate data collection on the ecological impact of discarded fishing gear (DFG) in Thailand. Over a three-year period, 103 surveys were carried out across Thailand, resulting in impact assessment of 606 pieces of DFG. Our findings indicate corals are regularly impacted by DFG in Thai waters and that isolated marine habitats may be more severely impacted than near-shore sites. We further identify crabs, muricid snails, and demersal fish to be among the most regularly entangled animals. We discuss our findings in the context of earlier work from Thailand, and conduct a critical review of the protocol itself, identifying improvements for future efforts.
•Citizen science among the SCUBA diving community can drive marine debris research.•Entanglement of marine life by marine debris in Thai waters is prolific.•Isolated sites may be impacted more severely than near-shore sites in Thailand.•Data quality is influenced by prior training and willingness of citizen scientists.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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