Sensitive HIV-1 DNA Pol Next-Generation Sequencing for the Characterisation of Archived Antiretroviral Drug Resistance.

Modern HIV-1 treatment effectively suppresses viral amplification in people living with HIV. However, the persistence of HIV-1 DNA as proviruses integrated into the human genome remains the main barrier to achieving a cure. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) offers increased sensitivity for characterising archived drug resistance mutations (DRMs) in HIV-1 DNA for improved treatment options. In this study, we present an ultra-sensitive targeted PCR assay coupled with NGS and a robust pipeline to characterise HIV-1 DNA DRMs from buffy coat samples. Our evaluation supports the use of this assay for Pan-HIV-1 analyses with reliable detection of DRMs across the HIV-1 Pol region. We propose this assay as a new valuable tool for monitoring archived HIV-1 drug resistance in virologically suppressed individuals, especially in clinical trials investigating novel therapeutic approaches.

Brief emotional eating scale: A multinational study of factor structure, validity, and invariance.

Emotional eating or the tendency to eat in response to emotional states can be assessed using self-report measures. The Emotional Eating Scale-II is a commonly used and reliable instrument that measures the desire to eat in response to a range of unpleasant and pleasant emotions. The current study aimed to corroborate the validity of the EES-II and expand its utility by investigating its dimensionality and testing its measurement invariance in samples from English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. Convergent and predictive validity in respect of food craving, eating, and health indicators were also examined. This cross-national study included a total of 2485 adult participants recruited from Finland, North America, Philippines, United Kingdom, China, Italy, Spain, and South Korea, who completed the EES-II in six different languages. Factor analyses supported a four-factor structure including valence (pleasant, unpleasant) and activation (high, low) for a 12-item English version and slightly modified non-English adaptations. The model exhibited good fit in all samples, and convergent validity was demonstrated. Full invariance of factor loadings and partial invariance of factor loading, intercepts, and error variances was established across samples. Structural equation models revealed that high activation (pleasant and unpleasant) states predicted food cravings and reported eating. Overall findings across multiple samples and countries supported the factorial structure, reliability, invariance, and validity of the resulting Brief Emotional Eating Scale (BEES).

Brief Remote Intervention to Manage Food Cravings and Emotions During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic people have endured potentially stressful challenges which have influenced behaviors such as eating. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of two brief interventions aimed to help individuals deal with food cravings and associated emotional experiences. Participants were 165 individuals residing in United Kingdom, Finland, Philippines, Spain, Italy, Brazil, North America, South Korea, and China. The study was implemented remotely, thus without any contact with researchers, and involved two groups. Group one participants were requested to use daily diaries for seven consecutive days to assess the frequency of experience of their food cravings, frequency of giving in to cravings, and difficulty resisting cravings, as well as emotional states associated with their cravings. In addition to completing daily food diaries, participants in group two were asked to engage in mindful eating practice and forming implementation intentions. Participants assessed their perceived changes in eating, wellbeing, and health at the beginning and end of the intervention. Repeated measures MANOVAs indicated that participants experienced significantly less food cravings (i.e., craving experience, acting on cravings, difficulty resisting), as well as lower intensities of unpleasant states associated with cravings across time (T1 vs. T7). In contrast to our hypothesis, the main effects of the group (food craving diary vs. food craving diary and mindful eating practice) were not significant. Participants reported less eating and enhanced wellbeing at the end of the study (T7 vs. T1). Our findings can be used to inform future remote interventions to manage food cravings and associated emotions and highlight the need for alternative solutions to increase participant engagement.

Coenzyme Q10 supplementation for the treatment of statin-associated muscle symptoms.

Aim: To determine the association of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) use with the resolution of statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS). Patients & methods: Retrospective analysis of a large, multicenter survey study of SAMS (total n = 511; n = 64 CoQ10 users). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models assessed the association between CoQ10 use and the resolution of SAMS. Results: The frequency of SAMS resolution was similar between CoQ10 users and non-users (25% vs 31%, respectively; unadjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.75 [95% CI: 0.41-1.38]; p = 0.357). Similarly, CoQ10 use was not significantly associated with the resolution of SAMS in multivariable models adjusted for SAMS risk factors (OR: 0.84 [95% CI: 0.45-1.55]; p = 0.568) or adjusted for significant differences among CoQ10 users and non-users (OR: 0.82 [95% CI: 0.45-1.51]; p = 0.522). Conclusion: CoQ10 was not significantly associated with the resolution of SAMS.

Statins are medications that help lower cholesterol and treat cardiovascular disease, but muscle pain is the most common side effect of statins. Statins decrease the body's levels of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and thus taking CoQ10 supplements (which are widely available over the counter in pharmacies) may help treat the muscle side effects from statins. However, the results of previous studies are not clear whether CoQ10 is effective for treating statin-associated muscle symptoms. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze whether the use of CoQ10 supplements improved statin-associated muscle side effects in a large group of individuals. When the authors compared the survey responses of 64 CoQ10 users versus those of 447 non-CoQ10 users with statin-associated muscle symptoms, CoQ10 supplements did not improve their muscle symptoms.

Improving preprocedure antithrombotic management: Implementation and sustainment of a best practice alert and pharmacist referral process.

BACKGROUND: Electronic medical record-based interventions such as best practice alerts, or reminders, have been proposed to improve evidence-based medication prescribing. Formal implementation evaluation including long-term sustainment are not commonly reported. Preprocedural medication management is often a complex issue for patients taking antithrombotic medications. METHODS: We implemented a best practice alert (BPA) that recommended referral to an anticoagulation clinic before outpatient elective gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopies. Eligible patients were taking an oral anticoagulant (warfarin or direct oral anticoagulant [DOAC]) and/or antiplatelet medications. Patients referred to the anticoagulation clinic were compared to those managed by the ordering provider. Outcomes assessed included guideline-adherent drug management before endoscopy, documentation of a medication management plan, guideline-adherent rates of bridging for high-risk patients taking warfarin, and evaluation for sustained use of BPA. RESULTS: Eighty percent of patients (553/691) were referred to the anticoagulation clinic during the initial 13-month study period. Most referrals came from gastroenterologists (397/553; 71.8%) followed by primary care providers (127/554; 22.9%). Patients referred had improved rates of guideline-adherent medication management compared to those who were not referred (97.4% vs 91.0%; P = .001). Documentation of medication plan was significantly higher in the referred group (99.1% vs 59.4%; P ≤ .001). There were no differences in rates of appropriate bridging for patients taking warfarin. Implementation of the BPA also resulted in sustained, consistent use over an additional 18 months following the initial study period. CONCLUSION: Implementation of a BPA before elective outpatient GI endoscopies was associated with improved rates of guideline-adherent medication management and documented management plan, while streamlining preprocedural medication management.

Utilization of Nanoporous Nickel Oxide as the Hole Injection Layer for Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes.

Nickel oxide (NiOx) has been extensively investigated as the hole injection layer (HIL) for many optoelectronic devices because of its excellent hole mobility, high environmental stability, and low-cost fabrication. In this research, a NiOx thin film and nanoporous layers (NPLs) have been utilized as the HIL for the fabrication of quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs). The obtained NiOx NPLs have spongelike nanostructures that possess a larger surface area to enhance carrier injection and to lower the turn-on voltage as compared with the NiOx thin film. The energy levels of NiOx were slightly downshifted by incorporating the nanoporous structure. The amount of Ni2O3 species is higher than that of NiO in the NiOx NPL, confirming its good hole transport ability. The best QLED was achieved with a 30 nm thick NiOx NPL, exhibiting a maximum brightness of 68 646 cd m-2, a current efficiency of 7.60 cd A-1, and a low turn-on voltage of 3.4 V. More balanced carrier transport from the NiOx NPL and ZnO NPs/polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) is responsible for the improved device performance.

The impact of nitrogen oxides on electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction.

The electroreduction of carbon dioxide offers a promising avenue to produce valuable fuels and chemicals using greenhouse gas carbon dioxide as the carbon feedstock. Because industrial carbon dioxide point sources often contain numerous contaminants, such as nitrogen oxides, understanding the potential impact of contaminants on carbon dioxide electrolysis is crucial for practical applications. Herein, we investigate the impact of various nitrogen oxides, including nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrous oxide, on carbon dioxide electroreduction on three model electrocatalysts (i.e., copper, silver, and tin). We demonstrate that the presence of nitrogen oxides (up to 0.83%) in the carbon dioxide feed leads to a considerable Faradaic efficiency loss in carbon dioxide electroreduction, which is caused by the preferential electroreduction of nitrogen oxides over carbon dioxide. The primary products of nitrogen oxides electroreduction include nitrous oxide, nitrogen, hydroxylamine, and ammonia. Despite the loss in Faradaic efficiency, the electrocatalysts exhibit similar carbon dioxide reduction performances once a pure carbon dioxide feed is restored, indicating a negligible long-term impact of nitrogen oxides on the catalytic properties of the model catalysts.

If the Mask Fits: Psychological Correlates with Online Self-Presentation Experimentation in Adults.

Online self-presentation refers to the ways in which individuals share aspects of the self to portray a particular image. Being online presents opportunities for individuals to experiment with different versions of the self as part of identity development but also to manage how others perceive them. Research has shown that personality can influence online self-presentation behaviors, but these studies have mainly focused on internal characteristics, and more research is needed exploring the relational facets of personality. This study aims to investigate the extent to which an individual's self-concept clarity, self-monitoring tendency, self-esteem, and social anxiety predict different presentations of the online self. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 405 adult participants from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Results show that individuals with higher self-concept clarity and self-monitoring are more likely to present a single consistent online and offline self. Younger adults and those with greater social anxiety are more likely to present idealized self-images online, and participants with higher social anxiety and lower self-esteem are more likely to prefer online, rather than offline, communication. Findings are broadly consistent with the literature, and suggest the need for more systematic investigation into a variety of personality variables that take into account the relational nature of identity formation and impression management. This research emphasizes the multifaceted nature of online self-presentation behaviors, and the ways in which they are differentially influenced by personality variables.

A Cross-Cultural Exploratory Study of Health Behaviors and Wellbeing During COVID-19.

This study explored the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived health behaviors; physical activity, sleep, and diet behaviors, alongside associations with wellbeing. Participants were 1,140 individuals residing in the United Kingdom (n = 230), South Korea (n = 204), Finland (n = 171), Philippines (n = 132), Latin America (n = 124), Spain (n = 112), North America (n = 87), and Italy (n = 80). They completed an online survey reporting possible changes in the targeted behaviors as well as perceived changes in their physical and mental health. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) on the final sample (n = 1,131) revealed significant mean differences regarding perceived physical and mental health "over the last week," as well as changes in health behaviors during the pandemic by levels of physical activity and country of residence. Follow up analyses indicated that individuals with highest decrease in physical activity reported significantly lower physical and mental health, while those with highest increase in physical activity reported significantly higher increase in sleep and lower weight gain. United Kingdom participants reported lowest levels of physical health and highest increase in weight while Latin American participants reported being most affected by emotional problems. Finnish participants reported significantly higher ratings for physical health. The physical activity by country interaction was significant for wellbeing. MANCOVA also revealed significant differences across physical activity levels and four established age categories. Participants in the oldest category reported being significantly least affected by personal and emotional problems; youngest participants reported significantly more sleep. The age by physical activity interaction was significant for eating. Discussed in light of Hobfoll (1998) conservation of resources theory, findings endorse the policy of advocating physical activity as a means of generating and maintaining resources combative of stress and protective of health.

Self-Concept Clarity and Online Self-Presentation in Adolescents.

The Internet may be conceptualized as a social laboratory, providing freedom to experiment with different presentations of self. Adolescence is an important time in the development of self-concept; however, little is known about how clarity of self-concept relates to online behavior. The principal aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that self-concept clarity would be associated with adolescents' inclination to experiment with online self-presentation. One hundred forty-eight participants aged 13-18 completed the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, the Facebook Intensity Scale, and the Presentation of Online Self Scale (POSS). Adolescents possessing a less stable sense of self reported experimenting with online self-presentation more regularly, presenting an idealized version of self and a preference for presenting themselves online. Adolescents with a more stable self-concept reported presenting an online self which was more consistent with their offline self-presentation. Younger adolescents were more likely to present an inconsistent self, whereas older adolescents presented themselves more consistently across different communication contexts. Finally, adolescents who spent more time on Facebook and had fewer Facebook friends were more likely to present multiple versions of self while online. The implications of these findings will be discussed in terms of the development of self-concept during adolescence and the potential for the online world to facilitate flexible identity construction and self-presentation.

Ideological vs. Instrumental Barriers to Accessing Formal Mental Health care in the Developing World: Focus on South-eastern Nigeria.

The striking gaps in formal mental health care in the developing world are largely traceable to Instrumental and Ideological Barriers. Focusing on south-eastern Nigeria, the study aimed to establish the relative weight, significance and determinants of these barriers for prioritised policy interventions. Multistage sampling method was used to select participants (n = 706) to whom questionnaires were administered. Ideological Barriers (cultural and mental health literacy constraints) were more significantly perceived (84.8%) than Instrumental Barriers (systemic and financial impediments) (56.6%). The study demonstrated the primacy of improved knowledge in plugging the gap in conventional mental health care in a region ironically defined more by systemic and material poverty. This is instructive for prioritised policy interventions with an indication that even if facilities and socio-economic status improve, services will likely be underused without greater improvement in people's conceptualisation of mental illness. It equally underscored the need for cultural competence in mental health service provision.

Pathways to mental healthcare in south-eastern Nigeria.

In sub-Saharan Africa, traditional and faith healers provide competing services alongside biomedical professionals. This may be associated with delays in reaching specialised mental health services, and hence with longer duration of untreated illness. As first line care constitutes a crucial stage in accessing of psychiatric care, investigating pathways to mental healthcare can highlight help-seeking choices. This study explored the pathways to care for mental illness preferred by a non-clinical sample of the population in south-eastern Nigeria. Multistage sampling was used to select participants (N = 706) who completed questionnaires on help-seeking. Results showed a significant preference for biomedical (90.8%) compared to spiritual (57.8%) and traditional (33.2%) pathways. Higher education predicted preference for the biomedical model, while low education was associated with traditional and spiritual pathways. Protestants preferred the spiritual pathway more than did Catholics. The use of biomedical care is potentially undermined by poor mental health infrastructure, a lack of fit between the culture of biomedical care and the deep-seated cultural/religious worldviews of the people, stigma surrounding mental illness, and the likelihood of a social desirability bias in responses. A complementary model of care is proposed.

Put on a smiley face: textspeak and personality perceptions.

With the emergence of Web 2.0, there has been a dramatic surge in user-generated content. Although the Internet provides greater freedom in self-presentation, computer-mediated communication is characterized by a more relaxed attitude to grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The language of the Internet, or textspeak, may be suitable for casual interactions but inappropriate in professional contexts. Participant perceptions of an author's personality were tested in two distinct contexts (formal vs. informal) and the written information was manipulated under three levels of textspeak: none, low, and high. Participants judged the author as less conscientious and less open but more emotionally stable when textspeak was used. However, context had no impact. Personality perceptions of textspeak users differ to those who write in Standard English, and this is likely to extend to informal impression management contexts (e.g., online dating). These findings also have a number of implications, for example in terms of screening applicants via social media.

Different combinations of perceptual, emotional, and cognitive factors predict three different types of delusional ideation during adolescence.

Although adolescence is a particularly sensitive period for the development of schizotypy (Walker and Bollini [Schizophr Res 54:17-23, 2002]), there has been relatively limited research on the psychological factors that specifically predict delusional beliefs during adolescence. We studied 392 school students aged 11 to 16 years with a battery of behavioral and psychometric measures. Anxiety and negative-other schemas mediated the relationship between hallucinatory experiences and paranoid beliefs; anxiety mediated the relationship between hallucinatory experiences and grandiose beliefs; anxiety and self-negative schemas mediated the relationship between hallucinatory experiences and "other delusions" (Schneiderian/reference/misidentification). Furthermore, a jump-to-conclusions (JTC) bias moderated the relation between anxiety and other delusions: scores in the other delusions category were highest in adolescents who had both high anxiety and a JTC bias. Sex and age had only weak effects upon delusional belief. Our findings provide novel data by highlighting the different factors that underpin three delusional subtypes during the vulnerable period of adolescence.

Modulation of human NK cell lines by vascular endothelial growth factor and receptor VEGFR-1 (FLT-1).

Our laboratory has previously reported that natural killer (NK) cells bind to angiogenic microvessels in established cancer metastases. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in solid tumor angiogenesis by enhancing new blood vessel formation to transport nutrients and oxygen into tumors. Here we report that the human natural killer cell lines, NK-92 and YT, express the mRNA message and protein product for VEGF-B and its receptor, VEGFR-1/Flt-1. While stimulation of these cells by the potent angiogenic factor VEGF-A165, which also binds to VEGFR-1, does not alter the proliferation of the cells, it does increase adhesion to a model basement membrane-like extracellular matrix, Matrigel. VEGF-A165 also induces NK cell binding to human microvascular endothelial cells in newly forming but not established microvessels in vitro. These results suggest that human NK cells produce an angiogenic factor which may be involved in autocrine and paracrine regulations of angiogenesis. VEGF-A165 appears to stimulate NK cell adhesion to the microvasculature within established cancer metastases.

Hypermethylation of the P15INK4b and P16INK4a in agnogenic myeloid metaplasia (AMM) and AMM in leukaemic transformation.

Hypermethylation of p15 and p16 genes was determined in 32 patients with agnogenic myeloid metaplasia(AMM), also known as idiopathic myelofibrosis (MF). These included 10 patients in leukaemic transformation phase. Using polymerase chain reaction-based methylation analysis assay methods, with substantiation using Southern blot analysis, the study showed no hypermethylation of p15 or p16 genes in the chronic phase of AMM, but p15 gene hypermethylation was found in four patients (40%) and p16 gene hypermethylation in two patients (20%) when they were in leukaemic transformation stage. Furthermore, two of the patients in leukaemic transformation were found to have both p15 and p16 gene hypermethylation, demonstrating possible multiple gene hypermethylation in the same patient. Thus, hypomethylation agents for treating patients with AMM in leukaemic transformation may be appropriate for future trials.