Human oral lectin ZG16B acts as a cell wall polysaccharide probe to decode host-microbe interactions with oral commensals.

The oral microbiome is critical to human health and disease, yet the role that host salivary proteins play in maintaining oral health is unclear. A highly expressed gene in human salivary glands encodes the lectin zymogen granule protein 16 homolog B (ZG16B). Despite the abundance of this protein, its interaction partners in the oral microbiome are unknown. ZG16B possesses a lectin fold, but whether it binds carbohydrates is unclear. We postulated that ZG16B would bind microbial glycans to mediate recognition of oral microbes. To this end, we developed a microbial glycan analysis probe (mGAP) strategy based on conjugating the recombinant protein to fluorescent or biotin reporter functionality. Applying the ZG16B-mGAP to dental plaque isolates revealed that ZG16B predominantly binds to a limited set of oral microbes, including Streptococcus mitis, Gemella haemolysans, and, most prominently, Streptococcus vestibularis. S. vestibularis is a commensal bacterium widely distributed in healthy individuals. ZG16B binds to S. vestibularis through the cell wall polysaccharides attached to the peptidoglycan, indicating that the protein is a lectin. ZG16B slows the growth of S. vestibularis with no cytotoxicity, suggesting that it regulates S. vestibularis abundance. The mGAP probes also revealed that ZG16B interacts with the salivary mucin MUC7. Analysis of S. vestibularis and MUC7 with ZG16B using super-resolution microscopy supports ternary complex formation that can promote microbe clustering. Together, our data suggest that ZG16B influences the compositional balance of the oral microbiome by capturing commensal microbes and regulating their growth using a mucin-assisted clearance mechanism.

An Op-Ed Writing Curriculum for Medical Students to Engage in Advocacy Through Public Writing.

BACKGROUND: Op-ed writing can be a powerful and accessible advocacy tool for physicians, but training is lacking in undergraduate medical education. AIM: To train and engage first-year medical students in op-ed writing. SETTING: Midwestern research-intensive medical school. PARTICIPANTS: All students in a required first-year health policy course in 2021 and 2022. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: For their health policy course's final assignment, students could opt to write an op-ed on a healthcare issue of their choice. All students received written instruction on op-ed writing. Additionally, they could access a seminar, coaching and editing by peers and faculty, and publication guidance. PROGRAM EVALUATION: Of 179 students over 2 years, 105 chose to write op-eds. Fifty-one attended the seminar, 35 attended peer coaching sessions, 33 accessed structured peer editing, and 23 received faculty assistance. Thirty-eight students submitted a total of 42 op-eds for publication. Twenty-two pieces were published in major outlets and 17 in the university's health policy review. Of the 22 in major outlets, 21 received editing from either peers or faculty. DISCUSSION: An op-ed writing curriculum can be integrated into an existing medical school health policy course, resulting in a high level of engagement and in published op-eds by medical students.

Development of a FRET aptasensor based on MoS2-doped Zn-MOF as luminophore for selective detection of cadmium in aqueous solutions.

A robust "on-off" fluorescent aptasensor was developed using nanohybrids of molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) quantum dot (QD)-doped zinc metal-organic frameworks (Zn-MOF) for selective and sensitive detection of cadmium ions (Cd2+) in water. This nanohybrid (MoS2@Zn-MOF), synthesized via "bottle around the ship" methodology, exhibited a high-intensity fluorescence emission centered at 430 nm (λEm) (blue) on excitation at 320 nm (λEx). Further, the conjugation of this fluorophore to phosphate-modified cadmium aptamer (Cd-2-2) was achieved through carbodiimide reaction. The hybridization of prepared sensing probe (MoS2@Zn-MOF/Cd-2-2 aptamer) was done with dabcyl-conjugated complementary DNA (cDNA), acting as energy donor-acceptor pair in the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) system. This hybridization causes the fluorescence quenching of the nanohybrid. In the presence of Cd2+, the aptamer from the fabricated nano-biosensing probe binds to these ions, resulting in release of dabcyl-cDNA oligomer. This release of dabcyl-cDNA oligomer from the sensing probes restores the fluorescence of the nanohybrid. Under optimized conditions (sensing probe/dabcyl-cDNA ratio 1/7, pH 7.4, and temp 28 °C), the sensing probe showed a fast response time of 1 min. The fluorescence intensity of the nanohybrid can be utilized to determine the concentration of Cd2+. The proposed aptasensor achieved highly sensitive detection of Cd2+ with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.24 ppb over the range of 1 × 10-9 to 1 × 10-4 M along with minimal effects of interferences (e.g., Hg2+, Pb2+, and Zn2+) and good reproducibility. The designed aptasensor based on MoS2@Zn-MOF nanofluorophore offers a highly sensitive and selective approach for rapid screening of metal ions in aqueous environments.

Advanced Selection Methodologies for DNAzymes in Sensing and Healthcare Applications.

DNAzymes have been widely explored owing to their excellent catalytic activity in a broad range of applications, notably in sensing and biomedical devices. These newly discovered applications have built high hopes for designing novel catalytic DNAzymes. However, the selection of efficient DNAzymes is a challenging process but one that is of crucial importance. Initially, systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) was a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, but recent advances have accelerated the automated generation of DNAzyme molecules. This review summarizes recent advances in SELEX that improve the affinity and specificity of DNAzymes. The thriving generation of new DNAzymes is expected to open the door to several healthcare applications. Therefore, a significant portion of this review is dedicated to various biological applications of DNAzymes, such as sensing, therapeutics, and nanodevices. In addition, discussion is further extended to the barriers encountered for the real-life application of these DNAzymes to provide a foundation for future research.

Applications of mycosporine-like amino acids beyond photoprotection.

Recent years have seen a lot of interest in mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) because of their alleged potential as a natural microbial sunscreen. Since chemical ultraviolet (UV) absorbers are unsafe for long-term usage, the demand for natural UV-absorbing substances has increased. In this situation, MAA is a strong contender for an eco-friendly UV protector. The capacity of MAAs to absorb light in the UV-A (320-400 nm) and UV-B (280-320 nm) range without generating free radicals is potentially relevant in photoprotection. The usage of MAAs for purposes other than photoprotection has now shifted in favor of medicinal applications. Aside from UV absorption, MAAs also have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, anti-photoaging, cell proliferation stimulators, anti-cancer agents, and anti-adipogenic properties. Recently, MAAs application to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection was also investigated. In this review article, we highlight the biomedical applications of MAAs that go beyond photoprotection, which can help in utilizing the MAAs as promising bioactive compounds in both pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.

Microbial communities succession post to polymer flood demonstrate a role in enhanced oil recovery.

The role of indigenous microbial communities in residual oil extraction following a recovery process is not well understood. This study investigated the dynamics of resident microbial communities in oil-field simulating sand pack bioreactors after the polymer flooding stage resumed with waterflooding and explored their contribution to the oil extraction process. The microbial community succession was studied through high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The results revealed alternating dominance of minority populations, including Dietzia sps., Acinetobacter sps., Soehngenia sps., and Paracoccus sps., in each bioreactor following the flooding process. Additionally, the post-polymer waterflooding stage led to higher oil recovery, with hydroxyethylcellulose, tragacanth gum, and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide polymer-treated bioreactors yielding additional recovery of 4.36%, 5.39%, and 3.90% residual oil in place, respectively. The dominant microbial communities were previously reported to synthesize biosurfactants and emulsifiers, as well as degrade and utilize hydrocarbons, indicating their role in aiding the recovery process. However, the correlation analysis of the most abundant taxa showed that some species were more positively correlated with the oil recovery process, while others acted as competitors for the carbon source. The study also found that higher biomass favored the plugging of high permeability zones in the reservoir, facilitating the dislodging of crude oil in new channels. In conclusion, this study suggests that microbial populations significantly shift upon polymer treatment and contribute synergistically to the oil recovery process depending on the characteristics of the polymers injected. KEY POINTS: • Post-polymer flooded microbial ecology shows unique indigenous microbial consortia. • Injected polymers are observed to act as enrichment substrates by resident communities. • The first study to show successive oil recovery stage post-polymer flood without external influence.

System-Wide Change Is Essential to Value the Contributions of Women in Medicine and Science.

The persistent and pervasive gender gap in health care is a fact backed by data, science, and evidence. This editorial aims to describe some of the challenges that continue to persist. Many of the strategies outlined can be implemented both locally and nationally to effect meaningful change and work toward closing the existing gender gap in health care.

The Careers and Professional Well-Being of Women Oncologists During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Responding for Tomorrow.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated gender inequity in medicine, with women physicians reporting greater household responsibilities than their men counterparts and steeper barriers to career advancement. The pandemic highlighted the systemic assumptions and challenges faced by women physicians, which we anticipate is also true in our field of oncology. Prior literature suggests that women physicians were tasked with increased personal and professional responsibilities without compensation for their additional work, as well as derailments in career progression and significant burnout. Our aims are to highlight areas of opportunity to optimize the workplace experience of the oncology workforce and to invest in the professional well-being and sustainability of women oncologists as a step toward global workplace equity and future pandemic preparedness.

Flattening Hierarchical Structures to Empower Women Trainee Leaders on Social Media Teams.

We share our experience empowering women trainees and leadership through a flattened hierarchical social media team structure with supporting evidence from measurable outcomes.

Predictors of failure to achieve minimal clinical important difference for pain and disability after mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT)-based multimodal rehabilitation for neck pain: a retrospective analysis of 4998 patients.

PURPOSE: To determine predictors of failure to achieve minimal clinical important difference (MCID) for pain and disability at discharge after mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT)-based multimodal rehabilitation for neck pain (NP). METHODS: Pre- and post-treatment numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and neck disability index (NDI) in patients with mechanical NP were analysed in this retrospective study. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the effect of covariates such as age, gender, lifestyle, body mass index, presentation, diabetes, osteoporosis, response to repeated movement testing, treatment sessions, compliance rate, and pre-treatment NPRS and NDI scores on failure to achieve MCID of ≥ 30% for NPRS and NDI scores post-treatment. RESULTS: In the 4998 patients analysed for this study, 7% and 14.5% of patients failed to achieve MCID for NPRS and NDI scores, respectively, at the end of treatment. Age > 70 years, diabetes, osteoporosis, partial or non-response to repeated movements, lesser treatment sessions, and lower compliance rate were associated with increased risk for failure to achieve MCID for NPRS and NDI scores. A higher pre-treatment NDI score was associated with failure to achieve MCID for NPRS score, whereas lower pre-treatment NPRS and NDI scores were associated with failure to achieve MCID for NDI score. CONCLUSION: Although MDT-based multimodal rehabilitation helped to achieve significant reduction in pain and disability in mechanical NP, several baseline risk factors were associated with failure to achieve MCID for pain and disability after treatment. Identifying and modifying these factors as part of rehabilitation treatment may help to achieve better outcomes in mechanical NP.

Use of Twitter Amplifiers by Medical Professionals to Combat Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Social media is an important tool for disseminating accurate medical information and combating misinformation (ie, the spreading of false or inaccurate information) and disinformation (ie, spreading misinformation with the intent to deceive). The prolific rise of inaccurate information during a global pandemic is a pressing public health concern. In response to this phenomenon, health professional amplifiers such as IMPACT (Illinois Medical Professional Action Collaborative Team) have been created as a coordinated response to enhance public communication and advocacy around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Empowering Health Care Workers on Social Media to Bolster Trust in Science and Vaccination During the Pandemic: Making IMPACT Using a Place-Based Approach.

BACKGROUND: Given the widespread and concerted efforts to propagate health misinformation on social media, particularly centered around vaccination during the pandemic, many groups of clinicians and scientists were organized on social media to tackle misinformation and promote vaccination, using a national or international lens. Although documenting the impact of such social media efforts, particularly at the community level, can be challenging, a more hyperlocal or "place-based approach" for social media campaigns could be effective in tackling misinformation and improving public health outcomes at a community level. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe and document the effectiveness of a place-based strategy for a coordinated group of Chicago health care workers on social media to tackle misinformation and improve vaccination rates in the communities they serve. METHODS: The Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team (IMPACT) was founded in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with representatives from major academic teaching hospitals in Chicago (eg, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, and Rush University) and community-based organizations. Through crowdsourcing on multiple social media platforms (eg, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) with a place-based approach, IMPACT engaged grassroots networks of thousands of Illinois health care workers and the public to identify gaps, needs, and viewpoints to improve local health care delivery during the pandemic. RESULTS: To address vaccine misinformation, IMPACT created 8 "myth debunking" infographics and a "vaccine information series" of 14 infographics that have generated >340,000 impressions and informed the development of vaccine education for the Chicago Public Libraries. IMPACT delivered 13 policy letters focusing on different topics, such as health care worker personal protective equipment, universal masking, and vaccination, with >4000 health care workers signatures collected through social media and delivered to policy makers; it published over 50 op-eds on COVID-19 topics in high-impact news outlets and contributed to >200 local and national news features. Using the crowdsourcing approach on IMPACT social media channels, IMPACT mobilized health care and lay volunteers to staff >400 vaccine events for >120,000 individuals, many in Chicago's hardest-hit neighborhoods. The group's recommendations have influenced public health awareness campaigns and initiatives, as well as research, advocacy, and policy recommendations, and they have been recognized with local and national awards. CONCLUSIONS: A coordinated group of health care workers on social media, using a hyperlocal place-based approach, can not only work together to address misinformation but also collaborate to boost vaccination rates in their surrounding communities.

A coordinated strategy to develop and distribute infographics addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.

BACKGROUND: Visual communication strategies are becoming increasingly prevalent for conveying information to health professionals as well as to the general public. The potential of social media for rapid knowledge dissemination using infographics was recognized early in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic by health professionals. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe a coalition of health professionals' approach to developing infographics about COVID-19 vaccines and the reach and engagement of those infographics when shared through social media. METHODS: Infographics were created by a core team within the coalition following a stepwise approach. Each underwent a multistep review process, readability evaluation, and translation into Spanish. Infographics were then shared through multiple social media platforms. They were grouped into 1 of 3 categories for this analysis: COVID-19 vaccine series, myth debunkers, or other. RESULTS: All infographics had greater outreach, impressions, and engagement on Twitter than they did on other platforms. When comparing the 3 groups, no 1 infographic type was consistently performing higher than the others. CONCLUSION: Each infographic reached thousands to tens of thousands of people. We do not know whether those who viewed these infographics changed their perspective on vaccination, so we are unable to draw a conclusion about their impact on vaccine hesitancy based on this study alone.

Cardiovascular Complications of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in the Intensive Care Unit and Beyond.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease with a high degree of association with and possible etiological factor for several cardiovascular diseases. Patients who are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are incredibly sick, have multiple co-morbidities, and are at substantial risk for mortality. A study of cardiovascular manifestations and disease processes in patients with OSA admitted to the ICU is very intriguing, and its impact is likely significant. Although much is known about these cardiovascular complications associated with OSA, there is still a paucity of high-quality evidence trying to establish causality between the two. Studies exploring the potential impact of therapeutic interventions, such as positive airway pressure therapy (PAP), on cardiovascular complications in ICU patients are also needed and should be encouraged. This study reviewed the literature currently available on this topic and potential future research directions of this clinically significant relationship between OSA and cardiovascular disease processes in the ICU and beyond.

Comparative evaluation of ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill COVID- 19 and patients infected with other corona viruses: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is associated with an unprecedented requirement for intensive care unit (ICU) admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and thereby significantly increasing the risk of secondary nosocomial pneumonia, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Our study aims to identify the overall incidence of VAP, common organisms associated with it, and outcome in COVID-19 patients in comparison to the non-SARS-CoV-2 infected critically ill ventilated COVID-19 patients. A comprehensive screening was conducted using major electronic databases), from January 1st 2020 to May 31st 2021, as per the PRISMA statement. In our rapid review, we included a total of 34 studies (involving 8901 cases. Overall VAP was reported in 48.15 % (95% CI 42.3%-54%) mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients and the mortality rate was 51.4% (95% CI 42.5%-60%). COVID-19 patients had increased risk of VAP and mortality in comparison to other non-SARS-CoV-2 viral pneumonia (OR=2.33; 95%CI 1.75-3.11; I2=15%, and OR=1.46; 95%CI 1.15-1.86; I2=0% respectively). Critically ill COVID-19 patients are prone to develop VAP, which worsens the outcome.

Saliva panel of protein candidates: A comprehensive study for assessing high altitude acclimatization.

Altitude acclimatization describes the processes whereby lowland humans respond to decreased partial pressure of oxygen. It refers to the changes seen as beneficial and involves a series of physiological adjustments that compensate for reduced ambient PO2, as opposed to changes that are pathological. Although numerous reports document the physiological effects of exposure to hypobaric hypoxia of varying durations but an interesting aspect overlooked by many researchers is that of acclimatization related studies. As proteome, a dynamic entity responds immediately to external stimuli, protein markers and their trends can be studied to assess acclimatization status of an individual. Compared to blood, the use of saliva is advantageous because sample collection and processing are easy, minimally invasive, low cost and better tolerated by individuals. In this study, we employed iTRAQ based LC-MS/MS technique for comparing saliva samples from humans exposed to hypobaric hypoxia from 7 to 120 days with normoxic controls followed by analysis using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software and validation by immunoassays. Nearly 67 proteins were found to be differentially expressed in the exposed groups as compared to normoxia indicating modulated canonical pathways as lipid metabolism; acute phase response signalling and proteins as carbonic anhydrase 6, alpha-enolase, albumin, and prolactin inducible protein. Collectively, this study provides the proof of concept for the non-invasive assessment of high altitude acclimatization.

Oil reservoir simulating bioreactors: tools for understanding petroleum microbiology.

Various aspects of the oil fields in terms of microbial activity (souring, biocorrosion, etc.) and oil production (polymer flooding, etc.) have been evaluated through a variety of experiments. The primary step to study these properties in the laboratory requires the construction and operation of up-flow oil reservoir simulating bioreactors (ORSBs) in real time. Souring by reduction of sulfate to sulfide is a major contributor in enhancing corrosion of metal infrastructure used for oil production and processing. Whether the injection of biocides prevents or remediates reservoir souring can be addressed by flooding up-flow ORSBs. The potential of biopolymers/biosurfactants produced by different microbial strains have also been investigated for the role in maintaining additional oil recovery using ORSB. Additionally, key issues of polymer behavior during flooding of reservoirs could be understood during laboratory studies by monitoring the in situ porous medium rheology. Besides, the change in various ORSB parameters helps in adjudging the effect of different biosurfactants/biopolymers in enhancing oil recovery. Parameters such as permeability reduction, adsorption, interaction with porous matrix, and formation damage can be evaluated using ORSB. The analysis of earlier studies indicated that running bioreactors for longer duration of time can help in drawing conclusion with sharpness and less ambiguity. The current review discusses the construction and application of various types of ORSBs including the experimental studies employing ORSBs.

Barriers to receipt of novel oral oncolytics: A single-institution quality improvement investigation.

INTRODUCTION: Novel oral oncolytic agents have become the standard of care and first-line therapies for many malignancies. However, issues impacting access to these drugs are not well explored. As part of a quality improvement project in a large tertiary academic institution, we aim to identify potential barriers that delay treatment for patients who are prescribed novel oral oncolytics. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of adults who were newly prescribed a novel oral oncolytic for Food and Drug Administration-approved indications at a single tertiary care center. Patients were identified via electronic prescription data (e-Scribe). Demographics, insurance information, and prescription dates were extracted from the electronic medical record and pharmacy claims data. Statistical analyses were performed to determine whether time-to-receipt was associated with insurance category, pharmacy transfers, cost assistance, and drug prescribed. RESULTS: Of the 270 successfully filled prescriptions, the mean time-to-receipt was 7.3 ± 10.3 days (range: 0-109 days). Patients with Medicare experienced longer time-to-receipt (9.1 ± 13.1 days) compared to patients with commercial insurance (4.4 ± 3.3). Uninsured patients experienced the longest time-to-receipt (15.7 ± 7.8 days) overall. Pharmacy transfers and cost assistance programs were also significantly associated with longer time-to-receipt. Ten prescriptions remained unfilled 90 days after the study period and were considered abandoned. CONCLUSION: Insurance has a significant effect on the time-to-receipt of newly prescribed novel oral oncolytics. Pharmacy transfers and applying for cost assistance are also associated with longer wait times for patients. Our retrospective analysis identifies areas of improvement for future interventions to reduce wait times for patients receiving novel oral oncolytics.