Breast milk versus Formula: What\u27s the Big deal?

Breastfeeding versus formula feeding infants has long been a debate and question for parents. Many negative and positive points are brought up for each side of the debate, but an overwhelming majority of evidence has pushed for breastfeeding and its positive benefits for the newborn. However, there is a concern for the incidence of hyperbilirubinemia in infants and whether breastfeeding or formula feeding affects bilirubin levels. The aim of this project is to gather evidence to determine whether or not bilirubin levels in newborns are significantly influenced in the first one to three weeks of life by source of feeding, either breast feeding or formula feeding. Our evidence was gathered from the following accessed databases: Medline, Proquest, and CINAHL. Our findings did suggest that bilirubin levels are higher in breastfed newborns in the first week to three weeks of life, but the positive benefits of breastfeeding out weighted the cons; however, great caution should be taken to monitor the levels of bilirubin in all infants due to the risk of hyperbilirubinemia causing neurological harm, such as brain damage. Therefore, nurses and all medical professionals working with infants should practice effective monitoring of bilirubin levels in newborns to effectively intervene when bilirubin levels reach a dangerous level and provide sufficient education to the parents

Aleuria Aurantia Lectin (AAL)-Reactive Immunoglobulin G Rapidly Appears in Sera of Animals following Antigen Exposure.

We have discovered an Aleuria Aurantia Lectin (AAL)-reactive immunoglobulin G (IgG) that naturally occurs in the circulation of rabbits and mice, following immune responses induced by various foreign antigens. AAL can specifically bind to fucose moieties on glycoproteins. However, most serum IgGs are poorly bound by AAL unless they are denatured or treated with glycosidase. In this study, using an immunogen-independent AAL-antibody microarray assay that we developed, we detected AAL-reactive IgG in the sera of all animals that had been immunized 1-2 weeks previously with various immunogens with and without adjuvants and developed immunogen-specific responses. All of these animals subsequently developed immunogen-specific immune responses. The kinetics of the production of AAL-reactive IgG in mice and rabbits were distinct from those of the immunogen-specific IgGs elicited in the same animals: they rose and fell within one to two weeks, and peaked between four to seven days after exposure, while immunogen-specific IgGs continued to rise during the same period. Mass spectrometric profiling of the Fc glycoforms of purified AAL-reactive IgGs indicates that these are mainly comprised of IgGs with core-fucosylated and either mono-or non-galactosylated Fc N-glycan structures. Our results suggest that AAL-reactive IgG could be a previously unrecognized IgG subset that is selectively produced at the onset of a humoral response

Ethical inclusion: Risks and benefits of research from the perspective of perinatal people with opioid use disorders who have experienced incarceration

Background Research ethics guidelines and emphasis on representation in research guide the inclusion of marginalized groups, including people with perinatal opioid use disorders (OUD) and people experiencing incarceration in the United States. However, insights from participants regarding the risks and benefits of participation are not adequately considered. The aim of this study was to examine the risks and benefits of research participation from the perspective of pregnant/postpartum people with OUD who have experienced incarceration. Design We recruited people who had experience with perinatal incarceration and were either currently pregnant or postpartum, and at least 18 years old. All participants met the clinical criteria for OUD. Our study did not have exclusion criteria based on gender, race, or ethnicity. Setting Participants were either currently incarcerated at the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States or had previously experienced perinatal incarceration and were recruited from a perinatal substance use disorder treatment program located in North Carolina. Participants Between 9/2021-4/2022, we completed 12 interviews with pregnant/postpartum people with OUD, approximately half who were currently incarcerated and half with a recent history of perinatal incarceration. Intervention/measurement Interviews were conducted via Webex phone or video. The interviews followed a scripted interview guide and lasted one hour on average. Interview transcripts were analyzed using the Rigorous and Accelerated Data Reduction technique to produce an overarching thematic framework. Findings Our analysis identified benefits, including the personal advantage of self-expression, helping others and contributing to change, and financial incentives. Risks included stigma and breach of confidentiality, misunderstanding of the distinction between research and advocacy, and limited ability to share their whole experience. Conclusions Participant-identified benefits of research mirrored those from other marginalized populations, though participant-identified risks were novel and nuanced. Recruitment and consent should move beyond normative research ethics committees protocol language to consider the perspectives of participants

Family Physician Participation in Maintenance of Certification

PURPOSE The American Board of Family Medicine has completed the 7-year transition of all of its diplomates into Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Participation in this voluntary process must be broad-based and balanced for MOC to have any practical national impact on health care. This study explores family physicians’ geographic, demographic, and practice characteristics associated with the variations in MOC participation to examine whether MOC has potential as a viable mechanism for dissemination of information or for altering practice

Exploring recent developments in restorative policing in England and Wales

The evolution of the policing role over the last decade has led to 33 police forces in England and Wales integrating restorative justice practices, in one form or another, into their responses to minor crime committed for the first time by both youths and adults. Most recently, this reform dynamic has been used in response to more serious offences committed by persistent offenders and expanded to include all stages of the criminal justice process. Despite the significant positive rhetoric that surrounds the adoption and use of restorative justice, there are a number of procedural and cultural challenges that pose a threat to the extent to which restorative justice may become embedded within the policing response. This article explores these developments and highlights where potential problems for implementation may arise as well as some strategies to overcome them

Developing Single-Molecule TPM Experiments for Direct Observation of Successful RecA-Mediated Strand Exchange Reaction

RecA recombinases play a central role in homologous recombination. Once assembled on single-stranded (ss) DNA, RecA nucleoprotein filaments mediate the pairing of homologous DNA sequences and strand exchange processes. We have designed two experiments based on tethered particle motion (TPM) to investigate the fates of the invading and the outgoing strands during E. coli RecA-mediated pairing and strand exchange at the single-molecule level in the absence of force. TPM experiments measure the tethered bead Brownian motion indicative of the DNA tether length change resulting from RecA binding and dissociation. Experiments with beads labeled on either the invading strand or the outgoing strand showed that DNA pairing and strand exchange occurs successfully in the presence of either ATP or its non-hydrolyzable analog, ATPγS. The strand exchange rates and efficiencies are similar under both ATP and ATPγS conditions. In addition, the Brownian motion time-courses suggest that the strand exchange process progresses uni-directionally in the 5′-to-3′ fashion, using a synapse segment with a wide and continuous size distribution

Optimizing the Design of Oligonucleotides for Homology Directed Gene Targeting

BACKGROUND: Gene targeting depends on the ability of cells to use homologous recombination to integrate exogenous DNA into their own genome. A robust mechanistic model of homologous recombination is necessary to fully exploit gene targeting for therapeutic benefit. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this work, our recently developed numerical simulation model for homology search is employed to develop rules for the design of oligonucleotides used in gene targeting. A Metropolis Monte-Carlo algorithm is used to predict the pairing dynamics of an oligonucleotide with the target double-stranded DNA. The model calculates the base-alignment between a long, target double-stranded DNA and a probe nucleoprotein filament comprised of homologous recombination proteins (Rad51 or RecA) polymerized on a single strand DNA. In this study, we considered different sizes of oligonucleotides containing 1 or 3 base heterologies with the target; different positions on the probe were tested to investigate the effect of the mismatch position on the pairing dynamics and stability. We show that the optimal design is a compromise between the mean time to reach a perfect alignment between the two molecules and the stability of the complex. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: A single heterology can be placed anywhere without significantly affecting the stability of the triplex. In the case of three consecutive heterologies, our modeling recommends using long oligonucleotides (at least 35 bases) in which the heterologous sequences are positioned at an intermediate position. Oligonucleotides should not contain more than 10% consecutive heterologies to guarantee a stable pairing with the target dsDNA. Theoretical modeling cannot replace experiments, but we believe that our model can considerably accelerate optimization of oligonucleotides for gene therapy by predicting their pairing dynamics with the target dsDNA