Evaluation Of Need And Feasibility Of Tuberculosis Screening In Buprenorphine Treatment Programs

Background: Buprenorphine\u27s availability in primary care settings offers increased access to treatment and linkage to primary care for opioid-dependent patients. Currently, tuberculin skin testing (TST) is recommended for patients enrolling in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), but not for those enrolling in buprenorphine maintenance treatment (BMT). Objectives: To compare TST screening results in enrollees in BMT and MMT programs and assess the correlates of TST positivity among these subjects. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of a retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare concurrent TST results among contemporaneously matched groups of MMT and BMT patients in the same community. Results: TST positivity was 9% in both MMT and BMT settings (p = .27). Increased TST positivity was associated with being Black (AOR = 3.53, CI = 1.28-9.77), Hispanic (AOR = 3.11, CI = 1.12-8.60), and having higher education (AOR= 3.01, CI = 1.20-7.53). Conclusions: These results confirm a similarly high prevalence of TST positivity in opioid-dependent patients enrolling in MMT and BMT programs. Racial and ethnic health disparities remain associated with TST positivity, yet a relationship between higher education and tuberculosis requires further investigation. Scientific significance: These data suggest the importance of incorporating TST screening in emerging BMT programs as a mechanism to provide increased detection and treatment of tuberculosis infection in opioid-dependent patient populations

Small secreted proteins enable biofilm development in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus.

Small proteins characterized by a double-glycine (GG) secretion motif, typical of secreted bacterial antibiotics, are encoded by the genomes of diverse cyanobacteria, but their functions have not been investigated to date. Using a biofilm-forming mutant of Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 and a mutational approach, we demonstrate the involvement of four small secreted proteins and their GG-secretion motifs in biofilm development. These proteins are denoted EbfG1-4 (enable biofilm formation with a GG-motif). Furthermore, the conserved cysteine of the peptidase domain of the Synpcc7942_1133 gene product (dubbed PteB for peptidase transporter essential for biofilm) is crucial for biofilm development and is required for efficient secretion of the GG-motif containing proteins. Transcriptional profiling of ebfG1-4 indicated elevated transcript levels in the biofilm-forming mutant compared to wild type (WT). However, these transcripts decreased, acutely but transiently, when the mutant was cultured in extracellular fluids from a WT culture, and biofilm formation was inhibited. We propose that WT cells secrete inhibitor(s) that suppress transcription of ebfG1-4, whereas secretion of the inhibitor(s) is impaired in the biofilm-forming mutant, leading to synthesis and secretion of EbfG1-4 and supporting the formation of biofilms

Spatial-temporal dynamics of employment shocks in declining coal mining regions and potentialities of the 'just transition'

The United States, much like other countries around the world, faces significant obstacles to achieving a rapid decarbonization of its economy. Crucially, decarbonization disproportionately affects the communities that have been historically, politically, and socially embedded in the nation's fossil fuel production. However, this effect has rarely been quantified in the literature. Using econometric estimation methods that control for unobserved heterogeneity via two-way fixed effects, spatial effects, heterogeneous time trends, and grouped fixed effects, we demonstrate that mine closures induce a significant and consistent contemporaneous rise in the unemployment rate across US counties. A single mine closure can raise a county's unemployment rate by 0.056 percentage points in a given year; this effect is amplified by a factor of four when spatial econometric dynamics are considered. Although this response in the unemployment rate fades within 2-3 years, it has far-reaching effects in its immediate vicinity. Furthermore, we use cluster analysis to build a novel typology of coal counties based on qualities that are thought to facilitate a successful recovery in the face of local industrial decline. The combined findings of the econometric analysis and typology point to the importance of investing in alternative sectors in places with promising levels of economic diversity, retraining job seekers in places with lower levels of educational attainment, providing relocation (or telecommuting) support in rural areas, and subsidizing childcare and after school programs in places with low female labor force participation due to the gendered division of domestic work

Transforming Nepal’s primary health care delivery system in global health era: addressing historical and current implementation challenges

Nepal’s Primary Health Care (PHC) is aligned vertically with disease control programs at the core and a vast network of community health workers at the periphery. Aligning with the globalization of health and the factors affecting global burden of diseases, Nepal echoes the progressive increase in life expectancy, changes in diseases patterns, including the current impact of COVID-19. Nepal’s health system is also accommodating recent federalization, and thus it is critical to explore how the primary health care system is grappling the challenges amidst these changes. In this review, we conducted a narrative synthesis of literature to explore the challenges related to transformation of Nepal’s primary health care delivery system to meet the demands incurred by impact of globalization and recent federalization, covering following database: PubMED, Embase and Google Scholar. Of the 49 articles abstracted for full text review, 37 were included in the analyses. Existing theories were used for constructing the conceptual framework to explain the study findings. The results are divided into four themes. Additional searches were conducted to further support the narrative synthesis: a total of 46 articles were further included in the articulation of main findings. Transforming Nepal’s primary health care system requires a clear focus on following priority areas that include i) Revised efforts towards strengthening of community based primary health care units; ii) Adapting vertical programs to federal governance; iii) Reinforcing the health insurance scheme; and iv) Strengthening an existing network of community health workers and health human resources. This review discusses how these broad goals bear challenges and opportunities

Socializing, networking and development: a report from the second ‘Young Microbiologists Symposium on Microbe Signalling, Organization and Pathogenesis’

In mid-June, the second Young Microbiologists Symposium took place under the broad title of ‘Microbe signalling, organization and pathogenesis’ on the picturesque campus of University College Cork, Ireland. The symposium attracted 150 microbiologists from 15 different countries. The key feature of this meeting was that it was specifically aimed at providing a platform for junior scientists to present their work to a broad audience. The meeting was principally supported by Science Foundation Ireland with further backing from the Society for General Microbiology, the American Society for Microbiology and the European Molecular Biology Organization. Sessions focused on microbial gene expression, biogenesis, pathogenicity and host interaction. In this MicroMeeting report, we highlight some of the most significant advances and exciting developments reported during various talks and poster presentations given by the young and talented microbiologists

First Direct Double-Beta Decay Q-value Measurement of 82Se in Support of Understanding the Nature of the Neutrino

In anticipation of results from current and future double-beta decay studies, we report a measurement resulting in a 82Se double-beta decay Q-value of 2997.9(3) keV, an order of magnitude more precise than the currently accepted value. We also present preliminary results of a calculation of the 82Se neutrinoless double-beta decay nuclear matrix element that corrects in part for the small size of the shell model single-particle space. The results of this work are important for designing next generation double-beta decay experiments and for the theoretical interpretations of their observations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter