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the other three legs without favoring either the contralateral or the diagonal limb.BACKGROUND Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have seen rapid increases in injection drug use since 2008. In Uganda, the Global Sate of Harm report and studies conducted by Makerere University Crane Surveys have estimated HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWID) at approximately 17%. The objective of the research was to document injection and other drug-related risks among people who use drugs in Uganda to develop comprehensive HIV/HCV prevention interventions. METHODS Between August and September 2018, we conducted qualitative interviews among male and female people who use drugs. Interview topics included the availability and accessibility of clean syringes, injection risks, overdose, sexual-risk behaviors, and the availability and accessibility of harm reduction and drug treatment services. RESULTS Participants reported several injection-related risks including sharing and reusing syringes, pooling and mixing drugs in the same container, measuring drugs using syringes, getting prefilled injections from dealers, being injected by other people who inject drugs, and using contaminated water or blood to dilute drugs. Participants reported a scarcity of harm reduction services, although a few appear to have participated in the syringe exchange pilot conducted by the Uganda Harm Reduction Network (UHRN). Even fewer reported knowing organizations that helped people who use drugs abstain from or reduce their use. Medication assisted therapy (MAT) and naloxone to reverse overdoses are not currently available. CONCLUSIONS Comprehensive prevention and treatment services are needed in Uganda and should include expanded syringe exchange programs, social network HIV testing, HCV testing, provision of naloxone and MAT, and linkage to and retention in HIV care.BACKGROUND Little is known about differences in the size and morphology of the right and left human tali. MRTX1719 The present study demonstrates differences between right and left talar morphometric geometric profiles as fluctuating asymmetry in matched pairs of cadaveric specimens. METHODS In total, 24 tali were collected in this study. All eligible tali were systematically measured with a Vernier caliper and three-dimensional laser scanner, which provided data for further analysis regarding the talar morphometric geometric profiles. Data were calculated to demonstrate differences between the right and left talar profiles using a matched-pair method, including the general size of the talus. RESULTS The average talar length was 53.5 mm, the average talar dome height was 31.2 mm, and the average talar body width was 41.3 mm. The average anterior trochlear width, middle trochlear width, posterior trochlear width, and trochlear length were 31.8, 31.2, 28.3, and 30.7 mm, respectively. Eleven matched pairs of intact tali were eligible for the matched-pair study. Paired t-tests showed significant differences in the talar dome height (P = 0.019), middle trochlear width (P = 0.027), and posterior trochlear width (P = 0.016) between the right and left tali. However, there were no significant differences in the surface area or volume between the right and left tali. CONCLUSION Significant differences in the morphometric profile were found between the right and left matched pairs of tali. This basic information indicates that the profile of the contralateral talus may not be used as a single reference to reconstruct or duplicate the talus of interest in certain conditions such as talar prosthesis implantation or customized total ankle replacement.BACKGROUND Hepatitis B (HB) is a viral infection that affects the liver and can lead to life-threatening conditions including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Over a billion people are estimated to be infected globally with the hepatitis B virus, with over 240 million chronically infected. Sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana is an HBV endemic area and an estimated 5%- 10% of the population in the region is infected. Research on the knowledge and vaccination status of hepatitis B in rural communities in Ghana is lacking. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study proposed were to assess the HBV knowledge, risk of HBV infection, and vaccination status of high school students in two rural districts of the Northern region on Ghana. METHODS A cross-sectional study of a random sample of 426 students from two senior high schools in the Nanumba North and South districts of the Northern region of Ghana on hepatitis B knowledge and vaccination status was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and present data one and HBV knowledge (p = 0.486). Regression analysis showed that only taking the HBV test (p less then 0.05) and attending Bimbilla Senior High (p = 0.032) significantly predicted vaccination against HBV infection. CONCLUSION The results of this study has re-echoed the high prevalence of HBV in Ghana. The poor state of knowledge and a high risk of HBV infection among young adults in rural communities have also been highlighted in the findings of this study. Vaccination against the HBV infection was found to be low and consistent with other findings. Finally, HBV screening is shown to be significantly associated with vaccination against the virus, hence the need for national screening and vaccination programs.Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a protozoan parasite that infects all warm-blooded animals including domesticated birds and humans. Birds normally get infected by ground feeding and human beings contract the disease by consumption of undercooked chicken meat. This study aimed to analyze seroprevalence and DNA of T. gondii in chickens (domesticated and broiler) and to assess possible transfer to humans by review of available literature from Pakistan. Blood from and tissues from domesticated and broilers chickens were analyzed for Toxo-IgM/IgG and Toxoplasma DNA through ELISA and PCR respectively. Furthermore, research articles published during 1990-2019 on the prevalence of T. gondii in humans from Pakistan, were analyzed to assess the possible infection burden in the area in connection to transmission from chickens. The overall prevalence of IgM and IgG for T. gondii was 17.83% and 8.8% respectively in the study areas. Significant seroprevalence was found in domesticated chickens than broilers. In domesticatd with the parasite transmission through infected chicken's meat in Pakistan.Severely damaged adult zebrafish extraocular muscles (EOMs) regenerate through dedifferentiation of residual myocytes involving a muscle-to-mesenchyme transition. Members of the Twist family of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors (TFs) are key regulators of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and are also involved in craniofacial development in humans and animal models. During zebrafish embryogenesis, twist family members (twist1a, twist1b, twist2, and twist3) function to regulate craniofacial skeletal development. Because of their roles as master regulators of stem cell biology, we hypothesized that twist TFs regulate adult EOM repair and regeneration. In this study, utilizing an adult zebrafish EOM regeneration model, we demonstrate that inhibiting twist3 function using translation-blocking morpholino oligonucleotides (MOs) impairs muscle regeneration by reducing myocyte dedifferentiation and proliferation in the regenerating muscle. This supports our hypothesis that twist TFs are involved in the early steps of dedifferentiation and highlights the importance of twist3 during EOM regeneration.INTRODUCTION The monitoring of tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes and examination of the factors affecting these outcomes are important for evaluation and feedback of the national TB control program. This study aims to assess the TB treatment outcomes among patients registered in the national TB surveillance database in Malaysia from 2014 until 2017 and identify factors associated with unsuccessful treatment outcomes and all-cause mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using registry-based secondary data, a retrospective cohort study was conducted. TB patients' sociodemographic characteristics, clinical disease data and treatment outcomes at one-year surveillance were extracted from the database and analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with unsuccessful treatment outcomes and all-cause mortality. RESULTS A total of 97,505 TB cases (64.3% males) were included in this study. TB treatment success (cases categorized as cured and completed treatment) was observed in 80.7% of nt outcomes and mortality; these can be used to guide measures for risk assessment and stratification of TB patients in future.Human herpesviruses 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) are unique among human herpesviruses in their ability to integrate their genome into host chromosomes. Viral integration occurs at the ends of chromosomes within the host telomeres. The ends of the HHV-6A/B genomes contain telomeric repeats that facilitate the integration process. Here, we report that productive infections are associated with a massive increase in telomeric sequences of viral origin. The majority of the viral telomeric signals can be detected within viral replication compartments (VRC) that contain the viral DNA processivity factor p41 and the viral immediate-early 2 (IE2) protein. Components of the shelterin protein complex present at telomeres, including TRF1 and TRF2 are also recruited to VRC during infection. Biochemical, immunofluorescence coupled with in situ hybridization and chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated the binding of TRF2 to the HHV-6A/B telomeric repeats. In addition, approximately 60% of the viral IE2 protein localize at cellular telomeres during infection. Transient knockdown of TRF2 resulted in greatly reduced (13%) localization of IE2 at cellular telomeres (p less then 0.0001). Lastly, TRF2 knockdown reduced HHV-6A/B integration frequency (p less then 0.05), while no effect was observed on the infection efficiency. Overall, our study identified that HHV-6A/B IE2 localizes to telomeres during infection and highlight the role of TRF2 in HHV-6A/B infection and chromosomal integration.Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a multi-host pathogen that can cause significant mortality in domestic, wild terrestrial and marine mammals. It is a major conservation threat in some endangered species. Infection can result in severe respiratory disease and fatal encephalitis. Diagnosis and disease monitoring in wildlife, and differentiation of CDV from rabies (a life-threatening zoonotic disease that can produce similar neurologic signs), would benefit from the availability of a portable, point-of-care (POC) diagnostic test. We therefore developed a quantitative RT-PCR assay for CDV using shelf-stable, lyophilized reagents and target-specific primers and probes for use with the handheld Biomeme two3™ qPCR thermocycler. Biomeme's extraction methodology, lyophilized reagents, and thermocycler were compared to our standard laboratory-based methods to assess sensitivity, efficiency and overall test performance. Results using a positive control plasmid for CDV showed comparable sensitivity (detection of 50 copies) and PCR efficiency between the two platforms, and CDV detection was similar between platforms when tested using a modified live CDV vaccine.