Relative State Counting for Semiclassical Black Holes.

It has been shown that entropy differences between certain states of perturbative quantum gravity can be computed without specifying an ultraviolet completion. This is analogous to the situation in classical statistical mechanics, where entropy differences are defined but absolute entropy is not. Unlike in classical statistical mechanics, however, the entropy differences computed in perturbative quantum gravity do not have a clear physical interpretation.

A study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial investigating videoendoscopic radical inguinal lymphadenectomy versus open radical inguinal lymphadenectomy in patients with penile cancer (VELRAD).

Background: Penile cancer is a rare male genital malignancy. Surgical excision of the primary tumour is followed by radical inguinal lymphadenectomy if there is metastatic disease detected by biopsy, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) or following sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with impalpable disease. However, radical inguinal lymphadenectomy is associated with a high morbidity rate, and there is increasing usage of a videoendoscopic approach as an alternative.

Microstructural Alterations in Tract Development in College Football and Volleyball Players: A Longitudinal Diffusion MRI Study.

Background And Objectives: Repeated impacts in high-contact sports such as American football can affect the brain's microstructure, which can be studied using diffusion MRI. Most imaging studies are cross-sectional, do not include low-contact players as controls, or lack advanced tract-specific microstructural metrics. We aimed to investigate longitudinal changes in high-contact collegiate athletes compared with low-contact controls using advanced diffusion MRI and automated fiber quantification.

Anti-inflammatory medication use associated with reduced delirium risk and all-cause mortality: A retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between history of anti-inflammatory medication use and delirium risk, as well as long-term mortality.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, subjects recruited between January 2016 and March 2020 were analyzed. Information about anti-inflammatory medication use history including aspirin, NSAIDs, glucosamine, and other anti-inflammatory drugs, was collected.

Controlled Release of DNA Binding Anticancer Drugs from Gold Nanoparticles with Near-Infrared Radiation.

Traditional chemotherapies target rapidly developing cells in the human body resulting in harsh side effects including fatigue, immune system suppression, and nausea, among others. Delivery systems to focus the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to the diseased tissue can diminish the negative side effects while improving treatment outcomes. Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) offer many unique advantages as drug delivery vehicles, including being biologically inert, easily adaptable to various shapes and sizes, able to create a strong Au-thiol bond, and able to generate heat upon the absorption of near-infrared light.

The potential benefit of metformin to reduce delirium risk and mortality: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Metformin has been reported to improve age-related disorders, including dementia, and to lower mortality. This study was conducted to investigate whether metformin use lower delirium risk, as well as long-term mortality.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, previously recruited 1,404 subjects were analyzed.

The genome-wide DNA methylation profiles among neurosurgery patients with and without post-operative delirium.

Aims: There is no previous study demonstrating the differences of genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles between patients with and without postoperative delirium (POD). We aimed to discover epigenetic (DNAm) markers that are associated with POD in blood obtained from patients before and after neurosurgery.

Methods: Pre- and post-surgical blood DNA samples from 37 patients, including 10 POD cases, were analyzed using the Illumina EPIC array genome-wide platform.

Radiative Capture on Nuclear Isomers: Direct Measurement of the ^{26m}Al(p,γ)^{27}Si Reaction.

We present the first direct measurement of an astrophysical reaction using a radioactive beam of isomeric nuclei. In particular, we have measured the strength of the key 447-keV resonance in the ^{26m}Al(p,γ)^{27}Si reaction to be 432_{-226}^{+146}  meV and find that this resonance dominates the thermally averaged reaction rate for temperatures between 0.3 and 2.

A review of electronic medical records and safe transfusion practice for guideline development.

Background And Objectives: Electronic medical records (EMRs) are often composed of multiple interlinking systems, each serving a particular task, including transfusion ordering and administration. Transfusion may not be prioritized when developing or implementing electronic platforms. Uniform guidelines may assist information technology (IT) developers, institutions and healthcare workforces to progress with shared goals.

Neuroradiologic Evaluation of MRI in High-Contact Sports.

Athletes participating in high-contact sports experience repeated head trauma. Anatomical findings, such as a cavum septum pellucidum, prominent CSF spaces, and hippocampal volume reductions, have been observed in cases of mild traumatic brain injury. The extent to which these neuroanatomical findings are associated with high-contact sports is unknown.

Cyanuric chloride as the basis for compositionally diverse lipids.

Cyanuric chloride has been utilized in the development of new synthetic lipid compounds using two differing schemes. The resulting lipids, presented in this manuscript, were characterized and evaluated for their ability to form nanoparticles and subsequently tested for their utility in various biological applications, including gene delivery and immunization. Of the 12 lipids synthesized, 8 formed nanoparticles that remained stable, based on dynamic light scattering, for at least one month.

Mortality among patients with sepsis associated with a bispectral electroencephalography (BSEEG) score.

We have previously developed a bispectral electroencephalography (BSEEG) device, which was shown to be effective in detecting delirium and predicting patient outcomes. In this study we aimed to apply the BSEEG approach for a sepsis. This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a single center.

Examining changes in recreation participation on the Monongahela National Forest over five years following the global financial crisis: An activity-based segmentation approach.

Research on recreational use market segments and trends are essential for determining how tourism businesses can better meet the needs of their customers and find new target markets especially during challenging times. The purpose of this study was to determine how recreation participation has changed over five years on the Monongahela National Forest following the world financial crisis of 2008-2009. Data used for this research were collected with the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) surveys for fiscal years 2009 and 2014.

PLD3 is a neuronal lysosomal phospholipase D associated with β-amyloid plaques and cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease.

Phospholipase D3 (PLD3) is a protein of unclear function that structurally resembles other members of the phospholipase D superfamily. A coding variant in this gene confers increased risk for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), although the magnitude of this effect has been controversial. Because of the potential significance of this obscure protein, we undertook a study to observe its distribution in normal human brain and AD-affected brain, determine whether PLD3 is relevant to memory and cognition in sporadic AD, and to evaluate its molecular function.

Neuroimaging, Urinary, and Plasma Biomarkers of Treatment Response in Huntington's Disease: Preclinical Evidence with the p75 Ligand LM11A-31.

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by an expansion of the CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene leading to preferential neurodegeneration of the striatum. Disease-modifying treatments are not yet available to HD patients and their development would be facilitated by translatable pharmacodynamic biomarkers. Multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and plasma cytokines have been suggested as disease onset/progression biomarkers, but their ability to detect treatment efficacy is understudied.

Providing support and raising awareness of a delicate subject.

, Clinical Nurse Practitioner, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was runner up in the urology nurse of the year category in the 2020.

Management of penile cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: An eUROGEN accelerated Delphi consensus study.

Objectives: To develop an international consensus on managing penile cancer patients during the COVID-19 acute waves. A major concern for patients with penile cancer during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is how the enforced safety measures will affect their disease management. Delays in diagnosis and treatment initiation may have an impact on the extent of the primary lesion as well as the cancer-specific survival because of the development and progression of inguinal lymph node metastases.

Quality audit of the guidelines for the use of RhD immunoglobulin in obstetrics: Are we getting it right?

Background: Administration of RhD immunoglobulin (Ig) is important for RhD negative women throughout pregnancy and postnatally to prevent alloimmunisation and haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn in subsequent pregnancies.

Aims: The aim of this audit was to understand compliance with the Australian guidelines on RhD Ig prophylaxis in pregnancy.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective audit of RhD negative pregnant women in Victoria, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania at maternity services of level 2 or higher care, between July 2017 and June 2018.

An overview of the diagnoses and treatments for penile cancer.

Penile cancer is a rare malignancy and, as a consequence, it is managed in just a few specialist centres across the UK. This article aims to provide health professionals with an introduction and update on the epidemiology and aetiology of penile cancer, as well as the techniques used to diagnose penile cancer and the current treatment options. The article highlgihts the importance of early diagnosis and the role that the clinical nurse specialist in plays supporting those diagnosed with the penile cancer and their families.

Longitudinal alteration of cortical thickness and volume in high-impact sports.

Collegiate football athletes are subject to repeated head impacts. The purpose of this study was to determine whether this exposure can lead to changes in brain structure. This prospective cohort study was conducted with up to 4 years of follow-up on 63 football (high-impact) and 34 volleyball (control) male collegiate athletes with a total of 315 MRI scans (after exclusions: football n ​= ​50, volleyball n ​= ​24, total scans ​= ​273) using high-resolution structural imaging.

Atypical Clinical Manifestations of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy.

Purpose: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a vasculopathy caused by β-amyloid deposition in cerebral arterioles and capillaries. It is closely linked to Alzheimer's disease and predisposes elderly patients to intracerebral hemorrhage, transient focal neurological episodes, and cognitive impairment. Because of a predilection for symptomatic hemorrhage, particularly in the frontal lobes, cerebral amyloid angiopathy may also cause a dysexecutive syndrome.

Long-term outcomes for penile cancer patients presenting with advanced N3 disease requiring a myocutaneous flap reconstruction or primary closure-a retrospective single centre study.

Background: Penile cancer patients with advanced metastatic disease in the inguinal region present a therapeutic challenge. We compared the outcomes for patients with advanced inguinal node disease requiring myocutaneous flap reconstruction (MFR) against primary closure for N3 disease.

Methods: A retrospective comparative study of a consecutive cohort of advanced penile cancer patients with N3 disease was performed.

Current state of biologic pharmacovigilance in the European Union: improvements are needed.

Introduction: Pharmacovigilance is essential to monitoring the safety profiles of authorized medicines. Compared with small-molecule drugs, biological drugs are more complex, more susceptible to structural variability due to manufacturing processes, and have the potential to induce immune-related reactions, underscoring the importance of safety monitoring for these products. Although highly similar to reference products, biosimilars are not expected to be structurally identical.

Misinterpretation of blood group and antibody screen leading to serious errors in RhD immunoglobulin administration: A report on first two years of data from Serious Transfusion Incident Reporting program.

The Serious Transfusion Incident Reporting program (STIR) commenced haemovigilance in relation to RhD immunoglobulin (Ig) administration in 2015. During two years of reporting, 21 reports relating to RhD Ig administration were received. Thirty-three percent (7/21) were related to omission of RhD Ig, putting women at risk of RhD alloimmunisation and adverse consequences in future pregnancies.