Efficacy and safety of commonly used thromboprophylaxis agents following hip and knee arthroplasty.

Aims: We investigated the efficacy and safety profile of commonly used venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis agents following hip and knee arthroplasty.

Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and OrthoSearch was performed. Prophylaxis agents investigated were aspirin (< 325 mg and ≥ 325 mg daily), enoxaparin, dalteparin, fondaparinux, unfractionated heparin, warfarin, rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran.

Barriers to Surgical Intervention and Factors Influencing Motor Outcomes in Patients with Severe Peripheral Nerve Injury: A Province Wide Cohort Study.

Introduction: Despite the importance of timing of nerve surgery after peripheral nerve injury, optimal timing of intervention has not been clearly delineated. The goal of this study is to explore factors that may have a significant impact on clinical outcomes of severe peripheral nerve injury that requires reconstruction with nerve transfer or graft.

Materials And Methods: Adult patients who underwent peripheral nerve transfer or grafting in Alberta were reviewed.

Musculoskeletal manifestations associated with transthyretin-mediated (ATTR) amyloidosis: a systematic review.

Background: Hereditary and wild-type transthyretin-mediated (ATTRv and ATTRwt) amyloidoses result from the misfolding of transthyretin and aggregation of amyloid plaques in multiple organ systems. Diagnosis of ATTR amyloidosis is often delayed due to its heterogenous and non-specific presentation. This review investigates the association of musculoskeletal (MSK) manifestations with ATTR amyloidosis and the delay from the onset of these manifestations to the diagnosis of ATTR amyloidosis.

Economic and humanistic burden of HPV-related disease in Indonesia: A qualitative analysis.

The burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV-related cancers and genital warts is increasing in developing countries, including Indonesia. The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore the humanistic and economic burden of these HPV-related diseases in patients in Indonesia. In 2021, in-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with patients ( = 18) with HPV-related diseases and healthcare professionals (HCPs;  = 10) specialised in treating these patients.

Higher levels of multimorbidity are associated with increased risk of readmission for older people during post-acute transitional care.

Purpose: Older patients are at high risk for poor outcomes after an acute hospital admission. The Transitional Aged Care Programme (TACP) was established by the Australian government to provide a short-term care service aiming to optimise functional independence following hospital discharge. We aim to investigate the association between multimorbidity and readmission amongst patients on TACP.

Rare genetic variants underlie outlying levels of DNA methylation and gene-expression.

Testing the effect of rare variants on phenotypic variation is difficult due to the need for extremely large cohorts to identify associated variants given expected effect sizes. An alternative approach is to investigate the effect of rare genetic variants on DNA methylation (DNAm) as effect sizes are expected to be larger for molecular traits compared with complex traits. Here, we investigate DNAm in healthy ageing populations-the Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1921 and 1936-and identify both transient and stable outlying DNAm levels across the genome.

Expert Consensus on Real-World Use and Consumption Patterns of a Fixed-Dose Combination Foam for Psoriasis as a Reactive Management (RM) and Proactive Management (PAM) Regimen.

Introduction: Plaque psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterised by periods of remission and relapse and associated with considerable burden to patients and healthcare systems. For most patients, standard-of-care is reactive management (RM) with topical therapies, but, more recently, the benefits of proactive management (PAM) have been recognised. This study aimed to gain consensus on real-world use and consumption in RM versus PAM regimens, based on fixed-dose combination calcipotriol and betamethasone dipropionate (Cal/BD) foam which, following a recent update, is currently the only topical therapy for psoriasis with a long-term maintenance regimen in its label.

Optimization of Low-Biomass Sample Collection and Quantitative PCR-Based Titration Impact 16S rRNA Microbiome Resolution.

The major aquatic interface between host and environment in teleost finfish species is the gill. The diversity of this infraclass, high complexity of the organ, and its direct exposure to the surrounding environment make it an ideal candidate for furthering our understanding of the intertwined relationships between host and microbiome. Capturing the structure and diversity of bacterial communities from this low-biomass, inhibitor-rich tissue can, however, prove challenging.

Characterization of External Mucosal Microbiomes of Nile Tilapia and Grey Mullet Co-cultured in Semi-Intensive Pond Systems.

The external mucosal surfaces of the fish harbor complex microbial communities, which may play pivotal roles in the physiological, metabolic, and immunological status of the host. Currently, little is known about the composition and role of these communities, whether they are species and/or tissue specific and whether they reflect their surrounding environment. Co-culture of fish, a common practice in semi-intensive aquaculture, where different fish species cohabit in the same contained environment, is an easily accessible and informative model toward understanding such interactions.

"A bruised reed shall he not break": John Miles's portraits of patients at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum. Part 2.

This is the second of two papers which examine a series of portraits of patients at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum (REA) which were undertaken in the 1880s by John Miles, who, as well as being a professional painter, was also an inmate of the Morningside institution. Alongside the portraits by Miles, we began, in Paper 1, to discuss a second series of portraits of the same patients, contained in a collection, entitled Bruised Reeds. In this paper we focus on the remaining portraits in this collection, before discussing the wider implications of the two series of portraits.

A Safe Mobilisation Program to Improve Functional Mobility and Reduce Fall Risks in Cognitively Impaired Older Adults with Higher Level Gait Disorders: A Pilot Study.

Background: The association between gait and cognition, and their combined impact on postural stability may underlie the increased fall risk in older adults with dementia. However, there are few interventions to improve functional mobility and reduce fall risks in people with cognitive impairment.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a Safe Mobilisation Program for cognitively impaired older adults with higher level gait disorders.

"A bruised reed shall he not break": John Miles's portraits of patients at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum. Part 1.

This is the first of two papers which examine a series of portraits of patients at the Royal Edinburgh Asylum (REA) which were undertaken in the 1880s by John Miles, who, as well as being a professional painter, was also an inmate of the Morningside institution. The portraits by John Miles are of interest for several reasons. They are an example of patient art, only a small portion of which has survived from nineteenth century asylums.

A tiered approach to inpatient psychosocial screening in an adult UK burns service.

National guidance in the UK advises that psychosocial screening is completed for all inpatients admitted to burns services for over 24 h. Acceptable methods of psychosocial screening have been nationally agreed. However, little is known about how different services conduct psychosocial screening.

Radical surgery versus organ preservation via short-course radiotherapy followed by transanal endoscopic microsurgery for early-stage rectal cancer (TREC): a randomised, open-label feasibility study.

Background: Radical surgery via total mesorectal excision might not be the optimal first-line treatment for early-stage rectal cancer. An organ-preserving strategy with selective total mesorectal excision could reduce the adverse effects of treatment without substantially compromising oncological outcomes. We investigated the feasibility of recruiting patients to a randomised trial comparing an organ-preserving strategy with total mesorectal excision.

Using regulatory variants to detect gene-gene interactions identifies networks of genes linked to cell immortalisation.

The extent to which the impact of regulatory genetic variants may depend on other factors, such as the expression levels of upstream transcription factors, remains poorly understood. Here we report a framework in which regulatory variants are first aggregated into sets, and using these as estimates of the total cis-genetic effects on a gene we model their non-additive interactions with the expression of other genes in the genome. Using 1220 lymphoblastoid cell lines across platforms and independent datasets we identify 74 genes where the impact of their regulatory variant-set is linked to the expression levels of networks of distal genes.

A novel approach to the history of medicine: a look at the relationship between fiction and medical history.

This paper examines the recent upsurge in novels concerned with the history of medicine. It selects a range of different novels and asks how they relate to the work of the professional medical historian. Do these novels stimulate interest in the history of medicine or do they distort historical events? It is concluded that although writers often take liberties with the historical record, on balance, their work helps us to engage with the past and is likely to inspire readers to find out more about the history of medicine.

Examining the Impact of Imputation Errors on Fine-Mapping Using DNA Methylation QTL as a Model Trait.

Genetic variants disrupting DNA methylation at CpG dinucleotides (CpG-SNP) provide a set of known causal variants to serve as models to test fine-mapping methodology. We use 1716 CpG-SNPs to test three fine-mapping approaches (Bayesian imputation-based association mapping, Bayesian sparse linear mixed model, and the J-test), assessing the impact of imputation errors and the choice of reference panel by using both whole-genome sequence (WGS), and genotype array data on the same individuals ( = 1166). The choice of imputation reference panel had a strong effect on imputation accuracy, with the 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 (1000G) reference panel ( = 2504 from 26 populations) giving a mean nonreference discordance rate between imputed and sequenced genotypes of 3.

Linked Mutations at Adjacent Nucleotides Have Shaped Human Population Differentiation and Protein Evolution.

Despite the fundamental importance of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to human evolution, there are still large gaps in our understanding of the forces that shape their distribution across the genome. SNPs have been shown to not be distributed evenly, with directly adjacent SNPs found unusually frequently. Why this is the case is unclear.

Health-services utilisation amongst older persons during the last year of life: a population-based study.

Background: Accurate population-based data regarding hospital-based care utilisation by older persons during their last year of life are important in health services planning. We investigated patterns of acute hospital-based service use at the end of life, amongst older decedents in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Methods: Data from all persons aged ≥70 years who died in the state of NSW Australia in 2007 were included.

Sir Alexander Morison and The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases: Part 2.

Sir Alexander Morison's The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases and the original art work that formed the basis of the book have not had the scholarly attention they deserve. The published book and the commissioned portraits have not been studied in any detail. Historians have tended to offer cursory assessments that have reflected their own preconceived ideas rather than properly engaging with the material.

Survival after non-resection of colorectal cancer: the argument for including non-operatives in consultant outcome reporting in the UK.

Introduction: Although the mainstay of colorectal cancer treatment remains operative, a significant proportion of patients end up without surgery. This is because they are either deemed to have no oncological benefit from the resection (too much disease) or to be unfit for major surgery (too frail). The aim of this study was to assess the proportion and survival of these two groups among the totality of practice in a tertiary unit and to discuss the implications on the conceptual understanding of outcome measures.

Sir Alexander Morison and The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases: Part 1.

Sir Alexander Morison's The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases and the original art work that formed the basis of the book have not had the scholarly attention they deserve. The published book and the commissioned portraits have not been studied in any detail. Historians have tended to offer cursory assessments that have reflected their own preconceived ideas rather than properly engaging with the material.

Examining barriers to healthcare providers' adoption of a hospital-wide electronic patient journey board.

Background: The dynamic environment that characterizes patient care in hospitals requires extensive communication between staff. Electronic status board applications are used to improve the flow of communication in hospitals. To date there has been limited work exploring the adoption of these applications in general acute ward settings.

From to : the portrayal of alcohol in the modern Scottish novel.

In modern Scottish literature alcohol is a recurrent subject; this paper examines the different ways it is portrayed with particular emphasis on the novel. It has been seen as the resort of the weak-minded and the cause of personal degradation. It has been portrayed as a response to and a symptom of social disintegration.