Inpatient detoxification for alcohol and other drug use: qualitative study of patients' accounts of their relationships with staff.

Background: The therapeutic alliance is an important predictor of treatment outcomes but people who use alcohol and other drugs report mixed views of treatment providers. We analysed patients' accounts of inpatient detoxification staff to ascertain whether, and if so how, relationships with them, and thus the therapeutic alliance, might be improved.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted (in 2022/2023) with 20 people (14 males; 6 females) who had just completed inpatient detoxification in sixteen different facilities.

β-adrenergic receptor activation decreases the mechanical sensitivity of rat masticatory muscle afferent fibres.

Background: Activation of β adrenergic receptors reduces cutaneous mechanical pain thresholds in rats. While β adrenergic receptor activation may contribute to mechanisms that underlie temporomandibular joint pain, its effect on masticatory muscle pain sensitivity is uncertain.

Objectives: The current study sought to determine the extent to which β adrenergic receptors are expressed by masticatory muscle afferent fibres, and to assess the effect of local activation of these receptors on the mechanical sensitivity of masticatory muscle afferent fibres in rats.

MRGPRX2-mediated mast cell activation by substance P from overloaded human tenocytes induces inflammatory and degenerative responses in tendons.

Mast cells are immune cells minimally present in normal tendon tissue. The increased abundance of mast cells in tendinopathy biopsies and at the sites of tendon injury suggests an unexplored role of this cell population in overuse tendon injuries. Mast cells are particularly present in tendon biopsies from patients with more chronic symptom duration and a history of intensive mechanical loading.

An evaluation of the "Obesity Paradox" in isolated blunt abdominal trauma in the United States.

Background: The obesity paradox theorizes a survival benefit in trauma patients secondary to the cushioning effect of adiposity. We aim to evaluate the impact of body mass index (BMI) on abdominal injury severity, morbidity, and mortality in adults with isolated, blunt abdominal trauma in the United States.

Methods: We reviewed the National Trauma Data Bank (2013-2021) for adults sustaining isolated, blunt abdominal trauma stratified by BMI.

Oct4 redox sensitivity potentiates reprogramming and differentiation.

The transcription factor Oct4/Pou5f1 is a component of the regulatory circuitry governing pluripotency and is widely used to induce pluripotency from somatic cells. Here we used domain swapping and mutagenesis to study Oct4's reprogramming ability, identifying a redox-sensitive DNA binding domain, cysteine residue (Cys48), as a key determinant of reprogramming and differentiation. Oct4 Cys48 sensitizes the protein to oxidative inhibition of DNA binding activity and promotes oxidation-mediated protein ubiquitylation.

Efficient single-scattering lookup table for lidar and polarimeter phytoplankton studies.

Coupled atmosphere and ocean remote sensing retrievals of aerosol, cloud, and oceanic phytoplankton microphysical properties, such as those carried out by the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, involve single-scattering calculations that are time consuming. Lookup tables (LUTs) exist to speed up these calculations for aerosol and water droplets in the atmosphere. In our new Lorenz-Mie lookup table, we tabulate single scattering by an ensemble of coated isotropic spheres representing oceanic phytoplankton at wavelengths from 0.

An audit of postoperative haemodynamic stability after intraoperative labetalol administration in non-cardiac surgery patients.

Anaesthesiologists commonly use intravenous labetalol to adjust patient haemodynamics during surgical procedures. Cases of profound hypotension after continuous labetalol infusions have been reported; however, there is limited evidence regarding the safety of intraoperative labetalol boluses. This audit examined the frequency of postoperative hypotension and bradycardia in 292 adult non-cardiac surgery patients treated with intraoperative labetalol boluses.

Multimorbidity of cardiovascular disease subtypes in a prospective cohort of 1.2 million UK women.

Objective: Cardiovascular multimorbidity (CVM) is the co-occurrence of multiple cardiovascular disease subtypes (CVDs) in one person. Because common patterns and incidence of CVM are not well-described, particularly in women, we conducted a descriptive study of CVM in the Million Women Study, a large population-based cohort of women.

Methods: UK women aged 50-64 years were followed up using hospital admissions and mortality records for an average of 19 years.

Waiting for inpatient detoxification: A qualitative analysis of patient experiences.

Background: There is limited provision of inpatient detoxification relative to other treatments for alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. This means people often need to wait prior to detoxifying. However, waiting for healthcare is generally perceived as negative and stressful.

Who benefits from resuscitative thoracotomies following penetrating trauma: The patient or the learner?

Background: Resuscitative thoracotomy (RT) is a salvage procedure following traumatic cardiac arrest. We aim to evaluate RT trends and outcomes in adults with cardiac arrest following penetrating trauma to determine the effect on mortality in this population. Further, we aim to estimate the effect of hospital teaching status on the performance of resuscitative thoracotomies and mortality.

Exploring Health Behaviours, Attitudes and Beliefs of Women and Men during the Preconception and Interconception Periods: A Cross-Sectional Study of Adults on the Island of Ireland.

Preconception health is increasingly seen as a key target for improving population health in the UK and Ireland, yet little is known about the attitudes and beliefs of adults regarding preconception care strategies. This online cross-sectional survey aimed to explore the health behaviours, attitudes and beliefs of adults of reproductive age in regard to preconception health and care. The survey was developed by reviewing the previous literature and engaging with those from the target group.

Single-cell analysis of the developing human ovary defines distinct insights into ovarian somatic and germline progenitors.

Formation of either an ovary or a testis during human embryonic life is one of the most important sex-specific events leading to the emergence of secondary sexual characteristics and sex assignment of babies at birth. Our study focused on the sex-specific and sex-indifferent characteristics of the prenatal ovarian stromal cells, cortical cords, and germline, with the discovery that the ovarian mesenchymal cells of the stroma are transcriptionally indistinguishable from the mesenchymal cells of the testicular interstitium. We found that first-wave pre-granulosa cells emerge at week 7 from early supporting gonadal cells with stromal identity and are spatially defined by KRT19 levels.

Independent external validation of the QRISK3 cardiovascular disease risk prediction model using UK Biobank.

Objective: To externally evaluate the performance of QRISK3 for predicting 10 year risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the UK Biobank cohort.

Methods: We used data from the UK Biobank, a large-scale prospective cohort study of 403 370 participants aged 40-69 years recruited between 2006 and 2010 in the UK. We included participants with no previous history of CVD or statin treatment and defined the outcome to be the first occurrence of coronary heart disease, ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack, derived from linked hospital inpatient records and death registrations.

Generating synthetic mixed-type longitudinal electronic health records for artificial intelligent applications.

The recent availability of electronic health records (EHRs) have provided enormous opportunities to develop artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. However, patient privacy has become a major concern that limits data sharing across hospital settings and subsequently hinders the advances in AI. Synthetic data, which benefits from the development and proliferation of generative models, has served as a promising substitute for real patient EHR data.

Chromatin Reprogramming of In Vitro Fertilized and Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Bovine Embryos During Embryonic Genome Activation.

Reprogramming of the gamete into a developmentally competent embryo identity is a fundamental aspect of preimplantation development. One of the most important processes of this reprogramming is the transcriptional awakening during embryonic genome activation (EGA), which robustly occurs in fertilized embryos but is defective in most somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. However, little is known about the genome-wide underlying chromatin landscape during EGA in SCNT embryos and how it differs from a fertilized embryo.

Race-based reporting and participation of Black individuals in registered pain clinical trials, United States, 2000 to 2019.

There are numerous, well-established racial disparities in the management of pain. The degree to which these are evident at the stage of conducting clinical trials is unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we examined race-based reporting, participation of Black individuals, and the factors associated with reporting and participation in pain clinical trials in the United States.

Multiple repeat regions within mouse DUX recruit chromatin regulators to facilitate an embryonic gene expression program.

The embryonic transcription factor DUX regulates chromatin opening and gene expression in totipotent cleavage-stage mouse embryos, and its expression in embryonic stem cells promotes their conversion to 2-cell embryo-like cells (2CLCs) with extraembryonic potential. However, little is known regarding which domains within mouse DUX interact with particular chromatin and transcription regulators. Here, we reveal that the C-terminus of mouse DUX contains five uncharacterized ~100 amino acid (aa) repeats followed by an acidic 14 amino acid tail.

Oct4 redox sensitivity potentiates reprogramming and differentiation.

The transcription factor Oct4/Pou5f1 is a component of the regulatory circuitry governing pluripotency and is widely used to induce pluripotency from somatic cells. Here we use domain swapping and mutagenesis to study Oct4s reprogramming ability, identifying a redox-sensitive DNA binding domain cysteine residue (Cys48) as a key determinant of reprogramming and differentiation. Oct4 Cys48 sensitizes the protein to oxidative inhibition of DNA binding activity and promotes oxidation-mediated protein ubiquitylation.

Heterogeneity in the diagnosis and prognosis of ischemic stroke subtypes: 9-year follow-up of 22,000 cases in Chinese adults.

Background: Reliable classification of ischemic stroke (IS) etiological subtypes is required in research and clinical practice, but the predictive properties of these subtypes in population studies with incomplete investigations are poorly understood.

Aims: To compare the prognosis of etiologically classified IS subtypes and use machine learning (ML) to classify incompletely investigated IS cases.

Methods: In a 9-year follow-up of a prospective study of 512,726 Chinese adults, 22,216 incident IS cases, confirmed by clinical adjudication of medical records, were assigned subtypes using a modified Causative Classification System for Ischemic Stroke (CCS) (large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), small artery occlusion (SAO), cardioaortic embolism (CE), or undetermined etiology) and classified by CCS as "evident," "probable," or "possible" IS cases.

NUCLEAR FACTOR-ERYTHROID-2-RELATED FACTOR REGULATES SYSTEMIC AND PULMONARY BARRIER FUNCTION AND IMMUNE PROGRAMMING AFTER BURN AND INHALATION INJURY.

Major burn injury is associated with systemic hyperinflammatory and oxidative stresses that encompass the wound, vascular, and pulmonary systems that contribute to complications and poor outcomes. These stresses are exacerbated if there is a combined burn and inhalation (B+I) injury, which leads to increases in morbidity and mortality. Nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor (NRF2) is a transcription factor that functions to maintain homeostasis during stress, in part by modulating inflammation and oxidative injury.

Efficient single-scattering look-up table for lidar and polarimeter water cloud studies.

Combined lidar and polarimeter retrievals of aerosol, cloud, and ocean microphysical properties involve single-scattering cloud calculations that are time consuming. We create a look-up table to speed up these calculations for water droplets in the atmosphere. In our new Lorenz-Mie look-up table we tabulate the light scattering by an ensemble of homogeneous isotropic spheres at wavelengths starting from 0.

Chemoradiation therapy alters the PD-L1 score in locoregional recurrent squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

PD-L1 testing guides therapeutic decision-making for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We sought to understand whether chemoradiation therapy (CRT) influences the PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) and other biomarkers of response to immunotherapy. PD-L1 expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry, and bulk RNA sequencing was performed on 146 HNSCC patients (65 primary sites, 50 paired local recurrences, and 31 paired regional recurrences).

The contribution of autonomic mechanisms to pain in temporomandibular disorders: A narrative review.

Background: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are diagnosed based on symptom presentation and, like other functional pain disorders, often lack definitive pathology. There is a strong association between elevated stress levels and the severity of TMD-related pain, which suggests that alterations in autonomic tone may contribute to this pain condition.

Objectives: This narrative review examines the association between altered autonomic function and pain in TMD.