Consistency in the Assessment of Dried Blood Spot Specimen Size and Quality in U.K. Newborn Screening Laboratories.

In 2015, U.K. newborn screening (NBS) laboratory guidelines were introduced to standardize dried blood spot (DBS) specimen quality acceptance and specify a minimum acceptable DBS diameter of ≥7 mm.

An inclusive, real-world investigation of persuasion in language and verbal behavior.

Linguistic features of a message necessarily shape its persuasive appeal. However, studies have largely examined the effect of linguistic features on persuasion in isolation and do not incorporate properties of language that are often involved in real-world persuasion. As such, little is known about the key verbal dimensions of persuasion or the relative impact of linguistic features on a message's persuasive appeal in real-world social interactions.

Evaluation of a Common Internal Standard Material to Reduce Inter-Laboratory Variation and Ensure the Quality, Safety and Efficacy of Expanded Newborn Screening Results When Using Flow Injection Analysis Tandem Mass Spectrometry with Internal Calibration.

In 2015, the newborn screening (NBS) programmes in England and Wales were expanded to include four additional disorders: Classical Homocystinuria, Isovaleric Acidemia, Glutaric Aciduria Type 1 and Maple Syrup Urine Disease, bringing the total number of analytes quantified to eight: phenylalanine, tyrosine, leucine, methionine, isovalerylcarnitine, glutarylcarnitine, octanoylcarnitine and decanoylcarnitine. Post-implementation, population data monitoring showed that inter-laboratory variation was greater than expected, with 90th centiles varying from 17 to 59%. We evaluated the effect of stable isotope internal standard (IS) used for quantitation on inter-laboratory variation.

User Experiences of Social Support From Companion Chatbots in Everyday Contexts: Thematic Analysis.

Background: Previous research suggests that artificial agents may be a promising source of social support for humans. However, the bulk of this research has been conducted in the context of social support interventions that specifically address stressful situations or health improvements. Little research has examined social support received from artificial agents in everyday contexts.

Effect of blood volume on analytical bias in dried blood spots prepared for newborn screening external quality assurance.

Dried blood spots (DBS) are used for the analysis of more than 2000 biomarkers. We assessed a range of analyte concentrations and diameters of DBS. DBS samples were created by the application of increasing volumes of whole blood prepared by the UK NEQAS Quality Assurance Laboratory.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief: from successes of the emergency response to challenges of sustainable action.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has made a major contribution to the reduction of the global HIV/AIDS burden. The program initially focused on rapidly scaling up treatment and prevention services in fifteen low-income countries, then transitioned to an approach that emphasizes sustainability, defined as the capacity to maintain program services after financial, managerial, and technical assistance from the United States and other external donors essentially ceases. Today, PEPFAR continues to expand its HIV prevention, treatment, and care activities while also supporting capacity-building initiatives, coordination efforts, and implementation science.

Choline for diagnosis and prognostication of acute coronary syndromes in the Emergency Department.

Objectives: Choline has been identified as a promising marker of coronary inflammation, plaque destabilisation and ischaemia. We sought to evaluate plasma choline levels for rapid confirmation or exclusion of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the Emergency Department (ED) and for predicting major adverse cardiac events (MACE).

Methods: We prospectively recruited 361 patients who presented to the ED with suspected cardiac chest pain within the previous 24 h.