Hyperkalemia and the Risks of Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: This real-world evidence study compared risks of cardiovascular events in hospital settings among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with and without hyperkalemia.

Methods And Results: Adults with CKD stages 3b/4 with and without hyperkalemia were identified from Optum's deidentified Market Clarity Data (January 2016-August 2022). Patients with hyperkalemia were exact and propensity score matched to patients without hyperkalemia.

Modelling plausible scenarios for the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant from early-stage surveillance.

We used a spatially explicit agent-based model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission combined with spatially fine-grained COVID-19 observation data from Public Health Scotland to investigate the initial rise of the Omicron (BA.1) variant of concern. We evaluated plausible scenarios for transmission rate advantage and vaccine immune escape relative to the Delta variant based on the data that would have been available at that time.

Novel pathways linked to the expression of temperament in Merino sheep: a genome-wide association study.

Animal temperament refers to the inherent behavioural and emotional characteristics of an animal, influencing how it interacts with its environment. The selection of sheep for temperament can change the temperament traits of the selected line and improve the welfare and production (reproduction, growth, immunity) of those animals. To understand the genetics that underly variation in temperament in sheep, and how selection on temperament can affect other production traits, a genome-wide association study was carried out.

Language Statistics at Different Spatial, Temporal, and Grammatical Scales.

In recent decades, the field of statistical linguistics has made significant strides, which have been fueled by the availability of data. Leveraging Twitter data, this paper explores the English and Spanish languages, investigating their rank diversity across different scales: temporal intervals (ranging from 3 to 96 h), spatial radii (spanning 3 km to over 3000 km), and grammatical word ngrams (ranging from 1-grams to 5-grams). The analysis focuses on word ngrams, examining a time period of 1 year (2014) and eight different countries.

Economic burden of recurrent hyperkalemia in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Background: Hyperkalemia is a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and can become recurrent in half of cases. However, the incremental economic burden associated with recurrent hyperkalemia is unknown.

Objective: To evaluate all-cause health care resource utilization (HRU) and medical costs in patients with stage 3/4 CKD with recurrent hyperkalemia vs normokalaemia and vs nonrecurrent hyperkalemia.

Hyperkalemia Recurrence Following Medical Nutrition Therapy in Patients with Stage 3-4 Chronic Kidney Disease: The REVOLUTIONIZE I Real-World Study.

Introduction: The REVOLUTIONIZE I study aimed to characterize the relationships between medical nutrition therapy (MNT) and hyperkalemia recurrence in patients with stage 3-4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hyperkalemia who received MNT in real-world clinical practice.

Methods: This observational cohort study used de-identified electronic health record data from patients aged ≥ 18 years with stage 3-4 CKD who received MNT between January 2019 and October 2022 and had hyperkalemia (serum potassium > 5.0 mmol/L) within 30 days before MNT.

Stakeholders' views and experiences on implementing new diagnostics in primary care to support management of community-acquired acute respiratory tract infections: a qualitative study.

Background: The majority of antibiotics are prescribed in primary care for respiratory tract infections. Point-of-care tests (POCTs) for the management of community-acquired acute respiratory tract infections (CA-ARTI) have been developed to help optimize antibiotic prescribing. While some countries in Europe have adopted these tests in primary care settings, most have not.

The association between day-to-day stress experiences, recovery, and work engagement among office workers in academia-An Ecological Momentary Assessment study.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the associations between day-to-day work-related stress exposures (i.e., job demands and lack of job control), job strain, and next-day work engagement among office workers in academic settings.

Developing evaluation capacities in integrated care projects: Lessons from a scientific support mission implemented in Belgium.

The capacity of self-assessment, to learn from experience, to make information-based decisions, and to adapt over time are essential drivers of success for any project aiming at healthcare system change. Yet, many of those projects are managed by healthcare providers' teams with little evaluation capacity. In this article, we describe the support mission delivered by an interdisciplinary scientific team to 12 integrated care pilot projects in Belgium, mobilizing a set of tools and methods: a dashboard gathering population health indicators, a significant event reporting method, an annual report, and the development of a sustainable "learning community.

Ascertainment rate of SARS-CoV-2 infections from healthcare and community testing in the UK.

The proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections ascertained through healthcare and community testing is generally unknown and expected to vary depending on natural factors and changes in test-seeking behaviour. Here we use population surveillance data and reported daily case numbers in the United Kingdom to estimate the rate of case ascertainment. We mathematically describe the relationship between the ascertainment rate, the daily number of reported cases, population prevalence, and the sensitivity of PCR and Lateral Flow tests as a function time since exposure.

The association between day-to-day stress experiences and work-life interference among office workers in academia: an ecological momentary assessment study.

Purpose: We investigated relations between day-to-day job demands, job control, job strain, social support at work, and day-to-day work-life interference among office workers in academia.

Methods: This study is based on a 15-working day data collection period using an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) implemented in our self-developed STRAW smartphone application. We recruited office workers from two academic settings in Belgium and Slovenia.

A Metapopulation Model for Preventing the Reintroduction of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus to Naïve Herds: Scotland Case Study.

Background: Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus is one of the most problematic infectious pathogens for cattle. Since 2013, a mandatory BVD eradication program has successfully reduced the number of infected cattle living on Scottish farms; however, England remains at high prevalence and presents a risk to Scotland through animal movement.

Methods: We analyze cattle movements in the UK from 2008 to 2017 and recorded incidence of BVD in Scotland from 2017 to 2020.

SCoVMod - a spatially explicit mobility and deprivation adjusted model of first wave COVID-19 transmission dynamics.

: Mobility restrictions prevent the spread of infections to disease-free areas, and early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most countries imposed severe restrictions on mobility as soon as it was clear that containment of local outbreaks was insufficient to control spread. These restrictions have adverse impacts on the economy and other aspects of human health, and it is important to quantify their impact for evaluating their future value. : Here we develop Scotland Coronavirus transmission Model (SCoVMod), a model for COVID-19 in Scotland, which presents unusual challenges because of its diverse geography and population conditions.

Sources of Occupational Stress among Office Workers-A Focus Group Study.

Workplace stress remains a major interest of occupational health research, usually based on theoretical models and quantitative large-scale studies. Office workers are especially exposed to stressors such as high workload and time pressure. The aim of this qualitative research was to follow a phenomenological approach to identify work stressors as they are perceived by office workers.

What Makes Integration of Chronic Care so Difficult? A Macro-Level Analysis of Barriers and Facilitators in Belgium.

Introduction: Although many countries have been implementing integrated care, the scale-up remains difficult. Macro-level system barriers play an important role. By selecting three key policies, which have implemented integrated care in Belgium over the last 10 years, we aim to go beyond the identification of their specific barriers and facilitators to obtain an overarching generic view.

Following the science? Views from scientists on government advisory boards during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative interview study in five European countries.

Introduction: In order to tackle the pandemic, governments have established various types of advisory boards to provide evidence and recommendations to policy makers. Scientists working on these boards have faced many challenges, including working under significant time constraints to produce 'evidence' as quickly as possible. However, their voices are still largely missing in the discussion.

Social fluidity mobilizes contagion in human and animal populations.

Humans and other group-living animals tend to distribute their social effort disproportionately. Individuals predominantly interact with a small number of close companions while maintaining weaker social bonds with less familiar group members. By incorporating this behavior into a mathematical model, we find that a single parameter, which we refer to as , controls the rate of social mixing within the group.

Spontaneous divergence of disease status in an economic epidemiological game.

We introduce a game inspired by the challenges of disease management in livestock farming and the transmission of endemic disease through a trade network. Success in this game comes from balancing the cost of buying new stock with the risk that it will be carrying some disease. When players follow a simple memory-based strategy we observe a spontaneous separation into two groups corresponding to players with relatively high, or low, levels of infection.

Evaluating Large-Scale Integrated Care Projects: The Development of a Protocol for a Mixed Methods Realist Evaluation Study in Belgium.

Background: The twelve Integrated Care Program pilot projects (ICPs) created by the government plan aim to achieve four outcome types (the Quadruple Aim) for people with chronic diseases in Belgium: improved population health, improved patient and provider experiences and improved cost efficiency. The aim of this article is to present the development of a mixed methods realist evaluation of this large-scale, whole system change programme.

Methods: A scientific team was commissioned to co-design and implement an evaluation protocol in close collaboration with the government, the ICPs and several other involved stakeholders.

Efficient sentinel surveillance strategies for preventing epidemics on networks.

Surveillance plays a crucial role in preventing emerging infectious diseases from becoming epidemic. In circumstances where it is possible to monitor the infection status of certain people, transport hubs, or hospitals, early detection of the disease allows interventions to be implemented before most of the damage can occur, or at least its impact can be mitigated. This paper addresses the question of which nodes we should select in a network of individuals susceptible to some infectious disease in order to minimize the number of casualties.

Evaluation of a heparin monitoring protocol for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and review of the literature.

Background: Bleeding complications are common with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). We investigated whether a heparin monitoring protocol using activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and thromboelastography (TEG) affected clinical outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective chart review stratified cohorts by study interval: pre-protocol (January 2016-March 2017) or post-protocol (March 2017-December 2017).

Ant colonies maintain social homeostasis in the face of decreased density.

Interactions lie at the heart of social organization, particularly in ant societies. Interaction rates are presumed to increase with density, but there is little empirical evidence for this. We manipulated density within carpenter ant colonies of the species by quadrupling nest space and by manually tracking 6.

The reachability of contagion in temporal contact networks: how disease latency can exploit the rhythm of human behavior.

Background: The symptoms of many infectious diseases influence their host to withdraw from social activity limiting their potential to spread. Successful transmission therefore requires the onset of infectiousness to coincide with a time when the host is socially active. Since social activity and infectiousness are both temporal phenomena, we hypothesize that diseases are most pervasive when these two processes are synchronized.

A Comparative Toxidrome Analysis of Human Organophosphate and Nerve Agent Poisonings Using Social Media.

Here we utilized social media to compare the toxidrome of three lethal chemical exposures worldwide. YouTube videos were the main source from which the data were collected, but published reports and news were also utilized to fill in some gaps. All videos were organized in a database detailing symptoms and severity of each victim, along with demographics such as approximate age and gender.