Health workforce issues and challenges in the post-pandemic era.

The health workforce is an essential component of our health care delivery system. A well-trained, sufficiently sized, and diverse workforce is critical to meet the health care needs of the population. However, in this postpandemic era, many challenges persist.

PET/CT guided tuberculosis treatment shortening: a randomized trial.

Six months of chemotherapy using current agents is standard of care for pulmonary, drug-sensitive tuberculosis (TB), even though some are believed to be cured more rapidly and others require longer therapy. Understanding what factors determine the length of treatment required for durable cure in individual patients would allow individualization of treatment durations, provide better clinical tools to determine the of appropriate duration of new regimens, as well as reduce the cost of large Phase III studies to determine the optimal combinations to use in TB control programs. We conducted a randomized clinical trial in South Africa and China that recruited 704 participants with newly diagnosed, drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis and stratified them based on radiographic disease characteristics as assessed by FDG PET/CT scan readers.

Improved Diabetic Foot Ulcer Outcomes in Medicaid Beneficiaries with Podiatric Care Access.

Objectives: This study aims to examine the association between state Medicaid coverage of podiatry services and the outcomes of beneficiaries with new diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).

Methods: Medicaid beneficiaries who developed a DFU between 2010 and 2015 were identified using the PearlDiver claims database. The states were categorized into covered states (CS) and non-covered states (NCS) based on podiatric coverage during the study period.

Management of Patients With Refractory Reflux-Like Symptoms Despite Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy: Evidence-Based Consensus Statements.

Background: Many patients diagnosed with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have persistent symptoms despite proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy.

Aims: The aim of this consensus is to provide evidence-based statements to guide clinicians caring for patients with refractory reflux-like symptoms (rRLS) or refractory GERD.

Methods: This consensus was developed by the International Working Group for the Classification of Oesophagitis.

Can eggshells indicate stressor exposure in free-range laying hens?

Finding effective ways to monitor laying hen welfare is challenging as UK flock sizes can reach 16,000 birds. Eggs provide potential for welfare monitoring, as they are a daily output with previous evidence of links to stress. We explored the associations between stressors and eggs using two complementary studies.