Using routine primary care data in research: (in)efficient case studies and perspectives from the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research.

Aim: We aimed to identify enablers and barriers of using primary care routine data for healthcare research, to formulate recommendations for improving efficiency in knowledge discovery.

Background: Data recorded routinely in primary care can be used for estimating the impact of interventions provided within routine care for all people who are clinically eligible. Despite official promotion of 'efficient trial designs', anecdotally researchers in the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research (AUKCAR) have encountered multiple barriers to accessing and using routine data.

Synergistic design of CuO/CoFe₂O₄/MWCNTs ternary nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline under visible light.

This study involves a novel CuO/CoFe₂O₄/MWCNTs (CCT) nanocomposite, developed by integrating cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) and copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), for the degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light. The photocatalyst was extensively characterized using XRD, HR-SEM, EDX, HR-TEM, UV-Vis, BET, and PL analysis. The synthesized CoFe₂O₄ and CuO nanoparticles exhibited crystallite sizes of 46.

Scorpion sting-induced malignant middle cerebral artery infarction.

A previously healthy middle-aged man in his 40s with a history of red scorpion envenomation presented to the emergency department for the management of an acute stroke syndrome, involving the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory, that developed 12 hours after the scorpion sting. He presented to the hospital 15 hours following the stroke. The activation of the autonomic nervous system by the Indian red scorpion venom is known to produce severe systemic manifestations, including cardiogenic shock and acute pulmonary oedema.

A series of genetically confirmed congenital lipodystrophy and diabetes in adult southern Indian patients.

In this study, we analysed the mutation spectrum in subjects with suspected lipodystrophy using a targeted Next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach. Subjects with suspected lipodystrophy were for screened six genes (AGPAT2, BSCL2, LMNA, PPARG, ZMPSTE24, INSR) and the variants identified were confirmed through Sanger sequencing. The clinical and biochemical parameters were compared among the mutation positive and negative subjects.

Identification of DLK1, a Notch ligand, as an immunotherapeutic target and regulator of tumor cell plasticity and chemoresistance in adrenocortical carcinoma.

Immunotherapeutic targeting of cell surface proteins is an increasingly effective cancer therapy. However, given the limited number of current targets, the identification of new surface proteins, particularly those with biological importance, is critical. Here, we uncover delta-like non-canonical Notch ligand 1 (DLK1) as a cell surface protein with limited normal tissue expression and high expression in multiple refractory adult metastatic cancers including small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), a rare cancer with few effective therapies.