Organisational learning through a charitable trust-initiated project focusing on end-of-life care.

Purpose: We identify lessons from a project sponsored by a large charitable trust, which sought to build capability for end-of-life (EOL) care in Hong Kong through interdisciplinary and multi-agency collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach: An in-depth case study drawing on 21 in-depth interviews with diverse stakeholders was conducted. Lyman .

Hippocampal, Whole Midbrain, Red Nucleus, and Ventral Tegmental Area Volumes Are Increased by Selective Breeding for High Voluntary Wheel-Running Behavior.

Uncovering relationships between neuroanatomy, behavior, and evolution are important for understanding the factors that control brain function. Voluntary exercise is one key behavior that both affects, and may be affected by, neuroanatomical variation. Moreover, recent studies suggest an important role for physical activity in brain evolution.

A systematic literature review of voluntary behaviour change approaches in single use plastic reduction.

Plastic waste is a leading contributor to climate change due to its build up in landfill and oceans, releasing harmful greenhouse gases and causing harm to ecosystems. The past decade has seen a rise in the number of policies and legislative regulations surrounding the use of single-use plastics (SUP). Such measures are needed and have shown effectiveness in the reduction of SUP's.

Intussusception After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: Correlation Between Radiological and Operative Findings.

Introduction: Intussusceptions diagnosed on computed tomography (CT) scans in Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) patients could cause serious small bowel obstruction (SBO) or be an incidental finding. The objective of this study was to correlate radiological findings with clinical outcomes to differentiate intussusceptions requiring emergent surgery for SBO.

Methods: A search for acute abdominal CT scans reporting intussusceptions in RYGB patients between 2012 and 2019 at Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, retrieved 35 scans.

The Application and Outcome Evaluation of a Social Marketing Intervention to Increase Seasonal Influenza Vaccination among University Students.

Seasonal flu vaccination rates among university students are exceedingly low and research focused on voluntarily influencing vaccination uptake is limited. This study outlines the development, implementation, and evaluation of a theory-driven social marketing vaccination intervention following the co-create-build-engage (CBE) framework. This study drew upon a pre-intervention segmentation study and co-created interventions targeted at receptive segments.

Increasing Seasonal Influenza Vaccination among University Students: A Systematic Review of Programs Using a Social Marketing Perspective.

The health and economic consequences of seasonal influenza present great costs to communities. Promoting voluntary uptake of the seasonal influenza vaccine among university students, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, can deliver protective effects for both individuals and the wider community. Vaccine uptake will be greatest when more of the social marketing benchmarks are applied.

Motivating Seasonal Influenza Vaccination and Cross-Promoting COVID-19 Vaccination: An Audience Segmentation Study among University Students.

In the response to the coronavirus pandemic, much attention has been invested in promoting COVID-19 vaccination. However, the impact of seasonal influenza should not be neglected, particularly during the winter influenza surge. Currently, most influenza vaccination campaigns target at healthcare workers or high-risk population groups, while COVID-19 vaccination programmes are targeting the whole population as a single homogeneous group.

Age-group differences in human papillomavirus types and cofactors for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 among women referred to colposcopy.

Background: Recommendations for high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) testing as an adjunct to cytology for cervical cancer screening differ by age group, because HR-HPV tests lack adequate specificity in women aged <30. Here, we assess age-group differences in HPV types and other risk factors for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 3 or worse (CIN3+) versus CIN0-2 in women from four colposcopy clinics.

Methods: Women ages 18 to 69 (n = 1,658) were enrolled and completed structured interviews to elicit data on behavioral risk factors prior to their examinations.

Lack of HPV 16 and 18 detection in serum of colposcopy clinic patients.

Background: Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types is necessary for the development of high-grade cervical dysplasia and cervical carcinoma. The presence of HPV DNA in the blood of cervical cancer patients has been reported; however, whether HPV DNA is detectable in the blood of patients with pre-invasive cervical disease is unclear.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine if HPV 16 and HPV 18 DNA could be detected in the serum of colposcopy clinic patients, and if serum HPV detection was associated with grade of cervical disease and HPV cofactors.

Optimization of SELDI-TOF protein profiling for analysis of cervical mucous.

Cervical mucous, produced in the region where cervical neoplasia occurs, is thought to be a good choice for discovery of biomarkers to improve cervical cancer screening. In this study, SELDI-TOF MS analysis was used to evaluate parameters for protein profiling of mucous. Proteins were extracted from mucous collected with Weck-Cel sponges.

Effect of storage temperatures on the stability of cytokines in cervical mucous.

Cytokines have progressively come to serve as indicators for the presence or severity of a disease. But accurate measurement of cytokine levels can be deterred by lack of proper handling and storage of the samples. In this study, we attempted to measure the effect of snap-freezing and refrigeration at the time of collection on cervical mucous.

Evaluation of RNA markers for early detection of cervical neoplasia in exfoliated cervical cells.

Numerous molecular biomarkers have been suggested for early detection of cervical cancer, but their usefulness in routinely collected exfoliated cells remains uncertain. We used quantitative reverse transcription-PCR to evaluate expression of 40 candidate genes as markers for high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in exfoliated cervical cells collected at the time of colposcopy. Samples from the 93 women with CIN3 or cancer were compared with those from 186 women without disease matched (1:2) for age, race, and high-risk human papillomavirus status.

Quantitation of site-specific HPV 16 DNA methylation by pyrosequencing.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary but insufficient cause of cervical cancer. Factors influencing transcription, such as epigenetic silencing through viral DNA methylation, may impact neoplastic progression. Pyrosequencing technology was applied to quantify methylation at 19 cytosine guanine dinucleotide (CpG) sites in the L1 3' and long control region (LCR) of HPV 16 DNA using cell lines, CaSki ( approximately 400 integrated copies of HPV 16) and SiHa (1-2 integrated copies of HPV 16) that differ in their transcriptional activity.

Human papillomavirus in amniotic fluid.

Background: There is evidence to suggest that human papillomavirus (HPV) can cross the placenta resulting in in-utero transmission. The goal of this study was to determine if HPV can be detected in amniotic fluid from women with intact amniotic membranes.

Methods: Residual amniotic fluid and cultured cell pellets from amniocentesis performed for prenatal diagnosis were used.

Gene expression profiling of dysplastic differentiation in cervical epithelial cells harboring human papillomavirus 16.

Molecular events occurring with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated dysplastic differentiation of cervical epithelial cells are largely unknown. This study used differential display PCR to identify expression changes between nondifferentiating monolayer and differentiated organotypic (raft) cultures of W12 keratinocytes. These cells were originally derived from a clinical biopsy of HPV 16-positive dysplastic cervical epithelium and retain high-risk HPV 16 and the ability to differentiate, albeit with dysplastic morphology.

Gene expression profile of cervical tissue compared to exfoliated cells: impact on biomarker discovery.

Background: Exfoliated cervical cells are used in cytology-based cancer screening and may also be a source for molecular biomarkers indicative of neoplastic changes in the underlying tissue. However, because of keratinization and terminal differentiation it is not clear that these cells have an mRNA profile representative of cervical tissue, and that the profile can distinguish the lesions targeted for early detection.

Results: We used whole genome microarrays (25,353 unique genes) to compare the transcription profiles from seven samples of normal exfoliated cells and one cervical tissue.

Epidemiologic and viral factors associated with cervical neoplasia in HPV-16-positive women.

While infection with high-risk HPV is the most important risk factor for cervical cancer, HPV alone is insufficient. Our purpose was to identify viral and epidemiologic factors associated with cervical disease in HPV-16 DNA-positive women referred to colposcopy. We used a standardized interview to collect epidemiologic data from consenting women.

Molecular quality of exfoliated cervical cells: implications for molecular epidemiology and biomarker discovery.

The biologic sample collected in molecular epidemiology studies must accurately reflect the disease being studied and have sufficient molecular quality for the intended assays. Noninvasive sampling methods, such as scrapes or brushes, are increasingly used. In this study, we evaluate the impact of sample collection media and extraction methods on the quality and yield of RNA from routine exfoliated cervical cytology.

Impact of RNA extraction from limited samples on microarray results.

To move microarray technology into the diagnostic realm, the impact of technical parameters, such as sample preparation and RNA extraction, needs to be understood and minimized. We evaluated the impact of two RNA extraction methods, DNase treatment and the amount of hybridized cDNA probe, on the outcome of microarray results. The results for both RNA extraction methods were comparable, although one method resulted in residual DNA that slightly affected the microarray results.