Comorbidities, biomarkers and cause specific mortality in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A phenome-wide association study.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common functional digestive disorders. Our understanding about its comorbidities, biomarkers, or long-term risks is still incomplete.

Objective: To characterize comorbidities and biomarkers for IBS and establish the effect of IBS on overall- and cause specific mortality.

Characteristics and opinions of MD-PhD students and graduates from different European countries: a study from the European MD-PhD Association.

Background: MD-PhD programmes throughout the world provide a platform for medical trainees to commit to a physician-scientist career, qualifying with both a medical degree (MD or equivalent) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). However, there are limited studies assessing the characteristics of MD-PhD programmes in Europe and the outcomes of MD-PhD students and graduates.

Purpose: This study aims at a first country-wise exploration of characteristics, opinions, and academic outcomes of MD-PhD students and graduates in Europe.

Minimizing endpoint variability through reinforcement learning during reaching movements involving shoulder, elbow and wrist.

Reaching movements are comprised of the coordinated action across multiple joints. The human skeleton is redundant for this task because different joint configurations can lead to the same endpoint in space. How do people learn to use combinations of joints that maximize success in goal-directed motor tasks? To answer this question, we used a 3-degree-of-freedom manipulandum to measure shoulder, elbow and wrist joint movements during reaching in a plane.