The Current State of Deep Brain Stimulation for Chronic Pain and Its Context in Other Forms of Neuromodulation.

Chronic intractable pain is debilitating for those touched, affecting 5% of the population. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has fallen out of favour as the centrally implantable neurostimulation of choice for chronic pain since the 1970⁻1980s, with some neurosurgeons favouring motor cortex stimulation as the 'last chance saloon'. This article reviews the available data and professional opinion of the current state of DBS as a treatment for chronic pain, placing it in the context of other neuromodulation therapies.

Single-cell transcriptomes from human kidneys reveal the cellular identity of renal tumors.

Messenger RNA encodes cellular function and phenotype. In the context of human cancer, it defines the identities of malignant cells and the diversity of tumor tissue. We studied 72,501 single-cell transcriptomes of human renal tumors and normal tissue from fetal, pediatric, and adult kidneys.

A comparative assessment of plaque removal and toothbrushing compliance between a manual and an interactive power toothbrush among adolescents: a single-center, single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Background: Many adolescents have poor plaque control and sub-optimal toothbrushing behavior. Therefore, we compared the efficacy of an interactive power toothbrush (IPT) to a manual toothbrush (MT) for reducing dental plaque and improving toothbrushing compliance.

Methods: In this randomized, parallel single-blind clinical study, adolescents brushed twice daily with either a MT (Oral-B® Indicator soft manual toothbrush) or an IPT (Oral-B® ProfessionalCare 6000 with Bluetooth).

Critical Appraisal of Emergency Medicine Educational Research: The Best Publications of 2015.

Objective: The objectives were to critically appraise the medical education research literature of 2015 and review the highest-quality quantitative and qualitative examples.

Methods: A total of 434 emergency medicine (EM)-related articles were discovered upon a search of ERIC, PsychINFO, PubMED, and SCOPUS. These were both quantitative and qualitative in nature.

Remembering to execute deferred tasks in simulated air traffic control: The impact of interruptions.

Air traffic controllers can sometimes forget to complete deferred tasks, with safety implications. In two experiments, we examined how the presence and type of interruptions influenced the probability and speed at which individuals remembered to perform deferred tasks in simulated air traffic control (ATC). Participants were required to accept/handoff aircraft, detect aircraft conflicts, and perform two deferred tasks: a deferred conflict task that required remembering to resolve a conflict in the future and a deferred handoff task that required substituting an alternative aircraft handoff action in place of routine handoff action.

Thyroid nodules: diagnosis and management.

Thyroid nodules are common. Their importance lies in the need to assess thyroid function, degree of and future risk of mass effect, and exclude thyroid cancer, which occurs in 7-15% of thyroid nodules. There are four key components to thyroid nodule assessment: clinical history and examination, serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) measurement, ultrasound and, if indicated, fine-needle aspiration (FNA).

Trends and connections across the Antarctic cryosphere.

Satellite observations have transformed our understanding of the Antarctic cryosphere. The continent holds the vast majority of Earth's fresh water, and blankets swathes of the Southern Hemisphere in ice. Reductions in the thickness and extent of floating ice shelves have disturbed inland ice, triggering retreat, acceleration and drawdown of marine-terminating glaciers.

Search for the Decay of the Higgs Boson to Charm Quarks with the ATLAS Experiment.

A direct search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a pair of charm quarks is presented. Associated production of the Higgs and Z bosons, in the decay mode ZH→ℓ^{+}ℓ^{-}cc[over ¯] is studied. A data set with an integrated luminosity of 36.

Rapid paper based colorimetric detection of glucose using a hollow microneedle device.

The monitoring of blood glucose is a key aspect of diabetes care in limiting the negative effects of hyperglycaemia to both the microvasculature and macrovasculature. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) gives an indication of blood glucose at a specific point in time and is recommended to be carried out four times daily. However, due to the inconvenience and associated pain of blood withdrawal, SMBG is often carried out less frequently than recommended or not at all.

Search for a Structure in the B_{s}^{0}π^{±} Invariant Mass Spectrum with the ATLAS Experiment.

A search for the narrow structure, X(5568), reported by the D0 Collaboration in the decay sequence X→B_{s}^{0}π^{±}, B_{s}^{0}→J/ψϕ, is presented. The analysis is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC corresponding to 4.9  fb^{-1} of pp collisions at 7 TeV and 19.

Investigating the Effectiveness of Current and Modified World Health Organization Guidelines for the Control of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections.

Background: Considerable efforts have been made to better understand the effectiveness of large-scale preventive chemotherapy therapy for the control of morbidity caused by infection with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs): Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and the 2 hookworm species, Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale. Current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for STH control include mass drug administration (MDA) programs based on prevalence measurements, aiming at reducing morbidity in pre-school-aged children (pre-SAC) and school-aged children (SAC) by lowering the prevalence of moderate- to heavy-intensity infections to <1%.

Methods: We project the likely impact of following the current WHO guidelines and assess whether the WHO morbidity goals will be achieved across a range of transmission settings.

The Relationship between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scores in Older Adults.

Background: Relatively little is known regarding the association between objective measures of physical function such as cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cognitive function tests in healthy older adults.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between CRF and cognitive function in adults aged 55 and older.

Methods: Between 2008 and 2017, 4,931 men and women underwent a comprehensive preventive physical exam at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas.

The influence of isometric exercise on endogenous pain modulation: comparing exercise-induced hypoalgesia and offset analgesia in young, active adults.

Background and aims Impairment of endogenous analgesia has been associated with the development, maintenance and persistence of pain. Endogenous analgesia can be evaluated using exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH) and offset analgesia (OffA) paradigms, which measure temporal filtering of sensory information. It is not clear if these paradigms are underpinned by common mechanisms, as EIH and OffA have not previously been directly compared.

No evidence of binding items to spatial configuration representations in visual working memory.

When detecting changes in visual features (e.g., colour or shape), object locations, represented as points within a configuration, might also be automatically represented in working memory.

Search for High-Mass Resonances Decaying to τν in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector.

A search for high-mass resonances decaying to τν using proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider is presented. Only τ-lepton decays with hadrons in the final state are considered. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.

The association between serum vitamin d level and cognitive function in older adults: Cooper Center Longitudinal Study.

Low blood level of vitamin D and low physical activity have been linked to the development of cognitive impairment in older adults. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between serum vitamin D and cognition as measured via the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a healthy, older population. The study sample consisted of 4358 patients from the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, TX.

Simultaneous in vivo confocal reflectance and two-photon retinal ganglion cell imaging based on a hollow core fiber platform.

We have developed a compact hollow core fiber (HCF)-based imaging platform capable of simultaneous in vivo confocal reflectance and two-photon imaging through the mouse pupil. We demonstrate the performance of this platform by imaging retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in which the fluorophores YFP and GCaMP3 are expressed in Thy1-YFP-16 and Thy1-GCaMP3 transgenic mice, respectively. Confocal reflectance images of the mouse retina served as a reference for the simultaneous acquisition of the two-photon signals that clearly showed RGCs with single-cell resolution.

Shoulder Taping and Neuromuscular Control.

Context:   Scapular taping can offer clinical benefit to some patients with shoulder pain; however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Understanding these mechanisms may guide the development of treatment strategies for managing neuromusculoskeletal shoulder conditions.

Objective:   To examine the mechanisms underpinning the benefits of scapular taping.

Concurrent Disorders and Health Care Utilization Among Homeless and Vulnerably Housed Persons in Canada.

Objective: Individuals who are homeless or vulnerably housed have a higher prevalence of concurrent disorders, defined as having a mental health diagnosis and problematic substance use, compared to the general housed population. The study objective was to investigate the effect of having concurrent disorders on health care utilization among homeless or vulnerably housed individuals, using longitudinal data from the Health and Housing in Transition Study.

Methods: In 2009, 1190 homeless or vulnerably housed adults were recruited in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, Canada.

The natural history of spinal deformity in patients with Coffin-Lowry syndrome.

Purpose: Little is known about the natural history of spinal deformities in Coffin-Lowry syndrome (CLS). Our goal was to evaluate the spinal deformity progression and clinical impact.

Methods: In this institutional review board-approved study, we performed a multinational retrospective review of six male CLS patients, aged 13 to 22 years at final follow-up, for a mean of 7.

No. 127-The Evaluation of Stress Incontinence Prior to Primary Surgery.

Objective: To provide clinical guidelines for the evaluation of women with stress urinary incontinence prior to primary anti-incontinence surgery.

Options: The modalities of evaluation range from basic pelvic examination through to the use of adjuncts including ultrasound and urodynamic testing.

Outcomes: These guidelines provide a comprehensive approach to the preoperative evaluation of urinary incontinence to ensure that excessive evaluation is avoided without sacrificing diagnostic accuracy.

Quality indicators in a community optometrist led cataract shared care scheme.

Purpose: Cataract shared care schemes involving community optometrists show wide variation in practice. We report on defined key performance indicators (KPIs) which improve accountability between stakeholders.

Methods: In this prospective study over nine months at a UK public hospital, we evaluated the outcomes of consecutive direct cataract referrals from community optometrists against two KPIs agreed under a service-level agreement between the Hospital Eye Service and community optometrists: (1) 85% of patients listed for cataract listing at first consultation; and (2) 90% postoperative feedback return rate on patients discharged to community optometrists.

Helminth lifespan interacts with non-compliance in reducing the effectiveness of anthelmintic treatment.

Background: The success of mass drug administration programmes targeting the soil-transmitted helminths and schistosome parasites is in part dependent on compliance to treatment at sequential rounds of mass drug administration (MDA). The impact of MDA is vulnerable to systematic non-compliance, defined as a portion of the eligible population remaining untreated over successive treatment rounds. The impact of systematic non-compliance on helminth transmission dynamics - and thereby on the number of treatment rounds required to interrupt transmission - is dependent on the parasitic helminth being targeted by MDA.

Testing for soil-transmitted helminth transmission elimination: Analysing the impact of the sensitivity of different diagnostic tools.

In recent years, an increased focus has been placed upon the possibility of the elimination of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) transmission using various interventions including mass drug administration. The primary diagnostic tool recommended by the WHO is the detection of STH eggs in stool using the Kato-Katz (KK) method. However, detecting infected individuals using this method becomes increasingly difficult as the intensity of infection decreases.