Preferences for speed of access versus certainty of the survival benefit of new cancer drugs: a discrete choice experiment.

Background: The extent to which patients with cancer are willing to accept uncertainty about the clinical benefit of new cancer drugs in exchange for faster access is not known. This study aims to examine preferences for access versus certainty, and to understand factors that influence these preferences.

Methods: A US nationally representative sample of older adults were recruited via Cint, an online platform for survey research, to take part in an online discrete choice experiment.

Trapping of yFACT at 3' ends of genes is not a universal characteristic of yeast versions of Bryant-Li-Bhoj syndrome histone H3 mutants.

Bryant-Li-Bhoj syndrome (BLBS) is associated with germline mutations in the genes encoding human histone H3.3. While to date 70 H3.

Virulence-associated genes in faecal and clinical Escherichia coli isolates cultured from broiler chickens in Australia.

A healthy chicken's intestinal flora harbours a rich reservoir of Escherichia coli as part of the commensal microbiota. However, some strains, known as avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), carry specific virulence genes (VGs) that enable them to invade and cause extraintestinal infections such as avian colibacillosis.

Salmonella Vitkin Outbreak Associated with Bearded Dragons, Canada and United States, 2020-2022.

We identified 2 cases of Salmonella enterica serovar Vitkin infection linked by whole-genome sequencing in infants in Ontario, Canada, during 2022. Both households of the infants reported having bearded dragons as pets. The outbreak strain was also isolated from an environmental sample collected from a patient's bearded dragon enclosure.

Machine learning-guided exploration and experimental assessment of unreported compositions in the quaternary Ti-Zr-Cu-Pd biocompatible metallic glass system.

Due to their outstanding elastic limit, biocompatible Ti-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are candidate materials to decrease the size of medical implants and therefore reduce their invasiveness. However, the practical use of classical Ti-BMGs in medical applications is in part hindered by their high copper content: more effort is thus required to design low-copper Ti-BMGs. In this work, in line with current rise in AI-driven tools, machine learning (ML) approaches, a neural-network ML model is used to explore the glass-forming ability (GFA) of unreported low-copper compositions within the biocompatible Ti-Zr-Cu-Pd system.

Pet Owners' Attitudes and Opinions towards Cat and Dog Care Practices in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This research aimed to explore cat and dog owners' attitudes and opinions towards various pet care practices in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), and determine what factors were associated with them. An online survey composed of both closed and open-ended questions was administered from January to March 2019. A total of 2358 respondents answered the questions on pet care practices.

Competency-based assessment of procedural skills in resident training.

Background: No standardized summative tools exist to assess competency in bedside procedures or provide residents and programs with summative feedback.

Objective: To provide competency-based procedure training and feedback to residents, we created a procedure competency committee (PCC). Here, we describe the PCC process, its impact on procedure training, and examine residents' attainment of competency in bedside procedures.

Directions of change in intrinsic case severity across successive SARS-CoV-2 variant waves have been inconsistent.

Objectives: To determine how the intrinsic severity of successively dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants changed over the course of the pandemic.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) Health Board. All sequenced non-nosocomial adult COVID-19 cases in NHS GGC with relevant SARS-CoV-2 lineages (B.

The SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant was associated with increased clinical severity of COVID-19 in Scotland: A genomics-based retrospective cohort analysis.

Objectives: The SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant was associated with increased transmission relative to other variants present at the time of its emergence and several studies have shown an association between Alpha variant infection and increased hospitalisation and 28-day mortality. However, none have addressed the impact on maximum severity of illness in the general population classified by the level of respiratory support required, or death. We aimed to do this.

Critical care pharmacy workforce: a 2020 re-evaluation of the UK deployment and characteristics.

Introduction: Critical care pharmacists improve the quality and efficiency of medication therapy whilst reducing treatment costs where they are available. UK critical care pharmacist deployment was described in 2015, highlighting a deficit in numbers, experience level, and critical care access to pharmacy services over the 7-day week. Since then, national workforce standards have been emphasised, quality indicators published, and service commissioning documents produced, reinforced by care quality assessments.

Freedom and loneliness: dementia caregiver experiences of the nursing home transition.

Background: the transition to nursing home care has previously been linked to negative outcomes for spousal caregivers of persons with dementia (PwD). However, little is known about the experience or trajectory of loneliness in spousal caregivers during this time.

Objectives: to explore experiences of loneliness in caregivers during the nursing home admission of their spouse or partner with dementia.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Reported Incidence of Select Bacterial Enteric Diseases in Canada, 2020.

The aim of this study was to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on reported cases and clusters of select enteric diseases in Canada, for the period of March 2020 to December 2020. Weekly counts of laboratory confirmed cases of , , Shiga toxin-producing (STEC), and were obtained from laboratory surveillance data. These data were supplemented with epidemiological information on the suspected source of illness, collected for cases identified within whole genome sequencing clusters.

Pet Ownership in Aotearoa New Zealand: A National Survey of Cat and Dog Owner Practices.

This study used an online survey distributed between January and March 2019 to adults residing in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) to investigate cat and dog owner practices. Of the 2385 respondents, 885 (37%) owned both cat/s and dog/s, while 652 (28%) and 609 (26%) owned cat/s only or dog/s only, respectively. Nine percent of respondents (n = 212) did not own a cat or dog when the survey was administered.

Evolutionary design of machine-learning-predicted bulk metallic glasses.

The size of composition space means even coarse grid-based searches for interesting alloys are infeasible unless heavily constrained, which requires prior knowledge and reduces the possibility of making novel discoveries. Genetic algorithms provide a practical alternative to brute-force searching, by rapidly homing in on fruitful regions and discarding others. Here, we apply the genetic operators of , , and to a population of trial alloy compositions, with the goal of evolving towards candidates with excellent glass-forming ability, as predicted by an ensemble neural-network model.

Implementing an innovative, patient-centered approach to day case arthroplasty: improving patient outcomes through remote preoperative pharmacist consultations.

Objective: Elective surgery suffered significant loss of capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this, hip and knee arthroplasties are being conducted as day case procedures. Pre-admission pharmacist consultations were introduced (the intervention) for these patients.

Machine-learning improves understanding of glass formation in metallic systems.

Glass-forming ability (GFA) in metallic systems remains a little-understood property. Experimental work on bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) is guided by many empirical criteria, which are often of limited predictive value. This work uses machine-learning both to produce predictive models for the GFA of alloy compositions, and to reveal insights useful for furthering theoretical understanding of GFA.

Assessing the solutions to tobacco control's funding gap problem.

Since its entry into force in February 2005, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has had many significant achievements. It is one of the most widely ratified treaties within the United Nations; its Conference of the Parties has adopted many high-quality implementation guidelines, and implementation of the policy guidance in the treaty and its guidelines have decreased tobacco consumption and prevalence. Despite the effectiveness of these measures, however, FCTC implementation has been highly uneven across countries.

Potential Owner-Related Risk Factors That May Contribute to Obesity in Companion Dogs in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Approximately a third of all Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) households include a dog, with 28% of these dogs being overweight or obese, conditions that are associated with many serious health issues. Therefore, healthy weight interventions that focus on the owner's role are of great importance to companion animal welfare in NZ. Accordingly, the present study explores the feeding practices associated with NZ dogs and identifies potential owner-related risk factors contributing to these animals being overweight or obese.

Evaluation of medication changes following severe COVID-19 infection: a multicentre evaluation.

Background: Critically ill patients often experience several transitions of care following critical illness. Research has explored the challenges which patients have with medication management across these transitions. It is unclear whether patients admitted to critical care due to COVID-19 will have similar challenges.