Direct-to-consumer genetic testing and the changing landscape of gamete donor conception: key issues for practitioners and stakeholders.

Research Question: What effect does direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) have on information finding and sharing in relation to gamete donor conception?

Design: This study used in-depth qualitative interviews with parents through donor conception, donors, the relatives of donors and donor-conceived people who have used, or considered using, DTCGT. Interviews were conducted between September 2021 and February 2023. Sixty people defined themselves as having been affected by donor conception and DTCGT.

Cannabidiol and cannabis-inspired terpene blends have acute prosocial effects in the BTBR mouse model of autism spectrum disorder.

Introduction: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid with increasing popularity due to its purported therapeutic efficacy for numerous off-label conditions including anxiety and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Those with ASD are commonly deficient in endogenous cannabinoid signaling and GABAergic tone. CBD has a complex pharmacodynamic profile that includes enhancing GABA and endocannabinoid signaling.

Lessons and Future Directions for a Gender Equity Pledge Campaign.

Background: In November 2019, the IWill gender equity pledge campaign called individuals in a health sciences university to make public pledges for gender equity and fostered meaningful dialog to alter mental models and power dynamics. Over 1400 staff, faculty, and students chose 1 of 18 pledges or created their own.

Methods: A follow-up, mixed-methods survey was sent to 1405 participants in July 2020.

The case for reframing known donation.

Contemporary UK egg and sperm donation exists in two predominant forms: (i) clinic-based, identity-release donation; and (ii) known donation, which can take place either inside or outside of the clinic context. Regulatory and clinical discussions of the latter currently focus, almost exclusively, on risk whereas identity-release is widely presented as the default route for both donors and recipients. Consequently, there is little support available for those potential donors and recipient parents who might prefer a known donor arrangement.

Retrospective Review of Preoperative Radiofrequency Tag Localization of Breast Lesions in 848 Patients.

Advantages of radiofrequency tags for preoperative breast lesion localization include decoupling of tag placement from surgical schedules and improved patient comfort. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a preoperative localization radiofrequency tag system for breast lesions requiring surgical excision. The cohort for this retrospective study included consecutive patients who underwent image-guided needle localization with radiofrequency tags before surgical excision from July 12, 2018, to July 31, 2019.

Effectiveness of "Reducing Disability in Alzheimer's Disease" Among Dyads With Moderate Dementia.

Replications of evidence-based dementia care receiver-caregiver dyad interventions in the community are scarce. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Kansas City implementation of Reducing Disability in Alzheimer's Disease (RDAD) among a convenience sample of dyads with moderate dementia, which addressed needs identified by nine participating community agencies. We hypothesized that dyads' mental health and physical activity outcomes would improve from baseline to end-of-treatment.

Toxic money or paid altruism: the meaning of payments for identity-release gamete donors.

Public discourses commonly frame gamete, organ and other forms of bodily donation as altruistic 'gifts'. However, despite on-going debates about the ethics of payments to donors, few studies have examined the views of donors themselves regarding the meaning of payments and their compatibility (or not) with understandings of these practices as gifts. This article addresses this issue, analysing 24 in-depth interviews with UK identity-release gamete donors.

Four-year cross-sectional study of bleeding risk in dental patients on direct oral anticoagulants.

Objective: New oral anticoagulants, or "direct oral anticoagulants" (DOACs), have been used worldwide in recent years. An evidence-based enigma regarding dental patients using DOACs still exists.

Method And Materials: This was a 4-year, cross-sectional study on individuals receiving DOAC therapy, treated in a single maxillofacial center.

Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.

Although the past decade has witnessed growing research interest in positive psychological interventions (PPIs), their potential as adjunctive interventions for psychotherapy remains relatively unexplored. Therefore, this article expands the frontiers of PPI research by reporting the first randomized controlled trial to test a gratitude writing adjunctive intervention for psychotherapy clients. Participants were 293 adults seeking university-based psychotherapy services.

Implantable Smart Technologies (IST): Defining the 'Sting' in Data and Device.

In a world surrounded by smart objects from sensors to automated medical devices, the ubiquity of 'smart' seems matched only by its lack of clarity. In this article, we use our discussions with expert stakeholders working in areas of implantable medical devices such as cochlear implants, implantable cardiac defibrillators, deep brain stimulators and in vivo biosensors to interrogate the difference facets of smart in 'implantable smart technologies', considering also whether regulation needs to respond to the autonomy that such artefacts carry within them. We discover that when smart technology is deconstructed it is a slippery and multi-layered concept.

Tendon rupture associated with excessive smartphone gaming.

Importance: Excessive use of smartphones has been associated with injuries.

Observations: A 29-year-old, right hand-dominant man presented with chronic left thumb pain and loss of active motion from playing a Match-3 puzzle video game on his smartphone all day for 6 to 8 weeks. On physical examination, the left extensor pollicis longus tendon was not palpable, and no tendon motion was noted with wrist tenodesis.

New risks inadequately managed: the case of smart implants and medical device regulation.

Many emerging technologies are associated with 'risk'. While the concept of risk is protean, it is usually conceived of as the potential of something damaging or harmful happening. Thus, risks are a primary target of many regulatory regimes.

Comparison of HIV DNA and RNA in gut-associated lymphoid tissue of HIV-infected controllers and noncontrollers.

Objectives: HIV-infected controllers have provided novel insights into mechanisms of viral control. We investigated the degree to which HIV DNA and RNA are present in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) of controllers.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

The immunologic effects of maraviroc intensification in treated HIV-infected individuals with incomplete CD4+ T-cell recovery: a randomized trial.

The CCR5 inhibitor maraviroc has been hypothesized to decrease T-cell activation in HIV-infected individuals, but its independent immunologic effects have not been established in a placebo-controlled trial. We randomized 45 HIV-infected subjects with CD4 counts <350 cells per mm(3) and plasma HIV RNA levels <48 copies per mL on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to add maraviroc vs placebo to their regimen for 24 weeks followed by 12 weeks on ART alone. Compared with placebo-treated subjects, maraviroc-treated subjects unexpectedly experienced a greater median increase in % CD38+HLA-DR+ peripheral blood CD8+ T cells at week 24 (+2.

Hemorrhagic cystitis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants is the complex result of BK virus infection, preparative regimen intensity and donor type.

Background: Hemorrhagic cystitis is a common cause of morbidity after allogeneic stem cell transplantation, frequently associated with BK virus infection. We hypothesized that patients with positive BK viruria before unrelated or mismatched related donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have a higher incidence of hemorrhagic cystitis.

Design And Methods: To test this hypothesis, we prospectively studied 209 patients (median age 49 years, range 19-71) with hematologic malignancies who received bone marrow (n=78), peripheral blood (n=108) or umbilical cord blood (n=23) allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after myeloablative (n=110) or reduced intensity conditioning (n=99).

Wound fluids: a window into the wound environment?

Wound healing of the skin is a complex biologic process involving temporal interactions between numerous types of cells, extracellular matrix molecules, and soluble factors. The process of repair can be viewed as involving 3 or 4 phases: homeostasis, inflammation, synthesis, and remodeling. These phases occur at different times and differ in their cellular, biochemical, and physiologic requirements.

Effect of subcutaneous granulocyte colony-stimulating factor injectate volume on drug efficacy, site complications, and client comfort.

Purpose/objectives: To determine the effect of administering 1.6 ml (480 mcg) of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in one subcutaneous injection or two injections of 0.8 ml each.

High expression of neutral endopeptidase in idiopathic diffuse hyperplasia of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells.

Idiopathic diffuse hyperplasia of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (IDHPNC) is a clinicopathological entity characterized by a diffuse hyperplasia of neuroendocrine cells involving distal bronchi and bronchioles. The pathogenesis of this syndrome remains unknown. The hyperplastic neuroendocrine (NE) cells contain multiple neuropeptides, including the bombesinlike peptides (BLP), which are likely important in the pathogenesis of the disorder by stimulating proliferation of fibroblasts in a paracrine fashion and the NE cells themselves in an autocrine manner.

Neutral endopeptidase: variable expression in human lung, inactivation in lung cancer, and modulation of peptide-induced calcium flux.

Neutral endopeptidase (NEP; CALLA, CD10, EC 3.4.24.