Evaluating the genetic components of growth in ostriches with multi-trait and random regression models.

1. The heritability (h) of liveweight (LW) in ostriches can be highly variable, depending on age at recording. The objective of this study was to consider random regression (RR) as an alternative to the multi-trait (MT) structure for the analysis of repeated measures of LW.

Developing and using a school menu healthiness assessment tool to analyse school food provision in Wales.

Objectives: To design and develop a new, innovative and valid School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool that is suitable for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of school food and drink provision. Secondly, to analyse primary and secondary school menus and price lists pan-Wales to ascertain their healthiness and whether free school meal eligible pupils can afford to access healthy, nutritious food across the school day.

Design: Codable items and categories of school food and drink provision were operationalised before the tool underwent iterative development and testing.

Direct covalent attachment of fluorescent molecules on plasma polymerized nanoparticles: a simplified approach for biomedical applications.

Polymeric nanoparticles surface functionalised with fluorescent molecules hold significant potential for advancing diagnostics and therapeutic delivery. Despite their promise, challenges persist in achieving robust attachment of fluorescent molecules for real-time tracking. Weak physical adsorption, pH-dependent electrostatic capture, and hydrophobic interactions often fail to achieve stable attachment of fluorescent markers.

Noisy Robots? Comparison of Occupational Noise Levels Between Robotic-Assisted and Conventional Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Background: Noise exposure during surgery is a known occupational hazard, impacting staff hearing and surgical outcomes. Despite guidelines such as the Australian Work Health and Safety Act, noise safety remains largely neglected in orthopaedic surgery. Anecdotally, the introduction of robotic-assisted arthroplasty has contributed to increased noise production.

The practical and ethical challenges of identifying, accessing and obtaining school canteen transactional data for public health research.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate the feasibility of using existing data to better understand what pupils purchase during the school day and its nutritional quality. This report highlights the ethical challenges experienced in attempting to obtain anonymised school canteen transaction data for public health research.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted before a variety of approaches were tried to recruit secondary schools for the study via purposive sampling.

A modular toolkit for environmental , , and enables complex metabolic manipulation.

Soil-dwelling Actinomycetes are a diverse and ubiquitous component of the global microbiome but largely lack genetic tools comparable to those available in model species such as or , posing a fundamental barrier to their characterization and utilization as hosts for biotechnology. To address this, we have developed a modular plasmid assembly framework, along with a series of genetic control elements for the previously genetically intractable Gram-positive environmental isolate C208, and demonstrate conserved functionality in 11 additional environmental isolates of , , and . This toolkit encompasses five Mycobacteriale origins of replication, five broad-host-range antibiotic resistance markers, transcriptional and translational control elements, fluorescent reporters, a tetracycline-inducible system, and a counter-selectable marker.

Neutrophil extracellular traps promote immunopathogenesis of virus-induced COPD exacerbations.

Respiratory viruses are a major trigger of exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Airway neutrophilia is a hallmark feature of stable and exacerbated COPD but roles played by neutrophil extracellular traps (NETS) in driving disease pathogenesis are unclear. Here, using human studies of experimentally-induced and naturally-occurring exacerbations we identify that rhinovirus infection induces airway NET formation which is amplified in COPD and correlates with magnitude of inflammation and clinical exacerbation severity.

A serum calprotectin lateral flow test as an inflammatory and prognostic marker in acute lung infection: a prospective observational study.

https://bit.ly/48e1BIv.

The cost of cosmetic surgery tourism complications to the NHS: A retrospective analysis.

Introduction: Medical tourism refers to the process of patients travelling outside of their native country to undergo elective surgical procedures and is a rapidly expanding healthcare phenomenon [1-3]. Whilst a multitude of established Private Healthcare Providers (PHPs) offer cosmetic surgical procedures within the United Kingdom (UK), a growing number of patients are opting to travel outside of the UK to undergo cosmetic surgery.

Aim: To assess the number of patients presenting to the Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit, with cosmetic surgery tourism complications, from outside of the UK, and the associated costs to NHS Scotland over a five-year period.

Immunogenicity of third dose COVID-19 vaccine strategies in patients who are immunocompromised with suboptimal immunity following two doses (OCTAVE-DUO): an open-label, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial.

Background: The humoral and T-cell responses to booster COVID-19 vaccine types in multidisease immunocompromised individuals who do not generate adequate antibody responses to two COVID-19 vaccine doses, is not fully understood. The OCTAVE DUO trial aimed to determine the value of third vaccinations in a wide range of patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies.

Methods: OCTAVE-DUO was a prospective, open-label, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial investigating humoral and T-cell responses in patients who are immunocompromised following a third vaccine dose with BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273, and of NVX-CoV2373 for those with lymphoid malignancies.

SFX-01 in hospitalised patients with community-acquired pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Introduction: Sulforaphane can induce the transcription factor, Nrf2, promoting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses. In this study, hospitalised patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were treated with stabilised synthetic sulforaphane (SFX-01) to evaluate impact on clinical status and inflammation.

Methods: Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of SFX-01 (300 mg oral capsule, once daily for 14 days) conducted in Dundee, UK, between November 2020 and May 2021.

Extensive acute and sustained changes to neutrophil proteomes post-SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background: Neutrophils are important in the pathophysiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the molecular changes contributing to altered neutrophil phenotypes following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are not fully understood. We used quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics to explore neutrophil phenotypes immediately following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and during recovery.

Methods: Prospective observational study of hospitalised patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (May to December 2020).

Response to Intervention and Specific Learning Disability Identification: Evidence From Tennessee.

Response to intervention (RTI) is a method for providing academic support to students and for identifying specific learning disabilities (SLDs). Using interrupted time series and hazard models, we examined if statewide RTI adoption in the U.S.

Cost-utility analysis of robotic arm-assisted medial compartment knee arthroplasty.

Aims: To perform an incremental cost-utility analysis and assess the impact of differential costs and case volume on the cost-effectiveness of robotic arm-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (rUKA) compared to manual (mUKA).

Methods: This was a five-year follow-up study of patients who were randomized to rUKA (n = 64) or mUKA (n = 65). Patients completed the EuroQol five-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D) preoperatively, and at three months and one, two, and five years postoperatively, which was used to calculate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained.

Investigating Ecological Momentary Assessed Physical Activity and Core Executive Functions in 18- to 24-Year-Old Undergraduate Students.

Although evidence for young children (<10) and older adults (>64) highlights an association between physical activity (PA) and executive functions (EFs), there is a paucity of research on adolescents aged 18-24 years. Thus, this study examined the associations between PA and EF and the difference in EF between individuals who achieve the moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) guidelines and those who do not. Forty-seven participants engaged in a Stroop task, a reverse Corsi-block test, and a task-switching test, to measure inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, respectively.

Pilot randomized trial of an acceptance-based telehealth intervention for women with ovarian cancer and PARP inhibitor-related fatigue.

Objective: Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) have dramatically changed treatment for advanced ovarian cancer, but nearly half of patients experience significant fatigue. We conducted a two-site pilot randomized trial to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a brief, acceptance-based telehealth intervention (REVITALIZE) designed to reduce fatigue interference in patients on PARPi.

Methods: From June 2021 to April 2022, 44 participants were randomized 1:1 to REVITALIZE (6 weekly one-on-one sessions+booster) or enhanced usual care.

SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses and clinical outcomes after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with immune-suppressive disease.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immune responses and infection outcomes were evaluated in 2,686 patients with varying immune-suppressive disease states after administration of two Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. Overall, 255 of 2,204 (12%) patients failed to develop anti-spike antibodies, with an additional 600 of 2,204 (27%) patients generating low levels (<380 AU ml). Vaccine failure rates were highest in ANCA-associated vasculitis on rituximab (21/29, 72%), hemodialysis on immunosuppressive therapy (6/30, 20%) and solid organ transplant recipients (20/81, 25% and 141/458, 31%).

Interrogating the Function of Bicistronic Translational Control Elements to Improve Consistency of Gene Expression.

Context independent gene expression is required for genetic circuits to maintain consistent and predicable behavior. Previous efforts to develop context independent translation have leveraged the helicase activity of translating ribosomes via bicistronic design translational control elements (BCDs) located within an efficiently translated leader peptide. We have developed a series of bicistronic translational control elements with strengths that span several orders of magnitude, maintain consistent expression levels across diverse sequence contexts, and are agnostic to common ligation sequences used in modular cloning systems.

A Systematic Review of Outcomes Following Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL).

Background: Breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) has increasingly become a significant concern for patients. Focus thus far has been on understanding pathogenesis and establishing treatment pathways. There has been less attention on the assessment of long-term treatment outcomes.

Breast lymphomas, breast implants and capsules The timeline of BIA-ALCL with respect to surgical consent: the UK perspective.

Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) is a rare type of T-Cell (non-Hodgkin's) lymphoma associated with the use of silicone breast implants. Recent widespread awareness has focused not only on the management of this condition but also in regards to potential litigation of surgeons, clinics, and breast implant manufacturers. Allegations of causation and inappropriate patient consent are being raised.

Dipeptidyl peptidase-1 inhibition in patients hospitalised with COVID-19: a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Neutrophil serine proteases are involved in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and increased serine protease activity has been reported in severe and fatal infection. We investigated whether brensocatib, an inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase-1 (DPP-1; an enzyme responsible for the activation of neutrophil serine proteases), would improve outcomes in patients hospitalised with COVID-19.

Methods: In a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial, across 14 hospitals in the UK, patients aged 16 years and older who were hospitalised with COVID-19 and had at least one risk factor for severe disease were randomly assigned 1:1, within 96 h of hospital admission, to once-daily brensocatib 25 mg or placebo orally for 28 days.

Evaluation of alternative methods for estimating the precision of REML-based estimates of variance components and heritability.

Residual Maximum Likelihood (REML) analysis is the most widely used method to estimate variance components and heritability. This method is based on large sample theory under the assumption that the parameter estimates are asymptotically multivariate normally distributed with covariance matrix given by the inverse of the information matrix. Hence, these sampling variances could be biased if the assumption of asymptotic approximation is incorrect, especially when the sample size is small.