Rising mortality among people who inject drugs living with HIV in Scotland, UK: A 20-year retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: Our aim was to examine mortality trends in the era of antiretroviral therapy, among people who inject drugs (PWID) who are living with HIV. The study objectives were to assess and quantify mortality among PWID diagnosed with HIV over time in Scotland, in the context of a recent outbreak of HIV and rise in drug-related mortality.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of those diagnosed with HIV in Scotland between January 2000 and February 2020, with acquisition related to injecting drug use, linked to mortality data.

Assessing the reach and engagement with the '' mass media campaign on drug-related death prevention in Scotland.

' (HTSAL) was a mass media campaign on drug-related death prevention which ran in Scotland from August 2021 to January 2022. It aimed to increase awareness of how to respond to an opioid overdose, and the uptake of take-home naloxone (THN). The objective of this study was to determine the reach and engagement with the campaign.

Factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 testing, diagnosis and COVID-19 disease among individuals prescribed opioid-agonist treatment: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: Among people receiving opioid-agonist treatment (OAT), the risk of COVID-19 infection and disease may be higher owing to underlying health problems and vulnerable social circumstances. We aimed to determine whether recent OAT, when compared with past exposure, affected the risk of (i) testing for SARS-CoV-2, (ii) testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, and (iii) being hospitalized or dying with COVID-19 disease.

Methods: We included individuals prescribed OAT in Scotland from 2015 to 2020.

Risk of drug-related death associated with co-prescribing of gabapentinoids and Z-drugs among people receiving opioid-agonist treatment: A national retrospective cohort study.

Background: Prescribing of gabapentinoids and Z-drug-hypnotics has increased in the population and among people receiving opioid-agonist treatment (OAT) for opioid dependence. Evidence is mixed on whether co-prescribing of sedatives such as gabapentinoids and Z-drugs during OAT increases risk of drug-related death (DRD).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of individuals prescribed OAT between 2011 and 2020 in Scotland.

Prevalence of opioid dependence in Scotland 2015-2020: A multi-parameter estimation of prevalence (MPEP) study.

Background And Aims: Drug-related deaths in Scotland more than doubled between 2011 and 2020. To inform policymakers and understand drivers of this increase, we estimated the number of people with opioid dependence aged 15-64 from 2014/15 to 2019/20.

Design: We fitted a Bayesian multi-parameter estimation of prevalence (MPEP) model, using adverse event rates to estimate prevalence of opioid dependence jointly from Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT), opioid-related mortality and hospital admissions data.

National increase in the community supply of take-home naloxone associated with a mass media campaign in Scotland: a segmented time series analysis.

Background: Take-home naloxone (THN) programmes have been associated with reductions in opioid-related mortality. In response to high rates of drug-related deaths in Scotland, the Scottish Government commissioned the 'How to save a life' (HTSAL) mass media campaign to: (1) increase awareness of drug-related deaths and how to respond to an overdose, and (2) increase the supply of THN. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the campaign on the supply of THN.

Mortality among individuals prescribed opioid-agonist therapy in Scotland, UK, 2011-20: a national retrospective cohort study.

Background: Drug-related death (DRD) rate in Scotland, UK, has increased rapidly to one of the highest in the world. Our aim was to examine the extent to which opioid-agonist therapy (OAT) in Scotland is protective against drug-related mortality and how this effect has varied over time.

Methods: We included individuals in Scotland with opioid use disorder who received at least one OAT prescription between Jan 1, 2011, and Dec 31, 2020.

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic Response on Service Provision for Sexually Transmitted Infections, HIV, and Viral Hepatitis, England.

Since the coronavirus disease pandemic response began in March 2020, tests, vaccinations, diagnoses, and treatment initiations for sexual health, HIV, and viral hepatitis in England have declined. The shift towards online and outreach services happened rapidly during 2020 and highlights the need to evaluate the effects of these strategies on health inequalities.

Examining the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 and associated control measures on interventions to prevent blood-borne viruses among people who inject drugs in Scotland: an interrupted time series study.

Background: COVID-19 has likely affected the delivery of interventions to prevent blood-borne viruses (BBVs) among people who inject drugs (PWID). We examined the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 in Scotland on: 1) needle and syringe provision (NSP), 2) opioid agonist therapy (OAT) and 3) BBV testing.

Methods: An interrupted time series study design; 23rd March 2020 (date of the first 'lockdown') was chosen as the key date.

In a Genomic Era, Placental Pathology Still Holds the Key in the Nondysmorphic Stillbirth.

Objective To explore the relative utility of genetic testing in contrast to placental pathology in explaining causation of death in the structurally normal stillborn population. Methods A retrospective review of a structurally normal stillborn infant cohort in South East Scotland between 2011 and 2015, defined by death at or after 24 weeks of gestation. We reviewed pathology reports and collected demographic data on cases.

Pilot Study of a New Nonradioactive Surgical Guidance Technology for Locating Nonpalpable Breast Lesions.

Background: The current technique for locating nonpalpable breast lesions is wire localization (WL). Radioactive seed localization and intraoperative ultrasound were developed to improve difficulties with WL. The SAVI SCOUT surgical guidance system was developed to improve these methods.

Regulatory dendritic cell therapy: from rodents to clinical application.

Dendritic cells (DC) are highly-specialized, bone marrow-derived antigen-presenting cells that induce or regulate innate and adaptive immunity. Regulatory or "tolerogenic" DC play a crucial role in maintaining self tolerance in the healthy steady-state. These regulatory innate immune cells subvert naïve or memory T cell responses by various mechanisms.

Transmitted duplication of 8p23.1-8p23.2 associated with speech delay, autism and learning difficulties.

Duplications of distal 8p with and without significant clinical phenotypes have been reported and are often associated with an unusual degree of structural complexity. Here, we present a duplication of 8p23.1-8p23.

Applications of comparative genomic hybridisation in constitutional chromosome studies.

G band cytogenetic analysis often leads to the discovery of unbalanced karyotypes that require further characterisation by molecular cytogenetic studies. In particular, G band analysis usually does not show the chromosomal origin of small marker chromosomes or of a small amount of extra material detected on otherwise normal chromosomes. Comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) is one of several molecular approaches that can be applied to ascertain the origin of extra chromosomal material.

t(8;13) (p11;q12) translocation in a myeloproliferative disorder associated with a T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

An unusual cytogenetic translocation, t(8;13) (p11;q12), is described in a patient presenting with a CML-like myeloproliferative disorder associated with a high-grade T-cell lymphoma. Evidence is presented suggesting that the breakpoint region in the translocation involves a site implicated in both the T cell malignancy and the abnormal granulocyte proliferation.

Reverse chromosome painting: a method for the rapid analysis of aberrant chromosomes in clinical cytogenetics.

We describe a method, termed reverse chromosome painting, which allows the rapid analysis of the content and breakpoints of aberrant chromosomes. The method involves the sorting of small numbers of the aberrant chromosome from short term blood culture preparations or cell lines by using bivariate flow karyotype analysis. The sorted chromosomes are amplified and biotin labelled enzymatically using a degenerate oligonucleotide-primed polymerase chain reaction (DOP-PCR), the product annealed to metaphase spreads from normal subjects, and hybridisation detected using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH).