The A-Z of age-related dermatological diseases.

Skin ageing is an inevitable process influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic aging leads to thinner, drier and less elastic skin with fine wrinkles, while extrinsic factors such as sun exposure, smoking and environmental stresses amplify these changes. Photo-ageing, in particular, causes deep wrinkles, uneven pigmentation and increases the risk of skin cancers.

Breast cancer-related lymphoedema: advances and outstanding issues.

Optimal management of breast cancer-related lymphoedema (BCRL), a common and debilitating complication of surgery and radiotherapy, depends on early detection, personalised risk assessment and proactive intervention. For instance, a recent review advises healthcare professionals to reframe the narrative about the daily-living skin trauma risks away from 'what to avoid' to 'what to do'. Another review recommends daily, or nearly daily, exercise at home to reduce lymphoedema severity.

Atopic dermatitis: new insights into a common condition.

Atopic dermatitis is one of the most common conditions managed in the community world-wide. Atopic dermatitis is under intense scrutiny by academic researchers, not to mention drug companies, enabling regular research in the area. Dermatologists have a growing appreciation of the complex causes of this common condition.

Protein Tyrosine Kinase 7 (PTK7) in Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Analysis of Tumour Expression and Association with Clinical Outcome.

Protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7), originally known as colon carcinoma kinase (CCK4), is an evolutionary conserved, catalytically defective transmembrane receptor involved in Wnt signalling. PTK7 has been identified as a potential therapeutic target, and a PTK7 antibody drug conjugate (PF-06647020; cofetuzumab pelidotin) has been investigated in phase I clinical trials for triple-negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. PTK7 protein expression was evaluated in 1136 early-stage invasive breast tumours by immunohistochemistry.

Transanal irrigation: best practice in the community.

Chronic constipation, which is common and often difficult to treat, has numerous origins, including neurological and other conditions, and adverse reactions to drugs, especially opioids. Chronic functional constipation lacks a clear underlying cause. Increasing evidence suggests that transanal irrigation (TAI) aids faecal evacuation and is well tolerated in many people with bowel dysfunction who do not adequately respond to first-line treatments.

Pets, obesity and nurses: surgical site infections in the community.

Many surgical site infections (SSI) emerge after the patient is discharged from hospital. So, practice and district nurses should remain alert for SSIs and address modifiable risk factors, which include helping obese patients lose weight, optimising glucose control in people with diabetes and encouraging smoking cessation. Animals, including pets, are important reservoirs of resistant bacteria.

Unravelling transcriptomic complexity in breast cancer through modulation of DARPP-32 expression and signalling pathways.

DARPP-32 is a key regulator of protein-phosphatase-1 (PP-1) and protein kinase A (PKA), with its function dependent upon its phosphorylation state. We previously identified DKK1 and GRB7 as genes with linked expression using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis; here, we determine protein expression in a large cohort of early-stage breast cancer patients. Low levels of DARPP-32 Threonine-34 phosphorylation and DKK1 expression were significantly associated with poor patient prognosis, while low levels of GRB7 expression were linked to better survival outcomes.

Conflicting theories on addiction aetiology and the strengths and limitations of substance use disorder disease modelling.

A lack of cross-disciplinary unanimity prevails within addiction research. Theories conceptualizing addiction through the three-stage brain disease model contest other theories that substance use disorder is of behavioural or genetic origin. The reverberations of this lack of consensus are noticeable throughout addiction research and within the foundations of disease modelling.

Widespread triazole pesticide use affects infection dynamics of a global amphibian pathogen.

The sixth mass extinction is a consequence of complex interplay between multiple stressors with negative impact on biodiversity. We here examine the interaction between two globally widespread anthropogenic drivers of amphibian declines: the fungal disease chytridiomycosis and antifungal use in agriculture. Field monitoring of 26 amphibian ponds in an agricultural landscape shows widespread occurrence of triazole fungicides in the water column throughout the amphibian breeding season, together with a negative correlation between early season application of epoxiconazole and the prevalence of chytrid infections in aquatic newts.

Effects of soil redistribution by tillage on subsequent transport of pesticide to subsurface drains.

Background: Tillage operations will change the distribution in soil for any pesticide residues still present from earlier applications. This redistributive effect of tillage has been neglected in the study of pesticide leaching behavior. This study reviews the literature to characterize this redistributive effect for different tillage operations and uses a pesticide leaching model to investigate the impact of redistribution on pesticide transport to subsurface drains which is a significant input route to surface water bodies.

Exploring the Role of DARPP-32 in Addiction: A Review of the Current Limitations of Addiction Treatment Pathways and the Role of DARPP-32 to Improve Them.

We are amidst a global addiction crisis, yet stigmas surrounding addiction counterintuitively prevail. Understanding and appreciating the neurobiology of addiction is essential to dissolve this stigma and for the development of new pharmacological agents to improve upon currently narrow therapeutic options. This review highlights this and evaluates dopamine-and-cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, Mr 32 kDa (DARPP-32) as a potential target to treat various forms of substance abuse.

Lower extremity lymphoedema: some recent literature highlights.

Lower extremity lymphoedema is common after many cancers. Nevertheless, epidemiological estimates of the prevalence of lower extremity lymphoedema vary widely. A recent study, however, clarified the rates in women with colorectal, endometrial and ovarian malignancies: about one third self-reported lower extremity lymphoedema.

Recent insights into catheter-related urinary tract infections.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) commonly develop in people with urinary catheters. Inserting a catheter can damage the urothelial barrier and trigger the formation of a biofilm on the catheter that allows bacteria direct access to the bladder. Biofilms also protect bacteria from the immune system and reduce antibiotic effectiveness.

Regulatory groundwater monitoring: Realistic residues of pinoxaden and metabolites at vulnerable locations.

A bespoke groundwater monitoring programme was designed to generate a database of pinoxaden and metabolite concentrations in shallow groundwater at agricultural locations across Europe. The data generated from this programme represent a higher tier refinement of modelled exposure estimates and provide realistic information on groundwater quality at vulnerable locations which will aid plant protection product (PPP) assessment in Europe in relation to Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009.

Presence of low virulence chytrid fungi could protect European amphibians from more deadly strains.

Wildlife diseases are contributing to the current Earth's sixth mass extinction; one disease, chytridiomycosis, has caused mass amphibian die-offs. While global spread of a hypervirulent lineage of the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (BdGPL) causes unprecedented loss of vertebrate diversity by decimating amphibian populations, its impact on amphibian communities is highly variable across regions. Here, we combine field data with in vitro and in vivo trials that demonstrate the presence of a markedly diverse variety of low virulence isolates of BdGPL in northern European amphibian communities.

Correction: Sexual dichromatism in the neotropical genus Mannophryne (Anura: Aromobatidae).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Sexual dichromatism in the neotropical genus Mannophryne (Anura: Aromobatidae).

Recent reviews on sexual dichromatism in frogs included Mannophryne trinitatis as the only example they could find of dynamic dichromatism (males turn black when calling) within the family Aromobatidae and found no example of ontogenetic dichromatism in this group. We demonstrate ontogenetic dichromatism in M. trinitatis by rearing post-metamorphic froglets to near maturity: the throats of all individuals started as grey coloured; at around seven weeks, the throat became pale yellow in some, and more strongly yellow as development proceeded; the throats of adults are grey in males and variably bright yellow in females, backed by a dark collar.

UrgoClean Ag: evidence base and mode of action.

UrgoClean Ag is indicated for all exuding wounds with signs of increased bioburden and biofilm. This article describes the evidence base supporting its efficacy.

Botulinum Toxin in Aesthetic Medicine: Myths and Realities.

Background: Several formulations of Botulinum toxin serotype A (BoNT-A) for aesthetic indications are available, with numbers likely to increase. Preparations are not interchangeable, based on dose unit comparisons.

Objective: Numerous myths and misconceptions regarding the use of BoNT-A for aesthetic indications have arisen, which this review aims to lay to rest.

Development and Application of an eDNA Method to Detect the Critically Endangered Trinidad Golden Tree Frog (Phytotriades auratus) in Bromeliad Phytotelmata.

The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor rare and elusive species has great potential for conservation biology. Traditional surveying methods can be time-consuming, labour-intensive, subject to error or can be invasive and potentially damaging to habitat. The Trinidad golden treefrog (Phytotriades auratus) is one such species that would benefit from such an approach.

Persistent hypertriglyceridemia in statin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Purpose: This paper reports the results of an audit that assessed the prevalence of residual hypertriglyceridemia and the potential need for intensified management among patients with statin-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in primary care in the UK.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional, observational, systematic audit of patients with diagnosed diabetes from 40 primary care practices was undertaken. The audit collected basic demographic information and data on prescriptions issued during the preceding 4 months.

Clinical and economic evidence supporting a transparent barrier film dressing in incontinence-associated dermatitis and peri-wound skin protection.

Objective: To summarise the clinical and economic literature relating to the effect of Cavilon No Sting Barrier Film on the incidence of incontinence-associated dermatitis, which is a risk factor for pressure ulceration and exudate-related peri-wound skin damage.

Method: A systematic literature search was performed using available computerised databases for publications on Cavilon barrier film and other relevant terms. Six clinical studies were identified providing data on 1,563 patients treated with the barrier film or a comparator.