Using trained dogs and organic semi-conducting sensors to identify asymptomatic and mild SARS-CoV-2 infections: an observational study.

Background: A rapid, accurate, non-invasive diagnostic screen is needed to identify people with SARS-CoV-2 infection. We investigated whether organic semi-conducting (OSC) sensors and trained dogs could distinguish between people infected with asymptomatic or mild symptoms, and uninfected individuals, and the impact of screening at ports-of-entry.

Methods: Odour samples were collected from adults, and SARS-CoV-2 infection status confirmed using RT-PCR.

A data-driven approach to increasing the lifetime of IoT sensor nodes.

Data transmission accounts for significant energy consumption in wireless sensor networks where streaming data is generated by the sensors. This impedes their use in many settings, including livestock monitoring over large pastures (which forms our target application). We present Ambrosia, a lightweight protocol that utilizes a window-based timeseries forecasting mechanism for data reduction.

Relationship quality and objectively measured physical activity before and after implementation of COVID-19 stay-home orders.

In a sample of 28 individuals cohabiting with a partner in NYC, Boston, or Chicago, this study tested whether implementation of stay-home orders to combat the spread of COVID-19 disrupted physical activity and whether high-quality romantic relationships buffered adverse effects. Participants provided FitBit data between February and October, 2020. Stay-home orders were associated with a reduction in daily step counts,  = -1595.

Driving quality improvement with a massive open online course (MOOC).

Background: Quality improvement (QI) is a priority for national regulatory bodies in health and care in the UK. However, many health and care staff do not know where to go for support in gaining the required skills and knowledge in QI. This paper reviews Improvement Fundamentals, a massive open online course (MOOC), designed to address this gap, run by an improvement team in the national regulatory body.

The influence of personal values and patient intoxication on nurses concerns about opioids: results of a prospective cross-sectional multi-centre study.

Background: Nurses are the main administrators of opioids in hospitals and enjoy some autonomy when using them to manage pain. Nevertheless evidence suggests they exercise this freedom restrictively with the reasons for this self-limitation remaining unclear. Nurses are influenced by personal and professional values and by patients' attributes.

Feasibility of integrating canine olfaction with chemical and microbial profiling of urine to detect lethal prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the developed world. A more sensitive and specific detection strategy for lethal prostate cancer beyond serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) population screening is urgently needed. Diagnosis by canine olfaction, using dogs trained to detect cancer by smell, has been shown to be both specific and sensitive.

A Lesson in Standardization - Subtle Aspects of the Processing of Samples Can Greatly Affect Dogs' Learning.

Training new medical odors presents challenges in procuring sufficient target samples, and suitably matched controls. Organizations are often forced to choose between using fewer samples and risking dogs learning individuals or using differently sourced samples. Even when aiming to standardize all aspects of collection, processing, storage and presentation, this risks there being subtle differences which dogs use to discriminate, leading to artificially high performance, not replicable when novel samples are presented.

Antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors profile of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli isolated from different environments exposed to anthropogenic activity.

Objective: The study aimed to identify the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants and virulence factors in Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli recovered from different anthropogenic areas in North Carolina.

Methods: Soil samples were collected from different anthropogenic areas, urban and natural.

Impact of order entry alerts and modifications on doses of intravenous opioids dispensed during a national drug shortage.

Purpose: To address the intravenous (i.v.) opioid shortage, computer-based alerts and modifications were implemented over 2 phases beginning in August 2017 and February 2018, respectively.

An Owner-Independent Investigation of Diabetes Alert Dog Performance.

To quantify Diabetes Alert Dog (DAD) performance by using owner-independent measures. Eight owners of accredited DADs used a FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System (FGMS). Concurrent Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage was collected for between 5 and 14 days in each owner's home or workplace.

Canine Olfactory Thresholds to Amyl Acetate in a Biomedical Detection Scenario.

Dogs' abilities to respond to concentrations of odorant molecules are generally deemed superior to electronic sensors. This sensitivity has been used traditionally in many areas; but is a more recent innovation within the medical field. As a bio-detection sensor for human diseases such as cancer and infections, dogs often need to detect volatile organic compounds in bodily fluids such as urine and blood.

How effective are trained dogs at alerting their owners to changes in blood glycaemic levels?: Variations in performance of glycaemia alert dogs.

Aims: Domestic dogs are trained to a wide variety of roles including an increasing number of medical assistance tasks. Glycaemia alert dogs are reported to greatly improve the quality of life of owners living with Type 1 diabetes. Research into their value is currently sparse, on small numbers of dogs and provides conflicting results.

SNIFF AND TELL: THE FEASIBILITY OF USING BIO-DETECTION DOGS AS A MOBILE DIAGNOSTIC INTERVENTION FOR ASYMPTOMATIC MALARIA IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.

Bio-Detection Dogs (BDDs) are used in some high-income countries as a diagnostic intervention, yet little is known about their potential in low/middle-income countries with limited diagnostic resources. This exploratory study investigated the opportunities and implications of deploying BDDs as a mobile diagnostic intervention to identify people with asymptomatic malaria, particularly at ports of entry, as an important step to malaria elimination in a population. A qualitative study design consisting of participant observation, five focus group discussions and informal conversations was employed in The Gambia in April-May 2017.

Extraordinary normalcy: Home, relationships and identities in narratives of unpaid care.

Based on audio diaries and narrative interviews with family carers, this paper suggests care can be understood as an experience of 'extraordinary normalcy', meaning that profound shifts in home, relationships and identities take place whilst caring, yet these become part of the normalcy of family life. To maintain and understand a sense of normalcy, our participants utilise professional and technological interventions in the home and draw on notions of responsibility, reciprocity and role-reversal as frameworks for explaining why they continue to care, despite the challenges it brings. The paper considers how domestic activities performed in the home can both highlight the extraordinary aspects of care and help maintain the normalcy of the everyday.

The Melbourne epidemic thunderstorm asthma event 2016: an investigation of environmental triggers, effect on health services, and patient risk factors.

Background: A multidisciplinary collaboration investigated the world's largest, most catastrophic epidemic thunderstorm asthma event that took place in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov 21, 2016, to inform mechanisms and preventive strategies.

Methods: Meteorological and airborne pollen data, satellite-derived vegetation index, ambulance callouts, emergency department presentations, and data on hospital admissions for Nov 21, 2016, as well as leading up to and following the event were collected between Nov 21, 2016, and March 31, 2017, and analysed. We contacted patients who presented during the epidemic thunderstorm asthma event at eight metropolitan health services (each including up to three hospitals) via telephone questionnaire to determine patient characteristics, and investigated outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions.

The clinical utility of the IRAC component of the Framework for Routine Outcome Measurement in Liaison Psychiatry (FROM-LP).

Unlabelled: Aims and methodThe clinical utility of the multidimensional Framework for Routine Outcome Measurement in Liaison Psychiatry (FROM-LP) has not previously been examined. We sought to establish whether referral accuracy and ability to achieve the reason(s) for referral to our liaison service improved after incorporating the Identify and Rate the Aim of the Contact (IRAC) scale of this tool into our referral process. We carried out a retrospective analysis of electronic case notes of all appropriate referrals to the team before and after this adaption.