Impact and cost-effectiveness of scaling up HCV testing and treatment strategies for achieving HCV elimination among people who inject drugs in England: a mathematical modelling study.

Background: England aims to reach the World Health Organization (WHO) elimination target of decreasing HCV incidence among people who inject drugs (PWID) to <2 per 100 person-years (/100pyrs) by 2030. We assessed what testing and treatment strategies will achieve this target and whether they are cost-effective.

Methods: A dynamic deterministic HCV transmission model among PWID was developed for four England regions, utilising data on the scale-up of HCV treatment among PWID in prisons, drug treatment centres (DTC, where opioid agonist therapy is provided), and any other setting (e.

Predicting the replicability of social and behavioural science claims in COVID-19 preprints.

Replications are important for assessing the reliability of published findings. However, they are costly, and it is infeasible to replicate everything. Accurate, fast, lower-cost alternatives such as eliciting predictions could accelerate assessment for rapid policy implementation in a crisis and help guide a more efficient allocation of scarce replication resources.

Testing and Treatment Interventions in Community Settings Key to Controlling a Recent Human Immunodeficiency Virus Outbreak Among People Who Inject Drugs in Glasgow: A Modeling Study.

Background: A human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outbreak was identified among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Glasgow in 2015, with >150 diagnoses by the end of 2019. The outbreak response involved scaling up HIV testing and improving HIV treatment initiation and retention.

Methods: We parameterized and calibrated a dynamic, deterministic model of HIV transmission among PWID in Glasgow to epidemiological data.

Predictors of engagement in screening for a hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment trial in a rural Appalachian community.

An HCV treatment trial was initiated in September 2019 to address the opioid/hepatitis C virus (HCV) syndemic in rural Kentucky. The focus of the current analysis is on participation in diagnostic screening for the trial. Initial eligibility (≥18 years of age, county resident) was established by phone followed by in-person HCV viremia testing.

Trends and factors associated with illicit drug use in South Africa: Findings from multiple national population-based household surveys, 2002-2017.

Background: Illicit drug use results in considerable global morbidity, but there is little data on its trends and factors associated with it in sub-Saharan Africa. We consider these questions using national data from South Africa for 2002-2017.

Methods: We analysed data among individuals aged 15 years or older from five national population-based household surveys in South Africa (2002-2017; n = 89,113).

Cancer researchers' experiences with and perceptions of research data sharing: Results of a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Despite wide recognition of the benefits of sharing research data, public availability rates have not increased substantially in oncology or medicine more broadly over the last decade.

Methods: We surveyed 285 cancer researchers to determine their prior experience with sharing data and views on known drivers and inhibitors.

Results: We found that 45% of respondents had shared some data from their most recent empirical publication, with respondents who typically studied non-human research participants, or routinely worked with human genomic data, more likely to share than those who did not.

Beta-2 adrenergic receptor agonism alters astrocyte phagocytic activity and has potential applications to psychiatric disease.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating condition necessitating more efficacious therapies. Previous studies suggested that schizophrenia development is associated with aberrant synaptic pruning by glial cells. We pursued an interdisciplinary approach to understand whether therapeutic reduction in glial cell-specifically astrocytic-phagocytosis might benefit neuropsychiatric patients.

A community-based strategy to eliminate hepatitis C among people who inject drugs in Vietnam.

Background: Towards hepatitis C elimination among people who inject drugs (PWID), we assessed the effectiveness of a strategy consisting of a community-based respondent-driven sampling (RDS) as wide screening, a simplified and integrated hospital-based care, and prevention of reinfection supported by community-based organisations (CBO), in Hai Phong, Vietnam.

Methods: Adults who injected heroin were enrolled in a RDS survey implemented in two CBO premises. Rapid HIV and HCV tests were done on site, and blood was taken for HCV RNA testing.

Estimates of hepatitis B virus prevalence among general population and key risk groups in EU/EEA/UK countries: a systematic review.

BackgroundThe burden of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) varies across the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA).AimWe aimed to update the 2017 HBV prevalence estimates in EU/EEA countries and the United Kingdom for 2018 to 2021.MethodsWe undertook a systematic review, adding to HBV prevalence estimates from an existing (2005-2017) database.

Prevalence and predictors of data and code sharing in the medical and health sciences: systematic review with meta-analysis of individual participant data.

Objectives: To synthesise research investigating data and code sharing in medicine and health to establish an accurate representation of the prevalence of sharing, how this frequency has changed over time, and what factors influence availability.

Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis of individual participant data.

Data Sources: Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, and the preprint servers medRxiv, bioRxiv, and MetaArXiv were searched from inception to 1 July 2021.

Estimating hepatitis B virus prevalence among key population groups for European Union and European Economic Area countries and the United Kingdom: a modelling study.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) epidemiology in Europe differs by region and population risk group, and data are often incomplete. We estimated chronic HBV prevalence as measured by surface antigen (HBsAg) among general and key population groups for each country in the European Union, European Economic Area and the United Kingdom (EU/EEA/UK), including where data are currently unavailable.

Methods: We combined data from a 2018 systematic review (updated in 2021), data gathered directly by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) from EU/EEA countries and the UK and further country-level data.

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.

Predicting and reasoning about replicability using structured groups.

This paper explores judgements about the replicability of social and behavioural sciences research and what drives those judgements. Using a mixed methods approach, it draws on qualitative and quantitative data elicited from groups using a structured approach called the IDEA protocol ('investigate', 'discuss', 'estimate' and 'aggregate'). Five groups of five people with relevant domain expertise evaluated 25 research claims that were subject to at least one replication study.

New records of Nitidulidae (Nitidulidae, Coleoptera) species in Canada, Ontario, and Manitoba.

Nitidulidae trapping performed from 2018 to 2021 to characterize flight behaviors of potential vectors of the oak wilt pathogen yielded three new species records for Canada, six new species records for Ontario, and three new species records for Manitoba. The new records for Canada include Carpophilus (Ecnomorphus) corticinus reported from Ontario, C. (Myothorax) nepos reported from Ontario and Manitoba, and Glischrochilus (Librodor) obtusus reported from Ontario.

Developing, pilot testing, and refining requirements for 3 EHR-integrated interventions to improve diagnostic safety in acute care: a user-centered approach.

Objective: To describe a user-centered approach to develop, pilot test, and refine requirements for 3 electronic health record (EHR)-integrated interventions that target key diagnostic process failures in hospitalized patients.

Materials And Methods: Three interventions were prioritized for development: a Diagnostic Safety Column () within an EHR-integrated dashboard to identify at-risk patients; a Diagnostic Time-Out () for clinicians to reassess the working diagnosis; and a Patient Diagnosis Questionnaire () to gather patient concerns about the diagnostic process. Initial requirements were refined from analysis of test cases with elevated risk predicted by logic compared to risk perceived by a clinician working group; testing sessions with clinicians; responses from patients; and focus groups with clinicians and patient advisors using storyboarding to model the integrated interventions.

Incidence of HIV and hepatitis C virus among people who inject drugs, and associations with age and sex or gender: a global systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Measuring the incidence of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) is key to track progress towards elimination. We aimed to summarise global data on HIV and primary HCV incidence among PWID and associations with age and sex or gender.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we updated an existing database of HIV and HCV incidence studies among PWID by searching MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO, capturing studies published between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 12, 2022, with no language or study design restrictions.

Impact and cost-effectiveness of the national scale-up of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among female sex workers in South Africa: a modelling analysis.

Introduction: In 2016, South Africa (SA) initiated a national programme to scale-up pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among female sex workers (FSWs), with ∼20,000 PrEP initiations among FSWs (∼14% of FSW) by 2020. We evaluated the impact and cost-effectiveness of this programme, including future scale-up scenarios and the potential detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A compartmental HIV transmission model for SA was adapted to include PrEP.

Predicting reliability through structured expert elicitation with the repliCATS (Collaborative Assessments for Trustworthy Science) process.

As replications of individual studies are resource intensive, techniques for predicting the replicability are required. We introduce the repliCATS (Collaborative Assessments for Trustworthy Science) process, a new method for eliciting expert predictions about the replicability of research. This process is a structured expert elicitation approach based on a modified Delphi technique applied to the evaluation of research claims in social and behavioural sciences.

Providers' and Patients' Perspectives on Diagnostic Errors in the Acute Care Setting.

Background: Diagnostic errors (DEs) have been studied extensively in ambulatory care, but less work has been done in the acute care setting. In this study, the authors examined health care providers' and patients' perspectives about the classification of DEs, the main causes and scope of DEs in acute care, the main gaps in current systems, and the need for innovative solutions.

Methods: A qualitative mixed methods study was conducted, including semistructured interviews with health care providers and focus groups with patient advisors.

Interventions to prevent HIV and Hepatitis C among people who inject drugs: Latest evidence of effectiveness from a systematic review (2011 to 2020).

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV remain prevalent among people who inject drugs (PWID) and transmission is usually associated with injecting risk behaviour (IRB). We update a 2011 review of reviews (RoR) to assess the latest evidence on the effectiveness of harm reduction interventions - drug treatment (including opioid agonist therapy [OAT]), needle and syringe programmes (NSP) and other interventions - in the prevention of HCV and HIV transmission, and related measures of infection risk (IRB and injecting frequency [IF]), among PWID.

Methods: We undertook an initial search for systematic reviews (i.

What state of the world are we in? Targeted monitoring to detect transitions in vegetation restoration projects.

Monitoring vegetation restoration is challenging because monitoring is costly, requires long-term funding, and involves monitoring multiple vegetation variables that are often not linked back to learning about progress toward objectives. There is a clear need for the development of targeted monitoring programs that focus on a reduced set of variables that are tied to specific restoration objectives. In this paper, we present a method to progress the development of a targeted monitoring program, using a pre-existing state-and-transition model.

The effect of mode of delivery on health-related quality-of-life in mothers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Previous research is inconclusive on the effects of mode of delivery on maternal health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the current evidence for associations between mode of delivery and postpartum health-related quality-of-life.

Methods: Electronic databases MEDLINE ALL (OVID), Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL and EMBASE (OVID) were searched for English written articles investigating the relationship between mode of delivery and quality-of-life published form inception to 15th October 2020.