Delayed return of bowel function after general surgery in South Australia.

Introduction: Reference ranges for determining pathological versus normal postoperative return of bowel function are not well characterised for general surgery patients. This study aimed to characterise time to first postoperative passage of stool after general surgery; determine associations between clinical factors and delayed time to first postoperative stool; and evaluate the association between delay to first postoperative stool and prolonged length of hospital stay.

Methods: This study included consecutive admissions at two tertiary hospitals across a two-year period whom underwent a range of general surgery operations.

Range-scalable distributed acoustic sensing with EDFA repeaters demonstrated over 2227 km.

We demonstrate a new, to the best of our knowledge, range-scalable repeatered distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) solution sharing technology with existing long-haul subsea telecom networks capable of low noise and high spatial and temporal resolution. Single ended DAS interrogation through a 2227 km line comprising 39 repeatered fiber spans is demonstrated with a 10 m spatial resolution, a 1.78 kHz sampling rate, and a strain resolution of 35 pε/√Hz for the outermost span.

Efficient reinterpretation of rare disease cases using Exomiser.

Whole genome sequencing has transformed rare disease research; however, 50-80% of rare disease patients remain undiagnosed after such testing. Regular reanalysis can identify new diagnoses, especially in newly discovered disease-gene associations, but efficient tools are required to support clinical interpretation. Exomiser, a phenotype-driven variant prioritisation tool, fulfils this role; within the 100,000 Genomes Project (100kGP), diagnoses were identified after reanalysis in 463 (2%) of 24,015 unsolved patients after previous analysis for variants in known disease genes.

Enhancing Buccal Drug Delivery: The Impact of Glycerol in Slot-Die-Coated Pectin Films.

Buccal delivery offers a promising alternative to e.g., oral or parenteral drug administrations by leveraging the mucosal membranes of the mouth to enhance drug absorption and enhance patient compliance.

Attitudes Toward Medical Assistance in Dying Among Swedish Palliative Care Professionals.

The debate over legalizing medical assistance in dying (assisted dying) is ongoing, also in Nordic countries such as Sweden where assisted dying is illegal. A 2020 survey by the Swedish Medical Association highlighted varied perspectives, with 41% of physicians supporting and 34% opposing legalization. Professionals in palliative care were more negative toward it.