Poor Performance of Applicator Tampon-Based Self-Collection for Liquid-Based Cytology Among Women Attending a Tertiary Hospital in South Africa.

Background: The South African Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Policy was updated in June 2017, recommending liquid-based cytology (LBC) as the preferred screening method and the investigation of self-sampling for cervical cancer screening.

Aim: To compare the performance of the Self Collection Cervical Health Screening Kit [SelfCerv (applicator tampon)] to the Cervex-Brush Combi for cytology screening. The study further aimed to compare high-risk (hr-) human papillomavirus (HPV) and LBC test results from both methods.

A modular, human body-mimicking phantom with active thermoregulation capabilities for validation and verification of convective hyperthermia devices.

Objectives: This study aims to design and fabricate a modular phantom for hyperthermia applications, addressing interpatient variability in thermal regulation mechanisms like sweating rate, metabolic heat production, and blood redistribution.

Materials & Methods: The phantom can be constructed in various weights and dimensions by connecting identical units. Each unit consists of an agar-based block, an ethyl cellulose-based top layer, a heat source, deep and superficial water circulation, and a sweating mechanism.

Longitudinal changes in DNA methylation associated with clozapine use in treatment-resistant schizophrenia from two international cohorts.

The second-generation antipsychotic clozapine is used as a medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. It has previously been associated with epigenetic changes in pre-clinical rodent models and cross-sectional studies of treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Cross-sectional studies are susceptible to confounding, however, and cannot disentangle the effects of diagnosis and medication.