Publications by authors named "Maggie Bartlett"

The resurgence of H5N1 avian influenza highlights the urgent need for robust surveillance systems to detect zoonotic risks before they evolve into human-to-human transmission. The One Health approach-integrating human, animal, and environmental health-offers a comprehensive framework for addressing these challenges. H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, has caused significant mortality in avian populations and poses a serious threat to human health.

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Background: Blood biomarkers of neurological injury could provide a rapid diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) injury caused by infections. An FDA-approved assay for mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) measures glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), which signal astrocyte and neuronal injury, respectively. Here, we assessed the applicability of this biomarker assay for determining infection-induced brain injury.

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Unlabelled: Sindbis virus (SINV) infection of mice provides a model system for studying the pathogenesis of alphaviruses that infect the central nervous system (CNS) to cause encephalomyelitis. While studies of human viral infections typically focus on accessible cells from the blood, this compartment is rarely evaluated in mice. To bridge this gap, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) was combined with flow cytometry to characterize the transcriptional and phenotypic changes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SINV-infected mice.

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We completed a retrospective review of data collected by the JH-CROWN consortium based on ICD10 codes for a hospitalized cohort. The severity and prevalence of COVID-19 and development of PASC within heritable connective tissue diseases were unknown; however, clinical observation suggested a thorough examination was necessary. We compared rates of disease severity, death, and PASC in connective tissue diseases versus the entire cohort as well as in diabetes and hypertension to determine if connective tissue disease was a risk factor.

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic. Rapid and sensitive detection of the virus soon after infection is important for the treatment and prevention of transmission of COVID-19, and detection of antibodies is important for epidemiology, assessment of vaccine immunogenicity, and identification of the natural reservoir and intermediate host(s). Patient nasal or oropharyngeal swabs or saliva used in conjunction with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA, whereas lateral flow immunoassays (LFI) detect SARS-CoV-2 proteins.

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In March 2020, due to the escalating global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, clinical placements for most medical students in the UK were suspended. A phased resumption of clinical placements started at the beginning of academic year 2020/2021. For the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine programme (ScotGEM), 2020/21 was the first year that Dundee School of Medicine's comprehensive LIC was extended to all 54 students in the penultimate year of the ScotGEM programme.

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Alphaviruses are positive-sense RNA viruses that are important causes of viral encephalomyelitis. Sindbis virus (SINV), the prototype alphavirus, preferentially infects neurons in mice and is a model system for studying mechanisms of viral clearance from the nervous system. Antibody specific to the SINV E2 glycoprotein plays an important role in SINV clearance, and this effect is reproduced in cultures of infected mature neurons.

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Understanding the development and sustainability of the virus-specific protective immune response to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains incomplete with respect to the appearance and disappearance of virus-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) in circulation. Therefore, we performed cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and plasma collected from 55 hospitalized patients up to 4 months after onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Spike (S)- and nucleocapsid (N)-specific IgM and IgG ASCs appeared within 2 weeks accompanied by flow cytometry increases in double negative plasmablasts consistent with a rapid extrafollicular B cell response.

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Although well-established worldwide as a method of clinical medical education, Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LICs) are green shoots in the UK medical education landscape. The first comprehensive LIC in the UK was introduced in Dundee, Scotland in 2016. Substantial work has been carried out to evaluate the experiences of students and primary care tutors involved in the Dundee LIC, but the experiences of the patients LIC students cared for had not been evaluated.

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Article Synopsis
  • Bats, like the Egyptian rousette bat (ERB), can carry viruses that cause serious diseases in humans, making them unique for studying immune responses in asymptomatic hosts.
  • Researchers identified an expansion of antibody genes in ERBs that correlate with human antibodies against certain viruses, as well as mapping out specific immunoglobulin genes that aid their immune response.
  • The study also revealed unique features in how ERBs manage their immune receptors, suggesting that their immune system is tuned to maintain tolerance and minimize inflammation to coexist with harmful viruses.
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Introduction: Effective clinical reasoning is required for safe patient care. Students and postgraduate trainees largely learn the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for effective clinical reasoning implicitly, through experience and apprenticeship. There is a growing consensus that medical schools should teach clinical reasoning in a way that is explicitly integrated into courses throughout each year, adopting a systematic approach consistent with current evidence.

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Acute RNA viral encephalomyelitis is a serious complication of numerous virus infections. Antibodies in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) are correlated to better outcomes, and there is substantive evidence of antibody secreting cells (ASCs) entering the central nervous system (CNS) and contributing to resolution of infection. Here, we review the RNA viruses known to cause acute viral encephalomyelitis with mechanisms of control that require antibody or ASCs.

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Unfortunately information regarding the disclaimer of Paul Worley's affiliation is missing from the original article. Please find the information here:Paul Worley is affiliated to the Prideaux Centre for Research in Health Professions Education, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. He is the ….

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Introduction: The longitudinal integrated clerkship is a model of clinical medical education that is increasingly employed by medical schools around the world. These guidelines are a result of a narrative review of the literature which considered the question of how to maximize the sustainability of a new longitudinal integrated clerkship program.

Method: All four authors have practical experience of establishing longitudinal integrated clerkship programs.

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Although Lloviu virus (LLOV) was discovered in the carcasses of insectivorous Schreiber's Bent-winged bats in the caves of Northern Spain in 2002, its infectivity and pathogenicity remain unclear. We examined the seroprevalence of LLOV in potentially exposed Schreiber's Bent-winged bats ( = 60), common serotine bats ( = 10) as controls, and humans ( = 22) using an immunoblot assay. We found antibodies against LLOV GP in all of Schreiber's Bent-winged bats serum pools, but not in any of the common serotine bats and human pools tested.

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Background: The 2018 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, began on May 8, and was declared over on July 24; it resulted in 54 documented cases and 33 deaths. We did a retrospective genomic characterisation of the outbreak and assessed potential therapeutic agents and vaccine (medical countermeasures).

Methods: We used target-enrichment sequencing to produce Ebola virus genomes from samples obtained in the 2018 Équateur Province outbreak.

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Background: The real-time generation of information about pathogen genomes has become a vital goal for transmission analysis and characterisation in rapid outbreak responses. In response to the recently established genomic capacity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we explored the real-time generation of genomic information at the start of the 2018 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu Province.

Methods: We used targeted-enrichment sequencing to produce two coding-complete Ebola virus genomes 5 days after declaration of the EVD outbreak in North Kivu.

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Dundee University School of Medicine established a pilot for a 40 week long comprehensive Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) in 2016. Ten places for year 4 students are available which are shared between two regions of Scotland which are largely rural areas by UK definitions. This paper describes the drivers for the pilot, its implementation and early evaluation.

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Introduction: Transitions are traditionally viewed as challenging for clinicians. Throughout medical career pathways, clinicians need to successfully navigate successive transitions as they become progressively more independent practitioners. In these guidelines, we aim to synthesize the evidence from the literature to provide guidance for supporting clinicians in their development of independence, and highlight areas for further research.

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This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. How should a medical student address their clinical tutor? Sociolinguistic ideas such as politeness theory tell us that the choice of formal or informal terms of address is determined by the positions of those communicating on two axes; relative status and degree of intimacy.

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