Use of digital food records in clinical settings: lessons in translation from a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Digital food records offer efficiencies in collecting and assessing dietary information remotely; however, research into factors impacting their translation into clinical settings is limited.

Methods: The study examined factors that may impact the integration of digital food records into clinical dietetic practice by assessing (1) the source and rate of data errors received, (2) the impact of dietitian-adjusted data on dietary variables and (3) the acceptance of use in a complex chronic condition cohort. Adults from specialist clinics enroled in a randomised controlled feasibility trial participated.

Do mobile applications foster sustainable mobility? Evidence from a field experiment.

Mobile applications hold promise to foster sustainable mobility behavior, but evaluations of their effectiveness are subject to a number of empirical challenges. We conduct a randomized controlled trial with three distinctive features: unobtrusive tracking of the control group, limited sample attrition, and a representative sample. In our study, 410 participants track their mobility behavior over a 5 week period.

Conventional Manufacturing by Pouring Versus Additive Manufacturing Technology of β-Tricalcium Phosphate Bone Substitute Implants.

The aim of the study was to compare conventional sintering with additive manufacturing techniques for β-TCP bioceramics, focusing on mechanical properties and biocompatibility. A "critical" bone defect requires surgical intervention beyond simple stabilization. Autologous bone grafting is the gold standard treatment for such defects, but it has its limitations.

Implementing early feeding after liver transplant using implementation frameworks: A multimethod study.

Background: Evidence-based guidelines (EBGs) in the nutrition management of advanced liver disease and enhanced recovery after surgery recommendations state that normal diet should recommence 12-24 h following liver transplantation. This study aimed to compare postoperative nutrition practices to guideline recommendations, explore clinician perceptions regarding feeding after transplant surgery, and implement and evaluate strategies to improve postoperative nutrition practices.

Methods: A pre-post multimethod implementation study was undertaken, guided by the knowledge-to-action framework.

Utilizing technology for diet and exercise change in complex chronic conditions across diverse environments (U-DECIDE): feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Background: Diet and exercise are important components of treatment for complex chronic conditions, however access to allied health support is limited. When available, support is often siloed and fragmented. Digital health incorporating patient choice may help to align health care services with preferences and goals.

The effectiveness of the Mediterranean Diet for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: An umbrella review.

Aims: This study aimed to review meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials that evaluated the effectiveness of the Mediterranean Diet for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Five databases (Medline, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL and ProQuest) were searched from inception to November 2022. Inclusion criteria were: (i) systematic review of randomised controlled studies with metanalysis; (ii) adults ≥18 years from the general population with (secondary prevention) and without (primary prevention) established cardiovascular disease; (iii) Mediterranean Diet compared with another dietary intervention or usual care.

Biodegradable composites with antibiotics and growth factors for dual release kinetics.

Bone infections are still a major problem in surgery. To avoid severe side effects of systemically administered antibiotics, local antibiotic therapy is increasingly being considered. Using a pressure-based method developed in our group, microporous β-TCP ceramics, which had previously been characterized, were loaded with 2% w/v alginate containing 50 mg/mL clindamycin and 10 µg/mL rhBMP-2.

Helminth induced monocytosis conveys protection from respiratory syncytial virus infection in mice.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in infants is a major cause of viral bronchiolitis and hospitalisation. We have previously shown in a murine model that ongoing infection with the gut helminth Heligmosomoides polygyrus protects against RSV infection through type I interferon (IFN-I) dependent reduction of viral load. Yet, the cellular basis for this protection has remained elusive.

Patients' acceptability of self-selected digital health services to support diet and exercise among people with complex chronic conditions: Mixed methods study.

Objective: The acceptability of being offered a choice from a suite of digital health service options to support optimal diet and exercise behaviors in adults with complex chronic conditions was evaluated. This study sought to understand many areas of acceptability including satisfaction, ease of use, usefulness and user appropriateness and perceived effectiveness.

Methods: This mixed-methods study was embedded within a randomized-controlled feasibility trial providing digital health services managing diet and exercise for adults from specialist kidney and liver disease clinics.

Evaluating the Potential of a Novel Metabolic Syndrome Severity Score to Inform Exercise Interventions for People with Complex Chronic Conditions.

Exercise interventions positively affect numerous cardiometabolic risk factors. To better evaluate the health effects of exercise training, it may be more appropriate to evaluate risk factors together. The Metabolic Syndrome Severity Score (MetSSS) is a composite score representing cardiometabolic risk.

Mechanical and histological properties of native medial menisci compared to allograph medial menisci in the osteoarthritic knee.

This study was designed to provide information on how the menisci change over the course of osteoarthritis, particularly with regard to their mechanical properties. The aim was to determine the difference between healthy menisci (fresh frozen meniscal transplants) and menisci harvested during total knee arthroplasty. The latter allows the grading of age-related and osteoarthritic changes in the menisci on macroscopic and microscopic levels.

The assessment of dietary carotenoid intake of the Cardio-Med FFQ using food records and biomarkers in an Australian cardiology cohort: a pilot validation.

Dietary carotenoids are associated with lower risk of CHD. Assessment of dietary carotenoid intake using questionnaires can be susceptible to measurement error. Consequently, there is a need to validate data collected from FFQs which measure carotenoid intake.

Internal Rotation Measurement of the Knee with Polymer-Based Capacitive Strain Gauges versus Mechanical Rotation Measurement Taking Gender Differences into Account: A Comparative Analysis.

With the conventional mechanical rotation measurement of joints, only static measurements are possible with the patient at rest. In the future, it would be interesting to carry out dynamic rotation measurements, for example, when walking or participating in sports. Therefore, a measurement method with an elastic polymer-based capacitive measuring system was developed and validated.

Effect of Vancomycin, Gentamicin and Clindamycin on Cartilage Cells In Vitro.

Background: The treatment of grafts with vancomycin for ligament reconstruction in knee surgery is the current standard. However, high antibiotic concentrations have chondrotoxic effects.

Purpose: To test the chondrotoxicity of clindamycin, gentamicin and vancomycin in comparable concentrations.

Associations between healthy food groups and platelet-activating factor, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A and C-reactive protein: a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To investigate the association between pro-inflammatory markers platelet-activating factor (PAF), lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A (Lp-PLA), hsCRP, and intake of core food groups including fruit, cruciferous and other vegetables, grains, meat and poultry, fish and seafood, nuts and legumes, and dairy.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. 100 adults (49 ± 13 years, 31% male) with variable cardiovascular disease risk were recruited.

Hypoxia as a potential inducer of immune tolerance, tumor plasticity and a driver of tumor mutational burden: Impact on cancer immunotherapy.

In cancer patients, immune cells are often functionally compromised due to the immunosuppressive features of the tumor microenvironment (TME) which contribute to the failures in cancer therapies. Clinical and experimental evidence indicates that developing tumors adapt to the immunological environment and create a local microenvironment that impairs immune function by inducing immune tolerance and invasion. In this context, microenvironmental hypoxia, which is an established hallmark of solid tumors, significantly contributes to tumor aggressiveness and therapy resistance through the induction of tumor plasticity/heterogeneity and, more importantly, through the differentiation and expansion of immune-suppressive stromal cells.

Trust and confidence in using telehealth in people with chronic kidney disease: A cross-sectional study.

Consumer trust and confidence in telehealth is pivotal to successful service implementation and effective consultations. This cross-sectional study measured trust and confidence in telephone and video consultations and associated with experience in telehealth modalities among people with chronic kidney disease at a metropolitan hospital in Australia. Self-report data were collected using validated trust and confidence in telehealth scales and 5-point Likert responses.

Screening for mitochondrial function before use-routine liver assessment during hypothermic oxygenated perfusion impacts liver utilization.

Background: To report on a concept of liver assessment during ex situ hypothermic oxygenated perfusion (HOPE) and its significant impact on liver utilization.

Methods: An analysis of prospectively collected data on donation after circulatory death (DCD) livers, treated by HOPE at our institution, during a 11-year period between January 2012 and December 2022.

Findings: Four hundred and fifteen DCD Maastricht III livers were offered during the study period in Switzerland, resulting in 249 liver transplants.

The Rheology and Textural Properties of Bakery Products Upcycling Brewers' Spent Grain.

This study aimed to evaluate the rheological properties of doughs with 50% brewers' spent grain (BSG) derived from a rye-based (RBSG) and barley-based (BBSG) beer added, and the textural profile of the related baked products. Simple model systems using BSG flour mixed with water were studied. Two bakery products, focaccia and cookies, were made as food systems using BSG in a 1:1 ratio with wheat flour (WF).

Metabolic support by macrophages sustains colonic epithelial homeostasis.

The intestinal epithelium has a high turnover rate and constantly renews itself through proliferation of intestinal crypt cells, which depends on insufficiently characterized signals from the microenvironment. Here, we showed that colonic macrophages were located directly adjacent to epithelial crypt cells in mice, where they metabolically supported epithelial cell proliferation in an mTORC1-dependent manner. Specifically, deletion of tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (Tsc2) in macrophages activated mTORC1 signaling that protected against colitis-induced intestinal damage and induced the synthesis of the polyamines spermidine and spermine.

Acceptability, Adherence, Safety and Experiences of Low Energy Diets in People With Obesity and Chronic Kidney Disease: A Mixed Methods Study.

Objectives: Obesity is a modifiable risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression. Low energy diets (LEDs) have not been adequately studied in people with CKD. This study aimed to explore acceptability, adherence, safety, and experiences of two LED prescriptions in adults living with obesity and CKD.