Incidence Trends in Head and Neck Cancer Subsites: A National Population-Based Study (2001-2020).

Objectives: This descriptive epidemiological study aims to investigate trends in head and neck cancer (HNC) within the anatomical divisions of laryngeal, oropharyngeal, and oral cavity cancers over the past two decades.

Design: Retrospective population-based observational study.

Setting: Scotland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.

Assessing the kinetics of oxygen-unloading from red cells using FlowScore, a flow-cytometric proxy of the functional quality of blood.

Background: Metrics evaluating the functional quality of red blood cells (RBCs) must consider their role in oxygen delivery. Whereas oxygen-carrying capacity is routinely reported using haemoglobin assays, the rate of oxygen exchange is not measured, yet also important for tissue oxygenation. Since oxygen-unloading depends on the diffusion pathlength inside RBCs, cell geometry offers a plausible surrogate.

Placement poverty has major implications for the future health and education workforce: a cross-sectional survey.

Objective'Placement poverty' refers to the financial burdens imposed upon students by the completion of mandatory professional placement. We aimed to identify the financial implications of mandatory professional placements on student wellbeing.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey (August 2023 to January 2024) completed during students' most recent professional placement in the final year of their degree.

Accumulation of Bioactive Lipid Species in LPS-Induced Neuroinflammation Models Analysed with Multi-Modal Mass Spectrometry Imaging.

Neuroinflammation is a complex biological process related to a variety of pathologies, often requiring better understanding in order to develop new, targeted therapeutic interventions. Within this context, multimodal Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) has been used to characterise molecular changes in neuroinflammation for biomarker discovery not possible to other techniques. In this study, molecules including bioactive lipids were detected across inflamed regions of the brain in rats treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Quantitative Imaging of Regional Cerebral Protein Synthesis in Clinical Alzheimer's Disease by [C]Leucine PET.

Purpose: Protein synthesis is essential to maintain integrity and function of the human brain, and protein synthesis is associated specifically with the formation of long-term memory. Experimental and clinical observations indicate that this process is disturbed in Alzheimer's dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. In-vivo investigation with positron emission tomography (PET) using [C]leucine provides a unique possibility to measure regional cerebral protein synthesis (rCPS) rates in human brain and to determine whether it is altered in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and thus may provide a target for future therapeutic interventions.

Improving GWAS performance in underrepresented groups by appropriate modeling of genetics, environment, and sociocultural factors.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and polygenic score (PGS) development are typically constrained by the data available in biobank repositories in which European cohorts are vastly overrepresented. Here, we increase the utility of non-European participant data within the UK Biobank (UKB) by characterizing the genetic affinities of UKB participants who self-identify as Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, "White and Asian" (WA), and "Any Other Asian" (AOA), towards creating a more robust South Asian sample size for future genetic analyses. We assess the relationships between genetic structure and self-selected ethnic identities resulting in consistent patterns of clustering used to train a support vector machine (SVM).

The NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog: standards for reusability, sustainability and diversity.

The NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog serves as a vital resource for the genetic research community, providing access to the most comprehensive database of human GWAS results. Currently, it contains close to 7 000 publications for >15 000 traits, from which more than 625 000 lead associations have been curated. Additionally, 85 000 full genome-wide summary statistics datasets-containing association data for all variants in the analysis-are available for downstream analyses such as meta-analysis, fine-mapping, Mendelian randomisation or development of polygenic risk scores.

'Hidden' work and lost opportunities: nursing research and impact case studies submitted to REF2021.

Aims: (1) Identify and characterise the nursing contribution to impact case studies submitted to Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 across all Units of Assessment and compare this to those submitted to REF 2014; (2) Identify and characterise those impact case studies of relevance to nursing that did not include a nurse in the research team; (3) Compare the characteristics of impact case studies identified in Aim 2 with those that did include a nurse in the research team.

Design: Desk-based analysis of REF2021 published data.

Methods: We searched the REF2021 impact database with the term nurs* then sorted case studies into categories representing the involvement of nurses on the research team.

The NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog: standards for reusability, sustainability and diversity.

The NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog serves as a vital resource for the genetic research community, providing access to the most comprehensive database of human GWAS results. Currently, it contains close to 7,000 publications for more than 15,000 traits, from which more than 625,000 lead associations have been curated. Additionally, 85,000 full genome-wide summary statistics datasets - containing association data for all variants in the analysis - are available for downstream analyses such as meta-analysis, fine-mapping, Mendelian randomisation or development of polygenic risk scores.

Establishing consensus on lifestyle recommendations and behaviour change strategies to promote brain health-focussed care for multiple sclerosis: A modified e-Delphi study.

Introduction: Brain health is a global priority for multiple sclerosis (MS) care. This study aimed to establish consensus on internationally applicable lifestyle recommendations and behaviour change strategies to promote lifelong brain health for people living with MS.

Methods: A three-round, modified, e-Delphi survey was conducted.

Current oral care practices in an acute aged care setting: An Australian metropolitan hospital perspective.

Purpose: To evaluate current oral care practices in an acute aged care hospital setting, and staff perceptions of the barriers and enablers to delivery of evidence-based oral care practices.

Method: A mixed method study comprised of retrospective file audit and cross-sectional survey was conducted within a single acute aged care unit. Medical records of patients aged ≥ 65 years admitted over a 6 month period were retrospectively audited.

Battle of the bots: a comparative analysis of ChatGPT and bing AI for kidney stone-related questions.

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the performance of ChatGPT™ (Open AI) and Bing AI™ (Microsoft) for responding to kidney stone treatment-related questions in accordance with the American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines and assess factors such as appropriateness, emphasis on consulting healthcare providers, references, and adherence to guidelines by each chatbot.

Methods: We developed 20 kidney stone evaluation and treatment-related questions based on the AUA Surgical Management of Stones guideline. Questions were asked to ChatGPT and Bing AI chatbots.

Cadherin adhesion complexes direct cell aggregation in the epithelial transition of Wnt-induced nephron progenitor cells.

In the developing mammalian kidney, nephron formation is initiated by a subset of nephron progenitor cells (NPCs). Wnt input activates a β-catenin (Ctnnb1)-driven, transcriptional nephrogenic program and the mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) of NPCs. Using an in vitro mouse NPC culture model, we observed that activation of the Wnt pathway results in the aggregation of induced NPCs, which is an initiating step in the MET program.

Fecal microbiota of diarrheic calves: Before, during, and after recovering from disease.

Background: It is unknown if gastrointestinal dysbiosis in diarrheic calves causes disease or is a consequence of the disease.

Objectives: Describe the fecal microbiota of calves before, during, and after recovering from diarrhea.

Animals: Fifteen female Holstein calves of 0 to 21 days old from a single farm.

Head and neck cancer incidence is rising but the sociodemographic profile is unchanging: a population epidemiological study (2001-2020).

Background: Increasing incidence of head and neck cancers (HNCs), driven by rising rates of oropharynx cancer (OPC), has been recorded around the world. This study examined trends in HNC and subsites (oral cavity, oropharynx, and larynx cancers) in Scotland focusing on assessing whether the sociodemographic profile has changed over the past 20 years.

Methods: Scottish Cancer Registry data (2001-2020) including European Age Standardised Rates of HNC and subsites were analysed in multivariate Poisson regression by age, sex, area-based socioeconomic status, and year of diagnosis (with interaction tests).

Engineering stress as a motivation for filamentous virus morphology.

Many viruses are pleomorphic in shape and size, with pleomorphism often thought to correlate with infectivity, pathogenicity, or virus survival. For example, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus particles range in size from small spherical virions to filaments reaching many micrometers in length. We have used a pressure vessel model to investigate how the length and width of spherical and filamentous virions can vary for a given critical stress and fluorescence super-resolution microscopy along with image analysis tools to fit imaged influenza viruses to the model.

Dose-dependent responses to canonical Wnt transcriptional complexes in the regulation of mammalian nephron progenitors.

In vivo and in vitro studies argue that concentration-dependent Wnt signaling regulates mammalian nephron progenitor cell (NPC) programs. Canonical Wnt signaling is regulated through the stabilization of β-catenin, a transcriptional co-activator when complexed with Lef/Tcf DNA-binding partners. Using the GSK3β inhibitor CHIR99021 (CHIR) to block GSK3β-dependent destruction of β-catenin, we examined dose-dependent responses to β-catenin in mouse NPCs, using mRNA transduction to modify gene expression.

Spatial transcriptomics defines injury specific microenvironments and cellular interactions in kidney regeneration and disease.

Kidney injury disrupts the intricate renal architecture and triggers limited regeneration, together with injury-invoked inflammation and fibrosis. Deciphering the molecular pathways and cellular interactions driving these processes is challenging due to the complex tissue structure. Here, we apply single cell spatial transcriptomics to examine ischemia-reperfusion injury in the mouse kidney.

A conserved transcription factor regulatory program promotes tendon fate.

Tendons, which transmit force from muscles to bones, are highly prone to injury. Understanding the mechanisms driving tendon fate would impact efforts to improve tendon healing, yet this knowledge is limited. To find direct regulators of tendon progenitor emergence, we performed a zebrafish high-throughput chemical screen.