Psychological symptoms, quality of life and dyadic relations in family members of intensive care survivors: a multicentre, prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Background: There is scarce literature evaluating long term psychological or Quality of Life (QoL) outcomes in family members of ICU survivors, who have not experienced invasive ventilation. The objective was to compare long-term psychological symptoms and QoL outcomes in family members of intubated versus non-intubated ICU survivors and to evaluate dyadic relationships between paired family members and survivors.

Methods: Prospective, multicentre cohort study among four medical-surgical ICUs in Australia.

Inflammatory and transudative B-line patterns on lung ultrasound: a brief communication.

Lung ultrasonic B-lines have high accuracy in diagnosing extravascular lung water (ELW) but have not been systematically subcategorized to differentiate the varied etiologies of ELW. This brief communication describes subcategories of B-lines into "inflammatory" and "transudative" patterns, based on their location, pleural morphology and associated subpleural pathologies. This subcategorization was derived using information from trainees undergoing lung ultrasound training in the program, pathophysiological principles and their corresponding ultrasound correlates.

Sexual Trauma, Polygenic Scores, and Mental Health Diagnoses and Outcomes.

Importance: Leveraging real-world clinical biobanks to investigate the associations between genetic and environmental risk factors for mental illness may help direct clinical screening efforts and evaluate the portability of polygenic scores across environmental contexts.

Objective: To examine the associations between sexual trauma, polygenic liability to mental health outcomes, and clinical diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder in a clinical biobank setting.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This genetic association study was conducted using clinical and genotyping data from 96 002 participants across hospital-linked biobanks located at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Nashville, Tennessee (including 58 262 individuals with high genetic similarity to the 1000 Genomes Project [1KG] Northern European from Utah reference population [1KG-EU-clustered] and 11 047 with high genetic similarity to the 1KG African-ancestry reference population of Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria [1KG-YRI-clustered]), and Mass General Brigham (MGB), Boston, Massachusetts (26 693 individuals with high genetic similarity to the combined European-ancestry superpopulation [1KG-EU-clustered]).

Health perceptions of adverse weather in older adults in England: analysis of 2019/20 survey data.

Risks to older adults (OA) (aged 65+ years) associated with hot and cold weather in the UK are well-documented. The study aim is to explore OA perception of health risks from high and low temperatures, health-protective measures undertaken, and implications for public health messaging. In 2019/20, Ipsos MORI conducted face-to-face surveys with OA in England (n = 461 cold weather survey, n = 452 hot weather survey).

A historical timeline of the development and evolution of medical diagnostic ultrasonography.

Diagnostic ultrasonography has evolved to become an indispensable imaging tool that permits non-invasive evaluation of the whole body. In this narrative review, we present a historical timeline of the invention, development, and evolution of diagnostic medical ultrasound. It includes interesting fun facts that may help the reader identify with many of the incredible researchers in this field.

Point-of-care device for the noninvasive assessment of hepatic macrosteatosis in liver donors.

Background: Quantification of macrosteatosis (MS) in the liver is important given that it has shown to directly correlate with adverse post-liver transplant (LT) outcomes. With advances in medical technology and an implicit understanding of pathology, noninvasive methods of quantitatively assessing MS are in various stages of development. Each of these methods is based on the physical principles of differences between a fat-laden hepatocyte and a normal one.

Oncology and intensive care doctors' perception of intensive care admission of cancer patients: A cross-sectional national survey.

Introduction: Prognosis in oncology has improved with early diagnosis and novel therapies. However, critical illness continues to trigger clinical and ethical dilemmas for the treating oncology and intensive care unit (ICU) doctors.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions of oncology and ICU doctors in managing critically ill cancer patients.

Remi-fent 1-A pragmatic randomised controlled study to evaluate the feasibility of using remifentanil or fentanyl as sedation adjuncts in mechanically ventilated patients.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of conducting a prospective randomised controlled trial (pRCT) comparing remifentanil and fentanyl as adjuncts to sedate mechanically ventilated patients.

Design: Single-center, open-labelled, pRCT with blinded analysis.

Setting: Australian tertiary intensive care unit (ICU).

Comparative analysis of outcomes of two (popular) techniques of haptic exteriorization in scleral fixation intra-ocular lens surgery - A retrospective study.

Purpose: To compare the visual outcomes and complication rates between the extra-ocular needle-guided haptic insertion technique (XNIT) and the conventional handshake (HS) technique of scleral fixation intra-ocular lens (SFIOL).

Methods: In this retrospective study, we retrieved data of those patients who had undergone SFIOL surgery from January 2018 to May 2022 at our institute for aphakia following either a complicated cataract surgery or an ocular trauma and had a minimum follow-up of 3 months.

Results: Of the 156 eyes, the HS technique was done in 80 eyes and the remaining 76 eyes with XNIT.

A 2-Year Outcomes and Complications of Various Techniques of Lumbar Discectomy: A Multicentric Prospective Study.

Study Design: Prospective Study.

Objectives: There are numerous techniques for performing lumbar discectomy, each with its own rationale and stated benefits. The authors set out to evaluate and compare the perioperative variables, results, and complications of each treatment in a group of patients provided by ten hospitals and operated on by experienced surgeons.

The pharmacoepigenomic landscape of cancer cell lines reveals the epigenetic component of drug sensitivity.

Aberrant DNA methylation accompanies genetic alterations during oncogenesis and tumour homeostasis and contributes to the transcriptional deregulation of key signalling pathways in cancer. Despite increasing efforts in DNA methylation profiling of cancer patients, there is still a lack of epigenetic biomarkers to predict treatment efficacy. To address this, we analyse 721 cancer cell lines across 22 cancer types treated with 453 anti-cancer compounds.

Prevalence of Trachoma in Four Evaluation Units in Yemen after Implementation of Trachoma Elimination Measures.

Background: In baseline trachoma prevalence surveys, six districts in two governorates of Yemen were identified as requiring interventions. We set out to estimate the prevalence of trachoma 6-12 months after one round of antibiotic mass drug administration (MDA) and implementation of measures to encourage facial cleanliness.

Methods: A population-based prevalence survey was conducted in each of the four evaluation units in October 2019.

Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for The Assessment of Steatosis in Liver Phantom and Liver Donors - A Pilot Study.

This paper reports the application of a low-cost diagnostic modality for fat analysis in a liver phantom as well as human liver donors. The device works on the principle of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, which absorbs and/or scatters depending upon the molecules that compose a tissue. Here, we describe the development of liver phantom of varying fat concentration using saturated fat mimicking liver steatosis.

Barriers and facilitators to achieving competence in lung ultrasound: A survey of physiotherapists following a lung ultrasound training course.

Background And Purpose: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is an emerging tool for acute respiratory physiotherapists. In Australia, there are a select few LUS training courses run for physiotherapists. Research to date has evaluated LUS training courses for physiotherapists in terms of knowledge and skill acquisition.

A Survey of Clinicians Regarding Goals of Care for Patients with Severe Comorbid Illnesses Hospitalized for an Acute Deterioration.

Background: Patients with terminal illnesses hospitalized with acute deteriorations often suffer from unnecessary/inappropriate therapies at the end of their lives. Appropriate advance care planning (ACP) practices aligned to patients' goals of care may mitigate this.

Materials And Methods: To explore the rationale for clinical decision-making in hospitalized patients with terminal illnesses and formulate a practice pathway to streamline care.

Vogt Koyanagi Harada disease following a recent COVID-19 infection.

A 23-year-old female presented with a 3-day history of bilateral (OU) diminution of vision 3 weeks after COVID-19 infection. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/30 in right eye and 20/40 in left eye. Anterior segment showed OU 1+ cells in anterior chamber and anterior vitreous face.

Prevalence of Trachomatous Trichiasis in Ten Evaluation Units of Embu and Kitui Counties, Kenya.

Background: Late-stage blinding sequalae of trachoma such as trachomatous trichiasis (TT) typically take decades to develop and often do so in the absence of ongoing ocular infection. This suggests that most TT risk accumulates in early life; as a result, population-level TT incidence and prevalence can remain high years after transmission among children has decreased. In Embu and Kitui counties, Kenya, the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation - follicular is low in children.

Bilateral Occlusive Vasculitis Associated with Retinitis Pigmentosa - A Case Report.

Purpose: To report a case of bilateral occlusive vasculitis associated with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Method: Case report.

Case Report: A 34-year male presented with blurred vision in left eye (OS) for two weeks and right eye (OD) for one day.

Non-invasive real-time assessment of hepatic macrovesicular steatosis in liver donors: Hypothesis, design and proof-of-concept study.

Macrovesicular Steatosis (MS) is an independent risk factor for adverse post-liver transplant (LT) outcomes. The degree of MS is intimately related to the viability of the liver graft, which in turn is crucial to the success of the operation. An ideal liver graft should have no MS and most centres would find it unacceptable to use a donor liver with severe MS for LT.

Reinforcing the tetracene-based two-dimensional CH sheet by decorating the Li, Na, and K atoms for hydrogen storage and environmental application -A DFT study.

To meet the increasing need of energy resources, hydrogen (H) is being considered as a promising candidate for energy carrier that has motivated research into appropriate storage materials among scientists. Thus, in this study for the first time, zig-zag and armchair edged tetracene based porous carbon sheet (CH) is investigated for H storage using the density functional theory. To explore the hydrogen storage capacity, the hydrogen molecule is initially positioned parallel to the CH sheet at three different sites, resulting in lower adsorption energies of -0.

A 2-Year Outcomes and Complications of Various Techniques of Lumbar Discectomy: A Multicentric Retrospective Study.

Objectives: Various techniques of performing lumbar discectomy are prevalent, each having its rationale and claimed benefits. The authors ventured to assess the perioperative factors, outcomes, and complications of each procedure and compare among them with 946 patients contributed by 10 centers and operated by experienced surgeons.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients operated using open discectomy, microdiscectomy, microendoscopic discectomy, interlaminar endoscopic lumbar discectomy, transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy, and Destandau techniques with a follow-up of minimum 2 years.

Criteria, Processes, and Determination of Competence in Basic Critical Care Echocardiography Training: A Delphi Process Consensus Statement by the Learning Ultrasound in Critical Care (LUCC) Initiative.

Background: With the paucity of high-quality studies on longitudinal basic critical care echocardiography (BCCE) training, expert opinion guidelines have guided BCCE competence educational standards and processes. However, existing guidelines lack precise detail due to methodological flaws during guideline development.

Research Questions: To formulate methodologically robust guidelines on BCCE training using evidence and expert opinion, detailing specific criteria for every step, we conducted a modified Delphi process using the principles of the validated AGREE-II tool.

Development and validation of a tool to appraise guidelines on SARS-CoV-2 infection control strategies in healthcare workers.

Background: Clinical guidelines on infection control strategies in healthcare workers (HCWs) play an important role in protecting them during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic. Poorly constructed guidelines that are incomprehensive and/or ambiguous may compromise HCWs' safety.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop and validate a tool to appraise guidelines on infection control strategies in HCWs based on the guidelines published early in the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.