Psilocybin as a novel treatment for chronic pain.

Psychedelic drugs are under active consideration for clinical use and have generated significant interest for their potential as anti-nociceptive treatments for chronic pain, and for addressing conditions like depression, frequently co-morbid with pain. This review primarily explores the utility of preclinical animal models in investigating the potential of psilocybin as an anti-nociceptive agent. Initial studies involving psilocybin in animal models of neuropathic and inflammatory pain are summarised, alongside areas where further research is needed.

A branching model of lineage differentiation underpinning the neurogenic potential of enteric glia.

Glial cells have been proposed as a source of neural progenitors, but the mechanisms underpinning the neurogenic potential of adult glia are not known. Using single cell transcriptomic profiling, we show that enteric glial cells represent a cell state attained by autonomic neural crest cells as they transition along a linear differentiation trajectory that allows them to retain neurogenic potential while acquiring mature glial functions. Key neurogenic loci in early enteric nervous system progenitors remain in open chromatin configuration in mature enteric glia, thus facilitating neuronal differentiation under appropriate conditions.

Exploring the delivery of remote physiotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic: UK wide service evaluation.

Introduction: During the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, physiotherapists changed rapidly to working remotely. Research demonstrates the benefits of remote physiotherapy, but little is known about its implementation in practice.

Purpose: Explore the take-up and delivery of remote physiotherapy during the pandemic in the United Kingdom.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the measurement properties of concerns-about-falling instruments in older people and people at increased risk of falls.

Background: The 16-item Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) is widely used to assess concerns-about-falling. Variants include 7-item Short FES-I, 30-item Iconographical Falls Efficacy Scale (Icon FES) and 10-item short Icon FES. No comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis has been conducted to synthesise evidence regarding the measurement properties of these tools.

Longitudinal realist evaluation of the Dementia PersonAlised Care Team (D-PACT) intervention: protocol.

Background: Different dementia support roles exist but evidence is lacking on which aspects are best, for whom, and in what circumstances, and on their associated costs and benefits. Phase 1 of the Dementia PersonAlised Care Team programme (D-PACT) developed a post-diagnostic primary care-based intervention for people with dementia and their carers and assessed the feasibility of a trial.

Aim: Phase 2 of the programme aims to 1) refine the programme theory on how, when, and for whom the intervention works; and 2) evaluate its value and impact.

A scoping review of the feasibility, acceptability, and effects of physiotherapy delivered remotely.

Purpose: To review the feasibility, acceptability, and effects of physiotherapy when delivered remotely.

Materials And Methods: CINAHL, MEDLINE, EBM Reviews, and Cochrane Library databases (January 2015-February 2022) were searched and screened for papers (of any design) investigating remote physiotherapy. Data were extracted by two independent raters.

Molecular profiling of enteric nervous system cell lineages.

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is an extensive network of enteric neurons and glial cells that is intrinsic to the gut wall and regulates almost all aspects of intestinal physiology. While considerable advancement has been made in understanding the genetic programs regulating ENS development, there is limited understanding of the molecular pathways that control ENS function in adult stages. One of the limitations in advancing the molecular characterization of the adult ENS relates to technical difficulties in purifying healthy neurons and glia from adult intestinal tissues.

Developing a Management Guide (the DemPower App) for Couples Where One Partner Has Dementia: Nonrandomized Feasibility Study.

Background: Promoting the health and well-being of couples where one partner has dementia is an overlooked area of care practice. Most postdiagnostic services currently lack a couple-centered approach and have a limited focus on the couple relationship. To help address this situation, we developed a tablet-based self-management guide (DemPower) focused on helping couples enhance their well-being and relationship quality.

Implementation of the programme to prevent falls in older people: a process evaluation protocol.

Introduction: One in three people aged 65 years and over fall each year. The health, economic and personal impact of falls will grow substantially in the coming years due to population ageing. Developing and implementing cost-effective strategies to prevent falls and mobility problems among older people is therefore an urgent public health challenge.

Exploring Dementia Care Systems Across the African Caribbean Diaspora: A Scoping Review and Consultation Exercise.

Background And Objectives: Understanding the influences of marginalized cultural and social identities as experienced by the African Caribbean diaspora within the context of dementia care is essential to minimize the gaps in current practice and policy in the health care setting. This study explores the impact of marginalized identities upon the meaning-making process, access to services and experience of care provisions through a scoping review and consultancy exercises with key stakeholders.

Research Design: Fourteen databases were searched using key terms.

What is important to people living with dementia?: the 'long-list' of outcome items in the development of a core outcome set for use in the evaluation of non-pharmacological community-based health and social care interventions.

Background: Core outcome sets (COS) prioritise outcomes based on their importance to key stakeholders, reduce reporting bias and increase comparability across studies. The first phase of a COS study is to form a 'long-list' of outcomes. Key stakeholders then decide on their importance.

Designing and Implementing a Home-Based Couple Management Guide for Couples Where One Partner has Dementia (DemPower): Protocol for a Nonrandomized Feasibility Trial.

Background: The increasing rate of dementia and high health and social care costs call for effective measures to improve public health and enhance the wellbeing of people living with dementia and their relational networks. Most postdiagnostic services focus on the condition and the person with dementia with limited attention to the caring spouse or partner. The key focus of the study is to develop a guide for couples where one partner has a diagnosis of dementia.

Living Life and Doing Things Together: Collaborative Research With Couples Where One Partner Has a Diagnosis of Dementia.

The aim of this study is to identify relevant content for a self-management guide by using the outcomes of previous research in combination with knowledge and experiences from couples where one partner has a diagnosis of dementia. The study was carried out in three phases: (a) literature search of previous research related to well-being and couplehood in dementia; (b) interviews with couples with dementia based on the findings of the literature search; and (c) further authentication of the findings within expert groups of people with dementia and carers. For analysis of data, we used a hybrid approach of thematic analysis with combined deductive and inductive approaches.

Lineage-dependent spatial and functional organization of the mammalian enteric nervous system.

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is essential for digestive function and gut homeostasis. Here we show that the amorphous neuroglia networks of the mouse ENS are composed of overlapping clonal units founded by postmigratory neural crest-derived progenitors. The spatial configuration of ENS clones depends on proliferation-driven local interactions of ENS progenitors with lineally unrelated neuroectodermal cells, the ordered colonization of the serosa-mucosa axis by clonal descendants, and gut expansion.

The assessment and management of pain in patients with dementia in hospital settings: a multi-case exploratory study from a decision making perspective.

Background: Pain is often poorly managed in people who have a dementia. Little is known about how this patient population is managed in hospital, with research to date focused mainly on care homes. This study aimed to investigate how pain is recognised, assessed and managed in patients with dementia in a range of acute hospital wards, to inform the development of a decision support tool to improve pain management for this group.

The gut microbiota keeps enteric glial cells on the move; prospective roles of the gut epithelium and immune system.

The enteric nervous system (ENS) coordinates the major functions of the gastrointestinal tract. Its development takes place within a constantly changing environment which, after birth, culminates in the establishment of a complex gut microbiota. How such changes affect ENS development and its subsequent function throughout life is an emerging field of study that holds great interest but which is inadequately explored thus far.

Using sense-making theory to aid understanding of the recognition, assessment and management of pain in patients with dementia in acute hospital settings.

Background: The recognition, assessment and management of pain in hospital settings is suboptimal, and is a particular challenge in patients with dementia. The existing process guiding pain assessment and management in clinical settings is based on the assumption that nurses follow a sequential linear approach to decision making. In this paper we re-evaluate this theoretical assumption drawing on findings from a study of pain recognition, assessment and management in patients with dementia.

Microbiota controls the homeostasis of glial cells in the gut lamina propria.

The intrinsic neural networks of the gastrointestinal tract are derived from dedicated neural crest progenitors that colonize the gut during embryogenesis and give rise to enteric neurons and glia. Here, we study how an essential subpopulation of enteric glial cells (EGCs) residing within the intestinal mucosa is integrated into the dynamic microenvironment of the alimentary tract. We find that under normal conditions colonization of the lamina propria by glial cells commences during early postnatal stages but reaches steady-state levels after weaning.

Heterogeneity and phenotypic plasticity of glial cells in the mammalian enteric nervous system.

Enteric glial cells are vital for the autonomic control of gastrointestinal homeostasis by the enteric nervous system. Several different functions have been assigned to enteric glial cells but whether these are performed by specialized subtypes with a distinctive phenotype and function remains elusive. We used Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers and inducible lineage tracing to characterize the morphology and dynamic molecular marker expression of enteric GLIA in the myenteric plexus.

RET/GFRα signals are dispensable for thymic T cell development in vivo.

Identification of thymocyte regulators is a central issue in T cell biology. Interestingly, growing evidence indicates that common key molecules control neuronal and immune cell functions. The neurotrophic factor receptor RET mediates critical functions in foetal hematopoietic subsets, thus raising the possibility that RET-related molecules may also control T cell development.