Effectiveness of intravenous prostaglandin to reduce digital amputations from frostbite: an observational study.

Purpose: We assessed the effectiveness and safety of a 5-day intravenous prostaglandin (iloprost) protocol at reducing digital amputation for patients with severe frostbite injuries at urban emergency departments.

Methods: This retrospective study examines consecutive patients who presented to Calgary emergency departments from April 2017 to April 2020 with Grade 2-4 frostbite injuries. Patients from February 2019 onward were managed using a 5-day iloprost infusion protocol, whereas patients prior to this time were managed with standard care (local best practice without iloprost as a therapeutic option).

Age-related reductions in the number of serial sarcomeres contribute to shorter fascicle lengths but not elevated passive tension.

We investigated age-related changes to fascicle length, sarcomere length and serial sarcomere number (SSN), and how this affects passive force. Following mechanical testing to determine passive force, the medial gastrocnemius muscle of young (n=9) and old (n=8) Fisher 344BN hybrid rats was chemically fixed at the optimal muscle length for force production; individual fascicles were dissected for length measurement, and laser diffraction was used to assess sarcomere length. Old rats had ∼14% shorter fascicle lengths than young rats, which was driven by a ∼10% reduction in SSN, with no difference in sarcomere length (∼4%).

Prevalence of pulmonary embolism in syncope patients.

Unlabelled: Clinical questionHow often is pulmonary embolism (PE) found in patients admitted for syncope?Article chosenPrandoni P, Lensing A, Prins M, et al. Prevalence of pulmonary embolism among patients hospitalized for syncope (PESIT). N Engl J Med 2016;375:1524-31, doi: 10.

The development and evaluation of a novel Internet-based computer program to assess previous-day dietary and physical activity behaviours in adults: the Synchronised Nutrition and Activity Program for Adults (SNAPA™).

The Synchronised Nutrition and Activity Program for Adults (SNAPA™) was developed to address the need for accurate, reliable, feasible, inexpensive and low-burden methods for assessing specific dietary and physical activity behaviours in adults. Short-term test-retest reliability of SNAPA™ was assessed in forty-four adults (age 41·4 (SD17·3) years) who completed SNAPA™ twice in 1 day. Concurrent validity against direct dietary observation and combined heart rate and accelerometry was assessed in seventy-seven adults (age 34·4 (SD11·1) years).

Development and evaluation of a novel computer-based tool for assessing physical activity levels in schoolchildren.

A novel computer tool (peas@tees), designed to assess habitual physical activity levels in children aged 9 and 10 years, was evaluated. Study 1 investigated agreement between peas@tees and accelerometry in 157 children. Bland-Altman limits of agreement (LOA) revealed peas@tees underestimated physical activity levels compared with accelerometry (bias -21 min; 95% LOA -146-105).

The development and evaluation of a novel computer program to assess previous-day dietary and physical activity behaviours in school children: the Synchronised Nutrition and Activity Program (SNAP).

Self-report recall questionnaires used to measure physical activity and dietary intake in children can be labour intensive and monotonous and tend to focus on either dietary intake or physical activity. The web-based software, Synchronised Nutrition and Activity Program (SNAP), was developed to produce a novel, simple, quick and engaging method of assessing energy balance-related behaviours at a population level, combining principles from new and existing 24 h recall methodologies, set within a user-friendly interface. Dietary intake was measured using counts for twenty-one food groups and physical activity levels were measured in min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA).