Enhancing Clinical Confidence: Effects of Medical Screening and Differential Diagnosis Training for Low Back Pain.

Purpose: Direct access to physical therapy (PT) requires PTs to act as primary care providers, making differential diagnosis a critical component of patient assessment. We investigated how participation in postgraduate training in differential diagnosis and medical screening influences PTs' confidence, self-efficacy, attitudes and beliefs about treating patients with low back pain (LBP).

Patients And Methods: This prospective, two-arm study involved 49 PTs in an intervention group and 70 in a control group.

Chronic cannabis use differentially modulates neural oscillations serving the manipulate versus maintain components of working memory processing.

The legalization of recreational cannabis use has expanded the availability of this psychoactive substance in the United States. Research has shown that chronic cannabis use is associated with altered working memory function, however, the brain areas and neural dynamics underlying these affects remain poorly understood. In this study, we leveraged magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate neurophysiological activity in 45 participants (22 heavy cannabis users) during a numerical WM task, whereby participants were asked to either maintain or manipulate (i.

New insights into the immunomodulatory potential of sialic acid on monocyte-derived dendritic cells.

Sialic acids at the cell surface of dendritic cells (DCs) play an important immunomodulatory role, and their manipulation enhances DC maturation, leading to heightened T cell activation. Particularly, at the molecular level, the increased stability of surface MHC-I molecules in monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) underpins an improved DC: T cell interaction. In this study, we focused on the impact of sialic acid remodelling by treatment with Clostridium perfringens sialidase on MoDCs' phenotypic and functional characteristics.

Smartphone-Based Sit-to-Stand Analysis for Mobility Assessment in Middle Age.

Background And Objectives: Mobility can decline in middle age and growing evidence highlights the importance of assessing mobility at this stage of life. Smartphone-based accelerometry during sit-to-stand has been shown to identify mobility impairments, but its utility in detecting subtle mobility deterioration in middle age has not been tested. This study aimed to examine whether smartphone-based accelerometry data measured during sit-to-stand tests performed on a regular chair and a cushioned sofa could be useful for detecting subtle changes in mobility in middle age.

"Veterinary medicine is not finished when I have diagnosed an incurable disease, that's when it starts for me." A qualitative interview study with small animal veterinarians on hospice and palliative care.

In the wake of recent medical developments in small animal practice, curing animals of their illnesses and restoring their health can be realized better than ever before. However, the growing medical possibilities are also leading to an increase in demand for better care for patients suffering from terminal illnesses. Consequently, the field of animal hospice and palliative care has become increasingly available, enabling veterinarians to optimize the quality of life of patients, such as dogs and cats, who no longer have a prospect of full recovery.

High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation of the parietal cortices modulates the neural dynamics underlying verbal working memory.

Verbal working memory (vWM) is an essential limited-capacity cognitive system that spans the fronto-parietal network and utilizes the subprocesses of encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. With the recent widespread use of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, multiple recent studies have examined whether such stimulation may enhance cognitive abilities such as vWM, but the findings to date remain unclear in terms of both behavior and critical brain regions. In the current study, we applied high-definition direct current stimulation to the left and right parietal cortices of 39 healthy adults in three separate sessions (left anodal, right anodal, and sham).

Evaluation of the Management and Outcome of Patients with Retained Products of Conception after Gestational Week 23+0: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Retained products of conception after childbirth or miscarriage are associated with an increased rate of maternal complications, such as abnormal vaginal bleeding and infections. Late complications may also include intrauterine adhesions, causing infertility. Surgical interventions carry a certain risk.

"How long is life worth living for the horse?" A focus group study on how Austrian equine stakeholders assess quality of life for chronically ill or old horses.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) provides a comprehensive concept underpinning veterinary decision-making that encompasses factors beyond physical health. It becomes particularly pertinent when seeking responsible choices for chronically ill or old horses that emphasise their well-being and a good QoL over the extension of life. How different stakeholders use the concept of QoL is highly relevant when considering the complexity of these decisions in real-life situations.

Chronic Cannabis users exhibit altered oscillatory dynamics and functional connectivity serving visuospatial processing.

Background: Cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive drug in the United States. While multiple studies have associated acute cannabis consumption with alterations in cognitive function (e.g.

Chronic cannabis use alters the spontaneous and oscillatory gamma dynamics serving cognitive control.

Regular cannabis use is associated with cortex-wide changes in spontaneous and oscillatory activity, although the functional significance of such changes remains unclear. We hypothesized that regular cannabis use would suppress spontaneous gamma activity in regions serving cognitive control and scale with task performance. Participants (34 cannabis users, 33 nonusers) underwent an interview regarding their substance use history and completed the Eriksen flanker task during magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Missed Opportunities for Preexposure Prophylaxis Initiation in Hospitalized Persons With Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Diseases.

Hospitalizations are increasing among persons who use opioids, secondary to overdose and infections. Our study identified acute hospitalization as a reachable moment for engaging people who use drugs in increased screening and education about human immunodeficiency virus risk and prevention (preexposure prophylaxis).

Optimizing clinical outcomes with stellate ganglion block and trauma-informed care: A review article.

Background: For decades, thousands of active-duty service members have sought treatment for trauma exposure. Stellate ganglion block (SGB) is a fast-acting nerve block documented in medical literature for nearly a century that has shown promise as a potentially life-altering treatment for post-traumatic stress (PTS).

Objective: This review aims to answer the practical questions of those who support individuals suffering from trauma: (1) SGB's safety profile (2) efficacy data (3) potential advantages and limitations, (4) a cross-cultural application example, (5) and the use of SGB in combination with talk therapy to optimize clinical outcomes.

β-Alanine supplementation improves fractional anisotropy scores in the hippocampus and amygdala in 60-80-year-old men and women.

Recently, β-alanine (BA) supplementation was shown to improve cognitive function in older adults with decreased cognitive function. Mechanisms supporting these improvements have not been well defined. This study examined the effects of 10-weeks of BA supplementation on changes in circulating brain inflammatory markers, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and brain morphology.

Optimal gamma-band entrainment of visual cortex.

Visual entrainment is a powerful and widely used research tool to study visual information processing in the brain. While many entrainment studies have focused on frequencies around 14-16 Hz, there is renewed interest in understanding visual entrainment at higher frequencies (e.g.

Does "Dr. Google" improve discussion and decisions in small animal practice? Dog and cat owners use of internet resources to find medical information about their pets in three European countries.

Modern dog and cat owners increasingly use internet resources to obtain information on pet health issues. While access to online information can improve owners' knowledge of patient care and inform conversations with their veterinarian during consultations, there is also a risk that owners will misinterpret online information or gain a false impression of current standards in veterinary medicine. This in turn can cause problems or tensions, for example if the owner delays consulting their veterinarian about necessary treatment, or questions the veterinarian's medical advice.

HIV and Substance Use Disorders.

Over 1.2 million Americans aged 13 years and older have been diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). While HIV incidence has been declining since 2017, the risk of HIV acquisition and transmission persists among persons who use drugs via injection drug use and unprotected sexual intercourse associated with substance use.

Considerations when prescribing opioid agonist therapies for people living with HIV.

Introduction: Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) include opioid agonist therapies (OAT) (buprenorphine and methadone), and opioid antagonists (extended-release naltrexone). All forms of MOUD improve opioid use disorder (OUD) and HIV outcomes. However, the integration of services for HIV and OUD remains inadequate.