Prevention strategies and modifiable risk factors for sport-related concussions and head impacts: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To evaluate prevention strategies, their unintended consequences and modifiable risk factors for sport-related concussion (SRC) and/or head impact risk.

Design: This systematic review and meta-analysis was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019152982) and conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Data Sources: Eight databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, Cochrane (Systematic Review and Controlled Trails Registry), SPORTDiscus, EMBASE, ERIC0 were searched in October 2019 and updated in March 2022, and references searched from any identified systematic review.

Epidemiology of International Match Injuries in Scottish Rugby: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Fifteen-a-side rugby union ("rugby") is a full-contact sport played separately by men and women, with large injury incidences reported previously. Context specific injury surveillance fulfils governing bodies' duty of care to understand risks to player welfare, yet no contemporary match injury epidemiology studies exist for international players in Scotland. The current study therefore aimed to describe the incidence, severity, burden and nature of match injuries sustained by Scotland's men's and women's national teams.

Injury Rates, Mechanisms, Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies in Youth Rugby Union: What's All the Ruck-Us About? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Rugby Union is a collision team sport played globally. Despite this, significant concerns have been raised regarding the sport's safety, particularly in youth players. Given this, a review of injury rates, risk factors and prevention strategies is required across different youth age groups as well as in males and females.

Wearable Sensors for Learning Enhancement in Higher Education.

Wearable sensors have traditionally been used to measure and monitor vital human signs for well-being and healthcare applications. However, there is a growing interest in using and deploying these technologies to facilitate teaching and learning, particularly in a higher education environment. The aim of this paper is therefore to systematically review the range of wearable devices that have been used for enhancing the teaching and delivery of engineering curricula in higher education.

Machine learning for clinical trials in the era of COVID-19.

The world is in the midst of a pandemic. We still know little about the disease COVID-19 or about the virus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes it. We do not have a vaccine or a treatment (aside from managing symptoms).

Incorporating historical information to improve phase I clinical trials.

Incorporating historical data has a great potential to improve the efficiency of phase I clinical trials and to accelerate drug development. For model-based designs, such as the continuous reassessment method (CRM), this can be conveniently carried out by specifying a "skeleton," that is, the prior estimate of dose limiting toxicity (DLT) probability at each dose. In contrast, little work has been done to incorporate historical data into model-assisted designs, such as the Bayesian optimal interval (BOIN), Keyboard, and modified toxicity probability interval (mTPI) designs.

Differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules: An evidence-based approach in general practice.

Background: The widespread use of imaging techniques has led to more frequent detection of thyroid nodules, and while the majority are benign, the risk of malignancy in an adult ranges from 7% to 15%. General practitioners (GPs) must be able to evaluate thyroid nodules and refer cases when appropriate.

Objectives: The aim of this article is to bring GPs up to date on the evidence-based management of thyroid nodules, with specific focus on neoplastic nodules, while highlighting significant changes in the 2015 American Thyroid Association guidelines.

Rendering the 3 + 3 Design to Rest: More Efficient Approaches to Oncology Dose-Finding Trials in the Era of Targeted Therapy.

Selection of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) as the recommended dose for registration trials based on a dose-escalation trial using variations of an MTD/3 + 3 design often occurs in the development of oncology products. The MTD/3 + 3 approach is not optimal and may result in recommended doses that are unacceptably toxic for many patients and in dose reduction/interruptions that might have an impact on effectiveness. Instead of the MTD/3 + 3 approach, the authors recommend an integrated approach.

Robust exchangeability designs for early phase clinical trials with multiple strata.

Clinical trials with multiple strata are increasingly used in drug development. They may sometimes be the only option to study a new treatment, for example in small populations and rare diseases. In early phase trials, where data are often sparse, good statistical inference and subsequent decision-making can be challenging.

Advancing Clinical Trials to Streamline Drug Development.

The last decade in oncology has been marked by the identification of numerous new potential cancer targets and even more agents designed to inhibit them. The matrix of new targets, new agents, and the companion diagnostics required to identify the right patient for the right drug has created a major challenge for the clinical trial process. This has been compounded by the addition of new immunomodulators targeting the host immune system rather than the tumor.

First-in-human phase I dose-escalation study of the HSP90 inhibitor AUY922 in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Purpose: A phase I study was conducted with the primary objective of determining the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of AUY922 in patients with advanced solid tumors. Secondary objectives included characterization of the safety, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic profiles.

Patients And Methods: Patients with advanced solid tumors received 1-hour i.

Recovery of human DNA profiles from poached deer remains part 2: improved recovery protocol without the need for LCN analysis.

Although poaching is a common wildlife crime, the high and prohibitive cost of specialised animal testing means that many cases are left un-investigated. We previously described a novel approach to wildlife crime investigation that looked at the identification of human DNA on poached animal remains (Tobe, Govan and Welch, 2011). Human DNA was successfully isolated and amplified from simulated poaching incidents, however a low template protocol was required which made this method unsuitable for use in many laboratories.

A phase I study of single-agent nilotinib or in combination with imatinib in patients with imatinib-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Purpose: To study the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor nilotinib as a single agent or in combination with imatinib in patients with advanced imatinib-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Experimental Design: A phase I intercohort dose-escalation trial was done in patients who received either (a) single agent nilotinib 400 mg twice daily or (b) escalating doses of nilotinib (200 mg once daily, 400 mg qd, or 400 mg bid) plus imatinib 400 mg bid (10- and 14-hour interval daily), or (c) nilotinib 400 mg bid plus imatinib 400 mg qd. Safety, pharmacokinetics, and tumor assessments were done.

A Bayesian case study in oncology Phase I combination dose-finding using logistic regression with covariates.

A Bayesian approach to finding the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is presented. The approach is flexible, allowing inclusion of covariates, and enables transparent dose recommendations based on comprehensive inferential summaries on the probability of dose-limiting toxicities (DLT). A case study is presented for a Phase I combination of two oncology drugs, nilotinib and imatinib.