Re-description and dietary ecology of the (Sheridan & Stuart, 2018) (Amphibia: Ranidae) from central Vietnam.

Background: The Annam Stream Frog was recently discovered from north and central Vietnam and Laos by Sheridan and Stuart (2018). Knowledge of its natural history is virtually lacking.

New Information: In this study, we provide an extended morphological description of , based on newly-collected specimens from Vu Quang National Park, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam.

Polycaprolactone/α-cyclodextrin polyrotaxanes with cellular uptake enhancing properties.

Biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was rotaxanated with α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and an α-CD/2-hydroxypropyl-α-CD (HP-α-CD) mixture. Stoppering was achieved using 2-mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) disulfide linkage. The structures of these polymeric supramolecular entities were confirmed by H NMR, with 75-80 wt% threaded CD, while the molar mass of the polyrotaxanes was around 18 kDa, determined by gel permeation chromatography.

Enhancing patient-centred chiropractic care in Canada: identifying barriers, enablers, and strategies through a qualitative needs assessment.

Background: The Canadian Chiropractic Association (CCA) initiated a quality improvement project to develop best practices aimed at enhancing the patient experience.

Objectives: (1) Identify and prioritise the key moments in the new patient experience that could be improved by providing chiropractors with focused support and resources; (2) explore views, barriers, and enablers to implementing these best practices; and (3) develop recommendations to facilitate the adoption of these practices.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative needs assessment using a human-centred design approach, focused on understanding the needs and experiences of end-users to create tailored solutions.

Advancing health coaching: A comparative study of large language model and health coaches.

Objective: Recent advances in large language models (LLM) offer opportunities to automate health coaching. With zero-shot learning ability, LLMs could revolutionize health coaching by providing better accessibility, scalability, and customization. The aim of this study is to compare the quality of responses to clients' sleep-related questions provided by health coaches and an LLM.

Charge-converting nanocarriers: Phosphorylated polysaccharide coatings for overcoming intestinal barriers.

For the design of charge-converting nanocarriers (NCs), cationic lipid-based NCs containing curcumin as model drug were coated with phosphorylated starch (NC-SP) and phosphorylated dextran (NC-DP). NCs showed a drug encapsulation efficiency of 94 % and had a mean size of 175 to 180 nm. The recorded zeta potential of the core NC (cNC) was +8.

Antibiotic-Polyphosphate Nanocomplexes: A Promising System for Effective Biofilm Eradication.

Purpose: The eradication of bacterial biofilms poses an enormous challenge owing to the inherently low antibiotic susceptibility of the resident microbiota. The complexation of antibiotics with polyphosphate can substantially improve antimicrobial performance.

Methods: Nanoparticular complexes of the model drug colistin and polyphosphate (CP-NPs) were developed and characterized in terms of their particle size and morphology, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, and cytotoxicity.

Oral formulations for highly lipophilic drugs: Impact of surface decoration on the efficacy of self-emulsifying drug delivery systems.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of the surface decoration of cannabidiol (CBD) loaded self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) on the efficacy of the formulations to cross the various barriers faced by orally administered drugs.

Methods: Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-free polyglycerol (PG)-based SEDDS, mixed zwitterionic phosphatidyl choline (PC)/PEG-containing SEDDS and PEG-based SEDDS were compared regarding stability against lipid degrading enzymes, surface properties, permeation across porcine mucus, cellular uptake and cytocompatibility.

Results: SEDDS with a size of about 200 nm with narrow size distributions were developed and loaded with 20-21 % of CBD.

Biomedical applications of functional hydrogels: Innovative developments, relevant clinical trials and advanced products.

Functional hydrogels are used for numerous biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, wound dressings, lubricants, contact lenses and advanced drug delivery systems. Most of them are based on synthetic or natural polymers forming a three-dimensional network that contains aqueous media. Among synthetic polymers, poly(meth)acrylates, polyethyleneglycols, poly(vinylalcohols), poly(vinylpyrrolidones), PLGA and poly(urethanes) are of high relevance, whereas natural polymers are mainly polysaccharides such as hyaluronic acid, alginate or chitosan and proteins such as albumin, collagen or elastin.

Agreement and concurrent validity between telehealth and in-person diagnosis of musculoskeletal conditions: a systematic review.

Objectives: To assess the concurrent validity and inter-rater agreement of the diagnosis of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions using synchronous telehealth compared to standard in-person clinical diagnosis.

Methods: We searched five electronic databases for cross-sectional studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals from inception to 28 September 2023. We included studies of participants presenting to a healthcare provider with an undiagnosed MSK complaint.

The CryoEM structure of human serum albumin in complex with ligands.

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most prevalent plasma protein in the human body, accounting for 60 % of the total plasma protein. HSA plays a major pharmacokinetic function, serving as a facilitator in the distribution of endobiotics and xenobiotics within the organism. In this paper we report the cryoEM structures of HSA in the apo form and in complex with two ligands (salicylic acid and teniposide) at a resolution of 3.

Rehabilitation of back pain in the pediatric population: a mixed studies systematic review.

Background: A significant proportion of children and adolescents experience back pain. However, a comprehensive systematic review on the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions is lacking.

Objectives: To evaluate benefits and harms of rehabilitation interventions for non-specific low back pain (LBP) or thoracic spine pain in the pediatric population.

Effectiveness of postsurgical rehabilitation following lumbar disc herniation surgery: A systematic review.

Introduction: The effectiveness of post-surgical rehabilitation following lumbar disc herniation (LDH) surgery is unclear.

Research Question: To investigate the effectiveness and safety of rehabilitation interventions initiated within three months post-surgery for adults treated surgically for LDH.

Material And Methods: This systematic review searched seven databases from inception to November 2023.

Fermi-Level Pinning in ErAs Nanoparticles Embedded in III-V Semiconductors.

Embedding rare-earth monopnictide nanoparticles into III-V semiconductors enables unique optical, electrical, and thermal properties for THz photoconductive switches, tunnel junctions, and thermoelectric devices. Despite the high structural quality and control over growth, particle size (<3 nm), and density, the underlying electronic structure of these nanocomposite materials has only been hypothesized. Structural and electronic properties of ErAs nanoparticles with different shapes and sizes (cubic to spherical, 1.

Unveiling the potential of biomaterials and their synergistic fusion in tissue engineering.

Inspired by nature, tissue engineering aims to employ intricate mechanisms for advanced clinical interventions, unlocking inherent biological potential and propelling medical breakthroughs. Therefore, medical, and pharmaceutical fields are growing interest in tissue and organ replacement, repair, and regeneration by this technology. Three primary mechanisms are currently used in tissue engineering: transplantation of cells (I), injection of growth factors (II) and cellular seeding in scaffolds (III).

Development of a Human Evaluation Framework and Correlation with Automated Metrics for Natural Language Generation of Medical Diagnoses.

In the evolving landscape of clinical Natural Language Generation (NLG), assessing abstractive text quality remains challenging, as existing methods often overlook generative task complexities. This work aimed to examine the current state of automated evaluation metrics in NLG in healthcare. To have a robust and well-validated baseline with which to examine the alignment of these metrics, we created a comprehensive human evaluation framework.

Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Measures for Identifying Patients Requiring High-Intensity Care.

Objectives: Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) may progress to require high-intensity care. Approaches to identify hospitalized patients with AWS who received higher level of care have not been previously examined. This study aimed to examine the utility of Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment Alcohol Revised (CIWA-Ar) for alcohol scale scores and medication doses for alcohol withdrawal management in identifying patients who received high-intensity care.

Interval estimation in three-class receiver operating characteristic analysis: A fairly general approach based on the empirical likelihood.

The empirical likelihood is a powerful nonparametric tool, that emulates its parametric counterpart-the parametric likelihood-preserving many of its large-sample properties. This article tackles the problem of assessing the discriminatory power of three-class diagnostic tests from an empirical likelihood perspective. In particular, we concentrate on interval estimation in a three-class receiver operating characteristic analysis, where a variety of inferential tasks could be of interest.

A systematic review and meta analysis of measurement properties for the flexion relaxation ratio in people with and without non specific spine pain.

This review sought to identify, critically appraise, compare, and summarize the literature on the reliability, discriminative validity and responsiveness of the flexion relaxation ratio (FRR) in adults (≥ 18 years old) with or without spine pain (any duration), in either a clinical or research context. The review protocol was registered on Open Science Framework ( https://doi.org/10.

Comparative Analysis of PEG-Free and PEG-Based Self-Emulsifying Drug Delivery Systems for Enhanced Oral Bioavailability of Therapeutic (Poly) Peptides.

This study aims to compare the potential of Polyethylene glycol (PEG-free and PEG-based self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS) for the oral administration of insulin glargine (IG). Hydrophobic ion pairs (HIPs) of IG are formed using various counterions. HIPs are assessed for log P and dissociation behavior.

Histidine-based ionizable cationic surfactants: novel biodegradable agents for hydrophilic macromolecular drug delivery.

The aim of this study was to design surfactants based on histidine (His) for hydrophobic ion-pairing and evaluate their safety and efficacy. Lauryl, palmitoyl and oleyl alcohol, as well as 2-hexyl-1-decanol were converted into surfactants with histidine as head-group via esterification. The synthesized His-surfactants were characterized regarding pK, critical micellar concentration (CMC), biodegradability, toxicity on Caco-2 cells, and ability to provide endosomal escape.

Achieving One Part Per Billion Hydrogen Sulfide (HS) Level Detection through Optimizing Composition and Crystallinity of Gold-Decorated Tungsten Trioxide (Au-WO) Nanofibers.

As a common environmental pollutant and an important breath biomarker for several diseases, it is essential to develop a hydrogen sulfide gas sensor with a low-ppb level detection limit to prevent harmful gas exposure and allow early diagnoses of diseases in low-resource settings. Gold doped/decorated tungsten trioxide (Au-WO) nanofibers with various compositions and crystallinities were synthesized to optimize HS-sensing performance. Systematically experimental results demonstrated the ability to detect 1 ppb HS with a response value (/) of 2.

Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of NLY01 in early untreated Parkinson's disease: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Converging lines of evidence suggest that microglia are relevant to Parkinson's disease pathogenesis, justifying exploration of therapeutic agents thought to attenuate pathogenic microglial function. We sought to test the safety and efficacy of NLY01-a brain-penetrant, pegylated, longer-lasting version of exenatide (a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist) that is believed to be anti-inflammatory via reduction of microglia activation-in Parkinson's disease.

Methods: We report a 36-week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of NLY01 in participants with early untreated Parkinson's disease conducted at 58 movement disorder clinics in the USA.