DRopEridol for Abdominal pain in the emergency department for Morphine Equivalent Reduction. The DREAMER study.

Introduction: Droperidol is a dopamine-2 receptor antagonist in the class of butyrophenone antipsychotics with antiemetic, sedative, analgesic, and anxiolytic properties. In the postoperative setting, droperidol provides an opioid sparing effect and decreases nausea/vomiting. Another butyrophenone antipsychotic, haloperidol, has been shown to reduce morphine milliequivalents (MME) administered when used for abdominal pain in the emergency department (ED).

Pandemic Agreement Must Include Levers to Redirect Pharmaceutical Industry Behaviour During Pandemics Comment on "More Pain, More Gain! The Delivery of COVID-19 Vaccines and the Pharmaceutical Industry's Role in Widening the Access Gap".

Borges and colleagues rightly argue that an international treaty is needed to curtail the profit-driven behaviour of the pharmaceutical industry during pandemics. The Pandemic Agreement currently being negotiated by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) offers an important opportunity to equip nation states with greater leverage over industry behaviour. In this commentary, we examine the potential of current draft textual proposals for the Pandemic Agreement to redirect pharmaceutical behaviour in future pandemics.

Subcutaneous ocrelizumab in multiple sclerosis: Results of the Phase 1b OCARINA I study.

Objective: Subcutaneous ocrelizumab is being developed to provide treatment flexibility and additional choice to patients with multiple sclerosis. OCARINA I (NCT03972306) is an open-label, multicenter, Phase 1b, dose-finding study to investigate the pharmacokinetics, safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of subcutaneous ocrelizumab and to select a dose for the Phase 3 OCARINA II study (NCT05232825).

Methods: Patients with relapsing or primary progressive multiple sclerosis (aged 18-65 years; Expanded Disability Status Scale score 0.

Enhancing CNS mitophagy: drug development and disease-relevant models.

Mitophagy, the selective degradation of mitochondria, is impaired in many neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), resulting in an accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria and neuronal damage. Although enhancing mitophagy shows promise as a therapeutic strategy, the clinical significance of mitophagy activators remains uncertain due to limited understanding and poor representation of mitophagy in the central nervous system (CNS). This review explores recent insights into which mitophagy pathways to target and the extent of modulation necessary to be therapeutic towards NDs.

Financialisation: a 21st century commercial determinant of health equity.

In 21st century capitalism, financial markets reign supreme. The elevation of investing, trading, and speculating as a way of making profit has shifted economic power towards institutional investors and enhanced the power of financial capital. Financialisation has introduced uncertainty in the commitment to public provision of goods and services.

Batch equilibrium experiments and modeling reveal weak temperature dependence of cyclic volatile methylsiloxane sorption in soil/sediment organic carbon-water systems.

The organic carbon normalized partition coefficient, K, describes the equilibrium distribution of a chemical between water and organic carbon in soil or sediment. It is a key parameter in evaluating chemical persistence, mass distribution, and transport using multimedia fate and transport models. Considerable uncertainty remains about the K values of cyclic volatile methylsiloxane (cVMS) compounds, and in particular the dependence of K on temperature.

Medical practitioner perspectives on AI in emergency triage.

Introduction: A proposed Diagnostic AI System for Robot-Assisted Triage ("DAISY") is under development to support Emergency Department ("ED") triage following increasing reports of overcrowding and shortage of staff in ED care experienced within National Health Service, England ("NHS") but also globally. DAISY aims to reduce ED patient wait times and medical practitioner overload. The objective of this study was to explore NHS health practitioners' perspectives and attitudes towards the future use of AI-supported technologies in ED triage.

Prothrombin complex concentrate administration timing in warfarin-associated intracranial hemorrhage.

Introduction: Guidelines recommend "rapid" and "urgent" reversal of anticoagulation for warfarin-associated intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) treatment; however, they do not specify goals for time-to-administration. There are limited studies evaluating time to reversal, or international normalized ratio (INR) correction, on hematoma expansion and outcomes in intervals of <4 h. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of 4-factor prothrombin concentrate (4F-PCC) time-to-administration on rates of achieving effective hemostasis, determined by hematoma expansion, for treatment of warfarin-associated ICH.

Legal and ethical principles governing the use of artificial intelligence in radiology services in South Africa.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will drastically change the healthcare system. Radiology is one speciality that is most affected as AI algorithms are increasingly used in diagnostic imaging. AI-enhanced health technologies will, inter alia, increase workflow efficiency, improve diagnostic accuracy, reduce healthcare-related costs, and help alleviate medical personnel shortages in under-resourced settings.

A framework of NGO inside and outside strategies in the commercial determinants of health: findings from a narrative review.

Background: Public health scholarship has uncovered a wide range of strategies used by industry actors to promote their products and influence government regulation. Less is known about the strategies used by non-government organisations to attempt to influence commercial practices. This narrative review applies a political science typology to identify a suite of 'inside' and 'outside' strategies used by NGOs to attempt to influence the commercial determinants of health.

Mapping the regulatory landscape of AI in healthcare in Africa.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced technology has seen unprecedented expansion in the recent past. This growth brings with it huge opportunities for the positive transformation of the economy, business, healthcare, and society. However, a critical question is whether, and to what extent, regulatory measures and mechanisms have been implemented to safeguard its design, development, and deployment.

Public health advocacy strategies to influence policy agendas: lessons from a narrative review of success in trade policy.

Background: Despite accumulating evidence of the implications of trade policy for public health, trade and health sectors continue to operate largely in silos. Numerous barriers to advancing health have been identified, including the dominance of a neoliberal paradigm, powerful private sector interests, and constraints associated with policymaking processes. Scholars and policy actors have recommended improved governance practices for trade policy, including: greater transparency and accountability; intersectoral collaboration; the use of health impact assessments; South-South networking; and mechanisms for civil society participation.

Global inequities in access to COVID-19 health products and technologies: A political economy analysis.

This paper presents a political economy analysis of global inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests. We adapt a conceptual model used for analysing the political economy of global extraction and health to examine the politico-economic factors affecting access to COVID-19 health products and technologies in four interconnected layers: the social, political, and historical context; politics, institutions, and policies; pathways to ill-health; and health consequences. Our analysis finds that battles over access to COVID-19 products occur in a profoundly unequal playing field, and that efforts to improve access that do not shift the fundamental power imbalances are bound to fail.

FBXL4 suppresses mitophagy by restricting the accumulation of NIX and BNIP3 mitophagy receptors.

To maintain both mitochondrial quality and quantity, cells selectively remove damaged or excessive mitochondria through mitophagy, which is a specialised form of autophagy. Mitophagy is induced in response to diverse conditions, including hypoxia, cellular differentiation and mitochondrial damage. However, the mechanisms that govern the removal of specific dysfunctional mitochondria under steady-state conditions to fine-tune mitochondrial content are not well understood.

A Cross-Sequential Study of the Effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on the Risk of Anxiety and Depression of Royal Flying Doctors Staff, an Australian Air Medical Organization.

Objective: This cross-sequential study examines whether the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic affected the mental health of staff working at an Australian air medical service, the Royal Flying Doctors Service South Eastern (RFDSSE) Section.

Methods: The risk of anxiety and depression was measured using a prospective anonymized online survey using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, which was answered by 119 employees. This cross-sequential study was completed in December 2021 with reference to 2 time points: now and the beginning of the pandemic.

Stimulus Onset Asynchrony Affects Weighting-related Event-related Spectral Power in Self-motion Perception.

Self-motion perception relies primarily on the integration of the visual, vestibular, proprioceptive, and somatosensory systems. There is a gap in understanding how a temporal lag between visual and vestibular motion cues affects visual-vestibular weighting during self-motion perception. The beta band is an index of visual-vestibular weighting, in that robust beta event-related synchronization (ERS) is associated with visual weighting bias, and robust beta event-related desynchronization is associated with vestibular weighting bias.

A deliberative public engagement study on heritable human genome editing among South Africans: Study results.

This paper reports the results of a public engagement study on heritable human genome editing (HHGE) carried out in South Africa, which was conducted in accordance with a study protocol that was published in this journal in 2021. This study is novel as it is the first public engagement study on HHGE in Africa. It used a deliberative public engagement (DPE) methodology, entailing inter alia that measures were put in place to ensure that potential participants became informed about HHGE, and that deliberations between the participants were facilitated with the aim of seeking consensus.

The multidimensional legal nature of personal genomic sequence data: A South African perspective.

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the various dimensions in South African law applicable to personal genomic sequence data. This analysis includes property rights, personality rights, and intellectual property rights. Importantly, the under-investigated question of whether personal genomic sequence data are capable of being owned is investigated and answered affirmatively.

A contiguous de novo genome assembly of sugar beet EL10 (Beta vulgaris L.).

A contiguous assembly of the inbred 'EL10' sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris) genome was constructed using PacBio long-read sequencing, BioNano optical mapping, Hi-C scaffolding, and Illumina short-read error correction. The EL10.

Taking the reins: A grounded theory study of women's experiences of negotiating water immersion for labour and birth after a previous caesarean section.

Background: Women seeking a vaginal birth after a caesarean section (VBAC) frequently want to keep their subsequent labour and birth free from intervention. Water immersion (WI) during labour is potentially an effective tool for women having a VBAC for its natural pain-relieving properties. However, negotiating access to WI can be difficult, especially in the context of VBAC.

Governing ultra-processed food and alcohol industries: the presence and role of non-government organisations in Australia.

Objective: The roles of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in regulating harmful commodity industries (HCIs) are understudied. The aim of this paper is to identify the NGOs and the roles that they play in the governance of the ultra-processed food and alcohol industries in Australia.

Methods: We undertook an exploratory descriptive analysis of NGOs identified from an online search based on the typology we developed of type, issue area and governance function.

What is the impact of intellectual property rules on access to medicines? A systematic review.

Background: It is widely accepted that intellectual property legal requirements such as patents and data exclusivity can affect access to medicines, but to date there has not been a comprehensive review of the empirical evidence on this topic. The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) requires Member States to implement minimum standards of intellectual property protection including patents for pharmaceutical products, but also contains 'flexibilities' designed to address barriers to access to medicines. National intellectual property laws can also include TRIPS-plus rules that go beyond what is required by TRIPS.

Seasonality of enteric viruses in groundwater-derived public water sources.

We investigated the seasonal prevalence of seven enteric viruses in groundwater-derived public water sources distributed across the dominant aquifers of England. Sampling targeted four periods in the hydrological cycle with typically varying microbial risks, as indicated using a decade of Escherichia coli prevalence data. Viruses were concentrated onsite by filtration of raw groundwater, and extracted nucleic acid (NA) was amplified by qPCR or RT-qPCR.