A digital solution to streamline access to smoking cessation interventions in England; findings from a primary care pilot (STOPNOW study).

Objectives: Despite the proven efficacy of several smoking cessation medications that have been shown to improve long-term abstinence rates, approximately two-thirds of smokers report not having used medication in their most recent quit attempt. A main barrier could be delayed access to pharmacological interventions. This study investigated the utility of a primary care linked online portal to streamline timely access to pharmacological support to patients who want to quit smoking by making an asynchronous request for treatment to their general practitioner.

Estimating blood pressure trends and the nocturnal dip from photoplethysmography.

Objective: Evaluate a method for the estimation of the nocturnal systolic blood pressure (SBP) dip from 24 h blood pressure trends using a wrist-worn photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and a deep neural network in free-living individuals, comparing the deep neural network to traditional machine learning and non-machine learning baselines.

Approach: A wrist-worn PPG sensor was worn by 106 healthy individuals for 226 d during which 5111 reference values for blood pressure (BP) were obtained with a 24 h ambulatory BP monitor and matched with the PPG sensor data. Features based on heart rate variability and pulse morphology were extracted from the PPG waveforms.

Low levels of muscarinic M1 receptor-positive neurons in cortical layers III and V in Brodmann areas 9 and 17 from individuals with schizophrenia.

Background: Results of neuroimaging and postmortem studies suggest that people with schizophrenia may have lower levels of muscarinic M1 receptors (CHRM1) in the cortex, but not in the hippocampus or thalamus. Here, we use a novel immunohistochemical approach to better understand the likely cause of these low receptor levels.

Methods: We determined the distribution and number of CHRM1-positive (CHRM1+) neurons in the cortex, medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus and regions of the hippocampus from controls ( = 12, 12 and 5, respectively) and people with schizophrenia ( = 24, 24 and 13, respectively).

Low levels of muscarinic M1 receptor-positive neurons in cortical layers III and V in Brodmann areas 9 and 17 from individuals with schizophrenia.

Background: Results of neuroimaging and postmortem studies suggest that people with schizophrenia may have lower levels of muscarinic M1 receptors (CHRM1) in the cortex, but not in the hippocampus or thalamus. Here, we use a novel immunohistochemical approach to better understand the likely cause of these low receptor levels.

Methods: We determined the distribution and number of CHRM1-positive (CHRM1+) neurons in the cortex, medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus and regions of the hippocampus from controls ( = 12, 12 and 5, respectively) and people with schizophrenia ( = 24, 24 and 13, respectively).