Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

This is the first in a series of five papers that detail the role and substantial impact that external quality assessment (EQA) and their providers' services play in ensuring diagnostic (IVD) performance quality. The aim is to give readers and users of EQA services an insight into the processes in EQA, explain to them what happens before EQA samples are delivered and after examination results are submitted to the provider, how they are assessed, what benefits participants can expect, but also who are stakeholders other than participants and what significance do EQA data and assessment results have for them. This first paper presents the history of EQA, insights into legal, financing and ethical matters, information technology used in EQA, structure and lifecycle of EQA programs, frequency and intensity of challenges, and unique requirements of extra-examination and educational EQA programs.

Injury risk factors and their priority for mitigation in women's netball: a systematic review and Delphi consensus.

This study aimed to establish consensus on injury risk factors in netball via a combined systematic review and Delphi method approach. A systematic search of databases (PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus and CINAHL) was conducted from inception until June 2023. Twenty-four risk factors were extracted from 17 studies and combined with a three-round Delphi approach to achieve consensus.

Episodic headaches and cognitive decline: uncovering neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease in a young patient.

A male in his 20s presented with episodic headache and subsequently developed episodic unilateral weakness, dysphasia and encephalopathy. These paroxysmal episodes persisted over time with the development of background cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptoms. MRI surveillance demonstrated progressive T2 hyperintensity with focal cortical oedema correlating to symptoms observed during clinical episodes.

DPPX antibody-mediated disease mimicking Wernicke's encephalopathy.

Anti-dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein 6 antibody-mediated disease is a rare autoimmune encephalitis typically presenting with diarrhoea and/or weight loss, central nervous system hyperexcitability and cognitive dysfunction. We present a case of a young woman with 10 days of diplopia and unsteadiness in the context of dysthymia and significant weight loss over 2 months. Initial examination demonstrated mixed dysconjugate nystagmus and ataxic gait.

Sharing data matters: exploring the attitudes of older consumers on an emerging healthy ageing data platform using electronic health records for research.

Background: In Australia, with the recent introduction of electronic health records (EHRs) into hospitals, the use of hospital-based EHRs for research is a relatively new concept. The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of older healthcare consumers on sharing their health data with an emerging EHR-based Research Data Platform within the National Centre for Healthy Ageing.

Methods: This was a qualitative study.

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

External quality assessment (EQA) cycles are the smallest complete units within EQA programs that laboratories can use to obtain external assessments of their performance. In each cycle, several samples are distributed to the laboratories registered for participation, and ideally, EQA programs not only cover the examination procedures but also the pre- and post-examination procedures. The properties and concentration range of measurands in individual samples are selected with regard to the intended challenge for the participants so that each sample fulfils its purpose.

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

External quality assessment (EQA) enhances patient safety through the evaluation of the quality of laboratory-based and point of care testing. Regulatory agencies and accreditation organizations utilize the results and the laboratory's response to them as part of assessing the laboratory's fitness to practice. In addition, where EQA samples are commutable and the assigned value has been determined using reference measurement procedures (RMPs), EQA data contributes to the verification of metrological traceability of assays as part of the post-market surveillance of diagnostic (IVD) medical devices (IVD-MDs).

The Effectiveness of Video Animations as a Tool to Improve Health Information Recall for Patients: Systematic Review.

Background: Access to clear and comprehensible health information is crucial for patient empowerment, leading to improved self-care, adherence to treatment plans, and overall health outcomes. Traditional methods of information delivery, such as written documents and oral communication, often result in poor memorization and comprehension. Recent innovations, such as animation videos, have shown promise in enhancing patient understanding, but comprehensive investigations into their effectiveness across various health care settings are lacking.

Slit Lamp Report Generation and Question Answering: Development and Validation of a Multimodal Transformer Model with Large Language Model Integration.

Background: Large language models have shown remarkable efficacy in various medical research and clinical applications. However, their skills in medical image recognition and subsequent report generation or question answering (QA) remain limited.

Objective: We aim to finetune a multimodal, transformer-based model for generating medical reports from slit lamp images and develop a QA system using Llama2.

Allied Health Professionals' Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in the Clinical Setting: Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to address growing logistical and economic pressures on the health care system by reducing risk, increasing productivity, and improving patient safety; however, implementing digital health technologies can be disruptive. Workforce perception is a powerful indicator of technology use and acceptance, however, there is little research available on the perceptions of allied health professionals (AHPs) toward AI in health care.

Objective: This study aimed to explore AHP perceptions of AI and the opportunities and challenges for its use in health care delivery.

Advanced Technology in a Real-World Rehabilitation Setting: Longitudinal Observational Study on Clinician Adoption and Implementation.

Background: Advanced technologies are becoming increasingly accessible in rehabilitation. Current research suggests technology can increase therapy dosage, provide multisensory feedback, and reduce manual handling for clinicians. While more high-quality evidence regarding the effectiveness of rehabilitation technologies is needed, understanding of how to effectively integrate technology into clinical practice is also limited.

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

Providers of external quality assessment (EQA) programs evaluate data or information obtained and reported by participant laboratories using their routine procedures to examine properties or measurands in samples provided for this purpose. EQA samples must offer participants an equal chance to obtain accurate results, while being designed to provide results in clinically relevant ranges. It is the responsibility of the EQA provider to meet the necessary requirements for homogeneity, stability and some other properties of the EQA items in order to offer participants a fair, reliable and technically interesting EQA experience.

Risk of disruptive behavioural disorders in offspring of mothers with perinatal depressive disorders: A data linkage cohort study.

Background: This study aims to examine the relationship between maternal antenatal and postnatal depressive disorders and the risk of disruptive behavioural disorders (DBDs) in offspring, including conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), to enhance understanding and address gaps in the literature.

Methods: We utilised a large administrative health dataset from New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Maternal perinatal depressive disorders and offspring DBDs were identified using International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes.

The time-stamped effects of screen exposure on food intake in adults: A meta-analysis of experimental studies.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine time-stamped impacts of screen exposure on food intake among healthy adults.

Methods: Four electronic databases were searched up to August 31, 2024, including ProQuest, PubMed, Web of Science and Embase. A meta-analysis of inverse variance was used to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD) in food intake between watching and not watching screen groups, and groups with different screen contents (e.

CIROZ is dispensable in ancestral vertebrates but essential for left-right patterning in humans.

Four genes-DAND5, PKD1L1, MMP21, and CIROP-form a genetic module that has specifically evolved in vertebrate species that harbor motile cilia in their left-right organizer (LRO). We find here that CIROZ (previously known as C1orf127) is also specifically expressed in the LRO of mice, frogs, and fish, where it encodes a protein with a signal peptide followed by 3 zona pellucida N domains, consistent with extracellular localization. We report 16 individuals from 10 families with bi-allelic CIROZ inactivation variants, which cause heterotaxy with congenital heart defects.

The Effect of Adherence to a Tai Chi Intervention on Quality of Life of Older People Living With Dementia.

Background/objectives: Adherence to exercise programs is required to reap their established benefits and to sustain Quality of Life (QoL). This study explored People Living with Dementia's (PLWD) adherence to a Tai Chi exercise program and its effects on their QoL. The study included assessment of factors affecting adherence to a Tai Chi exercise intervention, causes of nonadherence, and effect of adherence on PLWD's QoL.

mRNA export factors store nascent transcripts within nuclear speckles as an adaptive response to transient global inhibition of transcription.

Several transcription inhibitors have been developed as cancer therapies. However, they show modest clinical activity, highlighting that our understanding of the cellular response to transcriptional inhibition remains incomplete. Here we report that potent inhibitors of transcription not only impact mRNA output but also markedly impair mRNA transcript localization and nuclear export.

BioBERT based text mining for incorporating prior knowledge in the inference of genetic network models.

Reconstruction of Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) is essential for understanding gene interactions, their impact on cellular processes, and manifestation of diseases, including drug discovery. Among various mathematical and dynamic models used for GRN reconstruction, S-system model, comprising non-linear differential equations, is widely utilised to capture the behaviour of complex biological systems with non-linear and time-dependent interactions. However, as the network size increases, computational demand for network inference grows due to a greater number of estimation parameters, significantly impacting the performance of optimisation algorithms.

Method development and validation on RP-HPLC method for estimation of xanthohumol in nanostructured lipid carriers drug delivery systems.

Xanthohumol(Xn) is isolated from female inflorescences of Humulus lupulus. It has been discovered that Xn and its formulation are useful in the treatment of cancer. As this bioactive compound has medicinal importance, hence, a novel, precise, and sensitive HPLC method should be developed.

Modeling the environmental Kuznets Curve: A stochastic approach using economic and climate data.

This research chooses Pakistan as an ideal case to explore the connection between economic expansion and carbon emissions, by incorporating a novel approach of using coupled stochastic equations to estimate this dynamic interaction.The GDP (Gross domestic product) in Pakistan has been ascending over the time of 1960-2023, with short episodes of stagnation (mid 80s) and decline (1973, 2009). Since 2010, the growth rate has been rising annually, reaching 4.

Simple and effective filtration system for drinking water production from harvested rainwater in rural areas.

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) for drinking water production has been a potential solution to mitigate water scarcity in rural areas. There was limited research focusing on the quality of treated rainwater. This study developed and tested the quality of a drinking water filtration system (DWFS) for treating harvested rainwater to support rural communities.

Construction and transcriptomic analysis of salinity-induced lipid-rich flocculent microalgae.

The lack of cost-effective nutrient sources and harvesting methods is currently a major obstacle to the production of sustainable biofuels from microalgae. In this study, Chlorella pyrenoidosa was cultured with saline wastewater in a stirred photobioreactor, and lipid-rich flocculent microalgae particles were successfully constructed. As the influent salinity of the photobioreactor increased from 0% to 3%, the particle size and sedimentation rate of flocculent microalgae particles gradually increased, and the lipid accumulation of microalgae also increased gradually.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi mitigate cadmium stress in maize.

Soil cadmium (Cd) pollution poses a significant environmental threat, impacting global food security and human health. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to protect crops from various heavy metal stresses, including Cd toxicity. To elucidate the tolerance mechanisms of maize in response to Cd toxicity under AM symbiosis, this study used two maize genotypes with contrasting Cd tolerance: Zhengdan958 (Cd-tolerant) and Zhongke11 (Cd-sensitive).

Cyclometalated ruthenium (II) complex-based nanoparticles for enhanced microRNAs detection and imaging in living cells.

MicroRNA (miRNA) imaging in living cells is paramount for comprehending its dynamic functions and profiles, offering valuable insights into miRNA-related cellular processes. However, this remains challenging due to limited transfection agents and the low abundance of miRNAs. Herein, a smart nanosystem was proposed for miRNA imaging in living cells by ingeniously integrating cyclometalated ruthenium (II) nanoparticles (RuNPs) with a catalyzed hairpin assembly (CHA) strategy.