Loss of normal facial asymmetry in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Implications for development of brain asymmetry in psychotic illness.

Development of the craniofacies occurs in embryological intimacy with development of the brain and both show normal left-right asymmetries. While facial dysmorphology occurs to excess in psychotic illness, facial asymmetry has yet to be investigated as a putative index of brain asymmetry. Ninety-three subjects (49 controls, 22 schizophrenia, 22 bipolar disorder) received 3D laser surface imaging of the face.

The effectiveness of Function Focused Care among patients acutely admitted to hospital: A stepped wedge cluster trial.

Background: During acute hospital admission, patients often experience loss of functional status. A low level of physical activity is associated with higher levels of loss of functional status. Stimulating physical activity to maintain functional status is considered essential nursing care.

Titanium metal-organic frameworks for photocatalytic CO conversion through a cycloaddition reaction.

The elevated levels of CO in the atmosphere have been a major concern for environmental scientists. Capturing CO gas and its subsequent conversion to useful organic compounds is one of the avenues that have been extensively studied in the last decade. The photocatalytic cycloaddition of CO is a promising approach for effective CO capture and the production of value-added chemicals such as cyclic carbonates.

Acceptability and potential benefit of a self-compassion intervention for people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a mixed methods pilot study.

This proof-of-concept study aimed to explore the acceptability and potential benefit of a self-guided online self-compassion intervention to aid resilient coping and reduce emotional distress among patients and caregivers living with ALS. A single-arm pilot study was conducted in 20 adults living with ALS either as a patient or as a caregiver. Acceptability was examined using questionnaires ( = 20) and semi-structured interviews ( = 9).

Reproductive tract complication risks following infections: a long-term prospective cohort study from 2008 to 2022.

Background: The clinical and public health relevance of widespread testing for asymptomatic (chlamydia) infections is under debate. To address uncertainties in screening programs, we estimate reproductive tract complication risks following asymptomatic and symptomatic chlamydia infections in a long-term prospective cohort.

Methods: A cohort of 5704 reproductive-age women recruited from a chlamydia screening study was followed for up to 14 years.

A Scoping Review of Intervention Implementation for Self-Care Skills among Children with Developmental Delay.

Difficulties with self-care skills are frequently observed in children with developmental delays. Given the scarcity of robust evidence backing self-care interventions for this group, this scoping review is designed to aggregate existing literature on the implementation of such interventions. Therefore, this scoping review aims to collate literature on the nature of self-care intervention implementation to increase understanding of the current practice and inform future research directions.

Action on elevated natriuretic peptide in primary care: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Natriuretic peptides (NPs) are released by increased ventricular wall stress, most often caused by heart failure (HF). NP level measurement helps select patients clinically suspected of HF who need echocardiography. Yet, the diagnostic actions following NP testing in daily primary care are poorly studied.

Management of patients with adrenal myelolipoma: experience from a tertiary referral centre.

Background: Adrenal myelolipomas are rare, benign, tumours of the adrenal cortex.

Aims: This study reports the experience of a tertiary adrenal surgery referral centre's approach to the management of patients with adrenal myelolipoma.

Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted on all adult patients (> 18 years age) diagnosed with adrenal myelolipoma from January 1, 2014, to December 30, 2022.

Differential associations between SARS-CoV-2 infection, perceived burden of the pandemic and mental health in the German population-based cohort for digital health research.

Understanding the potential adverse effects of the COVID-19-pandemic on mental health remains a challenge for public health. Differentiation between potential consequences of actual infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the subjective burden of the pandemic due to measures and restrictions to daily life still remains elusive. Therefore, we investigated the differential association between infection with SARS-Cov-2 and subjective burden of the pandemic in a study cohort of 7601 participants from the German population-based cohort for digital health research (DigiHero), who were recruited between March 4th and April 25th 2022.

Experiences of Parents and Caregivers of Children Who Underwent Gastrostomy Tube Insertion.

Gastrostomy feeding is a route of enteral nutrition for children with feeding difficulties. This study investigated caregiver experiences of the transition to gastrostomy feeding. A survey was administered to caregivers of children <18 years in a major pediatric center in Ireland.

Biomarker guided antibiotic stewardship in community acquired pneumonia: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: In community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the role of biomarkers to shorten duration of antibiotic treatment has not been firmly established. We assessed the effectiveness of active feedback of treatment algorithms based on procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP), compared to standard care, on the duration of antibiotic treatment in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in non-ICU wards.

Methods And Findings: We performed a randomised, open label, parallel group, multi-centre trial in 3 Dutch teaching hospitals.

Prevalence and Experience of Urinary Incontinence Among Elite Female Gaelic Sports Athletes.

Introduction And Hypothesis: This study was aimed at identifying the prevalence and experience of urinary incontinence (UI) among elite female Gaelic sports athletes in Ireland.

Methods: A cross-sectional study comprising an anonymous online survey of elite Gaelic sports (Camogie and Ladies Gaelic Football) players. Players were asked about their background information, knowledge of the pelvic floor and practice of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), as well as their experiences of UI.

Mortality Associated with Infectious Diseases in Dutch Nursing Homes.

Background: Although older people in nursing homes have a larger susceptibility to infectious diseases, the extent to which infectious diseases contribute to their mortality is unknown. Therefore, we quantified the associations between seasonal infectious diseases and all-cause mortality in Dutch nursing homes.

Methods: We analyzed time series (January 2009 to December 2021) of the weekly sentinel surveillance of infectious diseases in Dutch nursing homes.

Identification of a prognostic gene signature in patients with cisplatin resistant squamous cell lung cancer.

Background: In the absence of targeted mutations and immune checkpoints, platinum-based chemotherapy remains a gold standard agent in the treatment of patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). However, cisplatin resistance greatly limits its therapeutic efficacy and presents challenges in the treatment of lung cancer patients. Therefore, the potential clinical needs for this research focus on identifying novel molecular signatures to further elucidate the underlying mechanisms of cisplatin resistance in LUSC.

Utilising Health Technology Assessment to Develop Managed Access Protocols to Facilitate Drug Reimbursement in Ireland.

The Health Service Executive, responsible for operating the Irish health service, has introduced health technology management (HTM) initiatives to manage expenditure on medicines. One such approach is managed access protocols (MAPs) to support access to high-cost medicines, while providing oversight, governance and budgetary certainty to the payer. Herein we describe the development and operation of MAPs, using case studies of liraglutide (Saxenda), dupilumab (Dupixent) and calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibodies.

The role of intermediaries in connecting individuals to local physical activity - protocol for a pilot feasibility trial.

Background: Intermediaries are health-related workers who facilitate connections to local physical activities. Intermediaries deliver interventions by receiving referrals, conducting assessments, connecting referred individuals to activities and/or services in the community, and following up with them over time. However, it is unclear whether individuals who are referred to physical activities by an intermediary improve their physical activity levels, and what their perspectives and experiences are of participating in this intervention.

Development of polysaccharide based intelligent packaging system for visually monitoring of food freshness.

With the increased awareness on food freshness and food quality among consumers, the intelligent packaging films that can visually monitor the freshness of packaged foods by observing the color changes of packaging materials are gradually drawing more and more attentions. In this paper, various colorimetric indicators, types of polysaccharides as film-forming materials, production methods, freshness monitoring application, along with the future development of different intelligent packaging films are illustrated detailedly and deeply. Natural pH sensitive indicators such as anthocyanin, alizarin, curcumin, betaines and chlorophylls, as well as the gases sensitive indicators (hydrogen sulfide sensitive indicators and ethylene sensitive indicators) are the most widely used indicators for monitoring of food freshness.

Causes and Terminology in Neonatal Encephalopathy: What is in a Name? Neonatal Encephalopathy, Hypoxic-ischemic Encephalopathy or Perinatal Asphyxia.

Neurologic depression in term/near-term neonates (neonatal encephalopathy, NE) is uncommon with modern obstetric care. Asphyxial birth, with or without co-factors, accounts for a minority of NE, while maldevelopment (congenital malformations, growth aberrations, genetic, metabolic and placental abnormalities) plays an enlarging role in identifying etiologic subgroups of NE. The terms NE and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) have not been employed uniformly, hampering research and clinical care.

Hyperlocal Air Pollution Mapping: A Scalable Transfer Learning LUR Approach for Mobile Monitoring.

Addressing the challenge of mapping hyperlocal air pollution in areas without local monitoring, we evaluated unsupervised transfer learning-based land-use regression (LUR) models developed using mobile monitoring data from other cities: CORrelation ALignment (Coral) and its inverse distance-weighted modification (IDW_Coral). These models mitigated domain shifts and transferred patterns learned from mobile air quality monitoring campaigns in Copenhagen and Rotterdam to estimate annual average air pollution levels in Amsterdam (50m road segments) without involving any Amsterdam measurements in model development. For nitrogen dioxide (NO), IDW_Coral outperformed Copenhagen and Rotterdam LUR models directly applied to Amsterdam, achieving MAE (4.

Investigating copy number variants in schizophrenia pedigrees using a new consensus pipeline called PECAN.

Copy number variants (CNVs) have been implicated in many human diseases, including psychiatric disorders. Whole genome sequencing offers advantages in CNV calling compared to previous array-based methods. Here we present a robust and transparent CNV calling pipeline, PECAN (PEdigree Copy number vAriaNt calling), for short-read, whole genome sequencing data, comprised of a novel combination of four calling methods and structural variant genotyping.