Variability of Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease questionnaire (PsAID12) thresholds in psoriatic arthritis: data from the ReFlaP study.

Objectives: To explore thresholds for the Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) Impact of Disease questionnaire (PsAID12) score against disease activity measures in an observational setting, in patients with PsA.

Methods: The baseline data from the ReFlaP observational, prospective, multicentre and international study was used (NCT03119805). Cutoffs for PsAID12 were determined against disease activity scores, defining disease impact states (ie remission, low impact, moderate impact and high impact).

Clinical Manifestations.

Background: Cognitive assessments are essential for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. However, existing tests are mostly developed in English-speaking cohorts. Hence, their application in multilingual populations will need translation which may affect their test psychometrics.

Clinical Manifestations.

Background: Epilepsy is associated with increased risk for dementia, which adversely impacts the quality of life for patients and their families. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the prodromal stage of dementia offering an important window for intervention. However, the epilepsy related risk factors for MCI are not well understood.

Global, regional, and national burden of primary liver cancer attributable to metabolic risks: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2021.

Background: The global burden of metabolic diseases is increasing, but estimates of their impact on primary liver cancer are uncertain. We aimed to assess the global burden of primary liver cancer attributable to metabolic risk factors, including high body mass index (BMI) and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, between 1990 and 2021.

Methods: The total number and age-standardized rates of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from primary liver cancer attributable to each metabolic risk factor were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2021.

Diagnosis of cognitive impairment and dementia: blood plasma and optical coherence tomography.

Accurate and early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia is crucial for enabling timely interventions and improving patient outcomes. This study evaluates the diagnostic performance of plasma biomarkers (neurofilament light chain and phosphorylated tau181) and retinal biomarkers (retinal nerve fibre layer and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer), individually and in combination, in differentiating moderate cognitive impairment and dementia from mild cognitive impairment and no cognitive impairment. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 509 participants, aged 50 and older, recruited from a memory clinic.

Optimising dementia screening in community-dwelling older adults: A rapid review of brief diagnostic tools in Singapore.

Introduction: Timely detection of dementia enables early access to dementia-specific care services and interventions. Various stakeholders brought together to refine Singapore's dementia care strategy identified a lack of a standardised cognitive screening tool and the absence of a comparative review of existing tools. We hence conducted a rapid review to evaluate the diagnostic performance of brief cognitive screening tools in identifying possible dementia among community-dwelling older adults in Singapore.

Dropping the baton: Cognitive biases in emergency physicians.

Introduction: Clinical medicine is becoming more complex and increasingly requires a team-based approach to deliver healthcare needs. This dispersion of cognitive reasoning across individuals, teams and systems (termed "distributed cognition") means that our understanding of cognitive biases and errors must expand beyond traditional "in-the-head" individual mental models and focus on a broader "out-in-the-world" context instead. To our knowledge, no qualitative studies thus far have examined cognitive biases in clinical settings from a team-based sociocultural perspective.

Whole-exome sequencing association study reveals genetic effects on tumor microenvironment components in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) presents a substantial clinical challenge due to the limited understanding of its genetic underpinnings. Here we conduct the largest scale whole-exome sequencing association study of NPC to date, encompassing 6,969 NPC cases and 7,100 controls. We unveil 3 germline genetic variants linked to NPC susceptibility: a common rs2276868 in RPL14, a rare rs5361 in SELE, and a common rs1050462 in HLA-B.

Unexpected retinal fluid compartment responses with anti-VEGF therapy in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: a case report of four patients.

This case series describes responses to faricimab treatment in opposite directions in different fluid compartments in four patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). Despite reductions in retinal fluid (SRF) and stable visual acuity following treatment, all patients developed retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) elevation. Over a 12-15 months follow-up, three patients exhibited a gradual decrease in RPE elevation, with one case resolving completely.

Reduced durability of hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in immunocompromised children.

Background: In endemic COVID-19, immunocompromised children are vulnerable until vaccinated but the optimal primary vaccination regime and need for booster doses remains uncertain.

Methods: We recruited 19 immunocompromised children (post-solid organ transplantation, have autoimmune disease or were on current or recent chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia), and followed them from the start of primary vaccination with BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 until 1-year post-vaccination. We investigated the quality of vaccine immunogenicity, and longevity of hybrid immunity, in comparison to healthy children.

Liver resection and transplantation in the era of checkpoint inhibitors.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionised the treatment landscape for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab has demonstrated efficacy, establishing a new standard of care for advanced HCC. Neoadjuvant studies have shown promising results with high response rates, increasing research into ICIs' role.

TaqMan Array Card real-time polymerase chain reaction panel to detect pathogens in whole blood of febrile inpatients in northern Tanzania, 2016-2019.

Background: Acute febrile illness is a common reason for seeking healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. We describe the diagnostic utility of a TaqMan Array Card (TAC) real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panel for pathogen detection in paediatric and adult inpatients admitted with febrile illness.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we screened medical admissions for a tympanic temperature ≥38.

Tissue sodium in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a novel potential driver of hypertension in autoimmunity.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have increased hypertension. Tissue sodium may contribute to development and progression of hypertension through immune cell activation. This study aimed to determine if skin sodium content is: 1) higher in RA versus control participants, and 2) associated with blood pressure and disease activity.

Multivariate stochastic modeling for transcriptional dynamics with cell-specific latent time using SDEvelo.

Recently, RNA velocity has driven a paradigmatic change in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) studies, allowing the reconstruction and prediction of directed trajectories in cell differentiation and state transitions. Most existing methods of dynamic modeling use ordinary differential equations (ODE) for individual genes without applying multivariate approaches. However, this modeling strategy inadequately captures the intrinsically stochastic nature of transcriptional dynamics governed by a cell-specific latent time across multiple genes, potentially leading to erroneous results.

Piecing together the narrative of #longcovid: an unsupervised deep learning of 1,354,889 X (formerly Twitter) posts from 2020 to 2023.

Objective: To characterize the public conversations around long COVID, as expressed through X (formerly Twitter) posts from May 2020 to April 2023.

Methods: Using X as the data source, we extracted tweets containing #long-covid, #long_covid, or "long covid," posted from May 2020 to April 2023. We then conducted an unsupervised deep learning analysis using Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT).

Establishing clinical research networks for future infectious disease outbreak responses in Southeast Asia: Report of a workshop on challenges and opportunities.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical need for well-established clinical research networks capable of rapid response during infectious disease outbreaks. In Southeast Asia, the absence of active research networks at the onset of the COVID-19 contributed to gaps in regional preparedness. This manuscript discusses the challenges and opportunities identified during a regional workshop held in Singapore (February 26 to March 1, 2024), which brought together 130 stakeholders from across the region.

Performance of Risk-Stratification Scores for Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in a Multi-Ethnic Asian Population.

Guidelines recommend risk stratification of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients to guide management. There are currently several risk stratification scores available, which have largely been validated in various pulmonary hypertension registries in the West but not in Asia. We aim to study the performance of these different risk scores in PAH patients from a multi-ethnic Asian population.

Global, regional and national burden due to retinoblastoma in children aged younger than 10 years from 1990 to 2021.

Background: Retinoblastoma (RB), an aggressive intraocular malignancy, significantly adds to the global disease burden in early childhood. This study offers insights into the global burden of retinoblastoma (RB) in children aged 0-9 years, examining incidence, mortality, and DALYs from 1990 to 2021, across age, sex, location, and SDI levels. It aims to inform health policy, resource allocation, and RB combat strategies.

Leveraging anatomical constraints with uncertainty for pneumothorax segmentation.

Background: Pneumothorax is a medical emergency caused by the abnormal accumulation of air in the pleural space-the potential space between the lungs and chest wall. On 2D chest radiographs, pneumothorax occurs within the thoracic cavity and outside of the mediastinum, and we refer to this area as "lung + space." While deep learning (DL) has increasingly been utilized to segment pneumothorax lesions in chest radiographs, many existing DL models employ an end-to-end approach.

Investigating the association between labor pain and cessation of breastfeeding.

Mothers encounter several challenges to sustain breastfeeding until the recommended 6 months of age. There is limited evidence on the impact of women's labor pain experiences upon cessation of breastfeeding. We aimed to investigate the association between women's labor pain experiences, intrapartum interventions, and pre-birth psychological vulnerabilities and cessation of breastfeeding.

Bioluminescent Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli for whole-cell screening of antibacterial and adjuvant compounds.

Continued efforts to discover new antibacterial molecules are critical to achieve a robust pre-clinical pipeline for new antibiotics. Screening of compound or natural product extract libraries remains a widespread approach and can benefit from the development of whole cell assays that are robust, simple and versatile, and allow for high throughput testing of antibacterial activity. In this study, we created and validated two bioluminescent reporter strains for high-throughput screening, one in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and another in a hyperporinated and efflux-deficient Escherichia coli.

Cost-effectiveness of FRAX®-based intervention thresholds for management of osteoporosis in Indian women: a Markov microsimulation model analysis.

Unlabelled: A cost-effectiveness analysis of FRAX® intervention thresholds (ITs) in Indian women over 50 years indicated that generic alendronate was cost-effective for age-dependent major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) ITs and hip fracture (HF) ITs starting at ages 60 and 65 years for full and real-world adherence, respectively. Alendronate was cost-effective at fixed MOF IT of 14% and HF IT of 3.5%, regardless of age.