The battle of question formats: a comparative study of retrieval practice using very short answer questions and multiple choice questions.

Background: Retrieval practice is a highly effective learning strategy that enhances long-term retention by encouraging the active recall of information. However, the optimal question format for maximizing knowledge retention remains uncertain. In this study, we compared the effect of very short answer (VSAQ) versus multiple-choice question (MCQ) practice tests on students' knowledge retention.

Syndromic Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a progressive inherited retinal dystrophy, characterized by the degeneration of photoreceptors, presenting as a rod-cone dystrophy. Approximately 20-30% of patients with RP also exhibit extra-ocular manifestations in the context of a syndrome. This manuscript discusses the broad spectrum of syndromes associated with RP, pathogenic mechanisms, clinical manifestations, differential diagnoses, clinical management approaches, and future perspectives.

Possible scenarios for the spread of mpox outside the endemic focus in Africa.

The recent expansion of mpox in Africa is characterized by a dramatic increase in zoonotic transmission (clade Ia) and the emergence of a new clade Ib that is transmitted from human-to-human (H2H) by close contact. Clade Ia does not pose a threat in areas without zoonotic reservoir. But clade Ib may spread widely, as did the clade IIb that since 2022 has spread globally among MSM.

Age- and sex-related differences in social competence and emotion labeling in pre-adolescence.

Identification of facial expressions is important to navigate social interactions and associates with developmental outcomes. It is presumed that social competence, behavioral emotion labeling and neural emotional face processing are related, but this has rarely been studied. Here, we investigated these interrelations and their associations with age and sex, in the YOUth cohort (1055 children, 8-11 years old).

Exploring residents' perspectives on their professional identity in general practice residency in the Netherlands: a qualitative study.

Objectives: Educational initiatives in residency may lack alignment with residents' learning objectives. Furthermore, they may overlook residents' struggle to find fulfilment in their work. Professional identity formation (PIF) is a conceptual lens through which to explore the alignment of educational initiatives with residents' learning objectives.

The influence of the dynamic context of the pandemic on the predictive performance of mortality predictions over time in older patients hospitalised for COVID-19.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, dynamic factors such as governmental policies, improved treatment and prevention options and viral mutations changed the incidence of outcomes and possibly changed the relation between predictors and outcomes. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the dynamic context of the pandemic influenced the predictive performance of mortality predictions over time in older patients hospitalised for COVID-19.

Study Design And Setting: The COVID-OLD study, a multicentre cohort study in the Netherlands, included COVID-19 patients aged 70 years and older hospitalised during the first (early 2020), second (late 2020), third (late 2021) or fourth wave (early 2022).

Sexual, relational, and psychological functioning in male partners of women with reported Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome-a case-control study.

Study Question: Do sexual, relational, and psychological functioning of male partners of women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome differ from male partners of women without MRKH syndrome?

Summary Answer: Male partners of women with MRKH syndrome did not significantly differ in sexual functioning but reported higher relational satisfaction and less anxiety than the control group.

What Is Known Already: To date, only a few studies have reported occasionally about sexual, psychological, and relational functioning of partners of women with MRKH syndrome. The results seem to suggest sexual satisfaction in these men, contrary to the more often reported insecurities in women with MRKH syndrome surrounding sexuality and relationships.

The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on perceived diabetes care and regulation, with a focus on ethnic minorities: a mixed-methods study.

Background: This study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting changes to diabetes care, especially concerning disease control, the use of (tele)consultation and lessons worth implementing to improve diabetes care, with a specific focus on ethnic minority groups.

Methods: A mixed-methods prospective cohort study among people with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) treated in primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was sent regionally, including items related to teleconsultation and amount of contact with the healthcare professional.

Tumor gene expression is associated with venous thromboembolism in patients with ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: In patients with pancreatic cancer, the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is high compared to other cancer types, suggesting that tumor-intrinsic features drive hypercoagulability. Tumor gene expression analysis may help unravel the pathogenesis of VTE in these patients and help to identify high-risk patients.

Aim: To evaluate the association between tumor gene expression patterns and VTE in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Dried blood spot LC-MS/MS quantification of voclosporin in renal transplant recipients using volumetric dried blood spot sampling.

Voclosporin is a potent immunosuppressive agent currently approved for treating active lupus nephritis. Based on its potential antiviral activity, it has also been investigated as immunosuppressive agent in an investigator-initiated study in SARS-CoV2 positive kidney transplant recipients. As with many immunosuppressive agents, optimizing dosing regimens to achieve therapeutic efficacy while minimizing toxicity remains a critical challenge in clinical practice.

Cortical lesions impact cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis via volume loss of nonlesional cortex.

Objective: To assess the interrelationship between cortical lesions and cortical thinning and volume loss in people with multiple sclerosis within cortical networks, and how this relates to future cognition.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, 230 people with multiple sclerosis and 60 healthy controls underwent 3 Tesla MRI at baseline and neuropsychological assessment at baseline and 5-year follow-up. Cortical regions (N = 212) were divided into seven functional networks.

Identifying predictors of nosocomial pneumonia in trauma patients admitted to a level-1 trauma center.

Background: Nosocomial pneumonia is common in trauma patients and associated with an adverse prognosis. We recently externally validated and recalibrated an existing formula to predict nosocomial pneumonia risk. Identifying more potential predictors could aid in a more accurate prediction of nosocomial pneumonia risk in level-1 trauma patients.

Improved Generalizability in Medical Computer Vision: Hyperbolic Deep Learning in Multi-Modality Neuroimaging.

Deep learning has shown significant value in automating radiological diagnostics but can be limited by a lack of generalizability to external datasets. Leveraging the geometric principles of non-Euclidean space, certain geometric deep learning approaches may offer an alternative means of improving model generalizability. This study investigates the potential advantages of hyperbolic convolutional neural networks (HCNNs) over traditional convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in neuroimaging tasks.

A Morphologic Analysis of Thumb Ulnar Collateral Ligament Avulsion Fracture Fragments and Risk Factors for Surgical Treatment.

Background: There is debate regarding nonoperative versus surgical treatment of thumb ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tears with avulsion fractures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fragment size in relation to the UCL footprint size in patients with an avulsion fracture injury and to find risk factors associated with surgical treatment.

Methods: In a cohort of avulsion fracture injury patients, the largest side of the fragment was divided by the average reported UCL footprint size (ff-ratio), and a logistic regression was performed to find variables associated with surgery.

Implementing Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) Principles in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research: Mixed Methods Approach.

Background: The FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles are a guideline to improve the reusability of data. However, properly implementing these principles is challenging due to a wide range of barriers.

Objectives: To further the field of FAIR data, this study aimed to systematically identify barriers regarding implementing the FAIR principles in the area of child and adolescent mental health research, define the most challenging barriers, and provide recommendations for these barriers.

Diagnostic Performance of the Maximal Systolic Acceleration for Detecting a Significant Stenosis in the Aortoiliac and Popliteal Pathway: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Introduction: Identifying peripheral arterial disease (PAD) remains challenging with currently used bedside tests. The maximal systolic acceleration (ACC) is a promising noninvasive parameter measured by duplex ultrasonography and reflects the arterial perfusion proximal to its measurement point. The principal aim of this study was to analyze the diagnostic accuracy of the ACC for detecting significant stenosis in different arterial segments, which could be useful in clinical decision-making.

Negative valence in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A worldwide mega-analysis of task-based functional neuroimaging data of the ENIGMA-OCD consortium.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with altered brain function related to processing of negative emotions. To investigate neural correlates of negative valence in OCD, we pooled fMRI data of 633 individuals with OCD and 453 healthy controls from 16 studies using different negatively-valenced tasks across the ENIGMA-OCD Working-Group.

Methods: Participant data were processed uniformly using HALFpipe, to extract voxelwise participant-level statistical images of one common first-level contrast: negative vs.

Quantifying sampling method-induced imprecision in user-friendly lateral upper arm blood collection: Introducing σ-methodology for the verification of alternative sampling methods with TAP® II as a use case.

Background: Alternative means of blood sampling continue to grow due to the scarcity of phlebotomists and the need for person-centered care. It is crucial to consistently support these alternative blood sampling innovations with scientific evidence to guarantee the quality of care, especially when implementing for instance Lateral Upper-arm Blood Collection (LUBC) for non-trained professionals at home. Knowledge gaps remain in how to quantify imprecision introduced by the collection method and its impact on clinical use.

Simplifying coronary artery disease risk stratification: development and validation of a questionnaire-based alternative comparable to clinical risk tools.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) comprises one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality both in the European population and globally. All established clinical risk stratification scores and models require blood lipids and physical measurements. The latest reports of the European Commission suggest that attracting health professionals to collect these data can be challenging, both from a logistic and cost perspective, which limits the usefulness of established models and makes them unsuitable for population-wide screening in resource-limited settings, i.

Dutch Nationwide Cohort Experience with a New PROMs Set in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: BODY-Q Obesity Module.

Purpose: Patient-reported outcomes are important as obesity is a chronic disease with a substantial impact. A multidisciplinary task force selected six scales (48 questions) from the validated BODY-Q questionnaire. This subset was gradually introduced and evaluated in a mandatory nationwide registry.

Kidney Function Decline After COVID-19 Infection.

Importance: COVID-19 infection has been associated with acute kidney injury. However, its possible association with long-term kidney function is not well understood.

Objective: To investigate whether kidney function decline accelerated after COVID-19 compared with after other respiratory tract infections.

TGF-β regulates the release of breast cancer cell-derived extracellular vesicles and the sorting of their protein cargo by downregulating RAB27B expression.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important mediators of intercellular communication in the tumour microenvironment. The cytokine transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) facilitates cancer progression via EVs secreted by cancer cells, which act on recipient cells in the tumour microenvironment. However, the mechanisms of how TGF-β affects cancer cell EV release and composition are incompletely understood.