Early Diagnosis of CNS Virus Infections from Neurological Autoimmune Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study from China in ER Setting.

It is challenging to differentiate between central nervous system (CNS) virus infections and neurological autoimmune diseases in the emergency department. Considering their different pathogenesis, we assume they differ in neuropsychiatric symptoms and laboratory results. A total of 80 patients were included in this study, 50 with CNS virus infections and 30 with CNS autoimmune diseases, confirmed by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Caregiving experiences and practices: qualitative formative research towards development of integrated early childhood development interventions targeting Kenyans and refugees in Nairobi's informal settlements.

Background: Evidence is needed to understand factors that influence child development and caregiving experiences, especially in marginalized contexts, to inform the development and implementation of early childhood development (ECD) interventions. This study explores caregiving practices for young children in an urban informal settlement with Kenyans and embedded refugees, and identifies factors shaping these caregiving experiences, to inform the design and development of potentially appropriate ECD interventions.

Methods: A qualitative formative study, which included 14 focus group discussions (n = 125 participants), and 13 key informant interviews was conducted between August and October 2018.

Key Considerations for the Design, Development and Deployment of AgeTech Solutions Supporting Aging in the Right Place.

"The use of technology to support AIRP [aging in the right place] holds great promise," (Kokorelias et al. 2024: 16) and ethical and human rights considerations must be considered in the design, development and deployment of AgeTech solutions. This may be realized through interprofessional and intersectoral collaboration, as well as meaningful inclusion and engagement of lived expertise and experience from older adults and their caregivers.

The Unholy Grail of cancer screening: or is it just about the Benjamins?

The biotechnology company Grail developed a non-invasive blood test (Galleri test) which is claimed to detect 50 types of cancer at early and potentially curable stages. The initially promising results from prospective studies, and the anticipated financial success of Grail led the sequencing giant Illumina to purchase Grail for $8 billion (2021). Following this event, Grail collaborated with the UK National Health System to further clarify the test's capability, in a 3-year prospective trial, along with the standard of care.

A Glycemic Threshold Above Which the Improvement of β-Cell Function and Glycemia in Response to Insulin Therapy Is Amplified in Early Type 2 Diabetes: The Reversal of Glucotoxicity.

Objective: Alleviation of unrecognized glucotoxicity, with resultant recovery of β-cell function, could amplify the glucose-lowering effect of pharmacotherapy and contribute to the variable therapeutic response observed among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, clinical evidence supporting this concept is lacking. Short-term intensive insulin therapy (IIT) can ameliorate glucotoxicity and improve β-cell function in early T2D.

Maintenance infusion rate of oxytocin after initial 1-IU bolus for elective Cesarean delivery: a dose-finding study.

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to determine the minimum effective dose of oxytocin maintenance infusion required to maintain adequate uterine tone in 90% of patients (ED) after administration of the initial bolus at elective Cesarean delivery (CD) under spinal anesthesia.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, double-blind dose-finding study with biased coin up-down design. Immediately after delivery, a 1-IU oxytocin bolus was administered, followed by a maintenance infusion.

Prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus by multiple biomarkers at early gestation.

Background: It remains unclear which early gestational biomarkers can be used in predicting later development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We sought to identify the optimal combination of early gestational biomarkers in predicting GDM in machine learning (ML) models.

Methods: This was a nested case-control study including 100 pairs of GDM and euglycemic (control) pregnancies in the Early Life Plan cohort in Shanghai, China.

Process evaluation of two large randomized controlled trials to understand factors influencing family physicians' use of antibiotic audit and feedback reports.

Background: Unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions in primary care are common and contribute to antimicrobial resistance in the population. Audit and feedback (A&F) on antibiotic prescribing to primary care can improve the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing, but the optimal approach is uncertain. We performed two pragmatic randomized controlled trials of different approaches to audit and feedback.

Molecular glues that inhibit deubiquitylase activity and inflammatory signalling.

Deubiquitylases (DUBs) are crucial in cell signalling and are often regulated by interactions within protein complexes. The BRCC36 isopeptidase complex (BRISC) regulates inflammatory signalling by cleaving K63-linked polyubiquitin chains on Type I interferon receptors (IFNAR1). As a Zn-dependent JAMM/MPN DUB, BRCC36 is challenging to target with selective inhibitors.

Intranasal HD-Ad-FS vaccine induces systemic and airway mucosal immunities against SARS-CoV-2 and systemic immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants in mice and hamsters.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has highlighted the demand for vaccines that are safe and effective in inducing systemic and airway mucosal immunity against the aerosol transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this study, we developed a novel helper-dependent adenoviral vector-based COVID-19 mucosal vaccine encoding a full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (HD-Ad-FS). Through intranasal immunization (single-dose and prime-boost regimens), we demonstrated that the HD-Ad-FS was immunogenic and elicited potent systemic and airway mucosal protection in BALB/c mice, transgenic ACE2 (hACE2) mice, and hamsters.

Trivariate Joint Modeling for Family Data with Longitudinal Counts, Recurrent Events and a Terminal Event with Application to Lynch Syndrome.

Trivariate joint modeling for longitudinal count data, recurrent events, and a terminal event for family data has increased interest in medical studies. For example, families with Lynch syndrome (LS) are at high risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC), where the number of polyps and the frequency of colonoscopy screening visits are highly associated with the risk of CRC among individuals and families. To assess how screening visits influence polyp detection, which in turn influences time to CRC, we propose a clustered trivariate joint model.

Hypertranscription: the invisible hand in stem cell biology.

Stem cells are the fundamental drivers of growth during development and adult organ homeostasis. The properties that define stem cells - self-renewal and differentiation - are highly biosynthetically demanding. In order to fuel this demand, stem and progenitor cells engage in hypertranscription, a global amplification of the transcriptome.