Encouraging arm use in stroke survivors: the impact of smart reminders during a home-based intervention.

Background: Upper limb impairment post-stroke often leads to a predominant use of the less affected arm and consequent learned disuse of the affected side, hindering upper limb outcome. Wearable sensors such as accelerometers, combined with smart reminders (i.e.

Efficacy of Arogya Rakshak Panchatantra (Five Lifestyle Principles) on Heart Rate Variability and Menstrual Symptoms in Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is associated with decreased performance and reduced quality of life in young adults. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing Arogya Rakshak Panchatantra (ARP), a naturopathic lifestyle practice, among young female adults with PD. This open-label, parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial included 52 young female adults with PD aged between 16 and 25 years.

cfDNA UniFlow: a unified preprocessing pipeline for cell-free DNA data from liquid biopsies.

Background: Cell-free DNA (cfDNA), a broadly applicable biomarker commonly sourced from urine or blood, is extensively used for research and diagnostic applications. In various settings, genetic and epigenetic information is derived from cfDNA. However, a unified framework for its processing is lacking, limiting the universal application of innovative analysis strategies and the joining of data sets.

A rapid turnaround time workflow for a cytological liquid biopsy assay using FNA supernatant specimens.

Background: Genomic profiling is essential in the management of non-small cell lung cancer. However, this may often be challenging because of limited cytological tissue and extended turnaround time (TAT) for next-generation sequencing (NGS). This study aims to describe a rapid TAT workflow for molecular profiling using fine-needle aspiration (FNA) supernatants.

Tele-Mindfulness Program for Mental Health in Previously Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A quasi-experimental study.

Background: Nearly half of subjects after COVID-19 still experience symptoms after 12 weeks, as described in the Post-Covid Syndrome (PCS). Other than the physical alterations perceived, mental health disorders have been frequently reported. Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) showed beneficial effects on psychological well-being in patients with respiratory dysfunctions, but they have been rarely tested in severe COVID-19 survivors.

A snapshot of cancer in Chile II: an update on research, strategies and analytical frameworks for equity, innovation and national development.

Introduction: Chile has achieved developed nation status and boasts a life expectancy of 81 + years; however, the healthcare and research systems are unprepared for the social and economic burden of cancer. One decade ago, the authors put forward a comprehensive analysis of cancer infrastructure, together with a series of suggestions on research orientated political policy.

Objectives: Provide an update and comment on policy, infrastructure, gender equality, stakeholder participation and new challenges in national oncology.

Standardized study performance, quality assurance, and quality control in a cluster-randomized trial: the Pneumococcal Vaccine Schedules trial.

Randomized controlled trials are considered the "gold standard" for evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention. However, large-scale, cluster-randomized trials are complex and costly to implement. The generation of accurate, reliable, and high-quality data is essential to ensure the validity and generalizability of findings.

Exploring Quality and Safety Best Practices at Leading International Centres.

Background: This project aimed to go beyond published literature to glean strategies and lessons learned on quality and safety (Q&S) best practices from centres with pre-eminent international reputations.

Methods: Nine centres participated in an interview; questions centred on approaches to building Q&S infrastructure around the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI's) Whole System Quality (WSQ) framework (Sampath et al. 2021).

An Optimal Internet of Things-Driven Intelligent Decision-Making System for Real-Time Fishpond Water Quality Monitoring and Species Survival.

Smart fish farming faces critical challenges in achieving comprehensive automation, real-time decision-making, and adaptability to diverse environmental conditions and multi-species aquaculture. This study presents a novel Internet of Things (IoT)-driven intelligent decision-making system that dynamically monitors and optimizes water quality parameters to enhance fish survival rates across various regions and species setups. The system integrates advanced sensors connected to an ESP32 microcontroller, continuously monitoring key water parameters such as pH, temperature, and turbidity which are increasingly affected by climate-induced variability.

Analytical Validation and Performance Evaluation of Amplicon-Based Next-Generation Sequencing Assays for Detecting and Other Gene Amplifications in Solid Tumors.

Background: Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels are increasingly being utilized to identify actionable gene amplifications (copy number > 4) among solid tumors.

Methods: This study validated the analytical performance of two amplicon-based NGS assays, the Oncomine Comprehensive Panel (OCAv3) and the Oncomine Focus Assay (OFA), for detecting gene amplification in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumors of varying cellularity. OCAv3 was assessed for amplification detection in 756 FFPE samples comprising various tumor types.

Coaching inexperienced clinicians before a high stakes medical procedure: randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To assess whether training provided to an inexperienced clinician just before performing a high stakes procedure can improve procedural care quality, measuring the first attempt success rate of trainees performing infant orotracheal intubation.

Design: Randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Single center, quaternary children's hospital in Boston, MA, USA.

Visually relevant on-bench through-focus analysis of intraocular lenses.

Cataract surgery involves the implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL) to replace the opacified crystalline lens. Monofocal IOLs, the most common type, are intended to have the eye in focus at a given distance, usually at infinity. Simultaneous vision IOLs (SVIOLs) and extended depth of focus (EDOF) aim to minimize postoperative dependence on spectacles by providing either multiple foci or an extended depth of focus.

Hospital-level variation in cardiac rehabilitation metrics.

Background: To inform the delivery of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) care nationwide at the hospital level, we described hospital-level variation in CR metrics, overall and stratified by the hospital's tier of cardiac care provided.

Methods: This retrospective cohort analysis used Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) data (2018-2020), Parts A and B, and American Hospital Association (AHA) data (2018). We included beneficiaries with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) in 2018, aged ≥65 years, and continuously enrolled in a FFS plan.

Clinical Implementation of a High-Throughput Automated Comprehensive Genomic Profiling Test: TruSight Oncology 500 HT.

The adoption of comprehensive genomic profiling in oncology has rapidly increased the demand for standardized tumor sample processing in diagnostic laboratories. Automation of DNA and RNA library preparation workflows offers the possibility to scale-up and standardize sample processing. We report on the clinical implementation of the automated TruSight Oncology 500 High-Throughput library preparation workflow from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples using the Biomek i7 hybrid Workstation.

Feasibility and Efficacy of a Novel Mindfulness App Used With Matcha Green Tea in Generally Healthy Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Mindfulness practices, such as breathing meditation (BM), reduce stress and enhance mood. One such practice is mindful eating, where a practitioner focuses on the five senses while eating or drinking. A novel set of prototypes has been developed, incorporating principles of mindful eating.

Chinese Stroke Association guidelines on emergency stroke unit.

Organised stroke care has become a keystone in delivering efficient and effective treatment to patients with stroke with improved outcomes. Delivering timely acute reperfusion therapy to those with acute ischaemic strokes is key to good recovery. Emergency stroke unit (ESU) is a novel organised stroke care system developed in China.

Investigating the Associations Between COVID-19, Long COVID, and Sleep Disturbances: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: COVID-19 has not only resulted in acute health issues but also led to persistent symptoms known as long COVID, which have been linked to disruptions in sleep quality.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the associations between COVID-19, long COVID, and sleep disturbances, focusing on demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological factors among a Chinese population.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1062 participants from China.

The Rapidly Evolving Scenario of Acoustic Voice Analysis in Otolaryngology.

The field of voice analysis has experienced significant transformations, evolving from basic perceptual assessments to the incorporation of advanced digital signal processing and computational tools. This progression has facilitated a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics of vocal function, particularly through the use of acoustic voice analysis within a multidimensional evaluation framework. Traditionally, voice analysis relied on parameters such as fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio, which, despite their utility, have faced criticism for variability and lack of robustness.

Enhancing sentiment and intent analysis in public health via fine-tuned Large Language Models on tobacco and e-cigarette-related tweets.

Background: Accurate sentiment analysis and intent categorization of tobacco and e-cigarette-related social media content are critical for public health research, yet they necessitate specialized natural language processing approaches.

Objective: To compare pre-trained and fine-tuned Flan-T5 models for intent classification and sentiment analysis of tobacco and e-cigarette tweets, demonstrating the effectiveness of pre-training a lightweight large language model for domain specific tasks.

Methods: Three Flan-T5 classification models were developed: (1) tobacco intent, (2) e-cigarette intent, and (3) sentiment analysis.

Optimizing acute chest pain diagnosis: Efficacy of 64-channel multi-slice CT with Snap-Shot Freeze technique in Triple-Rule-out CT angiography.

Objective: This study evaluates the efficacy of Snap-Shot Freeze (SSF) technology combined with optimized contrast medium (CM) injection protocols in Triple-Rule-Out (TRO) computed tomography angiography (CTA) using 64-channel multi-slice CT (MSCT) for diagnosing acute chest pain (ACP).

Materials And Methods: A total of 111 patients presenting with ACP were enrolled and divided into two groups: Group 1 (23 patients) underwent TRO CTA using 64-channel MSCT with SSF technology, while the control group (88 patients) which was further divided into three cohorts underwent specific site CTA scans. Quantitative metrics such as CT values, standard deviation (SD), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated for pulmonary artery, coronary arteries, and aortic imaging.

Epilepsy is associated with the accelerated aging of brain activity in sleep.

Objective: Although seizures are the cardinal feature, epilepsy is associated with other forms of brain dysfunction including impaired cognition, abnormal sleep, and increased risk of developing dementia. We hypothesized that, given the widespread neurologic dysfunction caused by epilepsy, accelerated brain aging would be seen. We measured the sleep-based brain age index (BAI) in a diverse group of patients with epilepsy.

Systematic evaluation of machine learning models for postoperative surgical site infection prediction.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) lead to increased mortality and morbidity, as well as increased healthcare costs. Multiple models for the prediction of this serious surgical complication have been developed, with an increasing use of machine learning (ML) tools.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the performance as well as the methodological quality of validated ML models for the prediction of SSIs.

Refined methodology for quantifying virulence using .

Larvae of (the greater wax moth) are being increasingly used as a model to study microbial pathogenesis. In this model, bacterial virulence is typically measured by determining the 50% lethal dose (LD) of a bacterial strain or mutant. The use of to study pathogenesis, however, is challenging because of the extreme sensitivity of larvae to this bacterium.

Comparative benchmarking of failure detection methods in medical image segmentation: Unveiling the role of confidence aggregation.

Semantic segmentation is an essential component of medical image analysis research, with recent deep learning algorithms offering out-of-the-box applicability across diverse datasets. Despite these advancements, segmentation failures remain a significant concern for real-world clinical applications, necessitating reliable detection mechanisms. This paper introduces a comprehensive benchmarking framework aimed at evaluating failure detection methodologies within medical image segmentation.