Rapid assessment of the osteogenic capacity of hydroxyapatite/aragonite using a murine tibial periosteal ossification model.

Biomaterials are widely used as orthopaedic implants and bone graft substitutes. We aimed to develop a rapid osteogenic assessment method using a murine tibial periosteal ossification model to evaluate the bone formation/remodelling potential of a biomaterial within 2-4 weeks. A novel hydroxyapatite/aragonite (HAA) biomaterial was implanted into C57BL/6 mice juxtaskeletally between the tibia and tibialis anterior muscle.

Barriers faced by surgeons in identifying and managing malnutrition in emergency general surgery: A qualitative study.

Aim: Many patients undergoing emergency surgery are malnourished. Identifying malnutrition is a prerequisite to offering targeted nutritional support. Guidelines exist but little is known regarding exactly how surgeons identify malnutrition, or the barriers that influence surgeons' clinical decision-making.

Appraisal of current surgical guidelines for inflammatory bowel disease using the AGREE-S instrument: A scoping review.

Aim: Guidelines play a crucial role in improving patient care by providing clinicians with up to date evidence-based recommendations. A vast number of guidelines exist on the surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this scoping review was to identify current surgical IBD guidelines, assess their quality and identify areas of variation between the existing guidelines.

The relationship between subjective cognitive decline and cognitive leisure activity engagement: A systematic review.

Background And Objectives: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a common experience of self-perceived decline without objective cognitive impairment. It has been theorised that SCD is associated with participation in cognitive leisure activities (CLA), but the evidence base is multifarious and unclear. The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize current evidence to determine the association between SCD and CLA engagement.

Does online case-based learning foster clinical reasoning skills? A mixed-methods study.

Background: Blended learning, integrating face-to-face and virtual methods, has become essential in clinical education, enhancing student satisfaction, engagement and knowledge outcomes. Particularly, online case-based learning emerges as a promising pedagogy to foster clinical reasoning skills. Despite the well-documented clinical reasoning cultivation through face-to-face case-based learning, the ability of online case-based learning to cultivate clinical reasoning remains unexplored.

Effect of a multicomponent, person-centred care intervention on client experience and HIV treatment outcomes in Zambia: a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised trial.

Background: Recipients of health services value not only convenience but also respectful, kind, and helpful providers. To date, research to improve person-centred HIV treatment has focused on making services easier to access (eg, differentiated service delivery) rather than the interpersonal experience of care. We developed and evaluated a person-centred care (PCC) intervention targeting practices of health-care workers.

Characterization of an IL-8 cleavage inhibition assay to determine the functionality of anti-SpyCEP antibodies in human sera.

Exposure to Group A Streptococcus leads to a broad spectrum of disease and sequelae, as the bacterium employs a wide range of virulence factors to facilitate colonization of the host, propagation and onward transmission, disrupting both innate and adaptive immune responses. The protease SpyCEP has a crucial role in contributing to bacterial immune evasion by impairing neutrophil recruitment and killing of bacteria through the cleavage of interleukin-8 (IL-8). Given this critical function, SpyCEP represents a key vaccine antigen and quantifying functional anti-SpyCEP antibodies represents not only an important marker of vaccine efficacy, but also a tool to dissect the natural immune response.

Acceptability of midazolam and melatonin as premedications for anxious children undergoing general anaesthesia: a qualitative interview study with children, caregivers and health professionals participating in the MAGIC trial.

Background: The acceptability of a children's premedication, prior to general anaesthesia (GA), is fundamental to ensuring positive clinical- and patient-reported outcomes. Midazolam, the current standard premedication, is known to have an unfavourable side-effects profile and presents a degree of risk which is accepted due to a need for compliance. Melatonin is a functionally diverse hormone with anxiolytic properties that offer potential benefits over midazolam.

RuvBL1/2 reduce toxic dipeptide repeat protein burden in multiple models of C9orf72-ALS/FTD.

A G4C2 hexanucleotide repeat expansion in is the most common cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (C9ALS/FTD). Bidirectional transcription and subsequent repeat-associated non-AUG (RAN) translation of sense and antisense transcripts leads to the formation of five dipeptide repeat (DPR) proteins. These DPRs are toxic in a wide range of cell and animal models.

How Does Bereavement Affect the Health-Related Quality of Life of Household Members Who Do and Do Not Provide Unpaid Care? Difference-in-Differences Analyses Using the UK Household Longitudinal Survey.

Background: Guidelines for modelling in economic evaluation recommend that it may be necessary to consider costs and outcomes until all modelled patients have died. Some guidelines also recommend that carers' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes should be included. However, it is unclear whether economic evaluations should continue to include carers' HRQoL after patients have died, and whether there is any evidence to support an additional bereavement effect for carers.

The comprehensibility continuum: a novel method for analysing comprehensibility of patient reported outcome measures.

Purpose: Evidence of comprehensibility is frequently required during the development of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs); the respondent's interpretation of PROM items needs to align with intended meanings. Cognitive interviews are recommended for investigating PROM comprehensibility, yet guidance for analysis is lacking. Consequently, the quality and trustworthiness of cognitive interview data and analysis is threatened, as there is no clear procedure detailing how analysts can systematically, and consistently, identify evidence that respondent interpretations align/misalign with intended meanings.

Zebrafish model for functional screening of flow-responsive genes controlling endothelial cell proliferation.

Local haemodynamics control arterial homeostasis and dysfunction by generating wall shear stress (WSS) which regulates endothelial cell (EC) physiology. Here we use a zebrafish model to identify genes that regulate EC proliferation in response to flow. Suppression of blood flow in zebrafish embryos (by targeting cardiac troponin) reduced EC proliferation in the intersegmental vessels (ISVs) compared to controls exposed to flow.

The effect of proportional pricing on alcohol purchasing in two online experiments.

Background And Aims: Buying smaller-sized alcohol products can reduce alcohol consumption, but larger products have better value for money, which presents a barrier to switching. We tested whether proportional pricing prompts drinkers to buy smaller alcohol products and reduce alcohol purchasing.

Design, Setting And Participants: This study was an online experiment set in the United Kingdom, using hypothetical shopping tasks in which participants purchased different-sized products presented under proportional pricing (i.

Exploring the current provision of pancreatic transplantations in low- and middle-income countries: Current landscape, challenges, future prospects.

This comprehensive review addresses the global health challenge of disparities in pancreas transplant access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to high-income countries. Despite advancements in surgical techniques and immunosuppression for procedures like simultaneous pancreas-kidney, pancreas-after-kidney, and pancreas-transplant alone, LMICs face significant challenges, including limited infrastructure, financial constraints, and a shortage of skilled medical professionals. Donation after brain death remains constrained by sociocultural barriers.

Using artificial intelligence to provide a 'flipped assessment' approach to medical education learning opportunities.

Purpose Of The Article: Generative AI can potentially streamline the creation of practice exam questions. This study sought to evaluate medical students' confidence using generative AI for this purpose, and overall attitudes towards its use.

Materials And Methods: The study used a mixed-methods approach with a pre-post intervention design.

Paying the price: Financial hardship and its association with psychological distress among different population groups in the midst of Great Britain's cost-of-living crisis.

Background: Great Britain has been experiencing a cost-of-living crisis since late 2021, with the cost of everyday essentials rising more quickly than the average household income. This study provides up-to-date information on levels of subjective and objective financial hardship during this crisis, differences across population subgroups, and associations with psychological distress.

Methods: We used data from a representative cross-sectional survey of adults (≥16 y) in Great Britain (n = 7,027) conducted January-March 2023.

Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas causing obstructive jaundice: Case report of a rare entity.

Introduction: Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) is an extremely rare, low-grade, malignant pancreatic tumour with an excellent prognosis. We describe a case of SPN causing obstructive jaundice in a young female, thus mimicking pancreatic adenocarcinoma clinically and radiologically.

Case Presentation: A 32-year-old female presented with abdominal pain for 12 h, icterus, and an epigastric mass measuring 3 × 3 cm.

Does FIT have a role in the detection of small bowel pathology: a prospective study.

Background: The faecal immunochemical test (FIT) is an immunoassay used to detect human blood in the stool. The role of FIT as a screening tool for small bowel pathology remains unclear.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the role of FIT in predicting small bowel pathology in patients with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA).

The impact of closed-loop automated insulin delivery systems on hypoglycaemia awareness in people living with type 1 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Impaired awareness of hyperglycaemia (IAH) affects approximately 20-40% of people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), predisposing them to severe hypoglycaemia. This systematic review evaluated the efficacy of closed-loop automated insulin delivery systems (CL-AID) in restoring IAH compared with standard diabetes care, including other diabetes technologies.

Methods: Six electronic databases were searched for published and unpublished observational and randomised-control studies (RCTs) from inception to 29th of May 2024.

Improved Clinical Outcomes During Long-term Osilodrostat Treatment of Cushing Disease With Normalization of Late-night Salivary Cortisol and Urinary Free Cortisol.

Purpose: To assess whether simultaneous normalization of late-night salivary cortisol (LNSC) and mean urinary free cortisol (mUFC) in patients with Cushing disease treated with osilodrostat is associated with better clinical outcomes than control of mUFC or LNSC alone.

Methods: Pooled data from two phase III osilodrostat studies (LINC 3 and LINC 4) were analyzed. Both comprised a 48-week core phase and an optional open-label extension.