The experience of using prompting technology from the perspective of people with Dementia and their primary carers.

Objectives: People who are living with dementia typically experience difficulties in completing multi-step, everyday tasks. However, digital technology such as touchscreen tablets provide a means of delivering concise personalised prompts that combine audio, text and pictures. This study was one component of a broader, mixed methods study that tested how an application (app) -based prompter running on a touchscreen tablet computer could support everyday activities in individuals with mild to moderate dementia.

Promoting general practice in medical schools. Where are we now?

In November 2016, the Medical Schools Council and Health Education England published a joint report chaired by Professor Val Wass: 'By choice - not by chance' to raise the profile of general practice as a positive career choice for medical students. We sought to evaluate the impact of the report by firstly, asking the views of Heads of GP teaching at UK medical schools whether and how the report has supported them in raising the profile of general practice and secondly, describing the initiatives developed by medical schools in a national survey. There was a perception reported by heads of GP teaching that the report has been highly influential in facilitating the promotion of general practice as a career to medical students.

Cost-Effectiveness of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Among Heterosexual Men in South Africa: A Cost-Utility Modeling Analysis.

Introduction: Heterosexual men are not considered a key population in the HIV response and are mostly absent from pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) studies to date. Yet, South African men face considerable HIV risk. We estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of providing oral PrEP, injectable PrEP, or a combination of both to heterosexual South African men to assess whether providing PrEP would efficiently use resources.

Economic evaluation of the OSAC randomised controlled trial: oral corticosteroids for non-asthmatic adults with acute lower respiratory tract infection in primary care.

Objective: To estimate the costs and outcomes associated with treating non-asthmatic adults (nor suffering from other lung-disease) presenting to primary care with acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRTI) with oral corticosteroids compared with placebo.

Design: Cost-consequence analysis alongside a randomised controlled trial. Perspectives included the healthcare provider, patients and productivity losses associated with time off work.

Modifiable Lifestyle and Medical Risk Factors Associated With Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

Despite the identification of acquired genetic mutations associated with Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPNs) there is a paucity of information relating to modifiable risk factors that may lead to these mutations. The MOSAICC Study was an exploratory case-control study of polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and Myelofibrosis (MF). MPN patients and population controls (identified by General Practitioners) and non-blood relative/friend controls were recruited from 2 large UK centers.

Emotional recognition training modifies neural response to emotional faces but does not improve mood in healthy volunteers with high levels of depressive symptoms.

Background: There is demand for new, effective and scalable treatments for depression, and development of new forms of cognitive bias modification (CBM) of negative emotional processing biases has been suggested as possible interventions to meet this need.

Methods: We report two double blind RCTs, in which volunteers with high levels of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory ii (BDI-ii) > 14) completed a brief course of emotion recognition training (a novel form of CBM using faces) or sham training. In Study 1 (N = 36), participants completed a post-training emotion recognition task whilst undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate neural correlates of CBM.

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in evidence synthesis: how the PatMed study approached embedding audience responses into the expression of a meta-ethnography.

Background: Patient and public involvement (PPI) has become enshrined as an important pillar of health services empirical research, including PPI roles during stages of research development and analysis and co-design approaches. Whilst user participation has been central to qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) for decades, as seen in the Cochrane consumer network and guidelines, meta-ethnography has been slow to incorporate user participation and published examples of this occurring within meta-ethnography are sparse. In this paper, drawing upon our own experience of conducting a meta-ethnography, we focus on what it means in practice to 'express a synthesis' (stage 7).

A qualitative study on conveyance decision-making during emergency call outs to people with dementia: the HOMEWARD project.

Background: Paramedics are increasingly required to make complex decisions as to whether they should convey a patient to hospital or manage their condition at the scene. Dementia can be a significant barrier to the assessment process. However, to our knowledge no research has specifically examined the process of decision-making by paramedics in relation to people with dementia.

Mixed evidence for the relationship between periodontitis and Alzheimer's disease: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.

Recent experimental studies indicated that a periodontitis-causing bacterium might be a causal factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We applied a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to examine the potential causal relationship between chronic periodontitis and AD bidirectionally in the population of European ancestry. We used publicly available data of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on periodontitis and AD.

Psychological effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on internet addiction in adolescents: A systematic review protocol.

Background: In this study, we aim to assess the psychological effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on internet addiction (IA) in adolescents.

Methods: This study will search the following databases of Cochrane Library, PUBMED, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. All these electronic databases will be searched from inception to the September 30, 2019 without any language limitation.

Adversity exposure during sensitive periods predicts accelerated epigenetic aging in children.

Objectives: Exposure to adversity has been linked to accelerated biological aging, which in turn has been shown to predict numerous physical and mental health problems. In recent years, measures of DNA methylation-based epigenetic age--known as "epigenetic clocks"--have been used to estimate accelerated epigenetic aging. Although a small number of studies have found an effect of adversity exposure on epigenetic age in children, none have investigated if there are "sensitive periods" when adversity is most impactful.

Contact burns: the influence of agents and mechanisms of injury on anatomical burn locations in children <5 years old and associations with child protection referrals.

Objective: To identify how causative agents and mechanisms of injury influence the location of an accidental contact burn in children and whether these factors differ in cases referred for child protection (CP) assessment.

Design: Prospective multicentre cross-sectional study.

Setting: 20 hospital sites across England and Wales, including: emergency departments, minor injury units and regional burn units.

Guided self-help for depression in autistic adults: the ADEPT feasibility RCT.

Background: Co-occurring depression frequently occurs in autism. Evidence-based psychological interventions have been successfully adapted to treat co-occurring anxiety, but there is little evidence about the usefulness of adapted cognitive-behavioural therapy for depression. To the authors' knowledge, to date there have been no randomised trials investigating the usefulness of low-intensity cognitive-behavioural therapy for depression in autism.

Intersectionality in the Liminal Space: Researching Caribbean Women's Health in the UK Context.

African Caribbean women in the UK who are diagnosed with chronic illnesses that are related to overweight and obesity are more likely to experience poorer outcomes than their White British counterparts. It is then important to increase understandings of how women from this ethnic group perceive health with relation to body shape and size so that interventions can be developed to prevent the development of such conditions and to improve outcomes. As such, it is important to develop research methodology that encourages participation in health research from African Caribbean women and enables the capture of in-depth data that gives insight into the nuances of health understandings related to the body and the social realities in which they exist.

Pharmacological interventions for treatment-resistant depression in adults.

Background: Although antidepressants are often a first-line treatment for adults with moderate to severe depression, many people do not respond adequately to medication, and are said to have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Little evidence exists to inform the most appropriate 'next step' treatment for these people.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of standard pharmacological treatments for adults with TRD.

Modern perioperative medicine - past, present, and future.

Modern perioperative medicine has dramatically altered the care for patients undergoing major surgery. Anaesthetic and surgical practice has been directed at mitigating the surgical stress response and reducing physiological insult. The development of standardised enhanced recovery programmes combined with minimally invasive surgical techniques has lead to reduction in length of stay, morbidity, costs, and improved outcomes.

Integrating primary and secondary care to optimize hepatitis C treatment: development and evaluation of a multidisciplinary educational Masterclass series.

Background: It is increasingly being recognized that the elimination of HCV requires a multidisciplinary approach and effective cooperation between primary and secondary care.

Objectives: As part of a project (HepCare Europe) to integrate primary and secondary care for patients at risk of or infected with HCV, we developed a multidisciplinary educational Masterclass series for healthcare professionals (HCPs) working in primary care in Dublin and Bucharest. This article aims to describe and evaluate the series and examine how this model might be implemented into practice.

Effect of Balint training in gastroenterology intern nurse practitioners: A systematic review protocol.

Background: This study aims to assess the effect of Balint training (BT) in gastroenterology intern nurse practitioners (GINP) systematically.

Methods: This study will search EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from inception to the September 30, 2019 with no language limitation. In addition, we will also search grey records, such as conference abstracts and dissertations.

DNA methylation aging clocks: challenges and recommendations.

Epigenetic clocks comprise a set of CpG sites whose DNA methylation levels measure subject age. These clocks are acknowledged as a highly accurate molecular correlate of chronological age in humans and other vertebrates. Also, extensive research is aimed at their potential to quantify biological aging rates and test longevity or rejuvenating interventions.

Early child stimulation and attention-related executive functions at 11 years: 2004 Pelotas birth cohort study.

The study aimed to explore associations between socioeconomic position (SEP) indicators, early child stimulation (ECS) and attention-related executive functions (EF) at age 11. Children born in Pelotas, Brazil, in 2004, were recruited to a birth cohort (n = 4231, non-response rate at recruitment < 1%) and followed from birth to age 11. SEP variables were family income and maternal schooling.

Laparoscopically assisted versus open oesophagectomy for patients with oesophageal cancer-the Randomised Oesophagectomy: Minimally Invasive or Open (ROMIO) study: protocol for a randomised controlled trial (RCT).

Introduction: Surgery (oesophagectomy), with neoadjuvant chemo(radio)therapy, is the main curative treatment for patients with oesophageal cancer. Several surgical approaches can be used to remove an oesophageal tumour. The Ivor Lewis (two-phase procedure) is usually used in the UK.

Associations between accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time and the metabolic syndrome: A meta-analysis of more than 6000 children and adolescents.

Background: Metabolic syndrome is increasingly prevalent in the pediatric population. To prevent an early onset, knowledge about its association with modifiable lifestyle factors is needed.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and examine its cross-sectional associations with physical activity and sedentary time.