Learning About Their Condition: The Gradual Path of Young People With Childhood-Onset Motor Disabilities.

Aim: Young people with childhood-onset motor disabilities face unique challenges in understanding and managing their condition. This study explored how they learnt about their condition.

Method: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted in 2023-2024 at a Swiss paediatric neurorehabilitation unit.

Impact of atrial fibrillation on productivity in working-age patients: an analysis of Swiss-AF prospective cohort study data.

Aims: We aimed to explore atrial fibrillation (AF)-induced productivity losses in working-age atrial fibrillation patients and to estimate atrial fibrillation-related indirect costs.

Methods: Between 2014 and 2017, the Swiss Atrial Fibrillation prospective cohort study (Swiss-AF) enrolled 217 working-age patients with documented atrial fibrillation. Self-reported changes in professional activity and the reasons thereof were descriptively analysed over 8 years of follow-up or until patients reached the retirement age.

Preventing and Treating Delayed Gastric Emptying (DGE) after Pancreatic Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Objective: To identify strategies to prevent and treat delayed gastric emptying (DGE) after pancreatic surgery.

Background: Among all complications of pancreatic surgery, DGE has the largest impact on prolonged hospital stay. Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have addressed DGE after pancreatic surgery, either as primary or as secondary outcome.

Reimbursement policies of Swiss health insurances for the surgical treatment of symptomatic breast hypertrophy: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Patients with symptomatic breast hypertrophy typically suffer from chronic back pain, recurrent skin irritation at the inframammary fold and/or low self-esteem resulting in impaired quality of life. Reduction mammaplasty has been shown to effectively treat symptomatic breast hypertrophy with high patient satisfaction. Despite the obvious benefits, reimbursement requests for reduction mammaplasty are initially often refused by the patient's health insurance company, thereby frequently resulting in additional examinations and eventually extra expenses.

Family planning, reproductive health and pregnancy after bariatric surgery: a survey of bariatric healthcare professionals in Switzerland.

Aims: A wide range of reproductive health issues, including fertility, pregnancy outcomes and contraceptive practices can be affected by morbid obesity and weight loss subsequent to bariatric surgery. This study aimed to explore the attitudes and practices of bariatric healthcare professionals in Switzerland regarding reproductive health counselling in the context of bariatric surgery.

Methods: We conducted a national, cross-sectional, 36-question online survey among bariatric professionals in Switzerland.

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm: a Swiss case series of a very rare disease and a structured review of the literature.

Introduction: Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a very rare disease, with unique diagnostic challenges and often dismal outcome. There are no widely accepted treatment guidelines available. Lymphoma-like regimens with or without autologous or allogenic transplantation were the cornerstone of most therapeutic concepts.

Understanding the cost-utility of implementing HIV self-testing with digital-based supports.

Introduction: HIV self-testing (HIVST) is an innovative strategy that has been shown to increase uptake of HIV testing compared to conventional facility-based testing. HIVST implementation with digital-based supports may help facilitate testing accessibility and linkage to care after a reactive self-test. Economic evidence around community-based implementation of HIVST is growing; however, economic evidence around digital-based HIVST approaches remains limited.

Prevalence, risk and resilience factors of mental health conditions among female sex workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Female sex workers are a vulnerable hard-to-reach group. Research in this field is scarce due to several issues, such as methodological difficulties or societal stigmatization. Most of the available literature focuses on sexually transmittable diseases.

Standardised activities in wheelchair rugby, comparison between athletes with coordination impairment and athletes with other impairments.

Introduction: To determine if athletes with coordination impairment (CI) can continue playing wheelchair rugby (WR), while an evidence-based classification system, including impairment tests for CI is not yet available. This is a defensible practise if they show similar activity limitations as athletes with other eligible impairment types (OI) within the same sports class.

Methods: Standardised activities were measured in 58 elite WR athletes; 14 with CI and 44 with OI.

The Clinical Course of Portopulmonary Hypertension and Outcomes With Endothelin Receptor Antagonist Treatment: Observational Study of Data From the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Background: Portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH) occurs in patients with advanced liver disease and can be a contraindication to liver transplant (LT). Improvement of hemodynamic parameters with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) therapies (including endothelin receptor antagonists [ERAs]) may help some patients to become eligible for LT.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective secondary data analysis to describe the clinical course and management of PoPH in patients on a US registry LT waitlist and outcomes in patients receiving an ERA.

Reactivity of Wet scCO toward Reservoir and Caprock Formations under Elevated Pressure and Temperature Conditions: Implications for CCS and CO-Based Geothermal Energy Extraction.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and CO-based geothermal energy are promising technologies for reducing CO emissions and mitigating climate change. Safe implementation of these technologies requires an understanding of how CO interacts with fluids and rocks at depth, particularly under elevated pressure and temperature. While CO-bearing aqueous solutions in geological reservoirs have been extensively studied, the chemical behavior of water-bearing supercritical CO remains largely overlooked by academics and practitioners alike.

SPIRIT-DEFINE explanation and elaboration: recommendations for enhancing quality and impact of early phase dose-finding clinical trials protocols.

Unlabelled: Transparent and accurate reporting in early phase dose-finding (EPDF) clinical trials is crucial for informing subsequent larger trials. The SPIRIT statement, designed for trial protocol content, does not adequately cover the distinctive features of EPDF trials. Recent findings indicate that the protocol contents in past EPDF trials frequently lacked completeness and clarity.

CONSORT-DEFINE explanation and elaboration: recommendations for enhancing reporting quality and impact of early phase dose-finding clinical trials.

Unlabelled: Early phase dose-finding (EPDF) trials are key in the development of novel therapies, with their findings directly informing subsequent clinical development phases and providing valuable insights for reverse translation. Comprehensive and transparent reporting of these studies is critical for their accurate and critical interpretation, which may improve and expedite therapeutic development. However, quality of reporting of design characteristics and results from EPDF trials is often variable and incomplete.

Self-care interventions for legal and safe abortions: lessons learned from a woman-centered approach to sexual and reproductive healthcare in Uruguay.

Problem: In the 1990s, almost 40% of maternal deaths in Uruguay were caused by unsafe abortions.

Approach: A harm reduction model implemented in Uruguay, which addressed the risks associated with unsafe abortion practices by promoting and supporting the self-management of medical abortions by women in their homes, encouraged women's autonomy.

Local Setting: Since 2005, an accelerated decrease in maternal mortality has been recorded in Uruguay, coinciding with the implementation of two major actions: a harm reduction approach with active promotion of self-care through self-management of medical abortions; and in 2012, a change in legislation, which made abortion legal within sexual and reproductive health facilities when requested by women up to 12 weeks of pregnancy or later for specific indications.

Quality of care delivery in patients with acute heart failure: insights from the international REPORT-HF registry.

Background: Heart Failure (HF) quality of care (QoC) is associated with clinical outcomes. Therefore, we investigated differences in HF QoC across worldwide regions (with differing national income) and the association of quality indicators with outcomes.

Methods: We examined the quality of care (QoC) in acute heart failure (HF) patients across different regions using quality indicators (QIs) from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) to evaluate QoC.

'As if the soul returns to the body': affect, stuckedness, and (in)voluntary return to Nicaragua from Spain.

This article attends to the emotional resonances of 'stuckedness' and (in)voluntary return as experienced by Nicaraguan migrants stranded in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeling both figuratively and literally trapped in a context of cascading lockdowns, border closures, and travel restrictions, many viewed Spain's Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme as offering a choice to 'freely' depart Spain - a way to simultaneously leave their distressing circumstances behind while returning to the comfort of 'home' and family. Building on recent literature that challenges the basis for participation in such programmes as founded on free, voluntary, and individual decisions, this article contends that, for some, the act of 'choosing' to return generates a profound and unexpected emotional response.

Evaluating the impact of 3-nitrooxypropanol supplementation on enteric methane emissions in pregnant nonlactating dairy cows offered grass silage.

Although 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP; Bovaer10) has been proven to reduce enteric methane (CH) by ∼30% in indoor systems of dairying when the additive is mixed throughout TMR and partial mixed ration (PMR) diets, there has been limited research to date on the CH abatement potential of 3-NOP when mixed within a diet based on perennial ryegrass silage only and fed to pregnant nonlactating dairy cows. To investigate the effect of 3-NOP supplementation on enteric CH emissions of pregnant nonlactating dairy cows, a 6-wk study was undertaken in which treatment cows were supplemented with 3-NOP mixed within grass silage, whereas control cows were offered grass silage without additive supplementation. Enteric CH, hydrogen (H), and carbon dioxide (CO) were measured using a GreenFeed machine.

Welfare in Swiss dairy heifers: Comparative assessment of skin lesions in 2 housing systems.

During summer, dairy heifers are often managed extensively in Switzerland. This applies to 2 different types of husbandry systems across the country (i.e.

Pre- and post-pandemic comparisons in cardiovascular markers: a population-based study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic, starting in 2020, raised concerns about potential long-term health impacts, including its effects on cardiovascular health and related biomarkers. This study part of the Bus Santé in Geneva, Switzerland, compared cardiovascular and metabolic profiles pre- (2016-2019) and post-pandemic (2023-2024) among individuals aged 30-75.

Methods: Participants completed questionnaires and underwent a clinical visit, including a physical examination and fasting blood test to assess lipid and glycemic profiles.

Relaxation and Performance During Microsurgical Learning.

Microsurgical learning is a difficult and stressful process, requiring self-control to achieve relaxation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate peripheral and central nervous system relaxation during microsurgical training. This cohort study included ten medical students with no previous experience in microsurgery.

A Pilot Trial of Tongue Reconstruction Using the Chimeric Innervated Vastus Lateralis Muscle and Antero-Lateral Thigh Free Flap.

Background: Subtotal and total glossectomies for advanced tongue cancer result in significant speech- and swallow-related morbidity, impairing quality of life. This prospective pilot study compares the safety and functional outcomes associated with using a chimeric innervated muscle and fasciocutaneous flap for soft tissue reconstruction.

Materials And Methods: A prospective, non-randomized controlled pilot study evaluated a standardized technique for tongue reconstruction using a chimeric innervated vastus lateralis muscle and anterolateral thigh fasciocutaneous flap.

Insights into the electroactive impact of magnetic nanostructures in PVDF composites small-angle neutron scattering.

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is technologically relevant due to its thermal stability; chemical, mechanical and radiation resistance; transparency; biocompatibility; and ease of processing. Several of those applications are related to its high electroactivity, for which the β-phase of the polymer is its most renowned protagonist. In this context, extensive research has been conducted on the crystallization of PVDF in the β-phase, when processed from melt and from solution.