Protocol for a feasibility study evaluating a supported self-management intervention for stroke survivors with aphasia (StarStep study).

Background: There is a growing evidence base to support the use of self-management interventions for improving quality of life after stroke. However, stroke survivors with aphasia have been underrepresented in research to date. It is therefore unclear if self-management is an appropriate or effective approach for this group.

Associations between inflammation and striatal dopamine D2-receptor availability in aging.

Background: Normal brain aging is associated with dopamine decline, which has been linked to age-related cognitive decline. Factors underlying individual differences in dopamine integrity at older ages remain, however, unclear. Here we aimed at investigating: (i) whether inflammation is associated with levels and 5-year changes of in vivo dopamine D2-receptor (DRD2) availability, (ii) if DRD2-inflammation associations differ between men and women, and (iii) whether inflammation and cerebral small-vessel disease (white-matter lesions) serve as two independent predictors of DRD2 availability.

Restoring riparian habitats for benefits to biodiversity and human livelihoods: a systematic map protocol for riparian restoration approaches in the tropics.

Background: Riparian zones are vital transitional habitats that bridge the gap between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. They support elevated levels of biodiversity and provide an array of important regulatory and provisioning ecosystem services, of which, many are fundamentally important to human well-being, such as the maintenance of water quality and the mitigation of flood risk along waterways. Increasing anthropogenic pressures resulting from agricultural intensification, industry development and the expansion of infrastructure in tropical regions have led to the widespread degradation of riparian habitats resulting in biodiversity loss and decreased resilience to flooding and erosion.

Enhancing the role of mass media in the translation of evidence from health policy and systems research in Nigeria.

Background: There are massive gaps in communication between health researchers and policy-makers in Nigeria, which constrains the use of research evidence for policy-making. Mass media can help in bridging the gaps, especially since the media has the reach and a reputation for presenting information in ways that elicit actions from the public and policy-makers.

Objective: There is a small body of emerging literature from Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, evidencing the usefulness of the media to encourage evidence translation in the health sector; and even evidence translation theories are light on dissemination.

Quantifying the potential value of entomological data collection for programmatic decision-making on malaria control in sub-Saharan African settings.

Background: The availability of many tools for malaria control leads to complex decisions regarding the most cost-effective intervention package based on local epidemiology. Mosquito characteristics influence the impact of vector control, but entomological surveillance is often limited due to a lack of resources in national malaria programmes.

Methods: This study quantified the monetary value of information provided by entomological data collection for programmatic decision-making using a mathematical model of Plasmodium falciparum transmission.

A dedicated caller for DUX4 rearrangements from whole-genome sequencing data.

Rearrangements involving the DUX4 gene (DUX4-r) define a subtype of paediatric and adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) with a favourable outcome. Currently, there is no 'standard of care' diagnostic method for their confident identification. Here, we present an open-source software tool designed to detect DUX4-r from short-read, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data.

Hospital in-reach family-centred social prescribing pilot for children with neurodisability: mixed methods evaluation with social return on investment analysis.

Background: Social prescribing link workers support individuals to engage with community resources, co-creating achievable goals. Most schemes are community-based, targetting adults. Vulnerable populations including hospitalized children with neurodisability and their families, could also benefit from social prescribing.

NTHi killing activity is reduced in COPD patients and is associated with a differential microbiome.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic lung disease characterized by airway obstruction and inflammation. Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) lung infections are common in COPD, promoting frequent exacerbations and accelerated lung function decline. The relationship with immune responses and NTHi are poorly understood.

Discriminatory power of trabeculectomy bleb internal reflectivity and morphology in surgical success using anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

Background: The post-operative evaluation of trabeculectomy blebs has traditionally relied on subjective clinical grading systems performed at the slit-lamp. This study explores the use of swept source anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) to objectively measure bleb internal reflectivity and morphology, and to distinguish blebs with surgical success vs. failure.

Women and birth partners' experiences of cervical ripening at home and in hospital.

Background: In the United Kingdom, induction of labour rates are rapidly rising, and around a third of pregnant women undergo the procedure. The first stage, cervical ripening, traditionally carried out in hospital, is increasingly offered outpatient - or 'at home'. The current induction of labour rates place considerable demand on maternity services and impact women's experiences of care, and at home cervical ripening has been suggested as potential solution for alleviating these.

Towards person-centred maternal and newborn care in Ethiopia: a mixed method study of satisfaction and experiences of care.

Background: Person-centred maternal care is associated with positive experiences in high-income countries. Little is known about the transferability of this concept to non-Western, low-income settings. We aimed to explore women's experiences of care and investigate satisfaction with antenatal care (ANC) in relation to person-centred care and unmet psychosocial needs in rural Ethiopia.

Cohort retention in a pandemic response study: lessons from the SARS-CoV2 Immunity & Reinfection Evaluation (SIREN) study.

Background: SIREN is a healthcare worker cohort study aiming to determine COVID-19 incidence, duration of immunity and vaccine effectiveness across 135 NHS organisations in four UK nations. Conducting an intensive prospective cohort study during a pandemic was challenging. We designed an evolving retention programme, informed by emerging evidence on best practice.

Is maternal diabetes during pregnancy associated with neurodevelopmental, cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children? Insights from individual participant data meta-analysis in ten birth cohorts.

Background: Growing evidence shows that dysregulated metabolic intrauterine environments can affect offspring's neurodevelopment and behaviour. However, the results of individual cohort studies have been inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the association between maternal diabetes before pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with neurodevelopmental, cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children.

Corneal nerve abnormalities in early-stage diabetic retinopathy evaluated by corneal confocal microscopy.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the correlation between the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the changes in corneal sub-basal nerve plexus (SNP) and corneal dendritic cells (DCs).

Methods: 58 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy participants underwent assessment of the corneal nerve. The DR group was divided into no diabetic retinopathy (NDR) and 29 eyes with mild to moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR).

Distinct Circle of Willis anatomical configurations in healthy preterm born adults: a 3D time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography study.

Background: Preterm birth (< 37 weeks' gestation) alters cerebrovascular development due to the premature transition from a foetal to postnatal circulatory system, with potential implications for future cerebrovascular health. This study aims to explore potential differences in the Circle of Willis (CoW), a key arterial ring that perfuses the brain, of healthy adults born preterm.

Methods: A total of 255 participants (108 preterm, 147 full-term) were included in the analysis.

Unanchored simulated treatment comparison on survival outcomes using parametric and Royston-Parmar models with application to lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab in renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Population-adjusted indirect comparison using parametric Simulated Treatment Comparison (STC) has had limited application to survival outcomes in unanchored settings. Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparison (MAIC) is commonly used but does not account for violation of proportional hazards or enable extrapolations of survival. We developed and applied a novel methodology for STC in unanchored settings.

Identifying Digital Markers of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a Remote Monitoring Setting: Prospective Observational Study.

Background: The symptoms and associated characteristics of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are typically assessed in person at a clinic or in a research lab. Mobile health offers a new approach to obtaining additional passively and continuously measured real-world behavioral data. Using our new ADHD remote technology (ART) system, based on the Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapses (RADAR)-base platform, we explore novel digital markers for their potential to identify behavioral patterns associated with ADHD.

Decoding pan-cancer treatment outcomes using multimodal real-world data and explainable artificial intelligence.

Despite advances in precision oncology, clinical decision-making still relies on limited variables and expert knowledge. To address this limitation, we combined multimodal real-world data and explainable artificial intelligence (xAI) to introduce AI-derived (AID) markers for clinical decision support. We used xAI to decode the outcome of 15,726 patients across 38 solid cancer entities based on 350 markers, including clinical records, image-derived body compositions, and mutational tumor profiles.

Plasma proteomic evidence for increased β-amyloid pathology after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Previous studies have suggested that systemic viral infections may increase risks of dementia. Whether this holds true for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus infections is unknown. Determining this is important for anticipating the potential future incidence of dementia.

Sensorimotor adaptation reveals systematic biases in 3D perception.

The existence of biases in visual perception and their impact on visually guided actions has long been a fundamental yet unresolved question. Evidence revealing perceptual or visuomotor biases has typically been disregarded because such biases in spatial judgments can often be attributed to experimental measurement confounds. To resolve this controversy, we leveraged the visuomotor system's adaptation mechanism - triggered only by a discrepancy between visual estimates and sensory feedback - to directly indicate whether systematic errors in perceptual and visuomotor spatial judgments exist.

Loss of ARID1A accelerates prostate tumourigenesis with a proliferative collagen-poor phenotype through co-operation with AP1 subunit cFos.

Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is the commonest male visceral cancer, and second leading cause of cancer mortality in men in the Western world.

Methods: Using a forward-mutagenesis Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon-based screen in a Probasin Cre-Recombinase (Pb-Cre) Pten-deficient mouse model of PC, we identified Arid1a loss as a driver in the development of metastatic disease.

Results: The insertion of transposon in the Arid1a gene resulted in a 60% reduction of Arid1a expression, and reduced tumour free survival (SB:Pten Arid1a median 226 days vs SB:Pten Arid1a 293 days, p = 0.

A machine learning decision support tool optimizes WGS utilization in a neonatal intensive care unit.

The Mendelian Phenotype Search Engine (MPSE), a clinical decision support tool using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, helped neonatologists expedite decisions to whole genome sequencing (WGS) to diagnose patients in the neonatal intensive care unit. After the MPSE was introduced, utilization of WGS increased, time to ordering WGS decreased, and WGS diagnostic yield increased.