A Comparison of International Modelling Methods to Evaluate Health Economics of Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is an accepted approach to evaluate cancer screening programmes. CEA estimates partially depend on modelling methods and assumptions used. Understanding common practice when modelling cancer relies on complete, accessible descriptions of prior work.

Agreement between Color, Fluorescein Angiography, and SD-OCT in the Detection of Macular Fibrosis in Neovascular AMD.

Purpose: Color imaging is the accepted reference standard for detection of macular fibrosis in neovascular age-macular degeneration. Other imaging modalities of fluorescein angiography (FA) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) are also used but no formal agreement studies exist. We evaluated the agreement between fibrosis on colour, FA and SD-OCT-detected hyperreflective material (HRM) and their clinical relevance.

Whole genome sequencing revealed high occurrence of antimicrobial resistance genes in bacteria isolated from poultry manure.

Global demand for food has driven expansion and intensification of livestock production, particularly in developing nations where antibiotic use is often routine. Waste from poultry production, including manure, is commonly utilized as fertilizers in agroecosystems, risking environmental contamination with potentially zoonotic bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Here, 33 bacterial isolates were recovered from broiler (n=17) and layer (n=16) chicken manure by aerobic culture using Luria Bertani agar.

Sensitive detection and propagation of brain-derived tau assemblies in HEK293 based wild-type tau seeding assays.

The assembly of tau into filaments defines tauopathies, a group of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Pick's disease (PiD), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). The seeded aggregation of tau has been modelled in cell culture using pro-aggregant modifications such as truncation of N- and C-termini and point-mutations within the microtubule-binding repeat domain. This limits the applicability of research findings to sporadic disease, where aggregates contain wild-type, full-length tau.

On the ethical governance of swarm robotic systems in the real world.

In this paper, we address the question: what practices would be required for the responsible design and operation of real-world swarm robotic systems? We argue that swarm robotic systems must be developed and operated within a framework of ethical governance. We will also explore the human factors surrounding the operation and management of swarm systems, advancing the view that human factors are no less important to swarm robots than social robots. Ethical governance must be anticipatory, and a powerful method for practical anticipatory governance is ethical risk assessment (ERA).

Latest clinical frontiers related to autism diagnostic strategies.

The diagnosis of autism is currently based on the developmental history, direct observation of behavior, and reported symptoms, supplemented by rating scales/interviews/structured observational evaluations-which is influenced by the clinician's knowledge and experience-with no established diagnostic biomarkers. A growing body of research has been conducted over the past decades to improve diagnostic accuracy. Here, we provide an overview of the current diagnostic assessment process as well as of recent and ongoing developments to support diagnosis in terms of genetic evaluation, telemedicine, digital technologies, use of machine learning/artificial intelligence, and research on candidate diagnostic biomarkers.

Convergence of orphan quality control pathways at a ubiquitin chain-elongating ligase.

Unassembled and partially assembled subunits of multi-protein complexes have emerged as major quality control clients, particularly under conditions of imbalanced gene expression such as stress, aging, and aneuploidy. The factors and mechanisms that eliminate such orphan subunits to maintain protein homeostasis are incompletely defined. Here, we show that the UBR4-KCMF1 ubiquitin ligase complex is required for the efficient degradation of multiple unrelated orphan subunits from the chaperonin, proteasome cap, proteasome core, and a protein targeting complex.

Health impacts of cold exposure among people experiencing homelessness: A narrative systematic review on risks and risk-reduction approaches.

Objective: To systematically review evidence from high income countries on health risks from cold weather exposure among people experiencing homelessness (PEH) and assess evidence on risk-reduction interventions and their effectiveness.

Study Design: Narrative systematic review.

Methods: Keyword-structured searches were performed in CINAHL, Emcare, Medline, SocINDEX, Scopus, OpenGrey, Social Policy and Practice and Web of Science, and supplemented by grey literature searches in a selection of other databases, from 1973 to 2024.

Synthesis of expert opinions on fluid management in severe sepsis: A contextual review of human albumin and crystalloids.

Background: Sepsis is a critical condition associated with high mortality rates that necessitates effective fluid resuscitation. Crystalloids are widely utilized; however, human albumin solutions have been attributed potential oncotic and anti-inflammatory benefits. Given the ongoing debate and the absence of definitive empirical evidence, expert opinions provide valuable insights into the contextual and practical aspects of fluid management.

AP39, a novel mitochondria-targeted hydrogen sulfide donor, promotes cutaneous wound healing in an in vivo murine model of acute frostbite injury.

Frostbite injury refers to cold tissue injury which typically affects the peripheral areas of the body, and is associated with limb loss and high rates of morbidity. Historically, treatment options have been limited to supportive care, leading to suboptimal outcomes for affected patients. The pathophysiology of frostbite injury has been understood in recent years to share similarity with that of cold ischemia-reperfusion injury as seen in solid organ transplantation, of which mitochondria play an important contributing role.

Assessing the potential acoustic impact of floating offshore wind farms in the Central Mediterranean Sea.

The Strait of Sicily, a vital marine passage with diverse fauna, is seeing a steep rise in the planning of offshore wind farm projects. This study assesses the acoustic impact of these wind farms on local marine species. Underwater propagation was modeled for three proposed floating wind farms using JASCO's Marine Operations Noise Model (MONM), which integrates a parabolic equation method for frequencies from 10 to 800 Hz and a beam-tracing model for 1 to 25 kHz.

Street-scale black carbon modelling over the West Midlands, United Kingdom: Sensitivity test of traffic emission factor adjustments.

Black carbon is harmful for climate, environment, and human health. Road traffic is one of the major sources for black carbon in urban areas. This study develops a street scale air quality model configuration for the dispersion of black carbon concentrations across the West Midlands, UK, incorporating updated road traffic emission factors.

Adherence to community-based lung cancer screening in the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial.

Introduction: Lung cancer screening saves lives by detecting cancers early, but continued adherence to screening rounds is required for participants to experience the maximum clinical benefit. Here we describe factors associated with screening adherence in the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial.

Methods: All eligible individuals following baseline (prevalent) screening were invited for a biennial incident screen in a community setting.

Safety and efficacy of tamoxifen in non-ambulant patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial (TAMDMD Group B).

Most patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are non-ambulant. Preserving proximal motor function is crucial, rarely studied. Tamoxifen, a selective oestrogen receptor modulator, reduced signs of muscular pathology in a DMD mouse model.

What happens after menopause? (WHAM): A prospective controlled study of cognition 24 months after premenopausal risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy.

Objective: Women with BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants considering risk-reducing bilateral oophorectomy (RRSO) may be concerned about potential effects of surgical menopause on cognition. Whether RRSO affects cognition and whether hormone therapy (HT) modifies this effect remains uncertain. This study aimed to prospectively measure the effect of premenopausal RRSO on cognition and the modifying effects of HT up to 24 months.

Advancing cancer therapy with custom-built alternating electric field devices.

Background: In glioblastoma (GBM) therapy research, tumour treating fields by the company Novocure™, have shown promise for increasing patient overall survival. When used with the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide, they extend median survival by five months. However, there is a space to design alternative systems that will be amenable for wider use in current research.

Understanding the local-level variations in seasonality of human respiratory syncytial virus infection: a systematic analysis.

Background: While previous reports characterised global and regional variations in RSV seasonality, less is known about local variations in RSV seasonal characteristics. This study aimed to understand the local-level variations in RSV seasonality and to explore the role of geographical, meteorological, and socio-demographic factors in explaining these variations.

Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review to identify published studies reporting data on local-level RSV season onset, offset, or duration for at least two local sites.

Revolutionizing load harmony in edge computing networks with probabilistic cellular automata and Markov decision processes.

In general, edge computing networks are based on a distributed computing environment and hence, present some difficulties to obtain an appropriate load balancing, especially under dynamic workload and limited resources. The conventional approaches of Load balancing like Round-Robin and Threshold-based load balancing fails in scalability and flexibility issues when applied to highly variable edge environments. To solve the problem of how to achieve steady-state load balance and provide dynamic adaption to edge networks, this paper proposes a new framework that using PCA and MDP.

Niche-derived Semaphorin 4A safeguards functional identity of myeloid-biased hematopoietic stem cells.

Somatic stem cell pools comprise diverse, highly specialized subsets whose individual contribution is critical for the overall regenerative function. In the bone marrow, myeloid-biased hematopoietic stem cells (myHSCs) are indispensable for replenishment of myeloid cells and platelets during inflammatory response but, at the same time, become irreversibly damaged during inflammation and aging. Here we identify an extrinsic factor, semaphorin 4A (Sema4A), which non-cell-autonomously confers myHSC resilience to inflammatory stress.

From relaxed beliefs under psychedelics (REBUS) to revised beliefs after psychedelics (REBAS).

The Relaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics (REBUS) model proposes that serotonergic psychedelics decrease the precision weighting of neurobiologically-encoded beliefs. We conducted a preliminary examination of two psychological assumptions of REBUS: (a) psychedelics foster acute relaxation and post-acute revision of confidence in mental-health-relevant beliefs; which (b) facilitate positive therapeutic outcomes and are associated with the entropy of EEG signals. Healthy individuals (N = 11) were administered 1 mg and 25 mg psilocybin 4-weeks apart.

Precession modulates the poleward expansion of atmospheric circulation to the Arctic Ocean.

Under sustained global warming, Arctic climate is projected to become more responsive to changes in North Pacific meridional heat transport as a result of teleconnections between low and high latitudes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we reconstruct subarctic humidity changes over the past 400 kyr to investigate the role of low-to-high latitude interactions in regulating Arctic hydroclimate. Our reconstruction is based on precipitation-driven sediment input variations in the Subarctic North Pacific (SANP), which reveal a strong precessional cycle in subarctic humidity under the relatively low eccentricity variations that dominated the past four glacial-interglacial cycles.

Non-clinical Psychosocial Mental Health Support Programmes for People with Diverse Language and Cultural Backgrounds: A Critical Rapid Review.

Low accessibility to mainstream psychosocial services disadvantages culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations, resulting in delayed care and high rates of unsupported psychological distress. Non-clinical interventions may play an important role in improving accessibility to psychosocial support, but what characterises best practice in this space remains unclear. This critical rapid review addressed this gap by searching for, and critically analysing, existing research on non-clinical psychosocial support services, drawing from a critical realist framework and Brossard and Chandler's (Brossard and Chandler, Explaining mental illness: Sociological perspectives, Bristol University Press, 2022) taxonomy of positions on culture and mental health.

Differences in Body Composition, Bone Density, and Tibial Microarchitecture in Division I Female Athletes Participating in Different Impact Loading Sports.

Sport participation affects body composition and bone health, but the association between sport, body composition, and bone health in female athletes is complex. We compared areal bone mineral density (aBMD, DXA) and tibial volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), geometry, microarchitecture, and estimated strength (HR-pQCT) in cross-country runners (n = 22), gymnasts (n = 23) and lacrosse players (n = 35), and investigated associations of total body lean mass (TBLM), team, and their interaction with tibial bone outcomes. Total body (TB), total hip (TH), femoral neck (FN), and lumbar spine (LS) aBMD were higher in gymnasts than runners (p < 0.