An open-source SQL database schema for integrated clinical and translational data management in clinical trials.

Unlocking the power of personalised medicine in oncology hinges on the integration of clinical trial data with translational data (i.e. biospecimen-derived molecular information).

A systematic review of pre-registration in autism research journals.

When researchers write down their plans for a study ahead of time and make this public, this is called pre-registration. Pre-registration allows others to see if the researchers stuck to their original plan or changed as they went along. Pre-registration is growing in popularity but we do not know how widely it is used in autism research.

Local agro-industrial by-products offer feasible options to supplement breeding rams in mixed farming systems of Ethiopia.

This study assessed the supplemental effect of flushing Menz breeding rams with local agro-industrial by-products on their reproductive performance and semen quality. In a completely randomized design, rams ( 49) with an initial weight of 25.69+2.

Emergence of Omicron FN.1 a descendent of BQ.1.1 in Botswana.

Botswana, like the rest of the world, has been significantly impacted by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In December 2022, we detected a monophyletic cluster of genomes comprising a sublineage of the Omicron variant of concern (VOC) designated as B.1.

Automated surgical skill assessment in endoscopic pituitary surgery using real-time instrument tracking on a high-fidelity bench-top phantom.

Improved surgical skill is generally associated with improved patient outcomes, although assessment is subjective, labour intensive, and requires domain-specific expertise. Automated data-driven metrics can alleviate these difficulties, as demonstrated by existing machine learning instrument tracking models. However, these models are tested on limited datasets of laparoscopic surgery, with a focus on isolated tasks and robotic surgery.

PitRSDNet: Predicting intra-operative remaining surgery duration in endoscopic pituitary surgery.

Accurate intra-operative Remaining Surgery Duration (RSD) predictions allow for anaesthetists to more accurately decide when to administer anaesthetic agents and drugs, as well as to notify hospital staff to send in the next patient. Therefore, RSD plays an important role in improved patient care and minimising surgical theatre costs via efficient scheduling. In endoscopic pituitary surgery, it is uniquely challenging due to variable workflow sequences with a selection of optional steps contributing to high variability in surgery duration.

SpeechMatch-A novel digital approach to supporting communication for neurodiverse groups.

Communication can be a challenge for a significant minority of the population. Those with intellectual disability, autism, or Stroke survivors can encounter significant problems and stigma in their communication abilities leading to worse health and social outcomes. SpeechMatch (https://www.

Autoencoder imputation of missing heterogeneous data for Alzheimer's disease classification.

Missing Alzheimer's disease (AD) data is prevalent and poses significant challenges for AD diagnosis. Previous studies have explored various data imputation approaches on AD data, but the systematic evaluation of deep learning algorithms for imputing heterogeneous and comprehensive AD data is limited. This study investigates the efficacy of denoising autoencoder-based imputation of missing key features of heterogeneous data that comprised tau-PET, MRI, cognitive and functional assessments, genotype, sociodemographic, and medical history.

RGB to hyperspectral: Spectral reconstruction for enhanced surgical imaging.

This study investigates the reconstruction of hyperspectral signatures from RGB data to enhance surgical imaging, utilizing the publicly available HeiPorSPECTRAL dataset from porcine surgery and an in-house neurosurgery dataset. Various architectures based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and transformer models are evaluated using comprehensive metrics. Transformer models exhibit superior performance in terms of RMSE, SAM, PSNR and SSIM by effectively integrating spatial information to predict accurate spectral profiles, encompassing both visible and extended spectral ranges.

Occlusion-robust markerless surgical instrument pose estimation.

The estimation of the pose of surgical instruments is important in Robot-assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery (RMIS) to assist surgical navigation and enable autonomous robotic task execution. The performance of current instrument pose estimation methods deteriorates significantly in the presence of partial tool visibility, occlusions, and changes in the surgical scene. In this work, a vision-based framework is proposed for markerless estimation of the 6DoF pose of surgical instruments.

Calibration-Jitter: Augmentation of hyperspectral data for improved surgical scene segmentation.

Semantic surgical scene segmentation is crucial for accurately identifying and delineating different tissue types during surgery, enhancing outcomes and reducing complications. Hyperspectral imaging provides detailed information beyond visible color filters, offering an enhanced view of tissue characteristics. Combined with machine learning, it supports critical tumor resection decisions.

Expanding the reaction toolbox for nanoscale direct-to-biology PROTAC synthesis and biological evaluation.

High-throughput chemistry (HTC) and direct-to-biology (D2B) platforms allow for plate-based compound synthesis and biological evaluation of crude mixtures in cellular assays. The rise of these workflows has rapidly accelerated drug-discovery programs in the field of targeted protein degradation (TPD) in recent years by removing a key bottleneck of compound purification. However, the number of chemical transformations amenable to this methodology remain minimal, leading to limitations in the exploration of chemical space using existing library-based approaches.

Predicting recovery in patients with mild traumatic brain injury and a normal CT using serum biomarkers and diffusion tensor imaging (CENTER-TBI): an observational cohort study.

Background: Even patients with normal computed tomography (CT) head imaging may experience persistent symptoms for months to years after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). There is currently no good way to predict recovery and triage patients who may benefit from early follow-up and targeted intervention. We aimed to assess if existing prognostic models can be improved by serum biomarkers or diffusion tensor imaging metrics (DTI) from MRI, and if serum biomarkers can identify patients for DTI.

Novel type 2 diabetes prediction score based on traditional risk factors and circulating metabolites: model derivation and validation in two large cohort studies.

Background: We aimed to evaluate the incremental predictive value of metabolomic biomarkers for assessing the 10-year risk of type 2 diabetes when added to the clinical Cambridge Diabetes Risk Score (CDRS).

Methods: We utilized 86,232 UK Biobank (UKB) participants (recruited between 13 March 2006 and 1 October 2010) for model derivation and internal validation. Additionally, we included 4383 participants from the German ESTHER cohort (recruited between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2002 for external validation).

Association between major depressive disorder or depressive symptoms and the risk of vascular complications among patients with type 2 diabetes, and the mediating role of metabolic biomarkers: an analysis of the UK Biobank cohort.

Background: Depression is a severe mental disorder commonly co-morbid with diabetes, but it remains to elucidate whether depression is associated with the risks of a wide range of vascular complications in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and whether metabolic biomarkers may mediate this pathway.

Methods: We conducted this prospective analysis among the participants of the UK Biobank who were diagnosed with T2DM and free of vascular complications at baseline between March 13, 2006 and September 30, 2010. Major depressive disorder (MDD) was ascertained according to the hospital admission records and self-report of doctor-diagnosed conditions, while the presence of depressive symptoms was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2.

AI education for clinicians.

Rapid advancements in medical AI necessitate targeted educational initiatives for clinicians to ensure AI tools are safe and used effectively to improve patient outcomes. To support decision-making among stakeholders in medical education, we propose three tiers of medical AI expertise and outline the challenges for medical education at different educational stages. Additionally, we offer recommendations and examples, encouraging stakeholders to adapt and shape curricula for their specific healthcare setting using this framework.

Brain functional imaging contributions in osteoarthritis-related pain: A viewpoint.

Objective: Neuroimaging investigations are critical to provide a more direct assessment of brain disturbances associated with osteoarthritis (OA)-related pain, and to better understand its pathophysiology to develop new treatment strategies. This viewpoint aims to summarize the importance of the brain in OA pain.

Method: A European working group on pain in osteoarthritis GO-PAIN (Going Inside Osteoarthritis-related Pain Phenotyping) has been created to work on a global assessment of the OA-related pain.

Cardiovascular Involvement in Tuberculosis Patients Treated in Southern Africa.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among people with HIV and a major global health challenge. Subclinical cardiovascular manifestations of TB are poorly documented in high TB and HIV burden countries.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to quantify the prevalence of cardiovascular involvement in TB patients and investigate changes after completion of anti-TB treatment.

A study of sheep scab in Northern Ireland including detection and identifying barriers to control.

Background: Sheep scab, caused by the highly infectious mite, is considered to be endemic in Northern Ireland, although little investigation has been reported. A pilot project was undertaken to engage farmers, confirm cases with diagnostic methods and identify specific barriers to control, with the aim of informing future control programmes.

Methods: Through farmers self-reporting suspected outbreaks, on-farm risk assessments and clinical investigations were carried out by the farm's veterinary surgeon, who utilised light microscopy and serological testing to diagnose scab.

The molecular basis of pH sensing by the human fungal pathogen TOK potassium channel.

Two-pore domain, outwardly rectifying potassium (TOK) channels are exclusively expressed in fungi. Human fungal pathogen TOK channels are potential antifungal targets, but TOK channel modulation in general is poorly understood. Here, we discovered that TOK (CaTOK) is regulated by extracellular pH, in contrast to TOK channels from other fungal species tested.

International consensus to define outcomes for trials of chemoradiotherapy for anal cancer (CORMAC-2): defining the outcomes from the CORMAC core outcome set.

Variation in outcomes definitions and reporting limit the utility of clinical trial results. The Core Outcome Research Measures in Anal Cancer (CORMAC) project developed a core outcome set (COS) for chemoradiotherapy trials for anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) through an international healthcare professional and patient consensus process. The CORMAC-COS comprises 19 outcomes across 4 domains (disease activity, survival, toxicity, life impact).

Trustworthy AI: responses to commentators.

In 'Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence', we develop a novel account of how it is that AI can be trustworthy and what it takes for an AI to be trustworthy. In this paper, we respond to a suite of recent comments on this account, due to J. Adam Carter, Dong-yong Choi, Rune Nyrup, and Fei Song.

Effectiveness of written emotional disclosure interventions for eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Eating disorders are illnesses that can seriously impair the health and wellbeing of patients. Written emotional disclosure has been recognized as a therapeutic technique that may be helpful in aiding patients' emotional and psychological adjustment. However, it is unclear what favorable effects eating disorder patients can derive from written emotional disclosure therapy.

Prenatal diagnosis of clinodactyly and its association with genetic syndromes: A case report.

A curvature of a finger that bends inwards relative to the other fingers is a common observation during prenatal screening. When the angulation exceeds 10 degrees, it is known as "clinodactyly" and could suggest a variety of underlying issues. Even though it usually remains unnoticed during pregnancy, it may be a sign of serious fetal disease.

Femoral tunnel enlargement after medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction is common and can be monitored using plain radiographs.

Introduction: medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction (MPFLr) is a common surgical procedure for treating patellar instability. Grafts can be fixed to the femur using a bone-tunnel technique with an interference screw. However, this may lead to femoral tunnel enlargement (FTE) post-operatively.