Reverse-engineering the Venus figurines: An eco-life-course hypothesis for the aetiology of obesity in the Palaeolithic.

Evolutionary perspectives on obesity have been dominated by genetic frameworks, but plastic responses are also central to its aetiology. While often considered a relatively modern phenomenon, obesity was recorded during the Palaeolithic through small statuettes of the female form (Venus figurines). Even if the phenotype was rare, these statuettes indicate that some women achieved large body sizes during the last glacial maximum, a period of nutritional stress.

Clinical predictive models for recurrence and survival in treated laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The limitations of the traditional TNM system have spurred interest in multivariable models for personalized prognostication in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers (LSCC/HPSCC). However, the performance of these models depends on the quality of data and modelling methodology, affecting their potential for clinical adoption. This systematic review and meta-analysis (SR-MA) evaluated clinical predictive models (CPMs) for recurrence and survival in treated LSCC/HPSCC.

A Retrospective Audit of Osteoporosis Management Following Fragility Fractures in a Hospital Setting.

Background Fragility fractures, often caused by osteoporosis, are a major public health concern among the growing population of the United Kingdom (UK). In addition to being a major source of illness and mortality, the rising incidence of osteoporosis places a heavy strain on healthcare systems if it is not adequately managed. In order to lower the risk of additional fractures, current guidelines place a strong emphasis on the timely evaluation and treatment of fragility fractures.

From Prone to Prepared: Airway Management in a Patient With Penetrating Thoracic Trauma.

Perioperative and critical care management following penetrating thoracic trauma represents a complex challenge. Those who survive the early trauma approach and reach the hospital alive often remain in critical condition, with cardiocirculatory complications and major pulmonary injuries. Additional difficulty arises from the presence of a weapon , particularly in a dorsal location, which limits patient positioning, and the safe manipulation of both the weapon and the patient.

Analysis of Mutations in Dihydropteroate Synthase and Dihydropteroate Reductase Genes Among Non-HIV Patients in China.

Purpose: pneumonia (PJP) shows a high fatality rate in non-HIV patients. However, there are limited data on drug resistance-related gene mutations in these patients. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of mutations in the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) genes of in non-HIV patients in China, providing a reference for drug usage.

What can we learn from pathophysiology and therapeutic targetable pathways from all genetic causes and associations in PH?

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) encompasses a group of conditions which ultimately lead to elevated pulmonary arterial pressure. PH is classified into five subgroups, of which Group 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), is the most extensively studied. Numerous causal genes have been identified in PAH, most notably germline mutations in bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 () and the wider BMP pathway.

Diagnosis and management of peripartum cardiomyopathy and recurrence risk.

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare, but serious condition, with a non-negligible risk of adverse events. Several risk factors for PPCM have been individuated over the years, including Afro-American ethnicity, preeclampsia, advanced maternal age, genetic predisposition, multiparity, twin pregnancy, obesity, smoking and diabetes. However, PPCM pathophysiology is still poorly understood, thus making it challenging to develop disease specific therapies.

Imaging in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease: Current practice and advances.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease (CTEPD) with or without pulmonary hypertension (PH) occurs when thromboemboli in pulmonary arteries fail to resolve completely. Pulmonary artery obstructions due to chronic thrombi and secondary microvasculopathy can increase pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance leading to chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH). Mechanical interventions and/or PH medications can improve cardiopulmonary haemodynamic, alleviate symptoms, and decrease mortality risk.

Review of the gastric physiology of disgust: Proto-nausea as an under-explored facet of the gut-brain axis.

Humans feel visceral disgust when faced with potential contaminants like bodily effluvia. The emotion serves to reject potentially contaminated food and is paired with proto-nausea: alterations in gastric rhythm in response to disgust. Here, we offer a narrative synthesis of the existing literature on the effects of disgust on the stomach as measured through electrogastrography, a non-invasive technique that measures stomach activity with electrodes placed on the abdominal skin surface.

The effectiveness of digital health versus standard care on exclusive breastfeeding duration among postpartum mothers in LMIC: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of digital health interventions compared to standard care in promoting exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) among postpartum women in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: The PRISMA guidelines of reporting were followed for the searching of four databases and screening following eligibility criteria: articles presenting digital health interventions, conducted as randomized control trials (RCTs), quasi-experimental, or mixed-method studies, reporting on EBF duration and early initiation of breastfeeding, and published in the English language were included.

Results: Of 1595 articles screened, only 10 published between 2013 and 2023 met the criteria.

Technology use in long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study of paid employees' experiences in Western Canada.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the world implemented processes and policies to limit the spread of COVID-19, especially in long-term care (LTC) homes. This led to changes in technology use for persons living in LTC homes, their families and friends, as well as the paid workforce dedicated to caring for them.

Objective: The study describes the role of technology and its impact on the experiences of LTC staff working in northern and rural areas in Western Canada during COVID-19.

A scoping review of the patient experience with wearable technology.

Objective: This scoping review explores patients' experience with wearable technology. Its aims are to: (a) examine studies that contain empirical findings related to patients' experience with wearables; (b) compare these findings within and across studies; and (c) identify areas in need of greater understanding.

Methods: A Preferred Reporting Items for Scoping Review (PRISMA) guided approach was followed.

The effectiveness of digital tools to maintain physical activity among people with a long-term condition(s): A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Given the well-accepted health benefits, it is important to identify scalable ways to support people with long-term conditions (LTCs) to remain physically active. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effect of digital tools on the maintenance of physical activity (PA) amongst this population.

Methods: Electronic databases were searched for randomised controlled trials investigating the effect of digital tools on PA maintenance at least three months post-intervention compared with a non-digital control in participants with long-term conditions.

Clinical concept annotation with contextual word embedding in active transfer learning environment.

Objective: The study aims to present an active learning approach that automatically extracts clinical concepts from unstructured data and classifies them into explicit categories such as Problem, Treatment, and Test while preserving high precision and recall and demonstrating the approach through experiments using i2b2 public datasets.

Methods: Initially labeled data are acquired from a lexical-based approach in sufficient amounts to perform an active learning process. A contextual word embedding similarity approach is adopted using BERT base variant models such as ClinicalBERT, DistilBERT, and SCIBERT to automatically classify the unlabeled clinical concept into explicit categories.

A conserved role for ALG10/ALG10B and the -glycosylation pathway in the sleep-epilepsy axis.

Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) comprise a class of inborn errors of metabolism resulting from pathogenic variants in genes coding for enzymes involved in the asparagine-linked glycosylation of proteins. Unexpectedly to date, no CDG has been described for , encoding the alpha-1,2-glucosyltransferase catalyzing the final step of lipid-linked oligosaccharide biosynthesis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human traits in the UK Biobank revealed significant SNP associations with short sleep duration, reduced napping frequency, later sleep timing and evening diurnal preference as well as cardiac traits at a genomic locus containing a pair of paralogous enzymes and .

Co-expression-wide association studies link genetically regulated interactions with complex traits.

Transcriptome- and proteome-wide association studies (TWAS/PWAS) have proven successful in prioritizing genes and proteins whose genetically regulated expression modulates disease risk, but they ignore potential co-expression and interaction effects. To address this limitation, we introduce the co-expression-wide association study (COWAS) method, which can identify pairs of genes or proteins whose genetically regulated co-expression is associated with complex traits. COWAS first trains models to predict expression and co-expression conditional on genetic variation, and then tests for association between imputed co-expression and the trait of interest while also accounting for direct effects from each exposure.

Deriving Mendelian Randomization-based Causal Networks of Brain Imaging Phenotypes and Bipolar Disorder.

Neuroanatomical variation in individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) has been previously described in observational studies. However, the causal dynamics of these relationships remain unexplored. We performed Mendelian Randomization of 297 structural and functional neuroimaging phenotypes from the UK BioBank and BD using genome-wide association study summary statistics.

A virtual global carbon price is essential to drive rapid decarbonisation.

Dealing with climate change is now an infrastructure challenge. Within the next 30 years our energy generation must switch from fossil fuels to renewables. New buildings need to be zero-carbon and existing buildings need to be retrofitted.

Surgical Treatment Intensity at the End of Life in Patients With Cancer: A Systematic Review.

Objective: To synthesize evidence of surgical treatment intensity, defined as a measure of the quantity of invasive procedures, received by patients in patients with cancer within a defined time period around the 'end of life' (EoL).

Background: Concern regarding overly 'aggressive' care or high health care utilization at the EoL, particularly in cancer, is growing. The contribution surgery makes to the quality and cost of EoL care in cancer has not yet been quantified.

Gaining Insight into Operative Performance: Analysis of an Automated 360-Degree Feedback Tool Among Perioperative Staff.

Background: Surgery has seen limited adoption of 360-degree feedback tools, and no current tools evaluate intraoperative performance from a technical, nontechnical, or teaching skill perspective. We sought to evaluate the overall findings and perceived value of a novel 360-degree feedback tool for surgeons from their operating room colleagues.

Methods: The 'intraoperative 360' (i360) combined 3 previously validated scales of surgeon performance.

Passivation, phase, and morphology control of CdS nanocrystals probed using fluorinated aromatic amines and solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

Nanocrystals are widely explored for a range of medical, imaging, sensing, and energy conversion applications. CdS nanocrystals have been reported as excellent photocatalysts, with thin film CdS also highly important in photovoltaic devices. To optimise properties of nanocrystals, control over phase, facet, and morphology are vital.

Proteomic signatures of Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementias: A comparative analysis.

Introduction: We aimed to identify unique proteomic signatures of Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD).

Methods: We conducted a comparative proteomic analysis of 33 post mortem brains from AD, DLB, and PDD individuals without dementia focusing on prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal cortices, using weighted gene co-expression network analyses with differential enrichment analysis.

Results: Network modules revealed hub proteins common to all dementias.

The role of artificial intelligence in the diagnosis, imaging, and treatment of thoracic empyema.

Purpose Of Review: The management of thoracic empyema is often complicated by diagnostic delays, recurrence, treatment failures and infections with antibiotic resistant bacteria. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, particularly in clinical decision support, imaging, and diagnostic microbiology raises great expectations in addressing these challenges.

Recent Findings: Machine learning (ML) and AI models have been applied to CT scans and chest X-rays to identify and classify pleural effusions and empyema with greater accuracy.

Thermodynamics and transport in molten chloride salts and their mixtures.

Molten salts are important in a number of energy applications, but the fundamental mechanisms operating in ionic liquids are poorly understood, particularly at higher temperatures. This is despite their candidacy for deployment in solar cells, next-generation nuclear reactors, and nuclear pyroprocessing. We perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations over a variety of molten chloride salt compositions at varying temperature and pressures to calculate the thermodynamic and transport properties of these liquids.