Meta-analyses of the global impact of non-antibiotic feed additives on livestock performance and health.

Introduction: The impact of non-antibiotic feed additives on livestock performance and health is contingent upon a multitude of variables, including the animal species, dosage and type of feed additives, and duration of oral administration. However, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding the relationship between these factors and the performance of livestock animals.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to conduct a global meta-analysis based on a pool of empirical studies to investigate the effects of dietary additives on growth, production, blood metabolites, immunity, intestinal morphology, and the abundance of gut microbiota in livestock.

Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe in the Assessment of Dental Students?

Objectives: Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in assessing dental students' knowledge and skills is in its infancy, despite AI being well established as an aid to aspects of clinical diagnosis and education. This study aimed to investigate whether dental educators perceived AI as beneficial in assessing students.

Methods: This was a mixed methods study where quantitative and qualitative data were generated through a live online polling system, Vevox .

Improving Consent in Trauma: Recall (ICIT: Recall) : a multicentre study protocol of consent for hip fractures.

Aims: This study investigates the effectiveness and adequacy of the informed consent process for patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. While informed consent is a legal and ethical responsibility, factors in the trauma setting can impair patients' understanding and retention of information. This study seeks to evaluate patients' recall of perioperative complications and explore their perceptions of the consent process.

The contribution of coding variants to the heritability of multiple cancer types using UK Biobank whole-exome sequencing data.

Genome-wide association studies have been highly successful at identifying common variants associated with cancer; however, they do not explain all the inherited risks of cancer. Family-based studies, targeted sequencing, and, more recently, exome-wide association studies have identified rare coding variants in some genes associated with cancer risk, but the overall contribution of these variants to the heritability of cancer is less clear. Here, we describe a method to estimate the genome-wide contribution of rare coding variants to heritability that fits models to the burden effect sizes using an empirical Bayesian approach.

Lactate: A key regulator of the immune response.

Lactate, the end product of both anaerobic and aerobic glycolysis in proliferating and growing cells-with the latter process known as the Warburg effect-is historically considered a mere waste product of cell and tissue metabolism. However, research over the past ten years has unveiled multifaceted functions of lactate that critically shape and impact cellular biology. Beyond serving as a fuel source, lactate is now known to influence gene expression through histone modification and to function as a signaling molecule that impacts a wide range of cellular activities.

Major trauma coordinators in the UK: A survey of demographics and role functions.

Background: Trauma coordinators (TCs) play a key role in managing patients with complex injuries, coordinating care across multiple specialties. This study aimed to investigate the current role functions of TCs in the UK, compare them to findings from 2015, and explore differences between TCs in Major Trauma Centres (MTCs) and Trauma Units (TUs).

Methods: A UK-wide cross-sectional survey was conducted using an online questionnaire.

Role of oxidative balance score in staging and mortality risk of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome: Insights from traditional and machine learning approaches.

Objectives: To evaluate the roles of oxidative balance score (OBS) in staging and mortality risk of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome (CKM).

Methods: Data of this study were from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2018. We performed cross-sectional analyses using multinomial logistic regression to investigate the relationship between OBS and CKM staging.

Anti-Cancer Potential of a new Derivative of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester targeting the Centrosome.

Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) is an aggressive T-cell lymphoma affecting children and young adults. About 30% of patients develop therapy resistance therefore new precision medicine drugs are highly warranted. Multiple rounds of structure-activity optimization of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester have resulted in CM14.

Tiny shifts, major ripples: Unravelling micro-mechanisms in the building of mother-infant attachment and psychophysiological regulation.

Parental nurturing touch plays a crucial role in early infant development by activating C-Tactile afferents, which trigger neurobiological pathways essential for parent-infant bonding and the building of attachment. This process is said to regulate the infant's parasympathetic nervous system, fostering emotional and physiological connection with the caregiver. Research has consistently shown that CT-mediated touch enhances infant parasympathetic tone, yet no clear patterns of mutual co-regulation between parent and infant have been reported.

The child behind the victim: Survivor experiences of children's harmful sexual behavior.

Background: At least 50 % of child sexual abuse involves perpetration by children, referred to as "harmful sexual behavior". Recently, the sexual abuse sector has focused, importantly, on the child behind the "perpetrator" to support developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed practice. However, the experiences of victim-survivors of children's sexually abusive behavior are underexplored.

MRI-based cortical gray/white matter contrast in young adults who endorse psychotic experiences or are at genetic risk for psychosis.

Research has reported group-level differences in cortical grey/white matter contrast (GWC) in individuals with psychotic disorders. However, no studies to date have explored GWC in individuals at elevated risk for psychosis. In this study, we examined brain microstructure differences between young adults with psychotic-like experiences or a high genetic risk for psychosis and unaffected individuals.

Multidimensional analysis of selected bioelements in rat's brain subjected to stroke procedure and treatment with HS donor AP-39.

Background: A stroke is characterized by a sudden disruption in blood flow to the brain. According to WHO statistics, stroke is the second most common cause of death. Its pathophysiology involves complex mechanisms: oxidative stress, inflammation, cytotoxicity and neuronal cell death.

"Empty action: two heads are better than one": Spiritual care provision for patients living with advanced cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa: A meta-synthesis.

Purpose: This meta-synthesis seeks to explore spiritual care provision by healthcare professionals and spiritual leaders to patients with advanced cancer and their families in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Studies were searched and retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Global Health, Web of Science, and the Africa Index Medicus databases. The search was conducted on November 10, 2023 and repeated on October 18, 2024.

Drop jump vertical kinetics identify male youth soccer players at greater risk of non-contact knee injury.

Objectives: To determine associations between drop-jump vertical kinetics and acute non-contact knee injury-risk in male youth soccer players.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Professional soccer academies.

A qualitative study exploring electronic health record optimisation activities in English hospitals.

Background: Hospitals increasingly implement complex electronic health record (EHR) systems to improve quality, safety and efficiency. Whilst many aspects surrounding implementation and adoption processes have been researched, the benefits of such enterprise-wide systems may take decades to materialise. Existing work on optimisation processes has focused on technological, workflow and organisational aspects of optimisation within individual clinical settings, mostly in the United States of America.

A floating collagen matrix triggers ring formation and stemness characteristics in human colorectal cancer organoids.

Intestinal organoids reflect the 3D structure and function of their original tissues. Organoid are typically cultured in Matrigel, an extracellular matrix (ECM) mimicking the basement membrane, which is suitable for epithelial cells but does not accurately mimic the tumour microenvironment of colorectal cancer (CRC). The ECM and particularly collagen type I is crucial for CRC progression and invasiveness.

Residential greenness, air pollution, genetic predisposition and the risk of lung cancer.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that greenness is associated with multiple health outcomes, but its association with lung cancer risk remains limited and far from consistent. In particular, it is unclear whether this association varies across different types of lung cancer and whether it is influenced by factors such as genetics, air pollution, and physical activity.

Method: This prospective cohort study included 425108 participants aged 37-73 years from the UK Biobank.

SpinFlowSim: A blood flow simulation framework for histology-informed diffusion MRI microvasculature mapping in cancer.

Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) sensitises the MRI signal to spin motion. This includes Brownian diffusion, but also flow across intricate networks of capillaries. This effect, the intra-voxel incoherent motion (IVIM), enables microvasculature characterisation with dMRI, through metrics such as the vascular signal fraction f or the vascular Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) D.

Bridging multi-level gaps: Bidirectional reciprocal cycle framework for text-guided label-efficient segmentation in echocardiography.

Text-guided visual understanding is a potential solution for downstream task learning in echocardiography. It can reduce reliance on labeled large datasets and facilitate learning clinical tasks. This is because the text can embed highly condensed clinical information into predictions for visual tasks.

Prompt-based polyp segmentation during endoscopy.

Accurate judgment and identification of polyp size is crucial in endoscopic diagnosis. However, the indistinct boundaries of polyps lead to missegmentation and missed cancer diagnoses. In this paper, a prompt-based polyp segmentation method (PPSM) is proposed to assist in early-stage cancer diagnosis during endoscopy.

Characterisation of tyre wear particle transport from road runoff to sea in coastal environments.

Data on the fate of tyre wear particles (TWPs) within aquatic environments is limited. This study quantified TWPs entering estuaries in stormwater drainage and atmospheric fallout, and once they have reached the marine environment, within surface waters and sediments. TWPs were found at concentrations of 0.

Relatively independent and complementary roles of family history and polygenic risk score in age at onset and incident cases of 12 common diseases.

Few studies have systematically compared the overlap and complementarity of family history (FH) and polygenic risk score (PRS) in terms of disease risk. We here investigated the impacts of FH and PRS on the risk of incident diseases or age at disease onset, as well as their clinical value in risk prediction. We analyzed 12 diseases in the prospective cohort study of UK Biobank (N = 461,220).