Outbreak of perichondritis associated with ear piercings and a contaminated water system.

In September 2023, the UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) South West Health Protection Team received notification of patients with perichondritis. All five cases had attended the same cosmetic piercing studio and a multi-disciplinary outbreak control investigation was subsequently initiated. An additional five cases attending the same studio were found.

Measuring Self-Reported Well-Being of Physicians Using the Well-Being Thermometer: Cohort Study.

Background: Advancements in medical science have focused largely on patient care, often overlooking the well-being of health care professionals (HCPs). This oversight has consequences; not only are HCPs prone to mental and physical health challenges, but the quality of patient care may also endure as a result. Such concerns are also exacerbated by unprecedented crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strategies to Increase Response Rate and Reduce Nonresponse Bias in Population Health Research: Analysis of a Series of Randomized Controlled Experiments during a Large COVID-19 Study.

Background: High response rates are needed in population-based studies, as nonresponse reduces effective sample size and bias affects accuracy and decreases the generalizability of the study findings.

Objective: We tested different strategies to improve response rate and reduce nonresponse bias in a national population-based COVID-19 surveillance program in England, United Kingdom.

Methods: Over 19 rounds, a random sample of individuals aged 5 years and older from the general population in England were invited by mail to complete a web-based questionnaire and return a swab for SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Prediction accuracy of discrete choice experiments in health-related research: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are increasingly used to inform the design of health products and services. It is essential to understand the extent to which DCEs provide reliable predictions outside of experimental settings in real-world decision-making situations. We aimed to compare the prediction accuracy of stated preferences with real-world choices, as modelled from DCE data.

Protecting Future Generations From Hereditary Genetic Disorders Using Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: A Narrative Review Article.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is provided by majority of reproductive clinics in the United States (US), and PGD is used in many in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures every year. PGD is extensively used to screen for certain genetic abnormalities and aneuploidy in individuals undergoing IVF. Genetic disorders are very prevalent in Saudi Arabia.

HLA-E/ specific CD4 and CD8 T cells have a memory phenotype in individuals with TB infection.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease worldwide and novel vaccines are urgently needed. HLA-E is a virtually monomorphic antigen presentation molecule and is not downregulated upon HIV co-infection. HLA-E restricted specific CD8 T cells are present in the circulation of individuals with active TB (aTB) and infection (TBI) with or without HIV co-infection, making HLA-E restricted T cells interesting vaccination targets for TB.

Patient Challenges in Utilization of Methadone to Treat Opioid Use Disorder and Perspectives on a Solution for Improved Security and Convenience in Take-home Dosing.

Background: Methadone is commonly utilized to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). Requirements to visit an opioid treatment provider (OTP) clinic for methadone treatment limits access to treatment, impacts quality of life, and reduces OUD treatment program retention. The Computerized Oral Prescription Administration (COPA) system is a dual-biometric dispensing device for take-home dosing that could reduce the impacts of methadone administration on patients and clinic staff.

The association between underlying conditions, risk factors, risk markers, and post-COVID conditions ≥6 months after COVID-19: A systematic review.

Introduction: While various demographic factors and underlying medical conditions are associated with the development of post-COVID conditions within a month after SARS-CoV-2 infection, less is known about factors associated with post-COVID symptoms that persist for 6 months or more. The aim of this review was to determine the association between underlying conditions, other risk factors, health behaviors, and the presence of symptoms ≥6 months after COVID-19.

Methods: Studies reporting on post-COVID symptoms were searched in databases, including Medline, EMBASE, Global Health, PsycInfo, Scopus, CINAHL, Proquest, and WHO COVID-19 literature, from the beginning of the pandemic until November 2022.

Results from a UK consensus about the optimal prescribing of medium strength triple therapy in uncontrolled adult asthma patients in the NHS.

Context: An inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) in combination with a long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) is a common treatment approach for asthma patients not controlled on ICS alone, but a significant proportion of patients remain uncontrolled on this combination and treatment adherence can also be a challenge. One of the options for adults whose asthma is uncontrolled in an ICS/LABA is the addition of a long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonist (LAMA), an approach commonly referred to as 'triple therapy'. The use of medium-strength ICS/LABA/LAMA is established in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but is less well-established in asthma.

Probing the Design Rules for Optimizing Electron Spin Relaxation in Densely Packed Triplet Media for Quantum Applications.

Quantum technologies using electron spins have the advantage of employing chemical qubit media with tunable properties. The principal objective of material engineers is to enhance photoexcited spin yields and quantum spin relaxation. In this study, we demonstrate a facile synthetic approach to control spin properties in charge-transfer cocrystals consisting of 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) and acetylated anthracene.

Facilitating a More Diverse Workforce: The Value of Mentorship in Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Background: Cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) is one of the least diverse surgical specialties in both gender and race. Aside from the inherent benefits of a diverse working environment, mitigating this diversity gap improves patient care. Mentorship is important for creating a diverse, nurturing environment for trainees.

Causes of death in patients with atrial fibrillation in the UK: a nationwide electronic health record study.

Aims: Causes of death remain largely unexplored in the atrial fibrillation (AF) population. We aimed to (i) thoroughly assess causes of death in patients with AF, especially those associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD) and (ii) evaluate the potential association between AF and SCD.

Methods And Results: Linked primary and secondary care United Kingdom Clinical Practice Research Datalink dataset comprising 6 529 382 individuals aged ≥18.

Blood and urinary cytokine balance and renal outcomes at orthopaedic surgery.

Background: In patients undergoing orthopaedic trauma surgery, acute kidney injury (AKI) can develop post-operatively and is a major cause of increased mortality and hospital stay time. Development of AKI is associated with three main processes: inflammation, ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and hypoperfusion. In this study, we investigated whether ratios of urine and blood anti-inflammatory biomarkers and biomarkers of hypoperfusion, IRI and inflammation are elevated in patients who develop post-trauma orthopaedic surgery acute kidney injury (PTOS-AKI).

Moyamoya phenomenon following clipping of intracranial aneurysm: case report.

Subarachnoid haemorrhage from aneurysmal rupture is a common emergency in neurosurgery. Depending on aneurysm position, morphology, size, associated clot, and symptoms, it is either managed by endovascular occlusion or by clipping. Here we report the first known case of secondary Moyamoya phenomenon following the clipping of a supraclinoid internal carotid artery Aneurysm.

Quantifying Additional Procedures in Functionally Single-Ventricle Disease: A National Cohort Study.

Background: Given their importance as a metric for health care evaluation, this study's aim was to evaluate the rates of surgical and catheter reinterventions for children with functionally single-ventricle (f-SV) congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing staged palliation.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective cohort study of children born with f-SV CHD between 2000 and 2018 in England and Wales, using the national registry, with survival ascertained in 2020. Competing risk analysis was used to describe the incidence of additional procedures that occurred first, during follow-up, accounting for competing events of death or transplantation.

Inferring structure of cortical neuronal networks from activity data: A statistical physics approach.

Understanding the relation between cortical neuronal network structure and neuronal activity is a fundamental unresolved question in neuroscience, with implications to our understanding of the mechanism by which neuronal networks evolve over time, spontaneously or under stimulation. It requires a method for inferring the structure and composition of a network from neuronal activities. Tracking the evolution of networks and their changing functionality will provide invaluable insight into the occurrence of plasticity and the underlying learning process.

Detection of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 from sewage samples and public health response, Poland, November to December 2024.

In October and December 2024, circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was detected from two wastewater samples in Poland during routine environmental surveillance. The first isolate was characterised and matched previous cVDPV2 isolates detected in Spain in September, as well as in Germany, Finland, and the United Kingdom in November and December 2024. In response to the event, active surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) has been strengthened, and the frequency of environmental sample collection has been increased.

The Omics-Driven Machine Learning Path to Cost-Effective Precision Medicine in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a significant and growing global health challenge, making early detection and slowing disease progression essential for improving patient outcomes. Traditional diagnostic methods such as glomerular filtration rate and proteinuria are insufficient to capture the complexity of CKD. In contrast, omics technologies have shed light on the molecular mechanisms of CKD, helping to identify biomarkers for disease assessment and management.

Developing and using a school menu healthiness assessment tool to analyse school food provision in Wales.

Objectives: To design and develop a new, innovative and valid School Menu Healthiness Assessment Tool that is suitable for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of school food and drink provision. Secondly, to analyse primary and secondary school menus and price lists pan-Wales to ascertain their healthiness and whether free school meal eligible pupils can afford to access healthy, nutritious food across the school day.

Design: Codable items and categories of school food and drink provision were operationalised before the tool underwent iterative development and testing.

Treatment of metastatic urothelial carcinoma in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Introduction: The treatment landscape of metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) has evolved with the emergence of programmed cell death protein 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) inhibitors. This study assessed mUC treatment patterns in Europe.

Methods: Data were derived from the Adelphi mUC Disease Specific Programme™ (November 2020 to April 2021), a large, cross-sectional, patient record-based survey of physicians in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Is the Timing of Eating Relevant for Weight Loss?

The potential influence of the timing of eating on body weight regulation in humans has attracted substantial research interest. This review aims to critically evaluate the evidence on timed eating for weight loss, considering energetic and behavioural components to the timing of eating in humans. It has been hypothesised that timed eating interventions may alter energy balance in favour of weight loss by enhancing energy expenditure, specifically the thermic effect of food.

Service evaluation of 'GP at Door' of accident and emergency services in Eastern England.

Aim: We describe activity, outcomes, and benefits after streaming low urgency attenders to eneral practice services at oor of ccident and mergency departments (GDAE).

Background: Many attendances to A&Es are for non-urgent health problems that could be better met by primary care rather than urgent care clinicians. It is valuable to monitor service activity, outcomes, service user demographics, and potential benefits when primary care is co-located with A&E departments.

What Do Patients Seek Care for at a Health Facility in the Aftermath of an Earthquake? Experiences From an Emergency Medical Team in Türkoğlu, Türkiye 2023.

On February 6, 2023, a strong earthquake (7.8 Richter scale) shook southwestern Türkiye, and also affected areas in northwest Syria, resulting in over 50 000 fatalities and more than 100 000 injured in Türkiye, in addition to the displacement of approximately 3 million people. In response to an international request for assistance from the Turkish government, the United Kingdom (UK) government deployed an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Type 1 to provide outpatient care.

The Population-Based Incidence and Prevalence of Catatonia.

Objective: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric disorder that is associated with a range of medical and psychiatric illnesses. Although many single-center studies have been conducted, uncertainty over the population-based incidence and prevalence of the disorder remains. This study reports on the incidence and prevalence rates of catatonia extrapolated from two large epidemiologic studies in the United Kingdom and United States.