Exploring the experiences of cognitive symptoms in Long COVID: a mixed-methods study in the UK.

Objective: To explore the lived experiences and extent of cognitive symptoms in Long COVID (LC) in a UK-based sample.

Design: This study implemented a mixed-methods design. Eight focus groups were conducted to collect qualitative data, and the Framework Analysis was used to reveal the experiences and impact of cognitive symptoms.

Matching model with mechanism: Appropriate rodent models for studying various aspects of diabetes pathophysiology.

Many rodent models are available for preclinical diabetes research making it a challenge for researchers to choose the most appropriate one for their experimental question. To aid in this, models have classically been categorized according to which type of diabetes they represent, and further into whether the model is induced, spontaneous or the result of genetic manipulation. This fails to capture the complexity of pathogenesis seen in diabetes in humans.

Coronary CT angiography-guided management of patients with stable chest pain: 10-year outcomes from the SCOT-HEART randomised controlled trial in Scotland.

Background: The Scottish Computed Tomography of the Heart (SCOT-HEART) trial demonstrated that management guided by coronary CT angiography (CCTA) improved the diagnosis, management, and outcome of patients with stable chest pain. We aimed to assess whether CCTA-guided care results in sustained long-term improvements in management and outcomes.

Methods: SCOT-HEART was an open-label, multicentre, parallel group trial for which patients were recruited from 12 outpatient cardiology chest pain clinics across Scotland.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody positivity on infection and hospitalisation rates in immunosuppressed populations during the omicron period: the MELODY study.

Background: In the UK, booster COVID-19 vaccinations have been recommended biannually to people considered immune vulnerable. We investigated, at a population level, whether the absence of detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein IgG antibody (anti-S Ab) following three or more vaccinations in immunosuppressed individuals was associated with greater risks of infection and severity of infection.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study using UK national disease registers, we recruited participants with solid organ transplants (SOTs), rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases (RAIRDs), and lymphoid malignancies.

Association of statins use and genetic susceptibility with incidence of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: The effect of statins use on the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still under debate, and it could be modified by a series of factors.

Objectives: We aimed to examine the association of statins use with the risk of cognitive impairment and AD, and assess the moderating roles of genetic susceptibility and other individual-related factors.

Design: A longitudinal study was conducted from the UK Biobank where individuals completed baseline surveys (2006-2010) and were followed (mean follow-up period: 9 years).

Associations of early-onset coronary heart disease and genetic susceptibility with incident dementia and white matter hyperintensity: A prospective cohort study.

Background: The associations of early-onset coronary heart disease (CHD) and genetic susceptibility with incident dementia and brain white matter hyperintensity (WMH) remain unclear. Elucidation of this problem could promote understanding of the neurocognitive impact of early-onset CHD and provide suggestions for the prevention of dementia.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether observed and genetically predicted early-onset CHD were related to subsequent dementia and WMH volume.

The effect of sleep disturbances on the incidence of dementia for varying lag times.

Background: Few studies have addressed the association of sleep disturbances with incident dementia with long lag times. We add to this literature by investigating how lag times varying from 2.2 to 23.

Monitoring for 5-aminosalicylate nephrotoxicity in adults with inflammatory bowel disease: prognostic model development and validation using data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Objective: To develop and validate a prognostic model for risk-stratified monitoring of 5-aminosalicylate nephrotoxicity.

Methods: This UK retrospective cohort study used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum and Gold for model development and validation respectively. It included adults newly diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and established on 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) treatment between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2019.

Ethnic disparities in HbA1c and hypoglycemia among youth with type 1 diabetes: beyond access to technology, social deprivation and mean blood glucose.

Introduction: The UK national pediatric diabetes audit reports higher HbA1c for children and young people (CYP) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) of Black ethnicity compared with White counterparts. This is presumably related to higher mean blood glucose (MBG) due to lower socioeconomic status (SES) and less access to technology. We aimed to determine if HbA1c ethnic disparity persists after accounting for the above variables.

Discontinuous named entities in clinical Text: A systematic literature review.

Objective: Extracting named entities from clinical free-text presents unique challenges, particularly when dealing with discontinuous entities-mentions that are separated by unrelated words. Traditional NER methods often struggle to accurately identify these entities, prompting the development of specialised computational solutions. This paper systematically reviews and presents the methodologies developed for Discontinuous Named Entity Recognition in clinical texts, highlighting their effectiveness and the challenges they face.

Prognostic performance of the two-step clinical care pathway in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Background & Aims: Current guidelines recommend a 2-step approach for risk stratification in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) with Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) followed by liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) or similar second-line tests. This study aimed to examine to prognostic performance of this approach.

Methods: The VCTE-Prognosis Study was a longitudinal study of patients with MASLD who had undergone VCTE examinations at 16 centres from the US, Europe and Asia with subsequent follow-up for clinical events.

Acute angiotensin receptor blockade and mnemonic discrimination in healthy participants.

Background: The renin angiotensin system (RAS) is implicated in various cognitive processes relevant to anxiety. However, the role of the RAS in pattern separation, a hippocampal memory mechanism that enables discrete encoding of similar stimuli, is unclear. Given the proposed role of this mechanism in overgeneralization and the maintenance of anxiety, we explored the influence of the RAS on mnemonic discrimination i.

Atrial fibrillation versus. atrial myopathy in thrombogenesis: Two sides of the same coin?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and atrial myopathy are recognized contributors to cardiovascular morbidity, particularly ischemic stroke. AF poses an elevated risk of thrombogenesis due to irregular heart rhythm leading to blood stasis and clot formation. Atrial myopathy, marked by structural and functional alterations in the atria, is emerging as a crucial factor influencing thromboembolic events, independently of AF.

Challenges and compromises: Predicting unbound antibody structures with deep learning.

Therapeutic antibodies are manufactured, stored and administered in the free state; this makes understanding the unbound form key to designing and improving development pipelines. Prediction of unbound antibodies is challenging, specifically modelling of the CDRH3 loop, where inaccuracies are potentially worse due to a bias in structural data towards antibody-antigen complexes. This class imbalance provides a challenge for deep learning models trained on this data, potentially limiting generalisation to unbound forms.

Flies as carriers of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria in Nigerian hospitals: A workflow for surveillance of AMR bacteria carried by arthropod pests in hospital settings.

The dissemination of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria by flies in hospitals is concerning as nosocomial AMR infections pose a significant threat to public health. This threat is compounded in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by several factors, including limited resources for sufficient infection prevention and control (IPC) practices and high numbers of flies in tropical climates. In this pilot study, 1,396 flies were collected between August and September 2022 from eight tertiary care hospitals in six cities (Abuja, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos and Sokoto) in Nigeria.

Therapeutic strategies for fungating and ulcerating breast cancers: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.

Background: To identify optimal therapeutic strategies for managing fungating, large or ulcerating breast tumors and highlight existing gaps in the literature.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search of Medline, Embase, APA, PsycInfo, CAB abstracts, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception to June 30, 2024, including studies on patients with fungating, large, or ulcerating breast cancers.

Results: The search identified 7917 studies, with 79 meeting the inclusion criteria: 62 case reports, 7 case series, and 10 cohort studies.

Inequality in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake: A repeated cross-sectional analysis of COVID vaccine acceptance and uptake in 13 countries.

Background COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was a key barrier to ending the pandemic via mass immunisation. Objectives Assess magnitudes and differences in socioeconomic inequality in stated COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (hesitancy) and uptake. Methods Online surveys were conducted in 13 countries, collecting data from 15,337 and 18,189 respondents respectively.

Revisiting the electrophysiological correlates of valence and expectancy in reward processing - A multi-lab replication.

Two event-related brain potential (ERP) components, the frontocentral feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the posterior P300, are key in feedback processing. The FRN typically exhibits greater amplitude in response to negative and unexpected outcomes, whereas the P300 is generally more pronounced for positive outcomes. In an influential ERP study, Hajcak et al.

Simulation of the performance of pillar array columns using the pore-throat ratio as efficiency descriptor.

Traditional packed beds in chromatography suffer from increased band broadening due to the random nature of packing, leading non-ideal fluid flow and channeling. To address these challenges, pillar array columns have been developed, offering improved performance over random packing thanks to their homogenous fluid profiles. The study aims to i) evaluate fluid dynamics and chromatographic performance across different PAC morphologies, ii) establish the influence of column morphology on performance, and iii) assess the correlation between chromatographic performance and hydrodynamic parameters.

Reducing bias in source-free unsupervised domain adaptation for regression.

Due to data privacy and storage concerns, Source-Free Unsupervised Domain Adaptation (SFUDA) focuses on improving an unlabelled target domain by leveraging a pre-trained source model without access to source data. While existing studies attempt to train target models by mitigating biases induced by noisy pseudo labels, they often lack theoretical guarantees for fully reducing biases and have predominantly addressed classification tasks rather than regression ones. To address these gaps, our analysis delves into the generalisation error bound of the target model, aiming to understand the intrinsic limitations of pseudo-label-based SFUDA methods.

How do neuromuscular characteristics of the peroneal muscles differ in adults with and without chronic ankle instability? A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) has been associated with neuromuscular control dysfunction, particularly of the peroneal musculature.

Research Question: How do neuromuscular characteristics of the peroneal muscles, including corticospinal excitability, strength, proprioception (force sense) and electromyographic measures differ in individuals with CAI compared to healthy control counterparts aged 18-45?

Methods: A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted by retrieving relevant articles from electronic databases including EBSCOhost (CINAHL Complete, AMED, SPORTDiscus), Ovid (MEDLINE, Embase), Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Library as well as Grey literature sources. The eligibility and methodological quality of the included case-control and cross-sectional studies were assessed by two reviewers.

Evaluation of Patients' Satisfaction with Healthcare Services Provided at the National Health Insurance Authority Clinic of a Tertiary Hospital in South-West, Nigeria.

Background: Patient satisfaction is an essential indicator used for measuring the quality of health care delivered to a patient and contributes to strategies for the improvement of healthcare delivery. This study assessed patients' satisfaction with the quality of care at the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) clinic in a tertiary health facility.

Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional design with 320 respondents who completed a semi-structured questionnaire.

Trabecular bone deficits predominate in the appendicular skeleton of midlife women living with HIV: findings from a cross-sectional study in Zimbabwe.

HIV-related mortality has fallen due to scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART), so more women living with HIV (WLH) now live to reach menopause. Menopausal estrogen loss causes bone loss, as do HIV and certain ART regimens. However, quantitative bone data from WLH are few in Africa.