Humanizing processes after harm part 1: patient safety incident investigations, litigation and the experiences of those affected.

Background: There is a growing international policy focus on involving those affected by healthcare safety incidents, in subsequent investigations. Nonetheless, there remains little UK-based evidence exploring how this relates to the experiences of those affected over time, including the factors influencing decisions to litigate.

Aims: We aimed to explore the experiences of patients, families, staff and legal representatives affected by safety incidents over time, and the factors influencing decisions to litigate.

Bacterial community profiling and identification of bacteria with lignin-degrading potential in different gut segments of African palm weevil larvae ().

The microbiota within the guts of insects plays beneficial roles for their hosts, such as facilitating digestion and extracting energy from their diet. The African palm weevil (APW) lives within and feeds on the high lignin-containing trunk of palm trees; therefore, their guts could harbour a large community of lignin-degrading microbes. In this study, we aimed to explore the bacterial community within the gut of the APW larvae, specifically with respect to the potential for lignin degradation in various gut segments as a first step to determining the viability of mining bacterial lignin-degrading enzymes for the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and biomaterials.

Application of cold atmospheric plasma for decontamination of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins: a systematic review.

Introduction: Microbial contamination remains a vital challenge across the food production chain, particularly due to mycotoxins-secondary metabolites produced by several genera of fungi such as , and . These toxins, including aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxins, and trichothecenes (nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, T2, HT-2). These contaminants pose severe risks to human and animal health, with their potential to produce a variety of different toxic effects.

Comprehensive bibliometric analysis of pharmacotherapy for bipolar disorders: Present trends and future directions.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental illness characterized by significant mood swings. Effective drug treatment modalities are crucial for managing BD.

Aim: To analyze the current status and future trends of global research on BD drug treatment over the last decade.

Do goats recognise humans cross-modally?

Recognition plays a key role in the social lives of gregarious species, enabling animals to distinguish among social partners and tailor their behaviour accordingly. As domesticated animals regularly interact with humans, as well as members of their own species, we might expect mechanisms used to discriminate between conspecifics to also apply to humans. Given that goats can combine visual and vocal cues to recognise one another, we investigated whether this cross-modal recognition extends to discriminating among familiar humans.

scRNA-seq reveals elevated interferon responses and TNF-α signaling via NFkB in monocytes in children with uncomplicated malaria.

Malaria causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, disproportionately impacting sub-Saharan Africa. Disease phenotypes associated with infection can vary widely, from asymptomatic to life-threatening. To date, prevention efforts, particularly those related to vaccine development, have been hindered by an incomplete understanding of which factors impact host immune responses resulting in these divergent outcomes.

A new method for concomitant evaluation of drug combinations for their antimicrobial properties.

Microbial pathogens have developed resistance mechanisms to almost every antibiotic available. There is a need to synthesize or screen new natural compounds to combat the development of drug-resistant pathogens. One of the commonly used methods to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of two or more antibiotics involves a checkerboard assay, which is cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive.

High-Sensitivity Detection of Chiro-Optical Effects in Single Nanoparticles by Four-Wave Mixing Interferometry.

The field of chiral nanoparticles is rapidly expanding, yet measuring the chirality of single nano-objects remains a challenging endeavor. Here, we report a technique to detect chiro-optical effects in single plasmonic nanoparticles by means of phase-sensitive polarization-resolved four-wave mixing interferometric microscopy. Beyond conventional circular dichroism, the method is sensitive to the particle polarizability, in amplitude and phase.

Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Tire Wear Particles (TWPs) in Road Dust Using a Novel Mode of Operation of TGA-GC/MS.

Detecting and quantifying tire wear particles (TWPs) in the environment pose a unique environmental challenge due to their chemical complexity. There are emerging concerns around TWPs due to their potential high numbers of particles released, outnumbering microplastics, as well as the leaching of toxic additives such as 6-PPD which has been linked to the death of salmon even when present at very low levels (<0.1 μg/L).

Slow-Release Pharmaceutical Implants in Ecotoxicology: Validating Functionality across Exposure Scenarios.

Pharmaceutical contaminants have spread in natural environments across the globe, endangering biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and public health. Research on the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals is growing rapidly, although a majority of studies are still conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. As such, there is an urgent need to understand the impacts of pharmaceutical exposures on wildlife in complex, real-world scenarios.

Improving the Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Genetically Confirmed Adult-Onset Huntington Disease: Considering Nonmotor Presentations.

Background: Huntington disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder. Given the focus on motor manifestations, nonmotor symptoms are frequently underappreciated in clinical evaluations, despite frequently contributing to primary functional impairment.

Recent Findings: A diagnosis of motor-onset as the definition of manifest symptoms misrepresents the complex nature of HD presentation.

How will independent prescribing affect wellbeing and career progression for the pharmacists of tomorrow?

Pharmacist independent prescriber numbers continue to increase. In 2025/2026, independent prescribing will be integrated into the foundation year of pharmacy training, which will see a surge of pharmacists with the independent prescribing annotation on the General Pharmaceutical Council register. With increased responsibility and expectation from early careers pharmacists, the risk of burnout may be higher, and we could potentially see an increase in the number of individuals leaving the profession.

Specialist pharmacist prescribing in dermatology.

Across the country, pharmacists are developing their professional competencies to move outside the dispensary and directly integrate with specialist teams. Within dermatology, the widespread use of high-cost and high-risk pharmacological interventions presents a range of opportunities for a pharmacist to contribute to safer, more cost-effective use of medicines. As well as using prescribing qualifications to take on clinical workloads, pharmacists can enact cost-saving changes to routine prescribing; improve clinical governance and use their expertise in medicines to effectively advocate for access to new or alternative treatment options, as well as demystify complex funding pathways.

Diversity of Trauma and Orthopaedic Trainees and Workplace Culture of Orthopaedic Training in the United Kingdom: Insights From the 2022 British Orthopaedic Trainee Association (BOTA) Census.

The British Orthopaedic Trainee Association (BOTA) conducted its latest census in 2022 of its membership. The results of wellbeing, diversity, equity, inclusion and bullying are discussed here. This highlighted several key focuses for improvement.

GM-CSF and IL-21-armed oncolytic vaccinia virus significantly enhances anti-tumor activity and synergizes with anti-PD1 immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers and poses significant challenges to current therapies because of its complex immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Oncolytic viruses armed with immunoregulatory molecules are promising strategies to overcome limited efficacy and target inaccessible and metastatic tumors. In this study, we constructed a tumor-selective vaccinia virus (VV) with deletions of the TK and A49 genes (VVLΔTKΔA49, VVL-DD) using CRISPR-Cas9-based homologous recombination.

Spatio-Temporal Changes in Effective Population Size in an Expanding Metapopulation of Eurasian Otters.

Conservation efforts are leading to demographic growth and spatial expansion of some previously endangered species. However, past population bottlenecks or population size fluctuations can have lasting effects on effective population size ( ), even when census size ( ) appears large or recovered. The UK metapopulation of Eurasian otters () has a well-documented history of population recovery over recent decades, with indicators of presence (faeces and footprints) increasing in distribution and number over successive national surveys.

Metastasis to jaw bones from renal cell carcinoma as the sole primary source: Systematic review.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been known for its high propensity of metastasis to unusual locations, and jaw bones (JBs) are one among those sites. The literature has reported several studies analyzing metastatic tumors to the oral region, but very little research work has been published to date to analyze solely JB metastasis (JBM) via RCC. The goal of this study was to examine the published cases of metastasis to JBs from RCC as the sole primary source till date.

The influence of emotional labor and emotional intelligence on cesarean section decision-making among midwives and obstetricians in Kosovo: A cross-sectional study using conjoint analysis.

Introduction: Cesarean section rates continue to increase worldwide. In 2021, one in every five deliveries was delivered by cesarean section. This is particularly alarming in resource-limited countries such as Kosovo, where the rates continue to increase and vary considerably between hospitals.

Invisible Waves, Visible Consequences: Environmental Radiation's Role in Human Fertility.

Environmental radiation is one of the key causes of the increased prevalence of infertility among couples. This type of radiation can be ionizing or non-ionizing. While ionizing radiation is known to cause sterility in both males and females, the role of low-energy non-ionizing radiation is still debated.

Decked Out for Success: A Novel Card Game to Support School Teaching of Radioactivity and Nuclear Science.

The global nuclear skills shortage requires a comprehensive investment in training at all levels of education. With focus on post-18 and vocational education, there is a lack of resource and awareness for teaching nuclear skills to students between the ages of 11 to 18 years of age. This age group is vital if interest in this industry is to be nurtured and the skills gap is to be addressed.