Discussion forums

PURPOSE: Roughly 3 million adult Americans have a visual impairment or blindness, and over 4 million adults aged 40 and older. Despite data demonstrating an elevated prevalence of mental health symptoms in people with BVI, this population remains largely untreated. Given that people with BVI often interface with multiple systems of rehabilitative care that are designed to improve quality of life, the relatively low rates of initiation of mental health care services are particularly alarming...

The Alliance of Genome Resources (Alliance) is an extensible coalition of knowledgebases focused on the genetics and genomics of intensively-studied model organisms. The Alliance is organized as individual knowledge centers with strong connections to their research communities and a centralized software infrastructure, discussed here. Model organisms currently represented in the Alliance are budding yeast, C. elegans, Drosophila, zebrafish, frog, laboratory mouse, laboratory rat, and the Gene Ontology Consortium...

BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately burdened by poor mental health. Despite the increasing burden, evidence-based interventions for MSM are largely nonexistent in Nepal. OBJECTIVE: This study explored mental health concerns, contributing factors, barriers to mental health care and support, and preferred interventions to improve access to and use of mental health support services among MSM in Nepal. METHODS: We conducted focus groups with MSM in Kathmandu, Nepal, in January 2023...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to systemically review the literature on Anterior Saphenous Vein (ASV) reflux treatment and insurance impediments to treatment coverage. METHODS: A literature search was performed using a PRISMA framework. In addition, a cross-sectional analysis of insurance policies for ASV treatment was evaluated. RESULTS: Published evidence and treatment considerations in the literature for ASV treatment are discussed...

BACKGROUND: The term Anterior Accessory of the Great Saphenous Vein suggests this is a branch tributary vein despite this vessel's anatomic features of a truncal vein. A multisocietal group suggested to designate this the anterior saphenous vein (ASV). This study was aimed to evaluate its ultrasound anatomy in normal and varicose limbs. METHODS: The clinical anatomy of the ASV was evaluated by narrative review of the literature. Additionally, the course of the ASV was evaluated in 62 limbs with no evidence of venous disease and 62 limbs with varicosities...

BACKGROUND: The decision to treat a refluxing anterior saphenous vein (ASV) should be a clinical decision based on the assessment on the ASV's contribution to patient's signs and symptoms. Once the decision to treat has been made, there are anatomic, clinical, and technical considerations in treatment planning. METHODS: Clinical scenarios were discussed by a panel of experts and common anatomic, clinical, and technical considerations were identified. RESULTS: There are unique clinical considerations such as whether both the great saphenous vein (GSV) and ASV should be concomitantly treated, if a normal ASV should be treated when treating a refluxing GSV and when and how to treat the associated tributary varicose tributaries...

A panel of experts will lead a conversation on the concepts of animal welfare, ethics and rights at this year's Animal Welfare Foundation Discussion Forum.

INTRODUCTION: The discourse on immigration and immigrants is central to contemporary political and public discussions. Analyzing online conversations about immigrants provides valuable insights into public opinion, complemented by data from questionnaires on how attitudes are formed. METHODS: The research includes two studies examining the expressive and informational use of social media. Study 1 conducted a computational text analysis of comments on Singaporean Facebook pages and forums, focusing on how social media is used to discuss immigrants...

On the one hand, ionizing radiation has been used to treat not only cancer, but also non-cancer diseases. On the other hand, associations with radiation exposure have increasingly been reported not only for cancer, but also non-cancer diseases, both at doses or dose rates much lower than previously suggested or considered. This underscores the need for considering both cancer and non-cancer effects of medical (diagnostic or therapeutic), occupational or environmental exposure to radiation. As such, this Special Issue aims to serve as a forum to gather the latest developments and discuss future prospects in the field of normal tissue responses to radiation exposure...

Sepsis is characterized by organ dysfunction resulting from a dysregulated inflammatory response triggered by infection, involving multifactorial and intricate molecular mechanisms. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), a notable transcription factor, assumes a pivotal role in the onset and progression of sepsis. This review aims to furnish a comprehensive overview of HIF-1α's mechanism of action in sepsis, scrutinizing its involvement in inflammatory regulation, hypoxia adaptation, immune response, and organ dysfunction...

BACKGROUND: Better use of healthcare systems data, collected as part of interactions between patients and the healthcare system, could transform planning and conduct of randomised controlled trials. Multiple challenges to widespread use include whether healthcare systems data captures sufficiently well the data traditionally captured on case report forms. "Data Utility Comparison Studies" (DUCkS) assess the utility of healthcare systems data for RCTs by comparison to data collected by the trial...

Screen time for children under 5 is associated with various health risks. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, screen use among young children increased significantly. Mothers were more likely than fathers to be the primary caregivers and disproportionally assumed the responsibility of monitoring their children's screen time. Several studies have examined children's screen use throughout the pandemic; however, few have addressed mothers' experiences. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate mothers' perceptions regarding the barriers and facilitators faced when trying to reduce their child's pandemic screen time, as expressed on Reddit (a social media platform for anonymous discussion and information sharing)...

This manuscript reports back from the discussion in the European Bioanalysis Forum community on the challenges observed when implementing Good Clinical Practices in the bioanalytical laboratory. It is not intended to challenge any regulatory requirements but to open a discussion on where the bioanalytical community sees ambiguities on implementing Good Clinical Practices or areas where expectations are either felt not being owned by Bioanalysis or where Good Clinical Practices requirements are at risk of getting contaminated with requirements originating from Good Laboratory Practices...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to systemically review the literature on Anterior Saphenous Vein (ASV) reflux treatment and insurance impediments to treatment coverage. METHODS: A literature search was performed using a PRISMA framework. In addition, a cross-sectional analysis of insurance policies for ASV treatment was evaluated. RESULTS: Published evidence and treatment considerations in the literature for ASV treatment are discussed...

BACKGROUND: The term Anterior Accessory of the Great Saphenous Vein suggest this is a branch tributary vein despite this vessel's anatomic features of a truncal vein. A multisocietal group suggested to designate this the Anterior Saphenous Vein (ASV). This study was aimed to evaluate its ultrasound anatomy in normal and varicose limbs. METHODS: The clinical anatomy of the ASV was evaluated by narrative review of the literature. Additionally, the course of the ASV was evaluated in 62 limbs with no evidence of venous disease and 62 limbs with varicosities...

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition characterised by endothelial barrier dysfunction and impairment of normal microcirculatory function, resulting in a state of hypoperfusion and tissue oedema. No specific pharmacological therapies are currently used to attenuate microvascular injury. Given the prominent role of endothelial breakdown and microcirculatory dysfunction in sepsis, there is a need for effective strategies to protect the endothelium. In this review we will discuss key mechanisms and putative therapeutic agents relevant to endothelial barrier function...

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been demonstrated to be efficacious in preventing recurrent Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infections, and is being investigated for treatment of several other diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, obesity, liver disease, and diabetes. To speed up the translation of FMT into clinical practice as a safe and standardized therapeutic intervention, additional evidence-based technical and regulatory guidance is needed. To this end in May of 2022, the International Alliance for Biological Standardization (IABS) and the BIOASTER Microbiology Technology Institute hosted a second webinar to discuss key issues still impeding the advancement and standardization of FMT...

A fundamental challenge for personalized medicine is to capture enough of the complexity of an individual patient to determine an optimal way to keep them healthy or restore their health. This will require personalized computational models of sufficient resolution and with enough mechanistic information to provide actionable information to the clinician. Such personalized models are increasingly referred to as medical digital twins. Digital twin technology for health applications is still in its infancy, and extensive research and development is required...

Involuntary celibates, or incels, are part of a growing online subculture. Incels are men who are unable to engage in a sexual relationship with a woman and who experience significant distress and anger as a result. In recent years, high-profile incidents of violence perpetrated by incels or those who share incel ideology have increased research attention. Incels communicate online and share several characteristics with other online extremist groups. While only a fraction of incels engage in such violence, a broader spectrum of violence should be considered, including online harassment or general violence against women...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) often complicates sepsis and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. In recent years, several important clinical trials have improved our understanding of sepsis-associated AKI (SA-AKI) and impacted clinical care. Advances in sub-phenotyping of sepsis and AKI and clinical trial design offer unprecedented opportunities to fill gaps in knowledge and generate better evidence for improving the outcome of critically ill patients with SA-AKI. In this manuscript, we review the recent literature of clinical trials in sepsis with focus on studies that explore SA-AKI as a primary or secondary outcome...