Can Preseason Performance Tests Discriminate Injury Risk in Female Collegiate Volleyball Players

Purpose: Prior research has demonstrated a 4-fold greater risk of a non-contact time-loss lower quadrant injury in collegiate female VB players (3). The purpose of this study was to validate effectiveness of functional performance tests to discriminate injury risk in female collegiate volleyball players

Patellar Tendonopathy in Collegiate Volleyball Athletes

Purpose: The first purpose was to identify the prevalence of patellar tendon abnormality in female collegiate volleyball players. The second purpose was to identify a potential association between kinetic measures during the drop vertical jump between those with tendon abnormality and those without in female collegiate volleyball athlete

Rapid systematic review on developing web-based interventions to support people affected by cancer

Objective To systematically identify and explore the existing evidence to inform the development of web-based interventions to support people affected by cancer (PABC). Design A rapid review design was employed in accordance with the guidance produced by the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group and reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. A rapid review was chosen due to the need for a timely evidence synthesis to underpin the subsequent development of a digital resource (Shared Lives: Cancer) as part of an ongoing funded project. Methods and outcomes Keyword searches were performed in MEDLINE to identify peer-reviewed literature that reported primary data on the development of web-based interventions designed to support PABC. The review included peer-reviewed studies published in English with no limits set on publication date or geography. Key outcomes included any primary data that reported on the design, usability, feasibility, acceptability, functionality and user experience of web-based resource development. Results Ten studies were identified that met the pre-specified eligibility criteria. All studies employed an iterative, co-design approach underpinned by either quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. The findings were grouped into the following overarching themes: (1) exploring current evidence, guidelines and theory, (2) identifying user needs and preferences and (3) evaluating the usability, feasibility and acceptability of resources. Resources should be informed by the experiences of a wide range of end-users taking into consideration current guidelines and theory early in the design process. Resource design and content should be developed around the user’s needs and preferences and evaluated through usability, feasibility or acceptability testing using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. Conclusion The findings of this rapid review provide novel methodological insights into the approaches used to design web-based interventions to support PABC. Our findings have the potential to inform and guide researchers when considering the development of future digital health resources. Trial registration number The review protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/ucvsz)

The changing landscape of genetic testing and its impact on clinical and laboratory services and research in Europe

The arrival of new genetic technologies that allow efficient examination of the whole human genome (microarray, next-generation sequencing) will impact upon both laboratories (cytogenetic and molecular genetics in the first instance) and clinical/medical genetic services. The interpretation of analytical results in terms of their clinical relevance and the predicted health status poses a challenge to both laboratory and clinical geneticists, due to the wealth and complexity of the information obtained. There is a need to discuss how to best restructure the genetic services logistically and to determine the clinical utility of genetic testing so that patients can receive appropriate advice and genetic testing. To weigh up the questions and challenges of the new genetic technologies, the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) held a series of workshops on 10 June 2010 in Gothenburg. This was part of an ESHG satellite symposium on the 'Changing landscape of genetic testing', co-organized by the ESHG Genetic Services Quality and Public and Professional Policy Committees. The audience consisted of a mix of geneticists, ethicists, social scientists and lawyers. In this paper, we summarize the discussions during the workshops and present some of the identified ways forward to improve and adapt the genetic services so that patients receive accurate and relevant information. This paper covers ethics, clinical utility, primary care, genetic services and the blurring boundaries between healthcare and research

Development of a longitudinal integrated clerkship at an academic medical center

In 2005, medical educators at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), began developing the Parnassus Integrated Student Clinical Experiences (PISCES) program, a year-long longitudinal integrated clerkship at its academic medical center. The principles guiding this new clerkship were continuity with faculty preceptors, patients, and peers; a developmentally progressive curriculum with an emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching; and exposure to undiagnosed illness in acute and chronic care settings. Innovative elements included quarterly student evaluation sessions with all preceptors together, peer-to-peer evaluation, and oversight advising with an assigned faculty member. PISCES launched with eight medical students for the 2007/2008 academic year and expanded to 15 students for 2008/2009. Compared to UCSF's traditional core clerkships, evaluations from PISCES indicated significantly higher student satisfaction with faculty teaching, formal didactics, direct observation of clinical skills, and feedback. Student performance on discipline-specific examinations and United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 CK was equivalent to and on standardized patient examinations was slightly superior to that of traditional peers. Participants' career interests ranged from primary care to surgical subspecialties. These results demonstrate that a longitudinal integrated clerkship can be implemented successfully at a tertiary care academic medical center

Lipopolysaccharide Diversity Evolving in Helicobacter pylori Communities through Genetic Modifications in Fucosyltransferases

Helicobacter pylori persistently colonizes the gastric mucosa of half the human population. It is one of the most genetically diverse bacterial organisms and subvariants are continuously emerging within an H. pylori population. In this study we characterized a number of single-colony isolates from H. pylori communities in various environmental settings, namely persistent human gastric infection, in vitro bacterial subcultures on agar medium, and experimental in vivo infection in mice. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen chain revealed considerable phenotypic diversity between individual cells in the studied bacterial communities, as demonstrated by size variable O-antigen chains and different levels of Lewis glycosylation. Absence of high-molecular-weight O-antigen chains was notable in a number of experimentally passaged isolates in vitro and in vivo. This phenotype was not evident in bacteria obtained from a human gastric biopsy, where all cells expressed high-molecular-weight O-antigen chains, which thus may be the preferred phenotype for H. pylori colonizing human gastric mucosa. Genotypic variability was monitored in the two genes encoding α1,3-fucosyltransferases, futA and futB, that are involved in Lewis antigen expression. Genetic modifications that could be attributable to recombination events within and between the two genes were commonly detected and created a diversity, which together with phase variation, contributed to divergent LPS expression. Our data suggest that the surrounding environment imposes a selective pressure on H. pylori to express certain LPS phenotypes. Thus, the milieu in a host will select for bacterial variants with particular characteristics that facilitate adaptation and survival in the gastric mucosa of that individual, and will shape the bacterial community structure

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements