Browse Articles

Myint, Lim et al evaluate the cost effectiveness, budget impact, and human resource requirements of different dialysis policies in Brunei Darussalam. Adopting a peritoneal dialysis first policy in place of the current haemodialysis dominant policy could generate cost savings while reducing additional workforce demand.

Georgia-Nektaria et al. investigate the levels of optimism and mental resilience among healthcare professionals in one of the largest hospitals in Greece. They find moderate overall levels of optimism and resilience, with older participants exhibiting greater levels of resilience and paramedics showing greater levels of optimism.

Wehnes et al. examine how the oral microbiome is associated with DNA methylation–based biological age and functional health in the oldest old. They find that biologically younger individuals have lower microbial diversity and distinct bacterial patterns related to short-chain fatty-acids and cognition.

Nderitu et al. develop a deep learning system to predict two-year referable diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy, augmented with synthetic retinal images generated by a conditional cascaded diffusion model. Augmenting training data with synthetic images improves internal test prognostic model performance but did not generalise on external testing.

Yu et al. developed AIPatient, a virtual patient that uses a large language model-based AI in curating a medical knowledge base that holds realistic and personality-aware clinical conversations. The system shows high accuracy in answering questions and medical-term recognition, with readable, reliable, and consistent outputs for medical training.

Fontes et al. report a case study of a person with recurrent glioblastoma for whom patient-derived zebrafish xenografts (zAvatars) were used to test 13 off-label therapies with radiotherapy. zAvatars identified pemetrexed and doxorubicin as effective, guiding treatment that stabilized the patient.

First author et al. apply scenario thinking to characterise uncertainty around the future impact of different dialysis policies in Thailand. Our findings highlight the benefit of scenario thinking for systematically evaluating policy robustness and understanding how the motivations of different actors may affect policy success.

Fernandez et al. compare the HTLV-1 proviral load in people with HIV-1-HTLV-1 coinfection on stable antiretroviral therapy or people with HTLV-1 single infection without antiretroviral therapy. Dolutegravir use for longer than six months is associated with lower HTLV-1 proviral load.

Park, Davis et al. evaluate candidate biomarkers of cancer-associated cachexia in a diverse cohort of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma individuals. GDF-15 is better at classifying cachexia than standard biomarkers for non-Hispanic White and Hispanic/Latinx individuals, but not for non-Hispanic Black individuals.

Weiss et al. evaluate hyperspectral imaging as an objective and noninvasive method for detecting secondary lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. Results show that hyperspectral imaging provides stronger correlations with disease stage than conventional methods.

Moore et al. examine whether taking certain anti-seizure medications (ASMs) during pregnancy affects the health of the baby or the pregnancy. Findings reveal that taking ASMs—especially valproate, pregabalin and gabapentin—is linked to higher rates of pregnancy loss and developmental concerns in children.

Horner et al. derive a metabolomic signature of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI using longitudinal blood profiling from two pregnancy cohorts to investigate its link with pregnancy complications. They identify BMI-related metabolic pathways that mediate obesity-related risk, improving prediction of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia beyond BMI alone.

Makama et al. comprehensively review the prevalence, health impact, treatment, and barriers to accessing treatment for contraceptive-induced menstrual changes in low- and middle-income countries. They highlight the importance of contraceptive counselling and need for investment in innovative therapeutics and novel approaches to contraception.

Cudejko et al. explore the neuromechanical mechanisms by which footwear influences walking stability in fall-prone older adults. Findings reveal that minimalist footwear induces joint and muscle biomechanical changes that explain adaptations in dynamic balance control, reflecting a shift towards a more neuromechanically engaged walking pattern.

Yildirim et al. compare the accuracy and consistency of medical experts and Large Language Models in interpreting the details of brain metastases treatment guidelines. Large Language Models demonstrate superior accuracy and better convergence than human readers, highlighting their potential to assist in interpreting standardized guidelines.

Sanchez-Delgado, Frank et al. develop a method for single molecule, single nucleotide profiling of small RNA biomarker methylation status. They apply this method to lung cancer liquid biopsy samples to identify a differential pattern of methylation of a ribosomal RNA fragment with diagnostic potential.

Wolf et al. examine the impact of maternal risk factors on gestational duration mediated by changes in cervical length during pregnancy. Their study finds that previous preterm birth, pre-pregnancy BMI, parity, and previous abortion have unique influences on preterm birth risk through linear changes in the cervix.

Márquez et al. examine associations between blood-based biomarkers of neurodegenerative processes and cognitive performance in over 5,700 Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States. They find that higher levels of phosphorylated tau and neurofilament light are linked to poorer cognitive performance.

Andrade, Adelino, Fonseca et al. used phylogenetic, phylogeographic, and temporal approaches to track yellow fever viral transmission across forestry, rural, and urban areas of Brazil. All genomes belong to the South American lineage, with one Amazon cluster showing hidden persistence and another in the southeast indicating reintroduction and sustained transmission.