Category: practice

Sociodemographic #biases in medical decision making by large language models

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Large language models (LLMs) show promise in healthcare, but concerns remain that they may produce medically unjustified clinical care recommendations reflecting the influence of patients’ sociodemographic characteristics. We evaluated nine LLMs, analyzing over 1.7 million model-generated outputs from 1,000 emergency department cases (500 real and 500 synthetic). Each case was presented in 32 variations (31… Continue reading Sociodemographic #biases in medical decision making by large language models

Share onGlobal Effect of #Cardiovascular Risk Factors on Lifetime Estimates

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Five risk factors account for approximately 50% of the global burden of cardiovascular disease. How the presence or absence of classic risk factors affects lifetime estimates of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause remains unclear.MethodsWe harmonized individual-level data from 2,078,948 participants across 133 cohorts, 39 countries, and 6 continents. Lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease… Continue reading Share onGlobal Effect of #Cardiovascular Risk Factors on Lifetime Estimates

‘Experimentum Crucis’: Hauksbee the Younger’s ‘decisive experiment’ for comparing the ‘Safety and Efficacy’ of new medicines (1743)

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AbstractIn 1743 Francis Hauksbee the Younger published a proposal for an ‘Experimentum Crucis’ (‘decisive experiment’) to compare his own medication for venereal disease with other treatments. Previously he had sought to replicate the methods of James Jurin FRS, who published outcomes from inoculation against smallpox in the 1720s. By seeking to record outcomes (‘Safety and… Continue reading ‘Experimentum Crucis’: Hauksbee the Younger’s ‘decisive experiment’ for comparing the ‘Safety and Efficacy’ of new medicines (1743)

Defining ortholog-specific UHRF1 inhibition by STELLA for #cancer therapy

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UHRF1 maintains DNA methylation by recruiting DNA methyltransferases to chromatin. In mouse, these dynamics are potently antagonized by a natural UHRF1 inhibitory protein STELLA, while the comparable effects of its human ortholog are insufficiently characterized, especially in cancer cells. Herein, we demonstrate that human STELLA (hSTELLA) is inadequate, while mouse STELLA (mSTELLA) is fully proficient… Continue reading Defining ortholog-specific UHRF1 inhibition by STELLA for #cancer therapy

The massed-spaced #learning effect in non-neural human #cells

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The massed-spaced effect is a hallmark feature of memory formation. We now demonstrate this effect in two separate non-neural, immortalized cell lines stably expressing a short-lived luciferase reporter controlled by a CREB-dependent promoter. We emulate training using repeated pulses of forskolin and/or phorbol ester, and, as a proxy for memory, measure luciferase expression at various… Continue reading The massed-spaced #learning effect in non-neural human #cells

Distinct risk groups with different healthcare barriers and acute care use exist in the U.S. population with chronic #liver disease

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BackgroundThe relationship between community-based healthcare barriers and risk of recurrent hospital-based care among persons with chronic liver disease (CLD) is understudied. We aimed to uncover distinct groups among adults in the United States with CLD based on healthcare barriers and risk-stratify recurrent acute care use by group.MethodsUsing National Health Interview Survey (2011 to 2017) data,… Continue reading Distinct risk groups with different healthcare barriers and acute care use exist in the U.S. population with chronic #liver disease

Effect of #chair placement on physicians’ #behavior and patients’ satisfaction: randomized deception trial

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Objective To evaluate the effect of chair placement on length of time physicians sit during a bedside consultation and patients’ satisfaction.Design Single center, double blind, randomized controlled deception trial.Setting County hospital in Texas, USA.Participants 51 hospitalist physicians providing direct care services, and 125 observed encounters of patients who could answer four orientation questions correctly before study entry, April 2022… Continue reading Effect of #chair placement on physicians’ #behavior and patients’ satisfaction: randomized deception trial

Molecular dissection of cobra #venom highlights #heparinoids as an antidote for spitting cobra envenoming

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Editor’s summarySnakebite is considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization, and although antibody-based antivenoms exist, they are species specific, are expensive, and require cold storage as well as intravenous administration in a health care setting. Here, Du and colleagues conducted a whole-genome CRISPR knockout screen to identify genes required for spitting cobra… Continue reading Molecular dissection of cobra #venom highlights #heparinoids as an antidote for spitting cobra envenoming