Associations of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers with sleep, functionality and the MDS-UPDRS in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) help elucidate their pathophysiological underpinnings.

Consecutive outpatients with DLB and AD were matched by sex, cognitive scores and dementia stage, along with cognitively healthy controls matched by age and sex to investigate associations of cerebrospinal fluid amyloid-β (Aβ42,Aβ40,Aβ38), tau, phospho-tauThr181, ubiquitin, α-synuclein and neurofilament light (NfL) with sleep duration, Schwab & England scale and MDS-UPDRS, adjusted for sex, age and APOE-ϵ4 alleles.

Patients with DLB (APOE-ϵ4+:n=11, 76.64±9.0years; APOE-ϵ4-:n=16, 79.75±9.0years) were paired with patients with AD (APOE-ϵ4+:n=12, 80.17±5.7years; APOE-ϵ4-:n=15, 81.67±5.9years) and controls (APOE-ϵ4+:n=4, 82.00±6.4years; APOE-ϵ4-:n=23, 77.87±9.0years); two-thirds were women. APOE-ϵ4 carriers with dementia had more amyloidosis, higher phospho-tauThr181/Aβ42 and α-synuclein/Aβ42. In DLB, APOE-ϵ4 non-carriers had lower Schwab & England scores and higher MDS-UPDRS-I&II scores, lower tau/phospho-tauThr181 and higher ubiquitin and NfL than APOE-ϵ4 carriers. In controls, APOE-ϵ4 non-carriers had lower Aβ42 and Aβ42/Aβ38, higher phospho-tauThr181/Aβ42 and α-synuclein/Aβ42 than APOE-ϵ4 carriers. In DLB, sleep duration was associated with Aβ38 and α-synuclein and inversely associated with tau/phospho-tauThr181 and tau/ubiquitin; Schwab & England scores were associated with tau/ubiquitin and inversely associated with tau/phospho-tauThr181; MDS-UPDRS-I&II was associated with Aβ42/Aβ38; MDS-UPDRS-III was associated with tau/phospho-tauThr181; MDS-UPDRS-V ON was associated with Aβ42 and Aβ42/Aβ40, and MDS-UPDRS-V OFF was associated with Aβ42, Aβ42/Aβ40 and Aβ42/Aβ38. In AD, MDS-UPDRS-III was associated with ubiquitin.

Biomarker ratios were superior to isolated biomarkers in associations with motor and non-motor experiences in DLB, though not so prominently in AD due to less motor impairment.

Clinical researchers at U.S. academic health centers are becoming more attuned to the perspectives and values of research participants, seeking to partner with them to enhance their satisfaction and improve recruitment strategies.

We surveyed current or recent participants on their perspectives about the return of study results. Through a multi-site consortium of academic medical centers assessing the experiences of research participants using an online satisfaction survey, we added three questions to our institution’s version of the survey to assess the value placed on return of research results (RoR) to current or recent adult participants. Survey participants were offered anonymous participation using four different recruitment mechanisms (“sites”) hosted by our institution. Most recruitment was disease-agnostic.

A total of 506 heterogeneous respondents completed the survey. Although differences were found across recruitment sites, 73% of all participants desired and 49% expected to receive their own RoR, while 61% expected to receive the study’s aggregate results. The importance of receiving their own results was especially salient for respondents from historically underserved communities, identifying as non-white, Latino/Hispanic, primarily Spanish-speaking, older or less educated. Respondents’ sex was not a significant factor in preferences for return of results.

Our results indicated our research participants’ expectations and perceived value of receiving the results from studies in which they participated, especially their individual results. This study provides direct evidence of the desires of our research participant community and suggests that institutional support for the return of study results would better serve participants’ interests and expectations in future research.

This paper presents the development and psychometric analyses of the Mentee Competency Self-Assessment (MCSA), a tool designed to evaluate mentee skills in research mentoring relationships and assess the Mentoring Up curriculum. By assessing mentee competencies across diverse settings, the study aims to enhance understanding of mentoring dynamics and highlight the importance of considering both mentor and mentee perspectives in assessing mentorship effectiveness.

The 26-item MCSA instrument was developed based on the validated Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) to evaluate the Mentoring Up curriculum. Data was obtained from 401 mentees who attended Mentoring Up workshops between 2015 and 2022. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed with varimax rotation to examine the internal structure of the MCSA. A team of mentoring experts independently reviewed and reached consensus on component alignment. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and internal consistency were performed to assess construct validity and reliability.

Factor and reliability analyses support an eight-component structure of a 22-item MCSA. All parameter estimates were significant, and the components demonstrated acceptable to high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.58–0.90).

The final 22-item scale (MCSA-22) aligns with eight competencies and is now suited for measuring mentee mentorship skills. Given the modest sample size and other study limitations, replication of this proposed modification of the MCSA is an important next step. Additional recommendations for future scale development are offered.

Reproducibility, consistency, and transparency are essential to responsible and ethical scientific inquiry, though practices supporting these qualities are often neglected. However, in many cases data are confidential or otherwise unable to be shared publicly. This tutorial describes a method utilizing generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create synthetic data that are sufficiently similar to the original dataset in such cases where the source data cannot be shared or where the source data are too sparse as to internally validate results.

Utilizing an exemplar study that aimed to create a clinical prediction model employing a novel echocardiographic measurement to differentiate between acute coronary syndrome and Takotsubo syndrome, we demonstrate the procedure of fitting a GAN and evaluating the resulting synthetic dataset against the results from the source dataset using conventional analytic methodologies. Further, we include relevant R code and output from this process to aid in implementation.

The procedure we detail yielded a synthetic dataset that was largely similar to the source data used in univariate descriptive statistics, significance testing comparing variables across datasets, data visualizations, and yielded largely comparable secondary model fit and accuracy metrics.

We demonstrated that through the implementation of a well-tuned GAN, synthetic data can be generated as a sufficiently faithful simulacrum of the source data for the purposes of internal validation, transparency of method, and reproducibility of analytic results.

Child hunger is a significant global health concern prioritised by multiple global public health organisations. In 2006, the US Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) highlighted the need for clarity and consistency in the operationalisation and measurement of child hunger. This review examines whether these recommendations have been implemented in child nutrition programming over the past two decades. In addition, we explore how child hunger is currently conceptualised and measured across different contexts.

We conducted a pre-registered rapid review of studies that define or measure ‘child hunger’. Six electronic databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Social Science Database and ERIC) and websites of twenty public health organisations were searched for reports that mentioned the term ‘child hunger’ or ‘child’ near ‘hunger’ published after 2006.

There were no restrictions on study settings.

Studies focusing on children under the age of 18 years were included.

Sixty-seven articles measured child hunger and were therefore eligible for inclusion. Of these, only twenty-three provided a definition of child hunger. Definitions commonly described child hunger as a consequence of or as a subcategory of household ‘food insecurity’. Most scales used in the included studies examined the quantity or amount of food intake by children, while few measures also assessed the quality of food consumed. The physiological dimension of hunger was not measured by any of the questionnaires.

The findings underscore the need for more comprehensive and standardised approaches that account for the multidimensional nature of child hunger.

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a neurological disorder affecting older adults for which symptoms may improve following shunting; however, the criteria for surgical referral remain unclear. While most studies rely on fixed cut-off scores for cognitive and gait tests, the present study examined decision-making based on clinical judgment to identify which factors influence referral. A secondary objective was to compare pre- and post-CSF tap test (CSF-TT) changes between the shunt and no shunt groups.

This retrospective study included 175 patients assessed at CHU de Québec – Hôpital de l’Enfant-Jésus. Based on a combination of objective test results and clinical judgment, patients were categorized as referred (n = 119) or not referred (n = 56) for shunt surgery. Logistic regression identified the variables influencing referral decisions. Mixed-effects ANOVA models for repeated measures were conducted to compare pre- and post-CSF-TT changes in gait and cognitive performance between shunt and no shunt groups.

Three change indices significantly predicted referral: the 10-Meter Walk Test (normal pace), the Trail Making Test Condition 5 and the Berg Balance Scale. Higher education positively influenced referral. While most gait and balance measures showed significant improvement following CSF-TT, cognitive tests appeared less responsive to the procedure.

Although this study employed a clinically grounded approach based on clinical judgment rather than fixed thresholds, the findings align with prior literature identifying gait and balance as robust indicators. This study reinforces the need to shift from rigid threshold-based criteria toward individualized, clinically grounded decision-making models that can better capture the heterogeneity of iNPH presentations.

Behavioural interventions can be delivered via online school canteens to improve healthy purchasing for students. However, no evaluations of the cost or cost-effectiveness of online canteen interventions have been conducted. The objective was to conduct a cost and cost-effectiveness analysis of implementing an online school canteen intervention to improve healthy purchasing.

The ‘Click & Crunch’ cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in seventeen Australian primary schools.

Eight control schools (848 students) received the standard online canteen. Nine intervention schools (1359 students) received a behavioural intervention delivered through the online canteen.

Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) were calculated for the cost per student to achieve (1) a unit decrease in the mean energy (kJ) content and (2) a percentage increase in the mean proportion of healthier ‘Everyday’ items purchased in their online lunch orders (from a health service and societal perspective).

It costs AUD$568 per school (range $343–$806) to implement. The ICER for mean energy content was AUD$0·06 and AUD$0·46 for mean proportion of ‘Everyday’ foods (from a health perspective). At a willingness to pay of AUD$0·20 and AUD$1·20 per student, the intervention would have a 95 % and 99 % probability of being cost-effective for the energy (kJ) content and proportion of ‘Everyday’ items, respectively.

‘Click & Crunch’ has the potential to be a cost-effective intervention to reduce the energy content and increase the proportion of ‘Everyday’ items from primary school online canteen lunch orders.