The study aimed to utilise internet big data to quantify the taste preferences of residents in Fujian Province and to explore the relationship between dietary taste preferences and hospitalisation rates for digestive system cancers.

The study employed an associative design using internet big data to analyse dietary behaviour and its association with hospitalisation rates for digestive system cancers. GeoDetector methods were used to compare the association between rural residents’ hospitalisation rates and their taste preferences.

This study utilised internet recipe data to collect cuisines taste information. By integrating this with categorised restaurant data from point of interest sources across various regions in Fujian province, it quantitatively analysed the regional taste preferences of people.

Data from seventy-two counties in Fujian cover most of the province. Included 154 686 hospitalisation records for digestive system cancers (2010–2016) from the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme database, 16 363 recipes from Internet and data from 30 984 restaurants through Amap.

The study found pungent to be the prevalent taste in Fujian, with salty, spicy and sour following. Coastal areas favoured stronger tastes. Spatial analysis showed taste preferences clustered geographically, with Sour and Fat tastes having an association with liver and colorectal cancer (CC) hospitalisations, though with modest association values (0·110–0·199).

The study found significant spatial clustering of taste preferences in Fujian Province and an association between Sour and Fat tastes preference and hospitalisation rates for liver and CC, suggesting a dietary taste–cancer link.

External auditory exostosis (surfer’s ear) is a progressive condition of benign hyperostotic overgrowths of the external auditory canal, secondary to repetitive cold-water exposure, in which symptoms correlate to degree of exostosis. Surgical intervention is the only available treatment, most commonly using the osteotome or microdrill, but these carry a risk of sensorineural hearing loss, post-operative stenosis, temporomandibular dysfunction and tympanic membrane perforation.

We describe in detail the Swansea technique, an innovative method of canaloplasty with endoscopic underwater excision of exostoses using a piezoelectric saw and continuous irrigation with 1:1,000,000 adrenaline, with the results from our first 34 procedures.

The inherent properties of the piezoelectric saw reduce the risk of overall complications when compared with traditional methods, whilst the surgical set-up is cost-equivocal and easily implemented in departments with endoscopic capabilities.

The piezoelectric saw is a promising novel technique for the treatment of external auditory exostosis.

Early intervention (EI) for first-episode psychosis (FEP) mainly focuses on adolescents and young adults. Previous evaluation demonstrated superiority of 2-year EI program (EASY) over standard care in outcome improvement in young people (15–25 years) with FEP in Hong-Kong. However, effectiveness of territory-wide extended EASY, which provides 3-year EI service also to adult patients aged ≥26 years, has not been systematically examined.

This study adopted historical control–case design, comparing patients aged 26–55 years who had received extended EI (EI-group, n = 160) with those managed by standard psychiatric care (SC-group, n = 160) prior to an implementation of extended EI service on a comprehensive range of outcomes encompassing duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), pathway to care, symptom severity, psychosocial functioning, subjective quality of life and service utilization over 3 years of psychiatric follow-up, using systematic medical-record review and follow-up interview assessment.

Our results showed that EI-group had significantly shorter DUP than SC-group. Additionally, EI-group displayed fewer average positive symptoms in the first and second year of follow-up, lower levels of negative and depressive symptoms, better global and social functioning, and higher quality of life on physical domain than SC-group at 3 years of follow-up. Our findings indicate that adult FEP patients receiving 3-year extended EI service had better clinical and functional outcomes than those managed by standard psychiatric care.

Our results thus provide real-world evidence supporting the superiority and implementation of 3-year extended EASY program for adult FEP patients in shortening of treatment delay and improvement of symptom and functional outcomes.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is considered one of the most severe CHDs and occurs in approximately 2–3% of all CHD cases. Hybrid procedures have been introduced as an alternative to traditional surgical techniques, such as the Norwood procedure, particularly for neonates at high risk. Although hybrid approaches claim to reduce surgical risks and improve recovery, little is known regarding their comparative effectiveness and safety. This review aims to describe the contribution of hybrid procedures in hypoplastic left heart syndrome management regarding survival rates, postoperative complications, and quality of life, through recovery outcomes and long-term results, in light of conventional surgical techniques.

A systematic review was carried out following the PRISMA guidelines. Data were retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. The search articles were published from January 2014 to November 2024. Inclusion was focused on paediatric patients diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and studies comparing hybrid procedures versus traditional surgical methods. All screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were done by two independent reviewers.

This review analysed data from 11 studies comprising 934 neonates with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, of whom 371 underwent hybrid procedures (HP) and 563 received the Norwood procedure. The findings demonstrated that both approaches achieved comparable survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years. Hybrid procedures were linked to slightly earlier interventions (standardised mean difference = −0.10, 95% confidence interval: −0.61 to 0.41, p = 0.77) and were favored for high-risk neonates due to reduced invasiveness. However, hybrid procedures showed a higher rate of interstage events (risk ratio = 0.81), 95% confidence interval: −0.62 to 2.25, p = 0.09) and higher rates of pulmonary artery stenosis requiring reinterventions (30% vs. 18% for Norwood). Norwood procedures were associated with fewer reinterventions and lower interstage event rates, highlighting their effectiveness for stable patients.

Hybrid procedures offer a practical alternative to the Norwood procedure, especially for high-risk neonates. Although both approaches show similar long-term survival rates, hybrid procedures are associated with a higher risk of complications, including increased interstage mortality. These challenges highlight the need for continued advancements to refine hybrid techniques and to improve long-term outcomes. This review emphasises the critical role of tailored patient selection and calls for further research to enhance hybrid procedure protocols and optimise their effectiveness for specific patient populations.

The aim of this study was to compare KTP (potassium titanyl phosphate) laser therapy and dextracin ear drops for treatment of chronic myringitis.

A case series involving 31 patients (18 laser group; 13 dextracin group). Primary outcomes included otorrhoea resolution, improvement in Chronic Ear Survey scores and endoscopic resolution. Secondary outcomes included hearing outcome and complications. Statistical analyses were performed using Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon signed-rank and Fisher’s exact tests.

The laser group had a higher rate of otorrhoea resolution 66.67 per cent (n = 12) vs 15.38 per cent (n = 2) (p = 0.006), showed significant improvement in symptom scores (median 31.43; p = 0.005) and medical resource use (16.67; p < 0.001) and had a significant myringitis area reduction of 31.84 per cent (p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in Chronic Ear Survey scores and area reduction in the dextracin group. One laser-group patient developed a permanent perforation.

KTP laser therapy is effective for refractory chronic myringitis, offering superior symptom relief and reduced healthcare utilisation compared to topical treatment.

Reading is a complex cognitive process requiring the integration of orthographic, phonological, and semantic information. The visual word form area, located in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex, is critically involved in orthographic decoding, and damage to this region is known to cause alexia. In contrast, the contributions of white matter pathways supporting reading are less well understood.

We present a unique neurosurgical case undergoing awake brain surgery for resection of a metastasis in the left occipitotemporal cortex. A tubular retractor was used to access the lesion and during the insertion of the retractor the patient underwent careful, continuous neuropsychological testing, including evaluation of reading. fMRI language mapping and diffusion MRI were performed preoperatively. Postoperative neuropsychological testing was completed two weeks after surgery to assess cognitive outcome.

The patient developed an alexia with letter-by-letter reading in real time during insertion of the tubular retractor. Stealth imaging enabled localization of the tubular retractor at the exact onset of the alexia and, by correlating this with tractography, showed that the tubular retractor was in the vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF).

We present the first detailed case report linking the VOF to the acute onset of alexia observed intraoperatively during awake brain surgery. We discuss the connectomics of reading and possible contributions of the VOF in reading.

Firearm violence remains a critical public health issue in the United States, disproportionately impacting youth and communities of color while imposing significant emotional and economic costs. Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs (HVIPs) have emerged as effective, multidisciplinary strategies with the goal of interrupting cycles of violence by providing trauma-informed care and community services initiated during hospitalization. To develop a strong HVIP, it is imperative to collaborate with local stakeholders, and the aim of this study was to create and evaluate the effectiveness of a novel approach to the creation of a community advisory board (CAB) for a local HVIP.

This study presents a novel approach to the creation of a CAB to inform an HVIP in Houston, Texas. The CAB included diverse stakeholders such as community leaders, youth advocates, healthcare professionals, law enforcement professionals, and people with firearm violence lived experiences. Using a modified Intervention Mapping (IM) framework and the Community and Stakeholder Engagement Studio (CSES) model, the CAB convened through a series of structured meetings to identify community priorities, define modifiable risk factors, and inform HVIP programming.

CAB engagement led to the identification and development of key HVIP program components. The collaborative process emphasized transparency and mutual respect, fostering trust and increasing the likelihood of program acceptance and sustainability. CAB feedback was instrumental in shaping both short- and long-term implementation strategies.

Integrating equitable, community-driven stakeholder engagement into HVIP development enhances cultural relevance and responsiveness. This approach not only strengthens program design but also builds community trust.

While prior studies have analyzed Skin Picking Disorder as a unitary condition, little research has been done examining clinical and neurocognitive characteristics of specific subtypes. The objective of this study is to analyze differences in impulsivity, emotional regulation, symptom severity, cognitive performance, and the presence of comorbid psychiatric conditions between focused and automatic subtypes of Skin Picking Disorder.

83 adults aged 18–65 with skin picking disorder were enrolled at the University of Chicago and separated into 4 skin picking subtype groups based on high or low levels of focused and automatic picking scores on the Milwaukee Inventory for the Dimension of Adult Skin Picking. The 4 subtype groups were separated using K-means clustering. Each group completed the same clinical and neurocognitive assessments. ANOVA or Chi-Squared tests were used to analyze differences in assessment outcomes.

Higher focused picking scores were significantly associated with greater symptom severity and impairment. Differences in levels of automatic/focused picking were not associated with impulsivity, emotional/behavior regulations, or neurocognitive outcomes.

The findings suggest that focused skin pickers are likely to have more impairment due to their behavior compared to automatic or mixed pickers; however, overall, the groups did not differ in clinical or neurocognitive measures. Thus, it is unclear whether focused and automatic picking are particularly useful clinically in subtyping skin picking disorder.