Bloomberg investment in CRVS

Alan Lopez and Philip Setel discuss how a major investment by Bloomberg Philanthropies in civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) can strengthen health data systems, highlighting its role in better evidence on which to base health policies. 

Staff’s views of delivering patient-led therapy during in-patient stroke rehabilitation

Conducting rehabilitation interventions during clinical trials can be difficult; insights from staff delivering a complex rehabilitation intervention revealed key areas for improvement, including building confidence for patient identification and adapting treatments to individuals’ needs.

Assessing depression severity

Depression scales typically rely on quantifying the number of symptoms reported; Eiko Fried and Randolph Nesse argue that depressive symptoms differ from each other, and should be considered individually to assess the severity of depression.

EGDT not linked to sepsis survival benefit

In a meta-analysis, early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) for septic shock is not associated with survival benefit, and is linked to higher mortality rates than early lactate clearance, highlighting the need for further trials comparing these therapies.

CRISPR-Cas technologies for genome-scale investigation of disease processes

Humphrey and Kasinski report on recently developed CRISPR-Cas platforms for global genome editing and address the therapeutic potential of CRISPR-Cas technology for genome-wide functional studies of disease processes, as well as applications beyond genome editing.

Variation in MNCH gains across Zambia

Zambia has made significant national gains in maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) since 1990, but with substantial variations across districts and among interventions, highlighting areas of priority for policy makers.

Prognostic perturbation signature

Denoising perturbation signatures reveals an actionable AKT-signaling gene module underlying a poor clinical outcome in endocrine treated ER+ breast cancer

Intron evolution

Zimmerly and Semper look at evolution of group II introns - an ancient class of ribozymes and retroelements that are believed to have been the ancestors of nuclear pre-mRNA introns.

Mitochondria, metabolism & disease

Mitochondrial dysfunction and impairments in oxidative metabolism occur in neuroimmune and neuropsychiatric disorders; Michael Berk and Gerwyn Morris discuss the mechanisms underlying these processes, which could contribute to disease pathogenesis.

Cost of data collection for performance monitoring in hospitals

Evaluation of organisational performance standards requires relevant minimum data sets to be collected to analyse key performance indicators; results indicate that collection of hospital data and data recording improvements may be cost-saving.