OBJECTIVES To determine the acceptability, efficacy and costs of medical termination of pregnancy (MTOP) compared with surgical termination of pregnancy (STOP) at less than 14 weeks' gestation, and to understand women's decision-making processes and experiences when accessing the termination service. DESIGN A partially randomised preference trial and economic evaluation with follow-up at 2 we...

In the treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE) two groups of patients are traditionally identified, namely the hemodynamically stable and instable groups. However, in the large group of normotensive patients with PE, there seems to be a subgroup of patients with an increased risk of an adverse outcome, which might benefit from more aggressive therapy than the current standard therapy with anticoag...

Issues around research ethics and the reproducibility of research are impacting the credibility of science. Firstly, we look at what is to be understand by research ethics, misconduct, and reproducibility. Next, we examine some examples of fraud, beautification, and failed reproducibility. Next, we address the causes and possible resolutions, culminating in the question whether the scholarly li...

Background: The present study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Dynamic Interspinous Spacer (Coflex®) and Static Spacer (X-STOP ®) compared to Laminectomy (LAMI) in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.   Methods: A decision-analysis model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness. The effectiveness parameters were obtained from a systematic literature review in ...

We report development of a continuous scanning procedure and the use of a time delay integration (TDI) line scan camera for a light-sheet based microscope called a thin-sheet laser imaging microscope (TSLIM). TSLIM is an optimized version of a light-sheet fluorescent microscope that previously used a start/stop scanning procedure to move the specimen through the thinnest portion of a light-shee...