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\"One of the most exciting recent interventions that foster children's digital literacy and creative skills has been the advent of 'makerspaces'. This book shares insights from a project examining how young children develop creative skills and digital literacy through 'making.' Using case studies from environments like schools and museums, contributors show how children use hands-on experimentation as they make all kinds of texts and artefacts, using both traditional materials and new ones such as 3D printers. Editors argue that 'making', with its emphasis on play, experimentation and storytelling is uniquely positioned to explore the competencies of young children\"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction Ectopic pregnancy is an important health condition which affects up to 1 in 100 women. Women who present with mild symptoms and low serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) are often treated with methotrexate (MTX), but expectant management with close monitoring is a feasible alternative. Studies comparing the two treatments have not shown a statistically significant difference in uneventful resolution of ectopic pregnancy, but these studies were too small to define whether certain subgroups could benefit more from either treatment. Material and methods We performed a systematic review and individual participant data meta‐analysis (IPD‐MA) of randomized controlled trials comparing systemic MTX and expectant management in women with tubal ectopic pregnancy and low hCG (<2000 IU/L). A one‐stage IPD‐MA was performed to assess overall treatment effects of MTX and expectant management to generate a pooled intervention effect. Subgroup analyses and exploratory multivariable analyses were undertaken according to baseline serum hCG and progesterone levels. Primary outcome was treatment success, defined as resolution of clinical symptoms and decline in level of serum hCG to <20 IU/L, or a negative urine pregnancy test by the initial intervention strategy, without any additional treatment. Secondary outcomes were need for blood transfusion, surgical intervention, additional MTX side‐effects and hCG resolution times. Trial registration number: PROSPERO: CRD42021214093. Results 1547 studies reviewed and 821 remained after duplicates removed. Five studies screened for eligibility and three IPD requested. Two randomized controlled trials supplied IPD, leading to 153 participants for analysis. Treatment success rate was 65/82 (79.3%) after MTX and 48/70 (68.6%) after expectant management (IPD risk ratio [RR] 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.95–1.40). Surgical intervention rates were not significantly different: 8/82 (9.8%) vs 13/70 (18.6%) (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.23–1.14). Mean time to success was 19.7 days (95% CI 17.4–22.3) after MTX and 21.2 days (95% CI 17.8–25.2) after expectant management (P = 0.25). MTX specific side‐effects were reported in 33 MTX compared to four in the expectant group. Conclusions Our IPD‐MA showed no statistically significant difference in treatment efficacy between MTX and expectant management in women with tubal ectopic pregnancy with low hCG. Initial expectant management could be the preferred strategy due to fewer side‐effects. Our IPD‐MA showed no statistically significant difference in treatment efficacy between MTX and expectant management in women with tubal EP with low hCG. Initial expectant management could be the preferred strategy due to fewer side‐effects.

In this multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial involving women with recurrent miscarriages, treatment with progesterone, administered vaginally during the first trimester, did not increase the rate of live births. Recurrent miscarriage, defined as the loss of three or more pregnancies, affects approximately 1% of couples who attempt to have a child. 1 Even after comprehensive investigations, a cause for recurrent miscarriage is identified in less than half of these couples. 1 , 2 Unexplained recurrent miscarriage is associated with substantial adverse clinical and psychological consequences for the women and their families. Various therapeutic strategies to increase the rate of live births among these women have been evaluated, but no effective treatment has been identified. Progesterone is essential to achieve and maintain a healthy pregnancy. It is secreted naturally by the corpus luteum . . .

Objectives: To construct normal ranges for embryonic crown-rump length (CRL), heart rate (HR), gestational sac diameter (GSD) and yolk sac diameter (YSD) at 6–10 weeks of gestation. Methods: We examined 4,698 singleton pregnancies with ultrasound measurements of CRL, HR, GSD and YSD at 6–10 weeks and CRL at 11–13 weeks resulting in the live birth after 36 weeks of phenotypically normal neonates with birth weight above the 5th centile. Gestational age was derived from CRL at the 11- to 13-week scan using the formula of Robinson and Fleming. Regression analysis was used to establish normal ranges of CRL, fetal HR, GSD and YSD with gestation, and fetal HR, GSD and YSD with CRL. Results: At 6–10 weeks there were significant quadratic associations between CRL, GSD, YSD and gestation and between HR, GSD, YSD and CRL, and a cubic association between HR and gestation. The estimated gestation from CRL was the same as that of Robinson and Fleming for a CRL of 10.2–36.5 mm, but the formula of Robinson and Fleming underestimated the gestation by 1 day for a CRL 7.4–10.2 mm and this increased to 9 days for a CRL of 1 mm. Conclusion: This study established normal ranges for early pregnancy biometry.

Thyroid peroxidase antibodies may increase the risk of miscarriage and preterm birth. In this controlled trial, the use of levothyroxine before conception and through birth did not improve live-birth rates among euthyroid women with such antibodies and a history of miscarriage or infertility.

In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving women with vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy, treatment with progesterone during the first trimester did not result in a significantly higher incidence of live births than placebo.

Background In this study we explored the challenges to establishing a community of practice (CoP) to address standards in general practice. We focused on the issue of improving referral letters which are the main form of communication between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists. There is evidence to suggest that the information relayed to specialists at the time of referral could be improved. Methods We aimed to develop a community of practice consisting of GPs in Western Australia to improve the quality of referral letters to six specialty clinics. Three phases included: establishing the CoP, monitoring the progress of the CoP and sustaining and managing the CoP. The CoP's activity centred on referral letters to each of six selected specialties. A local measure for the quality of the referral letters was developed from a survey of participants about specific items of history and weighted for their perceived importance in the referral letter. Referral letters by participants written before and after the benchmarking exercise were scored for quality based on the standards set by the CoP. Feedback to participants regarding the 'quality' of their individual referrals was provided by a nominated member of the CoP, including a comparison of before and after scores. Results 15 GPs were recruited. Only five GPs submitted referral letters both before and after benchmarking. The five GPs that participated in both study phases submitted a total of 102 referral letters (53 before and 49 after). There was a 26 point (95% CI 11–41) improvement in the average scores of the second set of letters after taking clustering by speciality into account, indicating the quality of referral letters improved substantially after feedback. Conclusion There are many challenges to forming a CoP to focus on improving a specific issue in general practice. However we were able to demonstrate that those practitioners who participated in all aspects of the project substantially improved the quality of their referral letters. For recruitment it was important to work with a champion for the project from within the practice. The project took several months to complete therefore some GPs became disengaged. Some were very disappointed by their performance when compared to colleagues. This reaction may be an important motivation to change, however it needs to be sensitively handled if participants are not to become disillusioned or disheartened.

Introduction/BackgroundIn multi-ethnic populations including the UK and US, black women have a lower incidence of endometrial cancer (EC) but suffer with much higher death rates compared to white women. Recent Office of National Statistics (ONS) data shows that EC mortality in black women in the UK from 2015-2019 was more than double that of white women. This disparity in EC mortality is well reported and represents one of the worst racial disparities seen amongst all cancers.A significant contributor to this disparity is that black women in the UK are twice more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage EC compared to white women. It has been reported that transvaginal ultrasound (TVS), an important component of the EC diagnostic pathway, performs poorly for detecting EC in black women. Our study plans to investigate the use of an epigenetic-based test, the WID™-qEC test, for EC detection in black women.MethodologyProspective cohort study of 200 black women aged >50 with abnormal vaginal bleeding, presenting to rapid access clinics in two London hospitals with a large black population.A high vaginal swab will be collected from each participant to assess (WID™-qEC test) the methylation status of two genes known to be associated with EC. ResultsResults from TVS, histology and WID™-qEC test will be collated for comparison and to determine the performance (sensitivity, specificity, positive PPV, NPV) of the WID™-qEC test for EC detection in black women.ConclusionIf successful, we hope that the outcomes from this study can lead to larger trials that may see such epigenetic-based tests introduced into clinical practice. At the minimum, we hope to stimulate the conduct of more cancer research in diverse ethnic groups, to improve outcomes in all populations and encourage the use of ethnicity-adjusted evidence-based medicine.DisclosuresNone.

The anti-progesterone drug mifepristone and the prostaglandin misoprostol can be used to treat missed miscarriage. However, it is unclear whether a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is more effective than administering misoprostol alone. We investigated whether treatment with mifepristone plus misoprostol would result in a higher rate of completion of missed miscarriage compared with misoprostol alone. MifeMiso was a multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised trial in 28 UK hospitals. Women were eligible for enrolment if they were aged 16 years and older, diagnosed with a missed miscarriage by pelvic ultrasound scan in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, chose to have medical management of miscarriage, and were willing and able to give informed consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to a single dose of oral mifepristone 200 mg or an oral placebo tablet, both followed by a single dose of vaginal, oral, or sublingual misoprostol 800 μg 2 days later. Randomisation was managed via a secure web-based randomisation program, with minimisation to balance study group assignments according to maternal age (<30 years vs ≥30 years), body-mass index (<35 kg/m2vs ≥35 kg/m2), previous parity (nulliparous women vs parous women), gestational age (<70 days vs ≥70 days), amount of bleeding (Pictorial Blood Assessment Chart score; ≤2 vs ≥3), and randomising centre. Participants, clinicians, pharmacists, trial nurses, and midwives were masked to study group assignment throughout the trial. The primary outcome was failure to spontaneously pass the gestational sac within 7 days after random assignment. Primary analyses were done according to intention-to-treat principles. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN17405024. Between Oct 3, 2017, and July 22, 2019, 2595 women were identified as being eligible for the MifeMiso trial. 711 women were randomly assigned to receive either mifepristone and misoprostol (357 women) or placebo and misoprostol (354 women). 696 (98%) of 711 women had available data for the primary outcome. 59 (17%) of 348 women in the mifepristone plus misoprostol group did not pass the gestational sac spontaneously within 7 days versus 82 (24%) of 348 women in the placebo plus misoprostol group (risk ratio [RR] 0·73, 95% CI 0·54–0·99; p=0·043). 62 (17%) of 355 women in the mifepristone plus misoprostol group required surgical intervention to complete the miscarriage versus 87 (25%) of 353 women in the placebo plus misoprostol group (0·71, 0·53–0·95; p=0·021). We found no difference in incidence of adverse events between the study groups. Treatment with mifepristone plus misoprostol was more effective than misoprostol alone in the management of missed miscarriage. Women with missed miscarriage should be offered mifepristone pretreatment before misoprostol to increase the chance of successful miscarriage management, while reducing the need for miscarriage surgery. UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme.

Aims: To investigate the possible association between maternal diabetes mellitus and increased yolk sac diameter (YSD). Methods: We searched the Early Pregnancy Unit database to identify singleton pregnancies with measurements of embryonic crown-rump length (CRL) and YSD at 6–10 weeks of gestation and subsequent delivery of phenotypically normal neonates. We compared the YSD in patients with pre-gestational and gestational diabetes with those who were unaffected by diabetes. Results: A total of 3,686 cases were identified including 43 (1.2%) with type 1 diabetes, 31 (0.8%) with type 2 diabetes and 71 (1.9%) who subsequently developed gestational diabetes. The measured YSD in both the diabetic and non-diabetic groups were expressed as differences from the expected normal mean for CRL (Δ values). There were no significant differences in ΔYSD between the groups. The median (IQR) ΔYSD was 0.01 (–0.33 to 0.37) mm in the unaffected group, 0.01 (–0.35 to 0.51) mm in type 1 diabetes, –0.02 (–3.44 to 0.27) mm in type 2 diabetes and 0.01 (–0.28 to 0.35) mm in gestational diabetes. Conclusion: After exclusion of miscarriages and embryopathies, pre-gestational and gestational diabetes are not associated with altered YSD.