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Introduction: Early recognition of pain in children is crucial, and their self-report is the primary source of information. However, communication about pain in healthcare settings can be challenging. For non-verbal communication regarding different symptoms, children prefer digital tools. The electronic Faces Thermometer Scale (eFTS) utilizes a universal design with colors, face emojis, and numbers on an 11-point scale (0–10) for pain assessment. The aim of this study was to establish content validity of the eFTS for pain assessments in children. Methods: A mixed methods design was used. The study took place at a university hospital in eastern Sweden, involving 102 children aged 8–17 years who visited outpatient clinics. Participants were presented with 17 pictures representing varying pain levels and asked to assess hypothetical pain using the eFTS. A think-aloud approach was employed, prompting children to verbalize their thoughts about assessments and the eFTS. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and comparative statistics, together with a qualitative approach for analysis of think-aloud conversations. Results: A total of 1,734 assessments of hypothetical pain using the eFTS were conducted. The eFTS differentiated between no pain (level 0–1) and pain (level 2–10). However, no clear agreement was found in the differentiation between hypothetical pain intensity levels (level 2–10). The analysis revealed that children utilized the entire scale, ranging from no pain to high pain, incorporating numbers, colors, and face emojis in their assessments. Discussion: The variability in assessments was influenced by prior experiences, which had an impact on the statistical outcome in our study. However, employing the think-aloud method enhances our understanding of how children utilize the scale and perceive its design, including the incorporation of emotion-laden anchors. Children express a preference for using the eFTS to assess their pain during hospital vis

To illuminate adolescents' experiences of Help Overcoming Pain Early (HOPE), a person-centred intervention delivered in a school setting by school nurses. Twenty-one adolescents with chronic pain recruited from secondary school, who had completed the HOPE intervention, were included in the interview study. The HOPE intervention was built on person-centred ethics and consisted of four meetings between school nurses and adolescents on the subject of stress and pain management. A qualitative method using content analysis with an inductive approach was employed. In the interviews, the adolescents describe how they reclaim their lives with the help of HOPE. They use different strategies and parts of the intervention to move on with their lives. A trustful relationship, as that with the school nurse, was essential to dare to change. The overarching theme summarizes in Becoming myself again and is built up by three sub-themes: Trust a pillar for growth, Making sense of my life with pain, and Putting myself into the world again. A person-centred intervention such as HOPE applied in a school context is promising for promoting confidence in adolescents with chronic pain. A trust-building process emerged, in terms of both the adolescents' trust in the healthcare staff they meet and their confidence in their own ability to handle and influence their situation, which in the long term can promote trust in themselves as a person.

It is often a challenge for a child to communicate their pain, and their possibilities todo so should be strengthened in healthcare settings. Digital self-assessment providesa potential solution for person-centered care in pain management and promotes childparticipation when a child is ill. A child's perception of pain assessment differs when itis assessed using digital or analog formats. As we move into the digital era, there is anurgent need to validate digital pain assessment tools, including the newly developedelectronic Faces Thermometer Scale (eFTS). This study protocol describes three studies with the overall aim to evaluate psychometric properties of the eFTS for assessingpain in children 8–17 years of age. A multi-site project design combining quantitativeand qualitative methods will be used for three observational studies. Study 1: 100Swedish-speaking children will report the level of anticipated pain from vignettes describing painful situations in four levels of pain and a think-aloud method will be usedfor data collection. Data will be analyzed with phenomenography as well as descriptive and comparative statistics. Study 2: 600 children aged 8–17 years at pediatric anddental settings in Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and USA will be included. Children willassess their pain intensity due to medical or dental procedures, surgery, or acute painusing three different pain Scales for each time point; the eFTS, the Faces Pain ScaleRevised, and the Coloured Analogue Scale. Descriptive and comparative statistics willbe used, with subanalysis taking cultural context into consideration. Study 3: A subgroup of 20 children out of these 600 children will be purposely included in an interview to describe experiences of grading their own pain using the eFTS. Qualitativedata will be analyzed with content analysis. Our pilot studies showed high level ofadherence to the study procedure and rendered only a small revision of backgroundquestionnaires. Preliminary analysis indicate

It is often a challenge for a child to communicate their pain, and their possibilities to do so should be strengthened in healthcare settings. Digital self-assessment provides a potential solution for person-centered care in pain management and promotes child participation when a child is ill. A child's perception of pain assessment differs when it is assessed using digital or analog formats. As we move into the digital era, there is an urgent need to validate digital pain assessment tools, including the newly developed electronic Faces Thermometer Scale (eFTS). This study protocol describes three studies with the overall aim to evaluate psychometric properties of the eFTS for assessing pain in children 8-17 years of age. A multi-site project design combining quantitative and qualitative methods will be used for three observational studies. Study 1: 100 Swedish-speaking children will report the level of anticipated pain from vignettes describing painful situations in four levels of pain and a think-aloud method will be used for data collection. Data will be analyzed with phenomenography as well as descriptive and comparative statistics. Study 2: 600 children aged 8-17 years at pediatric and dental settings in Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and USA will be included. Children will assess their pain intensity due to medical or dental procedures, surgery, or acute pain using three different pain Scales for each time point; the eFTS, the Faces Pain Scale Revised, and the Coloured Analogue Scale. Descriptive and comparative statistics will be used, with subanalysis taking cultural context into consideration. Study 3: A subgroup of 20 children out of these 600 children will be purposely included in an interview to describe experiences of grading their own pain using the eFTS. Qualitative data will be analyzed with content analysis. Our pilot studies showed high level of adherence to the study procedure and rendered only a small revision of background questionnaires. Prelimin

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and while screening, diagnostic tools and treatments have improved over the decades, many women still succumb to the disease. The heterogeneity of breast cancer and the many subtypes and sites of origin mean that it is remains a difficult disease to fully elucidate. Additionally, the extracellular matrix plays a major role in the development, progression and metastasis of the disease and these cell-ECM interactions are still poorly understood. Animal and two-dimensional models have been the gold standard for understanding the disease and developing novel treatments. However, these models possess undesirable characteristics and do not fully represent the complexity of the mammary tumor microenvironment. This has created a need for mammary biomimetic tools, which in recent years have been developed. These tools are known as three-dimensional (3D) models and they all aim to replicate the physiological complexity of breast cancer by facilitating 3D cell-cell interactions, providing scaffolds or by encapsulating cells and tissues in a extracellular matrix. These bioengineered tools have already shown to be a promising field of research for breast cancer, and have already facilitated deeper researcher into hallmarks such as angiogenesis and the relationship with metastasis, local invasion and also has allowed complex co- and tri-cultures consisting of many cell types. We postulate that 3D models will be the next large step needed to study breast cancer at a more deeper and complex level and will provide chemotherapeutics and pharmaceutical companies platforms for more reliable drug development.

Aims: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sweden was one of the few countries that rejected lockdowns in favour of recommendations for restrictions, including careful hand hygiene and social distancing. Preschools and primary schools remained open. Several studies have shown negative impacts of the pandemic on children, particularly high levels of anxiety. The study aim was to explore how Swedish school-aged children aged 6–14 years, experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and their perceived anxiety. Methods: In total, 774 children aged 6–14 years and their guardians answered an online questionnaire containing 24 questions, along with two instruments measuring anxiety: the Children’s Anxiety Questionnaire and the Numerical Rating Scale. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used for analysing the quantitative and qualitative data. Each data source was first analysed separately, followed by a merged interpretative analysis. Results: The results showed generally low levels of anxiety, with no significant sex differences. Children who refrained from normal social activities or group activities (n=377) had significantly higher levels of anxiety. Most of the children were able to appreciate the bright side of life, despite the social distancing and refraining from activities, which prevented them from meeting and hugging their loved ones. Conclusions: These Swedish children generally experienced low levels of anxiety, except those who refrained from social activities. Life was nonetheless mostly experienced as normal, largely because schools remained open. Keeping life as normal as possible could be one important factor in preventing higher anxiety and depression levels in children during a pandemic.

Contains fulltext : 283943.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access), People are better at approaching appetitive cues signaling reward and avoiding aversive cues signaling punishment than vice versa. This action bias has previously been shown in approach-avoidance tasks involving arm movements in response to appetitive or aversive cues. It is not known whether appetitive or aversive stimuli also bias more distal dexterous actions, such as gripping and slipping, in a similar manner. To test this hypothesis, we designed a novel task involving grip force control (gripping and slipping) to probe gripping-related approach and avoidance behavior. 32 male volunteers, aged 18-40 years, were instructed to either grip ("approach") or slip ("avoid") a grip-force device with their right thumb and index finger at the sight of positive or negative images. In one version of this pincer grip task, participants were responding to graspable objects and in another version of the task they were responding to happy or angry faces. Bayesian repeated measures Analysis of variance revealed extreme evidence for an interaction between response type and cue valence (Bayes factor = 296). Participants were faster to respond in affect-congruent conditions ("approach appetitive," "avoid aversive") than in affect-incongruent conditions ("approach aversive," "avoid appetitive"). This bias toward faster response times for affect-congruent conditions was present regardless of whether it was a graspable object or a face signaling valence. Since our results mirror the approach and avoidance effects previously observed for arm movements, we conclude that a tendency favoring affectively congruent cue-response mappings is an inherent feature of motor control and thus also includes precision grip.

Introduction: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection may be a pre-condition for the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). EBV antibodies, predominantly anti-EBNA1, develop in the presymp-tomatic phase of virtually all MS patients. Using material from a serum repository, studies in advance of MS onset indicated that EBV seropositivity preceded the first expression of incipient axonal lesions, serum Neurofilament Light (sNFL) . Objectives: To determine the onset and individual order of appearance of EBV seroreactivity and the serum neuroaxonal injury marker neurofilament light (sNfL) in a wide age spectrum of presymptomatic MS patients. Aims: To characterize the presymptomatic appearance of anti-bodies against an intranuclear (EBNA1) and a surface EBV anti-gen (gp350) and sNfL.Methods: A nested case-control study in 669 pre-symptomati-cally acquired blood samples from persons who later received an MS diagnosis, and from 1:1 matched control persons. Serum lev-els of EBNA1, VCA and gp350 IgG antibodies and sNFL (n=519) were measured in individual presymptomatic samples and expressed as delta scores with matched controls in relation to time until MS onset. Results: Serum levels expressed as delta scores for anti EBV and NfL IgG showed an incipient increase for anti EBNA1 and gp350 from 15-20 years before MS debut. Significant (p=0.001 and p=0.002) from 10-15 years, with consistent delta-scores succes-sively closer to MS onset. These findings contrasted to the level of sNfL which increasingly diverged from matched controls from 5-10 years before the onset of MS. None of the individual sam-ples negative for both EBNA1 and VCA IgG antibodies in the pre-MS group (n = 36) showed any elevation of the sNfL level. Conclusions: In a pre-MS material, the seroreactivity against EBNA1 was followed by VCA and gp350, before increased sNFL appeared, indicating incipient axonal injury. Togeth