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Few studies have explored the variability of the oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve in vivo. 96,428 blood gas measurements were obtained (80,376 arterial, 6959 venous) from a cohort of 7656 patients who were admitted to a large UK teaching hospital between 1 February 2020 and 31 December 2021 for a Covid-19 related admission with a positive PCR. There was consistent variation of the distribution of the oxygen-haemoglobin curve across most oxygen saturation strata with typical values at 91-92 % saturation (mean 8.1kPa, standard deviation sd 0.6 kPa or 60.8 mmHg sd 4.5 mmHg), with the exception of the highest strata of oxygen saturation of 99-100 % (mean 17.7 kPa, sd 8.1kPa or 132 mmHg sd 60.8). The higher oxygen partial pressures at higher oxygen saturations are a concern in view of the increased mortality observed in RCTs of higher oxygen saturation targets. However, the observational study design precludes any attribution of causality., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None of the authors have any conflict of interest with the publication of these data., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The transition from nursing student to newly registered nurse is a complex process, and subsequent recruitment to cancer nursing posts can be challenging. This article details a service evaluation that aimed to describe the experiences of nursing students on placement and newly registered nurses or nursing associates working in a specialist cancer centre, and how these experiences might influence their future career aspirations. To gather data, the authors undertook a focus group with nursing students ( n= 8) and interviewed newly registered nurses or nursing associates ( n= 19). The data revealed four themes: navigating the nursing student experience; motivation to work in oncology; transition to staff nurse; and looking ahead. The service evaluation identified that education providers often lack awareness of cancer-specific content and career pathways. It also found that some aspects of cancer care, such as gaining specialist skills in systemic anticancer therapy, require particular attention since they were often anxiety-provoking for newly registered nurses., Competing Interests: None declared, (© 2024 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.)

Exposure to outdoor air pollution may affect incidence and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this retrospective cohort based on patient records from the Greater Manchester Care Records, all first COVID-19 cases diagnosed between March 1, 2020 and May 31, 2022 were followed until COVID-19 related hospitalization or death within 28 days. Long-term exposure was estimated using mean annual concentrations of particulate matter with diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), ≤10 μm (PM 10 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), ozone (O 3 ), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) and benzene (C 6 H 6 ) in 2019 using a validated air pollution model developed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The association of long-term exposure to air pollution with COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality were estimated using multivariate logistic regression models after adjusting for potential individual, temporal and spatial confounders. Significant positive associations were observed between PM 2.5 , PM 10, NO 2, SO 2, benzene and COVID-19 hospital admissions with odds ratios (95% Confidence Intervals [CI]) of 1.27 (1.25-1.30), 1.15 (1.13-1.17), 1.12 (1.10-1.14), 1.16 (1.14-1.18), and 1.39 (1.36-1.42), (per interquartile range [IQR]), respectively. Significant positive associations were also observed between PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , or benzene and COVID-19 mortality with odds ratios (95% CI) of 1.39 (1.31-1.48), 1.23 (1.17-1.30), 1.18 (1.12-1.24), and 1.62 (1.52-1.72), per IQR, respectively. Individuals who were older, overweight or obese, current smokers, or had underlying comorbidities showed greater associations between all pollutants of interest and hospital admission, compared to the corresponding groups. Long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with developing severe COVID-19 after a positive SARS-CoV-2 infection, resulting in hospitalization or death., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Hay fever affects people differently and can change over a lifetime, but data is lacking on how environmental factors may influence this. This study is the first to combine atmospheric sensor data with real-time, geo-positioned hay fever symptom reports to examine the relationship between symptom severity and air quality, weather and land use. We study 36145 symptom reports submitted over 5 years by over 700 UK residents using a mobile application. Scores were recorded for nose, eyes and breathing. Symptom reports are labelled as urban or rural using land-use data from the UK's Office for National Statistics. Reports are compared with AURN network pollution measurements and pollen and meteorological data taken from the UK Met Office. Our analysis suggests urban areas record significantly higher symptom severity for all years except 2017. Rural areas do not record significantly higher symptom severity in any year. Additionally, symptom severity correlates with more air quality markers in urban areas than rural areas, indicating that differences in allergy symptoms may be due to variations in the levels of pollutants, pollen counts and seasonality across land-use types. The results suggest that a relationship exists between urban surroundings and hay fever symptoms., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objective: Allergies are increasing, but the reasons for this are unclear. Although environmental factors are thought to be important, there is a lack of data on how they contribute to symptom development. To understand this relationship better, we need accurate data about both symptoms and environmental factors. Our objective here is to ascertain whether experience sampling is a reliable approach for collecting allergy symptom data in the general population, allowing us to map symptoms and understand etiology., Materials and Methods: We conducted a 32-week cross-sectional study where individuals reported their seasonal allergy symptoms and severity via a mobile application. Symptom geographical location and timestamp were also collected automatically., Results: The experience sampling method reliably infers the incidence of seasonal allergies as indicated by the strong correlation (r = 0.93, P < .003) between the reported lack of wellness and the number of antihistamines prescribed by General Practitioners., Discussion and Conclusion: The project has resulted in the first dataset to map allergy symptoms over time and place and reveals periods of peak hay fever symptoms in the UK., (© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.)

There is a significant body of evidence describing the benefits of using systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) agents, such as chemotherapy, biological, hormone and antibiotics, to treat people diagnosed with cancer (Cancer Research UK, 2017). However, the potential improvements in survival outcomes must be regularly weighed against the risk of adverse health effects associated with exposure to them. For patients, the risks are balanced against the need to treat the cancer. For health professionals, the risks simply result from the occupational exposure that can occur when caring for patients receiving these drugs. Collectively referred to as cytotoxic agents, SACTs are known to be toxic; they are considered carcinogenic to humans, and are classified as hazardous (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 2010).