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Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a fast and reliable nanoparticle recovery method that utilizes nonuniform electric fields to manipulate particles based on their material composition and size, enabling recovery of biologically-derived nanoparticles from plasma for diagnostic applications. When applying DEP to undiluted human plasma, collection of endogenous albumin proteins was observed at electric field gradients much lower than predicted by theory to collect molecular proteins. To understand this collection, nanoparticle tracking analysis of bovine serum albumin (BSA) dissolved in 0.5× phosphate-buffered saline was performed and showed that albumin spontaneously formed aggregate nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 237 nm. These aggregates experienced a dielectrophoretic force as a function of aggregate radius rather than the diameter of individual protein molecules which contributed to their collection. In high conductance buffer (6.8 mS/cm), DEP was able to move these aggregates into regions of high electric field gradient, and in lower conductance buffer (0.68 mS/cm), these aggregates could be moved into high or low gradient regions depending on the applied frequency. Disruption of BSA aggregates using a nonionic detergent significantly decreased the particle diameter, resulting in decreased dielectrophoretic collection of albumin which increased the collection consistency of particles of interest. These results provide techniques to manipulate albumin aggregates via DEP, which impacts collection of diagnostic biomarkers., (© 2024 The Author(s). ELECTROPHORESIS published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Introduction: The full impact of an acute illness on subsequent health is seldom explicitly discussed with patients. Patients' estimates of their likely prognosis have been explored in chronic care settings and can contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. This scoping review aimed to identify studies of acutely ill patients' estimates of their outcomes and potential benefits for their care., Methods: A search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Google Scholar, using terms related to prognostication and acute care. After removal of duplicates, all articles were assessed for relevance by six investigator pairs; disagreements were resolved by a third investigator. Risk of bias was assessed according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions., Results: Our search identified 3265 articles, of which 10 were included. The methods of assessing self-prognostication were very heterogeneous. Patients seem to be able to predict their need for hospital admission in certain settings, but not their length of stay. The severity of their symptoms and the burden of their disease are often overestimated or underestimated by patients. Patients with severe health conditions and their relatives tend to be overoptimistic about the likely outcome., Conclusion: The understanding of acutely ill patients of their likely outcomes and benefits of treatment has not been adequately studied and is a major knowledge gap. Limited published literature suggests patients may be able to predict their need for hospital admission. Illness perception may influence help-seeking behaviour, speed of recovery and subsequent quality of life. Knowledge of patients' self-prognosis may enhance communication between patients and their physicians, which improves patient-centred care., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Mobility assessment enhances the ability of vital sign-based early warning scores to predict risk. Currently mobility is not routinely assessed in a standardized manner in Denmark during the ambulance transfer of unselected emergency patients. The aim of this study was to develop and test the inter-rater reliability of a simple prehospital mobility score for pre-hospital use in ambulances and to test its inter-rater reliability., Method: Following a pilot study, we developed a 4-level prehospital mobility score based of the question"How much help did the patient need to be mobilized to the ambulance trolley". Possible scores were no-, a little-, moderate-, and a lot of help. A cross-sectional study of inter-rater agreement among ambulance personnel was then carried out. Paramedics on ambulance runs in the North- and Central Denmark Region, as well as The Fareoe Islands, were included as a convenience sample between July 2020-May 2021. The simple prehospital mobility score was tested, both by the paramedics in the ambulance and by an additional observer. The study outcomes were inter-rater agreements by weighted kappa between the paramedics and between observers and paramedics., Results: We included 251 mobility assessments where the patient mobility was scored. Paramedics agreed on the mobility score for 202 patients (80,5%). For 47 (18.7%), there was a deviation of one between scores, in two (< 1%) there was a deviation of two and none had a deviation of three (Table 1). Inter-rater agreement between paramedics in all three regions showed a kappa-coefficient of 0.84 (CI 95%: 0.79;0.88). Between observers and paramedics in North Denmark Region and Faroe Islands the kappa-coefficient was 0.82 (CI 95%: 0.77;0.86)., Conclusion: We developed a simple prehospital mobility score, which was feasible in a prehospital setting and with a high inter-rater agreement between paramedics and observers., (© 2024. The Author(s).)