A 3-week LS training programme promoted stress-related adaptations likely to directly, or indirectly, support the acquisition of new surgical skills, and many outcomes were retained after a 4-week period without further LS training. These results have implications for medical training and education (e.g. distributed training for skill development and maintenance, stress resource and management training) and highlighted possible areas for new research (e.g. longitudinal stress and skill profiling).

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The contact cardiac electrogram is derived from the extracellular manifestation of cellular action potentials and cell-to-cell communication. It is used to guide catheter based clinical procedures. Theoretically, the contact electrogram and the cellular action potential are directly related, and should change in conjunction with each other during arrhythmogenesis, however there is currently no methodology by which to concurrently record both electrograms and action potentials in the same preparation for direct validation of their relationships and their direct mechanistic links. We report a novel dual modality apparatus for concurrent electrogram and cellular action potential recording at a single cell level within multicellular preparations. We further demonstrate the capabilities of this system to validate the direct link between these two modalities of voltage recordings.

Eagle’s syndrome is a rare collection of symptoms that occur secondary to an elongated styloid process or calcified stylohyoid ligament irritating its surrounding structures. Classically, this presents as unilateral throat pain or rarely, as acute neurological symptoms secondary to compression of the internal carotid artery: so called ‘stylocarotid syndrome’. Significant neurological events in teenagers, secondary to Eagle syndrome have not been reported. We discuss the rare case of a teenage boy, diagnosed with right internal carotid artery dissection and middle cerebral artery infarction, with no cause initially identified. Following further admission with a transient neurological episode, he was noted to have elongated styloid processes with the right abutting the site of carotid dissection. He underwent styloidectomy and has since remained symptom free. This case highlights the importance of considering anatomical variants when assessing young patients with neurological symptoms, and the potential morbidity and mortality benefit that early surgical intervention may have.