Publications by authors named "HUEBER"

Introduction: Prescribable digital health applications (DiGAs) present scalable solutions to improve patient self-management in rheumatology, however real-world evidence is scarce. Therefore, we aimed to assess the effectiveness, usage, and usability of DiGAs prescribed by rheumatologists, as well as patient satisfaction.

Methods: The DiGAReal registry includes adult patients with rheumatic conditions who received a DiGA prescription.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Although patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) are thought to be more susceptible to viral infections, it is unclear whether their presentation differs between patients with IMID and healthy controls. This study aimed to investigate the symptom pattern of common viral infections in patients with IMID and compare it with controls without IMIDs.

Design: A cross-sectional study conducted between 1 February and 30 April 2020, using a questionnaire.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to assess German general practitioners' awareness and use of a guideline focused on preventing overuse and underuse in healthcare, while also exploring their perceptions of medical overuse.
  • An online survey involving 626 GPs revealed that 81% were familiar with the guideline, 67% found it helpful, and most preferred more specific "do-not-do" recommendations to reduce unnecessary services.
  • While many GPs acknowledged medical overuse as a significant issue, particularly in specialist and inpatient care, they suggested system changes and better guidelines as potential solutions, indicating a need for improved implementation of the current guideline.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The objective of this study was to report 52-week safety and efficacy of ianalumab from phase 2b dose-finding study in patients with Sjögren's disease (SjD).

Methods: Patients randomly received (1:1:1:1) ianalumab (5, 50, or 300 mg) or placebo subcutaneously every 4 weeks until week 24 (treatment period [TP]1). At week 24, patients on 300 mg were rerandomized to continue 300 mg or receive placebo until week 52 (TP2), patients on placebo were switched to ianalumab 150 mg, and patients on 5 and 50 mg directly entered posttreatment safety follow-up.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objective: Patient education is an integral component of the treatment of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). However, the validated tools currently available for assessing disease-related knowledge are outdated and, in the case of axSpA, only available in English. The aims of this work were therefore (1) to develop a German-language tool for assessing disease-specific knowledge among axSpA patients and (2) to assess this tool in a pilot study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Climate change is increasing the frequency of high temperatures, which poses serious health risks for patients with chronic diseases; empowering these patients is critical for their safety.
  • This study investigates how light to moderate heat affects health complaints and explores links between self-reported protective behaviors and psychosocial factors.
  • Conducted with 61 patients, the study collected data on their health complaints, protective behaviors, and chronic conditions, applying various statistical models to analyze the relationship between heat exposure and health outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) in German outpatient care are usually treated by general practitioners (GPs), as well as by other specialties. To prevent antibiotic resistances and side effects, German guidelines recommend fosfomycin, nitrofurantoin, pivmecillinam and nitroxoline as first-line treatments, and advice against broad-spectrum antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins. However, data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control indicates a significant proportion of second-line antibiotics in German outpatient care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Airborne radioactivity from fossil fuel production systems is poorly characterized, but a recent study showed elevated ambient levels with proximity to oil and gas production wells. Here, we report year-long, high temporal resolution monitoring results of airborne alpha radioactivity from both radon gas and radon progeny attached to particulates immediately northeast of an oil refinery in Commerce City, Colorado, USA, in an environmental justice community of concern. Gas and particle-associated radioactivity contributed nearly evenly to the total alpha radioactivity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cyclodepsipeptides (CDPs) represent a huge family of chemically and structurally diverse molecules with a wide ability for molecular interactions. CDPs are cyclic peptide-related natural products made up of both proteinogenic and nonproteinogenic amino acids linked by amide and ester bonds. The combined use of different analytical methods is required to accurately determine their integral structures including stereochemistry, thus allowing deeper insights into their often-intriguing bioactivities and their possible usefulness.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Sjögren's disease is a chronic autoimmune disease with an unmet need for targeted therapies. The aim of the TWINSS study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of iscalimab, a monoclonal antibody against CD40, in patients with active Sjögren's disease.

Methods: This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b study, conducted at 71 sites in 23 countries, enrolled patients aged 18 years or older fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) 2016 criteria.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the diagnostic accuracy of two digital tools, an AI-based symptom checker (Ada) and a web-based self-referral tool (Rheport), for identifying inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRDs) among patients at three rheumatology centers.
  • A total of 600 patients participated, with results showing that Rheport and Ada had varying levels of success in correctly identifying IRDs, achieving diagnostic accuracies of 52% and 58% respectively.
  • The tools notably had better performance in diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis compared to other IRDs, with Ada showing a higher sensitivity for this specific condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Medical overuse exposes patients to unnecessary risks of harm. It is an open question whether and how patients perceive the concept of medical overuse, its causes and negative consequences.

Design: A qualitative study design, using elements of the Grounded Theory Approach by Strauss and Corbin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * AHLs can vary in structure, having different acyl-chain lengths and modifications, which makes understanding these variations crucial for studying bacterial behavior and virulence.
  • * This research developed a method to locate C=C double bonds in AHLs with minimal biological material, using LC-MS/MS techniques after a photochemical reaction, optimizing derivatization conditions for effective analysis of bacterial extracts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is the predominant mucosal antibody class with both anti- and pro-inflammatory roles. However, the specific role of the IgA receptor cluster of differentiation (CD)89, expressed by a subset of natural killer (NK) cells, is poorly explored. We found that CD89 protein expression on circulating NK cells is infrequent in humans and rhesus macaques, but transcriptomic analysis showed ubiquitous CD89 expression, suggesting an inducible phenotype.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The YAP-TEAD protein-protein interaction mediates YAP oncogenic functions downstream of the Hippo pathway. To date, available YAP-TEAD pharmacologic agents bind into the lipid pocket of TEAD, targeting the interaction indirectly via allosteric changes. However, the consequences of a direct pharmacological disruption of the interface between YAP and TEADs remain largely unexplored.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Psoriasis is a common chronic skin disease, with well-characterised impact on quality-of life, however, no information is available on the lifetime impact of psoriasis on patients' lives. This descriptive cross-sectional web-based survey of patients with psoriasis, recruited from an online patient community, was conducted in France in 2021. Established questionnaires (Major Life-Changing Decision Profile-MLCDP, Dermatology Life Quality Index-DLQI, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), CAGE and BRIEF-COPE) were administered together with specially created questions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In untargeted metabolomics, the unambiguous identification of metabolites remains a major challenge. This requires high-quality spectral libraries for reliable metabolite identification, which is essential for translating metabolomics data into meaningful biological information. Several attempts have been made to generate reproducible product ion spectra (PIS) under a low collision energy () regime and nonresonant collisional conditions but have not fully succeeded.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Medical overuse is defined as health care services that exceed the individual needs of patients and when the potential harms of medical interventions exceed their benefits. It has impacts on patients as well as on health care resources. To address medical overuse, it is important to understand the knowledge and experiences of overuse on the side of patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Individuals with anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) and subclinical inflammatory changes in joints are at high risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment strategies to intercept this pre-stage clinical disease remain to be developed. We aimed to assess whether 6-month treatment with abatacept improves inflammation in preclinical rheumatoid arthritis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Zirconia implants have gained popularity for their aesthetic appeal and biocompatibility, making them a preferred choice for anterior teeth replacement. This study explores the interaction between telomere length and inflammatory biomarkers in seven cases of zirconia implant placement to gain insights into postoperative cellular aging, inflammatory responses, and long-term outcomes. Zirconia implants offer advantages over titanium implants, as they do not corrode or release metal ions, leading to potential inflammation and implant failure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Significance: Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) permits non-invasive assessment of skeletal muscle blood flow but may misestimate changes in muscle perfusion.

Aim: We aimed to highlight recent evidence that DCS blood flow index (BFI) misestimates changes in muscle blood flow during physiological perturbation and to introduce a novel approach that adjusts BFI for estimated changes in vasodilation.

Approach: We measured changes in muscle BFI during quadriceps and forearm exercises using DCS, the latter of which were adjusted for estimated changes in microvascular flow area and then compared to Doppler ultrasound in the brachial artery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: The AsseSSing Impact in pSoriatic Treatment (ASSIST) study investigated prescribing in routine PsA care and whether the patient-reported outcome-PsA Impact of Disease questionnaire (PsAID-12)-impacted treatment. This study also assessed a range of patient and clinician factors and their relationship to PsAID-12 scoring and treatment modification.

Methods: Patients with PsA were selected across the UK and Europe between July 2021 and March 2022.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF