Publications by authors named "Andre Becker"

The acute respiratory failure as well as ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) have challenged clinicians since the initial description over 50 years ago. Various causes can lead to ARDS and therapeutic approaches for ARDS/ARF are limited to the support or replacement of organ functions and the prevention of therapy-induced consequences. In recent years, triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen, numerous cases of acute lung failure (C-ARDS) have emerged.

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Introduction Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common condition of children encountered in general practice. A proportion of children develop otitis media with effusion (OME), which may require tympanostomy and ventilation tube insertion. Aim The aim of the study was to compare the incidence of AOM in Māori and New Zealand (NZ) European children in general practice and the referral practices to secondary care for tympanostomy and ventilation tube insertion.

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  • Interhospital transport of ARDS patients using mobile ECMO units does not increase mortality risks for COVID-19 patients compared to those treated at established ECMO centers.
  • Overall patient characteristics were similar in terms of age, sex, and health scores, suggesting comparable conditions for both transport groups.
  • The study recommends early referral of suitable COVID-19 patients with ARDS to local ECMO centers for optimized care, as transport outcomes align with those treated at specialized facilities.
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There is ongoing debate whether lung physiology of COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) differs from ARDS of other origin. : The aim of this study was to analyze and compare how critically ill patients with COVID-19 and Influenza A or B were ventilated in our tertiary care center with or without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). We ask if acute lung failure due to COVID-19 requires different intensive care management compared to conventional ARDS.

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Campylobacteriosis is still the most commonly reported zoonosis in the European Union causing gastrointestinal disease in humans. One of the most common sources for these food-borne infections is broiler meat. Interactions between (.

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  • Early prognosis of COVID-19 severity can be improved using specific biomarkers like TRAIL, IP-10, and CRP for patient care.
  • In a study with 132 COVID-19 patients, it was found that TRAIL levels were significantly lower, while IP-10 and CRP levels were higher compared to healthy controls, indicating potential links to disease severity.
  • Multivariable analysis revealed obesity, CRP, and peak IP-10 levels as independent predictors of mortality in ICU, suggesting their importance in assessing patient outcomes.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has drastically increased the number of patients requiring extracorporeal life support. We investigate the efficacy and safety of low-dose recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rtPA) injection into exhausted oxygenators to delay exchange in critically ill COVID-19 patients on veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO). Small doses of rtPA were injected directly into the draining section of a V-V ECMO circuit.

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  • This study examined emulsion-type sausage products to see if naturally cured meats have lower nitrite levels than traditional variants while using plant extracts (red beet and Swiss chard) as nitrate sources.
  • An incubation period of 150 minutes at 38 °C was essential for converting nitrate to nitrite, with final nitrite levels in naturally cured sausages being similar to conventional ones, regardless of the nitrate source.
  • Sausages using Swiss chard juice extract and synthetic nitrate showed color development similar to traditional sausages, while red beet extract significantly altered the expected color appearance.
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represents a high risk in food and can trigger potentially fatal listeriosis. The objective of this study was to detect in food using the LAMP method in a fast, specific, sensitive manner and thus to preventively test food for the presence of the target species. The reaction was performed and established using the portable real-time fluorometer Genie II (OptiGene Ltd.

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The generation of memory is a cardinal feature of the adaptive immune response, involving different factors in a complex process of cellular differentiation. This process is essential for protecting the second encounter with pathogens and is the mechanism by which vaccines work. Epigenetic changes play important roles in the regulation of cell differentiation events.

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  • The study investigates the role of natural killer (NK) cells and killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genotypes in the recovery of COVID-19 patients, particularly focusing on those with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
  • Patients who recovered showed higher NK cell counts compared to those who died, and the presence of the KIR2DS5 genotype was linked to quicker recovery times and a lower need for ICU transfers.
  • The findings suggest that both NK cells and KIR genotypes could be important factors influencing recovery outcomes in COVID-19 cases.
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A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay system was established, allowing gene-based simultaneous detection of and in enriched meat products. Additionally, one-step differentiation of target species on agar plates was enabled by gene- and gene-based duplex LAMP. Both the and - LAMP assays amplified the target sequences in all 62 and 27 strains used for determining inclusivity and revealed 100% exclusivity toward 85 tested non-target species.

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  • In 2020, a novel coronavirus led to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing many cases of ARDS, but other treatable infections should also be considered.
  • A 36-year-old man developed ARDS after flu-like symptoms following a half-marathon; initial treatment aimed at COVID-19 was not effective until a change in therapy based on specific test results.
  • This case highlights the need to follow treatment guidelines closely and consider alternative causes for severe pneumonia or ARDS in patients.
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Background: It has been suggested that COVID-19-associated severe respiratory failure (CARDS) might differ from usual acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to failing autoregulation of pulmonary vessels and higher shunt. We sought to investigate pulmonary hemodynamics and ventilation properties in patients with CARDS compared to patients with ARDS of pulmonary origin.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from consecutive adults with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 patients treated in our ICU in 04/2020 and a comparison of the data to matched controls with ARDS due to respiratory infections treated in our ICU from 01/2014 to 08/2019 for whom pulmonary artery catheter data were available.

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Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is a means to support patients with acute respiratory failure. Initially, recommendations to treat severe cases of pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with ECLS have been restrained. In the meantime, ECLS has been shown to produce similar outcomes in patients with severe COVID-19 compared to existing data on ARDS mortality.

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Background: Effective antimicrobial treatment is key to reduce mortality associated with bacterial sepsis in patients on intensive care units (ICUs). Dose adjustments are often necessary to account for pathophysiological changes or renal replacement therapy. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is increasingly being used for the treatment of respiratory and/or cardiac failure.

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The aim of this cross-sectional study was to characterise the usage of antibiotic and non-antibiotic drugs with a withdrawal period in German veal calves in more detail. In Germany, the documentation of the usage of veterinary medicinal products in food producing animals is mandatory. In the German monitoring system antibiotic use in calves under the age of eight months is recorded irrespective of the production type and only some basic measures (50 % and 75 % percentiles of the entire distributions of the treatment frequencies) are published regularly.

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This study investigated the effects of sous vide cooking at temperatures between 50 °C and 60 °C on the inactivation kinetics of Listeria (L.) monocytogenes. Nutrient broth and minced game meat (Capreolus capreolus and Sus scrofa) were inoculated with three strains of L.

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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of childhood lower respiratory tract infections. The recent failure of a vaccine candidate based on recombinant F protein underlines the urgent need to better understand the protective human memory immune response against RSV. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) protein is a transcription factor that promotes the maturation of the memory CD8 T cell response in cooperation with IL-10 and IL-21.

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  • The study aimed to assess the safety of the probiotic strain Bacillus toyonensis BCT-7112T, focusing on its potential to produce harmful enterotoxins (Hbl and Nhe) typically associated with foodborne illness.
  • Expression levels of enterotoxin genes in B. toyonensis were found to be significantly lower than in reference strains of B. cereus, indicating reduced risk.
  • The findings suggest that B. toyonensis BCT-7112T is likely safer for consumption than B. cereus due to its lower potential to produce harmful enterotoxins, providing insights for evaluating the health safety of probiotics.
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  • Sarcoidosis is a complex disease with uncertain causes, and this study aimed to analyze the lung microbiota of sarcoidosis patients compared to those with other interstitial lung diseases (ILD) and healthy individuals.
  • 31 patients with sarcoidosis and 19 with ILD underwent bronchoscopy for fluid collection, followed by gene sequencing to study their pulmonary microbiota, aiming to identify any significant differences.
  • Results indicated no notable differences in microbiome composition or diversity between sarcoidosis patients and those with other ILDs, suggesting that while the microbiota may not be significantly altered, it does not rule out its possible role in sarcoidosis development.
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In the present study 12 Arcanobacterium phocae strains isolated from fur animals in Finland, including foxes, minks and Finnraccoons, could successfully be identified phenotypically, by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and genotypically by sequencing 16S rDNA and phocaelysin (PHL) encoding gene phl. The PHL of all 12 A. phocae strains in the present study and reference strains A.

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Carcasses of wild animals are often visited by different scavengers. However, determining which scavenger caused certain types of bite marks is particularly difficult and knowledge thereof is lacking. Therefore, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay (target sequence cytochrome b) was developed to detect red fox DNA in carcasses of harbour porpoises.

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Background: Trueperella pyogenes is a worldwide known bacterium causing mastitis, abortion and various other pyogenic infections in domestic animals like ruminants and pigs. In this study we represent the first case report of three unusual fatal infections of Grey Slender Lorises caused by Trueperella pyogenes. Meanwhile, this study represents the first in-depth description of the multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) on T.

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