Innate T-cell-derived IL-17A/F protects from bleomycin-induced acute lung injury but not bleomycin or adenoviral TGF-β1-induced lung fibrosis in mice.

The pathobiology of IL-17 in lung fibrogenesis is controversial. Here we examined the role of IL-17A/F in bleomycin (BLM) and adenoviral TGF-β1-induced lung fibrosis in mice. In both experimental models, WT and IL17af mice showed increased collagen contents and remodeled lung architecture as assessed by histopathological examination, suggesting that IL-17A/F is dispensable for lung fibrogenesis.

Pain Medication and Pain Intensity Following Hip Fractures-Analyses Based on the ProFem Cohort Study.

Purpose: Pain is a common symptom following proximal femoral fractures (PFF), however, information on its treatment in terms of agents and type of use (scheduled vs. pro re nata [PRN]) is scarce. The main objective of this study was to examine pain medication regimens according to pain intensity following PFF.

Development of Fear of Falling after proximal femoral fracture.

Proximal femoral fracture is common in older people. Beyond a long recovery process and significant permanent functional limitations, older people often experience subsequent Fear of Falling. The phenomenon of Fear of Falling is not fully understood; qualitative research is underrepresented but can provide insights into the experience of those affected.

Spiking neural networks fine-tuning for brain image segmentation.

Introduction: The field of machine learning has undergone a significant transformation with the progress of deep artificial neural networks (ANNs) and the growing accessibility of annotated data. ANNs usually require substantial power and memory usage to achieve optimal performance. Spiking neural networks (SNNs) have recently emerged as a low-power alternative to ANNs due to their sparsity nature.

Preanalytical variables influencing the interpretation and reporting of biological tests on blood samples of living and deceased donors for human body materials.

With the present paper, the Working Group on Cells, Tissues and Organs and other experts of the Superior Health Council of Belgium aimed to provide stakeholders in material of human origin with advice on critical aspects of serological and nucleic acid test (NAT) testing, to improve virological safety of cell- and tissue and organ donation. The current paper focusses on a number of preanalytical variables which can be critical for any medical biology examination: (1) sampling related variables (type of samples, collection of the samples, volume of the sample, choice of specific tubes, identification of tubes), (2) variables related to transport, storage and processing of blood samples (transport, centrifugation and haemolysis, storage before and after centrifugation, use of serum versus plasma), (3) variables related to dilution (haemodilution, pooling of samples), and (4) test dependent variables (available tests and validation). Depending on the type of donor (deceased donor (heart-beating or non-heart beating) versus living donor (allogeneic, related, autologous), and the type of donated human material (cells, tissue or organs) additional factors can play a role: pre- and post-mortem sampling, conditions of sampling (e.

[The role of nurses in pharmaceutical care in Germany: A qualitative analysis].

Background: In 13 European countries, laws have been passed that allow nurses to prescribe medicines, but mostly within a limited framework and with a doctor involved. Germany is not among these countries. Only the prescription of medical aids has already been included into the development of extended nursing competencies.

Fear of falling from the perspective of affected persons-A systematic review and qualitative meta-summary using Sandelowski and Barroso's method.

Background: Fear of falling (FoF) affects a large number of older people, whether they have a history of falls or not. This has an impact on their lives. FoF is a potentially modifiable factor, which has been identified as one of the most important threats to older people's autonomy.

Improving Influenza Vaccination Rates in an Underserved Primary Care Clinic Using a Simple Educational Tool.

Background And Objectives: Influenza is a preventable communicable illness that has a significant impact on people of all ages. In 2018, it was estimated that 80 000 people died of influenza-related illnesses. In the 2018-2019 influenza season, only 34.

Patients' experiences of delirium: A systematic review and meta-summary of qualitative research.

Aims: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-summary was the aggregation of the empirical qualitative literature on patients' experiences of delirium in order to support the development and implementation of patient-oriented delirium management and to guide future research.

Design: We conducted a systematic literature review of qualitative research published between January 1980 and June 2019.

Data Sources: In June 2019, we searched in Medline, CINAHL, SSCI and PsycInfo to identify relevant reports.

Healthcare provision, functional ability and quality of life after proximal femoral fracture - 'ProFem': Study protocol of a population-based, prospective study based on individually linked survey and statutory health insurance data.

Introduction: Proximal femoral fractures (PFF) are among the most frequent fractures in older people. However, the situation of people with a PFF after hospital discharge is poorly understood. Our aim is to (1) analyse healthcare provision, (2) examine clinical and patient-reported outcomes (PROs), (3) describe clinical and sociodemographic predictors of these and (4) develop an algorithm to identify subgroups with poor outcomes and a potential need for more intensive healthcare.

Correction to: Biological tests carried out on serum/plasma samples from donors of human body material for transplantation: Belgian experience and practical recommendations.

The article Biological tests carried out on serum/plasma samples from donors of human body material for transplantation: Belgian experience and practical recommendations.

Biological tests carried out on serum/plasma samples from donors of human body material for transplantation: Belgian experience and practical recommendations.

This paper on the biological tests carried out on serum/plasma samples from donors of human body material (HBM) is the result of a project of the working Group of Superior Health Council of Belgium formed with experts in the field of HBM and infectious serology. Indeed, uncertainty about the interpretation of biological test results currently leads to the sometimes unjustified cancelling of planned donations or the rejection of harvested HBM, whilst more sophisticated diagnostic algorithms would still allow the use of organs or HBM that would otherwise have been rejected. NAT tests will not be discussed in this publication.

Clonal rolling circle amplification for on-chip DNA cluster generation.

Generation of monoclonal DNA clusters on a surface is a useful method for digital nucleic acid detection applications (e.g. microarray or next-generation sequencing).

Characterizing Online Narratives About Colonoscopy Experiences: Comparing Colon Cancer "Screeners" Versus "Survivors".

Effective screening can reduce colorectal cancer mortality; however, screening uptake is suboptimal. Patients' stories about various health topics are widely available online and in behavioral interventions and are valued by patients. Although these narratives may be promising strategies for promoting cancer screening behavior, scant research has compared the influence of different role models.

Regional-scale assessment of soil salinity in the Red River Valley using multi-year MODIS EVI and NDVI.

The ability to inventory and map soil salinity at regional scales remains a significant challenge to scientists concerned with the salinization of agricultural soils throughout the world. Previous attempts to use satellite or aerial imagery to assess soil salinity have found limited success in part because of the inability of methods to isolate the effects of soil salinity on vegetative growth from other factors. This study evaluated the use of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery in conjunction with directed soil sampling to assess and map soil salinity at a regional scale (i.

Application to drug-food interactions of living cells as in vitro model expressing cytochrome P450 activity: enzyme inhibition by lemon juice.

Classical inhibitors of human cytochrome P450 3A4 activity, such as ketoconazol and quercetin, are tested to prove the efficiency of a new metabolisation model using living entire cells. Grapefruit juice is a well-known potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 3A4 activity. With regard to the clinical relevance of grapefruit juice-drug interactions, an investigation of other common juices is undertaken with this in vitro model.

[Nanotechnology and food safety].

Nanotechnology has a very broad scope with numerous opportunities. This is particularly true as far as the food sector is concerned. In addition to being used to enhance the safety and attractiveness of foodstuffs as well as their health value, nanotechnology can be imple mented to increase their shelf life and to create new flavours.

Design and applications of a home-built in situ FT-Raman spectroscopic cell.

In the field of heterogeneous catalysis, in situ spectroscopy is one of the topics with growing interest. The characterization of a catalyst under working conditions is essential to identify the catalytic active site and to study the relation between the surface structure of a catalyst and its catalytic performance. For the first time, the design of an in situ spectroscopic cell for FT-Raman is presented and its performance is demonstrated by monitoring the thermal conversion of as synthesized mesoporous titanium and by characterizing the molecular surface structure of the vanadium oxides grafted on MCM-48 after exposure to a probe molecule.

Adapting to aging losses: do resources facilitate strategies of selection, compensation, and optimization in everyday functioning?

Previous cross-sectional research has shown that older people who are rich in sensorimotor-cognitive and social-personality resources are better functioning in everyday life and exhibit fewer negative age differences than resource-poor adults. Longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study was used to examine these findings across a 4-year time interval and to compare cross-sectional indicators of adaptive everyday functioning among survivors and nonsurvivors. Apart from their higher survival rate, resource-rich older people (a) invest more social time with their family members, (b) reduce the diversity of activities within the most salient leisure domain, (c) sleep more often and longer during daytime, and (d) increase the variability of time investments across activities after 4 years.

A comparative study of two psychometric approaches to detect risk status for dementia.

This study results from an effort to examine the relationship between the diagnostic potentials for detecting risk status for dementia of a cognitive plasticity approach and a traditional status-oriented procedure (test battery) by Storandt et al. [Arch Neurol 1984;41:497-499]. The aim is to compare prediction accuracy for risk for developing dementia with these two approaches.

Widowhood and illness: a comparison of social network characteristics in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States.

This study examined social network characteristics of adults aged 70 to 90 years in relation to widowhood and illness in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Participants were drawn from representative samples from each of the 4 countries (total N = 1,331). Resource deficit profiles based on whether respondents were widowed, ill, both, or neither were directly related to social network characteristics for German and Japanese adults, were differentially related by gender and age for French adults, and were not related to social networks of Americans.

Multicenter field trial on possible health effects of toluene. III. Evaluation of effects after long-term exposure.

In rotogravure industry, contributing considerably to mass color printing of catalogues and magazines, toluene is still extensively used as paint solvent, and many printers have been exposed to this chemical for several decades. Information on adverse health effects associated with long-term toluene exposure is still controversial. In a multi-center study, adverse health effects possibly associated with long-term toluene exposure were evaluated.

Multicenter field trial on possible health effects of toluene. II. Cross-sectional evaluation of acute low-level exposure.

Data on possible acute effects of today's relevant low-level exposure to toluene are contradictory, and information on possible effects of exposure under occupational conditions is largely lacking. In a controlled, multi-center, blinded field trial, effects possibly associated with acute toluene exposure were evaluated in workers of 12 German rotogravure factories. Medical examinations (inquiries on subjective symptoms, and standard tests of psycho-physiological and psycho-motor functions) were performed on almost 1500 volunteers, of whom 1290 were toluene-exposed (1178 men and 112 women), and about 200 participants served as references (157 men and 37 women), but the main aim of the trial was to reveal dose-response relationships.

Serratus posterior muscles: anatomy, clinical relevance, and function.

The serratus posterior superior and inferior muscles are generally considered clinically insignificant muscles that, based on attachments, probably function in respiration. Interestingly, however, there is no evidence supporting a respiratory role for these muscles. In fact, some electromyographic data refute a respiratory function for these muscles.

Limitations in activities of daily living: towards a better understanding of subthreshold mental disorders in old age.

Based on a representative sample of elderly subjects, a description of the limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) at subthreshold levels of dementia and depression is presented and compared against a sample of psychiatric non-cases and samples with specified levels of the respective illnesses. Additionally, it was analyzed whether these limitations are useful diagnostic markers with regard to subdiagnostic psychiatric disorders. Even at subthreshold levels of depression and dementia, elderly people suffer quite extensively from ADL and IADL limitations.