Akrivia Health Database-deep patient characterisation using a secondary mental healthcare dataset in England and Wales: cohort profile.

Purpose: The Akrivia Health cohort was created to extract data from electronic health records in secondary mental health and dementia care services in England and Wales. The data are anonymised, structured and harmonised from the source electronic health records across a range of information technology systems, enabling for unified, privacy-preserving access for research purposes.

Participants: The cohort contains data from electronic health records for over 4.

Treatment resistant depression: A comparative study of access, pathways, and outcomes between Caucasian and ethnic minority individuals.

Background: Treatment resistant depression (TRD) is considered when an individual fails to respond to two or more different antidepressants in adequate doses, duration and with adequate adherence within the same major depressive episode.

Aim: To examine the clinical profiles of TRD patients through data from electronic healthcare records and compare characteristics and treatment pathways of ethnic minority and non-minority patients in UK.

Methods: A retrospective, longitudinal, observational cohort study of patients with TRD was carried out in 10 Mental Health NHS Foundation Trusts in the Akrivia Health/UK Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) system network.

The burden associated with, and management of, difficult-to-treat depression in patients under specialist psychiatric care in the United Kingdom.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is common and often has sub-optimal response to treatment. Difficult-to-treat depression (DTD) is a new concept that describes 'depression that continues to cause significant burden despite usual treatment efforts'.

Aims: To identify patients with likely DTD in UK secondary care and examine demographic, disease and treatment data as compared with 'non-DTD' MDD patients.

Dynamic contact effects: Individuals' positive and negative contact history influences intergroup contact effects in a behavioral game.

Positive contact between members of different groups reduces prejudice and increases cooperation, findings known as intergroup contact effects. Yet in real-world settings not only positive, but also negative intergroup contact occurs, which have opposing effects. To date little is known about whether and how an individual's valenced history of intergroup contact influences contact effects and how this dynamic change happens during specific instances of intergroup contact.

Neuronal Differentiation Capability of Nasal Polyps of Chronic Rhinosinusitis.

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps is considered a subgroup of chronic rhinosinusitis and a significant health problem, but the pathogenesis remains unclear to date. Therefore, we investigated the stemness to determine the role of stem cells in nasal polyps, with additional analysis of the neuronal differentiation potential of nasal polyp cells. We determined gene and protein expression profiles of stem cells in nasal polyp tissues, using whole genome microarray, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry.

Rhomboid family member 2 regulates cytoskeletal stress-associated Keratin 16.

Keratin 16 (K16) is a cytoskeletal scaffolding protein highly expressed at pressure-bearing sites of the mammalian footpad. It can be induced in hyperproliferative states such as wound healing, inflammation and cancer. Here we show that the inactive rhomboid protease RHBDF2 (iRHOM2) regulates thickening of the footpad epidermis through its interaction with K16.

A novel xenogeneic co-culture system to examine neuronal differentiation capability of various adult human stem cells.

Background: Targeted differentiation of stem cells is mainly achieved by the sequential administration of defined growth factors and cytokines, although these approaches are quite artificial, cost-intensive and time-consuming. We now present a simple xenogeneic rat brain co-culture system which supports neuronal differentiation of adult human stem cells under more in vivo-like conditions.

Methods And Findings: This system was applied to well-characterized stem cell populations isolated from human skin, parotid gland and pancreas.

The role of alpha-smooth muscle actin in myogenic differentiation of human glandular stem cells and their potential for smooth muscle cell replacement therapies.

Importance Of The Field: Cellular replacement therapies in vascular and urogenital organ disorders require an abundant source of smooth muscle cells. A promising approach would be the directed myogenic differentiation (characterized by the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA)) into a sufficient amount of smooth muscle cells through easily obtainable adult stem cells, for example from the sweat gland.

Areas Covered In This Review: We present novel multipotent adult stem cell populations derived from glandular tissues like pancreas, salivary gland and sweat gland and assess their myogenic potential.