iEngage: A digital health education program designed to enhance physical activity in young adolescents.

iEngage is a modular health education and behavioural change program designed to help adolescents increase moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The program is delivered through the iEngage app which integrates activity trackers data (Misfit Ray©) within 10 interactive learning modules. Key features include guidance to set goals, self-monitor and assess achievements, and experiential learning via the connected activity trackers which allows for continuous steps recording during the program.

Modulation of natural killer (NK) receptors on NK (CD3-/CD56+), T (CD3+/CD56-) and NKT-like (CD3+/CD56+) cells after heart transplantation.

Background: After undergoing heart transplantation and the subsequent compulsive immunosuppressive treatments, patients are at risk of rejection episodes, infectious complications or cancer development. Thus, it is probable that the various subsets of peripheral cytotoxic lymphocytes are modulated in such patients. This area of study can now be investigated by examining the numerous recently described natural killer (NK)-cell-related surface receptors.

Efficacy of St. John's wort extract WS 5570 in major depression: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Objective: In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with 375 patients the authors investigated the antidepressant efficacy and safety of 300 mg t.i.d.

Antidepressant efficacy and tolerability of milnacipran, a dual serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor: a comparison with fluvoxamine.

The antidepressant efficacy and tolerability of milnacipran, a dual action serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, were compared with those of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, fluvoxamine, in 113 patients with moderate to severe major depression. Treatment with milnacipran, 50 mg b.d.

Citalopram versus fluoxetine: a double-blind, controlled, multicentre, phase III trial in patients with unipolar major depression treated in general practice.

Two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), citalopram and fluoxetine, both at a daily dose of 20 mg, were compared in patients with unipolar major depression treated in general practice. This was a multicentre, double-blind, randomized trial carried out in France. The duration of treatment was 8 weeks.

Cholesterol content of circulating immune complexes in patients with coronary stenosis and subjects without evidence of atherosclerosis.

The biological variation factors for cholesterol in circulating immune complexes (CIC-cholesterol) were studied in 941 unselected supposedly healthy volunteers, ages 4 to 78 years. We found a complex effect of age, including the existence of two peaks of CIC-cholesterol, one in males between 11 and 14 years and in females between 11 and 30 years, and in both sexes another peak between 41 and 60 years, and in both sexes a decrease between 31 and 40 years. By use of multiple regression analysis and after adjustment for age, CIC-cholesterol was positively related to plasma cholesterol concentration and leukocyte count, values being lower in females than in males and among subjects taking anti-inflammatory drugs.

A double-blind comparison of venlafaxine and fluoxetine in patients hospitalized for major depression and melancholia. The Venlafaxine French Inpatient Study Group.

The antidepressant efficacy and short-term safety of venlafaxine and fluoxetine were compared in 68 patients hospitalized with major depression and melancholia. Venlafaxine was superior in efficacy to fluoxetine; total scores for both the MADRS and the HAM-D were significantly (p < or = 0.05) lower in the venlafaxine group than in the fluoxetine group at Weeks 4 and 6.

Atherosclerosis as an immune disease?

Immunology has many effects on atherogenesis. In addition to their usual action risk factors for atherosclerosis have an immunomodulating effect and immunomodulation may be a new treatment of atherosclerosis.

Comparative study of azithromycin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid in the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections.

Forty-eight patients with acute bronchitis and four with pneumonia were randomly assigned to receive five doses (500 mg on day 1, plus 250 mg/day on days 2-5) of azithromycin; 54 patients with acute bronchitis and four with pneumonia were assigned 30 doses (625 mg every eight hours for ten days) of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (CA). The two regimens were equally effective, with clinical improvement or cure in 92% and 87% of patients respectively, bacteriological cure in 89% and 86%, with 91% and 89% of pathogens eliminated. Minor side effects occurred in 6% and 12% of patients in the two groups, respectively.

[Difficulties in the echocardiographic diagnosis of false aneurysm of the left ventricle. Apropos of 2 cases].

The echocardiographic diagnostic criteria of left ventricular pseudo-aneurysm are well established: the demonstration of a narrow-necked communication between the left ventricular cavity and the aneurysm and endocardial discontinuity at the site of myocardial rupture. The authors report two cases in which these criteria were fulfilled, leading to an echocardiographic diagnosis of pseudo-aneurysm which was erroneous as the operative findings were those of true left ventricular aneurysms.

Ecology and arteriosclerosis.

An ecological theory of arteriosclerosis invokes antirisk factors dependent on infections and parasitic infestations through the medium of immunoglobulins. Dysglobulinemia modifies blood cholesterol, platelet function, hemostasis, and biophysics of the blood in the vessels. This could explain the differences in epidemiology of arteriosclerosis between northern developed countries and tropical countries, and the present frequency of coronary heart disease in developed countries.

[M monoclonal macroglobulinemia induced in BALB/C mice. Effect on blood cholesterol and its significance].

BALB/C mice have been inoculated with a monoclonal IgM secreting hybridoma and have developed an hypocholesterolemia strongly dependent of the hypermacroglobulinemia M obtained (P less than 0.001). Cholesterolegram shows cholesterol is carried on the monoclonal IgM fraction.

[Haloperidol decanoate. Results of an open-ended multicentric study in chronic psychotic states].

Unlabelled: An open multicentric study of 196 in-patients was carried out in 9 centres. After an initial stabilization (min. 15 days) with oral haloperidol, patients received haloperidol decanoate IM for at least 24 weeks (or a minimum of 9 injections).

[Bile plug syndrome. A rare cause of curable cholestatic jaundice in the infant].

An eight week old baby who presented with a cholestatic jaundice had a bile plug in the ampulla of Vater. The plug was removal via a transduodenal approach. The bile plug syndrome is a rare cause of extrahepatic biliary cholestasis and is different from the inspissated bile syndrome in which the involvement is predominantly hepatocellular.

[Apple peel small bowel. Report of two cases of a peculiar type of small bowel atresia (author's transl)].

The authors report two personal cases of a peculiar type of small bowel atresia called "Apple peel small bowel", they give proheminence on the unusualiness of the lesion, the non specific clinical picture, and the relatively bad prognosis. The physiopathologic hypothesis which were proposed for this disease are reviewed.

[Nomifensine: clinical data (author's transl)].

Open studies with nomifensine the placebo, and double-blind controlled comparisons of nomifensine with placebo, imipramine, amitriptyline, nortriptyline...