Screening for familial hypercholesterolaemia in primary school children: protocol for a cross-sectional, feasibility study in Luxembourg city (EARLIE).

Introduction: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is a frequent (1:300) autosomal dominantly inherited condition which causes premature (women <60 years, men <55 years) cardio-cerebrovascular disease (CVD). Early detection and initiation of treatment can prevent the development of CVD and premature death. Our pilot study aims to investigate the prevalence of FH, the feasibility and efficacy of a screening based on a capillary blood test performed during a school medicine visit in primary school children.

Age-Dependent Heterogeneity of Murine Olfactory Bulb Astrocytes.

Astrocytes have a high impact on the structure of the central nervous system, as they control neural activity, development, and plasticity. Heterogeneity of astrocytes has been shown before, but so far only a few studies have demonstrated heterogeneous morphology of astrocytes concerning aging. In this study, we examined morphologic differences of astrocyte subpopulations in adult mice and the progression of these differences with age.

Ca-permeable AMPA receptors in mouse olfactory bulb astrocytes.

Ca signaling in astrocytes is considered to be mainly mediated by metabotropic receptors linked to intracellular Ca release. However, recent studies demonstrate a significant contribution of Ca influx to spontaneous and evoked Ca signaling in astrocytes, suggesting that Ca influx might account for astrocytic Ca signaling to a greater extent than previously thought. Here, we investigated AMPA-evoked Ca influx into olfactory bulb astrocytes in mouse brain slices using Fluo-4 and GCaMP6s, respectively.

A systems dynamics approach to the efficacy of oxime therapy for mild exposure to sarin gas.

The use of nerve agents such as sarin is as much a threat today as any other time in our history. The events in Syria in 2013 are proof of this. "The Obama administration asserted Sunday for the first time that the Syrian government used the nerve gas sarin to kill more than 1,400 people (August 21, 2013) in the world's gravest chemical weapons attack in 25 years.

Randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and usability of a computerised phone-based lifestyle coaching system for primary and secondary prevention of stroke.

Background: One of the most effective current approaches to preventing stroke events is the reduction of lifestyle risk factors, such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and smoking. In this study, we assessed the efficacy and usability of the phone-based Computer-aided Prevention System (CAPSYS) in supporting the reduction of lifestyle-related risk factors.

Methods: A single-centre two-arm clinical trial was performed between January 2013 and February 2014, based on individual follow-up periods of six months with 94 patients at high risk of stroke, randomly assigned to an intervention group (IC: 48; advised to use the CAPSYS system) or a standard care group (SC: 46).