Comparing a common clavicle maturation-based age estimation method to ordinary regression analyses with quadratic and sex-specific interaction terms in adolescents.

Established methods of age estimation are based on correlating defined maturation stages of bony structures with tables representing the observed range of biological ages in the majority of cases. In this retrospective monocentric study in southwestern Germany, common age estimation methodology was assessed in n = 198 subjects at the age of 25 or younger by analyzing the influence of age, quadratic age, biological sex and age-sex interaction on the ossification stages of the medial epiphysis fugue. Three readers (ICC ≥ 0.

The use of an educational video on forensic autopsy in curricular teaching for medical students-is it worth the effort? : A field report from lecturers and a survey among students.

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to share our experience with an educational video on forensic autopsy. Using questionnaires, we attempted to answer the following questions: Does watching the video trigger emotions in students? Does the autopsy meet the expectations that they had before? Does the video help to prepare them for their subsequent autopsy participation?

Methods: A total of 365 medical students who attended their classes during the COVID-19 pandemic measures were provided with the video on an online platform. Links leading to questionnaires were positioned before and after the video.

Urban Therapy-Urban Health Path as an Innovative Urban Function to Strengthen the Psycho-Physical Condition of the Elderly.

The current approach to stimulating elderly physical activity mostly uses medical rehabilitation methods or popular forms of outdoor recreation. In the context of an ageing population, there is a growing demand for innovative rehabilitation methods that use information technology. In this article, we present the Urban Health Path as an innovative form of activation for older people using urban therapy, where the architectural elements, such as details, façade features, and urban furniture, inspire movement and attentiveness in the experience of space.

The Problem of Monitoring the Psycho-Physical Condition of Seniors during Proposed Activities in Urban Space.

The world's population is rapidly ageing, which places a heavy burden on traditional healthcare systems with increased economic and social costs. Technology can assist in the implementation of strategies that enable active and independent ageing by promoting and motivating health-related behaviours, monitoring, and collecting data on daily life for assessment and for aiding in independent living. ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tools can help prevent cognitive and physical decline and social isolation, and enable elderly people to live independently.

No difference between mobile and fixed bearing in primary total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: Both mobile (MB) and fixed (FB) bearing implants are routinely used for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This meta-analysis compared MB versus FB for TKA in terms of implant positioning, joint function, patient reported outcome measures (PROMs), and complications. It was hypothesised that MB performs better than FB implants in primary TKA.

Mobile Bearing versus Fixed Bearing for Unicompartmental Arthroplasty in Monocompartmental Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Whether mobile-bearing (MB) unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) performs better than fixed-bearing (FB) implants in patients with monocompartmental osteoarthritis (OA) still remains unclear. Therefore, a meta-analysis comparing MB versus FB for UKA was conducted to investigate the possible advantages of MB versus FB in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), range of motion (ROM), and complications. We hypothesised that the MB design performs better than FB.

Prevalence of Candida species in Psoriasis.

Background: Psoriasis patients are more frequently colonised with Candida species. The correlation between fungal colonisation and clinical severity is unclear, but may exacerbate psoriasis and the impact of antipsoriatic therapies on the prevalence of Candida is unknown.

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of C species in psoriasis patients compared to an age- and sex-matched control population, we investigated the influence of Candida colonisation on disease severity, immune cell activation and the interplay on psoriatic treatments.

Non-Invasive Antibody Assessment in Saliva to Determine SARS-CoV-2 Exposure in Young Children.

Saliva is a body fluid with hitherto unused potential for the assessment of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Specific antibodies can indicate a past SARS-CoV-2 infection and allow to estimate the proportion of individuals with a potential protective immunity. First, we carefully characterized plasma samples obtained from adult control groups with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection using certified reference ELISAs.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children by Antibody Detection in Saliva: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study (Coro-Buddy).

Background: The world has been confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic for more than one year. Severe disease is more often found among elderly people, whereas most young children and adolescents show mild symptoms or even remain asymptomatic, so that infection might be undiagnosed. Therefore, only limited epidemiological data on SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and young adults are available.

Identification of Potential Distinguishing Markers for the Use of Cannabis-Based Medicines or Street Cannabis in Serum Samples.

Increasing prescription numbers of cannabis-based medicines raise the question of whether uptake of these medicines can be distinguished from recreational cannabis use. In this pilot study, serum cannabinoid profiles after use of cannabis-based medicines were investigated, in order to identify potential distinguishing markers. Serum samples after use of Sativex, Dronabinol or medical cannabis were collected and analyzed for 18 different cannabinoids, using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method.

Simultaneous quantification of 18 different phytocannabinoids in serum using a highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method.

The potential therapeutic effects of various phytocannabinoids and the availability of multiple cannabis-based medicines make it desirable to have an analytical method that simultaneously quantifies a wide range of cannabinoids in blood, beyond delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and its metabolites. A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for quantification of 18 phytocannabinoids and cannabinoid metabolites in serum was developed and validated. The method enables simultaneous detection of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabinol, cannabigerol, cannabichromene, cannabicyclol, tetrahydrocannabivarin and cannabidivarin and their acidic precursors tetrahydocannabinolic acid A, cannabidiolic acid, cannabinolic acid, cannabigerolic acid, cannabichromenic acid, cannabicyclolic acid, tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid and cannabidivarinic acid as well as the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol metabolites 11-hydroxy-tetrahydrocannabinol and 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol.

Extensive phytocannabinoid profiles of seized cannabis and cannabis-based medicines - Identification of potential distinguishing markers.

As the frequency of cannabis-based therapy increases, the ability to distinguish intake of cannabis-based medicines from recreational cannabis use becomes desirable. Minor cannabinoids have been suggested to indicate recreational cannabis use in biological matrices but are unreliable when presumably also present in directly plantderived medicines. Thus, for therapeutics such as medical cannabis, Sativex® and Dronabinol, a more thorough investigation of cannabinoid profiles is required to identify possible distinguishing markers.

How do radiation therapists detect and manage patients experiencing anxiety in the radiation oncology setting? A vignette study.

Purpose: Anxiety is commonly observed in oncology patients but infrequently screened, assessed or addressed. According to psychosocial guidelines, all healthcare professionals, including radiation therapists, are responsible for the psychosocial care of patients. Radiation therapists (RTs) interact with patients daily throughout treatment; however, little research exists to evaluate RTs' ability to identify and manage patients' psychosocial needs.

Development and pilot of an international survey: 'Radiation Therapists and Psychosocial Support'.

Introduction: Up to one third of radiation therapy patients are reported to have unmet psychosocial needs. Radiation therapists (RTs) have daily contact with patients and can provide daily psychosocial support to reduce patient anxiety, fear and loneliness. However, RTs vary in their values, skills, training, knowledge and involvement in providing psychosocial support.

Insights into the Social Behavior of Surface and Cave-Dwelling Fish () in Light and Darkness through the Use of a Biomimetic Robot.

Biomimetic robots (BRs) are becoming more common in behavioral research and, if they are accepted as conspecifics, allow for new forms of experimental manipulations of social interactions. Nevertheless, it is often not clear which cues emanating from a BR are actually used as communicative signals and how species or populations with different sensory makeups react to specific types of BRs. We herein present results from experiments using two populations of livebearing fishes that differ in their sensory capabilities.

Reduced patient anxiety as a result of radiation therapist-led psychosocial support: a systematic review.

Up to 49% of patients attending radiation therapy appointments may experience anxiety and distress. Anxiety is heightened during the first few visits to radiation oncology. Radiation therapists (RT) are the only health professionals in direct daily contact with patients during treatment, placing them in a unique position to explore patients' psychosocial needs.

Quality improvement process to assess tattoo alignment, set-up accuracy and isocentre reproducibility in pelvic radiotherapy patients.

Introduction: This quality improvement study tested three methods of tattoo alignment and isocentre definition to investigate if aligning lateral tattoos to minimise pitch, roll and yaw decreased set-up error, and if defining the isocentre using the lateral tattoos for cranio-caudal (CC) position improved isocentre reproducibility. The study population was patients receiving curative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer. The results are applicable to all supine pelvic EBRT patients.

Postsynthetic functionalization of glycodendrons at the focal point.

Glycodendrons are multivalent glycoconjugates bearing an orthogonal functional group at the focal point of the molecule. This allows for their postsynthetic elaboration to achieve amphiphilic glycolipid mimetics, for example, which eventually can be applied in biology, biophysics, or material science. Here, postsynthetic modification of di- and tetravalent polyether glycodendrons has been explored using etherification, thiol-ene reaction and in particular olefin cross metathesis.

High dose methotrexate treatment in childhood ALL: pilot study on the impact of the MTHFR 677C>T and 1298A>C polymorphisms on MTX-related toxicity.

Methotrexate (MTX) is commonly administered in high doses for treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The aim of this analysis was to study the influence of 2 common MTHFR polymorphisms (MTHFR 677C>T and 1298 A>C) on MTX toxicity in children with ALL.Retrospective analysis of 129 MTX courses in 34 pediatric patients with ALL.

Leukapheresis and exchange transfusion in children with acute leukemia and hyperleukocytosis. A single center experience.

Background: The risk of severe complications or death during the initial period of acute leukemia was markedly decreased due to the progress in pediatric oncology and use of simple measures like hyperhydration, forced diuresis, treatment of hyperuricemia, correction of electrolyte and coagulation disturbances and the careful use of antileukemic drugs. The incidence of leukostasis and tumor lysis syndrome depends on absolute initial white blood cell counts and the underlying type of leukemia. Leukapheresis or exchange transfusion may improve the prognosis of high risk patients.

Metabolic demands of simulated firefighting tasks.

Firefighters having higher cardiovascular fitness completed a series of simulated firefighting tasks more quickly than those having lower fitness. These results support the need of a high level of cardiovascular fitness for firefighters to ensure not only their safety, but that of fellow firefighters and rescue victims.

Limited transfer of subliminal response priming to novel stimulus orientations and identities.

Recently, priming effects of unconscious stimuli that were never presented as targets have been taken as evidence for the processing of the stimuli's semantic categories. The present study explored the necessary conditions for a transfer of priming to novel primes. Stimuli were digits and letters which were presented in various viewer-related orientations (upright, horizontal, inverted).

Synthesis of new polyether glycodendrons as oligosaccharide mimetics.

Divalent and tetravalent glycomimetics based on polyether glycodendrons have been prepared. The branched scaffolds were decorated with galactose moieties on one hand and were elaborated into new glycodendrons of a 'mixed' type on the other, carrying both galactose and mannose moieties as biologically important sugar epitopes. All synthesized glycodendrons possess a focal point that can be employed for further derivatization and functionalization.

No anticipation-no action: the role of anticipation in action and perception.

This paper reviews psychophysical evidence for the existence and the nature of two types of anticipation in goal-oriented action. The first one relates to attained changes of the perceptual world, thus to action goals. These anticipations determine appropriate motor output.

Functional anatomy: a taxonomic proposal.

It is argued that medical science requires a classificatory system that (a) puts functions in the taxonomic center and (b) does justice ontologically to the difference between the processes which are the realizations of functions and the objects which are their bearers. We propose formulae for constructing such a system and describe some of its benefits. The arguments are general enough to be of interest to all the life sciences.