Publications by authors named "Franke C"

Objective: To assess the risk of contraceptive failure and adverse events (AEs) associated with the type of progestin when co-administered with psychotropic drugs within a routine clinical practice setting.

Study Design: A pooled analysis of four large, prospective, multinational cohort studies including women with a new prescription of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) and concomitant psychotropic drug use from 13 European countries and the United States. We determined the frequency of contraceptive failures and AEs within six months after COC initiation by progestin type.

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Pigeons are associated with zoonotic pathogens such as Chlamydia psittaci, the main causative agent of avian chlamydiosis, and related to psittacosis cases in humans worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of C. psittaci in feral pigeons (Columba livia) and environmental samples from places frequented by pigeons in a Brazilian hospital area.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Total Thrombus-formation Analysis System (T-TAS) is an automated tool designed to evaluate thrombus (blood clot) formation under simulated blood flow conditions, particularly in patients receiving antiplatelet therapy.
  • This study examined T-TAS's effectiveness in detecting responses to dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) among 60 patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) after a surgical procedure.
  • Findings indicated that the platelet-chip (PL-chip) of T-TAS was able to identify low responders to DAPT more effectively than traditional aggregation tests, suggesting it could be a useful tool for monitoring treatment responses in PAD patients.
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Autism and social anxiety (SA) share behavioral features like reduced eye contact, variable social attention, and differences in social interactions. However, the impact of the co-occurrence of these conditions (e.g.

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Article Synopsis
  • - EEG studies are essential for understanding how the brain develops over a person's lifetime, but there are challenges with reporting important data characteristics in pediatric research.
  • - A newly developed toolbox aims to address these issues by providing user-friendly software for estimating reliability, effect size, and measurement errors in EEG data.
  • - This toolbox helps researchers determine the necessary number of trials for reliable findings and integrates with existing EEG preprocessing pipelines to improve the reporting of data quality metrics.
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Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) are at high risk of developing cognitive impairments of a "post-intensive care syndrome" (PICS). We explored whether critically ill COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 survivors differ in their post-ICU recovery course in terms of severity and affected cognitive domains.

Methods: An observational prospective study was conducted in a German post-acute neurological early rehabilitation clinic.

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CBFA2T3-GLIS2 is a fusion oncogene found in pediatric acute megakaryoblastic leukemia that is associated with a poor prognosis. We establish a model of CBFA2T3-GLIS2 driven acute megakaryoblastic leukemia that allows the distinction of fusion specific changes from those that reflect the megakaryoblast lineage of this leukemia. Using this model, we map fusion genome wide binding that in turn imparts the characteristic transcriptional signature.

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  • The study investigates synaptic density in autistic adults using positron emission tomography (PET) and synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) as a marker.
  • Results show that autistic individuals exhibit a 17% lower synaptic density across the whole cortex compared to non-autistic peers, with significant deficits in various brain regions, especially the prefrontal cortex.
  • The findings suggest that lower synaptic density is associated with increased autistic features, pointing to a potential molecular basis for autism that requires further exploration.
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The COVID-19 pandemic faced the public health sector with unprecedented challenges. While the immediate impact on society seems to diminish, reports of long-term health consequences persist. Among the most frequently reported symptoms are neurological complaints such as persistent fatigue and cognitive impairments.

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Background: Hypertension affects approximately 1 in 2 adults in the US. Home blood pressure (BP) monitoring programs are effective in the diagnosis and management of hypertension. Free clinics serve as an integral safety net for millions of uninsured and economically disadvantaged patients in the US.

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Background And Objectives: Autoimmune nodopathies with antibodies against the paranodal proteins show a distinct phenotype of a severe sensorimotor neuropathy. In some patients, complete remission can be achieved after treatment with rituximab whereas others show a chronic course. For optimal planning of treatment, predicting the course of disease and therapeutic response is crucial.

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The measurement of fetal cardiovascular function parameters is not yet established in prenatal diagnostics. Now that the research field of fetal programming is becoming increasingly important, this might change. Fetal cardiovascular changes have been described above all in early/severe fetal growth restriction (FGR).

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Background: Patients suffering from neurological symptoms after COVID-19 vaccination (post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome (PCVS)) have imposed an increasing challenge on medical practice, as diagnostic precision and therapeutic options are lacking. Underlying autoimmune dysfunctions, including autoantibodies, have been discussed in neurological disorders after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. Here, we describe the frequency and targets of autoantibodies against peripheral nervous system tissues in PCVS.

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Background: Postoperative delirium (POD) is a serious complication following deep brain stimulation (DBS) but only received little attention. Its main risk factors are higher age and preoperative cognitive deficits. These are also main risk factors for long-term cognitive decline after DBS in Parkinson's disease (PD).

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Triatomines of the species Triatoma sherlocki are considered sylvatic; however, household invasion appears imminent, potentially carrying Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. The aim of this study was to report the first occurrence of a colony of T. sherlocki infected by T.

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Some people infected with SARS-CoV-2 report persisting symptoms following acute infection. If these persist for over three months, they are classified as post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). Although PCS is frequently reported, detailed longitudinal neuropsychological characterization remains scarce.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study assessed the effectiveness of a clubroot resistance stacking model against a specific pathotype (3H) in canola plants, finding it more resilient than previous models tested against another pathotype (X).
  • Initially, resistant canola varieties showed strong resistance, but those with only a single resistance gene experienced a decline in effectiveness over time, especially under high disease pressure.
  • In contrast, varieties with stacked resistance genes maintained low disease severity, and using resistant varieties helped reduce resting spore numbers in the soil, indicating that combining resistance strategies and crop rotation could enhance long-term resilience against clubroot disease.
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Objective: Persisting neurological symptoms after COVID-19 affect up to 10% of patients and can manifest in fatigue and cognitive complaints. Based on recent evidence, we evaluated whether cerebral hemodynamic changes contribute to post-COVID syndrome (PCS).

Methods: Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain perfusion and oxygen level estimates in 47 patients (44.

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Tactile sensation and vision are often both utilized for the exploration of objects that are within reach though it is not known whether or how these two distinct sensory systems combine such information. Here in mice, we used a combination of stereo photogrammetry for 3D reconstruction of the whisker array, brain-wide anatomical tracing and functional connectivity analysis to explore the possibility of tacto-visual convergence in sensory space and within the circuitry of the primary visual cortex (VISp). Strikingly, we find that stimulation of the contralateral whisker array suppresses visually evoked activity in a tacto-visual sub-region of VISp whose visual space representation closely overlaps with the whisker search space.

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Introduction: Post-COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS) includes neurological manifestations, especially fatigue and cognitive deficits. Immune dysregulation, autoimmunity, endothelial dysfunction, viral persistence, and viral reactivation are discussed as potential pathophysiological mechanisms. The post-corona-virus immune treatment (PoCoVIT) trial is a phase 2a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial designed to evaluate the effect of methylprednisolone versus placebo on cognitive impairment in PCS.

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Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-redirected immune cells hold significant therapeutic potential for oncology, autoimmune diseases, transplant medicine, and infections. All approved CAR-T therapies rely on personalized manufacturing using undirected viral gene transfer, which results in nonphysiological regulation of CAR-signaling and limits their accessibility due to logistical challenges, high costs and biosafety requirements. Random gene transfer modalities pose a risk of malignant transformation by insertional mutagenesis.

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Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a digital patient support (DPS) tool, complementary to standard care on continuous or automatic positive airway pressure (auto)CPAP adherence and daytime sleepiness after 12 weeks in patients diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). All patients with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 30 per hour were prospectively included and randomized to receive standard care (SC) or standard care with personalized DPS via a mobile app prototype version (SC + DPS). Patients in the SC + DPS arm received additionally automated feedback on their therapy, motivational messages and therapy recommendations.

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Background: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a severely debilitating condition which markedly restricts activity and function of affected people. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic ME/CFS related to post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) can be diagnosed in a subset of patients presenting with persistent fatigue 6 months after a mostly mild SARS-CoV-2 infection by fulfillment of the Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC 2003). Induction of autoimmunity after viral infection is a mechanism under intensive investigation.

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Cognitive impairment is the most frequent symptom reported in post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). Aetiology of cognitive impairment in PCS is still to be determined. Neurofilament light chain (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) are increased in acute COVID-19.

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