Comparison of group versus individual patient education for promoting safety skills of patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases treated with biologics: a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse-led intervention combining face-to-face and group education sessions for the acquisition of safety skills by patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases treated with biologics.

Methods: This multicentre randomised controlled trial compared two individual patient education sessions against a combination of an individual session at baseline and a group session 3 months later. The primary outcome was a validated questionnaire (BioSecure) scored at 6 and 12 months that assessed competencies and problem-solving abilities to deal with fever, infection, vaccination, and daily situations.

Effects of multisensory environment/stimulation therapy on adults with cognitive impairment and/or special needs: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: This review aimed to evaluate the effects of multisensory environments/stimulation (MSE/MSS) therapy, on the behavior and psychological symptoms in adults with cognitive impairment and/or special needs.

Methods: Online database searches were performed to identify studies reporting on the effects of MSS/MSE therapy in adults (>18 years). Data were extracted for the following investigated outcomes including anxiety, depression, mood, behavioral attributes, biomedical parameters, cognition, motor skills, quality of life (QoL), pain, and end of life quality.

Caries management using silver diamine fluoride and providing domiciliary dental care for dependent older adults: A qualitative study of Swiss dentists.

Objectives: Maintaining the oral health of dependent older adults is challenging, with limited access to dental care and limited focus on preventive oral health programmes. This study aimed to evaluate the attitudes of General Dental Practitioners (GDPs), working in Switzerland, to caring for dependent older adults with a focus on the use of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) as a caries preventive agent and more widely on the provision of domiciliary dental care (DDC).

Methods: Seventeen GDPs working in Switzerland were interviewed.

Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) in the management of root caries in elders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review was undertaken to address the PICO question: Is silver diamine fluoride (SDF) effective in preventing and arresting root caries lesions in (RCLs) elders? Systematic literature searches were conducted of electronic databases [PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL (Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials)] and hand searches were performed to identify studies reporting on the use of SDF in elders to prevent and arrest root caries. Prospective clinical studies were included. Two independent investigators performed the literature search and data extraction.

Leveraging an electronic health record note template to standardize screening and testing for COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenged health care organizations to develop ways to provide patient care with rapidly changing guidelines and scarce resources. Clinical leaders and informatics specialists partnered to rapidly develop an electronic health record (EHR) template for primary care staff to screen Veterans at Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound. The template prompts categorization of patients by stability and suspicion for COVID-19, and provides just-in-time triaging advice for clinic staff.

Acute Exercise Protects Newly Formed Motor Memories Against rTMS-induced Interference Targeting Primary Motor Cortex.

Acute cardiovascular exercise can promote motor memory consolidation following motor practice, and thus long-term retention, but the underlying mechanisms remain sparsely elucidated. Here we test the hypothesis that the positive behavioral effects of acute exercise involve the primary motor cortex and the corticospinal pathway by interfering with motor memory consolidation using non-invasive, low frequency, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Forty-eight able-bodied, young adult male participants (mean age = 24.

Seasonality and circadian variation of microfilaremia in dogs experimentally infected with Dirofilaria immitis.

Periodicity, the cyclical rise and fall in microfilaria (mff) numbers in the peripheral blood over time, is observed in many filarial infections. It is correlated with the necessity for these larval stages to be ingested by the blood feeding vector before they can be transmitted to a new vertebrate host. Microfilariae of the dog heartworm Dirofilaria immitis have been described to show periodicity, but the circadian pattern does not seem to be consistent.

Hypoxia integration in the serological proteome analysis unmasks tumor antigens and fosters the identification of anti-phospho-eEF2 antibodies as potential cancer biomarkers.

The expression by tumor cells of proteins with aberrant structure, expression or distribution accounts for the development of a humoral immune response. Autoantibodies (aAb) directed against tumor-associated antigens (TAA) may thus be particularly relevant for early detection of cancer. Serological proteome analysis (SERPA) aims to identify such circulating aAb through the immunoblotting of 2D-separated tumor cell proteins with cancer patient serum and the consecutive MS identification of proteins in reactive spots.

A new method combining sequential immunoaffinity depletion and differential in gel electrophoresis to identify autoantibodies as cancer biomarkers.

Easily measurable biomarkers are urgently required to detect early stages of cancer progression. Autoantibodies (aAbs), as a component of the humoral immune response against tumor cells, have such potential of diagnostic markers since they are circulating and stable proteins, produced rapidly and easily amenable to in vitro dosage. The identification of aAbs is based on the characterization of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) against which they are directed.

[Limbic encephalitis with positive anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate antibodies. Report of one case].

Limbic encephalitis is a subacute syndrome characterized by memory impairment, confusion, seizures, hypothalamic dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms. It has been associated to tumors located outside of the central nervous system. In 2007, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAr) antibodies were found in serum and CSF of patients with this particular type of encephalitis.

High-level transgene expression by homologous recombination-mediated gene transfer.

Gene transfer and expression in eukaryotes is often limited by a number of stably maintained gene copies and by epigenetic silencing effects. Silencing may be limited by the use of epigenetic regulatory sequences such as matrix attachment regions (MAR). Here, we show that successive transfections of MAR-containing vectors allow a synergistic increase of transgene expression.

Preconditioned endothelial progenitor cells reduce formation of melanoma metastases through SPARC-driven cell-cell interactions and endocytosis.

Tumor progression is associated with the release of signaling substances from the primary tumor into the bloodstream. Tumor-derived cytokines are known to promote the mobilization and the recruitment of cells from the bone marrow, including endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). Here, we examined whether such paracrine influence could also influence the capacity of EPC to interfere with circulating metastatic cells.

Small cell carcinoma of pulmonary type inside a microinvasive mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the ovary: a case report.

We report the occurrence of a small cell carcinoma of pulmonary type developed within a large borderline mucinous cystic tumor of the ovary, with another focus of microinvasive mucinous adenocarcinoma, in a 32-year-old woman. The small cell carcinoma expresses several neuroendocrine markers, thyroid transcription factor 1 and parathyroid hormone. Carbohydrate antigen 15.

Genome-wide prediction of matrix attachment regions that increase gene expression in mammalian cells.

Gene transfer in eukaryotic cells and organisms suffers from epigenetic effects that result in low or unstable transgene expression and high clonal variability. Use of epigenetic regulators such as matrix attachment regions (MARs) is a promising approach to alleviate such unwanted effects. Dissection of a known MAR allowed the identification of sequence motifs that mediate elevated transgene expression.

Presumed pseudobacteremia outbreak resulting from contamination of proportional disinfectant dispenser.

Reported here are the microbiological and epidemiological details of a presumed outbreak of aerobic gram-negative bacilli infections affecting 19 hematological patients, which was traced to contaminated disinfectant. Over a 5-month period, the following organisms were isolated from the blood cultures of 19 neutropenic patients: Pseudomonas fluorescens (n = 13), Achromobacter xylosoxidans (n = 12), Comamonas testosteroni (n = 2) or Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (n = 1). The affected patients were all treated with an expensive regimen of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy.

Plasma cytokine and soluble receptor signature predicts outcome of patients with classical Hodgkin's lymphoma: a study from the Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte.

Purpose: Approximately 15% of patients with localized and 30% with disseminated classical Hodgkin's lymphoma fail to respond or relapse after first-line treatment. Usual prognosis scoring systems are actually unable to identify this small subset of patients with good confidence, pointing out the need for additional prognostic biomarkers.

Patients And Methods: We prospectively analyzed the prognosis value of plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), its soluble receptors TNF-R1 and TNF-R2, IL-10, IL1-RA, IL-6, and soluble CD30 (sCD30) when taken before any treatment in 519 consecutive patients with a first diagnosis of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Burden of community-onset Escherichia coli bacteremia in seniors.

Background: Although Escherichia coli is a well-recognized cause of urinary tract infection in seniors, little is known about the burden of invasive E. coli infection in this population.

Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study of 46,238 noninstitutionalized Group Health Cooperative members>or=65 years of age to ascertain incidences of community-onset E.

Contribution of the Platelia Candida-specific antibody and antigen tests to early diagnosis of systemic Candida tropicalis infection in neutropenic adults.

The Platelia Candida-specific antigen and antibody assays (Bio-Rad Laboratories) were used to test serial serum samples from seven neutropenic adult patients with hematological malignancies who had developed systemic Candida tropicalis infections. The diagnosis of candidiasis was based on a positive blood culture (all seven patients) and the isolation of C. tropicalis from a normally sterile site (six patients).

An outbreak of Salmonella serotype Saintpaul in a children's hospital.

Objectives: To describe a nosocomial outbreak of Salmonella serotype Saintpaul gastroenteritis and to explore risk factors for infection.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: A 208-bed, university-affiliated children's hospital.

[Post-traumatic fracture and migration in the pulmonary artery of the catheter of a totally implantable venous access device. Unusual complication].

The case of a 59 year-old patient, who sustained a post-traumatic fracture of the silastic catheter of his totally implantable venous access device that migrated in the right pulmonary artery, is reported. The venous device was placed six months earlier for the treatment of metastatic spread of a primary unknown adenocarcinoma. The venous device was placed on the left side in consideration of a recent right supraclavicular node biopsy.

Phase I study of cinchonine, a multidrug resistance reversing agent, combined with the CHVP regimen in relapsed and refractory lymphoproliferative syndromes.

Overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in cancer cells reduces intracellular accumulation of various anticancer drugs including anthracyclines and vinca alkaloids. This multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype can be reversed in vitro by a number of non-cytotoxic drugs. We have identified the quinine's isomer cinchonine as a potent MDR reversing agent, both in vitro and in animal models.

Oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and folinic acid (Folfox) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: results of a pilot study.

We report the results of a chemotherapy regimen combining oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and folinic acid in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The objective of this pilot study was to define the potential efficacy of this second-line combination in patients previously treated with interleukin-2 alone or in combination with interferon alpha. Fourteen patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma in failure after immunotherapy were included in this trial.