Background: Population-based screening for prostate cancer (PC) is still controversially discussed. Furthermore, an organized, risk-adapted screening program is already being called for across Europe. Although large randomized controlled trials have shown that prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening can significantly reduce PC-specific mortality, all known screening strategies still frequently lead to overdiagnosis and consecutively to overtreatment of clinically insignificant PC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Access to sample-level metadata is important when selecting public metagenomic sequencing datasets for reuse in new biological analyses. The Standards, Precautions, and Advances in Ancient Metagenomics community (SPAAM, https://spaam-community.org) has previously published AncientMetagenomeDir, a collection of curated and standardised sample metadata tables for metagenomic and microbial genome datasets generated from ancient samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Climate change because of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions increasingly triggers extreme weather events. Of all the continents, Europe is warming the fastest. Heat and drought, forest fires and floods will worsen in Europe even in optimistic global warming scenarios, affecting living conditions across the continent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDental calculus is a microbial biofilm that contains biomolecules from oral commensals and pathogens, including those potentially related to cause of death (CoD). To assess the utility of calculus as a diagnostically informative substrate, in conjunction with paleopathological analysis, calculus samples from 39 individuals in the Smithsonian Institution's Robert J. Terry Collection with CoDs of either syphilis or tuberculosis were assessed via shotgun metagenomic sequencing for the presence of Treponema pallidum subsp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a rare inherited phosphate-wasting disorder associated with bone and dental complications. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is reduced in XLH patients on conventional treatment with phosphate supplements and active vitamin D, while information on patients treated with burosumab is rare.
Methods: HRQoL was assessed in 63 pediatric XLH patients participating in a prospective, observational study and patient registry in Germany using the KIDSCREEN-52 survey instrument and standardized qualitative interviews.
The maintenance of intestinal integrity and barrier function under conditions of restricted oxygen availability is crucial to avoid bacterial translocation and local inflammation. Both lead to secondary diseases after hemorrhagic shock and might increase morbidity and mortality after surviving the initial event. Monitoring of the intestinal integrity especially in the early course of critical illness remains challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study evaluated the impact of mutable water uptake on the durability of mechanical properties and the long-term reliability of artificial composites.
Methods: Three resin-based CAD/CAM restorative materials (CRMs) were investigated in three-point bending tests to calculate flexural strength (FS), modulus of elasticity (ME), modulus of resilience (MR), modulus of toughness (MT), and elastic recovery (ER). All specimens (n = 180) were stored under the same conditions and tested in four subsets (n = 15 per material) that were respectively withdrawn after repeated thermocycling (5000 cycles; 5-55 °C, HO) and repetitive drying (7 d; 37 °C, air).
The objective of this study was to determine quarters requiring antimicrobial treatment using either a benchtop somatic cell counter or culture with gram-positive selective media and compare the outcomes in these cows to those receiving blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT) in a randomized, controlled trial. We evaluated 2 novel methods of identifying cows with intramammary infections followed by selective antimicrobial treatment at a commercial dairy farm to determine their usefulness in decreasing antibiotic usage during the dry period without significant detrimental effects on milk quality and production. Cows (n = 840) were randomly allocated to one of 3 groups (BDCT, gram-positive selective media culture-based selective dry cow therapy [C-SDCT], and somatic cell count-based SDCT [S-SDCT]) the day before dry-off, and quarter-level milk samples (QLMS) were collected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The harm-to-benefit ratio of prostate cancer (PCa) screening remains controversial mainly due to the unfavorable test characteristics of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening test.
Methods: In this nonsystematic review, we present a current overview of the body of evidence on prostate cancer screening with a focus on the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the prostate.
Results: Evidence generated in large randomized controlled trials showed that PSA-based screening significantly decreases cancer-specific mortality.
Bixin is a carotenoid found in the covering of seeds and widely used as a dye, mainly in food products and cosmetics. This compound is insoluble in water, but technologies have been developed for its use in aqueous preparations, as well as a component for new formulations to disperse other lipophilic ingredients. It has recently aroused the interest of researchers in areas such as Pharmacology, Endocrinology and Oncology, but also new applications in Food Technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Providing individualised healthcare in line with patient wishes is a particular challenge for emergency healthcare professionals. Documentation of patient wishes (DPW), e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTesticular adrenal rest tumors (TART) are a frequent and fertility impairing long-term complication in males with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Due to lack of clear experimental data on their origin, they are hypothesized to be derived from ectopic adrenocortical cells within testicular tissue mainly growing upon stimulation by chronically elevated levels of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH). Alternatively, a more totipotent embryological origin has been discussed as the potential source of these tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a small footprint benchtop somatic cell counter based on image cytometry (LactiCyte HD; Page and Pedersen International Ltd., Hopkinton, MA) against a flow cytometer employed at a regional dairy herd improvement (DHI) laboratory. Milk samples collected during monthly DHI testing were split into 2 samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Care Manag Sci
December 2023
Background: A programme based on health education has been developed to prevent foot dermatoses (FD) in patients with work-related skin diseases (WRSD).
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the programme in a prospective cohort study (OCCUPES).
Methods: Six and 12 months after completing the programme, follow-up questionnaires were sent to 231 patients with WRSD and FD.
Background: The terrestrial subsurface is home to a significant proportion of the Earth's microbial biomass. Our understanding about terrestrial subsurface microbiomes is almost exclusively derived from groundwater and porous sediments mainly by using 16S rRNA gene surveys. To obtain more insights about biomass of consolidated rocks and the metabolic status of endolithic microbiomes, we investigated interbedded limestone and mudstone from the vadose zone, fractured aquifers, and deep aquitards.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral studies have shown that female experts are seldom quoted within news media coverage about health and science issues. Yet, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent race for a vaccine, female health and science workers (broadly defined) were at the forefront of the discovery, testing, and implementation of several vaccinations. This study examines the extent to which female experts were represented in news coverage about the vaccine over a 2-year period in ( = 1978).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Programmes for prevention of hand dermatoses in patients with work-related skin diseases (WRSD) are well established. Similar interventions for foot dermatoses (FD) are widely missing.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a programme for prevention of FD based on health education in patients with WRSD while investigating the impact and possible causative factors of FD.