J R Coll Physicians Edinb
December 2024
Listening to stories of sickness lies at the heart of the patient-doctor relationship. Storytelling serves as a powerful learning tool fostering empathy, attentive listening, clinical curiosity and reflection, key elements of narrative competence. The patient's story, their history, forms the fundamental core of diagnosis, and their emotions are central to crafting appropriate treatment plans that address their true concerns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Support staff within social care settings have expressed a need for resources to facilitate end-of-life care planning with people with intellectual disabilities. This study aimed to co-design a preliminary toolkit of end-of-life care planning approaches and resources that can be implemented in adult social care services for people with intellectual disabilities.
Methods: An adapted Experience-Based Co-Design process was applied to develop a toolkit for end-of-life care planning with people with intellectual disabilities.
Lymphoid restricted membrane protein (LRMP) is a specific regulator of the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-sensitive isoform 4 (HCN4) channel. LRMP prevents cAMP-dependent potentiation of HCN4, but the interaction domains, mechanisms of action, and basis for isoform-specificity remain unknown. Here, we identify the domains of LRMP essential for this regulation, show that LRMP acts by disrupting the intramolecular signal transduction between cyclic nucleotide binding and gating, and demonstrate that multiple unique regions in HCN4 are required for LRMP isoform-specificity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We aimed to investigate if ex vivo plasma from injured patients causes endothelial calcium (Ca2+) influx as a mechanism of trauma-induced endothelial permeability.
Summary Background Data: Endothelial permeability after trauma contributes to post-injury organ dysfunction. While the mechanisms remain unclear, emerging evidence suggests intracellular Ca2+ signaling may play a role.
Lymphoid restricted membrane protein (LRMP) is a specific regulator of the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-sensitive isoform 4 (HCN4) channel. LRMP prevents cAMP-dependent potentiation of HCN4 but the interaction domains, mechanisms of action, and basis for isoform-specificity remain unknown. Here we identify the domains of LRMP essential for regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
August 2023
While the exact prevalence of disordered eating in youth who are overweight and have obesity has not been determined, studies show that the odds of a young adult (18-24 years) with obesity engaging in disordered eating behaviors is 2.45 times more likely to occur than in young adults with Body Mass Indexes (BMI) in the normative range. The purpose of this review is to highlight the role that disordered eating and eating disorders may play in pediatric obesity and the importance of screening for these conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArteries and arterioles exhibit myogenic tone, a partially constricted state that allows further constriction or dilation in response to moment-to-moment fluctuations in blood pressure. The vascular endothelium that lines the internal surface of all blood vessels controls a wide variety of essential functions, including the contractility of the adjacent smooth muscle cells by providing a tonic vasodilatory influence. Studies conducted on large (pial) arteries on the surface of the brain have shown that estrogen lowers myogenic tone in female mice by enhancing nitric oxide (NO) release from the endothelium, however, whether this difference extends to the intracerebral microcirculation remains ambiguous.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopy number variants (CNVs) have been identified as common genomic variants that play a significant role in inter-individual variability. Conversely, rare recurrent CNVs have been found to be causal for many disorders with well-established genotype-phenotype relationships. However, the phenotypic implications of rare non-recurrent CNVs remain poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSignificance: Vascular mural cells, defined as smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and pericytes, influence brain microcirculation, but how they contribute is not fully understood. Most approaches used to investigate pericyte and capillary interactions include retinal/slice preparations or two-photon microscopy. However, neither method adequately captures mural cell behavior without interfering neuronal tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Older People Nurs
January 2023
Background: Nursing home hospital avoidance programmes have contributed to a reduction in unnecessary emergency transfers but a description of the core components of the programmes has not been forthcoming. A well-operationalised health-care programme requires clarity around core components to evaluate and replicate the programme. Core components are the essential functions and principles that must be implemented to produce expected outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients with hematological malignancies are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes due to compromised immune responses, but the insights of these studies have been compromised due to intrinsic limitations in study design. Here we present the PROSECO prospective observational study ( NCT04858568 ) on 457 patients with lymphoma that received two or three COVID-19 vaccine doses. We show undetectable humoral responses following two vaccine doses in 52% of patients undergoing active anticancer treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Pekin duck is a valuable agricultural commodity globally and in the United States. Pekin ducks are seasonal breeders; they are sensitive to light and thus, research on the neuroendocrine and behavioral responses are needed to maximize production and to improve their welfare. There is compelling evidence that specific wavelengths of light may adversely alter the growth and welfare of meat (grow out) ducks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmune checkpoint inhibition is the standard-of-care for many advanced cancers. Side effects of therapy may prevent optimal treatment of the cancer. Management of side effects is dominated by recommendations derived from oncological, not gastroenterological practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
October 2021
Assessing and addressing social determinants of health can improve health outcomes of older adults. The Nebraska Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program implemented a primary care liaison (PCL) model of care, including training primary care staff to assess and address unmet social needs, patient counseling to identify unmet needs, and mapping referral services through cross-sectoral partnerships. A PCL worked with three patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) that are part of a large integrative health system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the most common form of cardiomyopathy and main indication for heart transplantation in children. Therapies specific to pediatric DCM remain limited due to lack of a disease model. Our previous study showed that treatment of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) with serum from nonfailing or DCM pediatric patients activates the fetal gene program (FGP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVisceral artery pseudoaneurysms are rare and potentially fatal unless recognized and treated immediately. Here we present to our mind the first documented case of a ruptured pseudoaneurysm involving the left gastric artery giving rise to Michels' Type II replaced left hepatic artery. An 84-year-old female presented with an acute rupture of such an aneurysm post radical cystectomy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy (pDCM) is characterized by unique age-dependent molecular mechanisms that include myocellular responses to therapy. We previously showed that pDCM, but not adult DCM patients respond to phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitors (PDE3i) by increasing levels of the second messenger cAMP and consequent phosphorylation of phospholamban (PLN). However, the molecular mechanisms involved in the differential pediatric and adult response to PDE3i are not clear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe complement system is the human's first line of defense against microbial pathogens because of its important housekeeping and infection/inflammation roles. It is composed of a series of soluble and cell-bound proteins that are activated in a cascade effect, similar to the coagulation pathways. There are different pattern recognizing molecules that activate the complement system in response to stimuli or threats, acting through three initiation pathways: classical, lectin, and alternative.
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