Assessing health-related quality of life using the Wound-QoL-17 and the Wound-QoL-14-Results of the cross-sectional European HAQOL study using item response theory.

For assessing health-related quality of life in patients with chronic wounds, the Wound-QoL questionnaire has been developed. Two different versions exist: the Wound-QoL-17 and the Wound-QoL-14. For international and cross-cultural comparisons, it is necessary to demonstrate psychometric properties in an international study.

Validation of the Wound-QoL-17 and the Wound-QoL-14 in a European sample of 305 patients with chronic wounds.

The Wound-QoL assesses the impact of chronic wounds on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). A 17-item and a shortened 14-item version are available. The Wound-QoL-17 has been validated for multiple languages.

How does a chronic wound change a patient's social life? A European survey on social support and social participation.

Chronic wounds can severely limit patient's social life. This cross-sectional study investigated quantitatively social support of patients with chronic wounds, its association with health-related quality of life as well as qualitatively changes in social participation of these patients. Overall, 263 patients from seven countries participated.

Simultaneous Entrainment Response Assessment at Multiple Sites.

Background: The entrainment response, defined as the difference between the postpacing interval and the tachycardia cycle length (TCL) recorded from a mapping catheter, allows to track down the components of the tachycardia loop.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate if the postpacing interval measured simultaneously from multiple sites that are remote from the pacing site (PPIR) could be clinically useful in mapping re-entrant circuits.

Methods: Ninety-two episodes of entrainment response in 29 patients with different macro-re-entrant tachycardias were evaluated using a standardized entrainment protocol.

Lichen Planus Activity and Damage Index (LiPADI)-Creation of the Questionnaire.

Introduction: Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects skin, oral and genital mucosa, and other sites. Basic difficulties in assessment of LP are multitude of disease forms and diverse locations of lesions. Moreover, there is lack of objective and consolidated tool for assessment of disease severity and LP progression.

The 12-Item Pruritus Severity Scale - Determining the Severity Bands.

Assessment of pruritus still remains a challenge due to its subjective character. Various itch questionnaires are widely used to evaluate the severity of pruritus. The aim of the current study was to define the cut off values for the 12-Item Pruritus Severity Scale (12-PSS).

Determination of chemical stability of sitagliptin by LC-UV, LC-MS and FT-IR methods.

Sitagliptin was stored at high temperature/high humidity, dry hot air, UV/VIS light and different pH. Then, a selective LC-UV method was developed for determination of sitagliptin in the presence of degradation products and for estimation of degradation kinetics. Because parent drugs can react with excipients in final pharmaceutical formulations, stability of sitagliptin was also examined in the presence of excipients of different reactivity, using FT-IR and LC-UV methods.

The efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen in hemorrhagic stroke: experimental and clinical implications.

Hemorrhagic stroke, accounting for 10-30% of stroke cases, carries high rates of morbidity and mortality. This review presents the current knowledge on the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO)-based modalities in the preclinical research on hemorrhagic stroke. Both preconditioning and post-treatment with HBO are considered as prospective therapeutic options.

Hyperbaric oxygen modalities are differentially effective in distinct brain ischemia models.

The effectiveness and efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) preconditioning and post-treatment modalities have been demonstrated in experimental models of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases, including global brain ischemia, transient focal and permanent focal cerebral ischemia, and experimental neonatal hypoxia-ischemia encephalopathy. In general, early and repetitive post-treatment of HBO appears to create enhanced protection against brain ischemia whereas delayed HBO treatment after transient focal ischemia may even aggravate brain injury. This review advocates the level of injury reduction upon HBO as an important component for translational evaluation of HBO based treatment modalities.

Hyperbaric oxygen as an adjunctive therapy in treatment of malignancies, including brain tumours.

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is widely used as an adjunctive treatment for various pathological states, predominantly related to hypoxic and/or ischaemic conditions. It also holds promise as an approach to overcoming the problem of oxygen deficiency in the poorly oxygenated regions of the neoplastic tissue. Occurrence of local hypoxia within the central areas of solid tumours is one of the major issues contributing to ineffective medical treatment.

Modulation of radiation-induced cytogenetic damage in human peripheral blood lymphocytes by hypothermia.

Purpose: Recent studies have shown that low temperature (hypothermia) at exposure can act in a radio-protective manner at the level of cytogenetic damage. The mechanisms of this phenomenon are not understood, but it was suggested to be due to hypothermia-induced perturbations of the cell cycle. The purpose of the present study was to detect whether a reduced frequency of micronuclei is observed in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) irradiated at low temperature and harvested sequentially at 3 time points.

Prenatal alcohol exposure alters gene expression in the rat brain: Experimental design and bioinformatic analysis of microarray data.

We previously identified gene expression changes in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of rats prenatally exposed to alcohol under both steady-state and challenge conditions (Lussier et al., 2015, Alcohol.: Clin.

Concentration dependent toxicokinetics of copper in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

To predict internal metal concentrations in animals under specific environmental exposures, the relationship between the exposure concentrations and values of toxicokinetic parameters must be known. At high exposure levels, the availability of carriers transporting metal ions through cellular membranes may become limited, thereby decreasing the assimilation rates (k A ). Furthermore, increased metal concentrations in food may result in greater damage to the gut and reduce the assimilation efficiency and/or increase the elimination rate (k E ).

Prenatal alcohol exposure alters steady-state and activated gene expression in the adult rat brain.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is associated with alterations in numerous physiological systems, including the stress and immune systems. We have previously shown that PAE increases the course and severity of arthritis in an adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) model. While the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully known, changes in neural gene expression are emerging as important factors in the etiology of PAE effects.