A mixed-methods study of patient and healthcare professional perceptions of care pathways for knee osteoarthritis.

Background: This study aimed to address research gap concerning the perception of the care pathway for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients, focusing on both the patient and health professional perspectives in countries with inefficient health systems, such as Slovenia, by examining patient satisfaction with conservative treatment, assessing the perceptions of both patients and health professionals regarding the latter's involvement, and justifying the chosen KOA treatment approaches.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with KOA patients (n = 82) and healthcare professionals (n = 68).

Results: The care pathway for conservative KOA treatment in Slovenia begins with general practitioners (GPs), who conduct initial examinations, prescribe analgesics, and refer patients to radiologists and orthopaedic surgeons.

Integrating Genetic Insights, Technological Advancements, Screening, and Personalized Pharmacological Interventions in Childhood Obesity.

Childhood obesity is a significant global health challenge with rising prevalence over the past 50 years, affecting both immediate and long-term health outcomes. The increase in prevalence from 0.7% to 5.

Degradation of Waste Tetra Pak Packaging with Hydrothermal Treatment in Sub-/Supercritical Water.

Tetra pak packaging is one of the most frequently used types of packaging in the food industry. The recycling of the tetra pak packaging waste presents a difficult task because of its multi-layered, multi-component structure. In this study, the degradation of tetra pak packaging in subcritical (SubCW) and supercritical (SCW) water was investigated.

Prolonged theoretical classes impact students' perceptions: an observational study.

Mental fatigue (MF) arises during prolonged demanding cognitive activity and results in acute feelings of tiredness and a decreased physical and/or cognitive performance capacity. An often-overlooked population that is significantly at risk for the development of MF are university students. The current study investigated the impact of prolonged in-person theoretical classes on the perceptions of MF, boredom, and sleepiness among 27 Slovenian university students (first-year physiotherapy).

Mango Peels as an Industrial By-Product: A Sustainable Source of Compounds with Antioxidant, Enzymatic, and Antimicrobial Activity.

Plant waste materials are important sources of bioactive compounds with remarkable health-promoting benefits. In particular, industrial by-products such as mango peels are sustainable sources of bioactive substances, with antioxidant, enzymatic, and antimicrobial activity. Appropriate processing is essential to obtain highly bioactive compounds for further use in generating value-added products for the food industry.

Extraction of Active Compounds from Mixtures of Hemp () with Plants of the Family.

Hemp is probably one of the most studied plants for its health-promoting properties, with countless documented and patented extraction methods, but literature is scarce on the simultaneous extraction of mixture of raw materials. Hemp, along with other plant materials, could represent a potentially highly valuable source material with resulting reciprocal effects. In this study, hemp () and three members of the family, ginger (), turmeric (), and cardamom (), were extracted simultaneously, and their bioactive component values were investigated.

The Extraction Process, Separation, and Identification of Curcuminoids from Turmeric .

Turmeric is a well-known spice with various health benefits, attributed primarily to curcumin. Soxhlet extraction, cold maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and supercritical fluid extraction were performed, and the content of total phenols, proanthocyanidins, and antioxidants was analysed by UV/VIS spectrophotometry. High-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was employed to identify and quantify the curcumin content.

Special Issue "Genetics and Epigenetics in Endocrine Disorders".

In the last decade, the development of high-throughput sequencing methodologies has significantly improved the gathering of genomic information and consequent under-standing of the genetic and epigenetic background of complex and monogenetic endocrine disorders [...

Challenges of social change: The 2021 Republic of Slovenia report card on physical activity of children and adolescents.

Background: Slovenian children are facing considerable health challenges from the rapid social changes that influence their opportunity to engage in daily physical activity.

Objective: To overlay the social changes to the established Report Card model as a means of contextualising the extreme changes in physical activity and fitness observed over several years.

Methods: Benchmarks were graded for 10 core indicators, plus two (Sleep, Seasonal Variations).

Genetic and clinical characteristics including occurrence of testicular adrenal rest tumors in Slovak and Slovenian patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency.

Objective: To analyze the mutational spectrum, clinical characteristics, genotype-phenotype correlations, testicular adrenal rests tumor prevalence, and role of neonatal screening in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) patients from Slovakia and Slovenia.

Design And Methods: Data were obtained from 104 patients with CAH registered in Slovak and Slovenian databases. Low-resolution genotyping was performed to detect the most common point mutations.

The Physiology and Mechanisms of Growth.

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Natural Hemp-Ginger Extract and Its Biological and Therapeutic Efficacy.

The prevention and treatment of skin diseases remains a major challenge in medicine. The search for natural active ingredients that can be used to prevent the development of the disease and complement treatment is on the rise. Natural extracts of ginger and hemp offer a wide range of bioactive compounds with potential health benefits.

Chemical Recycling of Polyolefins Waste Materials Using Supercritical Water.

In the following work, the hydrothermal degradation of polypropylene waste (PP) using supercritical water (SCW) has been studied. The procedure was carried out in a high-pressure, high-temperature batch reactor at 425 °C and 450 °C from 15 to 240 min. The results show a high yield of the oil (up to 95%) and gas (up to 20%) phases.

Optimisation of the Green Process of Industrial Hemp-Preparation and Its Extract Characterisation.

Natural medicines and products are becoming increasingly important in the pharmaceutical and food industries. The most important step in obtaining a natural remedy is the processing of the natural material. This study offers the separation of the industrial hemp plant into fractions by mechanical treatment, which has a significant impact on the selectivity of the obtained fractions.

Heterozygous Variants in Idiopathic Short Stature.

Heterozygous variants in the gene, which encodes the B-type natriuretic peptide receptor (NPR-B), a regulator of skeletal growth, were reported in 2-6% cases of idiopathic short stature (ISS). Using next-generation sequencing (NGS), we aimed to assess the frequency of variants in our study cohort consisting of 150 children and adolescents with ISS, describe the phenotypic spectrum with a growth pattern including birth data, and study the response to growth hormone (GH) treatment. A total of ten heterozygous pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants and two heterozygous variants of uncertain significance were detected in twelve participants (frequency of causal variants: 10/150, 6.

Effect of Ascorbic Acid on Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury Incidence.

Objectives: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with higher perioperative mortality and morbidity. Oxidative stress has been proposed as a cause of postoperative AKI. Ascorbic acid (AA) supplementation was suggested as a novel and promising antioxidant.

Heterozygous Genetic Variants in Autosomal Recessive Genes of the Leptin-Melanocortin Signalling Pathway Are Associated With the Development of Childhood Obesity.

Monogenic obesity is a severe, genetically determined disorder that affects up to 1/1000 newborns. Recent reports on potential new therapeutics and innovative clinical approaches have highlighted the need for early identification of individuals with rare genetic variants that can alter the functioning of the leptin-melanocortin signalling pathway, in order to speed up clinical intervention and reduce the risk of chronic complications. Therefore, next-generation DNA sequencing of central genes in the leptin-melanocortin pathway was performed in 1508 children and adolescents with and without obesity, aged 2-19 years.

Supercritical Fluid and Conventional Extractions of High Value-Added Compounds from Pomegranate Peels Waste: Production, Quantification and Antimicrobial Activity of Bioactive Constituents.

This study is focused on different extractions (Cold Maceration (CM), Ultrasonic Extraction (UE), Soxhlet Extraction (SE) and Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE)) of bioactive compounds from pomegranate ( L.) fruit peels using methanol, ethanol, and acetone as solvents in conventional extractions and changing operating pressure (10, 15, 20, 25 MPa) in SFE, respectively. The extraction yields, total phenols (TP) and proanthocyanidins (PAC) contents, and antioxidant activity of different extracts are revealed.

Novel Treatment Options in Childhood Bone Diseases.

Background: Several novel treatment options have recently become available in childhood bone diseases. The purpose of this article is to provide an update on some of the therapeutic agents used in the treatment of pediatric osteoporosis, X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets, and achondroplasia (ACH).

Summary: Vitamin D3 and Ca supplementation remains the basis of childhood osteoporosis treatment.

A General Small-Angle X-ray Scattering-Based Screening Protocol for Studying Physical Stability of Protein Formulations.

A fundamental step in developing a protein drug is the selection of a stable storage formulation that ensures efficacy of the drug and inhibits physiochemical degradation or aggregation. Here, we designed and evaluated a general workflow for screening of protein formulations based on small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Our SAXS pipeline combines automated sample handling, temperature control, and fast data analysis and provides protein particle interaction information.