Tocilizumab in COVID-19: A Double-Edged Sword?

SARS-CoV-2 was responsible for the global pandemic. Approximately 10-15% of patients with COVID-19 developed respiratory failure with adult acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which required treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The cytokine storm observed in severe COVID-19 was frequently handled with steroids.

Communicative health literacy and associated variables in nine European countries: results from the HLS survey.

Our study aimed to report on variables associated with communicative health literacy (COM-HL) in European adults. The HLS survey was conducted in 2019-2021 including nine countries which measured COM-HL by using a validated questionnaire (HLS-COM-P-Q6 with a score ranging from 0 to 100). Linear regression models were used to study variables associated with COM-HL globally (multilevel model with random intercepts and slopes and at country level) and in each country.

Hydrazidomethyl starch as a pH-sensitive coating for magnetic core in tailored magnetic nanoparticles with selective doxorubicin release.

The work aimed to use and modify starch as a biodegradable and biocompatible polysaccharide to create a modern pH-sensitive anticancer drug carrier based on a hydrazone bond. The multi-step reaction created a material that can bind to the carbonyl group of anticancer drugs. Additionally, polysaccharide was used to coat magnetic nanoparticles to increase the applicability of the carrier system.

Clay Minerals/TiO Composites-Characterization and Application in Photocatalytic Degradation of Water Pollutants.

TiO used for photocatalytic water purification is most active in the form of nanoparticles (NP), but their use is fraught with difficulties in separation from solution or/and a tendency to agglomerate. The novel materials designed in this work circumvent these problems by immobilizing TiO NPs on the surface of exfoliated clay minerals. A series of TiO/clay mineral composites were obtained using five different clay components: the Na-, CTA-, or H-form of montmorillonite (Mt) and Na- or CTA-form of laponite (Lap).

Practical approach to mid-ranging control of double-unit actuating systems.

The paper focuses on the problem of controlling a double-unit actuating system with a series of actuators. Based on the conventional mid-ranging control system (MCS) with two PI controllers, a robust step-by-step design and tuning framework is proposed based on the D-partition method to improve the cooperation between the controllers. Furthermore, a universal modification is proposed that can improve the MCS performance by adding a feedforward compensator.

Lower Incidence of HCC and Other Major Adverse Liver Outcomes in People Living With HIV and Chronic Liver Disease.

Background And Aims: People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH) show a high incidence of chronic liver disease (CLD). However, whether HIV is associated with major adverse liver outcomes (MALO) in patients with underlying CLD remains to be determined.

Methods: In this population-based cohort study, data were retrieved from the Swedish National Patient Register to identify PLWH and CLD (n = 2375) or CLD without HIV (n = 144,346) between 1997 and 2020.

Effects of organic fruit juices on physicochemical, microbiological, and antioxidative aspects of fermented whey beverages from organic goat and cow milk, produced at laboratory and industrial scales.

Fermented milk beverages have been known for years and are characterized by excellent health-promoting properties. Therefore, consumer attention has been drawn to this product type in recent years. In the presented research, the technology of production in laboratory and industrial scales of controlled fermentation of whey beverages containing sweet or sour organic cow or goat whey, with the addition of organic fruit juices (apple, blackcurrant, or Kamchatka berry juice), are described.

[Determinants of health behaviors of physical education teachers and students].

Background: The level of health behavior of physical education teachers and people preparing to perform this profession is important from the point of view of the need to play the role of a health promoter - an authority in the promotion of health culture. The aim of the study was to assess the level of teachers' health behaviors of physical education teachers and students, as well as to search for their determinants.

Material And Methods: The research covered 127 teachers and 173 physical education students.

The mediating role of health behaviors in the relationship between internal locus of control and life satisfaction in public health students.

Well-being is a continuous process requiring decisions and actions to maintain or build health. This study examines the indirect effect of health locus of control on life satisfaction via healthy behaviors based on living systems theory. Participants were 730 students of various majors related to medicine and health, aged between 19 and 30 (M = 22.

Exploring the interplay between antiretroviral therapy and the gut-oral microbiome axis in people living with HIV.

The gut and oral microbiome is altered in people living with HIV (PLWH). While antiretroviral treatment (ART) is pivotal in restoring immune function in PLWH, several studies have identified an association between specific antiretrovirals, particularly integrase inhibitors (INSTI), and weight gain. In our study, we explored the differences in the oral and gut microbiota of PLWH under different ART regimens, and its correlation to Body Mass Index (BMI).

3D Printed Drug Delivery Systems in Action-Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Relaxometry for Monitoring Mass Transport Phenomena.

The hypothesis of the study was that (1) 3D printed drug delivery systems (DDS) could be characterized in situ during drug release using NMR/MRI techniques in terms of mass transport phenomena description (interfacial phenomena), particularly for systems dealing with two mobile phases (e.g., water and low molecular weight liquid polymer); (2) consequently, it could be possible to deduce how these interfacial mass transport phenomena influence functional properties of 3D printed DDS.

Defining Death: Toward a Biological and Ethical Synthesis.

Much of the debate over the definition and criteria for determining our death has focused on disagreement over the correct biological account of death, i.e., what it means for any organism to die.

BEATS: BEAmline for synchrotron X-ray microTomography at SESAME.

The ID10 beamline of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) synchrotron light source in Jordan was inaugurated in June 2023 and is now open to scientific users. The beamline, which was designed and installed within the European Horizon 2020 project BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME (BEATS), provides full-field X-ray radiography and microtomography imaging with monochromatic or polychromatic X-rays up to photon energies of 100 keV. The photon source generated by a 2.

TiO Nanoparticles with Adjustable Phase Composition Prepared by an Inverse Microemulsion Method: Physicochemical Characterization and Photocatalytic Properties.

Titania nanoparticles (NPs) find wide application in photocatalysis, photovoltaics, gas sensing, lithium batteries, etc. One of the most important synthetic challenges is maintaining control over the polymorph composition of the prepared nanomaterial. In the present work, TiO NPs corresponding to anatase, rutile, or an anatase/rutile/brookite mixture were obtained at 80 °C by an inverse microemulsion method in a ternary system of water/cetyltrimethylammonium bromide/1-hexanol in a weight ratio of 17:28:55.

Elite controllers microbiome: unraveling the mystery of association and causation.

Purpose Of Review: To unravel the current knowledge and possible link between the gut microbiome and HIV-1 virological control in elite controllers (EC), who can suppress viral replication in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. In addition, to discuss the limitations of current research and propose future research directions.

Recent Findings: EC possess a different gut bacterial microbiota profile in composition and functionality from that of treatment-naive HIV-1 viremic progressors (VP).

Organismal Superposition Problem and Nihilist Challenge in the Definition of Death.

According to the mainstream bioethical stance, death constitutes the termination of an organism. This essay argues that such an understanding of death is inappropriate in the usual context of determining death, since it also has a social bearing. There are two reasons to justify this argument.

Ambiguous Faces of Water-Based Inclusion Compounds: L4(4)8(8) Intercalato-Clathrate Hydrate of Pt(II) Complex.

Clathrate hydrates are among the most intensively studied H-bond inclusion compounds. Despite the broad definition for this class of compounds, their meaning commonly refers to closed polyhedral nanocages that encapsulate small guest molecules. On the other hand, larger solutes enforce another type of encapsulation because of the solute size effect.

HTLV in Sweden.

Sweden is a country with a low prevalence of human lymphotropic T-cell virus (HTLV) infection, estimated at < 0.005%, but the infection rate is notably higher in specific risk groups such as HTLV-2 among intravenous drug users (IVDU) and people originating from HTLV-1 highly endemic areas. Thus, in the most recent study from 2012, the prevalence of HTLV-2 among IVDU in Stockholm was 3.

Cytomegalovirus infection among people living with HIV in Sweden: Case profiles, treatment strategies and patient outcomes at Karolinska University Hospital 2010-2020.

Objectives: In countries with access to early antiretroviral treatment (ART), opportunistic infections caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) in people living with HIV (PLWH) are becoming increasingly rare. As potential complications are severe, it is critical to remain aware of this important diagnosis. However, clinical characteristics and prognosis of CMV infection in PLWH in the era of modern ART have not been well described.

Death as the extinction of the source of value: the constructivist theory of death as an irreversible loss of moral status.

In 2017, Michael Nair-Collins formulated his Transitivity Argument which claimed that brain-dead patients are alive according to a concept that defines death in terms of the loss of moral status. This article challenges Nair-Collins' view in three steps. First, I elaborate on the concept of moral status, claiming that to understand this notion appropriately, one must grasp the distinction between direct and indirect duties.

Memory T cells effectively recognize the SARS-CoV-2 hypermutated BA.2.86 variant.

T cells are critical in mediating the early control of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) breakthrough infection. However, it remains unknown whether memory T cells can effectively cross-recognize new SARS-CoV-2 variants with a broad array of mutations, such as the emergent hypermutated BA.2.