Data of a sub-analysis of the DEMDATA study: characteristics of Austrian and Czech nursing homes residents.

Objectives: The aim of this data paper is to provide the data set of a sub-analysis of the DEMDATA study data. In the DEMDATA study, epidemiological data on the prevalence and severity of dementia, as well as functioning, behavioral problems and other health related factors in residents living in Austrian and Czech nursing homes were collected. The DEMDATA project further provides information on relatives' perception of the life Quality of residents, care team burden as well as environmental factors.

Cognitive status and use of analgesics and anxiolytics in residents of nursing homes in the Czech Republic.

Background: The treatment of pain and treatment of anxiety are two of the most complex issues in nursing homes worldwide, mainly because of the large numbers of people with cognitive impairment who reside in this environment.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the administration of analgesics and anxiolytics to people living in nursing homes, taking into account cognitive status.

Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we used data from 404 residents who lived in nine randomly selected nursing homes in the Czech Republic and participated in the Czech-Austrian Long-Term Care Research Project called DEMDATA.

Use of beta-blocker is associated with lower mortality in patients with coronary artery disease with or without COPD.

Introduction: Beta-blockers are indicated for secondary prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, in patients with co-morbidity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) an underuse of beta-blocker has been reported.

Materials And Methods: Prescription and demographic data and information on hospital discharge diagnoses from 13 Austrian health insurance funds for the years 2006-2007 were analyzed.

Cross-sectional study of prevalence of dementia, behavioural symptoms, mobility, pain and other health parameters in nursing homes in Austria and the Czech Republic: results from the DEMDATA project.

Background: This paper provides a first comparative exploratory analysis of our findings from DEMDATA, a collaborative project between Austria and the Czech Republic. Analysed here are data from the residents and the environment assessment protocol.

Methods: In a cross sectional study design, residents from randomly drawn and stratified nursing homes were investigated using a common study protocol.

Systematic dysphagia screening and dietary modifications to reduce stroke-associated pneumonia rates in a stroke-unit.

Background And Purpose: While formal screening for dysphagia following acute stroke is strongly recommended, there is little evidence on how multi-consistency screening and dietary modifications affect the rate of stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP). This observational study reports which factors affect formal screening on a stroke-unit and how dietary recommendations relate to SAP.

Method: Analyses from a database including 1394 patients admitted with acute stroke at our stroke-unit in Austria between 2012 and 2014.

DEMDATA: The Austrian-Czech institutional long term care project - design and protocol of a two-centre cross sectional study.

Background: The organization of long-term care is one of the main challenges of public health and health policies in Europe and worldwide, especially in terms of care concepts for people with dementia. In Austria and the Czech Republic the majority of elderly institutionalized persons with dementia are cared for in nursing homes. It is however unclear, how many persons living in nursing homes in Austria and in the Czech Republic are suffering from cognitive impairment and dementia.

A novel GJA 1 mutation in oculo-dento-digital dysplasia with curly hair and hyperkeratosis.

Oculo-dento-digital dysplasia (ODDD) is a rare autosomal dominant congenital disorder mainly affecting the development of the face, eyes, skeletal system, heart and dentition. ODDD has been mapped to chromosome 6q22-q24 and germline mutations have been identified in the connexin 43 gene, GJA1. Abnormalities of the skin, hair, and nails have been recognized in ODDD but are often easily overlooked.

Netherton syndrome with extensive skin peeling and failure to thrive due to a homozygous frameshift mutation in SPINK5.

Background: Netherton syndrome (NTS) is a rare autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterized by congenital erythroderma and ichthyosis, hair shaft abnormalities and immune dysregulation. The disorder is caused by deleterious mutations in the SPINK5 gene, encoding the serine protease inhibitor LEKTI.

Objective: Our objective was to investigate if the erythrodermic variant of peeling skin syndrome is also caused by SPINK5 mutations and to study the consequences of the disease on infantile brain development.

Bigenic connexin mutations in a patient with hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia.

Gap junctions are formed by a polygenic family of more than 20 different connexin proteins. They mediate intercellular communication via the direct exchange of ions, metabolites and secondary messengers, thus controlling and coordinating cellular activities. Mutations in five gap junction genes, including GJB2 (Cx26), GJB3 (Cx31), GJB4 (Cx30.

Genetic heterogeneity of KID syndrome: identification of a Cx30 gene (GJB6) mutation in a patient with KID syndrome and congenital atrichia.

Connexins are integral membrane proteins forming aqueous gap junction channels that allow the diffusional exchange of ions and small metabolites between cells, thus coordinating metabolic activities in multicellular tissues. Dominant mutations in the Cx26 gene GJB2 have been shown to cause keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness (KID) syndrome, palmoplantar keratoderma associated with hearing loss, and Vohwinkel syndrome. Missense mutations in the closely related Cx30 gene GJB6 underlie Clouston syndrome (autosomal dominant hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia).

Mutations in GALNT3, encoding a protein involved in O-linked glycosylation, cause familial tumoral calcinosis.

Familial tumoral calcinosis (FTC; OMIM 211900) is a severe autosomal recessive metabolic disorder that manifests with hyperphosphatemia and massive calcium deposits in the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Using linkage analysis, we mapped the gene underlying FTC to 2q24-q31. This region includes the gene GALNT3, which encodes a glycosyltransferase responsible for initiating mucin-type O-glycosylation.

The effect of aerial parts of Echinacea on the circulating white cell levels and selected immune functions of the aging male Sprague-Dawley rat.

Echinacea is one of the most widely used over-the-counter herbal preparations that purport to "improve immune system function", especially when taken as a short course of therapy (6-8 weeks). Since many purchasers are older individuals, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed to investigate whether Echinacea could affect total and differential white cell counts, phagocytic activity and interleukin (IL-2) levels in 12-month-old, healthy, male Sprague-Dawley rats when administered over an 8-week period. Echinacea (50 mg/kg of aerial parts) mixed with peanut butter or peanut butter alone was fed to 16 rats, which were receiving regular food and water ad libitum.