Genetic and environmental factors shape the host response to Helicobacter hepaticus: insights into IBD pathogenesis.

Pathobionts are members of the gut microbiota with the capacity to cause disease when there is malfunctioning intestinal homeostasis. These organisms are thought to be major contributors to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a group of chronic inflammatory disorders driven by dysregulated responses towards the microbiota. Over two decades have passed since the discovery of Helicobacter hepaticus, a mouse pathobiont which causes colitis in the context of immune deficiency.

Mucosal immune responses in COVID19 - a living review.

COVID-19 was initially characterized as a disease primarily of the lungs, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the SARS-CoV2 virus is able to infect many organs and cause a broad pathological response. The primary infection site is likely to be a mucosal surface, mainly the lungs or the intestine, where epithelial cells can be infected with virus. Although it is clear that virus within the lungs can cause severe pathology, driven by an exaggerated immune response, infection within the intestine generally seems to cause minor or no symptoms.

The Generation of an Engineered Interleukin-10 Protein With Improved Stability and Biological Function.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an immunoregulatory cytokine that plays a pivotal role in modulating inflammation. IL-10 has inhibitory effects on proinflammatory cytokine production and function and ; as such, IL-10 is viewed as a potential treatment for various inflammatory diseases. However, a significant drawback of using IL-10 in clinical application is the fact that the biologically active form of IL-10 is an unstable homodimer, which has a short half-life and is easily degraded .

Interventions to improve adherence to cardiovascular disease guidelines: a systematic review.

Background: Successful management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is impaired by poor adherence to clinical practice guidelines. The objective of our review was to synthesize evidence about the effectiveness of interventions that target healthcare providers to improve adherence to CVD guidelines and patient outcomes.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Web of Science and CINAHL databases from inception to June 2014, using search terms related to adherence and clinical practice guidelines.

Interventions for enhancing medication adherence.

Background: People who are prescribed self administered medications typically take only about half their prescribed doses. Efforts to assist patients with adherence to medications might improve the benefits of prescribed medications.

Objectives: The primary objective of this review is to assess the effects of interventions intended to enhance patient adherence to prescribed medications for medical conditions, on both medication adherence and clinical outcomes.

Activity-based funding of hospitals and its impact on mortality, readmission, discharge destination, severity of illness, and volume of care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Activity-based funding (ABF) of hospitals is a policy intervention intended to re-shape incentives across health systems through the use of diagnosis-related groups. Many countries are adopting or actively promoting ABF. We assessed the effect of ABF on key measures potentially affecting patients and health care systems: mortality (acute and post-acute care); readmission rates; discharge rate to post-acute care following hospitalization; severity of illness; volume of care.

Adherence measurement and patient recruitment methods are poor in intervention trials to improve patient adherence.

Objectives: To develop a scale and survey the measurement of patient adherence and patient recruitment, and to explore how these methods impact the results in randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve patient adherence to medications.

Study Design: Analytic survey of a purposively selected sample of patient adherence intervention trials from a systematic review, assessing the quality of adherence measurement and patient recruitment methods.

Results: We identified 44 different measures of adherence, with qualities ranging from valid and objective to unreliable and subjective.

Measuring trade-offs that matter: assessing the impact of a new electronic cross-match policy on the turnaround time and the cross-match workload efficiency.

Background: Our traditional cross-match (XM) policy generated a significant number of XM units that were never issued. To minimize the unnecessary XM workload, we proposed a new policy where orders eligible for the electronic XM (EXM) are pended until orders to issue red blood cells (RBCs) are received. To address concerns that this new policy might unduly delay blood availability, we conducted a study to assess whether the new policy was noninferior to the traditional policy with regard to the turnaround time (TAT).

A demographic survey of unwanted horses in Ireland in 2011 and totals for 2012 and a comparison with 2010.

This report compiles the available information on unwanted horses in Ireland for 2011 and 2012 and builds upon the previous report for the period 2005 to 2010. Similar trends are present in the high value responsible ownership category and the practicing veterinary profession although extensively involved in horse welfare, euthanises a small proportion of Ireland's unwanted horses. Welfare groups have limited resources and a limited ability to deal with such an extensive problem, which has involved very large numbers of horses.

How current are leading evidence-based medical textbooks? An analytic survey of four online textbooks.

Background: The consistency of treatment recommendations of evidence-based medical textbooks with more recently published evidence has not been investigated to date. Inconsistencies could affect the quality of medical care.

Objective: To determine the frequency with which topics in leading online evidence-based medical textbooks report treatment recommendations consistent with more recently published research evidence.

An investigation of stride interval stationarity while listening to music or viewing television.

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the effects of auditory and visual distractions on pedestrian ambulation. A fundamental temporal characteristic of ambulation is the temporal fluctuation of the stride interval. In this paper, we investigate the stationarity of stride interval time series when people are exposed to different forms of auditory and visual distractions.

Accurate assessment of breast volume: a study comparing the volumetric gold standard (direct water displacement measurement of mastectomy specimen) with a 3D laser scanning technique.

Preoperative assessment of breast volume could contribute significantly to the planning of breast-related procedures. The availability of 3D scanning technology provides us with an innovative method for doing this. We performed this study to compare measurements by this technology with breast volume measurement by water displacement.