Consumption patterns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among patients admitted to inpatient drug detoxification treatment: Results of two cross-sectional surveys from 2018 and 2021.

Background: The lockdown measures during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic could have influenced drug consumption patterns of persons with drug use disorder, especially due to a reduced availability of drugs, an increased consumption of sedating substances as a coping strategy, or a shift to novel psychotropic substances (NPS) associated with an increased drug buying in the internet. In this study, the consumption patterns of people mainly with opioid use disorder entering inpatient drug detoxification treatment were investigated in the same hospitals with the same methods before and during the pandemic.

Methods: At admission, patients were interviewed regarding their consumption patterns using the EuropASI questionnaire.

Knowledge of, and attitude towards, the treatment of hepatitis C in people who inject drugs.

Background: Direct acting antivirals (DAAs) as a curative treatment of hepatitis C have been available for several years and have replaced interferon-containing therapies. However, treatment rates of people who inject drugs (PWID) are declining in Germany, putting the elimination of hepatitis C by 2030 at risk. This study aimed at elucidating the knowledge of, and attitude towards, hepatitis C treatment in a clinical sample of PWID.

The impact of mitotane therapy on serum-free proteins in patients with adrenocortical carcinoma.

Introduction: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy of the adrenal cortex. Whilst surgery is the preferred treatment, adjunctive therapy with mitotane may be offered post-surgically to minimise the risk of recurrence or, in the absence of surgery, to attenuate progression.

Aim: The objective was to evaluate the effects of mitotane treatment on serum protein concentrations in patients treated for ACC with mitotane therapy and compare this to patients with other adrenal neoplasms and a normal pregnant cohort.

Remodelling of cAMP dynamics within the SERCA2a microdomain in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction caused by obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Aims: Despite massive efforts, we remain far behind in our attempts to identify effective therapies to treat heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Diastolic function is critically regulated by sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium ATPase 2a (SERCA2a), which forms a functional cardiomyocyte (CM) microdomain where 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) produced upon β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) stimulation leads to phospholamban (PLN) phosphorylation and facilitated Ca2+ re-uptake.

Methods And Results: To visualize real-time cAMP dynamics in the direct vicinity of SERCA2a in healthy and diseased myocytes, we generated a novel mouse model on the leprdb background that stably expresses the Epac1-PLN Förster resonance energy transfer biosensor.

Awareness and knowledge of diabetic ketoacidosis in people with type 1 diabetes: a cross-sectional, multicenter survey.

Introduction: To evaluate awareness and knowledge of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a common and potentially life-threatening complication in people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Research Design And Methods: A survey was developed to assess individuals' current knowledge, management, and unmet needs regarding DKA. The study was conducted in six Swiss and three German endocrine outpatient clinics specialized in the treatment of diabetes.

Exploratory Growth Mixture Modeling of Cannabis-Withdrawal Syndrome Trajectories of Adult Pure Cannabis Dependents During Detoxification: Two Subtypes?

As clinical studies about subtypes of the cannabis withdrawal syndrome (CWS) are scant, we performed a re-analysis of longitudinal data with German adult cannabis-users seeking inpatient cannabis detoxification-treatment. Sixty-seven cannabis-dependents without active comorbidity were included for growth-mixture-analysis (GMM) of their CWS-severity-trajectories during a scheduled 24-day detox-treatment. As of treatment-day 12, thirty-six (53.

Unemployment and Substance Use: An Updated Review of Studies from North America and Europe.

Since the industrial revolution, the relationship between unemployment and psychiatric disorders has been a subject of high interest. Currently, regarding the correlation between unemployment and substance-use disorders (SUDs), only older, often isolated and fragmented research results are available in the literature. This review was based on an extensive literature search of the European and North American literature in most relevant databases for "unemployment" and "substance use" related to "drugs", "alcohol", "nicotine", and "tobacco" between November 2022 and January 2023, according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis) guidelines.

Endocannabinergic modulation of central serotonergic activity in healthy human volunteers.

Background: The serotonergic and the endocannabinoid system are involved in the etiology of depression. Depressive patients exhibit low serotonergic activity and decreased level of the endocannabinoids anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonylglycerol (2AG). Since the cannabinoid (CB) 1 receptor is activated by endogenous ligands such as AEA and 2AG, whose concentration are controlled by the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase, respectively, we investigated the effects on serotonergic utilization.

Accuracy of Dose-Saving Artificial-Intelligence-Based 3D Angiography (3DA) for Grading of Intracranial Artery Stenoses: Preliminary Findings.

Background And Purpose: Based on artificial intelligence (AI), 3D angiography (3DA) is a novel postprocessing algorithm for "DSA-like" 3D imaging of cerebral vasculature. Because 3DA requires neither mask runs nor digital subtraction as the current standard 3D-DSA does, it has the potential to cut the patient dose by 50%. The object was to evaluate 3DA's diagnostic value for visualization of intracranial artery stenoses (IAS) compared to 3D-DSA.

Diagnosis and management of parathyroid carcinoma: a state-of-the-art review.

Parathyroid carcinoma is one of the least common endocrine malignancies and accounts for approximately 1% of all patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature published between January 2000 and March 2022 via Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EudraCT, ClinicalTrials.gov, CINAHL and SCOPUS was conducted.

The Potential of Self-Assessment and Associated Factors for Delayed Symptomatic Hyponatremia Following Transsphenoidal Surgery: A Single Center Experience.

(1) Background: We identified screening parameters and associated factors for delayed, symptomatic hyponatremia (DSH) following inpatient discharge after transsphenoidal surgery (TSS). (2) Methods: In this prospective, monocentric study, 108 patients who underwent TSS for pituitary pathologies were included, provided with a questionnaire and instructed to document urine specific gravity, fluid intake/urine output, body weight and clinical symptoms for every of five days following discharge from hospital. (3) Results: The overall incidence of DSH within 14 days following discharge from the hospital was 14.

Bradykinesia assessment in children with cerebral palsy and periventricular leukomalacia.

Objective: To analyse the motor phenotype with a focus on bradykinesia in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) in the setting of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL).

Methodology: Analysis of a cohort of 25 children with CP and PVL. The Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) and the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) were used to classify the severity of motor function.

HCV elimination in a Swiss opioid agonist therapy programme - a cohort study.

Background: In opioid agonist therapy (OAT) programmes, chronic hepatitis C is highly prevalent and directly observed therapy guarantees optimal adherence. Since 2017, all patients with chronic hepatitis C in Switzerland can be treated with pangenotypic direct-acting antivirals irrespective of liver fibrosis stage. Until the end of 2021, however, prescription was restricted to infectious disease specialists, gastroenterologists and certain addiction specialists.

Cannabis use, abuse and dependence during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.

The interaction between cannabis use or addiction and SARS-COV-2 infection rates and COVID-19 outcomes is obscure. As of 08/01/2022 among 57 evaluated epidemiological/clinical studies found in Pubmed-database, most evidence for how cannabis use patterns were influenced by the pandemic was given by two systematic reviews and 17 prospective studies, mostly involving adolescents. In this age group, cannabis use patterns have not changed markedly.

Referral to aftercare following inpatient withdrawal treatment and readmission: retrospective chart review of patients with substance use disorders.

Aims Of The Study: Aftercare following inpatient withdrawal treatment improves the prognosis and prevents future readmissions in patients with substance use disorders. According to the stepped care approach, the setting and intensity of aftercare should be adjusted to the patients' specific needs and resources. This study evaluated the real-life referral to different types of aftercare in Switzerland and the rate of inpatient readmission within a 1-year follow-up.

Cannabinoids in the Treatment of Cannabis Use Disorder: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: The prevalence of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders (CUD) has significantly increased over time. However, there are no approved pharmacological treatments for CUD. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of various medical cannabinoids in the treatment of CUD.

Learning-based occupational x-ray scatter estimation.

During x-ray-guided interventional procedures, the medical staff is exposed to scattered ionizing radiation caused by the patient. To increase the staff's awareness of the invisible radiation and monitor dose online, computational scatter estimation methods are convenient. However, such methods are usually based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, which are inherently computationally expensive.

The impact of nutritional counseling on thyroid disorders in head and neck cancer patients after (chemo)radiotherapy: results from a prospective interventional trial.

Objective: To analyze the impact of nutritional counseling on the development of hypothyroidism after (chemo)radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients to propose a new normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model.

Materials And Methods: At baseline, at the end of (chemo)radiotherapy, and during follow-up, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) with free thyroxin (fT3 and fT4), nutritional status, and nutrient intake were prospectively analyzed in 46 out of 220 screened patients. Patients received (chemo)radiotherapy within an intervention (individual nutritional counseling every 2 weeks during therapy) and a control group (no nutritional counseling).

Comparison of methods for sensitivity correction in Talbot-Lau computed tomography.

Purpose: In Talbot-Lau X-ray phase contrast imaging, the measured phase value depends on the position of the object in the measurement setup. When imaging large objects, this may lead to inhomogeneous phase contributions within the object. These inhomogeneities introduce artifacts in tomographic reconstructions of the object.

X-Ray Scatter Estimation Using Deep Splines.

X-ray scatter compensation is a very desirable technique in flat-panel X-ray imaging and cone-beam computed tomography. State-of-the-art U-net based scatter removal approaches yielded promising results. However, as there are no physics' constraints applied to the output of the U-Net, it cannot be ruled out that it yields spurious results.

Deep Learning-Based ECG-Free Cardiac Navigation for Multi-Dimensional and Motion-Resolved Continuous Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

For the clinical assessment of cardiac vitality, time-continuous tomographic imaging of the heart is used. To further detect e.g.

Cephalogram synthesis and landmark detection in dental cone-beam CT systems.

Due to the lack of a standardized 3D cephalometric analysis methodology, 2D cephalograms synthesized from 3D cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) volumes are widely used for cephalometric analysis in dental CBCT systems. However, compared with conventional X-ray film based cephalograms, such synthetic cephalograms lack image contrast and resolution, which impairs cephalometric landmark identification. In addition, the increased radiation dose applied to acquire the scan for 3D reconstruction causes potential health risks.

Sociodemographic and Clinical Predictors of the Length of Psychiatric Inpatient Stay of Immigrants in Switzerland.

Immigrants with mental disorders have consistently been reported to spend shorter time in the psychiatric hospital compared to native patients. The aim of this study was to identify sociodemographic, clinical and migration-related predictors of a shorter length of psychiatric inpatient stay among immigrants in Switzerland. All patients of a foreign nationality admitted for inpatient treatment in the year 2016 ( = 279) were included in this study.