Navigating post-ICU care: understanding family members' experiences - a qualitative study.

Background: Comprehending and addressing the needs of caregivers during the post-intensive care unit (ICU) phase is vital for establishing sustainable support systems and improving the overall quality of life (QoL) for both patients and caregivers.

Objective: To explore the experiences of family members (FMs) caring for loved ones three-months after ICU discharge and their related QoL.

Methods And Measures: A qualitative, descriptive research was conducted.

Media Coverage of Alcohol-Use Disorders in German Newspapers and Magazines: A Topic-Specific Frame Analysis.

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are pressing social problems. News media play a key role in setting the agenda for the public discourse and framing these problems. They provide people affected and unaffected with health-related information on different facets of the disease and present the topic in various contexts.

The Italian Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit Questionnaire: A Psychometric Evaluation Using the Rasch Model.

Quality measurement of the intensive care unit (ICU) should include families' perspectives, their satisfaction with the care process and outcomes, and the evaluation of actions to improve their psychological health and wellbeing. The current study was designed to validate the Italian version of the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit (FS-ICU) using the Rasch model. Results included reliability and separation for items and persons, item fit statistics, unidimensionality, and item characteristic curve.

Expanding the Health Information National Trends Survey Research Program Internationally to Examine Global Health Communication Trends: Comparing Health Information Seeking Behaviors in the U.S. and Germany.

The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) is a well-established U.S.-based research program administered by the National Cancer Institute to track the public access to and use of health information.

A Longitudinal Study of Physical and Mental Health and Health-Related Attitudes Among Music Students: Potentials and Challenges for University Health Promotion Programs.

Objective: Well-being of music students has been an increasing matter of concern since studies show that up to 50% of beginners suffer from playing-related pain or anxiety. The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine health status, health-related attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, skills, and coping strategies of students at the beginning of their education at a music university and at the end of their second semester.

Methods: Based on a longitudinal online survey conducted among students at a German music university since 2017, we investigated mental and physical health status, health-related attitudes, knowledge, skills, behaviors, and coping strategies of music students at the beginning of their first year ( = 205).

Understanding the Pathway of Cancer Information Seeking: Cancer Information Services as a Supplement to Information from Other Sources.

Cancer information services (CISs) can play an important role within the pathway of cancer information seeking, but so far, this role is not well understood. Callers (n = 6,255) who contacted the largest provider of cancer information in Germany participated in a survey in which they reported their information sources, information level, and needs leading to the call. Persons with prior information from a physician (n = 1,507) were compared to people with prior online information (n = 901) and people with prior information from both sources (n = 2,776).

Correlates of the perceived quality of patient-provider communication among German adults.

Background: Since a higher perceived quality of patient-provider communication is known to be associated with improved health outcomes, it is essential to analyze determinants influencing patients' perceived quality of patient-provider communication. Due to the limited knowledge about patient-related influencing factors of quality perception available so far, the objective of this study is to explore and assess determinants of the perceived quality of patient-provider communication with regards to sociodemographic, health-related, healthcare-specific and information-related factors.

Methods: Linear regression of cross-sectional data from the first wave of Health Information National Trends Survey Germany (n = 2902) was conducted.

Stingless bee honey: An overview of health benefits and main market challenges.

This review aimed to evaluate the nutraceutical and medicinal effects of stingless bee honey (SBH) by bringing a discussion focused on the main known in vitro/in vivo health-promoting effects. SBH has a high-water content, slight sweetness, acidic flavor, fluid texture, and slow crystallization. The type and concentration of phenolic compounds and consequent antioxidant activity were mainly associated with the floral sources, geographical location, bee species, and processing steps.

Psychological Distress and Coping Ability of Women at High Risk of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer before Undergoing Genetic Counseling-An Exploratory Study from Germany.

Carriers of pathogenic variants causing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) are confronted with a high risk to develop malignancies early in life. The present study aimed to determine the type of psychological distress and coping ability in women with a suspicion of HBOC. In particular, we were interested if the self-assessed genetic risk had an influence on health concerns and coping ability.

Studying Music During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Conditions of Studying and Health-Related Challenges.

Objective: The coronavirus pandemic affects all areas of life. Performing arts and music studies have also experienced considerable changes, with university closures and a fluctuating return to normal and more limited operations. Prior studies detail the impact of the pandemic on college students, but we do not yet know what specific consequences it has for music students.

Vegan probiotic products: A modern tendency or the newest challenge in functional foods.

Vegan consumers represent an attractive economic target for the food industry with demand of products with health benefits, such as probiotic products. This review aimed to explore the so called vegan probiotic products by providing an overview of the commercial and studied products and their associated in vitro/in vivo health-promoting effects, and discuss the effect of probiotics on the technological and sensory properties in a range of products. The factors that impact on the probiotic survival, the main challenges and the trends of this market niche are presented.

Impact of Arterial Blood Pressure on Ultrasound Hemodynamic Assessment of Aortic Valve Stenosis Severity.

Background: Aortic stenosis (AS) severity assessment is based on several indices. Aortic valve area (AVA) is subject to inaccuracies inherent to the measurement method, while velocities and gradients depend on hemodynamic status. There is controversy as to whether blood pressure directly affects common indices of AS severity.

[How do people in Germany seek health information? Insights from the first wave of HINTS Germany].

Background: Dynamic developments in the healthcare system are associated with a more active and more participatory patient role, in which patients make informed decisions and help shape their care. This points to the increasing role of health information and health information seeking behaviors. But to date, the health information seeking behavior of people in Germany hasn't been subject to systematic survey research.

Efficiency evaluation of thermal, ultrasound and solvent techniques in activated carbon regeneration.

The regeneration of diclofenac saturated activated carbon was studied and compared by thermal, solvent and ultrasound techniques in this work. Thermal regeneration was performed at 673 K in atmospheric air for one hour. Different proportions of solvents (ethanol, ethyl acetate and HO) were used to evaluate the regeneration of the sorbent solid.

TRITIUM ANALYSIS IN URINE BY THE TRIPLE-TO-DOUBLE COINCIDENCE RATIO METHOD WITH THE HIDEX 300 SL LIQUID SCINTILLATION COUNTER.

The triple-to-double coincidence ratio (TDCR) method is a liquid scintillation primary method for the absolute activity measurement of pure β- and pure electron capture emitters. This method requires specific three-photomultiplier liquid scintillation counters. The aim of the present work is to assess the TDCR method performance for routine tritium analysis in urine using an HIDEX 300 SL, the only three-photomultiplier liquid scintillation counter designed for routine laboratories.

[Trends in cancer information services over 25 years : An analysis of inquiries from patients and relatives made to the Cancer Information Service of the German Cancer Research Center from 1992 to 2016].

Background: Cancer information services (CISs) are a valuable source of evidence-based information. Previous studies in the field of CISs often investigate only short periods of time. However, there is a need for long-term analyses to identify changes in the use of CISs.

Demographic and cancer-related differences between self-seeking patients and supported patients: Analysis of cancer information-service data.

Objective: Surrogate information seeking is quite common, and several studies have presented data on caregivers, family members, and friends who seek health information on the Internet or from a cancer-information service (CIS) on behalf of cancer patients. However, these studies provide little information about the patients who are supported by surrogate seekers. Therefore, this study analyzed demographic and cancer-related differences, including diverse informational needs, between self-seeking patients and patients who benefited from surrogate seekers (ie, caregivers, family, or friends) requesting information on their behalf.

[Multimodal imaging of ischemic heart diseases: A 2015 update].

Current realities and future possibilities of imaging in the ischemic heart diseases are very broad and constantly evolving, with the improvement of existing technologies and the introduction of new features such as dual-energy CT, strain ultrasound, multimodality fusion or perfusion MRI. Regular collaboration between prescribing clinicians, cardiologists, radiologists and nuclear radiologists is therefore essential to tailor the examination to the specific clinical question. The indications for each modality will therefore depend on its diagnostic performance, cost, acquisition and post-processing times and eventual radiation exposure.

Vaccine-induced Aβ-specific CD8+ T cells do not trigger autoimmune neuroinflammation in a murine model of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Active immunization against Aβ was reported to have a therapeutic effect in murine models of Alzheimer's disease. Clinical Aβ vaccination trial AN1792 was interrupted due to the development in 6 % of the patients of meningoencephalitis likely involving pro-inflammatory CD4(+) T cells. However, the potential implication of auto-aggressive anti-Aβ CD8(+) T cells has been poorly investigated.

UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS(E) identification of urinary metabolites of the emerging sport nutrition supplement methoxyisoflavone in human subjects.

Methoxyisoflavone (5-methyl-7-methoxyisoflavone) is a synthetic isoflavone used by bodybuilders for its ergogenic properties. A recent study demonstrated that methoxyisoflavone metabolites can induce false-positive results in urinary immunoassay screening tests for cannabinoids, and only one metabolite has been identified. To improve the knowledge on the metabolic pathways of methoxyisoflavone, ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF) was applied.

Viscozyme L action on soy slurry affects carbohydrates and antioxidant properties of silken tofu.

This study investigated the enzymatic treatment of soy slurry using Viscozyme L to hydrolyze the carbohydrates. The optimum temperature of Viscozyme L action was 55 °C. The increase of glucose and galactose content in tofu (1.

Mouse vaccination with dendritic cells loaded with prion protein peptides overcomes tolerance and delays scrapie.

Prion diseases are presumed to be caused by the accumulation in the brain of a pathological protein called prion protein (PrP) scrapie which results from the transconformation of cellular PrP, a ubiquitous glycoprotein expressed in all mammals. Since all isoforms of PrP are perceived as self by the host immune system, a major problem in designing efficient immunoprophylaxis or immunotherapy is to overcome tolerance. The present study was aimed at investigating whether bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with peptides previously shown to be immunogenic in PrP-deficient mice, can overcome tolerance in PrP-proficient wild-type mice and protect them against scrapie.

Dendritic cell-mediated-immunization with xenogenic PrP and adenoviral vectors breaks tolerance and prolongs mice survival against experimental scrapie.

In prion diseases, PrP(c), a widely expressed protein, is transformed into a pathogenic form called PrP(Sc), which is in itself infectious. Antibodies directed against PrP(c) have been shown to inhibit PrP(c) to PrP(Sc) conversion in vitro and protect in vivo from disease. Other effectors with potential to eliminate PrPSc-producing cells are cytotoxic T cells directed against PrP-derived peptides but their ability to protect or to induce deleterious autoimmune reactions is not known.