Is screening for motor skill deficits in Tyrolean preschool children warranted and feasible? A protocol for a two-stage cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) show deviations in motor development and motor skills in early childhood where the learning and execution of coordinated motor skills are below the level expected for their age. Early detection of DCD is critical to provide an opportunity for intervention and support, yet many cases remain undetected until school age. The study described aims to determine the warranty, feasibility and validity of a mobility screening in Tyrolean kindergartens and evaluate its potential benefit to enhance the motor development prospects of affected children.

Physiotherapeutic evaluation of patients with post COVID-19 condition: current use of measuring instruments by physiotherapists working in Austria and South Tyrol.

Background: The implementation of standardized assessments in physiotherapeutic practice strongly supports diagnostic and treatment plans. Previous studies reported insufficient usage of standardized assessments due to lack of time, lack of knowledge, lack of resources and other barriers. Physiotherapy in outpatient settings became essential for the rehabilitation of patients with post COVID-19 condition but it remains unknown to what extent assessments are implemented into the evaluation of these patients.

Post-COVID-19 Rehabilitation: Perception and Experience of Austrian Physiotherapists and Physiotherapy Students.

The rehabilitation needs of COVID-19 survivors are increasingly recognized, with a focus on combating respiratory and neuromuscular dysfunctions. The aim here was to explore the perception of Austrian physiotherapists and physiotherapy students on post-COVID-19 rehabilitation care and to identify barriers for the application of sufficient rehabilitation. We analysed current knowledge and practical skills in respiratory physiotherapy, performing a cross-sectional national survey among physiotherapists working in outpatient settings and physiotherapy students in their last academic year of bachelor-level education in Austria.

The surface of rat hepatocytes can transfer iron from stable chelates to external acceptors.

The chelator diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA) forms a stable complex with iron that does not donate iron to transferrin under physiological conditions, i.e., pH above 7 and isotonic milieu.

Hepatic uptake of iron by receptor-mediated and receptor-independent mechanisms.

Hepatocytes can accumulate iron from transferrin via receptor- or non-receptor-mediated endocytosis or from non-transferrin iron complexes. The latter is several times more efficient than the transferrin-mediated uptake. Both pathways have some properties in common and mutually influence each other: Whereas on the one hand the non-permeant chelator DTPA as well as a polymer-conjugated desferrioxamine inhibit uptake of iron from transferrin, transferrin (in both forms, diferric or apo) itself inhibits uptake from the Fe(3+)-DTPA complex.

Uptake of iron by isolated rat hepatocytes from a hydrophilic impermeant ferric chelate, Fe(III)-DTPA.

We studied uptake of iron from Fe(III)-diethylenetriamine pentaacetate (DTPA) in isolated rat hepatocytes. This uptake is specific with an affinity of 600 nM and shows an optimum pH of 6. The specificity is indicated by inhibition by ferric citrate and diferric transferrin.

Non-transferrin iron uptake by HeLa cells cultured in serum-free media with different iron sources.

HeLa cells cultured in defined serum-free media supplied with iron wither in the form of diferric transferrin (transferrin-dependent cells), ferric citrate at 500 micromol/l (high-iron dependent cells) or ferric citrate at 5 micromol/l (low-iron dependent cells) accumulate iron from ferric citrate in different ways. The uptake rate in transferrin-dependent cells is always much lower in the other two lines. In all three, the uptake rate rises almost linearly with the concentration of iron up to 10 micromol/l.

Removal of lactoferrin from plasma is mediated by binding to low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein/alpha 2-macroglobulin receptor and transport to endosomes.

LDL receptor related protein (LRP) is a ubiquitously expressed cell surface receptor that binds, at least in vitro, a plethora of ligands among them alpha 2-macroglobulin and lactoferrin (Lf). The function of LRP in internalisation and distribution of ligands within cellular metabolism is still unclear. We here investigated by combined ligand- and immunoblotting the participation of LRP/alpha 2MR and its associated protein (RAP) in receptor mediated endocytosis of Lf into rat liver.

Biochemical aspects of iron metabolism, transport and regulation.

Iron metabolism in man is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms mainly based on intracellular regulation of iron uptake, utilisation and storage. Despite impressive accumulation of knowledge in recent years, the question how iron actually passes cellular membranes and how this transport process is regulated remains largely unanswered. Various models and hypotheses are discussed in context with other well established features of iron homeostasis.

NAD(P)H:ferric iron reductase in endosomal membranes from rat liver.

Endosomes isolated from rat liver, characterized by high enrichment of endocytosed ligand after liver perfusion, displayed ferric reductase activity with higher affinity for NADH (1.7 microM) than for NADPH (7.1 microM).