Screening for dysphagia in older people: A validation study of the psychometric properties of the Danish 4 Question Test (4QT-DK).

Aim: The four-item questionnaire test (4QT) is a simple screening measure of dysphagia for older people. A positive answer to any item indicates the need for further assessment. The 4QT is fast, simple to apply and requires no training beforehand.

Diagnosing infectious encephalitis: a narrative review.

Background: Diagnosing infectious encephalitis can be challenging as it can be caused by a wide range of pathogens, with viruses being the most common cause. In a substantial number of patients, no pathogen is identified despite a clinical diagnosis of infectious encephalitis. Recent advancements in diagnostic testing have introduced new methods to address this diagnostic challenge and improve pathogen detection.

Task-Based Eating and Drinking Interventions in Animal Models: A Narrative Review of Functional Improvements and Neuromuscular Adaptations in Age-Related Dysphagia.

Background/objectives: Age-related dysphagia involves sarcopenia and nervous system changes affecting ingestion. The ACT-ING program, a novel task-based occupational therapy intervention, has been developed to improve strength, endurance, and ingestive skills using real-world eating and drinking tasks for older adults with age-related dysphagia. This narrative review evaluates the outcomes and neuromuscular adaptations of task-based eating and drinking interventions in aging animal models to inform potential refinements of the ACT-ING program and interpret results from an ongoing proof-of-concept study.

Diagnostic prediction models for bacterial meningitis in children with a suspected central nervous system infection: a systematic review and prospective validation study.

Objectives: Diagnostic prediction models exist to assess the probability of bacterial meningitis (BM) in paediatric patients with suspected meningitis. To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these models in a broad population of children suspected of a central nervous system (CNS) infection, we performed external validation.

Methods: We performed a systematic literature review in Medline to identify articles on the development, refinement or validation of a prediction model for BM, and validated these models in a prospective cohort of children aged 0-18 years old suspected of a CNS infection.

Validation of the encephalitis criteria in adults with a suspected central nervous system infection: An updated score.

Objectives: We aimed to validate and refine the encephalitis criteria proposed by the International Encephalitis Consortium in a cohort of adults initially suspected of a central nervous system (CNS) infection.

Methods: We included patients from two prospective cohort studies consisting of adults suspected of a CNS infection whom underwent a diagnostic lumbar puncture. We evaluated the test characteristics of the criteria for both possible and probable encephalitis.

Granulocytes in cerebrospinal fluid of adults suspected of a central nervous system infection: a prospective study of diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) granulocytes are associated with bacterial meningitis, but information on its diagnostic value is limited and primarily based on retrospective studies. Therefore, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of CSF granulocytes.

Methods: We analyzed CSF granulocytes (index test) from all consecutive patients in two prospective cohort studies in the Netherlands.

Diagnostic accuracy of inflammatory markers in adults with suspected central nervous system infections.

Objectives: We aimed to determine diagnostic accuracy of inflammatory markers in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) infections and specifically bacterial meningitis.

Methods: We analyzed 12 cytokines, chemokines, and acute phase reactants in CSF and plasma of 738 patients with suspected neurological infection included in a multicenter prospective cohort. We determined diagnostic accuracy for predicting any CNS infection and bacterial meningitis.

A scoping review of feed interventions and livelihoods of small-scale livestock keepers.

Livestock support the livelihoods of one billion people in Africa, Asia and Latin America, but the productivity of animals remains low, reducing the potential of the sector to support higher incomes and better nutrition. Improved livestock feeding has been identified as the most important step towards higher productivity. This scoping review assessed the evidence for the uptake of improved ruminant livestock feed options, the effect of this uptake on livestock productivity and the degree to which this improves smallholder farmer livelihoods.

A research vision for food systems in the 2020s: Defying the status quo.

•Research and science should not only inform food and environmental policy but should be adopted and mainstreamed into actions at all levels.•Food systems are faced with grander and interconnected challenges and constraints that bring about new research questions.•Research has a vital role in charting a positive and sustainable direction for global food security, nutrition, and health.

Prevalence of Atopy following Mass Drug Administration with Albendazole: A Study in School Children on Flores Island, Indonesia.

Background: In many rural areas of tropical countries such as Indonesia, the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infections remains high. At the same time, the burden of allergic disorders in such rural areas is reported to be low and inversely associated with helminth infections. To reduce the morbidity and transmission of helminth infections, the world health organization recommends preventive treatment of school children by providing mass drug administration (MDA) with albendazole.

Low RMR as a Surrogate Marker for Energy Deficiency, the Choice of Predictive Equation Vital for Correctly Identifying Male and Female Ballet Dancers at Risk.

Ballet dancers are reported to have an increased risk for energy deficiency with or without disordered eating behavior. A low ratio between measured () and predicted () resting metabolic rate (RMR < 0.90) is a recognized surrogate marker for energy deficiency.

A versatile electrophoresis-based self-test platform.

This paper reports on recent research creating a family of electrophoresis-based point of care devices for the determination of a wide range of ionic analytes in various sample matrices. These devices are based on a first version for the point-of-care measurement of Li(+), reported in 2010 by Floris et al. (Lab Chip 2010, 10, 1799-1806).

Point of care creatinine measurement for diagnosis of renal disease using a disposable microchip.

A point-of-care device for the determination of elevated creatinine levels in blood is reported. This device potentially offers a new and simple clinical regime for the determination of creatinine that will give huge time savings and removal of several steps of determination. The test employs a disposable prefilled microchip and the handheld Medimate Multireader®.

Epilepsy is a risk factor for sudden cardiac arrest in the general population.

Background: People with epilepsy are at increased risk for sudden death. The most prevalent cause of sudden death in the general population is sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) due to ventricular fibrillation (VF). SCA may contribute to the increased incidence of sudden death in people with epilepsy.

A prefilled, ready-to-use electrophoresis based lab-on-a-chip device for monitoring lithium in blood.

We present the Medimate Multireader, the first point-of-care lab on a chip device that is based on capillary electrophoresis. It employs disposable pre-filled microfluidic chips with closed electrode reservoirs and a single sample opening. Several technological innovations allow operation with closed reservoirs, which is essential for reliable point-of-care operation.

Liposomal doxorubicin and nab-paclitaxel: nanoparticle cancer chemotherapy in current clinical use.

Liposomal doxorubicin and nab-paclitaxel are nanoparticle formulations of traditional cancer chemotherapy drugs which have ample clinical experience both pre- and post-nanoparticle modification. The alterations in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy, and toxicity compared with their parent compounds are instructive for future development of nanoparticle-based therapies. In this article we review the current status of these agents, emphasizing the alterations in clinical behavior resulting from the nanoparticle formulation of the parent compound.

Investigation of the risk of exposure to antimicrobial residues present in marketed milk in Tanzania.

Concerns about food safety are increasing in developing countries where urbanization and changing life styles are associated with greater dependence on marketed foods. Ensuring the safety of animal products supplied from smallholder and pastoral systems in these countries presents a great challenge. The risk of consumer exposure to marketed milk containing antimicrobial residues was investigated by testing 986 samples of unpasteurized milk collected in dry and wet seasons from market agents along milk supply chains in and around Mwanza and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania during 1999 and 2000 and estimating the frequency of consuming such milk.

The economics of optimal health and productivity in smallholder livestock systems in developing countries.

Livestock kept or produced in smallholder farming systems are an important component of the agricultural economy in the developing world. The role of livestock on smallholder farms varies widely, providing draught power for crop production or as a production activity for subsistence needs or market sale under systems ranging from extensive pastoralist to intensive, peri-urban feeder and dairy systems. A set of unique conditions and features characterise smallholder systems, and these need to be appreciated when assessing the strategies that have evolved for managing animal health in smallholder systems, and evaluating opportunities for improving disease control strategies.

Are white matter lesions directly associated with cognitive impairment in patients with lacunar infarcts?

Forty-four patients (mean age 66, SD 8 years) with either clinical evidence of a focal lacunar syndrome (n = 36) or with disorders of memory or gait (n = 8) in the presence of a lacunar infarct on CT were studied for cognitive functioning and for the presence of white matter lesions on MRI. MR images were assessed by a neurologist and a neuroradiologist blinded to the clinical data. Thirty-six patients had one or more lacunar infarcts on CT or MRI (in the thalamus in 5, in the caudate nucleus in 3 and in the internal capsule or corona radiata in the remaining patients).

Large granular lymphocytosis in a patient infected with HTLV-II.

HTLV-II has been associated with a variety of lymphoproliferative disorders, including atypical hairy cell leukemia, chronic T cell leukemia, T prolymphocytic leukemia, and large granular lymphocytic leukemia. However, a direct or indirect role for HTLV-II in these disorders is not yet firmly established. We studied a patient diagnosed as having leukemia of the large granular lymphocyte (LGL) type who was HTLV-II seropositive, to determine if the expanded cell population was infected.

A retroviral oncogene, akt, encoding a serine-threonine kinase containing an SH2-like region.

The v-akt oncogene codes for a 105-kilodalton fusion phosphoprotein containing Gag sequences at its amino terminus. Sequence analysis of v-akt and biochemical characterization of its product revealed that it codes for a protein kinase C-related serine-threonine kinase whose cellular homolog is expressed in most tissues, with the highest amount found in thymus. Although Akt is a serine-threonine kinase, part of its regulatory region is similar to the Src homology-2 domain, a structural motif characteristic of cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases that functions in protein-protein interactions.