The impact of patient registration on utilisation and quality of care: a propensity score matching and staggered difference-in-differences analysis of a cohort of 16,775 people with type 2 diabetes.

Background: In 2012, Luxembourg introduced a Referring Doctor (RD) policy, whereby patients voluntarily register with a primary care practitioner, who coordinates patients' health care and ensures optimal follow-up. We contribute to the limited evidence base on patient registration by evaluating the effects of the RD policy.

Methods: We used data on 16,775 people with type 2 diabetes on oral medication (PWT2D), enrolled with the Luxembourg National Fund from 2010 to 2018.

Dalbavancin as salvage therapy in difficult-to-treat patients for diabetes-related foot osteomyelitis.

Objectives: We aimed to describe the efficacy and safety of dalbavancin in treatment of patients with diabetes-related foot osteomyelitis with bone culture confirmation.

Patients And Methods: Between January 2019 and December 2021, all consecutive patients receiving at least one 1500 mg dose of dalbavancin for diabetes-related foot osteomyelitis were included in a retrospective study. Remission was defined as absence of relapsing infection or need for surgery at the initial or a contiguous site during 6-month follow-up from the last dose of dalbavancin.

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) knowledge among general practitioners in 2020: A French survey.

Introduction: Since 2017, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been one of the tools in combination HIV prevention strategies. The objective of our questionnaire was to analyze the knowledge and the position of general practitioners in Hauts-de-France on PrEP.

Method: This quantitative, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 using an anonymous questionnaire sent by post to a sample of 3007 GPs.

Pharmacovigilance for COVID-19 vaccines: A 1-year experience in France.

As of February 2022, more than 130 million Covid vaccine doses had been distributed in France. During the first year of relevant vaccination, 128,766 adverse events (AE) were reported and analysed, as compared to an average of 40,000 per year for all drugs combined in the pre-pandemic years. A weekly monitoring committee was set up.

Vaccinating children: The pros and cons.

Vaccinating children against Covid raised a debate, due to generally mild clinical presentation. The decision to vaccinate teenagers was motivated by the global public health need: to decrease transmission to other age groups. Among adolescents, the efficacy (better immunity than in young adults) and safety of vaccines was clearly demonstrated.

Heterologous prime boost COVID 19 vaccination.

Heterologous prime boost vaccination is a primary vaccination with different vaccines, most often from different vaccine platforms. It combines the immunological properties of the different vaccines and thereby induces humoral, cellular and, in some cases, mucosal response. For Covid prevention, it has been used in primary vaccination, due to safety issues and in boosters.

The intravenous vancomycin prescription practices of French infectious disease specialists: A cross-sectional observational study.

Introduction: Vancomycin prescription modalities remain non-consensual. We examined and evaluated the vancomycin prescription habits of infectious disease specialists in France.

Methods: Through an anonymized online questionnaire sent to members of the French Infectious Diseases Society, detailed information on vancomycin prescription modalities was collected.

High endemicity of Q fever in French Guiana: A cross sectional study (2007-2017).

Q fever (QF) is a zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii (Cb). French Guiana (FG) had a high incidence but no data have been published since 2006. The objective of this study was to update the incidence and epidemiological data on QF in FG.

History of COVID-19 Symptoms and Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in HIV-Infected Patients in Northern France after the First Wave of the Pandemic.

To assess the prevalence of COVID-19 in people living with HIV (PLWHIV), we performed an epidemiological survey from 1 April through 1 August 2020 in an HIV reference center in Northern France. PLWHIV completed a questionnaire about risk exposures and symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and performed a SARS-CoV-2 serology. Among the 600 PLWHIV included, 16 have been infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Human Q Fever on the Guiana Shield and Brazil: Recent Findings and Remaining Questions.

Purpose Of Review: In this review, we report on the state of knowledge about human Q fever in Brazil and on the Guiana Shield, an Amazonian region located in northeastern South America. There is a contrast between French Guiana, where the incidence of this disease is the highest in the world, and other countries where this disease is practically non-existent.

Recent Findings: Recent findings are essentially in French Guiana where a unique strain MST17 has been identified; it is probably more virulent than those usually found with a particularly marked pulmonary tropism, a mysterious animal reservoir, a geographical distribution that raises questions.

Ecology, evolution, and epidemiology of zoonotic and vector-borne infectious diseases in French Guiana: Transdisciplinarity does matter to tackle new emerging threats.

French Guiana is a European ultraperipheric region located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It constitutes an important forested region for biological conservation in the Neotropics. Although very sparsely populated, with its inhabitants mainly concentrated on the Atlantic coastal strip and along the two main rivers, it is marked by the presence and development of old and new epidemic disease outbreaks, both research and health priorities.

Accuracy of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in HIV-infected patients with thoracic lymphadenopathy in a tuberculosis low-burden area.

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is an innovative technique to explore hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. We aimed to assess its diagnostic accuracy in HIV-infected patients in a tuberculosis low-burden area. A retrospective review was performed of all HIV-infected patients with thoracic lymphadenopathy referred for EBUS-TBNA between January 2012 and January 2019 in 3 Northern French Hospitals.

Phosphorylation of a Tyrosine Residue on Zap70 by Lck and Its Subsequent Binding via an SH2 Domain May Be a Key Gatekeeper of T Cell Receptor Signaling In Vivo.

The initiation of signaling in T lymphocytes in response to the binding of the T cell receptor (TCR) to cognate ligands is a key step in the emergence of adaptive immune responses. Conventional models posit that TCR signaling is initiated by the phosphorylation of receptor-associated immune receptor activation motifs (ITAMs). The cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase Zap70 binds to phosphorylated ITAMs, is subsequently activated, and then propagates downstream signaling.

Transitions in genetic toggle switches driven by dynamic disorder in rate coefficients.

In biochemical systems, intrinsic noise may drive the system switch from one stable state to another. We investigate how kinetic switching between stable states in a bistable network is influenced by dynamic disorder, i.e.

Hybrid biological, electron beam and zero-valent nano iron treatment of recalcitrant metalworking fluids.

Hybrid approaches for the remediation and detoxification of toxic recalcitrant industrial wastewater were investigated. The focus was waste metalworking fluid, which was selected as a representative model of other waste streams that are toxic, recalcitrant and that require more sustainable routes of safe disposal. The hybrid approaches included biodegradation, electron beam irradiation and zero-valent nano iron advanced oxidation processes that were employed individually and in sequence employing a factorial design.

Dynamic disorder and the energetic costs of information transduction.

We study a model of dynamic disorder relevant for signal transduction pathways in which enzymatic reaction rates fluctuate over several orders of magnitude. For the simple networks we consider, dynamic disorder drives the system far from equilibrium and imposes an energetic burden for high fidelity signaling capability. We study how the dynamics of the underlying stochastic behavior in the reaction rate process is related to the energetic cost of transmitting information through the network.

Molecular kinetics. Ras activation by SOS: allosteric regulation by altered fluctuation dynamics.

Activation of the small guanosine triphosphatase H-Ras by the exchange factor Son of Sevenless (SOS) is an important hub for signal transduction. Multiple layers of regulation, through protein and membrane interactions, govern activity of SOS. We characterized the specific activity of individual SOS molecules catalyzing nucleotide exchange in H-Ras.

Monovalent engagement of the BCR activates ovalbumin-specific transnuclear B cells.

Valency requirements for B cell activation upon antigen encounter are poorly understood. OB1 transnuclear B cells express an IgG1 B cell receptor (BCR) specific for ovalbumin (OVA), the epitope of which can be mimicked using short synthetic peptides to allow antigen-specific engagement of the BCR. By altering length and valency of epitope-bearing synthetic peptides, we examined the properties of ligands required for optimal OB1 B cell activation.

Lung cancer statistics in Luxembourg from 1981 to 2008.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the world and in Luxembourg. As a part of "The health science initiative focused on personalized medicine", Luxembourg aims to participate by developing diagnostics to improve the detection and treatment of lung cancer. In line with this objective, this study made a review of evolution of lung cancer in Luxembourg from 1981 to 2008 and compared this statistics to the situation in the Nordic countries, Europe in general and the World.

Noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation in children with lower airway obstruction.

Study Objectives: Mechanical ventilation of patients with severe lower airway obstruction presents significant risks; therefore, avoiding the intubation in these patients has been a principal goal of clinical management. Noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation has been shown to be effective in treating adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but its use has not been studied prospectively in children with acute obstructive lower airways disease. The objective of this study was to determine whether noninvasive mask ventilation improved respiratory function in children with asthma and other obstructive lower airways diseases.