Soluble Semaphorin 4D Serum Concentrations Are Elevated in Critically Ill Patients with Liver Cirrhosis and Correlate with Aminotransferases.

Semaphorin 4D (Sema4D), also known as CD100, is a multifunctional transmembrane protein with immunoregulatory functions. Upon the activation of immune cells, soluble Semaphorin 4D (sSema4D) is proteolytically cleaved from the membrane by metalloproteinases. sSema4D levels are elevated in various (auto-)inflammatory diseases.

[Metaphors at the end of life: Resilience as resistance or acceptance].

The article provides an overview of the research project "Metaphor in end-of-life care", which was conducted at Lancaster University (UK) between 2011 and 2014. The goals of the project were to show a) how patients, family members and healthcare professionals use metaphors to talk about their experiences with and expectations of end-of-life care, b) what experiences and needs are suggested by the use of metaphors by these groups and c) what contribution the results can make to communication in the healthcare system. A corpus consisting of interviews with the various groups of people and their postings in online fora were subject to both manual and semi-automated analyses.

Impact of a Combination of UV-C Irradiation and Peracetic Acid Spray Treatment on and Contaminated Pork.

Efficient ways of decontamination are needed to minimize the risk of infections with , which causes gastrointestinal diseases in humans, and to reduce the numbers of to extend the shelf-life of meat. While many studies have focused on a single treatment of peracetic acid (PAA) or UV-C-irradiation, there are no studies about a combined treatment on meat. Therefore, in the present study, pork was inoculated with either or , and was treated with a combination of 2040 mJ/cm UV-C irradiation followed by a 2000 ppm PAA spray treatment (30 s).

A multicentre cross-sectional descriptive study evaluating the cardiovascular risk profile of preoperatively identified patients with hypertension.

Background: The prevalence of hypertension in adults in South Africa (SA) is 35%. Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in sub-Saharan Africa. However, 49% of people are unaware of their blood pressure status.

A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Quality Improvement Project: The Perioperative Implementation of a Hypertension Protocol by Anesthesiologists.

Background: Hypertension is a common risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, with a high prevalence in patients presenting for elective surgery. In limited resource environments, patients have poor access to primary care physicians, limiting the efficacy of lifestyle modification for the management of hypertension. In these circumstances, the perioperative period presents a unique opportunity for diagnosis and initiation and/or modification of pharmacotherapy of hypertension.