Clinical course of suspected familial and sporadic idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Data from the PROOF-Next registry.

Background And Objective: Real-life data on suspected familial fibrosis, defined as the occurrence of the disease in a patient younger than 50 and/or having at least one relative affected by pulmonary fibrosis remain scarce.

Methods: The Belgian and Luxembourg IPF registry (PROOF-Next) is a multicentric prospective longitudinal and observational study set in Belgium and Luxembourg. We compared characteristics and clinical course of patients with suspected familial pulmonary fibrosis (FPF) and sporadic IPF.

Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalisation in adults (≥ 20 years) during Alpha- and Delta-dominant circulation: I-MOVE-COVID-19 and VEBIS SARI VE networks, Europe, 2021.

IntroductionTwo large multicentre European hospital networks have estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19 since 2021.AimWe aimed to measure VE against PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalised severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) patients ≥ 20 years, combining data from these networks during Alpha (March-June)- and Delta (June-December)-dominant periods, 2021.MethodsForty-six participating hospitals across 14 countries follow a similar generic protocol using the test-negative case-control design.

Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalisation in adults (≥ 20 years) during Omicron-dominant circulation: I-MOVE-COVID-19 and VEBIS SARI VE networks, Europe, 2021 to 2022.

IntroductionThe I-MOVE-COVID-19 and VEBIS hospital networks have been measuring COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) in participating European countries since early 2021.AimWe aimed to measure VE against PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 in patients ≥ 20 years hospitalised with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) from December 2021 to July 2022 (Omicron-dominant period).MethodsIn both networks, 46 hospitals (13 countries) follow a similar test-negative case-control protocol.

Acute effects of a single dose of 2 mA of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on executive functions in patients with schizophrenia-A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Cognitive impairments are a frequent and difficult to treat symptom in patients with schizophrenia and the strongest predictor for a successful reintegration in occupational and everyday life. Recent research suggests transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to enhance cognition in this patient group. However, the question regarding its acute effectiveness on executive functions remains largely unanswered.

Visual N80 latency as a marker of neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia: Evidence for bottom-up cognitive models.

Objective: Cognitive deficits and visual impairment in the magnocellular (M) pathway, have been independently reported in schizophrenia. The current study examined the association between neuropsychological (NPS) performance and visual evoked potentials (VEPs: N80/P1 to M- and P(parvocellular)-biased visual stimuli) in schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Methods: NPS performance and VEPs were measured in n = 44 patients and n = 34 matched controls.

[Implementation of the principle of supported employment in Germany : Position paper of a task force of the DGPPN].

The effects of mental diseases on the employment and working situation can be substantial. They are one of the main reasons for inability to work and reduced earning capacity. Against this background the question arises about suitable occupational reintegration measures for people with severe mental illnesses.

[Effect of surgery of pulmonary cysts related to immunoglobulin light chain deposits].

Introduction: Light chain deposition disease is a rare anatomo-clinical disorder, which rarely leads to cystic lung destruction.

Case Report: We report the case of a 62years old female patient with a history of a monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance who developed progressive dyspnea. Thoracic CT-scan demonstrated a diffuse pulmonary cystic disorder with predominance in the right lower lobe.

Internet-based aftercare for patients with personality disorders and trauma-related disorders: A pilot study.

Preventing readmission after hospital discharge is a major issue with regard to the continuity of patients' recovery process and the financial burden on the healthcare system, but adequate aftercare services are lacking. Therefore, a pilot study was conducted to examine the feasibility and acceptability of an Internet-based aftercare program for patients with personality disorders (PD) and / or trauma-related disorders as well as to obtain a preliminary estimate of effects on symptomatology and readmission. Patients' satisfaction with the program and symptomatology (KPD-38, BDI-II) were assessed prior to hospital discharge (t) and after three months of participation (t).

True Arterial Stiffness Does Not Change between Dialysis Sessions during 1 Week in Outpatients on Intermitted Hemodialysis.

Introduction: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with exponentially elevated cardiovascular mortality. Arterial stiffness (AS) - usually expressed with pulse wave velocity (PWV) - is an established independent predictor of cardiovascular risk beyond the traditional risk factors. Higher PWV values are frequently observed in patients with ESRD.

Deficient fear extinction memory in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) might be maintained by deficient extinction memory. We used a cued fear conditioning design with extinction and a post-extinction phase to provoke the return of fear and examined the role of the interplay of amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal regions.

Methods: We compared 18 PTSD patients with two healthy control groups: 18 trauma-exposed subjects without PTSD (nonPTSD) and 18 healthy controls (HC) without trauma experience.

Reduced amygdala responsivity during conditioning to trauma-related stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder.

Exaggerated conditioned fear responses and impaired extinction along with amygdala overactivation have been observed in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These fear responses might be triggered by cues related to the trauma through higher-order conditioning, where reminders of the trauma may serve as unconditioned stimuli (US) and could maintain the fear response. We compared arousal, valence, and US expectancy ratings and BOLD brain responses using fMRI in 14 traumatized persons with PTSD and 14 without PTSD (NPTSD) and 13 matched healthy controls (HC) in a differential aversive conditioning paradigm.

A randomized trial of iron isomaltoside 1000 versus oral iron in non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease patients with anaemia.

Background: Iron deficiency anaemia is common in patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) and is often treated with oral or intravenous (IV) iron therapy. This trial compared the efficacy and safety of IV iron isomaltoside 1000 (Monofer®) and oral iron in NDD-CKD patients with renal-related anaemia.

Methods: The trial was a Phase III open-label, comparative, multicentre, non-inferiority trial conducted in 351 iron-deficient NDD-CKD patients, randomized 2:1 to either iron isomaltoside 1000 (Group A) or iron sulphate administered as 100 mg elemental oral iron twice daily (200 mg daily) for 8 weeks (Group B).

A fluorescent hydrogel-based flow cytometry high-throughput screening platform for hydrolytic enzymes.

Screening throughput is a key in directed evolution experiments and enzyme discovery. Here, we describe a high-throughput screening platform based on a coupled reaction of glucose oxidase and a hydrolase (Yersinia mollaretii phytase [YmPh]). The coupled reaction produces hydroxyl radicals through Fenton's reaction, acting as initiator of poly(ethyleneglycol)-acrylate-based polymerization incorporating a fluorescent monomer.

Characteristics of child maltreatment and their relation to dissociation, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and depression in adult psychiatric patients.

Little is known about the influence of particular characteristics of childhood maltreatment, such as developmental stage, relationship to the perpetrator, and nature of the trauma, on adult psychopathology. The effects of childhood maltreatment were assessed in adult psychiatric patients (N = 287) using self-rating scales and diagnostic checklists. Maltreatment was strongly associated with dissociation.

The validity and reliability of the German version of the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20).

The present study investigated the validity of the German version of the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20), a scale designed to measure somatoform dissociative symptoms. Somatoform dissociation involves physical manifestations of a dissociation of the personality and is considered a unique entity in the phenomenological spectrum of dissociation. The validity and reliability of the German version of the SDQ-20 was examined using a sample of 225 patients with (n = 39) and without dissociative disorders who were recruited from several in- and outpatient psychiatric clinics.

The Bern psychopathology scale for the assessment of system-specific psychotic symptoms.

The translation from psychiatric core symptoms to brain functions and vice versa is a largely unresolved issue. In particular, the search for disorders of single brain regions explaining classical symptoms has not yielded the expected results. Based on the assumption that the psychopathology of psychosis is related to a functional imbalance of higher-order brain systems, the authors focused on three specific candidate brain circuitries, namely the language, and limbic and motor systems.

Novel tetrahydrochinoline derived CETP inhibitors.

In the course of our efforts to identify orally active cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors, we have continued to explore tetrahydrochinoline derivatives. Based on BAY 19-4789 structural modifications led to the discovery of novel cycloalkyl substituted compounds. Thus, example 11b is a highly potent CETP inhibitor both in vitro and in vivo in transgenic mice with favourable pharmacokinetic properties for clinical development.

[Thoracic impairment from familial Mediterranean fever: review of the literature and a case study].

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a recessive autosomal disease, predominantly affecting the population around the Mediterranean. The main clinical signs consist of attacks of fever associated with abdominal, articular and thoracic pain. Based on a case report, the authors describe the main thoracic forms of this illness comprising pleural pain, pleural effusion and pulmonary amyloidosis.

[Thyroid metastasis of lung cancer and abnormal thyroid function--a case report].

The thyroid gland is a very rare location of metastasis and the metastatic involvement of the thyroid is mostly asymptomatic. The authors report one of the first cases of pulmonary adenocarcinoma associated with painful metastatic involvement of the thyroid gland. Temporary hyperthyroidism was noted, followed, two months later, by clinically and biologically proven hypothyroidism with positive antithyroglobulin antibodies.

[Cytomegalovirus infection in an immunocompetent patient complicated with pulmonary embolism and mimicking giant cell arteritis associated with polymyalgia rheumatica].

Cytomegalovirus infection is generally asymptomatic in immunocompetent patients but can also provide a wide spectrum of clinical and biological signs. We report the case of a cytomegalovirus infection in an immunocompetent adult mimicking giant cell arteritis associated with polymyalgia rheumatica and complicated with pulmonary embolism. We review and discuss the venous prothrombic properties of CMV in immunocompetent patients.

[Psychopathology of Ganser's syndrome. Literature review and case report].

The key feature of Ganser's syndrome includes approximate answers to simple questions. The cause of this rare syndrome remains uncertain. Current classification systems categorise it as a dissociative disorder, the symptoms of which are judged as psychogenic in origin.