Distinct fecal and oral microbiota composition in human type 1 diabetes, an observational study.

Objective: Environmental factors driving the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) are still largely unknown. Both animal and human studies have shown an association between altered fecal microbiota composition, impaired production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and T1D onset. However, observational evidence on SCFA and fecal and oral microbiota in adults with longstanding T1D vs healthy controls (HC) is lacking.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus management among Ghanaian migrants resident in three European countries and their compatriots in rural and urban Ghana - The RODAM study.

Aims: To compare Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) awareness, treatment and control between Ghanaians resident in Ghana and Europe.

Methods: Comparisons were made for the 530 participants of the Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study with T2DM (25-70 years) living in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, urban Ghana and rural Ghana. We used logistic regression to assess disparities with adjustment for age, sex and education.

Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis/Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Consensus-Based Recommendations and Research Agenda for Use of Composite Measures and Treatment Targets in Psoriatic Arthritis.

Objective: A meeting was convened by the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) and Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) to further the development of consensus among physicians and patients regarding composite disease activity measures and targets in psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: Prior to the meeting, physicians and patients completed surveys on outcome measures. A consensus meeting of 26 rheumatologists, dermatologists, and patient research partners reviewed evidence on composite measures and potential treatment targets plus results of the surveys.

Dose warping uncertainties for the accumulated rectal wall dose in cervical cancer brachytherapy.

Purpose: Structure-based deformable image registration (DIR) can be used to calculate accumulated dose volume histogram parameters for cervical cancer brachytherapy (BT). The purpose of this study is to investigate dose warping uncertainties for the accumulated dose to the 2 cm receiving the highest dose [Formula: see text] in the rectal wall, using a physically realistic model (PRM) describing rectal wall deformation.

Methods And Materials: For 10 patients, treated with MRI-guided pulsed dose rate BT (two times 24 × 0.

From good to excellent: Improving clinical departments' learning climate in residency training.

Introduction: The improvement of clinical departments' learning climate is central to achieving high-quality residency training and patient care. However, improving the learning climate can be challenging given its complexity as a multi-dimensional construct. Distinct representations of the dimensions might create different learning climate groups across departments and may require varying efforts to achieve improvement.

Conditions for addressing environmental determinants of health behavior in intersectoral policy networks: A fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis.

Improving health requires changes in the social, physical, economic and political determinants of health behavior. For the realization of policies that address these environmental determinants, intersectoral policy networks are considered necessary for the pooling of resources to implement different policy instruments. However, such network diversity may increase network complexity and therefore hamper network performance.

Practice variation in Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for melanoma patients in different geographical regions in the Netherlands.

Background: Due to the lack of solid evidence for treatment benefit of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) as part of loco-regional surgical treatment of non-distant metastatic melanoma, there might be variation in surgical treatment strategies in the Netherlands. The objective of the current study was to assess differences in the performance of SLNB, in geographical regions in the Netherlands, of non-distant metastatic melanoma patients (American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage I-III).

Materials And Methods: A total of 28 550 melanoma patients, diagnosed between 2005 and 2013, were included in this population based retrospective study.

Ideal target for psoriatic arthritis? Comparison of remission and low disease activity states in a real-life cohort.

Background: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) recommendations state that the target of treatment should be remission or low disease activity (LDA). We used a real-life dataset to compare different potential targets.

Methods: 250 patients with PsA considered in an acceptable disease state according to their rheumatologist were included.

Structural integration and performance of inter-sectoral public health-related policy networks: An analysis across policy phases.

Background: Inter-sectoral policy networks may be effective in addressing environmental determinants of health with interventions. However, contradictory results are reported on relations between structural network characteristics (i.e.

The effect of raloxifene on bone marrow adipose tissue and bone turnover in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

In patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis low bone volume is associated with high bone marrow adipose tissue (MAT). Moreover, high MAT is associated with increased fracture risk. This suggests an interaction between MAT and bone turnover, however literature remains equivocal.

Residual disease activity and treatment adjustments in psoriatic arthritis in current clinical practice.

Background: With expanding therapeutic possibilities for treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) it will be increasingly important to determine residual disease and define when to adjust treatment. The rationale behind treatment decisions in current daily clinical practice and the relationship with residual disease activity has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess current clinical practice on defining residual disease and subsequent treatment decisions made in PsA patients.

New treatment paradigms in spondyloarthritis.

Purpose Of Review: The review presents the recent rapid expansion of therapeutical options in spondyloarthritis. Additionally, it focuses on the importance of additional questions raised by the growing therapeutic possibilities related to the optimal use of these drugs.

Recent Findings: The emergence of new treatment options opens new avenues and opportunities for treating patients with nonresponse, contraindications, or intolerance for classic drugs.

The role of self-control and cognitive functioning in educational inequalities in adolescent smoking and binge drinking.

Background: Large differences in substance use between educational levels originate at a young age, but there is limited evidence explaining these inequalities. The aim of this study was to test whether a) smoking and binge drinking are associated with lower levels of self-control and cognitive functioning, and b) associations between educational track and smoking and binge drinking, respectively, are attenuated after controlling for self-control and cognitive functioning.

Methods: This study used cross-sectional survey data of 15 to 20-year-olds (N = 191) from low, middle, and high educational tracks.

Nonoperative Management and Novel Imaging for Posterior Circumflex Humeral Artery Injury in Volleyball.

We report on a 34-yr-old male elite volleyball player with symptomatic emboli in the spiking hand from a partially thrombosed aneurysm of the posterior circumflex humeral artery (PCHA) in his dominant shoulder. At initial diagnosis and follow-up, a combination of time-resolved and high-resolution steady state contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) enabled detailed visualization of: (1) emboli that were not detectable by vascular ultrasound; and (2) the PCHA aneurysm, including compression during abduction and external rotation (ABER provocation). At 15-month follow-up, including forced cessation of volleyball activities over the preceding 9 months, the PCHA aneurysm remained unchanged.

Identifying the subtypes of cancer-related fatigue: results from the population-based PROFILES registry.

Purpose: Little research has been done to identify possible cancer-related fatigue (CRF) subtypes and to classify cancer survivors accordingly. We aimed to identify CRF subtypes in a large population-based sample of (long term) stage I-III colorectal cancer survivors. We also identified factors associated with the CRF subtypes.

Post-Traumatic Growth and Resilience in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients: An Overview.

The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the literature on post-traumatic growth (PTG) and resilience among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. A literature search in Embase, PsychInfo, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Cinahl was carried out. Thirteen articles met the pre-defined inclusion criteria.

Clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention with the COMBO stent versus Resolute Integrity and PROMUS Element stents: a propensity-matched analysis.

Aims: The COMBO stent combines sirolimus elution with an endothelial progenitor cell-capturing layer to promote early endothelialisation. There has not been a head-to-head comparison of this novel device with any other currently used drug-eluting stent (DES). We sought to compare clinical outcome at two years after COMBO stent placement with the Resolute Integrity or PROMUS Element stent in an all-comers cohort.

Prevalence and characteristics of opioid-related deaths involving alcohol in Ontario, Canada.

Background: While it is well known that patients receiving opioids should refrain from alcohol consumption, little is known about the involvement of alcohol in opioid-related deaths.

Methods: We conducted a population-based analysis of opioid-related deaths in Ontario with and without alcohol involvement between 1993 and 2013, and reported rates overall and stratified by manner of death. We compared the characteristics of individuals who died of an opioid overdose based on the presence or absence of alcohol involvement.

Persistence after treatment of pharyngeal gonococcal infections in patients of the STI clinic, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2012-2015: a retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Infection of in the pharynx (pharyngeal Ng) is associated with gonococcal transmission and development of antimicrobial resistance. We assessed proportion of and determinants for persistence after treatment of pharyngeal Ng.

Methods: At the STI clinic of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, females-at-risk and men who have sex with men are routinely screened for pharyngeal Ng using an RNA-based nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT; Aptima Combo 2).

Coding and small non-coding transcriptional landscape of tuberous sclerosis complex cortical tubers: implications for pathophysiology and treatment.

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) is a rare genetic disorder that results from a mutation in the TSC1 or TSC2 genes leading to constitutive activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). TSC is associated with autism, intellectual disability and severe epilepsy. Cortical tubers are believed to represent the neuropathological substrates of these disabling manifestations in TSC.

Improving postoperative radiotherapy following radical prostatectomy.

Prostate cancer has one of the highest incidences in the world, with good curative treatment options like radiotherapy and radical prostatectomy. Unfortunately, about 30% of the patients initially treated with curative intent will develop a recurrence and need adjuvant treatment. Five randomized trials covered the role of postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy, but there is still a lot of debate about which patients should receive postoperative radiotherapy.