Living with acuteness in chronic illness: The temporal underpinnings of endometriosis.

This article explores how acuteness is experienced by people with endometriosis in Finland. Drawing on in-depth interviews as well as anonymous written endometriosis stories, we trace instances when the sense of chronicity and cyclicality of endometriosis is disrupted by a possibility of risk to life. These instances include when endometriosis tissue grows in unanticipated and aggressive ways, when medical interventions lead to unexpected complications or medications raise concerns about a gradually developing risk, and when endometriosis diagnosis becomes a catch-all category that could mask the onset of a life-threatening condition.

Intervention description of pharmacist-facilitated medication reviews in Nordic primary care settings: a scoping review.

Background: Multicomponent interventions are increasingly utilized to tackle the complexity of aging and co-morbid patients. However, descriptions of interventions are generally poor, making it difficult for healthcare providers to implement successful programs.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the completeness of intervention description of pharmacist-facilitated medication reviews (MRs) in Nordic primary care settings.

Metagenome-validated combined amplicon sequencing and text mining-based annotations for simultaneous profiling of bacteria and fungi: vaginal microbiota and mycobiota in healthy women.

Background: Amplicon sequencing of kingdom-specific tags such as 16S rRNA gene for bacteria and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region for fungi are widely used for investigating microbial communities. So far most human studies have focused on bacteria while studies on host-associated fungi in health and disease have only recently started to accumulate. To enable cost-effective parallel analysis of bacterial and fungal communities in human and environmental samples, we developed a method where 16S rRNA gene and ITS1 amplicons were pooled together for a single Illumina MiSeq or HiSeq run and analysed after primer-based segregation.

Identification of confounders and estimating the causal effect of place of birth on age-specific childhood vaccination.

Background: In causal analyses, some third factor may distort the relationship between the exposure and the outcome variables under study, which gives spurious results. In this case, treatment groups and control groups that receive and do not receive the exposure are different from one another in some other essential variables, called confounders.

Method: Place of birth was used as exposure variable and age-specific childhood vaccination status was used as outcome variables.

Specialized palliative outpatient clinic care involvement associated with decreased end-of-life hospital costs in cancer patients, a single center study.

Background: Studies show that hospital deaths bring significant health care costs, and the involvement of specialized palliative care can help to reduce these costs. The aim of this retrospective registry-based study was to evaluate end-of-life hospital costs in patients dying in a university hospital oncology ward, with or without specialized palliative outpatient clinic contact at any timepoint.

Methods: The study population consists of all patients who died in the Kuopio University Hospital oncology ward in the years 2012-2018 (n = 457).

Spinally targeted paired associated stimulation with high-frequency peripheral component induces spinal level plasticity in healthy subjects.

A novel variant of paired-associative stimulation (PAS) consisting of high-frequency peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) and high-intensity transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) above the motor cortex, called high-PAS, can lead to improved motor function in patients with incomplete spinal cord injury. In PAS, the interstimulus interval (ISI) between the PNS and TMS pulses plays a significant role in the location of the intended effect of the induced plastic changes. While conventional PAS protocols (single TMS pulse often applied with intensity close to resting motor threshold, and single PNS pulse) usually require precisely defined ISIs, high-PAS can induce plasticity at a wide range of ISIs and also in spite of small ISI errors, which is helpful in clinical settings where precise ISI determination can be challenging.

Naturalistic reading of multi-page texts elicits spatially extended modulation of oscillatory activity in the right hemisphere.

The study of the cortical basis of reading has greatly benefited from the use of naturalistic paradigms that permit eye movements. However, due to the short stimulus lengths used in most naturalistic reading studies, it remains unclear how reading of texts comprising more than isolated sentences modulates cortical processing. To address this question, we used magnetoencephalography to study the spatiospectral distribution of oscillatory activity during naturalistic reading of multi-page texts.

Assessing Wound Healing in Vivo Using a Dual-Function Phosphorescent Probe Sensitive to Tissue Oxygenation and Regenerating Collagen.

Levels of tissue oxygenation and collagen regeneration are critical indicators in the early evaluation of wound healing. Traditionally, these factors have been assessed using separate instruments and different methodologies. Here, we adopt the spatially averaged phosphorescence lifetime approach using Re-diimine complexes (Re-probe) to enable simultaneous quantification of these two critical factors in healing wounds.

Multifunctional nanocellulose hybrid films: From packaging to photovoltaics.

This study aimed to develop eco-friendly multifunctional nanocellulose (NC) hybrid films with tailored properties for versatile applications including packaging and photovoltaics. Hybrid films composed by cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and carboxymethylated cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) were produced at various mass ratio (CNC - 100:0 to 0:100). Montmorillonite clay (MTM) was incorporated (50 % by mass) into the CNC:CNF films.

Little strokes fell big oaks: The use of weak magnetic fields and reactive oxygen species to fight cancer.

The increase in early-stage cancers, particularly gastrointestinal, breast and kidney cancers, has been linked to lifestyle changes such as consumption of processed foods and physical inactivity, which contribute to obesity and diabetes - major cancer risk factors. Conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation often lead to severe long-term side effects, including secondary cancers and tissue damage, highlighting the need for new, safer and more effective therapies, especially for young patients. Weak electromagnetic fields (WEMF) offer a promising non-invasive approach to cancer treatment.

Mental health indicators in pharmaceutical sciences students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic changed the daily lives of university students and affected their mental health. The aim of this study was to assess the feelings and perceptions regarding the pandemic and teaching, and to identify the mental health symptoms perceived by pharmaceutical sciences students at a Brazilian public university.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with data triangulation (mixed-methods approach), conducted online with semiannual data collection from May 2020 to May 2021.

Patient-Reported Experience Measures for In- and Outpatients in Mental Health and Substance Use Services: Psychometric Properties and Results From a Nationwide Survey in Finland.

Objectives: We implemented the first national patient experience survey, with novel patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), in out- and inpatient mental health and substance use services in Finland.

Methods: The Outpatient Experience Scale (OPES) and the Inpatient Experience Scale (IPES) were co-designed with experts by experience and professionals. The survey was carried out in 2021 in 435 treatment facilities.

Prognostic and predictive implications of sterile alpha motif and HD domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1) expression in breast cancer.

Sterile alpha motif and HD domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1) is a dNTP hydrolase important for intracellular dNTP homeostasis and serves as tumor suppressor and modulator of antimetabolite efficacy in cancer, though largely unexplored in breast cancer (BC). A cohort of patients with early BC (n = 564) with available gene expression data (GEP) was used. SAMHD1 protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry performed on tissue microarrays.

Effects of vaginal estrogen on serum estradiol during aromatase inhibitor therapy in breast cancer patients with vulvovaginal atrophy: a prospective trial.

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze changes in serum estradiol (E2) levels during concurrent vaginal estradiol therapy and adjuvant letrozole in postmenopausal breast cancer (BC) patients with vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA). Secondary objectives included assessing the effects of therapy on vaginal atrophy, quality of life (QoL) and menopause-related symptoms.

Methods: 20 postmenopausal patients undergoing adjuvant letrozole therapy and experiencing VVA symptoms were treated with vaginal estradiol for 12 weeks.

The Prevalence of Behavioral and Emotional Problems and Their Associated Factors Among Children and Adolescents in Jordan: Findings from a National School-Based Survey.

Background: Global research has reported that the number of children and adolescents suffering from mental health issues has increased over the past decades. In Jordan, there has been a growing interest in investigating mental health among these groups in the most recent decade; nevertheless, only a few studies have covered behavioral and emotional problems. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems among children and adolescents in Jordan and investigate their associated factors.

Individualized Care in Nursing Homes Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic.

: Individualizing care is the essence of nursing, and its benefits have been extensively proven in older people. The changes arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected it. The aim of this study is to analyze the changes produced in the perceptions about the individualization of care, quality of life, and care environment of elderly people living in long-term care centers before and after the pandemic.

Emotional Intelligence May Be Associated with Some Forms of Creative Potential.

The current study examined the relationship between creative potential, estimated with tests of divergent thinking (DT), and emotional intelligence (EI). Previous research has hinted at a relationship, but the EI-DT relationship may differ as a function of the tasks and the specific components of EI. With this in mind, the present investigation compared two DT tests (Social Games vs.

26 Years of Skin Banking in Finland.

Autologous skin grafts are the gold standard for definitive wound coverage in burn care, but allograft skin grafts are essential for providing temporary coverage in cases of extensive burns. The Helsinki Skin Bank, established in 1995 at the Helsinki Burn Centre, is Finland's only licensed skin bank, serving a population of 5.5 million.

The 3rd Educational Course of the European Burns Association (EBA).

Abstracts of the plenary sessions, workshops, and poster presentations of the 3rd EBA Educational Course in Porto, Portugal, 17-18 October 2024.

Continuous Estimation of Blood Pressure by Utilizing Seismocardiogram Signal Features in Relation to Electrocardiogram.

There is an ongoing search for a reliable and continuous method of noninvasive blood pressure (BP) tracking. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of utilizing seismocardiogram (SCG) signals, i.e.

Association Between the Two-Year Trajectories of Dental Anxiety and the Changes in the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Parents of FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study.

: We evaluated associations between changes in dental anxiety and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in parents of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. : Two-year dental anxiety trajectories measured with Modified Dental Anxiety Scale from gestational weeks (gw) 14 and 34, and 3 and 24 months after birth were used. OHRQoL was measured with the Oral Health Impact Profile 14-item questionnaire at gw34 and 4 years.

Coenzyme Q improves mitochondrial and muscle dysfunction caused by CUG expanded repeats in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Expansion of nucleotide repeat sequences is associated with more than 40 human neuromuscular disorders. The different pathogenic mechanisms associated with the expression of nucleotide repeats are not well understood. We use a Caenorhabditis elegans model that expresses expanded CUG repeats only in cells of the body wall muscle and recapitulate muscle dysfunction and impaired organismal motility to identify the basis by which expression of RNA repeats is toxic to muscle function.

Trigeminal neuralgia within the disease course of MS: Diagnostic and therapeutic implications from a multicenter cohort.

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is commonly associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Whether TN should be considered a clinical relapse or evidence of active disease lacks consensus. TN was diagnosed in 0.