Patterns of outpatient proton‒pump inhibitors use among older adults in a duplicative health system: comparing public and private prescribing.

Background: Proton-pump-inhibitors (PPIs) are overprescribed, posing challenges to patients and healthcare systems. In Portugal, the public National Health Service (NHS) provides universal coverage and reimburses medication regardless of prescription origin, i.e.

Textural Analysis of Sea Lamprey Muscle From Guadiana and Mondego Rivers (Portugal) Using the Warner-Bratzler Shear Method.

Assessment of sea lamprey texture from the Guadiana and Mondego River basins. Lamprey has served as food for centuries, and nowadays it is highly appreciated, mainly in southern European countries. Therefore, the quality requirements of the lamprey are closely scrutinized by consumers.

Rapid climate action is needed: comparing heat vs. COVID-19-related mortality.

The impacts of climate change on human health are often underestimated or perceived to be in a distant future. Here, we present the projected impacts of climate change in the context of COVID-19, a recent human health catastrophe. We compared projected heat mortality with COVID-19 deaths in 38 cities worldwide and found that in half of these cities, heat-related deaths could exceed annual COVID-19 deaths in less than ten years (at + 3.

Intralesional bleomycin sclerotherapy for head and neck low-flow vascular malformations - A retrospective single-center experience.

Low-flow vascular malformations (LFVMs) account for over 90% of all vascular malformations, with the highest prevalence in the head and neck region. Intralesional sclerotherapy is the treatment of choice for subcutaneous LFVMs, although there is no consensus on optimal agent selection or dosage. Mild sclerosing agents, such as bleomycin, are commonly used in sensitive anatomical areas, including the head and neck, due to their favorable safety profile, despite slightly lower efficacy.

Key elements for designing effective second victim support interventions: a focus group study in European clinical settings.

Background: The second victim (SV) experience limits the performance of health and care workers and places patients at risk. Peer support is recognised as the most effective, feasible and acceptable intervention to mitigate its impact.

Objective: To define a set of success factors when designing interventions to support SVs in health and care facilities based on expertise in different European countries.

Capture, mutual inhibition and release mechanism for aPKC-Par6 and its multisite polarity substrate Lgl.

The mutually antagonistic relationship of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) and partitioning-defective protein 6 (Par6) with the substrate lethal (2) giant larvae (Lgl) is essential for regulating polarity across many cell types. Although aPKC-Par6 phosphorylates Lgl at three serine sites to exclude it from the apical domain, aPKC-Par6 and Lgl paradoxically form a stable kinase-substrate complex, with conflicting roles proposed for Par6. We report the structure of human aPKCι-Par6α bound to full-length Llgl1, captured through an aPKCι docking site and a Par6 contact.

The effect of conditioned medium from human amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells on thymus involution.

Aims: The development and selection of T cells occur within the thymus. This organ involutes throughout life, compromising the generation of T cells and, consequently, the efficacy of the immune system. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have beneficial effects on the immune system.

Nanostructured lipid carriers for enhanced batimastat delivery across the blood-brain barrier: an in vitro study for glioblastoma treatment.

Glioblastoma presents a significant treatment challenge due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB) hindering drug delivery, and the overexpression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which promotes tumor invasiveness. This study introduces a novel nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) system designed for the delivery of batimastat, an MMP inhibitor, across the BBB and into the glioblastoma microenvironment. The NLCs were functionalized with epidermal growth factor (EGF) and a transferrin receptor-targeting construct to enhance BBB penetration and entrapment within the tumor microenvironment.

Retinal OCT-Derived Texture Features as Potential Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis and Progression of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is usually diagnosed many years after diabetes onset. Indeed, an early diagnosis of DR remains a notable challenge, and, thus, developing novel approaches for earlier disease detection is of utmost importance. We aim to explore the potential of texture analysis of optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal images in detecting retinal changes in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic animals at "silent" disease stages when early retinal molecular and cellular changes that cannot be clinically detectable are already occurring.

Recent Advances in Two-Dimensional Ferromagnetic Materials-Based van der Waals Heterostructures.

Two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic materials are subjects of intense research owing to their intriguing physicochemical properties, which hold great potential for fundamental research and spintronic applications. Specifically, 2D van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnetic materials retain both structural integrity and chemical stability even at the monolayer level. Moreover, due to their atomic thickness, these materials can be easily manipulated by stacking them with other 2D vdW ferroic and nonferroic materials, enabling precise control over their physical properties and expanding their functional applications.

Adherence to the 24-h Movement Behaviors Guidelines and Associations With Cognitive and Behavioral Self-Regulation Among Brazilian Preschoolers.

Background: Adherence to 24-h movement guidelines has been associated with early health benefits, including neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, the associations between these guidelines and Cognitive (CSR) and Behavioral (BSR) self-regulation in preschoolers are underexplored. This study investigated the associations between adherence to 24-h movement guidelines and CSR and BSR in Brazilian preschoolers.

Effects of an Extreme Weather Event on Primate Populations.

Objectives: With contemporary, human-induced climate change at a crisis point, extreme weather events (e.g., cyclones, heatwaves, floods) are becoming more frequent, intense, and difficult to predict.

Beyond Fang's fury: a computational study of the enzyme-membrane interaction and catalytic pathway of the snake venom phospholipase A toxin.

Snake venom-secreted phospholipases A (svPLAs) are critical, highly toxic enzymes present in almost all snake venoms. Upon snakebite envenomation, svPLAs hydrolyze cell membrane phospholipids and induce pathological effects such as paralysis, myonecrosis, inflammation, or pain. Despite its central importance in envenomation, the chemical mechanism of svPLAs is poorly understood, with detrimental consequences for the design of small-molecule snakebite antidotes, which is highly undesirable given the gravity of the epidemiological data that ranks snakebite as the deadliest neglected tropical disease.

Achievements, priorities and strategies in pediatric nephrology in Europe: need for unifying approaches or acceptance of differences?

Background: There is a lack of information on the current healthcare systems for children with kidney diseases across Europe. The aim of this study was to explore the different national approaches to the organization and delivery of pediatric nephrology services within Europe.

Methods: In 2020, the European society for Paediatric Nephrology (ESPN) conducted a cross-sectional survey to identify the existing pediatric nephrology healthcare systems in 48 European countries covering a population of more than 200 million children.

Clinical Consultation in the Workplace: Are There Implications for Response Attitudes?

The clinical-organizational context (where clinical psychology services are provided in the individuals' professional setting) has still been insufficiently approached in research, namely the influence it may have on the response attitudes of individuals undergoing psychological assessment. Our main goal is to find out if, when psychological assessment occurs in the workplace context, patients being assessed present specific response bias that may have implications for the clinical results and correlative decisions. Five hundred and ten adult participants grouped in two samples of ambulatory patients - Clinical-Organizational Sample (COS = 238) and Clinical Sample (CS = 272) - were assessed with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-RF validity and substantive scales.

GLYCINE betaine and seaweed-based biostimulants improved leaf water status and enhanced photosynthetic activity in sweet cherry trees.

Sweet cherry is a high-value crop, and strategies to enhance production and sustainability are at the forefront of research linked to this crop. The improvement of plant status is key to achieving optimum yield. Biostimulants, such as glycine betaine (GB) or seaweed-based biostimulants [e.

Combined TLR2/TLR4 activation equip non-mucosal dendritic cells to prime Th1 cells with gut tropism.

Activated CD4 T cells located at mucosal surfaces orchestrate local effector immune mechanisms. When properly polarized, these cells contribute to block infections at early stages and may be essential to restrain the local growth of mucosal tumors, playing a critical role in host protection. How CD4 T cells simultaneously integrate gut-homing instructions and Th polarization signals transmitted by TLR activated dendritic cells (DCs) is unknown.

Design of Natterins-based peptides improves antimicrobial and antiviral activities.

The biochemical analysis of animal venoms has been intensifying over the years, enabling the prediction of new molecules derived from toxins, harnessing the therapeutic potential of these molecules. From the venom of the fish , using methods for predicting antimicrobial and cell-penetrating peptides, two peptides from Natterins with promising characteristics were synthesized and subjected to and analysis. The peptides were subjected to stability tests and antimicrobial assays, cytotoxicity in murine fibroblast cells, antiviral assays against the Chikungunya virus, and the toxicity on was also evaluated.

Carbon Dot-Laponite Hybrid Nanocomposites as Selective Turn-Off Sensors for Hg Detection and Photoluminescence Quenching Mechanism.

Motivated by the importance of Hg detection in water due to its harmful effect on the environment and human health, we investigated a recently developed nanocomposite based on carbon dots (CDs) and LAPONITE as an optical chemical sensor using photoluminescence emission. While several studies have reported the Hg detection using CDs' photoluminescence emission, there is a lack of in-depth investigation into the quenching mechanisms involved in turn-off sensors. In this study, we propose a Stern-Volmer analysis at three different temperatures (288, 298, and 303 K).

Diagnosis and management of septic arthritis. A current concepts review.

Correct diagnosis and treatment of septic arthritis (SA) are essential to achieve satisfactory results and avoid lifelong consequences. Diagnosing septic arthritis is not always easy, which is why new biomarkers have been sought. Another difficulty in diagnosis is the increase in septic arthritis due to Kingella Kingae, which does not show the same signs and symptoms as classic infections.

Development of a photoacoustic acquisition system and their proof-of-concept for hemoglobin detection.

Recently, Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) platforms have arisen as an increasingly relevant experimental tool for successfully replicating human physiology and disease. However, there is a lack of a standard technology to monitor the OoC parameters, especially in a non-invasive and label-free way. Photoacoustic (PA) systems can be considered an alternative and accurate assessment method for OoC platforms.

Potential use of beet-pulp concentrate supplementation in athletic horse.

The aim of this two-phase study was to evaluate the use of beet pulp concentrate (BPC) in athletic horses. On the first trial the effects of supplementation with 820g of BPC for 12 weeks were assessed and a crossover postprandial curves of blood biomarkers were determined in five adult Arabian mares. Differences were found in T-chol, HDL-chol, TPP and MCHC (p < 0.

Deep learning-based object detection algorithms in medical imaging: Systematic review.

Over the past decade, Deep Learning (DL) techniques have demonstrated remarkable advancements across various domains, driving their widespread adoption. Particularly in medical image analysis, DL received greater attention for tasks like image segmentation, object detection, and classification. This paper provides an overview of DL-based object recognition in medical images, exploring recent methods and emphasizing different imaging techniques and anatomical applications.