Plasma proteome association with coronary heart disease and carotid intima media thickness: results from the KORA F4 study.

Background And Aims: Atherosclerosis is the main cause of stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD), both leading mortality causes worldwide. Proteomics, as a high-throughput method, could provide helpful insights into the pathological mechanisms underlying atherosclerosis. In this study, we characterized the associations of plasma protein levels with CHD and with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), as a surrogate measure of atherosclerosis.

Dental Practice Websites in Germany-How Do They Inform about Fluoridation?

Fluoridation (Fl) is effective in preventing caries; however, it is unclear to what extent its use is counteracted by misinformation on the internet. This study aimed to evaluate the information provided on professional websites of German dental practices regarding fluoridation. A systematic search was performed by two independent examiners, utilizing three search engines, from 10 September 2021 to 11 December 2021.

Does information about MIH on dental homepages in Germany offer high quality? A systematic search and analysis.

Purpose: The internet is increasingly used to seek health information. A dental condition of increasing concern and public interest is molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH), why we evaluated the information quality of German dentists 'websites on the topic of MIH.

Methods: A systematic search was performed by two independent investigators using three search engines.

Development of a Machine Learning-Based Model to Predict Timed-Up-and-Go Test in Older Adults.

Introduction: The measurement of physical frailty in elderly patients with orthopedic impairments remains a challenge due to its subjectivity, unreliability, time-consuming nature, and limited applicability to uninjured individuals. Our study aims to address this gap by developing objective, multifactorial machine models that do not rely on mobility data and subsequently validating their predictive capacity concerning the Timed-up-and-Go test (TUG test) in orthogeriatric patients.

Methods: We utilized 67 multifactorial non-mobility parameters in a pre-processing phase, employing six feature selection algorithms.

Macrophages and fibrosis: how resident and infiltrating mononuclear phagocytes account for organ injury, regeneration or atrophy.

Mononuclear phagocytes (MP), i.e., monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells (DCs), are essential for immune homeostasis via their capacities to clear pathogens, pathogen components, and non-infectious particles.

Community indicators for mental health in Europe: a scoping review.

Background: Community indicators may predict and influence individuals` mental health, and support or impede mental health management. However, there is no consensus on which indicators should be included in predictions, prognostic algorithms, or management strategies for community-based mental health promotion and prevention approaches. Therefore, this scoping review provides an overview of relevant community-level indicators for mental health in the general as well as risk populations in a European context.

Association between bisphosphonate use and COVID-19 related outcomes.

Background: Although there are several efficacious vaccines against COVID-19, vaccination rates in many regions around the world remain insufficient to prevent continued high disease burden and emergence of viral variants. Repurposing of existing therapeutics that prevent or mitigate severe COVID-19 could help to address these challenges. The objective of this study was to determine whether prior use of bisphosphonates is associated with reduced incidence and/or severity of COVID-19.

Concomitant Drug Use among Opioid-Dependent Patients with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Does Methylphenidate Merit a Trial?

Introduction: Concomitant drug use is common among opioid-dependent patients in maintenance therapy. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a common comorbidity among opioid users, is associated with a higher risk of concomitant drug use. Earlier studies showed that methylphenidate (MPH) can reduce cocaine consumption among patients with ADHD.

Extreme phenotypic heterogeneity in non-expansion spinocerebellar ataxias.

Although the best-known spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are triplet repeat diseases, many SCAs are not caused by repeat expansions. The rarity of individual non-expansion SCAs, however, has made it difficult to discern genotype-phenotype correlations. We therefore screened individuals who had been found to bear variants in a non-expansion SCA-associated gene through genetic testing, and after we eliminated genetic groups that had fewer than 30 subjects, there were 756 subjects bearing single-nucleotide variants or deletions in one of seven genes: CACNA1A (239 subjects), PRKCG (175), AFG3L2 (101), ITPR1 (91), STUB1 (77), SPTBN2 (39), or KCNC3 (34).

Single and combined use of fall-risk-increasing drugs and fracture risk: a population-based case-control study.

Background: while many drug groups are associated with falls in older people, less is known about absolute increases in risk and how these risks vary across different groups of drugs or individuals.

Method And Design: we conducted a population based nested case-control study among people aged ≥65 years in the Scottish regions of Tayside and Fife. Cases were individuals hospitalised with a fracture between 2010 and 2020, to whom we matched up to 10 controls.

Hand hygiene compliance in the intensive care unit: Hand hygiene and glove changes.

Background: Hand disinfection (HD) is known to be the single most effective prevention measure to avoid nosocomial infections, but the compliance rate (CR) remains low. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of HD opportunities and the CR during the treatment of critically ill patients. One special focus was on glove usage to determine whether gloves were substituted for HD.

Association of Aldosterone with Mortality in the General Population.

Introduction: Aldosterone excess is linked to cardiovascular events and mortality as well as to low-grade inflammation in the context of metabolic diseases. Whether mildly elevated aldosterone levels in the general population promote cardiovascular risk is still under debate. We analyzed the association of plasma aldosterone concentrations with incident cardiovascular events, cardiovascular and all-cause mortality as well as with biomarkers of subclinical inflammation in the population-based KORA F4 study.

Statistical biases due to anonymization evaluated in an open clinical dataset from COVID-19 patients.

Anonymization has the potential to foster the sharing of medical data. State-of-the-art methods use mathematical models to modify data to reduce privacy risks. However, the degree of protection must be balanced against the impact on statistical properties.

The Association of Social Connectivity and Body Weight With the Onset of Type 2 Diabetes: Findings From the Population-Based Prospective MONICA/KORA Cohort.

Objective: Low levels of social connectivity are related to the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and this study investigates the role of body weight in this association.

Methods: In a sample of 9448 participants followed for a mean of 15.3 years (186,158.

Prescribing cascades in community-dwelling adults: A systematic review.

The misattribution of an adverse drug reaction (ADR) as a symptom or illness can lead to the prescribing of additional medication, referred to as a prescribing cascade. The aim of this systematic review is to identify published prescribing cascades in community-dwelling adults. A systematic review was reported in line with the PRISMA guidelines and pre-registered with PROSPERO.

Prescribing Cascades: How to Detect Them, Prevent Them, and Use Them Appropriately.

Background: A prescribing cascade is the treatment of an adverse drug reaction (ADR) with another drug. In this review, we discuss (a) the different types of prescribing cascade and (b) the measures that can be taken so that they will be recognized and dealt with appropriately, both in the hospital and in the outpatient setting.

Methods: This review is based on pertinent publications retrieved by a selective literature search.

European Society of Clinical Pharmacy definition of the term clinical pharmacy and its relationship to pharmaceutical care: a position paper.

Many definitions of the term clinical pharmacy exist, but a number of ambiguities remain. In order to clarify the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy (ESCP) position on what defines clinical pharmacy, a consultation exercise was conducted among ESCP members with the findings used as the basis for an updated definition. The updated definition clarifies that clinical pharmacy (1) represents both a professional practice and field of research, (2) aims to optimise the utilisation of medicines in order to achieve person-centered and public health goals, (3) as a practice encompasses cognitive, managerial and interpersonal activities targeting all stages of the medicines use process, and as a field of research generates knowledge that informs clinical decision-making, health care organisation or policy, (4) as a practice is restricted to pharmacists, (5) can be practiced regardless of setting, and (6) encompasses pharmaceutical care but is not restricted to it.

Visualization of M2 Macrophages in the Myocardium After Myocardial Infarction (MI) Using Ga-NOTA-Anti-MMR Nb: Targeting Mannose Receptor (MR, CD206) on M2 Macrophages.

Introduction And Objectives: Wound healing after myocardial infarction (MI) is a dynamic and complex multiple phase process, and a coordinated cellular response is required for proper scar formation. The current paradigm suggests that pro-inflammatory monocytes infiltrate the MI zone during the initial pro-inflammatory phase and differentiate into inflammatory macrophages, and then switch their phenotypes to anti-inflammatory during the reparative phase. Visualization of the reparative phase post-MI is of great interest because it may reveal delayed resolution of inflammation, which in turn predicts adverse cardiac remodeling.

Patient characteristics as predictors of sleep disturbances in multimorbid primary care patients - A secondary analysis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to identify patient characteristics (adult attachment, health status, number and severity of chronic conditions, social support) predictive sleep disturbances after 12 months.

Methods: In a secondary analysis of a prospective longitudinal study dealing with adult attachment and self-management, attachment- and health-related characteristics, socio-demographic data at baseline and symptoms of insomnia at the follow up (12 month later) was recorded by 219 patients between the ages of 50 and 85 years with multimorbidity in primary care. Adult attachment was measured by the ECR-RD12.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors and MRI Markers of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Background And Objectives: Cardiovascular risk factors have been implicated in the etiology of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD); however, whether the associations are causal remains unclear in part due to the susceptibility of observational studies to reverse causation and confounding. Here, we use mendelian randomization (MR) to determine which cardiovascular risk factors are likely to be involved in the etiology of CSVD.

Methods: We used data from large-scale genome-wide association studies of European ancestry to identify genetic proxies for blood pressure, blood lipids, body mass index (BMI), type 2 diabetes, smoking initiation, cigarettes per day, and alcohol consumption.

Association Study on Nutrition in the First Year of Life and Molar-Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH)-Results from the GINIplus and LISA Birth Cohort Studies.

Molar-incisor hypomineralization (MIH) is a condition with specific clinical presentation whose etiology to date still remains unknown. This study prospectively investigated the association between nutrition during the 1st year of life and the presence of MIH in the permanent dentition. Data from 1070 10-year-old children from two prospective birth cohort studies were included.