Factors affecting decisions to use antibiotic-sparing treatment approaches in women with uncomplicated urinary tract infections: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: This scoping review will explore the evidence on factors influencing the decisions to use antibiotic-sparing treatments in women with uncomplicated urinary tract infection.

Introduction: Overuse and misuse of antibiotics are the main drivers of antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotic-sparing treatments, such as symptomatic treatment with analgesics and delayed prescriptions, have considerable potential to reduce antibiotic consumption, but the majority of patients still receive antibiotics without delay.

Loss of SMAD1 in acute myeloid leukemia with and fusion genes.

Introduction: -rearrangements define a subclass of acute leukemias characterized by a distinct gene expression signature linked to the dysfunctional oncogenic fusion proteins arising from various chromosomal translocations involving the (also known as ) gene. Research on the disease pathomechanism in -rearranged acute leukemias has mainly focused on the upregulation of the stemness-related genes of the -family and their co-factor .

Results: Here we report the and fusion gene-dependent downregulation of , a TGF-β signaling axis transcription factor.

DepRescribing inapprOpriate Proton Pump InhibiTors (DROPIT): study protocol of a cluster-randomised controlled trial in Swiss primary care.

Objectives: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely prescribed medications and commonly used for the treatment of gastric acid-related disorders. Nevertheless, PPIs are often overused leading to potential adverse effects and unnecessary healthcare costs. Deprescribing strategies have emerged to safely reduce or substitute inappropriate PPIs and optimise patient care in an evidence-based manner.

Incidence, mortality and survival of pleural mesothelioma in Zurich between 1981 and 2019, Switzerland.

Background: Pleural mesothelioma is mainly caused by (occupational) asbestos exposure. Since 1990, the import and use of asbestos is prohibited in Switzerland. However, due to the long latency time between exposure and the development of disease, incidence in Switzerland was expected to further increase for years after the ban.

Prolonged persistence of mutagenic DNA lesions in somatic cells.

DNA is subject to continual damage, leaving each cell with thousands of individual DNA lesions at any given moment. The efficiency of DNA repair means that most known classes of lesion have a half-life of minutes to hours, but the extent to which DNA damage can persist for longer durations remains unknown. Here, using high-resolution phylogenetic trees from 89 donors, we identified mutations arising from 818 DNA lesions that persisted across multiple cell cycles in normal human stem cells from blood, liver and bronchial epithelium.

Family Medicine Practice as Learning Environment: A Medical Student Evaluation in Switzerland.

Introduction: Improving the quality of teaching placements in family medicine practice (FMP) could help to address the shortage of primary care physicians. This study aims to investigate students' evaluations of first-exposure FMP placements, to identify clusters of FMPs that might need to improve their placement quality, and to analyze students' perceptions of the FMP as a learning environment.

Methods: The design was a cross-sectional survey study, including all fourth-year undergraduate medical students at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, who completed a mandatory placement in FMP during 2019-2022.

Context counts: a qualitative study on how adolescents activate social resources to develop and practice health literacy.

Background: Recently, the importance of social networks and other contextual factors in shaping health literacy of adolescents has gained recognition. However, research often simply refers to context without explicitly describing it. In this qualitative study, we aimed to explore how adolescents activate their (social) resources to develop and practice health literacy within a Swiss cantonal school health service program and in their everyday lives.

Evaluating inter- and intra-rater reliability in assessing upper limb compensatory movements post-stroke: creating a ground truth through video analysis?

Background: Compensatory movements frequently emerge in the process of motor recovery after a stroke. Given their potential for unfavorable long-term effects, it is crucial to assess and document compensatory movements throughout rehabilitation. However, clinically applicable assessment tools are currently limited.

Hydration alters viscosity of nasal secretions in postnasal drip.

In our recent study, increased viscosity, delayed mucociliary clearance as well as hyposensitivity/dysesthesia of the nasopharynx seemed to play a relevant role in the pathophysiology of postnasal drip (PND) (1). Earlier concepts of PND, regarding an increased volume of secretions and atopy, do not seem to hold true since our latest analyses showed no significant difference between cases and controls (1). However, to this day its therapy is debated and the evidence for an effective treatment of PND is lacking so far.

Ferric carboxymaltose with or without phosphate substitution in iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia before elective surgery - The DeFICIT trial.

Background: Iron deficiency anemia in the perioperative setting is treated predominantly with intravenous iron formulation, of which ferric carboxymaltose may induce hypophosphatemia by modulating fibroblast growth factor 23.

Methods: In this single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind trial, we consented 92 adult patients scheduled for elective major abdominal or thoracic surgery. These patients either had isolated iron deficiency (plasma ferritin <100 ng/mL or transferrin saturation < 20 %) or iron deficiency anemia (hemoglobin (Hb) 100-130 g/L with plasma ferritin <100 ng/mL or transferrin saturation < 20 %).

Exploring the effectiveness of instruction tuning in biomedical language processing.

Large Language Models (LLMs), particularly those similar to ChatGPT, have significantly influenced the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). While these models excel in general language tasks, their performance in domain-specific downstream tasks such as biomedical and clinical Named Entity Recognition (NER), Relation Extraction (RE), and Medical Natural Language Inference (NLI) is still evolving. In this context, our study investigates the potential of instruction tuning for biomedical language processing, applying this technique to two general LLMs of substantial scale.

Cardiac diffusion-weighted and tensor imaging: A consensus statement from the special interest group of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.

Thanks to recent developments in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), cardiac diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance is fast emerging in a range of clinical applications. Cardiac diffusion-weighted imaging (cDWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (cDTI) now enable investigators and clinicians to assess and quantify the tridimensional microstructure of the heart. Free-contrast DWI is uniquely sensitized to the presence and displacement of water molecules within the myocardial tissue, including the intracellular, extracellular, and intravascular spaces.

Discrepancy between antibiotic pack sizes and guideline recommendations: a real-world analysis based on claims data.

Purpose: Antibiotics are often only available in predefined pack sizes, which may not align with guideline recommendations. This can result in leftover pills, leading to inappropriate self-medication or waste disposal, which can both foster the development of antibiotic resistance. The magnitude of inappropriate pack sizes is largely unknown.

Diverse roles of Primary Health Care in COVID-19 vaccination across 28 European countries - Insights from the Eurodata study.

Background: The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in several European countries involved collaboration between public health and Primary Health Care (PHC).

Objective: To highlight the role of PHC professionals in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, specifically in terms of vaccine administration, communication and contributing to vaccination population coverage.

Methods: A descriptive retrospective study of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign across 28 European countries was conducted, covering data from December 2020 to November 2021.

Intrathecal immune reactivity against Measles-, Rubella-, and Varicella Zoster viruses is associated with cerebrospinal fluid inflammation in multiple sclerosis.

Background/objectives: We aimed to determine in multiple sclerosis (MS) whether intrathecal immunoglobulin G (IgG) production against measles- (M), rubella- (R), and varicella zoster (Z) viruses, which is called MRZ reaction (MRZR) and considered the most specific soluble biomarker for MS, is associated with demographic and basic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters reflecting inflammation.

Methods: We analyzed the presence of positive MRZR and associations with demographic and clinical routine CSF parameters in 513 patients with MS and 182 non-MS patients.

Results: Comparing MS patients versus non-MS patients, positive MRZR (38.

Prescriber-level surveillance of outpatient antimicrobial consumption to enable targeted antimicrobial stewardship: a nationwide observational study, Switzerland, 2015 to 2022.

BackgroundIn Europe and other high-income countries, antibiotics are mainly prescribed in the outpatient setting, which consists of primary, specialist and hospital-affiliated outpatient care. Established surveillance platforms report antimicrobial consumption (AMC) on aggregated levels and the contribution of the different prescriber groups is unknown.AimTo determine the contribution of different prescribers to the overall outpatient AMC in Switzerland.