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Background: Chronic widespread pain (CWP) has a negative impact on health status, but results have varied regarding gender-related differences and reported health status. The aim was to study the impact of CWP on health status in women and men aged 35-54 years in a sample of the general population. The aim was further to investigate lifestyle-related predictors of better health status in those wit
BACKGROUND: Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in elderly men reduces aneurysm related mortality. AAA is commonly defined as an infrarenal aortic diameter (IAD) of ≥30 mm, which is based on the definition of an arterial aneurysm as a focal dilation of 150% or more compared to the expected diameter of about 20 mm. The IAD has been shown to correlate to body surface area (BSA). The aim of
Arsenic (As) is one of the most important dangerous elements as more than 100 million of people are exposed to risk, globally. The permissible threshold of As for drinking water is 10 μg/L according to both the WHO’s drinking water guidelines and the Iranian national standard. However, several studies have indicated that As concentrations exceed this threshold value in several regions of Iran. Thi
Background: Cancer Antigen 125 (CA125) is currently the best available ovarian cancer screening biomarker. However, CA125 has been limited by low sensitivity and specificity in part due to normal variation between individuals. Personal characteristics that influence CA125 could be used to improve its performance as screening biomarker. Methods: We developed and validated linear and dichotomous (≥3
AIMS: Remodelling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a key mechanism involved in the development and progression of heart failure (HF) but also functional in associated pulmonary hypertension (PH). Our aim was to identify plasma ECM proteins associated to end-stage HF and secondary PH in relation to haemodynamics, before and after heart transplantation (HT).METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty ECM plasma
BackgroundAccumulating evidence suggests that many psychiatric disorders etiologically represent the extreme end of dimensionally distributed features rather than distinct entities. The extent to which this applies to eating disorders (EDs) is unknown.MethodsWe investigated if there is similar etiology in (a) the continuous distribution of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), (b) the extremes
The relative importance of extracellular and intracellular calcium sources mediating smooth muscle contraction in ovarian follicle and ovarian artery was assessed in experiments on the influence of nifedipine, D-600, amrinone, diethylstilbestrol (DES), lanthanum and/or calcium removal on contractions induced by K+ depolarization, by noradrenaline, histamine and acetylcholine. The K+-induced respon
Aim: The aim of the study was to identify sociodemographic, disease-related, physical and mental health-related determinants of fatigue at 2-year follow-up in individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A longitudinal analysis of participants with symptomatic knee OA from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) was conducted to identify predictors of fatigue at 2-year follo
Blood loss in the first days of life has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality in very preterm infants. In this systematic review we included randomized controlled trials comparing the effects of interventions to preserve blood volume in the infant from birth, reduce the need for sampling, or limit the blood sampled. Mortality and major neurodevelopmental disabilities were the pri
BackgroundPopulations of long-distance migratory birds experience different environments and are consequently exposed to different parasites throughout their annual cycles. Though, specific whereabouts and accompanied host-parasite interactions remain unknown for most migratory passerines. Collared sand martins (Riparia riparia) breeding in the western Palaearctic spend the nonbreeding period in A
The SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 11 (SOX11) gene, located on chromosome 2p25, encodes for a transcription factor that is involved in tissue remodeling during embryogenesis and is crucial for neurogenesis. The role for SOX11 in hematopoiesis has not yet been defined. Two genes under direct control of SOX11 are the class- III β-tubulin gene (TUBB3) in neural cells and the transcription factor
Background: Recent experiments have confirmed that the neutron-rich isotopes F28,29 belong to the so-called island of inversion (IOI), a region of the nuclear chart around Z=10 and N=20 where nuclear structure deviates from the standard shell model predictions due to deformation and continuum effects. However, while the general principles leading to the IOI are relatively well understood, the deta
Background: In advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), dyskinesias and non-motor symptoms such as sleep dysfunction can significantly impair quality of life, and high-quality management is an unmet need. Objective: To analyze changes in dyskinesia and non-motor symptoms (including sleep) among studies with levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) in patients with advanced PD. Methods: A comprehensive l
Timely diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is critical for appropriate treatment/patient management. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker analysis is often used to aid diagnosis. We assessed analytical performance of second-generation (Gen II) Elecsys® CSF immunoassays (Roche Diagnostics International Ltd), and adjusted existing cut-offs, to evaluate their potential utility in clinical routine. A
The EU Biodiversity strategy aims to plant 3 billion trees by 2030, in order to improve ecosystem restoration and biodiversity. Here, we compute the land area that would be required to support this number of newly planted trees by taking account of different tree species and planting regimes across the EU member states. We find that 3 billion trees would require a total land area of between 0.81 a
Background: Previously, we investigated tonsillar carriage of Fusobacterium necrophorum by PCR and found a high tonsillar carriage rate (21%) in asymptomatic 15-25year olds, but the same age group is most commonly affected by severe F. necrophorum infections. Interestingly, we found Cycle threshold (Ct)-values in asymptomaticcarriers to be high (median 29). Possibly, the Ct-value could differentia
BackgroundHIV-associated infective native aortic aneurysms (INAA) constitute a subcategory of the disease INAA. This is a very rare group of patients.ObjectivesThe aim of this systematic literature review was to compile a description of patient characteristics with HIV-associated INAA.MethodsA systematic literature review was performed using the search terms HIV and aortic aneurysm in Ovid MEDLINE
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of tumor necrosis factor α inhibitor (TNFi) initiation on the use of antimicrobials among biologic-naïve patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Information on all biologic-naïve patients with RA was extracted from ICEBIO, a nationwide registry. Each patient was matched on age, sex, and calendar time to five randomly se
Aortic regurgitation (AR) following continuous flow left ventricular assist device implantation (cf-LVAD) may adversely impact outcomes. We aimed to assess the incidence and impact of progressive AR after cf-LVAD on prognosis, biomarkers, functional capacity and echocardiographic findings. In an analysis of the PCHF-VAD database encompassing 12 European heart failure centers, patients were dichoto
