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Objective: The soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) has potential as a prognosis and severity biomarker in several inflammatory and infectious diseases. In a previous cross-sectional study, suPAR levels were shown to reflect damage accrual in cases of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Herein, we evaluated suPAR as a predictor of future organ damage in recent-onset SLE. Method

Background: Preoperative alteration of T cell-mediated immunity as well as an altered immune response to surgical stress were found in long-term alcoholic patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate perioperative T cell-mediated immune parameters as well as cytokine release from whole blood cells after lipopolysaccharide stimulation and its association with postoperative infections. Methods: F

Catheter ablation may reduce ventricular tachycardia (VT) burden in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) patients. However, little is known about factors predicting need for ablation. Therefore, we sought to investigate predictors and use of VT ablation and to evaluate the postprocedural outcome in ARVC patients. We studied 435 patients from the Nordic ARVC registry including 220

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

Gastric cancer trends seem to follow improvements in the environment of blue-collar workers, but the etiological role of occupational exposures in gastric carcinogenesis is scantily investigated. The risk of gastric adenocarcinoma in 10 common occupational industries, and particularly the long-term effects of asbestos, organic solvents, impregnating agents, insecticides, and herbicides, were evalu

AIMS : Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a disorder of unknown aetiology characterized by orthostatic intolerance and tachycardia with diverse other symptoms, including neurocognitive deficits. Cerebral oximetry non-invasively measures cerebral tissue saturation (SctO2) and has been shown to be informative in syncope evaluation. We aimed to assess SctO2 in POTS patients and those

Background: Coagulation activation is a hallmark of cancer, and anticoagulants have shown tumour-inhibiting properties. However, recent trials have failed to demonstrate improved survival with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in cancer populations. This has raised the question of suboptimal adherence as a possible explanation for the lack of benefit. Still, there is no standardised method to di

Introduction: The aim was to study if the evaporative water loss can be predicted enough accurately for hydration recommendations by ISO 7933 – Predicted Heat Strain (PHS) model during a student laboratory exercise in an extremely hot environment.Method: Twelve young healthy students (8 males and 4 females), unacclimatized to heat, were exposed in a climatic chamber at 50˚C, 30% relative humidity

Aims: Sorbitol and myo-inositol levels and morphology of sural nerve were compared with nerve function and clinical neuropathy in men with diabetic, impaired (IGT), and normal glucose tolerance. Methods: After neurography of sural nerve and determinations of sensory thresholds for vibration, warm and cold on the foot, whole nerve sural nerve biopsy was performed in 10 men with Type 1 diabetes mell

1. In the present study, the vasodilator actions of methanandamide and capsaicin in the rat isolated mesenteric arterial bed and small mesenteric arterial segments were investigated. 2. Methanandamide elicited concentration-dependent relaxations of preconstricted mesenteric arterial beds (pEC 50 = 6.0 ± 0.1, E(max) = 87 ± 3%) and arterial segments (pEC 50 = 6.4 ± 0.1, E(max) = 93 ± 3%). 3. In art

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are important risk factors for suicide, yet little is known about how suicide risks vary by specific SUDs. We examined these risks for the first time in a large general population to facilitate comparisons across SUDs. A national cohort study was conducted of all 6,947,191 adults in Sweden. SUDs (opioid, sedative/hypnotic, hallucinogen, cannabis, amphetamine, cocaine

Background: Total pancreatectomy has high morbidity and mortality and differences among countries are currently unknown. This study compared the use and postoperative outcomes of total pancreatectomy among 4 Western countries. Methods: Patients who underwent one-stage total pancreatectomy were included from registries in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden (2014–2018). Use of t

Objective. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) related to atherosclerosis, preceded by arterial stiffness. We aimed to examine common carotid artery (CCA) biomechanical properties using ultrasound to calculate β stiffness index (indicating arterial stiffness) and, a more recently developed technique, 2-dimensional (2D) speckle tracking st

In 2016, we reported the presence of Plasmodium vivax in Botswana through active case detection. A realtime PCR was used during a similar study in 10 districts to assess changes in the P. vivax prevalence. We assessed 1,614 children (2-13 years of age) for hemoglobin (Hb; g/dL) and Plasmodium parasites. The median age of all participants was 5.0 years (25th percentile, 3 years; 75th percentile, 8

Background: Presently, 1 in 4 Lebanese adolescents is involved in bullying, with 12% being perpetrators. In Lebanon, around 90% of bullying incidents occur in schools. Given the lack of studies tackling bullying perpetration in Lebanon, this study aims to identify and target risk factors of bullying perpetration among Lebanese adolescents, which would serve future prevention and intervention progr

This study in the Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia assessed the outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) treatment among children younger than 15 years. Retrospective data were collected on treatment outcomes and their determinants for children with TB for the cohorts of 2012-2014 enrolled in 40 hospitals and 137 health centers. Chi-square tests, t-tests, and logistic regression were used for the analys

Background: The role of non-group A streptococci and Fusobacterium necrophorum in pharyngotonsillitis has been disputed and few prospective studies have evaluated the effect of antibiotic treatment. This study uses registry data to investigate the relation between antibiotic prescription for pharyngotonsillitis in primary healthcare and return visits for pharyngotonsillitis, complications, and ton

Background and purpose: Radiation therapy treatment planning is a manual, time-consuming task that might be accelerated using machine learning algorithms. In this study, we aimed to evaluate if a triplet-based deep learning model can predict volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) dose distributions for prostate cancer patients. Materials and methods: A modified U-Net was trained on triplets, a co

Background: Second primary cancers (SPCs) are important clinically as they may negatively influence patient survival and they may tell about therapeutic side effects and general causes of cancer. Population-based literature concerning SPCs after hepatobiliary cancers is limited and here we assess risks of SPCs after hepatocellular cancer (HCC), and cancers of the gallbladder, bile ducts and ampull

Context. Positions and proper motions of Gaia sources are expressed in a reference frame that ideally should be non-rotating relative to distant extragalactic objects, coincident with the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS), and consistent across all magnitudes. For sources fainter than 16th magnitude, this is achieved through Gaia's direct observations of quasars. At brighter magnitud