Search results for " article"
showing 10 items of 6903 documents
Decreasing muscle performance associated with increasing disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
2018
Objectives Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation has a detrimental effect on muscle strength. Our objective was to analyse the association between muscle performance and different disease activity levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Method A total of 199 consecutive outpatients were subject to cross-sectional assessment. Measurements of grip strength, endurance of the upper and lower limbs and trunk strength were combined as a muscle performance composite score (MPCS), using a standardised method. The disease activity for 28 joints (DAS28), radiographs of small joints (Larsen score), rheumatoid factor, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities and anti-rheumatic drugs wer…
Interactive multiobjective optimization for finding the most preferred exercise therapy modality in knee osteoarthritis
2022
Abstract Background There are no explicit guidelines or tools available to support clinicians in selecting exercise therapy modalities according to the characteristics of individual patients despite the apparent need. Objective This study develops a methodology based on a novel multiobjective optimization model and examines its feasibility as a decision support tool to support healthcare professionals in comparing different modalities and identifying the most preferred one based on a patient’s needs. Methods Thirty-one exercise therapy modalities were considered from 21 randomized controlled trials. A novel interactive multiobjective optimization model was designed to characterize the effic…
Liver stiffness quantification in biopsy-proven nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients using shear wave elastography in comparison with transient …
2021
Purpose: This study prospectively assessed the performance of liver stiffness measurements using point shear-wave elastography (p-SWE) in comparison with transient elastography (TE) in patients with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods: Fifty-six consecutive adult patients with a histological diagnosis of NAFLD prospectively underwent TE and p-SWE on the same day. The median of 10 measurements (SWE-10), the first five (SWE-5), and the first three (SWE-3) measurements were analyzed for p-SWE. Liver biopsy was considered as the reference standard for liver fibrosis grade. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and areas under the ROC curves (AUROCs) were cal…
Synergies in Design and Health. The role of architects and urban health planners in tackling key contemporary public health challenges
2020
Background and aim: Important public health improvements have been achieved over the past decades, but new challenges are emerging and progress cannot be taken for granted. Urban settlements host most of the global population, but they are also sources of several threats. The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of architects and planners in contributing to overcome these critical health challenges and propose strategic actions for collaboration with the public health workforce. Methods: Taking global trends and public health challenges as starting point, a scoping literature review has been conducted to illustrate the possible synergies that architecture and public health workforce …
A common biological basis of obesity and nicotine addiction
2013
Contains fulltext : 128630.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Smoking influences body weight such that smokers weigh less than non-smokers and smoking cessation often leads to weight increase. The relationship between body weight and smoking is partly explained by the effect of nicotine on appetite and metabolism. However, the brain reward system is involved in the control of the intake of both food and tobacco. We evaluated the effect of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affecting body mass index (BMI) on smoking behavior, and tested the 32 SNPs identified in a meta-analysis for association with two smoking phenotypes, smoking initiation (SI) and the number of cigarettes smoked …
Association of child maltreatment subtypes and long-term physical health in a German representative sample
2018
ABSTRACT Background: Child maltreatment is a major public problem, associated with enormous consequences on the individual and socioeconomic level. Studies show a clear impact of child maltreatment on long-term physical health. However, there is a lack of analyses comprising a wide variety of subtypes of maltreatment and addressing cumulative effects of different maltreatment subtypes experienced during childhood on physical health. Objective: The objective of this analysis was to assess the association of different subtypes and the intensity of child maltreatment with long-term physical health outcomes. Methods: In a cross-sectional observational approach, a representative sample of the Ge…
Depletion of
2020
Child obesity constitutes a risk factor for developing insulin resistance which, if sustained, could lead to more severe conditions like type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adulthood. Our study identified previously unknown species whose depletion (Blautia luti and Blautia wexlerae) is associated with insulin resistance in obese individuals. Our results also indicate that these bacterial species might help to reduce inflammation causally linked to obesity-related complications. Childhood is considered a window of opportunity to tackle obesity. These new findings provide, therefore, valuable information for the future design of microbiota-based strategies for the early prevention of obesity-related com…
Lihavuus terveyden, sairauden ja normaaliuden määrittelyn kohteena
2018
Lihavuudesta ja lihavasta ruumiista on tullut viimeistään viime vuosikymmenen niin kutsutun lihavuusepidemiadiskurssin myötä keskeinen paitsi lääketieteellisen myös sosiaalisen ja moraalisen arvioinnin, yhteiskunnallisen keskustelun ja toimintaohjelmien kohde. Tässä katsausartikkelissa tarkastellaan ruumiin koon ja erityisesti lihavuuden määrittelyä. Artikkelissa eritellään ruumiin koon ja koon määrittelyn taustoja ja perusteita, ruumiin kokoon ja painoon liittyvää valtarakenteita, tiedontuotantoa, kulttuurisia ja sosiaalisia tekijöitä, ja niiden vaikutuksia. Artikkelissa lihavuuden normalisaatiopyrkimykset kytketään medikalisaatiokehitykseen, terveysaatteeseen ja uusliberaaliin eetokseen. …
Obesity and diabetes-Not only a simple link between two epidemics
2018
Summary Diabetes (DM) as well as obesity, due to their increasing incidence, were recognized as epidemic by the World Health Organization. Obesity is involved not only in the aetiopathogenesis of the most common worldwide type of DM—type 2 diabetes—but also in the development of its complications. There is also increasing scientific evidence regarding the role of obesity and overweight in type 1 diabetes. Weight gain may be considered as a complication of insulin treatment but also reveals significant pathophysiological impact on various stages of the disease. Another very important aspect related to DM as well as obesity is the microbiome, which is highly variable. The function of the gut …
The role of SAXS and molecular simulations in 3D structure elucidation of a DNA aptamer against lung cancer
2021
Aptamers are short, single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotide molecules that function as synthetic analogs of antibodies and bind to a target molecule with high specificity. Aptamer affinity entirely depends on its tertiary structure and charge distribution. Therefore, length and structure optimization are essential for increasing aptamer specificity and affinity. Here, we present a general optimization procedure for finding the most populated atomistic structures of DNA aptamers. Based on the existed aptamer LC-18 for lung adenocarcinoma, a new truncated LC-18 (LC-18t) aptamer LC-18t was developed. A three-dimensional (3D) shape of LC-18t was reported based on small-angle X-ray scattering…