Search results for "CONTROL"

Step by Step Toward Biomarker-Based Precision Medicine in Heart Failure

2019

> You wouldn't wear just any pair of glasses—your prescription is tailored to your vision. This statement was made by President Obama in 2016 during the presentation and launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative. Whether we like it or not (and some politicians today seem rather indifferent), we are headed toward a new paradigm of precision medicine. This is a new era of medicine in which the right treatment is delivered at the right time to the right person. In the context of heart failure (HF)5 there is a long road ahead to fully realize the goals of precision medicine. HF is a complex syndrome with heterogeneous pathophysiology. Most medical treatments currently used in HF have been tes…

Comparative Effectiveness of Multiple Different First-Line Treatment Regimens for Helicobacter pylori Infection: A Network Meta-analysis

2021

Background & Aims A number of double, triple, and quadruple therapies have been proposed as first-line empiric treatments for Helicobacter pylori infection. However, knowledge of their worldwide and regional comparative efficacy is lacking. We examined the comparative effectiveness of all empirically used first-line regimens tested against standard triple treatment using a network meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials. Methods Data extracted from eligible randomized controlled trials were entered into a Bayesian network meta-analysis to investigate the comparative efficacy of H pylori infection empiric first-line regimens and to explore their effectiveness rank order. The …

Control and prevention measures for legionellosis in hospitals: A cross-sectional survey in Italy

2018

Abstract Risk assessment, environmental monitoring, and the disinfection of water systems are the key elements in preventing legionellosis risk. The Italian Study Group of Hospital Hygiene of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health and the Italian Multidisciplinary Society for the Prevention of Health Care-Associated Infections carried out a national cross-sectional survey to investigate the measures taken to prevent and control legionellosis in Italian hospitals. A multiple-choice questionnaire was developed, comprising 71 questions regarding hospital location, general characteristics, clinical and environmental surveillance, and control and preventive measur…

Multi-Dimensional, Short-Timescale Quantification of Parkinson's Disease and Essential Tremor Motor Dysfunction

2020

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive movement disorder characterized by heterogenous motor dysfunction with fluctuations in severity. Objective, short-timescale characterization of this dysfunction is necessary as therapies become increasingly adaptive. Objectives: This study aims to characterize a novel, naturalistic, and goal-directed tablet-based task and complementary analysis protocol designed to characterize the motor features of PD. Methods: A total of 26 patients with PD and without deep brain stimulation (DBS), 20 control subjects, and eight patients with PD and with DBS completed the task. Eight metrics, each designed to capture an aspect of motor dysfunction in…

Anxiety, Stress, and Fear Response in Mice With Reduced Endocannabinoid Levels

2016

Abstract Background Disruption of the endocannabinoid system through pharmacological or genetic invalidation of cannabinoid CB 1 receptors has been linked to depression in humans and depression-like behaviors in mice. The two main endogenous cannabinoids, anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG), are produced on demand from phospholipids. The pathways and enzymes involved in endocannabinoid biosynthesis thus play a major role in regulating the activity of this system. This study investigates the role of the main 2-AG producing enzyme diacylglycerol lipase α (DAGL-α). Methods We generated and used knockout mice lacking DAGL-α ( Dagla −/− ) to assess the behavioral consequences of reduce…

2016

Context: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery is an effective long-term intervention for weight loss maintenance, reducing appetite, and also food reward, via unclear mechanisms. Objective: To investigate the role of elevated satiety gut hormones after RYGB, we examined food hedonic-reward responses after their acute post-prandial suppression. Design: These were randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover experimental medicine studies. Patients: Two groups, more than 5 months after RYGB for obesity (n = 7–11), compared with nonobese controls (n = 10), or patients after gastric banding (BAND) surgery (n = 9) participated in the studies. Intervention: Studies were performed aft…

Relationship between PMN-endothelium interactions, ROS production and Beclin-1 in type 2 diabetes.

2020

Type 2 diabetes is closely related to oxidative stress and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we hypothesized that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN)-endothelium interactions and autophagy are associated. We evaluated PMN-endothelial interactions, ROS production and autophagy parameters in 47 type 2 diabetic patients and 57 control subjects. PMNs from type 2 diabetic patients exhibited slower rolling velocity (p < 0.001), higher rolling flux (p < 0.001) and adhesion (p < 0.001) in parallel to higher levels of total (p < 0.05) and mitochondrial ROS (p < 0.05). When the protein expression of autophagy markers was analysed, an increase of Beclin-1 (p < 0.05), LC3I (p < 0.05), LC3II (p < 0…

Environmental Stressors and Their Impact on Health and Disease with Focus on Oxidative Stress

2017

Epidemiological, preclinical and interventional clinical studies have demonstrated that environmental stressors are associated with health problems, namely cardiovascular diseases. According to estimations of the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental risk factors account for an appreciable part of global deaths and life years spent with disability. This Forum addresses the impact of the environmental risk factors such as traffic noise exposure, air pollution by particulate matter (PM), mental stress/loneliness, and the life style risk factor (water-pipe) smoking on health and disease with focus on the cardiovascular system. We will critically discuss the use of observatory/modifiab…

What Healthcare Workers Should Know about Environmental Bacterial Contamination in the Intensive Care Unit

2017

Intensive care unit- (ICU-) acquired infections are a major health problem worldwide. Inanimate surfaces and equipment contamination may play a role in cross-transmission of pathogens and subsequent patient colonization or infection. Bacteria contaminate inanimate surfaces and equipment of the patient zone and healthcare area, generating a reservoir of potential pathogens, including multidrug resistant species. Traditional terminal cleaning methods have limitations. Indeed patients who receive a bed from prior patient carrying bacteria are exposed to an increased risk (odds ratio 2.13, 95% confidence intervals 1.62–2.81) of being colonized and potentially infected by the same bacterial spec…

Age-Related Adaptations of Lower Limb Intersegmental Coordination During Walking

2019

Lower-limb intersegmental coordination is a complex component of human walking. Aging may result in impairments of motor control and coordination contributing to the decline in mobility inducing loss of autonomy. Investigating intersegmental coordination could therefore provide insights into age-related changes in neuromuscular control of gait. However, it is unknown whether the age-related declines in gait performance relates to intersegmental coordination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of aging on the coordination of lower limb kinematics and kinetics during walking at a conformable speed. We then assessed the body kinematics and kinetics from gait analyses of 84 volunt…