Search results for "unity"
showing 10 items of 3852 documents
Is sense of coherence a predictor of lifestyle changes in subjects at risk for type 2 diabetes?
2015
Objective: To determine whether the sense of coherence (SOC) could predict the outcome of an 18-month lifestyle intervention program for subjects at risk of type 2 diabetes. Methods: Subjects at high risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited to a low-intensity lifestyle intervention program by their general practitioners. Weight reduction ≥5% and improvement in exercise capacity of ≥10% from baseline to follow-up indicated a clinically significant lifestyle change. SOC was measured using the 13-item SOC questionnaire. Results: The study involved 213 subjects with a mean body mass index of 37 (SD ± 6). Complete follow-up data were obtained for 131 (62%). Twenty-six participants had cli…
Impact of Ebola outbreak on reproductive health services in a rural district of Sierra Leone: a prospective observational study
2019
ObjectivesTo assess the trends concerning utilisation of maternal and child health (MCH) services before, during and after the Ebola outbreak, quantifying the contribution of a reorganised referral system (RS).DesignA prospective observational study of MCH services.SettingPujehun district in Sierra Leone, 77 community health facilities and 1 hospital from 2012 to 2017.Main outcome measuresMCH utililization was evaluated by assessing: (1) institutional deliveries, Cesarean-sections, paediatric and maternity admissions and deaths, and major direct obstetric complications (MDOCs), at hospital level; (2) antenatal care (ANC) 1 and 4, institutional delivery and family planning, at community leve…
Autologous whole blood injections to patients with chronic urticaria and a positive autologous serum skin test: a placebo-controlled trial.
2005
<i>Background:</i> Patients with chronic urticaria (CU) frequently exhibit positive skin test reactions to autologous serum (ASST). Therapies aimed at inducing tolerance to circulating histamine-releasing factors in ASST+ CU patients, e.g. by treatment with autologous whole blood (AWB), have not yet been tested. <i>Objective:</i> To test whether ASST+ CU patients can benefit from repeated low-dose intramuscular injections of AWB. <i>Methods:</i> We characterized CU severity and duration, anti-Fc<sub>&#917;</sub>RI and anti-IgE expression, use of antihistamines, and quality of life in 56 CU patients (ASST+: 35, ASST–: 21) and assessed the t…
Respite care as a community care service: Factors associated with the effects on family carers of adults with intellectual disability in Taiwan
2008
This study examines the effects and associated factors of respite care, which was legislated as a community service for adults with an intellectual disability (ID) in Taiwan in 1997.A total of 116 family carers who live with an adult with ID and have utilised the respite care program were surveyed using standardised measures.The results suggest that the most notable effects of respite care include improvement in the carers' social support and life satisfaction, and relief of psychological stress and overall burden of care. The factors associated with these effects include the way the participants have used the respite care and the users' individual characteristics.How families used the resp…
Naturally Occurring Telomerase-Specific CD4 T-Cell Immunity in Melanoma.
2020
CD4 T cells play a key role in anticancer immunity. In this study, we investigate the clinical relevance of circulating CD4 T helper type 1 (Th1) response against telomerase (anti-TERT Th1 response) in patients with melanoma. The spontaneous anti-TERT Th1 response was detected in 54.5% (85/156) of patients with melanoma before treatment. The prevalence of this systemic response was inversely related to Breslow thickness >1 mm and American Joint Committee on Cancer stage ≥II (P = 0.001 and 0.032, respectively). In contrast to patients treated with targeted therapies, the anti-TERT Th1 immunity was associated with an objective response after immune checkpoint inhibitors treatment. Hence, 86% …
Deficiency of the autoimmune regulator AIRE in thymomas is insufficient to elicit autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome type 1 (APS‐1)
2007
Thymomas are thymic epithelial neoplasms, associated with a variety of autoimmune disorders (especially myasthenia gravis), that apparently result from aberrant intra-tumourous thymopoiesis and export of inefficiently tolerized T-cells to the periphery. The autoimmune regulator (AIRE) drives the expression of self-antigens in the thymic medulla and plays an essential role in ‘central’ tolerance in both humans and mice. However, while inactivating AIRE mutations result in the ‘autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome type 1’ (APS-1), its major features are not well reproduced in AIRE-knock-out mice. Therefore, alternative human disease scenarios with concomitant AIRE deficiency may be valuable…
HIV rapid test in a community setting as a strategy to improve access to HIV testing: data from a multicentre experience in Italy
2019
4,000 new HIV diagnoses and approximately 800 AIDS cases are still reported annually in Italy. Improving public awareness and bringing out HIV-undiagnosed individuals are keystones to progress towards the control of the HIV epidemic. For this purpose, the Open HIV TEST project was organized and delivered by the Italian NGO Anlaids, together with local infectious diseases specialists, in order to provide free access to HIV testing outside the healthcare setting. Between October 2017 and February 2019 six Open HIV TEST initiatives were delivered in six Italian cities (3 northern cities, 1 central and 2 southern cities). In all, 581 people were tested: the overall prevalence of HIV test reacti…
Multiclonal Synovial T Cell Response toYersinia enterocoliticain Reactive Arthritis: TheYersinia61-kDa Heat-Shock Protein Is Not the Major Target Ant…
1993
The T cell response to bacterial antigens plays a major role in the pathogenesis of reactive arthritis (ReA) following enteric infections with Yersinia enterocolitica. To study the antigen specificity of the T cells at the site of inflammation, the response of cloned T cells from the synovial fluid of 2 patients with ReA to partially purified antigens of Yersinia enterocolitica was determined. The clones showed different patterns of response to various fractions, indicating a multiclonal response to Yersinia antigens, and these specificities differed in the 2 patients. Some T cells were specific for Y. enterocolitica; some cross-reacted with other enterobacteria. Proteins of 14 and 19 kDa c…
Clinical impact of broad-spectrum empirical antibiotic therapy in patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia: a multicenter interventional study
2012
Healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) has been proposed as a new category of pneumonia distinct from community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). A multicenter observational study in 2008 finds that patients with HCAP have a mortality rate significantly higher than patients with CAP, and a worse outcome is associated at logistic regression analysis with a low adherence to empirical antibiotic therapy recommended by ATS/IDSA guidelines. We designed a prospective interventional study to establish whether administration of a broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy consistent with the 2005 ATS/IDSA guidelines has an effect on the clinical outcome of hospitalized patients with HCAP. All patients with HCAP pro…
Graves' Autoantibodies Exhibit Different Stimulating Activities in Cultures of Thyrocytes and Orbital Fibroblasts Not Reflected by Clinical Assays
2021
Background: The pathogenesis of Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH) and associated Graves' orbitopathy (GO) appears to involve stimulatory autoantibodies (thyrotropin receptor [TSHR]-stimulating antibodies [TSAbs]) that bind to and activate TSHRs on thyrocytes and orbital fibroblasts. In general, measurement of circulating TSHR antibodies by clinical assays correlates with the status of GH and GO. However, most clinical measurements of TSHR antibodies use competitive binding assays that do not distinguish between TSAbs and antibodies that bind to but do not activate TSHRs. Moreover, clinical assays for TSAbs measure stimulation of only one signaling pathway, the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAM…