‚Intensive care unit-acquired weakness‘ und neuromuskulärer Ultraschall

Die Anaesthesiologie -     

Impact of Food Intake on Liver Stiffness Determined by 2-D Shear Wave Elastography: Prospective Interventional Study in 100 Healthy Patients

The aim was to evaluate the influence of food intake on liver stiffness measurement (LSM), performed with 2-D shear wave elastography (Logiq E9, GE Medical Systems, Wauwatosa, WI, USA). One hundred healthy volunteers were prospectively enrolled. Mean age was 25.8 (19–55) y, and mean body mass index was 22.43 (17.3–30.8) kg/m². Patients fasted for at least 3 h and subsequently ingested a liquid meal of 800 kcal. Liver stiffness and portal vein velocity were measured before and after food intake. Food intake resulted in significantly higher LSM values compared with baseline LSM (5.74 ± 0.94 kPa vs. 4.80 ± 0.94 kPa, p < 0.001). On multiple linear regression analysis, body mass index was significantly positively correlated with the LSM increase after food intake (p?=?0.01). No correlation between the increase in LSM and the increase in post-prandial portal vein velocity was observed (r?=?0.09). In summary, food intake has a significant influence on LSM. There is an 11% risk of misclassifying non-fasting, healthy patients as having significant fibrosis.     

Augenbefall und Systemerkrankung – periokuläre und intraokuläre Lymphome

Die Onkologie - Das okuläre Lymphom wird anhand seiner anatomischen Lokalisation in die intraokulären und periokulären Lymphome eingeteilt. Intraokulär kann die Uvea mit ihren...     

Teen Use of Marijuana Edibles: A Focus Group Study of an Emerging Issue

Recent research indicates that marijuana-infused food product (i.e., edible) use is becoming nearly as common as smoking marijuana where medical marijuana is available. This study explores edible use among teens. We conducted four focus groups in the San Francisco Bay Area with youth, ages 15–17. The focus groups were divided by gender and whether they used marijuana. Some teens mentioned edible use at school. Youth reported that teens consume edibles, primarily to reduce the likelihood of getting caught. Edibles are also attractive to those who do not like to smoke or have concerns about smoking. Both male and female respondents suggested that females are more likely than males to prefer edibles over smoking, one reason for which may be to avoid smelling like marijuana smoke. For some young women, edibles may be a way to avoid publicly presenting themselves as marijuana users. Findings also suggest that youth have access to edibles through multiple sources. Youth reported that they can purchase edibles at school from other students who either make the edibles themselves or are reselling edibles obtained from dispensaries. Both users and non-users were aware of potentially negative consequences related to edible use. Some youth mentioned that they have heard of youth dying from edibles, and several reported being concerned about the high produced by edibles. Female non-users appeared to be more concerned than others about edibles and compared them to drinks that could be spiked with drugs. However, sentiment among some male marijuana users was that if you cannot handle edibles you should not be using them. These findings suggest that strategies to curb access to edibles and use among youth, such as restricting sales of edibles with strong youth appeal and educating youth on the risks of edibles, will need to be developed.     

Sexual Assistance in Italy: An Explorative Study on the Opinions of People with Disabilities and Would-Be Assistants

Providing assistance services for sexual activity is becoming of increasing importance to the community of people with disabilities and to mental health professionals. Nevertheless, the literature on this topic is sparse. The aim of this study is to explore potential clients’ and assistants’ views, needs, experiences, opinions, and concerns about sexual assistance (SA) in Italy. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people with a congenital physical disability and 10 would-be assistants. A Grounded Theory approach was used to analyze data. Participants with disabilities considered SA useful. Despite most of them having unfulfilled sexual needs, they would prefer to have their sexual needs met within a romantic relationship. Would-be assistants constructed themselves as people who have a “natural aptitude to being useful”. Results suggest that SA services might represent an opportunity for people with disabilities to discover new ways to satisfy their personal needs and to live more autonomously while, at the same time, allowing would-be sexual assistants to fulfill their desire to be helpful. Nevertheless, the use of SA is likely to only be a part of the answer to fulfilling the sexual needs of people with disabilities.     

Social media as a platform for science and health engagement: challenges and opportunities

Social media has become a major platform for debates on science and health. This commentary argues that while social media can present challenges to communicating important health matters, it can also provide health experts a unique opportunity to engage with and build trust among members of the public.     

The ecological risk of heavy metals in sediment from the Danube Delta

The objectives of this study were to assess the sediment contamination with heavy metals and to investigate accordingly the ecological risk posed in the SE of the Danube Delta. Sediments are important in assessing the contamination as they act as reservoirs, transporters and contamination sources. Sediment samples were collected and analysed for lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, revealing levels higher than the background, especially for cadmium and mercury (Pb > As > Cd > Hg). Concentrations exceeding the probable effect limit were noticed for arsenic and mercury. The contamination indexes describe the study area as having almost half of the samples as contaminated (pollution load index-PLI 1.04), however the contamination is mostly low-to moderate (modified contamination degree-mCd 1.36). The sediment contamination poses mostly a low ecological risk (RI 94.8). The sediment quality guideline quotient (SQG-Q 0.29) describes a moderate impact, while the probable effect concentration quotient (PEC-Q 0.16) confirms that there are no levels likely to affect the aquatic biota. In our study area, the main Branch of the Danube River and the Secondary Delta are the most affected by contamination, while the narrow, reed abundant channels as the preferred habitat of most aquatic organisms, have a low contamination level.     

Compensatory mechanisms affect sensorimotor integration during ongoing vocal motor acts in marmoset monkeys

Any transmission of vocal signals faces the challenge of acoustic interferences such as heavy rain, wind, animal or urban sounds. Consequently, several mechanisms and strategies have evolved to optimize signal‐to‐noise ratio. Examples to increase detectability are the Lombard effect, an involuntary rise in call amplitude in response to masking ambient noise, which is often associated with other vocal changes such as call frequency and duration, as well as the animals’ capability of limiting calling to periods where noise perturbation is absent. Previous studies revealed vocal flexibility and various audio‐vocal integration mechanisms in marmoset monkeys. Using acoustic perturbation triggered by vocal behaviour, we investigated whether marmosets are capable of exhibiting changes in call structure when perturbing noise starts after call onset or whether such effects only occur if noise perturbation starts prior to call onset. We show that marmosets are capable of rapidly modulating call amplitude and frequency in response to such noise perturbation. Vocalizations swiftly increased call frequency after noise onset indicating a rapid effect of perturbing noise on vocal motor production. Call amplitudes were also affected. Interestingly, however, the marmosets did not exhibit the Lombard effect as previously reported but decreased call intensity in response to noise. Our findings indicate that marmosets possess a general avoidance strategy to call in the presence of ambient noise and suggest that these animals are capable of counteracting a previously thought involuntary audio‐vocal mechanism, the Lombard effect. These findings will pave the way to investigate the underlying audio‐vocal integration mechanisms explaining these behaviours.     

Intranasal Delivery of Exendin-4 Confers Neuroprotective Effect Against Cerebral Ischemia in Mice

Exendin-4 is now considered as a promising drug for the treatment of cerebral ischemia. To determine the neuroprotective effects of intranasal exendin-4, C57BL/6J mice were intranasally administered with exendin-4 daily for 7 days before middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) surgery. Intranasally administered exendin-4 produced higher brain concentrations and lower plasma concentrations when compared to identical doses administered interperitoneally. Neurological deficits and volume of infarcted lesions were analyzed 24 h after ischemia. Intranasal administration of exendin-4 exhibited significant neuroprotection in C57BL/6 mice subjected to MCAO by reducing neurological deficit scores and infarct volume. The neuroprotective effects of exendin-4 were blocked by the knockdown of GLP-1R with shRNA. However, exendin-4 has no impact on glucose and insulin levels which indicated that the neuroprotective effect was mediated by the activation of GLP-1R in the brain. Exendin-4 intranasal administration restored the balance between pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins and decreased the expression of Caspase-3. The anti-apoptotic effect was mediated by the cAMP/PKA and PI3K/Akt pathway. These findings provided evidence that exendin-4 intranasal administration exerted a neuroprotective effect mediated by an anti-apoptotic mechanism in MCAO mice and protected neurons against ischemic injury through the GLP-1R pathway in the brain. Intranasal delivery of exendin-4 might be a promising strategy for the treatment of ischemic stroke.