Costellokamper7841
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a rare and debilitating autoimmune astrocytopathy with a predominantly relapsing disease course. Satralizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, was designed to treat NMOSD by targeting the IL-6 receptor. Satralizumab builds on positive experiences of off-label use tocilizumab in recent years. Before 2019, no medications were approved for the treatment of NMOSD. In 2020, satralizumab became the third compound to enter the US market, adding to the complement inhibitor eculizumab and the CD19 inhibitor inebilizumab. Here, we review the two randomized, double-blind, Phase III trials that investigated the subcutaneous administration of satralizumab as add-on treatment and monotherapy. Both studies revealed positive effects concerning the reduction of relapse risk for AQP4 seropositive NMOSD patients and generally good tolerability.Background and purpose - In a time when rapid diagnostics are increasingly sought, conventional procedures for detection of microbes causing orthopedic implant-associated infections (OIAI) seem extensive and time-consuming, but how extensive are they? We assessed time to (a) pathogen identification, (b) antibiotic susceptibility patterns, and (c) targeted antibiotic treatment using conventional microbiological diagnostics of OIAI in a consecutive series of patients. Patients and methods - Consecutive patients aged ≥18 years undergoing first revision surgery for acute OIAI, including prosthetic joints, fracture, and osteotomy implants, in 2017-2018 at Akershus University Hospital (Ahus), Norway were included. Information regarding microbiological diagnostics and clinical data was collected retrospectively from the hospital's diagnostic and clinical databases. Results - 123 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Median time to pathogen identification was 2.5 days and to antibiotic treatment recommendations was 3.5 days. The most common pathogens were S. aureus (52%) and S. epidermidis (15%). Cultures were inconclusive in 11% of the patients. Of the 109 patients with culture-positive results, antibiotic treatment was changed in 66 (61%) patients within a median of 4 days (0-24) after the recommendation was given. Interpretation - Conventional microbiological diagnostics of OIAI is time-consuming, taking days of culturing. Same-day diagnostics would vastly improve treatment efficacy, but is dependent on rapid implementation by clinicians of the treatment recommendations given by the microbiologist.Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease of arteries, which constitutes the pathological basis of a series of cardiovascular diseases. The inflammatory response of vascular endothelial cells mediated by oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is the early behavior and main signal of atherosclerosis. In this study, the damage model of vascular endothelial cells treated with ox-LDL was used to reproduce the damage process of vascular endothelial cells in the process of atherosclerosis. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8. The release levels of reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were detected by commercial kits. EdU cell proliferation assay was used to detect cell proliferation, real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression level of related genes. The results showed we successfully constructed a vascular endothelial injury model by incubating vascular endothelial cells with gradient concentrations of ox-LDL. read more The incubation of safflor yellow A (SYA) partially restored the loss of viability of vascular endothelial cells mediated by ox-LDL, and SYA could promote the proliferation of injured vascular endothelial cells. In addition, SYA may transmit related signals through the AMPK pathway to protect vascular endothelial cells from ox-LDL-mediated damage. All these results provide a further understanding of the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis, provide a theoretical basis for the use of SYA-related drugs in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and provide a reference paradigm for studying the pharmacology, toxicology, and mechanism of action of key active substances in TCM.Background Metabolic dysfunction is highly prevalent in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and likely contributes to both pulmonary vascular disease and right ventricular (RV) failure in part because of increased oxidant stress. Currently, there is no cure for PAH and human studies of metabolic interventions, generally well tolerated in other diseases, are limited in PAH. Metformin is a commonly used oral antidiabetic that decreases gluconeogenesis, increases fatty acid oxidation, and reduces oxidant stress and thus may be relevant to PAH. Methods and Results We performed a single-center, open-label 8-week phase II trial of up to 2 g/day of metformin in patients with idiopathic or heritable PAH with the co-primary end points of safety, including development of lactic acidosis and study withdrawal, and plasma oxidant stress markers. Exploratory end points included RV function via echocardiography, plasma metabolomic analysis performed before and after metformin therapy, and RV triglyceride content by magnetnd, in a subset of patients, reduced RV triglyceride content that correlated with altered lipid and glucose metabolism markers. Registration URL http//www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier NCT01884051.
Service delivery organizations are advancing the provision of trauma-informed care (TIC) for youth to improve outcomes. However, currently there are no validated, reliable evaluation measures to capture the voices of adolescent clients and how well they perceive TIC implementation.
The purpose of this project was to create an evaluation measure with strong content validity for adolescent health and service users to give feedback to organizations about their implementation of TIC. This article outlines Step 1 of our instrument development, by discussing our process creating the measure and affirming content validity. Psychometric testing of this measure (Step 2) is described in a companion paper.
We combined deductive theory substruction with an inductive participatory process to create, revise, and finalize the measure. The National Center for Trauma-Informed Care's framework of four practices and six principles was substructed into an 18-item draft measure. A four-member community youth advisory board (CYAB) then worked to inductively modify our draft to provide age-appropriate clarity and ensure a nontriggering respondent experience.