Plos One
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Since 2002, France has been strengthening legislation on road traffic. This study is intended to evaluate the changes in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) incidence and mortality resulting from Road Traffic Collision (RTC) in the two 6-year periods before and after 2002. ⋯ The greater reductions in the incidence, severity and mortality of TBI when compared with the reduction of casualty incidence have mainly affected car users. These results should be attributable to the improvements in standards of care, primary safety of the car fleet and general road architecture safety. However, the increased reduction in the TBI epidemics in France, when compared to those observed in other developed countries for the same periods, suggests that the effects should be strongly attributable to changes in road user behaviour induced by law enforcement. The at-risk groups for TBI after RTC are now two-wheel users (motorized or not) and individuals over 60 years of age.
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Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and R2* relaxation rate mapping have demonstrated increased iron deposition in the substantia nigra of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the findings in other subcortical deep gray matter nuclei are converse and the sensitivity of QSM and R2* for morphological changes and their relation to clinical measures of disease severity has so far been investigated only sparsely. ⋯ The established finding of higher R2* rates in the substantia nigra was extended by QSM showing superior sensitivity for PD-related tissue changes in nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathways. QSM additionally reflected the levodopa-dosage and disease severity. These results suggest a more widespread pathologic involvement and QSM as a novel means for its investigation, more sensitive than current MRI techniques.
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Genome-Wide Association Studies have identified associations between lung function measures and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and chromosome region 6p21 containing the gene for the Advanced Glycation End Product Receptor (AGER, encoding RAGE). We aimed to (i) characterise RAGE expression in the lung, (ii) identify AGER transcripts, (iii) ascertain if SNP rs2070600 (Gly82Ser C/T) is associated with lung function and serum sRAGE levels and (iv) identify whether the Gly82Ser variant is functionally important in altering sRAGE levels in an airway epithelial cell model. ⋯ This study provides new information regarding the expression profile and potential role of RAGE in the human lung and shows a functional role of the Gly82Ser variant. These findings advance our understanding of the potential mechanisms underlying COPD particularly for carriers of this AGER polymorphism.
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Observational Study
Outcomes of Adult In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Treated with Targeted Temperature Management: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Targeted temperature management (TTM) for in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) is given different recommendation levels within international resuscitation guidelines. We aimed to identify whether TTM would be associated with favourable outcomes following IHCA and to determine which factors would influence the decision to implement TTM. ⋯ TTM might be associated with favourable neurological outcome of IHCA patients, irrespective of arrest rhythms. The prevalence of proposed exclusion criteria for TTM was high among IHCA patients, but these factors did not influence the use of TTM in clinical practice or neurological outcomes after IHCA.
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The main aim of this study was to examine weight associations between parents and offspring at two time points: 1995-97 and 2006-08, taking into account body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. ⋯ Parental overweight was strongly positively associated with offspring weight both in 1995-97 and 2006-08 where both parents being overweight/obese gave the largest effect. This seemingly stable association, strongly address the importance of public health initiatives towards preventing obesity in parents of both sexes to decrease further obesity expansion in offspring.