Promotion of mental health in young adults via mobile phone app: study protocol of the ECoWeB (emotional competence for well-being in Young adults) cohort multiple randomised trials.

BACKGROUND: Promoting well-being and preventing poor mental health in young people is a major global priority. Building emotional competence (EC) skills via a mobile app may be an effective, scalable and acceptable way to do this. However, few large-scale controlled trials have examined the efficacy of mobile apps in promoting mental health in young people; none have tailored the app to individual profiles. METHOD/DESIGN: The Emotional Competence for Well-Being in Young Adults cohort multiple randomised controlled trial (cmRCT) involves a longitudinal prospective cohort to examine well-being, mental health and EC in 16-22 year olds across 12 months. Within the cohort, eligible participants are entered to either the PREVENT trial (if selected EC scores at baseline within worst-performing quartile) or to the PROMOTE trial (if selected EC scores not within worst-performing quartile). In both trials, participants are randomised (i) to continue with usual practice, repeated assessments and a self-monitoring app; (ii) to additionally receive generic cognitive-behavioural therapy self-help in app; (iii) to additionally receive personalised EC self-help in app. In total, 2142 participants aged 16 to 22 years, with no current or past history of major depression, bipolar disorder or psychosis will be recruited across UK, Germany, Spain, and Belgium. Assessments take place at baseline (pre-randomisation), 1, 3 and 12 months post-randomisation. Primary endpoint and outcome for PREVENT is level of depression symptoms on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 at 3 months; primary endpoint and outcome for PROMOTE is emotional well-being assessed on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale at 3 months. Depressive symptoms, anxiety, well-being, health-related quality of life, functioning and cost-effectiveness are secondary outcomes. Compliance, adverse events and potentially mediating variables will be carefully monitored. CONCLUSIONS: The trial aims to provide a better understanding of the causal role of learning EC skills using interventions delivered via mobile phone apps with respect to promoting well-being and preventing poor mental health in young people. This knowledge will be used to develop and disseminate innovative evidence-based, feasible, and effective Mobile-health public health strategies for preventing poor mental health and promoting well-being. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ( www.clinicaltrials.org ). Number of identification: NCT04148508 November 2019.

Long-term treatment risks in multiple sclerosis: risk knowledge and risk perception in a large cohort of mitoxantrone-treated patients.

BACKGROUND: Balancing treatment benefits and risks is part of a shared decision-making process before initiating any treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS). Patients understand, appreciate and profit from evidence-based patient information (EBPI). While these processes are well known, long-term risk awareness and risk processing of patients has not been studied. Mitoxantrone treatment in MS is associated with long-term major potential harms - leukaemia (LK) and cardiotoxicity (CT). The risk knowledge and perception among patients currently or previously treated with mitoxantrone is unknown. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this article is to conduct a retrospective cohort study in greater Hamburg, Germany, to estimate risk awareness and perception in MS patients treated with mitoxantrone. METHODS: MS patients with at least one dose of mitoxantrone between 1991 and 2010 from six major MS centres in greater Hamburg received a questionnaire assessing risk awareness and perception as well as a written EBPI about mitoxantrone-associated LK and CT. RESULTS: Fifty-one per cent in the cohort of n = 575 patients returned the questionnaire. Forty per cent correctly estimated the risk of LK (CT 16%); 56% underestimated the risk (CT 82%). Reading the information increased the accuracy of LK risk estimation, and patients did not report an increase of worries. The EBPI was appreciated and recommended by 85%. CONCLUSION: Risk awareness of mitoxantrone-treated patients is insufficient, but can be increased by EBPI without increasing worries. Continued patient information during and after treatment should be implemented in management algorithms.

Therapy and prophylaxis of opportunistic infections in HIV-infected patients: a guideline by the German and Austrian AIDS societies (DAIG/ÖAG) (AWMF 055/066).

INTRODUCTION: There was a growing need for practical guidelines for the most common OIs in Germany and Austria under consideration of the local epidemiological conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The German and Austrian AIDS societies developed these guidelines between March 2010 and November 2011. A structured Medline research was performed for 12 diseases, namely Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia, cerebral toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus manifestations, candidiasis, herpes simplex virus infections, varizella zoster virus infections, progressive multifocal leucencephalopathy, cryptosporidiosis, cryptococcosis, nontuberculosis mycobacteria infections and tuberculosis. Due to the lack of evidence by randomized controlled trials, part of the guidelines reflects expert opinions. The German version was accepted by the German and Austrian AIDS Societies and was previously published by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften (AWMF; German Association of the Scientific Medical Societies). CONCLUSION: The review presented here is a translation of a short version of the German-Austrian Guidelines of opportunistic infections in HIV patients. These guidelines are well-accepted in a clinical setting in both Germany and Austria. They lead to a similar treatment of a heterogeneous group of patients in these countries.

[Rhabdomyolysis due to drug-drug interaction of atorvastatin and cobicistat]. / Rhabdomyolyse durch Arzneimittelinteraktion von Atorvastatin und Cobicistat.

A 53-year-old man presented with rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury. The symptoms were presumably caused by a drug-drug interaction between an antiretroviral drug combination and atorvastatin. As a booster, cobicistat can also increase the toxicity of statins via inhibition of the enzyme cytochrome p450 3A4 (CYP3A4). After stopping atorvastatin and after intravenous fluid therapy, the symptoms regressed completely.

Large domain fluctuations on 50-ns timescale enable catalytic activity in phosphoglycerate kinase.

Large-scale domain motions of enzymes are often essential for their biological function. Phosphoglycerate kinase has a wide open domain structure with a hinge near the active center between the two domains. Applying neutron spin echo spectroscopy and small-angle neutron scattering we have investigated the internal domain dynamics. Structural analysis reveals that the holoprotein in solution seems to be more compact compared to the crystal structure but would not allow the functionally important phosphoryl transfer between the substrates if the protein were static. Brownian large-scale domain fluctuation dynamics on a timescale of 50 ns was revealed by neutron spin echo spectroscopy. The dynamics observed was compared to the displacement patterns of low-frequency normal modes. The displacements along the normal-mode coordinates describe our experimental results reasonably well. In particular, the domain movements facilitate a close encounter of the key residues in the active center to build the active configuration. The observed dynamics shows that the protein has the flexibility to allow fluctuations and displacements that seem to enable the function of the protein. Moreover, the presence of the substrates increases the rigidity, which is deduced from a faster dynamics with smaller amplitude.

[Aggressive immunotherapy in Susac's syndrome]. / Aggressive Immuntherapie beim Susac-Syndrom.

Susac's syndrome is a rare but important differential diagnosis of aseptic encephalitis of young women with focal neurological deficits and white matter lesions on cerebral MRI. We report on a previously healthy 36-year-old woman who presented with encephalopathy, central weakness of her right leg and multiple white matter lesions on MRI. Shortly thereafter, inner ear deafness developed and funduscopy revealed occlusions of branch retinal arteries. A diagnosis of retino-cochlear-cerebral vasculopathy or Susac's syndrome was established and steroid-based immunotherapy with high-dose corticosteroids was initiated. Steroid reduction led to repeated clinical worsening, so that immunotherapy was sequentially escalated. Finally, high-dose cyclophosphamide every 4 weeks led to sufficient control of disease activity. Recent publications have argued for an early and aggressive immunosuppression in Susac's syndrome based on clinical and histological similarities with juvenile dermatomyositis, where such a regimen has already been established. We report on these treatment guidelines with respect to the current literature and the case presented.

Reversible and irreversible unfolding of multi-domain proteins.

In contrast to single-domain proteins unfolding of larger multi-domain proteins is often irreversible. In a comparative case study on three different multi-domain proteins (phosphoglycerate kinase: PGK and two homologous alpha-amylases: TAKA and BLA) we investigated properties of unfolded states and their ability to fold back into the native state. For this purpose guanidine hydrochloride, alkaline pH, and thermal unfolded states were characterized. Structural alterations upon unfolding and refolding transitions were monitored using fluorescence and CD spectroscopy. Static and dynamic light scattering was employed to follow aggregation processes. Furthermore, proper refolding was also investigated by enzyme activity measurements. While for PGK at least partial reversible unfolding transitions were observed in most cases, we found reversible unfolding for TAKA in the case of alkaline pH and GndHCl induced unfolding. BLA exhibits reversible unfolding only under conditions with high concentrations of protecting osmolytes (glycerol), indicating that aggregation of the unfolded state is the main obstacle to achieve proper refolding for this protein. Structural properties, such as number and size of domains, secondary structure contents and compositions within domains, and domain topology were analyzed and considered in the interpretation of differences in refolding behavior of the investigated proteins.

Evolving characteristics of toxoplasmosis in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus-1: clinical course and Toxoplasma gondii-specific immune responses.

Toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) is the most important opportunistic infection of the central nervous system in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. This study evaluated the effect of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and Toxoplasma gondii-specific immune responses on the occurrence of TE. The clinical characteristics of all patients diagnosed with TE in two centres since 1990 (n = 140) were analysed. Patients were grouped according to the date of diagnosis (period 1, 1990-1993; period 2, 1994-1996; period 3, 1997 onwards). Immune responses to T. gondii were evaluated in a subgroup (n = 12) by interferon (IFN)-gamma-specific ELISPOT tests. There were marked differences in the estimated Kaplan-Meier overall survival (OS), with a 1-year OS (5-year OS) of 41% (7%) in period 1, 56% (29%) in period 2, and 90% (78%) in period 3 (p <0.0001). In period 3, TE was found to be the first AIDS-defining illness more frequently than in earlier periods (74% vs. 38%, p 0.0002). Persistent neurological deficits caused by TE were present in 37% of the patients. Patients with an acute episode of TE or a TE relapse had significantly lower responses in the T. gondii-specific ELISPOT than patients who discontinued maintenance therapy and were relapse-free (p 0.0044). Survival of HIV patients with TE has improved markedly since the introduction of HAART, but persistent neurological deficits are often present in surviving patients. While preventive therapy remains essential, evaluation of T. gondii-specific immune responses may be an important step in improving estimates of the individual risk of TE and TE relapses.

Survival of AIDS patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma is dramatically improved by HAART-induced immune recovery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of immune recovery induced by highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on the survival of AIDS patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). METHODS: In a multicentric retrospective analysis, 29 HIV-infected patients with histologically confirmed PCNSL were identified. To evaluate median survival, Kaplan-Meier statistics were used. To explore the effects of different variables on survival, a Weibull accelerated failure time regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: Median age at manifestation of PCNSL was 39.1 years and median CD4 cell count was 11 x 10(6) cells/l. Seventy per cent of the patients had had a prior AIDS-defining illness. Cranial radiation (CR) was given to 12 out of 29 patients. Six patients were treated with HAART. Survival time of these patients and of the patients treated with CR alone differed significantly from those receiving neither CR nor HAART (median Kaplan-Meier survival estimate: 1093, 132, and 33 days, respectively). In the multivariate regression model, HAART and CR were identified as the only variables independently associated with prolonged survival. HAART versus no HAART and CR versus no CR increased the time to event by a factor of 6.1 (95% confidence interval, 2.4-16.0; P = 0.0002) and 3.1 (95% confidence interval, 1.5-6.3; P = 0.002), respectively. Four out of six patients on HAART showed a marked immune recovery and survived for more than 1.5 years, with two patients still alive. CONCLUSION: Data from this cohort indicate that immune recovery induced by HAART leads to dramatic improvement in survival of patients with AIDS-associated PCNSL. These findings may have important implications for future treatment strategies.

Heparin inhibits leukocyte rolling in pial vessels and attenuates inflammatory changes in a rat model of experimental bacterial meningitis.

Heparin is a natural proteoglycan that was first described in 1916. In addition to its well characterized effect on blood coagulation, it is becoming clear that heparin also modulates inflammatory processes on several levels, including the interference with leukocyte-endothelium interaction. Anecdotal observations suggest a better clinical outcome of heparin-treated patients with bacterial meningitis. The authors demonstrate that heparin, a glycosaminoglycan, inhibits significantly in the early phase of experimental pneumococcal meningitis the increase of 1) regional cerebral blood flow (125 +/- 18 versus 247 +/- 42%), 2) intracranial pressure (4.5 +/- 2.0 versus 12.1 +/- 2.2 mm Hg), 3) brain edema (brain water content: 78.23 +/- 0.33 versus 79.49 +/- 0.46%), and 4) influx of leukocytes (571 +/- 397 versus 2400 +/- 875 cells/microL) to the cerebrospinal fluid compared with untreated rats. To elucidate the possible mechanism of this observation, the authors investigated for the first time leukocyte rolling in an inflammatory model in brain venules by confocal laser scanning microscopy in vivo. Heparin significantly attenuates leukocyte rolling at 2, 3, and 4 hours (2.8 +/- 1.3 versus 7.9 +/- 3.2/100 microm/min), as well as leukocyte sticking at 4 hours (2.1 +/- 0.4 versus 3.5 +/- 1.0/100 microm/min) after meningitis induction compared with untreated animals. The authors conclude that heparin can modulate acute central nervous system inflammation and, in particular, leukocyte-endothelium interaction, a key process in the cascade of injury in bacterial meningitis. They propose to evaluate further the potential of heparin in central nervous system inflammation in basic and clinical studies.

Histamine (H1) receptor antagonist inhibits leukocyte rolling in pial vessels in the early phase of bacterial meningitis in rats.

The present study tested the hypothesis whether a histamine dependent pathway is involved in leukocyte-endothel interaction in the early phase of bacterial meningitis. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy we investigated leukocyte rolling in brain venules in vivo during 4 h in experimental pneumococcal meningitis in the rat. Leukocyte rolling, but not firm adhesion induced by intracisternally (i.c.) injected pneumococcal cell wall components, was temporarily inhibited (2 h, 5.6 +/- 1.9 vs. 2.3 +/- 0.9; 3 h, 7.4 +/- 2.7 vs. 3.1 +/- 1.3/100 microm/min) by diphenhydramine, a histamine H1 receptor antagonist. Histamine, possibly released by activated mast cells, is known to initiate P-selectin upregulation and subsequent leukocyte rolling. This data suggest that histamine is a mediator of leukocyte rolling in the early phase of bacterial meningitis.

Comparison of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and ureteroscopy in the treatment of ureteral calculi: a prospective study.

146 patients whose ureteral stones did not pass spontaneously participated in a prospective study on optimal management. Patients were offered two treatment options: extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and ureteroscopy (URS). The stone was treated with the technique preferred by the patient. In case of treatment failure after first-line therapy, patients again could decide on how to proceed. Stone analysis could be obtained from 72.6% patients. ESWL was the primary treatment in 66.4% patients. In 2 patients, ESWL was the secondary treatment after failed URS. URS was the first-line therapy in 33.6% patients. In 29 patients URS was done after failed ESWL. For analgesia, sedoanalgesia or spinal anesthesia were used. Analgesia was required in 74.2% ESWL and 100% URS sessions. Following ESWL, 70.1% patients became stone free. In 29.9% ESWL failed. Distal stones had a higher failure rate than proximal or mid-ureteral calculi. Distal stones treated without success were significantly larger than those treated successfully. Failures were switched to URS. Stone analysis could be obtained in 26 patients with failed ESWL: 23/26 consisted of pure whewellite or mixed whewellite stones. Clinically relevant complications were not observed. After URS, 94.9% of the patients became stone free. In distal stones, the stone-free rate was 97.5%. There was only 1 relevant complication: a proximal ureteral lesion requiring surgical repair. Our study demonstrates that URS is a safe and highly effective treatment option for ureteral stones. In patients with distal ureteral stones, it should be offered as a first-line treatment. When whewellite is expected as the stone mineral, URS is the treatment of choice.

[Quantitative EEG, basic disorders and smoking in etiopathogenetically different groups of paranoid-hallucinatory psychoses--an exploratory study]. / Quantitatives EEG, Basisstörungen und Rauchen bei ätiopathogenetisch differenten Gruppen paranoid-halluzinatorischer Psychosen--eine explorative Studie.

We performed an exploratory study of quantitative EEG in aetiopathogenetically different paranoid-hallucinatory psychoses divided into the following groups: a) patients with familial psychoses (n = 12), b) patients with neuropsychological deficits (n = 16), c) patients with alcohol and drug abuse (n = 22) and d) patients with so-called sporadic psychoses (n = 12). We found a significant reduction of relative alpha power in the group with neuropsychological deficits. In the group with familial psychosis there was a significant reduction of absolute delta power and a significant increase of relative beta power and dominant beta frequency, especially for the frontal leads. Patients with drug abuse showed a reduction of absolute beta power and an increase of absolute and relative theta power. The group with sporadic psychosis showed a significant slowing of the dominant beta frequency and a significant increase of the absolute power of fast alpha rhythms. The group with sporadic psychoses showed lowered scores for the paranoid-hallucinatory basic symptom factor. The group with neuropsychological deficits showed the most visceral-somatoform basic symptoms, the highest nicotine consumption, increased dyskinesias and more perinatal complications. This group also showed the highest level of neuroleptic and antiparkinson medication. All in all, the group with neuropsychological deficits showed a complex interaction of somatic-exogenic and medical-iatrogenic factors. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between paranoid-hallucinatory basic symptoms and nicotine abuse and high frequency beta waves.