Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen that poses a serious threat due to the rise of incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. During the COVID-19 pandemic, MDR A. baumannii clones have caused several outbreaks worldwide. Here, we describe a detailed investigation of an MDR A. baumannii outbreak that occurred at Policlinico San Matteo (Pavia, Italy). A total of 96 A. baumannii ...

<p><i>Introduction</i> COVID-19 may have negatively impacted the mental health of front-line healthcare workers, including general practitioners (GPs). This study sought to assess the psychological impact (stress, burnout and self-efficacy) of the COVID-19 outbreak in French GPs. <p><i>Methods</i> We carried out a postal-based survey of all GPs who worked in the French region of Normandy (departments ...

Background: Closed fitness centers during the Covid-19 pandemic may negatively impact health and wellbeing. We assessed whether training at fitness centers increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.<p> <p>Methods: In a two-group parallel randomized controlled trial, fitness center members aged 18 to 64 without Covid-19-relevant comorbidities, were randomized to access to training at a ...

Background - The published estimates of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Russia are few. The study aimed to assess the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Arkhangelsk (Northwest Russia), in a year after the start of the pandemic, to evaluate the population adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), and to investigate characteristics associated with COVID-19 seropositive status.<p> <p>Methods - ...

Background<p> <p>Creatine kinase (CK) has been associated with insulin resistance and identified as a risk marker of cardiovascular disease largely by its relationship with hypertension and increased body mass index. This study determined whether CK is a predictor of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C) in a nondiabetic general population. <p>Methods <p>Associations between CK and the outcome variable ...

An authentic sickness history is the vantage point for juxtaposing a biomedical and a biographical‐ phenomenological reading. What, in a biomedical framework, appears to be a longstanding state of comorbidity of different and unrelated types of diseases is rendered transparent in a biographical reading. <br>This particular reading, evidencing the shortcomings of a biomedical framework regarding ...

How can we maximize what is learned from a replication study? In the creative destruction approach to replication, the original hypothesis is compared not only to the null hypothesis, but also to predictions derived from multiple alternative theoretical accounts of the phenomenon. To this end, new populations and measures are included in the design in addition to the original ones, to help determine ...

Knock-out (KO) of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) enables functional characterization of this still poorly described group of transcripts. One of the most efficient and simplest methods to achieve complete KO of a lncRNA is by employing CRISPR/Cas gene editing. As most lncRNAs are not well annotated, their individual functional regions are not defined, and the majority of the transcripts are not ...

PURPOSE: In clinical decision-making, it is crucial to discuss the probability of adverse outcomes with the patient. A large proportion of the outcomes are difficult to classify as either failure or success. Consequently, cutoff values in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for "failure" and "worsening" are likely to be different from those of "non-success". The aim of this study was to identify ...