Explore the vast range of titles available.

Video Enhanced Reflective Practice (VERP), an application of Video Interaction Guidance, supports individuals or groups to reflect on and develop their professional communication, teaching or therapeutic skills with their clients through shared review of moments of attuned interaction in video clips of their day-to-day practice. This book brings together international researchers and practitioners from a range of professions to define VERP, present its theoretical basis and review the current research evidence. Increasing in popularity, VERP is used as a reflective professional development tool for a wide range of professionals and employees, supporting them to analyse and reflect on moments of their effective interaction on video, in situ in the professional environment. The VERP approach is optimistic and empowering, focusing on strength and potential rather than problems or weaknesses.This book provides examples of VERP's application in a wide range of sectors and will be of interest to trainers, CPD providers, managers, psychologists, social workers, higher education educators, health visitors, early years professionals, teachers, counsellors, therapists, and professionals in the private, voluntary, government and local authority sectors.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a global health emergency that causes significant neurodegeneration. Neurodegenerative processes may be exacerbated by N -methyl- d -aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-dependent neuronal excitoxicity. Here, we have exploited the hypothesis that ZIKV-induced neurodegeneration can be rescued by blocking NMDA overstimulation with memantine. Our results show that ZIKV actively replicates in primary neurons and that virus replication is directly associated with massive neuronal cell death. Interestingly, treatment with memantine or other NMDAR blockers, including dizocilpine (MK-801), agmatine sulfate, or ifenprodil, prevents neuronal death without interfering with the ability of ZIKV to replicate in these cells. Moreover, in vivo experiments demonstrate that therapeutic memantine treatment prevents the increase of intraocular pressure (IOP) induced by infection and massively reduces neurodegeneration and microgliosis in the brain of infected mice. Our results indicate that the blockade of NMDARs by memantine provides potent neuroprotective effects against ZIKV-induced neuronal damage, suggesting it could be a viable treatment for patients at risk for ZIKV infection-induced neurodegeneration. IMPORTANCE Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a global health emergency associated with serious neurological complications, including microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Infection of experimental animals with ZIKV causes significant neuronal damage and microgliosis. Treatment with drugs that block NMDARs prevented neuronal damage both in vitro and in vivo . These results suggest that overactivation of NMDARs contributes significantly to the neuronal damage induced by ZIKV infection, and this is amenable to inhibition by drug treatment. Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a global health emergency associated with serious neurological complications, including microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Infection of experimental animals with ZIKV causes significant neuronal damage and microgliosis. Treatment with drugs that block NMDARs prevented neuronal damage both in vitro and in vivo . These results suggest that overactivation of NMDARs contributes significantly to the neuronal damage induced by ZIKV infection, and this is amenable to inhibition by drug treatment.

Abstract Context We previously developed and validated an inexpensive and parsimonious prediction model of 2-year all-cause mortality in real-life patients with type 2 diabetes. Objective This model, now named ENFORCE (EstimatioN oF mORtality risk in type 2 diabetiC patiEnts), was investigated in terms of (i) prediction performance at 6 years, a more clinically useful time-horizon; (ii) further validation in an independent sample; and (iii) performance comparison in a real-life vs a clinical trial setting. Design Observational prospective randomized clinical trial. Setting White patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients Gargano Mortality Study (GMS; n = 1019), Foggia Mortality Study (FMS; n = 1045), and Pisa Mortality Study (PMS; n = 972) as real-life samples and the standard glycemic arm of the ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) clinical trial (n = 3150). Main Outcome Measure The endpoint was all-cause mortality. Prediction accuracy and calibration were estimated to assess the model's performances. Results ENFORCE yielded 6-year mortality C-statistics of 0.79, 0.78, and 0.75 in GMS, FMS, and PMS, respectively (P heterogeneity = 0.71). Pooling the three cohorts showed a 6-year mortality C-statistic of 0.80. In the ACCORD trial, ENFORCE achieved a C-statistic of 0.68, a value significantly lower than that obtained in the pooled real-life samples (P < 0.0001). This difference resembles that observed with other models comparing real-life vs clinical trial settings, thus suggesting it is a true, replicable phenomenon. Conclusions The time horizon of ENFORCE has been extended to 6 years and validated in three independent samples. ENFORCE is a free and user-friendly risk calculator of all-cause mortality in white patients with type 2 diabetes from a real-life setting. This study extended and validated an inexpensive and parsimonious prediction model of 6-year all-cause mortality in white patients with type 2 diabetes from both real-life and clinical trial settings.

The search for innovative and alternative methods for chemical control to manage pests is an increasingly growing reality. The use of biostimulants such as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and humic acids (HA) has been shown to improve many agronomic characteristics of plants while increasing yield. These biostimulants also alter the production of secondary metabolites with consequences for insect herbivores. Here we review the role of biostimulants such as PGPR and HA in promoting and eliciting plant defenses. The cascading effects of using these biostimulants on insect herbivores and their natural enemies are discussed in this context. Synergism between biostimulants are also discussed. The potential role of these products in augmenting agricultural productivity is highlighted as is further need for additional research. This review highlights the potential of this tool to enhance integrated pest management in agricultural production systems, reduce the use of pesticides, and increase the efficiency of fertilization while supporting healthier more pest-resistant plants.

Probabilistic atlases are widely used in the neuroscience community as a tool for providing a standard space for comparison of subjects and as tissue priors used to enhance the intensity-based classification of brain MRI. Most efforts so far have focused on static brain atlases either for adult or pediatric cohorts. In contrast to the adult brain the rapid growth of the neonatal brain requires an age-specific spatial probabilistic atlas to provide suitable anatomical and structural information. In this paper we describe a 4D probabilistic atlas that allows dynamic generation of prior tissue probability maps for any chosen stage of neonatal brain development between 29 and 44 gestational weeks. The atlas is created from the segmentations of 142 neonatal subjects at different ages using a kernel-based regression method and provides prior tissue probability maps for six structures — cortex, white matter, subcortical grey matter, brainstem, cerebellum and cerebro-spinal fluid. The atlas is publicly available at www.brain-development.org. ►New spatio-temporal probabilistic atlas of neonatal brain has been constructed. ►Atlas is covering age-range 29–44weeks of gestation. ►Includes cortex, white matter, deep grey matter, cerebellum, brainstem and CSF. ►Suitable tool for preterm/neonatal brain segmentation.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) worsens prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the cardiovascular prognosis in patients with stable or mildly symptomatic COPD remains unclear. Here, we sought to determine the long-term cardiovascular events in patients with subclinical or early-stage COPD with concomitant CAD. Methods: This was a longitudinal analytical study involving 117 patients with suspected or established CAD who underwent assessment of pulmonary function by spirometry and who were followed up for six years (March 2015-January 2021). The patients were divided into two groups, one comprising COPD (n=44) and the other non-COPD (n=73) patients. Cox regression was used to evaluate the association between COPD and cardiovascular events, with adjustment for the established CAD risk factors, and the effect size was measured by the Cohen test. Results: COPD patients were older (p=0.028), had a greater frequency of diabetes (p=0.026), were more likely to be smokers (p<0.001), and had higher modified Medical Research Council scores (p<0.001). There was no difference between the groups regarding gender, body mass index, hypertension, dyslipidemia, family history of CAD, and type of angina. CAD frequency and the proportion of patients with severe and multivessel CAD were significantly higher among COPD than among non- COPD patients (all p<0.001). At six-year follow-up, patients with COPD were more likely to have experienced adverse cardiovascular events than those without COPD (p<0.001; effect size, 0.720). After adjusting for established CAD risk factors, COPD occurrence remained an independent predictor for long-term adverse cardiovascular events (OR: 5.13; 95% CI: 2.29-11.50; p<0.0001). Conclusion: COPD was associated with increased severity of coronary lesions and a greater number of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with suspected or confirmed CAD. COPD remained a predictor of long-term cardiovascular events in stable patients with subclinical or early-stage of COPD, independently of the established CAD risk factors. Keywords: COPD, coronary artery disease, risk factors, ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction

Systemic inflammation is the pathophysiological link between coronary artery disease (CAD) and COPD. However, the influence of subclinical COPD on patients with suspected or diagnosed CAD is largely unknown. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the degree of coronary involvement in patients with COPD and suspected or confirmed CAD. In this cross-sectional study, carried out between March 2015 and June 2017, 210 outpatients with suspected or confirmed CAD were examined by both spirometry and coronary angiography or multidetector computed tomography. These patients were divided into two groups: with and without COPD. Size, site, extent, and calcification of the coronary lesions, and the severity of COPD were analyzed. COPD patients (n = 101) presented with a higher frequency of obstructive coronary lesions ≥50% (n = 72, 71.3%), multivessels (n = 29, 28.7%), more lesions of the left coronary trunk (n = 18, 17.8%), and more calcified atherosclerotic plaques and higher Agatston coronary calcium score than the patients without COPD ( < 0.0001). The more severe the COPD in the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease stages, the more severe the CAD and the more calcified coronary plaques ( < 0.0001). However, there was no difference between the two groups with respect to the main risk factors for CAD. In the univariate analysis, COPD was an independent predictor of obstructive CAD (odds ratio [OR] 4.78; 95% confidence interval: 2.21-10.34; < 0.001). In patients with suspected CAD, comorbid COPD was associated with increased severity and extent of coronary lesions, calcific plaques, and elevated calcium score independent of the established risk factors for CAD. In addition, the more severe the COPD, the greater the severity of coronary lesions and calcification present.

Background To evaluate the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and its impact on the Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index(HAQ-DI) and the Cochin Hand Function Status(CHFS) in a large Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) cohort. Methods SSc patients from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) database treated with HCQ for at least 6 months were evaluated and compared to a matched group of SSc patients not using HCQ. Demographic and clinical data, concomitant drugs, HAQ-DI and CHFS (at least 2 evaluations) were recorded and were the outcome variables of interest. Statistical analysis was performed using propensity score matching for age, gender, disease duration, corticosteroids, immunosuppressives, vasoactive drugs in a 3:1 control: HCQ ratio. Standard descriptive statistics and Student’s t-test and Chi-square test were used to assess the propensity-matched groups. Results Out of 17,805 SSc patients evaluated, 468 (2.6%) used HCQ and constituted the HCQ group. Among them, 50 (10.7%) had at least a baseline and follow-up HAQ-DI evaluation and 44 (9.4%) had at least a baseline and follow-up CHFS evaluation. Propensity matching assured that patients were matched for female gender (HCQ vs. control 92.0% vs. 85.3%), mean age (49.8 vs. 50.0 years) disease duration (8.3 vs. 9.1 years), limited disease (55.3 vs. 62.6%) as well as background medications (all P  > 0.1). We did not find any significant differences among the two groups in the change of HAQ-DI or CHFS, over up to 365 days (all P  > 0.05). Conclusions Results from the EUSTAR registry showed that HCQ was used by 2.6% of SSc patients. HCQ use did not improve the HAQ-DI, or CHFS when comparing HCQ users to non-HCQ users.

The term ‘undifferentiated connective tissue disease’ (UCTD) is generally used to describe clinical entities characterised by clinical and serological manifestations of systemic autoimmune diseases but not fulfilling the criteria for defined connective tissue diseases (CTDs). In this narrative review, we summarise the results of a systematic literature research, which was performed as part of the ERN ReCONNET project, aimed at evaluating existing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) or recommendations.No specific CPG on UCTD were found, potential areas of intervention are absence of a consensus definition of UCTD, need for specific monitoring and therapeutic protocols, stratification of UCTD based on the risk of developing a defined CTD and preventive measure for the future development of a more severe condition.Patients feel uncertainty regarding the name of the disease and feel the need of a better education and understanding of these conditions and its possible changes over time.