Activity tracker-based intervention to increase physical activity in patients with type 2 diabetes and healthy individuals: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: One relevant strategy to prevent the onset and progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) focuses on increasing physical activity. The use of activity trackers by patients could enable objective measurement of their regular physical activity in daily life and promote physical activity through the use of a tracker-based intervention. This trial aims to answer three research questions: (1) Is the use of activity trackers suitable for longitudinal assessment of physical activity in everyday life? (2) Does the use of a tracker-based intervention lead to sustainable improvements in the physical activity of healthy individuals and in people with T2DM? (3) Does the accompanying digital motivational intervention lead to sustainable improvements in physical activity for participants using the tracker-based device? METHODS: The planned study is a randomized controlled trial focused on 1642 participants with and without T2DM for 9 months with regard to their physical activity behavior. Subjects allocated to an intervention group will wear an activity tracker. Half of the subjects in the intervention group will also receive an additional digital motivational intervention. Subjects allocated to the control group will not receive any intervention. The primary outcome is the amount of moderate and vigorous physical activity in minutes and the number of steps per week measured continuously with the activity tracker and assessed by questionnaires at four time points. Secondary endpoints are medical parameters measured at the same four time points. The collected data will be analyzed using inferential statistics and explorative data-mining techniques. DISCUSSION: The trial uses an interdisciplinary approach with a team including sports psychologists, sports scientists, health scientists, health care professionals, physicians, and computer scientists. It also involves the processing and analysis of large amounts of data collected with activity trackers. These factors represent particular strengths as well as challenges in the study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is registered at the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform via the German Clinical Studies Trial Register (DRKS), DRKS00027064 . Registered on 11 November 2021.

Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu.

Visible-wavelength color and reflectance provide information about the geologic history of planetary surfaces. Here we present multispectral images (0.44 to 0.89 micrometers) of near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. The surface has variable colors overlain on a moderately blue global terrain. Two primary boulder types are distinguishable by their reflectance and texture. Space weathering of Bennu surface materials does not simply progress from red to blue (or vice versa). Instead, freshly exposed, redder surfaces initially brighten in the near-ultraviolet region (i.e., become bluer at shorter wavelengths), then brighten in the visible to near-infrared region, leading to Bennu's moderately blue average color. Craters indicate that the time scale of these color changes is ~105 years. We attribute the reflectance and color variation to a combination of primordial heterogeneity and varying exposure ages.

Interface-mediated spontaneous symmetry breaking and mutual communication between drops containing chemically active particles.

Symmetry breaking and the emergence of self-organized patterns is the hallmark of complexity. Here, we demonstrate that a sessile drop, containing titania powder particles with negligible self-propulsion, exhibits a transition to collective motion leading to self-organized flow patterns. This phenomenology emerges through a novel mechanism involving the interplay between the chemical activity of the photocatalytic particles, which induces Marangoni stresses at the liquid-liquid interface, and the geometrical confinement provided by the drop. The response of the interface to the chemical activity of the particles is the source of a significantly amplified hydrodynamic flow within the drop, which moves the particles. Furthermore, in ensembles of such active drops long-ranged ordering of the flow patterns within the drops is observed. We show that the ordering is dictated by a chemical communication between drops, i.e., an alignment of the flow patterns is induced by the gradients of the chemicals emanating from the active particles, rather than by hydrodynamic interactions.

Synergism of plant extract and vegetable oils-based lipid nanocarriers: Emerging trends in development of advanced cosmetic prototype products.

Phytochemicals are priceless sources of bioactive compounds with multiple health benefices. The main objective of the current investigation was to develop nanostructured herbal formulations conditioned as appropriate hydrogel (HG) conferring an enhanced transdermal absorption of bioactive compounds from selective extracts and vegetable oils. The direct impact of research is represented by the identification of prototype products which manifest an improved therapeutic response, by means of cumulative antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-acne actions, without causing any side health effects. The combinatorial effect of Carrot Extract (CE) and Marigold Extract (ME) - Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC) based on rosehip oil or black cumin oils was accompanied by a high biocompatibility and a significant ability to capture both short- and long-life free radicals. HG-NLC-ME-CE has been shown to be an efficient carrier with a differentiated potential for in vitro release of the two active principles, e.g. it delayed the release of carotenoids while the hydrophilic active (azelaic acid, AA) was faster released. The HG-NLC efficacy in skin inflammation treatment (demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo tests) revealed a reduced expression of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß and TNF-α), more pronounced in the case of TNF-α. Moreover, a superior in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of HG-based NLC-CE/ME-AA as compared to that obtained for a commercial product was detected, i.e. after 3 h of HG-NLC treatment, a significant reduction of rat paw edema was quantified. In pre-clinical studies, the quantification of the hydration and elasticity effects in the viable epidermis provided the evidence of the high potential of developed prototypes, suitable for implementation in the market area. The degree of skin hydration and skin elasticity were remarkable enhanced after topical application of developed prototypes, a hydration effect up to 74% being determined and a skin elasticity reaching 90%. The knowledge acquired from this investigation could be utilized by the cosmetic industry to design novel topical products with improved quality and health benefices, endowed with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-acne actions and with desired hydration and elasticity profiles, in order to achieve better therapeutic efficacy and no drug toxicity.

Self-Motility of an Active Particle Induced by Correlations in the Surrounding Solution.

Current models of phoretic transport rely on molecular forces creating a "diffuse" particle-fluid interface. We investigate theoretically an alternative mechanism, in which a diffuse interface emerges solely due to a nonvanishing correlation length of the surrounding solution. This mechanism can drive self-motility of a chemically active particle. Numerical estimates indicate that the velocity can reach micrometers per second. The predicted phenomenology includes a bilinear dependence of the velocity on the activity and a possible double velocity reversal upon varying the correlation length.

Axisymmetric spheroidal squirmers and self-diffusiophoretic particles.

We study, by means of an exact analytical solution, the motion of a spheroidal, axisymmetric squirmer in an unbounded fluid, as well as the low Reynolds number hydrodynamic flow associated to it. In contrast to the case of a spherical squirmer-for which, e.g. the velocity of the squirmer and the magnitude of the stresslet associated with the flow induced by the squirmer are respectively determined by the amplitudes of the first two slip ('squirming') modes-for the spheroidal squirmer each squirming mode either contributes to the velocity, or contributes to the stresslet. The results are straightforwardly extended to the self-phoresis of axisymmetric, spheroidal, chemically active particles in the case when the phoretic slip approximation holds.

Identifying the Etiological Factors Involved in the Occurrence of Non-Carious Lesions.

The study group comprised a total of 21 subjects (10 women and 11 men) from the urban area aged 20 to 72 who presented themselves to treatment at the Dental Office during July-December 2018. The purpose of the study was to identify the etiological factors responsible for the occurrence of non-carious lesions in the patients involved in the study. The study group of 21 patients (10 women and 11 men) from the urban area, aged 20 to 72 years, were clinically examined and dental impressions were obtained in order to ascertain the study patterns. Subjects diagnosed with non-carious lesions filled a questionnaire based on which the risk factors that led to these changes were identified. The study models were used to assess the degree of cervical tooth damage, according to SMITH-KNIGHT index. The main etiological factors found to be responsible for the occurrence of non-carious lesions in the studied group were the excessive consumption of acidic and carbonated beverages (71.42%), the presence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (14.28%), incorrect technique of brushing (28.57%), vicious habits-nail biting (14.28%), daily consumption of sunflower seeds (9.52%), use of toothpicks as auxiliary hygiene (19.04%) and night teeth grinding (4,76%).

The Importance of Dermatoscopy for the Diagnosis of Melanonychia.

Melanonychia is the brown or black color of the finger or toe nail due to melanin deposition or melanocytes in the nail plate. The evidence of melanocytic disease is made by the dermatoscope, which allows to highlight the anomalies of the plate. The purpose of our study was to evaluate dermatoscopically the melanonychia, both in the form of stain and longitudinal on finger and/or toe nails in order to establish the type of nail hyperpigmentation. MATERIALS AND METHOD: 33 patients with longitudinal and stain melanonychia were examined with 30x Molemax HD computerized dermatoscope between May 2017-septembre 2018 in this prospective study conducted in the Department of Dermatology of Medical Center Dr. Ianosi (Craiova, Romania). Clinical data included: type of melanonychia, number and name of involved fingers, the presence or absence of fungal infections, nail apparatus tumors or hemorrhage. RESULTS: The most frequent nail diagnosis was fungal infection (onychomycosis) observed in 18 patients (54.54%), malignant melanoma was diagnosed in 1 patient (3.03%) and the junctional nevus in 4 patients (12.12%). In 18 patients which has longitudinal melanonychia, the most frequent involved finger was the big toe, and in 15 patients which has stain melanonychia, all of them (100%) had affected the big toe, 7 (46.66%) patients had affected the thumb and the same percent the forth finger. CONCLUSION: Nail dermatoscopy is an important method in establishing the diagnosis of melanonychia and allowed to avoid unnecessary biopsy for melanonychia.

Impact of Hysterectomy on Urethral Suspension with Transobturator Sling for Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women.

Urinary stress incontinence is a condition that increases with age, influenced by many factors, mainly anatomical pathological ones, determined by changes of muscular pelvic floor, but also by hormonal and local neurological modifications. The aim of the study was an overview of the efficacy of stress urinary incontinencetherapy with transobturatorurethralsling suspension in patients with or without prior hysterectomy. Additionally, we evaluated the effectiveness and the rate of side effects of this method. The study group consisted of 100 patients and, within it, 32 patients (group A)underwent a hysterectomy.We noticed an improvement of symptoms, a reduced discomfort and an increase of quality of life, more prominent in group B (patients without previous hysterectomy) (p=0,0012, p=0,17 respectively, p=0,03). We consider that transobturator approach in treating stress urinary incontinence is a simple, rapid and effective procedure and, not lastly, modern technique that assures a significant improvement of symptomsand quality of life for the patients; positioning the sling along to the insufficient pubourethral ligaments reinforces the structures supporting the urethra; this approach is minimally-invasive with rapid recovery, reduced hospitalization, is cost effective and involves minimal risks of infection, bleeding, etc. moreover, the transobturator tension free sling has some advantages (no pain or tension). The rate of success of the treatment is significantly lower in patients with prior hysterectomy.

Active Janus colloids at chemically structured surfaces.

If catalytically active Janus particles are dispersed in certain liquid solutions, they can create a gradient in the chemical composition of this solution along their surfaces, as well as along any nearby confining surfaces. This gradient drives self-propulsion via a self-phoretic mechanism, while the compositional gradient along a wall gives rise to chemiosmosis, which additionally contributes to self-motility. In this study, we analyze theoretically the dynamics of an active colloid near chemically patterned walls. We use a point-particle approximation combined with a multipole expansion in order to discuss the effects of pattern geometry and chemical contrast on the particle trajectories. In particular, we consider planar walls patterned with chemical steps and stripes. We investigate in detail the changes in the topology of the corresponding phase portraits upon varying the chemical contrast and the stripe width.

Tuberculosis remains a public health problem in Romania.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem in Romania, which has the highest TB incidence in the European Union. METHODS: We undertook a retrospective study to describe changing trends in the main epidemiological indicators of TB in Romania from 1995 to 2016. Data were obtained from the Marius Nasta Institute of Pneumology, Bucharest, official data published by the National Center for Public Health Statistics and Informatics in Health Statistics Yearbooks, the European Health For All database and the World Health Organization 2017 global TB report. RESULTS: Overall TB notifications in Romania declined after 2002, from 142.2 to 74/100 000 in 2016. For new TB cases, the incidence declined after 2002, from 118.9 to 54.5/100 000 in 2016. After peaking in 2002, at 23.3/100 000, the notification rate of relapses declined to 11.8/100 000 in 2014, but almost doubled the following year. The number of multidrug-resistant TB cases decreased from 624 in 2009 to 530 in 2012, but then increased to 670 in 2015. The number of extensively drug-resistant TB cases tripled between 2012 and 2015, from 22 to 68 cases. CONCLUSION: Although the decline in TB nationwide after 2002 confirms the effectiveness of control measures, the current TB burden in Romania remains very high by European standards.

The Importance of Dermoscopy in Early Recognition of Melanoma in Situ.

Early recognition of melanoma in situ (MIS) is an ongoing challenge in dermatology. It rarely arises 'de novo', most frequently resulting due to the transformation of an atypical nevus. The diagnostic criteria for MIS are diverse dermoscopy being the most used and it has a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 69% in detecting melanomas. The main objective of our study was to establish the sensitivity and the specificity of each of the 7-point checklist criteria used to differentiate melanocytic nevi from in situ malignant melanoma. The study group included 200 patients, aged over 18 years, with atypical pigmentary nevi after clinical aspects that presented changes in clinical appearance (shape, color, dimensions) during the last 6 months. On each patient we used the 7-point checklist of Argenziano (C1-C7). The study was performed at the Medical Center Dr. Ianosi, in Craiova between January 2016 and September 2018 and it was used Molemax HD computerized dermatoscope. The C1÷C3 criteria are significantly relevant in establishing the diagnosis of MIS in comparison with the diagnosis of nevus, unlike the C4-C7 criterion that is not definitely relevant for confirmation of the MIS diagnosis. There are no enough specific dermoscopic criteria to differentiate MIS from atypical nevus.

Clinical Study on Abfraction Lesions in Occlusal Dysfunction.

The abfraction theory states that under the action of the occlusal forces non-axially transmitted, the flexion of the tooth occurs in the cervical area, which initially leads to the appearance of cracks in the enamel and dentin, followed by the destruction of the dental structure. These lesions allow bacterial plaque retention, lead to dental hypersensitivity and can affect the vitality of the dental pulp. Thus, the study included 102 participants, of both sexes, 54% representing the male gender (55 subjects) and 46% the female gender (47 subjects), aged between 20 and 80, from the urban area 76% (77 subjects) and rural 24% (25 subjects), who came to the Dental Medicine office, between August 2018 and August 2019, representing 57.3%, of the total number of patients treated during the aforementioned period. They have been described the acid and abrasive processes involved in the generation of these lesions,and special attention was paid to the role of mechanical stress occurring at the occlusal level, due to the transmission of forces outside the dental axis.

Effective squirmer models for self-phoretic chemically active spherical colloids.

Various aspects of self-motility of chemically active colloids in Newtonian fluids can be captured by simple models for their chemical activity plus a phoretic-slip hydrodynamic boundary condition on their surface. For particles of simple shapes (e.g., spheres) --as employed in many experimental studies-- which move at very low Reynolds numbers in an unbounded fluid, such models of chemically active particles effectively map onto the well studied so-called hydrodynamic squirmers (S. Michelin and E. Lauga, J. Fluid Mech. 747, 572 (2014)). Accordingly, intuitively appealing analogies of "pusher/puller/neutral" squirmers arise naturally. Within the framework of self-diffusiophoresis we illustrate the above-mentioned mapping and the corresponding flows in an unbounded fluid for a number of choices of the activity function (i.e., the spatial distribution and the type of chemical reactions across the surface of the particle). We use the central collision of two active particles as a simple, paradigmatic case for demonstrating that in the presence of other particles or boundaries the behavior of chemically active colloids may be qualitatively different, even in the far field, from the one exhibited by the corresponding "effective squirmer", obtained from the mapping in an unbounded fluid. This emphasizes that understanding the collective behavior and the dynamics under geometrical confinement of chemically active particles necessarily requires to explicitly account for the dependence of the hydrodynamic interactions on the distribution of chemical species resulting from the activity of the particles.

Comparative efficacy of oral contraceptive versus local treatment versus intense pulsed light combined with vacuum in endocrine acne in women.

Acne is the most common affection of adolescents, although it can be also found in adult women. Our study was aimed at the comparative assessment of three different therapies over a three-month period, applied to women with moderate comedogenic and papulo-pustular endocrine acne. In the study 116 female patients with endocrine localized face acne were included and divided into three groups: group I with 42 patients was treated with a combination of contraceptive pill + local treatment + pulsed-vacuum light; group II with 38 patients was treated with contraceptives and pulsed-vacuum light and group III with 36 patients was treated only with local treatment. The acne evaluation was made using the Global Acne Grading System (GAGS). Statistical data processing was carried out using the STATA software. For the comedogenic form of acne, the good and very good results were superior in group I vs group II and III (83.33% vs 31.58% vs 5.56%) at the end of the three months of treatment. For the papulo-pustulous form of acne, good and very good results were similar in groups I and II (92.86% vs 73.68%) both after the first month of treatment and at the end of the study, well above the local treatment group (13.99%). Our study highlighted the superiority of laser treatment combined with hormonal treatment, compared to hormonal and local treatment in the comedogenic form of acne, and the superiority of hormonal treatment combined (or not) with laser treatment in the papulo-pustular form compared to local treatment.

Self-diffusiophoresis induced by fluid interfaces.

The influence of a fluid-fluid interface on self-phoresis of chemically active, axially symmetric, spherical colloids is analyzed. Distinct from the studies of self-phoresis for colloids trapped at fluid interfaces or in the vicinity of hard walls, here we focus on the issue of self-phoresis close to a fluid-fluid interface. In order to provide physically intuitive results highlighting the role played by the interface, the analysis is carried out for the case that the symmetry axis of the colloid is normal to the interface; moreover, thermal fluctuations are not taken into account. Similarly to what has been observed near hard walls, we find that such colloids can be set into motion even if their whole surface is homogeneously active. This is due to the anisotropy along the direction normal to the interface owing to the partitioning by diffusion, among the coexisting fluid phases, of the product of the chemical reaction taking place at the colloid surface. Different from results corresponding to hard walls, in the case of a fluid interface the direction of motion, i.e., towards the interface or away from it, can be controlled by tuning the physical properties of one of the two fluid phases. This effect is analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, both by resorting to a far-field approximation and via an exact, analytical calculation which provides the means for a critical assessment of the approximate analysis.

Involvement of Oxidative Stress in COPD.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease that affects the lungs and is defined by a variety of symptoms that combined with co-morbidities lead to a decline of the patients quality of life. The principal etiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is smoking and air pollution that lead to oxidative and carbonyl stress. This review based on a search of PubMed, OxLIP+/SOLO (Bodleian Libraries) database (from 1991 to 2017) of relevant articles based on assessment of oxidative stress pathways involvement in COPD. Intracellular reactions that take place in organisms and aerobic cells have as by-products reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free radicals. Oxidative stress involved in pathogenesis of COPD is the result of lowered antioxidative potential combined with increased burden of oxidants. Molecular mechanisms underlying COPD pathways are not yet well understood, despite intensive research all over the world. A change in balance between Oxidants and antioxidants in the lungs as well as within the circulatory system, gene polymorphisms, and activation of transcription factors contribute to the molecular pathogenesis of COPD. Future research is needed in order to identify which patients will develop in time a susceptibility to damage caused by ROS and to determine if controlling ROS will have an effect on the progression of COPD.

Treatment of Lower Limbs Telangiectasias with Nd: Yag Laser-Prospective Study on 446 Patients.

In the last two decades Nd: YAG laser has become a standard of treatment of telangiectasias of the lower limbs in C1EAP stage of chronic venous insufficiency. This paper shows the results of a two years study period of telangiectasias of lower limbs with Nd: YAG laser conducted in a specialised centre in this type of procedures. The study group consisted of 446 patients (21 males and 425 females) with telangiectasias (C1EAP) on the lower limbs between January 2016-December 2017. The patients had to complete a form in which they noted the initial state on a scale from 1 to 10 but also the result of the treatment and the intensity of the pain during the laser treatment. Moreover, the doctor also evaluated the results of the treatment for each and every patient taking also into account the initial phase of the disease. We observed a significant improvement of the clinical appearance (the reduction of telangiectasias) almost in the entire study group, regardless of the gender and the age, but the intensity of the pain was higher in men and in persons under the age of 30. Based on these data we can conclude that Nd: YAG laser represents a minimally invasive therapeutic option with minor side effects and major aesthetic results and furthermore it can be combined with several other methods (microsclerotherapy, radiofrequency, complex surgery) in order to improve peripheral chronic venous insufficiency.