Health and social problems associated with recent Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use amongst marginalised, nightlife and online users in six European countries.

Continued diversification and use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) across Europe remains a public health challenge. The study describes health and social consequences of recent NPS use as reported in a survey of marginalised, nightlife and online NPS users in the Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal, Ireland, Germany and Poland (n = 3023). Some respondents were unable to categorise NPS they had used. Use of ‘herbal blends’ and ‘synthetic cannabinoids obtained pure’ was most reported in Germany, Poland and Hungary, and use of ‘branded stimulants’ and ‘stimulants/empathogens/nootropics obtained pure’ was most reported in the Netherlands. Increased heart rate and palpitation, dizziness, anxiety, horror trips and headaches were most commonly reported acute side effects. Marginalised users reported substantially more acute side effects, more mid- and long-term mental and physical problems, and more social problems. Development of country-specific NPS awareness raising initiatives, health and social service needs assessments, and targeted responses are warranted

Aging disrupts cell subpopulation dynamics and diminishes the function of mesenchymal stem cells

Advanced age is associated with an increased risk of vascular morbidity, attributable in part to impairments in new blood vessel formation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have previously been shown to play an important role in neovascularization and defici

Diabetes irreversibly depletes bone marrow-derived mesenchymal progenitor cell subpopulations

Diabetic vascular pathology is largely attributable to impairments in tissue recovery from hypoxia. Circulating progenitor cells have been postulated to play a role in ischemic recovery, and deficiencies in these cells have been well described in diabeti

Epidermal or dermal specific knockout of PHD-2 enhances wound healing and minimizes ischemic injury

Introduction: Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α, part of the heterodimeric transcription factor that mediates the cellular response to hypoxia, is critical for the expression of multiple angiogenic growth factors, cell motility, and the recruitment of end

Microfluidic single-cell transcriptional analysis rationally identifies novel surface marker profiles to enhance cell-based therapies

Current progenitor cell therapies have only modest efficacy, which has limited their clinical adoption. This may be the result of a cellular heterogeneity that decreases the number of functional progenitors delivered to diseased tissue, and prevents correction of underlying pathologic cell population disruptions. Here, we develop a high-resolution method of identifying phenotypically distinct progenitor cell subpopulations via single-cell transcriptional analysis and advanced bioinformatics. When combined with high-throughput cell surface marker screening, this approach facilitates the rational selection of surface markers for prospective isolation of cell subpopulations with desired transcriptional profiles. We establish the usefulness of this platform in costly and highly morbid diabetic wounds by identifying a subpopulation of progenitor cells that is dysfunctional in the diabetic state, and normalizes diabetic wound healing rates following allogeneic application. We believe this work presents a logical framework for the development of targeted cell therapies that can be customized to any clinical application

Distribution of innate ability for surgery amongst medical students assessed by an advanced virtual reality surgical simulator

Background: Surgery is a craft profession requiring individuals with specific, well-documented innate aptitude for manipulative skills. Yet in most countries, the current selection process of surgical trainees does not include aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manipulative skills of candidates. Methods: A total of 125 participants (121 medical students and four expert surgeons) performed all 26 exercises of the da Vinci Skills Simulator, with six exercises being identified as metrics of aptitude for manipulative and psychomotor skills. The expert surgeons were enrolled as the control group to validate the performance of the most talented students. Results: Eight students (6.6 %) significantly outperformed the remaining 113, obtaining a median value of the sum of weighted overall score on the six selected exercises of 52.7 % versus 21.0 % (p < 0.001). In contrast, 14 students (11.6 %) performed significantly worse and well below the performance of the other 107, with a median value of overall score of 8.7 % versus 24.1 (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between expert surgeons (control group) and the eight talented students (62.1 % vs. 52.7 %, respectively; p = 0.368). No significant correlation between exposure to video games and overall score (ρ = 0.330) was observed. Conclusions: In terms of innate aptitude for manipulative and psychomotor abilities, the present investigation has documented two subpopulations that fall outside the norm for the group of medical students recruited for the study: (i) a small group (6.6 %) with a high level and (ii) a larger cohort (11.6 %) with low level (significantly below the norm) innate aptitude for surgery. Exposure to video game experience did not appear to influence performances on the da Vinci Skills Simulator. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media.Background: Surgery is a craft profession requiring individuals with specific, well-documented innate aptitude for manipulative skills. Yet in most countries, the current selection process of surgical trainees does not include aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manipulative skills of candidates. Methods: A total of 125 participants (121 medical students and four expert surgeons) performed all 26 exercises of the da Vinci Skills Simulator, with six exercises being identified as metrics of aptitude for manipulative and psychomotor skills. The expert surgeons were enrolled as the control group to validate the performance of the most talented students. Results: Eight students (6.6 %) significantly outperformed the remaining 113, obtaining a median value of the sum of weighted overall score on the six selected exercises of 52.7 % versus 21.0 % (p < 0.001). In contrast, 14 students (11.6 %) performed significantly worse and well below the performance of the other 107, with a median value of overall score of 8.7 % versus 24.1 (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between expert surgeons (control group) and the eight talented students (62.1 % vs. 52.7 %, respectively; p = 0.368). No significant correlation between exposure to video games and overall score (ρ = 0.330) was observed. Conclusions: In terms of innate aptitude for manipulative and psychomotor abilities, the present investigation has documented two subpopulations that fall outside the norm for the group of medical students recruited for the study: (i) a small group (6.6 %) with a high level and (ii) a larger cohort (11.6 %) with low level (significantly below the norm) innate aptitude for surgery. Exposure to video game experience did not appear to influence performances on the da Vinci Skills Simulator. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media