Epidemiology of traumatic brain injury in Europe

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a critical public health and socio-economic problem throughout the world, making epidemiological monitoring of incidence, prevalence and outcome of TBI necessary. We aimed to describe the epidemiology of traumatic brain injury in Europe and to evaluate the methodology of incidence studies. Method: We performed a systematic review and meta-analyses of articles describing the epidemiology of TBI in European countries. A search was conducted in the PubMed electronic database using the terms: epidemiology, incidence, brain injur*, head injur* and Europe. Only articles published in English and reporting on data collected in Europe between 1990 and 2014 were included. Results: In total, 28 epidemiological studies on TBI from 16 European countries were identified in the literature. A great variation was found in case definitions and case ascertainment between studies. Falls and road traffic accidents (RTA) were the two most frequent causes of TBI, with falls being reported more frequently than RTA. In most of the studies a peak TBI incidence was seen in the oldest age groups. In the meta-analysis, an overall incidence rate of 262 per 100,000 for admitted TBI was derived. Conclusions: Interpretation of published epidemiologic studies is confounded by differences in inclusion criteria and case ascertainment. Nevertheless, changes in epidemiological patterns are found: falls are now the most common cause of TBI, most notably in elderly patients. Improvement of the quality of standardised data collection for TBI is mandatory for reliable monitoring of epidemiological trends and to inform appropriate targeting of prevention campaigns

The dawn of an open exploration era: Emergent principles and practices of open science and innovation of university research teams in a digital world

Principles and practices of open science at universities are evolving. Increasing use and application of digital technologies and platforms in research and innovation are pushing universities to take up and develop new visions and principles for how research and innovation are performed. These open science policies and practices (i.e. open data sharing, open access publishing, open repositories, open physical labs, participatory design, and transdisciplinary research platforms) are expanding the ethos of science and innovation at universities. These new principles and practices of open science at universities are also triggering novel open innovation practices by university research teams. Open science and innovation practices hold great potential for accelerating the learning and creation of new knowledge, speeding up the research and innovation process for finding solutions for grand societal challenges, and nurturing the growth of highly innovative and entrepreneurial people. The purpose of this study was to identify emergent principles, practices, and underlying mechanisms of open science and innovation developed and encountered by research teams at universities. The results of this study provide directions for how to advance openness in science at universities and illustrate how openness in innovation is being remodelled by open science practices. Based on our findings, we propose an open exploration policy and a governance model of open science and innovation at universities in the digital world, which aspire to create increased societal value.Peer reviewe

Epidemiology of spinal metastases, metastatic epidural spinal cord compression and pathologic vertebral compression fractures in patients with solid tumors : a systematic review

INTRODUCTION: Spinal metastases (SM) are a frequent complication of cancer and may lead to pathologic vertebral compression fractures (pVCF) and/or metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC). Based on autopsy studies, it is estimated that about one third of all cancer patients will develop SM. These data may not provide a correct estimation of the incidence in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review (SR) aims to provide a more accurate estimation of the incidence of SM, MESCC and pVCF in a clinical setting. METHODS: We performed a SR of papers regarding epidemiology of SM, pVCF, and MESCC in patients with solid tumors conform PRISMA guidelines. A search was conducted in the PubMed and Web of Science database using the terms epidemiology, prevalence, incidence, global burden of disease, cost of disease, spinal metastas*, metastatic epidural spinal cord compression, pathologic fracture, vertebral compression fracture, vertebral metastas* and spinal neoplasms. Papers published between 1975 and august 2021 were included. Quality was evaluated by the STROBE criteria. RESULTS: While 56 studies were included, none of them reports the actual definition used for MESCC and pVCF, inevitably introducing heterogenity. The overall cumulative incidence of SM and MESCC is 15.67% and 2.84% respectively in patients with a solid tumor. We calculated a mean cumulative incidence in patients with SM of 9.56% (95% CI 5.70%-13.42%) for MESCC and 12.63% (95% CI 7.00%-18.25%) for pVCF. Studies show an important delay between onset of symptoms and diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: While the overall cumulative incidence for clinically diagnosed SM in patients with a solid tumor is 15.67%, autopsy studies reveal that SM are present in 30% by the time they die, suggesting underdiagnosing of SM. Approximately 1 out of 10 patients with SM will develop MESCC and another 12.6% will develop a pVCF. Understanding these epidemiologic data, should increase awareness for first symptoms, allowing early diagnosis and subsequent treatment, thus improving overall outcome

Towards the understanding of halogenation in peptide hydrogels : a quantum chemical approach

Non-covalent interactions involving aromatic rings play a central role in many areas of modern chemistry. In medicinal and bioorganic chemistry, the intermolecular interactions between the aromatic side chains of amino acids, such as phenylalanine and tyrosine, are of great interest. To enhance the affinity between such aromatic side chains, halogenation is a promising modification strategy. In the current work, the nature and strength of halogenated pi-pi stacked phenylalanine (Phe) dimers have been investigated using density functional theory, energy decomposition analyses and the non-covalent interaction (NCI) method. Our analysis shows that increasing the degree of halogenation enhances the strength of the stacking interactions and, moreover, the heavier halides (Cl, Br and I) lead to stronger interactions compared to the lighter F. This effect was traced back to local secondary interactions of the halide with the aliphatic C-H bonds of the phenylalanine side chain. Based on the computational findings, a set of peptide hydrogelators was synthesized, and the resulting hydrogel properties were further investigated via dynamic rheometry. Experimental observations can be correlated to the trends found in the theoretical analysis, suggesting that local interactions indeed play a noticeable role in enhancing peptide-based hydrogel strength