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To support the increasing number of older people, new (assistive) technologies are constantly being developed. For these technologies to be used successfully, future users need to be trained. Due to demographic change, this will become difficult in the future, as the resources for training will no longer be available. In this respect, coaching robots could have great potential to support younger seniors in particular. However, there is little evidence in the literature about the perceptions and potential impact of this technology on the well-being of older people. This paper provides insights into the use of a robot coach (robo-coach) to train younger seniors in the use of a new technology. The study was carried out in Austria in autumn 2020, involving 34 participants equally distributed among employees in their last three years of service and retirees in their first three years of retirement (23 female; 11 male). The aim was to assess participants' expectations and perceptions by examining the perceived ease of use and user experience of the robot in providing assistance during a learning session. The findings reveal a positive impression of the participants and promising results for using the robot as a coaching assistant in daily tasks.

An infinite number of fitness apps are available on various app stores. However, hardly any of them are fitted to the needs and requirements of care-dependent people. This paper investigates the effectiveness of a customised fitness-app prototype for increasing physical activity in home care service users. Home care service users from Austria and Italy were randomly assigned to two groups. In total, 216 participants were involved in the field trial, 104 received a tablet with the fitness app and an activity tracker (treatment group), 112 did not (control group). Regularity of physical activity, frequency of fitness exercises and walking behaviour were self-reported by participants at baseline, after 4 months and after 8 months. In addition, the frequency of using the prototype was assessed based on the fitness app's logged usage data. We estimated multilevel mixed-effects ordered logistic models to examine the effects of the intervention. After 4 months, the intervention increased the home care users' probability of agreeing strongly with being physically active on a regular basis by 28 percentage points (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.36) and their probability of reporting to exercise more than once a week by 45 percentage points (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.57). Walking behaviour was not affected on group-level but improved for frequent users of the activity tracker. Frequent and regular users of the fitness app benefited most and effects persisted until the end of the 8 months controlled trial. Tailoring a fitness-app prototype to the needs of care-dependent people has the potential to support people with functional limitations to engage in a more active lifestyle. Future research is encouraged to seek further insights into how new technologies can support physical activities in people with long-term care needs., (© 2022 The Authors. Health and Social Care in the Community published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are an emerging cause of infections, including chronic lymphadenitis in children. To identify risk factors for NTM lymphadenitis, particularly complicated disease, we collected epidemiologic, clinical, and microbiological data on 138 cases of NTM lymphadenitis in children across 13 centers in Germany and Austria. We assessed lifestyle factors but did not identify specific risk behaviors. We noted that more cases of NTM lymphadenitis occurred during cold months than during warm months. Moreover, we noted female sex and age <5.5 years as potential risk factors. Complete extirpation of the affected lymph node appeared to be the best therapeutic measure. We integrated the study data to develop a simple risk score to predict unfavorable clinical outcomes for NTM lymphadenitis.

Background: We report the findings of a prospective multicenter observational study carried out by the Study Group for Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery on patients undergoing laparoscopic or laparoscopic-assisted surgery for rectal prolapse. The study investigated the safety of various laparoscopic techniques in terms of perioperative and postoperative general and technique-specific complications and compared the results with those reported for open surgery in this area., Methods: Of the 150 patients undergoing laparoscopic or laparoscopic-assisted colorectal surgery for rectal prolapse 124 received rectopexy combined with resection and 26 rectopexy alone. In 85 patients a mesh was employed during rectopexy. The conversion rate was 5.3%., Results: Perioperative complications (21 surgical and 35 general perioperative) were recorded in 37 patients (24.7%). The reoperation rate was 5.3% (bleeding 2, anastomotic leak 2, ileus 4). No procedure-specific perioperative complications were observed. In particular, reduced surgical trauma led to fewer severe postoperative complications such as cardiopulmonary problems (3.3%)., Conclusions: The techniques of conventional prolapse surgery can readily be translated to the laparoscopic modality, since oncological criteria do not have to be considered. The usually elderly patients in this group benefit to a particular degree from the known advantages associated with reduced surgical trauma. Perioperative morbidity is determined largely by the surgeon's experience. We therefore believe that rectal prolapse is a suitable indication for the minimally invasive modality in the hands of trained surgeons.

A set of 47 Austrian human, food, and veterinary Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates was used to evaluate five different epidemiological typing methods. Ribotyping using an automated microbial characterization system (RiboPrinter) was not suitable for detection of epidemiological relatedness. All but one E. Coli strain were typeable by phage typing. Random amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR fingerprinting was performed using primer M13 containing the sequence 5'-GAG GGT GGC GGT TCT-3' and primer 1247 (5'-AAGAGCCCGT-3'). Although both methods recognized only two clusters, both dendrograms grouped most of the EHEC O157 isolates into epidemiologically related subgroups. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of XbaI digested total DNA was a valuable subtyping system. We found that major differences can exist between results of multiple subtyping methods. E. coli O157 isolates should not be classified as epidemiologically related or nonrelated on the basis of a single typing method alone.

A major problem in the treatment of opiate-dependent patients arises due to illicit drug abuse capted with drug dependence and pregnancy. Drug abuse during pregnancy involves a high risk for the mother as well as for the unborn child. Twenty-three pregnant, opiate-dependent women, were enrolled in a 19-month study of the outpatient clinic for drug addiction. The mean age of the subjects was 26.7 years (SD +/- 4.8; range: 20-37 years), the mean duration of opiate dependence was 61.8 months (SD +/- 47.5; range: 12-204 months). Seventeen women were enrolled in a methadone maintenance program and six women were treated with morphine. The babies mean weight at birth was 2746 g (SD +/- 830.1; range: 940-4370), they had no congenital anomalies and all the maintained babies showed an opiate withdrawal syndrome. The treatment yielded in five subjects to a drug-free condition at delivery. The application of morphine might be an alternative in opiate dependent pregnant women and might reduce the additional consumption of illicit drugs during pregnancy.