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7,306 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: | the mineral pneumoconioses ( lung disease caused by inhalation of inorganic dust ) have been an important disease entity for centuries . in the last several decades
, the electron microscope has been used to elucidate the distribution and identification of inhaled minerals , to aid in establishing etiologic factors , and less commonly , to determine the basic biologic mechanisms through which inhaled minerals cause lung disease . in this section ,
i review the instrumentation and tissue preparation currently used to address some modern problems in particle - induced lung disease .
for example , human pneumoconioses of undetermined etiology can be clarified by electron microscopy and x - ray energy spectrometry .
in addition , the initial deposition patterns of asbestos and silica are demonstrated in animal models , and the contributions of electron microscopy in establishing the initial lesions of asbestosis are described.imagesfigure 1.figure 2.figure 3.figure 4.figure 5.figure 6.figure 7.figure 8.figure 9.figure 9.figure 10.figure 11.figure 12.figure 13.figure 14 . |
7,307 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: hip fractures are a disabling event and an important cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly people ( 1 - 4 ) .
the majority of patients following hip fracture are treated operatively to obtain pain relief , hasten mobility , and minimize complications .
the indications of conservative treatment after hip fracture in previous reported studies were patients with impacted femoral neck fracture , minimally symptomatic following late diagnosis of hip fracture , already bed - ridden , and significant medical co - morbidity ( 5 - 8 ) . in these patients ,
high mortality rates in cases with conservative treatment were reported because of poor medical comorbidity ( 7 - 9 ) . however , little information is available concerning the prognosis of elderly patients who need surgical intervention but who are discharged without surgery after hip fracture because of economic burden .
the purpose of this study was to determine the causal factors of non - operative treatment following hip fracture and mortality rate and functional recovery according to the causal factors compared to that of patients who underwent surgery .
between january 2009 and december 2011 , 451 patients were diagnosed as femoral neck or intertrochanteric fractures . of these , we identified 32 elderly patients ( patients over 65-yr - of - age , 32 hips ) with hip fracture who refused surgical treatment and received non - operative procedure at the author 's hospital .
the exclusion criteria were impacted femoral neck fracture , isolated trochanteric fracture , high - energy injury such as traffic accident , and metastatic pathological femur fractures .
we excluded four patients from enrollment : two patients with pathological fracture and two patients with traumatic trochanteric fracture of the femur .
fifty six age- , gender- , american society of anesthesiologist ( asa ) score- ( 10 ) , and diagnosis - matched patients with hip fracture who had undergone surgical treatment at our hospital were used as the control group ( group ii ) in a two - to -... | although many studies have assessed mortality and morbidity of conservative treatment after hip fracture in elderly patients , the mortality of conservative treatment done because of economic burden is unclear . among 451 patients diagnosed with
displaced hip fracture during 3 yr , 28 patients ( group i ) were enrolled as conservative treatment .
fifty - six patients matched in age , gender , asa score , and diagnosis ( group ii ) who had undergone surgical treatment were used as the control group .
the causal factors of non - operative treatment and mortality rate and functional recovery were evaluated according to the causal factors of patients with surgical procedure .
ten patients ( 36% ) in group i involved medical problems and 18 ( 64% ) by economic burdens .
the cumulative mortality rate over 3 , 6 , 12 , and 24 months was 54% , 61% , 64% , and 82% in group i and 9% , 11% , 14% , and 21% in group ii , respectively . at the latest follow - up
, all five patients in group i displayed a nonfunctional ambulatory state , whereas only seven of 44 patients in group ii were in a nonfunctional ambulatory state .
non - surgical treatment following hip fracture that is done because of the economic burden is associated with substantially high mortality and serious functional loss . |
7,308 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: inverted duodenal diverticulum is an infrequent congenital abnormality that usually is not symptomatic but can become , generally in adult life .
this anatomical anomaly has been also related to episodes of upper intestinal bleeding or even acute pancreatitis ( 1,2 ) .
we present a case of an inverted duodenal diverticulum in a patient that presented with an upper intestinal obstruction .
a 33-year - old woman with a previous history of fertilization treatments , consulted because of a 2 months vague epigastric and right hypocondric discomfort that was especially more frequent after eating .
the patient referred a sensation of fullness / pressure , nausea and abundant alimentary vomiting 2 - 3 hours after eating and that relieved the pain .
she was also afraid of eating and had lost 9 kg of weight during this period .
upper gastrointestinal series showed the presence of an intraluminal duodenal diverticulum of about 8 cm in length and a partially occluded duodenal lumen ( figure 1 ) .
intraluminal duodenal diverticulum , pear - shaped sac , occluding duodenal lumen ( arrows ) .
an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a inverted intraduodenal diverticulum like a giant pseudo - polip that insufflated and deinsufflated spontaneously ( figure 2 ) .
upper intestinal endoscopy showing the inverted intraduodenal diverticulum the cholangio - mri and the abdominal ct scan also showed the diverticulum ( figure 3 ) , as well as signs of upper intestional malrotation , absence of the pancreatic tail , polysplenia and an hepatic artery that emerged from the superior mesenteric artery .
a cholecistectomy , a transcystic cannulation of vater s papilla and a longitudinal duodenotomy on the second portion were performed .
an intraluminal formation of 10 cm of length , anchored to three quarters of the duodenal circumference , right next to the papilla and covered by normal mucosa on both sides , was revealed .
after circumferencial excision of the inverted intraduodenal diverticulum , an approximation of both mucosal... | inverted intraduodenal diverticulum is a rare congenital abnormality usually arising near the ampulla of vater .
we describe a case of an inverted duodenal diverticulum in a patient that presented with an upper recurrent intestinal obstruction that required surgery .
recognition of the entity and its anatomic relationships to the ampulla of vater is essential to the prevention of iatrogenic complications .
the inverted intraduodenal diverticulum must be considered in the management of upper intestinal obstruction of unclear origin . |
7,309 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: this was a cross - sectional study of obese ( bmi , > 95th percentile for age and sex ) pubertal adolescents recruited from an obesity clinic in the children s hospital of philadelphia .
exclusion criteria included having previously diagnosed diabetes or sleep disorders , genetic syndromes affecting glucose tolerance or sleep , or major organ system illness , or taking medications affecting insulin or glucose metabolism .
the protocol was approved by the children s hospital of philadelphia institutional review board ; informed consent was obtained from the parents or guardians , and assent was obtained from the participants .
demographic data and medical history were obtained from guardians and participants . physical examination , including pubertal ( tanner ) staging , was performed by a study investigator .
weight was measured using a digital scale ( scaletronix , white plains , ny ) .
height was measured using a wall - mounted stadiometer ( holtain inc . , crymych , u.k . ) .
bmi was calculated as weight ( kilograms ) divided by height ( meters ) squared .
bmi percentiles and z scores were assessed using age- and sex - specific reference data ( 13 ) . after a 12-h overnight fast , an oral glucose tolerance test ( ogtt ) was performed : subjects ingested oral glucose solution ( 1.75 g / kg , maximum 75 g ) , and blood samples for glucose and insulin were obtained at 10 , 0 , 10 , 30 , 60 , 90 , 12 , 150 , and 180 min . hemoglobin a1c ( hba1c ) was also measured . the following morning ,
after an overnight fast , subjects underwent a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test ( fsigt ) : infusion of 0.25 g / kg of 25% dextrose intravenously over 30 s , infusion of regular human insulin ( 0.015 units / kg i.v . ) over 5 min at t = 20 min , and drawing of blood samples for glucose and insulin at t = 5 , 2 , 4 , 8 , 19 , 22 , 30 , 40 , 50 , 70 , 100 , and 180 min .
plasma glucose levels were measured by the glucose dehydrogenase method ( hemocue analyzer ; hemocue inc . , cypress , ca ) .
plasma... | objectivesleep deprivation is associated with increased risk of adult type 2 diabetes mellitus ( t2 dm ) .
it is uncertain whether sleep deprivation and/or altered sleep architecture affects glycemic regulation or insulin sensitivity or secretion .
we hypothesized that in obese adolescents , sleep disturbances would associate with altered glucose and insulin homeostasis.research design and methodsthis cross - sectional observational study of 62 obese adolescents took place at the clinical and translational research center and sleep laboratory in a tertiary care children s hospital .
subjects underwent oral glucose tolerance test ( ogtt ) , anthropometric measurements , overnight polysomnography , and frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test ( fsigt ) . hemoglobin a1c
( hba1c ) and serial insulin and glucose levels were obtained , indices of insulin sensitivity and secretion were calculated , and sleep architecture was assessed . correlation and regression analyses were performed to assess the association of total sleep and sleep stages with measures of insulin and glucose homeostasis , adjusted for confounding variables.resultswe found significant u - shaped ( quadratic ) associations between sleep duration and both hba1c and serial glucose levels on ogtt and positive associations between slow - wave sleep ( n3 ) duration and insulin secretory measures , independent of degree of obesity , pubertal stage , sex , and obstructive sleep apnea measures.conclusionsinsufficient and excessive sleep was associated with short - term and long - term hyperglycemia in our obese adolescents .
decreased n3 was associated with decreased insulin secretion .
these effects may be related , with reduced insulin secretory capacity leading to hyperglycemia .
we speculate that optimizing sleep may stave off the development of t2 dm in obese adolescents . |
7,310 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: our understanding of physical laws and knowledge of material properties allow us to engineer bridges that do not collapse and car engines that convert energy into mechanical motion .
even the simplest bacterium comprises a system whose complexity is humbling [ 1 , 2 ] .
in recognition of such challenges , the central goal of synthetic biology is to transform biology into a system that can be engineered just as we engineer bridges and mechanical systems today ( reviewed in [ 38 ] ) . this approach promises to provide an improved understanding of the living world and will enable us , in the coming years , to harness the diverse repertoire of biology for compelling applications .
green chemicals and industrial feedstocks , programmable and personalizable biological therapies , materials with novel properties , cheap and deployable diagnostics and therapeutics to promote global health , and technologies enabling environmental stewardship and remediation .
the new paradigm of biology by design can be summarized as follows :
conceive a desired biological function ,
design an engineered biological system to perform this function , the system performs as predicted .
achieving this ambitious goal will require an improved understanding of the mechanisms by which biological parts function and by which they interact with one another and their environment .
the first wave of synthetic biology has focused on the development of simple biological modules , involving anywhere between two and ten well - characterized biological parts ( e.g. , genes ) that are connected to perform defined functions ( reviewed in ) . in principle , these parts should still operate in a predictable manner when transplanted into different biological contexts .
this conceptual framework connects synthetic biology with other engineering disciplines . whether the parts are electrical , chemical , physical , or biological , engineers depend on the predictable behavior of connected components to design and construct complex... | synthetic biology is a nascent technical discipline that seeks to enable the design and construction of novel biological systems to meet pressing societal needs .
however , engineering biology still requires much trial and error because we lack effective approaches for connecting basic parts into higher - order networks that behave as predicted . developing strategies for improving the performance and sophistication of our designs
is informed by two overarching perspectives : bottom - up and top - down considerations . using this framework
, we describe a conceptual model for developing novel biological systems that function and interact with existing biological components in a predictable fashion .
we discuss this model in the context of three topical areas : biochemical transformations , cellular devices and therapeutics , and approaches that expand the chemistry of life .
ten years after the construction of synthetic biology 's first devices , the drive to look beyond what does exist to what can exist is ushering in an era of biology by design . |
7,311 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: to ascertain the etiologic agent causing an outbreak of febrile illness with symptoms similar to chikungunya fever , we selected 3 sites in chiapas state , mexico , for sampling : tapachula , la libertad , and ciudad hidalgo ( figure 1 , panel a ) .
after patients informed consent was obtained , blood samples were collected from persons whose condition met the following case definition for possible chikungunya fever : acute onset of fever > 38.5c , accompanied by severe arthralgia not explained by other medical conditions ( 6 ) .
samples from tapachula were collected from patients who sought treatment at the centro regional de investigacion en salud publica , whereas in la libertad and ciudad hidalgo , researchers surveyed houses to identify potential case - patients . in total , 119 blood samples were collected , and serum was isolated by centrifugation .
six samples were stored in magnapure lc buffer ( roche , nutley , nj , usa ) , which inactivates virus particles but preserves the genomic rna .
map of mexico showing the 3 sites where serum samples were obtained to test for chikungunya virus in chiapas , mexico , 2014 : tapachula , la libertad , and ciudad hidalgo .
viral rna was extracted from serum samples using the zr-96 viral rna kit ( zymo research , orange , ca , usa ) according to the manufacturer s protocol .
one - step quantitative reverse transcription pcr ( qrt - pcr ) ( 7 ) was performed by using the taqman rna - to - ct 1-step kit ( applied biosystems , san francisco , ca , usa ) .
standard plaque assays were performed for the samples positive by qrt - pcr with vero cells .
anti - chikv igm - capture enzyme - linked immunosorbent assays ( elisas ) ( 8) were performed by using a chimeric eilat - chikv ( 9 ) that contained the nonstructural proteins from eilat virus and structural proteins from chikv , resulting in a structure indistinguishable from that of chikv .
a sample was considered to be chikv negative if the sample was not positive by qrt - pcr or igm elisa .
viral rna from 5 serum... | since chikungunya virus ( chikv ) was introduced into the americas in 2013 , its geographic distribution has rapidly expanded .
of 119 serum samples collected in 2014 from febrile patients in southern mexico , 79% were positive for chikv or igm against chikv .
sequencing results confirmed chikv strains closely related to caribbean isolates . |
7,312 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: compound 1 ( 3.90
g , 15.7 mmol ) , triphenylphosphine ( ph3p ) ( 7.40 g , 28.3
mmol ) , and p - nitrobenzoic
acid ( 3.10 g , 18.8 mmol ) were dissolved in anhydrous thf ( 157 ml ) .
diisopropylazodicarboxylate ( diad ) ( 6.35
g , 6.20 ml , 31.4 mmol ) was added dropwise over 30 min .
the solution
was removed from the ice bath , allowed to warm to room temperature ,
and stirred for an additional 6 h. the solvent was removed under reduced
pressure .
the crude product was dissolved in ethyl acetate ( 100 ml )
and washed with brine ( 2 200 ml ) .
the solvent was removed ,
and the crude product was redissolved in ch2cl2 ( 75 ml ) .
the crude product was purified via column chromatography
( ch2cl2 ) to yield compound 2 ( 4.7
g , 12.0 mmol ) as a colorless oil in 76% yield .
compound 2 ( 2.0
g , 5.0 mmol ) was dissolved in acetone ( 50 ml ) .
sodium azide ( 0.49
g , 7.5 mmol ) was added , and the solution was heated at reflux for
14 h. the solution was allowed to cool to room temperature , and the
solvent was removed under reduced pressure .
the crude product was
dissolved in ethyl acetate ( 50 ml ) and washed with distilled water
( 2 50 ml ) .
the solvent was removed , and the crude product was
redissolved in ch2cl2 for purification .
compound 3 ( 0.80 g , 3.3 mmol ) was purified via column chromatography
( 2% methanol in ch2cl2 v / v ) to obtain a colorless
oil in 65% yield .
compound 3 ( 2.23 g , 9.10 mmol ) and ph3p ( 2.86 g , 10.9 mmol )
were dissolved in toluene ( 91 ml ) under
a nitrogen atmosphere .
the solution was cooled to 0 c and stirred
on ice for 10 min .
diad ( 2.20 g , 2.15 ml , 10.9 mmol ) was added dropwise
to the solution over 15 min .
( 4.30 g , 2.54 ml , 18.2 mmol ) and dipea ( 2.35 g , 3.16 ml , 18.2 mmol )
were added to the solution , which was then stirred on ice for another
5 min .
the solution was removed from the ice bath , warmed to 45 c
in an oil bath , and stirred for 24 h. the solvent was removed under
reduced pressure , and... | ( 2s,4r)- and ( 2s,4s)-perfluoro - tert - butyl 4-hydroxyproline
were synthesized ( as fmoc- , boc- , and free amino acids ) in 25
steps .
the key step of each synthesis was a mitsunobu reaction with
perfluoro - tert - butanol , which incorporated a perfluoro - tert - butyl group , with nine chemically equivalent fluorines .
both amino acids were incorporated in model -helical and polyproline
helix peptides .
each amino acid exhibited distinct conformational
preferences , with ( 2s,4r)-perfluoro - tert - butyl 4-hydroxyproline promoting polyproline helix .
peptides containing these amino acids were sensitively detected by 19f nmr , suggesting their use in probes and medicinal chemistry . |
7,313 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: functional weakness of the lower extremity due to stroke is caused not only by muscular
weakness , but also by decreases in muscular endurance , and stability of the joint , and loss
of proprioceptive sense .
clinically , proprioceptive sense is an important factor in the
evaluation and treatment of patients with neurologic problems ; and its weakness leads to
declines in postural control , protective reflex , joint movement , balance ability , and
gait1 .
due to weakness of dorsiflexors , mass flexor pattern , or mass extensor pattern , instead of
reciprocal innervations , stiffness of the ankle joint , and loss of proprioceptive sense ,
permanent disabilities , such as foot drop , are common in stroke patients2 .
primary functions of the ankle joint are the provision of
balance control against postural disturbance , absorption of shock during gait , and movement
of the lower extremity . to provide these
, it is necessary to maintain a sufficient range of
motion of the ankle joint , muscular strength , and proprioceptive sense3 .
limitation of ankle dorsiflexion is a common gait problem
of hemiparetic stroke patients . due to abnormal increase of muscle tension in the triceps
surae ,
stroke patients can not actively control dorsiflexion , and the foot drop tends to
occur4 . a normal range of motion of the ankle joint in the standing position is essential for
normal gait5 .
muscle cooperation in the
ankle joint strategy puts the center of gravity on the ankle joint in the standing position .
it requires a normal range
of motion of the ankle joint and muscular strength .
if the range of motion of the ankle
joint is limited , postural control provided by the ankle joint is also limited6 . compared with subjects without proprioceptive sense ,
subjects with proprioceptive sense
appear to show a greater increase of postural sway , and lowering of balance measure
scores7 , all of which have important
roles in gait pattern .
re - education of the ankle joint movement for... | [ purpose ] balance and gait ability determine to a large degree the level of independence
of daily living which is an important goal of rehabilitation .
this study was conducted in
order to examine the effectiveness of an ankle proprioceptive control program on ankle
muscle strength , balance , and gait of chronic stroke patients .
[ methods ] thirteen chronic
stroke patients more than six months post - stroke were recruited .
all subjects received
ankle proprioceptive control training for 30 minutes per session , two days per week , over
a period of six weeks .
outcome measures were ankle strength ( bte - primus ) , the timed up and
go test ( tug ) , and spatiotemporal parameters measured by a gaitrite instrument .
[ results ]
significant improvements in ankle dorsiflexor strength , tug , gait speed and cadence , step
length , and stride length were observed on the paretic side .
[ conclusion ] the results of
this study provide evidence in support of incorporation of an ankle proprioceptive control
program for effective improvement of both balance and gait ability of chronic stroke
patients .
the findings of this study suggest the feasibility and suitability of an ankle
proprioceptive control program for chronic stroke patients . |
7,314 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: cerebral venous thrombosis ( cvt ) is a distinct disorder with highly variable symptoms and courses .
brain mri , magnetic resonance venography , and positive d - dimer assay confirmed the presence of cvt .
the work - up for detecting the cause of the cvt revealed occult prostate cancer .
occult malignancy including prostate cancer should be strongly suspected in older patients with idiopathic cvt .
cerebral venous thrombosis ( cvt ) is an infrequently occurring type of cerebrovascular disease with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations and is notoriously difficult to diagnose .
several disorders can cause or predispose patients to cvt , including all medical , surgical , and gyneco - obstetric causes of deep vein thrombosis in the legs , genetic and acquired prothrombotic disorders , cancer , hematological diseases , vasculitis and inflammatory systemic disorders , pregnancy and puerperium , infections , and several local causes such as brain tumors , arteriovenous malformations , head trauma , cns infections , and ear , sinus , mouth , face , or neck infections.1 diagnostic and therapeutic procedures such as surgery , lumbar puncture , jugular catheter , and some drugs ( particularly oral contraceptives , hormonal replacement therapy , steroids , and cancer treatments ) can also cause or predispose people to cvt .
however , the relative likelihood of these causes varies with the age and country of origin of the patient.2 in the absence of an obvious provoking risk factor , the presence of an underlying malignancy is often considered because some types of cancer appear to be able to initiate or trigger a thrombotic diathesis through various mechanisms
. however , cvt as the presenting sign of occult prostate cancer has not been reported in the english literature .
three days prior to admission , he experienced difficulty in using a television remote control and writing a letter , he was clumsy with spoons and chopsticks , and he had forgotten the personal identification number of his bank account .
he had... | backgroundcerebral venous thrombosis ( cvt ) is a distinct disorder with highly variable symptoms and courses .
malignancy is known to be one of the predisposing factors of cvt.case reportwe present the case of a 69-year - old man with sudden behavioral changes .
brain mri , magnetic resonance venography , and positive d - dimer assay confirmed the presence of cvt .
the work - up for detecting the cause of the cvt revealed occult prostate cancer.conclusionsoccult malignancy including prostate cancer should be strongly suspected in older patients with idiopathic cvt . |
7,315 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: women 's health bears priority in health care services because of its directly associated with family and public health.1 nowadays , life standards has increased with the rise in life expectancy . according to 2015 data of turkish statistical institute ( tuik ) , expected life expectancy of women is 80.7 years . in parallel with increasing average life expectancy the elderly population increases and it is extending the time spend in the postmenopausal period . according to the world health organization ( who ) the definition of menopause is the ending of mensuration permanently as a result of ovarian activity cessation.2 in order to understand menopause life we need to consider psychological , cultural and social factors as well as biological factors.34 traditions , ethnic structure of the society , the value given to the elderly and women , the role of women , women 's sexuality , women 's life philosophy and meanings ascribed to the menopause by the society and the women has a significant effect on the comprehension of menopause , menopausal complaints and menopausal behavior.56 it is mentioned that marriage and relation with one 's spouse plays an important role with women coping with menopausal complaints.789 varma et al.10 had reported that thoughts are emerging like agedness and uselessness in the menopausal women .
yang et al.11 found that the psychological and somatic symptoms are more widespread than vasomotor symptoms in china .
alpay et al.12 have been detected 65.5% of women have minor anxiety and 23% of women have major anxiety .
it is stated that in the menopause the mood state is 73.5% , the physical and emotional exhaustion is 71.3% and irritability is 68%.13 depressive disorders that experienced during menopause is a major public health problem.14 feelings of guilt and embarrassment are feelings which helps manage oneself and they are two emotions that motivates one to meet certain standards and regulates social behavior .
if the experiences of these feelings are too low or intense it can... | objectivescurrent study was conducted between september 2014 and january 2015 in gaziantep proviency ehitkamil town irinevler district .
purpose of the study is to measure changes experienced , point of view on menopause , and life style of women who are older than 40 , living in said district , and within post - menopause and how these factors effected their feelings of guilt and shame.methodsout of universe consisting of 800 women , 500 participants have joined the study .
data collected by personal information form , guilt - shame scales , and world health organization quality of life ( whoqol - bref ) scales .
spss 18 was used to conduct statistical analysis.resultsanalysis indicated that 78.6% of the participants was not literate , 37.8% of the participants were was subjected to domestic violence .
fifty - five percent of the participants were found to see menopause as a predicament , 45.4% as a disease , and 56% as infertility .
results of scales are as follows ; guilt factor 48.95 0.37 , shame factor 44.89 0.27 , body 10.64 0.42 , mental 10.96 0.39 , social 11.12 0.49 , environment 10.84 0.37.conclusionsno significant correlation found between guilt : body , mental , social , and environmental area ( p < 0.05 ) .
it was found that there is a significant correlation between the thought that menopause is not a bad thing and the perceived guilt ( p < 0.001 ) .
results of analyses indicate that information about menopause significantly correlates between perceived guilt ( p < 0.05 ) .
current study found that as perceived shame and guild increases , the life quality of the sample decreases and the average life quality of the sample is below average . |
7,316 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: selection / amplification is a general tool for directed evolution of nucleic acids and proteins , which is much more complicated for reaction promoters ( biocatalysts ) than for simple binders .
selection and identification for the former require some sort of catalyst - product pairing in an isolated compartment . in vivo selection using living cells has been typical choice for such a purpose .
meanwhile , in vitro selection , as opposed to in vivo selection , is simple and convenient to carry out , is free from cytotoxicity problems , and allows for starting with a library of great diversity .
griffiths and tawfik proposed an in vitro compartmentalization ( ivc ) technique for the in vitro evolution of biomolecules including biocatalysts , where biocatalysts are transcribed / translated in a compartmentalized water - in - oil emulsion to allow catalyst - product pairing . in practice , the ivc technique has been applied successfully for evolving or improving biocatalysts such as ribozymes and enzymes [ 312 ] . here
, we applied the ivc technique for evolution of trnas ( one of catalysts in protein translation systems ) [ 1316 ] and present a promising concept for in vitro selection of suppressor trnas by the combination of read - through ribosome display ( rt - rd , vide infra ) [ 17 , 18 ] .
binding of suppressor trna to an amber stop codon is in competition with that of release factor 1 ( rf1 ) to terminate the translation .
the amber codon is also often misread by the exogenous trna for gln . to maximize the suppression efficiency and minimize incorporation of gln at the amber codon
, we used a reconstituted prokaryotic cell - free translation system ( puresystem classic ) , in which rf1 , and gln and gln - trna synthetase had not been added unless otherwise stated .
balance in the amounts of the fused mrna ( mrna - trna ) ( longer ) and the trna ( shorter ) transcribed , we put gcc immediately downstream of the first t7-promoter so as to lower the translation efficiency for the fused mrna ( it is... | here is presented a concept for in vitro selection of suppressor trnas .
it uses a pool of dsdna templates in compartmentalized water - in - oil micelles .
the template contains a transcription / translation trigger , an amber stop codon , and another transcription trigger for the anticodon- or anticodon loop - randomized gene for trnaser . upon transcription
are generated two types of rnas , a trna and a translatable mrna ( mrna - trna ) .
when the trna suppresses the stop codon ( uag ) of the mrna , the full - length protein obtained upon translation remains attached to the mrna ( read - through ribosome display ) that contains the sequence of the trna . in this way
, the active suppressor trnas can be selected ( amplified ) and their sequences read out .
the enriched anticodon ( cua ) was complementary to the uag stop codon and the enriched anticodon - loop was the same as that in the natural trnaser . |
7,317 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: acute heart failure is still associated with a high hospital mortality , which ranges between 4.0% and 12.7%.1 , 2 , 3 , 4 emergency physicians , cardiologists , intensivists , nurses , and other healthcare providers have to cooperate to provide optimal benefit . however , many treatment decisions are opinionbased , while relatively few are evidencebased .
according to the consensus paper on acute heart failure published in 2015 , the recommendation for intravenous vasodilator therapy is that it might be administered as an initial therapy for a symptomatic relief in cases when systolic blood pressure ( bp ) is normal to high ( 110 mmhg ) . alternatively
, sublingual nitrates may be considered.5
intravenous vasodilators are the second most commonly used agents in ahf patients .
their use was shown to be associated with a lower mortality , while a delay in administration was associated with a higher mortality.6 randomized controlled trial ( rct ) evidence comparing the clinical outcomes of intravenous vasodilators ( especially nitrates ) in ahf patients is rather limited , and its methodological quality is relatively low .
however , there is a consensus that intravenous vasodilators should be indicated in ahf with rather normal to high bood presure7 and should not be indicated in patients with sbp < 110 mmhg.5
recent phases iii and iv clinical trials have provided promising results with respect to potential management of acute heart failure .
these include trials relaxahf ( serelaxin),8 atomicahf trial ( omecantiv mecarbil),9 pronto ( clevidipine),10 trueahf ( ularitide)11 and artshf ( finerenone).12
the aim of the analysis was to compare the mortality rates of realworld ahf patients from the czech ahead registry1 , 13 with the published mortality rates of patients from the relaxahf trial . for the purpose of analysis , we had to divide the realworld population of czech ahf patients into two groups : the relaxcomparable group ( i.e. population of ahf patients in the ahead registry meeting the... | abstractaimsthe randomized clinical trial relaxahf demonstrated a positive effect of vasodilator therapy with serelaxin in the treatment of ahf patients .
the aim of our study was to compare clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients from the ahead registry who met criteria of the relaxahf trial ( relaxcomparable group ) with the same characteristics and outcomes of patients from the ahead registry who did not meet those criteria ( relaxnoncomparable group ) , and finally with characteristics and outcomes of patients from the relaxahf trial.methods and resultsa total of 5856 patients from the ahead registry ( czech registry of ahf ) were divided into two groups according to relaxahf criteria : relaxcomparable ( n = 1361 ) and relaxnoncomparable ( n = 4495 ) . as compared with the relaxnoncomparable group , patients in the relaxcomparable group were older , had higher levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure , lower creatinine clearance , and a higher number of comorbidities .
relaxcomparable patients also had significantly lower shortterm as well as longterm mortality rates in comparison to relaxnoncomparable patients , but a significantly higher mortality rate in comparison to the placebo group of patients from the relaxahf trial . using ahead score ,
we have identified higherrisk patients from relaxcomparable group who might potentially benefit from new therapeutic approaches in the future.conclusionsonly about one in five of all evaluated patients met criteria for the potential treatment with the new vasodilator serelaxin .
ahf patients from the real clinical practice had a higher mortality when compared with patients from the randomized clinical trial . |
7,318 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: immuno - analytical systems have typically been developed by capturing and immobilizing the antibody on solid surfaces since the immobilization provides an easy separation of the binding complexes with the antibody from unreacted reagents .
the solid - phase capture antibody , however , is very difficult to control at the level of the molecular state or orientation on the surfaces , which is a major factor that determines the degree of the complex formation . indeed ,
most immobilization methods ( e.g. , physical adsorption , covalent attachment , and binding via biotin - streptavidin linkage ) [ 2 , 3 ] have not yet been very successful in arranging or orientating the antibody molecules in a manner that substantially improves the random nature of antibody immobilization inherent in the current methods . random immobilization results in a low rate ( e.g. , 5 to 10% ) of the active antibody density , that is , those that can participate in the binding reaction , which decreases even further when the substance to be analyzed is large in molecular size .
the rate of active antibody density would significantly increase provided the molecules are deposited by mediating the fc region on the solid matrix , such that the antibody binding sites may face to the bulk solution where the analyte is present . as a typical example , protein a or g binds specifically to the fc region of immunoglobulin and , thus , the capture antibody can be immobilized via this binding protein in the bottom - on configuration .
it has been demonstrated that such a controlled molecular orientation of the antibody significantly improves the binding rate compared to random immobilization of the antibody by up to about 10 times for the same antigen .
the functional binding affinity measured for the oriented antibody could also increase because the molecules are properly posed to orient the binding sites at a position distal from the surfaces .
such improved characteristics would consequently enhance the analytical performances of... | the enhanced analytical performances of immunoassays that employed site - directly
immobilized antibodies as the capture binders have been functionally characterized in terms of antigen - antibody complex formation on solid surfaces .
three antibody species specific to cardiac troponin i , immunoglobulin g ( igg ) , fab , and f(ab)2 were site - directly biotinylated within the hinge region and then immobilized via a streptavidin - biotin linkage .
the new binders were more efficient capture antibodies in the immunoassays compared to randomly bound igg , particularly , in the low antibody density range .
the observed improvements could have resulted from controlled molecular orientation and also from flexibility , offering conditions suitable for binding complex formations . |
7,319 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: segmental absence of intestinal musculature ( saim ) was first reported as a new entity in 1947 by emanuel et al . as a cause of intestinal obstruction .
the cases are now increasingly reported in the medical literature , so far more than 25 cases have been reported in the english literature with additional cases in european and asian literature .
however , occasionally the cases have been reported in adults . beside small intestine , musculature defect has been reported in stomach and colon .
these cases of saim have been divided into primary and secondary groups . in primary group etiology
is unknown , the onset of symptoms is acute and there is no pathologic finding in the remaining layers of the small intestine except for superimposed perforation or intussusception . in secondary group
histologically there may be ischemic necrosis of the remaining layers , fibrosis , calcification , chronic inflammation and presence of macrophages .
these findings indicate secondary destruction of muscle coat due to ischemia and/or infarction , interruption of blood supply or trauma .
most of the authors agree that this is a congenital defect and some believe ischemia to be only etiological factor in cases of perforation . here , we present a rare case of saim in an adult of 48 years .
a 48-year - old male , previously operated in some other hospital for pain in abdomen and vomiting for 2 days .
resection anastomosis of the bowel was done nearly 20 days back , and the surgical pathology report mentioned perforation peritonitis with the gangrenous bowel . he was admitted in our hospital for the complaints of abdominal distension and vomiting and treated conservatively .
he was discharged from the hospital and was readmitted after a week for abdominal distension , pain and vomiting for 1-day .
he was reoperated , and resection anastomosis of the bowel was done where perforation peritonitis was present . in surgical pathology department , two pieces of small intestine together measuring 45 cm were received .
the pieces were... | segmental absence of intestinal musculature ( saim ) is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction and/or perforation seen in neonates , and rarely in adults .
we present a case of saim in a 48-year - old male , who presented with acute abdominal symptoms and was repeatedly explored because of recurrence of abdominal symptoms . |
7,320 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: austere renal replacement therapy ( rrt ) describes the provision of renal replacement therapy in any setting in which traditional , first - world therapies and resources are limited , incapacitated , or nonexistent .
the provision of rrt in an austere environment is very different from that in a routine situation in a first - world country . in the latter case ,
the following apply ( 1 ) the environment is secure from violence and physical risk to the providers and patients ; ( 2 ) the transportation infrastructure is functioning ; ( 3 ) there are plentiful and stable sources of electricity , rrt supplies , and potable water ; ( 4 ) engineering systems are in place for the production of pure water ; ( 5 ) sophisticated equipment is available ; ( 6 ) adequate equipment maintenance and nursing / technician staff support exist ; ( 7 ) patient acuity and numbers are predictable and stable . in an austere situation , some or all of these components may be inadequate or completely absent .
if austere environment rrt is to be successful , the provider must identify the components that are lacking and attempt to offer reasonably safe and effective substitutes for them if they can not be controlled or repaired .
this requires flexibility , the ability to triage , and a thorough understanding of the engineering and physiologic principals of rrt . moreover , specific advance planning is necessary , especially in an environment or geographic area where certain disasters are likely to occur ( particularly true for storms and earthquakes ) .
moreover , it is important during planning and implementation not to allow ( as in voltaire 's aphorism ) the perfect to become the enemy of the good . ultimately , the optimal scenario for rrt provision after a disaster , or in an austere situation , is for rrt to be unnecessary or able to be delayed .
others have provided expert opinion regarding the appropriate response to certain likely disasters ( especially earthquakes and storms ) for both providers and patients requiring... | myoglobinuric renal failure is the classically described acute renal event occurring in disaster environments commonly after an earthquake which most tests the ingenuity and flexibility of local and regional nephrology resources . in recent decades
, several nephrology organizations have developed response teams and planning protocols to address disaster events , largely focusing on patients at risk for , or with , acute kidney injury ( aki ) . in this paper
we briefly review the epidemiology and outcomes of patients with dialysis - requiring aki after such events , while providing greater focus on the management of the end - stage renal disease population after a disaster which incapacitates a pre - existing nephrologic infrastructure ( if it existed at all ) .
austere dialysis , as such , is defined as the provision of renal replacement therapy in any setting in which traditional , first - world therapies and resources are limited , incapacitated , or nonexistent . |
7,321 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the prevalence of depression in diabetes is well documented , with a raft of research over the past two decades focusing on links between the two conditions .
people with diabetes are between 1.4 and 3 times more likely to develop depression compared to the general population ( 3 ) , with depression affecting 1520% of diabetes patients overall ( 4 ) .
when subclinical depression is included , prevalence estimates are greater , with at least two - thirds of a large sample of type 2 diabetes patients experiencing depressive symptoms ( 5 ) .
comorbid depression in diabetes patients is associated with poorer metabolic control , an outcome that predicts hyperglycemia and an increased risk of diabetes - related complications and mortality ( 6 ) .
these complications are , in turn , thought to be at least partly mediated by depression s association with poor adherence to medication and lifestyle recommendations , both of which predict reduced quality of life and increased health care costs ( 7 ) .
if anything , these figures likely underestimate both the prevalence of affective disturbances in diabetes and the associated costs of disease management , suggesting that the problem of depression may be far larger than is currently accepted .
commensurately , the negative effects of these conditions on crucial self - care regimens and the resulting consequences in terms of increased disability , health care utilization , and mortality also may be far more widespread .
given the scale of the problem of depression in diabetes , evidence to support the effectiveness of current antidepressant therapies is surprisingly sparse , and overall outcomes are still unclear . a recent systematic review and meta - analysis ( 8) , including 14 randomized , controlled trials ( rcts ) evaluating psychotherapy , pharmacotherapy , and collaborative care in 1,724 diabetes patients with comorbid depression , showed moderate effects for treatment overall .
it should be noted , however , that four of the five rcts ( n = 310 ) involving a... | depression and severe psychological distress are frequently comorbid with diabetes and are associated with reduced adherence to medication and healthy lifestyle regimens , poorer glycemic control , and increased complications
. the mixed success of existing treatments for depression in diabetes patients suggests a need for supplementary approaches to this common problem .
this article reviews recent evidence for the benefits of self - compassion in chronically ill patients , suggesting its utility as a clinical tool for improving self - care , depression , and glycemic control in diabetes .
possible physical and psychological pathways by which self - compassion may promote better outcomes in diabetes patients are considered , with particular attention given to reductions in negative self - judgment and improved motivation to undertake self - care . |
7,322 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: leptin is a hormone secreted from the white adipocytes and plays a role in the maintenance of energy homeostasis .
although the role of ghrelin in energy homeostasis is still unclear , its secretion depends largely on nutritional state , with ghrelin concentrations increasing prior to a meal and decreasing after eating .
both chronic and acute sleep restriction cause a reduction in serum concentrations of leptin and an increase in serum ghrelin concentrations [ 27 ] .
subjects who had a 4-hour sleep opportunity for 6 consecutive nights had 19% lower mean and 26% lower maximum concentrations of leptin .
. showed that those subjects who habitually slept 5 hours compared to 8 hours per night had 15.5% lower leptin concentrations .
sleep restriction is also associated with an increased sense of hunger [ 3 , 7 ] .
leptin concentrations exhibit a strong circadian pattern , with the highest concentrations occurring at night and the lowest concentrations in the middle of the day .
it has been shown that neither feeding time nor adrenalectomy affected the rhythmicity of leptin release .
ablation of the suprachiasmatic nuclei ( scn ) in rats , where the circadian pacemaker is located , however , eliminated leptin circadian rhythmicity in rodents , suggesting that the central circadian clock regulates leptin expression .
ghrelin concentrations also exhibit a strong circadian pattern , with the highest concentrations occurring during the daytime hours and the lowest concentrations occurring at night .
light / dark patterns , conveyed from the retina to the scn via the retinohypothalamic ( rht ) tract , are the major synchronizer of the scn to the 24-hour solar day .
the scn controls the timing of production of a series of biomarkers , such as the timing of melatonin synthesis .
melatonin , a hormone produced at night and in darkness , is believed to be a primary timing messenger for the entire body , providing seasonal and daily photoperiod information to every neural , physiological , and cellular system .
nighttime... | acute and chronic sleep restrictions cause a reduction in leptin and an increase in ghrelin , both of which are associated with hunger . given that light / dark patterns are closely tied to sleep / wake patterns ,
we compared , in a within - subjects study , the impact of morning light exposures ( 60 lux of 633-nm [ red ] , 532-nm [ green ] , or 475-nm [ blue ] lights ) to dim light exposures on leptin and ghrelin concentrations after subjects experienced 5 consecutive days of both an 8-hour ( baseline ) and a 5-hour sleep - restricted schedule . in morning dim light , 5-hour sleep restriction significantly reduced leptin concentrations compared to the baseline , 8-hour sleep / dim - light condition ( t1,32 = 2.9 ; p = 0.007 ) .
compared to the 5-hour sleep / dim - light condition , the red , green , and blue morning light exposures significantly increased leptin concentrations ( t1,32 = 5.7 ; p < 0.0001 , t1,32 = 3.6 ; p = 0.001 , and t1,32 = 3.0 ; p = 0.005 , resp . ) .
morning red light and green light exposures significantly decreased ghrelin concentrations ( t1,32 = 3.3 ; p < 0.003 and t1,32 = 2.2 ; p = 0.04 , resp . ) , but morning blue light exposures did not .
this study is the first to demonstrate that morning light can modulate leptin and ghrelin concentrations , which could have an impact on reducing hunger that accompanies sleep deprivation . |
7,323 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in the following chapter we summarize patterns of medication use for adhd and describe what is known about factors influencing adherence to adhd medication .
choices about using medication are complex , with more recent work focusing on beliefs and attitudes that shape patient preferences .
in addition , effectiveness and adverse effects are important factors and we review what is known about the differences among commonly used adhd medications .
we end with a discussion of the challenges and related opportunities facing clinicians who work with young people with adhd .
the field remains under - researched with much more to learn about how to assist greater numbers of young people with adhd to maximize their potential.table 1factors associated with adhd medication adherencefactorpredictors of increased adherencepredictors of decreased adherenceparent / familytwo - parent families * older parents higher socioeconomic status * increased parent - child conflict [ 1 , 40]belief that medication is safe [ 33]belief that symptoms are not a disorder [ 12 , 38]belief that adhd is neuro - biological disorder distrust of the medical system [ 12 , 38]stigma [ 12 , 38]burden of medication regimen concerns about medication safety [ 33]healthcare system/ professionalinsurance coverage cost of medication specialty care lack of providers in the community [ 24 , 46]prior history of medication treatment [ 12 , 38]good relationship with doctor childcaucasian racial background [ 20 , 21]older child age at diagnosis increased symptom severity [ 12 , 38]family history of adhd combined subtype severe behavior problems at home [ 12 , 40]comorbidities present ( oppositional defiant disorder , depression , social skills , anxiety , developmental delay , learning disabilities ) [ 12 , 38]child unwilling [ 12 , 40]adolescentacademic benefits [ 33]negative attitudes toward medication [ 33]few adverse effects [ 33 , 41]stigma [ 12 , 33 , 42 , 44]concerns about treatment dependence experience of social withdrawal [ 16 , 42]medicationlong -... | safe and effective medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( adhd ) is available and recommended as first - line treatment for the core symptoms of inattention , overactivity and impulsiveness . despite impaired functioning during adolescence , many discontinue medication treatment . for children ,
healthcare decisions are usually made by the parent ; older youth make their own decisions .
beliefs and attitudes may differ widely .
some families understand that adhd is a neurobiological condition and accept that medication is indicated , for others , such treatment is unacceptable .
converging evidence describes negative perceptions of the burden associated with medication use as well as concerns about potential short and long term adverse effects .
indeed experiences of adverse effects are a frequent explanation for discontinuation among youth .
ways to improve shared decision making among practitioners , parents and youth , and to monitor effectiveness , safety and new onset of concurrent difficulties are likely to optimize outcomes . |
7,324 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: zambia is a landlocked country located in southern africa with a population of about 10.8 million .
fifty one percent of the population is made up of women and children . over 70% of the population lives below the poverty datum line .
the gross per capita income is $ 630 , and 13% of central government expenditure is allocated to health care ( unicef zambia statistics ) .
according to the zambia demographics and health survey in 2007 , it is estimated that 14.3% of the sexually active age group ( 1549 ) is living with human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv ) , 12.3% males and 16.1% females .
children have been much affected by the hiv / aids epidemic in zambia , where over 30,000 children are hiv positive . while perinatal transmission accounts for the majority of new pediatric hiv infections , in countries such as zambia , where hiv prevalance is high , sexual exposure remains an important risk factor in children in the postweaning period .
while hiv transmission rates attributable to sexual abuse are unknown , pediatric victims of sexual abuse are at a higher risk of hiv transmission due to physical trauma and due to the fact that multiple exposures often occur prior to discovery of the abuse in a pilot study conducted at the university teaching hospital ( uth ) in lusaka , zambia in 2003 , 99% of sexually abused children reporting to the gynecology ward were females , which also places them at a higher risk for hiv acquisition .
although epidemiologic data for the prevalence of child sexual abuse ( csa ) in zambia is not available , murray et al . found that csa is a significant concern in the community in lusaka .
defilement was mentioned by 40% of women and 30% of children asked to list problems affecting children in the community . among the children
. in 2007 , slonim - nevo and mukuka surveyed 3,360 adolescents ( defined as age 10 to 19 years ) and found that 9% of adolescents reported a family member touching their breasts or genitals , 3% reported sexual intercourse , 2% reported... | objective . to improve care of sexually abused children by establishment of a
one stop centre at the university teaching hospital
.
methodology . prior to opening of the one stop centre , a management team comprising of clinical departmental heads and a technical group of professionals ( health workers , police , psychosocial counselors lawyers and media ) were put in place .
the team evaluated and identified gaps and weaknesses on the management of sexually abused children prevailing in zambia .
a manual was produced which would be used to train all professionals manning a one stop centre .
a team of consultants from abroad were identified to offer need based training activities and a database was developed .
results .
a multidisciplinary team comprising of health workers , police and psychosocial counselors now man the centre .
the centre is assisted by lawyers as and when required .
uth is offering training to other areas of the country to establish similar services by using a trainer of trainers model . a comprehensive
database has been established for lusaka province .
conclusion . for establishment of a one stop centre
, there needs to be a core group comprising of managers as well as a technical team committed to the management and protection of sexually abused children . |
7,325 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: extrarenal calyces are rare anomalies of the upper urinary tract . only 20 cases were reported so far in the literature .
the rarity of this anomaly and the complexity of possible associated anomalies often makes the preoperative diagnosis difficult .
they are known to be associated with other anomalies , including bifid kidney and renal dysplasia . to the best of our knowledge ,
only 3 cases have been reported in the literature wherein , it was associated with pelviureteric junction obstruction ( pujo).[24 ] when associated , management options depend on the renal function and presenting symptoms . herein , we are reporting a case where routine preoperative imaging did not throw any light on the diagnosis and was an intraoperative surprise .
a 9-year - old male child presented to us with complaints of pain in the left flank for 1 month .
an ultrasound of the abdomen showed severe hydronephrosis of the left kidney with a parenchymal thickness of 2 mm with upper ureteric dilation .
a radionuclide scan showed a poorly functioning left kidney with a split renal function of 7% with obstructed curves .
an ante grade dye study was done , which showed significant stasis in the hydronephrotic kidney and the ureter was not visualized .
intraoperatively , a large dilated kidney with papery thin cortex was found with 5 pseudopodia - like projections ( extrarenal calyces ) arising from it and connected to the pelvis ; pujo was noted .
the rest of the ureter appeared normal . in view of the complex nature of the lesion and poorly functioning kidney , a right nephroureterectomy was performed [ figure 1 ] .
the presence of extrarenal calyces is a very rare anomaly of the upper urinary tract that was first described in 1925 .
a few cases were reported in the literature and the exact etiology of this condition is unclear .
it has been hypothesized that the anomaly could be due to a disparity resulting from slow development of the metanephric tissue or to a relatively rapid development of the ureteric bud . a kidney with... | extrarenal calyces are one of the rare renal anomalies associated with the collecting system .
their association with renal ectopia or horse shoe kidney is known .
but , here in , we are reporting an intraoperative surprise , where extrarenal calyces were associated with pelviureteric junction obstruction and routine preoperative imaging did not show any light on the diagnosis . |
7,326 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the main terminology used to describe heart failure ( hf ) is based on measurement of the left ventricular ejection fraction ( lvef ) . historically , hf was divided in patients with normal lvef [ hf with preserved ef ( hfpef ) , typically with a lvef 50% ] and those with reduced lvef [ hf with reduced ef ( hfref ) , typically with a lvef < 40% ] .
grey area , which was recently defined as hf with midrange ef ( hfmref ) by the 2016 european society of cardiology ( esc ) guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic hf.1 few data are available on the phenotype and prognosis of patients with hf according to this new classification , because most hf studies and clinical trials included patients with ef below 3540% or above 50% .
the purpose of our study was to assess the clinical profile and the prognosis of patients with hf according to this new classification .
patients referred to the hf unit care of the university hospital of rangueil , toulouse , france , between june 2012 and june 2013 for assessment of hf by invasive coronary angiography were retrospectively included .
hf was defined according to the esc guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic hf 2012 by the association of typical symptoms of hf ( breathlessness at rest or at exercise , fatigue , tiredness , ankle swelling ) and typical signs of hf ( tachycardia , tachypnea , pulmonary rales , pleural effusion , raised jugular venous pressure , peripheral edema , hepatomegaly).2 all patients were screened by systematic transthoracic echocardiography within 30 days , and lvef was assessed using the conventional apical two and fourchamber views and the modified simpson 's method .
patients were classified according to the new terminology of the 2016 esc guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic hf as hfpef ( lvef 50% ) , hfmref ( lvef 4049% ) , and hfref ( lvef < 40%).1 all patients underwent invasive coronary angiography , and data were extracted electronically from our local database... | abstractaimsthe main terminology used to describe heart failure ( hf ) is based on measurement of the left ventricular ejection fraction ( lvef ) .
lvef in the range of 4049% was recently defined as hf with midrange ef ( hfmref ) by the 2016 european society of cardiology guidelines .
the purpose of our study was to assess the clinical profile and prognosis of patients with hf according to this new classification.methods and resultsa total of 482 patients referred for hf were retrospectively included over a period of 1 year .
there were 258 ( 53% ) , 115 ( 24% ) , and 109 ( 23% ) patients with hf with reduced ef ( hfref ) , hfmref , and hf with preserved ef ( hfpef ) , respectively .
patient age increased , whereas left block bundle branch , brain natriuretic peptide level , and the use of betablocker and furosemide decreased from hfref to hfpef .
after adjustment for the age , patients with hfpef and hfmref were more likely to have nyha stage 2 dyspnea , had a higher systolic blood pressure , were less likely to have spironolactone , had lower furosemide dose , and had lower haemoglobin than those with hfref .
cardiovascular risk factors and medical history were similar in the three groups of patients .
there was a 33% death rate after a mean followup of 32.2 14.3 months .
the survival was the same among patients whatever the group of hf ( p = 0.884).conclusionspatients with hfref , hfmref , and hfpef share the same cardiovascular risk factors , medical history , and prognosis .
patients with hfmref have a different clinical profile , which is nearly the same as patients with hfpef , except for sex .
these results question the relevance of this new classification of hf to stimulate research into this new group of patients . |
7,327 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: there is a tide in the affairs of men , which taken at the flood , leads on to fortune .
omitted , all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries .
proactive measures include avoiding known risks by not settling in or venturing into hazardous environments , and mitigating them by constructing dams , levees , and other protective infrastructure .
proactive mitigation also includes creating disaster warning systems , infrastructure to facilitate rapid evacuation , and emergency shelters in advance of need .
proactive measures are necessarily costly because they both consume and sequester resources for an indefinite period of time .
this cost is particularly psychologically burdensome because it is impossible to predict with any certainty precisely when a threat will become a crisis or a disaster .
in contrast , reactive measures are much less expensive in the short term . delivering emergency food , water , shelter , medical care , and post - disaster evacuation have the theoretical advantage of being deployable anywhere , ideally from just a few locations .
the appeal of post - disaster response is that the overhead is low and the resources can be used reliably on a regular basis . unfortunately
, what is not factored into this approach is the vastly more expensive loss of property and lives that proactive mitigation would have prevented .
the reasons for disasters such as hurricane katrina can only be understood by inquiring into the nature of technology and the human minds that wield it .
one way to look at this progression is in terms of timescales . to begin ,
the ' trivial timescale ' is bounded by day - to - day activities such as bathing , unstructured socializing , and going to work .
the second timescale is the ' personal timescale ' , which allows for planning and actions that occur over the time course of roughly two human generations ( defined here as 44 years ) .
such planning includes selecting and mastering a livelihood , procreating and rearing children to adulthood , and... | unique among animals , humans survive not by superb physical adaptation to our environment , but rather by intelligent , large - scale adaptation of the environment to our needs .
we build houses with climate control systems that mimic the environment of sub - saharan africa .
we safely live in environments where the temperature never rises above freezing and where the level of the sea is higher than the land we farm and build vast cities upon .
we live in tropical rainforests teeming with hostile organisms , and atop arid , life - poor mountains and plains , at elevations in excess of 5000 m. as this editorial is written , a few of us live in space , circling the earth in an environment of hard vacuum , searing heat , and cryogenic cold .
the sole endowment for our survival that evolution has bestowed upon us is reason and technologic civilization , which is its product .
all human habitations , and all life on earth for that matter , are under continuous threat of some kind .
violent weather , earthquakes , volcanic eruptions , and even meteorite impacts represent threats of varying degrees of risk . |
7,328 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: congenital central hypoventilation syndrome ( cchs ) is a life - threatening disorder characterized by an idiopathic failure of the automatic control of breathing , particularly during sleep . in cchs , patients breathe with insufficient depth due to impaired sensitivity to hypercapnea and hypoxia .
hirschsprung 's disease ( hd ) , also known as congenital aganglionic megacolon , is characterized by the absence of ganglion cells in any part of the bowel wall .
the absence of ganglion cells in hirschsprung 's disease inhibits normal peristalsis , resulting in a functional intestinal obstruction .
the combination of cchs and hd was reported first by haddad in 1978 and it has been extremely rare with approximately 60 cases reported in the worldwide literature ( 1 , 2 ) .
previous studies described that de novo mutation of the phox2b gene was involved in cchs pathogenesis ( 3 , 4 ) .
many patients with cchs are heterozygous for a polyalanine expansion mutation in the second polyalanine repeat residue of the phox2b gene , with one allele having 20 repeats and the affected allele having 25 - 33 repeats of the polyalanine sequence ( 3 , 4 ) .
some authors reported that a subset of patients had other mutations in the phox2b gene ( 5 , 6 ) . in korean population ,
only one case has been reported , however , genetic analysis has not been performed ( 7 ) . here
, we report a haddad syndrome with the phox2b gene mutation for the first time in a korean .
this 41-week - gestation male was born to a 30-yr - old mother with good health by normal spontaneous vaginal delivery in november 2009 .
there was neither family history of congenital anomalies nor maternal exposure to drugs during pregnancy .
the baby had apgar scores of 7 and 5 at 1 and 5 min , respectively .
the baby was immediately transferred to our hospital for further evaluation and management after stabilization .
for the next few days , we tried extubation several times , but failed to succeed because the baby suffered from recurrent apnea and hypercarbia... | congenital central hypoventilation syndrome with hirschsprung 's disease , also known as haddad syndrome , is an extremely rare disorder with variable symptoms .
recent studies described that congenital central hypoventilation syndrome had deep relation to the mutation of the phox2b gene in its diagnosis and phenotype .
we report a newborn male infant with clinical manifestations of recurrent hypoventilation with hypercapnea and bowel obstruction .
these clinical manifestations were compatible with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome and hirschsprung 's disease , and polyalanine 26 repeats in the phox2b gene supported the diagnosis of congenital central hypoventilation .
we described a first case of haddad syndrome in korean and its clinical and genetic characteristics were discussed . |
7,329 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: this modification adds a methyl group ( ch3 ) to the 5 position of cytosine in a dna sequence and is inheritable through cell division.1,2 for mammalian cells , it occurs only at cpg sites ( cytosines paired with guanines ) .
dna methylation plays an essential role for both normal and cancerous cell development36 and is closely related to significant processes , including x - chromosome inactivation , genomic imprinting , and tumor growth.710 in a genome , there are different types of methylation patterns , including hypermethylation , hypomethylation , and hemimethylation .
hypermethylation occurs when samples in one group ( eg , cancer patients ) have more methylation than the samples in another group ( eg , normal individuals ) .
hypomethylation occurs when samples in one group have less methylation than the samples in another group .
hemimethylation means that at a cpg site , only one strand of the dna is methylated ( denoted m in fig .
recent research studies1113 show that , on a number of genes , hemimethylation may occur as a same - strand cluster ( fig .
1b ) with only two cpg sites , or a different - strand cluster with more than two cpg sites ( fig .
the cluster pattern means that two or more consecutive cpg sites are methylated only on one dna strand , and not on the other strand , as shown in figure 1a .
the polarity ( or reverse ) hemimethylation clusters imply that , at the two consecutive cpg sites , the methylation patterns on the positive and negative strands are mu and um , respectively , as shown in figure 1b . mu and um means that , at two adjacent cpg sites , the first site is hemimethylated as mu on the positive and negative strands , while the next adjacent site is hemimethylated as um on two strands , which has a reversed pattern .
the hemimethylation patterns shown in figure 1 are like the footprints of dna demethylation ( ie , methyl groups are removed ) in cancer.12 this footprint role exists because hemimethylation is a transitional state between being methylated and having... | dna methylation ( the addition of a methyl group to a cytosine ) is an important epigenetic event in mammalian cells because it plays a key role in regulating gene expression .
most previous methylation studies assume that dna methylation occurs on both positive and negative strands .
however , a few studies have reported that in some genes , methylation occurs only on one strand ( ie , hemimethylation ) and has clustering patterns .
these studies report that hemimethylation occurs on individual genes .
it is unclear whether hemimethylation occurs genome - wide and whether there are hemimethylation differences between cancerous and noncancerous cells . to address these questions
, we have developed the first - ever pipeline , named hemimethylation pipeline ( hmpl ) , to identify hemimethylation patterns . utilizing the available software and the newly developed perl and r scripts
, hmpl can identify hemimethylation patterns for a single sample and can also compare two different samples . |
7,330 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: acute pancreatitis is characterized by the onset of parenchymal and peripancreatic fat necrosis with associated inflammation in a previously healthy individual .
acute pancreatitis should be suspected in patients with acute severe abdominal pain and can be classified based on severity .
the atlanta classification divides acute pancreatitis into two groups : interstitial edematous acute pancreatitis and necrotizing acute pancreatitis . the first category is characterized by pancreatic parenchymal and peripancreatic inflammation without necrosis , while the latter category involves inflammation and some degree of necrosis .
the diagnosis of drug - induced acute pancreatitis first requires a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis .
elevations in several biomarkers are indicative of pancreatitis , including serum lipase and amylase that are secreted in bulk by pancreatic acinar cells and thus are most commonly measured .
other laboratory tests with diagnostic implications include serum trypsinogen , pancreatic proteases , c - reactive protein , interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 .
the next step in diagnosing drug - induced pancreatitis requires ruling out more common etiologies such as gallstone pancreatitis and ethanol - induced acute pancreatitis .
the history should focus on previous symptoms and any record of gallstones , ethanol abuse , hypercalcemia , hypertriglyceridemia and trauma .
serum amylase , lipase , triglyceride level , calcium level and liver function tests should be ordered .
abdominal and endoscopic ultrasounds should be performed to evaluate for gallstones and other obstructive possibilities such as tumors of the pancreas head .
orlistat is a pancreatic lipase inhibitor which is used to treat obesity . due to the increasing prevalence of obesity
the indications of orlistat are body mass index ( bmi ) > 30 without any risk factors or bmi > 27 with additional risk factors such as hypertension , hyperlipidemia or diabetes .
orlistat has been reported to be associated with adverse events such as hepatic... | orlistat is a pancreatic lipase inhibitor which is used to treat obesity . due to the increasing prevalence of obesity
, orlistat use is thought to rise progressively .
we report an interesting case caused by orlistat use caught in the early stages of acute pancreatitis through imaging ; in addition , the case had significantly elevated serum amylase levels . a 54-year - old male who had
a history of orlistat treatment started 7 days before was admitted to the emergency department with complaints of abdominal pain , nausea and vomiting lasting for 24 h. abdominal computed tomography revealed peripancreatic fat tissue edema and a heterogeneous appearance of the pancreas .
based on these findings , it was concluded that edematous pancreatitis was in its initial stage .
orlistat is a drug that is increasingly widespread use due to obesity .
more attention must be paid when planning to prescribe orlistat to patients if there are risk factors for acute pancreatitis ( alcohol use , height , serum calcium and lipid levels ) . |
7,331 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: multidrug resistance ( mdr ) remains the major obstacle to success in a wide variety of advanced malignancies , particularly in solid cancers .
the overexpression of p - gp is one of the important mechanisms involved in mdr [ 13 ] .
p - gp - mediated cellular uptake and the efflux of anticancer drugs from cancer cells are responsible for the cell elimination of the drugs which in turn decreases their therapeutic effect .
therefore , one of the best methods of reversing mdr and increasing the efficacy of anticancer drugs is to use the potent p - gp inhibitors modulating p - gp function and/or expression .
it is an important step to use assays to evaluate the effect of candidate drugs as inhibitors of p - gp function in vivo after the drugs were found to have an mdr - reversing effect in vitro . for nonsurgical solid cancer patients ,
there are currently no direct assays measuring intratumoral drug concentrations or the alteration of p - gp function and/or expression .
thus , alternative approaches to evaluate the degree of functional inhibition of p - gp in vivo will be a useful aid in the development of mdr modulators .
p - gp is also expressed in normal tissues in which they seem to have an important role in the protection against xenobiotics .
several authors reported that p - gp was expressed in lymphocytes including cd3 , cd4 , and cd8 t cells , as well as the cd56 natural killer ( nk ) cells , with the highest expression levels and activities observed in cd56 cells followed by cd8 cells [ 5 , 6 ] .
however , the physiological roles that p - gp plays in these cells are unclear .
the p - gp in the lymphocytes appears functionally identical to that observed in multidrug resistant cells ; they have the same substrate and antagonist specificities [ 5 , 7 , 8 ] .
since the expression and function of p - gp in cd56 cells are the highest , is rho123 accumulation widely used in cd56 populations as a surrogate indicator to evaluate the degree of functional inhibition of p - gp in clinical trials of p - gp... | the purpose of this study was the use of rhodamine 123 ( rho123 ) accumulation in peripheral blood cd8+cells as a surrogate indicator to evaluate the modulating effect of p - glycoprotein ( p - gp ) inhibitors in the multidrug resistance ( mdr ) tumor - bearing mouse model .
rho123 was administered to mice , and the fluorescence level in cd8 + cells was measured .
cepharanthine hydrochloride ( ch ) and verapamil ( ver ) , two p - gp inhibitors , were administered to mice 1 hour prior to rho123 administration in vivo or added to peripheral blood 1 hour prior to rho123 addition ex vivo .
the tumor inhibition effect of 5-fluorouracil / adriamycin / cisplatin ( fap ) protocol plus ch was also investigated .
a concentration- or dose - response relationship was shown between the concentration and dose of ch and rho123 accumulation or the antitumor activity . in conclusion
, the measurement of rho123 accumulation in cd8 + cells provides a surrogate assay for the screening of candidate p - gp inhibitors in preclinical trials , and ch is effective in modulating p - gp - mediated mdr in vivo . |
7,332 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the fundamental principle of bonding to dental hard tissues is based on micromechanical interlocking of the adhesive resin with dentin / enamel surfaces.1,2 while bonding to enamel depends on the micromechanical retention to the etched substrate , bonding to dentin relies on hybridization with the exposed collagen mesh.3 the current dental adhesive systems rely on different strategies for bonding to the dental substrates . in etch - and - rinse systems ,
a conditioner ( usually 3040% phosphoric acid ) selectively dissolves the hydroxyapatite crystals and creates spaces for infiltration;3,4 the acid gel needs to be removed and the dentin kept moist for adhesion.5,6 however , managing the proper moisture condition is a critical procedure . in order to reduce the technique - sensitivity and simplify the bonding procedures ,
self - etching adhesive were introduced.4,7,8 the concept of self - etching is based on the use of a non - rinse acidic primer that simultaneously etch and penetrate the dental substrates,9 presenting either one or two application steps . in two - step systems , the priming step is followed by application of free - solvent adhesive resin.8 although two - step systems generally present adequate bonding performance , new single - step systems are constantly introduced into the market .
these systems are mixtures of acidic resin monomers , additives , solvents and water.9,10 water is required to enable dissociation of the acidic monomers responsible for etching.9 however , excess water might interfere with the polymerization of the adhesives.11 thus , solvents , such as ethanol and acetone are added to accelerate water elimination.9 most manufacturers recommend that self - etching adhesive should be applied to dry substrate .
therefore , the water contained in the adhesive needs to be sufficient to ionize the acid monomers without , however , compromising the polymerization process.9 the first generation single - step self - etching adhesives were presented in two bottles that needed to be mixed... | objectivesthe aim of this study was to evaluate the bond strength of one - step adhesive systems to dry or moist dental substrate.methodsthirty human third molars were sectioned into two halves , in the mesio - distal direction , parallel to the long axis of the tooth .
each half was embedded in a polystyrene resin cylinder so that the buccal / lingual surface remained exposed .
this exposed surface was abraded to obtain both flat exposed enamel and dentin .
the samples were randomly allocated according to the adhesive system ( xeno iii , adper prompt and ibond ) and moisture condition ( dry and moist ) . the substrates were air - dried for 30 s for dry condition , while the moist substrates were re - wet with 2.5 l of distilled water after drying .
after the adhesive procedures , two resin composite cylinders were build - up on dentin and enamel substrates , totaling four per sample .
a shear load was applied to the samples at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm / min until failure .
data were statistically analyzed by three - way anova and the tukey test ( =0.05).resultsthe evaluated one - step adhesives showed higher bond strength to dentin than enamel .
the ibond presented better bond performance to moist substrate and xeno iii to dry substrate .
the moisture condition did not interfere in the performance of adper prompt .
the xeno iii and ibond presented higher bond strength than the other adhesives to both dry and moist substrates.conclusionsthe moisture condition of substrate interfered in the performance of one - step self - etching adhesives and the best moisture condition was material dependent . |
7,333 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: . it is characterised not only by the movement abnormalities , but also by cognitive impairment and abnormal behaviour , as well as weight problems and sleep disturbances .
hd patients experience a complex variety of movement problems , which include not only chorea , but also akinesia and bradykinesia .
a number of studies have assessed impairment of simple motion sequences in hd patients as a way of quantifying the progression of symptoms [ 2 , 7 , 12 , 15 ] .
sequential hand movements in hd patients have been examined at various stages of the condition , with markedly slower execution of movements by the hd patients when compared with controls . as well as performing movements more slowly , hd patients are also slower in switching from one movement to the next .
garcia ruiz and colleagues studied the degree of bradykinesia and timing in genetically confirmed hd individuals compared with controls , using the four capit timed tasks previously used for pd .
these results have been reproduced in more recent studies that reported significantly reduced tapping rates in manifest hd patients as compared to controls , but not premanifest individuals ; unified huntington s disease rating scale ( uhdrs ) motor scores and duration of the disease were highly correlated with the tapping results , something which did not correlate with the cag repeat lengths [ 3 , 1315 ] .
longitudinal studies have shown a significant decline in tapping rate over a period of 3 years in manifest hd patients , and a strong correlation between uhdrs scores and the motor tests .
furthermore , the variability of finger tapping ( using target intervals of 600 and 1,200 ms ) correlated with an index of the probability of motor onset , estimated from cag length and age . quick and easy - to - use hand tapping devices have enabled the number of taps in 30 s , and the variability in tapping rhythm and fatigue over the testing period , to be measured .
initial cross - sectional testing of hd patients using an early model of such a device... | measuring the rate of finger tapping is a technique commonly used as an indicator of impairment in degenerative neurological conditions , such as huntington s disease .
the information it provides can be greatly enhanced by analysing not simply the overall tapping rate , but also the statistical characteristics of the individual times between each successive response .
recent technological improvements in the recording equipment allow the responses to be analysed extremely quickly , and permit modification of the task in the interest of greater clinical specificity . here
we illustrate its use with some pilot data from a group of manifest hd patients and age - matched controls . even in this small cohort ,
differences in the responses are apparent that appear to relate to the severity of the disease as measured by conventional behavioural tests . |
7,334 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: gt(rosa)26sor , b6;129-gt(rosa)26sor / j and b6;129s2-scarb1/j and fvb / nj wild - type mice were obtained from the jackson laboratory ( bar harbor , me ) .
mice were bred and maintained at the comparative bioscience center of the rockefeller university according to guidelines established by the institutional animal committee .
adenoviral constructs encoding human and murine homologues of the four hcv entry factors ( cd81 , scarb1 , cldn1 and ocln ) and mutants thereof were created using the adeasy adenoviral vector system ( agilent technologies , santa clara , ca ) according to the manufacturer s instructions .
plasmids encoding chimeric hcv genomes , including jc1flag2(p7fluc2a ) and bicistronic hcv genomes expressing cre , were linearized with xbai and transcribed using megascript t7 ( ambion , austin , texas ) .
rna was electroporated into huh-7.5 cells using a ecm 830 electroporator ( btx genetronics ) and infectious virus was collected from supernatants 4872 h after transfection .
gt(rosa)26sor , b6;129-gt(rosa)26sor / j and b6;129s2-scarb1/j and fvb / nj wild - type mice were obtained from the jackson laboratory ( bar harbor , me ) .
mice were bred and maintained at the comparative bioscience center of the rockefeller university according to guidelines established by the institutional animal committee .
adenoviral constructs encoding human and murine homologues of the four hcv entry factors ( cd81 , scarb1 , cldn1 and ocln ) and mutants thereof were created using the adeasy adenoviral vector system ( agilent technologies , santa clara , ca ) according to the manufacturer s instructions .
plasmids encoding chimeric hcv genomes , including jc1flag2(p7fluc2a ) and bicistronic hcv genomes expressing cre , were linearized with xbai and transcribed using megascript t7 ( ambion , austin , texas ) .
rna was electroporated into huh-7.5 cells using a ecm 830 electroporator ( btx genetronics ) and infectious virus was collected from supernatants 4872 h after transfection . | hepatitis c virus ( hcv ) remains a major medical problem .
antiviral treatment is only partially effective and a vaccine does not exist .
development of more effective therapies has been hampered by the lack of a suitable small animal model .
while xenotransplantation of immunodeficient mice with human hepatocytes has shown promise , these models are subject to important challenges .
building on the previous observation that cd81 and occludin ( ocln ) comprise the minimal human factors required to render mouse cells permissive to hcv entry in vitro , we attempted murine humanization via a genetic approach . here
we show that expression of two human genes is sufficient to allow hcv infection of fully immunocompetent inbred mice .
we establish a precedent for applying mouse genetics to dissect viral entry and validate the role of scarb1 for hcv uptake .
we demonstrate that hcv can be blocked by passive immunization , as well as show that a recombinant vaccinia virus ( rvv ) vector induces humoral immunity and confers partial protection against heterologous challenge .
this system recapitulates a portion of the hcv life cycle in an immunocompetent rodent for the first time , opening opportunities for studying viral pathogenesis and immunity and comprising an effective platform for testing hcv entry inhibitors in vivo . |
7,335 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: this multi - center trial was conducted at 13 sites with subjects aged 845 years with autoimmune type 1 diabetes for less than 3 months and with evidence of -cell function evidenced by stimulated c - peptide > 0.2 pmol on a 2-h mixed meal tolerance test ( mmtt ) .
autoimmune type 1 diabetes was defined by the presence of any of four islet autoantibodies within 14 days of diagnosis ( gad , insulinoma - associated protein 2 , or islet cell autoantibodies [ icas ] ) .
subjects were otherwise healthy without major systemic illness nor allergic or autoimmune conditions requiring treatment with immunosuppressive agents or steroids .
the protocol was approved by the type 1 diabetes trialnet steering committee , the data and safety monitoring board ( dsmb ) , and regulatory authorities ; human subject approval was obtained at participating sites prior to study initiation .
the study was a three - arm , randomized , double - masked , placebo - controlled clinical trial conducted by type 1 diabetes trialnet .
roche pharmaceuticals provided mmf , dzb , and placebo , but had no involvement in study management , data collection and analysis , or manuscript preparation .
there were 126 subjects randomized to receive mmf alone ( with dzb placebo ) , mmf and dzb in combination , or control ( mmf placebo and dzb placebo ) , stratified within clinical center .
by error , among the last six sites to join the study , 12 subjects assigned to receive mmf alone inadvertently received dzb - alone , thus resulting in an imbalance in the group sample sizes . the results from these 12 subjects
mmf or matched placebo was administered daily at a dose of 600 mg / m ( maximum 2,000 mg / day ) in 23 divided doses for 2 years .
dzb or matched placebo was given by intravenous infusion at study day 0 and two weeks later at a dose of 1 mg / kg . all subjects were to be followed for at least 2 years under the intention - to - treat principle , including those who did not receive the full course of assigned therapy . because both drugs reduce the... | objectivethis trial tested whether mycophenolate mofetil ( mmf ) alone or with daclizumab ( dzb ) could arrest the loss of insulin - producing -cells in subjects with new - onset type 1 diabetes.research design and methodsa multi - center , randomized , placebo - controlled , double - masked trial was initiated by type 1 diabetes trialnet at 13 sites in north america and europe .
subjects diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and with sufficient c - peptide within 3 months of diagnosis were randomized to either mmf alone , mmf plus dzb , or placebo , and then followed for 2 years .
the primary outcome was the geometric mean area under the curve ( auc ) c - peptide from the 2-h mixed meal tolerance test.resultsone hundred and twenty - six subjects were randomized and treated during the trial .
the geometric mean c - peptide auc at 2 years was unaffected by mmf alone or mmf plus dzb versus placebo .
adverse events were more frequent in the active therapy groups relative to the control group , but not significantly.conclusionsneither mmf alone nor mmf in combination with dzb had an effect on the loss of c - peptide in subjects with new - onset type 1 diabetes .
higher doses or more targeted immunotherapies may be needed to affect the autoimmune process . |
7,336 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: striae gravidarum ( sg ) is a common , disfiguring , gestational change that affects between 55% ( chang et al . , 2004 , picard et al . , 2015 ) and 90% ( fitzpatrick and freedberg , 2003 ) of women ( ghasemi et al .
sg presents as atrophic linear scars and can cause distress , often leading to a decrease in quality of life ( korgavkar and wang , 2015 , park and murase , 2013 ) .
sg are often overlooked as a cosmetic concern , which does not make the patient burden any less .
current research on risk factors , prevention , and management of this condition has been limited or met with little success and/or provided conflicting results ( chang et al . , 2004 ) .
throughout history , stretch marks have always been a source of distress for pregnant women .
as early as 16 bc , the poet ovid alluded to women who would self - abort their pregnancies to avoid stretch marks ( rayor and batstone , 1995 ) .
ancient egyptians recorded numerous preparations for the treatment of stretch marks and soranus and pliny the elder in the 1st century ad endorsed unripe olive oil and sea salt , respectively ( owsei , 1991 ) .
frankincense is one of the most often recommended treatments ( nwi trading co. , 2016 ) .
there has been an additional wide range of therapeutics from topical medications to surgical modalities proposed for stretch marks , which reinforces the concern that is associated with this condition .
sg first present as flat , pink - to - red bands ( striae rubra or immature striae ) that become raised , longer , wider , and violet - red ( fig . 1 , fig .
, the marks fade and become hypopigmented ( striae alba or mature striae ) , appearing parallel to skin tension lines as scar - like , wrinkled , white , and atrophic marks ( fig .
3 ; salter and kimball , 2006 , sodhi and sausker , 1988 , watson et al . , 1998 ) .
sg can cause itching , burning , and discomfort and typically present on the breasts , abdomen , hips , and thighs .
up to 90% of sg appear in primigravidas ( chang et al . , 2004 ) .
onset has typically... | backgroundstriae gravidarum ( sg ) are atrophic linear scars that represent one of the most common connective tissue changes during pregnancy .
sg can cause emotional and psychological distress for many women .
research on risk factors , prevention , and management of sg has been often inconclusive.methodswe conducted a literature search using textbooks , pubmed , and medline databases to assess research performed on the risk factors , prevention , and management of sg .
the search included the following key words : striae gravidarum , pregnancy stretch marks , and pregnancy stretch .
we also reviewed citations within articles to identify relevant sources.resultsyounger age , maternal and family history of sg , increased pre - pregnancy and pre - delivery weight , and increased birth weight were the most significant risk factors identified for sg .
although few studies have confirmed effective prevention methods , centella asiatica extract , hyaluronic acid , and daily massages showed some promise .
treatment for general striae has greatly improved over the last few years .
topical tretinoin
0.05% has demonstrated up to 47% improvement of sg and non - ablative fractional lasers have consistently demonstrated 50 to 75% improvement in treated lesions of striae distensae.conclusionoverall , sg has seen a resurgence in research over the last few years with promising data being released .
results of recent studies provide dermatologists with new options for the many women who are affected by these disfiguring marks of pregnancy . |
7,337 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: intracranial dermoid cysts and colloid cysts are rare congenital lesions generally occurring along the midline .
dermoid cysts are known to be ectodermal in origin while debate still exists about the embryological origin of colloid cysts . here
, we report a 22-year - old young male with suprasellar dermoid cyst associated with a colloid cyst of the third ventricle and discuss the possibility of their unified embryological derivation . to best of our knowledge ,
a 22-year - old male patient presented with on and off frontal headaches and occasional blurring of vision for 1 year .
clinical examination was normal with visual acuity of 6/6 in both eyes without evidence of any field defects on perimetry .
magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) revealed mainly cystic lesion in the suprasellar region with small solid component anteriorly which was hyperintense on t1-weighted sequences without any contrast enhancement .
a colloid cyst of 1.2 1.5 cm was seen at the foramen of monro , mainly occupying third ventricle with evidence of mild hydrocephalus [ figure 1a ] .
an old bifrontal craniotomy was re - explored and complete excision of suprasellar dermoid cyst was achieved through bilateral subfrontal approach along with transcortical transventricular excision of colloid cyst in the same setting .
intraoperatively , suprasellar cyst was containing a whitish fluid with fat globules with small solid vascularized fatty nodule .
post - operative scans showed complete excision of both the lesions [ figure 1b ] .
sagittal sections of contrast - enhanced magnetic resonance images of brain showing cystic lesion in the suprasellar area with small solid part anteriorly .
post - operative scans ( 48 hrs ) scans showed complete excision of dermoid and colloid cyst with decreased mass effect on the optic chiasm ( b ) photomicrographs showing stratified squamous epithelium with underlying sebaceous glands ( a ) .
colloid cyst wall comprising fibrocollagenous wall and is lined by columnar epithelium ( c ) with high - power view of... | intracranial dermoid cyst and colloid cysts of the third ventricle are rare benign congenital lesions of early adulthood .
both lesions are thought to be congenital in origin however association is rare .
only one case of this association has been reported .
we report a 22-year - old male with suprasellar dermoid cyst and colloid cyst of the third ventricle presenting simultaneously .
embryogenesis of this association has been discussed . |
7,338 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: it has been widely accepted that the application of coronary computed tomographic angiography ( ccta ) is most likely to benefit patients who are at intermediate risk of having stable coronary artery disease ( scad ) . as a result , in 2013 european society of cardiology guidelines on the management of scad ( 2013 g ) ,
importance was given to systematical testing with the consideration of pretest probability and the updated diamond - forrester model ( udfm ) was recommended as the clinical algorithm . according to 2013 g , ccta should be considered as an alternative to stress test in patients with ejection fraction ( ef ) 50% and pretest probability between 15% and 50% , or a complement to stress tests in patients with ef 50% and pretest probability between 50% and 85% or with ef < 50% and without typical angina .
the major expectation of the clinical guidelines was to establish a scientific basis for clinical practice .
however , 2013 g has not been subjected to systematic analyses on its impact on clinical practice .
therefore , the purpose of this study was to investigate the utilization of ccta in clinical practice and to determine the impact of 2013 g on the use of ccta .
from march 2013 to september 2014 , 5320 consecutive patients were eligible for the analysis .
the exclusion criteria were acute coronary syndrome , previous coronary revascularization ( percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting ) , impaired renal function ( serum creatinine > 120 mol / l ) , new york heart association class iii or iv heart failure , atrial fibrillation , aortic disease , or > 90 years old .
patients were considered to have diabetes mellitus , hyperlipidemia , or hypertension if they were taking corresponding treatment or had been diagnosed as such according to their medical records .
typical chest pain was defined as having ( 1 ) substernal chest pain or discomfort , which was ( 2 ) provoked by exertion or emotional stress and ( 3 ) relieved by rest and/or nitroglycerin .
if one or none of... | background : coronary computed tomographic angiography ( ccta ) has been widely used in patients who are at intermediate risk for having stable coronary artery disease ( scad ) , and 2013 european society of cardiology guidelines on the management of scad ( 2013 g ) recommended the appropriate application of ccta . however , 2013 g has not been subjected to systematic analyses for subsequent impact on clinical practice.methods:a total of 5320 patients suspected with scad were enrolled and scheduled for ccta from march 2013 to september 2014 . for each patient ,
pretest probability of scad was calculated according to updated diamond - forrester model ( udfm ) .
appropriate ccta or appropriate stress test was determined as described in the 2013 g .
a generalized estimating equation model was used to determine the trends in the half - monthly rate of appropriate ccta.results:overall , only 61.37% of patients received appropriate ccta , and there was insignificant change over time ( p = 0.8701 ) .
the application of ccta in patients who should have had a stress test accounted for most of the inappropriate ccta before ( 22.29% ) or after ( 19.98% ) the publication of the 2013 g . in all patients or any subgroup ,
no significant change in the adjusted half - monthly rate of appropriate ccta was found after the publication of the 2013 g ( odds ratio , 1.002 ; 95% confidence interval , 0.9821.021 ; p = 0.8678).conclusions : these findings suggest that the 2013 g have not , to date , been fully incorporated into clinical practice , and the clinical utilization of ccta remains unreasonable to some extent . |
7,339 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: only one did well and , accordingly , he emphasized a high surgical risk in dealing with infratentorial meningiomas25 ) . because of its deep location , narrow visual field of operation and proximity to cranial nerves , brain stem and important blood vessels , surgical intervention for this pathology have a high lethal and crippled rate16 ) .
clinical presentation and microsurgical anatomy , particularly in regard to cranial nerve dislocation , critically depend on the tumor 's dural origin22 ) .
infratentorial meningiomas include cerebellar convexity , tentorial , cerebellopontine angle , jugular foramen , petroclival , peritorcula , and foramen magnum .
however , infratentorial meningiomas have been a challenge for operation , because of its close proximity to critical vascular and neurologic structures and slow growth25 ) . in the early series ,
the surgical try to remove these lesions was associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality9 ) . as developing radiologic tools , microsurgical techniques and surgical approaches of these tumors ,
surgical management has been evolving and shown good outcomes along with a decrease in surgical morbidity and pamortality2,11,20,28 ) . despite these improvements , surgery for infratentorial meningiomas
, we analyzed surgical outcomes of patients with infratentorial meningiomas surgically treated at our institution to postulate the predictors for surgical resection , recurrence , complication , and survival .
the study is in compliance with the declaration of helsinki ( sixth revision , 2008 ) .
this study fulfils all the requirements for patient anonymity was approved by the institutional review board . between april 1993 and may 2013 , 782 case of intracranial meningioma
were surgically resected at our institution . among these cases , 158 patients ( 20.2% )
were diagnosed with infratentorial meningioma by means of radiological studies [ non - enhanced and enhanced computed tomographic ( ct ) scanning and magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) ] and their surgical... | objectivebased on surgical outcomes of patients with infratentorial meningiomas surgically treated at our institution , we analyzed the predictors for surgical resection , recurrence , complication , and survival.methodsof surgically treated 782 patients with intracranial meningioma , 158 ( 20.2% ) consecutive cases of infratentorial location operated on between april 1993 and may 2013 at out institute were reviewed retrospectively .
the patients had a median age of 57.1 years ( range , 16 - -77 years ) , a female predominance of 79.7% , and a mean follow - up duration of 48.4 months ( range , 0.8 - -242.2 months).resultsgross total resection ( simpson 's grade i & ii ) was achieved in 81.6% ( 129/158 ) of patients .
non - skull base location was an independent factor for complete resection .
the recurrence rate was 13.3% ( 21/158 ) and the 5- , 10- , and 15-year recurrence rates were 8.2% , 12.0% , and 13.3% , respectively .
benign pathology , postoperative kps over than 90 , low peritumoral edema , and complete resection were significantly associated with longer recurrence - free survival rate .
the 5- , 10- , and 15-year survival rates were 96.2% , 94.9% , and 94.9% , respectively .
benign pathology , postoperative kps over than 90 and complete resection were significantly associated with a longer survival rate .
the permanent complication rate was 13% ( 21/158 ) .
skull base location and postoperative kps less than 90 were independent factors for the occurrence of permanent complication.conclusionour experience shows that infratentorial meningiomas represent a continuing challenge for contemporary neurosurgeons .
various factors are related with resection degree , complications , recurrence and survival . |
7,340 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: main determinants in the clinical care of patients with urolithiasis are the location , size , and chemical composition of the calculi , the latter being particularly important in the presence of uric acid ( ua ) stones , since ua stones may be dissolved by urinary alkalinization .
the imaging modality of choice for the detection of urinary stone disease is unenhanced computed tomography ( ct ) , offering high specificity and sensitivity .
however , despite promising in vitro results , the transferability of results to an in vivo setting was hampered by misregistration problems .
symptomatic urinary stone disease affects approximately 900,000 persons in the united states each year , resulting in annual medical costs of $ 5.3 billion .
the morbidity associated with urolitiasis includes colic pain and kidney obstruction , which can lead to renal failure and severe urinary tract infections such as pyonephrosis and septic shock .
moreover , the institution of further prophylactic measures to prevent recurrences is of utmost importance .
this necessitates a thorough metabolic workup and an accurate quantitative stone analysis . without an appropriate workup , stone analysis and proper follow up
, the recurrence rates may be as high as 1023%/year and may reach to 50% within 5 years . among all types of urinary stones ,
the frequency of calcium stone is 7080% , struvite stone 510% , uric acid stone 510% , and cystine stone 1% . in general , stones composed of ua are broken up easily by shock waves , whereas stones of calcium oxalate monohydrate ( com ) , brushite , or cystine are difficult to break .
previous attempts [ 911 ] to predict stone composition using spiral ct were based on the analysis of ct attenuations .
. demonstrated that high resolution spiral ct yields unique ct attenuations for common types of stones if proper window settings are used to localize homogeneous regions within the stones .
currently , the following methods are available for stone analysis : ( 1 ) chemical analysis , ( 2 ) emission... | introductionto investigate retrospectively the impact of urinary stone volume on computed tomography stone attenuations measured in hounsfield units in 253 patients with urolithiasis.material and methodsct scans were performed in 253 patients with suspected urinary stone disease from 2008 to 2010 using ct
scanner siemens , somatom , sensation 64 .
one experienced radiologist ( a.l ) who was blinded to the chemical composition of the stones retrospectively reviewed images and analyzed data to determine the composition of the stones .
the results were compared with the biochemical analysis results obtained by infrared spectroscopy ( 100 ftir , perkinelmer).results253 consecutive patients from 2008 to 2010 were included into analysis : 189 males , and 64 females .
mean age was 51.2 .
according to stone volume , stones were divided into 2 groups : 126 stones with volume of 4.3 mm or more , 127 stones with volume less than 4.3 mm .
there was a significant relationship between stone volume and its ct attenuation only in stones with a volume 4.3 mm or more ( p < 0.05).conclusionswe failed to show a significant relationship between stone volume and its attenuations in hounsfield units
. we could not distinguish uric acid stones from non uric acid stones . |
7,341 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: deranged hematological parameters , including thrombocytopenia , are features of human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv ) infection.1 thrombocytopenia , defined by platelet cell count of less than 15010/l,2,3 occurs in about 4%24% of hiv - infected cases.4,5 mechanisms for thrombocytopenia , such as platelet involvement in immune responses , cytopathic effect of antiretroviral therapy ( art ) regimens , and antigenic mimicry , are key in a setting of hiv.6,7 thrombocytopenia has been linked to adverse sequelae and is regarded as an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality among the hiv - infected group , owing to increased risk of bleeding , which may occur in the mucous membranes , skin , soft tissue , and intracranial sites.8,9 the associated bleeding may cause death if it involves critical sites.10 to avert the risk of bleeding , platelet transfusion may be indicated ; however , in uganda , component transfusion is not readily available,11 which limits success of clinical interventions in an immunologically compromised population . although cytopenias have been widely reported in hiv infection , there is little data regarding prevalence , correlates , and etiologic association of hiv - related thrombocytopenia in uganda .
this study sought to determine hiv - related thrombocytopenia in a high - hiv / acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( aids ) study population ( southwest uganda ) .
the findings from this study will form a basis for management of complications that arise from thrombocytopenia among hiv clients in this setting .
these were hiv - positive adult males and females who had been enrolled for care at the immune suppressed syndrome ( iss ) clinic in mbarara , uganda .
we sought informed consent of patients with thrombocytopenia as found in their previous full blood count ( fbc ) results , and investigated the presence of antiplatelet antibodies .
for each sample , 3 ml of blood was collected into a plain vacutainer , allowed to clot , and centrifuged , to obtain hemolysis - free serum that... | aims / objectiveswe aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of thrombocytopenia among people living with human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( aids ) and to assess occurrence of antiplatelet antibodies , among thrombocytopenic hiv clients at mbarara regional referral hospital , southwestern uganda.materials and methodsthis was a retrospective review of hematologic results at enrollment to hiv care from 2005 to 2013 .
the prevalence and correlates of thrombocytopenia were estimated based on the immune suppressed syndrome ( iss ) clinic electronic database .
a cross - sectional study determined the occurrence of antiplatelet antibodies , using the monoclonal antibody - specific immobilization of platelet antigens ( maipa ) technique.resultswe reviewed 15,030 client records .
the median age was 35.0 ( range 1878 ; interquartile range [ iqr ] 2842 ) years , and there were 63.2% ( n=9,500 ) females .
the overall prevalence of thrombocytopenia was 17.4% ( 95% confidence interval [ ci ] : 16.8%18.0% ) .
the prevalence of thrombocytopenia was 17.8% ( 95% ci : 17.1%18.4% ) among antiretroviral therapy ( art)-nave clients ( n=2,675 ) and was 13.0% ( 95% ci : 0.3%21.9% ) for clients who were on art ( n=6 ) .
the study found a significant association between thrombocytopenia and other cytopenias , cd4 counts , art , and deteriorating hiv stage ( p<0.05 ) .
two of the 40 participants ( 5.0% ) had antiplatelet antibodies.conclusionthis study has showed a high prevalence of hiv - related thrombocytopenia .
antiplatelet antibodies were found in 5.0% of hiv - infected thrombocytopenic participants .
our study shows a significant association of thrombocytopenia burden in a high - hiv study population ( southwest uganda ) ; therefore , there is need to monitor platelet counts and initiate platelet transfusion in our blood banking practices , to avert possible risks of bleeding . |
7,342 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the increase of ageing , obesity , and diabetes in conjunction with inappropriate healthcare programs have emphasized the problem of having to treat almost 1.5 billion people affected by skin and mucosal infections due to bacteria , viruses , protozoa , and dysmetabolism .
pathologies range from the diabetic foot ( ulcer with necrosis ) , bed sores , ulcers after a trauma or burns , chronic viral infections due to either herpes virus i and ii , or human papylloma viruses , vaginal infections now frequent also in young girls due to candida , trichomonas , and chlamidia , rectal mucosa infections such as anal ragadis , abscesses with fistula to end with mouth aphthous ulcers .
these infections are rarely deadly but are considerably distressing because many patients often suffer of diabetes or vascular diseases with tissue hypoxia , other patients are immunosuppressed drugaddicts , or with concomitant hiv infection .
official medicine provides a variety of drugs that are expensive and often poorly efficacious because infections in hypoxic tissue contain methicillin - resistant staphylococcus aureus and pseudomonas aeruginosa .
patients are suffering not only because they become uncompliant to frequent medications but they are discouraged by observing a lack of healing .
wound healing is a multiphase process involving blood clotting , inflammation , tissue proliferation , and remodelling , but both innate and adoptive immune systems are too often hindered by the chronic infection naturally difficult to overcome .
this is also the reason explaining the failure of growth factors in heavily contaminated ulcers [ 3 , 4 ] .
the judicious use of ozone ( o3 ) appears providential because first of all eliminates the pathogens and then , by releasing oxygen ( o2 ) , activates the proliferation of fibroblasts , hence the building of intercellular matrix with consequent proliferation of keratinoblasts and successive healing . in section 2
, we propose to briefly review the physical chemistry of oil ozonation and all the... | although orthodox medicine has provided a variety of topical anti - infective agents , some of them have become scarcely effective owing to antibiotic- and chemotherapeutic - resistant pathogens . for more than a century
, ozone has been known to be an excellent disinfectant that nevertheless had to be used with caution for its oxidizing properties . only during the last decade
it has been learned how to tame its great reactivity by precisely dosing its concentration and permanently incorporating the gas into triglycerides where gaseous ozone chemically reacts with unsaturated substrates leading to therapeutically active ozonated derivatives . today
the stability and efficacy of the ozonated oils have been already demonstrated , but owing to a plethora of commercial products , the present paper aims to analyze these derivatives suggesting the strategy to obtain products with the best characteristics . |
7,343 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: more than 50 years ago , owen et al . ( 1954 ) made the remarkable discovery that most twin cattle were born with a stable mixture of each other s red cells .
( 1988 ) later found that human leukocyte antigen ( hla ) broadly sensitized patients commonly failed to produce antibodies against mismatched non - inherited maternal antigens ( nima ) , but were fully capable of producing anti - non - inherited paternal antigens ( nipa ) .
the definition of nima or nipa is based on an offspring - based hla haplotype that is not inherited from the mother or father , respectively .
( 1953 ) then showed that injection of allogeneic splenocytes from murine fetuses enabled the acceptance of later skin grafts from the same donor .
this phenomenon is now referred to as fetomaternal tolerance , and suggests that perinatal exposure to nima may affect the developing immune system of neonates .
these phenomena have been clinically utilized in organ transplantation and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ( hsct ; burlingham et al . , 1998 ; van rood et al . , 2002 ) .
( 1998 ) showed the superior graft survival rate in nima- compared to nipa - mismatched renal transplant recipients from sibling donors .
furthermore , van rood et al . ( 2002 ) demonstrated that hsct from nima - mismatched sibling donors showed a lower incidence of severe acute graft - versus - host disease ( gvhd ) compared with that from the other family donors .
( 2004 ) have demonstrated the feasibility of hla - haploidentical hsct from nima - mismatched relatives without t cell depletion .
these clinical studies have been performed based on the presence of fetomaternal microchimerism as a result of fetomaternal immunological tolerance . nevertheless , some cases developed severe acute gvhd despite the existence of microchimeric cells ( kanda et al . , 2009 ) .
we recently reported that nima effects directed toward the major histocompatibility complex ( mhc ) antigen were divided into immunogenic and tolerogenic reactivities ( araki et al . ,... | major histocompatibility complex antigens that provoke severe transplant reactions are referred to as the human leukocyte antigen ( hla ) in human and as the h-2 in mice .
even if the donor and recipient are hla - identical siblings , graft - versus - host reactions have been linked to differences in the minor histocompatibility antigen . as the chance of finding an hla - identical sibling donor is only 25% ,
attention has been focused on using alternative donors .
an hla - mismatched donor with non - inherited maternal antigens ( nima ) is less immunogenic than that with non - inherited paternal antigens , because the contact between the immune systems of the mother and child during pregnancy affects the immune response of the child against nima .
however , the immunologic effects of developmental exposure to nima are heterogeneous , and can be either tolerogenic or immunogenic .
we recently have devised a novel method for predicting the tolerogenic effect of nima . in this review ,
we overview the evidence for the existence of the nima tolerogenic effect , the possible cellular and molecular basis of the phenomenon , and its utilization in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation .
we suggest a future direction for the safe clinical use of this phenomenon , fetomaternal tolerance , in the transplantation field . |
7,344 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: these disorders are caused by mutations in genes coding for enzymes involved in degradation of glycosaminoglycans ( gags ) .
storage of gags in cells of patients results in progressive damage to the affected tissues , including the heart , respiratory system , bones , joints and , in most mps types and subtypes , the central nervous system ( cns ) .
mps are usually fatal diseases , with average expected life span of 1 or 2 decades , although patients with milder forms can survive into adulthood .
there are 11 known types and subtypes of mps , and each type is variable in severity of particular symptoms .
prediction of severity and clinical progression of mps is difficult , even when biochemical and genetic parameters are determined , but recent studies indicate that considering 2 or more parameters may give significantly better results than attempting to make conclusions based on a single biomarker .
mps type iii ( mps iii , called also sanfilippo disease ) is a group of 4 conditions ( mps iiia , b , c and d ) , revealing similar clinical symptoms and characterized by lysosomal storage of heparan sulfate ( hs ) , one of gags .
particular subtypes are classified according to gene coding for an enzyme involved in degradation of hs ( heparan n - sulfatase in mps iiia , -n - acetylglucosaminidase in mps iiib , acetyl - coa : -glycosaminide acetyltransferase in mps iiic and n - acetylglucosamine 6-sulfatase in mps iiid ) which is defective .
although other mps types are characterized by severe somatic symptoms and either some ( sometimes also severe ) or no neurological and behavioral problems , mps iii is specifically associated with severe learning difficulties and behavioral disturbances , accompanied with relatively mild somatic involvement . in most affected patients
the progressive nature of the disease leads to death in the second ( or rarely third ) decade of life . as this disorder primarily affects the brain and nervous system , attempts to cure patients have been especially difficult , and aside from... | summarybackgroundmucopolysaccharidoses ( mps ) are inherited metabolic disorders caused by deficiencies in enzymes involved in degradation of glycosaminoglycans .
mps type iii ( sanfilippo disease ) is clinically characterized mainly by progressive and severe behavioral disturbances and cognitive dysfunction .
recent 1-year experimental treatment of 10 patients with a genistein ( 4 , 5 ,
7-trihydroxyisoflavone)-rich extract resulted in improvement of tested parameters , including cognitive and behavioral functions.material/methodseight pediatric patients with sanfilippo disease were enrolled into the study .
the modified version of the brief assessment examination was used to assess cognitive functions .
moreover , 18 different parameters concerning changes in conditions of patients were assessed by their parents.resultsduring the first year of the treatment , an improvement of cognitive functions in 7 patients and stabilization in 1 patient were assessed , while after the third year ( 2-year follow - up ) further improvement was observed in 2 patients , stabilization in 3 patients and some deterioration in 3 patients .
monitoring of general and behavioral symptoms revealed improvement in all patients after the first year of the treatment , further improvement in 5 patients , and deterioration in 3 patients during the next 2 years.conclusionswe conclude that the treatment of sanfilippo patients with a genistein - rich soy isoflavone extract ( called gene expression - targeted isoflavone therapy [ get it ] ) may be effective in either inhibition ( in some patients ) or slowing down ( in other patients ) of behavioral and cognitive problems over a longer period .
an increased dose of genistein may improve the efficacy of the treatment . |
7,345 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: henoch schnlein purpura ( hsp ) belongs to the group of nongranulomatous small vessel vasculitis .
intussusception , gangrene of the bowel , bowel perforation , and massive hemorrhage are the most common gastrointestinal complications of hsp .
a comprehensive search of pubmed , embase , and web of science was performed for all relevant papers published before july 1 , 2015 . because the full text of six articles was unavailable , only 13 cases described in 12 full - text articles were included in this study .
then , we investigated the clinical features , treatments , and prognoses of hsp - related pancreatitis cases .
the main clinical characteristics of the 13 patients ( six males , seven females ) are summarized in table 1 .
the patients ranged in age from 3 to 70 years , half of cases were 520 years old .
pancreatitis presented as the initial manifestation of hsp in eight cases . in addition , pancreatitis and typical purpura occurred at the same time in the two cases . from the onset of pancreatitis to the diagnosis of hsp , the time elapsed ranged from 1 day to 75 days , and 62.5% ( 5/8 ) of the patients began to have typical purpura within 7 days of the onset of pancreatitis .
in addition to abdominal pain in all cases , seven patients presented with vomiting , one patient had hematemesis , one patient had hematochezia , and one patient had poor appetite .
iu / l ) in all cases . abdominal computed tomography ( ct ) revealed pancreatic edema , ascites , and a wide range of intestinal wall edema in seven cases .
a pancreatic cyst was found in one patient , it appeared over the course of 35 days and disappeared in 55 days ; however , five patients did not demonstrate any morphological changes in the pancreas .
all patients experienced relief through treatment with fasting , gastrointestinal decompression , nutritional support , antiacid drug , glucocorticoid , and somatostatin . the abdominal pain relief time ( 144 days ) was noted in six cases .
patient prognoses were described in three cases , and... | to summarize the experience of diagnosing and treating patients with henoch schnlein purpura ( hsp)-related pancreatitis , a systematic review of previously published cases was conducted . among 13 reported cases ,
there were six males and seven females whose age from 3 to 70 years .
the clinical features of these patients indicated that acute pancreatitis could be the initial manifestation of hsp , the radiological change was atypical , and most cases were alleviated with steroidal treatment .
good outcomes can be achieved in patients who are diagnosed early with hsp - related pancreatitis , and it is vital to begin timely treatment of hsp - related pancreatitis with corticosteroid . |
7,346 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: patients with angioid streaks are prone to develop a subretinal hemorrhage after ocular injury , due to fragility of bruch s membrane .
the purpose of this study was to report a patient with angioid streaks in whom subfoveal choroidal neovascularization ( cnv ) developed after blunt ocular trauma .
a 60-year - old man was accidentally struck in the left eye with a crowbar handle while engaged in the demolition of wooden building materials in may 2011 and was initially evaluated at our hospital . corrected visual acuity was 0.3 in the right and 1.2 in the left eye , and relative afferent pupillary defect was negative .
funduscopy revealed choroidal atrophy around the optic papillae and angioid streaks radiating from around the optic discs in both eyes . in the right eye
fluorescein angiography of the left eye showed a blockage due to subretinal hemorrhage and increasing hyperfluorescent spots superior to the fovea , suggestive of extrafoveal cnv .
spectral - domain optical coherence tomography showed macular thinning in the right eye and no obvious abnormalities near the subfoveal region in the left eye .
two months later , the patient noticed decreased visual acuity in the left eye and was reevaluated .
visual acuity had decreased to 0.7 , and well - defined cnv , one disc diameter in size , was presenting slightly superior to the macula , including the subfoveal region .
two weeks later , anti vascular endothelial growth factor ( anti - vegf ) antibody ( bevacizumab ) was injected intravitreally ; the cnv then regressed , and visual acuity improved to 1.2 .
marked improvement in visual acuity with early treatment has not been reported in angioid streaks with subfoveal cnv after ocular injury .
intravitreal injection of an anti - vegf antibody should be considered early after the diagnosis of cnv .
angioid streaks ( as ) are characterized by linear irregularities radiating from around the optic disc due to a weakening or rupture of bruch s membrane , elastic fiber degeneration , or calcium deposition at the... | backgroundpatients with angioid streaks are prone to develop a subretinal hemorrhage after ocular injury , due to fragility of bruch s membrane.objectivethe purpose of this study was to report a patient with angioid streaks in whom subfoveal choroidal neovascularization ( cnv ) developed after blunt ocular trauma.case reporta 60-year - old man was accidentally struck in the left eye with a crowbar handle while engaged in the demolition of wooden building materials in may 2011 and was initially evaluated at our hospital . corrected visual acuity was 0.3 in the right and 1.2 in the left eye , and relative afferent pupillary defect was negative .
funduscopy revealed choroidal atrophy around the optic papillae and angioid streaks radiating from around the optic discs in both eyes . in the right eye
, there was macular atrophy .
in the left eye , there was a subretinal hemorrhage around the macular region .
fluorescein angiography of the left eye showed a blockage due to subretinal hemorrhage and increasing hyperfluorescent spots superior to the fovea , suggestive of extrafoveal cnv .
spectral - domain optical coherence tomography showed macular thinning in the right eye and no obvious abnormalities near the subfoveal region in the left eye .
two months later , the patient noticed decreased visual acuity in the left eye and was reevaluated .
visual acuity had decreased to 0.7 , and well - defined cnv , one disc diameter in size , was presenting slightly superior to the macula , including the subfoveal region .
two weeks later , anti vascular endothelial growth factor ( anti - vegf ) antibody ( bevacizumab ) was injected intravitreally ; the cnv then regressed , and visual acuity improved to 1.2.conclusionmarked improvement in visual acuity with early treatment has not been reported in angioid streaks with subfoveal cnv after ocular injury .
intravitreal injection of an anti - vegf antibody should be considered early after the diagnosis of cnv . |
7,347 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: this report is a result of a collaborative effort between the national microbiology laboratory ( nml ) , health canada , and the provincial public health laboratories ( pphls ) in canada .
the pphls represent every province in canada and also include the yukon and north west territories . all s. paratyphi b dt identified at the pphls
were forwarded to the nml for additional characterization . between 1998 and 2002 , 252 s. paratyphi b dt strains were submitted to the nml , of which 246 were from a human source .
incidence of s. paratyphi b dt has generally increased since 1998 ; the spike in s. paratyphi b dt in the third and fourth quarters of 1999 can be attributed to an outbreak in british columbia , alberta , and saskatchewan caused by contaminated alfalfa sprouts ( 7 ) .
in addition to this large outbreak , additional outbreaks were reported between 1998 and 2002 ; however , each outbreak was small , and most involved fewer than six persons .
total number of salmonella enterica serovar paratyphi b dt identified in canada ( gray bars ) and the number of multidrug - resistant s. paratyphi b dt identified over the same period ( black bars ) , by quarter .
antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed on all strains by using the disk - diffusion method as described by the national committee for clinical laboratory standards ( 8) .
susceptibilities were determined for ampicillin ( a ) , chloramphenicol ( c ) , ciprofloxacin ( cp ) , streptomycin ( s ) , sulfamethoxazole ( su ) , tetracycline ( t ) , and trimethoprim ( tm ) .
of the 237 strains examined for susceptibility , 123 ( 52% ) were susceptible to all antimicrobial agents tested .
sixty - seven strains ( 28% ) displayed the pentaresistance phenotype ( acssut ) , and the second most prevalent resistance profile was su ( n = 41 , 17% ) .
single strains displayed the phenotypes a , t , cssu , asutm , assu , and acsuttm .
a significant increase was observed in acssut strains over the time period from 1998 to 2002 ( p < 0.001 ) .
rates for the years... | we document an increase in the number of multidrug - resistant salmonella enterica serovar paratyphi b dt+ identified in canada .
most of these strains harbor salmonella genomic island 1 ( sgi1 ) .
further studies are needed to determine factors contributing to the observed emergence of this multidrug - resistant strain . |
7,348 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: fetal malnutrition ( fm ) is a significant contributor to perinatal morbidity and mortality.123 it is a state of poor nutrition in - utero resulting from inadequate supply and/or utilization of nutrients1 leading to the fetus failing to acquire adequate amount of fat , subcutaneous tissues , and muscle mass during intrauterine growth.1 fm describes the underweight / wasting aspect of the clinical syndrome seen in malnourished newborns .
this clinical state may be present at almost any birth weight.2 globally , the incidence of fm is between 2% and 10% of total births with highest incidence in developing countries.2 a study conducted in ile - ife , nigeria , reported an incidence of 18.8% for fm in term newborns.3 the assessment of the nutritional status of the fetus has been of considerable interest to clinicians because of its potential serious sequelae on multiple organ systems manifesting as perinatal problems and/or long - term central nervous system sequelae.34 recent studies have also demonstrated the evidence that fm may have a far - reaching effect on adult life such as susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and non - insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.567 various anthropometric indices have been used to identify babies that suffered suboptimal fetal growth ( weight , length , mid - arm circumference ( mac ) and head circumference ( hc),89 proportionality indices ( ponderal index [ pi],8910 mac / hc ratio , body mass index [ bmi ] ) , and clinical assessment of nutritional ( can ) status and its score.91112 can score which contains nine clinical signs , namely , hair , cheeks , neck , arms , chest , abdomen , back , buttocks , and legs , as developed by metcoff11 to differentiate malnourished from appropriately nourished babies4 has also been used widely by researchers to determine fm in the newborn period .
there is a dearth of research in the combined use of can score , bmi , and the other anthropometric indices as a means of assessing fm in newborns in the west african subregion .
the aims of... | background : fetal malnutrition ( fm ) which describes the underweight / wasting seen in newborns is a significant contributor to perinatal morbidity and mortality and requires proper documentation .
the objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of term newborns at birth using clinical assessment of nutritional ( can ) status score and four other anthropometric indices and to compare the efficiency of can score and the anthropometric indices in identifying fm in term newborns.materials and methods : the study was conducted on live singleton babies delivered 3742 completed weeks of gestation at the inborn unit of lagos university teaching hospital without major congenital abnormalities or severe perinatal illness . birth weights and lengths
were recorded at birth .
ponderal index ( pi ) , body mass index ( bmi ) , and mid - arm / head circumference ( mac / hc ) ratio were calculated and the values were compared with standard curves .
the can score consisted of inspection and estimation of loss of subcutaneous tissues and muscles .
fm was defined as can score < 25 .
data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences statistics software version 17.0.results:two hundred and eighty - two newborns were analyzed .
fm was identified in 14.5% , 10.3% , 13.1% , and 2.8% of newborns using can score , pi , bmi , and mac / hc ratio , respectively
. out of the fm babies identified by can score , pi , mac / hc , and bmi identified 19.5% , 12.3% , and 53.7% of them as fm also .
bmi was the most sensitive anthropometric index for detecting fm.conclusion:can score is a simple clinical tool for identifying fm and when used in conjunction with bmi will enhance fm detection . |
7,349 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: exogenous ethanol ( etoh ) causes elevated brain and hepatic homocysteine ( hocys ) levels , decreased brain and hepatic taurine levels , and increased apoptosis rates within embryonic chick brains and livers [ 13 ] .
exposure to either teratogen causes reduced brain masses , elevated brain lipid hydroperoxide ( lpo ) levels , elevated brain membrane lipid peroxidation intermediates , and elevated brain caspase-3 activities [ 48 ] .
hocys catabolism uses remethylation pathways and the transsulfuration pathway ( figure 1 ) . in remethylation pathways
, hocys is remethylated back to methionine by using either betaine homocysteine methyltransferase ( ec 2.1.1.15 ; non - folate - dependent remethylation ) , or the cobalamin - dependent enzyme , methionine synthase ( ec 2.1.1.13 ) , which uses 5-methyltetrahydrofolate as the methyl donor . in the transsulfuration pathway
, hocys is converted to cystathionine through the use of cystathionine -synthase ( ec 4.2.1.22 ) and cystathionine is ultimately converted into -ketobutyrate , reduced glutathione ( gsh ) , or taurine [ 9 , 10 ] ( figure 1 ) .
etoh - induced decreased taurine levels within embryonic chick brains [ 2 , 3 ] may be devastating because taurine 's oldest known function is regulating osmotic stress . during mammalian brain swelling , astrocytes release taurine into extracellular spaces creating a hypertonic environment and cause h2o efflux from brain cells [ 11 , 12 ] .
hypotonicity causes astrocytes and neurons to incorporate cysteine sulfinic acid and synthesize taurine through the use of cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase ( csad ; ec 4.1.1.29 ) [ 11 , 13 ] .
ironically , elevated levels of d / l - homocysteine , l - cysteate , l - glutamate , and l - aspartate are all potent inhibitors of na - dependent cysteine sulfanilic acid uptake in chick astrocytes , chick neurons , and rat astrocytes .
hence , etoh - induced reductions in brain taurine levels coupled with etoh - induced increased brain hocys levels [ 13 ] may alter neural osmotic regulation... | because taurine alleviates ethanol- ( etoh- ) induced lipid peroxidation and liver damage in rats , we asked whether exogenous taurine could alleviate etoh - induced oxidative stress in chick embryos .
exogenous etoh ( 1.5 mmol / kg egg or 3 mmol / kg egg ) , taurine ( 4 mol / kg egg ) , or etoh and taurine ( 1.5 mmol etoh and 4 mol taurine / kg egg or 3 mmol etoh and 4 mol taurine / kg egg ) were injected into fertile chicken eggs during the first three days of embryonic development ( e02 ) . at 11 days of development ( midembryogenesis ) , serum taurine levels and brain caspase-3 activities , homocysteine ( hocys ) levels , reduced glutathione ( gsh ) levels , membrane fatty acid composition , and lipid hydroperoxide ( lpo ) levels were measured . early embryonic etoh exposure caused increased brain apoptosis rates ( caspase-3 activities ) ; increased brain hocys levels ; increased oxidative - stress , as measured by decreased brain gsh levels ; decreased brain long - chain polyunsaturated levels ; and increased brain lpo levels .
although taurine is reported to be an antioxidant , exogenous taurine was embryopathic and caused increased apoptosis rates ( caspase-3 activities ) ; increased brain hocys levels ; increased oxidative - stress ( decreased brain gsh levels ) ; decreased brain long - chain polyunsaturated levels ; and increased brain lpo levels .
combined etoh and taurine treatments also caused increased apoptosis rates and oxidative stress . |
7,350 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: epithelial ovarian carcinoma is no longer felt to be a uniform disease , both in the pathology and oncology literature .
it is now divided into two categories in pathology articles , tumors arising from a precursor lesion with a better prognosis versus tumors arising de novo with a worse prognosis .
the most common type of epithelial ovarian carcinoma , high grade serous carcinoma , is in the second category .
these two categories are based on differences in genetic mutations with clinical implications for targeted chemotherapy [ 1 , 3 ] .
cytotoxic and antiangiogenesis medications targeting various cellular receptors and pathways have the potential to improve response rates in patients .
angiogenesis or tumor vascularity can be indirectly assessed on imaging by the degree of enhancement of the mass .
although ovarian carcinomas are now viewed as two distinct groups in the pathology literature , little is known about whether there are imaging differences between the groups .
thus far , most imaging studies of ovarian tumors , including those using dynamic contrast enhanced ( dce ) mri , have not evaluated the enhancement of the subtypes of ovarian cancer and only a minority of patients in these reports have had serous carcinoma [ 410 ] . for ovarian masses ,
the focus in imaging has been on differentiating benign from malignant masses [ 410 ] .
in contrast , on imaging studies for tumors such as renal cell carcinoma , it is recognized that the histologic subtypes have different enhancement characteristics , for example , papillary versus clear cell , and this difference is evident on postcontrast scans obtained in the clinical setting [ 1113 ] .
however , it is not known if similar observations can be made for the subtypes of ovarian cancer
. therefore , we performed a pilot study to determine if there is a significant difference in enhancement to distinguish high grade serous carcinoma from other ovarian cancers in routine clinical practice .
the institutional review board issued a waiver of informed consent... | purpose . to assess
if there is a significant difference in enhancement of high grade serous carcinoma of the ovary compared with other ovarian malignancies on clinically performed contrast enhanced mri studies .
methods . in this institutional - review board - approved study ,
two radiologists reviewed contrast enhanced mri scans in 37 patients with ovarian cancer . readers measured the signal intensity ( si ) of ovarian mass and gluteal fat pre- and postcontrast administration .
percentage enhancement ( pe ) was calculated as [ ( post - pre)/precontrast si ] 100 . results .
pathology revealed 19 patients with unilateral and 18 patients with bilateral malignancies for a total of 55 malignant ovaries - high grade serous carcinoma in 25/55 ovaries ( 45% ) , other epithelial carcinomas in 12 ovaries ( 22% ) , nonepithelial cancers in 8 ovaries ( 14% ) , and borderline tumors in 10 ovaries ( 18% ) .
enhancement of high grade serous carcinoma was not significantly different from other invasive ovarian malignancies ( reader 1 p = 0.865 ; reader 2 p = 0.353 ) .
enhancement of invasive ovarian malignancies was more than borderline tumors but did not reach statistical significance ( reader 1p = 0.102 ; reader 2 p = 0.072 ) . conclusion .
on clinically performed contrast enhanced mri studies , enhancement of high grade serous ovarian carcinoma is not significantly different from other ovarian malignancies . |
7,351 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: an intracranial or spinal subarachnoid hemorrhage ( sah ) can result from the rupture of an aneurysm in the anterior , posterior , radicular , or radiculomedullary cervical spinal arteries .
hemodynamic stress caused by arteriovenous malformation and coarctation of the aorta are well - known etiologic factors in formation and rupture of a spinal artery aneurysm.3)4)6)7)12)16 ) however , occurrence of an sah due to the rupture of an isolated aneurysm in the cervical anterior spinal artery is very rare .
we report on a case of an sah that resulted from the rupture of an aneurysm in the branch of the anterior spinal artery in a patient with end - stage common bile duct cancer .
a 47-year - old male was transferred to our emergency room in a semicomatose state .
initially , he presented with posterior neck pain that gradually became more aggravated during the transfer .
brain computerized tomography scans showed subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhages that were denser in the cisterns around the pons and medulla than in the basal and anterior interhemispheric cisterns ( fig .
we found an aneurysm in the anterior communicating artery and performed embolization of the aneurysm using detachable coils ( fig .
we did not notice a small aneurysm in the branch of the anterior spinal artery until the following day during a review of the angiograms ( fig .
we expected spontaneous occlusion of the aneurysm ; therefore , we decided to follow this aneurysm with cerebral angiography .
we took this course of action because the family did not want the aneurysm to be clipped .
in addition , we believed that endovascular treatment carried the risks of both parent artery occlusion and additional hemorrhaging . on the sixth day of hospitalization ,
follow - up cerebral angiography showed that the aneurysm was still present in the anterior spinal artery branch with a small filling defect in the aneurysm sac ( fig .
therefore , we decided to continue to follow the aneurysm with cerebral angiography . due to progression of the... | incidence of aneurysm of the anterior spinal artery is known to be very low and the standard treatment strategy has not yet been established .
the author experienced a case of subarachnoid hemorrhage ( sah ) caused by the rupture of an aneurysm in the branch of the cervical anterior spinal artery , which was managed conservatively .
the patient had end - stage common bile duct cancer and survived for 103 days after onset of the sah without a re - rupture of the aneurysm . |
7,352 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the potential to respond to environmental stimuli through dynamic rearrangements of synapto - dendritic networks , as well as by regulating the generation of new neuronal and glial cells , renders the brain highly mutable .
these phenomena , collectively known as neuroplasticity , are critical to promote neuronal adaptations ; its failure is now increasingly considered to be a major component in many neuropsychiatric conditions . among these ,
depressive spectrum disorders are a paradigmatic example of the importance of neuroplastic alterations in the adult brain .
recent studies provide a comprehensive picture of the effects of stress , a major trigger factor in depression , in the ( de)regulation of neuroplasticity ; the latter is , in turn , related to the emergence of physiological and behavioral alterations comprised in the symptomatic profile of depressive disorders .
although these molecular and physiological mechanisms regulating neuroplastic processes are relevant for the onset of depressive symptoms , they have also been implicated in the action of antidepressants ( ads ) .
so far , and although there is still much to be elucidated , it is becoming evident that the triad stress - neuroplasticity - depression constitutes fertile ground for new findings .
although different forms of neuroplasticity are affected in depression , a debate endures concerning the exact neurobiological significance of postnatal hippocampal cell genesis , both for the development of depressive pathology and for the therapeutic action of ads . from the bulk of evidence gathered so far
, it is increasingly appreciated that alterations in cell genesis are involved in the pathology and treatment of depression ; however , there are several conflicting reports regarding its relevance .
first , there is a necessary ' difficulty to approach this question in humans suffering from depression ; postmortem studies in humans and animal models of depression have , nevertheless , provided important insights .
second , it seems to exist a... | brain neuroplasticity is increasingly considered to be an important component of both the pathology and treatment of depressive spectrum disorders .
recent studies shed light on the relevance of hippocampal cell genesis and cortico - limbic dendritic plasticity for the development and remission from depressive - like behavior . however , the neurobiological significance of neuroplastic phenomena in this context is still controversial .
here we summarize recent developments in this topic and propose an integrative interpretation of data gathered so far . |
7,353 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: measurement of muscle strength in rehabilitation is important for the evaluation of
treatment outcomes .
simple manual muscle testing can be performed , or a measuring device can
be used for quantitative measurement of muscle strength . in particular , a hand - held
dynamometer ( hhd ) is a relatively inexpensive and very portable instrument , and has been
used in a variety of situations for measuring muscle strength .
previous reports have demonstrated the high reliability of measuring muscle strength with
an hhd1 , 2 .
however , it has also been reported that the results of measuring
muscle strength with an hhd are influenced by the position of the testee s lower extremity ,
fixation of the device , and the skill of the examiner3,4,5,6,7 . for improving reliability ,
a strap or a fixing frame has been used
to make fixation holding the measuring device by hand8 , and both methods provide high reliability .
also , using an hhd
attached with a belt has been reported to be high reliable , overcoming the problem of
examiners skills9,10,11,12 . in terms of measurement modes
, it has been reported that the break test requires greater
strength of the examiner to resist the strength of the examinee than the make test13,14,15 .
furthermore , the reliability of the
results of the break test has been reported to be low16 . when measuring muscle strength with an hhd attached by a belt , muscle strength is measured
by pushing a part of the body against the sensor pad . in measurement of isometric knee
extension strength
, a sensor pad is attached to the front of the distal lower extremity to
measure strength .
some patients complain of pain and discomfort at the distal lower
extremity when this method is used , and the pain becomes a limiting factor , preventing the
exertion of full muscle strength , particularly in cases of high muscle strength values .
when the thickness and shape of the cushion of the sensor pad are changed for the
measurement of isometric knee extension strength... | [ purpose ] the purpose of this study was to examine the intra - examiner and inter - examiner
reliabilities of measurements of knee extensor muscle strength using a pull - type hand - held
dynamometer ( hhd ) .
[ subjects ] fifty - four healthy adults ( 35 males ; average age , 23 years )
participated in this study . [ methods ]
knee extensor muscle strength of each leg was
measured three times using the hhd . to examine the intra- and inter - examiner
reliabilities ,
measurements were performed by two examiners , a physical therapist and a
physical therapy student .
[ results ] the intra - examiner reliabilities , icc ( 1 , 1 ) and icc
( 1 , 3 ) ranged from 0.940.99 .
the inter - examiner reliabilities , icc ( 2 , 1 ) and icc ( 3 , 1 )
ranged from 0.900.92 for the right leg , and 0.880.90 for the left leg .
neither constant
nor proportional errors were found by bland - altman analysis .
[ conclusion ] intra - examiner
and inter - examiner reliabilities were acceptable , indicating that muscle strength can be
measured with the pull - type hhd without dependence on skill of measurement .
pain was not
caused by measurements with the pull - type hhd . |
7,354 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: during xenopus gastrulation , mesoderm migrates to the inside of the embryo and moves along the blastocoel roof to establish the three germ layer structure .
this process involves several morphogenetic cell movements including mesendoderm extension and convergent extension . during mesendoderm extension ,
cells migrate along the blastocoel roof in contact with fibronectin ( fn ) fibrils ( winklbauer , 1990 ; davidson et al . , 2002 ) .
in convergent extension , cells are polarized and elongated mediolaterally , then the cells are intercalated .
this movement forms the dorsal mesodermal structure and extends the anteroposterior body axis ( shih and keller , 1992 ; wallingford et al . , 2002 ) .
the noncanonical wnt pathway has been implicated in the regulation of convergent extension ( kuhl , 2002 ; tada et al . ,
one of the intracellular signaling components , xenopus dishevelled ( xdsh ) , plays a pivotal role in this process . when the function of xdsh is inhibited , the polarity of the mesodermal cells is not established normally ( wallingford et al . , 2000 ) . because these cell movements are accompanied by dynamic changes in cell polarity , morphology , and motility , it is very likely that cytoskeletal dynamics are carefully regulated .
we decided to focus on myristoylated alanine - rich c kinase substrate ( marcks ) .
mammalian marcks has been shown to interact with actin ( arbuzova et al . , 2002 ) .
it has been reported that xenopus marcks is expressed maternally and throughout embryogenesis ( ali et al . , 1997 ;
1997 ) , but its role in development was not well understood . here , we report that the loss of marcks function severely impaired gastrulation movements .
marcks regulates the cortical actin formation , cell adhesion , protrusive activity , and cell polarity control during gastrulation .
we further show that marcks is necessary for the protrusive activity regulated by the noncanonical wnt pathway .
these findings show that marcks regulates the cortical actin formation that is requisite... | myristoylated alanine - rich c kinase substrate ( marcks ) is an actin - binding , membrane - associated protein expressed during xenopus embryogenesis .
we analyzed its function in cytoskeletal regulation during gastrulation .
here , we show that blockade of its function impaired morphogenetic movements , including convergent extension .
marcks was required for control of cell morphology , motility , adhesion , protrusive activity , and cortical actin formation in embryonic cells .
we also demonstrate that the noncanonical wnt pathway promotes the formation of lamellipodia- and filopodia - like protrusions and that marcks is necessary for this activity .
these findings show that marcks regulates the cortical actin formation that is requisite for dynamic morphogenetic movements . |
7,355 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma is a rare disease often associated with a long - standing anal fistula , representing approximately 23% of large bowel cancers .
the occurrence of a carcinoma in association with a fistula is probably due to chronic inflammation , although the rarity of the condition precludes any definite assumption in regard to the etiologic relationship of the fistula and carcinoma . in most patients , early diagnosis of this disease
detection is usually late as the symptoms often initially mimic benign inflammatory conditions of the anorectal region and biopsies fail to reveal the infiltrating carcinoma . therefore a tumor is often found in progress . due to the rarity of this tumor and the lack of sufficient patients for controlled trials ,
abdominoperineal resection ( apr ) is advocated in the vast majority of patients to definitively remove the entire lesion and lessen the risk of local recurrence .
local resection is sometimes performed , but only in cases where the tumor margins can be confidently excised without damage to the anal sphincters . in order to prevent local recurrence , the apr has to be performed with wide local excision of both perianal soft tissue and the overlying skin .
recently locally advanced rectal cancer has been considered an indication for preoperative chemoradiotherapy ( crt ) .
preoperative crt for rectal cancer has been shown to increase the probability of tumor resectability and to decrease the rate of local recurrence .
radiotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy can be a curative treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal .
on the other hand , the role of radiotherapy has not been established for perianal mucinous carcinoma .
the aim of this article is to report a rare case of large perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma , arising from an anorectal fistula , successfully resected after preoperative radiotherapy .
a 60-year - old man with a 45-year history of perianal fistula who had recently been suffering from mucinous discharge , pain and... | a case of mucinous adenocarcinoma arising on a long - standing anorectal fistula is described .
a 60-year - old man with a long history of mucinous discharge , pain and perianal induration underwent a biopsy of the external opening of the fistula that showed a mucinous infiltrating adenocarcinoma . due to the large size of the tumor and the fact that it had extended into the surrounding tissue , preoperative
radiotherapy was performed .
radiotherapy was given with 40 gy in 25 fractions for 5 weeks through posterior and bilateral portals .
after radiotherapy the tumor was markedly shrunk and the serum level of carcinoembryonic antigen was also improved .
abdominoperineal resection was performed 8 weeks after the termination of radiotherapy .
histological examination of the resected specimen revealed that the invasion of the tumor remained within the sphincter muscle and that no cancer cells were present on the surgical margin .
the histological effect of radiotherapy was judged as grade 1b .
this treatment can result in downstaging and r0 resection , which also has a possibility to prevent local recurrence .
this case suggests that preoperative radiotherapy may play an important role in the definitive treatment of locally advanced perianal mucinous adenocarcinoma . |
7,356 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: however , nearly 10% of abnormal thyroid function was observed according to thyroid function survey using general health checkup system for the adult in japan .
this implicates that pregnant women in japan also have higher prevalence of thyroid dysfunction . up to now , there are no large population studies regarding the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in pregnant women in japan .
a well - known complication is low intelligence quotient in the infants born from mothers with overt hypothyroidism .
thyroid dysfunctions are also associated with several obstetrical complications such as preeclampsia and placental abruption [ 710 ] .
consequently , there is a question whether the management of thyroid dysfunction could reduce these complications on both mother and child during pregnancy .
currently , no consensus has been reached on the universal screening for thyroid function for pregnant women .
acog recommended thyroid function screening during pregnancy should be limited to women with symptoms of thyroid disease and those with a history of thyroid disease or other medical conditions associated with it .
however , this conventional screening may be insufficient because most of pregnant women that have thyroid dysfunction are asymptomatic and without a history of thyroid disease .
therefore , consideration should be given to extend the screening objects including women with possible thyroid disease except for women with symptoms of thyroid disease and those with a history of thyroid disease .
here , we conducted a study to see the incidence of thyroid dysfunction in pregnant women having obstetrical or medical complications .
if we obtain a high incidence of thyroid dysfunction in some high - risk groups , a more reasonable approach for screening would be provided .
this study was undertaken retrospectively and there was no need to be approved by a suitably constituted ethics committee of our institution .
we retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of women with obstetrical or medical complications that... | objective .
we conducted the study to see the incidence of thyroid dysfunction in women with obstetrical high - risk factors .
methods .
we retrospectively reviewed medical charts of high - risk pregnant women who had examination for thyroid function during pregnancy .
women were divided according to clinical presentation , symptoms of thyroid disease and those with a personal history of thyroid disease ( thyroid disease , n = 32 ) , intrauterine growth restriction ( iugr ,
n = 115 ) , diabetes mellitus ( diabetes , n = 115 ) , hypertension ( n = 63 ) , intrauterine fetal death ( iufd , n = 52 ) , and placental abruption ( abruption , n = 15 ) . the incidence of thyroid dysfunctions including hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism was compared .
results .
the overall prevalence of thyroid dysfunction was 24.7% .
the incidence of thyroid dysfunction in each group was as follows : 31% in thyroid disease , 25% in iugr , 30% in diabetes , 27% in hypertension , 12% in iufd , and 7% in abruption .
except iufd , the incidence was not statistically significant from the group of thyroid disease ( thyroid disease versus iufd , p = 0.03 by 2 test ) .
thyroid disease represented for only 10% of all thyroid dysfunctions .
conclusion .
testing of women with a personal history or current symptoms of thyroid disease during pregnancy may be insufficient to detect women with thyroid dysfunction , who will become at high - risk pregnancy . |
7,357 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: keeping this in view , during the mid-1980s the government of india decided to assess the extent of yaws problem in the country8 . based on the data so obtained ,
the government took the initiative to renew its efforts to eradicate yaws based on the premise that yaws eradication can not only alleviate the suffering of the tribal populations but also assist in bringing them out of economic deprivation9 .
moreover , since women and children are at particularly high risk , the disease has a negative impact on reproductive and general health and on nutritional status as well .
several other factors helped india decide to launch the eradication programme , including - ( i ) epidemiological : there is no extra - human reservoir of infection and the disease is endemic only in limited albeit difficult and hard to reach areas ; ( ii ) technological : simple diagnostic tests and effective low cost treatments are available ; the use of a single intra - muscular injection of long - acting benzathine penicillin to cases and their contacts can cure the disease and interrupt transmission ; ( iii ) historical : the disease was almost eradicated during the 1950s ; and ( iv ) perhaps most importantly , the government of india was convinced that eradication of yaws was an attainable goal and was committed to achieve the goal10 .
india launched an anti - yaws campaign in 1952 with assistance from who and unicef . from 1952 to 1964 , the campaign detected and treated about 200 thousand cases in four states , namely orissa ( now odisha ) , andhra pradesh , maharashtra and madhya pradesh5 .
the prevalence of yaws declined from 14.4 to 1.1 per cent in odisha , from 5.6 to 0.3 per cent in andhra pradesh , and 5.5 to 1.4 per cent in the bastar district of madhya pradesh .
the active yaws eradication efforts were gradually abandoned in the country and the strategy changed from active case finding and treatment to passive surveillance as part of general health services .
it is ironic that yaws control was left for general health... | yaws , a non - venereal treponematosis , affecting primarily the tribal populations , has been considered historically as one of the most neglected tropical diseases in the world . in 1996
, india piloted an initiative to eradicate yaws based on a strategy consisting of active case finding through house - to - house search and treatment of cases and their contacts with long acting penicillin .
thereafter , the campaign implemented in all 51 endemic districts in 10 states of the country led to the achievement of a yaws - free status in 2004 . in the post - elimination phase ,
surveillance activities accompanied by serological surveys were continued in the erstwhile endemic districts .
these surveys carried out among children between the age of 1 - 5 yr , further confirmed the absence of community transmission in the country .
the experience of india demonstrates that yaws can be eradicated in all endemic countries of africa and asia , provided that political commitment can be mobilized and community level activities sustained until the goal is achieved . |
7,358 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: extramedullary plasmacytomas ( emps ) are uncommon and occur almost exclusively in the head , neck , and upper respiratory tract ; emps in gastrointestinal organs are rare.1 the next most frequent site of mass lesion occurrence is the stomach ; however , this is also extremely rare , accounting for less than 5% of all emps.2 emps of the head and neck are more sensitive to radiotherapy than to surgery.2,3 endoscopic submucosal dissection ( esd ) is a less invasive therapeutic approach for early gastric cancer and has been accepted as a standard therapeutic approach for early gastric cancers limited to the mucosa.4 here , we report the successful treatment via esd of a patient with a solitary gastric emp confined to the mucosa .
a 70-year - old man was admitted to our hospital with the complaint of dyspepsia .
we performed gastroscopy and observed a flat lesion with focal erythematous changes in the anterior wall of the antrum ( fig .
a biopsy revealed poorly differentiated neoplastic cells and atypical lymphocytes , consistent with metastatic carcinoma .
a giemsa stain indicated helicobacter pylori negativity . to rule out cancer and systemic diseases such as lymphoma
we also performed abdominal and pelvic computed tomography ( ct ) and positron emission tomography / ct scans ; these yielded unremarkable results , particularly with regard to lymph node and bone lesions . regarding the gastric focal lesion , we performed an endoscopic procedure to confirm the previous endoscopic biopsy result as well as for therapeutic reasons using an insulation - tipped knife ( kd-610l ; olympus , tokyo , japan ) ( fig .
, the acquired specimen revealed plasma cell infiltration into the lamina propria ; however , these cells did not extend deeply into the submucosal layer .
because emps are systemic , the patient was treated with additional oral thalidomide and dexamethasone .
later , we performed three endoscopic follow - up exams during a 2-year period and confirmed nonspecific esd scarring .
plasma cell neoplasms are... | we report a rare case of a gastric plasmacytoma treated with endoscopic resection and oral thalidomide therapy . a 70-year - old man was admitted to our hospital with indigestion .
he had no specific medical history and unremarkable laboratory results .
gastroendoscopic findings revealed a focal , erythematous , flat elevated lesion in the anterior wall of the stomach antrum .
a biopsy revealed atypical lymphocytes .
endoscopic submucosal dissection ( esd ) with an insulation - tipped knife was performed 45 days after diagnosis .
radiological and hematological evaluations , including a bone marrow biopsy , were performed and showed no involvement of other organs .
the patient was diagnosed with extramedullary gastric plasmacytoma .
follow - up gastroendoscopy was performed three times during a 2-year period and showed nonspecific esd scarring .
the patient 's condition was found to be stable . |
7,359 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: working memory is one of memory types , and it allows transitory information to be actively held for several seconds on line .
several brain regions , such as medial prefrontal cortex , and hippocampus , are known to play critical roles in holding transitory memory .
testing working memory in the mouse has typically used the delayed non - matched to position ( dnmtp ) paradigm .
for example , during a working memory test in a t - maze , intervention by the experimenter is inevitable because the maze needs to be cleaned and the animal must be relocated to the start box after sampling .
therefore , there is a need to test working memory in operant - conditioning - based paradigm in which all experimental procedures will be scheduled automatically .
this touch screen paradigm has several advantages over traditional behavioral testing paradigms ( e.g. , morris water maze [ mwm ] , t - maze , and radial - arm maze ) .
first , testing can be scheduled almost automatically , permitting more experimental sessions to be conducted with high accuracy and flexibility .
second , the method greatly reduces the need for experimenter intervention during memory test trials , because the experimental procedure is fully automated .
third , it can provide the animal with multiple choice locations on the screen , which enables the capability of assessing the animal 's ability to discriminate between choice locations , such as pattern separation .
fourth , various visual stimuli ( e.g. , from simple white rectangles to complex figures ) can be presented on the screen .
this enables testing of complex cognition , which was not able to test in the traditional behavioral tests .
these advantages would advance research on working memory , if touch - screen - based technology were to be applied .
unfortunately , a touch - screen system for the working memory test paradigm for mice is not available yet .
therefore , in the present study , we developed a delayed matched to position behavioral assessment paradigm using a touch - screen... | assessing the working memory of the rodent by using a touch - screen system has several advantages ( e.g. , allowing highly accurate data collection and flexibility in memory task design ) .
however , there is currently no available testing paradigm utilizing touch - screen systems that can assess working memory in the mouse . in this study
, we developed a touch - screen testing paradigm in which mice were trained to choose a location that is matched to a sample location after a time delay .
consistent with previous studies , this study showed that mice could not only learn the rule in the delayed matched to position ( dmtp ) , but also could retain a transitory memory of the sample position during delay .
this indicates that a touch - screen system can provide a dmtp testing platform to assess working memory in the mouse . |
7,360 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: mastitis is the most significant and ubiquitous infectious disease of dairy cattle throughout the world .
streptococcus uberis has been repeatedly identified as the most commonly isolated pathogen from clinical and subclinical samples in several countries , including australia , the united kingdom , new zealand , and belgium ( 14 ) .
multilocus sequence typing ( mlst ) is a highly discriminatory and reproducible means of investigating the molecular epidemiology of s. uberis ( 510 ) .
this has been undertaken primarily on isolates from clinical and subclinical mastitis , which have provided insights into the population diversity ( 5 , 9 ) and enabled identification of distinct geographic variation in strain prevalence ( 11 ) .
control measures for managing the risk of new s. uberis cases have traditionally focused on reducing the environmental infection pressure by separating the cow from sources of infection , such as pastures and certain bedding materials ( 12 ) .
however , several studies have hypothesized a role for contagious transmission of s. uberis based on mlst or pulsed - field gel electrophoresis ( pgfe ) strain patterns ( 9 , 10 , 13 , 14 ) .
previous studies have also suggested contagious transmission of s. uberis based on modeling of the temporal patterns of infection ( 15 , 16 ) and response to mastitis management practices ( 17 ) .
however , most of these studies have been limited to small numbers of isolates and few herds ; no study has estimated the incidence of potentially contagious transmission in herds within the context of the overall incidence of s. uberis mastitis across many herds .
transmission of infection by different routes is likely to be driven by a combination of multiple factors , including the infectious pressure and the biology of the pathogen and its host .
an accurate understanding of the likely transmission route is fundamental when designing risk - based mastitis control strategies .
the aim of this study was to evaluate the heterogeneity of s. uberis strain types... | multilocus sequence typing was successfully completed on 494 isolates of streptococcus uberis from clinical mastitis cases in a study of 52 commercial dairy herds over a 12-month period . in total , 195 sequence types ( sts ) were identified .
s. uberis mastitis cases that occurred in different cows within the same herd and were attributed to a common st were classified as potential transmission events ( ptes ) .
clinical cases attributed to 35 of the 195 sts identified in this study were classified pte .
ptes were identified in 63% of the herds .
pte - associated cases , which include the first recorded occurrence of that st in that herd ( index case ) and all persistent infections with that pte st , represented 40% of all the clinical mastitis cases and occurred in 63% of the herds .
pte - associated cases accounted for > 50% of all s. uberis clinical mastitis cases in 33% of the herds .
nine sts ( st-5 , -6 , -20 , -22 , -24 , -35 , -233 , -361 , and -512 ) , eight of which were grouped within a clonal complex ( sharing at least four alleles ) , were statistically overrepresented ( ovr sts ) .
the findings indicate that 38% of all clinical mastitis cases and 63% of the ptes attributed to s. uberis in dairy herds may be caused by the nine most prevalent strains .
the findings suggest that a small subset of sts is disproportionally important in the epidemiology of s. uberis mastitis in the united kingdom , with cow - to - cow transmission of s. uberis potentially occurring in the majority of herds in the united kingdom , and may be the most important route of infection in many herds . |
7,361 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: uterine myomas , also referred to as fibroids , are benign tumors of the smooth muscle of the uterus and are the most commonly encountered type of tumor in women , occurring in nearly 50%70% of women of childbearing age .
the status of fibroids during pregnancy is especially complex , because fibroids can affect the pregnancy and pregnancy can affect the fibroids .
degeneration has been estimated to occur in 10% of fibroids during pregnancy , and is characterized by abdominal pain , leukocytosis , and mild fever .
enterouterine fistulas can occur following : ( 1 ) carcinoma of either the intestine or uterus with subsequent invasion of the other structure and communication of the lumina , ( 2 ) rupture of the uterus ( either spontaneous or produced during labor ) , or ( 3 ) inflammatory disease ( such as pathological puerperium and appendicular abscess ) causing peritonitis , diverticulitis with abscess formation and crohn disease .
a 25-year - old patient presented with an 87-cm posterior wall fibroid diagnosed for the first time during pregnancy at 12 weeks .
the course of the pregnancy was smooth , with mild enlargement of the fibroid to the size of 109 cm .
the patient delivered by caesarean section at a private clinic due to malpresentation ( breech presentation ) . in the first week postpartum , the patient experienced malodorous vaginal discharge .
the patient sought medical advice and antibiotics were given for 14 days , but the discharge did not resolve and the patient felt a mass inside the vagina .
the patient presented to tanta university hospitals where she was admitted , and under general anesthesia , an examination revealed a solid mass extending from the cervix into the vagina .
a biopsy was taken from the mass for histopathological examination , and it was identified as a degenerated cellular fibroid polyp .
antibiotics also were given for 14 days after a culture and sensitivity test , but the discharge still did not resolve . at this point , the patient became frustrated and sought medical... | uterine fibroids are benign tumors of the myometrium with a diverse range of manifestations .
fibroids can dramatically increase in size during pregnancy due to the increase in estrogen levels .
after delivery , the fibroids usually shrink back to their pre - pregnancy size .
uterine myomas may have many complications , including abnormal uterine bleeding , infertility , pressure on nearby organs , degeneration , and malignant transformation .
no previous reports have indicated that a fistula may develop between a uterine fibroid and the bowel loops , although previous studies have documented the occurrence of fistulas from the uterus to the bowel following myomectomy or uterine artery embolization performed to treat a myoma . in our case report
, we document the rare complication of a fistula occurring between a degenerated myoma in the posterior wall and the ileum 1 week postoperatively in a patient who underwent a caesarean section but did not have a history of uterine artery embolization . |
7,362 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: accordingly , humans are continually exposed to multiple genera of fungi via various routes , but particularly by the ingestion of food , allowing for the colonization of the gastrointestinal tract . depending on the interaction between the host s mucosal defense mechanisms , fungal virulence factors , and antifungal utilization , colonization may be transient or persistent and local disease may ensue . of the numerous pathogenic fungi , candida is the dominant genus responsible for fungal diseases in humans.1 candida albicans is the species with the highest prevalence among human yeast isolates and is the main opportunistic yeast pathogen in most warm - blooded animals.1 symptomatic mucosal candidiasis ( mc ) arises in subjects colonized with candida who are predisposed by illness , debility , or a local reduction in host resistance to an overgrowth of their own indigenous flora .
candida species are frequently isolated from the oral cavity and are detected in 31%60% of healthy individuals.1,2 colonization rates generally increase with the severity of illness and duration of hospitalization.3 in a recent study , the frequency of oral yeast carriage in the competent host varied as a function of age.2 the colonization rates increase from 24% in persons aged 57 years , to 59% in persons above the age of 60 . in the hospitalized non - hiv infected individual , c. albicans accounted for 70%80% of oral isolates and c. glabrata and c. tropicalis each represented approximately 5%8% , while the other non - albicans candida species were recovered only rarely.4,5 in the past decade , there has been a significant increase in the frequency of non - albicans candida species isolated from hiv - infected individuals with mc.6,7 in the 1980 s , non - albicans candida species accounted for 3.4% of oral isolates from hiv - infected patients , while in the 1990 s , 16.8% of isolates recovered from hiv patients were non - albicans candida species .
6,7 the more commonly recovered non - albicans candida species , include c.... | mucocutaneous candidiasis is frequently one of the first signs of human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv ) infection . over 90% of patients with aids
will develop oropharyngeal candidiasis ( opc ) at some time during their illness .
although numerous antifungal agents are available , azoles , both topical ( clotrimazole ) and systemic ( fluconazole , itraconazole , voriconazole , posaconazole ) have replaced older topical antifungals ( gentian violet and nystatin ) in the management of oropharyngeal candidiasis in these patients .
the systemic azoles , are generally safe and effective agents in hiv - infected patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis .
a constant concern in these patients is relapse , which is dependent on the degree of immunosuppression commonly seen after topical therapy , rather than with systemic azole therapy .
candida esophagitis ( ce ) is also an important concern since it occurs in more than 10% of patients with aids and can lead to a decrease in oral intake and associated weight loss .
fluconazole has become the most widely used antifungal in the management of mucosal candidiasis
. however , itraconazole and posaconazole have similar clinical response rates as fluconazole and are also effective alternative agents . in patients with fluconazole - refractory mucosal candidiasis
, treatment options now include itraconazole solution , voriconazole , posaconazole , and the newer echinocandins ( caspofungin , micafungin , and anidulafungin ) . |
7,363 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: quinones form the second
largest class of antitumor agents approved
for clinical use in the u.s . , and several antitumor quinones are in
different stages of clinical and preclinical development
a common feature of quinone - containing drugs
is their ability to undergo reversible redox reactions to form semiquinone
and oxygen radicals .
one - electron reduction of a quinone
( q ) gives the semiquinone radical ( q or
qh ) , whereas two - electron reduction gives the hydroquinone
( qh2 ) .
the semiquinone can
also be formed by a comproportionation reaction between a quinone
and a hydroquinone ( reaction 1 ; the opposite
of reaction 1 is the semiquinone disproportionation
reaction).1the catalytic enhancement of ascorbate
( asch ) oxidation by quinones has been previously
observed .
in addition , we have previously
observed that
quinones enhance the rates of ascorbate reduction of nitric oxide and s - nitrosothiols . in each of those works ,
the enhancement activity of quinones increases
with its one - electron reduction potential within a certain range of
one - electron reduction potential values .
thus , the semiquinone , the
one - electron - reduced species , is postulated to be the actual intermediate
responsible for reducing those targets . furthermore , antitumor activity
enhancement by quinones in the presence of ascorbate has been reported .
hydrogen peroxide has important roles as
a signaling molecule in
the regulation of a variety of biological processes . hydrogen peroxide also plays an important role in aging and cancer . although quinone - enhanced
ascorbate reduction reactions of the species mentioned above have
been reported , very few works report the possibility of a semiquinone - mediated
reduction of h2o2 .
in fact , koppenol and butler suggested that quinones with reduction
potentials between 330 and 460 mv could be involved
in metal - independent fenton reaction 2.2however , there has not been
any study comparing
the reactivities... | the quinones 1,4-naphthoquinone ( nq ) ,
tetramethyl-1,4-benzoquinone
( dq ) , 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone ( mnq ) , 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone
( ubq-0 ) , 2,6-dimethylbenzoquinone ( dmbq ) , 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone
( dmobq ) , and 9,10-phenanthraquinone ( phq ) enhance the rate of h2o2 reduction by ascorbate , under anaerobic conditions ,
as detected from the amount of methane produced after hydroxyl radical
reaction with dimethyl sulfoxide .
the amount of methane produced increases
with an increase in the quinone one - electron reduction potential .
the most active quinone in this series , phq , is only 14% less active
than the classic fenton reagent cation , fe2 + , at the same
concentration .
since phq is a common toxin present in diesel combustion
smoke , the possibility that phq - mediated catalysis of hydroxyl radical
formation is similar to that of fe2 + adds another important
pathway to the modes in which phq can execute its toxicity .
because
quinones are known to enhance the antitumor activity of ascorbate
and because ascorbate enhances the formation of h2o2 in tissues , the quinone - mediated reduction of h2o2 should be relevant to this type of antitumor activity ,
especially under hypoxic conditions . |
7,364 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: controlled ovarian hyperstimulation ( coh ) with gonadotropins has improved success rates of in vitro fertilization ( ivf ) by increasing the number and opportunity for selection of embryos before transfer [ 13 ] as well as permitting the cryopreservation of supernumerary embryos for further fertility treatment [ 4 , 5 ] .
the basis of coh is to support the growth of multiple follicles to the preovulatory stage , a process achieved by bypassing physiological regulatory mechanisms .
urinary - derived or recombinant follicle stimulating hormone ( fsh ) is administered to increase serum concentrations above the threshold required for dominant follicle selection , thus enabling the entire cohort of recruited follicles to develop and attain preovulatory status .
luteinising hormone ( lh ) is often coadministered although , following pituitary downregulation , this is not essential for follicular development as remnant basal lh levels are sufficient to stimulate the theca cells .
administration of a gnrh analogue ( long protocol ) or an antagonist ( short protocol ) that desensitizes the pituitary is primarily used to prevent premature lh surge as a consequence of supraphysiological serum oestradiol ( e2 ) levels which , if it occurs , can lead to premature luteinisation and/or ovulation . with few exceptions ,
the last two decades have witnessed a mounting body of evidence indicating that ovarian stimulation has a detrimental effect on oogenesis , embryo quality , and endometrial receptivity [ 713 ] .
demonstrated that retrieval of > 10 oocytes per woman adversely affected their quality based on oocyte / embryo morphology , fertilization , and implantation rates . more recently
van der gaast et al . found 13 oocytes to be the optimum number retrieved in order to achieve a pregnancy using a long protocol , above which there was a fall in pregnancy rates .
an extreme example of the negative impact of coh is the excessively high number of poor quality oocytes seen in ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome ( ohss ) ,... | background .
the natural cycle is the prototype to which we aspire to emulate in assisted reproduction techniques .
increasing evidence is emerging that controlled ovarian hyperstimulation ( coh ) with exogenous gonadotropins may be detrimental to oogenesis , embryo quality , and endometrial receptivity .
this research aimed at assessing the impact of coh on the intrafollicular milieu by comparing follicular fluid ( ff ) cytokine profiles during stimulated in vitro fertilization ( ivf ) and modified natural cycle ( mnc ) ivf .
methods .
ten women undergoing coh ivf and 10 matched women undergoing mnc ivf were recruited for this pilot study .
40 ff cytokine concentrations from individual follicles and plasma were measured by fluid - phase multiplex immunoassay .
demographic / cycle / cytokine data were compared and correlations between cytokines were computed . results .
no significant differences were found between coh and mnc groups for patient and cycle demographics , including outcome .
overall mean ff cytokine levels were higher in the mnc group for 29/40 cytokines , significantly so for leukaemia inhibitory factor and stromal cell - derived factor-1. furthermore , ff mnc cytokine correlations were significantly stronger than for coh data . conclusions .
these findings suggest that coh perturbs intrafollicular cytokine networks , in terms of both cytokine levels and their interrelationships .
this may impact oocyte maturation / fertilization and embryo developmental competence . |
7,365 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: a role for hpv in lung cancer has been proposed , although previous reports of hpv in lung tumor tissue have been inconclusive .
paraffin - embedded tissue specimens from 450 lung cancer patients who were smokers or never - smokers enrolled in the environment and genetics in lung cancer etiology study were evaluated for hpv dna by real - time polymerase chain reaction to determine the hpv prevalence in tissues from lung cancer patients in a representative western population .
two specimens were found to be hpv positive at low copy number but were negative on additional genotype - specific testing and on testing for a broad spectrum of hpv types .
hpv is not associated with lung carcinogenesis in lung cancer patients from a representative western population .
multiple tissue specimens were used from each patient for analysis and were not necessarily adjacent to or from the same paraffin block . also , the possible contamination of specimens during collection could not be determined . because of geographic variances in the prevalence of hpv reported in lung tumors , further studies in non - western populations should be completed .
a role for hpv in lung cancer has been proposed , although previous reports of hpv in lung tumor tissue have been inconclusive .
paraffin - embedded tissue specimens from 450 lung cancer patients who were smokers or never - smokers enrolled in the environment and genetics in lung cancer etiology study were evaluated for hpv dna by real - time polymerase chain reaction to determine the hpv prevalence in tissues from lung cancer patients in a representative western population .
two specimens were found to be hpv positive at low copy number but were negative on additional genotype - specific testing and on testing for a broad spectrum of hpv types .
hpv is not associated with lung carcinogenesis in lung cancer patients from a representative western population .
multiple tissue specimens were used from each patient for analysis and were not necessarily adjacent to or from the same... | backgroundlung cancer kills more than 1 million people worldwide each year . whereas
several human papillomavirus ( hpv)associated cancers have been identified , the role of hpv in lung carcinogenesis remains controversial.methodswe selected 450 lung cancer patients from an italian population based case control study , the environment and genetics in lung cancer etiology .
these patients were selected from those with an adequate number of unstained tissue sections and included all those who had never smoked and a random sample of the remaining patients .
we used real - time polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ) to test specimens from these patients for hpv dna , specifically for e6 gene sequences from hpv16 and e7 gene sequences from hpv18 .
we also tested a subset of 92 specimens from all never - smokers and a random selection of smokers for additional hpv types by a pcr - based test for at least 54 mucosal hpv genotypes .
dna was extracted from ethanol- or formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tumor tissue under strict pcr clean conditions .
the prevalence of hpv in tumor tissue was investigated.resultsspecimens from 399 of 450 patients had adequate dna for analysis .
most patients were current ( 220 patients or 48.9% ) smokers , and 92 patients ( 20.4% ) were women . when hpv16 and hpv18 type
specific primers were used , two specimens were positive for hpv16 at low copy number but were negative on additional type - specific hpv16 testing .
neither these specimens nor the others examined for a broad range of hpv types were positive for any hpv type.conclusionswhen dna contamination was avoided and state - of - the - art highly sensitive hpv dna detection assays were used , we found no evidence that hpv was associated with lung cancer in a representative western population .
our results provide the strongest evidence to date to rule out a role for hpv in lung carcinogenesis in western populations . |
7,366 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the electronic database of a tertiary university - affiliated medical center was searched for all patients who underwent nd : yag laser capsulotomy from january 2011 to july 2014 following uneventful phacoemulsification surgery .
exclusion criteria were the presence of ocular pathologies other than senile cataract ( e.g. , corneal disease , uveitis , open or closed angle glaucoma , pseudoexfoliation syndrome , retinitis pigmentosa , proliferative diabetic retinopathy , exudative age macular degeneration , and high myopia ) , history of intraocular surgery and evidence of intraoperative complications ( e.g. , capsulorhexis rim tear , incomplete continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis , zonular rupture , and posterior capsule rupture ) or postoperative complications ( e.g. , iris synechiae , toxic anterior segment syndrome ) .
all cataract surgeries were performed at our medical center , by either senior surgeons ( attending ophthalmologists ) or 5-year ophthalmology residents ( junior surgeons ) , with a standard phacoemulsification , aspiration and implantation of an intraocular lens .
thorough rotation of the nucleus following hydroprocedures and thorough polishing before iol implantation were performed in every cataract surgery , as it is a common practice in our institute . the type of lens selected for implantation between the two types available at our center , namely , the hydrophilic seelens or the hydrophobic acrysof , was left to the discretion of the attending surgeon .
patients were encouraged to return to our medical center for examination if vision deteriorated at any time after surgery .
pco was diagnosed on the basis of a subjective patient complaint of blurred vision and clinical findings on ophthalmological examination , including opacity in the central 3 mm area of the iol optic .
positive findings of pco and best - corrected visual acuity ( bcva ) < 6/9 served as the basis for the decision to treat .
patient- and procedure - related data were retrieved retrospectively from the medical files ,... | purpose : the aim of this study is to compare the length of time from uneventful cataract surgery using one of two common posterior chamber intraocular lenses ( iols ) ( hydrophilic versus hydrophobic acrylic ) to laser capsulotomy.materials and methods : retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent neodymium : yttrium - aluminum - garnet laser capsulotomy between 2011 and 2014 following uneventful phacoemulsification surgery at a tertiary university - affiliated medical center .
medical records were reviewed for demographics , ocular comorbidities , operative details , postoperative follow - up , and findings of the precapsulotomy ophthalmologic examination .
parameters , including age , sex , laterality , visual acuity , surgeon 's experience , and time from cataract surgery to capsulotomy , were compared between patients who received hydrophilic ( seelens af , kibbutz hanita , israel ) or hydrophobic ( acrysof sa60at , alcon laboratories , fort worth , tx , usa ) iols.results:the cohort included 222 patients ( 255 eyes ) , of which , 107 were male and 115 female , of mean age 73 8 years .
mean interval from cataract surgery to laser capsulotomy was 24 months ( range 270 ) and was significantly shorter in patients with seelens ( 23 13 months ) than acrysof iol implantation ( 28 13 months , p = 0.04 ) .
lens type remained significant in multivariate analysis after including surgeon 's experience and age as potential confounders ( p = 0.04).conclusion : the hydrophilic seelens iol is associated with a significantly shorter time interval from cataract surgery to laser capsulotomy than the hydrophobic acrysof iol . |
7,367 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: female pattern hair loss ( fphl ) is one of the most common complaints among female patients referred to dermatology clinics .
it is the most common cause of alopecia involving 612% of women aged 2030 years and over 55% of women over 70 years of age .
fphl is clinically characterized by diffuse nonscarring hair loss without obvious hair thinning in frontal , central , and parietal lobes of the scalp .
a similar pattern is observed in men with miniaturized follicles and is known as androgenic alopecia .
fphl designation is preferred in women over androgenic alopecia since the role of androgens in women is not still clear .
fphl pathophysiology is not well understood yet , and it is likely to be a multifactorial genetic trait .
androgen - independent mechanisms may contribute to this phenotype in addition to androgen - dependent ones .
fphl is also seen in women without elevated androgen levels , raising the likelihood of interference of androgen - dependent mechanisms , and explaining the lack of response to treatment with androgen inhibitors in some fphl patients .
serum levels of vitamin d are a factor recently considered in approaching patients with hair loss complaint . in a recent study
, it has been suggested to measure vitamin d level in patients complaining from hair loss in addition to tests such as complete blood count ( cbc ) , thyroid stimulating hormone , ferritin , testosterone , and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate .
the function of vitamin d3 receptor is critical in a population of keratinocyte stem cells remaining in the bulge region of hair follicles .
defective vitamin d function leads to defective stem cell renewal and loss of hair follicle cycle .
it has been suggested that an optimum concentration of vitamin d3 is essential to delay aging and hair loss , and a possible link has been proposed between the lack of vitamin d in serum and fphl . to confirm this hypothesis ,
a study was conducted in egypt in 2013 by rasheed et al . to investigate the role of vitamin d in women with chronic... | background : female pattern hair loss ( fphl ) is the most common cause of alopecia in women , characterized by diffuse nonscarring hair loss in frontal , central , and parietal areas of the scalp .
pathophysiology of fphl is still not well known , and it is probably a multifactorial genetic trait .
fphl is also observed in women without increased androgen levels , which raises the likelihood of androgen - independent mechanisms and explains the lack of response to antiandrogen treatments in some patients .
vitamin d is a factor that has recently been considered in dealing with these patients .
the purpose of this study was to evaluate the serum levels of vitamin d in patients with fphl and compare it with healthy controls.methods:in this case - control study , 45 women with fphl were evaluated as well as the same number of healthy women matched for age , hours spent under sunlight per day , and body mass index .
serum 25(oh ) d3 level was measured using elisa.results:60% of fphl patients were in 1530 years old age group with the mean standard deviation ( sd ) age of 29.11 ( 7.30 ) years . in the majority of patients ( 66.7% ) , severity of hair loss
was ludwig i. mean ( sd ) serum vitamin d3 level in patient and control group was 13.45 ( 8.40 ) and 17.16 ( 8.96 ) , respectively .
t - test showed a significant difference between the two groups in terms of vitamin d3 serum levels ( p = 0.04).conclusions : this study indicated the correlation between the incidence of fphl and decreased serum levels of vitamin d3 .
it is recommended to evaluate serum vitamin d3 levels as well as other hormone assays in these patients . |
7,368 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: appendicitis is the most frequent indication for urgent surgery in children . since 1894 , when mc burney described the laparotomic technique for appendectomy
, the same operation has been the gold standard for acute appendicitis for over a century . in 1983 ,
semm described for the first time the standard three ports laparoscopic appendectomy and since then the minimally invasive approach has gained wide acceptance among the pediatric surgeons .
different variations of the laparoscopic technique have been proposed , all aiming to better cosmetic results , reduction in costs , and charges for hospitals , while keeping the safety of the operation unchanged .
the umbilicus as the unique site to gain access to the abdomen and to the appendix has been widely reported in the literature , both as a port to exteriorize the appendix and perform an extracorporeal operation [ 2 , 3 ] and as the site to place all laparoscopic instruments and perform an intracorporeal appendectomy ( sils ; single - site laparoscopic surgery ) [ 4 , 5 ] .
the trans umbilical laparo - assisted technique ( tulaa ) merges together the advantages of both a good intraabdominal laparoscopic visualization and the safety and quickness of an extracorporeal traditional appendectomy .
a large series of pediatric patients operated on with this technique was presented in 1999 by valla et al . , but patients were selected for absence of complicated appendicitis . recently ,
ohno et al . presented a paper in which the tulaa procedure was used in 416 patients but without any perforated appendicitis or local abscesses in the series .
we present the experience of our centre , in which the use of tulaa was firstly introduced in 2006 , in a team where only one surgeon had used the technique before , and it was decided to perform it with every kind of appendicitis , with or without the suspect of complicated appendicitis .
the charts of all patients admitted to our surgical department from january 2006 to december 2010 , with a diagnosis of appendicitis... | the paper reports the results of a retrospective review of the medical charts of 203 patients admitted to a pediatric surgical unit with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis between january 2006 and december 2010 when a transumbilical laparoscopic - assisted appendectomy ( tulaa ) was introduced as a new surgical technique . among 203 admitted patients ,
7 ( 3.5% ) had a localized appendiceal abscess and were treated with antibiotics .
all of them responded to antibiotics and underwent tulaa interval appendectomy 8 weeks later .
196 patients ( 96.5% ) underwent immediate surgery . in 12/181 ( 6.6% ) urgent cases , conversion to laparotomy was necessary , in 3 patients because of bowel distension and in 9 for retrocecal position of appendix . in all 181 tulaa completed procedures , one trocar was used in 151 cases ( 89.4% ) , two trocars in 16 ( 9.4% ) , and three trocars in 2 ( 1.2% ) . the mean operative time for single port tulaa was 52 complications included 5 wound infections and 5 intra - abdominal abscesses , all managed conservatively . in conclusion , tulaa is a safe , minimally invasive approach with acute appendicitis , regardless of the perforation status , and can be recommended in the pediatric urgical settings . |
7,369 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: encephalocele is a rare condition that consists of herniation of cerebral matter through openings of dura and skull
the incidence of the congenital form is estimated to be 1 per 3,000 to 10,000 live births.1
2 many classification systems for encephalocele exist ; however , the most widely accepted is that from matson and ingraham,3 based on the location of the encephalocele : basal , sincipital , convexity , and atretic .
convexity encephalocele , subdivided into frontal , parietal , occipital , and cervico - occipital , is the most common type.3 those lesions are usually located at midline , extending from the nasal region to the occiput , although off midline temporal regions have also been reported.4
5 a majority of the encephaloceles are congenital and manifest in childhood . here ,
we report a rare case of a traumatic intradiploic encephalocele ( ie ) presenting with contralateral hemiparesis several decades after an initial pediatric trauma .
a 45-year - old caucasian , right - handed man presented to our emergency department ( ed ) with 3 to 4 weeks history of progressive gait disturbances and left lower extremity weakness .
his pertinent medical history was negative for any recent history of head trauma , but was significant for a moderate traumatic brain injury ( tbi ) at the age of 9 years , where he fell off a tree and sustained a closed parietal skull fracture with no posttraumatic cognitive or neurologic deficits .
he had no history of seizures , central nervous system infections , stroke , or brain tumor .
his neurological exam at admission was significant for left hemiparesis ( strikingly more pronounced on lower than upper extremity ) and positive left pronator drift testing .
he was initially seen in the ed where a magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) showed ie of the right parasagittal parietal bone containing portions of the right precentral gyrus and surrounding brain parenchyma ( fig .
a 3-mm ( a , b ) coronal and ( c ) axial reformats in both ( a ) brain and ( b ) bone windows on ( d )... | encephalocele is a rare condition that consists of herniation of cerebral matter through openings of dura and skull .
a majority of encephaloceles are congenital and manifest in childhood .
we present a case of a 45-year - old man presenting with contralateral hemiparesis and found to have an extremely rare phenomenon of a symptomatic posttraumatic parietal intradiploic encephalocele ( ie ) manifesting 36 years following pediatric traumatic head injury .
computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed herniation of brain tissue into the intradiploic space .
surgical treatment with reduction of the encephalocele achieved near resolution of preoperative hemiparesis on follow - up .
the pathogenesis and a literature review of ie are discussed . |
7,370 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: energetic neutral atoms ( enas ) are produced by charge exchange processes between energetic ions and neutral gasses . as ions , these particles
are constrained by the lorentz force to their local magnetic fields ; however , once they are neutralized they are not influenced by electromagnetic forces and travel on ballistic paths . imaging this ena emission from charged particlegas interaction regions is analogous to imaging photon emission from a glowing gas cloud and therefore a useful remote sensing technique for such regions .
we motivate two specific scientific questions that a lowenergy , high angular resolution instrument would address : ( 1 ) to understand the spatial and temporal structure of the heliospheric boundary and ( 2 ) to understand the spatial structure of magnetospheric ion precipitation into the upper atmosphere .
other topics such as imaging the terrestrial ring current and the subsolar magnetopause are of great interest and could be probed with this instrument , but we do not go into detail on these specific implementations here .
the interstellar boundary explorer ( ibex ) mission [ mccomas et al . , 2009a ] and the voyagers produced breakthroughs in our understanding of the interaction between the sun and its local galactic neighborhood [ e.g. , stone et al .
this new frontier of heliospheric physics is fundamental to our understanding of the influence of the solar wind on the local interstellar medium , and vice versa . the structure and dynamics of this interaction as imaged by ibexlo [ fuselier et al . ,
2009 ] , ibexhi [ funsten et al . , 2009 ] , and the cassini magnetosphere imaging instrument ( mimi ) ion and neutral camera ( inca ) [ krimigis et al . ,
2004 ] hint at the physical processes at play in this region . in situ measurements by the voyager 1 and 2 interstellar probes have revealed that this region is a wholly new plasma regime in which the nonthermal energetic particles dominate the pressure balance and define the structure of the interaction .
the ibex and cassini... | abstractto achieve breakthroughs in the areas of heliospheric and magnetospheric energetic neutral atom ( ena ) imaging , a new class of instruments is required .
we present a high angular resolution ena imager concept aimed at the suprathermal plasma populations with energies between 0.5 and 20 kev .
this instrument is intended for understanding the spatial and temporal structure of the heliospheric boundary recently revealed by interstellar boundary explorer instrumentation and the cassini ion and neutral camera .
the instrument is also well suited to characterize magnetospheric ena emissions from lowaltitude ena emissions produced by precipitation of magnetospheric ions into the terrestrial upper atmosphere , or from the magnetosheath where solar wind protons are neutralized by charge exchange , or from portions of the ring current region .
we present a new technique utilizing ultrathin carbon foils , 2d collimation , and a novel electron optical design to produce high angular resolution ( 2 ) and highsensitivity ( 103 cm2 sr / pixel ) ena imaging in the 0.520 kev energy range . |
7,371 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the advent of next - generation sequencing and metagenomics has resulted in increasing numbers of ever - larger datasets describing the community structure and function of a variety of different environments , from the human gut ( arumugam et al . 2011 ; david et al . 2014 ) to arctic peat soils ( lipson et al . 2013 ) and deep - sea vents ( xie et al .
next - generation sequencing technologies have greatly reduced sequencing costs and speed , and researchers can now affordably study whole microbial communities and functions . prior to this , the focus was on community species composition , studied using 16s rrna targeted amplicon sequencing .
amplicon sequencing does not require the dna coverage that metagenomic studies require and can accurately identify which species are present in a sample ( woese and fox 1977 ; lane et al .
1985 ; hugenholtz 2002 ) , but it does not provide the depth of information , such as gene function , that full metagenome sequencing and annotation provides .
cost is no longer the primary limiting factor for undertaking metagenomic studies , rather it is now bioinformatics and processing power required to process the data produced .
illumina 's hiseq platform , for example , can affordably sequence the most complex of microbial communities , and the challenge now is to interpret the data produced .
( 2014 ) provide an extensive directory of tools available for different tasks involved in a metagenomic project pipeline , related to a range of omics studies .
megan ( huson et al . 2007 ) is a popular graphical user interface program for analyzing and visualizing blast results to study the taxonomy of microbial communities .
while megan typically analyses blast results in a few minutes , running blast searches against reference sequences in a database is computationally intensive and slow for metagenomes ( desai et al .
2012 ; hunter et al . 2012 ; thomas , gilbert and meyer 2012 ) .
web - based servers are increasingly popular for processing large amounts of data . with an... | the advent of next - generation sequencing has allowed huge amounts of dna sequence data to be produced , advancing the capabilities of microbial ecosystem studies .
the current challenge is to identify from which microorganisms and genes the dna originated .
several tools and databases are available for annotating dna sequences .
the tools , databases and parameters used can have a significant impact on the results : nave choice of these factors can result in a false representation of community composition and function .
we use a simulated metagenome to show how different parameters affect annotation accuracy by evaluating the sequence annotation performances of megan , mg - rast , one codex and megablast .
this simulated metagenome allowed the recovery of known organism and function abundances to be quantitatively evaluated , which is not possible for environmental metagenomes .
the performance of each program and database varied , e.g. one codex correctly annotated many sequences at the genus level , whereas mg - rast refseq produced many false positive annotations .
this effect decreased as the taxonomic level investigated increased .
selecting more stringent parameters decreases the annotation sensitivity , but increases precision . ultimately , there is a trade - off between taxonomic resolution and annotation accuracy .
these results should be considered when annotating metagenomes and interpreting results from previous studies . |
7,372 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: two kinds of forces are involved in vitreoretinal traction diseases : tangential and anterior - posterior forces .
when the posterior hyaloid partially detaches from the posterior pole and macula , keeping a strong attachment at a focal point , the anterior - posterior vector appears .
these forces are less characterized and classified in literature compared to anterior - posterior ones , although they are responsible for retinal damages of the inner and outer layers .
we will characterize the tangential vectors involved in the retinal changes : ( i ) anomalous posterior vitreous detachment and vitreoschisis ; ( ii ) epiretinal membranes ( erms ) ; ( iii ) vitreopapillary adhesion ( vpa ) .
the vitreous is an extended extracellular matrix that is composed mainly of water ( 98% ) ; in youth , it is nonetheless a solid gel due to the intricate association of hyaluronan , collagen , and additional molecular components . in youth , this fine structure is strongly adherent to the retina in a fascial ( as opposed to focal ) manner , although the exact processes and cells responsible for the synthesis and adhesion of such macromolecules remain unidentified .
the main function of the vitreous , however , is the maintenance of transparency within the eye ( figure 1 ) .
this feature minimizes light scattering , allowing the unhindered transmission of photons to the retina for photoreception [ 5 , 6 ] . during aging ,
changes in vitreous macromolecular interactions result in the formation of a liquid vitreous that consists primarily of hyaluronan and water as well as collagen fibrils that aggregate into bundles of parallel fibers . moreover , during aging , changes at the interface weaken vitreoretinal adhesion and promote vitreoretinal dehiscence in most individuals .
these two processes must occur in concert and simultaneously to result in an innocuous posterior vitreous detachment ( pvd ) .
posterior vitreous detachment is characterized by synchysis ( gel liquefaction ) and syneresis ( vitreoretinal dehiscence with... | two kinds of forces are active in vitreoretinal traction diseases : tangential and anterior - posterior forces .
however , tangential forces are less characterized and classified in literature compared to the anterior - posterior ones .
tangential epiretinal forces are mainly due to anomalous posterior vitreous detachment ( pvd ) , vitreoschisis , vitreopapillary adhesion ( vpa ) , and epiretinal membranes ( erms ) .
anomalous pvd plays a key role in the formation of the tangential vectorial forces on the retinal surface as consequence of gel liquefaction ( synchysis ) without sufficient and fast vitreous dehiscence at the vitreoretinal interface .
the anomalous and persistent adherence of the posterior hyaloid to the retina can lead to vitreomacular / vitreopapillary adhesion or to a formation of avascular fibrocellular tissue ( erm ) resulting from the proliferation and transdifferentiation of hyalocytes resident in the cortical vitreous remnants after vitreoschisis .
the right interpretation of the forces involved in the epiretinal tangential tractions helps in a better definition of diagnosis , progression , prognosis , and surgical outcomes of vitreomacular interfaces . |
7,373 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: occasionally , however , it can be a sign of a more serious , often unrecognized condition .
we report on a patient with carboplatin - induced bilateral papilledema resulting in only partially reversible visual impairment . despite the fact that carboplatin is widely used in the treatment of a variety of common tumors ( including cancer of the lung , ovary , testis ) , this is the first report of carboplatin - induced papilledema following regular auc - determined dose .
reported cases of papilledema after carboplatin administration include two cases after high - dose carboplatin ( auc12 ) , one report using carboplatin and cisplatin simultaneously , and two patients to whom carboplatin was given in a fixed standard dose ( 400 mg / m ) rather than in a creatinine - clearance dependent dose ( auc ) .
a 70-year - old woman with stage iiic ( figo ) serous - papillary ovarian carcinoma started postoperative chemotherapy 5 weeks after optimal surgical debulking ( tah+bso ) in september 2005 .
concurrent medical conditions included stable coronary heart disease , controlled arterial hypertension and mild urinary retention as sole sequel of a previous injury to the lower back .
baseline renal function was normal with a calculated creatinine clearance of 100 ml / min ( cockroft formula ) .
chemotherapy consisted of a 3-weekly intravenous administration of carboplatin ( auc 5 mg / ml min ) over 30 min and was well tolerated , grade 1 nausea , fatigue and grade 2 thrombocytopenia ( 53 10/l ) being the only adverse effects . on day 8 of the 4th cycle , however , the patient was admitted because of nausea , constipation and acute urinary retention . post - renal acute renal failure ( calculated creatinine clearance 40 ml / min ) was completely reversible after catheterization . at this time , she first complained about visual impairment in her right eye ( lack of focus and scattered blind spots ) .
the optic nerve head was at that time more prominent in the right eye than in the left eye , and there were some... | we report on a patient with carboplatin - induced bilateral papilledema , as it was described in the 1970s for cisplatin .
loss of visual accuracy up to full blindness , often loss of color vision and scotomas can be seen as a result of cortical blindness , macula degeneration , retrobulbar neuritis and papilledema .
these symptoms are mostly unilateral and initially mild , so that more chemotherapy is given before the diagnosis is made
. the symptoms are usually reversible within weeks to months after cessation of the platinum treatment .
the therapeutic strategy is stopping the platinum treatment . in addition
the empiric use of corticosteroids is suggested . |
7,374 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: eight - year - old male presented with 360 peripheral corneal endotheliopathy and edema , granulomatous keratic precipitates , and mild iritis od .
twenty months later , os presented similarly and anterior chamber inflammatory cells , vitreous snowballs , and retinal vasculitis were observed ou .
this is the first case of endotheliopathy as the first manifestation of pars planitis and as a cause of a secondary central cornea ectasia developed
white eye , mild anterior chamber reaction , snowballs in the anterior vitreous , snowbanks in the peripheral retina and pars plana , retinal vasculitis , and cystoid macular edema .
the association of a peripheral corneal endotheliopathy ( pce ) and pars planitis starting in childhood has been previously described .
we report a cpp case in which pce was the first clinical manifestation , and which led to secondary corneal ectasia .
on the first visit , an 8-year - old male presented because the patient s mother noticed a white reflex in the right eye for about 2 years that became more evident with time .
his visual acuity od was 20/200 with improvement to 20/60 with pinhole occlusion , os 20/20 .
od showed mild ciliary injection , mild peripheral corneal edema , a 360 peripheral endothelial opacity delimitated by mashed potato keratic precipitates , and mild iritis ( fig . 1 ) .
vitreous examination revealed few cells and a single snowball in the inferior , peripheral retina , near an area of apparent retinal vasculitis .
granulomatous kps delineated the involved endothelial area pictures showing the right eye with a peripheral corneal stromal oedema and endothelial opacity .
granulomatous kps delineated the involved endothelial area a diagnosis of pars planitis was suspected and fluorescein angiography ( fa ) , ppd , vdrl , and fta - abs were ordered .
prednisolone acetate ( prednefrin , allergan ) q2h and timolol 0.5% ( imot , laboratorios sophia , guadalajara , mxico ) bid were started ; the steroid was slowly tapered over a period of 1 month .
all... | purposeto report a case of corneal ectasia secondary to pars planitis corneal endotheliopathymethodsclinical case description and proposed hypothesis regarding development of corneal ectasiaresultseight - year - old male presented with 360 peripheral corneal endotheliopathy and edema , granulomatous keratic precipitates , and mild iritis od .
a progressive corneal ectasia then developed .
twenty months later , os presented similarly and anterior chamber inflammatory cells , vitreous snowballs , and retinal vasculitis were observed ou .
classic pars planitis was diagnosedconclusionthis is the first case of endotheliopathy as the first manifestation of pars planitis and as a cause of a secondary central cornea ectasia developed |
7,375 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: although sarcoidosis has been identified as a specific disease entity for more than one century , the specific cause of sarcoidosis is unknown . in addition , the diagnostic criteria , treatment algorithms , method of follow - up and natural course of the disease have not been clearly elucidated .
these concepts reflect our deeper understanding of this enigmatic disease . in terms of the diagnosis of sarcoidosis ,
presently , this is a clinical diagnosis as there is no reliable diagnostic test . in lieu of a diagnostic test
these criteria will be outlined in this manuscript . although these diagnostic criteria are based on clinical data and have been vetted by world experts in the field , they are arbitrary and inexact .
there is a general consensus that corticosteroids are the drug of choice when treatment is required .
several alternative agents may be used , usually as corticosteroid sparing agents , because of the development of significant corticosteroid toxicity .
the assessment of the efficacy of alternative anti - sarcoidosis medications is complex for many reasons , including distinguishing the effects of corticosteroids from the study drug and reliably assessing disease activity .
the diagnosis of sarcoidosis is never secure but is arbitrarily made when the statistical likelihood of alternative diagnoses becomes too small to warrant further investigation .
a patient may present with a constellation of clinical findings that is so specific for sarcoidosis that the diagnosis may be made empirically without the need for a confirmatory biopsy ( left side of figure 1 ) .
if these rare presentations are not observed , the diagnosis requires a tissue biopsy revealing granulomatous inflammation ( usually noncaseating ) , exclusion of alternative causes of granulomatous inflammation , and documentation of systemic disease ( right side of figure 1 ) .
the diagnosis of sarcoidosis may be established without performing a tissue biopsy ( left side of figure ) .
this requires the presence of specific clinical... | this manuscript outlines recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of sarcoidosis .
the diagnosis of sarcoidosis can occasionally be made on clinical grounds without a confirmatory biopsy when very specific clinical findings are present .
otherwise , the diagnosis requires histologic evidence of granulomatous inflammation , exclusion of alternative causes , and evidence of systemic disease . because there is no available diagnostic test for sarcoidosis , the diagnosis is never completely secure .
instruments have been developed to establish the presence of sarcoidosis in a second organ and hence establish the systemic nature of the disease .
corticosteroids remain the drug of choice for the treatment of sarcoidosis .
additional sarcoidosis medications are most commonly used as corticosteroid - sparing agents .
recent clinical sarcoidosis drug trials have exposed important issues that may confound trial results , including selecting patients with active disease , identifying study drug effects in patients receiving concomitant corticosteroids , and establishing proper study endpoints . |
7,376 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the surgical procedure used to create flaps involves tissue damage because some areas may exceed the territory supplied by a given blood vessel , leading to several degrees of ischemia.1 moreover , microvascular perfusion is seriously impaired with failing procedures.2,3 vasoactive drugs can be used to ameliorate the ischemia process and extend survival .
buflomedil and pentoxifylline have often been used in the treatment of peripheral artery disease and microcirculatory deficit , resulting in improved flap viability.47 buflomedil is an alpha - receptor blocking agent and a non - specific calcium antagonist .
it can also inhibit platelet aggregation , increase red blood cell deformability , and decrease peripheral vascular resistance , thus restoring microcirculatory perfusion.8 buflomedil appears to improve nutritional blood flow in ischemic tissue in peripheral or cerebral diseases .
consequently , it increases walking distances in patients suffering from intermittent claudication.9 pentoxifylline is a xanthine - derived phosphodiesterase inhibitor that enhances camp levels , theoretically via the same actions as buflomedil,10 i.e. , it has beneficial effects on white blood cell function and hemorheological conditions.11 the effects of buflomedil and pentoxifylline administration on functional capillary density , tissue viability based on blood flow presence / absence , and survival of skin flaps in hamsters have yet to be elucidated .
this recently developed microscopy method , originally described by winkelman,12 can be used to non - invasively study the microcirculation with reflected light without any fluorescent dye.13 olivier and co - workers showed that ops technology is useful to directly observe microvascular blood flow in skin flaps and suggested post - operative monitoring of free - tissue transfers.14 the ops technique has been incorporated into a portable device , the cytoscan ( cytoscan , cytometrics inc . ,
this study tested the efficiency of ops imaging for the prognosis of flap viability ,... | objectivethis study investigated the effects of buflomedil and pentoxifylline , both of which are used in reconstructive surgery of hamster skin flap microcirculation , and evaluated the skin flap survival rate by orthogonal polarization spectral imaging.methodtwenty-four adult male syrian golden hamsters were divided into three groups : a control ( c , 0.1 ml 0.9% saline ) , buflomedil ( b , 3 mg / kg / day ) , and pentoxifylline group ( p , 14.5 mg / kg / day ) .
treatments administered intraperitoneally were initiated 1 hour before skin flap preparation and continued for 7 days post - operatively at 12-hour intervals .
preparations ( skin flaps ) were divided into 12 fields , which were organized into six bands . functional capillary density ( fcd , in mm / mm2 ) , distance from the skin flap base to blood flow cessation ( distwith flow , in cm ) , percentage of viable skin (
va , in% ) , and qualitative analysis of blood flow by orthogonal polarization spectral imaging were performed at 1 and 24 hours and on the seventh post - operative day.resultbands iv , v , and vi presented no flow independent of time .
the functional capillary density group b was higher than that of groups c and p , primarily after 24 hours .
all groups showed an increase in d with time but reached similar final distances ( c = 2.73 , b = 2.78 and p = 2.70 cm ) .
moreover , the percentage of viable areas remained at approximately 50% .
the orthogonal polarization spectral imaging was useful to assess viability by counting fields with and without blood flow.conclusionsfunctional capillary density values were higher in the buflomedil group compared to the control and pentoxifylline groups in this model .
functional capillary density did not influence d or the percentage of va , and the technique showed favorable potential to assess / predict the viability of skin flaps within 1 h after surgery . |
7,377 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in 2010 , there were 1,490,000 hiv - infected pregnant women and 390,000 children became infected with hiv . mother - to - child transmission of hiv can occur during pregnancy , during birth , or during breastfeeding .
the risk of transmission is 1530% in nonbreastfeeding populations and breastfeeding adds an additional 520% risk for an overall transmission rate of 2045% . in 2010 , the world health organization ( who ) released the guidelines on antiretroviral drugs for treating pregnant women and preventing hiv infection in infants with the goal of reducing mother - to - child transmission to less than 5% and virtually eliminating hiv infection in children by 2015 [ 3 , 4 ] .
infant feeding by hiv - infected women remains a public health dilemma for developing countries .
although breastfeeding involves a considerable risk of hiv transmission , nonbreastfed infants are exposed to higher risk of death in resource - limited setting [ 5 , 6 ] . according to 2010 who guidelines , national health authorities should decide whether health services will principally counsel and support hiv - infected women to either breastfeed and receive antiretroviral interventions or avoid breastfeeding , as the strategy that will most likely give infants the greatest chance of hiv - free survival .
developed countries have decided to recommend formula feeding for hiv - exposed children due to the low infant mortality and the risk of hiv transmission through breastfeeding , whereas in developing countries the health and survival benefits of breastfeeding exceed the risk of hiv transmission .
however , most of the evidence for recommending breastfeeding in developing countries comes from clinical trials performed in sub - saharan africa .
data of formula feeding on child growth and mortality from pmtct programmes in other continents are scarce , and some developing countries are supporting the use of formula feeding in their national pmtct programmes [ 711 ] .
india is the third country in the world in terms of hiv infected people... | we describe a programme for the prevention of mother - to - child transmission ( pmtct ) of hiv that provided universal antiretroviral therapy ( art ) to all pregnant women regardless of the cd4 lymphocyte count and formula feeding for children with high risk of hiv transmission through breastfeeding in a district of india .
the overall rate of hiv transmission was 3.7% .
although breastfeeding added a 3.1% additional risk of hiv acquisition , formula - fed infants had significantly higher risk of death compared to breastfed infants .
the cumulative 12-month mortality was 9.6% for formula - fed infants versus 0.68% for breastfed infants .
anthropometric markers ( weight , length / height , weight for length / height , body mass index , head circumference , mid - upper arm circumference , triceps skinfold , and subscapular skinfold ) showed that formula - fed infants experience severe malnutrition during the first two months of life .
we did not observe any death after rapid weaning at 5 - 6 months in breastfed infants .
the higher - free - of hiv survival in breastfed infants and the low rate of hiv transmission found in this study support the implementation of pmtct programmes with universal art to all hiv - infected pregnant women and breastfeeding in order to reduce hiv transmission without increasing infant mortality in developing countries . |
7,378 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: | optimal cutoff value of alt level to precisely estimate the presence of fatty liver was as low as 28.0
u / l .
we should consider the possibility of fatty liver even when alt level is within normal range in subjects with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes . |
7,379 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: atopic dermatitis ( ad ) is a common skin disease manifested clinically by chronic inflammation and characterized histologically by skin infiltration of inflammatory cells including predominantly lymphocytes , eosinophils , and mast cells .
it affects 1020% of children and 13% of adults in developed countries , and the prevalence is increasing .
many of these patients also suffer from asthma and allergic rhinitis along with intense itching and skin infection .
although the pathogenesis and etiology of ad remain to be completely understood , this multifactorial disease likely results from a complex crosstalk between genetic and environmental factors .
exaggerated th2 response , disruption of the epidermis barrier functions , high levels of serum ige , and decreased production of antimicrobial peptides ( amps ) are the key findings in ad .
data from human and animal studies indicate that ad is a th2 dominant inflammatory skin disease at the acute stage followed by th1 involvement at the chronic stage of the disease .
specifically , this notion of th2-dominance in ad is validated by a mouse model we have successfully generated through overexpressing il-4 , a key th2 cytokine , in the basal epidermis using a epidermis - specific keratin 14 promoter .
the il-4 transgenic ( tg ) mice spontaneously develop skin lesions , serological abnormalities , and skin infection , which fulfil the clinical and histological diagnostic criteria for human ad .
consistent with an inflammatory disease process , upregulation of chemokines , proinflammatory cytokines , b cell activation molecules , angiogenic factors , and several critical adhesion molecules has been found in these tg mice . the jak - stat pathway is a classical signal transduction pathway for numerous cytokines and growth factors .
the binding of ligands to their receptors leads to jak activation , which in turn phosphorylates and activates stats .
the jak family includes jak1 , jak2 , jak3 , and tyk2 , and the stat family includes stat1 , stat2 , stat3 , stat5a / b... | atopic dermatitis ( ad ) , a common chronic inflammatory skin disease , is characterized by inflammatory cell skin infiltration .
the jak - stat pathway has been shown to play an essential role in the dysregulation of immune responses in ad , including the exaggeration of th2 cell response , the activation of eosinophils , the maturation of b cells , and the suppression of regulatory t cells ( tregs ) .
in addition , the jak - stat pathway , activated by il-4 , also plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of ad by upregulating epidermal chemokines , pro - inflammatroy cytokines , and pro - angiogenic factors as well as by downregulating antimicrobial peptides ( amps ) and factors responsible for skin barrier function . in this review
, we will highlight the recent advances in our understanding of the jak - stat pathway in the pathogenesis of ad . |
7,380 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: we thank leigh conroy for her help with the matlab algorithms and dr iris kulbatski for her help with editing the manuscript . this work was supported by funding provided to r. dacosta by the canadian institutes for health research . | the dorsal skinfold window chamber ( dswc ) model is a unique tool that enables analysis of various aspects of tumor biology and therapeutic response .
although the protocol for the murine dswc model is standardized , certain tumors fail to grow or require a particular environment to promote growth .
given such limitations , we optimized the dswc model for a slow - growing tumor that regresses spontaneously in the standard protocol .
we further characterized the vascular network in the tumor model compared with that of non - tumor - bearing mice and observed significant differences in multiple parameters related to vascular structure and function . |
7,381 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: pharmacovigilance is the science and activities relating to the detection , assessment , understanding , and prevention of adverse effects of drugs or any other possible drug - related problems .
recently , its concerns have been widened to include herbals , traditional and complementary medicines , blood products , and biological .
the purpose of pharmacovigilance is to detect , assess , and understand , and to prevent the adverse effects or any other possible drug - related problems , which is not only confined to chemical drugs , but extended to herbal , traditional , and complementary medicines , biologicals , vaccines , blood products , and medical devices .
the history of the use of herbs as medication is as old as history itself .
some authors state that the first recorded use of herbs for medical treatment began over 4000 years ago .
traditional chinese medicine centers on interactions between the body and the environment . a mixture of treatments , including herbs , acupuncture , and massage , is then prescribed .
an example of the types of herbal products can be seen in table 1 . in the united states ,
a combination of european , chinese , ayurvedic , an other unconventional treatments influenced the use of herbs to the present day . in almost all the traditional systems of medicine ,
adverse events may also arise from the misuse of the wrong species of medicinal plants , incorrect dosing , errors in the use of herbal medicines by healthcare providers and consumers , interactions with other medicines , and use of products contaminated with potentially hazardous substances , such as toxic metals , pathogenic microorganisms , and agrochemical residues .
herbal products from different cultures the following examples demonstrate the range of problems encountered with the use of herbal medicines and products .
some herbal products were found to contain 0.1 to 0.3 mg of betamethasone per capsule after some patients developed corticosteroid - like side effects.owing to misidentification of the medicinal... | herbal formulations being widely accepted therapeutic agents as antidiabetics , antiarthritics , hepatoprotectives , cough remedies , memory enhancers , and adaptogens .
the commonest myth regarding herbal medicines is that these medicines are completely safe , and can therefore be safely consumed by the patient on his / her own , without a physician 's prescription .
this belief has led to large - scale self - medication by people all over the world , often leading to disappointing end - results , side - effects , or unwanted after - effects .
there is an increasing awareness at several levels of the need to develop pharmacovigilance practices for herbal medicines . the current model of pharmacovigilance and its associated tools
have been developed in relation to synthetic drugs , and applying these methods to monitoring the safety of herbal medicines presents unique challenges in addition to those described for conventional medicines .
several problems relate to the ways in which herbal medicines are named , perceived , sourced , and utilized .
this may be because of differences in the use of nonorthodox drugs ( e.g. , herbal remedies ) which may pose special toxicological problems , when used alone or in combination with other drugs .
the purpose of pharmacovigilance is to detect , assess , and understand , and to prevent the adverse effects or any other possible drug - related problems , related to herbal , traditional , and complementary medicines . |
7,382 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: this study was approved by the local ethics committee , and each patient gave informed consent for participation .
the clinical diagnosis of pd was made according to the uk brain bank criteria.11 at the time of the study , none of the patients had ever taken medications for pd .
all patients underwent a detailed clinical evaluation , including laboratory tests for lipid profiles and serum homocysteine . at the time of study enrollment , all included patients
were evaluated using the unified parkinson s disease rating scale ( updrs ) and the modified hoehn and yahr staging score .
patients fasted the night before the test , except for a small amount of water , if they were thirsty and abstained from drinking alcohol or coffee the day before the study .
continuous electrocardiographic and non - invasive blood pressure monitoring was used in each patient ( ym6000 , mediana tech . , san antonio , tx , usa ) . after 30 min of supine rest
, the test ( 20 min at 60 ) was performed using the manumed special tilt1-section ( enraf nonius , rotterdam , the netherlands ) . by consensus ,
orthostatic hypotension was defined as a fall in blood pressure of at least 20 mm hg systolic pressure and/or 10 mm hg diastolic pressure between 2 and 5 minutes after tilt.12 all patients enrolled in the study underwent conventional mri with a 3.0-t system ( magnetom verio , 3 t , siemens ) .
axial t2 weighted images , complemented with coronal fluid attenuated recovery images , were used to rate the wmh .
the mr images were rated using the semiquantitative visual rating system of scheltens et al.13 this rating scale provides four sum scores in a semiquantitative way ; periventricular hyperintensities ( 06 ) , deep wmh ( 024 ) , basal ganglia hyperintensities ( 030 ) , and infratentorial hyperintensities ( 030 ) .
periventricular hyperintensities were identified as continuous , confluent areas of high signal intensity adjacent to the anterior or posterior horns of the lateral ventricles ( cap ) and along the lateral ventricles ( ... | background and purpose : several reports on the elderly population have suggested that orthostatic hypotension is associated with white matter hyperintensities ( wmh ) ; however , little information is available on patients with parkinson s disease ( pd).methods : we analyzed the association blood pressure profiles during tilt table testing with wmh scores in 117 patients with pd .
wmh were rated using the semiquantitative visual rating system proposed by scheltens et al.results:the presence of orthostatic hypotension was associated with increasing tendency of wmh score and the blood pressure changes during tilting and supine blood pressure were positively correlated with increasing wmh score.conclusions:this finding indicates that hemodynamic changes associated with orthostatic hypotension may be associated with white matter changes in patients with pd . |
7,383 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: male sprague - dawley rats ( n=18 : exposed n=9 ; sham exposed n=9 ) were individually housed before and during experimental protocols .
all protocols were approved by the saint louis university animal care and use committee . during the experiment ,
animals were between the ages of 4 and 7 months , age matched between groups .
the rats were exposed at a stable temperature ( 2324c ) and were maintained in a 12 h light / dark cycle ; lights on at 7 a.m. food and water were available ad lib .
two identical exposure structures were used ( one charged , the other not ) located in a 104 m room with masonry walls and 4 m high ceiling . the large room allowed for the exposure and sham exposure group to be in the same room . the exposure apparatus was designed and constructed with the assistance from the parks college of engineering at saint louis university .
two sonotube reinforced cardboard tubes 8 ft long and 2 ft in diameter served as framework for the exposure structures .
one tube was wrapped with 18 gauge insulated copper wire ; the other was not wound and served as the sham exposure environment .
the exposure apparatus was energized by a standard 110 v , 60 hz outlet and a step - down transformer ( a variac ) providing the necessary voltage of 8 v that excited the wire from a three - phase , four - wire supply to create a horizontal , linearly polarized 1000 milligauss ( or 1 gauss or 1.010 t ) magnetic field within the exposure volume . the magnetic field in the sham exposure sonotube was less than 1 mg and was 7 m away from the exposure .
the animals were singly housed with the cages being constructed of translucent polypropylene 1298 , fitted with 2 high pvc filters as covers .
, five electrodes for sleep recording were implanted according to standard procedures ( 38 ) .
these five placements , in a pin - plug assembly , permitted the fastening of stainless steel jeweler screws ( 080 by 1/8 in . ) that allowed for ecog recordings from the parietal - frontal and the parietal - occipital regions of the... | backgroundstudies investigating the effect of power frequency ( 5060 hz ) electromagnetic fields ( emf ) on melatonin synthesis in rats have been inconsistent with several showing suppression of melatonin synthesis , others showing no effect and a few actually demonstrating small increases .
scant research has focused on the ensuing sleep patterns of emf exposed rats .
the present study was designed to examine the effects of extremely low power frequency electromagnetic fields ( emf ) on the production of melatonin and the subsequent sleep structure in rats.methodseighteen male sprague - dawley rats were exposed to a 1000 milligauss ( mg ) magnetic field for 1 month .
urine was collected for the final 3 days of the exposure period for analysis of 6-sulphatoxymelatonin , the major catabolic product of melatonin found in urine .
subsequent sleep was analyzed over a 24-hour period.resultsmelatonin production was mildly increased in exposed animals . although there were no statistically significant changes in sleep structure , exposed animals showed slight decreases in rem ( rapid eye movement ) sleep as compared to sham ( non - exposed ) animals.conclusionspower frequency magnetic fields induced a marginally statistically significant increase in melatonin levels in exposed rats compared to control .
subsequent sleep analysis indicated little effect on the sleep architecture of rats , at least not within the first day after 1 month 's continuous exposure .
varying results in the literature are discussed and future research suggested . |
7,384 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: knowledge of the anatomical variations of the axillary region has become more relevant with increasing surgeries of this region for breast cancer , reconstruction procedures and axillary by - pass .
lager 's arch or the axillary arch ( aa ) is the best - known variant structure in the axilla .
it is a muscular or fibromuscular slip of varying dimensions , extending from the latissimus dorsi ( ld ) muscle about the middle of the posterior axillary fold , and crosses over the neurovascular structures , to join the under surface of the tendon of the pectoralis major , the coracobrachialis , or the fascia over the bicepsbrachii [ 1 , 2 ] .
a 60-year - old female presented to our breast clinic with a left breast lump sized 3 2.5 cm incidentally felt since 3 months .
it was gradually increasing in size and was not associated with any other breast complaints .
she was evaluated with mammography that suggested a birads 3 lesion at 12 oclock position .
subsequently , her metastatic work - up included abdominal pelvic ultrasound , chest computed tomography and bone scan .
intra - operatively , during the axillary lymph node dissection , we encountered an unusual muscle slip crossing the axilla from the ld muscle to the posterior surface of the pectoralis major muscle anterior to the axillary vein .
all neurovascular structures and lymphoid tissue were lying posterior to this abnormal muscle ( fig . 1 ) .
figure 1:aa muscle extending from ld muscle to under surface of pectoralis major tendon in the left axilla crossing over axillary neurovascular structures ( in view ) .
aa , axillary arch ; pm , pectoralis major ; ld , latissimus dorsi muscle ; av , axillary vein ; tnb , thoracodorsal neurovascular bundle ; ltn , long thoracic nerve . aa muscle extending from ld muscle to under surface of pectoralis major tendon in the left axilla crossing over axillary neurovascular structures ( in view ) .
aa , axillary arch ; pm , pectoralis major ; ld , latissimus dorsi muscle ; av , axillary vein ; tnb , thoracodorsal... | langer 's arch is the best - known anatomic variant of definite surgical implication in the region of the axilla .
this rare anomaly is a muscular slip extending from the latissimus dorsi ( ld ) muscle to the tendons , muscles or fasciae around the superior part of the humerus . in this report
, we present a rare case of left axillary arch . during modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer , we encountered an abnormal muscle slip crossing the axilla from the ld muscle to the posterior surface of the pectoralis major muscle anterior to the neurovascular structures .
preoperative knowledge is essential to identify such unusual anomaly and avoid potential complications both intra- and postoperatively . |
7,385 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: a substantial body of research reports of illness related distress and its impact on quality of life for the person living with illness as well as for their significant others ( i.e. , spouses and family caregivers ) is available .
there are , however , few studies that focus on the family system and describe illness experiences from the perspective of the family as a unit .
these studies show that living with illness is experienced as family vulnerability , helplessness , strain , and suffering , as a struggle to make sense and maintain normality in family living and as bringing about difficulties in family relationships .
the results from the above reported system focused studies point to a need to expand the focus for care in order to support families living with illness and also to broaden the concept of health to embrace the family as a unit , that is , family health . family health has been described as an interactional , holistic , and dynamic phenomenon positing circular causality and comprising biological , psychological , spiritual , sociological , and cultural aspects of well - being both on an individual and family level .
the theoretical ground for this understanding is system theory which focuses on interactions among the various parts of a system and the system as a whole .
one example of this systemic view is newman 's theory of health as expanding consciousness in which individuals are seen as open systems that constantly interact with their environment .
one family member 's illness is reflected in the pattern of family interaction and when these patterns are made conscious , health will be gained .
although research findings and system theories suggest that chronic illness has an impact on the family as a unit , the health care system is typically patient focused and family systems needs are notably unmet .
recently published reviews of family interventions [ 814 ] show that interventions provided by health care often are characterized as psychoeducational versus relationship focused... | research shows that living with illness can be a distressing experience for the family and may result in suffering and reduced health . to meet families ' needs ,
family systems intervention models are developed and employed in clinical contexts .
for successful refinement and implementation it is important to understand how these models work .
the aim of this study was therefore to describe the dialogue process and possible working mechanisms of one systems nursing intervention model , the family health conversation model .
a descriptive evaluation design was applied and 15 transcribed conversations with five families were analyzed within a hermeneutic tradition .
two types of interrelated dialogue events were identified : narrating and exploring .
there was a flow between these events , a movement that was generated by the interaction between the participants .
our theoretically grounded interpretation showed that narrating , listening , and reconsidering in interaction may be understood as supporting family health by offering the families the opportunity to constitute self - identity and identity within the family , increasing the families ' understanding of multiple ways of being and acting , to see new possibilities and to develop meaning and hope .
results from this study may hopefully contribute to the successful implementation of family systems interventions in education and clinical praxis . |
7,386 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the nerve damage is more common after brachial plexus injury coming up at birth or it follows nerve trunks injury that occurred for different causes.15 primarily , options for the nerve repair are either direct neurorrhaphy or interposition of nerve grafting according to the appearance and the gap of nerve stumps .
the neurotization is another technique of nerve repairing that offers an additional support for nerve recovery , especially in brachial plexus reconstruction.67 the insertion of nerve conduits ( tubulization ) for bridging a nerve defect has been recently proposed by many authors , who have obtained interesting results , mainly during adulthood.8 the tubulization can be carried out with two different kind of structure , namely biological or synthetic conduits . among the biological conduits , vein graft represents a biological structure that , filled up with muscle or nerve inductors , connects the nerve stumps while among the synthetic tubes
different materials have been proposed . during the years , many both reabsorbable and not reabsorbable ( polylactic acid , collagen , silicon etc . )
synthetic nerve conduits have been used.9 although several reports about nerve conduit substitution of sensitive nerve in the adult have been published , few papers about mixed nerve repair have been written.1011 moreover , despite the fact that bridging nerve defect is not a new technique , up to now few reports about the use of tubulization in children have been published , especially since the repair is mostly directed to mixed or motor nerves rather than the repair of sensitive nerve trunks . although previous experiences in children have already been published , except for obstetrical brachial plexus reconstruction.1213 to the best of our knowledge there are no literature reports on upper and lower limb nerve repair by means of tubulization in pediatric age . in 2006 , the st .
louis group reported their experience in the use of re absorbable collagen nerve guides for primary repair of seven obstetrical... | background : direct neurorrhaphy , nerve grafting interposition and neurotization are the options for nerve repair in children , whereas few reports about using nerve conduits ( tubulization ) are referred to pediatrics in the literature .
the authors present their experience about nerve repairing by means of nerve tubes during the developmental age when the harvesting of nerve grafts and also vein grafts of adequate caliber for bridging nerve defects is difficult .
a critical review of their case series offers indications for using nerve conduits in pediatrics.materials and methods : fifteen patients were treated using the nerve tubulization ; nine patients were affected by obstetrical brachial plexus palsy ( obpp ) while six were suffering from peripheral nerve injuries ( pnis).results : in patients suffering from obpp , we observed 1 good , 3 fair and 5 bad results . in the pni group , we observed 4 patients who had good results while only 2 had a bad outcome .
no fair results were observed.conclusions:in peripheral nerve repairing in children by using nerve conduits , the outcome has been widely effective even when dealing with mixed and motor nerve , thus nerve tubulization might be considered as an alternative to nerve grafting .
conversely , considering the uncertain result obtained in brachial plexus repairing , the conduits can not be considered as a first choice of treatment in brachial plexus reconstruction . |
7,387 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: tumors arising on true vocal cords result in hoarseness at an early stage , and the incidence of positive lymph nodes for t1 - 2 glottic cancer is low due to minimal lymphatic drainage . based on clinical presentations and a favorable prognosis ,
the aim of therapeutic management is not only tumor control but also preservation of laryngeal function .
radiotherapy ( rt ) and co2 laser excision are the first choice of treatments for early glottic cancer . although both modalities produce similar outcomes , rt is the preferred option for improved voice quality , especially in cases of bulky tumors , infiltrative growth pattern , and tumors with anterior commissural involvement .
the historical data reported 5-year overall survival rates of 80%-85% and local control rate of 79% .
in current retrospective studies , the 5-year local control rates were 85%-95% for t1 and 70%-80% for t2 with definitive rt , and cause - specific survival rates were usually higher than 90% [ 7 - 11 ] .
however , the total rt dose , fractionation scheme , and target volume have been dependent on the institution s policy .
the purpose of this study is to present our long - term results of definitive rt for early - stage squamous cell carcinoma of the glottis .
we analyzed the prognostic factors that had a significant impact on local tumor control and evaluated patterns of failure .
after receiving an approval from the institutional review board , we reviewed 438 patients with malignancy in the glottic larynx referred to our clinic between january 1981 and december 2010 .
two hundred twenty - two consecutive cases of t1n0 or t2n0 glottic cancer treated with definitive rt were identified . in our institution ,
patients with synchronous primary cancer and with medical history of prior surgery of the neck or chemotherapy were excluded .
the american joint committee on cancer ( ajcc ) staging system used in this study was t1 for a tumor confined to a single ( t1a ) vocal cord or both ( t1b ) vocal cords , and t2 for a tumor with supraglottic... | purposethis study evaluates the long - term results of definitive radiotherapy ( rt ) for early glottic cancer .
clinical and treatment factors related to local control and patterns of failure are analyzed.materials and methodswe retrospectively reviewed 222 patients with t1 - 2n0 squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic larynx treated with definitive rt from 1981 to 2010 .
none of the patients received elective nodal rt or combined chemotherapy .
the median total rt dose was 66 gy .
the daily fraction size was < 2.5 gy in 69% and 2.5 gy in 31% of patients .
the rt field extended from the hyoid bone to the cricoid cartilage.resultsthe median age was 60 years , and 155 patients ( 70% ) had t1 disease .
the 5-year rates of local recurrence - free survival ( lrfs ) and ultimate lrfs with voice preservation were 87.8% and 90.3% , respectively .
t2 ( hazard ratio [ hr ] , 2.30 ; 95% confidence interval [ ci ] , 1.08 to 4.94 ) and anterior commissural involvement ( hr , 3.37 ; 95% ci , 1.62 to 7.02 ) were significant prognostic factors for lrfs . in 34 patients with local recurrence , tumors recurred in the ipsilateral vocal cord in 28 patients .
there were no contralateral vocal cord recurrences .
most acute complications included grade 1 - 2 dysphagia and/or hoarseness .
there was no grade 3 or greater chronic toxicity.conclusiondefinitive rt achieved a high cure rate , voice preservation , and tolerable toxicity in early glottic cancer .
t2 stage and anterior commissural involvement were prognostic factors for local control .
further optimization of the rt method is needed to reduce the risk of ipsilateral tumor recurrence . |
7,388 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the control of the disease in nigeria is coordinated by the national tuberculosis and leprosy control programme ( ntblcp ) in line with the
stop tb partnership initiatives whose ultimate target is to eliminate tb as a public health problem ( less than 1 case per million population ) by the year 2050.1 however , nigeria is a setting where several healthcare options ( medical pluralism),2 including orthodox medicine ( public , private , or drug stores ) , traditional medicine , spiritual healers etc . , operate freely ; the public health facilities within which the tb control programme operates is distanced from the people and are often not the first choice during health seeking decisions .
therefore , for the above target to be achievable in nigeria using the current passive detection strategy , the people at the community level should be empowered with adequate knowledge of the growing burden of the disease and accessible potentials for cure .
furthermore , nigeria is a very populous nation that is divided into several administrative units ( states ) with varying ethnicity , socio - economic and health indices .
unfortunately , the public rarely knows the tb burdens from the states of nigeria , and this may be contributing to the prevailing inappropriate care seeking behaviour and poor awareness of the disease in nigeria.3 it thus seems that the tb data of various states ministries of health are meant only for generating national estimates and reports such that the general public as well as most health workers are not aware of the disease burden and accessibility of effective treatment .
it is our believe that if information on the magnitude of tb burden generated from directly observed treatment , short - course ( dots ) centres in nigeria are fed back to the people through the existing community structures such as women meetings etc .
this belief is supported by a study which showed that the average delay by patients in southern nigeria ( including enugu state ) before presenting to dots centres was 3... | background : the burden of tuberculosis ( tb ) in nigeria is high .
unfortunately , the data from the tb programme of the states ministries of health are usually unpublished , which possibly contribute to the prevailing ignorance and poor attitude of nigerians to the disease .
this study determined the trends of tb burden and treatment outcome in enugu state , nigeria ; and relate the state 's disease burden to that of the nation.materials and methods : a descriptive study of secondary data from the tb control programme , ministry of health , enugu state , the national annual report of 2008 , and world health organisation ( who ) tb database for the 10-year period of 2000-2009.results:the number of female tb cases was higher than males within the 0 - 14 age group only .
the annual number of all tb cases showed a rising trend from 914 cases in the year 2000 to 1684 in 2009 ; but the proportion of new sputum smear ( ss+ ) pulmonary tuberculosis ( ptb ) cases declined ( trend x2 = 7.37 , p = 0.007 ) .
the average number of extra - pulmonary tb cases increased fourfold from 2000 - 2004 to 2005 - 2009 ( 36 versus 150 cases ) .
the median treatment success rate was 82% ( range : 78 - 85 ) .
for the period 2004 - 2008 , 2.0% of all new ss + pbt cases reported in nigeria , originated from enugu state .
the proportion of new ss + ptb reported in enugu state was significantly higher than national value ( 59.6% versus 52.6% ) [ p <
0.001 , or = 1.33 ( 95% ci : 1.26 , 1.40)].conclusion : the burden of tb in enugu state of nigeria had increased over the period reviewed
. however , the state 's contribution to the disease burden in nigeria was low . |
7,389 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: atrial septal defect ( asd ) is one of the most common congenital heart diseases encountered in outpatient clinics .
surgical closure has traditionally been accepted as the gold standard treatment for an asd with volume overloading .
transcatheter device closure was developed as an alternative to surgery by king et al.1 ) in 1976 and accepted as a safe and effective treatment replacing surgical closure since the 2001 approval of the amplatzer septal occluder ( aso ) ( st .
however , due to the unfavorable anatomy of secundum asd , a detailed evaluation of asd has become crucial for device closure2,3 ) .
thus , an evaluation of asd in terms of successful transcatheter device closure is needed .
transthoracic echocardiography ( tte ) is the gold standard for diagnosing asd and has excellent sensitivity in young patients .
in general , the subcostal view will definitely show asd , and the apical four - chamber view and the parasternal short axis view are also helpful for making the diagnosis .
however , when tte imaging is poor due to obesity , previous thoracic surgery , or large breasts , transesophageal echocardiography ( tee ) is an alternative that provides excellent images .
high - resolution contrast computed tomography ( ct ) and advanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) can also be used to delineate asd .
the general indications for closure include evidence of right cardiac volume overload even without symptoms . before deciding on closure , bidirectional shunt and pulmonary hypertension associated with asd should be evaluated with pulmonary vasodilators or the balloon occlusion test4 ) .
indications for the closure of asd in adults and children have been published by the american heart association5,6 ) .
most asds are asymptomatic , but symptomatic asds should be corrected surgically at any age .
elective surgical closure of asymptomatic asds is performed at 3 - 5 years of age7 ) .
transcatheter closure of an asd with the aso has been recommended for patients weighing > 15 kg .
however , the... | transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects has become a popular procedure .
the availability of a preprocedural imaging study is crucial for a safe and successful closure .
both the anatomy and morphology of the defect should be precisely evaluated before the procedure .
three - dimensional ( 3d ) echocardiography and cardiac computed tomography are helpful for understanding the morphology of a defect , which is important because different defect morphologies could variously impact the results . during the procedure
, real - time 3d echocardiography can be used to guide an accurate closure .
the safety and efficiency of transcatheter closures of atrial septal defects could be improved through the use of detailed imaging studies . |
7,390 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the frequency of umbilical cord blood transplantation ( cbt ) from unrelated donors has increased among adult patients who require allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation but have no suitable bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donors .
although very rare , there are reports of patients who have undergone cbt and subsequently developed cutaneous disseminated vzv infection .
there is a lack of detailed information on the clinical course and serological findings in such cases . here
, we report in detail the clinical course and serological findings of a case of vzv reinfection in an adult post cbt , which appeared clinically to be varicella and followed a severe and prolonged course .
a 50-year - old japanese man with a history of cbt for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in march 2009 developed remittent fever and fatigue on 25 august 2010 .
subsequently , he noticed an itchy skin eruption and visited our dermatology department on 1 september , 2010 .
physical examination revealed sparsely distributed vesicles , some with umbilication , and small erythematous erosions on the face , anterior chest , upper back , and upper extremities [ figure 1a , b ] .
histological analysis of a vesicle showed an intraepidermal blister containing degenerated balloon cells [ figure 1c , d ] . within a few days
, there was widespread eruption of vesicles and bullae over the body [ figure 1e , f ] and the fever became continuous .
clinical appearance of the skin lesions at day 3 : ( a ) erythematous erosion in the region of the left eyebrow and ( b ) an umbilicated vesicle .
histological findings in a vesicle on the right forearm : ( c ) acanthosis with intraepidermal blisters and a mild perivascular infiltration of lymphocytes in the upper dermis ( hematoxylin and eosin ; original magnification 40 ) and
( d ) an intraepidermal blister containing degenerated balloon cells ( hematoxylin and eosin ; original magnification 200 ) . clinical appearance of the skin lesion at day 10 : scattered vesicles and bulla , some of... | most varicella - zoster virus ( vzv ) infections after cord blood transplantation ( cbt ) present as localized herpes zoster . here
, we report a case of vzv reinfection in an adult patient after cbt that appeared clinically to be varicella .
a 50-year - old japanese man underwent cbt for the management of acute lymphoblastic leukemia .
seventeen months later , he developed a small number of vesicles with umbilicated centers .
a skin biopsy showed an intraepidermal blister containing degenerated balloon cells .
subsequently , the skin eruption developed over his entire body .
the patient was treated with intravenous acyclovir for 5 days , followed by oral valacyclovir for 9 days .
it took more than 3 weeks for most of the skin lesions to scab .
serum levels of anti - vzv igg on days 3 and 33 after the onset of the skin eruption were negative and 260 miu / ml , respectively .
serum anti - vzv igm on days 3 and 33 was not detected .
our patient was diagnosed with vzv reinfection . |
7,391 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: vitiligo is the most common depigmenting disorder , with a worldwide occurrence of 0.1 - 2% in general population .
multiple conditions have been described colocalized in vitiligo patches , like psoriasis or lichen planus .
however , actinic granuloma has not been described in association with vitiligo lesions so far .
actinic granuloma was first described by o'brien in 1975 as an uncommon disease , most frequently presented in middle - aged women [ 6 , 7 ] .
some authors consider actinic granuloma a subtype of annular granuloma and others a different entity .
we report the case of a 50-year - old woman , who was referred to our dermatology department in 2006 with a diagnosis of lip - tip vitiligo .
the milky patches were located in the face , on the dorsum of the hands , and on the forearms and legs .
no diagnosis of lupus , sarcoidosis or other dermatologic diseases could be elucidated in her medical or family history .
she was treated with topical steroids ( clovate cream ) and topical tacrolimus ( protopic 0.1% ointment ) , with poor response in achral lesions . oral puva therapy with 8-mop was started in 2007 , obtaining a moderate repigmentation in distal areas .
in june 2009 , during a routine follow - up , the patient complained that non - pruriginous lesions had appeared in her hands 2 weeks ago . on physical examination
, she presented with multiple asymptomatic , erythematous , annular plaques and solitary papules 5 - 10 mm in diameter , located on the dorsum of both hands , strictly confined to vitiliginous lesions .
full blood count , liver and renal function and urine analysis were all in normal ranges . based on the clinical picture , presumptive diagnosis of coincident vitiligo and annular granuloma was made .
fibers phagocyted by the histiocytes were seen , too . besides , absence of melanocytes in fontana - masson staining was demonstrated .
several articles have suggested that annular and actinic granuloma are different conditions based on histopathological characteristics .
different terms... | vitiligo is the most common depigmenting disorder , with a worldwide occurrence of 0.1 - 2% in the general population .
multiple conditions have been described colocalized in vitiligo patches , like psoriasis or lichen planus .
however , actinic granuloma has not been described in association with vitiligo lesions so far . |
7,392 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: it is estimated that 85 millions pregnancies occurred in plasmodium falciparum malaria - endemic areas .
this pathology is among the main causes of the low birth weight ( lbw ) [ 2 , 3 ] , resulting from 3% to 8% neonatal and infant deaths .
this led the world health organization ( who ) to recommend a package of affordable interventions including the use of the insecticide - treated nets ( itns ) , the intermittent presumptive treatment ( ipt ) with sulfadoxine - pyrimethamine ( sp ) , and the effective case management of clinical malaria with recommended antimalarials .
the ipt with sp ( ipt - sp ) is given free of charge under direct observed therapy ( dot ) during the antenatal clinics ( ancs ) at regular predefined intervals of time , with the aim to achieve the clearance of the existing plasmodium falciparum asymptomatic infection ( therapeutic effect ) and the suppression of new maternal infections ( prophylactic effect ) over a period of time .
at least two doses of ipt - sp are recommended during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy .
the occurring of clinical malaria should be treated with quinine or artemisinin - based combinations .
quinine is considered to be a safe drug along all the period of the pregnancy , but safety data of artemisinin derivatives during the first trimester of pregnancy are limited , thus it should not be prescribed in this period .
ongoing assessments on the compliance of health care providers with national policy on malaria treatment are needed .
actually , no published data on prescribing practices in accordance to these new strategies are available in central african republic ( car ) and elsewhere .
since 2006 , the car malaria control programme is implementing the who new guidelines on malaria management [ 4 , 6 ] .
the training seminars of the health care providers ( nurses , midwives and midwives assistants , medical officers ) from public and private health centers were achieved . the supervision and the field training visit
the aim of this study... | introduction .
the aim of this study was to identify the antimalarials prescribed during the pregnancy and to document their timing . method . from june to september 2009 , a survey was conducted on 565 women who gave birth in the castors maternity in bangui .
the antenatal clinics cards were checked in order to record the types of antimalarials prescribed during pregnancy according to gestational age .
results .
a proportion of 28.8% anc cards contained at least one antimalarial prescription .
the commonest categories of antimalarials prescribed were : quinine ( 56.7% ) , artemisinin - based combinations ( 26.8% ) and artemisinin monotherapy ( 14.4% ) . among the prescriptions that occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy ,
artemisinin - based combinations and artemisinin monotherapies represented the proportions of ( 10.9% ) and ( 13.3% ) . respectively .
conclusion .
this study showed a relatively high rate ( > 80% ) of the recommended antimalarials prescription regarding categories of indicated antimalarials from national guidelines .
but , there is a concern about the prescription of the artemisinin derivatives in the first trimester of pregnancy , and the prescription of artemisinin monotherapy .
thus , the reinforcement of awareness activities of health care providers on the national malaria treatment during pregnancy is suggested . |
7,393 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: chronic myelogenous leukemia ( cml ) is a chronic myeloproliferative disorder which remains in chronic phase for a variable period followed by accelerated phase and later blast crisis .
various drugs have been used in the management of cml and these are busulfan , alpha - interferon , hydroxyurea , and imatinib , the last mentioned , a tyrosine kinase inhibitor . in last three decades , the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv ) infection has been on the rise .
the immunodeficiency state makes the patient vulnerable to various infections . with the introduction of anti - retroviral therapy and modern antibiotics , the long - term survival of hiv patients
has certainly improved and now hiv is considered as chronic infection . however , it is also observed that there has been an increase in the incidence of cancers in hiv afflicted patients .
there are few case reports about development of cml in hiv-1 patients in adult and pediatric age groups .
we report a case here , where cml was diagnosed earlier and while the treatment was ongoing , hiv infection was detected .
it was observed that the patient not only responded favorably to hydroxyurea , as far as cml was concerned , but is maintaining good health in the presence of hiv infection .
the first case where both these conditions were coexisting was reported in 1995 . in this patient ,
record a case of congenital hiv infection who had cml for more than 10 years .
this patient was treated with antiretroviral agent , zidovudine for hiv and alpha - interferon for coexisting cml webb studied 10 patients in whom cml and hiv was coexistent .
the response to imatinib and combination anti - retroviral therapy ( cart ) was excellent .
combination of imatinib with highly active retroviral therapy was shown to have a good control of cml and hiv over a period of 69 months . in 1997 ,
complete cytogenetic response was documented with a combination of alpha - interferon and zidovudine in an asymptomatic patient of cml and hiv .
before tyrosine - kinase inhibitors... | association of cancer and hiv infection is seen in practice . commonly observed cancer in hiv infected patients are non - hodgkin 's lymphoma , cervical cancer and kaposi sarcoma , coexistent chronic myelogenous leukemia ( cml ) and hiv infection are rare .
we report a case where these two diseases were found in a patient and were treated with a single agent hydroxyurea . |
7,394 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: dental profession is not only restricted to examination , investigation , diagnosis and treatment of oral- and oro - facial lesions of local origin but also to serve in other community services and legal matters .
dentist has a pivotal role in the identification of person as mouth provides with infinite evidence because of the distinctive features of teeth , lips and palate . the wrinkles and grooves on labial mucosa , called as sulci labiorum forms a characteristic pattern called as lip prints .
( from the greek word cheilos : lips , e skopein : see ) is the name given to lip print studies .
the importance of cheiloscopy is linked to the fact that lip prints are unique to one person except in monozygotic twins .
the second prints of interest , which are highly individualistic and forms the basis for personal identification in forensic examinations are fingerprints .
each individual possesses a unique set of minute raised ridges on volar pads called friction ridge skin .
these clear and apparent unique outlines of the ridges are called fingerprints . due to the immense potential of fingerprints and lip prints as an effective method of identification
an attempt has been made in the present work to investigate whether the lip prints are unique to any fingerprint in the population under investigation and to see if this association will help in the identification of the person at the scene of crime .
the study sample comprised 100 students randomly selected from bapuji dental college hospital , davangere , karnataka , 50 males and 50 females aged between 18 and 20 years .
consent for the study was taken from all the individuals and ethical clearance from the institution was obtained for the same .
materials used for recording lip prints and thumbprints were : red colored lipstick and lip brush , no . 1 whatman filter paper , magnifying lens .
the lips of the individuals were cleaned and outline of the lip was marked with sharp lip liner pencil no 15 .
lipstick was applied uniformly on the lips by a lipstick... | context : identification of person living or dead using diverse characteristics is the basis in forensic science .
the uniqueness of lip and fingerprints and further , association between them can be useful in establishing facts in legal issues.aims:the present study was carried out to determine the distribution of different lip print patterns among subjects having different thumbprint patterns and to determine the correlation between lip print patterns and thumbprint patterns.materials and methods : the study sample comprised 100 students randomly selected from bapuji dental college hospital , davangere , karnataka , 50 males and 50 females aged between 18 and 20 years .
red colored lipstick was applied on the lips by a lipstick applicator brush .
lip and thumb impressions were made on no .
1 whatman filter paper and visualized using magnifying lens .
three main types of fingerprints ( loop , whorl and arch ) were identified ; tsuchihashi y classification of lip print patterns was followed in the study .
chi - square test was used to see the association between lip and thumbprints.results:the correlation between lip and left thumb print patterns for gender identification was statistically significant . in both males and females ,
type ii lip pattern associated with loop finger pattern were most significant and in males , type iii lip pattern with whorl type of finger pattern showed statistical significance.conclusion:we conclude that the correlation found between lip print and thumbprint can be utilized in the field of forensic science for gender identification . |
7,395 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: ewing 's sarcoma ( es ) was first described as an osteolytic bone tumor composed of malignant , small round cells by james ewing in 1921 .
extraosseous ewing 's sarcoma was first described by tefft in 1969 ; it is a rare , malignant mesenchymal tumor similar to intraosseous es . since its characterization in 1980s
, this tumor has increasingly been reported from diverse sites including the oral cavity , salivary glands , subcutis , lung , heart , pericardium , biliary tract , kidney , urinary bladder , uterine corpus and cervix , gonads , pancreas , vagina , rectovaginal septum , prostate , esophagus , and stomach . to the best of our knowledge ,
no reports of its occurrence in the lesser sac have been documented in the literature .
a 47-year - old woman presented with a short history of abdominal pain of 15 days duration .
physical examination revealed an epigastric mass measuring 7 8 cm , which was firm in consistency and moving with respiration .
examination suggested a large , well - defined , heterogenously enhancing mass measuring 12 15 cm with an epicenter in the lesser sac and loss of fat planes with the body and part of the tail of the pancreas and posterior wall of stomach .
the possibility of an exophytic pancreatic mass or exophytic gastrointestinal stromal tumor ( gist ) from the posterolateral wall of the stomach was proposed ( fig .
1 ) . the patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy , which showed a tumor in the lesser sac abutting the left dome of the diaphragm dorsally , the splenic hilum to the left , the transverse mesocolon inferiorly , and the posterior wall of stomach anteriorly .
the tumor extended posterior to the stomach and was firmly adherent to the pancreatic tissue .
excision of the tumor with a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy was performed and the specimen was received in our laboratory for histopathological examination and diagnosis .
grossly , the tumor was well - circumscribed , partly encapsulated , measured 10 15 cm , and weighed 830 g. the tail of the pancreas... | extraosseous ewing 's sarcoma / primitive neuroectodermal tumor ( es / pnet ) is an uncommon , aggressive , and malignant tumor with a poor patient outcome .
its occurrence in the lesser sac is a rare event and to the best of our knowledge , has not been previously described .
the present case was clinically and radiologically misdiagnosed as a pancreatic tumor / gastrointestinal stromal tumor .
histopathology revealed a tumor with " small round cells " that were positive for cd99 , confirming the diagnosis of es / pnet .
this report highlights the importance of considering ewing 's sarcoma in the differential diagnosis of intraabdominal , extraintestinal masses . |
7,396 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: stress / strain redistributions occurring within mandibular bone as a result of prosthodontic treatments are highly complex and an understanding of the biomechanical factors ( strains ) initiating bone remodelling due to prosthodontic procedures has not been conclusive so far .
for this reason an in - depth understanding of the biological activity in the supporting abutments and bone structures is required as a means for possible improving the outcomes of such restorations .
therefore a detailed biomechanical model becomes essential , especially in typical clinical cases , in order to develop a computational biomechanical simulation capable of identifying the quantitative mechanical response to fixed prosthodontic treatment .
fixed partial dentures are commonly used as a conservative prosthodontic treatment option in restorative dentistry with proven clinical reliability [ 2 , 3 ] and have played an integral role in the rehabilitation of oral function for years .
however , the rigid construction of fpd systems changes the local biomechanical status , whereby bone may model and remodel to accommodate a new loading environment .
thus a critical factor that determines the long - term success of fpds is how occlusal forces are transferred to the surrounding root abutments , periodontal ligament ( pdl ) , and bone .
bone remodelling is dependent on the maximum load experienced throughout its load history ; however , remodelling is also characterised by the number of daily cycles that are consistent with mastication [ 5 , 6 ] . in typical three - unit fixed partial dentures ,
the tooth root abutment - bone interface must be able to tolerate changes in occlusal force behaviour without instigating adverse bone tissue responses . in this sense , understanding the effect of biomechanics on biological response is a key step to optimal design of an fpd .
in general , the three main biomechanical issues related to an fpd are ( 1 ) mechanical loading , ( 2 ) transmission of the load to the interfacial tissues , and ( ... | an understanding of functional responses in oral bone is a crucial component of dental biomechanics .
the purpose of this study was to investigate the potential biological remodelling response during mastication on the mandibular pre- and post - insertion of a fixed partial denture ( fpd ) .
a series of three - dimensional ( 3d ) finite element analysis ( fea ) models were presented pre- and postextraction to determine the biomechanical responses to masticatory loading in the anterior mandible .
equivalent strains were analysed at lingual / buccal and mesial / distal areas of the premolar to molar region and quantified to anticipate bone remodelling response .
mandibular bone incorporating an fpd experienced substantially greater stress / strain magnitudes than that prior to placement of fixed prosthodontics , which is suggestive of engagements of bone remodelling .
the results suggest similar outcomes to those reported clinically . developing a simulation reflecting the outcomes of restorative treatment can provide meaningful insight into restorative treatment planning , clinical outcomes , and fixed prosthodontics designs . |
7,397 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the density of bone site is a determining factor in treatment planning and initial progressive bone loading during prosthetic reconstruction . amongst the various classifications proposed , the misch 's and lekholm 's and zarb 's categorization of bone quality were more clinically applicable .
but , irrespective of the difference , all the bone types were treated with the standard protocol . in 1988 , misch described four groups independent of the regions of the jaws , based on macroscopic cortical and trabecular bone characteristics as follows : d1 : dense cortical bone ; d2 : thick dense to porous cortical bone ; d3 : thin porous cortical bone on crest ; d4 : fine trabecular bone and d5 : immature bone .
it is difficult to obtain anchorage in the less dense bone which results in low success rate . in a meta - analysis
, it was found that bone quality was responsible for 7.7% of all implant losses .
compromised bone may cause both early and late failures . with the ever - increasing number of manufacturers with innovative fixture designs and patients who accept the modality as a permanent rehabilitation for missing teeth
, the greater research with the improved designs on the soft bone is the need of the hour .
the present study was done to determine the survival of maestro in the d3 and d4 jaw bone by evaluating annual peri - implant soft tissue health and the bone height around the implants . because the bone is strongest in compression and 65% weaker in shear , a square thread shape is designed such that it results in 10 times less shearing force than with a conventional v - shaped thread .
fourteen patients ( 10 males and 4 females ) were selected from the out patient department of periodontics , bapuji dental college and hospital , davangere , india on a written consent - to - treat agreement .
the patients aged in the range of 1850 years with a single missing tooth , well - compliant with the oral hygiene instructions and with good dental and general health ; but who did not present with parafunctional... | aim : in the less dense bone , it is difficult to obtain implant anchorage . the present study was undertaken to determine the survival rate of maestro implants placed in d3 and d4 bones.materials and methods : fourteen patients ( 10 males and 4 females ) were selected for the study and implants were evaluated for posttreatment changes in at 3 , 6 , 9 and 12 months from implant placement .
the implant probing depth and mobility were recorded 3 and 6 months after prosthesis placement .
also , peri - implant bone level was assessed at the baseline and 12 months postoperatively , followed by a statistical analysis.results:the mean plaque and gingival indices showed a reduction at repeated intervals .
the mean sulcular bleeding showed a slight reduction which was statistically significant .
an overall mean bone loss was observed after 12 months follow - up , which was statistically not significant .
the overall survival rate of implants was reported as 92.3%.conclusion : the specific implant used in the study is advantageous in the soft bone condition.clinical significance : although , there is a great evidence of implant failure in compromised jaw quality , the newer designs and approaches suggest that the poor quality is not a contraindication . |
7,398 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: speaking one language rather than another involves selecting and articulating words that meet the intended meaning . the precise way in which this process is controlled may depend on the language context .
we contrast a context in which a speaker uses just one of their languages to name objects in an experimental session with one where they are required to switch between languages on the basis of a color cue .
for example , blue may signal that the picture is to be named in italian whereas red may signal that it is to be named in german . in principle , only one language need be active in the single language context whereas both languages must be active in the dual language context .
however , research indicates that the languages of bilingual speakers can be jointly active ( e.g. , dijkstra et al . , 1998 ; van hell and dijkstra , 2002 ; von studnitz and green , 2002 , see van heuven and dijkstra , 2010 for a review ) at least to the level of phonology even in a context that requires just a single language ( wu and thierry , 2010b ) .
given joint activation , bilingual speakers may resolve language conflict by suppressing the non - target language at some locus ( green , 1986 , 1998 ; linck et al .
, 2009 ; philipp and koch , 2009 ; macizo et al . , 2010 ; snyder et al .
, 2010 ; hoshino and thierry , 2011 ) or by restricting competition to words within the target language in some other manner ( e.g. , costa and caramazza , 1999 ; elston - gttler , et al . , 2005 ; finkbeiner et al .
does this mean then that the selection process is identical in the single language and in the dual language context ?
we take as our point of departure the idea that anguage control involves a cortical subcortical circuit ( abutalebi and green , 2007 , 2008 ) and consider whether or not language context ( single or dual ) modulates activity in the circuit .
a major cue is that regions in the left inferior frontal cortex , anterior cingulate cortex ( acc ) and caudate respond differently as a function of the experimental context... | this paper proposes that different experimental contexts ( single or dual language contexts ) permit different neural loci at which words in the target language can be selected .
however , in order to develop a fuller understanding of the neural circuit mediating language control we need to consider the community context in which bilingual speakers typically use their two languages ( the behavioral ecology of bilingual speakers ) .
the contrast between speakers from code - switching and non - code - switching communities offers a way to increase our understanding of the cortical , subcortical and , in particular , cerebellar structures involved in language control .
it will also help us identify the non - verbal behavioral correlates associated with these control processes |
7,399 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: a thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm ( taaa ) is characterized by enlargement of the aortic segment at the diaphragmatic crura and extends for variable distance proximally and/or distally from this point .
historically , open surgical repair of taaas has involved greater operative risk than repairs of aneurysms in other aortic segments .
the main sources of morbidity during operative repair of taaas are multiorgan failure , paraplegia and respiratory , cardiac or renal complications .
experienced surgical centers now report lower mortality and morbidity rates for taaa repair than they once did , largely because of the use of adjuncts to prevent end - organ ischemia .
the recent introduction of endovascular techniques may extend the indications of taaa repair to high - risk patients , whose only alternative is now represented by the best medical therapy .
conventional treatment of taaas consists of graft replacement with reattachment of the main aortic branches . a multimodal approach
is currently used to reduce the trauma of surgery by maximizing organ protection . the surgical technique used , as the extension of the aneurysm , has a significant impact on the outcome of the procedure .
thoracoabdominal incision and aortic exposure the patient is positioned with a beanbag in right lateral decubitus ( shoulders 60 , pelvis 30 ) .
the upper portion of the thoracoabdominal incision is made through the 6th intercostal space ; anterolaterally , the incision curves gently as it crosses the costal margin , reducing the risk of tissue necrosis .
the pleural space is entered after single right - lung ventilation is initiated ( figure 1 ) .
paralysis of the left hemidiaphragm by its radial division to the aortic hiatus would contribute significantly to postoperative respiratory failure , hence after thoracoabdominal incision , a circumferential section of the diaphragm is routinely carried out , sparing the phrenic center . under favorable anatomic conditions ,
a limited phrenotomy is carried out to preserve the... | conventional treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms ( taaas ) consists of graft replacement with reattachment of the main aortic branches . over the past 20 years
a multimodal approach has gradually evolved to reduce the trauma of surgery by maximizing organ protection , allowing experienced surgical centers to have better outcomes than previously reported .
however , mortality and morbidity associated to taaa open repair remain significant .
hybrid repair , consisting of open aortic debranching and revascularization followed by endovascular exclusion of the aneurysm , may extend the indications of taaa repair to high - risk patients that can not benefit from surgery , however results are still under evaluation .
aim of this paper is to illustrate the management and results of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms surgery with open techniques of organ protection and hybrid approach in our center . |
7,400 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: | many environmental chemicals and pesticides have been found to be estrogenic and have been shown to stimulate the growth of estrogen receptor - positive ( er - positive ) human breast cancer cells . since it is difficult to avoid human exposure to environmental estrogens , a potentially important area of research is the development of dietary strategies to prevent the stimulated growth of breast tumors by environmental estrogens . in this context , the inhibitory action of curcumin and a combination of curcumin and isoflavonoids were studied in er - positive human breast cancer cells ( mcf-7 and t47d ) and er - negative mda - mb-231 cells induced by the pesticide o , p'-ddt and the environmental pollutants 4-nonylphenol and 4-octylphenol .
the median inhibitory concentration ( ic50 ) for curcumin in t47d cells was 10 microm when measured at either a 48-hr or a 6-day incubation time .
the ic50 value for curcumin was within the 8 - 10 microm range for inhibiting the growth of t47d cells induced by a 10- microm concentration each of 4-nonylphenol , 4-octylphenol , and o , p'-ddt .
the ic50 for curcumin in mcf-7 cells induced by 10 microm of either o , p'-ddt , 4-octylphenol , or 4-nonylphenol were 9 , 39 , and > 50 microm , respectively .
a combination of curcumin and isoflavonoids was able to inhibit the induced growth of er - positive cells up to 95% . for mda - mb-231 cells ,
the ic50 for curcumin was 17 microm , which was reduced to 11 microm in the presence of 25 microm genistein .
curcumin and genistein induce drastic changes in the morphological shape of both er - positive and er - negative cells .
data presented here indicate that a mixture of curcumin and isoflavonoids is the most potent inhibitor against the growth of human breast tumor cells .
these data suggest that combinations of natural plant compounds may have preventive and therapeutic applications against the growth of breast tumors induced by environmental estrogens.imagesfigure 1figure 2figure 3figure 4figure 5figure 6 |
7,401 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: normal tension glaucoma ( ntg ) is an optic neuropathy associated with glaucomatous optic nerve head damage , progressive retinal nerve fiber layer thinning , characteristic visual field defects , open anterior chamber angles on gonioscopy and maximum intraocular pressure ( iop ) below 21 mmhg .
glaucoma is a major optic neuropathy characterized by significant death of retinal ganglion cells . according to global surveys , the second leading cause of blindness after cataracts is glaucoma .
glaucoma affects more than 66 million people and is the second leading cause of visual loss worldwide .
ntg accounted for 92% of primary open - angle glaucoma ( poag ) in a japanese population .
patients with ntg tend to be older than those with primary open angle glaucoma ( poag)female subjects have a higher prevalence of the disease than male counterpartsntg is more frequent among japanese peoplethe most important risk factor for glaucoma is elevated iop .
it has been established that high iop is a part of the pathogenic process of ntg ; however , the pressure theory can not sufficiently explain how ntg causes loss of vision .
multicenter clinical trials have confirmed the value of reducing iop both in poag and ntg .
there is yet to be a consensus regarding the specific relationship between iop and ntg .
however , in many cases the progression of gon has been observed even after lowering iop .
patients with ntg have wider diurnal fluctuations of iop as compared to the healthy population .
iop spikes may occur at night , and thus iops measured during office hours may miss nocturnal spikes in many patients .
associated changes in nocturnal orbital blood pressure and iop may affect optic nerve head blood perfusion differently in glaucomatous eyes as compared to healthy eyes , and this issue may also influence the susceptibility of the optic nerve to damagecentral corneal thickness ( cct ) in patients with ntg is lower than poag subjectsvascular dysfunction and ischemia have been considered as important factors in the... | normal tension glaucoma ( ntg ) is labelled when typical glaucomatous disc changes , visual field defects and open anterior chamber angles are associated with intraocular pressure ( iop ) constantly below 21 mmhg .
chronic low vascular perfusion , raynaud 's phenomenon , migraine , nocturnal systemic hypotension and over - treated systemic hypertension are the main causes of normal tension glaucoma
. goldmann applanation tonometry , gonioscopy , slit lamp biomicroscopy , optical coherence tomography and visual field analysis are the main tools of investigation for the diagnosis of ntg .
management follows the same principles of treatment for other chronic glaucomas : to reduce iop by a substantial amount , sufficient to prevent disabling visual loss .
treatment is generally aimed to lower iop by 30% from pre - existing levels to 12 - 14 mmhg .
betaxolol , brimonidine , prostaglandin analogues , trabeculectomy ( in refractory cases ) , systemic calcium channel blockers ( such as nifedipine ) and 24-hour monitoring of blood pressure are considered in the management of ntg .
the present review summarises risk factors , causes , pathogenesis , diagnosis and management of ntg . |
7,402 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in the iranian traditional medicine , anbarnesa smoke derived from burning female donkey s dung has long been used for treatment of inflammatory ulcers and infections of the middle and external ear with no significant side effects .
we conducted a systematic search in pubmed , medline , google , and google scholar databases to find studies on anbarnesa .
the keywords searched were as follows : anbarnesa , traditional medicine , medicinal smoke ,
donkey , dung , antimicrobial , inflammation , infection , and cytotoxicity .
literature review reveals that annas ( anbarnesa smoke ) enhances wound healing , decreases scar formation , inhibits growth of cancer cells ( hela and kb ) and has antimicrobial properties .
also , annas combined with propylene glycol is nontoxic in 1/64 , 1/128 , and 1/256 dilutions .
the constituents of anbarnesa smoke mainly possess antibacterial , anti - inflammatory , and growth inhibition effects on cancer cells .
considering the numerous side effects of synthetic drugs and advances in the alternative medicine in recent years , traditional medicine and herbal medications have gained the spotlight and found their way into modern medicine and dentistry ( 1 , 2 ) .
the iranian traditional medicine contains valuable information in this respect ( 3 ) . in iranian traditional medicine ,
anbarnesa smoke derived from burning female donkey s dung collected in spring has long been used for the treatment of inflammatory oral ulcers such as aphthous ulcers and other inflammatory conditions such as infections of the middle and external ear with no significant side effects ( 3 - 8 ) .
avicenna used anbarnesa smoke for vaginal infections and decreasing the duration of menstrual period and stanch bleeding ( 3 , 6 , 8) .
evidence shows that using the smoke of medicinal plants for treatment of diseases is common not only in iran , but also in over 50 countries ( 9 ) .
the preliminary research with contemporary standard methodology on the effects of this traditional treatment (... | context : in the iranian traditional medicine , anbarnesa smoke derived from burning female donkey s dung has long been used for treatment of inflammatory ulcers and infections of the middle and external ear with no significant side effects .
the aim of this study was to introduce anbarnesa and discuss its therapeutic effects.evidence acquisition : we conducted a systematic search in pubmed , medline , google , and google scholar databases to find studies on anbarnesa .
the keywords searched were as follows : anbarnesa , traditional medicine , medicinal smoke ,
donkey , dung , antimicrobial , inflammation , infection , and cytotoxicity.results:literature review reveals that annas ( anbarnesa smoke ) enhances wound healing , decreases scar formation , inhibits growth of cancer cells ( hela and kb ) and has antimicrobial properties .
also , annas combined with propylene glycol is nontoxic in 1/64 , 1/128 , and 1/256 dilutions.conclusions:the constituents of anbarnesa smoke mainly possess antibacterial , anti - inflammatory , and growth inhibition effects on cancer cells . |
7,403 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: a coronary artery fistula ( caf ) is an abnormal communication between one of the coronary arteries and a cardiac chamber or vessels , including the coronary sinus , pulmonary artery , or superior vena cava.1)2)3 ) caf is involved in 0.002% of general population and accounts for 0.4% of all cardiac malformation.4 ) caf mostly drains into the venous structures of circulation , such as the right - sided chambers , pulmonary artery , coronary sinus and superior vena cava , but drainage into the left - sided chambers is less frequent.5 ) we present a case of caf which is originated from left coronary artery and drained into left ventricle .
a 48-year - old male presented with abdominal pain that had lasted for 2 months .
he had no cardiovascular risk factor , and no cardiovascular symptom such as chest pain or dyspnea .
preoperative electrocardiography was within normal limit , and chest x - ray showed no pathologic abnormality .
he was consulted to cardiovascular department because surgeon heard a continuous cardiac murmur and ordered echocardiography for a preoperative evaluation .
the mitral inflow e / a ratio was 1.63 , and e / e ' ratio was 12.0 .
however , there was abnormal color flow within left ventricle predominantly during diastole ( fig . 1 , supplementary movie 1,2 , 3 , 4 ) .
the maximal velocity of blood flow draining into left ventricle was approximately 3.0 m / s . in short - axis great arterial view , left coronary artery appeared dilated .
multiple tortuous dilated vascular structures with internal blood flows disclosed by color doppler image were also found around left ventricular myocardium . especially , dilated large echo - free vascular structure was detected in the apical area .
the connection between those dilated vascular structures and left coronary artery was suspected , but clear visualization of the connection was limited in 2-dimensional echocardiography .
coronary artery computed tomography ( ct ) scan was performed to confirm the pathologic anatomy of these abnormal findings... | we present a case of 48-year - old male who presented with coronary artery fistula draining into left ventricle .
transthoracic echocardiography showed abnormal blood flow draining into left ventricle , with enlarged coronary arteries and multiple vascular structures around ventricular myocardium .
coronary computed tomography revealed dilatation of entire left coronary artery which was wrapping around left ventricle , and draining into the posterior side of left ventricle .
he did not undergo any invasive treatment , because he was not symptomatic . |
7,404 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: pregnancy does not translate to being medically compromised ; therefore dental treatment should not be denied simply because a woman is pregnant .
the pregnant woman who presents for dental care may require special considerations.1 therefore , the management of these patients may require adjustments in the timing and type of dental treatment , as well as in the drugs to be prescribed.2 proper risk assessments should be done for the mother and fetus .
the following should be considered : risk of teratogenicity in the fetus due to drugs taken by the mother , susceptibility to supine hypotensive syndrome as a result of a decrease in blood pressure and cardiac output while the patient is in a supine position , and the potential danger of disseminated vascular coagulopathy due to increase in clotting factors.1 oral health during pregnancy has , for long , been a focus of concern 3 with obstetricians acknowledging its importance and attendant effect on pregnancy outcomes.45 the physiologic changes in pregnancy include changes in the oral cavity with an attendant increase in susceptibility to oral infections.6 also , increased consumption of carbohydrates , increased acid in the mouth from vomiting and reduced production of saliva and possibly too , increased acidity of saliva have been believed to increase the risk of dental caries in pregnancy.7 a study found that pregnant women were 1.97 times more likely to suffer from dental caries than the nonpregnant women.8 a 74.5% prevalence of dental caries among the pregnant women was observed in a study by mahmud et al.9 usually , pregnant patients are not immunocompromised ; however , there is suppression of the maternal immune system in response to the fetus 6 subsequently causing a decrease in cell - mediated immunity , as well as natural killer cell activity.10 with the foregoing , odontogenic infections have the potential to progress rapidly to deep - space infections eventually compromising the oropharyngeal airway.10 in addition , pregnant women may also receive a... | introduction : in order to control serious pulpal pain following odontogenic infections in pregnant women , endodontic treatment may become necessary .
the aim of this study was to assess the perception of dentists about rendering endodontic treatment to pregnant women.materials and methods : this was a cross - sectional study of resident doctors in the different dental specialties in nigeria preparing for the various levels of the fellowship examinations of the west africa college of surgeons and the national postgraduate medical college of nigeria .
data were collected by the means of a 17-itemed questionnaire which sought information on respondents ' demography , their considerations while rendering endodontic treatment to the pregnant patients and their perceptions of the safety of endodontic treatment in pregnancy .
the data collected were analyzed using the statistical package for social science version 21.0.results:with regards to the safety of endodontic treatment during pregnancy , 91.8% considered it safe , and this was not statistically significant in relation to the specialty or status of the respondent .
majority ( 77.0% ) agreed they would undertake a root canal treatment on a pregnant patient with all respondents in restorative dentistry , prosthodontics , periodontics , and pedodontics in the affirmative while all in oral pathology would refuse to do such ( p = 0.0001).conclusion : dental residents are aware of the safety of endodontic treatment in pregnant women .
however , gaps exist in their knowledge , bringing to the fore , the need for inclusion of pregnancy - specific training in the dental postgraduate curriculum . |
7,405 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: today , a large number of patients are searching for personal satisfaction and increasing the demand for an attractive smile .
tooth bleaching has become one of the most popular cosmetic procedures offered in dental practice.1 several products and techniques are available for vital tooth bleaching , and vary in concentration and type of end products released.2,3 the whitening procedures can be performed in the office by the dentist or at home by the patient without dentist supervision .
overall , when applied over an enamel surface , the peroxide - containing agents break down into water and oxygen , which diffuse through the enamel , causing oxidation and reduction of organic pigments that are mainly located within dentin , resulting in a reduction or elimination of the discoloration.4 at - home vital tooth bleaching with custom trays is the most common modality used.5,6 the advantages of this treatment are its application , reduced chair time , safety and low incidence of tooth sensitivity.57 supervised at - home tooth bleaching involves the use of custom trays loaded with low concentrations of carbamide ( 10%22% ) or hydrogen peroxide gels ( 3.4%7.5% ) that are used by the patient for a few hours per day.2,5 the side effects frequently associated with tray bleaching systems are gingival irritation and tooth sensitivity , which can either be related to shape of the tray or to concentration of the bleaching agent.8,9 in recent years , an increasing number of over - the - counter bleaching products have appeared in the market , which can be used by the patient at home without dentist supervision .
these products have increased in popularity and represent a large percentage of the over - the - counter products sold for oral hygiene .
even though such products have low concentrations of peroxide agents , they may produce side effects , including an erosive effect on dental structure , because patients tend to ignore the manufacturers recommendations and use them for a long period of time.10 although the... | this review investigates erosion and abrasion in dental structures undergoing at- home bleaching .
dental erosion is a multifactorial condition that may be idiopathic or caused by a known acid source .
some bleaching agents have a ph lower than the critical level , which can cause changes in the enamel mineral content .
investigations have shown that at - home tooth bleaching with low concentrations of hydrogen or carbamide peroxide have no significant damaging effects on enamel and dentin surface properties .
most studies where erosion was observed were in vitro .
even though the treatment may cause side effects like sensitivity and gingival irritation , these usually disappear at the end of treatment . considering the literature reviewed ,
we conclude that tooth bleaching agents based on hydrogen or carbamide peroxide have no clinically significant influence on enamel / dentin mineral loss caused by erosion or abrasion .
furthermore , the treatment is tolerable and safe , and any adverse effects can be easily reversed and controlled . |
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