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6,306 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: previously our work on the l. casei preq1-ii riboswitch identified by breaker and co - workers resulted in crystals with x - ray diffraction limited to 5.6 resolution . in an effort to improve crystal quality , we conducted blastn refseq rna searches starting with the l. casei riboswitch sequence .
our goal was to identify closely related sequences , especially those with shorter joining regions that might be more amenable to high - resolution structural analysis .
this approach led to the identification of a putative preq1-ii riboswitch sequence in the 5 utr of a cog4708 gene from l. rhamnosus , which is characteristic of other preq1-ii riboswitches .
the cog4708 gene is hypothesized to produce a protein that transports q precursors into the cell . despite genomic synteny and similar probiotic properties , l. casei and l. rhamnosus
, l. rhamnosus has also been associated with endocarditis and is not considered strictly beneficial .
significantly , two differences were apparent in the respective riboswitch sequences between positions 21 and 77 a region documented previously as important for preq1-binding function .
variations included a deletion of l. casei position 34 ( c34 ) in j2/3 of l. rhamnosus , and a c53u change in j2/4 . using itc and in - line probing approaches ( described below )
, we found the l. rhamnosus sequence is responsive to preq1 , and crystallization trials led to well diffracting crystals . at present , the basis for differences in crystal diffraction resulting from the use of the respective sequences is unknown .
1a , b ) and mutants thereof were prepared by in vitro transcription and purified by denaturing page as described .
itc measurements were conducted using a vp - itc calorimeter ( microcal , inc ) at 20 c or 25 c .
lyophilized rna was resuspended in 0.010 m na - hepes ph 7.0 or hepps ph 8.3 and 0.10 m nacl or 0.10 m kcl . for mgcl2-free conditions 0.5 mm edta ph 8.0
the rna was heated to 65 c for 5 min , then mgcl2 was added to a final concentration of 6.0 mm , or 20 mm ,... | preq1 riboswitches regulate genes by binding the pyrrolopyrimidine intermediate preq1 during biosynthesis of the essential trna base queuosine .
we report the first preq1-ii riboswitch structure at 2.3 resolution , which uses a novel fold to achieve effector recognition at the confluence of a three - way - helical junction flanking a pseudoknotted ribosome - binding site ( rbs ) .
the results account for preq1-ii - riboswitch - mediated translational control , and expand the known repertoire of ligand binding modes utilized by regulatory rnas . |
6,307 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: newly developed miniaturized vision tests have allowed , in a clinically relevant way , to evaluate the influence of magnification and age on the near visual acuity of dentists .
the use of optical aids to improve manual precision has long been a tradition in many medical professions .
dentistry seems to be an ideal environment for the use of loupes and microscopes , because operative treatments are performed in a small and narrow environment .
however , the idea that magnification devices should be used as standard devices in dentistry is relatively new [ 24 ] .
the body of evidence supporting the general assumption that optical magnification improves the quality of caries detection and filigree therapy is weak .
most publications about visual acuity and the influence of magnification [ 69 ] , or concerning microscopes and endodontics [ 2 , 1012 ] , are based on expert opinions and case reports .
an obvious gap between anecdotal conjecture and solid evidence - based decision making exists with respect to the use of optical aids in dentistry . in a previous study with the help of miniaturized visual tests and a light box , the present authors found a large variability in the near visual acuity of dentists and a significant correlation with the dentists age .
yet , the tests were not incorporated in an oral cavity , and thus , the clinical relevance of these miniaturized visual tests was limited .
therefore , the aims of the present study were : to test near visual acuity and the influence of magnification and age in a simulated clinical situationto compare the results to the previous study , where the same group of dentists was tested under standardized conditions ex ore with a light box to test near visual acuity and the influence of magnification and age in a simulated clinical situation to compare the results to the previous study , where the same group of dentists was tested under standardized conditions ex ore with a light box
the near visual acuity of 40 dentists from the dental school of the... | objectivesthis study examined the near visual acuity of dentists in relation to age and magnification under simulated clinical conditions.materials and methodsminiaturized visual tests were performed in posterior teeth of a dental phantom head in a simulated clinical setting ( dental chair , operating lamp , dental mirror ) .
the visual acuity of 40 dentists was measured under the following conditions : ( 1 ) natural visual acuity , distance of 300 mm ; ( 2 ) natural visual acuity , free choice of distance ; ( 3 ) galilean loupes , magnification of 2.5 ; ( 4 ) keplerian loupes , 4.3 ; ( 5 ) operating microscope , 4 , integrated light ; ( 6 ) operating microscope , 6.4 , integrated light.resultsthe visual acuity varied widely between individuals and was significantly lower in the group 40 years of age ( p < 0.001 ) .
significant differences were found between all tested conditions ( p < 0.01 ) .
furthermore , a correlation between visual acuity and age was found for all conditions .
the performance with the microscope was better than with loupes even with comparable magnification factors .
some dentists had a better visual acuity without optical aids than others with galilean loupes.conclusionsnear visual acuity under simulated clinical conditions varies widely between individuals and decreases throughout life .
visual deficiencies can be compensated for with optical aids.clinical relevancenewly developed miniaturized vision tests have allowed , in a clinically relevant way , to evaluate the influence of magnification and age on the near visual acuity of dentists . |
6,308 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the main aim of pharmacotherapeutics is the attainment of effective drug concentration at the intended site of action for a sufficient period of time to elicit the response . amongst the various routes of drug delivery ,
the field of ocular drug delivery is one of the most interesting and challenging endeavors facing the pharmaceutical scientist .
this is significantly improved over the past 10 - 20 years . as an isolated organ
it is very difficult to obtain eye tissue containing drugs from humans , so one is compelled to use animal tissue . due to these human ocular disposition characteristics of virtually important drugs is unknown or incomplete . despite these severe limitations
the main objective of the improvement is to maintain the drug in the biophase for an extended period of time . in the ophthalmic drug delivery systems , the physiological constraints imposed by the protective mechanism of the eye
lead to the low absorption of drugs and results in a short duration of therapeutic action .
a high frequency of the eye drops instillation is associated with patient 's non compliance . after the instillation of eye drop into the eye cavity , the effective tear drainage and blinking action of eye results in a 10 times reduction in the drug concentration within 4 - 20 min .
figure 1 explains the fate of the drugs after instillation into the eye . due to the tear drainage ,
most of the administered dose passes via nasolacrimal duct into the gastro intestinal tract , leading to the side effects .
rapid elimination of the eye drops often results in a short duration of the therapeutic effect .
the normal volume of tear in the eye is 7 l , a non - blinking eye can accommodate a maximum of 30 l of the fluid where as a blinking eye can hold only 10 l of fluid .
the usual single drop size of an instilled drug solution is up to 50 l and thus most of the drug instilled as eye drop is lost .
fate of drugs absorbed by ophthalmic route the following characteristics are generally required to optimize ocular drug delivery... | amongst the various routes of drug delivery , the field of ocular drug delivery is one of the most interesting and challenging endeavors facing the pharmaceutical scientist for past 10 - 20 years . as an isolated organ ,
eye is very difficult to study from a drug delivery point of view . despite this limitation ,
improvements have been made with the objective of maintaining the drug in the biophase for an extended period .
a major problem in ocular therapeutics is the attainment of an optimal drug concentration at the site of action . to achieve effective ophthalmic therapy ,
an adequate amount of active ingredient must be delivered and maintained within the eye .
the most frequently used dosage forms , i.e. , eye solution , eye ointments , eye gels , and eye suspensions are compromised in their effectiveness by several limitations leading to poor ocular bioavailability .
ophthalmic use of viscosity - enhancing agents , penetration enhancers , cyclodextrins , prodrug approaches , and ocular inserts , and the ready existing drug carrier systems along with their application to ophthalmic drug delivery are common to improve ocular bioavailability . amongst these hydrogel
( stimuli sensitive ) systems are important , which undergo reversible volume and/or sol - gel phase transitions in response to physiological ( temperature , ph and present of ions in organism fluids , enzyme substrate ) or other external ( electric current , light ) stimuli .
they help to increase in precorneal residence time of drug to a sufficient extent that an ocularly delivered drug can exhibit its maximum biological action .
the concept of this innovative ophthalmic delivery approach is to decrease the systemic side effects and to create a more pronounced effect with lower doses of the drug .
the present article describes the advantages and use stimuli sensitive of hydrogel systems in ophthalmic drug delivery . |
6,309 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer . it is the leading cause of cancer - related deaths in males and the second cause of cancer - related deaths in females worldwide.1 non - small - cell histology comprises ~85% of lung cancers , and 75% of patients
are diagnosed at stages iii and iv.2,3 at the advanced stages , taxane chemotherapy regimens are commonly used for the treatment of non - small - cell lung cancers ( nsclcs ) as first - line options.4 however , long - term survival in patients with advanced nsclc is < 5% and toxic .
side effects such as febrile neutropenia , neuropathy , and hypersensitivity reactions are particularly high in taxane formulations .
furthermore , the therapeutic results are not satisfactory.4,5 paclitaxel and its semisynthetic form , docetaxel , are isolated from the yew tree and primarily stabilize cytoplasmic microtubules via binding to the -tubulin site , thereby causing cell cycle arrest at the g2/m phase and driving apoptosis.6 several compounds have been tested to determine whether they increase taxane - induced anticancer efficacy .
for example , the therapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel is restricted by the increasing frequency of chemotherapeutic resistance in nsclc . pulsing with both taxanes results in approximately fivefold higher resistant clones in nsclc cells , such as a549 and h1299 cells.7 several compounds , such as l - type calcium channel blockers , reverse docetaxel - induced multidrug resistance independent of abcb1 expression in both cell lines.8 additionally , the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin a increases both cell cycle delay at the g2/m phase and apoptosis in docetaxel - treated a549 cells.9 in hormone - refractory prostate cancer ( hrpc ) models , taxol synergizes with several antioxidants in hrpc cells by inducing cell cycle arrest at the sub g1 phase , apoptosis , and caspase activity and decreasing bcl-2 expression simultaneously.10 by contrast , tp53 mutations are the most frequent gene abnormalities leading to inactivation of... | backgroundexposure to exogenous zinc results in increased apoptosis , growth inhibition , and altered oxidative stress in cancer cells .
previous studies also suggested that zinc sensitizes some cancer cells to cytotoxic agents depending on the p53 status .
therefore , zinc supplementation may show anticancer efficacy solely and may increase docetaxel - induced cytotoxicity in non - small - cell lung cancer cells.methodshere , we report the effects of several concentrations of zinc combined with docetaxel on p53-wild - type ( a549 ) and p53-null ( h1299 ) cells .
we evaluated cellular viability , apoptosis , and cell cycle progression as well as oxidative stress parameters , including superoxide dismutase , glutathione peroxidase , and malondialdehyde levels.resultszinc reduced the viability of a549 cells and increased the apoptotic response in both cell lines in a dose - dependent manner .
zinc also amplified the docetaxel effects and reduced its inhibitory concentration 50 ( ic50 ) values .
the superoxide dismutase levels increased in all treatment groups ; however , glutathione peroxidase was slightly increased in the combination treatments .
zinc also caused malondialdehyde elevations at 50 m and 100 m.conclusionzinc has anticancer efficacy against non - small - cell lung cancer cells in the presence of functionally active p53 and enhances docetaxel efficacy in both p53-wild - type and p53-deficient cancer cells . |
6,310 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: over one million deaths occur worldwide each year as a result of lung cancer , and approximately 85% of these are from non - small - cell lung cancer ( nsclc).1 cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for the majority of patients with advanced disease ; however , recent pivotal discoveries have led to molecularly defined subtypes of nsclc , particularly in adenocarcinoma .
additionally , safe and effective targeted therapies for these specific subgroups have emerged , resulting in a paradigm shift in how clinicians diagnose and treat patients with this disease .
the identification of epidermal growth factor receptor ( egfr ) activating mutations and egfr - tyrosine kinase inhibitors ( tkis ) led to the 2004 united states food and drug administration ( fda ) approval of erlotinib as first - line therapy for egfr mutation - positive patients.2,3 more recently , a fusion gene has been discovered between echinoderm microtubule - associated protein - like 4 ( eml4 ) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase ( alk ) in a small subset of nsclc patients.4 crizotinib , a multitarget tki , has demonstrated overall response rates in approximately 60% of patients with tumors containing the alk gene rearrangement.5 alk is a member of the insulin receptor superfamily and is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase found on the small intestines , testes , and selected neural tissue of adult humans.6 expression of alk during development is tightly regulated and has been implicated to have an important role in differentiation and cell survival .
aberrant alk has been described in several neoplasms , including nsclc , rhabdomyosarcoma , neuroblastomas , glioblastoma , melanoma , breast cancer , and neuroectodermal tumors.3 constitutive alk activation in nsclc was first identified by screening a cdna library for genes with transforming capacity from the tumor of a japanese male smoker with adenocarcinoma.4 this screening identified a fusion gene resulting from an inversion of the short arm of chromosome 2 producing the... | non - small - cell lung cancer ( nsclc ) is a heterogeneous disease and a challenging malignancy to treat , as many patients have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis .
recent advances have led to the identification of molecularly defined subtypes of nsclc , namely for patients with adenocarcinoma histology .
the most recently identified molecular target is the anaplastic lymphoma kinase ( alk ) gene rearrangement , and patient responses to the alk inhibitor crizotinib have led to its approval in this selected patient population . like other tyrosine kinase inhibitors , resistance to crizotinib ultimately develops by various mechanisms requiring alternative therapeutic options .
this review article discusses the management of patients with the alk gene rearrangement , mechanisms of crizotinib resistance , and future potential therapeutic options . |
6,311 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: mature microrna ( mirna ) molecules are approximately 22-nucleotide - long single - stranded rnas that generally repress the expression of protein coding genes .
specifically , they preferentially bind to 3 untranslated regions ( utrs ) of messenger rnas ( mrnas ) and interfere with their stability and translational efficiency ( 1,2 ) .
the first mirnas and their target genes were identified via classical forward genetic techniques in 1993 , but it was not until 2001 that many more mirnas were discovered experimentally and found to be abundant and widespread ( 35 ) . since
then there has been a dramatic growth in the number of annotated mirnas ( figure 1 ) .
figure 1.the growth of the human mirna genes in mirbase database and the growth of the human experimentally determined mirna target interactions in tarbase .
the growth of the human mirna genes in mirbase database and the growth of the human experimentally determined mirna target interactions in tarbase .
a crucial aspect of the functional analysis of mirnas is the annotation of their protein - coding targets .
a number of computational algorithms have been developed for the prediction of such targets ( 6 ) .
although these programs are very important to guide wet lab experiments , they still lack in sensitivity and specificity ( 7,8 ) . in parallel , and as support for these programs , a number of experimental procedures have been developed to provide indirect or direct support for predicted mirna
target interactions and results from a growing number of such experiments have been published ( figure 1 ) .
the need for a systematic documentation of such experimentally supported targets was covered by the first version of tarbase ( 9 ) . in 2006 ,
the database recorded over 550 entries with mirna target interactions in human , mouse , fruit fly , worm and zebrafish . here
we present a substantially updated and extended version of this database , tarbase5.0 , documenting over 1300 entries .
the new database now contains all of the information included in... | tarbase5.0 is a database which houses a manually curated collection of experimentally supported microrna ( mirna ) targets in several animal species of central scientific interest , plants and viruses .
mirnas are small non - coding rna molecules that exhibit an inhibitory effect on gene expression , interfering with the stability and translational efficiency of the targeted mature messenger rnas . even though several computational programs exist to predict mirna targets ,
there is a need for a comprehensive collection and description of mirna targets with experimental support .
here we introduce a substantially extended version of this resource .
the current version includes more than 1300 experimentally supported targets .
each target site is described by the mirna that binds it , the gene in which it occurs , the nature of the experiments that were conducted to test it , the sufficiency of the site to induce translational repression and/or cleavage , and the paper from which all these data were extracted .
additionally , the database is functionally linked to several other relevant and useful databases such as ensembl , hugo , ucsc and swissprot .
the tarbase5.0 database can be queried or downloaded from http://microrna.gr/tarbase . |
6,312 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: geographically and time - limited , they aim to build learning and capacity to inform country - wide implementation . between 2007 and 2011 ,
demonstration projects were the main approach to delivering new vaccines against human papillomavirus ( hpv ) to prevent cervical cancer in low - income and lower - middle - income countries ( llmics ) .
initial pilots , with vaccines donated by merck & co. , inc . or glaxosmithkline biologicals to governments and external partners , allowed countries to gain experience vaccinating adolescent girls , who were not routinely targeted for immunisation . with the exception of rwanda and bhutan , vaccine donations for national delivery
were not generally available , so demonstration projects enabled resource - poor countries to gain hpv vaccination experience . from late 2012 , gavi ,
the vaccine alliance , began supporting hpv vaccination demonstration projects or national programmes if countries had prior experience vaccinating girls aged 913 .
learn by doing. gavi provided 2-year funding for vaccines and operational costs to allow time to assess delivery strategies and potential integration with other adolescent services , develop tools , and prepare applications to gavi for national program funding . by mid-2015
, gavi had approved demonstration project funding for 25 countries , of which 6 ( 24% ) had already conducted at least one pilot , while another 3 were approved for national support . despite 55 pilots or demonstration projects being completed before 2015 , only 7 countries and 3 more in 2015 - 2016 - transitioned from demonstration to national provision .
this article aims to examine the value of hpv vaccination demonstration projects to date , including potential drawbacks and how value for informing national scale - up might be increased , drawing from a review of published and unpublished documents from 37 countries and key informant interviews from 23 countries conducted in 2015 .
countries with data in the public domain are specifically named , while... | abstractdemonstration projects or pilots of new public health interventions aim to build learning and capacity to inform country - wide implementation .
authors examined the value of hpv vaccination demonstration projects and initial national programmes in low - income and lower - middle - income countries , including potential drawbacks and how value for national scale - up might be increased .
data from a systematic review and key informant interviews , analyzed thematically , included 55 demonstration projects and 8 national programmes implemented between 2007 - 2015 ( 89 years ' experience ) .
initial demonstration projects quickly provided consistent lessons .
value would increase if projects were designed to inform sustainable national scale - up .
well - designed projects can test multiple delivery strategies , implementation for challenging areas and populations , and integration with national systems .
introduction of vaccines or other health interventions , particularly those involving new target groups or delivery strategies , needs flexible funding approaches to address specific questions of scalability and sustainability , including learning lessons through phased national expansion . |
6,313 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the most common causes of severe mitral regurgitation ( mr ) in developing countries is rheumatic heart disease .
chronic left ventricular ( lv ) volume overload as a result of mr leads to compensatory dilatation of the left ventricle .
although this response initially maintains cardiac output , myocardial decompensation eventually results in symptoms of heart failure and an increased risk of sudden death .
in addition , backflow into the left atrium ( la ) results in enlargement of the la , atrial fibrillation , and elevated pulmonary pressures .
echocardiography allows accurate evaluation of the presence or absence , severity , and cause of mr .
although doppler echocardiography provides several methods of quantifying the severity of regurgitation , none have been shown to predict the clinical outcome .
the most important aspect of the echocardiographic examination is the quantitation of lv systolic performance .
although calculation of the ejection fraction ( ef ) is an imperfect means of assessing contractility , from a practical point of view , the ef in conjunction with the end - systolic dimension provides a clinically useful measure of ventricular performance . in recent years
, the measurement of natriuretic peptides in patients with the valvular disease and heart failure has become important .
the plasma level of b - type natriuretic peptide ( bnp ) is known to increase with lv dysfunction from many causes , and elevated plasma levels of bnp have been shown to indicate early states of myocardial deterioration in various diseases .
such findings raised hopes that natriuretic peptides may also be useful in valvular heart disease .
hence , the use of multiple echocardiographic and hormonal parameters in combination can provide an accurate assessment of mr severity and lv dysfunction in most cases . to study bnp level as an index of symptoms and severity of chronic rheumatic mr .
to study bnp level as an index of symptoms and severity of chronic rheumatic mr .
our study included 140 patients with... | background : the most common causes of severe mitral regurgitation ( mr ) in developing countries are rheumatic heart disease . the plasma level of b - type natriuretic peptide ( bnp ) is known to increase with left ventricular ( lv ) dysfunction.aim of the work : to study bnp level as an index of symptoms and severity of chronic rheumatic mr.patients and methods : one hundred and forty patients with rheumatic mr and lv ejection fractions ( efs ) of > 55% underwent assessment of symptoms , transthoracic echocardiography , and measurement of bnp .
results : the level of bnp rose with increasing left atrium ( la ) dimensions and volumes , lv dimensions and volumes , echocardiographic parameters of mr severity ( width of the vena contracta , regurgitation jet area , effective regurgitation orifice area , and regurgitant volume ) , and e waves.results:bnp was significantly higher in patients with severe mr compared with moderate and mild mr ( p < 0.001 ) , and using cutoff point of 61 pg / ml mm had 97% sensitivity and 89% specificity for predicting patients with severe mr ( 0.99 , 95% confidence interval [ ci ] 0.91 ) .
bnp was significantly higher in patients with new york heart association ( nyha iii ) compared with nyha ii , i and asymptomatic patients ( p < 0.001 ) and using cutoff point of 53 pg / ml had 97% sensitivity and 87% specificity for predicting symptomatic patients with symptomatic mr ( 0.81 , 95% ci 0.700.92).conclusions : bnp level increase with increasing severity of rheumatic mr and are higher in symptomatic compared to asymptomatic patients , even in the presence of normal ef% . |
6,314 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: | the integrated exposure uptake biokinetic ( ieubk ) model , recommended for use by the u.s .
environmental protection agency at residential superfund sites to predict potential risks to children from lead exposure and to establish lead remediation levels , requires an interindividual geometric standard deviation ( gsdi ) as an essential input parameter .
the gsdi quantifies the variability of blood lead concentrations for children exposed to similar environmental concentrations of lead .
estimates of potential risks are directly related to the gsdi , and therefore the gsdi directly impacts the scope of remediation at superfund sites .
site - specific gsdi can be calculated for sites where blood lead and environmental lead have been measured .
this paper uses data from blood and environmental lead studies conducted at the bingham creek and sandy , utah , superfund sites to calculate gsdi using regression modeling , box modeling , and structural equation modeling .
gsdis were calculated using various methods for treating values below the analytical method detection and quantitation limits .
treatment of nonquantifiable blood lead concentrations affected the gsdi more than the statistical method used to calculate the gsdi . for
any given treatment , the different statistical methods produced similar gsdis . because of the uncertainties associated with data in the blood lead studies , we recommend that a range of gsdis be used when analyzing site - specific risks associated with exposure to environmental lead instead of a single estimate . because the different statistical methods produce similar gsdis , we recommend a simple procedure to calculate site - specific gsdi from a scientifically sound blood and environmental lead study.imagesfigure 1 |
6,315 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: warts are mucocutaneous growths ( exo- or endophytic ) caused by human papilloma virus ( hpv ) .
common therapeutic modalities ablate the growth without the generation of specific immunity against the wart .
this often leads to irritation , pain , recurrence , scars , and prolonged morbidity ( especially in palmoplantar warts ) .
the stimulation of the immune system by exposing the virus to immune mediators forms an ideal modality of treatment due to spontaneous regression of the wart with long - lasting immunity .
however , serotypes other than those in vaccine ( hpv 6 , 11 , 16 and 18 ) also cause warts and hence this modality may not be effective always .
autoimplantation is a novel , one - time procedure which treats the warts by stimulating an immune response against hpv .
as it is an autograft technique , it is more likely that immunity against the same serotype is elicited ( in contrast to the hpv vaccine where immunity is developed only against hpv 6 , 11 , 16 and 18 ) .
this is done by extracting a subcutis deep wart tissue and implanting it into the uninvolved skin .
the autowart injection involves multiple sessions of injection of wart suspension . in this study , we extracted the donor tissue by paring the wart instead of removing a part of the wart under local anaesthesia .
this was adopted to reduce the discomfort , risk of infection and hasten the time taken for performing the procedure .
this study was conducted in the dermatology outpatient department of a tertiary care rural hospital .
thirty - five patients with multiple ( more than five warts ) , recurrent verruca vulgaris ( warts which have recurred after any modality of treatment ) and palmoplantar warts were enrolled in the study after an informed consent and ethics committee approval .
pregnant , lactating mothers , immunocompromised individuals and those with verruca plana were excluded from study .
donor tissue for autograft was harvested by paring a verrucous lesion or a palmoplantar wart .
the lesion to be pared was cleansed with... | background : ideal treatment for warts should be effective , safe , have less morbidity and provide long - lasting immunity against human papilloma virus . this can optimally achieved by the stimulation of the immune system against the virus .
the autoimplantation of warts , autowart injection and quadrivalent vaccines have been used for this purpose .
autoimplanatation is a simple technique where the subcutis deep wart tissue is harvested as a donor and implanted into the uninvolved skin .
however , this led to two wounds , at donor and recipient sites.aim:the aim was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel modification of autoimplantation therapy in the treatment of multiple , recurrent and palmoplantar warts.subjects and methods : thirty - three patients with multiple , recurrent and palmoplantar warts were enrolled . instead of taking a bit of the wart tissue ,
the donor tissue was harvested by paring the wart .
the pared tissue was implanted deep into the subcutis by stab incision done using the same surgical blade no .
11 .
the resolution of all warts within 3 months after the procedure was considered successful .
patients with complete clearance were followed up for 1 month for any recurrence.results:out of 35 patients , 27 patients were available for follow - up .
a total of 20 ( 74.1% ) patients showed a complete clearance of warts within 3 months .
partial clearance was seen in 1 patient .
erythematous nodules developed at the site of implantation in 3 ( 11.1% ) patients .
there was relapse in one patient.conclusion:a modified technique of autoimplantation of warts employing the pared stratum corneum tissue from the wart is a simple , effective , less traumatic and rapid procedure in the treatment of multiple , recurrent and palmoplantar warts . |
6,316 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: a classic dichotomy can illustrate this point : a given duration , say a minute , is not experientially invariant . specifically , when awaiting for something , or feeling bored or blue , time drags ; when entertained or absorbed in skillful performance , time flies ( i.e. , we are hardly aware of the minutes passing by ) .
the allocation of attention to time constitutes one major factor influencing whether the subjective flow of time will speed up or
slow down : when attention is focused on time , perceived time slows down and experienced duration expands ; when distracted away from it , it speeds up and duration contracts .
traditionally , cognitive models of time perception account for the speeding up or slowing down of time passing by positing the existence of an internal clock composed of a pacemaker ( internal pacing of time units ) and an accumulator ( collection of time units ) whose combined function is to represent subjective duration ( treisman , 1963 ; gibbon et al . , 1984 ) .
in the attentional gate clock models , the produced time units or pulses are only registered when attention is directed to time ( zakay and block , 1997 ) leading to the opening of the gate and feeding of pulses into a counter . yet
, two mechanisms can lead to alterations of subjective duration : ( 1 ) an increased ( decreased ) attention to time leads to an accumulation of more ( less ) pulses over a given time span or ( 2 ) an arousal - related increase ( decrease ) of the rate of pulses emitted by the pacemaker ( faster or slower clock rate , respectively ) , leads to a faster ( slower ) accumulation of temporal units over time ( burle and casini , 2001 ; droit - volet and meck , 2007 ; wittmann and paulus , 2008 ) .
for instance , heightened emotional states are physiologically accompanied by an increase in arousal , which would lead to a higher pacemaker rate ( droit - volet and gil , 2009 ) : indeed , subjects tend to overestimate the duration of highly arousing pictures with emotional valence ( e.g. , angry... | for a given physical duration , certain events can be experienced as subjectively longer in duration than others .
try this for yourself : take a quick glance at the second hand of a clock . immediately
, the tick will pause momentarily and appear to be longer than the subsequent ticks . yet , they all last exactly 1 s. by and large , a deviant or an unexpected stimulus in a series of similar events ( same duration , same features ) can elicit a relative overestimation of subjective time ( or time dilation ) but , as is shown here , this is not always the case .
we conducted an event - related functional magnetic neuroimaging study on the time dilation effect .
participants were presented with a series of five visual discs , all static and of equal duration ( standards ) except for the fourth one , a looming or a receding target .
the duration of the target was systematically varied and participants judged whether it was shorter or longer than all other standards in the sequence .
subjective time dilation was observed for the looming stimulus but not for the receding one , which was estimated to be of equal duration to the standards . the neural activation for targets ( looming and receding ) contrasted with the standards revealed an increased activation of the anterior insula and of the anterior cingulate cortex . contrasting the looming with the receding targets ( i.e. , capturing the time dilation effect proper ) revealed a specific activation of cortical midline structures .
the implication of midline structures in the time dilation illusion is here interpreted in the context of self - referential processes . |
6,317 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: attentional problems are among the most consistently reported cognitive impairments related to prematurity ( aarnoudse - moens et al . , 2009 ; anderson , 2014 ; bhutta et al . , 2002 ; hack et al . , 2009 ; jaekel et al . , 2013b ; mulder et al . , 2009 ; wilson - ching et al . , 2013 ) ,
this is supported by many behavioral studies that assess specific attentional functions in children ( anderson et al . , 2011 ; geldof et al . ,
wilson - ching et al . , 2013 ) or adults ( eryigit - madzwamuse et al . , 2015 ; nosarti et al .
, 2007 ; solsnes et al . , 2014 ) who were born very ( vp , < 32 weeks gestation ) or extremely preterm ( ep , < 28 weeks gestation ) , or had a very ( vlbw , < 1500 g ) or extremely low ( elbw , < 1000 g ) birth weight .
they show significant impairments in task domains such as selective attention , sustained attention or shifting attention ( aarnoudse - moens et al . , 2009 ; mulder et al . , 2009 ) , which afford increased top - down
recent studies using the attentional network test ( ant : fan et al . , 2002 ;
, 2013 ; pizzo et al . , 2010 ) indicated that preterm children were selectively impaired in the executive attention component of the task ( which assesses the ability to focus attention on a task - relevant central arrow stimulus despite interference by task - irrelevant incongruent vs. congruent flanker stimuli ) , while they showed intact alerting and orienting ( geldof et al .
, 2013 ; pizzo et al . , 2010 ) , suggesting that the brain networks subserving executive attention are especially vulnerable to the detrimental effects of preterm birth .
yet , although various studies show prematurity - related deficits in tasks measuring executive attention via similar interference processing tasks ( e.g. , stroop and flanker tasks : de kieviet et al . , 2014 ; luu et al . , 2011 ; solsnes et al . , 2014 )
detect impairments only in younger children , suggesting the possibility of a developmental catch - up
the latter observation points to the possibility that preterm -... | very preterm birth is associated with an increased prevalence of attention problems and may especially impair executive attention , i.e. , top - down control of attentional selection in situations where distracting information interferes with the processing of task - relevant stimuli . while there are initial findings linking structural brain alterations in preterm - born individuals with attention problems , the functional basis of these problems
are not well understood .
the present study used an fmri adaptation of the attentional network test to examine the neural correlates of executive attention in a large sample of n = 86 adults born very preterm and/or with very low birth weight ( vp / vlbw ) , and n = 100 term - born controls .
executive attention was measured by comparing task behavior and brain activations associated with the processing of incongruent vs. congruent arrow flanker stimuli .
consistent with subtle impairments of executive attention , the vp / vlbw group showed lower accuracy and a tendency for increased response times during the processing of incongruent stimuli .
both groups showed similar activation patters , especially within expected fronto - cingulo - parietal areas , but no significant between - group differences .
our results argue for a maintained attention - relevant network organization in high - functioning preterm born adults in spite of subtle deficits in executive attention .
gestational age and neonatal treatment variables showed associations with task behavior , and brain activation in the dorsal acc and lateral occipital areas , suggesting that the degree of prematurity ( and related neonatal complications ) has subtle modulatory influences on executive attention processing . |
6,318 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: migraine originated from a greece term meaning hemicraine or half of the head ( 1 ) , usually associated with episodes of strong unilateral pulsating headache ( 2 ) .
migraine disorder shows a high - related relevancy ; approximately 50% of migraine cases have a first - degree related as a migraine sufferer ( 3 ) .
familial clustering migraine points to importance of genetic factors in this illness , but its inheritance pattern is argumentative and supposed it is likely multifactorial , although autosomal dominant inheritance can not account for it ( 3 ) .
the prevalence of migraine impressed about 10%12% of the white population ( 4 ) , 24% of us populations and 12% of adults ( 5 ) contains both sexes ( 4 ) , affected women more higher than men ( 17.1% in women and 5.6% in men ) ( 5 ) and often involves the middle - aged people ( 6 ) .
migraine is observed as an inherited brain disturbance , specified by neurotransmitter imbalances , especially , serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine ( 7 ) that contribute to neuronal dysfunctions ( 8) . this disorder is generally characterized by strong and recurrent head pains which typically lasting about 472 h and attended by some symptoms like vomiting , neurological disturbance , photophobia and phonophobia . according to the classification of international headache society ( ihs ) , two main classes of migraine consist : migraine without aura ( mo ) , which included 70% of all migraineurs and migraine with aura ( ma ) , which affected the rest of migraine population ( about 25% ) ( 9 ) ,
both sub - groups have an intense and valid genetic background , but according to recent epidemiological information , the genetic factors in increasing development of ma ( 25%30% ) are stronger than mo ( 11 ) .
the differences between ma and mo refer to the clinical symptoms of ma , it can include signals such as food craving , mood changes , neck stiffness , fatigue , reversible visual system symptoms , sensory and aphasic aura signs , each symptom might last from 5 min to 1 h ( 9 ) .... | background : migraine is a common debilitating primary headache disorder with current head pain attacks , which contributes to physical activity dysfunctions in chronic pain phase . pge2 and pgi2 are two important prostaglandins synthesised by cox-2 enzymes , involved in migraine pain signals .
cox-2 modulation is essential in treatment and pathogenesis of migraine .
this study aimed to investigating the association between cox-2 gene polymorphisms with the risk of migraine susceptibility in migraine patients with related and unrelated parents.methods:this case- control study was based on 100 migraine patients and 100 non - migraine subjects in bushehr province , iran in 2013 .
genomic dna of blood samples was extracted and genotyping of cox-2 - 765g > c ( rs20417 ) and cox-2 - 1195a > g ( rs689466 ) gene variants was investigated by pcr - rflp method .
statistical analyses were accomplished using the spss software package.results:there was a significant differences in the frequencies of the cox-2 - 765g > c and cox-2 - 1195a > g genotypes between migraine patients and controls ( p0.05).conclusion : cox-2 - 765cc , cox-2 - 765cg , cox-2 - 1195gg and cox-2 - 1195ag genotypes can increase the risk of migraine significantly . as the first study in iran
, we are hopeful to achieve greater results about the relevancy of cox-2 gene , migraine and pain signals pathway by repeating these experiments on more samples . |
6,319 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: it can be classified into two broad categories : acute - onset and delayed - onset . according to endophthalmitis vitrectomy study , infection occurring within 6 weeks
after cataract surgery was defined as acute - onset and after 6 weeks as delayed - onset.1 these two categories differ in their microbiological spectrum.2 the purpose of the current study was to investigate the spectrum of organisms causing culture proven delayed post - cataract surgery endophthalmitis and their antimicrobial susceptibilities at our center between 2006 and 2013 and compare it with available western literature .
microbiology records were reviewed of all the culture proven delayed post - cataract surgery endophthalmitis cases treated at l v prasad eye institute , hyderabad , india between january 2006 and march 2013 .
the study was approved by the institutional review board and adhered to the guidelines of the declaration of helsinki .
vitreous samples from all patients had been investigated for bacteria and fungus using institutional protocol .
bacterial isolates were identified using analytical profile index system until 2010 and vitek-2 compact system ( biomrieux , craponne , france ) , thereafter .
isolates included 12 ( 36.4% ) gram - positive cocci , one ( 3.0% ) gram - positive bacilli , seven ( 21.2% ) gram - negative bacteria , two ( 6.1% ) nocardia sp . , and eleven ( 33.3% ) fungi ( table 1 ) .
most common isolates identified were coagulase negative staphylococci , aspergillus sp . and candida sp .
( 5/33 , 15.2% each ) followed by streptococcus pneumoniae ( 3/33 , 9.1% ) and burkholderia cepacia ( 3/33 , 9.1% ) .
onset of endophthalmitis occurred 30 days to 15 years ( median 150 days ) post - operatively in streptococcal cases , 30 to 168 ( median 72 ) days in coagulase - negative staphylococcal cases , 60 to 157 ( median 84 ) days in gram - negative cases , and 60 to 365 ( median 76 ) days in fungal cases .
gram - negative isolates were most susceptible to ofloxacin ( 85.7% ) followed by ceftazidime , ciprofloxacin ,... | the objective of this study was to evaluate the microbiological spectrum and antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates in delayed post - cataract surgery endophthalmitis .
a retrospective review of 33 consecutive patients with culture proven delayed post - cataract surgery endophthalmitis was done from january 2006 to march 2013 .
there were 22 bacterial and eleven fungal cases .
common isolates were streptococci ( seven cases ) , coagulase - negative staphylococci ( five ) , gram - negative bacilli ( seven ) , nocardia ( two ) , aspergillus ( five ) , candida ( five ) .
gram - positive cocci were most susceptible to vancomycin and gatifloxacin ( 91.7% ) .
gram - negative isolates were most susceptible to ofloxacin ( 85.7% ) .
fungi being slow growing organisms are an important cause of delayed post - cataract surgery endophthalmitis . |
6,320 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: endothelial nitric oxide synthase ( enos ) is a crucial enzyme for vascular physiology ; its reduced activity during ageing is associated with increased susceptibility to cardio- and cerebro - vascular diseases .
moreover , in mice lacking enos , caloric restriction does not exert its positive effects in delaying ageing and increasing life span .
long - living individuals ( llis ) have a favorable genetic profile characterized by an enrichment of alleles associated with the protection from ageing and cardiovascular disease .
we have recently shown for three different populations that llis are enriched for rs2070325 ( i229v ) , the minor allele of bactericidal / permeability - increasing fold - containing family b member 4 ( bpifb4).rs2070325 was one of four single - nucleotide polymorphisms on bpifb4 that variously combined to generate bpifb4 isoforms , such as the wild type ( wt ) protein and a longevity - associated variant ( lav ) . of note , the lav - bpifb4 was associated with potentiated enos activity in cells , an effect correlated with increased binding of bpifb4 to 14 - 3 - 3through an atypical - binding site for the protein and increased phosphorylation of bpifb4 at serine 75a site recognized by protein kinase r - like endoplasmic reticulum kinase ( perk ) .
heat shock protein 90 ( hsp90 ) was also recruited to the lav14 - 3 - 3 complex as part of the enos activation machinery .
indeed , hsp90 co - immunoprecipitated with bpifb4 , and a specific hsp90 inhibitor blocked the potentiation of endothelial function and enos activation exerted by the lav . despite these findings , further characterization is needed to define how lav - bpifb4 transduces upstream signals to enos . on this point
this function is mediated by protein kinase c alpha ( pkc ) , which stimulates nitric oxide ( no ) production in endothelial cells and plays a role in regulating blood flow in vivo . in the present study
, we demonstrate that pkc is part of the signalling pathway activated by lav - bpifb4 to potentiate vascular... | aimsageing is associated with impairment of endothelial nitric oxide synthase ( enos ) and progressive reduction in endothelial function . a genetic study on long - living individuals who are characterized by delays in ageing and in the onset of cardiovascular disease
previously revealed i229v ( rs2070325 ) in bactericidal / permeability - increasing fold - containing - family - b - member-4 ( bpifb4 ) as a longevity - associated variant ( lav ) ; the lav protein enhanced endothelial no production and vasorelaxation through a protein kinase r like endoplasmic reticulum kinase/14 - 3 - 3/heat shock protein 90 signal . here , we further characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying lav - bpifb4-dependent enhancement of vascular function.methods and resultslav - bpifb4 upregulated enos function via mobilization of ca2 + and activation of protein kinase c alpha ( pkc ) .
indeed , the overexpression of lav - bpifb4 in human endothelial cells enhanced atp - induced ca2 + mobilization and the translocation of pkc to the plasma membrane .
coherently , pharmacological inhibition of pkc blunted the positive effect of lav - bpifb4 on enos and endothelial function .
in addition , although lav - bpifb4 lost the ability to activate pkc and enos in ex vivo vessels studied in an external ca2 + -free medium and in vessels from enos/ mice , it still potentiated endothelial activity , recruiting an alternative mechanism dependent upon endothelium - derived hyperpolarizing factor ( edhf).conclusionswe have identified novel molecular determinants of the beneficial effects of lav - bpifb4 on endothelial function , showing the roles of ca2 + mobilization and pkc in enos activation and of edhf when enos is inhibited .
these results highlight the role lav - bpifb4 can have in restoring signals that are lost during ageing . |
6,321 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: intraocular pressure ( iop ) is a major risk factor for the development of glaucoma .
it is generally believed that postural changes have a greater effect on the iop in glaucomatous eyes than in normal eyes [ 3 , 68 ] .
in addition to the supine position being an important contributor to the iop elevation observed at night , this position has also been shown to be associated with the progression of open - angle glaucoma [ 6 , 9 , 10 ] .
thus , when treating glaucoma patients , it is very important to be able to ascertain the iop changes that occur due to postural changes .
however , timolol maleate , latanoprost , and brinzolamide do not decrease the magnitude of the iop elevation associated with postural change .
trabeculectomy is the recommended surgical therapy for eyes with glaucoma , as this procedure leads to a greater iop reduction than other therapeutic interventions .
furthermore , it has been reported that eyes that have undergone trabeculectomy have less iop fluctuation during the diurnal iop changes than medically treated glaucoma eyes [ 12 , 13 ] .
some investigators have additionally reported that trabeculectomy not only decreases the iop but also reduces the degree of the posture - induced iop changes [ 1416 ] . however ,
when the bleb function fails , it has been shown that the postural iop changes return to baseline levels .
the purpose of the current study was to investigate the correlation between the sitting iop and the degree of postural iop changes in relation to the time course after trabeculectomy .
between august 2011 and august 2012 , this prospective , consecutive series examined 30 eyes of 30 open - angle glaucoma patients who were treated with trabeculectomy and followed up at kagawa university hospital , kagawa , japan .
males and females , aged 50 to 87 years , were eligible for this study .
the study group consisted of 21 primary open - angle glaucoma ( poag ) and 3 normal - tension glaucoma ( ntg ) patients , with each patient treated with a topical hypotensive agent in both... | background . to investigate the correlation between intraocular pressure ( iop ) fluctuation with postural change and iop in relation to the time course after trabeculectomy . methods .
a total of 29 patients who had previously undergone primary trabeculectomy with mitomycin c were examined .
iop was obtained at 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 , and 12 months and then every 6 months postoperatively . results . the postural iop difference before surgery was 3.0 1.8 mmhg , which was reduced to 0.9 1.1 mmhg at 1 month , 1.0 1.0 mmhg at 2 months , 1.3 2.0 mmhg at 3 months , 1.3 1.4 mmhg at 6 months , 1.4 1.5 mmhg at 12 months , and 1.1 0.7 mmhg at 18 months after trabeculectomy ( p < 0.01 each visit ) .
the filtering surgery failed in 7 out of 29 eyes .
postural iop changes were less than 3 mmhg in those patients who did not require needle revision at every visit .
however , in patients who did require needle revision , the increase in the posture - induced iop was greater than 3 mmhg prior to the increase in the sitting position iop . conclusions .
assessment of postural iop changes after trabeculectomy might be potentially useful for predicting iop changes after trabeculectomy . |
6,322 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: cervical cancer is the second most frequent cancer in women in the world , comprising about 10% of all human cancers . a current summary report from who indicates that there are about 500 thousand women diagnosed with cervical cancer , of whom about 270 thousand women die from the disease every year . in china ,
a total of 500 million women are at risk of cervical cancer . after more than 30 years of research into the infectious nature of cervical cancer
, it is well established that human papillomaviruses ( hpvs ) are the primary cause for cervical cancer .
up till now , over 130 different types of hpv have been found , where hpv-16 and hpv-18 are of high risk , contribute to over 70% of all cervical cancer cases .
therefore , prevention of hpv-16 and hpv-18 's infection among women becomes an important issue for scientists and epidemiologists to lower the incidence of cervical cancer .
hpvs are double - stranded dna viruses , which target the basal cells of squamous epithelia for infection .
the structure of its circular dna genome are composed of 2 major oncogenes e6 and e7 , 2 major structural protein genes l1 and l2 . based on these elements ,
the l1 protein of hpv expressed recombinantly in vitro can self - assemble into virus - like particles ( vlps ) .
vlps have hpv type - specific conformational neutralizing epitopes and thus induce type - specific neutralizing antibodies to protect against hpv infections . in line with this fact ,
large pharmaceutical companies like merck and gsk have developed vlp - based vaccine products and successfully put them into the market , using yeast and insect cell expression systems , respectively . both of these two products include vlps for hpv-16 and hpv-18 . in our company ,
an l1 vlp - based vaccine candidate aiming at hpv-16 and hpv-18 was also produced using yeast protein expression system [ 9 , 10 ] .
it includes vlp-16 and vlp-18 and thus should prevent against over 70% of cervical cancers . for l1 vlp - based vaccines ,
the efficacy is largely dependent on the... | human papillomavirus ( hpv ) l1 virus - like particles ( vlps ) were proven an effective vaccine candidate to prevent against hpv-16 and -18 infections . in order to evaluate the potency of our produced hpv-16 and -18 l1 vlps - based vaccine candidates , also to quantify neutralizing antibodies induced by them ,
a 2-plex luminex - based competitive immunoassay was developed .
unlike the published paper , the no - biotin conjugated neutralizing mabs spiked normal human serum ( nhs ) was used for standard curve preparation , while phycoerythrin ( pe ) was not labeled directly to neutralizing mabs for signaling .
after the coupling optimization of vlps to microspheres and the neutralizing mabs biotinylation , the 2-plex standard curve was prepared with good fit and high dynamic range .
in addition , no cross - reactivity was also confirmed .
the 2-plex luminex - based immunoassay represents good potential not only for vaccine candidate 's evaluation but also for its further clinical use . |
6,323 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: stroke is the most common cerebrovascular disease and the most frequent cause of death as a
single disease despite advancements in modern medical technology and increased awareness .
activities of daily living are limited by the disability in sensory , motor , and cognitive
and emotional control functions seen following a stroke1 . due to muscular stiffness and weakness ,
stroke patients have
difficulties in supporting their weight on the lower extremity on the affected side , thereby
causing disabilities in balance control while standing , which affects quality of life
negatively2 .
in addition , significant
reductions in the function of the upper extremity on the affected side are experienced by
stroke , resulting in significant difficulties in independent movements and performing the
activities of daily living3 . during arm stretching movements by stroke patients ,
muscle activity is reduced more in the
affected side than in the unaffected side , leading to problems with postural adjustment due
to the weakness of trunk muscles4 .
as
static and dynamic balance abilities that can maintain the body s center of gravity within
the basal plane in the standing position are reduced , asymmetrical posture of the trunk is
revealed in order to compensate for the instability .
the trunk muscles are involved with trunk movements and
spinal stability5 and extend in a wide
area in both vertical and horizontal directions .
they also adjust trunk motions in various
spatial directions6 and are involved with
postural control by maintaining balance through maintaining a normal lumbar curvature7 .
upper extremity training in the standing position
improves postural control while maintaining the body s center of gravity8 .
trainings of the maintenance of a standing
position and upper extremity are more beneficial to the performances of activites of daily
living if they are conducted simultaneously rather than independently9 .
task training in the standing position can improve postural
... | [ purpose ] this study aimed to examine the effect of upper extremity training in the
standing position on trunk alignment of patients with stroke . [ subjects and methods ]
twelve stroke patients
were enrolled in the study and divided into two groups : a group of
six patients in a sitting position and a group of six patients in a standing position .
upper extremity training for 30 min per day , five times a week for six weeks was given to
subjects in both groups . in order to assess trunk alignment , lumbar lordosis and thoracic
kyphosis
were examined before and after upper extremity training using formetric 4d .
[ results ] after training the standing position group had no significant change in lumbar
lordosis but a significant change in thoracic kyphosis .
the sitting position group showed
no significant changes in either lumbar lordosis or thoracic kyphosis .
the comparison
between groups showed there was no significant difference in the change in lumbar lordosis
but there was a significant difference in the change in thoracic kyphosis . [ conclusion ]
examination of trunk alignment showed that upper extremity training conducted in a
standing position reduced thoracic kyphosis more than in a sitting position . |
6,324 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: disease registries are important tools for tracking disease trends or treatment outcomes.123 the health / disease registry could be hospital / clinic - based or population based .
the former is used for a specific disease irrespective of the location of the case .
alternately , a population based registry is used to compile information on specified diseases by region , community , and state in which they are diagnosed.4 they exist in different formats ; paper based registries , the most common types of registries in the past were complemented over time by computerized records . in recent years ,
web - based registries have become popular because they are user friendly and can be managed from different locations .
additionally , the web - based approach overcomes data management issues and allows for periodic generation of information for monitoring and policy making .
health managers at hospitals , national , and international levels use web - based registries to compile information on different health issues.567 since 1983 , paper and computer - based retinoblastoma and tumor registries had been in place at the king khaled eye specialist hospital ( kkesh ) riyadh , saudi arabia.89 on the basis of the computer - based congenital glaucoma registry , baseline features of primary and secondary congenital glaucoma were
described.10 saudi arabia has one of the highest incidences of primary congenital glaucoma worldwide.10 however , there is a relative paucity of information on the outcomes of managed children .
a simple , yet effective web - based registry was created to prospectively collect data on congenital glaucoma . to the best of our knowledge ,
web - based registries have not been used to track outcomes or disease trends in congenital glaucoma ( cg ) .
this study was undertaken between january 2012 and march 2013 . the approval of research department of ( kkesh )
a registry committee comprising of ophthalmologists , epidemiologist , statistician , information and a technology specialists , and a registry... | in this brief communication , we present the steps used to establish a web - based congenital glaucoma registry at our institution .
the contents of a case report form ( crf ) were developed by a group of glaucoma subspecialists .
information technology ( it ) specialists used lime survey softwaretm to create an electronic crf .
a my structured query language ( mysql ) server was used as a database with a virtual machine operating system .
two ophthalmologists and 2 it specialists worked for 7 hours , and a biostatistician and a data registrar worked for 24 hours each to establish the electronic crf . using the crf which was transferred to the lime survey tool , and the mysql server application ,
data could be directly stored in spreadsheet programs that included microsoft excel , spss , and r - language and queried in real - time . in a pilot test
, clinical data from 80 patients with congenital glaucoma were entered into the registry and successful descriptive analysis and data entry validation was performed .
a web - based disease registry was established in a short period of time in a cost - efficient manner using available resources and a team - based approach . |
6,325 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the synthesis of high - quality
colloidal core shell quantum
dots ( qds ) is usually performed in organic solvents . from these solvents , they can be processed and used in numerous
applications in optoelectronics and photovoltaics . alternatively ,
the qds can be subsequently transferred into aqueous solutions in
order to increase their range of applications , particularly in biological
labeling and environmental sensing .
such a transfer requires either hydrophilic bifunctional ligands
to be exchanged for the native hydrophobic monofunctional coordinating
ligands , usually octadecylamine ( oda ) or the addition
of amphiphilic ligands or diblock copolymers where the hydrophobic
regions intercalate with the native ligands and hydrophilic regions
are exposed to the aqueous environment .
there are
advantages and disadvantages to each approach , but it mainly
comes down to a choice of size vs stability .
the long - chain native
ligands and the amphiphilic nature of ligands used in the intercalation
approach lead to qds with relatively large overall diameters .
the
ligand - exchange approach can , in principle , use extremely small ligands .
however , when using these qds for fluorescence applications , it has
been found that fluorescence quenching depends on both ligand size
and the functional group used , so a balance
is usually found between size , stability , and fluorescence quantum
yield . as a compromise , small polydentate ligands such as dihydrolipoic
acid ( dhla ) have been used to improve colloidal stability over monodentate
ligands , although we have recently found
that the lower density of dhla ligands on the surface compared to
monodentate mpa ligands leads to higher nonspecific adsorption of
target thiol molecules at low concentrations . in any case , the colloidal stability of ligand - exchanged quantum
dots is usually lower than the amphiphilic polymer - coated qds and
depends strongly on the nature of the ligands and the solvent conditions... | ligand cross - linking is known to
improve the colloidal stability
of nanoparticles , particularly in aqueous solutions .
however , most
cross - linking is performed chemically , in which it is difficult to
limit interparticle cross - linking , unless performed at low concentrations .
photochemical cross - linking is a promising approach but usually requires
ultraviolet ( uv ) light to initiate .
using such high - energy photons
can be harmful to systems in which the ligand nanoparticle
bond is fairly weak , as is the case for the commonly used semiconductor
quantum dots ( qds ) . here
, we introduce a novel approach to cross - link
thiolated ligands on qds by utilizing the photocatalytic activity
of qds upon absorbing visible light .
we show that using visible light
leads to better ligand cross - linking by avoiding the problem of ligand
dissociation that occurs upon uv light exposure .
once cross - linked ,
the ligands significantly enhance the colloidal stability of those
same qds that facilitated cross - linking . |
6,326 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: a 51-year - old male patient with diabetes was admitted to the division of pulmonology with the chief complaints of fever and hemoptysis .
a chest computed tomography scan was performed for the evaluation of persistent fever and recurrent pleural effusion , and it showed pulmonary embolism at bilateral multiple segmental arteries and segmental infarction of the involved lung segments . based on the results , echocardiography was additionally performed and revealed isolated pulmonary valve infective endocarditis with severe pulmonary regurgitation . after the diagnosis was made , the patient was treated with antibiotics , followed by echocardiography .
the postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was followed up at the outpatient clinic regularly with anticoagulation .
after 6 months , he was brought to the emergency unit presenting with a high fever ( > 39 ) and general weakness that had lasted for 3 days .
methicillin - sensitive staphylococcus aureus ( s. aureus ) was isolated from his blood culture , and the echocardiography showed a hypoechoic movable mass on the prosthetic pulmonary valve ( fig . 1 ) and
the pressure gradient of the prosthetic pulmonary valve was 16.2 mmhg ( maximum pressure gradient)/9.4 mmhg ( mean pressure gradient ) .
we did a redo - pulmonary valve replacement under the impression of prosthetic valve infective endocarditis .
a secure portion for the new prosthetic pulmonary valve replacement was hard to find because of the risk of pulmonary vessel wall injury . moreover , complete debridement of the remaining infected tissue seemed impossible . thus a valved graft was made by placing a 21 mm tissue valve in the middle of a 22 mm vascutek artificial graft ( fig .
3 ) . after completely obliterating the proximal portion of the pulmonary arterial lumen with simple suturing for isolation of probable remnant infected debris ,
the valved graft was used to perform the redo - pulmonary valve replacement similar to the rastelli operation with right ventricular outflow tract... | a 51-year - old male was admitted to the hospital with complaints of fever and hemoptysis .
after evaluation of the fever focus , he was diagnosed with pulmonary valve infective endocarditis . thus pulmonary valve replacement and antibiotics therapy were performed and discharged .
he was brought to the emergency unit presenting with a high fever ( > 39 ) and general weakness 6 months after the initial operation .
the echocardiography revealed prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis .
therefore , redo - pulmonary valve replacement using valved conduit was performed in the rastelli fashion because of the risk of pulmonary arterial wall injury and recurrent endocarditis from the remnant inflammatory tissue .
we report here on the successful surgical treatment of prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis with an alternative surgical method . |
6,327 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: child abuse is a serious social health problem all over the world with important adverse effects .
this is an issue concerning millions of children and families which influence significantly children of any ethnicity , color , social status and religion and encompasses all ages ( before birth , in infancy , childhood , adolescence , etc . )
this is in the range of 4.7 to 91.6% according to the type of maltreatment and place of study ( 2 - 5 ) .
relationship between child abuse and mental disorder is well known in different countries ( 6 - 9 ) .
evidence shows that child abuse and neglect are related to various disorders in adolescence , which include mental disorders , psychological and behavioral disorders , substance abuse , and poor physical health ( 10 - 14 ) . results in one review found emotional , sexual and physical child abuse as the most serious risk factors for depression . and sexual child abuse and family violence as the greatest risk factors for anxiety disorders ( 15 ) .
other studies assessed the association between childhood sexual abuse and major depression and anxiety at higher age , and found that severe forms of sexual abuse were correlated with a greater risk of outcomes ( 16 - 19 ) .
in iran , our knowledge about various effects associated with child abuse types and specific mental disorders is not sufficient . our overall objective was to extend our understanding of the relation between mental conditions including anxiety , stress and depression , and child abuse and neglect .
maybe dispelling this gap in knowledge would disclose findings that could be as an alarm for health professionals and decision makers for prevention and intervention programming aimed at reducing both child abuse and poor mental health outcomes in adolescents .
in 2013 , we conducted a cross - sectional survey in two secondary school levels ( 6th and 7th level ) in yazd province located in central iran .
of the 745 students from 25 classes eligible to participate , 700 completed the questionnaire with a response... | backgroundchild abuse is a serious social health problem all over the world with important adverse effects.objectivesthe aim of this study was to extend our understanding of the relation between mental disorders and child abuse.materials and methodsthe study was designed as a cross - sectional survey on 700 students in secondary schools using multiple cluster sampling in yazd , iran in 2013 .
we applied 2 self reported questionnaires : dass ( depression anxiety stress scales)-42 for assessing mental disorders ( anxiety , stress and depression ) and a standard self - reported valid and reliable questionnaire for recording child abuse information in neglect , psychological , physical and sexual domains .
the collected data was analyzed using spss software .
p - values < 0.05 were considered as significant.resultsthere was a statically significant correlation between mental disorder and child abuse score ( spearman rho : 0.2 ; p - value < 0.001 ) .
the highest correlations between mental disorders and child abuse were found in psychological domain , spearman s rho coefficients were 0.46 , 0.41 and 0.36 for depression , anxiety and stress respectively ( p - value < 0.001 ) . based on the results of logistic regression for mental disorder , females , last born adolescents and subjects with drug or alcohol abuser parents had mental disorder odds of 3 , 0.4 and 1.9 times compared to others ; and severe psychological abuse , being severely neglected and having sexual abuse had odds 90 , 1.6 and 1.5 respectively in another model.conclusionsprogramming for mandatory reporting of child abuse by physicians and all health care givers e.g. those attending schools or health centers , in order to prevent or reduce its detrimental effects is useful and success in preventing child abuse could lead to reductions in the prevalence of mental disorders . |
6,328 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: subcuteneous swelling as metastases are an uncommon presenting feature for primary solid tumors like lung cancer usually in the range of 1.52.6% .
it is important to distinguish such metastases from a soft - tissue mass as they may represent the first clinical sign of an occult tumor . in this report
, we describe an unusual case of small - cell lung cancer metastasizing to his anterior chest , back and left arm as soft tissue nodule at the time of initial diagnosis ; an aggressive cancer which has a poor prognosis owing to its late presentation .
a 64-year - old male , chronic smoker presented in the medicine outpatient department with complaints of breathlessness , loss of weight , multiple swellings on the chest , back and left arm since 2 months .
there was no history of trauma , pulmonary tuberculosis , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , bronchial asthma , ischemic heart disease , hypertension or diabetes . on examination , there were firm , variegated and no tender cystic swellings on the anterior chest , back and left arm ( figure 1 ) .
the hemoglobin was 9.6 g% , total leukocyte count was 6300/cmm with a differential of 45% neutrophils , 37% lymphocytes , 17% monocytes and 1% eosinophils , in the peripheral smear .
serum calcium , phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase were 13.2 mg% , 4.0 mg% and 7.2 bodansky unit , respectively .
fine needle aspiration cytology of the swelling from chest showed small cell lung carcinoma seen as small round cells in rosettes and nests with high n / c and pepper salt chromatin ( 40 , pap .
computerized tomography of the chest showed pleural effusion , rib fracture with multiple small hypoechoic shadow suggestive of lung cancer ( figure 3 ) .
he was referred to radio - oncology department for further management but he refused due to non - affordability .
figure 2small cell lung carcinoma seen as small round cells in rosettes and nests with high n / c and pepper salt chromatin ( 40 , pap .
stain ) . small cell lung carcinoma seen as small round cells in rosettes and... | subcutaneous swelling as first clinical presentation of small cell lung carcinoma is uncommon and rarely reported in literature .
this case highlights a rare presentation in which subcutaneous swelling was the first clinical manifestation of a small cell carcinoma of lung which also had metastasis to rib bone , muscle and pleural involvement as pleural effusion .
we describe the case of a 64-year - old male patient who presented with dyspnea , pleuritic pain , loss of weight and nodule on his anterior chest , back and left arm suspicious of lipoma .
biopsies revealed small cell carcinoma of lung .
this case demonstrates the meticulous work up of subcutaneous swelling in the clinical scenario of breathlessness , chest pain and loss of weight . |
6,329 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the overall death rate has been significantly reduced in the last decades , but depending on subtype and stage , still a significant portion of patients will suffer from relapse or even die of the disease [ 1 , 2 ] .
while up to 70% of patients with breast cancer can be cured nowadays , a significant proportion of these patients is overtreated .
it remains a challenge to identify those patients who will indeed profit from current treatment strategies and also to develop innovative concepts for patients currently at high - risk for relapse after treatment .
for this reason , the identification of reliable prognostic biomarkers together with the development of clinically efficient therapies is urgently needed .
today , the prognostic clustering of breast cancer in daily routine relies on the determination of a limited set of molecular markers ( e.g. estrogen receptor ( er ) , progesterone receptor ( pr ) and epidermal - growth - factor receptor 2 ( her2 , also referred to as her2/neu , erbb-2 ) ) mostly by semi - quantitative assays e.g. by immunohistochemistry ( fig . 1 )
. clearly , some of these markers are first examples of personalized medicine and targeted treatment since for instance only the determination of er - expression by immunohistochemistry allows for a directed anti - hormonal therapy with receptor blockade or inhibition , or both .
. moreover her2-overexpression has paved the way for anti - her2 treatment with the humanized monoclonal antibody trastuzumab [ 57 ] or the small - molecule inhibitor of the tyrosine kinase domains of her1 and her2 , lapatinib [ 810 ] .
the best her2-targeted treatment option together with chemotherapy in patients with metastasized but operable breast cancer is currently assessed in clinical trials .
clinical parameters such as tumor size , lymph - node status and age as well as pathologic parameters such as histologic grading , hormone receptor status and her2-status are main factors for risk assignment in breast cancer therapy . this risk assignment results in... | breast cancer is a complex disease , whose heterogeneity is increasingly recognized . despite considerable improvement in breast cancer treatment and survival , a significant proportion of patients seems to be over- or undertreated . to date , single clinicopathological parameters show limited success in predicting the likelihood of survival or response to endocrine therapy and chemotherapy .
consequently , new gene expression based prognostic and predictive tests are emerging that promise an improvement in predicting survival and therapy response .
initial evidence has emerged that this leads to allocation of fewer patients into high - risk groups allowing a reduction of chemotherapy treatment . moreover
, pattern - based approaches have also been developed to predict response to endocrine therapy or particular chemotherapy regimens .
irrespective of current pitfalls such as lack of validation and standardization , these pattern - based biomarkers will prove useful for clinical decision making in the near future , especially if more patients get access to this form of personalized medicine . |
6,330 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: species of the genus leishmania are the causative agents of various parasitic infections which manifest itself in a variety of clinical forms depending upon the species of leishmania and the immunological status of the host .
leishmania donovani is the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis ( vl ) or kala - azar , which is fatal if patients are left untreated and is more common in less developed countries .
the organism has a digenic life cycle residing as flagellated extracellular promastigotes in the gut of insect vector and as nonflagellated amastigotes in mammalian host macrophages .
the drugs recommended for treatment of vl , namely , pentavalent antimonials , amphotericin b , and lipid formulations of amphotericin b , have many limitations like long course of treatment , toxic side effects and high costs .
moreover , the occurrence of chemoresistance against classical drugs has worsened the situation further [ 3 , 4 ] .
thus , search for new drugs , new molecular targets , and novel therapeutic strategies are justified . in search of better leishmanicidal compounds ,
there has been considerable public and scientific interest in the use of plant derived compounds to combat human diseases .
cryptolepine is an indoloquinoline alkaloid which was first isolated from the roots of cryptolepis triangularis collected in belgian congo and afterward from the roots of cryptolepis sanguinolenta from nigeria .
this species has been used traditionally to treat malaria , hypertension , hyperglycemia , inflammation and cancer [ 7 , 8 ] .
although there are reports of antiparasitic activity of clp , its effect on leishmania donovani is yet to be evaluated .
programmed cell death ( pcd ) appears to be the most preferred mechanism for mediating parasiticidal activity , as has been observed in kinetoplastids in response to diverse stimuli , for example , heat shock , chemotherapeutic agents such as pentostam , amphotericin b , camptothecin , oxidants such as h2o2 or even serum deprivation .
apoptosis involves a... | leishmania donovani are the causative agents of visceral leishmaniasis worldwide .
lack of vaccines and emergence of drug resistance warrants the need for improved drug therapy and newer therapeutic intervention strategies against leishmaniasis . in the present study , we have investigated the effect of the natural indoloquinoline alkaloid cryptolepine on l. donovani ag83 promastigotes .
our results show that cryptolepine induces cellular dysfunction in l. donovani promastigotes , which leads to the death of this unicellular parasite .
interestingly , our study suggest that cryptolepine - induced cell death of l. donovani is counteracted by initial autophagic features elicited by the cells . for the first time , we show that autophagy serves as a survival mechanism in response to cryptolepine treatment in l. donovani promastigotes and inhibition of autophagy causes an early increase in the amount of cell death .
this study can be exploited for designing better drugs and better therapeutic strategies against leishmaniasis in future . |
6,331 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: currently , the ptx used clinically is in a vehicle composed of cremophor el and ethanol at a 50:50 ( v / v ) ratio .
however , this solvent causes severe hypersensitive reactions and cytotoxicity and is incompatible with polyvinyl chloride , which is commonly used in injection systems.2,5 in addition , ptx can cause serious side effects at excessive doses , such as bone marrow suppression and cardiac rhythm disturbances.3 therefore , researchers have developed a variety of vehicles , including microspheres , nanoparticles , surgical pastes , polymeric micelles , and hydrogels , to control ptx release and to eliminate the toxicity of cremophor el to the body.1,3 hydrogels have been commonly used in drug delivery , and various natural polymers and synthetic copolymer hydrogels , such as chitosan , hyaluronic acid , alginate , polymethyl methacrylate , and polyethylene glycol , have been studied .
these compounds usually form hydrogel - drug complexes outside of the body and are then delivered into the body.59 however , the formation of hydrogels frequently involves ultraviolet photopolymerization and various chemical cross - linking techniques , and there is a potential risk that toxic reagents may fail to be removed completely prior to hydrogel implantation . furthermore ,
some hydrogels have high elasticity , which generally prevents their extrusion through a syringe needle.6 therefore , an alternative vehicle is necessary .
self - assembling peptides are a type of designed biomaterial and have been used in a number of biomedical applications , such as cell culture , tissue engineering , and drug delivery.1013 self - assembling peptides can spontaneously assemble to cross - linked nanofibers of 1020 nm in diameter and form a stable second structure of -sheet in aqueous solution . under physiological conditions , the peptide solution can rapidly self - assemble into hydrogels , which contain more than 99% ( w / v ) water.11,12,14 previous studies have used rada16 peptide to slow the release of proteins and... | backgrounda nanoscale injectable in situ - forming hydrogel drug delivery system was developed in this study .
the system was based on a self - assembling peptide rada16 solution , which can spontaneously form a hydrogel rapidly under physiological conditions .
we used the rada16 hydrogel for the controlled release of paclitaxel ( ptx ) , a hydrophobic antitumor drug.methodsthe rada16-ptx suspension was prepared simply by magnetic stirring , followed by atomic force microscopy , circular dichroism analysis , dynamic light scattering , rheological analysis , an in vitro release assay , and a cell viability test.resultsthe results indicated that rada16 and ptx can interact with each other and that the amphiphilic peptide was able to stabilize hydrophobic drugs in aqueous solution .
the particle size of ptx was markedly decreased in the rada16 solution compared with its size in water .
the rada16-ptx suspension could form a hydrogel in culture medium , and the elasticity of the hydrogel showed a positive correlation with peptide concentration . in vitro release measurements indicated that hydrogels with a higher peptide concentration had a longer half - release time .
the rada16-ptx hydrogel could effectively inhibit the growth of the breast cancer cell line , mda - mb-435s , in vitro , and hydrogels with higher peptide concentrations were more effective at inhibiting tumor cell proliferation .
the rada16-ptx hydrogel was effective at controlling the release of ptx and inhibiting tumor cell growth in vitro.conclusionself-assembling peptide hydrogels may work well as a system for drug delivery . |
6,332 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: type 1 diabetes ( t1d ) can cause significant stress in the affected children , due to its chronic nature and multipronged management ; involving multiple daily injections , blood glucose monitoring , dietary restrictions , and risk of complications . in developing countries , financial constraints , suboptimal health infrastructure , lack of universal health insurance ,
scarce school health facilities , poor health - seeking behavior in the community , and the social stigma attached to the disease are likely to further aggravate the psychosocial and cognitive profiles of children / adolescents with t1d , as compared to developed nations .
there is , however , a paucity of reports on these aspects from developing countries .
it is imperative to understand the extent of psychological comorbidity in children / adolescents with t1d , because this has a significant impact on the self - management of diabetes , and glycemic control in the patient .
the study was undertaken with the objective of assessing the quality of life ( qol ) , emotional well - being , and behavioral and cognitive profile of indian children and adolescents with t1d ; and to examine the influence of sociodemographic factors , glycemic control , age of onset , and duration of diabetes on these parameters .
we enrolled 49 children / adolescents aged 6 - 18 years with t1d under follow - up at the pediatric endocrinology clinic of our tertiary care institute , for at least 6 months , after obtaining voluntary informed consent from parents and assent from the subjects .
information regarding age of onset , duration of disease , socioeconomic status ( based on modified kuppuswamy scale ) , and mother 's education were recorded .
degree of glycemic control was assessed by last hba1c ( considered normal if american diabetes association ( ada ) cut - offs , i.e. , 8.5% for age < 6 years , 8% for age 6 - 12 years , and 7.5% for age > 12 years ) , and number of episodes of perceived or documented hypoglycemia ( blood glucose < 60 mg / dl or symptomatic... | background and aims : the psychological stress associated with type 1 diabetes ( t1d ) may be higher in children from developing world due to limited health resources .
the aims of the study were to assess the quality of life ( qol ) , emotional well - being , behavioral , and cognitive profile of children / adolescents with t1d diagnosed at least 6 months prior.materials and methods : forty - nine children with t1d , aged 618 years were assessed using dawn youth qol questionnaire , who-5 well - being index , child behavior checklist ( cbcl ) , and malin 's intelligence scale for indian children ( misic ) .
the association of the scores was studied with age , gender , socioeconomic status ( ses ) , frequency of hypoglycemia , hba1c , and age of onset and duration of t1d.results:the mean ( standard deviation ( sd ) ) for dawn qol , who-5 , cbcl , and misic scores was 24.7 ( 16.7 ) , 74.6 ( 19.4 ) , 52.6 ( 8.8 ) , and 96.0 ( 11.2 ) , respectively .
the significant associations noted were : elevated hba1c with poorer emotional well - being ; higher negative impact on symptoms of disease and future prospects sub - areas of qol ; shorter duration of disease with more behavioral issues ; lower maternal education with more withdrawn / depressed behaviors and worry about future prospects ; and lower ses with lower misic scores .
earlier onset ( age < 5 years ) was associated with fewer behavioral problems and less negative impact on qol.conclusion:children with recent diagnosis , older age at onset , lower maternal educational level , elevated hba1c , or belonging to lower ses were identified to have higher prevalence of various psychological and cognitive problems . in resource - limited settings
, these children should be prioritized for behavioral and cognitive evaluation . |
6,333 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: nasopharyngeal angiofibromas are relatively rare tumors that represent 0.5% of all head and neck neoplasms and they predominantly occur in adolescent males ( 1 ) .
this type of tumor originates from the region of the sphenopalatine foramen . in most cases
, imaging studies will demonstrate a widening of the pterygopalatine fossa and anterior bowing of the posterior wall of the maxillary sinus ( 2 ) .
i describe an extra - nasopharyngeal angiofibroma arising from the parapharyngeal space in a middle - aged woman without involvement of the sphenopalatine foramen or the nasopharynx .
a 53-year - old woman presented with a diffuse anterior neck swelling of one - month duration . the patient had not undergone any previous surgery .
ultrasonography ( us ) showed diffuse goiter with multiple thyroid nodules . a homogeneous and hypoechoic solid mass , adjacent to the upper margin of the right submandibular gland with focal flow signals on color doppler sonography within the mass was detected ( figure 1 ) . a computed tomography ( ct ) scan revealed a circumscribed mass , hypodense to the masseter muscle and hyperdense to the parotid gland in the right parapharyngeal space ( figure 2 a - c ) .
after intravenous contrast administration , the mass , 1.7 1.7 1.6 cm in size , demonstrated homogeneous enhancement without infiltration to the adjacent muscle . at that time
enlargement of the bilateral thyroid lobes with multiple non - enhancing hypodense and calcified thyroid nodules was also noted . under general anesthesia
after surgery , the patient revealed an uneventful postoperative course . at the three - year follow - up examination ,
angiofibromas are histologically benign , but potentially locally destructive fibro - vascular tumors that account for less than 0.5% of all head and neck neoplasms ( 3 ) .
they originate from the region of the sphenopalatine foramen and commonly spread to the sphenoid sinus , the nasal cavity , and the pterygopalatine foramen ( 1 ) .
angiofibromas that do not originate from the area... | nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is a relatively uncommon vascular tumor affecting adolescent males and it characteristically originates in the posterior lateral wall of the nasopharynx .
primary extra - nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is very rare .
here , i present a case of angiofibroma of the parapharyngeal space in a 53-year - old woman with ct and sonographic findings . |
6,334 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: icu = intensive care unit ; ifn = interferon ; il = interleukin ; lps = lipopolysaccharide ; pcr = polymerase chain reaction ; tlr = toll - like receptor ; tnf = tumour necrosis factor .
hg , te , and sf planned , drafted , read , and approved the final manuscript .
this article is part of a review series on infection , edited by steven opal . | international guidelines concerning the management of patients with sepsis , septic shock and multiple organ failure make no reference to the nature of the infecting organism . indeed
, most clinical signs of sepsis are nonspecific . in contrast , in vitro data suggest that there are mechanistic differences between bacterial , viral and fungal sepsis , and imply that pathogenetic differences may exist between subclasses such as gram - negative and gram - positive bacteria .
these differences are reflected in different cytokine profiles and mortality rates associated with gram - positive and gram - negative sepsis in humans .
they also suggest that putative anti - mediator therapies may act differently according to the nature of an infecting organism .
data from some clinical trials conducted in severe sepsis support this hypothesis .
it is likely that potential new therapies targeting , for example , toll - like receptor pathways will require knowledge of the infecting organism .
the advent of new technologies that accelerate the identification of infectious agents and their antimicrobial sensitivities may allow better tailored anti - mediator therapies and administration of antibiotics with narrow spectra and known efficacy . |
6,335 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: impaired insulin sensitivity ( is ) plays a crucial role in the development of type 2 diabetes ( t2d ) , but its relevance for the occurrence of ischemic stroke still remains unclear . in that context , some studies suggested that decreased is , for example , insulin resistance , is an established risk factor for ischemic stroke , [ 24 ] while there are studies which could not demonstrate this relationship .
moreover , it has been reported that decreased is is directly related to different subtypes of ischemic stroke in t2d patients and nondiabetics , measured by different metabolic tests , short insulin tolerance test , homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance , and immunoreactive insulin after glucose loading in 2 h ogtt [ 2 , 3 ] .
simultaneously , it has been shown that higher levels of insulin resistance were found in nondiabetics with coexistence of intra- and extracranial atherosclerosis in contrast to those with only intra- or extracranial atherosclerosis .
also , it has been suggested that hyperinsulinemia might be a risk factor for ischemic stroke [ 7 , 8 ] .
hyperinsulinemia represents a surrogate measure for insulin resistance in nondiabetics , as well as in t2d patients with significant residual insulin secretion capacity .
simultaneously , higher levels of pai-1 have been found in blood from patients with t2d , in obese subjects , and in other conditions associated with insulin resistance [ 1113 ] .
moreover , it has been shown that hypofibrinolysis due to higher pai-1 levels has been related to the insulin resistance [ 1417 ] and might be involved together with insulin resistance , in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke .
therefore , in this study we tried to determine the role of impaired is , together with the relevant changes in insulin and pai-1 levels in t2d patients as well as nondiabetics with ischemic stroke .
we divided 62 t2d patients into two groups , with ( n = 33 ) and without ( n = 29 ) atherothrombotic ischemic stroke ( atis ) , and 64 nondiabetics were assigned into... | we analyzed ( a ) insulin sensitivity ( is ) , ( b ) plasma insulin ( pi ) , and ( c ) plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 ( pai-1 ) in type 2 diabetes ( t2d ) patients with ( group a ) and without ( group b ) atherothrombotic ischemic stroke ( atis ) , nondiabetics with atis ( group c ) , and healthy controls ( group d ) .
is was determined by minimal model ( si ) .
si was lower in a versus b ( 1.18 0.67 versus 2.82 0.61 min1/mu / l 104 ; p < 0.001 ) and in c versus d ( 3.18 0.93 versus 6.13 1.69 min1/mu / l 104 ; p < 0.001 ) .
pi and pai-1 were higher in a versus b ( pi : 19.61 4.08 versus 14.91 1.66
mu / l ; p < 0.001 , pai-1 : 7.75 1.04 versus 4.57 0.72
mu / l ; p < 0.001 ) and in c versus d ( pi : 15.14 2.20 versus 7.58 2.05
mu / l ; p < 0.001 , pai-1 : 4.78 0.98 versus 3.49 1.04
mu / l ; p < 0.001 ) .
si correlated with pai-1 in t2d patients and nondiabetics , albeit stronger in t2d . binary logistic regression identified insulin , pai-1 , and si as independent predictors for atis in t2d patients and nondiabetics .
the results imply that insulin resistance and fasting hyperinsulinemia might exert their atherogenic impact through the impaired fibrinolysis . |
6,336 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: worry is conventionally studied within the anxiety disorders , but it has recently been given prominence in a theoretical account of persecutory delusions ( freeman , 2007 ) .
worry brings more implausible paranoid ideas to mind , keeps them there , and escalates the distress .
there is increasing evidence to support this view . in a national epidemiological survey , individuals reporting concerns of plots to harm them had almost ten times higher odds of reporting worry than individuals without paranoid fears ( freeman et al . , 2011 ) .
cross - sectional studies with patients with persecutory delusions have shown that high levels of worry are common , comparable to those seen in generalised anxiety disorder , and that higher levels of worry are associated with more distressing paranoia ( freeman and garety , 1999 ; freeman et al . , 2001 ; startup et al . , 2007 ; morrison and wells , 2007 ; bassett et al . , 2009 ; freeman et al . , 2010 ) .
longitudinal studies have shown that worry predicts the later development and persistence of paranoid fears ( startup et al . , 2007 ; freeman et al .
, 2012b ) , and an experimental study has shown that higher levels of worry predict the occurrence of paranoid thoughts ( freeman et al . , 2008 ) .
in the strongest tests of the causal role of worry in persecutory delusions , two clinical intervention studies have shown that directly targeting the cognitive style of worry significantly lessens paranoia ( foster et al . , 2010 ; hepworth et al . ,
this series of studies indicates that worry in psychosis may well require the level of attention it receives in the anxiety disorders .
theoretical accounts of psychosis increasingly highlight both affective and cognitive routes to delusions ( e.g. garety et al . , 2001 ; myin - germeys et al . ,
this is not meant to imply that affect has no cognitive mechanisms but to make the distinction between what have traditionally been considered as emotional and psychotic processes .
non - affective cognitive disturbance in... | worry has traditionally been considered in the study of common emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression , but recent studies indicate that worry may be a causal factor in the occurrence and persistence of persecutory delusions .
the effect of worry on processes traditionally associated with psychosis has not been tested .
the aim of the study was to examine the short - term effects of a bout of worry on three cognitive processes typically considered markers of psychosis : working memory , jumping to conclusions , and anomalous internal experience .
sixty - seven patients with persecutory delusions in the context of a non - affective psychotic disorder were randomised to a worry induction , a worry reduction , or a neutral control condition .
they completed tests of the cognitive processes before and after the randomisation condition .
the worry induction procedure led to a significant increase in worry .
the induction of worry did not affect working memory or jumping to conclusions , but it did increase a range of mild anomalous experiences including feelings of unreality , perceptual alterations , and temporal disintegration .
worry did not affect the occurrence of hallucinations .
the study shows that a period of worry causes a range of subtle odd perceptual disturbances that are known to increase the likelihood of delusions .
it demonstrates an interaction between affective and psychotic processes in patients with delusions . |
6,337 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: discontinuation of antidepressants has been attributed to lack of clinical response , adverse effects , pharmacophobia in panic disorder ( pd),1 and depression.2 genetic polymorphism , which is related to adverse effects induced by the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( ssris ) , has not been linked to antidepressant discontinuation thus far . however , perlis et al3 reported that the short ( s ) allele of serotonin transporter gene - linked polymorphic region ( 5-httlpr ) might contribute to agitation and insomnia with the administration of fluoxetine .
popp et al investigated 65 subjects who were administered antidepressants with a predominant serotonergic mechanism and reported that one - half of the subjects with the s / s genotype suffered significant adverse effects , 40% of subjects with s / long ( l ) genotype had side effects , but none of the subjects with the l / l genotype reported side effects.4 murphy et al reported that geriatric patients with s / s genotype of 5-httlpr showed more intense side effects with paroxetine ( pax ) than subjects with the l / l genotype , and subjects with the s / s genotype received a lower final dose of pax and they had lower adherence than subjects with l / l genotype.5 the 5-httlpr has been known as a functional polymorphism . in vitro , the activity of the l variant is more than doubled when compared to that of the s variant in the 5-htt mrna synthesis and 5-htt expression,6 which indicates that the 5-htt gene transcription is affected by the 5-httlpr genetic polymorphism.6 stahl previously reported that pd patients are more sensitive to ssris than depressed patients , given that the former can readily manifest short - term deterioration of their symptoms during the initial phase of pharmacotherapy.7 consequently , pd patients should be initiated from a lower dose than depressed patients.7 in addition , louie et al asserted that pd patients comorbid with major depressive disorder ( mdd ) showed lower tolerance to ssris compared to those with mdd alone.8... | objectivethe aims of the present study were to analyze the association between discontinuation of paroxetine ( pax ) and the genetic variants of the polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene - linked polymorphic region ( 5-httlpr ) in japanese patients with panic disorder ( pd ) and major depressive disorder ( mdd).methodsthe 5-httlpr genotype was determined by polymerase chain reaction method .
pax plasma concentration was measured by high - performance liquid chromatography to confirm adherence.resultswhen comparing between the pd and mdd patients with the chi - square test and fisher s exact test , the pd patients had a significant and higher discontinuation rate due to non - adherence than did the mdd patients ( 13.5% [ 7/52 ] versus 0% [ 0/88 ] , respectively ; p<0.001 ) .
mdd patients had a significant and higher discontinuation rate due to untraceability than pd patients ( 12.5% [ 11/88 ] versus 1.9% [ 1/52 ] ; p=0.032 ) .
multilogistic regression revealed a tendency for the long / short and short / short genotypes to affect discontinuation due to adverse effects in pd patients ( 25.0% versus 6.3% , respectively ; p=0.054).conclusionthe results indicate that the 5-httlpr genotype might contribute to the discontinuation of initial pax treatment due to adverse effects in pd patients . |
6,338 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in endodontics , we sometimes encounter complexities in the treatment of traumatized immature permanent teeth , particularly when the vital pulp exposure occurs in cases with incomplete root formation .
traumatic injuries are the most common threats to the vitality and integrity of developing teeth since trauma may jeopardize the pulp vitality
an important component responsible for root development is hertwig s epithelial root sheath ( hers ) .
these processes are controlled by specific basement membrane - mediated epithelial - mesenchymal interactions together with various enzymatic and biomolecular activities [ 35 ] .
pulpal infection and inflammation can impair the differentiation and proliferation of cells between hers and dental pulp , or dental papilla .
this impairment can hinder development of root , particularly in the developmental stages of root formation .
hence , the primary aim of treatment in immature traumatized teeth should be maintaining the pulp vitality to allow natural root development or maturogenesis to occur . the term maturogenesis was first introduced by weisleder and benitez .
it describes a vital pulp therapy procedure that triggers continuous deposition of dentin all along the root length and culminates complete physiological root formation together with natural root end closure . according to the glossary of american association of endodontists ( aae ) , unlike apexogenesis
, the definition of root development is not limited to the induction of apical end closure because dentinogenesis occurs throughout the root as well . at present
, this procedure is the preferred treatment for immature and traumatized vital teeth because it induces healing via regeneration instead of repair .
furthermore , it results in increased tooth thickness , root length , and fracture resistance [ 1013 ] .
recently , several materials have been introduced for maturogenesis , including calcium hydroxide , mta , adhesive resins , biodentine , and bioaggregate ( ba ) [ 1417 ] . on the basis of findings of... | this case report describes the treatment of two immature maxillary central incisors in a 7-year - old female patient .
she suffered complicated crown fracture because of trauma , and the root formation was incomplete .
white mineral trioxide aggregate ( mta ) was selected as the pulp - capping material after cervical pulpotomy to preserve the pulp tissue vitality and achieve maturogenesis .
follow - up evaluations showed successful treatment in terms of preservation of pulp vitality and demonstrated marked continuous physiological root development . during 10 years of follow - up , both teeth were clinically asymptomatic , and radiographic evaluations showed apparent root regeneration with apical root - end closure without pulp or periapical pathosis . |
6,339 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the assembly of the human genome from whole - genome - shotgun sequence reads was once deemed impossible , and the probable outcome was dubbed the ' mad magazine version of the human genome ' .
this may have referred to mad 's fold - in back cover , where a drawing and the caption under it are folded twice to reveal a new picture and a new caption to go with it .
this fold - in back cover is rather like alternative splicing , or , more likely , the intent was to imply production of a crazy - quilt genome structure caused by the incorrect joining of the millions of repeat sequences in the human genome . in spite of these concerns ,
paired - end sequencing of three sizes of clones largely avoided the misas - sembly problem and resulted in a faithful rendition of the genome , now with only 498 contigs in build 34 version 2 .
the spectre of the mad magazine version of the genome is coming back in a new guise , however : the corrupt annotation of pseudogenes .
programs designed to scan genomic dna for genes are trained to look for gt and ag boundaries and some consensus regions around these boundaries .
when they encounter a pseudogene that is nearly intact , they try mightily to make it code for an intact protein .
the outcome is a frankenstein gene that never existed in reality , but was cobbled together from spare parts , beginning with the pseudogene carcass .
although it is thought that the number of pseudogenes in the human genome is 20,000 or more , these genome features are not annotated as completely as intact genes .
locus link has 21,382 protein coding genes , but only 2,592 pseudogenes are listed ( as of 13th february , 2004 ) .
complete annotation of the human genome must also include identification and naming of all the pseudogenes .
there are 57 intact and putatively functional huma cyp genes , as well as 58 pseudogenes .
these examples illustrate the trouble that the pseudogenes present for gene prediction algorithms . in the first example
, cyp2g2p encodes a nearly intact p450 ( figure 1a ) with... | annotation of the human genome is inching forward .
seven human chromosomes have now been fully annotated , covering 17 per cent of the genome , and at least one chromosome has been re - annotated .
the enormity of the task forces a dependence on automated tools for detecting and assembling the genes , followed by hand curation to correct errors and polish the gene models .
the accuracy of gene prediction algorithms is very good for internal exons from intact genes , but these programs do peculiar and exasperating things to pseudogenes .
these programs can actually resurrect pseudogenes from the dead , making them into viable gene models for intact proteins , albeit science - fictional proteins .
this process is demonstrated for four human pseudogenes from the cytochrome p450 family and one putatively functional p450 gene , cyp2u1 , having a non - consensus intron boundary .
these examples are offered as a call - to - arms to improve pseudogene prediction as an art in itself , and not as a by - product of gene annotation .
failure to do so will flood the databases with thousands of false - positive predictions .
indeed , they are already there . |
6,340 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy ( cidp ) is an uncommon progressive or relapsing paralyzing disease caused by inflammation of the peripheral nerves .
cidp is characterized by the occurrence of symmetrical weakness in both proximal and distal muscles , which progressively increases for more than 2 months1 .
sensory disturbances are usually slight , proximal and distal parts of the limbs are usually affected symmetrically .
less common variants include widespread multifocal neuropathy , focal brachial plexus , and isolated limb nerve and initial cranial nerve presentations , ataxic sensory neuropathy , and generalized neuropathy associated with multifocal central nervous system .
we report the clinical and brain single photon emission computed tomography ( spect ) and response to treatment in patients with atypical cidp2 .
a 32-year - old man experienced double vision around january , 2010 , followed by weakness of his left upper and lower extremities .
articulation disorders and loss of hearing in his left ear developed , and he was admitted to our hospital on february 14 , 2010 .
physical examination was normal , and neurological examination showed clear consciousness with no impairment of cognitive function , but with articulation disorders . olfactory sensation was reduced .
left ptosis and left gaze palsy , complete left facial palsy , perceptive deafness of the left ear , and muscle weakness of the left trapezius muscle were observed .
paresis in the left upper and lower extremities was graded 4/5 through manual muscle testing .
deep tendon reflexes were slightly diminished equally on both sides ; no pathologic reflex was seen .
chest x - ray , electrocardiogram , thoracoabdominal computed tomography , abdominal ultrasound , and peripheral hematological values were normal .
blood chemistry revealed glucose 174 mg / dl , hba1c 7.8% , ck 366 u / l , and no other abnormal findings . anti - acetylcholine antibody , anti - jo-1 antibody , and antiganglioside antibody were all negative... | a 32-year - old man experienced double vision around january , 2010 , followed by weakness of his left upper and lower extremities .
articulation disorders and loss of hearing in his left ear developed , and he was admitted to our hospital on february 14 , 2010 .
physical examination was normal , and neurological examination showed clear consciousness with no impairment of cognitive function , but with articulation disorders . olfactory sensation was reduced .
left ptosis and left gaze palsy , complete left facial palsy , perceptive deafness of the left ear , and muscle weakness of the left trapezius muscle were observed .
paresis in the left upper and lower extremities was graded 4/5 through manual muscle testing .
sensory system evaluation revealed complete left - side palsy , including the face .
deep tendon reflexes were slightly diminished equally on both sides ; no pathologic reflex was seen .
no abnormality of the brain parenchyma , cerebral nerves or cervicothoracolumbar region was found on brain magnetic resonance imaging . on electroencephalogram ,
alpha waves in the main frequency band of 8 to 9 hz were recorded , indicating normal findings .
brain single photon emission computed tomography ( spect ) scan showed reduced blood flow in the right inner frontal lobe and both occipital lobes .
nerve biopsy ( left sural nerve ) showed reduction of nerve density by 30% , with demyelination .
the patient also showed manifestations of multiple cranial nerve disorder , i.e. , of the trigeminal nerve , glossopharyngeal nerve , vagus nerve , and hypoglos - sal nerve .
whole - body examination was negative . finally , based on ischemic brain spect images , spinal fluid findings and nerve biopsy results ,
peripheral neuropathy accompanied with multiple cranial nerve palsy was diagnosed . |
6,341 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: one of the reasons for this could be the risks in delivery system , and sometime lawsuits could be held between obstetrician and pregnant women .
it is debatable whether this shortage can be attributed to the decrease in the absolute number of obstetricians or a maldistribution .
a theory proposed by newhouse jp insisted that an increase in the number of obstetricians will result in the uniformity of their distribution .
the japanese ministry of health , labor , and welfare , the japan medical association , and the japan society of obstetrics and gynecology recommended the centralization of obstetric care facilities . as a result , many small obstetric care facilities have been closed in the rural areas .
centralization is expected to increase the number of medical facilities with multiple full - time obstetricians and ensure safe childbearing care .
previous studies have shown that obstetric care outcomes are favorable in communities with large obstetric care facilities [ 4 , 5 ] .
on the other hand , the closure of nearby medical facilities due to centralization is expected to result in pregnant women having to travel longer distances to seek the care they need in the event of an emergency .
thus , the centralization of obstetric care facilities could make access to such facilities difficult for some residents . in a previous study
, it was shown that pregnant women who live in rural areas experience more difficulty in accessing medical care than those living in urban areas .
it has also been shown that poor access to obstetric care facilities is associated with poor outcomes [ 812 ] .
thus , the obstetrician shortage is accompanied by a raging debate as to whether centralization is a useful measure . to the best of our knowledge
, no study has evaluated the effects of the number and centralization of obstetricians and obstetric care facilities , respectively , on specific outcomes .
the objective of the present study is to examine the effects of the centralization of obstetricians and obstetric care... | objective .
we investigated the effects of the centralization of obstetricians and obstetric care facilities on the perinatal mortality rate in japan . methods .
we used the gini coefficient as an index to represent the centralization of obstetricians and obstetric care facilities .
the gini coefficients were calculated for the number of obstetricians and obstetric care facilities of 47 prefectures using secondary medical care zones as units . to measure the effects of the centralization of obstetricians and obstetric care facilities on the outcomes ( perinatal mortality rates ) , we performed multiple regression analysis using the perinatal mortality rate as the dependent variable . results .
obstetric care facilities were more evenly distributed than obstetricians .
the perinatal mortality rate was found to be significantly negatively correlated with the number of obstetricians per capita and the gini coefficient of obstetric care facilities .
the latter had a slightly stronger effect on the perinatal mortality rate .
conclusion .
the centralization of obstetric care facilities can improve the perinatal mortality rate , even when increasing the number of obstetricians is difficult . |
6,342 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: it maintains the plasma calcium level by reabsorbing calcium from the bones and kidney and promoting the production of active vitamin d1 ) .
after thyroid surgery is a common cause of hypoparathyroidism , a congenital disorder is the most common cause in childhood2 ) .
digeorge syndrome , which is associated with deletion of chromosome 22q12 , mutations in the glial cells missing homologue b ( gcmb ) gene , hdr syndrome ( hypoparathyroidism , sensorineural deafness , renal dysplasia ) caused by mutation of the gata3 gene , hrd syndrome ( hypoparathyroidism , retardation , dysmorphism ) caused by a defect in the tbce gene , familial x - linked recessive hypoparathyroidism , mutations of pth genes , and kearns - sayre syndrome resulting from mutations in mitochondrial dna are known causes of congenital hypoparathyroidism1,2 ) .
casr is a 1,078 amino acid g - protein - coupled receptor which consists of an extracellular domain of 612 amino acids , seven transmembrane domains of 250 amino acids and an intracellular domain of 216 amino acids .
although calcium is the endogenous ligand of casr , other cations such as mg , ba , and gd can also bind casr4 ) . the action of casr bound to ions other than ca is unknown3 ) .
casr is widely distributed , but the highest levels are found in the parathyroid gland and kidney tubular cells . its main function is to maintain calcium homeostasis5 ) . in the parathyroid gland ,
parathyroid cells detect small perturbations of the extracellular calcium concentration and modulate the secretion of pth in an inhibitory manner .
extracellular calcium concentration and pth secretion have an inverse sigmoidal relationship with each other5 ) . in the kidney ,
casr is highly expressed on the basolateral side of the cortical thick ascending limb of the loop of henle ( talh ) in rats6 ) .
a high peritubular calcium concentration activates casr and activated casr inhibits transporters in the talh , which subsequently reduces ca and mg reabsorption7 ) . inactivating and activating mutations... | the calcium sensing receptor ( casr ) plays an important role in calcium homeostasis . activating mutations of casr cause autosomal dominant hypocalcemia by affecting parathyroid hormone secretion in parathyroid gland and calcium resorption in kidney .
they can also cause a type 5 bartter syndrome by inhibiting the apical potassium channel in the thick ascending limb of the loop of henle in the kidney .
this study presents a patient who had autosomal dominant hypocalcemia with bartter syndrome due to an activating mutation y829c in the transmembrane domain of the casr .
symptoms of hypocalcemia occurred 12 days after birth and medication was started immediately .
medullary nephrocalcinosis and basal ganglia calcification were found at 7 years old and at 17 years old .
three hypercalcemic episodes occurred , one at 14 years old and two at 17 years old .
the bartter syndrome was not severe while the serum calcium concentration was controlled , but during hypercalcemic periods , the symptoms of bartter syndrome were aggravated . |
6,343 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: ethical approval was obtained from the university college london institute of child health / great ormond street hospital for children joint research ethics committee , and written consent was obtained from patients and/or parents .
dna was extracted from 2 patients with hypopituitarism and features of charge and their parents , if available .
an additional cohort of 100 patients with septo - optic dysplasia or hypopituitarism was screened ; 77 had septo - optic dysplasia with variable hormone deficiency ( 6 had ectopic posterior pituitary [ epp ] ) , 21 had combined pituitary hormone deficiency without additional midline defects ( 6 with epp ) , and 2 had isolated ghd ( normal posterior pituitary ) .
the coding region of chd7 consisting of 38 exons ( nm_017780 ) was sequenced in its entirety in all patients .
exons were amplified by pcr on an eppendorf thermocycler over 35 cycles with exon - flanking primers , designed using primer3 ( available at http://frodo.wi.mit.edu/primer3 ) .
pcr products were treated with microclean reagent ( catalog no . 2mcl-10 ; web scientific ltd . , crewe , united kingdom ) according to manufacturer 's instructions and then sequenced using bigdye v1.1 sequencing chemistry ( applied biosystems , foster city , california ) and analyzed on a 3730 1 dna analyzer ( catalog no . 625 - 0020 ; applied biosystems / hitachi , tokyo , japan ) .
for sequence variants identified , we screened 190 ethnically matched control alleles at the same loci and screened the chd7 database describing chd7 mutations / variants from over 800 patients ( www.chd7.org ) ( 3 ) , a control exome database of 1500 caucasian / african americans ( http://snp.gs.washington.edu/evs ) , and 1000 genomes ( www.1000genomes.org ) .
two in silico splicing prediction models , human splicing finder , version 2.4.1 , and netgene2 ( www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/netgene2 ) , were used to assess the effect of splicing variants .
patients with chd7 variants were also screened for variants in hesx1 , sox3 , kal1 , prokr2 , fgfr1 ,... | introduction : charge syndrome is a multisystem disorder that , in addition to kallmann syndrome / isolated hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism , has been associated with anterior pituitary hypoplasia ( aph ) .
however , structural abnormalities such as an ectopic posterior pituitary ( epp ) have not yet been described in such patients.objective:the aims of the study were : 1 ) to describe the association between charge syndrome and a structurally abnormal pituitary gland ; and 2 ) to investigate whether chd7 variants , which are identified in 65% of charge patients , are common in septo - optic dysplasia /hypopituitarism.methods : we describe 2 patients with features of charge and epp .
chd7 was sequenced in these and other patients with septo - optic dysplasia / hypopituitarism.results : epp , aph , and gh , tsh , and probable lh / fsh deficiency were present in 1 patient , and epp and aph with gh , tsh , lh / fsh , and acth deficiency were present in another patient , both of whom had features of charge syndrome . both had variations in chd7 that were novel and undetected in control cohorts or in the international database of charge patients , but were also present in their unaffected mothers .
no chd7 variants were detected in the patients with septo - optic dysplasia / hypopituitarism without additional charge features.conclusion:we report a novel association between charge syndrome and structural abnormalities of the pituitary gland in 2 patients with variations in chd7 that are of unknown significance .
however , chd7 mutations are an uncommon cause of septo - optic dysplasia or hypopituitarism .
our data suggest the need for evaluation of pituitary function / anatomy in patients with charge syndrome . |
6,344 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: surgical site infections ( ssis ) , a significant postoperative complication , can lead to considerable patient morbidity and mortality . preventing ssis is an essential factor in improving the results of surgical procedures .
various factors may be associated with frequency of ssis in laparoscopic cholecystectomies [ lc ] like method of disinfection of the laparoscopic instruments , microdamage to the reusable instruments , bacteriobilia and gallbladder content spillages , use of antibiotics , and so forth .
the rise in demand for minimally invasive surgery has resulted in increased frequency of gallbladder perforations .
laparoscopy - attributable mortality reaches 0.5% , morbidity reaches 4% , and ssis rates following this procedure range between 0.1 and 2% . although a number of studies have focused on the implications of gallbladder content spillage during lc , little is known about the risk factors for ssis in lc .
here we compare the clinical outcomes in patients with gallbladder content spillage during lc and the role of bacteriobilia in ssi after lc .
the aim of this paper is to assess the occurrence of surgical site infections in patients with spillage of gallbladder contents and bacteriobilia during laparoscopic cholecystectomy .
this study was conducted in 113 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy ( lc ) during a period of 20 months at the department of surgery , maulana azad medical college and lok nayak hospital , new delhi .
all patients more than 18 years with symptomatic cholelithiasis proven by ultrasonography were included in this study .
patients < 18 or > 70 years of age , having evidence of cholangitis , pancreatitis , and previous biliary tract surgeries , and having immunocompromised state or diabetes mellitus were excluded .
patients with acute cholecystitis were excluded from our study group as per the protocol in our institution to manage it conservatively , followed by interval cholecystectomy .
the data were collected in all patients who underwent lc , to determine... | aim . to assess the occurrence of ssis in patients with spillage of gallbladder contents and bacteriobilia during laparoscopic cholecystectomy
. methods .
we evaluated 113 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy between september 2013 and april 2015 .
the ssis and their relationship with gallbladder rupture and bacteriobilia were assessed .
results .
the mean age of patients developing ssis was 45.57 8.89 years .
18 patients ( 16% ) had spillage of bile from the gallbladder .
percentage of ssis overall was 6% , while percentage of ssis in gallbladder content spillage was 5.5% .
organism profile of the culture from surgical site showed monomicrobial infection : 58% staphylococcus aureus , 14% pseudomonas , and 14% e. coli .
the occurrence of ssis in patients with bacteriobilia was 16% as compared to 2% in patients without bacteriobilia .
conclusions .
gallbladder content spillage is not a significant risk factor leading to increase in ssis .
the occurrence of ssis is significantly higher in patients with bacteriobilia . |
6,345 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: when human participants are not engaged in any specific task a set of brain regions can be observed to be active ( shulman et al . , 1997 ) .
collectively this set of regions is now commonly referred to as the default mode network
( dmn ; raichle et al . , 2001 ; buckner et al . , 2008 ) .
regions of the dmn often show a deactivation when participants perform cognitive tasks and this degree of deactivation can be predictive of subsequent performance ( eichele et al . , 2008 ) . contributing to its popularity ,
the dmn is easy to identify in resting state functional mri data and its integrity seems to be compromised in a number of neurological and psychiatric syndromes , such as alzheimer 's disease ( hafkemeijer et al . , 2012 ) and autism ( anderson et al . , 2011 ) .
it is now becoming increasingly apparent that brain areas associated with the dmn are activated during the performance of certain types of tasks .
indeed , the proposed anti - correlation between the dmn and task - related networks has been called into question ( murphy et al . , 2009 ; kelly et al . , 2012 ) .
in this paper , we will focus on one of the task domains that has been suggested to activate the dmn , that of social cognition .
it has been observed that there is strong overlap between the network of areas activated in social cognition and the dmn ( corbetta et al . , 2008 ; schilbach et al . ,
. we will explore the hypothesis that areas in the dmn are involved in certain types of social cognition , speculate on why this might be the case , and explore its implications for understanding social cognition not just in humans , but also in non - human primates .
importantly , in this paper we attempt to take this discussion further by reviewing some recent anatomical data on the dmn and areas involved in social cognition , since a better understanding of the underlying anatomy is vital to understanding a brain network 's function .
second , we discuss recent data on the anatomical relation between the dmn and social cognition networks... | the default mode network ( dmn ) of the brain consists of areas that are typically more active during rest than during active task performance .
recently however , this network has been shown to be activated by certain types of tasks .
social cognition , particularly higher - order tasks such as attributing mental states to others , has been suggested to activate a network of areas at least partly overlapping with the dmn .
here , we explore this claim , drawing on evidence from meta - analyses of functional mri data and recent studies investigating the structural and functional connectivity of the social brain . in addition , we discuss recent evidence for the existence of a dmn in non - human primates .
we conclude by discussing some of the implications of these observations . |
6,346 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: muscle contraction produces force and change in the muscle s length , i.e. , velocity .
skeletal muscles are primarily classified into parallel muscles and
pennate muscles , based on the muscle s form and structure . in parallel muscles , the
shortening velocity is faster and the range of motion is larger because the muscle fibers
are arranged longitudinally and directly reflect mechanical shortening .
in contrast , in
pennate muscles , the shortening velocity is slower and the range of motion is shorter
because muscle fibers are arranged diagonally with a certain pennate angle .
pennate muscles
exert stronger force because they comprise a greater number of muscle fibers , with a larger
cross - sectional area .
generally , parallel muscles are located at joints , such as the elbow
joint , and require exercise to change the joint angle significantly .
conversely , many
pennate muscles are located in the lower extremities and counteract the effects of
gravity2 , 3 .
the semitendinosus muscle ( st ) composes a part of the hamstrings and has a characteristic
form ( fig .
1.structure of the semitendinosus musclethe line of tendinous inscription ( arrow 1 ) lies at the center of the muscle belly .
the proximal compartment has the
structure of a parallel muscle , whereas the distal compartment is considered a pennate
muscle because it has a pennate angle ( arrow 2 ; recorded at 65% from the proximal
tendon ) . ) .
the st has a tendinous inscription ( ti ) in the center of the muscle belly , and its
muscle fibers are divided into a proximal compartment ( pc ) and a distal compartment ( dc ) .
the pc of the st is a parallel muscle , but the dc has a pennate structure with an average
12.9 pennate angle4 . in other words ,
the
st comprises both parallel and pennate muscles dependent on the existence of the ti .
functional differences can therefore be assumed between the two compartments , because each
has a unique innervation5 , 6 .
structure of the semitendinosus muscle the... | [ purpose ] the tendinous inscription divides the semitendinosus muscle into the proximal
and distal compartments .
it was hypothesized that there are functional differences between
those compartments .
[ subjects and methods ] seven adult males performed knee flexion and
hip extension in the prone position .
an ultrasound device measured the decrease in the
length of muscle fibers in the two compartments during these movements .
the knee and hip
joint angles were concurrently measured using a video camera .
pearson s correlation
coefficients were calculated between the decrease in muscle fiber length in each
compartment and joint angle .
[ results ] during knee flexion , decreased muscle fiber length
was significantly correlated with increased knee flexion angle . during hip extension ,
there were no significant correlations for either compartment .
only the decrease in muscle
fiber length in the distal compartment during hip extension tended to be negative ; the
other decreases in muscle fiber length tended to be positive . [ conclusion ] correlations
did not reveal any functional differences .
however , only the distal compartment elongated
during hip extension .
this result might show a functional difference and could be applied
in clinical contexts during hip extension . |
6,347 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: von hippel lindau ( vhl ) disease is a rare inherited condition affecting 1 in 36 000 births and is associated with the development of various multi - system tumours , including haemangioblastomas , phaeochromocytomas , renal cell carcinomas , endolymphatic sac tumours and papillary cystadenomas of the epididymis ( in men ) and broad uterine ligament ( in women ) .
although the association between vhl and primary epididymal papillary cystadenomas is well known , there is extremely limited information about its malignant counterpart ( i.e. papillary cystadenocarcinomas ) with only a few cases reported in the literature [ 26 ] .
the few case reports available have not been associated with vhl disease . as a result , there is also limited information regarding their optimal long - term management .
we present the first reported case of a 43-year - old gentleman with vhl disease presenting with azoospermia and subsequently diagnosed with a primary epididymal papillary cystadenocarcinoma , infiltrating the spermatic cord and accompanied by a metastatic deposit in the right testis .
the patient was ultimately managed by a combination of radical orchidectomy and onco - microtese .
a 43-year - old gentleman with known vhl disease and a history of multiple renal carcinomas presented with primary infertility and non - obstructive azoospermia . on examination , he had an atrophic left testis ( secondary to a previous orchidopexy for cryptorchidism ) and a firm mass in the right epididymis .
he was referred for testicular sperm extraction . at the time of surgical sperm retrieval ,
a biopsy was taken from the epididymal mass , which was reported as a cystadenocarcinoma .
a further biopsy was taken of a mass incidentally noted in the upper pole of the right testis , which on histology was suggestive of a metastatic deposit of renal cell carcinoma .
an orchidectomy was advised , but declined by the patient as he was keen to start a family .
after successfully having a child via in vitro fertilisation ( ivf ) treatment ,... | papillary cystadenomas of the epididymis are known to occur in association with von hippel lindau ( vhl ) disease .
the development of a papillary cystadenocarcinoma , its malignant counterpart , is rare with only a few sporadic cases reported in the literature .
metastatic deposits are exceedingly uncommon ; in fact , only a single case report has documented metastases to the paraureteral region , but metastases to the testis have never been reported . a 43-year - old gentleman with vhl disease presented with non - obstructive azoospermia , a right epididymal mass , and an atrophic surgically corrected undescended left testis .
the epididymal mass was reported as a papillary cystadenocarcinoma on biopsy .
the patient was managed with a radical inguinal orchidectomy and bench microtese with successful sperm retrieval .
metastatic papillary cystadenocarcinoma of the epididymis to the testis has never been previously reported .
this case was managed by radical orchidectomy and subsequent onco - microtese , allowing safe oncological treatment and optimal fertility preservation . |
6,348 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: anterior cruciate ligament ( acl ) reconstruction improves stability and function of the knee and reduces the risk of chondral and meniscal injuries .
however , it does not seem to protect the knee from degenerative arthritic changes in all patients1 ) .
hence , the techniques in acl reconstruction continue to evolve and many issues are still under debate .
creation of a femoral tunnel by drilling through an anteromedial ( am ) portal has been a significant innovation in the recent years2 ) .
this technique allows independent creation of a femoral tunnel from a tibial tunnel and improves restoration of anatomy3 ) and stability in acl reconstruction2,4,5 ) . on the other hand ,
short tunnels might result in inadequate early graft fixation strength and might cause difficulties in suspensory fixation9 ) .
previous cadaveric and clinical studies reported the mean femoral tunnel length drilled through an am portal as ranging from 15.7 - 34.2 mm6 - 8 ) .
we suspected that this wide variation could be due to different tunnel positions and orientations employed by different authors .
we perform anatomic single bundle acl reconstruction with the limb draped free rather than fixed in a knee leg holder ( fig .
the hip flexion varies with knee flexion and studies in the available literature do not account for this fact .
the available studies on this subject have analysed the tunnel length with respect to knee flexion during femoral tunnel drilling or axial angle of guidewire4,10,11 ) . however , there is no study objectively analysing the three dimensional relationship between tunnel orientation and length .
the purpose of this study was to investigate if the tunnel length varies significantly in different orientations and to determine the 3-dimensional ( 3d ) optimal drilling angle of the trans - portal technique for appropriate femoral tunnel length .
we hypothesized that tunnel length varies with orientation and there exists a tunnel orientation in which a tunnel of optimal length can be obtained .
we conducted this... | purposethe purpose of the study was to identify the femoral tunnel orientation that consistently results in a tunnel length of more than 35 mm in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.materials and methodscomputed tomography ( ct ) scans were obtained from 30 patients who did not have any pathology in the distal femur .
virtual tunnels were marked on 3d ( 3-dimensional ) reconstructed ct images after determining the orientation defined by sagittal inclination and axial angle .
the length of a femoral tunnel in 64 different combinations of orientations ( between 30 and 65 in 5 increments in two planes ) was measured on 3d reconstructed images in both knees in 30 patients .
reliability of measurement was assessed with correlation coefficient for intra - observer and inter - observer measurements . a one - way analysis of variance ( anova )
was used for statistical analysis.resultsthe mean femoral tunnel length varied significantly with each 10 change in orientation in both planes ( p<0.05 , anova )
. a femoral tunnel of more than 35 mm in length could be obtained only with a sagittal inclination of more than 50 and axial angle of 30-45. when the axial angle was kept constant , the tunnel length increased with the increase in sagittal inclination .
higher sagittal inclinations consistently resulted in longer tunnels ( r>0.9 ) and reduced the incidence of posterior cortical breakage.conclusionsa tunnel orientation with an axial angle between 30-45 and a sagittal inclination of more than 50 can result in a tunnel length of more than 35 mm . |
6,349 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: targets of treatment in patients with st - elevation myocardial infarction ( stemi ) are alleviating the ischemic symptoms , preventing the complications , and restoring the coronary blood flow .
fibrinolysis and primary percutaneous coronary intervention ( pci ) are the reperfusion therapies in stemi .
primary pci is a safe , effective , and preferred treatment option for maintaining reperfusion .
stent implantation is an important milestone in the treatment of ischemic heart disease in interventional cardiology era .
stent implantation was first performed in 1986 and after this time elastic recoil , coronary dissection , and thrombosis due to coronary angioplasty have been prevented with stenting .
however , it may cause new problems like occlusion of side branches , stent thrombosis , and restenosis . despite major advances in interventional techniques and anticoagulan - antiagregan therapies
incidence of stent thrombosis has been reported between 1.4% and 4.4% in patients with acute myocardial infarction and undergoing pci with stenting .
reasons of stent thrombosis are resistance to aspirin and/or clopidogrel , insufficient anticoagulation , type of stent use ( bare metal , drug eluting , and long stents ) , presentation with acute coronary syndrome , characteristics of coronary lesions and vessel , procedural causes ( stent apposition ) , and inadequate endothelization after stenting .
red cell distribution width ( rdw ) is a quantitative measurement of variability and size of erythrocytes .
higher rdw values have been reported with worse prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease , acute myocardial infarction , stroke , acute and chronic heart failure , pulmonary hypertension , and acute pulmonary embolism .
pathophysiology of elevated rdw in cardiovascular , pulmonary , and thrombotic diseases has not clearly explained yet .
however , it has been thought that increased cytokines may inhibit maturation of erythrocytes in bone morrow and may cause increased rdw values in cardiovascular diseases... | abstractstent thrombosis is a rare but potentially fatal complication of percutaneous coronary interventions ( pcis ) . in recent years
, the predictive and prognostic value of the red cell distribution width ( rdw ) as an indicator of inflammation has been shown in many cardiovascular diseases .
aim of this study was to examine the predictive value of rdw for stent thrombosis in patients who underwent successful stent implantation for st - elevation myocardial infarction ( stemi).in this retrospective study , 146 patients who underwent successful pci to native coronary artery due to stemi previously and presented with acute coronary syndrome with stent thrombosis were included ( stent thrombosis group ) .
a total of 175 patients who had similar procedural characteristics ( type , diameter , and length of stent ) and not had stent thrombosis were consisted control group.patients were divided into tertiles according to the admission rdw values ( 12.9 0.4 , 14.2 0.4 , and 16.3 1.5 , respectively ) .
stent thrombosis developed in 47 ( 40.9% ) patients in the lowest tertile , 39 ( 37.9% ) patients in mid tertile , and 60 ( 58.3% ) patients in the highest tertile ( p = 0.006 ) .
female gender ratio was statistically significantly higher in the 3rd tertile ( 13 [ 11.3% ] , 8 [ 7.8% ] , 24 [ 23.3% ] , p = 0.003 , respectively ) .
rdw ( or : 1.397 [ 95% ci 1.1771.657 ] , p
< 0.001 ) and platelet count ( or : 1.008 [ 95% ci 1.0041.012 ] , p < 0.001 ) remained independent predictors of stent thrombosis after multivariate logistic regression analysis .
roc curve analysis demonstrated that , admission rdw values higher than 13.9 can predict the development of stent thrombosis with a sensitivity of 57% and a specificity of 52% ( the area under the roc curve : 0.59 [ 95% ci 0.530.65 ] p = 0.007).high rdw values found to be independently associated with the development of stent thrombosis in patients with stemi . |
6,350 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: a 77yearold man complained of slight shortness of breath , and was referred to our hospital due to enlarging mediastinal / hilar lymphadenopathy with calcification and right pleural effusion on computed tomography ( ct ) ( fig .
chest ct on parenchymal ( a ) and mediastinal ( b ) window settings showed right pleural effusion and mediastinal / hilar lymphadenopathy with calcification .
what is the appropriate procedure to approach this lesion , and what is the differential diagnosis ?
endobronchial diagnosis at nagoya medical center was requested and endobronchial ultrasoundguided transbronchial needle aspiration ( ebustbna ) of lymph node station 7 was performed .
pathological examination revealed amorphous eosinophilic tissue with few cellular components ( figs . 2 and 3a , b ) .
( if the plasma cell rate is more than 10% , myeloma can be diagnosed . ) as a result , monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance ( mgus ) associated with mediastinal amyloidosis was diagnosed .
echocardiography showed an ejection fraction of 45% , and there was brightness in part of the interventricular septum .
cytology of the lymph node . a lump of amorphous light green material ( papaniclaou staining , 200 ) .
( a ) section showing amorphous eosinophilic materials with hematoxylin eosin staining ( h&e , 200 ) .
( b ) these materials stained positive for direct first scarlet staining ( dfs , 200 ) , indicating amyloid deposits .
we are currently administering combination therapy of bortezomib , melphalan , and prednisolone to this patient . as a result ,
the serum igg has decreased and there is no systemic aggravation ; however , his cardiac function has not improved with this treatment . as jenkins et al
. stated , amyloidosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a large mediastinal mass , especially if calcification and/or plasma cell neoplasm is present 1 . | key clinical messagea 77yearold man was referred to our hospital due to enlarging mediastinal / hilar lymphadenopathy with calcification .
endobronchial ultrasoundguided transbronchial needle aspiration ( ebustbna ) and bone marrow aspiration were performed .
subsequently , monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance ( mgus ) associated with mediastinal amyloidosis was diagnosed .
we hereby report a case in which ebustbna led to a successful diagnosis of amyloidosis . |
6,351 | 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 institutional review boards at baylor college of medicine ( houston , tx , usa ) , the gulf coast regional blood center ( houston ) , and the south texas tissue and blood center ( san antonio , tx , usa ) .
blood donors residing in the greater san antonio , texas , area who had t. cruzi antibodies detected by prism chemiluminescent immunoassay ( abbott laboratories , chicago , il , usa ) or ortho t. cruzi elisa ( ortho - clinical diagnostics inc . , raritan , nj , usa ) , and a positive result for a radioimmune precipitation assay ( quest diagnostic laboratories , madison , nj , usa ) or an esa chagas test ( abbott laboratories ) during january 1 , 2008december 31 , 2014 , were invited to participate in the study .
persons previously enrolled in a houston - based t. cruzi seropositive blood donor project were not eligible for this study ( 8) . letters in english and spanish were sent to donors who had t. cruzi antibodies by the blood centers for this study . those who agreed to participate provided informed consent .
we performed 3 procedures : 1 ) blood collection for additional serologic screening , 2 ) structured interview to assess potential transmission sources and health , and 3 ) 12-lead resting electrocardiogram ( ecg ) ( 8) .
we defined a case of t. cruzi infection if donor screening test results and > 2 serologic test results were positive .
likely autochthonous t. cruzi infection was defined in a case - patient who had no major travel to a latin american country ( lasting > 2 weeks or that included an overnight stay in a rural region ) , not having been born in latin america , and not having a mother born in latin america ( 4,810 ) . congenital transmission from a maternal grandmother ( 2 contiguous congenital infections ) can not be ruled out with this case definition but is unlikely given the low risk for congenital transmission ( 7 ) .
demographic information , likely autochthonous transmission , and concurrent conditions were determined through case - patient... | chagas disease , caused by trypanosoma cruzi , is a major neglected tropical disease affecting the americas .
the epidemiology of this disease in the united states is incomplete .
we report evidence of likely autochthonous vectorborne transmission of t. cruzi and health outcomes in t. cruzi seropositive blood donors in south central texas , usa . |
6,352 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in most sexually reproducing species , anisogamy presents a dichotomy in reproductive investments , where smaller and more numerous male gametes must typically compete for the fewer and larger female gametes .
males therefore typically compete for additional mating whereas females typically allocate their resources into offspring production and care .
this provides opportunities for more intense selection on males [ 1 , 2 ] , and male variations enhancing their own fitness will be under selection , even if it is costly to females . in such cases ,
sex specific selection can lead to accumulation of mutations beneficial to the males but detrimental to females [ 36 ] . as a result
, sexual conflict arises due to differences in reproductive interests and investments between the sexes and can translate into differences in fitness optima between sexes for a given trait .
in addition , the nature of sexual conflict may depend on the extent to which one sex 's action pushes the other away from its fitness optimum .
it has been known for a while now that the very act of mating , in many cases , is often associated with some form of physical and/or physiological harm to females , as a result of male reproductive strategies [ 7 , 8 ] .
there is evidence of male induced harm to female which ranges from forced mating in flies , butterflies , fish , frogs , birds , and primates [ 912 ] to traumatic insemination in bedbugs .
studies from fruitflies , butterflies , and worms show that even if males do not directly ( physically ) harm females , molecular components of the male ejaculate contribute to the reduction of female 's lifespan [ 1416 ] .
these observations reveal that males have evolved a variety of means to increase their own fitness .
the widespread evidence of mating induced harm to females is compelling enough to expect , under the sexual antagonistic coevolution theory , that the most adversely affected sex ( females ) would counter - adapt to minimize the loss of fitness due to manipulations of the opposite sex... | males have evolved a variety of behavioral , morphological , and physiological traits to manipulate their mates in order to maximize their chances of success .
these traits are bound to influence how females respond to male behaviors and influence the nature of sexual selection / conflict .
a common consequence of aggressive male mating strategies in drosophila melanogaster is the reduction of female lifespan .
our study shows that this is common across members of the simulans clade .
reduced life expectancy of females implies that female contribution to a population is less than that of males per generation . fitness differences between the sexes in every generation will invariably affect overall population fitness .
how natural selection responds to the female deaths and thereby the unequal fitness of the sexes has rarely been addressed .
we shed light on this issue and provide evidence , which suggests that additional gains of fitness by males due to their longevity and continued mating may provide one explanation as to why the loss of female fitness may be invisible ( effectively neutral ) to natural selection .
male driven sexual selection and additional , transgenerational gains of male fitness can be an important force of evolutionary change and need to be tested with other organisms . |
6,353 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: molybdenum ( mo ) was discovered by swedish chemist peter jacob hjelm in 1781 , and its radioactive isotopes are made using light - particle reactions , fusion - evaporation reactions , neutron- and charged particle - induced fission , and projectile fragmentation or fission ( advameg 2015 ; parker and thoennessen 2012 ) .
typically generated radioactive isotopes include technetium ( tc ) in the isotopes of tc , tc ( m + g ) , and tc , with tc being one of the most important . the letter
m means that the isotope is metastable , indicating the short half - life of this isotope ( e.g. , tc has a half - life of approximately 6 h ) ( parker and thoennessen 2012 ) .
the short half - life prevents the isotope from being stored for a long period of time ; therefore , continued production is necessary . any difficulties in the supply due to the limited number of facilities would result in an unplanned interruption of patient care .
some research has been conducted on the production of tc without the use of mo ( stolarz et al .
these processes use uranium , and the amount of radioactive waste produced is greatly reduced ( barci - funel et al . 1993 ; pagdon et al . 2011 ) .
however , because this technique is under development , it is unlikely to occupy a significant share of the market in the short or medium term .
the advantages of tc are the short biological and physical half - life that enables very fast clearance from the patient s body and the emission of a single gamma that is not accompanied by any beta emissions .
today , tc is considered one of the most required medical isotopes ; 30 million patients per year use it worldwide .
the approximate worldwide demand for mo used to produce tc is approximately 450 tbq weekly ( aipes 2008 ) .
technetium-99 m ( tc ) is vital for certain diagnostic tests for cancers and heart diseases ; it is used in greater than 80% of nuclear medicine s diagnostic procedures across the world ( wna 2015 ) .
examples of the types of diagnoses for which tc is used include the... | abstractthe ministry of health ( moh ) in the state of kuwait currently depends on importing the radioisotope molybdenum ( mo ) in its isotopic form ( 99mo ) to fulfill its demands .
the present study was conducted on all nuclear medicine departments in the state of kuwait .
daily , weekly , and monthly data were analyzed to statistically determine the current and future demands for the isotope 99mtc .
this analysis was performed by collecting and analyzing data on moh consumption of 99mtc for different diagnostic applications .
the overall results indicate a partial decrease of 1.012% in the overall total demand for 99mtc up to the year 2018 for the state of kuwait . |
6,354 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: hibernoma is a rare , benign , slow - growing tumor of brown fat origin the majority occurring in the extremities and the neck .
the presacral location is rare , although a few cases in the retroperitoneum have been described in the literature.[25 ] we describe a case of presacral hibernoma with radiologic - pathologic correlation .
the imaging findings are nonspecific but , given the rarity of this tumor , when there is a large well - defined heterogeneous retroperitoneal mass with dilated intratumoral vessels , the possibility of a hibernoma should be considered in the appropriate clinical setting .
a 36-year - old female presented with abdominal distention and dull , vague , left lower quadrant pain since 2 years .
a large solid pelvic mass was found and pelvic ultrasound was requested . on ultrasound , there was an ill - defined large heterogenous mass with increased vascularity seen posterior and superior to the uterus , with poor demarcation from the uterus and the left ovary .
the patient being unwilling for mri , ct scan of the pelvis was performed for further evaluation .
ct scan revealed a large presacral , heterogeneous , hypervascular mass , measuring approximately 10.6 10.0 5.8 cm and causing compression and displacement of the rectum anteriorly [ figure 1a c ] .
this mass had multiple tortuous arterial and venous channels , with the dominant arterial supply being from branches of the inferior mesenteric artery ( i m a ) .
on microscopy , there were numerous multivacuolated adipose cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm and eccentric nuclei , consistent with hibernoma [ figure 3 ] .
noncontrast ( a ) and contrast - enhanced ( b ) axial ct scans through the pelvis demonstrate a large well - defined , heterogeneous , enhancing presacral mass ( arrows ) , with dilated tortuous vessels ( arrowheads ) .
sagittal reformatted contrast - enhanced image ( c ) demonstrates the mass pushing the rectum ( r ) and uterus ( ut ) anteriorly .
ub = urinary bladder prone , axial , plain ct scan through the pelvis ,... | hibernoma is a rare benign tumor of brown fat origin .
it is found in locations where brown adipose tissue is present in the fetus .
these locations include the neck , axilla , thorax , and extremities .
retroperitoneal hibernoma is an extremely rare site of presentation .
we present a rare case of presacral hibernoma .
preoperative embolization of this highly vascular tumor was performed . to the best of our knowledge ,
this is the first reported case of a presacral hibernoma in the english literature . |
6,355 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide , with more than 2150 deaths each day .
many studies have found a direct relationship between levels of low - density lipoprotein ( ldl ) cholesterol ( or total cholesterol ) and the rate of new - onset coronary heart disease ( chd ) in men and women who were initially free of chd . when other risk factors are present , including diabetes and hypertension , this risk increases even more .
this has led to large numbers of clinical trials providing strong evidence that chd incidence is reduced in cholesterol - lowering therapy .
a meta - analysis involving 10 trials of 79,494 subjects found that statins reduce coronary events , strokes , and all - cause mortality without increasing non - coronary mortality .
high cholesterol is one of the major controllable risk factors for coronary heart disease , heart attack , and stroke , consequently increasing the use of statins throughout the years .
it is evident that statin use has a clear benefit on stroke and total mortality by greatly reducing cholesterol . despite the positive results linking statin use and reduction in chd
, studies have shown poor adherence to these medications . a systematic review and meta - analysis of 22 cohorts determined several sociodemographic , medical , and healthcare utilization characteristics
these factors are useful guides for targeting statin adherence interventions , especially since adherence is an essential factor to receiving the full benefits of these medications .
although there have been studies identifying predictors of adherence and non - adherence to statins , there is less evidence identifying reliable predictive variables of mortality among new statin users . in particular ,
the veteran population is of importance due to the prevalence of risk factors within this group . over 90%
are male and more than 40% are over 65 years of age , both of which are risk factors of chd - related deaths .
this study aims to identify variables in the first year of... | backgroundcardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide and studies have found a direct relationship between levels of low - density lipoprotein cholesterol and coronary heart disease .
statins are the most commonly prescribed medications to lower cholesterol , a major controllable risk factor for coronary heart disease.objectivethis study aims to find what factors in the first year of statin therapy are predictive of long - term all - cause mortality.methodsdata for this retrospective cohort study were collected on patients identified as new statin users between december 1 , 2006 and november 30 , 2007 at five veterans affairs healthcare systems from southern california and nevada .
multiple independent variables were assessed utilizing a logistic regression model assessing for all cause mortality at 6 years follow - up .
the independent variables included race , age , ethnicity , body mass index , socioeconomic status , and baseline comorbidities .
secondary analysis analyzed high - density lipoprotein levels , adherence , total cholesterol , and triglycerides.resultsincreased age , increased medication count , hypertension , diabetes , tobacco use , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , and congestive heart failure were all associated with an increased risk of mortality .
hispanic ethnicity , asian race , and increased body mass index were associated with decreased risk of mortality .
there were no significant associations between mortality and race , ldl outcomes at 1 year , or annual income level.conclusionthere is clear evidence that statin use is associated with decreased events in cardiovascular disease and total mortality .
this study found multiple independent variables as predictors of mortality in new start statin users after a 6 year follow - up , but differences in lipid groups after 1 year were not predictive of long - term mortality in the cohort studied . |
6,356 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: recurrent lateral dislocation of the patella is difficult to treat because of many complex contributing factors such as generalized ligamentous laxity , inadequate medial retinacular tissue , insufficient trochlear groove restraint , patellar tendon length abnormalities , limb alignment torsional abnormalities , and others .
over 130 different surgical methods have been described which can be classified as proximal realignment , distal realignment , proximal and distal realignment , lateral retinacular release , and medial retinacular placation .
the medial patellofemoral ligament ( mpfl ) was first described by kaplan . since warren and
marshall introduced the concept of a three - layered pattern of the medial capsular ligament of the knee and described the fibers of the mpfl existing within layer ii , and biomechanical studies , had demonstrated that the mpfl accounts for approximately 50% to 60% of the total lateral restraint ; thus being the primary medial stabilizer of the patella , mpfl reconstruction has became an accepted technique to treat patellofemoral instability .
recently , numerous techniques for reconstruction of the medial patellofemoral complex have been described with promising clinical results .
many authors have described the method of making the patellar tunnel and using the wire anchors to fix the side of the patella .
however , drilling tunnels transversely across the patella creates a stress riser and can lead to fracture .
the use of wire anchors increase the economic burden of patients and also the patellar bone may be too soft for a secure anchoring . here , we present a report on mpfl reconstruction for recurrent patellar dislocation with bone - fascia tunnel fixation at the medial margin of the patella . in this article , we discuss a surgical technique for mpfl reconstruction along with some discussion of the anatomic and clinical rationale .
the aim of the study is to evaluate the results of mpfl reconstruction with bone - fascia tunnel fixation at the medial margin of the... | backgroundmedial patellofemoral ligament ( mpfl ) reconstruction has become an accepted technique to treat patellofemoral instability , and numerous surgical techniques have been described to reconstruct the mpfl .
we describe a mpfl reconstruction procedure where bone - fascia tunnel fixation occurs at the medial margin of the patella for recurrent patellar dislocation.objectivempfl reconstruction is the preferred operative treatment for recurrent patellar dislocation .
the purpose of this study was to report a simple technique for reconstruction of medial patellofemoral ligament with bone - fascia tunnel fixation at the medial margin of the patella for recurrent patellar dislocation and to evaluate the results at 6-year - minimum follow-up.methodsthe study included 65 patients ( 28 males , 37 females ; mean age , 29.4 5.6 years ) who underwent mpfl reconstruction using the bone - fascia tunnel fixation at the medial margin of the patella technique and who were followed for a mean duration of 78.5 3.8 months .
objective assessment , kujala scale , lysholm score , and tegner activity score were obtained preoperatively and at the time of final follow-up.resultsthere were no patellar complications , including redislocation , in the present study .
the congruence angle had significant improvement from 19.2 6.3 before surgery to 6.03 0.50 at the last follow - up .
the lateral patellar angle had significant improvement from 6.9 3.5 before surgery to 5.1 2.4 at the last follow - up .
the patellar tilt angle had significant improvement from 24.5 5.2 before surgery to 12.30 1.90 at the last follow - up .
the kujala score was significantly increased from 52.9 3.2 points preoperatively to 90.1 5.8 points postoperatively ( p < 0.05 ) .
the mean lysholm score was significantly increased from 47.2 5.2 to 92.5 6.2 points postoperatively ( p < 0.05 ) .
the tegner activity score improved overall from 3.1 0.6 points to 5.8 0.9 points at follow-up.conclusionwe... |
6,357 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the
development of inexpensive and efficient photovoltaic devices
is still a topic of high scientific importance .
the vast majority
of today s commercially available photovoltaic elements are
based on inorganic semiconductors .
the impressive advancements in
the field of organic semiconductors within the last two decades have
introduced the realistic potential for a much cheaper way to produce
electrical energy from light .
organic
semiconductors combine the general properties of semiconductors with
the easy processability of organic molecules , while manufacturing
of solar cells based on inorganic semiconductors still requires high
vacuum - based coating processes .
thin - film photovoltaic
devices based on organic semiconductors can be easily printed on lightweight ,
rugged , and flexible substrates .
another clear advantage of organic semiconductors is the possibility
to chemically modify the material properties .
additionally , the electronic
structure of organic semiconductors can be relatively easy modified
by changing the molecular structure via chemical synthesis .
in contrast to all these advantages , the initial synthesis of new
organic semiconductors is a time - consuming and expensive process .
a large number of physical and chemical properties of organic semiconductors
can be investigated by electrochemical and photoelectrochemical measurements .
the degree of electrochemical doping
may be monitored via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy ( eis ) .
cyclic voltammetry offers an
appropriate way to determine the position of homo and lumo levels
of organic semiconductors .
various other in situ
spectroscopic methods have been developed to study optical and electronic
changes induced by electrochemical processes .
however , for all of them , individual samples need
to be prepared which is a rather time and material - consuming process .
in addition , concurrent
or subsequent processes such as photodegradation or photodoping can
be investigated... | a model
organic semiconductor ( mdmo - ppv ) was used for testing a
modified version of a photoelectrochemical scanning droplet cell microscope
( pe - sdcm ) adapted for use with nonaqueous electrolytes and containing
an optical fiber for localized illumination .
the most attractive features
of the pe - sdcm are represented by the possibility of addressing small
areas on the investigated substrate and the need of small amounts
of electrolyte .
a very small amount ( ng ) of the material under study
is sufficient for a complete electrochemical and photoelectrochemical
characterization due to the scanning capability of the cell .
the electrochemical
behavior of the polymer was studied in detail using potentiostatic
and potentiodynamic investigations as well as electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy .
additionally , the photoelectrochemical properties were
investigated under illumination conditions , and the photocurrents
found were at least 3 orders of magnitude higher than the dark ( background )
current , revealing the usefulness of this compact microcell for photovoltaic
characterizations . |
6,358 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: all experimental procedures were in accordance with the guidelines of the institutional
animal ethical committee .
animal maintenance and handling were in accordance with the indian
national institute of nutrition guidelines
.
all diets were formulated according to american institute of nutrition ( ain)-93 g
standards , which have been recommended for pregnant and lactating female
rats
.
the composition of the c diet was the same as ain-93 g and contained
18 g protein/100 g diet ( table 1 ) .
we formulated
two iso - energetic treatment diets low in protein ( 9 g/100 g diet ) by increasing the amount
of maize starch to 488 g/100 g diet .
of these diets , one ( low protein ( lp ) ) had soyabean
oil ( 7 % ) while the other ( low protein dha + ara supplemented ( lps ) ) had a combination of
single cell oils containing 4045 % of dha and ara ( martek biosciences ) with soyabean as
the basal oil .
the percentages of these single cell oils were calculated based on oral
diet safety studies
.
special attention was given
while processing the lps diet , which was dried at room temperature ( 30c ) to avoid the
oxidation of added oils .
the dry pellets were stored at refrigeration temperature ( 4c )
and used within 1 week .
table 1.composition ( g/100 g ) of control and experimental diets ( mean values and standard
deviations)diets clplpsmean
sd
mean
sd
mean
sd
diet composition*carbohydrate603046890568904protein1820294039403fatsoybean oil750274025602arasco00000000081200dhasco0000000000056000vitamin mix100010001000mineral mix||350035003500fatty acid composition ( % ) 16 : 01101117618 : 042412818 : 1n-922222015018 : 2n-654054130618 : 3n-377754220 : 4n-600003522 : 6n-3000024n-6:n-37272509c , control diet ; lp , low - protein diet ; lps , low - protein diet supplemented with
dha and arachidonic acid . * proximate analysis ( ten batches of diets per group). arasco , arachidonic acid single cell oil ( martek biosciences). dhasco , docosahexaenoic acid single cell oil... | long - chain pufa ( lc - pufa ) are important for fetal and neonatal brain development .
however , their accretion in the brain is compromised during maternal protein restriction .
hence , we investigated the effect of maternal supplementation with n-3
dha plus n-6 arachidonic acid ( ara ) at a low protein level ( 9 % ) on
offspring brain fatty acid accretion using wistar rats ( nine rats per group ) randomly fed
a control ( c ) , a low - protein ( lp ) or a low - protein dha + ara - supplemented ( lps ) diet
during gestation and lactation . at birth , pups from the lps group had the highest brain
dha and n-3 fatty acid levels ( p = 0001 ) , whereas pups
from the lp group had the highest mufa ( p = 005 ) but the lowest dha and
total n-3 pufa levels ( p = 0000 ) . during lactation ,
pups from the lps group accrued significantly more -linolenic acid
( p = 0003 ) , epa ( p = 002 ) and dha
( p = 0000 ) in brain lipids than pups from the lp group , whereas brain
lipids of pups from the lp group had markedly increased levels of the n-3
deficiency marker docosapentaenoic acid and n-6:n-3
ratio ( p = 0000 ) . owing to supplementation , milk from lps dams had the
highest dha and ara , but lower scfa and medium - chain fatty acids as compared with milk
from c and lp dams during early lactation , but normalised by mid - lactation . to conclude ,
adverse effects of restricted maternal protein intake on lc - pufa accretion in the brain of
offspring were ameliorated by alterations in maternal milk fatty acid profile due to
supplementation .
results underscore the importance of lc - pufa for protein - deficient
mothers during gestation as well as lactation to achieve the optimum brain lc - pufa status
of progeny . |
6,359 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the concept of mental health is a state of health in which a person knows his abilities , can deal with normal life pressures , can be fruitful to the community , and can also have the power of decision - making and participation .
self - esteem means the acceptance and a value that a person feels in him .
psychologists also believe that self - esteem is a portion of mental health , and they consider the enjoyment of self - esteem as a basic and central cause of the social emotional adjustment of the people .
self - esteem involves all the daily activities of humans , so it is one of the most important aspects of one 's personality and a determinant of the actualization and behavioral characteristics of human beings , and most of the experts know it as an important and fundamental factor in social and emotional adjustment .
this characteristic is a general feature in all human beings and is not limited or transient , but is fixed and permanent .
people with a low level of self - esteem should be diagnosed , to improve their self - esteem , with appropriate educational programs .
students are constantly exposed to stressors and experience numerous problem due to the nature of their life during immigration to other places far from home .
the precede model is a model for health education and promotion planning , which is used for changing behavior .
green and kreuter believe that the precede model has been considered successful in the application of clinical and field trials .
this model provides a framework in which the factors affecting behavior , such as : the predisposing , enabling , and reinforcing factors in the educational and assessment phases are determined .
the precede model can be used as a guideline to analyze health problems or health behaviors , and also to determine knowledge , attitudes , and those beliefs that are effective in changes .
several studies , particularly in the last 15 years , suggest that self - esteem is considered as a major psychological factor influencing health and quality... | background : the students vulnerability to different problems can have an impact on their mental health . regarding the lack of evidence on the effectiveness of interventional programs based on health education planning models in this area in developing countries , an educational - participatory program based on the precede model was used , to promote the medical science students self - esteem and mental health status , in iran.methods:in this experimental study , 154 students from the universities of medical sciences in the north east of iran were selected by stratified random sampling method .
then , they were randomly assigned to two groups of case and control .
the questionnaires , including the enabling , reinforcing , and predisposing factors , the rosenberg self - esteem scale , and the ghq-28 were used for data collection .
then , an intervention plan , including focus group discussions and training of selected life skills , based on the precede model , was conducted for the case group.results:the predisposing , reinforcing , and enabling factors , and the self - esteem and mental health of the students showed a significant difference between the case and control groups .
the pearson correlation coefficient showed that there was a correlation between mental health and knowledge ( p = 0.008 ) , between self - esteem and knowledge ( p = 0.02 ) , self - esteem and attitude ( p = 0.01 ) , and mental health and attitude ( p = 0.03).conclusion : health promotion planning by using life skills training based on the precede model can result in participation and empowerment , in order to promote the self - esteem and mental health of the students . |
6,360 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: this study was initiated in july 2000 as a prospective survey of patients with type 2 diabetes who were in long - term follow - up in a single diabetes clinic at austin health , melbourne , australia .
austin health is a major university teaching hospital and a tertiary referral center , serving a population of approximately 700,000 .
long - term follow - up was defined by the patients having at least three previous estimations of urinary albumin excretion rate ( aer ) performed on 24-h urine collections with at least one aer having been performed within the year 2000 .
patients with type 1 diabetes or diabetes secondary to medication or pancreatitis were specifically excluded from the current study . using these criteria , 665 patients with type 2
informed consent was obtained from participating patients as approved by the austin health human research ethics committee .
baseline clinical and biochemical characteristics of all participants were ascertained including a full clinical history , medication use , anthropometric data , and smoking habits .
the presence of preexisting cvd was defined on the basis of a clinical history of myocardial infarction , unstable angina requiring hospitalization , coronary revascularization ( including coronary artery bypass grafting , angioplasty , or coronary stenting ) , heart failure , stroke , carotid artery surgery , peripheral revascularization ( including bypass grafting , angioplasty , or stenting ) , and amputation for critical limb ischemia .
fasting blood samples were taken for glucose , hba1c , lipid profiles , and creatinine .
the glomerular filtration rate was estimated ( egfr ) using the chronic kidney disease - epidemiology collaboration ( ckd - epi ) formula .
all regularly attending patients at the austin health diabetes clinics perform a 24-h urine collection before each visit for the determination of urinary sodium , potassium , and albumin excretion using standard methods in the department of laboratory medicine at austin health .
baseline levels for... | objectivemany guidelines recommend that patients with type 2 diabetes should aim to reduce their intake of salt .
however , the precise relationship between dietary salt intake and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes has not been previously explored.research design and methodssix hundred and thirty - eight patients attending a single diabetes clinic were followed in a prospective cohort study .
baseline sodium excretion was estimated from 24-h urinary collections ( 24huna ) .
the predictors of all - cause and cardiovascular mortality were determined by cox regression and competing risk modeling , respectively.resultsthe mean baseline 24huna was 184 73 mmol/24 h , which remained consistent throughout the follow - up ( intraindividual coefficient of variation [ cv ] 23 11% ) . over a median of 9.9 years , there were 175 deaths , 75 ( 43% ) of which were secondary to cardiovascular events .
all - cause mortality was inversely associated with 24huna , after adjusting for other baseline risk factors ( p < 0.001 ) .
for every 100 mmol rise in 24huna , all - cause mortality was 28% lower ( 95% ci 645% , p = 0.02 ) .
after adjusting for the competing risk of noncardiovascular death and other predictors , 24huna was also significantly associated with cardiovascular mortality ( sub - hazard ratio 0.65 [ 95% ci 0.440.95 ] ; p = 0.03).conclusionsin patients with type 2 diabetes , lower 24-h urinary sodium excretion was paradoxically associated with increased all - cause and cardiovascular mortality .
interventional studies are necessary to determine if dietary salt has a causative role in determining adverse outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and the appropriateness of guidelines advocating salt restriction in this setting . |
6,361 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: proteomics - grade porcine trypsin , ethanol , high - performance liquid chromatography ( hplc)-grade acetonitrile , formic acid , urea , phosphate buffered saline ( pbs ) , sodium hydroxide , tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane ( tris ) , and xylenes were purchased from sigma - aldrich corp .
( st . louis , mo , usa ) . acetic acid , ammonium bicarbonate ,
dithiothreitol ( dtt ) , chloroacetamide ( claa ) , hplc - grade h2o with 0.1% formic acid , hplc - grade h2o , and hplc - grade acetonitrile with 0.1% formic acid were from fisher scientific ( pittsburgh , pa , usa ) .
fresh human lenses were obtained from the national disease research interchange ( philadelphia , pa , usa ) .
three lenses were analyzed in total : 21-year ( m ) , 22-year ( m ) , and 27-year ( f ) .
lenses were stored on wet ice during shipment and fixed immediately upon arrival . a solution of 75:25 ethanol : acetic acid
was used to lightly fix tissue while avoiding traditional formaldehyde crosslinking that can interfere with mass spectrometry experiments .
whole lenses were fixed for 12 hours , manually cut in half across the equator using a razor blade , and fixed for an additional 12 hours .
eight micron sections were cut and collected using a microm hm 325 microtome ( thermo scientific , waltham , ma , usa ) and allowed to dry on glass slides overnight at 37c .
sections were deparaffinized prior to labeling , using a series of xylene and alcohol washes ( xylenes 3 , 100% ethanol , 95% ethanol , 70% ethanol , pbs 5 minutes each ) . to visualize the rz
, lenses were incubated in wheat germ agglutinin - tritc ( life technologies , eugene , or , usa ) , using a 1 mg / ml stock solution at 1:100 dilution for 2 hours , followed by three , 5-minute pbs washes .
sections used for confocal imaging were covered with vectashield mounting medium ( vector laboratories , burlingame , ca , usa ) and sealed with a coverslip .
laser capture microdissection was performed on a palm microbeam system ( carl zeiss microscopy , thornwood , ny , usa )... | purposeto quantify protein changes in the morphologically distinct remodeling zone ( rz ) and adjacent regions of the human lens outer cortex using spatially directed quantitative proteomics.methodslightly fixed human lens sections were deparaffinized and membranes labeled with fluorescent wheat germ agglutinin ( wga - tritc ) .
morphology directed laser capture microdissection ( lcm ) was used to isolate tissue from four distinct regions of human lens outer cortex : differentiating zone ( df ) , rz , transition zone ( tz ) , and inner cortex ( ic ) .
liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry ( lc - ms / ms ) of the plasma membrane fraction from three lenses ( 21- , 22- , and 27-year ) revealed changes in major cytoskeletal proteins including vimentin , filensin , and phakinin .
peptides from proteins of interest were quantified using multiple reaction monitoring ( mrm ) mass spectrometry and isotopically - labeled internal peptide standards.resultsresults revealed an intermediate filament switch from vimentin to beaded filament proteins filensin and phakinin that occurred at the rz .
several other cytoskeletal proteins showed significant changes between regions , while most crystallins remained unchanged .
targeted proteomics provided accurate , absolute quantification of these proteins and confirmed vimentin , periplakin , and periaxin decrease from the df to the ic , while filensin , phakinin , and brain acid soluble protein 1 ( basp1 ) increase significantly at the rz.conclusionsmass spectrometry - compatible fixation and morphology directed laser capture enabled proteomic analysis of narrow regions in the human lens outer cortex .
results reveal dramatic cytoskeletal protein changes associated with the rz , suggesting that one role of these proteins is in membrane deformation and/or the establishment of ball and socket joints in the human rz . |
6,362 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: antitumor necrosis factor - alpha ( tnf- ) agents are widely used for effective treatment of autoimmune rheumatic and dermatological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis ( ra ) , ankylosing spondylitis ( sa ) , psoriasis ( ps ) , or psoriatic arthritis ( psa ) .
nevertheless , anti - tnf- agents have been associated with growing number of adverse events , particularly infections [ 1 , 2 ] of which some can be life threatening .
tnf- is an important proinflammatory cytokine in the host defense mechanism against many intracellular pathogens .
it suppresses hepatitis b virus ( hbv ) replication and promotes hbv eradication by stimulating hbv - specific cytotoxic t - cell response [ 35 ] .
it has been reported that reactivation of hbv infection may occur directly due to lack of tnf- or indirectly via diminishing t - cell activation [ 6 , 7 ] .
tnf- inhibitors are therefore likely to induce hbv replication and reactivation in cases when chronic infection is present .
hbv is regarded as a leading cause of acute hepatitis , cirrhosis , and hepatocellular carcinoma , being responsible for about 600000 deaths every year .
chronic hbv infection is defined as an overt when hepatitis b surface antigen ( hbsag ) is detectable in the serum .
patients who present antibodies to hepatitis b core antigen ( anti - hbc ) with concurrent hbsag negativity do not have chronic hepatitis but only experienced hbv infection and were able to clear it .
nevertheless , some of these patients may be occult carriers , harboring intrahepatic hbv replication , and therefore can be susceptible to hbv reactivation .
hepatitis b virus ( hbv ) reactivation in patients treated with anti - tnf- agents has been frequently reported in the last decade , with inconsistent results .
considering the high socioeconomic burden of hbv infection related conditions , as well as increasing role of anti - tnf- agents in treatment of autoimmune rheumatic and dermatological diseases , it is highly important to estimate the impact of anti - tnf- agents to hbv... | introduction .
antitumor necrosis factor - alpha ( tnf- ) agents are widely used for treatment of rheumatic and dermatological diseases .
we conducted the systematic review and meta - analysis to assess the prevalence of hbv reactivation among patients treated with anti - tnf-. methods and findings .
a comprehensive literature search of medline , scopus , and isi web of knowledge databases was conducted . from 21 studies included in the systematic review , 9 included patients with occult chronic hbv infection and 6 included patients with overt infection while 6 addressed both groups . based on 10 studies eligible for meta - analysis
we report pooled estimate of hbv reactivation of 4.2% ( 95% ci : 1.48.2% , i2 : 74.7% ) .
the pooled prevalence of reactivation was 3.0% ( 95% ci : 0.67.2 , i2 : 77.1% ) for patients with occult infection , and 15.4% ( 95% ci : 1.241.2% , i2 : 79.9% ) for overt infection .
the prevalence of reactivation was 3.9% ( 95% ci : 1.18.4% , i2 : 51.1% ) for treatment with etanercept and 4.6% ( 95% ci : 0.512.5% , i2 : 28.7% ) for adalimumab .
for subgroup of patients without any antiviral prophylaxis the pooled reactivation was 4.0% ( 95% ci : 1.28.3% , i2 : 75.6% ) . conclusion .
although hbv reactivation rate is relatively low in patients treated with anti - tnf- for rheumatic and dermatological conditions , the antiviral prophylaxis would be recommended in patients with overt chronic hbv infection . |
6,363 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: there have been multiple reported cases of bilateral quadriceps tendon ruptures ( qtr ) in the literature .
these injuries frequently associated with delayed diagnosis , which results in delayed surgical treatment . in very unusual cases , bilateral qtrs can be associated with other simultaneous tendon ruptures .
we present a rare case of bilateral qtr with a simultaneous achilles tendon rupture involving a 31 years old caucasian man who is a semi - professional body builder taking anabolic steroids .
to date bilateral qtr with additional ta rupture has only been reported once in the literature and to our knowledge this is the first reported case of bilateral qtr and simultaneous ta rupture in a young , fit and healthy individual .
the diagnosis of bilateral qtr alone can sometimes be challenging and the possibility of even further tendon injuries should be carefully assessed .
a delay in diagnosis could result in delay in treatment and potentially worse outcome for the patient .
there have been multiple reported cases of bilateral quadriceps tendon ruptures ( qtr ) in the literature .
the diagnosis of bilateral qtr can sometimes be challenging and the possibility of any further tendon injuries should be carefully assessed . to date
bilateral qtr with additional ta rupture has only been reported once in the literature and to our knowledge this is the first reported case of bilateral qtr and simultaneous ta rupture in a young , fit and healthy individual .
a 31 years old male patient attended the accident and emergency department after he had fallen directly onto both knees the day before .
he complained of pain in both knees and examination revealed effusion and pain over bilateral quadriceps tendons .
there was a tender palpable suprapatellar gap on the left and to a lesser extent on the right side .
there were bilateral lack of active extension and the patient was not able to straight leg raise bilaterally .
( figure 1 and 2 ) ap radiographs of the knees lateral radiographs of both knees the clinical... | introduction : there have been multiple reported cases of bilateral quadriceps tendon ruptures ( qtr ) in the literature . these injuries frequently associated with delayed diagnosis , which results in delayed surgical treatment . in very unusual cases , bilateral qtrs can be associated with other simultaneous tendon ruptures.case report : we present a rare case of bilateral qtr with a simultaneous achilles tendon rupture involving a 31 years old caucasian man who is a semi - professional body builder taking anabolic steroids . to date bilateral qtr with additional ta rupture has only been reported once in the literature and to our knowledge this is the first reported case of bilateral qtr and simultaneous ta rupture in a young , fit and healthy individual.conclusion:the diagnosis of bilateral qtr alone can sometimes be challenging and the possibility of even further tendon injuries should be carefully assessed .
a delay in diagnosis could result in delay in treatment and potentially worse outcome for the patient . |
6,364 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the oral administration of red ginseng root ( p. ginseng ) extracts has long been used to treat various diseases , including liver and kidney dysfunction , hypertension , non - insulin - dependent diabetes mellitus , and postmenopausal disorders , in china , korea , and japan .
topical applications have also been used for atopic suppurative dermatitis , wounds , and skin inflammation .
the materials for korean red ginseng products are selected from among ginseng roots ( panax ginseng ca meyer ) carefully cultivated in well - fertilized field for 6 years and then steamed and dried in the sun six times .
the red ginseng extract produced by korea ginseng corporation ( taejon , korea ) is dried and powdered by freezing prior to use . in this paper
, we introduce the biological and pharmacological effects of ginsenoside rb1 isolated from red ginseng roots on skin damage in mice .
macrophages migrate to an injured area to kill invading organisms and produce cytokines that recruit other inflammatory cells responsible for the diverse effects of inflammation [ 1 , 2 ] .
moreover , growth factors and cytokines are central to the wound - healing process [ 46 ] .
thus , the burn wound - healing process is complex , involving inflammatory factors , including monocyte migration and cytokine production , and growth factors and angiogenesis during reepithelialization .
vascular endothelial growth factor ( vegf ) plays an important role in skin tissue repair through angiogenesis during the healing of burn wounds [ 4 , 7 , 8 ] .
furthermore , it has been demonstrated that chemokines including macrophage inflammatory protein-1(mip-1 ) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 ( mcp-1 ) are expressed at high levels in murine full - thickness dermal wounds at times preceding and coinciding with maximal macrophage infiltration [ 912 ] .
interleukin 1- ( il-1 ) is also known to be released from monocyte - derived macrophages during inflammation and stimulates vegf expression in endothelial cells , keratinocytes , synovial fibroblasts... | ginseng roots ( panax ginseng ca meyer ) have been used traditionally for the treatment , especially prevention , of various diseases in china , korea , and japan .
both experimental and clinical studies suggest ginseng roots to have pharmacological effects in patients with life - style - related diseases such as non - insulin - dependent diabetic mellitus , atherosclerosis , hyperlipidemia , and hypertension . the topical use of ginseng roots to treat skin complaints including atopic suppurative dermatitis , wounds , and inflammation is also described in ancient chinese texts ; however , there have been relatively few studies in this area . in the present paper , we describe introduce the biological and pharmacological effects of ginsenoside rb1 isolated from red ginseng roots on skin damage caused by burn - wounds using male balb / c mice ( in vivo ) and by ultraviolet b irradiation using male c57bl/6j and albino hairless ( hr-1 ) mice ( in vivo ) . furthermore , to clarify the mechanisms behind these pharmacological actions , human primary keratinocytes and
the human keratinocyte cell line hacat were used in experiments in vitro . |
6,365 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in the absence of a
vaccine and in lieu of a cure , antiretroviral
combination therapy has been the main form of treatment for individuals
infected with hiv .
as is the case with treatment of most rapidly evolving
viruses / diseases , drug resistance decreases the effectiveness of treatment .
the high replicative capacity of hiv and the infidelity of the reverse
transcriptase quickly lead to a heterogeneous population of viruses
within patients , from which resistance has emerged to all 30 of the
currently used antiviral drugs .
hiv-1 protease inhibitors ( pis )
have recently emerged as the most
effective drugs in the treatment of hiv .
pis are competitive active
site inhibitors that mimic the transition state of the enzyme and
are the most potent antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of hiv / aids .
these drugs are ideal for therapy as they target
the viral protease responsible for viral maturation and thus the spread
of the virus .
unfortunately , the rapid evolution of hiv-1 , coupled
with the selective pressure of therapy , results in many viable multidrug
resistant variants . in fact
, mutations at 45 of the 99 residues that
make up hiv-1 protease have been implicated in drug resistance .
while resistance due to mutations at 11 of these
45 residues can be explained as direct changes within the active site ,
the resistance mechanisms for the majority of the remaining mutations
outside the active site of the enzyme mostly remain elusive .
drug resistance mutations in hiv-1 protease allow the enzyme to
become less susceptible to inhibition while retaining enzymatic activity .
points of inhibitor protease contact at residues within the
active site where the inhibitor protrudes beyond the substrate envelope
are sites selected for resistance , as their interactions are more
critical for inhibitor binding than substrate turnover . while mutations at some active site residues ,
such as 82 and 84 , lead to resistance to all pis , other mutations
are... | hiv-1 protease inhibitors are part
of the highly active antiretroviral
therapy effectively used in the treatment of hiv infection and aids .
darunavir ( drv ) is the most potent of these inhibitors , soliciting
drug resistance only when a complex combination of mutations occur
both inside and outside the protease active site . with few exceptions ,
the role of mutations outside the active site in conferring resistance
remains largely elusive . through a series of drv protease complex
crystal structures , inhibition assays , and molecular dynamics simulations
,
we find that single and double site mutations outside the active site
often associated with drv resistance alter the structure and dynamic
ensemble of hiv-1 protease active site .
these alterations correlate
with the observed inhibitor binding affinities for the mutants , and
suggest a network hypothesis on how the effect of
distal mutations are propagated to pivotal residues at the active
site and may contribute to conferring drug resistance . |
6,366 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in the past few decades , there has been a growing interest in the development of artificial nano - materials .
one class of material such as this is photonic crystals ( pcs ) , which are periodic dielectric or semiconductor structures that display a photonic band gap ( pbg ) in their electromagnetic wave transmission characteristics [ 1 - 4 ] . the existence of the pbg has inspired the design of various nano - optical and opto - electronic devices . since the formation of the pbg is due to the multiple bragg reflections within a pc , ordinary pcs are a combination of lossless materials for which the stop band has a small width , almost less than 25% of the central frequency .
this is due to the fact that a significant percentage of incident radiation passes through the periodic structure cores so that the reflected radiation is weaker than the transmitted radiation . because of this , bragg scattering comes into play when there are periodicities along the direction of propagation . to exhibit a noticeable pbg with fewer periodicities
metals would be one of the best options since they are more reflective than dielectric or semiconductor materials over a broad range of frequencies , due to their imaginary dielectric component that exists in even the optical and near infrared regions , where metals are dispersive and absorptive in these frequency regions [ 6 - 8 ] .
recently , considerable progress has been made in constructing these periodic arrangements which are called metallic or metallodielectric photonic crystals ( mpc / mdpc ) in one- , two- , and three - dimensional systems .
for instance , one - dimensional ( 1d ) mdpcs with metal thicknesses on the order of hundreds of nanometres has been proved transparent to visible light while blocking ultraviolet and infrared .
this characteristic can be used for example in laser safety glasses , uv protective films and flat panel displays .
two - dimensional ( 2d ) mpc structures are usually made of metallic rods or nanodisks that are periodically arranged on a... | in this work , the absorption coefficient of a metallic photonic crystal doped with nanoparticles has been obtained using numerical simulation techniques .
the effects of quantum interference and the concentration of doped particles on the absorption coefficient of the system have been investigated .
the nanoparticles have been considered as semiconductor quantum dots which behave as a four - level quantum system and are driven by a single coherent laser field .
the results show that changing the position of the photonic band gap about the resonant energy of the two lower levels directly affects the decay rate , and the system can be switched between transparent and opaque states if the probe laser field is tuned to the resonance frequency .
these results provide an application for metallic nanostructures in the fabrication of new optical switches and photonic devices . |
6,367 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: oral submucous fibrosis ( osf ) is a chronic condition almost exclusively occurring among indians and to a lesser extent in the other asiatic people . however , with the increase in immigration of people from the indian subcontinent , dental professionals in many developed countries will encounter this disease in the near future .
a wide range of treatment including drug management , surgical therapy , and physiotherapy have been attempted till date , with varying degrees of benefit , but none have been able to cure this disease .
this is mainly due to the fact that the etiology of the disease is not fully understood and the disease is progressive in nature . instead of continuing the limited available modes of therapy , the idiopathic nature of this condition indicates new avenues for its management .
colchicine is an alkaloid found in the crocus like plant , colchicum autumnale , named for the land of colchis at the eastern tip of black sea .
chemically , it is colchicinum - n-(5 , 6 , 7 , 9-tetrahydro-1 , 2 , 3 , 10-tetramethoxy-9-oxobenzo [ a ] heptalen-7-yl ) acetamide .
colchicine is an ancient drug - at least 2,000 years old , which is attracting renewed interest because of its actions at a subcellular level .
many studies during the past years have elucidated a variety of previously unsuspected drug actions and have demonstrated the varying effectiveness of colchicine therapy for a surprisingly broad array of diseases including recurrent aphthous stomatitis , behcet 's disease , familial mediterranean fever , polymyositis , and scleroderma . the pharmacodynamics of colchicine as an anti - fibrotic agent is well - established by various in vitro and in vivo studies [ table 1 ] warranting its use in the treatment of various diseases associated with fibrosis . the long held view that colchicine 's anti - inflammatory actions are specific for gout is no longer tenable .
perhaps the most important anti - inflammatory properties of colchicine are related to the drug 's effect on polymorphonuclear leukocytes... | background : oral submucous fibrosis ( osf ) is a precancerous condition of the oral mucosa .
existing treatments give only temporary symptomatic relief .
colchicine is an ancient drug with anti - fibrotic and anti - inflammatory properties .
we planned to study the effects of colchicine in the management of oral submucous fibrosis.materials and methods : fifty osf patients were divided randomly into two groups and treated for 12 weeks .
group 1-patients were administered tablet colchicine orally , 0.5 mg twice daily and 0.5 ml intralesional injection hyaluronidase 1,500 iu into each buccal mucosa once a week .
group 2-patients were administered 0.5 ml intralesional injection hyaluronidase 1,500 iu and 0.5 ml intralesional injection hydrocortisone acetate 25 mg / ml in each buccal mucosa once a week alternatively .
student 's t test and analysis of variance ( anova ) were used to compare pre and post treatment results .
p<0.05 was considered as significant.results:thirty-three percent in group 1 got relief from burning sensation in the second week .
inter group comparisons of increase in mouth opening and reduction in histological parameters indicated that group 1 patients responded better than group 2.conclusion:these encouraging results should prompt further clinical trials with colchicine alone on a larger sample size to broaden the therapeutic usefulness of the drug in the management of osf . |
6,368 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: professionals athlete must exercise at high intensity with restricted rest times between attempts ; thus recovery methods in sport can aid athletes to improve performance in competitions . in order to enhancement function , a kind of post - exercise recovery interventions are frequently utilized to improve recovery from training time .
the composition and timing of nutrient intake can considerably impact recovery from severe exercise.[36 ] some appearance of recovery , including reduced muscle damage and boosted performance can be magnified by nutritional intervention , carbohydrate ( cho)-electrolyte drink beverage intake .
the beverages are generally utilized throughout and after exercise , ranging from bottled water to cho - electrolyte replacement drinks .
beverages can aid in quick restoration of performance , blood sugar and muscle glycogen if used instantly after exercise .
post - exercise recovery drink have underlined on timing , type of beverage , macro- and micro - nutrient content ( calories , cho and protein ( pro ) , mineral , and vitamins).[914 ] recent research suggests that a cho - pro ) beverage consumed after exercise may satisfyingly affect the exercise recovery .
therefore , composition of pro to cho in beverages can enhance performance and recovery between exercise sessions with a short recovery period .
chocolate milk is as a popular and easily available drink among children and adults and is proposed to be effective .
karp et al . have shown that chocolate milk is an effective recovery drink after exercise in comparison with cho replacement drink and fluid replacement drink .
another study , reported that post - exercise chocolate milk consumption is as effective as a cho beverage .
examined effects of chocolate milk consumption on markers of pro turnover , muscle glycogen , and performance during recovery from endurance exercise , and observed beneficial effects of chocolate milk compared to the cho only beverage .
dough , a yogurt - based , salty drink popular and non - alcoholic... | background : after exercise , recovery is very essential in professional sport .
athletes use sport beverages to enhance endurance and physical performance .
the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of dough versus non - alcoholic beer and carbohydrate ( cho ) fluid on performance , lipids profile , inflammatory biomarkers after running - based anaerobic sprint test ( r.a.s.t ) in taekwondo players.methods:this study was conducted as repeated measures crossover design with 22 men taekwondo player .
subjects completed standard protocol r.a.s.t so that immediately and 1 h posterior r.a.s.t protocol received number 1 beverage . subjects spend 2 h recovery periods . second and third sessions trial were similar to prior trial , separated by at least 4 days , instead of number 1 beverage , participants received number 2 and number 3 beverage.results:data showed that average pre- and post - recovery in c - reactive protein ( crp ) or dough significantly decreased ( p < 0.05 ) , while for cho drink and non - alcoholic beer , were not statistically significant .
moreover , the mean pre- and post - recovery in vo2 max for dough and non - alcoholic beer significantly increased , but for other beverages , there was no significant difference ( p > 0.05 ) .
about mean pre- and post - recovery in low density lipoprotein ( ldl ) and high density lipoprotein ( hdl ) there were no significant differences in all three beverages . besides , amount of crp was significant between three beverages ( p < 0.05 ) .
there were no other within - subject differences for any of the other variables measured , including hdl , ldl , and vo2max .
in addition , no significant different ( p > 0.05 ) in dietary intake were observed between three treatment periods.conclusions:dough was effective in reducing ldl and reducing inflammatory biomarkers including crp with little effect on performance in subjects . |
6,369 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: nephrectomy is a common operation that is performed for neoplasms , trauma , living organ donation , and other disease conditions that make retention of the organ undesirable . in 2013 ,
estimates of 45,610 unilateral total nephrectomies and 19,610 partial nephrectomies were performed in the united states .
the outcomes of nephrectomy care are reported primarily for inpatient results , with complication rates being highly variable .
the lack of consistent and reproducible metrics for measuring outcomes in inpatient surgical care has led our group to adopt 4 objective measurements for the surgical adverse outcome ( ao ) : inpatient mortality , risk - adjusted postoperative length of stay , 90-day postdischarge death without readmission , and 90-day readmission to an acute care hospital .
each of these 4 components can be independently risk - adjusted . by using the medicare data set , the full scope of postdischarge events can be captured in the analysis .
the medicare population only constitutes one - third of the total / partial nephrectomies annually in the united states , but it provides a high - risk population for definition of important comorbid conditions and provides a benchmark for care redesign and improvement .
thus , this study will report a risk - adjusted national prediction model for nephrectomy surgery across the full continuum of inpatient and 90-days of postdischarge outcomes .
this design can be used for comparing provider performance and measurement of care improvement efforts within hospitals across a wide array of different inpatient episodes of care .
the centers for medicare and medicaid services ( cms ) inpatient limited data set for 2010 to 2012 was used to identify all elective nephrectomy patients with an international classification of diseases 9th revision - clinical modification ( icd-9 ) procedure code of 55.4 ( partial nephrectomy ) or 55.51 ( nephroureterectomy ) .
the use of the cms inpatient limited data set for research does not require institutional review board review ,... | abstractwithout risk - adjusted outcomes of surgical care across both the inpatient and postacute period of time , hospitals and surgeons can not evaluate the effectiveness of current performance in nephrectomy and other operations , and will not have objective metrics to gauge improvements from care redesign efforts.we compared risk - adjusted hospital outcomes following elective total and partial nephrectomy to demonstrate differences that can be used to improve care .
we used the medicare limited dataset for 2010 to 2012 for total and partial nephrectomy for benign and malignant neoplasms to create prediction models for the adverse outcomes ( aos ) of inpatient deaths , prolonged length - of - stay outliers , 90-day postdischarge deaths without readmission , and 90-day relevant readmissions . from the 4 prediction models , total predicted adverse outcomes
were determined for each hospital in the dataset that met a minimum of 25 evaluable cases for the study period .
standard deviations ( sds ) for each hospital were used to identify specific z - scores .
risk - adjusted adverse outcomes rates were computed to permit benchmarking each hospital 's performance against the national standard .
differences between best and suboptimal performing hospitals defined the potential margin of preventable adverse outcomes for this operation.a total of 449 hospitals with 23,477 patients were evaluated .
overall ao rate was 20.8% ; 17 hospitals had risk - adjusted ao rates that were 2 sds poorer than predicted and 8 were 2 sds better .
the top performing decile of hospitals had a risk - adjusted ao rate of 10.2% while the lowest performing decile had 32.1% . with a minimum of 25 cases for each study hospital ,
no statistically valid improvement in outcomes was seen with increased case volume.inpatient and 90-day postdischarge risk - adjusted adverse outcomes demonstrated marked variability among study hospitals and illustrate the opportunities for care improvement .
this analytic design is applicable... |
6,370 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments of eukaryotic cells are separated by the nuclear envelope ( ne ) .
the double membrane of the ne is perforated by nuclear pore complexes ( npcs ) , which are large multiprotein complexes that support passive diffusion of small molecules , and facilitate receptor - mediated translocation of proteins and ribonucleoprotein complexes .
overall , the vertebrate npc is a 120 mda protein complex made of 30 different proteins called nucleoporins ( or nups ) that are repetitively arranged as distinct subcomplexes to form the npc ( cronshaw et al . 2002 ; lim and fahrenkrog 2006 ; rout et al .
2000 ; schwartz 2005 ; tran and wente 2006 ) . in the plane of the ne , the eightfold symmetric central framework of the npc , also known as the spoke complex , encloses a central pore that is 50 nm long and is narrowest ( 40 nm ) at the ne midplane ( beck et al . 2004 , 2007 ; stoffler et al . 2003 ) . attached to the central framework
are cytoplasmic filaments and a nuclear basket ( figs . 1 , 2 ) .
fig .
a cytoplasmic face of negatively stained and b a stretch along a nuclear envelope of embedded and thin - sectioned nuclei from triturus alpestrus
. c cytoplasmic face of negatively stained and d a stretch along a nuclear envelope of embedded and thin - sectioned nuclei from xenopus laevis .
view of the nuclear basket of isolated nuclei from xenopus oocytes prepared by e critical point drying and field emission scanning electron microscopy , f quick - freeze / freeze - drying / rotary metal shadowing and g thin - sectioning and transmission electron microscopy . a reproduced with permission from gall ( 1967 ) .
three - dimensional reconstruction of the central framework of negatively stained npcs after detergent treatment a from xenopus oocytes , and b its adaptation for a consensus model of the npc architecture and c from yeast nuclei and d its adaptation into a model .
e consensus model of the npc based on a reconstruction of native npcs embedded in thick amorphous ice .
f... | the spatial separation between the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus necessitates the continuous exchange of macromolecular cargo across the double - membraned nuclear envelope .
being the only passageway in and out of the nucleus , the nuclear pore complex ( npc ) has the principal function of regulating the high throughput of nucleocytoplasmic transport in a highly selective manner so as to maintain cellular order and function . here
, we present a retrospective review of the evidence that has led to the current understanding of both npc structure and function . looking towards the future , we contemplate on how various outstanding effects and nanoscopic characteristics ought to be addressed , with the goal of reconciling structure and function into a single unified picture of the npc . |
6,371 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: colorectal cancer ( crc ) is a common malignancy and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide , and the incidence of crc is increasing rapidly in eastern countries including korea as a result of recent changes in diet and lifestyle .
the primary treatment of crc is a complete resection in stage i - iii patients followed by adjuvant chemotherapy in stage iii and high - risk stage ii patients . in the considerable number of patients with distant metastases ( i.e. , stage iv disease ) at the time of diagnosis ,
complete resection of colorectal liver metastases can provide a chance for long - term survival in approximately 20% of these patients .
oxaliplatin plus fluoropyrimidine combination chemotherapy is widely used in both the adjuvant and palliative setting to improve survival of crc patients . with increasing incorporation of liver metastasectomy in the treatment strategy ,
sinusoidal obstruction syndrome ( sos ) in the liver is a long - term toxicity of oxaliplatin reported in patients who underwent hepatic resection after oxaliplatin - based chemotherapy [ 6 - 10 ] .
sos , previously known as hepatic veno - occlusive disease , was most commonly reported to occur after bone marrow transplantation for hematologic malignancies .
sos has been reported in 19%-79% of crc patients who underwent hepatic resection after oxaliplatin - based chemotherapy .
toxic effect of oxaliplatin on sinusoidal endothelial cells ( sec ) causes disruption of the sinusoidal wall , subsequently causing congestive obstruction with impairment of sinusoidal blood flow . as a result
, diffuse sinusoidal injury leads to portal hypertension , hepatomegaly , and hyperbilirubinemia with severe complications such as ascites and variceal bleeding in rare cases .
in addition , development of sos may be associated with increased morbidity and mortality following hepatic resection in patients treated with preoperative oxaliplatin - based regimens .
prediction of sos development is important in selection of proper candidates for hepatic... | purposesplenomegaly is a clinical surrogate of oxaliplatin - induced sinusoidal obstruction syndrome ( sos ) .
we investigated development of splenomegaly and its association with treatment outcome and genetic polymorphisms following adjuvant 5-fluorouracil , leucovorin , and oxaliplatin ( folfox ) in colorectal cancer ( crc ) patients.materials and methodssplenomegaly was determined by spleen volumetry using computed tomography images obtained before initiation of chemotherapy and after completion of adjuvant folfox in crc patients .
ten genetic polymorphisms in 4 sos - related genes ( vegfa , mmp9 , nos3 , and gstp1 ) were analyzed using dna from peripheral blood mononuclear cells.resultsof 124 patients included , increase in spleen size was observed in 109 ( 87.9% ) .
median change was 31% ( range , 42% to 168% ) .
patients with splenomegaly had more severe thrombocytopenia compared to patients without splenomegaly during the chemotherapy period ( p < 0.0001 ) .
the cumulative dose of oxaliplatin and the lowest platelet count during the chemotherapy period were clinical factors associated with splenomegaly .
however , no significant associations were found between genetic polymorphisms and development of splenomegaly .
disease - free survival was similar regardless of the development of splenomegaly.conclusionsplenomegaly was frequently observed in patients receiving adjuvant folfox and resulted in more severe thrombocytopenia but did not influence treatment outcome . examined genetic polymorphisms
did not predict development of splenomegaly . |
6,372 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: resistance to insulin is characteristic of metabolic syndrome ( mets ) , which is defined as a cluster of the following cardiovascular risk factors : central obesity , impaired glucose tolerance , dyslipidemia , and hypertension .
mets constitutes a major health problem , as it is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus ( t2d ) and cardiovascular disease [ 13 ] .
furthermore , insulin resistance is a consistent finding in t2d and appears to contribute to the development of t2d .
however , t2d develops only if there is dysfunction of beta - cells . in the absence of beta - cell dysfunction individuals
therefore , many people with remarkable resistance to insulin may never develop t2d [ 5 , 6 ] .
lifestyle factors clearly underlie mets incidence , but genetic susceptibility may be important as well .
for example , specific ethnic groups are more susceptible to mets than others [ 8 , 9 ] .
in particular , south asians are predisposed to develop mets and subsequently t2d and cardiovascular disease at a younger age [ 1012 ] .
they also have a higher prevalence of abdominal obesity , are less sensitive to insulin , and have a lower glucose disposal rate than europeans [ 1214 ] .
in addition , south asians have lower plasma levels of hdl and adiponectin and higher levels of glucose , insulin , leptin , complement c3 , plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 , fibrinogen , and tissue plasminogen activator compared to europeans [ 1520 ] .
however , traditional risk factors such as smoking , hypertension , and dyslipidemia do not explain the increased risk for cardiovascular disease in south asians [ 21 , 22 ] . insulin resistance itself has been held responsible for the high rates of t2d and cardiovascular disease in this ethnic group [ 10 , 12 ] . oral minimal
modeling is a pharmacokinetic / pharmacodynamic algorithm developed to estimate beta - cell function and insulin sensitivity index ( isi ) from dynamic data . in the present study , we used this oral minimal model ( omm ) to investigate the relationship... | background .
there are different metabolic syndrome traits among patients with different ethnicities . methods .
we investigated this by studying 44 south asians and 54 europeans and classified them in three groups according to the occurrence of metabolic syndrome ( mets ) and type 2 diabetes ( t2d ) .
insulin sensitivity index ( isi ) , static , dynamic , and total beta - cell responsivity indices ( ) , and disposition indices ( dis ) were calculated with the use of oral minimal model ( omm ) .
results . in both ethnicities ,
isi was lower in the subgroup with mets and t2d as compared to the subgroup without mets nor t2d ( p < 0.004 ) .
south asians without mets were more insulin resistant than europeans without mets ( p = 0.033 ) . in the south asians ,
isi , dynamic di , and static di were associated significantly ( p < 0.006 ) with high - density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides . in the europeans ,
isi was associated with waist - to - hip ratio ( p = 0.005 ) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure ( p < 0.005 ) , while static di was related to the systolic blood pressure ( p = 0.005 ) .
conclusions .
mets was linked with insulin resistance and reduced capacity to handle glucose regardless of ethnicity .
isi and dis were associated with lipid traits in south asians and with blood pressure in europeans suggesting that insulin resistance enhances different metabolic syndrome traits among different ethnicities . |
6,373 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: host genetic factors are major determinants of susceptibility to infectious disease in humans ( 1 ) .
htlv - i is a persistent virus , infecting 10 - 20 million people worldwide .
most infected people remain healthy , but 1 - 2% develops a progressive paralytic myelopathy ( htlv - i - associated myelopathy ; ham / tsp ) and a further 2 - 3% develops an aggressive t cell leukemia / lymphoma .
ham / tsp is a chronic debilitating inflammatory disease of the central nervous system , characterized by axonal damage and demyelination , most pronounced in the midthoracic spinal cord .
furthermore some of the self - immune diseases such as uveitis and polymiositis are found to be resulted from this virus ( 2 - 5 ) .
the endemic regions affected with this virus include the south - west of japan , caribbean islands , and some regions of the usa ( 6 ) .
the other parts with less prevalence of the virus are taiwan and some regions of africa and israel .
mashhad in the north of iran has been recognized as a new endemic region of the virus ( 10 , 11 ) .
the symptoms include weakness or dryness in one or both feet , backache and no control on urine .
one - third of the patients become paralyzed after 10 years and one half of them are not able to walk ( 12 ) . on the contrary to alt
in which the number of the male patients is a little more , ham affects the female disproportionately .
high proviral load and being female are two factors of high risk of ham / tsp and the relative risk of ham / tsp increases when the provrial load becomes clearly more than one copy in any pbmcs ( 13 , 14 ) .
both the class i mhc proteins ( hla - a , -b , and -c ) , which present viral peptides for recognition by virus - specific ctl , and class ii mhc proteins ( hla - dr and -dq ) , which present peptides to cd4 t cells , are likely to be important in the immune response to htlv - i infection ( 15 , 16 and 17 ) .
the results of several previous studies have suggested associations between various hla class i or class ii alleles and susceptibility... | objective(s ) : htlvi-1 is the first human retrovirus with limited endemic regions in the world .
the epidemiological studies have shown that the genetic background and immune response to the virus have a significant role in htlv - i - associated diseases . among the genes
are involved in htlv - i infection , the role of human leukocytes antigen ( hla ) have been studied in different population . in the present study we examined the association between hla - dqb1 alleles and htlv - i infection in ham / tsp patients , htlv - i carriers and healthy controls in north east of iran , mashhad.materials and methods : the blood samples of 16 patients with ham / tsp , 20 htlv-1 carriers , and 30 healthy individuals were taken and dna was extracted by salting out method .
hla - dqb1 typing was performed using pcr - ssp method and the frequency of hla - dqb1 alleles were compared by fischer exact test.results : there was a significant difference between ham / tsp patients and healthy controls in the frequency of hla - dqb1 * 07 ( p=0.004 , rr=7 ) .
furthermore , we found that possession of hla- dqb1 * 02 or hla - dqb1 * 05 increased the risk of disease 1.5 times.conclusion : the data presented here suggest that both hla - dqb1 * 07 and hla - dqb1 * 06 are associated with disease development . |
6,374 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: it is characterized by acute inflammatory response which causes coronary plaque rupture with subsequent thrombosis .
accumulating evidence showed that inflammation and immune cell activation play a key role in collagen loss in the fibrous cap which is a prelude to fibrous cap rupture [ 3 , 4 ] . the extent of cardiac damage due to this inflammatory response is reflected by peripheral levels of inflammatory biomarkers involved in the process of plaque instability .
moreover , markers of plaque destabilization and plaque rupture such as high sensitivity c - reactive protein ( hscrp ) may be used to predict future cardiovascular events not only in apparently healthy subjects , but also in patients with acs .
granzyme b ( gzb ) is a serine protease released from cytotoxic t lymphocytes ( ctls ) and natural killer ( nk ) cells , playing an important role in cellular apoptosis by activating intracellular caspases .
furthermore , gzb is also identified as an extracellular protease degrading specific extracellular substrates such as fibronectin , vitronectin , and laminin , which implies the role of gzb in extracellular matrix ( ecm ) remodeling .
therefore , the mechanisms by which gzb may contribute to plaque instability may include ecm degradation and/or induction of macrophage or smooth muscle cells apoptosis in the fibrous cap .
interleukin 18 ( il-18 ) , previously known as interferon - gamma ( ifn- ) inducing factor , is a proinflammatory member of il-1 superfamily which plays a role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis .
both clinical and experimental studies have supported its role in atherosclerotic plaque progression and destabilization [ 11 , 12 ] .
nevertheless , it was described as an independent predictor of future adverse events in patients with acs .
another contributing factor to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and may participate in their destabilization is chemokines . in this regard , fractalkine ( fkn ) or cx3cl1 is a unique dual function chemokine that exists in two... | objective . the proapoptotic protein , granzyme b ( gzb ) , was identified as a contributor to the atherosclerotic plaque instability and recently as inflammatory activator .
we studied the release kinetics of gzb and other markers of inflammation such as high sensitivity c reactive protein ( hscrp ) , interleukin 18 ( il-18 ) , and fractalkine ( fkn ) in the early phase after acute cardiac events in different acs subgroups .
methods . thirty - six nondiabetic patients with acs
were compared to 12 control subjects . according to acs diagnosis ,
the patients were classified into 22 patients with st elevation myocardial infarction ( stemi ) and 14 patients with non - st elevation myocardial infarction or unstable angina ( nstemi / ua ) .
blood samples were taken on day 1 ( day of onset ) and day 3 to measure hscrp , il-18 , fkn , and gzb by elisa .
results .
patients with acs showed significantly higher gzb , il-18 , and fkn levels than the controls .
stemi group showed significantly higher gzb levels than nstemi / ua group . on day 3 , fkn levels displayed a significant decrease , while gzb levels were significantly increased .
il-18 levels were more or less constant .
gzb levels were positively correlated with il-18 ( r = 0.416 , p < 0.01 ) and fkn ( r = 0.58 , p < 0.001 ) . conclusions .
unlike il-18 and fkn , plasma gzb may be a marker of acs disease severity . |
6,375 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: cilj ove multicentrine studije bio je da se rezultati sedam automatizovanih komercijalnih imunoeseja uporede sa referentnom tehnikom hplc .
je , podeljeno u alikvote , smrznuto i poslato laboratorijama koje su uestvovale u istraivanju .
je pomou referentnog sistema hplc i pomou sedam automatizovanih komercijalnih imunoeseja ( roche cobas e601 , beckman coulter unicel dxi 800 , ortho vitros es , diasorin liaison , siemens advia centaur , abbott architect i system i ids isys ) .
u poreenju sa referentnim metodom , koeficijenti regresije kretali su se izmeu 0,923 i 0,961 ( svuda p<0,001 ) .
nagib za demingovu regresiju kretao se od 0,95 do 1,06 , dok je kriva obuhvatila podruje izmeu 15,2
i razliitih imunoeseja pri koncentraciji od 50 nmol / l 25oh vitamina d variralo je izmeu 0,61 i 0,85 ( svuda p<0,001 ) .
procenat uzoraka ispod ove cut - off vrednosti znaajno se razlikovao samo za jedan imunoesej .
odlina korelacija sa referentnom tehnikom hplc potvruje da se svih sedam automatizovanih imunoeseja mogu sa sigurnou koristiti za rutinsko odreivanje nivoa 25oh - d u klinikim laboratorijama .
znaajno odstupanje izmeu razliitih metoda po svoj prilici se moe uglavnom pripisati nedostatku standardizacije i zahteva dodatne napore kako bi se popravila harmonizacija imunoeseja za 25oh - d .
vitamin d is a fat soluble compound , which exerts a kaleidoscope of biological functions in humans ( 1 ) .
basically , vitamin d2 ( ergocalciferol ) derives from ergosterol , a membrane sterol produced by phytoplankton , invertebrates and fungi in response to ultraviolet ( uv ) irradiation , but it is not constitutively synthesized in plants or vertebrates .
vitamin d3 ( cholecalciferol ) is produced in the skin or can be received through diet from animal sources , principally fish , eggs yolks or liver .
the synthesis of 25-hydroxyvitamin d ( 25oh - d ) occurs by hydroxylation of vitamin d3 ( or d2 ) in the liver , which is then followed by a further hydroxylation in the kidney , to generate 1-,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol ( i.e. ,... | summarybackgroundthe measurement of 25oh vitamin d continues to grow in clinical laboratories .
the aim of this multi - center study was to compare the results of seven automated commercial immunoassays with a reference hplc technique.methodsone hundred and twenty consecutive outpatient serum samples were centrifuged , divided in aliquots , frozen and shipped to the participating laboratories .
25oh vitamin d was measured with a reference hplc system and with seven automated commercial immunoassays ( roche cobas e601 , beckman coulter unicel dxi 800 , ortho vitros es , diasorin liaison , siemens advia centaur , abbott architect i system and ids isys).resultscompared to the reference method , the regression coefficients ranged from 0.923 to 0.961 ( all p<0.001 ) .
the slope of deming fit ranged from 0.95 to 1.06 , whereas the intercept was comprised between 15.2 and 9.2 nmol / l .
the bias from the reference hplc technique varied from 14.5 to 8.7
nmol / l . the minimum performance goal for bias
was slightly exceeded by only one immunoassay .
the agreement between hplc and the different immunoassays at 50 nmol / l 25oh vitamin d varied between 0.61 and 0.85 ( all p<0.001 ) .
the percentage of samples below this cut - off was significantly different with only one immunoassay.conclusionsthe excellent correlation with the reference hplc technique attests that all seven automated immunoassays may be reliably used for routine assessment of 25oh - d in clinical laboratories .
the significant bias among the different methods seems mostly attributable to the lack of standardization and calls for additional efforts for improving harmonization of 25oh - d immunoassays . |
6,376 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: activation of the cellular arm of the immune system is seen as the first biological event after administration of immunotherapy , and consequently , measurement of such a response ( mostly t - cell response ) is of great interest .
a variety of bioassays exist for immune monitoring , including the enzyme - linked immunosorbent spot ( elispot ) assay and cytometry - based tests such as intracellular cytokine staining , hla - peptide multimer staining , and the carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester assay ( 2427 ) .
even though the fundamentals of these assays have been well established , a plethora of different laboratory protocols is used ( 24,27,28 ) .
substantial variability in results among laboratories exists in multicenter trials , which hampers data reproducibility and prevents meaningful comparisons among studies ( 28 ) .
for example , in the first cic - cri elispot proficiency panel , 36 laboratories used the elispot assay to analyze the same donor peripheral blood mononuclear cell sample for a t - cell immune response , resulting in spot counts ranging from nondetectable to strongly positive ( figure 1 ) .
the challenge is the absence of a quality control measure for t cell based assays that can be used as a gold standard ( 29 ) , which has prevented the field from establishing t - cell response as a biomarker for immunotherapy trials and conducting reliable investigations of its relationship with clinical outcomes ( 30 ) .
high variability of results for the enzyme - linked immunosorbent spot ( elispot ) immune response assay .
identical peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from the same patient were sent to 36 different laboratories experienced with elispot methodology .
the image shows the spot count results in microtiter plates in which each well represents the result of one laboratory .
each spot in this assay represents a single t - cell capable of reacting against a defined target antigen .
these results reflect the outcome of the first elispot proficiency panel , which identified sources... | unlike chemotherapy , which acts directly on the tumor , cancer immunotherapies exert their effects on the immune system and demonstrate new kinetics that involve building a cellular immune response , followed by changes in tumor burden or patient survival .
thus , adequate design and evaluation of some immunotherapy clinical trials require a new development paradigm that includes reconsideration of established endpoints . between 2004 and 2009 , several initiatives facilitated by the cancer immunotherapy consortium of the cancer research institute and partner organizations systematically evaluated an immunotherapy - focused clinical development paradigm and created the principles for redefining trial endpoints . on this basis , a body of clinical and laboratory data was generated that supports three novel endpoint recommendations .
first , cellular immune response assays generate highly variable results .
assay harmonization in multicenter trials may minimize variability and help to establish cellular immune response as a reproducible biomarker , thus allowing investigation of its relationship with clinical outcomes .
second , immunotherapy may induce novel patterns of antitumor response not captured by response evaluation criteria in solid tumors or world health organization criteria .
new immune - related response criteria were defined to more comprehensively capture all response patterns .
third , delayed separation of kaplan meier curves in randomized immunotherapy trials can affect results .
altered statistical models describing hazard ratios as a function of time and recognizing differences before and after separation of curves may allow improved planning of phase iii trials .
these recommendations may improve our tools for cancer immunotherapy trials and may offer a more realistic and useful model for clinical investigation . |
6,377 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: newly synthesized proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum ( er ) , are transported via a series of membrane - bound shuttles or vesicles to and between the golgi apparatus , where their content proteins undergo various post - translational modifications such as glycosylation , to mature .
specialized transport vesicles containing mature cargo originate from the golgi and destined for secretion , dock and transiently fuse at specialized plasma membrane structures called [ porosomes ] to expel intravesicular contents .
this unique process of transport and secretion , is universal to living cells.the discovery of proteins involved in the budding and fusion of such transport vesicles , the discovery of the porosome[2 , and the regulated release of vesicular contents from cells , are landmark discoveries .
while an elegant mammalian cell - free system was used in the discovery of the various players involved in vesicle budding and fusion , a new and powerful microscope ( atomic force microscope or afm ) was brilliantly employed in discovery of the [ porosome ] in live cells , in unraveling the interaction , assembly , and disassembly of membrane proteins involved in membrane fusion , and in deciphering the regulated release of intravesicular contents during cell secretion.these seminal and landmark discoveries are summarized .
a preparation of isolated golgi stacks , atp , and a 100,000 g cytosolic fraction from mammalian cells , was found to reconstitute transport between golgi cisternae .
for the first time , this assay system provided the tool for discovery of proteins involved in the fission and fusion of transport vesicles within cells [ 46 ] .
golgi population containing vsv - encoded g protein ( the cargo ) but lacking the glycosylating enzyme , is incubated with an acceptor golgi population containing the enzyme , the transfer of g protein from donor to acceptor is determined as a measure of radiolabled n - acetylglucosamine in the oligosaccharide chain of g proteins in the acceptor compartments .
( non... | abstractcellular protein transport and secretion is fundamental to the very existence of an organism , regulating important physiological functions such as reproduction , digestion , energy production , growth , neurotransmission , hormone release , water and ion transport , etc .
, all required for the survival and maintenance of homeostasis within an organism .
molecular understanding of transport and secretion of intracellular product has therefore been of paramount importance and aggressively investigated for over six decades . only in the last 20 years
, the general molecular mechanism of the process has come to light , following discovery of key proteins involved in er - golgi transport , and discovery of the
porosome the universal secretion machinery in cells . |
6,378 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the quality and commercial value of american cranberry fruit
( vaccinium macrocarpon ait ) are determined by their color
.
anthocyanins have important therapeutic values ,
including antitumor [ 2 ,
3 ] , antiulcer , antioxidant ,
and anti - inflammatory activities .
six anthocyanins have
been reported in cranberries based on the high - performance liquid
chromatography ( hplc ) analysis of acid - alcohol fruit extracts on
reversed - phase c18 column . these are cyanidin 3-galactoside ,
cyanidin 3-glucoside , cyanidin 3-arabinoside , peonidin
3-galactoside , peonidin 3-glucoside , and peonidin 3-arabinoside
[ 6 , 7 ] .
the proportions of individual anthocyanins in
cranberry fruit may affect the color stability of cranberry
products such as juice and sauce [ 8 ,
9 ] .
yan et al
reported that cyanidin 3-galactoside showed
antioxidant activity superior to six other monoglycosides of
quercetin and myricetin isolated from cranberry fruit as well as
vitamin e by evaluating compounds for
1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical - scavenging activity and
ability to inhibit low - density lipoprotein oxidation in vitro .
light has been shown to be the most important environmental
factor influencing anthocyanin biosynthesis in plants ,
although in some species , such as vitis vinifera cv .
phytochromes are among the most extensively researched
photoreceptors which sense light , and are known to be involved in
anthocyanin biosynthesis [ 13 ,
14 , 15 ] .
phytochromes respond
to red ( 660 nm ) and far - red ( 730 nm ) light , and direct
plant gene expression by switching between the red - absorbing form
( pr ) and the far - red absorbing form ( pfr ) .
previously , we have
examined the effect of various wavelengths of light on the
development of the cranberry plant and anthocyanin biosynthesis
in cranberries which were still attached to the plant .
we have
observed that red light stimulates flowering and anthocyanin
biosynthesis in cranberry plant and... | anthocyanins are a group of plant antioxidants
known for their therapeutic use .
the effects of natural light ,
red light , and far - red light on individual as well as total
anthocyanin content in cranberry fruit ( vaccinium
macrocarpon ait ) were examined in an experimental setting
designed to mimic water - harvesting conditions .
the reversed - phase
high - performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ) method was used to
separate and analyze the anthocyanins .
in contrast to the
case of the control sample that was kept in the dark ,
natural light increased the total anthocyanin level by 75.3%
and 87.2% after 24 and 48 hours of water immersion ,
respectively .
red light and far - red light increased the total
anthocyanin level by 41.5% and 34.7% , respectively .
the
amount of each individual anthocyanin increased differently under
natural light , red light , and far - red light , suggesting that
expressions of enzymes that catalyze the anthocyanin biosynthesis
are regulated differently by environments . |
6,379 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: soft tissue infection often occurs after injuries , which , if not treated appropriately , could slow wound healing and further deteriorate the patient s condition [ 13 ] . thus , prevention and treatment of infection remains a major challenge for clinical surgeons .
vacuum sealing drainage ( vsd ) has been increasingly recognized as a valid treatment approach in the management of various types of tissue injuries .
it facilitates complete suction of seepage , necrotic tissues , and pus from the wound area by using a negative - pressure device .
emerging studies have demonstrated that vsd treatment can speed wound healing and reduce incidence of infection [ 68 ]
recent evidence indicates that if antibiotic is added to bone cement , infected joint arthroplasties can be prevented and treated .
it has been suggested that prophylactic use of antibiotic - impregnated bone cement decreases the deep infection rate in total joint arthroplasty .
these findings suggest that antibiotic - impregnated bone cement may be a promising therapy for prevention of soft tissue infections . to the best of our knowledge ,
the effect of antibiotic - impregnated bone cement on soft tissue defects and infection has not been reported before . we conducted a prospective randomized study to compare the combination of vsd therapy and antibiotic - impregnated bone cement versus the single vsd therapy for the therapeutic effect in patients with soft tissue defects and infection . to the best of our knowledge , this is the first study to test whether open flesh wounds benefit from the combined treatment of vsd therapy and antibiotic - impregnated bone cement . the treatment appeared to speed wound healing and prevent infection .
the study might shed new light on clinical treatment of soft tissue defects and infection .
this prospective randomized non - blinded study enrolled 46 cases with soft tissue defects and infection in our hospital between january 2010 and may 2014 .
the study included 24 males and 22 females , who were aged 3572 years... | backgroundthis study aimed to evaluate the combined effect of vacuum sealing drainage ( vsd ) and antibiotic - loaded bone cement on soft tissue defects and infection.material/methodsthis prospective non - blinded study recruited 46 patients with soft tissue defects and infection from january 2010 to may 2014 and randomly divided them into experimental and control groups ( n=23 ) .
patients in the experimental group were treated with vsd and antibiotic - loaded bone cement , while the patients in the control group were treated with vsd only.resultsin the experimental group , the wound was healed in 23 cases at 4 weeks postoperatively , of which direct suture was performed in 12 cases , and additional free flap transplantation or skin grafting was performed in 6 cases and 5 cases , respectively .
no infection reoccurred in 1-year follow - up . in the control group ,
the wound was healed in 15 cases at 6 weeks postoperatively , of which direct suture was performed in 8 cases , and additional free flap transplantation or skin grafting was performed in 3 cases and 4 cases , respectively . in the other 8 cases
the wound was healed at 8 weeks postoperatively .
infection reoccurred in 3 cases during the follow - up .
the experimental group had significantly fewer vsd dressing renewals , shorter time needed until the wound was ready for surgery , shorter duration of antibiotic administration , faster wound healing , and shorter hospital stay than the control group ( p<0.01).conclusionsthe combination of vsd and antibiotic bone cement might be a better method for treatment of soft tissue defects and infection . |
6,380 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: computed tomography ( ct ) and magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) are excellent modalities for the localization of mediastinal masses and there are often features that may allow the correct diagnosis to be made . however , ct and mr can not usually assess the aggressiveness of masses or identify viable tumour in residual masses after chemotherapy .
metabolic imaging using [ f]fluorodeoxyglucose ( fdg)-positron emission tomography ( pet)/ct , although not required in many cases , may be helpful for further characterization of masses and to guide the most appropriate site for biopsy .
the thymus arises from the 3rd branchial pouch on each side , which fuse and migrate from the pharynx to the anterior mediastinum .
a normal thymus may be seen anywhere along this path , and is usually seen anterior to the ascending arch .
the thymus reaches its maximum weight at puberty and then undergoes fatty replacement with residual thymus identified in only 5% of people aged 40 years .
ct identifies the normal thymus in virtually all children under 13 years of age and in most people under the age of 30 years .
physiologic uptake of fdg is seen in the thymus in 28% of normal people aged less than 40 years , with the incidence dependent on the age of the patient , being identified in up to 73% of children under 13 years , decreasing to 12% of 2040 year olds and up to 8% of people in their fourth decade .
there does appear to be a correlation between the degree of uptake and the attenuation of the gland suggesting that the disappearance of thymic uptake is related to fatty infiltration of the gland . in children ,
the thymus is quadrilateral in shape initially and then becomes arrowhead shaped or bilobed and this is the pattern of uptake seen on fdg - pet / ct in 60% of cases .
unilateral extension to the right has been described in 25% and focal uptake in the midline in 16% of cases .
changes in thymic size occur in response to sepsis , congenital heart disease , use of steroids and following chemotherapy and radiotherapy with... | abstractcomputed tomography ( ct ) and magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) are excellent modalities for the localization of mediastinal masses and there are often features that may allow the correct diagnosis to be made .
however , ct and mri can not usually assess the aggressiveness of masses or identify viable tumour in residual masses after chemotherapy .
metabolic imaging using [ 18f]fluorodeoxyglucose ( fdg)-positron emission tomography / ct , although not required in many cases , may be helpful for further characterization of masses and to guide the most appropriate site for biopsy . |
6,381 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the term is a misnomer as the lesion does not contain pus nor it is granulomatous .
it is considered as a capillary haemangioma of lobular subtype as suggested by mills , cooper , and fechner , which is the reason they are often quite prone to bleeding .
the most common intraoral site is marginal gingiva , but lesions have been reported on palate , buccal mucosa , tongue , and lips .
extraoral sites commonly involve the skin of face , neck , upper and lower extremities , and mucous membrane of nose and eyelids .
being a non - neoplastic growth , excisional therapy is the treatment of choice but some alternative approaches such as cryosurgery , excision by nd : yag laser , flash lamp pulsed dye laser , injection of corticosteroid or ethanol , and sodium tetradecyl sulfate sclerotherapy have been reported to be effective .
there are only anecdotal reports of successful treatment of mucosal pyogenic granulomas with diode laser . in this report
, we seek to highlight the therapeutic success achieved with diode laser in the treatment of intraoral pyogenic granuloma .
a 50-year - old female patient reported to the out patient department of oral medicine and radiology , with a complain of localized gingival growth for 3 months .
the outgrowing mass was not painful but often bled while eating , rinsing , or sometimes spontaneously .
patient reported a similar growth in the gingiva about 3 years ago , which was treated in the same institute by surgical excision .
intraoral examination revealed an oval - shaped , pedunculated mass - like growth seen in relation to the buccal aspect of gingiva with respect to 23 , 24 region , measuring approximately 2.5 3.5 cm .
this discrete nodular , erythematous enlargement was covering almost two - third of the crown of 24 [ figure 1 ] .
on palpation , the mass was soft to firm in consistency and readily bled on probing .
pyogenic granuloma. based on the clinical findings and the previous biopsy report , the case was provisionally diagnosed as recurrent pyogenic granuloma .
a... | lasers have opened a new door for the treatment of various disorders .
treatment of soft tissue intraoral mucosal growth by laser has profound effect on the patient acceptability taking the functional and aesthetic factor into consideration .
the patient is able to get the outdoor treatment without the phobia of local anaesthetic and is out of the clinic in few minutes in contrast to the traditional method of surgical excision .
very few cases have been reported in literature regarding treatment of mucosal growth by soft tissue lasers .
we present a case of recurrent pyogenic granuloma in a patient treated with an alternative approach , that is , diode laser , without the use of anaesthesia , sutures , anti - inflammatory drugs , or analgesics .
the diagnosis of this lesion is equally important for correct treatment planning . |
6,382 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: pd-1 was shown to deliver a negative signal after binding to either of its two ligands , pd - l1 ( b7-h1 ) or pd - l2 ( b7-dc ) in immune responses [ 14 ] . meanwhile ,
pd-1 and its ligands have been reported to play an important role in the etiopathogenesis of murine autoimmune diseases .
spontaneous autoimmune diseases including lupus - like glomerulonephritis , arthritis , and fatal autoimmune dilated cardiomyopathy developed in pd-1 deficient mice of different genetic backgrounds [ 57 ] . in addition
, blockade of pd-1/pd - l pathway could exaggerate or accelerate the development of autoimmune diseases such as diabetes in prediabetic nod mice and experimental autoimmune encephalitis [ 8 , 9 ] .
recently , up - regulated expression of pd-1 molecule and/or its ligands was demonstrated in human diseases including rheumatoid arthritis ( ra ) and inflammatory colitis , indicating that pd-1 and pd-1 ligands were actively participating in the pathogenetic process in human autoimmune diseases [ 10 , 11 ] .
systemic lupus erythematosus ( sle ) is a prototype of human systemic autoimmune disease , characterized by dysregulated activation of both t and b lymphocytes and development of many autoantibodies .
accordingly , pd-1 and pd-1 ligands may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of sle .
the present study thus aimed to investigate the expression and function of pd-1 and its two ligands on peripheral mononuclear cells ( pbmcs ) in patients with sle .
twenty - eight patients who fulfilled at least 4 criteria for the diagnosis of sle set by the american college of rheumatology were enrolled in the study .
all enrolled patients were not taking corticosteroid and immunosuppressant agents for more than 4 weeks prior to the study .
their peripheral blood was drawn , and pbmc were immediately isolated for flowcytometric analysis and in vitro culture .
flowcytometry with dual staining was performed using fluorescece - conjugatd mabs including fitc - conjugated anti - cd3 , anti - cd19 , and anti - cd14 ( bd... | programmed death-1 ( pd-1 ) was shown to deliver an inhibitory signal after binding to its ligands , pd - l1 ( b7-h1 ) or pd - l2 ( b7-dc ) .
recently , up - regulated expression of pd-1 molecule and/or its ligands was demonstrated in human diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory colitis .
the study aimed to investigate the expression and function of pd-1 and pd-1 ligands on circulating t cells , b cells and monocytes from patient with systemic lupus erythematosus ( sle ) .
the results showed that patients with sle had significantly increased percentages of pd-1-expressing cd3+t cells and cd19+b cells , pd - l1-expressing cd19+b cells and pd - l2-expressing cd14+b monocytes . in selected sle patients and normal subjects , functional study of pd-1/ pd-1 ligands pathway on the production of cytokines by stimulated pbmc was examined .
blockages of pd-1 or pd-1 ligands substantially increased the production of il-2 , ifn- and il-10 , the amplitude of increase roughly ranged from one to three times .
there were no significant differences of the enhancing effects on cytokine production by blockage of pd-1/pdl pathway between sle patients and normal subjects .
the study indicates that there are no intrinsically defective expression and function of pd-1 and pd-1 ligands on pbmc in patients with sle . |
6,383 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: in the past , mothers and clinicians spent the 9 months of pregnancy in more or less blissful ignorance of what was happening inside the womb .
ultrasound was first used in obstetrics in the late 1950s , and it quickly became apparent that it could be used to track an entire pregnancy .
there was an upsurge in the use of the technique , and it has now become part of the routine management of pregnancy.6 initially , ultrasound simply provided a basic image of the fetus , allowing clinicians to identify , for example , whether it was in the breach position .
visualising a fetus may reveal its gender , whether it is likely to have down syndrome , and whether the umbilical cord is threatening its circulation .
ultrasound is often described as offering reassurance to mothers , but this is likely to be the case only if the fetus is deemed normal .
it is precisely because ultrasound has the capacity to identify abnormalities that it is used in medicine.7 8 as soon as it becomes feasible to identify anomalies at the prenatal stage , questions are raised about what can and what should be done .
the urge to intervene is a natural corollary of the ability to present a problem in a way that preserves its visual immediacy .
people feel differently about things they can see from the way they feel about things they merely know.9 10 feeling differently means that one is likely to act differently .
a powerful example of this is the ethiopian famine in the 1980s , and the uk 's response to it .
but when pictures of the famine were aired , when the suffering of the people who we had previously known about only in the abstract , became visible , there was a sudden upsurge in public response . as we could see , we now felt obliged to act.11 12 ultrasound technology has made the fetus visible and created a corresponding urge to intervene .
it is for this reason that it is important to recognise the connection between fetal surgery and ultrasound , but also the more general connection between the acquisition of data and the... | fetal surgery has been practised for some decades now .
however , it remains a highly complex area , both medically and ethically .
this paper shows how the routine use of ultrasound has been a catalyst for fetal surgery , in creating new needs and new incentives for intervention .
some of the needs met by fetal surgery are those of parents and clinicians who experience stress while waiting for the birth of a fetus with known anomalies .
the paper suggests that the role of technology and visualisation techniques in creating and meeting such new needs is ethically problematic .
it then addresses the idea that fetal surgery should be restricted to interventions that are life - saving for the fetus , arguing that this restriction is unduly paternalistic .
fetal surgery poses challenges for an autonomy - based system of ethics .
however , it is risky to circumvent these challenges by restricting the choices open to pregnant women , even when these choices appear excessively altruistic . |
6,384 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: metagenomics is defined as the study of genomic content of microbial communities in their natural environments , bypassing the need for isolation and laboratory cultivation of individual species .
its importance arises from the fact that over 99% of the species yet to be discovered are resistant to cultivation .
this limitation imposed by cultivation of isolated clones has severely skewed our view of microbial diversity .
metagenomics promises to enable scientists to study the full diversity of the microbial world , their functions and evolution , in their natural environments .
next generation sequencing ( ngs ) technologies generate data more efficiently , economically , and with a greater depth than ever before .
ngs has opened up an array of possibilities for many applications including whole - genome sequencing , epigenetics , and metagenomics . of these , the characterization of diversity of heterogeneous microbial environments , metagenomes , has recently gained significant interest .
although a host of methods for whole - genome assembly have been developed , reconstruction of individual clones from metagenomes still remains a challenge . as compared to existing technologies , reads produced by ngs are typically shorter and more error - prone .
the growth in the size of the datasets is fast outpacing the computational power needed to analyze it .
the computational method we present here aims to quantify the microbial diversity within a metagenome based on a set of deep sequencing reads . in single genome sequencing
, we can be certain that all extracted dna fragments belong to the same genome .
however , in majority of metagenomic samples , it is not possible to isolate and culture individual clones .
it is further complicated by the fact that the data comes from heterogeneous microbial communities , where the number of species as well as their relative abundance is unknown .
sequence data is usually partial and fragmentary , as environmental sequence sampling rarely produces all the sequences... | a major challenge facing metagenomics is the development of tools for the characterization of functional and taxonomic content of vast amounts of short metagenome reads .
the efficacy of clustering methods depends on the number of reads in the dataset , the read length and relative abundances of source genomes in the microbial community . in this paper
, we formulate an unsupervised naive bayes multispecies , multidimensional mixture model for reads from a metagenome .
we use the proposed model to cluster metagenomic reads by their species of origin and to characterize the abundance of each species .
we model the distribution of word counts along a genome as a gaussian for shorter , frequent words and as a poisson for longer words that are rare .
we employ either a mixture of gaussians or mixture of poissons to model reads within each bin .
further , we handle the high - dimensionality and sparsity associated with the data , by grouping the set of words comprising the reads , resulting in a two - way mixture model .
finally , we demonstrate the accuracy and applicability of this method on simulated and real metagenomes .
our method can accurately cluster reads as short as 100 bps and is robust to varying abundances , divergences and read lengths . |
6,385 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: over the last few years use of short message services ( sms ) and smartphone - based communication applications in health care has shown its wide application and potential to improve access to health care ; enhance efficiency of service delivery ; improve diagnosis , facilitate timely treatment and support public health programmes .
this effective means of communication is providing timely and accurate results to the correct recipient , safeguarding their privacy and confidentiality and avoids misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the results .
there are various uses of mobile phone message services and smartphone - based communication applications such as : appointment remainders ; to monitor chronic medical conditions ; to improve treatment compliance ; to provide psychological support ; managing communicable diseases via contact tracing and partner notification for sexually transmitted illnesses and to promote health promotion programs like smoking cessation .
tata memorial hospital uses many modes of health related e - communications such as web based electronic medical records ( emr ) where patients and families can access their medical records , blood investigations , scans and all patient - related information using an individual patient login key and password .
this information can be accessed at home or any other remote setting using a computer or smartphone .
the other modes of e - communications used are e - mail , short message service ( sms ) , multimedia messaging service ( mms ) and whatsapp ( text , pictures , and video ) .
although these applications are not substitute for face - to - face interview and clinical examination , in most of the situations especially in palliative care setting it minimizes needless transport of the patient , cost and logistics involved .
it also provides a means for quick information sharing , cuts the waiting time and facilitates initiation of the treatment at the earliest .
it also forms a means of communication with local general practitioner and local... | smartphone applications in healthcare delivery are a novel concept and is rapidly gaining ground in all fields of medicine .
the modes of e - communications such as e - mail , short message service ( sms ) , multimedia messaging service ( mms ) and whatsapp in palliative care provides a means for quick tele - consultation , information sharing , cuts the waiting time and facilitates initiation of the treatment at the earliest .
it also forms a means of communication with local general practitioner and local health care provider such that continuity of the care is maintained .
it also minimizes needless transport of the patient to hospital , prevents needless hospitalization and investigations and minimizes cost and logistics involved in the care process .
the two case studies provided highlights the use of smartphone application like whatsapp in palliative care practice and demonstrates its utility . |
6,386 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: they are a congenital disturbance of the position of the eyelashes , which are usually on the lateral quadrant of the upper eyelid or conjunctival surface of the eyelid .
the origin of these abnormally placed cilia is not clear , but a previous theory of meibomian gland substitution has been refuted and an embryologic origin suggested.1,2 in most cases , it causes no apparent medical morbidity and there is no positive family history .
here we report a case of a patient with ectopic cilia and hypochromic patches on the right arm .
a 6-year - old girl was referred for evaluation of a congenital lateral upper eyelid ectopic cilia cluster ( figure 1 ) . on physical examination , she had hypochromic lesions on the right arm , diagnosed by the dermatology service as hypochromic nevi ( figure 1 ) .
the specimen comprised a circular 106 mm portion of skin and contained a centrally placed tuft of strong and pigmented hairs .
longitudinal sections and histologic analysis showed dermal and subcutaneous pilosebaceous follicles ( figure 1a and 1b ) , packed in a dense fibrous tissue core ( figure 1b ) extending through the eyelid from the subcutaneous area , scarcely represented in the specimen .
well developed sebaceous lobules ( figure 1c ) , bulbs of pilous follicles ( figure 1d ) , and apocrine - lined epithelial ducts consistent with glands of moll ( figure 1e ) and associated with pilous follicles were observed .
occasional striated orbicularis muscle fibers were present in the depths of the specimen ( figure 1f ) , with the lowest hair bulbs ( figure 1f ) superficial to them .
they have been observed to protrude from the anterior surface of the eyelid skin and the posterior aspect of the tarsal plate .
there are 15 cases located on the anterior surface of the eyelids.1,2 histologic examination has demonstrated the presence of apocrine and pilosebaceous glands , and there is evidence that ectopic cilia in the palpebral conjunctiva are acquired aberrant cilia , in contrast with anterior ectopic cilia , which are... | ectopic cilia are rare in humans .
we report a 6-year - old girl with typical characteristics of ectopic cilia as described in the rare cases reported in the literature , in association with cutaneous lesions that appeared to be hypochromic nevi .
this framework could be a different clinical presentation of ectopic cilia . |
6,387 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: arteriovenous malformation ( avm ) probably occurrs from loss of the regulatory sphincteric function of the arteriolarcapillary junction which results in overflow of the arterial blood into the capillaries and venules , producing an arteriovenous shunt.1 pancreatic avm is a rare disease which can be complicated with abdominal pain , gastrointestinal bleeding , portal hypertension , and duodenal ulcer.2 however , formation of the pancreaticoduodenal fistula by pancreatic avm is extremely rare .
herein , we report a case of pancreaticoduodenal fistula associated with pancreatic avm which induced recurrent anemia and ascending infection .
a 58-year - old man was admitted to chonnam national university hospital with recurrent fever and epigastric pain for 2 months .
two years ago , the patient visited for exertional dyspnea and he was diagnosed as iron deficiency anemia with pancreatic arteriovenous malformation communicating gastroduodenal artery and pancreaticoduodenal artery with superior mesenteric vein ( fig .
1 ) . since then he experienced recurrent anemia and he took oral iron preparations occasionally .
the body temperature was 38.2. laboratory investigation revealed leukocyte 12,900/mm ( neutrophil 79.5% ) , hemoglobin 14.1 g / dl , platelet 239,000/mm .
the blood chemistry were protein 6.1 g / dl , albumin 3.2 g / dl , ast 127 u / l , alt 96 u / l , alkaline phosphatase 145 u / l , total bilirubin 1.1 mg / dl , gamma glutamyl transpeptidase 190 u / l , amylase 85 u / l , lipase 34 u / l , crp 9.1 mg / dl , prothrombin time 11.8/92.1/1.05 sec/%/inr . despite he underwent thorough examinations including computerized tomography ( ct ) of chest and abdomen , esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy ,
the body temperature was 36.5. laboratory investigation revealed leukocyte 9,900/mm ( neutrophil 75.5% ) , hemoglobin 12.2 g / dl , platelet 337,000/mm .
the blood chemistry were protein 6.8 g / dl , albumin 3.8 g / dl , ast 16 u / l , alt 22 u / l , alkaline phosphatase 156 u / l , total bilirubin 0.5 mg /... | although arteriovenous malformations ( avm ) occur frequently in digestive organs , pancreatic avm is rare .
the clinical symptoms of pancreatic avm are variable and include gastrointestinal bleeding , abdominal pain , jaundice , portal hypertension , pancreatitis , and duodenal ulcer .
however , choledochoduodenal or pancreaticoduodenal fistulas complicated with ascending infection and pancreatitis is extremely rare .
herein , we report a case of pancreaticoduodenal fistula associated with a pancreatic avm that induced recurrent anemia and ascending infection . |
6,388 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: migrated tooth is defined as the movement of teeth into altered positions in relation to the basal bone of the alveolar process and the adjoining and opposing teeth due to loss of approximating or opposing teeth , occlusal interferences , habits , or inflammatory and dystrophic disease of the attaching and supporting structures of the teeth .
pathologic tooth migration ( ptm ) is defined as tooth displacement that occurs when the balance among the factors that maintain the physiologic tooth position is disturbed by periodontal disease .
ptm is a periodontal disease that has aesthetic effects . despite the prevalence of pathological migration among periodontal patients
, there is limited data on the different aspects of this problem . according to some studies , ptm is the one of the most common complaint that leads periodontal patients to dental clinics .
case studies and clinical observations on this subject have shown that etiology of pathologic migration is multifactorial and lack of research in this field may be as a result of this complexity .
ptm may be an early sign of the disease or may be related to gingival inflammation and pocket formation during the progression of the disease . even during the early stages of the disease , some degree of bone destruction may occur .
diagnosis in its early stages and prevention of severe complications by eliminating the causes has a major advantage .
pathologic migration occurs most often in the anterior region but may also involve the posterior areas . moreover , the prevalence of ptm in moderate to severe periodontitis has been studied .
severity of periodontitis can be characterized based on the amount of clinical attachment loss ( cal ) as follows : mild = 1 or 2 mm cal , moderate = 3 or 4 mm cal , and severe = 5 mm cal . in teeth with ptm , mean of cal greater than 3.33 mm
these measures are related to the moderate and advanced stages of periodontitis and are not related to the early stages . nevertheless , the prevalence of ptm in mild periodontitis has not... | aim : pathologic tooth migration ( ptm ) has been defined as tooth displacement that occurs when the balance among the factors that maintain physiologic tooth position is disturbed by periodontal disease .
the aim of this cross - sectional epidemiological study was to determine the prevalence of pathologic tooth migration among patients with periodontitis.materials and methods : recorded documents of 370 patients ( 72.4% females , 27.6% males ) within the age range of 17 to 70 years ( mean 37.77 11.46 ) were studied .
statistical analysis was carried out using t - test and chi - square test.results:pathologic migration prevalence was 11.4% ( 35/314 patients ) , however , there was no pathologic migration in patients with mild chronic periodontitis .
the chi - square test showed that there was no statistically significant difference between males and females.conclusions:the results of this study confirm that pathologic tooth migration is relatively common among periodontal patients and its prevalence is increased by the severity of periodontal disease . |
6,389 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: percutaneous coronary intervention ( pci ) for chronic total occlusion ( cto ) has a lower success rate than pci for non - cto lesions .
a cto lesion was defined as an obstruction of a coronary artery with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction or a flow grade of 0 , with an estimated duration of at least 3 months prior to the event . in 1990 ,
the first retrograde approach technique was applied for cto via a degenerated saphenous vein graft . over the next 2 decades ,
variable and new retrograde techniques were reported over the next few years , including the following : kissing wire technique , knuckle wire technique , the controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking ( cart ) technique , the reverse cart technique , the modified reverse cart technique , the wire trapped technique , and the reverse wire trapped technique . despite the development of these various approaches , cto lesion still remains a challenge .
in this situation , information about the cto lesion from intravascular ultrasound study ( ivus ) , cardiac ct angiography is a very useful approach , and is required for greater success in pci . in this case , we report our experience using the reverse cart technique under the aid of ivus , cardiac ct angiography for an ambiguous cto of proximal right coronary artery ( p - rca ) ( c , 100% , 0 ) with grade iii collateral flow .
a 68-year - old man with a history of hypertension presented with worsening exertional dyspnea .
fifteen months prior , angiography performed at a different hospital showed total occlusion of the p - rca ( 100% , c , 0 ) and distal left circumflex artery ( lcx ) ( 100% , c , 0 ) with significant stenosis of the proximal left anterior descending artery ( lad ) ( 95% , b2 , ii ) . at that time , pci using drug - eluting stent was performed in the proximal lad and distal lcx , only because multiple trials through the anterograde approach of cto of p - rca failed .
bilateral coronary angiography demonstrated total occlusion of the p - rca and rentrop grade 3... | passage failure of guidewire is still remained most common reason for percutaneous coronary intervention ( pci ) failure in chronic total occlusion ( cto ) .
intravascular ultrasound study ( ivus ) and cardiac ct angiography can help identify features that most influence current success rates of pci .
we report our experience using the reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking technique under the aid of ivus , cardiac ct angiography for an ambiguous cto of proximal right coronary artery . |
6,390 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the retina is a complex multilayered structure composed of two components , a photosensitive layer made of rods and cones and the neural connections , and the other part being the retinal pigment epithelium ( rpe ) and its basal lamina called bruch 's membrane , which helps to maintain the integrity of the barrier between the choroid and the retina .
retinal degeneration occurs in different forms of retinal diseases including retinitis pigmentosa ( rp ) , age - related macular degeneration ( amd ) , glaucoma , and diabetic retinopathy .
age - related macular degeneration ( amd ) is a complex disorder with multifactorial etiology affecting the macula of the eye and involves the retinal pigment epithelium ( rpe ) , bruch 's membrane ( bm ) , and choriocapillaris which results in progressive and irreversible loss of central vision .
estimates from the world health organization ( who ) indicate that there are nearly 161 million visually impaired people worldwide , 37 million of which are blind , with a yearly increase of 1 to 2 million and that the number of people with amd will increase due to an increase in the ageing population .
dry type of amd or nonexudative amd refers to the condition in which , due to advancing age , the retina accumulates waste material which leads to amorphous deposits termed as drusen and the retinal pigment epithelial cells degenerate leading to loss of central vision .
wet type of amd or exudative amd refers to the condition in which new blood vessels from the choroid grow into the subpigment epithelial and subretinal spaces due to loss of integrity of the bruch 's membrane and these new blood vessels are leaky , leading to edema , which progressively disrupts visual function . in both types of amd ,
studies have shown that there is diffuse loss of photoreceptors in nonexudative amd and a severe loss of photoreceptors in exudative amd , both of which dominated by the loss of rods . with regard to the retinal neurons , it has been reported that loss of ganglion cells is profound (... | background .
age - related macular degeneration ( amd ) is a complex disorder that affects primarily the macula involving the retinal pigment epithelium ( rpe ) but also to a certain extent the photoreceptor layer and the retinal neurons .
cell transplantation is a promising option for amd and clinical trials are underway using different cell types . methods .
we hypothesize that instead of focusing on a particular cell source for concurrent regeneration of all the retinal layers and also to prevent exhaustive research on an array of cell sources for regeneration of each layer , the choice should depend on , precisely , which layer is damaged . results .
thus , for a damage limited to the retinal pigment epithelial ( rpe ) layer , the choice we suggest would be rpe cells .
when the damage extends to rods and cones , the choice would be bone marrow stem cells and when retinal neurons are involved , relatively immature stem cell populations with an inherent capacity to yield neuronal lineage such as hematopoietic stem cells , embryonic stem cells , or induced pluripotent stem cells can be tried . conclusion .
this short review will prove to be a valuable guideline for those working on cell therapy for amd to plan their future directions of research and therapy for this condition . |
6,391 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: rnrs of the cauda equina were first described by verbiest14 ) in 1954 , and subsequently named by cressman and paul1 ) in 1968 .
rnrs is characterized by a tortuous , serpentine , large and elongated nerve root of the cauda equina10 ) .
it has been reported that rnrs develop as a response to lumbar spinal stenosis3,7,10 ) . to our knowledge , most rnrs
are associated with lumbar spinal stenosis , and the rnrs associated with lumbar disc herniation has not been reported until now .
therefore , we present a rare case of unusual rnrs associated with lumbar disc herniation mimicking intradural disc herniation on magnetic resonance imaging study .
a 50-year - old man who worked at a rice - cake shop has suffered from increasing low back pain and radiating pain on his left leg for five years .
he had a nerve root block on l5 level five years ago , and the pain subsided temporarily .
he was having conservative treatment but mild chronic pain still lasted and gradually aggravated and abruptly extended to the right leg a few days before his admission .
a straight leg raise test was positive on the left side and the bilateral knee and ankle jerk was normal .
sagittal and axial t2-weighted magnetic resonance image reveals broad base central disc protrusion at l4 - 5 level , and about 0.70.52.5 cm sized ovoid nonenhancing lesion in dorsal aspect of l5-s1 , which seemed to be intradural disc herniation rather than intradural mass ( fig .
1 ) . although the image clearly demonstrated neither the classical ring enhancement of the intradural fragments on gadolinium contrast mri or discontinuity of the pll disrupted at the disc level , this finding was thought as an intradural disc herniation rather than an intradural extramedullary ( idem ) tumor such as meningioma .
ct myelography showed central disc herniation at l4 - 5 and intradural lesion looked like intradural disc or intradural mass within the thecal sac below l4/5 ( fig .
a decompressive laminectomy was carried out at l4 - 5 levels and a herniated disc at l4 - 5 was... | redundant nerve roots ( rnrs ) is an uncommon clinical condition characterized by a tortuous , serpentine , large and elongated nerve root of the cauda equina . to our knowledge
, most cases of rnrs are associated with lumbar stenosis , and rnrs associated with lumbar disc herniation has not been reported until now.here we present a rare case of unusual rnrs associated with lumbar disc herniation mimicking intradural disc herniation . |
6,392 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: whereas varicocele before puberty is rare , the prevalence of this disease in adolescence is equivalent to that in the general male population : 12.4 to 16.2% , with an average of 15% .
in addition , the incidence of varicocele in male patients investigated for infertility is approximately 40% .
varicocele can negatively and progressively affect the testicular growth , histology and function resulting in progressive decline in fertility .
fifty percent to 60% of men who have had their varicocele treated show improvement in semen quality . in the last few years
the present study compares the laparoscopic and conventional open methods for high ligation of varicocele .
sixty - five consecutive patients who were referred to the urology department ( group i ) had open varicocelectomy by palomo 's technique .
one hundred and twenty - eight patients ( group ii ) , referred to the general and pediatric surgery departments , had laparoscopic varicocelectomy .
the ages of the patients in group i ranged between 8 and 42 years , with an average of 24.4 years .
those in group ii were between 8 and 39 years , with an average of 21.3 years .
the majority of school age patients were asymptomatic , and the disease was discovered during routine medical check - up . while testicular pain and/or swelling were the main complaint among patients between 15 and 25 years of age , subfertility was the major presentation among those above 25 years of age .
the diagnosis of varicocele was established mainly by clinical examination with the patient in upright position .
the disease was graded according to the criteria published by lion et al . in the majority of cases ,
nine patients in group i ( 13.8% ) and 21 patients in group ii ( 16.4% ) had recurrent disease .
sixty - two patients in group i ( 95.4% ) and 109 patients in group ii ( 85.2% ) had left - sided disease .
bilateral varicocele was present in 3 patients in group i ( 4.6% ) and in 19 patients in group ii ( 14.8% ) ( table 1 ) .
doppler ultrasound scan was done in all cases... | the purpose of this study is to determine the relative advantages of laparoscopic varicocelectomy compared to the conventional open high ligation of palomo .
we studied 193 patients who presented with varicocele . while 65 patients were treated by open high ligation of the testicular veins , 128 patients had laparoscopic varicocelectomy .
in addition to varicocele ligation , 14 patients ( 11% ) had laparoscopy - assisted right orchidopexy , and 5 patients ( 4% ) had laparoscopic repair of concomitant right inguinal hernia .
the mean hospital stay was 3.5 days and 1.3 days , respectively , and the recurrence rates were 10.8% and 3.9% , respectively .
return to normal activity was significantly earlier in group ii ( mean 4.5 days ) compared to group i ( mean 8.9 days ) .
there was no incidence of testicular atrophy in any case in the study , regardless of whether the testicular artery was ligated or preserved during surgery .
we conclude that laparoscopic varicocelectomy is safe , effective and minimally invasive .
in addition to its better cosmetic results and advantage in case of bilateral disease , it allows excellent exposure and control of the affected vessels .
furthermore , the shorter hospital stay and the earlier return to normal activities are very important advantages in recommending this technique as an efficient alternative to the open surgical method . |
6,393 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology ( tbsrtc ) was introduced in 2007 in an attempt to standardize international terminology and to categorize morphological criteria in fine - needle aspirations ( fnas ) from patients with thyroid nodules .
fna is currently the preferred screening test for guiding the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid nodules .
tbsrtc establishes six diagnostic categories for fna results and assigns a malignancy risk and recommendations for patient management for each category .
global studies of the incorporation of tbsrtc in diagnostic algorithms for patients with thyroid nodules have concluded that tbsrtc reduces unnecessary thyroidectomies while also ensuring the quality of thyroid malignancy detection . in colombia ,
the health system provides the existence of general care hospitals and hospitals specializing in the care of patients with cancer . in both types of hospitals ,
there are trained cytologists and pathologists for the diagnosis of the most common diseases , and it is supposed that an oncologic pathologist outperforms the general pathologist in the cytological diagnosis of thyroid samples .
few studies have been published on the implementation of the tbsrtc in colombian health institutions and its diagnostic correlation with final histopathological results .
the objective of this study was to determine the correlation between diagnoses made based on fna results interpreted using tbsrtc and the final histopathological diagnosis for patients at oncology hospitals ( ohs ) and non - oncology hospitals ( nohs ) .
a cross - sectional study was designed using fna results of patients with thyroid nodules classified based on the tbsrtc for whom histopathological reports on the resected surgical lesion were available ( n = 196 ) and who were treated between 2010 and 2012 .
the study included 104 ( 53% ) patients at an oh , in bogot , and 92 ( 47% ) patients at nohs in bucaramanga and bogot , colombia .
the histopathological reports on partial or total thyroidectomies... | aim : to determine the correlation between the results of thyroid fine - needle aspirations interpreted using the bethesda system and final histopathological reports for patients at an oncology hospital ( oh ) and non - oncology hospitals ( nohs).materials and methods : a retrospective , cross - sectional , descriptive study was performed to compare the cytology and histopathology results for patients with thyroid nodules in three colombian hospitals .
the final correlation of diagnoses between the two methods is reported . in colombia ,
the health system provides the existence of general care hospitals and hospitals specializing in care of patients with cancer.results:a total of 196 reports were reviewed , of which 53% were from oh and 47% were from nohs .
a greater proportion of category v ( 37.5% ) was diagnosed at the oh , whereas nohs diagnosed a greater proportion of category ii ( 42.3% ) . the global correlation between diagnoses made using cytology and
histopathology was 93.3% for categories v and vi ( based on the final malignant diagnosis ) and 86.9% for benign category ii .
significant differences between institution types were observed when category iv and v and malignant histopathology were compared ( 56.3% oh vs. 23.5% noh ; p = 0.05 for category iv , 97.4% oh vs. 82.3% noh ; p = 0.03 for category v ) , while no significant difference between institution types was observed when category ii and final benign diagnosis were compared ( p = 0.6).conclusions : the bethesda system for thyroid cytology correlates adequately with final histopathological diagnosis in colombia .
significant differences were identified in the diagnostic correlation for malignant lesions between the oh and nohs in categories iv and v caused by selection bias of the population . |
6,394 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: since many years , a great number of studies have been discussing the role of keratinized gingiva ( kg ) in marginal periodontal behavior , either accepting that a minimum of 2.0 mm of kg width is required to maintain marginal periodontal health [ 16 ] or suggesting that kg width is negligible if excellent oral hygiene is performed [ 715 ] . areas with narrow width of kg seem to be prone to periodontal attachment loss , which could result in recession of the gingival margin in the presence of risk factors .
lang and le have demonstrated that such areas show clinical signs of inflammation even in the absence of dental plaque , as evidenced by an increase in gingival crevicular fluid ( gcf ) flow rate , which suggests that tissue behavior is mainly associated to pathological more than to physiological processes under these conditions .
an increased gcf flow rate from gingival sulcus is an early sign of clinical inflammation [ 1620 ] . in the absence of dental plaque ,
the increase of gcf flow rate in areas presenting < 2.0 mm of kg width could be influenced by a close proximity of the dentogingival unit to the alveolar mucosa , which is more permeable and mobile to allow primary defense against microorganisms and its products [ 5 , 17 ] .
some factors can explain the increase in gcf flow rate , including ( i ) increase in tissue hydrostatic pressure close to junctional epithelium induced by bacterial plaque accumulation [ 18 , 19 , 21 ] ; ( ii ) mobility of gingival margin and increase in marginal blood flow caused by mechanical stimulus from tooth mobility , frenum pull , toothbrushing , and chewing ; ( iii ) histamine intravenous injection or development of inflammation .
these findings suggest that chemical or mechanical irritation is necessary to the production of gcf [ 21 , 24 ] .
gcf is considered to develop an important protective role on the defense mechanisms of gingival sulcus through the presence of defensive substance , such as pmn - neutrophils , and through mechanical properties , such as... | objective . to shed light on the role of kg , its influence on periodontal behavior was investigated . methods .
tissue fluid transudation was assessed in alveolar mucosa ( p1a ) , outer gingival margin ( p1b ) , at entrance of ( p2 ) and within gingival sulcus ( p3 ) , before and after chewing of fibrous food in 16 patients portraying 2 mm kg at one tooth ( group 1 ) , and < 2 mm at another homologous tooth ( group 2 ) .
results .
there was a significant increase in gcf after chewing at p1b and p3 in group 1 and at p1a in group 2 ( t - test , p < 0.05 ) .
conclusions .
the results suggest that kg plays a role in marginal periodontal homeostasis . |
6,395 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: resorption is defined as a condition associated with either a physiologic or a pathologic process resulting in loss of dentin , cementum or bone .
andreasen has classified tooth resorption as internal ( inflammatory , replacement ) and external ( surface , inflammatory and replacement ) .
internal root resorption is the progressive destruction of intraradicular dentin and dentinal tubules along the middle and apical thirds of the canal walls as a result of clastic activities .
it is seen as a radiolucent area around the pulpal cavity , usually of incisors and mandibular molars .
the various etiological factors suggested for internal root resorption include traumatic injury ; infection and orthodontic treatment .
resorption occurs in two stages : degradation of the inorganic mineral structure followed by disintegration of the organic matrix .
internal inflammatory resorption involves progressive loss of dentin , whereas root canal replacement resorption involves subsequent deposition of hard tissue that resembles bone or cementum but not dentin .
clinically , the condition is usually asymptomatic , however , it may include the presence of a reddish area
radiographs are mandatory for diagnosing internal resorption , which reveals a round - to - oval radiolucent enlargement of the pulp space .
the margins are smooth and clearly defined with distortion of the original root canal outline .
internal resorption can be detected by : visual examination based on changed color in tooth crown , radiographic diagnosis , conventional and cone beam computed tomography , light microscopy and electron microscopy .
various materials available for the treatment of internal root resorption include mta , glass ionomer cement , super eba , hydrophilic plastic polymer ( 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with barium salts ) , zinc oxide eugenol and zinc acetate cement , amalgam alloy , composite resin and thermoplasticized gutta - percha administered either by injection or condensation techniques .
perforating internal resorption may... | management of internal root resorption is a challenge to the endodontists .
it may occur in cases with chronic pulpal inflammation , following caries or due to trauma in the form of an accidental blow .
most cases of internal root resorption are seen in anterior teeth , due to their susceptibility to trauma .
however , it may be seen in posterior teeth , most likely because of carious involvement of the pulp .
early diagnosis , removal of the cause , proper treatment of the resorbed root is mandatory for successful treatment outcome .
this paper is an attempt to summarize the knowledge on internal root resorption and present various cases , which were successfully managed with different treatment modalities . |
6,396 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: human ether - a - go - go - related gene ( herg ) encodes the herg ion channel , which is a member of the voltage - dependent potassium channel ( kv ) family .
herg mutations reduce the outward flow of potassium during repolarization and elongate the qt interval leading to polymorphic ventricular tachycardia , cardiac syncope , and sudden death .
herg ion channels are expressed in the human pancreas where it has been shown to negatively regulate insulin secretion and positively regulate glucagon secretion .
fluoroquinolones are antibiotics that are effective against gram - negative bacilli , but as drug development continues , their antibacterial spectra expand .
fourth - generation fluoroquinolones , such as moxifloxacin and levofloxacin , are also effective against streptococcus pneumoniae , a gram - positive cocci , and anaerobic bacteria . with the widespread clinical use of these drugs , dysglycemia has been reported as an adverse effect .
gatifloxacin , ofloxacin , and lomefloxacin have been reported to lead to hypoglycemia , whereas ofloxacin and gatifloxacin have been reported to result in hyperglycemia .
although these side effects are rare , they require hospitalization and can endanger the life of a patient ; thus , patients taking fluoroquinolones should be monitored for dysglycemia . some fluoroquinolones cause hypoglycemia by blocking atp - sensitive potassium channels ( katp ) in pancreatic -cells leading to stimulation of insulin secretion . by stimulating histamine secretion
gatifloxacin can also cause vacuolization of islet -cells leading to a decrease in insulin production and hyperglycemia .
katp channels and other ion channels have been found to synergistically regulate insulin secretion ; thus , herg potassium channels and katp channels together may regulate insulin secretion by pancreatic -cells . because the ability of moxifloxacin to inhibit herg channels is unknown ,
this study explored the effect of moxifloxacin on herg channel currents and glucose metabolism in mice .
c57bl/6... | the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of moxifloxacin on herg channel protein and glucose metabolism .
herg expression was investigated using immunohistochemistry .
the whole - cell patch clamp method was used to examine the effect of moxifloxacin on herg channel currents .
a glucose tolerance test was used to analyze the effects of moxifloxacin on blood glucose and insulin concentrations in mice .
results show that herg protein was expressed in human pancreatic -cells .
moxifloxacin inhibited herg time - dependent and tail currents in hek293 cells in a concentration - dependent manner .
the ic50 of moxifloxacin inhibition was 36.65
mol / l .
moxifloxacin ( 200 mg / kg ) reduced blood glucose levels and increased insulin secretion in wild - type mice at 60 min after the start of the glucose tolerance test .
in contrast , moxifloxacin did not significantly alter blood glucose and insulin levels in herg knockout mice .
serum glucose levels increased and insulin concentrations decreased in herg knockout mice when compared to wild - type mice .
the moxifloxacin - induced decrease in blood glucose and increase in insulin secretion occurred via the herg protein ; thus , herg protein plays a role in insulin secretion . |
6,397 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: prevalence estimates range from 4% to 29% for hazardous drinking and from < 1% to 10% for harmful drinking globally .
similar rates of hazardous or harmful alcohol use in health care settings have been reported from different african countries .
recent estimates suggest that about 2.5 million deaths each year are directly attributable to alcohol , with the highest percentage of alcohol - related deaths occurring among people between 15 and 29 years old ; with nearly 1 out of 10 deaths in this age group worldwide attributable to alcohol .
alcohol use contributes to traumatic outcomes ; killing or disabling many at a relatively young age , and resulting in the loss of many years of life to death or disability .
researchers have established a strong association between alcohol use and road traffic accidents in nigeria .
in fact , welcome and pereverzev reported that approximately 50% of accidents on nigerian roads are related to alcohol use .
there has been an increasing emphasis on the role of primary health care and family physician in the prevention and management of alcohol - related harm .
the health professionals at these primary care settings are readily accessible to the general population and have a significant role in the delivery of advice about alcohol consumption .
in addition , there is good evidence that brief interventions delivered by general practitioners have a positive impact on patients alcohol consumption .
this study is aimed at determining the pattern and the predictors of alcohol use disorders ( auds ) among patients attending the family practice unit of our teaching hospital which provides essentially primary care services .
the study population consists of patients attending family practice units of the ekiti state university teaching hospital , ado - ekiti , in south - western nigeria .
the family physician clinic provides essentially primary care services and makes referrals to other specialist clinics .
sample was selected through a random sampling from a population of patients ,... | background : primary care has been identified as a key setting for the reduction of alcohol - related harm , while general practitioners are expected to play a significant role .
the study aimed at identifying pattern of , and factors that are associated with alcohol use disorders ( auds ) among patients attending family medicine unit of state university teaching hospital.materials and methods : sample was selected through a random sampling from a population of patients , aged 18 - 65 years , attending the general medical out - patients unit of the hospital from january to april 2013 .
a pretested , semi - structured questionnaire was administered , incorporating sociodemographics and the diagnoses made by the attending physician .
the participants also completed the alcohol use disorders identification test ( audit ) questionnaire and the patient health questionnaire-9.results:the prevalence of auds among the population of general out - patients was 9.7% .
the audit scores of the participants range from 0 to 29 with a mean of 1.3 ( standard deviation = 4.08 ) .
auds were significantly associated with gender , level of education , occupational class , and the presence of significant depressive symptoms ( p < 0.05 ) .
there was no statistically significant association found for age , employment status , marital status , and religion.conclusion:the prevalence of auds among population studied was lower compared with a similar study in similar setting , but however , significant .
auds were predicted by gender , lower education level , occupational group , and the presence of significant depressive symptoms mostly in the mild to moderate form . identifying the group at risk in clinical setting may go a long way in reducing the adverse effect of auds in our society . |
6,398 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography ( ercp)-related perforation are rare but sometimes carries 16% to 18% of death rate.1 the incidence of perforation has been reported from 0.3% to 2.2%.2 - 5 ercp - related perforation is classified into three or four types based on anatomical location and the mechanism of injury.2,3 the management of ercp - related perforation has been differentiated by the types of perforation .
guidewire perforation are benign and in general do not require surgery.2,3 periampullary perforations with the diagnosis of retroperitoneal air may be managed nonsurgically such as by aggressive endoscopic drainage and medical treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics.3,5 but patients with retroperitoneal fluid collection have worse prognosis and require surgical intervention.2 here , we present our experience in a case of ercp - related severe ampullary perforation with retroperitoneal fluid collection that was treated nonsurgically with a covered metal stent .
a 61-year - old korean woman was referred to our hospital for right upper quadrant pain .
initial abdominal computed tomography ( ct ) showed biliary tree dilatation but , although periampullary swelling was suspected , no definite occluding lesion was evident .
ercp was performed to obtain a biopsy specimen from the ampulla , which showed nonspecific dilatation of the common bile duct ( cbd ) without a definite mass around the ampulla .
the day after the ercp , she developed a severe right flank pain and fever of 39 , shortness of breath ( 26/min ) , and rapid pulse rate ( 102/min ) .
abdominal ct revealed retroperitoneal air and fluid collection suggesting post - ercp ampullary perforation ( fig .
although her symptoms were severe , her condition looked stable and there was no sign of sepsis , and conservative treatment was considered .
subsequent ercp revealed ampullary edema only , but the cholangiography showed continuous leakage of the radiocontrast media from the ampullary level .
although the perforating point was not... | endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography ( ercp)-related perforation is classified into three or four types based on anatomical location and the mechanism of injury . although ampullary injury , among them , may be managed nonsurgically , surgical management is required in cases of perforation with retroperitoneal fluid collection and severe condition . here , a patient with ercp - related severe ampullary perforation with retroperitoneal fluid collection that was treated nonsurgically with a covered stent is presented . |
6,399 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: the mayer- rokitansky - kuster - hauser ( mrkh ) syndrome is a rare anomaly characterized by congenital aplasia of the uterus and vagina in women showing normal development of secondary sexual characters and normal 44 xx karyotype .
the uterine and vaginal agenesis in these karyotypic females may be accompanied by urogenital , skeletal or dental defects and other dysmorphias.[26 ] it is a rare disorder occurring in about 1 in 4000 to 5000 female births and is a common cause of primary amenorrhea . the diagnosis is often made during adolescence in the context of primary amenorrhea with normal puberty .
the cause of this syndrome is still not completely understood , but the frequent association of other malformations involving the kidneys , skeleton , and ears suggests the involvement of major developmental genes , such as those of the homeobox ( hox ) family .
these genes are known to play a crucial role during embryogenesis , particularly in the axial skeleton , the hindbrain , as well as , during urogenital differentiation .
treatment of the mrkh syndrome consists of creating a neovagina , which can be offered to patients when they are emotionally mature and ready to commence sexual activity .
treatment may either be surgical or non - surgical , but the chosen method needs to be tailored to the individual needs , motivation of the patients , and the options available .
we report our experience in the management of two patients with congenital absence of the vagina due to the mrkh syndrome .
faa was a 24-year - old student , referred to our unit with complaints of primary amenorrhea .
she was said to have had delayed development of secondary sexual characters compared to her siblings , but no history of sexual exposure .
the patient had no significant past medical history and no history of a similar problem in the family .
examination showed a young female patient with normal secondary sex characters and well - developed breasts ( tanner stage 4 ) .
vaginal examination showed normal vulva and urethral meatus... | the mayer - rokitansky - kuster - hauser ( mrkh ) syndrome is a rare anomaly characterized by congenital aplasia of the uterus and vagina in women showing normal development of secondary sexual characters and normal 44 xx karyotype .
we report our experience in the management of two patients with congenital absence of the vagina due to the mrkh syndrome .
the first case was a 24-year - old student , who presented with primary amenorrhea , uterovaginal agenesis , right pelvi - ureteric junction obstruction , and left renal agenesis .
the second patient was a 24-year - old housewife , who presented with primary amenorrhea and inability to achieve penetrative sexual intercourse .
she had vaginal atresia and a grossly hypoplastic uterus .
both had successful sigmoid colovaginoplasty and are sexually active .
vaginal reconstruction using the sigmoid colon saw an immediate and satisfactory outcome in both patients |
6,400 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: cardio pulmonary resuscitation ( cpr ) is an emergency procedure performed on people under cardiac arrest and on people who stop breathing due to reasons such as drowning .
cpr 's main benefit is that it maintains blood flow , which prevents tissue and brain damage .
the procedure involves creating artificial blood circulation by applying rhythmic pressure to a person 's chest .
references to resuscitation attempts can be found in ancient texts that date back thousands of years , but the first known attempts at resuscitation in modern times occurred in the 18th century .
practitioners , then , used various techniques to resuscitate a person who was unconscious or not breathing .
these included blowing air into the mouth , massaging the chest , tickling the throat , or applying manual pressure to the abdomen .
these methods were most effective when used for drowning victims . over the years , practitioners refined the techniques , and until 1950s , the accepted resuscitation method was applying back pressure and arm lifting .
he along with dr . peter safar demonstrated the superiority of their cpr method to earlier methods .
their method used chest compressions in combination with periodic mouth - to - mouth breathing .
latest guidelines from the american heart association have modified the elam and safar cpr approach ; the aha recommends using continuous chest compression ( ccr ) because this approach works better than periodically stopping compressions for mouth - to - mouth breathing , . the first organized attempt to make citizens a part of the emergency procedure in cases of cardiac arrest was made in seattle in march of 1970 , .
fire department personnel were trained in cpr so that they could perform it on the victim before paramedics arrived to attempt defibrillation .
the data gathered from this exercise proved that when cpr was started within 23 minutes of the event , survival chances increased . in 1972
, community - based cpr training of general public has expanded across the united states . in... | timely cardio pulmonary resuscitation ( cpr ) can mean the difference between life and death .
a trained person may not be available at emergency sites to give cpr .
normally , a 9 - 1 - 1 operator gives verbal instructions over the phone to a person giving cpr . in this paper , we discuss the use of smartphones to assist in administering cpr more efficiently and accurately .
the two important cpr parameters are the frequency and depth of compressions . in this paper
, we used smartphones to calculate these factors and to give real - time guidance to improve cpr .
in addition , we used an application to measure oxygen saturation in blood .
if blood oxygen saturation falls below an acceptable threshold , the person giving cpr can be asked to do mouth - to - mouth breathing .
the 9 - 1 - 1 operator receives this information real time and can further guide the person giving cpr .
our experiments show accuracy > 90% for compression frequency , depth , and oxygen saturation . |
6,401 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: there are 20 class i genes and in transplantation hla - a , b , and c are the classic genes referenced to when typing the recipient .
class i major histocompatibility complex ( mhc ) molecule processing and loading of peptides occurs in all nucleated cells , where class ii mhc molecule involves primarily b cells , macrophages , and dendritic cells by method of endocytosis and phagocytosis .
class ii mhc molecule nomenclature is designated by class ( d ) , family ( m , o , p , q , r ) , and chain ( a or b )
. late antibody - mediated rejection ( amr ) is a major cause of late kidney transplant failure and several developments in understanding of pathogenesis allow for improvement of diagnosis , treatment , and prevention .
this review will concentrate on reviewing the pathogenesis , diagnosis , and treatment of amr .
not only can antibodies form against hla molecules , but to endothelial - cell antigens and across abo blood group .
blood transfusions can induce humoral immunity by formation of hla alloantibodies and are more likely to occur in individuals who have been previously pregnant .
our understanding of how blood transfusions cause sensitization is incomplete , but it is not inevitable and can be attenuated by immunosuppression . in a study performed by eikmans et al .
it was found two weeks after blood transfusion in both nonsensitized and sensitized recipients , increased numbers of ifn--producing cells were produced stimulating cd4 + and nk cells . with de novo hla production ,
endothelium of donor graft peritubular and glomerular capillaries display mhc molecules which are the target for antibody production .
once the endothelium is damaged by antibody , von willebrand factor and p - selectin are released as an inflammatory response .
leukocytes adhere to glomeruli or to dilated peritubular capillaries via cytokines ( il-1 , il-8 , and chemokine ligand 2 ) allowing complement activation . in antibody rejection
, c4d is a useful marker of complement activation and is seen commonly in peritubular... | antibody - mediated rejection ( amr ) is a major cause of late kidney transplant failure .
it is important to have an understanding of human - leukocyte antigen ( hla ) typing including well - designed studies to determine anti - mhc - class - i - related chain a ( mica ) and antibody rejection pathogenesis .
this can allow for more specific diagnosis and treatment which may improve long - term graft function .
hla - specific antibody detection prior to transplantation allows one to help determine the risk for amr while detection of dsa along with a biopsy confirms it .
it is now appreciated that biopsy for amr does not have to include diffuse c4d , but does require a closer look at peritubular capillary microvasculature . although plasmapheresis ( pp ) is effective in removing alloantibodies ( dsas ) from the circulation , rebound synthesis of alloantibodies can occur .
splenectomy is used in desensitization protocols for abo incompatible transplants as well as being found to treat amr refractory to conventional treatment .
also used are agents targeted for plasma cells , b cells , and the complement cascade which are bortezomib rituximab and eculizumab , respectively . |
6,402 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: science aims to provide simple and general explanations for natural phenomena , and all sciences must deal with the problem of heterogeneity .
variation and heterogeneity are the hallmarks of biological diversity and capture the attention of anyone interested in trying to unravel the mysteries of the biological world . explaining biological diversity was indeed the problem for which darwin provided a simple but revolutionary solution .
variation and adaptation are the first two words that come to mind in relation to living organisms , and it was darwin 's genius that in using these two observations he was able to formulate the theory of natural selection to explain the diversity that we see reflected in the millions of different kinds of organisms or species on this planet .
given its spectacular success in providing a causal explanation for organismic change ( evolution within lineages ) , it is equally remarkable that darwin was unable to provide a causal mechanism of speciation ( evolution between lineages ) .
such a causal theory had to wait nearly a century after the publication of darwin 's origin of species and it materialized only after the evolutionary synthesis of the 1940s after population genetics had developed a theoretical framework [ 2 , 3 ] .
diversity is a problem in biology in two ways : the most obvious of which is that diversity needs to be explained ; the other is that it can thwart our efforts in elucidating precise and simple explanations for the complexity of biological phenomena . as a consequence , we trade precision for generality and
a rich theoretical base has been developed , which at first appears to ignore diversity .
population genetics is a good example as it developed a significantly elaborate theory of how genes change in evolution without prior knowledge of the material / chemical basis of the gene or of genetic variation .
the allopatric theory of speciation relied on geographic isolation and differentiation of populations and cumulative effects of gene differences... | the protein electrophoresis revolution , nearly fifty years ago , provided the first glimpse into the nature of molecular genetic variation within and between species and showed that the amount of genetic differences between newly arisen species was minimal .
twenty years later , 2d electrophoresis showed that , in contrast to general gene - enzyme variation , reproductive tract proteins were less polymorphic within species but highly diverged between species .
the 2d results were interesting and revolutionary , but somewhat uninterpretable because , at the time , rapid evolution and selective sweeps were not yet part of the common vocabulary of evolutionary biologists .
since then , genomic studies of sex and reproduction - related ( srr ) genes have grown rapidly into a large area of research in evolutionary biology and are shedding light on a number of phenomena . here
we review some of the major and current fields of research that have greatly contributed to our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics and importance of srr genes and genetic systems in understanding reproductive biology and speciation . |
6,403 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: assemble the chamber ( design illustrated in figure 1 ) . place two beads of vacuum grease , spaced ~8 - 10 mm apart , across the recording chamber to form a channel for superfusate and in which to embed the retinal slices .
add a second bead of grease a few millimeters farther out beyond each of these two beads of grease to act as a levee and limit spillover .
place a small triangular piece of kimwipe at the end of the chamber to ensure fluid contact with the reference electrode .
press a piece of nitrocellulose membrane ( ~ 5 x 10 mm ; 0.8 m pores ) flat against the glass microscope slide into two small beads of vacuum grease .
avoid putting grease directly beneath the center of the nitrocellulose membrane , as this can prevent the retina from adhering . to prepare the tissue slicer , break a double edge razor blade into 4 pieces and attach one to the slicing arm .
cut a thin slice of nitrocellulose membrane to ensure that the cutting edge of the razor blade lays flat against the recording chamber and therefore cuts cleanly through the nitrocellulose membrane .
keep a small beaker of amphibian saline solution ( table 1 ) on ice at the dissection station .
place half of the head on a piece of cotton moistened with amphibian saline atop a linoleum block .
the other half of the head can be wrapped with a moist paper towel and stored at 4 c for use later in the day .
cut the skin connecting the eye to the surrounding orbit . after freeing the front of the eye from the surrounding orbital tissue , pull the eye forward and slide the scissors under the eye to cut through the eye muscles and optic nerve , freeing the eye from the orbit .
make a small incision in the center of cornea with a sharp surgical blade . remove the cornea by sliding fine vannas scissors into the incision and extending the cut radially out toward the ora serrata .
cut circumferentially around the ora serrata by rotating the linoleum block or the cotton between cuts .
after cutting all the way around the eye , remove the cornea and lens by... | one of the central tasks in retinal neuroscience is to understand the circuitry of retinal neurons and how those connections are responsible for shaping the signals transmitted to the brain .
photons are detected in the retina by rod and cone photoreceptors , which convert that energy into an electrical signal , transmitting it to other retinal neurons , where it is processed and communicated to central targets in the brain via the optic nerve .
important early insights into retinal circuitry and visual processing came from the histological studies of cajal1,2 and , later , from electrophysiological recordings of the spiking activity of retinal ganglion cells - the output cells of the retina3,4.a detailed understanding of visual processing in the retina requires an understanding of the signaling at each step in the pathway from photoreceptor to retinal ganglion cell .
however , many retinal cell types are buried deep in the tissue and therefore relatively inaccessible for electrophysiological recording . this limitation can be overcome by working with vertical slices , in which cells residing within each of the retinal layers are clearly visible and accessible for electrophysiological recording.here , we describe a method for making vertical sections of retinas from larval tiger salamanders ( ambystoma tigrinum ) .
while this preparation was originally developed for recordings with sharp microelectrodes5,6 , we describe a method for dual whole - cell voltage clamp recordings from photoreceptors and second - order horizontal and bipolar cells in which we manipulate the photoreceptor 's membrane potential while simultaneously recording post - synaptic responses in horizontal or bipolar cells .
the photoreceptors of the tiger salamander are considerably larger than those of mammalian species , making this an ideal preparation in which to undertake this technically challenging experimental approach .
these experiments are described with an eye toward probing the signaling properties of the synaptic... |
6,404 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: . high rate of spontaneous remissions is known in patients with early disease that present constellation of specific features called lfgren 's syndrome . on the other hand , an insidious onset of the disease without lfgren 's syndrome
sarcoidosis progression has not been associated with any particularly specific immunological parameters although sarcoidosis inflammation is generally characterized by elevated production of proteolytic enzymes , cytokines and chemokine ligands / receptors , and other molecules with immune - regulatory functions [ 1 , 2 ] .
expression of these proinflammatory factors is modulated by mirnome that composes of numerous small single - stranded ( 2024 nucleotides long ) noncoding rnas termed mirnas ( alias micrornas ) .
they bind to complementary mrna sequences within target genes whose expression is subsequently regulated through posttranscriptional repression .
the regulatory property of mirnas is generally associated with their cytoplasmic accumulation in a cell . in pulmonary sarcoidosis ,
the intracellular expression of mirnas has been investigated in bronchoalveolar cells , peripheral blood mononuclear cells , and the lung tissue [ 46 ] .
in addition , some intracellular mirnas have been reported to have altered expression during sarcoidosis progression [ 4 , 5 ] . besides their intracellular accumulation , however , mirnas are known to be present in extracellular fluids [ 79 ] .
in addition , the sparse data should be confirmed with regard to current recommendation for normalisation strategy of extracellular mirnas [ 7 , 10 ] .
we have therefore investigated expression stability of serum mirnas in sarcoidosis and then compared serum expression of mirnas in sarcoidosis patients classified according to the presence of lfgren 's syndrome as a hallmark of good prognosis in comparison to group of patients with more advanced disease course .
serum samples were obtained from 13 healthy controls and 24 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis according to a standard protocol .
diagnosis of... | purpose .
pulmonary sarcoidosis is associated with dysregulated expression of intracellular mirnas .
there is however only little information on extracellular mirnas and their association with the disease course in sarcoidosis .
we therefore assessed serum mirnas in sarcoidosis classified according to the presence of lfgren 's syndrome ( ls ) as a hallmark of good prognosis in contrast to more advanced disease course . methods .
rt - pcr was used to assess 35 mirnas in 13 healthy controls and 24 sarcoidosis patients ( 12 with x - ray ( cxr ) stage 1 and ls and 12 with insidious onset and cxr stage 3 ) .
results . compared to controls , we consistently observed dysregulated expressions of mir-146 , mir-16 , mir-425 - 5p , and mir-93 - 5p in both sarcoidosis groups irrespective of disease course .
specifically , patients without ls had dysregulated expressions of mir-150 - 5p , mir-1 , and mir-212 compared to controls .
patients with ls had dysregulated expressions of mir-21 - 5p and mir-340 - 5p compared to controls .
bioinformatics predicted consistently pathways in cancer to be modulated by both altered profiles in patients with / without ls .
three mirnas ( mir-21 - 5p , mir-340 - 5p , and mir-212 - 3p ) differed between our patients with ls and those without ls ; their cumulative effect may modulate
tgf- signalling pathway . conclusions .
further study should focus on possible applications of serum mirnas for diagnostics follow - up and for prognosis . |
6,405 | Assuming you're helping a researcher in a hurry, could you summarize the essence of this research for them?
Study: thyroid cancer accounts for 12% of all malignancies , representing the most common endocrine malignancy .
papillary carcinoma ( ptc ) is the most frequent among thyroid malignancies , whereas medullary thyroid carcinoma ( mtc ) accounts for 510% of cases .
mtc , on the other hand , originates from parafollicular cells of the ultimobranchial body , derived from the fourth pharyngeal pouch .
hereditary mtc can manifest either alone as familial mtc or as part of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 syndromes ( men 2 ) .
men 2 involves medullary carcinoma and pheochromocytoma with either primary hyperparathyroidism ( men 2a ) or marfanoid habitus and mucosal neurofibromatosis ( men 2b ) .
concurrence of medullary and papillary thyroid carcinomas is an unusual finding . in this report , a case of multifocal thyroid cancer involving two foci of medullary and two foci of papillary microcarcinomas is presented .
a 39 year - old female presented for otorhinolaryngologic evaluation at the outpatient clinic of a tertiary referral center ( department of otorhinolaryngology , university hospital of heraklion , greece ) .
the examination had been performed as part of a routine assessment for reported difficulty in swallowing and neck discomfort complaints by the patient .
it had revealed slightly enlarged thyroid gland lobes , with presence of two nodules in the right lobe of the gland ( maximum diameter 0.3 cm and 0.8 cm , respectively ) and two nodules in the left lobe ( maximum diameter 0.4 cm and 0.6 cm , respectively ) .
ultrasound elastography had been used to complete the imaging study and revealed suspicious findings , with an elastography score of 4 in one , and 5 in all other nodules .
patient denied any past exposure to radiation as well as any family history of endocrine disorders .
clinical examination of the head and neck was unremarkable , and no masses were noted on palpation of the neck .
serum levels of calcium , thyroid stimulating hormone ( tsh ) , free thyroxine and thyroglobulin as well as... | introductiona few cases of concomitant medullary and papillary carcinoma in the same thyroid nodule have been described in the literature . however , the presence of multiple foci of both types of malignancy in the same gland is very rare.presentation of casea 39 year - old female with multiple thyroid nodules , elevated serum calcitonin levels and elastographic findings suggestive of thyroid malignancy , underwent total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection .
histology revealed the presence of one focus of medullary and one focus of papillary carcinoma on each thyroid lobe .
subsequently , the patient underwent treatment with radioactive iodine.discussionthis is the third case of synchronous multifocal medullary and papillary thyroid carcinoma reported in the literature .
several theories for the simultaneous development of these malignant entities have been proposed.conclusionultrasound elastography can be a useful , noninvasive tool in the assessment of thyroid nodules . |
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