Endovascular Therapy or Alteplase in Patients with Comorbidities: Insights from UNMASK EVT.

Objective: Decisions to treat large-vessel occlusion with endovascular therapy (EVT) or intravenous alteplase depend on how physicians weigh benefits against risks when considering patients' comorbidities. We explored EVT/alteplase decision-making by stroke experts in the setting of comorbidity/disability.

Methods: In an international multi-disciplinary survey, experts chose treatment approaches under current resources and under assumed ideal conditions for 10 of 22 randomly assigned case scenarios.

Discrepancy between post-treatment infarct volume and 90-day outcome in the ESCAPE randomized controlled trial.

Background: Some patients with ischemic stroke have poor outcomes despite small infarcts after endovascular thrombectomy, while others with large infarcts sometimes fare better.

Aims: We explored factors associated with such discrepancies between post-treatment infarct volume (PIV) and functional outcome.

Methods: We identified patients with small PIV (volume ≤ 25th percentile) and large PIV (volume ≥ 75th percentile) on 24-48-h CT/MRI in the ESCAPE randomized-controlled trial.

Assessment of In Vivo Kidney Cell Death: Glomerular Injury.

The glomerulus functions as the filtration unit of the kidney. The mesangial, endothelial, and podocyte cells of the glomerulus exhibit the three clinically most important cell types, which are involved in diverse pathologic processes. Cell death has hardly been investigated in these cells but may be of critical importance to the pathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome, nephritic syndrome, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), mesangial proliferation, and thrombonic microangiopathy (which involves dysfunction and death of glomerular endothelial cells).

Assessment of In Vivo Kidney Cell Death: Acute Kidney Injury.

The kidney has been studied as an organ to investigate cell death in vivo for a number of reasons. The unique vasculature that does not contain collateral vessels favors the kidney over other organs for the investigation of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Unilateral uretic obstruction has become the most prominently studied model for fibrosis with impact far beyond postrenal kidney injury.

Progenitor Renin Lineage Cells are not involved in the regeneration of glomerular endothelial cells during experimental renal thrombotic microangiopathy.

Endothelial cells (EC) frequently undergo primary or secondary injury during kidney disease such as thrombotic microangiopathy or glomerulonephritis. Renin Lineage Cells (RLCs) serve as a progenitor cell niche after glomerular damage in the adult kidney. However, it is not clear whether RLCs also contribute to endothelial replenishment in the glomerulus following endothelial injury.

Carotid Body Tumor with Skull Base Extension.

BACKGROUND Carotid body tumors are rare tumors that arise from the paraganglionic cells of the carotid body. They are usually benign, requiring surgical resection as the treatment of choice. CASE REPORT We present a case of a 59-year-old man with a benign left carotid body tumor that progressed to a very large size, compromised the patient's airway, completely encased the carotid vessels, vagus and hypoglossal nerves ipsilaterally, and reached the contralateral carotid vessels and ipsilateral skull base.

Interference with Gs-Coupled Receptor Signaling in Renin-Producing Cells Leads to Renal Endothelial Damage.

Intracellular cAMP, the production of which is catalyzed by the -subunit of the stimulatory G protein (Gs), controls renin synthesis and release by juxtaglomerular (JG) cells of the kidney, but may also have relevance for the physiologic integrity of the kidney. To investigate this possibility, we generated mice with inducible knockout of Gs in JG cells and monitored them for 6 months after induction at 6 weeks of age. The knockout mapped exclusively to the JG cells of the Gs-deficient animals.

Persistent and inducible neogenesis repopulates progenitor renin lineage cells in the kidney.

Renin lineage cells (RLCs) serve as a progenitor cell reservoir during nephrogenesis and after renal injury. The maintenance mechanisms of the RLC pool are still poorly understood. Since RLCs were also identified as a progenitor cell population in bone marrow we first considered that these may be their source in the kidney.

Effect of antimicrobial peptides from Apis mellifera hemolymph and its optimized version Api88 on biological activities of human monocytes and mast cells.

Apidaecin peptides are produced by the honeybee Apis mellifera as a major part of its non-specific defense system against infections. Having verified that the peptides apidaecin 1b and Api88-a designer peptide based on the native apidaecin 1b sequence-are highly active against Gram-negative bacteria, we studied their ability to modulate biological activities of human monocytes and mast cells (MC), two important cell types of the human innate immune system. We could show that both peptides are nontoxic and fairly resistant to degradation in cell culture medium containing 10% FBS.

Species identification of intestinal microsporidia using immunofluorescence antibody assays.

Abstract. The species identification of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon intestinalis is only possible using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), mo lecular techniques and immunofluorescence antibody assays (IFA). In this study, 50 positive and 50 negative fecal specimens for microsporidial spores using the Weber modified trichrome (WMT) staining technique were examined using IFA-MAbs.

Giardia intestinalis genotypes: Risk factors and correlation with clinical symptoms.

This study was conducted to identify genotypes related risk factors of Giardia intestinalis in an Orang Asli (aboriginal) community in Pahang, Malaysia. Stool samples were collected from 321 individuals aged between 2 and 76 years old, of whom 160 were males and 161 were females. Faecal samples were processed with trichrome staining technique for the primary identification of G.

Current prevalence and predictors of protein-energy malnutrition among schoolchildren in rural Peninsular Malaysia.

A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the current prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) among Orang Asli schoolchildren and to investigate the potential predictors of malnutrition. A total of 241 (120 males and 121 females) Orang Asli schoolchildren age 7-12 years living in remote areas of Pos Betau, Pahang participated voluntarily in this study. Anthropometric and socioeconomic data were collected and the children were screened for intestinal parasitic infections.

Anaemia and iron deficiency anaemia among aboriginal schoolchildren in rural Peninsular Malaysia: an update on a continuing problem.

A cross-sectional study to determine the current prevalence of anaemia and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and to investigate the possible risk factors for IDA was carried out on 241 aboriginal schoolchildren (120 boys, 121 girls) aged 7-12 years and living in remote areas in Pos Betau, Pahang, Malaysia. Haemoglobin (Hb) level was measured and serum iron status was assessed by serum ferritin (SF), serum iron (SI) and total iron binding capacity measurements. Socioeconomic data were collected using pre-tested questionnaires.

An unceasing problem: soil-transmitted helminthiases in rural Malaysian communities.

Despite great development in socioeconomic status throughout 50 years of independence, Malaysia is still plagued with soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH). STH continue to have a significant impact on public health particularly in rural communities. In order to determine the prevalence of STH among rural Orang Asli children and to investigate the possible risk factors affecting the pattern of this prevalence, fecal samples were collected from 292 Orang Asli primary schoolchildren (145 males and 147 females) age 7-12 years, from Pos Betau, Kuala Lipis, Pahang.

A preliminary study on the prevalence of intestinal microsporidiosis in patients with and without gastrointestinal symptoms in Malaysia.

An observational study was carried out to establish the existence of intestinal microsporidiosis among patients with and without gastrointestinal symptoms in Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. A total of 893 faecal specimens from hospitalized patients were examined for microsporidia using a modification of the usual Gram-chromotrope stain technique. One hundred and sixteen (13.

Risk factors for endemic giardiasis: highlighting the possible association of contaminated water and food.

This study was conducted to reassess the risk factors for giardiasis in communities of the Orang Asli (indigenous people) in Pahang, Malaysia. Stool samples were collected from 321 individuals (2-76 years old; 160 males, 161 females). Data were collected via laboratory analysis of faecal samples and a pre-tested standard questionnaire.

Prevalence and predictors of low serum retinol and hypoalbuminaemia among children in rural Peninsular Malaysia.

Vitamin A deficiency and malnutrition are still considered public health problems in rural areas of developing countries, including Malaysia. A cross-sectional exploration study was carried out on 281 Orang Asli (Aborigine) children aged between 2 and 15 years in Selangor, Malaysia. The overall prevalence of low serum retinol (<70 micromol/l) and hypoalbuminaemia (<35 g/l) were 25.

Prevalence and distribution of soil-transmitted helminthiases among Orang Asli children living in peripheral Selangor, Malaysia.

Soil-transmitted helminthiases are a public health problem in rural communities. A cross-sectional study of the prevalence and distribution of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworm was conducted in 281 Orang Asli children (aborigines) aged between 2 and 15 years, from 8 Orang Asli villages in Selangor, Malaysia. All the children were infected with soil-transmitted helminthes, with 26.

Giardiasis as a predictor of childhood malnutrition in Orang Asli children in Malaysia.

A cross-sectional study to examine the association of giardiasis with protein-energy malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia was conducted among Orang Asli children in Selangor, Malaysia. A total of 281 children aged 2-15 years were studied. The data were collected using structured questionnaires, anthropometric measurements and laboratory analysis of blood and faecal samples.