Safety and efficacy of EUS-guided coil and glue injection for the primary prophylaxis of gastric variceal hemorrhage.

Background And Aims: Gastric variceal bleeding (GVB) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. EUS-guided coil and cyanoacrylate (CYA) injection (EUS-CCI) has been shown to be an effective therapy in acute bleeding and secondary prophylaxis; however, there is a paucity of data on primary prophylaxis.

Methods: In this single-center observational study, adult patients with high-risk gastric varices (GV; size >10 mm or cherry red spot) without prior bleeding underwent EUS-CCI for the primary prophylaxis of GVB between June 2009 and December 2019.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided gastroenterostomy versus open surgical gastrojejunostomy: clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness analysis.

Background: Early data suggests that endoscopic ultrasound-guided gastroenterostomy (EUS-GE) is a safe and efficacious option for gastric outlet obstruction (GOO). However, there is a scarcity of data comparing outcomes with open gastrojejunostomy (OGJ).

Methods: Single-center retrospective cohort study of adult patients hospitalized with GOO who underwent EUS-GE or OGJ between January 1, 2014 and February 28, 2020.

Semantic-Aware Security Orchestration in SDN/NFV-Enabled IoT Systems.

IoT systems can be leveraged by Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, thereby strengthening their overall flexibility, security and resilience. In this sense, adaptive and policy-based security frameworks for SDN/NFV-aware IoT systems can provide a remarkable added value for self-protection and self-healing, by orchestrating and enforcing dynamically security policies and associated Virtual Network Functions (VNF) or Virtual network Security Functions (VSF) according to the actual context. However, this security orchestration is subject to multiple possible inconsistencies between the policies to enforce, the already enforced management policies and the evolving status of the managed IoT system.

Effectiveness of combination endoscopic therapy for colonic anastomotic leaks.

Background: Colonic anastomotic leaks are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Whereas small case series suggest that fully covered self-expandable metal stents (FCSEMS) are effective, no larger studies have examined the impact of combination endoscopic therapy on colonic anastomotic leaks.

Methods: Our retrospective cohort study reviewed 51 patients undergoing endoscopic therapy for colonic anastomotic leaks between 2011 and 2018.

Extracorporeal Shock Waves Therapy Delivered by Aries Improves Erectile Dysfunction in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats Through Penile Tissue Remodeling and Neovascularization.

Background: Low-intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy (Li-ESWT) has been reported to improve erectile function in patients with moderate-to-severe erectile dysfunction (ED) or even convert phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors nonresponders to responders. ED is highly prevalent in hypertensive patients. The effect of Li-ESWT on an animal model of hypertension-associated ED has not been reported.

Surveillance and diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: A systematic review.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) appears in most of cases in patients with advanced liver disease and is currently the primary cause of death in this population. Surveillance of HCC has been proposed and recommended in clinical guidelines to obtain earlier diagnosis, but it is still controversial and is not accepted worldwide.

Aim: To review the actual evidence to support the surveillance programs in patients with cirrhosis as well as the diagnosis procedure.

Influence of STAT4 gene polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

The STAT4 gene is vital to signaling pathways in the immune response. Immunological alterations are involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis, and STAT4 polymorphisms may be linked to disease development. This study's aim is to evaluate the possible association between four STAT4 polymorphisms (rs7601754/G > A, rs11889341/C > T, rs7574865/T > G, and rs7582694/C > G) and the pathogenesis of endometriosis in Brazilian women.

Enabling Virtual AAA Management in SDN-Based IoT Networks .

The increase of Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technologies is bringing many security management benefits that can be exploited at the edge of Internet of Things (IoT) networks to deal with cyber-threats. In this sense, this paper presents and evaluates a novel policy-based and cyber-situational awareness security framework for continuous and dynamic management of Authentication, Authorization, Accounting (AAA) as well as Channel Protection virtual security functions in IoT networks enabled with SDN/NFV. The virtual AAA, including network authenticators, are deployed as VNF (Virtual Network Function) dynamically at the edge, in order to enable scalable device's bootstrapping and managing the access control of IoT devices to the network.

The Favorable Effect of Empagliflozin on Erectile Function in an Experimental Model of Type 2 Diabetes.

Introduction: Following the results of the EMPA-REG Outcome trial, we hypothesized that empagliflozin, a highly potent and specific sodium/glucose cotransporteur 2 inhibitor, could improve type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-associated erectile dysfunction (ED), a highly prevalent complication of T2DM, very often coexisting with cardiovascular complications and considered as a prognostic factor of cardiovascular disease in men with diabetes.

Aim: To investigate the effects of chronic treatment with empagliflozin on ED in a T2DM rat model in the presence or absence of sildenafil.

Methods: Male Goto-Kakizaki (GK), a model of T2DM, and age-matched Wistar rats received placebo or empagliflozin treatment at 25.

The spinal generator of ejaculation: Functional consequences of chronic spinalization and effect of substance P in anesthetized rats.

The inability to ejaculate, i.e. anejaculation, affects the vast majority of men after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Sleep Patterns Before and After Weight Restoration in Females with Anorexia Nervosa: A Longitudinal Controlled Study.

Objective: To assess sleep patterns in female patients with anorexia nervosa before and after weight restoration.

Methods: Sleep patterns were measured objectively using a Sense Wear Armband before and after weight restoration in 50 female patients with anorexia nervosa, and in 25 healthy females.

Results: At baseline, patients with anorexia nervosa exhibited lower total sleep time and sleep onset latency than controls, the former apparently associated with baseline BMI, duration of illness and age.

Low Intensity Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy Improves Erectile Function in a Model of Type II Diabetes Independently of NO/cGMP Pathway.

Purpose: Erectile dysfunction is highly prevalent in type II diabetes mellitus. Low intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy improves erectile function in patients with erectile dysfunction of vasculogenic origin, including diabetes. However, its mode of action remains unknown.

Knowledge of asthma in school teachers in nine Spanish cities.

Objective: To analyze the knowledge of asthma and its management in Spanish school teachers using the Newcastle Asthma Questionnaire (NAKQ).

Design: Descriptive, observational prevalence study, using a self-report questionnaire on knowledge about childhood asthma and its management by teachers in pre-school, primary, and secondary schools in nine Spanish cities. Age, sex, academic training, teaching experience, courses in which they taught, and personal and family history of asthma, were collected from each teacher.

Does Reduction of Number of Intradetrusor Injection Sites of aboBoNTA (Dysport®) Impact Efficacy and Safety in a Rat Model of Neurogenic Detrusor Overactivity?

Intradetrusor injections of Botulinum toxin A-currently onabotulinumtoxinA-is registered as a second-line treatment to treat neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO). The common clinical practice is 30 × 1 mL injections in the detrusor; however, protocols remain variable and standardization is warranted. The effect of reducing the number of injection sites of Dysport(®) abobotulinumtoxinA (aboBoNTA) was assessed in the spinal cord-injured rat (SCI).

Preserving Smart Objects Privacy through Anonymous and Accountable Access Control for a M2M-Enabled Internet of Things.

As we get into the Internet of Things era, security and privacy concerns remain as the main obstacles in the development of innovative and valuable services to be exploited by society. Given the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) nature of these emerging scenarios, the application of current privacy-friendly technologies needs to be reconsidered and adapted to be deployed in such global ecosystem. This work proposes different privacy-preserving mechanisms through the application of anonymous credential systems and certificateless public key cryptography.

Direct brain projections onto the spinal generator of ejaculation in the rat.

A spinal generator for ejaculation (SGE) has been identified in the rat that orchestrates peripheral events leading to ejaculation. Despite physiological evidence of cerebral influences exerted on the SGE, brain-descending pathways to the SGE have not been fully delineated. A tracing study combining retrograde and anterograde approaches was undertaken in adult male rats in order to identify brain sites containing neurons that directly project onto SGE neurons.

Bladder and erectile dysfunctions in the Type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rat.

Despite the fact that urogenito-sexual complications significantly impact the quality of life of diabetic patients, a robust in vivo experimental model is lacking. Bladder and erectile function in the Type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat and responses to standard-of-care treatments for each disorder have been assessed. GK rats (n = 25, 18-wk-old, GK/Par colony) and age-matched Wistar rats (n = 23), characterized for their metabolic parameters, were used.

The spinal control of ejaculation revisited: a systematic review and meta-analysis of anejaculation in spinal cord injured patients.

BACKGROUND After spinal cord injury (SCI), most men cannot ejaculate without medical assistance. A major advance in the knowledge of the spinal control of ejaculation has been achieved with the discovery of a spinal generator of ejaculation (SGE) in the rat. The aim of this report was to review studies about ejaculation after SCI in order to revisit the spinal control of ejaculation and especially to assess the existence of an SGE in man.

Measured physical activity in anorexia nervosa: features and treatment outcome.

Objective: To assess the role of measured physical activity (PA) in anorexia nervosa treatment outcome, and to compare the PA of patients with anorexia nervosa with age-matched controls.

Method: PA was assessed by means of Sense Wear Armband before and after a cognitive-behavioral inpatient treatment in 53 consecutive females with anorexia nervosa, and in 53 healthy age-matched controls.

Results: At baseline, patients with anorexia nervosa exhibited a higher duration of moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA≥3 Metabolic Equivalent Tasks (METs)) than controls (t = 2.

Inhibition of ejaculation by the non-peptide oxytocin receptor antagonist GSK557296: a multi-level site of action.

Background And Purpose: Oxytocin (OT) plays a major role in the control of male sexual responses. Notably, blockade of OT receptors has been reported to inhibit ejaculation in animals. The study aimed to investigate the action of a highly selective, non-peptide OT antagonist GSK557296 in a model of pharmacologically induced ejaculation in anaesthetized rats.

Effect of dapoxetine on ejaculatory performance and related brain neuronal activity in rapid ejaculator rats.

Introduction: A brain network specifically activated when ejaculation occurs has been described in rats. Increasing serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) tone impairs ejaculation and chronic 5-HT selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are known to inhibit ejaculation. However, efficacy of acute treatment with SSRI varies from one compound to another.