Antisense STAT3 inhibitor decreases viability of myelodysplastic and leukemic stem cells.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are associated with disease-initiating stem cells that are not eliminated by conventional therapies. Transcriptomic analysis of stem and progenitor populations in MDS and AML demonstrated overexpression of STAT3 that was validated in an independent cohort. STAT3 overexpression was predictive of a shorter survival and worse clinical features in a large MDS cohort.

Randomized controlled trial comparing immediate loading with conventional loading using cone-anchored implant-supported screw-retained removable prostheses: A 2-year follow-up clinical trial.

Statement Of Problem: Implant-based prosthetic solutions can be time consuming. If implants can be loaded immediately, treatment time can be reduced.

Purpose: The purpose of this prospective randomized controlled trial was to monitor the survival rate of Ankylos implants, comparing conventional with immediate loading by using abutments with the SynCone concept for screw-retained removable prostheses in the edentulous maxilla.

Holmium laser thulium laser enucleation of the prostate: a matched-pair analysis from two centers.

Background: The aim of our study was to compare perioperative and functional outcomes of two different prostatic laser enucleation techniques performed in two high-volume centers: 100 W holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) (Lyon, France) and 110 W thulium laser enucleation of the prostate (ThuLEP) (Varese, Italy).

Materials And Methods: A nonrandomized, observational, retrospective and matched-pair analysis was performed on two homogeneous groups of 117 patients that underwent prostate laser enucleation in the HoLEP or ThuLEP centers between January 2015 and April 2017, following the classical 'three lobes' enucleation technique. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score and prostate volume were the main parameters considered for matching the patients between the two groups.

Toe dystonia in Parkinson's disease: Impact of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation.

Background: Off state toe dystonia (TD) is a symptom frequently encountered in Parkinson's disease (PD), but little is known about its evolution after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS).

Objective: To analyze the prevalence and the evolution of TD in PD patients candidate to STN-DBS.

Methods: Individual data of consecutive 130 PD patients who underwent STN-DBS between 2010 and 2015 were collected.

Management of established pressure ulcer infections in spinal cord injury patients.

Objectives: Pressure ulcers are frequently observed in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. They can be life-threatening and are a major medico-economic burden. Despite their frequency, their pathophysiology and optimal management are still poorly understood.

Gelled Electrolyte Containing Phosphonium Ionic Liquids for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

In this work, new gelled electrolytes were prepared based on a mixture containing phosphonium ionic liquid (IL) composed of trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium cation combined with bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide [TFSI] counter anions and lithium salt, confined in a host network made from an epoxy prepolymer and amine hardener. We have demonstrated that the addition of electrolyte plays a key role on the kinetics of polymerization but also on the final properties of epoxy networks, especially thermal, thermo-mechanical, transport, and electrochemical properties. Thus, polymer electrolytes with excellent thermal stability (>300 °C) combined with good thermo-mechanical properties have been prepared.

Diets supplemented with starch and corn oil, marine algae, or hydrogenated palm oil differentially modulate milk fat secretion and composition in cows and goats: A comparative study.

A direct comparative study of dairy cows and goats was performed to characterize the animal performance and milk fatty acid (FA) responses to 2 types of diets that induce milk fat depression in cows as well as a diet that increases milk fat content in cows but for which the effects in goats are either absent or unknown. Twelve Holstein cows and 12 Alpine goats, all multiparous, nonpregnant, and at 86 ± 24.9 and 61 ± 1.

Peanut gastrointestinal delivery oral immunotherapy in adolescents: Results of the build-up phase of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (PITA study).

Background: Oral immunotherapy to peanut is effective in desensitizing patients but has significant side effects including anaphylaxis and gastrointestinal symptoms. In most protocols, peanut is administered in a vehicle food.

Objective: In an exclusively adolescent population, we tested a new approach using sealed capsules of peanut (gastrointestinal delivery oral immunotherapy or GIDOIT) to bypass the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Patients' exposure to PVC plasticizers from ECMO circuits.

Background: ECMO is a therapeutic act with a high risk of exposure to diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), plasticizer from PVC tubings. The replacement of this plasticizer with alternative compounds is recommended but the risks associated with the use of new plasticizers have not been evaluated in ECMO situations.

Methods: Ex vivo ECMO models were performed with different flow rates over 6 days to evaluate the migration of plasticizers and their potential toxic risk for patient.

Urea plus nitrate pretreatment of rice and wheat straws enhances degradation and reduces methane production in in vitro ruminal culture.

Background: Urea pretreatment of straw damages fiber structure, while nitrate supplementation of ruminal diets inhibits enteric methane production. The study examined the combined effects of these treatments on ruminal substrate biodegradation and methane production using an in vitro incubation system. Rice and wheat straws were pretreated with urea (40 g kg straw dry matter, DM) and urea + ammonium nitrate (34 + 6 g kg dry matter (DM), respectively), and each straw (control, urea, urea+nitrate) was used in batch culture incubations in three replications (runs).

Efficacy and safety of a T-type calcium channel blocker in patients with neuropathic pain: A proof-of-concept, randomized, double-blind and controlled trial.

Background: T-type calcium channels have been shown to play an important role in the initiation and maintenance of neuropathic pain and represent a promising therapeutic target for new analgesic treatments. Ethosuximide (ETX), an anticonvulsant and a T-type channel blocker has shown analgesic effect in several chronic pain models but has not yet been evaluated in patients with neuropathic pain.

Methods: This proof-of-concept, multicentre, double-blind, controlled and randomized trial compared the efficacy and safety of ETX (given as add-on therapy) to an inactive control (IC) in 114 patients with non-diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.

Key features of bone and joint infections following the implementation of reference centers in France.

Objectives: French reference centers for bone and joint infections (BJI) were implemented from 2009 onwards to improve the management of complex BJIs. This study compared BJI burden before and after the implementation of these reference centers.

Patients And Methods: BJI hospital stays were selected from the 2008 and 2013 national hospital discharge database using a validated algorithm, adding the new complex BJI code created in 2011.

Primary healthcare providers' practices related to non-malarial acute febrile illness in Burkina Faso.

Background: In Africa, fever is the main reason for consultation, with malaria playing a prominent role. Studies have reported that the widespread use of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, implemented since 2010, has revealed an increasing proportion of non-malaria acute febrile illnesses (NMAFI). It is an important public health issue because evidence shows that mortality is higher among patients presenting with non-malarial fever than among those with malaria.

Effects of flow rate on the migration of different plasticizers from PVC infusion medical devices.

Infusion medical devices (MDs) used in hospitals are often made of plasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC). These plasticizers may leach out into infused solutions during clinical practice, especially during risk-situations, e.g multiple infusions in Intensive Care Units and thus may enter into contact with the patients.

A Potential New Human Pathogen Belonging to Genus, Identified in a Bloodstream Infection.

We isolated from aerobic and anaerobic blood culture bottles from a febrile patient, a -like Gram negative, rod-shaped bacterium that MALDI-TOF MS failed to identify. Blood agar cultures incubated in a microaerobic atmosphere revealed a motile Gram negative rod, which was oxidase, catalase, nitrate reductase, esterase, and alkaline phosphatase positive. It grew at 42°C with no detectable urease activity.

Body composition and clinical symptoms in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis: Results from the KHOALA cohort.

Objective: To analyze the associations between body composition, notably low lean mass, and clinical symptoms [pain, physical function, quality of life (QoL)] in patients with symptomatic hip and/or knee OA.

Methods: Cross-sectional study using data from the 3-year follow-up visit of the Knee and Hip OsteoArthritis Long-term assessment (KHOALA) cohort. Skeletal muscle and fat mass were measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis of the elderly: Characteristics and outcomes.

Background: The incidence of pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis (PVO) has increased over the past two decades. One possible cause of this increase is the aging of the population, which results in more comorbidities in high income countries.

Objective: To better characterize the clinical presentation and outcome of PVO in the elderly.

Extruded linseed alone or in combination with fish oil modifies mammary gene expression profiles in lactating goats.

Nutrition is a major factor that regulates ruminant milk components, particularly its fatty acid (FA) composition, which is an important determinant of milk nutritional quality. In the mammary gland, milk component biosynthesis involves a large number of genes under nutritional regulation that are not well understood. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of extruded linseeds (EL) alone or in combination with fish oil (ELFO) on goat mammary gene expression.

An exploratory study of safety culture, biological risk management and hand hygiene of healthcare professionals.

Aims: The objectives of the study were to: (1) examine the relationships between three different qualitative perceptions of safety culture and the Canadian Patient Safety Climate Survey factors; (2) determine whether these perceptions are associated with different hand hygiene practices.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections and safety cultures are a worldwide issue. During the A/H1N1 Influenza pandemic, Europe and North America did not have the same responses.