Therapists and patients perceptions of a mixed reality system designed to improve trunk control and upper extremity function.

A prototype system aimed at improving arm function and trunk control after stroke has been developed that combines mixed-reality (MR) feedback with a mobile seat system (Holoreach). The purpose of this study was to assess the usability of Holoreach in a rehabilitation setting from both the patient and therapist perspective. Ten therapists (eight physiotherapists and two occupational therapists) used the device in their regular therapy programs for fifteen stroke patients with trunk control issues.

"Jack-of-all-trades" is parthenogenetic.

Sex is evolutionarily more costly than parthenogenesis, evolutionary ecologists therefore wonder why sex is much more frequent than parthenogenesis in the majority of animal lineages. Intriguingly, parthenogenetic individuals and species are as common as or even more common than sexuals in some major and putative ancient animal lineages such as oribatid mites and rotifers. Here, we analyzed oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) as a model group because these mites are ancient (early Paleozoic), widely distributed around the globe, and include a high number of parthenogenetic species, which often co-exist with sexual oribatid mite species.

Technology-supported sitting balance therapy versus usual care in the chronic stage after stroke: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Technology development for sitting balance therapy and trunk rehabilitation is scarce. Hence, intensive one-to-one therapist-patient training is still required. We have developed a novel rehabilitation prototype, specifically aimed at providing sitting balance therapy.

Self-Observation and Peer Feedback as a Faculty Development Approach for Problem-Based Learning Tutors: A Program Evaluation.

Problem: Good teaching requires spontaneous, immediate, and appropriate action in response to various situations. It is even more crucial in problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials, as the tutors, while directing students toward the identification and attainment of learning objectives, must stimulate them to contribute to the process and provide them with constructive feedback. PBL tutors in medicine lack opportunities to receive feedback from their peers on their teaching strategies.

Effect of Growth Hormone on Endometrial Thickness and Fertility Outcome in the Treatment of Women with Panhypopituitarism: A Case Report.

Background: The role of growth hormone (GH) in female reproduction has become a topic of increasing interest over the last decade. The replacement of GH for ovulation induction in women with hypopituitarism remains controversial. The role of GH in the human endometrium is still largely unknown.

Hemispheric specialization varies with EEG brain resting states and phase of menstrual cycle.

A growing body of behavioral studies has demonstrated that women's hemispheric specialization varies as a function of their menstrual cycle, with hemispheric specialization enhanced during their menstruation period. Our recent high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) study with lateralized emotional versus neutral words extended these behavioral results by showing that hemispheric specialization in men, but not in women under birth-control, depends upon specific EEG resting brain states at stimulus arrival, suggesting that hemispheric specialization may be pre-determined at the moment of the stimulus onset. To investigate whether EEG brain resting state for hemispheric specialization could vary as a function of the menstrual phase, we tested 12 right-handed healthy women over different phases of their menstrual cycle combining high-density EEG recordings and the same lateralized lexical decision paradigm with emotional versus neutral words.

Role of decidua in trophoblastic invasion.

Objective: Proliferation, migration and invasion of trophoblastic cells into the maternal endometrium are essential steps in human embryo implantation and placentation. Trophoblast invasion is normally limited in time, only during first and early second trimester of pregnancy, and in space, limited to the endometrium and the proximal third of myometrium. This process requires among other factors: the metalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9.

Alteration of circulating Placental Leucine Aminopeptidase (P-LAP) activity in preeclampsia.

Objective: Placental Leucine Aminopeptiadse (P-LAP) also known as oxytocinase, is secreted by syncytiotrophoblast and increases gradually during pregnancy until delivery. It is a regulator of uterine contractions, of vascular resistance and of volume of the retroplacental blood pool. Recently, it was shown that it could also regulate metalloproteinase 9 activity and thus, invasiveness of trophoblastic cells.

Glucose-regulated protein 78: a new partner of p53 in trophoblast.

Although wild-type p53 protein is overexpressed in first trimester trophoblast, it is inactive towards its target genes Metalloproteinase 2 and 9. This seems to be due to a complex mechanism of inactivation and stabilization of p53 relying on the formation of protein complexes involving the N-terminus of p53. To detect the proteins associated with this sequence, we incubated biotinylated p53 N-terminal peptide in cytotrophoblastic cell medium 24 h before lysis of cells.

Coculture of decidua and trophoblast to study proliferation and invasion.

Proliferation, migration, and invasion of trophoblastic cells into the maternal endometrium are essential steps of human embryo implantation and placentation. Trophoblast invasion is normally limited in time (first trimester) and space (to the endometrium and to the proximal third of myometrium). Temporal and spatial regulation of trophoblast invasion is mediated in an autocrine way by trophoblastic factors and in a paracrine way by uterine factors.

GRP78 as a marker of pre-eclampsia: an exploratory study.

Although the exact mechanisms that lead to shallow invasion or defective trophoblastic differentiation in pre-eclampsia are still unknown, it is widely admitted that the etiology of pre-eclampsia is a defect in trophoblast invasion of the uterine spiral arteries. We have previously observed that the status of a chaperone protein, glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78) is associated with the invasive properties of cytotrophoblastic cells; we therefore hypothesized that circulating GRP78 could serve as a diagnostic tool in pre-eclampsia. In a prospective case-control study, we quantified GRP78 autoantibodies, complexes of GRP78 with autoantibodies and GRP78 (C-term fragment, N-term fragment and full-length GRP78) by ELISA.

IFPA meeting 2008 workshops report.

Workshops are an important part of the IFPA annual meeting. At the IFPA meeting 2008 diverse topics were discussed in 12 themed workshops. Topics covered included: immunology of placentation; galectins and trophoblast invasion; signaling in implantation and invasion; markers to identify trophoblast subpopulations; placental pathology; placental toxicology; stereology; placental transport of fatty acids; placental mesenchymal stem cells; comparative placentation; trophoblast and neoplasia; trophoblast differentiation.

Hemodynamic effect of angiotensin II receptor blockade in postmenopausal women on a high-sodium diet: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

Background: Hypertension becomes increasingly prevalent after menopause. Postmenopausal women are more responsive to salt than premenopausal women, and they have been reported to develop marked renal vasoconstriction on a high-sodium diet.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether angiotensin II receptor blockade can restore a normal pattern of renal response to salt in postmenopausal women on a high-sodium diet.

Is screening for fetal anomalies reliable in HIV-infected pregnant women? A multicentre study.

Objective: To assess the impact of HIV infection on the reliability of the first-trimester screening for Down syndrome, using free beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin, pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A and fetal nuchal translucency, and of the second-trimester screening for neural tube defects, using alpha-fetoprotein.

Patients And Methods: Multicentre study comparing the multiples of the median of markers for Down syndrome and neural tube defect screening among 214 HIV-infected pregnant women and 856 HIV-negative controls undergoing a first-trimester Down syndrome screening test, and 209 HIV-positive women and 836 HIV-negative controls with a risk evaluation for neural tube defect. The influence of treatment, chronic hepatitis and HIV disease characteristics were also evaluated.

Regulation of MMP-9 by p53 in first trimester cytotrophoblastic cells.

Background: The matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family is known to play a key role in tissue remodelling during embryonic development and in pathological conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis and cancer metastasis. It has been shown previously that p53 regulates positively or negatively the expression of different MMPs. Because of p53 overexpression in trophoblastic cells, and its potential role in regulating MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression in different cell lines, we hypothesized that the expression of MMP-9 could also be regulated by p53 in first trimester cytotrophoblasts (CTB).

Trophoblastic p53 is stabilised by a cis-trans isomerisation necessary for the formation of high molecular weight complexes involving the N-terminus of p53.

P53 is a transcription factor also called the "cellular gatekeeper of genome" because it can induce cell cycle arrest in G1, apoptosis or affect DNA replication in response to DNA damage. Wild type p53 is localised in both the cytoplasm and nucleus of first trimester trophoblastic cells (CTB). Immunoblotting of CTB with different p53 antibodies led us to suggest that the N-terminus of p53 could be involved in the formation of high molecular weight complexes (HMWC), leading to the stabilisation of p53 in these cells.

Human chorionic gonadotropin stimulates matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 in cytotrophoblastic cells and decreases tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1, -2, and -3 in decidualized endometrial stromal cells.

Objective: To investigate the influence of hCG on trophoblastic matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) -2 and -9 as well as endometrial tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) -1, -2, and -3.

Design: In vitro experiment.

Setting: Research laboratory at a university medical center.

Effects of ligands or substrate of insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) on trophoblast invasion.

Insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) activity increases during placentation and in the invasive tumor cell of trophoblast suggesting a role for this peptidase in the invasiveness of normal and malignant trophoblast. To investigate this hypothesis, we studied the effects of substrate (OT) and inhibitors (angiotensin peptides and LVV-H7) of IRAP on the first trimester trophoblast proliferation and invasion. Addition of these peptides in the culture medium of trophoblastic cells significantly decreased metalloproteinase-9 activity and cellular invasiveness while no effect was observed on cell proliferation.

Clinical uses of anti-Müllerian hormone assays: pitfalls and promises.

Objective: To investigate whether the controversy about fluctuations of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels during the menstrual cycle results from differences between the immunoassays currently available: the Beckman Coulter Immunotech kit (Fullerton, CA) and the Diagnostic Systems Laboratories kit (Webster, TX).

Design: Prospective trial.

Setting: Fertility clinics of two tertiary university hospitals.

Factors regulating trophoblast invasion.

Implantation in the human is unique. This uniqueness is characterized on the maternal side by a spontaneous and massive decidualization of the endometrium and on the embryonic side by an almost unlimited invasive potential. Human embryos express an intrinsic invasive potential, which allows them to implant almost anywhere except in the endometrium because it protects itself from implantation.

Serum antimüllerian hormone levels remain stable throughout the menstrual cycle and after oral or vaginal administration of synthetic sex steroids.

Objective: To investigate whether oral or vaginal administration of contraceptive hormones might affect antimüllerian hormone (AMH) levels.

Design: Prospective trial with women recruited by advertisement. Women who wished contraception were randomized between oral or vaginal estroprogestative contraception, and those who did not choose contraception were included in the control group.

Undetectable serum anti-Müllerian hormone levels and occurrence of ongoing pregnancy.

Objective: To discuss, on the basis of the experience of two clinical cases and extensive literature review, the significance of extremely low levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), also known as Müllerian-inhibiting substance, in infertile women.

Design: Case report.

Setting: University-based infertility clinic at a medical center in Switzerland.