Blunting of adaptive thermogenesis as a potential additional mechanism to promote weight loss after gastric bypass.

Background: Adaptive thermogenesis (AT) is described as a change in resting metabolic rate (RMR) that is greater than would be predicted from changes in lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass (FM) alone during periods of energy imbalance. Whereas an AT-related downregulation of RMR has been implicated in suboptimal weight loss and weight regain after nonsurgical weight loss, defense against AT may underpin the durable weight loss after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) and other bariatric surgeries. However, methodological differences across the few studies that have evaluated postoperative AT limit interpretation as to the effects of these procedures on RMR.

Dissolution Failure of Solid Oral Drug Products in Field Alert Reports.

From 2005 to 2014, 370 data entries of dissolution failures of solid oral drug products were assessed with respect to the solubility of drug substances, dosage forms [immediate release (IR) vs. modified release (MR)], and manufacturers (brand name vs. generic).

Magnetism, dynamo action and the solar-stellar connection.

The Sun and other stars are magnetic: magnetism pervades their interiors and affects their evolution in a variety of ways. In the Sun, both the fields themselves and their influence on other phenomena can be uncovered in exquisite detail, but these observations sample only a moment in a single star's life. By turning to observations of other stars, and to theory and simulation, we may infer other aspects of the magnetism-e.

Patient-reported neuropathic pain in adolescent and young adult cancer patients.

Background: Neuropathic pain, a known complication of cancer and its treatments, negatively impacts quality of life. There are limited data using screening tools to aid in the diagnosis of neuropathic pain in cancer patients. Our primary objective was to determine the proportion of adolescent and young adult cancer patients reporting neuropathic pain on a patient-completed, neuropathic pain screening tool.

Early changes in emotional processing as a marker of clinical response to SSRI treatment in depression.

Antidepressant treatment reduces behavioural and neural markers of negative emotional bias early in treatment and has been proposed as a mechanism of antidepressant drug action. Here, we provide a critical test of this hypothesis by assessing whether neural markers of early emotional processing changes predict later clinical response in depression. Thirty-five unmedicated patients with major depression took the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), escitalopram (10 mg), over 6 weeks, and were classified as responders (22 patients) versus non-responders (13 patients), based on at least a 50% reduction in symptoms by the end of treatment.

Feeling one's way in the world: Making a life.

This paper argues for the psychoanalytic relevance of the works of James Gibson and Susanne Langer in explicating the early development of the human child and makes use of this combined formulation of development to think about psychoanalytic theory and practice. From the insights of James Gibson's ecological psychology we can appreciate the embodiment and embeddedness of the child's growing mind within both her physical and social environments. Making use of Susanne Langer's concept of feeling to redefine ecological psychology's perceptual counterpart to action allows us to understand the child's seamless transition into active participation in her culture, as she learns to project her animalian capacity to feel into intersubjectively defined forms of behavior and experience with others.

Erratum: A Selective Nociceptin Receptor Antagonist to Treat Depression: Evidence from Preclinical and Clinical Studies.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.

The in vitro generation of multi-tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T cell clones: Candidates for leukemia adoptive immunotherapy following allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Adoptive T-cell immunotherapy is a promising approach to manage and maintain relapse-free survival of leukemia patients, especially following allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Post-transplant adoptive immunotherapy using cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) of the donor origin provide graft-versus-tumor effects, with or without graft-versus-host disease. Myeloid leukemias express immunogenic leukemia associated antigens (LAAs); such as WT-1, PRAME, MAGE, h-TERT and others, most of them are able to induce specific T cell responses whenever associated with the proper co-stimulation.

Primary immunodeficiency associated with chromosomal aberration - an ESID survey.

Background: Patients with syndromic features frequently suffer from recurrent respiratory infections, but little is known about the spectrum of immunological abnormalities associated with their underlying chromosomal aberrations outside the well-known examples of Down and DiGeorge syndromes. Therefore, we performed this retrospective, observational survey study.

Methods: All members of the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) were invited to participate by reporting their patients with chromosomal aberration (excluding Down and DiGeorge syndromes) in combination with one or more identified immunological abnormalities potentially relating to primary immunodeficiency.

Predialysis nephrology care and dialysis-related health outcomes among older adults initiating dialysis.

Background: Predialysis nephrology care is associated with lower mortality and rates of hospitalization following chronic dialysis initiation. Whether more frequent predialysis nephrology care is associated with other favorable outcomes for older adults is not known.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients ≥66 years who initiated chronic dialysis in 2000-2001 and were eligible for VA and/or Medicare-covered services.

Assessment of Cardiopulmonary Responses to Treadmill Walking Following Gastric Bypass Surgery.

Background: Studies that have evaluated cardiopulmonary responses to exercise within the first few months of bariatric surgery have utilized cycle ergometry. However, walking is the most commonly reported mode of both pre- and post-operative PA. The divergent cardiopulmonary responses and metabolic costs of weight-bearing (walking) and non-weight-bearing (cycling) exercises warrant examination of the effects of bariatric surgery on cardiopulmonary responses during walking.

Changes in Resting Energy Expenditure in Relation to Body Weight and Composition Following Gastric Restriction: A Systematic Review.

In comparison to gastric bypass surgery, gastric restriction without malabsorption more closely simulates dietary adherence while still producing durable weight loss. The latter is achieved despite considerable reductions in resting energy expenditure (REE), and whether REE is adjusted for body weight/composition using ratio- or regression-based methods could influence understanding of how these procedures affect energy balance. This systematic review identified studies that reported REE before and after gastric restriction in order to compare changes using each method.

En bloc resection of a C-1 lateral mass osteosarcoma: technical note.

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive primary bone tumor. It is currently treated with multimodality therapy including en bloc resection, which has been demonstrated to confer a survival benefit over intralesional resection. The authors present the case of an 8-year-old girl with a C-1 lateral mass osteosarcoma, which was treated with a 4-stage en bloc resection and spinal reconstruction.

Pyracantha 'Mohave' Fruit Infection by Phytophthora ramorum and Transmission of the Pathogen from Infected Fruit to Roots of Viburnum tinus.

Colonization of the fleshy fruit of Cornus florida, C. kousa, Laurus nobilis, Malus hupehensis, and Pyracantha 'Mohave' was observed following inoculation with sporangia of Phytophthora ramorum. However, abundant production of chlamydospores was only observed in the fruit of Pyracantha 'Mohave'.

Validation of preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing-derived variables to predict in-hospital morbidity after major colorectal surgery.

Background: In single-centre studies, postoperative complications are associated with reduced fitness. This study explored the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness variables derived by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and in-hospital morbidity after major elective colorectal surgery.

Methods: Patients underwent preoperative CPET with recording of in-hospital morbidity.

The Antibody Two-Step Solution.

Problems with antibody quality have been described in numerous recent publications.  In the present commentary it is argued that these quality problems are due primarily to issues of antibody variability and antibody validation.  Further it is argued that the problem of antibody variability must be solved before validation can be useful.

Accurate and efficient target prediction using a potency-sensitive influence-relevance voter.

Background: A number of algorithms have been proposed to predict the biological targets of diverse molecules. Some are structure-based, but the most common are ligand-based and use chemical fingerprints and the notion of chemical similarity. These methods tend to be computationally faster than others, making them particularly attractive tools as the amount of available data grows.

Levetiracetam Treatment in Traumatic Brain Injury: Operation Brain Trauma Therapy.

Levetiracetam (LEV) is an antiepileptic agent targeting novel pathways. Coupled with a favorable safety profile and increasing empirical clinical use, it was the fifth drug tested by Operation Brain Trauma Therapy (OBTT). We assessed the efficacy of a single 15 min post-injury intravenous (IV) dose (54 or 170 mg/kg) on behavioral, histopathological, and biomarker outcomes after parasagittal fluid percussion brain injury (FPI), controlled cortical impact (CCI), and penetrating ballistic-like brain injury (PBBI) in rats.

Synthesis of Findings, Current Investigations, and Future Directions: Operation Brain Trauma Therapy.

Operation Brain Trauma Therapy (OBTT) is a fully operational, rigorous, and productive multicenter, pre-clinical drug and circulating biomarker screening consortium for the field of traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this article, we synthesize the findings from the first five therapies tested by OBTT and discuss both the current work that is ongoing and potential future directions. Based on the results generated from the first five therapies tested within the exacting approach used by OBTT, four (nicotinamide, erythropoietin, cyclosporine A, and simvastatin) performed below or well below what was expected based on the published literature.

A Selective Nociceptin Receptor Antagonist to Treat Depression: Evidence from Preclinical and Clinical Studies.

Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) is an endogenous ligand of the N/OFQ peptide (NOP) receptor, which is a G protein-coupled receptor in brain regions associated with mood disorders. We used a novel, potent, and selective orally bioavailable antagonist, LY2940094, to test the hypothesis that blockade of NOP receptors would induce antidepressant effects. In this study we demonstrate that targeting NOP receptors with LY2940094 translates to antidepressant-like effects in rodent models and, importantly, to antidepressant efficacy in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Attentional bias modification (ABM) training induces spontaneous brain activity changes in young women with subthreshold depression: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Attention bias modification (ABM) training has been suggested to effectively reduce depressive symptoms, and may be useful in the prevention of the illness in individuals with subthreshold symptoms, yet little is known about the spontaneous brain activity changes associated with ABM training.

Method: Resting-state functional MRI was used to explore the effects of ABM training on subthreshold depression (SubD) and corresponding spontaneous brain activity changes. Participants were 41 young women with SubD and 26 matched non-depressed controls.