Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy with Defibrillator in Ischemic Versus Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (CRT-Ds) are established therapy options for patients suffering from heart failure (HF). Several aspects of HF modification have yet to be described regarding etiology-dependent outcome differences in the long-term.The Mannheim CArdiac Resynchronization TherApy RetrospeCtive ObservAtioNAl (MARACANA) Registry retrospectively included all patients provided with CRTs in our center from 2013 to 2021.

The Use of Nitrosative Stress Molecules as Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers in Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) of still unclear etiology. In recent years, the search for biomarkers facilitating its diagnosis, prognosis, therapy response, and other parameters has gained increasing attention. In this regard, in a previous meta-analysis comprising 22 studies, we found that MS is associated with higher nitrite/nitrate (NOx) levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compared to patients with non-inflammatory other neurological diseases (NIOND).

Long-term outcomes from upgrade to cardiac resynchronisation therapy in ischaemic versus non-ischaemic heart disease.

Background: Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) can be necessary in patients with chronic heart failure, who have already been provided with transvenous cardiac implantable electrical devices. Upgrade procedures revealed controversial results, while long-term outcomes regarding underlying Ischaemic- (ICM) or Non-Ischaemic heart disease (NICM) have yet to be described.

Methods: The Mannheim Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Registry (MARACANA) was designed as a retrospective observational single-centre registry, including all CRT implantations from 2013-2021 ( = 459).

Structural and Functional Brain Patterns Predict Formal Thought Disorder's Severity and Its Persistence in Recent-Onset Psychosis: Results From the PRONIA Study.

Background: Formal thought disorder (FThD) is a core feature of psychosis, and its severity and long-term persistence relates to poor clinical outcomes. However, advances in developing early recognition and management tools for FThD are hindered by a lack of insight into the brain-level predictors of FThD states and progression at the individual level.

Methods: Two hundred thirty-three individuals with recent-onset psychosis were drawn from the multisite European Prognostic Tools for Early Psychosis Management study.

The Strengths of Total Holographic Video Microscopy in Detecting Sub-Visible Protein Particles in Biopharmaceuticals: A Comparison to Flow Imaging and Resonant Mass Measurement.

Determination of subvisible particle (SVP) content in biopharmaceuticals is a prerequisite to ensure the quality of liquid biopharmaceutical products. Here, we present a comparison of the recently introduced holographic video microscopy (total holographic characterization, THC) with two orthogonal and well-established analytical technologies: micro flow imaging (MFI) and resonant mass measurement (RMM). The capabilities of the THC were investigated under conditions commonly applied in drug product development.

Exploring Links Between Psychosis and Frontotemporal Dementia Using Multimodal Machine Learning: Dementia Praecox Revisited.

Importance: The behavioral and cognitive symptoms of severe psychotic disorders overlap with those seen in dementia. However, shared brain alterations remain disputed, and their relevance for patients in at-risk disease stages has not been explored so far.

Objective: To use machine learning to compare the expression of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) patterns of behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), Alzheimer disease (AD), and schizophrenia; estimate predictability in patients with bvFTD and schizophrenia based on sociodemographic, clinical, and biological data; and examine prognostic value, genetic underpinnings, and progression in patients with clinical high-risk (CHR) states for psychosis or recent-onset depression (ROD).

Clinical, Brain, and Multilevel Clustering in Early Psychosis and Affective Stages.

Importance: Approaches are needed to stratify individuals in early psychosis stages beyond positive symptom severity to investigate specificity related to affective and normative variation and to validate solutions with premorbid, longitudinal, and genetic risk measures.

Objective: To use machine learning techniques to cluster, compare, and combine subgroup solutions using clinical and brain structural imaging data from early psychosis and depression stages.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A multisite, naturalistic, longitudinal cohort study (10 sites in 5 European countries; including major follow-up intervals at 9 and 18 months) with a referred patient sample of those with clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P), recent-onset psychosis (ROP), recent-onset depression (ROD), and healthy controls were recruited between February 1, 2014, to July 1, 2019.

The clinical relevance of formal thought disorder in the early stages of psychosis: results from the PRONIA study.

Background: Formal thought disorder (FTD) has been associated with more severe illness courses and functional deficits in patients with psychotic disorders. However, it remains unclear whether the presence of FTD characterises a specific subgroup of patients showing more prominent illness severity, neurocognitive and functional impairments. This study aimed to identify stable and generalizable FTD-subgroups of patients with recent-onset psychosis (ROP) by applying a comprehensive data-driven clustering approach and to test the validity of these subgroups by assessing associations between this FTD-related stratification, social and occupational functioning, and neurocognition.

Association between formal thought disorders, neurocognition and functioning in the early stages of psychosis: a systematic review of the last half-century studies.

Recent review articles provided an extensive collection of studies covering many aspects of format thought disorders (FTD) among their epidemiology and phenomenology, their neurobiological underpinnings, genetics as well as their transdiagnostic prevalence. However, less attention has been paid to the association of FTD with neurocognitive and functioning deficits in the early stages of evolving psychosis. Therefore, this systematic review aims to investigate the state of the art regarding the association between FTD, neurocognition and functioning in the early stages of evolving psychotic disorders in adolescents and young adults, by following the PRISMA flowchart.

Classification of first-episode psychosis using cortical thickness: A large multicenter MRI study.

Machine learning classifications of first-episode psychosis (FEP) using neuroimaging have predominantly analyzed brain volumes. Some studies examined cortical thickness, but most of them have used parcellation approaches with data from single sites, which limits claims of generalizability. To address these limitations, we conducted a large-scale, multi-site analysis of cortical thickness comparing parcellations and vertex-wise approaches.

Cognitive subtypes in recent onset psychosis: distinct neurobiological fingerprints?

In schizophrenia, neurocognitive subtypes can be distinguished based on cognitive performance and they are associated with neuroanatomical alterations. We investigated the existence of cognitive subtypes in shortly medicated recent onset psychosis patients, their underlying gray matter volume patterns and clinical characteristics. We used a K-means algorithm to cluster 108 psychosis patients from the multi-site EU PRONIA (Prognostic tools for early psychosis management) study based on cognitive performance and validated the solution independently (N = 53).

Multimodal Machine Learning Workflows for Prediction of Psychosis in Patients With Clinical High-Risk Syndromes and Recent-Onset Depression.

Importance: Diverse models have been developed to predict psychosis in patients with clinical high-risk (CHR) states. Whether prediction can be improved by efficiently combining clinical and biological models and by broadening the risk spectrum to young patients with depressive syndromes remains unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate whether psychosis transition can be predicted in patients with CHR or recent-onset depression (ROD) using multimodal machine learning that optimally integrates clinical and neurocognitive data, structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI), and polygenic risk scores (PRS) for schizophrenia; to assess models' geographic generalizability; to test and integrate clinicians' predictions; and to maximize clinical utility by building a sequential prognostic system.

Angs (Angiotensins) of the Alternative Renin-Angiotensin System Predict Outcome in Patients With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction.

The renin-angiotensin system plays an important role in the development and progression of heart failure (HF). In addition to the classical renin-angiotensin pathway, an alternative pathway produces Angs (angiotensins), which counteract the negative effects of Ang II. We hypothesized that Ang profiling could provide insights into the pathogenesis and prognosis of HF with preserved ejection fraction.

NEK1 loss-of-function mutation induces DNA damage accumulation in ALS patient-derived motoneurons.

Mutations in genes coding for proteins involved in DNA damage response (DDR) and repair, such as C9orf72 and FUS (Fused in Sarcoma), are associated with neurodegenerative diseases and lead to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in NEK1 (NIMA-related kinase 1) have also been recently found to cause ALS. NEK1 codes for a multifunctional protein, crucially involved in mitotic checkpoint control and DDR.

TET enzymes are successively expressed during human spermatogenesis and their expression level is pivotal for male fertility.

Study Question: Are ten-eleven-translocation (TET) 1-3 family enzymes involved in human spermatogenesis and do they impact male fertility?

Summary Answer: TET1, TET2 and TET3 are successively expressed at different stages of human spermatogenesis, and their expression levels associate with male fertility.

What Is Known Already: Spermatogenesis is a complex cell differentiation process accompanied by a drastic epigenetic remodeling. TET1-3 dioxygenases are essential for active DNA demethylation in the paternal pronucleus and in embryonic stem cells.

Proposal of a computed tomography classification for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis.

Aim: To establish a computed tomography (CT)-morphological classification for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis was the aim of the study.

Methods: The CT morphology of hepatic lesions in 228 patients with confirmed alveolar echinococcosis (AE) drawn from the Echinococcus Databank of the University Hospital of Ulm was reviewed retrospectively. For this reason, CT datasets of combined positron emission tomography (PET)-CT examinations were evaluated.

Thyroid dysfunction and hepatic steatosis in overweight children and adolescents.

Background: Overt or subclinical hypothyroidism is a common finding in adult populations affected by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Currently, there are only sparse data available on the association of thyroid dysfunction and NAFLD in obese children and adolescents.

Objective: The study aims to investigate the association of thyroid function test values with NAFLD and metabolic risk factors in a population of obese children and adolescents.

Comparison of Acoustic Structure Quantification (ASQ), shearwave elastography and histology in patients with diffuse hepatopathies.

Background: Objective of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of novel ultrasonographic modalities in comparison with simultaneously performed liver biopsy.

Methods: The results of simultaneously performed examinations using Acoustic Structure Quantification (ASQ), Virtual Touch Imaging and Quantification (VTIQ) and Virtual Touch Tissue Quantification (VTTQ) were compared with the findings of liver biopsy in patients with a wide variety of diffuse hepatopathies (n = 51). The histologically determined fibrosis stage according to Desmet and Scheuer was compared with quantitative measurements returned by the ultrasonographic imaging modalities.

Proposal of an ultrasonographic classification for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis: Echinococcosis multilocularis Ulm classification-ultrasound.

Aim: To establish an ultrasonographic classification based on a large sample of patients with confirmed hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE).

Methods: Clinical data and ultrasonography (US) findings of 185 patients (100 males; 85 females; mean age at diagnosis: 51.4 ± 17.

Coffee consumption and NAFLD: a community based study on 1223 subjects.

Background: Objective of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the impact of caffeine consumption on fatty liver and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentrations in a random population sample.

Methods: All subjects (n = 1452; 789 women, 663 men; average age 42.3 ± 12.

Subclinical and clinical hypothyroidism and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a cross-sectional study of a random population sample aged 18 to 65 years.

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common disorders of the liver worldwide. Recently, a correlation between thyroid dysfunction and NAFLD has been discussed. Objective of the present study was to investigate the association between thyroid dysfunction and hepatic steatosis.