Assessment of mitochondrial respiratory capacity in relation to cardiac contractile performance in patients with normal to mildly decreased cardiac systolic function.

Chronic heart failure (CHF) with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is associated with remodeling of cardiac energy metabolism; however, experimental data from human hearts that are still in early stages of contractile decline are very sparse. In the current study, we probed the association between LV contractility and myocardial capacity for fatty acid and carbohydrate oxidation in patients having normal-to-mildly decreased systolic function. In patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (n=40, EF ≥40%), a sample of left ventricular myocardium was obtained by subepicardial needle biopsy.

Faith in Hagiotherapy.

Background: If vegetative life carries a vegetative soul, and rational life a rational soul, what does spiritual life carry? What are the differences between a spiritual and rational soul? Can a spiritual soul somehow touch and see, can it be subjected to scientific experiments? What is hagiotherapy? Why is lack of faith a defect in spiritual terms? What happens in people who believe? The aim of this paper is to answer these questions and also explain spiritual abilities or power - faith in terms of hagiotherapy, how it affects a person's life and work, and also society.

Cases And Methods: We will be relying on the most important and recently published scientific books from the founder of hagiotherapy, Tomislav Ivančić, PhD, titled Hagiotherapy Encountering Man, Man's Total Woundedness, Hagiotherapeutic Anthropology, but also an older booklet titled "Spiritual Life in the Prayer and Word Community".

Results: We will discover the meaning of hagiotherapy in this paper - therapy for that part of a person which has not been previously therapeutically investigated and which poses a challenge to the contemporary world.

Distance vs time. Acoustic and articulatory consequences of reduced vowel duration in Polish.

This paper presents acoustic and articulatory (ultrasound) data on vowel reduction in Polish. The analysis focuses on the question of whether the change in formant value in unstressed vowels can be explained by duration-driven undershoot alone or whether there is also evidence for additional stress-specific articulatory mechanisms that systematically affect vowel formants. On top of the expected durational differences between the stressed and unstressed conditions, the duration is manipulated by inducing changes in the speech rate.

Pulmonary Embolism Associated with COVID-19 Occurs in Predominantly Elderly Patients with Comorbidities: A Single Center Retrospective Study.

Complications of COVID-19 infection have been greatly investigated. The most recent studies found strong association of COVID-19 pneumonia with thromboembolism. The aim of research was to describe clinical and computed tomography pulmonary angiograms (CTPA) characteristics of COVID-19 related pulmonary artery thromboembolism (PE).

Palatalization in coronal consonants of Polish: A three-/four-dimensional ultrasound study.

This paper presents the results of an articulatory study of palatalized consonants in Polish, a language with a typologically rare concentration of two phonemic series of posterior sibilants, one inherently palatalized, and the other contextually (allophonically) palatalized. For both phonemic and allophonic palatalization in Polish, it was found that the most stable correlates of palatalization are the advancement of the tongue root and a combined effect of raising and fronting of the tongue body. The advancement of the tongue root can be interpreted as the driving force in palatalization, while the effect of tongue body fronting and raising can be seen as secondary, resulting from the movement of the tongue root and the characteristic of the tongue as a muscular hydrostat.

Predictive value of abdominal drain amylase for postoperative pancreatic fistula following gastric resection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Radical dissection of lymph nodes, accompanying gastric cancer resection, can lead to collateral damage to the pancreas and development of postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF).

Methods: We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science up to April 21, 2020, to identify studies documenting the value of abdominal drain amylase level (d-AMY) on postoperative day 1 (POD1) as a predictor of POPF after gastric surgery. The quality of selected studies was assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool.

Adequacy of risk of bias assessment in surgical vs non-surgical trials in Cochrane reviews: a methodological study.

Background: Bias in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) can lead to underestimation or overestimation of the true effects of interventions. Surgical RCTs may suffer from the risk of bias (RoB) that is avoidable in trials of other interventions, and vice versa. We aimed to compare the adequacy of RoB assessments in surgical versus non-surgical RCTs included in Cochrane reviews and to assess the most common differences in those RoB assessments.

Assessing risk of bias judgments for blinding of outcome assessors in Cochrane reviews.

Adequate judging of risk of bias (RoB) for blinding of outcome assessors (detection bias) is important for supporting highest level of evidence. Judgments and supporting comments for detection bias were retrieved from RoB tables reported in Cochrane reviews. We categorized comments, and then compared judgment and supporting comment with instructions from the Cochrane Handbook.

Phonetics of Polish "soft"-"hard" vowel allophony.

This paper reports on the results of a three-dimensional ultrasound study of Polish vowels in consonant-vowel sequences. It was found that allophonic variation in vowels in the context of "soft" consonants is consistently implemented phonetically by means of tongue root advancement, which effectively expands the pharyngeal cavity and reduces the volume of the oral cavity. The tongue root is also consistently advanced in the soft consonants that trigger vowel allophony and retracted (or neutral) in the "hard" sounds, which do not trigger allophony, suggesting that tongue root advancement is part of the phonological representation of the "softness" (or palatalization) contrast.

Disturbed Fatty Acid Oxidation, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, and Apoptosis in Left Ventricle of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

Chronic heart failure is a common complication in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). T2DM is associated with disturbed metabolism of fat, which can result in excessive accumulation of lipids in cardiac muscle. In the current study, we assessed mitochondrial oxidation of carbohydrates and fatty acids, lipid accumulation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and apoptosis in diabetic left ventricle.

Risk of bias judgments for random sequence generation in Cochrane systematic reviews were frequently not in line with Cochrane Handbook.

Background: Assessing the risk of bias (RoB) in included studies is one of the key methodological aspects of systematic reviews. Cochrane systematic reviews appraise RoB of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with the Cochrane RoB tool. Detailed instructions for using the Cochrane RoB tool are provided in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (The Cochrane Handbook).

Risk of bias assessments for blinding of participants and personnel in Cochrane reviews were frequently inadequate.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to analyze adequacy of judgments about risk of bias (RoB) for blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) in Cochrane systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Study Design And Setting: We extracted judgments and supporting comments for performance bias from Cochrane reviews' RoB tables using automated data scraping. We parsed all intervention descriptions, judgments about risk of performance bias, and comments supporting judgments into simple categories.

Massive Occurrence of the Harmful Benthic Dinoflagellate cf. in the Eastern Adriatic Sea.

In September 2015, a massive occurrence of the species was recorded in central Adriatic Kaštela Bay. In order to taxonomically identify the species responsible for this event and determine their toxin profile, cells collected in seawater and from benthic macroalgae were analyzed. Conservative taxonomic methods (light microscopy and SEM) and molecular methods (PCR-based assay) allowed the identification of the species cf.

Outcome domains and pain outcome measures in randomized controlled trials of interventions for postoperative pain in children and adolescents.

Background: We analysed outcome domains and pain outcome measures in randomized controlled trials of interventions for postoperative pain management in children and adolescents and compared them to the core outcome set recommended by the Pediatric Initiative on Methods, Measurement and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (PedIMMPACT).

Methods: Systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, CDSR, DARE, CINAHL and PsycINFO up to 31 January 2017. One author extracted data and second verified the extraction.

Effects of 6 Weeks of Different High-Intensity Interval and Moderate Continuous Training on Aerobic and Anaerobic Performance.

Cavar, M, Marsic, T, Corluka, M, Culjak, Z, Cerkez Zovko, I, Müller, A, Tschakert, G, and Hofmann, P. Effects of 6 weeks of different high-intensity interval and moderate continuous training on aerobic and anaerobic performance. J Strength Cond Res 33(1): 44-56, 2019-To provide practical data, we compared the training effects of 3 different programs, using a shuttle run stimulus, on aerobic and anaerobic performance, measured using the 20-m maximal shuttle run (Beep) test and 300-yd shuttle run, respectively.

The use of systematic reviews to justify anaesthesiology trials: A meta-epidemiological study.

Aims: New randomized clinical trials (RCTs) should be initiated if previous systematic reviews (SRs) indicate that new trials are needed. We analysed whether RCTs published in anaesthesiology journals mentioned previous SRs as a rationale for conducting trial and for discussing results.

Methods: This was a meta-epidemiological, descriptive cross-sectional study.

Authors' lack of awareness and use of core outcome set on postoperative pain in children is hindering comparative effectiveness research.

Aim: To analyze awareness about and acceptability of core outcome set (COS) for pediatric pain recommended by the PedIMMPACT.

Methods: We invited authors of systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials about interventions for postoperative pain in children to participate in a survey.

Results: Only a third of surveyed authors of systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials about postoperative pain in children had heard about the PedIMMPACT COS for acute pediatric pain.

Expression of Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Complexes in the Vaginal Wall in Postmenopausal Women with Pelvic Organ Prolapse.

Background/aims: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common disease affecting adult women. It is a result of the vaginal wall disorder as well as damage of the supportive structures contributing to the integrity of the pelvic floor. Mitochondrial disorders may have an important role in the vaginal wall degeneration leading to POP.

Interventions for Neuropathic Pain: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.

Numerous interventions for neuropathic pain (NeuP) are available, but its treatment remains unsatisfactory. We systematically summarized evidence from systematic reviews (SRs) of randomized controlled trials on interventions for NeuP. Five electronic databases were searched up to March 2015.

Interventions for postoperative pain in children: An overview of systematic reviews.

The aim of this study was to conduct an overview of systematic reviews that summarizes the results about efficacy and safety from randomized controlled trials involving the various strategies used for postoperative pain management in children. We searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, Database of Reviews of Effect, Embase, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO from the earliest date to January 24, 2016. This overview included 45 systematic reviews that evaluated interventions for postoperative pain in children.

Cerebral oxidative metabolism is decreased with extreme apnoea in humans; impact of hypercapnia.

Key Points: The present study describes the cerebral oxidative and non-oxidative metabolism in man during a prolonged apnoea (ranging from 3 min 36 s to 7 min 26 s) that generates extremely low levels of blood oxygen and high levels of carbon dioxide. The cerebral oxidative metabolism, measured from the product of cerebral blood flow and the radial artery-jugular venous oxygen content difference, was reduced by ∼29% at the termination of apnoea, although there was no change in the non-oxidative metabolism. A subset study with mild and severe hypercapnic breathing at the same level of hypoxia suggests that hypercapnia can partly explain the cerebral metabolic reduction near the apnoea breakpoint.

Trimetazidine does not alter metabolic substrate oxidation in cardiac mitochondria of target patient population.

Background And Purpose: Trimetazidine, known as a metabolic modulator, is an anti-anginal drug used for treatment of stable coronary artery disease (CAD). It is proposed to act via modulation of cardiac metabolism, shifting the mitochondrial substrate utilization towards carbohydrates, thus increasing the efficiency of ATP production. This mechanism was recently challenged; however, these studies used indirect approaches and animal models, which made their conclusions questionable.

IL-7 induces clathrin-mediated endocytosis of CD127 and subsequent degradation by the proteasome in primary human CD8 T cells.

Interleukin-7 (IL-7), a key immunoregulatory cytokine, plays an essential role in peripheral T-cell homeostasis and function. Signaling via the IL-7 receptor is tightly regulated and we and others have shown IL-7 provides negative feedback on its own signaling by downregulating expression of the IL-7 receptor alpha-chain (CD127) through both suppression of CD127 gene transcription and by internalization of existing CD127 proteins from the cell membrane. We show here for the first time in primary human CD8 T cells that upon stimulation with IL-7, CD127 is internalized through clathrin-coated pits, a process dependent on both lipid-raft formation and the activity of dynamin.

Predictors of competitive achievement among pubescent synchronized swimmers: an analysis of the solo-figure competition.

Aim: This study examined the applicability of sport-specific fitness tests (SSTs), anthropometrics, and respiratory parameters in predicting competitive results among pubescent synchronized swimmers.

Methods: A total of 25 synchronized swimmers (16-17 years; 166.2 ± 5.