S100 proteins as potential predictive biomarkers of abatacept response in polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) comprises a heterogeneous group of conditions that can cause marked disability and diminished quality of life. Data on predictors of clinical response are insufficient to guide selection of the appropriate biologic agent for individual patients. This study aimed to investigate the propensity of S100A8/9 and S100A12 as predictive biomarkers of abatacept response in polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA).

The HyperPed-COVID international registry: Impact of age of onset, disease presentation and geographical distribution on the final outcome of MIS-C.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to establish an international multicenter registry to collect data on patients with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), in order to highlight a relationship between clinical presentation, age of onset and geographical distribution on the clinical outcome.

Study Design: Multicenter retrospective study involving different international societies for rare immunological disorders.1009 patients diagnosed with MIS-C between March and September 2022, from 48 centers and 22 countries were collected.

Minimally Invasive Live Tissue High-Fidelity Thermophysical Modeling Using Real-Time Thermography.

We present a novel thermodynamic parameter estimation framework for energy-based surgery on live tissue, with direct applications to tissue characterization during electrosurgery. This framework addresses the problem of estimating tissue-specific thermodynamics in real-time, which would enable accurate prediction of thermal damage impact to the tissue and damage-conscious planning of electrosurgical procedures. Our approach provides basic thermodynamic information such as thermal diffusivity, and also allows for obtaining the thermal relaxation time and a model of the heat source, yielding in real-time a controlled hyperbolic thermodynamics model.

Pilot study of single-dose psilocybin for serotonin reuptake inhibitor-resistant body dysmorphic disorder.

Objective: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is an often-severe condition in which individuals are preoccupied by misperceptions of their appearance as defective or ugly. Only serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive-behavioral therapy have been demonstrated efficacious in randomized controlled trials. Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug with growing evidence for safety and efficacy in treatment of depression.

Prognostic value of cardiopulmonary exercise test after heart transplantation.

Background: The clinical utility of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has not been extensively studied yet in heart transplantation (HTX) patients.

Objective: To analyze the predictive value of the CPET on hospitalizations and mortality in HTX recipients.

Methods: A retrospective cohort was performed from a secondary database.

Effect of a moderate electric field on the salting of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar): An experimental study and phenomenological understanding.

Salting is one of the oldest methods of preserving food. The main limitation of salting is its extended processing time due to slow salt diffusion. A moderate electric field (MEF) can improve the mass transfer rate through electroporation.

Maintenance of antibody response to diphtheria/tetanus vaccine in patients aged 2-5 years with polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis receiving subcutaneous abatacept.

Background: Patients with polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA), receiving disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs with immunosuppressive effects, may be at increased risk of vaccine-preventable infections. This substudy assessed protective antibody responses to diphtheria and tetanus vaccination given prior to study enrolment in patients with pJIA.

Findings: This was a substudy of a 24-month, single-arm, open-label, multicenter, Phase III trial (NCT01844518) of subcutaneous abatacept in children with active pJIA (N = 219).

Hepatic actinomycosis - A potential mimicker of malignancy.

Actinomycosis is a rare granulomatous disease caused by commensal bacteria (Actinomycetaceae family) of the oropharynx, gastrointestinal, and urogenital tract. Infection most commonly involves the cervicofacial region but less frequently the abdominal region, typically secondary to a disruption of normal gastrointestinal mucosa. We present a patient with vague symptoms of fevers and myalgias and a recent diagnosis of rectal cancer.

Unremitting cell proliferation in the secretory phase of eutopic endometriosis: involvement of pAkt and pGSK3β.

Objective: Endometriosis is linked to altered cell proliferation and stem cell markers c-kit/stem cell factor (SCF) in ectopic endometrium. Our aim was to investigate whether c-kit/SCF also plays a role in eutopic endometrium.

Design: Eutopic endometrium obtained from 35 women with endometriosis and 25 fertile eumenorrheic women was analyzed for in situ expression of SCF/c-kit, Ki67, RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase (Akt), phosphorylated RAC-alpha serine/threonin-protein kinase (pAkt), Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β), and phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (pGSK3β), throughout the menstrual cycle.

[The future is chronic: German primary care and the Chronic Care Model--The comprehensive principles in the proactive treatment of the chronically ill].

Background: In Germany, primary healthcare for patients with chronic diseases needs to be improved. Taking the example of depression, congestive heart failure, diabetes and diseases of the musculoskeletal system we analyzed to which extent the 'Chronic Care Model' allows for improvements.

Methods: Diagnosis-specific health assessment; adaptation of the 'Chronic Care Model' to the German healthcare system; peer reviewed discussions of the potentials for improving primary care of the chronically ill.

Oral midazolam as premedication for the apprehensive child before dental treatment.

A double-blind study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of an oral dose of midazolam 7.5 mg as compared to placebo in a sample of 32 children who had refused dental care after the conventional psychological approach alone was used to reduce fear and apprehensive behavior. Parameters assessed before and 30 minutes after the oral administration of either midazolam or placebo were mental attitude, hypnotic activity, motor activity, quality of sedation and of dental treatment.