Validation of the howRu and howRwe questionnaires at the individual patient level.

Background: The howRu and howRwe are new short questionnaires which are meant to measure health-related quality of life and patient experience. However, validation at the individual patient level has not yet taken place. We aimed to investigate the validity of both questionnaires at the individual patient level.

After 6years of intraperitoneal insulin administration IGF-I concentrations in T1DM patients are at low-normal level.

Objective: Low concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGFI) have been reported in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), suggested to be due to low insulin concentrations in the portal vein. The aim was to describe the long-term course of IGFI concentrations among T1DM subjects treated with continuous intraperitoneal (IP) insulin infusion (CIPII).

Design: Nineteen patients that participated in a randomized cross-over trial comparing CIPII and subcutaneous (SC) insulin therapy in 2006 were followed until 2012.

Admission From Nursing Home Residence Increases Acute Mortality After Hip Fractures.

Background: Little is known about the effect of preinjury residence on inpatient mortality following hip fracture. This study addressed whether (1) admission from a nursing home residence and (2) admission from another hospital were associated with higher inpatient mortality after a hip fracture.

Methods: Using the National Hospital Discharge Survey database, we analyzed an estimated 2 124 388 hip fractures discharges, from 2001 to 2007.

The Ages and Stages Questionnaire and Neurodevelopmental Impairment in Two-Year-Old Preterm-Born Children.

Objective: To test the ability of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (ASQ3) to help identify or exclude neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) in very preterm-born children at the corrected age of two.

Methods: We studied the test results of 224 children, born at <32 postmenstrual weeks, who had scores on ASQ3 and Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (BSIDIII) and neurological examination at 22-26 months' corrected age. We defined NDI as a score of <70 on the cognitive--or motor composite scale of BSIDIII, or impairment on neurological examination or audiovisual screening.

A Series of Case Studies of Tinnitus Suppression With Mixed Background Stimuli in a Cochlear Implant.

Purpose: Background sounds provided by a wearable sound playback device were mixed with the acoustical input picked up by a cochlear implant speech processor in an attempt to suppress tinnitus.

Method: First, patients were allowed to listen to several sounds and to select up to 4 sounds that they thought might be effective. These stimuli were programmed to loop continuously in the wearable playback device.

The Effects of a Mobile Phone Application on Quality of Life in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The combination of an increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus and more people having access to smartphones creates opportunities for patient care. This study aims to investigate whether the use of the Diabetes Under Control (DBEES) mobile phone application, a digital diabetes diary, results in a change in quality of life for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) compared with the standard paper diary.

Methods: In this randomized controlled open-label trial, 63 patients with T1DM having access to a smartphone were assigned to the intervention group using the DBEES application (n = 31) or the control group using the standard paper diary (n = 32).

The relationship between N-terminal prosomatostatin, all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (ZODIAC-35).

Background: The hormone somatostatin inhibits growth hormone release from the pituitary gland and is theoretically linked to diabetes and diabetes related complications. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between levels of the stable somatostatin precursor, N-terminal prosomatostatin (NT-proSST), with mortality in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients.

Methods: In 1,326 T2DM outpatients, participating in this ZODIAC prospective cohort study, Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate the independent relationship between plasma NT-proSST concentrations with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Continuous intraperitoneal insulin infusion versus subcutaneous insulin therapy in the treatment of type 1 diabetes: effects on glycemic variability.

Introduction: As continuous intraperitoneal insulin infusion (CIPII) results in a more physiologic action of insulin than subcutaneous (SC) insulin administration, we hypothesized that CIPII would result in less glycemic variability (GV) than SC insulin therapy among type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients.

Materials And Methods: Data from 5-day blind continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) measurements performed during a 26-week, prospective, observational case-control study were analyzed. The coefficient of variation (CV) was the primary measure of GV.

The Gap Detection Test: Can It Be Used to Diagnose Tinnitus?

Objectives: Animals with induced tinnitus showed difficulties in detecting silent gaps in sounds, suggesting that the tinnitus percept may be filling the gap. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of this approach to detect tinnitus in human patients. The authors first hypothesized that gap detection would be impaired in patients with tinnitus, and second, that gap detection would be more impaired at frequencies close to the tinnitus frequency of the patient.

Fluorescent in situ hybridization shows DIPLOSPOROUS located on one of the NOR chromosomes in apomictic dandelions (Taraxacum) in the absence of a large hemizygous chromosomal region.

Apomixis in dandelions (Taraxacum: Asteraceae) is encoded by two unlinked dominant loci and a third yet undefined genetic factor: diplosporous omission of meiosis (DIPLOSPOROUS, DIP), parthenogenetic embryo development (PARTHENOGENESIS, PAR), and autonomous endosperm formation, respectively. In this study, we determined the chromosomal position of the DIP locus in Taraxacum by using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) that genetically map within 1.2-0.

Incidence of renal replacement therapy for diabetic nephropathy in the Netherlands: Dutch diabetes estimates (DUDE)-3.

Objectives: Describe the incidence, prevalence and survival of patients needing renal replacement therapy (RRT) for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to diabetes mellitus (DM)-related glomerulosclerosis or nephropathy (diabetic nephropathy, DN) in the Netherlands.

Design: Using the national registry for RRT (RENINE-registry), data of all Dutch individuals initiating RRT for ESRD and having DN as primary diagnosis in the period 2000-2012 were obtained.

Setting: Observational study in the Netherlands.

The frog inner ear: picture perfect?

Many recent accounts of the frog peripheral auditory system have reproduced Wever's (1973) schematic cross-section of the ear of a leopard frog. We sought to investigate to what extent this diagram is an accurate and representative depiction of the anuran inner ear, using three-dimensional reconstructions made from serial sections of Rana pipiens, Eleutherodactylus limbatus and Xenopus laevis. In Rana, three discrete contact membranes were found to separate the posterior otic (=endolymphatic) labyrinth from the periotic (=perilymphatic) system: those of the amphibian and basilar recesses and the contact membrane of the saccule.

Changes in tinnitus after cochlear implantation and its relation with psychological functioning.

This study retrospectively assessed the prevalence of tinnitus in cochlear implant patients and the changes after implantation in 212 patients implanted between 2000 and 2009. Patients were included at least 6 months after implantation and received 2 sets of questionnaires, one about the situation before implantation and one about the situation after implantation. Mostly standardized questionnaires assessed tinnitus handicap (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, THI, and Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire, THQ), tinnitus characteristics, hearing loss (Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit) and anxiety/depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale).

Androgens directly stimulate spermatogonial differentiation in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

We studied the effects of androgens on early stages of spermatogenesis along with androgen receptor binding characteristics and the expression of selected testicular and pituitary genes. To this end, immature Atlantic salmon postsmolts received testosterone (T), adrenosterone (OA, which is converted in vivo into 11-ketotestosterone, 11-KT) or a combination of the two androgens (T+OA). Treatment with OA and T elevated the plasma levels of 11-KT and T, respectively, and co-injection of OA with T lead to high 11-KT levels but prevented plasma T levels to reach the levels observed after injecting T alone.

Cerebral oxygenation is associated with neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm children at age 2 to 3 years.

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine whether regional cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (r(c)SO2) and fractional tissue oxygen extraction (FTOE), using near-infrared spectroscopy, are associated with neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm infants.

Method: We measured rc SO2 on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 15 after birth in 83 preterm infants (<32wks gestational age), and calculated FTOE=(SpO2 -r(c)SO2)/SpO2. Cognitive, motor, neurological, and behavioural outcomes were determined at 2 to 3 years using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (BSID-III), an age-specific neurological examination, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) respectively.

Spontaneous behavior in noise and silence: a possible new measure to assess tinnitus in Guinea pigs.

This study describes two experiments that were conducted in search for a behavioral paradigm to test for tinnitus in guinea pigs. Conditioning paradigms are available to determine the presence of tinnitus in animals and are based on the assumption that tinnitus impairs their ability to detect silent intervals in continuous noise. Guinea pigs have not been subjected to these paradigms yet; therefore, we investigated whether guinea pigs could be conditioned in the two-way shuttle-box paradigm to respond to silent intervals in noise.

Unilateral tinnitus: changes in connectivity and response lateralization measured with FMRI.

Tinnitus is a percept of sound that is not related to an acoustic source outside the body. For many forms of tinnitus, mechanisms in the central nervous system are believed to play a role in the pathology. In this work we specifically assessed possible neural correlates of unilateral tinnitus.

Type 2 diabetes seems not to be a risk factor for the carpal tunnel syndrome: a case control study.

Background: Previous studies have shown that the carpal tunnel syndrome seems to occur more frequently in patients with diabetes mellitus and might be associated with the duration of diabetes mellitus, microvascular complications and degree of glycaemic control. Primary aim was to determine if type 2 diabetes can be identified as a risk factor for carpal tunnel syndrome after adjusting for possible confounders. Furthermore, the influence of duration of diabetes mellitus, microvascular complications and glycaemic control on the development of carpal tunnel syndrome was investigated.

Report of a 7 year case-control study of continuous intraperitoneal insulin infusion and subcutaneous insulin therapy among patients with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes mellitus: favourable effects on hypoglycaemic episodes.

Aims: Continuous intraperitoneal insulin infusion (CIPII) is a last-resort treatment option for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) who fail to reach adequate glycaemic control with subcutaneous (SC) insulin therapy. Aim was to compare the long-term effects of CIPII and SC insulin therapy among patients with T1DM in poor glycaemic control.

Methods: Patients in which CIPII was initiated in 2006 were compared with a control group of T1DM patients who continued SC therapy.

Bilirubin-albumin binding, bilirubin/albumin ratios, and free bilirubin levels: where do we stand?

Treatment for unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia is predominantly based on one parameter, i.e., total serum bilirubin (TSB) levels.

Efficacy of device-guided breathing for hypertension in blinded, randomized, active-controlled trials: a meta-analysis of individual patient data.

Importance: Device-guided breathing (DGB) is recommended by the American Heart Association for its blood pressure-lowering effects. Most previous studies that showed beneficial effects on blood pressure had low methodological quality and only investigated short-term blood pressure effects.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of DGB on blood pressure in a meta-analysis of individual patient data from blinded, randomized controlled trials with an active control group.

Fifteen-year follow-up of quality of life in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Aim: To evaluate metabolic control and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) population.

Methods: As part of a prospective cohort study, 283 T1DM patients treated with various insulin treatment modalities including multiple daily injections (MDI) and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) were examined annually. HRQOL was measured using the SF-36 and EuroQol questionnaires.

Extinction risks and the conservation of Madagascar's reptiles.

Background: An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar's endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island's mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinction risk of endemic and native non-marine Malagasy snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises.

Methodology/principal Findings: Species range maps from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were analysed to determine patterns in the distribution of threatened reptile species.

On-chip microwave photonic beamformer circuits operating with phase modulation and direct detection.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate the working principles of two novel microwave photonic (MWP) beamformer circuits operating with phase modulation (PM) and direct detection (DD). The proposed circuits incorporate two major signal processing functionalities, namely a broadband beamforming network employing ring resonator-based delay lines and an optical sideband manipulator that renders the circuit outputs equivalent to those of intensity-modulated MWP beamformers. These functionalities allow the system to employ low-circuit-complexity modulators and detectors, which brings significant benefits on the system construction cost and operation stability.

Intraperitoneal insulin infusion: treatment option for type 1 diabetes resulting in beneficial endocrine effects beyond glycaemia.

Continuous intraperitoneal insulin infusion (CIPII) is a treatment option for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus who fail to reach adequate glycaemic control despite intensive subcutaneous (SC) insulin therapy. CIPII has clear advantages over SC insulin administration in terms of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties and has been shown to improve glycaemic regulation. Due to the delivery of insulin predominantly in the portal vein, as opposed to systemically, CIPII offers a unique research model to investigate the effects of insulin on endocrine and metabolic parameters in vivo.