Biodegradable and flexible arterial-pulse sensor for the wireless monitoring of blood flow.

The ability to monitor blood flow is critical to patient recovery and patient outcomes after complex reconstructive surgeries. Clinically available wired implantable monitoring technology requires careful fixation for accurate detection and needs to be removed after use. Here, we report the design of a pressure sensor, made entirely of biodegradable materials and based on fringe-field capacitor technology, for measuring arterial blood flow in both contact and non-contact modes.

Conditioning with busulfan plus melphalan versus melphalan alone before autologous haemopoietic cell transplantation for multiple myeloma: an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial.

Background: Retrospective studies suggest that conditioning therapy with busulfan plus melphalan could result in longer progression-free survival compared with melphalan alone in patients with multiple myeloma undergoing autologous haemopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT). We aimed to test this hypothesis in a randomised trial.

Methods: The primary objective of the study was to compare progression-free survival with conditioning of busulfan plus melphalan with melphalan alone in patients with multiple myeloma.

Adaptation and Implementation of a Mobile Phone-Based Remote Symptom Monitoring System for People With Cancer in Europe.

Background: There has been an international shift in health care, which has seen an increasing focus and development of technological and personalized at-home interventions that aim to improve health outcomes and patient-clinician communication. However, there is a notable lack of empirical evidence describing the preparatory steps of adapting and implementing technology of this kind across multiple countries and clinical settings.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the steps undertaken in the preparation of a multinational, multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test a mobile phone-based remote symptom monitoring system, that is, Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS), designed to enhance management of chemotherapy toxicities among people with cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy versus standard cancer center care.

Identifying generalized anxiety disorder using resting state habenular circuitry.

Studies identify the habenula as a key subcortical component in anxiety, with a role in predicting error coding within the evaluative system. However, no clinical reports of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) describe resting state functional connectivity of habenular circuits. We hypothesized that resting-state functional connectivities of habenula would show differences in neuroanatomical correlates of the evaluative system (prefrontal cortex, habenula) of patients with GAD.

Quality of Randomized Controlled Trials for Surgical Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

Background: Randomized controlled trials are considered the gold standard in evidence-based medicine. The authors conducted a systematic review to evaluate the quantity, quality, and trends of randomized controlled trials that assess surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Methods: The authors identified randomized controlled trials comparing two or more surgical interventions for carpal tunnel syndrome in PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Clinicaltrials.

Dilated cardiomyopathy in 151 Irish Wolfhounds: Characteristic clinical findings, life expectancy and causes of death.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is an important cause of morbidity in Irish Wolfhounds (IW), a breed also predisposed to neoplastic and orthopedic diseases that shorten life expectancy. The objective of this study was to investigate survival and causes of death in IW with DCM and to characterise the clinical findings of DCM over time. Data from cardiovascular examinations performed in 1591 IW, including echocardiography and electrocardiography, were retrospectively evaluated.

The role of rumination in adjusting to termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality: Rumination as a predictor and mediator of posttraumatic growth.

Objective: Rumination is important in adjusting to traumatic events. Evidence suggests that deliberate rumination predicts posttraumatic growth (PTG), and mediates the relationship between coping and PTG. This study examined the relationship between rumination and psychological adjustment following pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality (TFA).

Demonstrating the feasibility of collecting secondary, de-identified data on Australian patients receiving treatment as part of a Medicine Access Programme.

Background: In Australia, data generated from the carefully selected, treated and monitored patients enrolled in clinical trials largely inform routine care and funding approvals. Medicine Access Programmes (MAP) enable drug access and while potentially a rich source of data, historically have not collected data beyond a participant list.

Aims: To explore the feasibility of using MAP to identify patient populations for inclusion in non-interventional studies.

Effect of Targeted Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy on Canine Postoperative Hemilaminectomy: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Intervertebral disc disease is one of the leading causes of paralysis in dogs. Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy has been advocated for improving wound healing and pain reduction; however, robust clinical trials are lacking. The present prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated targeted PEMF therapy administered to 53 client-owned dogs who underwent hemilaminectomy for naturally occurring disk extrusion intervertebral disc disease.

Augmentation of chronic rotator cuff healing using adipose-derived stem cell-seeded human tendon-derived hydrogel.

Rotator cuff (RTC) repair outcomes are unsatisfactory due to the poor healing capacity of the tendon bone interface (TBI). In our preceding study, tendon hydrogel (tHG), which is a type I collagen rich gel derived from human tendons, improved biomechanical properties of the TBI in a rat chronic RTC injury model. Here we investigated whether adipose-derived stem cell (ASC)-seeded tHG injection at the repair site would further improve RTC healing.

Multimodal Parcellations and Extensive Behavioral Profiling Tackling the Hippocampus Gradient.

The hippocampus displays a complex organization and function that is perturbed in many neuropathologies. Histological work revealed a complex arrangement of subfields along the medial-lateral and the ventral-dorsal dimension, which contrasts with the anterior-posterior functional differentiation. The variety of maps has raised the need for an integrative multimodal view.

Comparison of closed root planing with versus without concurrent doxycycline hyclate or clindamycin hydrochloride gel application for the treatment of periodontal disease in dogs.

OBJECTIVE To compare improvements in values for periodontal disease indices in dogs following treatment with closed root planing (CRP) alone, CRP with concurrent 8.5% doxycycline hyclate gel application, and CRP with concurrent 2% clindamycin hydrochloride reverse-polymer hydrogel application. DESIGN Randomized, blinded, controlled clinical trial.

Recent cocaine use and the incidence of hemodynamic events during general anesthesia: A retrospective cohort study.

Study Objective: To evaluate the intraoperative hemodynamics and medication requirements of cocaine-positive patients compared to matched cocaine-negative controls.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Public county hospital.

The influence of morbid obesity on difficult intubation and difficult mask ventilation.

Purpose: To determine the influence of morbid obesity on the incidence of difficult mask ventilation and difficult intubation.

Methods: Over a 6-year period, all tracheal intubations in the operating room of a large tertiary teaching hospital were analyzed. A modified version of the intubation difficulty scale (mIDS) was used to define easy versus difficult intubation, where a score of two or greater was defined as difficult intubation.

Multisite Phosphorylation of S6K1 Directs a Kinase Phospho-code that Determines Substrate Selection.

Multisite phosphorylation of kinases can induce on-off or graded regulation of catalytic activity; however, its influence on substrate specificity remains unclear. Here, we show that multisite phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) alters target selection. Agonist-inducible phosphorylation of glutamyl-prolyl tRNA synthetase (EPRS) by S6K1 in monocytes and adipocytes requires not only canonical phosphorylation at Thr by mTORC1 but also phosphorylation at Ser and Ser in the C terminus by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5).

Learning from data to predict future symptoms of oncology patients.

Effective symptom management is a critical component of cancer treatment. Computational tools that predict the course and severity of these symptoms have the potential to assist oncology clinicians to personalize the patient's treatment regimen more efficiently and provide more aggressive and timely interventions. Three common and inter-related symptoms in cancer patients are depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.

Structural imaging biomarkers for bipolar disorder: Meta-analyses of whole-brain voxel-based morphometry studies.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common and destructive psychiatric illness worldwide. Although it is known that BD is associated with morphological abnormalities of the brain, the regions implicated in BD remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to update current knowledge on potential structural imaging biomarkers of BD.

Gray matter changes in panic disorder: A voxel-based meta-analysis and meta-analytic connectivity modeling.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of panic disorder (PD) have discovered various damaged brain regions, with heterogeneous results across studies. The present study used meta-analytic approaches to discover gray matter (GM) changes consistently detected in PD and to characterize the functional and connectivity profiles of these regions. In the present study we first conducted an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of eight eligible whole-brain VBM studies.

Metabolic origin of the fused aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA synthetase.

About 1 billion years ago, in a single-celled holozoan ancestor of all animals, a gene fusion of two tRNA synthetases formed the bifunctional enzyme, glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA synthetase (EPRS). We propose here that a confluence of metabolic, biochemical, and environmental factors contributed to the specific fusion of glutamyl- (ERS) and prolyl- (PRS) tRNA synthetases. To test this idea, we developed a mathematical model that centers on the precursor-product relationship of glutamic acid and proline, as well as metabolic constraints on free glutamic acid availability near the time of the fusion event.

Functional Tests of Leg Muscle Strength and Power in Adults With Cystic Fibrosis.

Background: Muscle weakness is an important systemic consequence in adults with cystic fibrosis, but it can be challenging to evaluate clinically. This study examined the validity of lower-extremity functional tests to assess quadriceps muscle strength and muscle power.

Methods: The subjects underwent 4 functional tests: 30-s sit-to-stand test, stair-climb power test, vertical jump height, and triple hop distance.

The alteration landscape of the cerebral cortex.

Growing evidence is challenging the assumption that brain disorders are diagnostically clear-cut categories. Transdiagnostic studies show that a set of cerebral areas is frequently altered in a variety of psychiatric as well as neurological syndromes. In order to provide a map of the altered areas in the pathological brain we devised a metric, called alteration entropy (A-entropy), capable of denoting the "structural alteration variety" of an altered region.