Effects of a Preoperative Psychological Expectation-focused Intervention in Patients Undergoing Valvular Surgery - the Randomized Controlled ValvEx (valve patients' expectations) Study.

Background: Many patients experience a reduced quality of life for months after heart surgery. Besides medical factors, psychological factors such as preoperative expectations influence the recovery process. The ValvEx study investigated whether an expectation-focused preoperative intervention before heart valve surgery would i) increase positive realistic expectations, ii) reduce preoperative anxiety and iii) improve the postoperative recovery process.

A longitudinal single-cell atlas of anti-tumour necrosis factor treatment in inflammatory bowel disease.

Precision medicine in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) requires a cellular understanding of treatment response. We describe a therapeutic atlas for Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) following adalimumab, an anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment. We generated ~1 million single-cell transcriptomes, organised into 109 cell states, from 216 gut biopsies (41 subjects), revealing disease-specific differences.

Risk Factors for Postoperative Major Morbidity, Anastomotic Leakage, Re-Surgery and Mortality in Patients with Colonic Perforation.

: This study aimed to determine the risk factors associated with postoperative major morbidity, anastomotic/suture leakage, re-surgery and mortality in patients undergoing emergency surgery for colonic perforation. : A total of 204 adult patients treated surgically for colonic perforation from 2016 to 2021 at the University Hospital Erlangen were included in a retrospective analysis. Patient demographics and pre-, intra- and postoperative parameters were obtained and evaluated among various outcome groups (in-hospital major morbidity, anastomotic/suture leakage, re-surgery and 90-day mortality).

Undetectable PSA predicts outcome after salvage radiotherapy for biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy.

Background And Purpose: Salvage radiotherapy (SRT) is a curative treatment option in patients with biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP). Undetectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA) < 0.1 ng/mL following SRT predicts biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS).

Cochlear Implant Stimulation Parameters Play a Key Role in Reducing Facial Nerve Stimulation.

A percentage (i.e., 5.

Modular training model for education of students in restorative and prosthodontic dentistry.

Introduction: At the moment, no commercial model solution is available for the individualisation of the dentition depending on the clinical case scenario. Furthermore, the realistic training of most restorative and prosthodontic procedures on a single dental study model is not possible. The aim of this study was the creation of a new training model to fill this gap.

Opportunities for High-plex Spatial Transcriptomics in Solid Organ Transplantation.

The last 5 y have seen the development and widespread adoption of high-plex spatial transcriptomic technology. This technique detects and quantifies mRNA transcripts in situ, meaning that transcriptomic signatures can be sampled from specific cells, structures, lesions, or anatomical regions while conserving the physical relationships that exist within complex tissues. These methods now frequently implement next-generation sequencing, enabling the simultaneous measurement of many targets, up to and including the whole mRNA transcriptome.

Preoperative optimization of cardiac valve patients' expectations: Study protocol of the randomized controlled ValvEx-trial.

Introduction: Complete recovery after surgery depends on psychological factors such as preoperative information, expectations, and surgery-associated anxiety. Prior studies have shown that even a short preoperative psychological intervention aiming at optimized expectations (EXPECT) can improve postoperative outcomes in coronary artery bypass patients. However, this intervention may benefit only a small subgroup of heart surgery patients since implementing preoperative psychological interventions into the daily clinical routine is difficult due to the additional time and appointments.

Auditory rehabilitation after temporal bone fracture with cochlear implants - a case control study.

Objectives: Temporal bone fracture can cause posttraumatic deafness. Sequelae like ossification or obliteration of the cochlea can impact the outcome of cochlear implantation. This study highlights the effect of localisation of the fracture to morphologic, electric and functional criteria.

Endothelial PlexinD1 signaling instructs spinal cord vascularization and motor neuron development.

How the vascular and neural compartment cooperate to achieve such a complex and highly specialized structure as the central nervous system is still unclear. Here, we reveal a crosstalk between motor neurons (MNs) and endothelial cells (ECs), necessary for the coordinated development of MNs. By analyzing cell-to-cell interaction profiles of the mouse developing spinal cord, we uncovered semaphorin 3C (Sema3C) and PlexinD1 as a communication axis between MNs and ECs.

Biallelic TLR4 deficiency in humans.

Background: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) mediate functions for host defense and inflammatory responses. TLR4 recognizes LPS, a component of gram-negative bacteria as well as host-derived endogenous ligands such as S100A8 and S100A9 proteins.

Objective: We sought to report phenotype and cellular function of individuals with complete TLR4 deficiency.

The Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) network nested case-cohort study protocol: a multi-omics approach to understanding mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

: Many acutely ill children in low- and middle-income settings have a high risk of mortality both during and after hospitalisation despite guideline-based care. Understanding the biological mechanisms underpinning mortality may suggest optimal pathways to target for interventions to further reduce mortality. The Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Network ( www.

Pathogenic Interleukin-10 Receptor Alpha Variants in Humans - Balancing Natural Selection and Clinical Implications.

Balancing natural selection is a process by which genetic variants arise in populations that are beneficial to heterozygous carriers, but pathogenic when homozygous. We systematically investigated the prevalence, structural, and functional consequences of pathogenic IL10RA variants that are associated with monogenic inflammatory bowel disease. We identify 36 non-synonymous and non-sense variants in the IL10RA gene.

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 1 causes impaired anti-microbial immunity and inflammation due to dysregulated immunometabolism.

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) types 1 and 4 are caused by defective vesicle trafficking. The mechanism for Crohn's disease-like inflammation, lung fibrosis, and macrophage lipid accumulation in these patients remains enigmatic. The aim of this study is to understand the cellular basis of inflammation in HPS-1.

Cochlear Implantation in Obliterated Cochlea: A Retrospective Analysis and Comparison between the IES Stiff Custom-Made Device and the Split-Array and Regular Electrodes.

Anatomical malformations, obliterations of the cochlea, or re-implantations pose particular challenges in cochlear implantation. Treatment methods rely on radiological and intraoperative findings and include incomplete insertion, the implantation of a double array, and radical cochleostomy. In addition, a stiff electrode array, e.

Negative Affect and Problematic Binge-Watching: The Mediating Role of Unconstructive Ruminative Thinking Style.

The practice of binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of TV series in one session) has become increasingly prevalent, but comprehending its nature and potential underlying factors has been challenging.

Pre-surgery optimization of patients' expectations to improve outcome in heart surgery: Study protocol of the randomized controlled multi-center PSY-HEART-II trial.

The PSY-HEART-I trial indicated that a brief expectation-focused intervention prior to heart surgery improves disability and quality of life 6 months after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). However, to investigate the clinical utility of such an intervention, a large multi-center trial is needed to generalize the results and their implications for the health care system. The PSY-HEART-II study aims to examine whether a preoperative psychological intervention targeting patients' expectations (EXPECT) can improve outcomes 6 months after CABG (with or without heart valve replacement).

Self-Stigma Among People With Mental Health Problems in Terms of Warmth and Competence.

Introduction: Self-stigma arising from public stigma is a heavy burden for people suffering from mental health problems. Both public stigma and self-stigma encompass the same three elements: stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. Public stigma has already been successfully explored by the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and the Behaviors from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes (BIAS) map.

Advanced Bionics HiRes Ultra and Ultra 3D Series Cochlear Implant Recall: Time Course of Anomalies.

Objectives: To estimate median survival time until the appearance of anomalies indicating a potential implant failure associated with fluid ingress in implanted cochlear implant (CI) devices of the initial version of Advanced Bionics HiRes Ultra and HiRes Ultra 3D series.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Methods: Cochlear implantation was performed in a standard fashion.

ARTFit-A Quick and Reliable Tool for Performing Initial Fittings in Users of MED-EL Cochlear Implants.

This study assessed the safety and performance of ARTFit, a new tool embedded in MAESTRO, the cochlear implant (CI) system software by MED-EL GmbH (Innsbruck, Austria). ARTFit automatically measures thresholds of the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) to produce initial 'maps' (ECAPMAPs), i.e.

Facial nerve stimulation in cochlear implant users - a matter of stimulus parameters?

Objectives: To describe the influence of stimulus parameters on aberrant facial nerve stimulation in cochlear implant users.

Methods: Retrospective case series (three ears - two patients). Cochlear implant patients with severe facial nerve stimulation and degraded speech comprehension who underwent re-implantation with Neuro Zti EVO (Oticon Medical).

Cochlea implantation in patients with superficial hemosiderosis.

Introduction: Superficial hemosiderosis is a sub-form of hemosiderosis in which the deposits of hemosiderin in the central nervous system damage the nerve cells. This form of siderosis is caused by chronic cerebral hemorrhages, especially subarachnoid hemorrhages. The diversity of symptoms depends on the respective damage to the brain, but in most of the cases it shows up as incipient unilateral or bilateral hearing loss, ataxia and signs of pyramidal tracts.

Optimized SNR-based ECAP threshold determination is comparable to the judgement of human evaluators.

In cochlear implant (CI) users, measurements of electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) prove the functionality of the neuron-electrode interface. Objective measures, e.g.

First-in-human intracochlear application of human stromal cell-derived extracellular vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from the secretome of human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) contain numerous factors that are known to exert anti-inflammatory effects. MSC-EVs may serve as promising cell-based therapeutics for the inner ear to attenuate inflammation-based side effects from cochlear implantation which represents an unmet clinical need. In an individual treatment performed on a 'named patient basis', we intraoperatively applied allogeneic umbilical cord-derived MSC-EVs (UC-MSC-EVs) produced according to good manufacturing practice.

Correlation of Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potential Amplitude Growth Function Slope and Anamnestic Parameters in Cochlear Implant Patients-Identification of Predictors for the Neuronal Health Status.

Cochlear implants (CI) are the treatment of choice in profoundly deaf patients. Measuring the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) has become an important tool for verifying the function of the spiral ganglion neurons (SGN), which are the target cells of the CI stimulation. ECAP measurement is only possible after electrode insertion.