Real-World Safety and Effectiveness After 5 Years of Dimethyl Fumarate Treatment in Black and Hispanic Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in ESTEEM.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials have included low numbers of patients from racial and ethnic minority populations; therefore, it is uncertain whether differences exist in response to disease-modifying therapies. We evaluated the real-world safety and effectiveness of dimethyl fumarate (DMF) treatment over 5 years in four patient cohorts: Black, non-Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic people with relapsing-remitting MS.

Methods: ESTEEM is an ongoing, 5-year, multinational, prospective study evaluating the long-term safety and effectiveness of DMF in people with MS.

The association between anthropometric factors and anti-Müllerian hormone levels in premenopausal women.

Adiposity has been associated with several health conditions as well as timing of menopause. Prior epidemiologic studies on the association of adiposity and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) have been inconsistent. We evaluated the relations of anthropometric measures with AMH at two time periods in a subset of premenopausal participants in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Anti-Müllerian hormone levels and breast cancer risk in the study of women's health across the nation.

Purpose: The relation of premenopausal anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels with breast cancer risk has been evaluated in a few studies, but primarily in non-Hispanic White women.

Methods: We evaluated the association of AMH levels with breast cancer risk in Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multi-ethnic cohort of women. At enrollment, participants had an intact uterus and ≥ 1 ovary, and ≥ 1 menstrual period in the last 3 months.

The association of parity and breastfeeding with anti-Müllerian hormone levels at two time points.

Objective: To evaluate the association between parity and breastfeeding and anti-Müllerian hormone levels (AMH) and change in AMH levels over time. Furthermore, we examined whether AMH levels mediate the relation of parity and breastfeeding with age at menopause.

Study Design: Observational, prospective cohort study.

Urinary Phthalate Biomarkers and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women.

Context: Phthalates are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that could disrupt normal physiologic function, triggering detrimental impacts on bone.

Objective: We evaluated associations between urinary phthalate biomarkers and BMD in postmenopausal women participating in the prospective Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

Methods: We included WHI participants enrolled in the BMD substudy and selected for a nested case-control study of phthalates and breast cancer (N = 1255).

IN SITU MASS SPECTROMETERS FOR APPLICATIONS IN SPACE.

Mass spectrometry (MS) has played a remarkable role in exploring the chemical make-up of our solar system. In situ probes were historically developed to analyze inorganic/elemental compositions while leveraging native ions or harsh ionization methods to aid in exploring astrophysics applications (e.g.

Enabling Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry Separation of Fentanyl-Related Compounds Using Controlled Humidity.

Due to the widespread abuse of opioids in recent years, the development of quick and reliable methods for analyzing compounds such as fentanyl and its derivatives is increasingly important. Ahead of online mass spectrometric analysis, field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) has previously been used for rapid ion prefiltering and demonstrated significantly improved peak capacity with the addition of vapor modifiers to the carrier gas. The application of FAIMS-mass spectrometry (MS) in the analysis of fentanyl and related compounds is presented herein with the use of a water vapor modifier.

Lymph node dissection during nephroureterectomy: Establishing the existing evidence based on a review of the literature.

: To determine the role of lymph node dissection (LND) in the treatment of upper tract transitional cell carcinoma (UTTCC), as the role of LND along with nephroureterectomy in treating UTTCC is unclear and several retrospective studies have been published on this topic with conflicting results. : The Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), the Excerpta Medica dataBASE (EMBASE), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials database (CENTRAL), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Clinicaltrials.gov, Google Scholar, and individual urological journals, were searched for all studies investigating the role of LND in the treatment of UTTCC.

Nicotine Acts on Cholinergic Signaling Mechanisms to Directly Modulate Choroid Plexus Function.

Neuronal cholinergic circuits have been implicated in cognitive function and neurological disease, but the role of cholinergic signaling in other cellular populations within the brain has not been as fully defined. Here, we show that cholinergic signaling mechanisms are involved in mediating the function of the choroid plexus, the brain structure responsible for generating CSF and releasing various factors into the brain. The choroid plexus was found to express markers of endogenous cholinergic signaling, including multiple nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes in a region-specific manner, and application of nicotine was found to induce cellular activation, as evidenced by calcium influx in primary tissue.

Distal Ureter Management During Nephroureterectomy: Evidence from a Systematic Review and Cumulative Analysis.

Introduction And Objectives: Standard of care in upper tract urothelial cancer is nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff excision (BCE). However, alternative techniques such as transurethral incision/resection have been used to simplify distal ureterectomy. The optimum strategy is unclear, and current guidelines do not specify a gold standard technique.

Renal and Ureteric Stone Composition: A five year retrospective study for Northern Ireland.

Introduction: The study aimed to present the types of renal and ureteric stones (calculi) present in the population of Northern Ireland. The data may help in future planning treatment of stone services, patient education and prevention.

Methods: Consecutive retrospective renal and ureteric stones analysed over 5.

The role of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic indicator in patients undergoing nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.

Introduction: Prognosis in patients with cancer is influenced by underlying tumour biology and also the host inflammatory response to the disease. There is limited evidence to suggest that an elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) predicts a poorer prognosis in patients undergoing nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The aim of this paper is to investigate if patients undergoing nephrectomy for RCC with NLR ≤4 have a better overall and recurrence-free survival than patients with NLR >4.

Altered Baseline and Nicotine-Mediated Behavioral and Cholinergic Profiles in ChAT-Cre Mouse Lines.

The recent development of transgenic rodent lines expressing cre recombinase in a cell-specific manner, along with advances in engineered viral vectors, has permitted in-depth investigations into circuit function. However, emerging evidence has begun to suggest that genetic modifications may introduce unexpected caveats. In the current studies, we sought to extensively characterize male and female mice from both the ChAT-Cre mouse line, created with the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) method, and ChAT-Cre mouse line, generated with the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) method.

Anomalous biliary and vascular anatomy-Potential pitfalls during cholecystectomy.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is usually a low-risk procedure associated with a short stay and a low rate of conversion to open surgery. Complications are sometimes associated with anomalous vascular or biliary anatomy. Outlined below are the variations in vascular and biliary anatomy which may result in complications either due to involvement in the inflammatory process or inadvertent division during dissection.

Targeted Doxorubicin Delivery to Brain Tumors via Minicells: Proof of Principle Using Dogs with Spontaneously Occurring Tumors as a Model.

Background: Cytotoxic chemotherapy can be very effective for the treatment of cancer but toxicity on normal tissues often limits patient tolerance and often causes long-term adverse effects. The objective of this study was to assist in the preclinical development of using modified, non-living bacterially-derived minicells to deliver the potent chemotherapeutic doxorubicin via epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeting. Specifically, this study sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of EGFR targeted, doxorubicin loaded minicells (designated EGFRminicellsDox) to deliver doxorubicin to spontaneous brain tumors in 17 companion dogs; a comparative oncology model of human brain cancers.

A Systematic Review of the Prognostic Role of Hematologic Scoring Systems in Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma Undergoing Nephrectomy With Curative Intent.

The objective is to evaluate the prognostic benefit of the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and Prognostic Nutrition Index (PNI) in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma undergoing nephrectomy with curative intent. Embase and MEDLINE databases were searched for all publications before April 2015. Duplicates were excluded, and inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied to all abstracts; of those remaining, full articles were obtained and inclusion/exclusion criteria were again applied, and the remaining articles were included and critically appraised.

Inflammatory response related scoring systems in assessing the prognosis of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a systematic review.

Background: Various scoring systems based on assessment of the systemic inflammatory response help assessing the prognosis of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In the present systematic review we evaluated the validity of four pre-intervention scoring systems: Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) and its modified version (mGPS), platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and prognostic nutrition index (PNI).

Data Sources: MOOSE guidelines were followed and EMBASE and MEDLINE databases were searched for all published studies until September 2013 using comprehensive text word and MeSH terms.

The role of hepatectomy in the management of metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma: a systematic review.

Background: Gastric cancer has a high mortality, with many patients presenting with advanced disease. Many patients who undergo curative gastrectomy will subsequently develop metastatic disease. Hepatectomy has an established place in treating metastases from a variety of cancers but its role in gastric cancer is not clear.

A systematic review of the role of hepatectomy in the management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Aim: This review sought to systematically appraise the literature to establish the role of hepatectomy in treating renal cell carcinoma hepatic metastases.

Method: Medline and EMBASE were systematically searched for papers reporting survival of patients who underwent hepatectomy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Results: Six studies containing 140 patients were included.

Effect of specialist decision-making on treatment strategies for colorectal liver metastases.

Background: One hundred and ten patients were treated with palliative chemotherapy, of whom 53 had liver-only disease and had not been reviewed by a specialist liver surgeon. One scan was excluded as all reviewers felt it to be of insufficient quality to assess. Improved surgical technique and better chemotherapeutic manipulation of metastatic disease has increased the number of patients eligible for potentially curative resection of colorectal liver metastases.

Decision time and perseveration of adolescent rats in the T-maze are affected differentially by buspirone and independent of 5-HT-1A expression.

Disruption of spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) by the serotonin 1A (5-HT-1A) receptor agonist, 8-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetraline (8-OH-DPAT), results in repetitive behaviors that have been used to model the perseveration and indecisiveness of human obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In the present study, we compared the effects of buspirone to those of 8-OH-DPAT in two strains of adolescent rats and analyzed repetitive choices of arms of the maze and prolonged apparent decision time due to induction of vicarious trial and error (VTE) behavior. In adolescent Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, 8-OH-DPAT induced repetitive choices of arms of the maze (perseveration) and increased the apparent decision time.