Efficacy study comparing a CBT-I developed for shift workers (CBT-I-S) to standard CBT-I (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia) on sleep onset latency, total sleep time, subjective sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness: study protocol for a parallel group randomised controlled trial with online therapy groups of seven sessions each.

Background: Shift workers are at an increased risk of developing sleep disorders. The standard therapy recommended for sleep disorders is cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Many of its interventions are based on a regular sleep and wake rhythm, which is difficult to apply for shift workers.

Higher vitamin B6 status is associated with improved survival among patients with stage I-III colorectal cancer.

Background: Folate-mediated 1-carbon metabolism requires several nutrients, including vitamin B6. Circulating biomarker concentrations indicating high vitamin B6 status are associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, little is known about the effect of B6 status in relation to clinical outcomes in CRC patients.

Circulating Folate and Folic Acid Concentrations: Associations With Colorectal Cancer Recurrence and Survival.

Background: Folates, including folic acid, may play a dual role in colorectal cancer development. Folate is suggested to be protective in early carcinogenesis but could accelerate growth of premalignant lesions or micrometastases. Whether circulating concentrations of folate and folic acid, measured around time of diagnosis, are associated with recurrence and survival in colorectal cancer patients is largely unknown.

Predicting Postoperative Liver Dysfunction Based on Blood-Derived MicroRNA Signatures.

There is an urgent need for an easily assessable preoperative test to predict postoperative liver function recovery and thereby determine the optimal time point of liver resection, specifically as current markers are often expensive, time consuming, and invasive. Emerging evidence suggests that microRNA (miRNA) signatures represent potent diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment-response biomarkers for several diseases. Using next-generation sequencing as an unbiased systematic approach, 554 miRNAs were detected in preoperative plasma of 21 patients suffering from postoperative liver dysfunction (LD) after liver resection and 27 matched controls.

Assessing the TP53 marker type in patients treated with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy for resectable colorectal liver metastases: a p53 Research Group study.

The type of a biomarker - whether it is prognostic or predictive - is frequently not known, although such information is crucial for assessing the clinical value of a marker. In order to evaluate the type of marker TP53 is, we identified a cohort of 76 patients with colorectal liver metastases (CLM), homogeneously staged as resectable, who had been treated either with or without fluorouracil-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The TP53 genotype was assessed retrospectively from paraffin-embedded, diagnostic tumour biopsies using a standardised, p53 gene-specific sequencing protocol (mark53(®) kit).

B cells and ectopic follicular structures: novel players in anti-tumor programming with prognostic power for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Remarkably limited information is available about biological mechanisms that determine the disease entity of metastatic colorectal cancer in the liver (CRCLM) with no good clinical parameters to estimate prognosis. For the last few years, understanding the relationship between tumor characteristics and local immune response has gained increasing attention. Given the multifaceted roles of B-cell-driven responses, we aimed to elucidate the immunological imprint of B lymphocytes at the metastatic site, the interrelation with macrophages, and their prognostic relevance.

[Between growth and isolation--the influence of therapy on the experience and the personality of therapists].

In an online-survey 152 psychotherapists were asked about their subjectively perceived effects of therapeutic practice on personality and experience in private context. Changes were retrospectively measured by changes in subscales of NEO-FFI and BIP and a newly developed scale. The changes were tested for significance and influences by demographic factors.

Preoperative evaluation of colorectal liver metastases: comparison between gadoxetic acid-enhanced 3.0-T MRI and contrast-enhanced MDCT with histopathological correlation.

Objectives: The aim of this prospective study was to compare the diagnostic performance of 64-row MDCT and gadoxetic-acid-enhanced MRI at 3.0 T in patients with colorectal liver metastases in correlation with histopathological findings.

Methods: Lesions detected at MDCT and MRI were interpreted by three blinded readers and compared with histopathological workup as the term of reference.

Comparison of lymphangiogenesis between primary colorectal cancer and corresponding liver metastases.

Background: Liver metastasis (LM) is the determining factor of poor prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). Peripheral lymphatico-venous communications have been discussed as a potential pathway of tumor cell dissemination for the development of LMs. In the current study, we investigated the clinical impact of the lymphangiogenic activity in CRCs and their corresponding LMs.

Surgery for liver metastases originating from sarcoma-case series.

Introduction: Liver metastases originating from various types of sarcoma are a rare reason for hepatic resection. So far, even multicentre studies do hardly provide statistically relevant sample sizes. Thus, review of available data can provide surgeons with useful information in similar cases.

Endo-sponge assisted treatment of anastomotic leakage following colorectal surgery.

Aim: Endo-sponge assisted treatment (endo-sponge) represents a novel approach to treat patients with anastomotic dehiscence following anterior resection for rectal cancer. Yet, limited data are available to predict success, compatibility with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy as well as acceptance by the patients.

Method: Between September 2007 and June 2008, nine patients suffering from anastomotic leakage after anterior rectal resection (n = 6) or suffering from leakage of rectal stump following Hartmann's procedure (n = 3) were treated by endo-sponge.

HB-EGF is a paracrine growth stimulator for early tumor prestages in inflammation-associated hepatocarcinogenesis.

Background/aims: We studied the impact of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) on inflammation-driven hepatocarcinogenesis.

Methods: HB-EGF expression was determined by qRT-PCR and immunodetection in hepatocellular adenoma and carcinoma and in mesenchymal (MC) and parenchymal liver cells obtained from different models of inflammation. The functions of HB-EGF in early hepatocarcinogenesis were assessed in co-cultures of unaltered and initiated/premalignant hepatocytes.

[Multidetector computed tomography of the liver].

Multidetector-row CT (MDCT) scanners have dramatically improved liver imaging. With the newest generation of 40-64 row scanners, true isotropic imaging with a z-axis resolution of 0.3-0.

Tyrenes: synthesis of new antiproliferative compounds with an extended conjugation.

A series of substituted styryl-acrylonitriles was designed and synthesized. The new compounds, called tyrenes, were tested for the ability to inhibit acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) cancer cell growth, as well as on their toxicity to normal bone marrow (NBM) cells. The results showed that 3,4-dihydroxystyryl-acrylonitriles, in particular CR-4, revealed great potency as antitumor agents, and also exhibited low toxicity to normal cells.

Inhibition of acute lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemias by a novel kinase inhibitor.

In recent years, synthetic tyrosine kinase inhibitors have made a rapid transition from basic research to therapeutic application. These compounds represent a major clinical advance in the approach to cancer in their relative specificity of action and decreased toxicity. We report here the effects of a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor CR4 that interferes with growth-promoting pathways to markedly inhibit the growth and survival of both Philadelphia-positive and -negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as well as acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

The EphB6 receptor inhibits JNK activation in T lymphocytes and modulates T cell receptor-mediated responses.

EphB6 is the most recently identified member of the Eph receptor tyrosine kinase family. EphB6 is primarily expressed in thymocytes and a subpopulation of T cells, suggesting that it may be involved in regulation of T lymphocyte differentiation and functions. We show here that overexpression of EphB6 in Jurkat T cells and stimulation with the EphB6 ligand, ephrin-B1, results in the selective inhibition of TCR-mediated activation of JNK but not the MAPK pathway.

Use of absorbable mesh in the treatment of parenchymal liver injuries during orthotopic liver transplantation.

Objective: To find out whether packing or wrapping with polyglactin 910 mesh was more effective in stopping bleeding in livers that had been damaged during transplantation.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University hospital, Austria.

Different transendothelial migration behaviour pattern of blood monocytes derived from patients with benign and malignant diseases of the breast.

Background: In this study we compared the expression of selected monocyte surface antigens with the potential to transmigrate through an endothelial layer before and after surgery from breast cancer patients (CA) and patients with benign disease of the breast (BE).

Materials And Methods: Transmigration capacity of mononuclear cells was determined after isolation by Ficoll density gradient, layered over human umbilical vein endothelial cells and cultured in a two chamber plate added with fMLP as a chemotactic stimulus. We determined monocyte phenotye (HLA-DR, FcgRI/CD64, CR1/CD11b and LFA-1/CD11a) and the phagocytosis of E.

Parenchymal liver injury in orthotopic liver transplantation.

Background: A 35-year period of clinical development resulted in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) becoming a standardized surgical procedure. Despite this progress, the rate of technical complications is still high. Although the main problem in most analyses is vascular or bile duct failure, we observed a remarkable number of parenchymal liver injuries that led to intraoperative problems.

Improvement of cardiac output and liver blood flow and reduction of pulmonary vascular resistance by intravenous infusion of L-arginine during the early reperfusion period in pig liver transplantation.

Background: The release of liver arginase after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) causes a deficiency of L-arginine and nitrite in the plasma. This deficiency is possibly related to pulmonary hypertension and reduced hepatic blood flow, which are commonly observed in the immediate reperfusion period. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of L-arginine supplementation on metabolic and hemodynamic parameters during liver reperfusion after OLT in pigs.

Late ureteral obstruction after kidney transplantation. Fibrotic answer to previous rejection?

Today, the incidence of urological complications following renal transplantation is 2%-10%. Most of these complications occur within the 1st year and affect the distal ureter. We report on two patients who developed very late ureteral obstruction, 14 and 18 years after transplantation.

Patterns of hematopoietic lineage involvement in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 and malignant myeloid disorders.

Children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) are at increased risk of developing malignant myeloid disorders, particularly juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia/juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JCML/JMML). We investigated bone marrows from 11 such patients (8 boys and 3 girls) and detected allelic losses at the NF1 locus in 4 of them and probable losses in 2 others. To determine which hematopoietic cell lineages were derived from the abnormal clones, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed cell lines and CD34+ cells were analyzed from 3 children with JCML with allelic losses in unfractionated marrow.