Predictors and reproducibility of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in cold air.

Background: Physical activity is an important part of life, and hence exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) can reduce the quality of life. A standardized test is needed to diagnose EIB. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) guidelines recommend an exercise challenge in combination with dry air.

Efficacy and safety of direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C in the elderly: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background&aims: Since the introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) several studies have reported high efficacy and safety in Hepatitis C infected patients, even in those earlier considered difficult-to-treat. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of DAA therapy in elderly patients.

Methods: The PubMed MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched through July 2018.

Two-Loop Five-Point Amplitude in N=4 Super-Yang-Mills Theory.

We compute the symbol of the two-loop five-point scattering amplitude in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, including its full color dependence. This requires constructing the symbol of all two-loop five-point nonplanar massless master integrals, for which we give explicit results.

Human children but not chimpanzees make irrational decisions driven by social comparison.

Human evolutionary success is often argued to be rooted in specialized social skills and motivations that result in more prosocial, rational and cooperative decisions. One manifestation of human ultra-sociality is the tendency to engage in social comparison. While social comparison studies typically focus on cooperative behaviour and emphasize concern for fairness and equality, here we investigate the competitive dimension of social comparison: a preference for getting more than others, expressed in a willingness to maximize relative payoff at the cost of absolute payoff.

An investigation of children's strategies for overcoming the tragedy of the commons.

Common-pool resource (CPR) dilemmas are pervasive challenges to overcome. We presented six-year-old children with an experimental CPR paradigm involving a renewable water resource, which children could collect to win individual rewards. To maximize water collection, children had to wait for water to accumulate, without collapsing the resource.

Intestinal failure-associated liver disease in patients with short bowel syndrome: Evaluation by transient elastography.

Objective: Patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) receiving long-term parenteral nutrition (PN) are at risk for intestinal failure-associated liver disease (IFALD). The aim of the present study was to evaluate dynamic changes of liver fibrosis and steatosis within 12 mo by transient elastography (TE), including controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) in a cohort of patients with SBS receiving long-term PN.

Methods: Twenty-five adult patients with SBS and PN requirement for ≥3 mo consecutively were included and prospectively followed.

Impact of regular magnetic resonance imaging follow-up after stereotactic radiotherapy to the surgical cavity in patients with one to three brain metastases.

Background: Administering stereotactic radiotherapy to the surgical cavity and thus omitting postoperative whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) is a favored strategy in limited metastatic brain disease. Little is known about the impact of regular magnetic resonance imaging follow-up (MRI FU) in such patient cohorts. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of regular MRI FU and to report the oncological outcomes of patients with one to three brain metastases (BMs) treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or hypo-fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (HFSRT) to the surgical cavity.

Standardisation and consensus guidelines for minimal residual disease assessment in Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph + ALL) by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR of e1a2 BCR-ABL1.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) is a powerful prognostic factor in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is used for patient stratification and treatment decisions, but its precise role in Philadelphia chromosome positive ALL is less clear. This uncertainty results largely from methodological differences relating to the use of real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) to measure BCR-ABL1 transcript levels for MRD analysis. We here describe the first results by the EURO-MRD consortium on standardization of qRT-PCR for the e1a2 BCR-ABL1 transcript in Ph + ALL, designed to overcome the lack of standardisation of laboratory procedures and data interpretation.

Downregulation of SPTAN1 is related to MLH1 deficiency and metastasis in colorectal cancer.

Introduction: Colorectal cancers (CRCs) deficient in the DNA mismatch repair protein MutL homolog 1 (MLH1) display distinct clinicopathological features and require a different therapeutic approach compared to CRCs with MLH1 proficiency. However, the molecular basis of this fundamental difference remains elusive. Here, we report that MLH1-deficient CRCs exhibit reduced levels of the cytoskeletal scaffolding protein non-erythroid spectrin αII (SPTAN1), and that tumor progression and metastasis of CRCs correlate with SPTAN1 levels.

Acute Effects of Resistance Exercise on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review with Multilevel Meta-Analysis.

Background: Recent research has revealed a beneficial impact of chronic resistance exercise (RE) on brain function. However, it is unclear as to whether RE is also effective in an acute setting.

Objective: To investigate the immediate effects of a single RE session on cognitive performance in healthy adults.

The Development of Prosocial Attention Across Two Cultures.

Despite the significance of prosocial attention for understanding variability in children's prosociality little is known about its expression beyond infancy and outside the Western cultural context. In the current study we asked whether children's sensitivity to others' needs varies across ages and between a Western and Non-Western cultural group. We carried out a cross-cultural and cross-sectional eye tracking study in Kenya ( = 128) and Germany ( = 83) with children between the ages of 3 to 9 years old.

Advanced Hepatitis C Virus Replication PDE Models within a Realistic Intracellular Geometric Environment.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication cycle is a dynamic intracellular process occurring in three-dimensional space (3D), which is difficult both to capture experimentally and to visualize conceptually. HCV-generated replication factories are housed within virus-induced intracellular structures termed membranous webs (MW), which are derived from the Endoplasmatic Reticulum (ER). Recently, we published 3D spatiotemporal resolved diffusion⁻reaction models of the HCV RNA replication cycle by means of surface partial differential equation (sPDE) descriptions.

Signal variance-based collateral index in DSC perfusion: A novel method to assess leptomeningeal collateralization in acute ischaemic stroke.

As a determinant of the progression rate of the ischaemic process in acute large-vessel stroke, the degree of collateralization is a strong predictor of the clinical outcome after reperfusion therapy and may influence clinical decision-making. Therefore, the assessment of leptomeningeal collateralization is of major importance. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a quantitative and observer-independent method for assessing leptomeningeal collateralization in acute large-vessel stroke based on signal variance characteristics in T2*-weighted dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion-weighted MR imaging (PWI).

Whole-ventricular irradiation for intracranial germ cell tumors: Dosimetric comparison of pencil beam scanned protons, intensity-modulated radiotherapy and volumetric-modulated arc therapy.

Background: Whole-ventricular radiotherapy (WV-RT) followed by a boost to the tumor bed (WV-RT/TB) is recommended for intracranial germ cell tumors (IGCT). As the critical brain areas are mainly in the target volume vicinity, it is unclear if protons indeed substantially spare neurofunctional organs at risk (NOAR). Therefore, a dosimetric comparison study of WV-RT/TB was conducted to assess whether proton or photon radiotherapy achieves better NOAR sparing.

Feasibility and reproducibility of liver and pancreatic stiffness in patients with alcohol-related liver disease.

Background: To date no studies evaluated liver stiffness and pancreatic stiffness by shear-wave elastography, in alcoholic liver disease setting.

Aims: To assess feasibility and reproducibility of Shear-wave elastrography in measuring liver and pancreatic stiffness in alcoholic liver disease and investigate the correlation among liver and pancreatic stiffness and clinical data.

Methods: Liver and pancreatic stiffness were measured by elastography (2 examiners) in patients with alcoholic liver disease and in healthy volunteers, for reference values.

Serum Hepcidin and GDF-15 levels as prognostic markers in urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract and renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Cancer is a life-threatening disease that causes every fourth death. It is often hard to determine the time point of progression. Therefore, biomarkers for cancer entities that indicate disease progression or aggressiveness and thereby guide therapeutic decisions are required.

A novel grading system for the prediction of the need for cerebrospinal fluid drainage following posterior fossa tumor surgery.

Objective: Prophylactic placement of an external ventricular drain (EVD) is often performed prior to resection of a posterior fossa tumor (PFT); however, there is no general consensus regarding the indications. The purpose of this study was to establish a novel grading system for the prediction of required CSF drainage due to symptomatic elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) after resection of a PFT to identify patients who require an EVD.

Methods: The authors performed a retrospective analysis of data from a prospective database.

Proteomic Analysis of Mouse Brain Subjected to Spaceflight.

There is evidence that spaceflight poses acute and late risks to the central nervous system. To explore possible mechanisms, the proteomic changes following spaceflight in mouse brain were characterized. Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) was launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on a 13-day mission.

Tobacco and cannabis co-use: Drug substitution, quit interest, and cessation preferences.

The co-use of tobacco and cannabis is a common practice worldwide and carries with it substantial public health burden. Few interventions exist that target both substances and little is known about quit interest, treatment preferences, and drug substitution during past cessation attempts, which is critical to guide the development of treatment strategies. The goal of this study was to provide descriptive information regarding quit interest, treatment preferences, and perceived drug substitution among adult (age 18 +) cannabis-tobacco co-users.

Children engage in competitive altruism.

Humans cultivate their reputations as good cooperators, sometimes even competing with group mates, to appear most cooperative to individuals during the process of selecting partners. To investigate the ontogenetic origins of such "competitive altruism," we presented 5- and 8-year-old children with a dyadic sharing game in which both children simultaneously decided how many rewards to share with each other. The children were either observed by a third-person peer or not.

Young children's reputational strategies in a peer group context.

Reputational concerns are known to promote cooperation. Individuals regularly act more prosocially when their behavior is observable by others. Here, we investigate 4- and 5-year-old (N = 144) children's reputational strategies in a competitive group setting.

Acute cholecystitis - a cohort study in a real-world clinical setting (REWO study, NCT02796443).

Background: For decades, the optimal timing of surgery for acute cholecystitis has been controversial. Recent meta-analyses and population-based studies favor early surgery. One recent large randomized trial has demonstrated that a delayed approach increases morbidity and cost compared to early surgery within 24 hours of hospital admission.

Patients at low surgical risk as defined by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Score undergoing isolated interventional or surgical aortic valve implantation: in-hospital data and 1-year results from the German Aortic Valve Registry (GARY).

Aims: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become the standard treatment for patients with severe aortic valve stenosis at high surgical risk and may be considered for patients with intermediate risk. During the last few years, an increasing number of patients with low surgical risk have been treated with TAVI. In this study, low-risk patients undergoing isolated TAVI or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) were analysed using data from the German Aortic Valve Registry (GARY).

Advanced Robotic Angiography Systems for Image Guidance During Conventional Transarterial Chemoembolization: Impact on Radiation Dose and Image Quality.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare 2 advanced robotic angiography systems for real-time image guidance in terms of radiation dose and image quality (IQ) during conventional transarterial chemoembolization (C-TACE) of hepatic malignant tumors.

Materials And Methods: One hundred six patients (57 women/49 men; mean age, 60 ± 11 years) who had undergone C-TACE using 2 generations of robotic angiography platforms for image guidance were included in this retrospective study. Patients were divided into 2 groups (n = 53, respectively): group 1 (first generation) and group 2 (second generation).

Multimodal Patient Blood Management Program Based on a Three-pillar Strategy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives: To determine whether a multidisciplinary, multimodal Patient Blood Management (PBM) program for patients undergoing surgery is effective in reducing perioperative complication rate, and thereby is effective in improving clinical outcome.

Background: PBM is a medical concept with the focus on a comprehensive anemia management, to minimize iatrogenic (unnecessary) blood loss, and to harness and optimize patient-specific physiological tolerance of anemia.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed.