The Shear Stress-Regulated Expression of Glypican-4 in Endothelial Dysfunction In Vitro and Its Clinical Significance in Atherosclerosis.

Retention of circulating lipoproteins by their interaction with extracellular matrix molecules has been suggested as an underlying mechanism for atherosclerosis. We investigated the role of glypican-4 (GPC4), a heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycan, in the development of endothelial dysfunction and plaque progression; Expression of GPC4 and HS was investigated in human umbilical vein/artery endothelial cells (HUVECs/HUAECs) using flow cytometry, qPCR, and immunofluorescent staining. Leukocyte adhesion was determined in HUVECs in bifurcation chamber slides under dynamic flow.

How proven is a 'proven intervention'? Ethics of placebo controls in light of conditional approval programs.

This article discusses the difficulties of establishing whether there exists a proven therapeutic intervention when regenerative experimental treatments are made accessible to patients under conditional approval programs (outside clinical trials). Conditional approvals are often made on the basis of less robust efficacy evidence than otherwise required for the registration of new treatments. Lower quality of evidence affects the ethical justification of using a placebo-control design.

Neurofeedback in patients with frontal brain lesions: A randomized, controlled double-blind trial.

Background: Frontal brain dysfunction is a major challenge in neurorehabilitation. Neurofeedback (NF), as an EEG-based brain training method, is currently applied in a wide spectrum of mental health conditions, including traumatic brain injury.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the capacity of Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback (ILF-NF) to promote the recovery of brain function in patients with frontal brain injury.

action in the sperm produces developmentally deferred chromosome segregation defects during the mid-blastula transition.

, a vertically transmitted endosymbiont infecting many insects, spreads rapidly through uninfected populations by a mechanism known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). In CI, a paternally delivered modification of the sperm leads to chromatin defects and lethality during and after the first mitosis of embryonic development in multiple species. However, whether CI-induced defects in later stage embryos are a consequence of the first division errors or caused by independent defects remains unresolved.

Serial right heart catheter assessment between balloon pulmonary angioplasty sessions identify procedural factors that influence response to treatment.

Background: Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is delivered as a series of treatments for patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) however, there is little published data on the procedural determinants of outcome.

Methods: Pre- and post-BPA clinical and hemodynamic data, as well as serial hemodynamic and procedural data at each BPA session were evaluated to determine patient and procedure-related factors that influence hemodynamic response.

Results: Per procedure data from 210 procedures in 84 patients and per patient data from 182 procedures in 63 patients with completed treatment and 3-month follow-up were analyzed.

Bringing Advanced Therapies for Parkinson's Disease to the Clinic: An Analysis of Ethical Issues.

Advanced therapies for Parkinson's disease (PD) constitute a broad range of treatments, each presenting specific ethical challenges. Some of these therapies are established and in clinical use, like device-aided therapies, and others, based on advanced therapeutic medicinal products (ATMPs), are still in early stage of clinical trials. This paper focuses on some common ethical issues arising in these two categories of advanced therapies, especially challenges arising when advanced therapies are proposed to PD patients in the form of advanced care, under a clinical trial, or, in case of ATMPs, under the "hospital exemption" rule.

Developing Cyclic Peptomers as Broad-Spectrum Type III Secretion System Inhibitors in Gram-Negative Bacteria.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an emerging global health threat. New antimicrobials are urgently needed. The injectisome type III secretion system (T3SS), required by dozens of Gram-negative bacteria for virulence but largely absent from nonpathogenic bacteria, is an attractive antimicrobial target.

Sorption and biodegradation parameters of selected pharmaceuticals in laboratory column experiments.

Pharmaceutically active compounds have increasingly been detected in groundwater worldwide. Despite constituting a risk for human health and ecosystems, their fate in the environment has still not been exhaustively investigated. This study characterizes the transport behavior of five selected pharmaceutically active compounds (antipyrine, atenolol, caffeine, carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole) in two sediments (coarse quartz sand and sandy loam) using column experiments with long-term injection of spiked groundwater.

Self-reports of treatment for secondary health conditions: results from a longitudinal community survey in spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Longitudinal community survey.

Objectives: To describe the treatment for secondary health conditions as reported by individuals living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to identify potential predictors of treatment.

Setting: Community (people with SCI living in Switzerland).

Aquifer recharge viewed through the lens of microbial community ecology: Initial disturbance response, and impacts of species sorting versus mass effects on microbial community assembly in groundwater during riverbank filtration.

Riverbank filtration has gained increasing importance for balancing rising groundwater demands and securing drinking water supplies. While microbial communities are the pillar of vital ecosystem functions in groundwater, the impact of riverbank filtration on these communities has been understudied so far. Here, we followed changes in microbial community composition based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in an initially pristine shallow porous aquifer in response to surface water intrusion during the early stages of induced riverbank filtration over a course of seven weeks.

Attrition from specialised rehabilitation associated with an elevated mortality risk: results from a vital status tracing study in Swiss spinal cord injured patients.

Introduction: Study drop-out and attrition from treating clinics is common among persons with chronic health conditions. However, if attrition is associated with adverse health outcomes, it may bias or mislead inferences for health policy and resource allocation.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study uses data attained through the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury (SwiSCI) cohort study on persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Understanding voluntariness of consent in first-in-human cell therapy trials.

Consensus about contents of voluntariness in informed consent is lacking. Core criteria for voluntary consent are needed to ensure voluntariness. This article outlines the multidimensionality of voluntariness and identifies what could reduce voluntariness, especially in first-in-human clinical trials involving cell therapies.

Medical end-of-life decisions in the oldest old in Switzerland.

Aims Of The Study: To analyse medical end-of-life decision making among the oldest old (80+ years) in Switzerland, focusing not only on treatments withheld or withdrawn but also on those continued until death.

Methods: This was a retrospective follow-up study of deaths registered in Switzerland between August 2013 and January 2014 using a standardised questionnaire completed by the attending physician. All individuals aged 65 years and older who did not die suddenly and completely unexpectedly, and who had met the responding physician prior to death were included (n = 2842).

Selection imposed by local environmental conditions drives differences in microbial community composition across geographically distinct groundwater aquifers.

Several studies have analyzed biogeographic distribution patterns of microbial communities across broad spatial scales. However, it is often unclear to what extent differences in community composition across different regions are caused by dispersal limitation or selection, and if selection is caused by local environmental conditions alone or additional broad-scale region-specific factors. This is especially true for groundwater environments, which have been understudied in this context relative to other non-subsurface habitats.

All-cause and cause-specific mortality following non-traumatic spinal cord injury: evidence from a population-based cohort study in Switzerland.

Study Design: Observational cohort study.

Objective: To benchmark all-cause and cause-specific mortality following NTSCI to the general population (GP).

Setting: Specialized rehabilitation centers in Switzerland.

The cerebellar peduncle as localization of a recurrent atypical plexus papilloma: A case report.

Background: Choroid plexus papillomas (CPPs) are infrequently encountered brain tumors with the majority originating in the ventricular system. Rarely, CPP occurs outside of the ventricles.

Case Description: We report the case of a recurrent CPP that initially originated within the fourth ventricle, though years later it recurred in the left middle cerebellar peduncle.

[Work after Spinal Cord Injury - Outpatient Data from a Rehabilitation Clinic for Paraplegiology].

Aim: This study investigated factors which influence work after a spinal cord lesion using routinely collected outpatient data including an ICF-based questionnaire.

Methods: The retrospective analysis was based on a sample of 290 outpatients with chronic spinal cord lesions of whom 43% reported to work. 15 factors possibly affecting occupational activity were evaluated by bivariate analyses and multivariable regression modelling.

The D-A-(C) index: A practical approach towards the microbiological-ecological monitoring of groundwater ecosystems.

Groundwater is not only a vital resource, but also one of the largest terrestrial aquatic ecosystems on Earth. However, to date, ecological criteria are often not considered in routine groundwater monitoring, mainly because of the lack of suitable ecological assessment tools. Prokaryotic microorganisms are ubiquitous in groundwater ecosystems even under the harshest conditions, making them ideal bioindicators for ecological monitoring.

Excess burden of a chronic disabling condition: life lost due to traumatic spinal cord injury in a Swiss population-based cohort study.

Objectives: To estimate excess mortality and life years lost in a Swiss cohort of individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI).

Methods: This study uses population-based data collected in the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort (SwiSCI) study, which covers all specialized rehabilitation centres. Flexible parametric survival models were used to model life years remaining (LYR), potential years life lost (PYLL), relative survival and excess hazard ratios.

Participation in People Living With Spinal Cord Injury in Switzerland: Degree and Associated Factors.

Objective: To describe different domains of participation such as productive, leisure and social activities and describe sociodemographic and spinal cord injury (SCI)-related characteristics that are associated with participation in these domains in a large sample of community-dwelling individuals with SCI in Switzerland.

Design: Cross-sectional population-based survey within the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study. Participation in major life domains was measured by the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (USER-Participation).

Risk factors associated with periprosthetic joint infection after total elbow arthroplasty.

Background: For patients undergoing total elbow arthroplasty (TEA), the present study aimed to investigate: (i) what risk factors are associated with periprosthetic elbow infection; (ii) what is the incidence of infection after TEA; and (iii) what is the acuity with which these infections present?

Methods: The Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database was used to identify all patients who underwent TEA between 2003 and 2012 in New York State. Admissions for prosthetic joint infection (PJI) were identified using ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification) diagnosis code 996.66.