Absence of Calcitriol Causes Increased Lactational Bone Loss and Lower Milk Calcium but Does Not Impair Post-lactation Bone Recovery in Cyp27b1 Null Mice.

We hypothesized that adaptation to calcium supply demands of pregnancy and lactation do not require calcitriol. Adult Cyp27b1 null mice lack calcitriol and have hypocalcemia, hypophosphatemia, and rickets. We studied wild-type (WT) and null sister pairs raised on a calcium-, phosphorus-, and lactose-enriched "rescue" diet that prevents hypocalcemia and rickets.

Abatacept reduces synovial regulatory T-cell expression in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Background: The aim was to study changes in immunohistochemical expression markers of synovial and skin inflammation, clinical outcomes and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scores with abatacept treatment in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: Biological-treatment-naïve PsA patients with active disease including synovitis of a knee were enrolled in this single-centre, crossover study. Patients were randomised to receive intravenous abatacept 3 mg/kg of body weight or placebo infusion on day 1, 15 and 29; thereafter abatacept 10 mg/kg of body weight was administered every 28 days for 5 months.

The relevance of serum vitamin D in psoriasis: a review.

Observational research has identified low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) in many non-skeletal diseases. Whether this is causal or due to underlying illness is unknown. Low serum 25[OH]D levels are also reported in the general population.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa Is Characterized by Dysregulation of the Th17:Treg Cell Axis, Which Is Corrected by Anti-TNF Therapy.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, inflammatory, and debilitating disease of hair follicles with 1-4% prevalence and high morbidity. There is a dearth of information on the pathogenesis and immune dysregulation underlying HS; therefore, we carried out a detailed analysis of skin-infiltrating T cells. Cells isolated from skin biopsy samples and blood from HS patients and healthy control subjects were analyzed by 16-parameter flow cytometry to provide detailed profiles of CD4 T-cell subsets.

Randomized, Noncomparative, Phase II Trial of Early Switch From Docetaxel to Cabazitaxel or Vice Versa, With Integrated Biomarker Analysis, in Men With Chemotherapy-Naïve, Metastatic, Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

Purpose The TAXYNERGY trial ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01718353) evaluated clinical benefit from early taxane switch and circulating tumor cell (CTC) biomarkers to interrogate mechanisms of sensitivity or resistance to taxanes in men with chemotherapy-naïve, metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer. Patients and Methods Patients were randomly assigned 2:1 to docetaxel or cabazitaxel.

Primary cutaneous post liver transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) successfully treated with radiotherapy.

Aim: A case of primary cutaneous post liver transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) mimicking squamous cell carcinoma-in-situ is presented.

Methods: Lesions mimicking SCC-in-situ were confirmed to be PTLD on histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Immunosuppression was gradually reduced and the lesions were successfully treated with 50 gray (Gy) in 25 fractions of radiotherapy.

Sofosbuvir and ribavirin in adolescents 12-17 years old with hepatitis C virus genotype 2 or 3 infection.

Unlabelled: Children with chronic hepatitis C virus infection have limited treatment options. We evaluated the all-oral combination of sofosbuvir and ribavirin in adolescents aged 12-17 with hepatitis C virus genotype 2 or 3 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02175758).

Decorrelation correction for nanoparticle tracking analysis of dilute polydisperse suspensions in bulk flow.

Nanoparticle tracking analysis, a multiprobe single particle tracking technique, is a widely used method to quickly determine the concentration and size distribution of colloidal particle suspensions. Many popular tools remove non-Brownian components of particle motion by subtracting the ensemble-average displacement at each time step, which is termed dedrifting. Though critical for accurate size measurements, dedrifting is shown here to introduce significant biasing error and can fundamentally limit the dynamic range of particle size that can be measured for dilute heterogeneous suspensions such as biological extracellular vesicles.

Identification of factors that may influence the selection of first-line biological therapy for people with psoriasis: a prospective, multicentre cohort study.

Background: The Psoriasis Stratification to Optimise Relevant Therapy (PSORT) consortium has a collective aim to develop a prescribing algorithm to help stratify eligible patients with psoriasis to the most appropriate biological treatment. To facilitate the adoption of a stratified approach, it is necessary to first understand the factors driving the choice of first-line biological therapy.

Objectives: To identify and quantify factors that influence the selection of the first-line biological therapy for people with psoriasis.

Probing skin physiology through the volatile footprint: Discriminating volatile emissions before and after acute barrier disruption.

Volatile organic compounds emitted by human skin were sampled before and after acute barrier disruption of the volar forearm to investigate the significance of this approach to skin physiology research. A small wearable housing integrating a solid-phase micro-extraction fibre permitting rapid enclosed headspace sampling of human skin volatiles is presented, enabling non-invasive sample collection in 15 minutes, in a comfortable wearable format. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilised to separate and identify the volatile metabolites.

Topical treatment of psoriasis: questionnaire results on topical therapy accessibility and influence of body surface area on usage.

Background: Topical treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis is first-line treatment and exhibits varying degrees of success across patient groups. Key factors influencing treatment success are physician topical treatment choice (high efficacy, low adverse events) and strict patient adherence. Currently, no formalized, international consensus guidelines exist to direct optimal topical treatment, although many countries have national guidelines.

Virome Assembly and Annotation: A Surprise in the Namib Desert.

Sequencing, assembly, and annotation of environmental virome samples is challenging. Methodological biases and differences in species abundance result in fragmentary read coverage; sequence reconstruction is further complicated by the mosaic nature of viral genomes. In this paper, we focus on biocomputational aspects of virome analysis, emphasizing latent pitfalls in sequence annotation.

Lateral Magnetically Modulated Multilayers by Combining Ion Implantation and Lithography.

The combination of lithography and ion implantation is demonstrated to be a suitable method to prepare lateral multilayers. A laterally, compositionally, and magnetically modulated microscale pattern consisting of alternating Co (1.6 µm wide) and Co-CoO (2.

Prevalence of alexithymia in patients with psoriasis and its association with disease burden: a multicentre observational study.

Background: Single-centre studies show that alexithymia, defined as difficulty in recognizing and describing emotions, is more prevalent among patients with psoriasis than in the general population. However, its prevalence and the consequences of the association between alexithymia and psoriasis are unclear.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of alexithymia, as defined by a score ≥ 61 in the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, in a large sample of patients who had plaque psoriasis for ≤ 10 years and were eligible for phototherapy or systemic treatment.

Automated electrorotation shows electrokinetic separation of pancreatic cancer cells is robust to acquired chemotherapy resistance, serum starvation, and EMT.

We used automated electrorotation to measure the cytoplasmic permittivity, cytoplasmic conductivity, and specific membrane capacitance of pancreatic cancer cells under environmental perturbation to evaluate the effects of serum starvation, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and evolution of chemotherapy resistance which may be associated with the development and dissemination of cancer. First, we compared gemcitabine-resistant BxPC3 subclones with gemcitabine-naive parental cells. Second, we serum-starved BxPC3 and PANC-1 cells and compared them to untreated counterparts.

Dysregulation of Specialized Delay/Interference-Dependent Working Memory Following Loss of Dysbindin-1A in Schizophrenia-Related Phenotypes.

Dysbindin-1, a protein that regulates aspects of early and late brain development, has been implicated in the pathobiology of schizophrenia. As the functional roles of the three major isoforms of dysbindin-1, (A, B, and C) remain unknown, we generated a novel mutant mouse, dys-1A, with selective loss of dysbindin-1A and investigated schizophrenia-related phenotypes in both males and females. Loss of dysbindin-1A resulted in heightened initial exploration and disruption in subsequent habituation to a novel environment, together with heightened anxiety-related behavior in a stressful environment.

Individual differences in language and working memory affect children's speech recognition in noise.

Objective: We examined how cognitive and linguistic skills affect speech recognition in noise for children with normal hearing. Children with better working memory and language abilities were expected to have better speech recognition in noise than peers with poorer skills in these domains.

Design: As part of a prospective, cross-sectional study, children with normal hearing completed speech recognition in noise for three types of stimuli: (1) monosyllabic words, (2) syntactically correct but semantically anomalous sentences and (3) semantically and syntactically anomalous word sequences.

The treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa with the glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist liraglutide.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a cutaneous disease associated with systemic inflammation, obesity and metabolic syndrome. Effective treatment options are limited. The antidiabetic agents, incretins, have been used successfully to treat psoriasis - a disease also associated with metabolic syndrome.

FGF23 Is Not Required to Regulate Fetal Phosphorus Metabolism but Exerts Effects Within 12 Hours After Birth.

Loss of fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) causes hyperphosphatemia, extraskeletal calcifications, and early mortality; excess FGF23 causes hypophosphatemia with rickets or osteomalacia. However, FGF23 may not be important during fetal development. FGF23 deficiency (Fgf23 null) and FGF23 excess (Phex null) did not alter fetal phosphorus or skeletal parameters.

Gender-Specific Differences for Risk of Disability and Death in Atrial Fibrillation-Related Stroke.

In the latest American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Heart Rhythm Society atrial fibrillation (AF) guidelines, CHADS-VASc replaced the CHADS stroke risk assessment to determine prophylactic anticoagulation, reflecting female gender's association with stroke incidence in AF. However, little investigation has been pursued of potential risk factors associated with worsened stroke severity. In this study, we examined patients with AF with ischemic stroke patient characteristics associated with increased stroke severity.

Endothelium-dependent vasodilatory signalling modulates α -adrenergic vasoconstriction in contracting skeletal muscle of humans.

Key Points: 'Functional sympatholysis' describes the ability of contracting skeletal muscle to attenuate sympathetic vasoconstriction, and is critical to ensure proper blood flow and oxygen delivery to metabolically active skeletal muscle. The signalling mechanism responsible for sympatholysis in healthy humans is unknown. Evidence from animal models has identified endothelium-derived hyperpolarization (EDH) as a potential mechanism capable of attenuating sympathetic vasoconstriction.

Successful treatment of refractory seizures with phenobarbital, propofol, and medetomidine following congenital portosystemic shunt ligation in a dog.

Objective: To report a case of refractory seizures following congenital portosystemic shunt (CPSS) ligation that regained normal neurologic and hepatic function with novel treatment. Medical care included constant rate infusions (CRI) of propofol and medetomidine in conjunction with phenobarbital and supportive intensive care.

Case Summary: A 2-year-old neutered male Bichon Frise was diagnosed with a single extrahepatic CPSS based on typical clinical signs, laboratory data, abdominal ultrasound, and computed tomographic angiography.