Upregulated TNF Expression 1 Year After Bariatric Surgery Reflects a Cachexia-Like State in Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue.

Background: Adipose tissue dysfunction contributes to obesity-associated chronic diseases. In the first year after bariatric surgery, obese patients significantly improve their metabolic status upon losing weight. We aimed to investigate whether changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue gene expression reflect a restoration of a healthy lean phenotype after bariatric surgery.

Vitamin D Loading Is Superior to Conventional Supplementation After Weight Loss Surgery in Vitamin D-Deficient Morbidly Obese Patients: a Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Background: Bariatric patients often suffer from vitamin D deficiency (VDD), and both, morbid obesity and VDD, are related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, limited data are available regarding best strategies for treating VDD, particularly, in bariatric patients undergoing omega-loop gastric bypass (OLGB). Therefore, we examined the efficacy and safety of a forced vitamin D dosing regimen and intervention effects in liver fibrotic patients.

Bilateral Endoscopic Lung Volume Reduction in Patients with Severe Emphysema.

Reducing hyperinflated areas in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, either surgically or endoscopically, leads to improvement of functional parameters. It is unclear if bilateral treatment with endobronchial valves (EBV) aiming at total lobar occlusion is beneficial. The aim of this study was to assess the results after staged bilateral endoscopic treatment with EBV.

Mortality Due to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus in Immunocompromised Göttingen Minipigs (Sus scrofa domestica).

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection was diagnosed in 6 Göttingen minipigs (Sus scrofa domestica) with severe interstitial pneumonia. The virus was defined as a North American (NA) subtype virus, which is common in the commercial pig population and might be derived from a widely used attenuated live-virus vaccine in Europe. The ORF5 sequence of the isolated PRRSV was 98% identical to the vaccine virus.

Endoscopic versus surgical management of biliary complications - Outcome analysis after 1188 orthotopic liver transplantations.

Background And Aim: After liver transplantation, the endoscopic approach has become the standard treatment modality for biliary complications. Aim of this study was to compare primary endoscopic with primary surgical management.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective review on 1188 consecutive liver transplant patients between 1989 and 2009 was performed.

Improved application technique of albumin-glutaraldehyde glue for repair of superficial lung defects.

Background: Albumin-glutaraldehyde glue has gained widespread acceptance for treatment of alveolar air leaks (AAL) in thoracic surgery. As liquid run-off during application is detrimental to its sealing efficacy, we developed a modified technique and assessed it in vitro.

Methods: Caudal lobes of freshly excised swine lungs (n = 20) were intubated and ventilated.

Biosynthetic Nanostructured Cellulose Patch for Chest Wall Reconstruction: Five-Month Follow-up in a Porcine Model.

Purpose: Ideal approaches and materials for reconstruction of large chest wall defects remain a topic of debate. We sought to explore the suitability of a reinforced nanostructured cellulose (NC) patch for chest wall reconstruction in an animal model.

Materials And Methods: In four domestic pigs, a standardized 10 × 10 cm chest wall defect was created by resecting three rib segments.

Expression and release of platelet protein disulphide isomerase in patients with haemophilia A.

Introduction: Despite similar residual factor VIII activity, patients with haemophilia A (HA) show significant interindividual variability with regard to bleeding frequency and severity, suggesting that additional factors modulate thrombin generation and fibrin deposition. Protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) is an abundant oxidoreductase that exerts pleiotropic effects in primary and secondary haemostasis and contributes to thrombosis and vascular inflammation.

Aim: We conducted a pilot study to explore a potential role of platelet PDI in patients with HA.

Endoscopic Lung Volume Reduction Using Endobronchial Valves in Patients with Severe Emphysema and Very Low FEV1.

Background: Patients with a forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) below 20% of the predicted normal values (pred.) and either homogeneous emphysema or low diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) have a high risk for adverse events including death when undergoing surgical lung volume reduction.

Objectives: We hypothesized that selected patients can benefit from endoscopic lung volume reduction (eLVR) despite a very low FEV1.

Low self-awareness of osteoporosis and fracture risk among postmenopausal women.

Unlabelled: Postmenopausal women with a high risk of fractures may not perceive their risk. This study showed no concordance between the perceived and calculated risk of fracture. Almost 80 % of the women identified as a high risk of fracture by the FRAX algorithm tool perceived themselves to have little risk.

Sensitivity of resonant tunneling diode photodetectors.

We have studied the sensitivity of AlGaAs/GaAs double barrier resonant tunneling diode photodetectors with an integrated GaInNAs absorption layer for light sensing at the telecommunication wavelength of λ = 1.3 μm for illumination powers from pico- to microwatts. The sensitivity decreases nonlinearly with power.

Runtime and aPTT predict venous thrombosis and thromboembolism in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective analysis.

Background: Even though bleeding and thromboembolic events are major complications of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), data on the incidence of venous thrombosis (VT) and thromboembolism (VTE) under ECMO are scarce. This study analyzes the incidence and predictors of VTE in patients treated with ECMO due to respiratory failure.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients treated on ECMO in our center from 04/2010 to 11/2015.

[Histological grading of breast cancer].

From a historical perspective, histological grading was the earliest cell-based method for assessing tumor biology and the prognosis of breast cancer. This review article provides detailed and practical instructions for grading of breast cancer in routine diagnostics. Furthermore, the increasing relevance of precise histological grading in the era of molecular pathology is discussed.

Salt taste after bariatric surgery and weight loss in obese persons.

Background. Little is known about the perception of salty taste in obese patients, especially after bariatric surgery. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse possible differences in salt detection thresholds and preferences for foods differing in salt content in obese persons before and after bariatric surgery with weight loss compared to non-obese individuals.

Weight loss, weight regain, and conversions to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: 10-year results of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Background: With promising short-term results, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has become the second most frequently performed bariatric procedure worldwide. Aside from a growing number of reports covering up to 10 years of follow-up, only limited data have been published so far on long-term results.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to present a 10-year follow-up for SG.

Lobular breast cancer: Clinical, molecular and morphological characteristics.

Infiltrating lobular breast cancer (ILBC) is the most common special breast cancer subtype. This review provides a comprehensive description of ILBC characteristics, including epidemiology, clinical features, molecular genetics and histomorphology. Twenty detailed supplemental data tables guide through primary data of more than 200 original studies.

The polyphosphate/factor XII pathway in cancer-associated thrombosis: novel perspectives for safe anticoagulation in patients with malignancies.

Cancer is an established risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and VTE is the second leading cause of death in patients with cancer. The incidence of cancer-related thrombosis is rising and is associated with worse outcomes. Despite our growing understanding on tumor-driven procoagulant mechanisms including cancer-released procoagulant proteases, expression of tissue factor on cancer cells and derived microvesicles, as well as alterations in the extracellular matrix of the cancer cell milieu, anticoagulation therapy in cancer patients has remained challenging.

Lightwave-driven quasiparticle collisions on a subcycle timescale.

Ever since Ernest Rutherford scattered α-particles from gold foils, collision experiments have revealed insights into atoms, nuclei and elementary particles. In solids, many-body correlations lead to characteristic resonances--called quasiparticles--such as excitons, dropletons, polarons and Cooper pairs. The structure and dynamics of quasiparticles are important because they define macroscopic phenomena such as Mott insulating states, spontaneous spin- and charge-order, and high-temperature superconductivity.

Conversion of Synthetic Aβ to In Vivo Active Seeds and Amyloid Plaque Formation in a Hippocampal Slice Culture Model.

Unlabelled: The aggregation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) in brain is an early event and hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We combined the advantages of in vitro and in vivo approaches to study cerebral β-amyloidosis by establishing a long-term hippocampal slice culture (HSC) model. While no Aβ deposition was noted in untreated HSCs of postnatal Aβ precursor protein transgenic (APP tg) mice, Aβ deposition emerged in HSCs when cultures were treated once with brain extract from aged APP tg mice and the culture medium was continuously supplemented with synthetic Aβ.

Adiponectin regulates aquaglyceroporin expression in hepatic stellate cells altering their functional state.

Background And Aim: Obesity is a major risk factor for liver fibrosis and tightly associated with low levels of adiponectin. Adiponectin has antifibrogenic activity protecting from liver fibrosis, which is mainly driven by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC). Aquaporins are transmembrane proteins that allow the movement of water and, in case of aquaglyceroporins (AQPs), of glycerol that is needed in quiescent HSC for lipogenesis.

Albumin-glutaraldehyde glue for repair of superficial lung defect: an in vitro experiment.

Background: Albumin-glutaraldehyde glue gained a widespread acceptance in repair of superficial lung defects associated with alveolar air leaks (AAL). As its sealing efficacy has not yet been thoroughly corroborated by clinical studies, we sought to assess the properties of commercially available albumin-glutaraldehyde glue (BioGlue™) in an in vitro lung model.

Methods: The lower lobe of freshly excised swine lung (n = 10) was intubated and ventilated.