Home-Based Electrochemical Rapid Sensor (HERS): A Diagnostic Tool for Bacterial Vaginosis.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most frequently occurring vaginal infection worldwide, yet it remains significantly underdiagnosed as a majority of patients are asymptomatic. Untreated BV poses a serious threat as it increases one's risk of STI acquisition, pregnancy complications, and infertility. We aim to minimize these risks by creating a low-cost disposable sensor for at-home BV diagnosis.

Primary Tumor Resection is Associated with Improved Disease-Specific Mortality in Patients with Stage IV Small Intestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs): A Comparison of Upfront Surgical Resection Versus a Watch and Wait Strategy in Two Specialist NET Centers.

Introduction: Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs) often present with metastatic disease. An ongoing debate exists on whether to perform primary tumor resection (PTR) in patients with stage IV SI-NETs, without symptoms of the primary tumor and inoperable metastatic disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare a treatment strategy of upfront surgical resection versus a surveillance strategy of watch and wait.

Appendiceal goblet cell carcinomas have poor survival despite completion surgery.

Purpose: Appendiceal goblet cell carcinomas (aGCCs) are rare but aggressive tumours associated with significant mortality. We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of aGCC patients treated at our tertiary referral centre.

Methods: We analysed aGCC patients, diagnosed between 1990-2016, assessing the impact of completion surgery and tumour factors on survival.

The impact of lymph node metastases and right hemicolectomy on outcomes in appendiceal neuroendocrine tumours (aNETs).

Introduction: European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) recommends managing appendiceal neuroendocrine tumours (aNET) with appendicectomy and possibly completion right hemicolectomy (CRH). However, disease behaviour and survival patterns remain uncertain.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively assessed the impact of lymph nodes and CRH on outcomes, including survival, in all aNET patients diagnosed between 1990 and 2016.

Managing Cardiovascular Risk Factors without Medications: What is the Evidence?

In this era of potent medications and interventional cardiovascular (CV) procedures, the importance of beginning with and including Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) is frequently forgotten. A major goal of this review article is to show and emphasize that modification of CV risk with nonmedication approaches makes an essential contribution to CV risk reduction. Available information on TLC and modifiable CV risk factors was reviewed and assessed.

The effects of valproic acid on appetitive and aversive instrumental learning in adult rats.

Antiepileptic medications are the frontline treatment for seizure conditions. However, these medications are not without cognitive side effects. Previously, our laboratory reported learning deficits in phenytoin and carbamazepine-treated rats.

The association of a panel of biomarkers with the presence and severity of carcinoid heart disease: a cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Metastatic neuroendocrine tumors secrete serotonin and other vasoactive substances that are responsible for carcinoid syndrome and carcinoid heart disease. We sought to evaluate the discriminatory utility of diagnostic biomarkers in determining the presence and severity of carcinoid heart disease in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional study of patients with neuroendocrine tumors with documented liver metastases and/or carcinoid syndrome between April 2009-October 2012 in 5 tertiary referral centers.

Cerebellar ataxia, seizures, premature death, and cardiac abnormalities in mice with targeted disruption of the Cacna2d2 gene.

CACNA2D2 is a putative tumor suppressor gene located in the human chromosome 3p21.3 region that shows frequent allelic imbalances in lung, breast, and other cancers. The alpha2delta-2 protein encoded by the gene is a regulatory subunit of voltage-dependent calcium channels and is expressed in brain, heart, and other tissues.

GluR5 kainate receptors, seizures, and the amygdala.

The amygdala is a critical brain region for limbic seizure activity, but the mechanisms underlying its epileptic susceptibility are obscure. Several lines of evidence implicate GluR5 (GLU(K5)) kainate receptors, a type of ionotropic glutamate receptor, in the amygdala's vulnerability to seizures and epileptogenesis. GluR5 mRNA is abundant in temporal lobe structures including the amygdala.