High genetic diversity of G10 in northeastern Asia: is it the region of origin?

consists of 4 genotypes: G6, G7, G8 and G10. While the first 2 predominantly infect domestic animals, the latter are sylvatic in nature involving mainly wolves and cervids as hosts and can be found in the northern temperate to Arctic latitudes. This circumstance makes the acquisition of sample material difficult, and little information is known about their genetic structure.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Heart Rhythm, Rate, and Variability in Atrial Fibrillation.

Background Previous randomized control trials showed mixed results concerning the effect of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) on atrial fibrillation (AF). The associations of n-3 FA blood levels with heart rhythm in patients with established AF are unknown. The goal of this study was to assess the associations of total and individual n-3 FA blood levels with AF type (paroxysmal versus nonparoxysmal), heart rate (HR), and HR variability in patients with AF.

Gender Equality in National Cardiology Societies: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Higher productivity and team stability have been shown for gender-diverse teams. However, there is a relevant and well-known gender gap in clinical and academic cardiovascular medicine. So far, no data concerning gender distribution in presidents and executive boards of national cardiology societies exist.

Patient clusters and cost trajectories in the Swiss Atrial Fibrillation cohort.

Objective: Evidence on long-term costs of atrial fibrillation (AF) and associated factors is scarce. As part of the Swiss-AF prospective cohort study, we aimed to characterise AF costs and their development over time, and to assess specific patient clusters and their cost trajectories.

Methods: Swiss-AF enrolled 2415 patients with variable duration of AF between 2014 and 2017.

Thyroid antibodies and levothyroxine effects in subclinical hypothyroidism: A pooled analysis of two randomized controlled trials.

Background: Antithyroid antibodies increase the likelihood of developing overt hypothyroidism, but their clinical utility remains unclear. No large randomized controlled trial (RCT) has assessed whether older adults with subclinical hypothyroidism (SHypo) caused by autoimmune thyroid disease derive more benefits from levothyroxine treatment (LT4).

Objective: To determine whether older adults with SHypo and positive antibodies derive more clinical benefits from LT4 than those with negative antibodies.

HOSPITAL Score and LACE Index to Predict Mortality in Multimorbid Older Patients.

Background: Estimating life expectancy of older adults informs whether to pursue future investigation and therapy. Several models to predict mortality have been developed but often require data not immediately available during routine clinical care. The HOSPITAL score and the LACE index were previously validated to predict 30-day readmissions but may also help to assess mortality risk.

Enhancement in optically induced ultrafast THz response of MoSeMoS heterobilayer.

THz conductivity of large area MoS and MoSe monolayers as well as their vertical heterostructure, MoSeMoS is measured in the 0.3-5 THz frequency range. Compared to the monolayers, the ultrafast THz reflectivity of the MoSeMoS heterobilayer is enhanced many folds when optically excited above the direct band gap energies of the constituting monolayers.

Clinical Outcome of Dorsal Cervical C1-C2 Fusion Using C1 Lateral Mass Screws, C2 Lamina Screws, and Interarcual Bone Graft Technique.

Aims:  To evaluate the clinical and radiologic results of patients treated with dorsal cervical C1-C2 fusion using C1 lateral mass screws, C2 lamina screws, and interarcual bone graft.

Methods:  We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and radiologic results of eight patients treated from 2011 to 2016. Neck pain, neurologic deficits, use of analgesics, vertebral artery injury, C2 root injury, radiologic fusion rate, malposition of screws, and implant failure were examined on day 3 and at 3 and 12 months postoperatively.

Decompression and Dynamic Transpedicular Stabilization Using Polyetheretherketone Rods and Pedicle Screws vs. Decompression Alone for Single-Level Spinal Canal Stenosis with Listhesis: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

Background:  Spinal stenosis is frequently caused by spondylolisthesis, and surgical treatment may be indicated. However, whether decompression alone or decompression with dynamic stabilization offers better surgical outcomes remains unclear. We compared the clinical and radiologic results of patients with single-level lumbar spinal stenosis and grade 1 spondylolisthesis undergoing microsurgical decompression alone or decompression with transpedicular dorsal dynamic stabilization.

Treatment Standards for Chronic Subdural Hematoma: Results from a Survey in Austrian, German, and Swiss Neurosurgical Units.

Background: Although an abundance of literature about the treatment of chronic subdural hematoma is available, it provides little evidence to clarify which treatment is most successful.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine and compare current clinical standards between several hospitals.

Methods: Chairmen of all neurosurgical units in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, as listed on the national neurosurgical societies' websites, were invited to participate with a personal token to access a web-based survey.

Bevacizumab may improve quality of life, but not overall survival in glioblastoma: an epidemiological study.

Background: The vascular endothelial growth factor antibody bevacizumab (Avastin®), received approval for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma in many countries including the USA and Switzerland, but not the European Union, in 2009. Here, we explored the hypothesis that the approval of bevacizumab improved outcome with glioblastoma on a population level.

Patients And Methods: The prognostic significance of epidemiological, molecular genetic, and clinical data including treatment for glioblastoma patients diagnosed from 2010 to 2014 in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, was retrospectively analyzed using log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards models.

Perioperative Use of Anticoagulant and Platelet-inhibiting Medications for Elective Spine Surgery: Results of a Nationwide Survey.

Background And Study Aims:  Perioperative use of anticoagulant and platelet-inhibiting agents by patients undergoing spine surgery poses the dilemma of increased risk of hemorrhage. We examined the standards of use for these medications and expert opinions through a nationwide survey.

Materials And Methods:  An online-based survey was conducted by invitation.

Glioblastoma in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland revisited: 2005 to 2009.

Background: A population-based analysis of patients with glioma diagnosed between 1980 and 1994 in the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland confirmed the overall poor prognosis of glioblastoma. To explore changes in outcome, registry data were reevaluated for patients diagnosed between 2005 and 2009.

Methods: Patients with glioblastoma who were diagnosed between 2005 and 2009 were identified by the Zurich and Zug Cancer Registry.

Comparison of methodologies for separation of fungal isolates using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) microspectroscopy.

Twenty distinct fungal isolates were analysed using three methods of sample preparation for FTIR spectroscopy and FTIR-ATR microspectroscopy to test for differences in surface chemical composition between living and dried fungal samples, as well as differences between surface chemistry and overall chemistry of homogenized dried samples. Results indicated that visually the FTIR spectra of different fungi are remarkably similar with subtle discernable differences, which statistical analysis of the spectra supported. Within each data set, different fungal isolates were responsible for statistical differences.

Clinical outcome in lumbar decompression surgery for spinal canal stenosis in the aged population: a prospective Swiss multicenter cohort study.

Study Design: This is a prospective, multicenter cohort study including 8 medical centers in the metropolitan area of the Canton Zurich, Switzerland.

Objectives: To examine whether outcome and quality of life might improve after decompression surgery for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) even in patients older than 80 years and to compare data with a younger patient population from our own patient collective.

Summary And Background Data: Lumbar decompression surgery without fusion has been shown to improve quality of life in lumbar spinal canal stenosis.

Acoustic vibrations of Au nano-bipyramids and their modification under Ag deposition: a perspective for the development of nanobalances.

We investigated the acoustic vibrations of gold nanobipyramids and bimetallic gold-silver core-shell bipyramids, synthesized by wet chemistry techniques, using a high-sensitivity pump-probe femtosecond setup. Three modes were observed and characterized in the gold core particles for lengths varying from 49 to 170 nm and diameters varying from 20 to 40 nm. The two strongest modes have been associated with the fundamental extensional and its first harmonic, and a weak mode has been associated with the fundamental radial mode, in very good agreement with numerical simulations.

Lumbar vertebral chordoma: diffusion-weighted imaging findings are helpful to narrow the differential diagnosis. A case report.

Solitary vertebral chordoma presents as an intra- and extraosseous tumour with typical bright signal on T2-weighted images and moderate inhomogeneous enhancement on T1 postcontrast images. The diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) characteristics of this histologically proven third lumbar vertebra chordoma are reported for the first time. The DWI hyperintensity with increased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values strongly supports the preoperative diagnosis of a vertebral chordoma, allows for careful preoperative planning of the surgical procedure, and helps to narrow the differential diagnosis.

[Unusual course of a planned lumbar microdiscectomy].

We report the case of a 30-year-old female patient who underwent unilateral transverse sinus stenosis stenting due to a newly diagnosed idiopathic intracranial hypertension (Pseudotumor cerebri) with symptoms of papilledema, decreased visual acuity and headache. Resolution of the symptoms and improvement of magnetic resonance and ophthalmiologic findings could be documented.

Subsidence after anterior cervical inter-body fusion. A randomized prospective clinical trial.

In ventral fusion after anterior cervical discectomy there is still a remarkable number of cage subsidence and segmental kyphosis seen. The aim of the present study is to assess whether the cage design influences the extent of correction loss during follow-up. Sixty patients with single-level cervical disc herniation were randomly treated with two different cervical inter-body cages (group 1: Solis cage, Stryker Company and group 2: Shell cage, AMT Company).

Success of simple sequestrectomy in lumbar spine surgery depends on the competence of the fibrous ring: a prospective controlled study of 168 patients.

Study Design: Prospective controlled clinical study.

Objective: The aim of this prospective nonrandomized study is to evaluate the recurrence rate and the clinical outcome of patients undergoing sole sequestrectomy and compare them with a standard treatment group.

Summary Of Background Data: While performing microsurgical disc excision, extruded disc fragments and loosened or degenerated parts of the nucleus are removed.

54-fs, 1-GW, 1-kHz pulse amplification in Cr:forsterite.

30-fs pulses at 1.22 microm are produced by a self-mode-locked Cr:forsterite laser and amplified in a Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier by a chirped-pulse amplification technique. 54-fs, 1-GW pulses at a 1-kHz repetition rate are obtained.

Real-time two-dimensional imaging in scattering media by use of a femtosecond Cr(4+):forsterite laser.

An original femtosecond Cr(4+):forsterite laser source associated with a nonlinear optical correlator was used for imaging through scattering media with 1220-nm light. The system, which operates as an ultrafast optical gate by sum-frequency generation in a nonlinear crystal, was able to detect the light reflected from a resolution chart hidden in a turbid medium, at an attenuation of as much as 15 mean free paths. When the object was illuminated with a collimated beam, real-time two-dimensional images were obtained, with a maximum transverse resolution of ~20 microm.

Dynesys fixation for lumbar spine degeneration.

The dynamic fixation system Dynesys is utilized in the last 10 years for treatment of degenerative segmental disease of the lumbar spine. Dynesys is a semi-rigid fixation system that allows minimal lengthening and shortening between two segmental pedicle screws as opposed to a rigid metal bar. Thus, the system is regarded to maintain stability and near physiological motion patterns of the lumbar spine.

The cervical spine and its relation to anterior plate-screw fixation: a quantitative study.

Multilevel discectomy and inter-vertebral body fusion combined with anterior plate-screw fixation is the common procedure in cervical spine surgery. The correct placement of the screws is an important factor for the outcome of these operations. Yet no systematic approach has been undertaken to optimize the geometry of the fixation-plates regarding the position of the screw-perforations.