Syphilis in pregnant women and congenital syphilis from 2012 to 2021 in Switzerland: a multicentre, retrospective study.

Background And Aims Of The Study: Congenital syphilis is a rare complication of syphilis in pregnant women. Vertical transmission may occur at any time during pregnancy. The incidence of congenital syphilis has been increasing worldwide.

Viral suppression and retention in HIV care during the postpartum period among women living with HIV: a longitudinal multicenter cohort study.

Background: Low rates of postnatal retention in HIV care and viral suppression have been reported in women living with HIV (WLWH) despite viral suppression at delivery. At the same time, postpartum follow-up is of crucial importance in light of the increasing support offered in many resource-rich countries including Switzerland to WLWH choosing to breastfeed their infant, if optimal scenario criteria are met.

Methods: We longitudinally investigated retention in HIV care, viral suppression, and infant follow-up in a prospective multicentre HIV cohort study of WLWH in the optimal scenario who had a live birth between January 2000 and December 2018.

Women with HIV transitioning through menopause: Insights from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS).

Objectives: We aimed to assess prevalence and age at menopause, identify factors associated with early menopause and explore the provision and utilization of healthcare in women living with HIV in Switzerland.

Methods: This was a retrospective Swiss HIV Cohort Study analysis from January 2010 to December 2018. Descriptive statistics to characterise the population and menopause onset.

Circulating tumour cells in locally advanced head and neck cancer: preliminary report about their possible role in predicting response to non-surgical treatment and survival.

Background And Purpose: The mechanism of dissemination of locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC) is far to be resolved. Circulating tumour cells (CTC) have been identified as a prognostic factor in metastatic breast and prostate cancer. This prospective multi-centric analysis studied the possible role of CTC identification in LAHNC.

LPS-induced galectin-3 oligomerization results in enhancement of neutrophil activation.

Galectin-3 (Gal 3) is a glycan-binding protein that can be secreted by activated macrophages and mast cells at inflammation sites and plays an important role in inflammatory diseases caused by Bacteria and their products, such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Although it is well established that Gal 3 can interact with LPS, the pathophysiological importance of LPS/Gal 3 interactions is not fully understood. Data presented herein demonstrate for the first time that the interaction of Gal 3, either via its carbohydrate binding C-terminal domain or via its N-terminal part, with LPS from different bacterial strains, enhances the LPS-mediated neutrophil activation in vitro.

Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in the XRCC1 and RAD51 genes and clinical radiosensitivity in head and neck cancer.

Purpose: Individual variability in radiosensitivity is large in cancer patients. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in DNA repair and in protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS) could be responsible for such cases of radiosensitivity. We investigated the association between the occurrence of acute reactions in 101 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) after radiotherapy (RT) and five genetic polymorphisms: XRCC1 c.

On-line image guidance for frameless stereotactic radiotherapy of lung malignancies by cone beam CT: comparison between target localization and alignment on bony anatomy.

Introduction: Free-breathing stereotactic radiotherapy for lung malignancies requires reliable prediction of respiratory motion and accurate target localization. A protocol was adopted for reproducibility and reduction of respiratory motion and for target localization by CBCT image guidance. Tumor respiratory displacements and tumor positioning errors relative to bony anatomy alignment are analyzed.

Cone beam CT image guidance for intracranial stereotactic treatments: comparison with a frame guided set-up.

Purpose: An analysis is performed of the setup errors measured by a kV cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for intracranial stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) patients immobilized by a thermoplastic mask and a bite-block and positioned using stereotactic coordinates. We evaluated the overall positioning precision and accuracy of the immobilizing and localizing systems. The potential of image-guided radiotherapy to replace stereotactic methods is discussed.

Relevance of biologically equivalent dose values in outcome evaluation of stereotactic radiotherapy for lung nodules.

Purpose: Different biologically equivalent dose (BED) values associated with stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) of patients with primary and metastatic pulmonary nodules were studied. The BED values were calculated for tumoral tissue and low alpha/beta ratio, assuming that better local response could be obtained by using stereotactic high-BED treatment.

Methods And Materials: Fifty-eight patients with T1-T3 N0 non-small-cell lung cancer and 46 patients with metastatic lung nodules were treated with SRT.

In situ investigation of the oxidative addition in homogeneous Pd catalysts by synchronised time resolved UV-Vis/EXAFS.

Simultaneous structuro-kinetic information obtained via time resolved stopped-flow/UV-Vis spectroscopy/dispersive EXAFS (EDE) experiments elucidated a two-step process for the addition of iodobenzene to [(Ph3P)2Pd(dba)].

Late treatment-related complications in 214 patients with extremity soft-tissue sarcoma treated by surgery and postoperative radiation therapy.

Background: We assessed the occurrence of long-bone fracture and other side effects in a group of 214 consecutive patients who underwent radical excision for soft-tissue sarcoma of the limb followed by postoperative irradiation.

Methods: Two hundred fourteen patients underwent postoperative irradiation after radical excision of soft-tissue sarcoma of the limb; 156 (73%) received postoperative brachytherapy (BRT) plus external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT), and 58 (27%) underwent postoperative EBRT only. All patients were followed-up for a median time of 4.

Radical radiotherapy for early glottic cancer: Results in a series of 1087 patients from two Italian radiation oncology centers. II. The case of T2N0 disease.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate local control rates, late damage incidence, functional results, and second-tumor occurrence according to the different patient, tumor, and treatment features in a large bi-institutional series of T2 glottic cancer.

Methods And Materials: A total of 256 T2 glottic cancer cases treated consecutively with radical intent at the Florence University Radiation Oncology Department (FLO) and at the Radiation Oncology Department of the University of Brescia, Istituto del Radio "O. Alberti" (BS) were studied.

Radical radiotherapy for early glottic cancer: Results in a series of 1087 patients from two Italian radiation oncology centers. I. The case of T1N0 disease.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate local control rates, late damage incidence, functional results, and second tumor occurrence according to the different patient, tumor, and treatment features in a large bi-institutional series of T1 glottic cancer.

Methods And Materials: A total of 831 T1 glottic cancer cases treated consecutively with radical intent at the Florence University Radiation Oncology Department (FLO) and at the Radiation Oncology Department of the University of Brescia-Istituto del Radio "O. Alberti" (BS) were studied.

Representation of two geometric features of the environment in the domestic chick ( Gallus gallus).

We report experiments based on a novel test in domestic chicks ( Gallus gallus), designed to examine the encoding of two different geometric features of an enclosed environment: relative lengths of the walls and amplitude of the corners. Chicks were trained to search for a food reward located in one corner of a parallelogram-shaped enclosure. Between trials, chicks were passively disoriented and the enclosure was rotated, making reorientation possible only on the basis of the internal spatial structure of the enclosure.

Mutations of the HFE gene in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a late consequence of severe liver disease. Patients with genetic hemochromatosis may be at risk for HCC, but limited information is available on the relationship of HCC and heterozygosity for the HFE gene mutations.

Methods: HFE mutations (C282Y and H63D) were assessed in 162 consecutive patients (131 men/31 women) with HCC.

Liver pathology in compound heterozygous patients for hemochromatosis mutations.

Background: While hepatic pathology of homozygous carriers of the C282Y mutation of the HFE haemochromatosis gene is well defined, the impact of the C282Y/H63D compound heterozygous carrier state is unknown.

Aims: To evaluate the range of hepatic pathology in C282Y/H63D compound heterozygous patients.

Patients: 25 C282Y/H63D compound heterozygous patients with and without known underlying liver disease underwent liver biopsies for evaluation or abnormal liver tests.

Common mutations of ATP7B in Wilson disease patients from Hungary.

Wilson disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder of copper metabolism. The H1069Q mutation in exon 14 of ATP7B is far the most frequent in Wilson patients of European origin. Mutations in exon 8 and 15 are also common among the over 150 described mutations in the WD gene.

High prevalence of the H1069Q mutation in East German patients with Wilson disease: rapid detection of mutations by limited sequencing and phenotype-genotype analysis.

Background/aims: Wilson disease is caused by a large number of different mutations in the ATP7B gene. Wilson disease patients from a homogeneous ethnical background (Saxonia) were studied for distribution and phenotypes of ATP7B mutations.

Methods: Eighty-two patients were analyzed.

Wilson's disease presenting in a family with an apparent dominant history of tremor.

A patient with Wilson's disease is described who presented with dystonic tremor in a family with an apparent dominant history of tremor. Subsequent investigation showed that the patient's mother had essential tremor, with molecular analysis of the ATP7B gene excluding the possibility of pseudodominant inheritance. This case highlights the importance of considering the possibility of Wilson's disease in every young patient with a movement disorder, even where the clinical picture does not suggest a recessively inherited disorder.

Distribution of patients with Wilson disease carrying the H1069Q mutation in Austria.

Background/aims: More than 100 different mutations of the Wilson disease (WD) gene have been reported so far, but only the H1069Q mutation is frequently found in patients of North and East European origin. We wanted to know if there is a connection between the migration pattern in Central Europe and the geographical distribution of this mutation in Austria.

Methods: One hundred and nine patients (91 index patients and 18 asymptomatic siblings) with WD diagnosed in Austria were included in this study.

The impact of apolipoprotein E genotypes on age at onset of symptoms and phenotypic expression in Wilson's disease.

Wilson's disease is a disorder of biliary copper excretion that may result in severe neurological symptoms and advanced liver disease. The wide variation of phenotypic disease expression cannot be fully explained by the different mutations of the Wilson disease gene. In neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, temporal lobe epilepsy and cerebral trauma, the presence of the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) allele epsilon4 is associated with an increased vulnerability of the brain to the effects of the disease, whereas the presence of the ApoE genotype epsilon3/3 appears to provide moderate neuroprotection.

The relation of iron status and hemochromatosis gene mutations in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Background & Aims: Elevated hepatic iron concentration may affect the response to antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis C. This study explored the contribution of genetic hemochromatosis to iron accumulation in chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: HFE mutations (C282Y and H63D) were assessed in 184 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus and 487 controls.