Association of Oscillatory Ventilation during Cardiopulmonary Test to Clinical and Functional Variables of Chronic Heart Failure Patients.

Objective: The aim of this study is to characterize the presence of exercise oscillatory ventilation (EOV) and to relate it with other cardiopulmonary exercise test (CET) responses and clinical variables.

Methods: Forty-six male patients (age: 53.1±13.

Circulating levels of neurotrophic factors are unchanged in patients with Parkinson's disease.

There is great evidence linking neurotrophic factor (NF) dysfunction with Parkinson's disease (PD) pathophysiology. This study was conducted to evaluate plasma levels of NFs and their possible associations with clinical symptoms in PD. For this purpose, 40 PD patients and 25 controls were subjected to a clinical evaluation and peripheral blood draw.

Ayahuasca and Its DMT- and β-carbolines - Containing Ingredients Block the Expression of Ethanol-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Mice: Role of the Treatment Environment.

Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic beverage produced from the decoction of (Bc) and (Pv), β-carboline- and -dimethyltryptamine(DMT)-containing plants, respectively. Accumulating evidence suggests that ayahuasca may have therapeutic effects on ethanol abuse. It is not known, however, whether its effects are dependent on the presence of DMT or if non-DMT-containing components would have therapeutic effects.

Comparison of the sixth and the seventh editions of the UICC classification for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: The current seventh edition of the TNM classification for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) includes tumor number, vascular invasion, lymph node involvement but no longer the tumor size as compared to the sixth edition. The impact of the seventh edition on stage-based prognostic prediction for patients with ICC was evaluated.

Methods: Between 03/2001 and 02/2013, 98 patients with the diagnosis of an ICC were surgically treated at our center.

Biomarkers in Urachal Cancer and Adenocarcinomas in the Bladder: A Comprehensive Review Supplemented by Own Data.

Urachal cancer (UrC) is a rare but aggressive cancer. Due to overlapping histomorphology, discrimination of urachal from primary bladder adenocarcinomas (PBAC) and adenocarcinomas secondarily involving the bladder (particularly colorectal adenocarcinomas, CRC) can be challenging. Therefore, we aimed to give an overview of helpful (immunohistochemical) biomarkers and clinicopathological factors in addition to survival analyses and included institutional data from 12 urachal adenocarcinomas.

Pathogenic and targetable genetic alterations in 70 urachal adenocarcinomas.

Urachal cancer (UrC) is a rare but aggressive malignancy often diagnosed in advanced stages requiring systemic treatment. Although cytotoxic chemotherapy is of limited effectiveness, prospective clinical studies can hardly be conducted. Targeted therapeutic treatment approaches and potentially immunotherapy based on a biological rationale may provide an alternative strategy.

[CA19-9 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma : A diagnostic and prognostic armamentarium?].

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas are the second most common malignant tumors of the liver with an unfavorable prognosis. The role of CA19-9 in terms of patient prognosis is still under debate in the literature.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of preoperatively assessed CA19-9 levels in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma after surgery.

MET Expression in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Effect on Clinical Outcomes of Chemotherapy, Targeted Therapy, and Immunotherapy.

Background: The receptor tyrosine kinase MET is implicated in malignant transformation, tumor progression, metastasis, and acquired treatment resistance. We conducted an analysis of the effect of MET expression and MET genomic aberrations on the outcome of patients with advanced or metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinomas prospectively enrolled in an institutional precision oncology program.

Patients And Methods: Standardized immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses of MET and markers of pathway activation were available in 384 patients, and next-generation sequencing-based MET hotspot mutation analyses were available from 892 patients.

Circulating syndecan-1 is associated with chemotherapy-resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Objectives: Docetaxel chemotherapy is a standard treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Rapidly expanding treatment options for CRPC provide reasonable alternatives for those who are resistant to docetaxel. Therefore, prediction of docetaxel resistance has become of great clinical importance.

NF1 mutations in conjunctival melanoma.

Background: Conjunctival melanoma is a potentially deadly eye tumour. Despite effective local therapies, tumour recurrence and metastasis remain frequent. The genetics of conjunctival melanomas remain incompletely understood.

Phosphorylation of p70 Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinase β-1 is an Independent Prognostic Parameter in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Deregulation of signal transduction pathways plays a critical role in oncogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC) and directly affects sensitivity to targeted therapies. Against this background we developed a comprehensive biomarker profiling program including markers of downstream signaling to study their association with clinical outcomes.

Patients And Methods: A prospectively studied cohort of 160 patients with metastatic CRC was included.

Diesel exhaust exposure, its multi-system effects, and the effect of new technology diesel exhaust.

Exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) from vehicles and industry is hazardous and affects proper function of organ systems. DE can interfere with normal physiology after acute and chronic exposure to particulate matter (PM). Exposure leads to potential systemic disease processes in the central nervous, visual, hematopoietic, respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal systems.

Evolved to be connected: the dynamics of attachment and sex over the course of romantic relationships.

Sexual urges and emotional attachments are not always connected. Still, joint operation of the sexual and the attachment systems is typical of romantic relationships. Hence, within this context, the two systems mutually influence each other and operate together to affect relationship well-being.

Why bottom-up taxonomies are unlikely to satisfy the quest for a definitive taxonomy of situations.

The recent advent of methods for large-scale data collection has provided an unprecedented opportunity for researchers who seek to develop a taxonomy of situations. Parrigon, Woo, Tay, and Wang's (2017) CAPTIONs model is the latest such effort. In this comment, I argue that although bottom-up approaches of this sort have clear value, they are unlikely to provide the sort of definitive, comprehensive, and theoretically integrative taxonomy that the field wants and needs.

Inflammation as a Possible Link Between Dyslipidemia and Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide. This pathological condition is characterized not only by Aβ and tau accumulation in the central nervous system (CNS), but also by inflammation, processes that can lead to neurodegeneration. Besides that, other factors may contribute to the development of AD, such as dyslipidemias.

TelAP1 links telomere complexes with developmental expression site silencing in African trypanosomes.

During its life cycle, Trypanosoma brucei shuttles between a mammalian host and the tsetse fly vector. In the mammalian host, immune evasion of T. brucei bloodstream form (BSF) cells relies on antigenic variation, which includes monoallelic expression and periodic switching of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes.

Abnormal Repolarization Duration During Everyday Emotional Arousal in Long QT Syndrome and Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Rare, high-arousal negative emotions are known triggers of sudden death in individuals with preexisting heart disease. Whether everyday fluctuations in emotional arousal influence arrhythmia risk is unknown.

Methods: We studied 160 patients with the congenital long QT syndrome, 199 patients with coronary artery disease, and 2 groups of matched healthy volunteers (n = 52 and 50, respectively).

Development of Envelope Protein Antigens To Serologically Differentiate Zika Virus Infection from Dengue Virus Infection.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging flavivirus that can cause birth defects and neurologic complications. Molecular tests are effective for diagnosing acute ZIKV infection, although the majority of infections produce no symptoms at all or present after the narrow window in which molecular diagnostics are dependable. Serology is a reliable method for detecting infections after the viremic period; however, most serological assays have limited specificity due to cross-reactive antibodies elicited by flavivirus infections.

Cardiovascular indexes of threat impair responsiveness in situations of conflicting interests.

This research examined how situations in which self- and relationship-interests are misaligned can "get under the skin" to negatively impact cardiovascular and relationship processes. Interdependence theory was integrated with the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat to better understand the biological processes that underlie relationship behavior in stressful circumstances. Couples engaged in a discussion in which one person (the discloser) revealed s/he had just gotten into her/his dream job or school and the other person (the responder) reacted to the news.

A Look into Stem Cell Therapy: Exploring the Options for Treatment of Ischemic Stroke.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) offer a potential therapeutic benefit in the recovery from ischemic stroke. Understanding the role of endogenous neural stem and progenitor cells under normal physiological conditions aids in analyzing their effects after ischemic injury, including their impact on functional recovery and neurogenesis at the site of injury. Recent animal studies have utilized unique subsets of exogenous and endogenous stem cells as well as preconditioning with pharmacologic agents to better understand the best situation for stem cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation.

Autophagy after Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Can Cell Death be Good?

Background: Autophagy is a prosurvival, reparative process that maintainsww cellular homeostasis through lysosomal degradation of selected cytoplasmic components and programmed death of old, dysfunctional, or unnecessary cytoplasmic entities. According to growing evidence, autophagy shows beneficial effects following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). SAH is considered one of the most devastating forms of stroke.

Evaluation of PCSK9 levels and its genetic polymorphisms in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Dyslipidemia is one of the common metabolic disorders in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a new component of lipid metabolism and correlated to the development of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. This protein acts by preventing the recycling of LDL receptors (LDL-r) back to the cell surface and thus generates higher levels of LDLc.

Cytomegalovirus reactivation in patients with refractory checkpoint inhibitor-induced colitis.

Objectives: Immune checkpoint inhibitors can cause severe immune-related adverse events, with immune-related diarrhea and colitis (irColitis) being among the most frequent ones. While the majority of patients with irColitis respond well to corticosteroid treatment ± other immunomodulatory drugs such as infliximab, some patients do not show resolution of their symptoms. In the present study, we analysed the frequency of therapy-refractory irColitis, the underlying cause, and useful diagnostic approaches.

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations are rare in urachal cancer.

High rates of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations have recently been described in urothelial carcinoma (UC). Unlike UC in the bladder, adenocarcinomas account for the majority of urachal cancer (UrC) cases. As data in UrC is unclear, we analyzed TERT promoter mutations in a large cohort of UrC for its differential diagnostic, clinicopathological and prognostic significance.

Fun Is More Fun When Others Are Involved.

Fun activities are commonly sought and highly desired yet their affective side has received little scrutiny. The present research investigated two features of fun in two daily diary studies and one laboratory experiment. First, we examined the affective state associated with fun experiences.