Long-term impact on quality of life of subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease.

Long-term impact of bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and associated factors in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are not clear. In this prospective study, we included 69 PD patients (64 % men, mean age 61.3 ± 7.

Laparoscopic repair of complex ventral hernia facilitated by pre-operative chemical component relaxation using Botulinum Toxin A.

Purpose: The operative management of complex ventral hernia poses a formidable challenge, despite recent advances in surgical techniques. Recurrence rates after complex ventral hernia repair remain high, and increase with each failed attempt. This study examines the effect of pre-operative abdominal wall chemical component relaxation using Botulinum Toxin A (BTA) to induce temporary flaccid paralysis in order to facilitate laparoscopic repair of large complex ventral hernia.

[Computerized ranking test in three French universities: Staff experience and students' feedback].

Background: The year 2016 will be pivotal for the evaluation of French medical students with the introduction of the first computerized National Ranking Test (ECNi). The SIDES, online electronic system for medical student evaluation, was created for this purpose. All the universities have already organized faculty exams but few a joint computerized ranking test at several universities simultaneously.

The p53 tumor suppressor protein protects against chemotherapeutic stress and apoptosis in human medulloblastoma cells.

Medulloblastoma (MB), a primitive neuroectodermal tumor, is the most common malignant childhood brain tumor and remains incurable in about a third of patients. Currently, survivors carry a significant burden of late treatment effects. The p53 tumor suppressor protein plays a crucial role in influencing cell survival in response to cellular stress and while the p53 pathway is considered a key determinant of anti-tumor responses in many tumors, its role in cell survival in MB is much less well defined.

Concordance between Subjective and Objective Memory Impairment in Volunteer Subjects.

Background: Subjective memory impairment (SMI) refers to subjective awareness of initial memory decline undetectable with existing standardized cognitive tests. The Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) was created to detect memory deficits in individuals with preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). We reported normative data of a Spanish version of FNAME (S-FNAME) in cognitively normal (CN) Spanish-speaking subjects >49.

Manganese-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a Diagnostic and Dispositional Tool after Mild-Moderate Blast Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by explosive munitions, known as blast TBI, is the signature injury in recent military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Diagnostic evaluation of TBI, including blast TBI, is based on clinical history, symptoms, and neuropsychological testing, all of which can result in misdiagnosis or underdiagnosis of this condition, particularly in the case of TBI of mild-to-moderate severity. Prognosis is currently determined by TBI severity, recurrence, and type of pathology, and also may be influenced by promptness of clinical intervention when more effective treatments become available.

Subjective Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: An Overview of Self-Report Measures Used Across 19 International Research Studies.

Research increasingly suggests that subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in older adults, in the absence of objective cognitive dysfunction or depression, may be a harbinger of non-normative cognitive decline and eventual progression to dementia. Little is known, however, about the key features of self-report measures currently used to assess SCD. The Subjective Cognitive Decline Initiative (SCD-I) Working Group is an international consortium established to develop a conceptual framework and research criteria for SCD (Jessen et al.

Effects of altered ephrin-A5 and EphA4/EphA7 expression on tumor growth in a medulloblastoma mouse model.

Background: Members of the Eph/ephrin gene families act as key regulators of cerebellar development during embryogenesis. Aberrant signaling of Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands has also been implicated in human cancers. Medulloblastoma is an aggressive primitive neuroectodermal tumor that originates from granule neuron precursors in the cerebellum.

Validation of the Spanish Version of the Face Name Associative Memory Exam (S-FNAME) in Cognitively Normal Older Individuals.

The Face Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) is a paired associative memory test that has demonstrated sensitivity to amyloid burden in cognitively normal individuals, a biomarker of preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Normative data adjusted for age were reported in American healthy individuals older than 57. We aimed to report the psychometric characteristics of a Spanish version of FNAME (S-FNAME) when administered to Spanish-speaking people.

MEK plus PI3K/mTORC1/2 Therapeutic Efficacy Is Impacted by TP53 Mutation in Preclinical Models of Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: PI3K pathway activation occurs in concomitance with RAS/BRAF mutations in colorectal cancer, limiting the sensitivity to targeted therapies. Several clinical studies are being conducted to test the tolerability and clinical activity of dual MEK and PI3K pathway blockade in solid tumors.

Experimental Design: In the present study, we explored the efficacy of dual pathway blockade in colorectal cancer preclinical models harboring concomitant activation of the ERK and PI3K pathways.

Synthesis of mercaptopropyl-(phenylene)s-benzoates passivated gold nanoparticles: Implications for plasmonic photovoltaic cells.

Unlabelled: The incorporation of gold nanoparticles in heterojunction solar cells is expected to increase the efficiency due to plasmon effects, but the literature studies are sometimes controversial. In this work, gold nanoparticles passivated with (Ph)n-(CH2)3SH (n=1, 2, 3) have been synthesized by reduction of tetrachloroauric acid with sodium borohydride in two ways: (1) one-phase where both the thiol and the gold salt are solubilized in a mixture of methanol with acetic acid: Au-s-(Ph)n or (2), two-phase, using tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB) to transfer gold from water to toluene where the thiol is solubilized, Au(TOAB)-s-(Ph)n. The morphological, experimental and simulated optical properties were studied and analyzed as a function of the thiol and of the synthetic procedure in order to correlate them with the efficiency of plasmonic hybrid solar cells in the following configuration ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM-C60:Au-nanoparticles/Field's metal, where

Pedot: PSS is poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate), P3HT is poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) and PCBM-C60 is [6,6]-Phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester.

Supramolecular Order of 2,5-Bis(dodecanoxy)phenyleneethynylene-Butadiyne Oligomers in the Solid State.

The supramolecular order of a 2,5-bis(dodecanoxy)phenyleneethynylene-butadiyne series of rod-like oligomers with 2, 4, 6, and 8 phenyleneethynylene moieties was studied in the solid state by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature-dependent small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SWAXS), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), polarized optical microscopy (POM), high-resolution transmission microscopy (HRTEM), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). It was found that all of the oligomers self-assemble in blocks of molecules that resemble bricks that are randomly oriented. These oligomers are described as sanidic liquid crystals as a term to classify their mesomorphic behavior because of their brick or board-like structure.

The effects of particle shape and size on T2 relaxation in magnetic resonance imaging.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have recently been developed as T2 contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging. Here we report the dependence of the phase relaxivity, r2, on the particle shape. We show that the size dependence of the relaxivity for spherical particles can be generalized to spheroidal particles.

Wind power error estimation in resource assessments.

Estimating the power output is one of the elements that determine the techno-economic feasibility of a renewable project. At present, there is a need to develop reliable methods that achieve this goal, thereby contributing to wind power penetration. In this study, we propose a method for wind power error estimation based on the wind speed measurement error, probability density function, and wind turbine power curves.

What Medical Directors Need to Know about Dialysis Facility Water Management.

The medical directors of dialysis facilities have many operational clinic responsibilities, which on first glance, may seem outside the realm of excellence in patient care. However, a smoothly running clinic is integral to positive patient outcomes. Of the conditions for coverage outlined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, one most critical to quality dialysis treatment is the provision of safe purified dialysis water, because there are many published instances where clinic failure in this regard has resulted in patient harm.

Complications from robot-assisted radical cystectomy: Where do we stand?

Introduction: Radical cystectomy with extended lymphadenectomy is the surgical treatment of choice for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The technical and technological improvements and the positive results from robot-assisted kidney and prostate surgery have led to the progressive development of robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC). We provide a global structured overview and an update on the complications of RARC, recorded according to the Clavien-Dindo classification system.

Knockdown of EphB1 receptor decreases medulloblastoma cell growth and migration and increases cellular radiosensitization.

The expression of members of the Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands is frequently dysregulated in medulloblastomas. We assessed the expression and functional role of EphB1 in medulloblastoma cell lines and engineered mouse models. mRNA and protein expression profiling showed expression of EphB1 receptor in the human medulloblastoma cell lines DAOY and UW228.

[Orbital emphysema after Valsalva maneuver. Report of one case].

Orbital emphysema is a rare complication of orbital and facial trauma, involving the sinuses and occasionally the nasal cavity. Most cases occur as a result of trauma but spontaneous orbital emphysema has been reported. Clinical manifestations are often delayed until the upper airway pressure increases as when blowing or coughing.

A glass polyalkenoate cement carrier for bone morphogenetic proteins.

This work considers a glass polyalkenoate cement (GPC)-based carrier for the effective delivery of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) at an implantation site. A 0.12 CaO-0.

Integration of Network Biology and Imaging to Study Cancer Phenotypes and Responses.

Ever growing "omics" data and continuously accumulated biological knowledge provide an unprecedented opportunity to identify molecular biomarkers and their interactions that are responsible for cancer phenotypes that can be accurately defined by clinical measurements such as in vivo imaging. Since signaling or regulatory networks are dynamic and context-specific, systematic efforts to characterize such structural alterations must effectively distinguish significant network rewiring from random background fluctuations. Here we introduced a novel integration of network biology and imaging to study cancer phenotypes and responses to treatments at the molecular systems level.

High neuropeptide Y release associates with Ewing sarcoma bone dissemination - in vivo model of site-specific metastases.

Ewing sarcoma (ES) develops in bones or soft tissues of children and adolescents. The presence of bone metastases is one of the most adverse prognostic factors, yet the mechanisms governing their formation remain unclear. As a transcriptional target of EWS-FLI1, the fusion protein driving ES transformation, neuropeptide Y (NPY) is highly expressed and released from ES tumors.

Predictive value of angiogenic factors, clinical risk factors and uterine artery Doppler for pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction in second and third trimester pregnancies in an Ecuadorian population.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of angiogenic factors, maternal risks and uterine artery Doppler (UAD) in the prediction of pre-eclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (FGR) in a high-risk Ecuadorian population.

Methods: Patients with singleton pregnancies (n = 346) were investigated at two clinical visits (18-25 weeks and 28-32 weeks). Mean uterine artery (UA), pulsatility index (PI) and maternal biomarkers (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1, placental growth factor, sFlt-1/PLGF ratio) were obtained.

Delivery and management of a preterm infant in the burn unit: a multidisciplinary approach.

Burns during pregnancy can have profound effects on both the mother and her fetus. While the mother can suffer cardiovascular collapse, infection, hemorrhage and inhalation injury with respiratory failure, the fetus is affected through the placenta by all of these changes as well as by the transfer of drugs administered to the mother. We report a case of severely burned female patient at 29 weeks gestation, who, due to deteriorating maternal condition, was delivered and managed at 32 weeks gestation by a multidisciplinary team.

Evaluation of Candidate Genes Related to Neuronal Apoptosis in Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

The objective of this study was to identify genetic variation in genes encoding death receptors and signals that modulate their activity. After conducting a meta-analysis with five previous genome-wide association studies and aggregated data, the most significant signals, (TNF locus: rs2395488, rs2534672, and rs9267445; and FASLG locus: rs730278), were replicated in 1,046 cases and 372 controls. The rs2395488 and rs2534672 markers showed a modest protective effect (OR = 0.