Epicardial adipose tissue inflammation is related to vitamin D deficiency in patients affected by coronary artery disease.

Background And Aims: Alterations in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) biology (i.e. increased fat thickness and inflammation) have been described in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.

A comparison of sensorimotor adaptation in the visual and in the auditory modality.

We compared sensorimotor adaptation in the visual and the auditory modality. Subjects pointed to visual targets while receiving direct spatial information about fingertip position in the visual modality, or they pointed to visual targets while receiving indirect information about fingertip position in the visual modality, or they pointed to auditory targets while receiving indirect information about fingertip position in the auditory modality. Feedback was laterally shifted to induce adaptation, and aftereffects were tested with both target modalities and both hands.

Mobility is the key! Trends and associations of common care problems in German long-term care facilities from 2008 to 2012.

Background: Although enormous efforts have been made in auditing the quality of care, there are only few epidemiological studies available about the actual occurrence of immobility, malnutrition, urinary incontinence, cognitive impairment, falls and pressure ulcers in long-term care facilities.

Objective: The objective of this study was to provide prevalence estimates of common nursing care problems in long-term care facilities and to investigate any associations between them.

Design: Secondary data analysis of five consecutive annual cross-sectional multicenter studies from 2008 to 2012.

Identification and genotype/phenotype correlation of mutations in a large German cohort with hearing loss.

The prevalence of hearing impairment is estimated as approximately 1 on 1,000 newborn children. To assess a higher mutation detection rate in individuals with hearing loss a three-step mutation screening program consisting of GJB2 in first line, then GJB1, GJB3 and GJB6 (second step) and if tested negative or heterozygote, testing of GJA1, GJB4, SLC26A4 and PJVK (third) was performed. Audiograms were derived from all patients to characterize audiological features of GJB2 mutations especially.

Explicitly correlated PNO-MP2 and PNO-CCSD and their application to the S66 set and large molecular systems.

We present our current progress on the combination of explicit electron correlation with the pair natural orbital (PNO) representation. In particular we show cubic scaling PNO-MP2-F12, and PNO-CCSD[F12] implementations. The PNOs are constructed using a hybrid scheme, where the PNOs are generated in a truncated doubles space, spanned by orbital specific virtuals obtained using an iterative eigenvector algorithm.

Influence of fenofibrate treatment on triacylglycerides, diacylglycerides and fatty acids in fructose fed rats.

Fenofibrate (FF) lowers plasma triglycerides via PPARα activation. Here, we analyzed lipidomic changes upon FF treatment of fructose fed rats. Three groups with 6 animals each were defined as control, fructose-fed and fructose-fed/FF treated.

Altered surfactant homeostasis and alveolar epithelial cell stress in amiodarone-induced lung fibrosis.

Amiodarone (AD) is a highly efficient antiarrhythmic drug with potentially serious side effects. Severe pulmonary toxicity is reported in patients receiving AD even at low doses and may cause interstitial pneumonia as well as lung fibrosis. Apoptosis of alveolar epithelial type II cells (AECII) has been suggested to play an important role in this disease.

A rat toxicogenomics study with the calcium sensitizer EMD82571 reveals a pleiotropic cause of teratogenicity.

The calcium sensitizer and PDEIII inhibitor EMD82571 caused exencephaly, micrognathia, agnathia and facial cleft in 58% of fetuses. In pursue of mechanisms and to define adverse outcome pathways pregnant Wistar rats were dosed daily with either EMD82571 (50 or 150mg/kg/day) or retinoic acid (12mg/kg/day) on gestational days 6-11 and 6-17, respectively. Hypothesis driven and whole genome microarray experiments were performed with whole embryo, maternal liver, embryonic liver and malformed bone at gestational days 12 and 20.

Ultrafast volumetric B1 (+) mapping for improved radiofrequency shimming in 3 tesla body MRI.

Purpose: To evaluate the use of the recently proposed ultrafast B1 (+) mapping approach DREAM (Dual Refocusing Echo Acquisition Mode) for a refinement of patient adaptive radiofrequency (RF) shimming.

Materials And Methods: Volumetric DREAM B1 (+) calibration scans centered in the upper abdomen were acquired in 20 patients and three volunteers with written informed consent at a clinical dual source 3 Tesla (T) MR system. Based on these data, RF transmit settings were optimized by central-slice based RF-shimming (CS-RF shim) and by a refined, multi-slice adaptive approach (MS-RF shim).

Ultrastructure of skin from Refsum disease with emphasis on epidermal lamellar bodies and stratum corneum barrier lipid organization.

Classic Refsum disease (RD) is a rare, autosomal recessively-inherited disorder of peroxisome metabolism due to a defect in the initial step in the alpha oxidation of phytanic acid (PA), a C16 saturated fatty acid with four methyl side groups, which accumulates in plasma and lipid enriched tissues (please see van den Brink and Wanders, Cell Mol Life Sci 63:1752-1765, 2006). It has been proposed that the disease complex in RD is in part due to the high affinity of phytanic acid for retinoid X receptors and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors. Structurally, epidermal hyperplasia, increased numbers of cornified cell layers, presence of cells with lipid droplets in stratum basale and reduction of granular layer to a single layer have been reported by Blanchet-Bardon et al.

High-density lipoprotein 3 and apolipoprotein A-I alleviate platelet storage lesion and release of platelet extracellular vesicles.

Background: Stored platelet (PLT) concentrates (PLCs) for transfusion develop a PLT storage lesion (PSL), decreasing PLT viability and function with profound lipidomic changes and PLT extracellular vesicle (PL-EV) release. High-density lipoprotein 3 (HDL3 ) improves PLT homeostasis through silencing effects on PLT activation in vivo. This prompted us to investigate HDL3 and apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) as PSL-antagonizing agents.

HOI versus HOIO selectivity of a molten-type AgI electrode.

Unlabelled: AgI electrode is often applied not only to determine iodine concentration but also to follow oscillations in the weakly acidic medium of the Bray-Liebhafsky and Briggs-Rauscher reactions where it partly follows the hypoiodous acid (HOI) concentration. It is known that HOI attacks its matrix in the corrosion reaction: AgI + HOI + H(+) ⇆ Ag(+) + I2 + H2O and the AgI electrode measures the silver ion concentration produced in that reaction. The signal of the electrode can be the basis of sensitive and selective HOI concentration measurements only supposing that an analogous corrosive reaction between AgI and iodous acid (HOIO) can be neglected.

Thrombocyte adhesion and release of extracellular microvesicles correlate with surface morphology of adsorbent polymers for lipid apheresis.

Whole blood lipid apheresis is clinically applied to reduce low density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Here, we studied the correlation between physicochemical parameters, in particular, surface roughness and blood compatibility, of two polyacrylate-based and a dextran sulfate-based polymer for lipid apheresis. The adsorbent surface roughness was assessed by atomic force microscopy.

The 2013 Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine.

In 2001, "The Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine" was first published. This document, the first of its kind, was the result of an extensive practice analysis of emergency department (ED) visits and several expert panels, overseen by representatives from six collaborating professional organizations (the American Board of Emergency Medicine, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, the Residency Review Committee for Emergency Medicine, the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, and the Emergency Medicine Residents' Association). Every 2 years, the document is reviewed by these organizations to identify practice changes, incorporate new evidence, and identify perceived deficiencies.

Lipidomic analysis of the liver from high-fat diet induced obese mice identifies changes in multiple lipid classes.

Fatty liver is closely associated with obesity and sensitizes the liver to further insults. The aims of the current study are (1) to identify lipid species changed in rodent fatty liver, (2) to analyze for possible associations of these lipids with triglycerides, cholesterol or CXCL8 which is elevated in the steatotic liver and (3) to find out whether systemic levels of these lipids are concordantly altered. Lipidomic analysis has confirmed an already reported reduction of phosphatidylcholine in the steatotic liver.

Developing new methods to answer old and new questions in neurodegenerative diseases: 21(st) Workshop of the HUPO Brain Proteome Project (HBPP) 23-24 January 2014, Honolulu, Hawaii.

The HUPO Brain Proteome Project (HUPO BPP) held its 21(st) workshop in Honolulu, Hawaii. During the 23-24 January 2014 the island became the center of the open workshop of the scientific community.

Monocyte to macrophage differentiation goes along with modulation of the plasmalogen pattern through transcriptional regulation.

Background: Dysregulation of monocyte-macrophage differentiation is a hallmark of vascular and metabolic diseases and associated with persistent low grade inflammation. Plasmalogens represent ether lipids that play a role in diabesity and previous data show diminished plasmalogen levels in obese subjects. We therefore analyzed transcriptomic and lipidomic changes during monocyte-macrophage differentiation in vitro using a bioinformatic approach.

Atom probe tomography of lithium-doped network glasses.

Li-doped silicate and borate glasses are electronically insulating, but provide considerable ionic conductivity. Under measurement conditions of laser-assisted atom probe tomography, mobile Li ions are redistributed in response to high electric fields. In consequence, the direct interpretation of measured composition profiles is prevented.

Estimation of multipath transmission parameters for quantitative ultrasound measurements of bone.

When applying quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements to bone for predicting osteoporotic fracture risk, the multipath transmission of sound waves frequently occurs. In the last 10 years, the interest in separating multipath QUS signals for their analysis awoke, and led to the introduction of several approaches. Here, we compare the performances of the two fastest algorithms proposed for QUS measurements of bone: the modified least-squares Prony method (MLSP), and the space alternating generalized expectation maximization algorithm (SAGE) applied in the frequency domain.

Sphingolipids in human synovial fluid--a lipidomic study.

Articular synovial fluid (SF) is a complex mixture of components that regulate nutrition, communication, shock absorption, and lubrication. Alterations in its composition can be pathogenic. This lipidomic investigation aims to quantify the composition of sphingolipids (sphingomyelins, ceramides, and hexosyl- and dihexosylceramides) and minor glycerophospholipid species, including (lyso)phosphatidic acid, (lyso)phosphatidylglycerol, and bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate species, in the SF of knee joints from unaffected controls and from patients with early (eOA) and late (lOA) stages of osteoarthritis (OA), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Neonatal respiratory insufficiency caused by an (homozygous) ABCA3-stop mutation: a systematic evaluation of therapeutic options.

Background: Autosomal recessive ABCA3 (ATP-binding cassette protein A3) gene mutations have been associated with neonatal respiratory distress and pediatric interstitial lung disease. The clinical course of the disease depends on the underlying mutations. Therefore, knowledge of course, symptoms and treatment of the disease is important.

Interleukin-15 and soluble interleukin-15 receptor α in coronary artery disease patients: association with epicardial fat and indices of adipose tissue distribution.

Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine which signals via a specific alpha receptor subunit (IL-15Rα). Increased IL-15 level has been observed in cardiovascular patients and IL-15 immunoreactivity has been detected at vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Due to the association between adipose tissue distribution, inflammation and coronary artery disease (CAD), we quantified IL-15 and IL-15Rα in CAD patients with different adiposity and adipose tissue distribution and we evaluated whether epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), a visceral fat depot surrounding and infiltrating myocardium, may be a source of both molecules.