Optimized Enrichment of Murine Blood-Brain Barrier Vessels with a Critical Focus on Network Hierarchy in Post-Collection Analysis.

Unlabelled: Cerebrovascular networks contain a unique region of interconnected capillaries known as the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Positioned between upstream arteries and downstream veins, these microvessels have unique structural features, such as the absence of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) and a relatively thin basement membrane, to facilitate highly efficient yet selective exchange between the circulation and the brain interstitium. This vital role in neurological health and function has garnered significant attention from the scientific community and inspired methodology for enriching BBB capillaries.

Digital therapeutic to improve cancer-related well-being: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This randomized waitlist controlled pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of Mika, an app-based digital therapeutic intervention hypothesized to improve management and the support of cancer patients.

Methods: Patients with gynecological malignancies undergoing post-operative or routine outpatient chemotherapy were randomized (5:2) into intervention (Mika plus treatment-as-usual) and control (treatment-as-usual alone). Feasibility outcomes including dropout rate, reasons for dropout, and intervention adherence, as well as efficacy outcomes including depression, fatigue, and health literacy were assessed at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks.

Scanningless and continuous 3D bioprinting of human tissues with decellularized extracellular matrix.

Decellularized extracellular matrices (dECMs) have demonstrated excellent utility as bioscaffolds in recapitulating the complex biochemical microenvironment, however, their use as bioinks in 3D bioprinting to generate functional biomimetic tissues has been limited by their printability and lack of tunable physical properties. Here, we describe a method to produce photocrosslinkable tissue-specific dECM bioinks for fabricating patient-specific tissues with high control over complex microarchitecture and mechanical properties using a digital light processing (DLP)-based scanningless and continuous 3D bioprinter. We demonstrated that tissue-matched dECM bioinks provided a conducive environment for maintaining high viability and maturation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes.

Alterations of adiponectin gene expression and DNA methylation in adipose tissues and blood cells are associated with gestational diabetes and neonatal outcome.

Background: Adiponectin critically contributes to metabolic homeostasis, especially by insulin-sensitizing action. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is characterized by insulin resistance leading to materno-fetal hyperglycemia and detrimental birth outcomes. By investigating paired subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as well as blood (cell) samples of GDM-affected (n = 25) vs.

Reduced Insulin Receptor Expression and Altered DNA Methylation in Fat Tissues and Blood of Women With GDM and Offspring.

Context: Altered expression of the insulin receptor (IR) in adipose tissue (AT) could contribute to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) etiopathogenesis. Transcriptional regulation via epigenetic mechanisms (e.g.

Maternal overweight is not an independent risk factor for increased birth weight, leptin and insulin in newborns of gestational diabetic women: observations from the prospective 'EaCH' cohort study.

Background: Both gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) as well as overweight/obesity during pregnancy are risk factors for detrimental anthropometric and hormonal neonatal outcomes, identified to 'program' adverse health predispositions later on. While overweight/obesity are major determinants of GDM, independent effects on critical birth outcomes remain unclear. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate, in women with GDM, the relative/independent impact of overweight/obesity vs.

Cranial and cerebral signs in the diagnosis of spina bifida between 18 and 22 weeks of gestation: a German multicentre study.

Objective: The aim of this article is to study secondary cranial signs in fetuses with spina bifida in a precisely defined screening period between 18 + 0 and 22 + 0 weeks of gestation.

Method: On the basis of retrospective analysis of 627 fetuses with spina bifida, the value of indirect cranial and cerebral markers was assessed by well-trained ultrasonographers in 13 different prenatal centres in accordance with the ISUOG (International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology) guidelines on fetal neurosonography.

Results: Open spina bifida was diagnosed in 98.

Overweight and Obesity before, during and after Pregnancy: Part 2: Evidence-based Risk Factors and Interventions.

Overweight and obesity have become a global health problem. Obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy have a serious impact on maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes. Pre-conceptional obesity and excessive weight gain during pregnancy are associated with weight gain in women following childbirth leading to associated risks such as metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Overweight and Obesity before, during and after Pregnancy: Part 1: Pathophysiology, Molecular Biology and Epigenetic Consequences.

Overweight and obesity before conception as well as excessive weight gain during pregnancy are associated with endocrinological changes of mother and fetus. Insulin resistance physiologically increases during pregnancy, additional obesity further increases insulin resistance. In combination with reduced insulin secretion this leads to gestational diabetes which may develop into type-2-diabetes.

Natural Size Development of Myomata - Ultrasound Observational Study of 55 Premenopausal Patients.

The natural growth progression of uterine leiomyomata will be studied and used to identify potential predictive criteria of myoma size development. This should answer the question of whether myoma growth is dependent on patient age, or on the localisation or original size of the myoma, as well as how much of a size increase can be expected per unit of time, and the proportion of myomata which shrink. Patient files of a myoma surgery from 2010 to 2012 were retrospectively evaluated.

Early postnatal life as a critical time window for determination of long-term metabolic health.

Epidemiological studies demonstrated a clear phenomenological association between low birth weight and increased cardiometabolic risk later in life, very similar to that in high birth weight subjects. Pre- and/or neonatal overfeeding appears to be an etiological clue. In animal studies, irrespective of birth weight neonatal over-nutrition leads to later overweight, impaired glucose tolerance and cardiometabolic alterations.

[Correlation between sonographic findings and level of knowledge/self-report of symptoms in women with uterine leiomyomata].

Purpose: Is there any correlation between the pre-therapeutic level of knowledge concerning the number/size of leiomyomata or self-reported symptoms and confirmation by sonography? How does the assumption of the number/size of leiomyomata influence the self-perception of symptoms?

Materials And Methods: In an anonymous questionnaire 498 patients were asked about the number, size and symptoms induced by leiomyomata using a visual chart from 0 - 10. The data were correlated with findings from transvaginal and abdominal ultrasound.

Results: The self-reported number of leiomyomata corresponded with the sonographic findings in 80 % of patients with 1 leiomyoma and in 54 % of patients with 2 or 3 leiomyomata, while the self-reported size only corresponded with the sonographic findings in 20 % to 70 % of patients.

3D volume contrast imaging (VCI) for the visualization of placenta previa increta and uterine wall thickness in a dichorionic twin pregnancy.

Purpose: Placenta increta is a rare event in pregnancy, but is associated with serious maternal morbidity and mortality due to life threatening hemorrhage. The incidence has increased due to high Cesarean rates. We describe a case of placenta previa increta in a dichorionic twin pregnancy, which was successfully treated conservatively, to discuss the role of ultrasound, especially 3D VCI and TUI, for diagnosis and conservative management in similar cases.

Technical performance of lactate biosensors and a test-strip device during labour.

Introduction: Lactate in fetal blood has a high diagnostic power to detect fetal compromise due to hypoxia, as lactate allows an estimation of duration and intensity of metabolic acidemia. Biosensor technology allows an instantaneous diagnosis of fetal compromise in the delivery room. The goal of the current investigation is to define the preanalytical and analytical biases of this technology under routine conditions in a labour ward in comparison to test-strip technology, which allows measurement of lactate alone.

Emergency cerclage versus bed rest for amniotic sac prolapse before 27 gestational weeks. A retrospective, comparative study of 161 women.

Objective: The objective of the study is to compare outcomes after conservative management alone versus conservative management with cerclage in the treatment of amniotic sac prolapse in the second trimester.

Study Design: Retrospective, comparative study at a university hospital/tertiary referral centre. The medical data was provided by the files of 182 women who were in-patients between December 1989 and June 2005 as a result of prolapse of the amniotic sac during live pregnancies between the 17+0 and 26+0 weeks of gestation.

Fetal scalp pH and ST analysis of the fetal ECG as an adjunct to cardiotocography to predict fetal acidosis in labor--a multi-center, case controlled study.

Objective: To assess the relationship between scalp pH (FBS) and ST analysis in situations of acidosis with special emphasis on the timing of cardiotocography (CTG), FBS and ST changes during labor.

Study Design: From a European Union multicenter study on clinical implementation of the STAN methodology, 911 cases were identified where a scalp-pH had been obtained. In 53 cases, marked cord artery acidosis was found (cord artery pH<7.

Actinomycotic inflammatory disease and misdiagnosis of ovarian cancer. A case report.

Actinomycosis in the pelvic region is an uncommon diagnosis. This infection is caused by Actinomyces israelii, a gram-positive anerobic saprophyte bacterium that is a normal inhabitant of the upper intestinal tract in humans. Pelvic actinomycosis is difficult to diagnose pre-operatively and is diagnosed, in most cases, accidentally.

Fetal scalp pH and ST analysis of the fetal ECG as an adjunct to CTG. A multi-center, observational study.

Objective: To evaluate the relationships between scalp-pH and CTG plus ST waveform analysis of the fetal ECG (STAN) clinical guidelines as indicators of intrapartum hypoxia in term fetuses born with cord artery acidemia.

Study Design: Data from 6999 term deliveries monitored by the STAN (R) S 21 as part of an EU multi-center study on clinical implementation of the STAN methodology for intrapartum fetal surveillance were analyzed. We identified 911 cases where a scalp-pH was obtained, including 53 cases with cord artery acidemia (pH < 7.