Hebbian plasticity induced by temporally coincident BCI enhances post-stroke motor recovery.

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) can support functional restoration of a paretic limb post-stroke. Hebbian plasticity depends on temporally coinciding pre- and post-synaptic activity. A tight temporal relationship between motor cortical (MC) activity associated with attempted movement and FES-generated visuo-proprioceptive feedback is hypothesized to enhance motor recovery.

Randomized, Multicenter Study to Assess the Effects of Different Doses of Sildenafil on Mortality in Adults With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Background: Sildenafil, approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), has a recommended adult dose of 20 mg TID, with a previously approved 5-mg TID dose by the US Food and Drug Administration. Safety concerns arose because of common off-label use of higher doses, particularly after pediatric data linked higher doses to increased mortality. To assess this, the Food and Drug Administration mandated a study evaluating the effects of various sildenafil doses on mortality in adults with PAH.

A fatal case of aspiration due to consumption of the hallucinogenic tryptamine derivative dipropyltryptamine (DPT).

Background And Aim: This case involves a 20-year-old man with prior hallucinogen-use experience, who sniffed an unknown amount of dipropyltryptamine in an apartment. Dipropyltryptamine, a hallucinogenic compound belonging to the tryptamine class is recognized for inducing effects similar to dimethyltryptamine (DMT) but with a longer duration. Ten to fifteen minutes later he experienced visual hallucinations, followed by increasing apathy.

Definition and terminology of developmental language disorders-Interdisciplinary consensus across German-speaking countries.

In recent years, there have been intense international discussions about the definition and terminology of language disorders in childhood, such as those sparked by the publications of the CATALISE consortium. To address this ongoing debate, a Delphi study was conducted in German-speaking countries. This study consisted of three survey waves and involved over 400 experts from relevant disciplines.

Long-term opioid therapy and mental health comorbidity in patients with chronic pain.

Objectives: Evidence suggests that patients with chronic pain and mental illness are more likely to receive long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) and at higher doses but are also at increased risk of experiencing opioid-related harm. This study investigates LTOT and its relationship to mental illness in the setting of a university-based outpatient pain clinic with liaison psychiatric care.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients with chronic pain admitted between 2011 and 2015.

Pain-Related Coping Behavior in ALS: The Interplay between Maladaptive Coping, the Patient's Affective State and Pain.

Background: Pain is a common symptom in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Coping plays a central role in adjustment to pain.

Objective: This study evaluates the use of different pain coping strategies in patients with ALS and investigates the interplay of maladaptive coping, and the patient's affective state and pain.

A Multi-Center Cohort Study on Characteristics of Pain, Its Impact and Pharmacotherapeutic Management in Patients with ALS.

Background: Although pain is common in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and an effectively treatable symptom, it is widely under-recognized and undertreated. This study investigates epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pain, its impact and pharmacological treatment in ALS patients. In addition, opportunities for further optimization of pain therapy need to be identified.

Characteristics of pain and the burden it causes in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - a longitudinal study.

Objective: Pain currently plays a subordinate role in the clinical care of patients with ALS. We aim to examine epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pain as well as its impact throughout the disease course.

Methods: During a longitudinal follow-up at three time points, 151 ALS patients from three German outpatient clinics completed the Brief Pain Inventory, ALS-Functional Rating Scale-Extension and ALS Depression Inventory.

Impairment of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in skin fibroblasts of SALS and FALS patients is rescued by in vitro treatment with ROS scavengers.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating, rapidly progressive, neurodegenerative disorder affecting upper and lower motor neurons. Approximately 10% of patients suffer from familial ALS (FALS) with mutations in different ubiquitously expressed genes including SOD1, C9ORF72, TARDBP, and FUS. There is compelling evidence for mitochondrial involvement in the pathogenic mechanisms of FALS and sporadic ALS (SALS), which is believed to be relevant for disease.

Lessons of the month 3: Intravenous poppers abuse: case report, management and possible complications.

Background: Poppers are nitrite-containing liquids, which are inhaled for their aphrodisiac and hallucinogenic effects. Despite some cases of severe poisonings, poppers are often perceived as harmless by consumers. Inhalation and ingestion of poppers are well known, but, according to our literature review, intravenous abuse has not been reported before.

Sonographic and 3T-MRI-based evaluation of the tongue in ALS.

A few systematic imaging studies employing ultrasound (HRUS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have suggested tongue measures to aid in diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The relationship between structural tongue alterations and the ALS patients' bulbar and overall motor function has not yet been elucidated. We here thus aimed to understand how in-vivo tongue alterations relate to motor function and motor function evolution over time in ALS.

The upper cervical spinal cord in ALS assessed by cross-sectional and longitudinal 3T MRI.

The upper cervical spinal cord is measured in a large longitudinal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cohort to evaluate its role as a biomarker. Specifically, the cervical spinal cord´s cross-sectional area (CSA) in plane of the segments C1-C3 was measured semi-automatically with T1-weighted 3T MRI sequences in 158 ALS patients and 86 controls. Six-month longitudinal follow-up MRI scans were analyzed in 103 patients.

The Dyspnea-ALS-Scale (DALS-15) optimizes individual treatment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suffering from dyspnea.

Background: Dyspnea is frequent in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and one of the most bothersome symptoms. The recently developed Dyspnea-ALS-Scale (DALS-15) is a disease-specific patient-reported outcome to detect and quantify dyspnea.

Objectives: To analyze in a case-based approach the diagnostic and clinical implications and the benefit of the DALS-15 for individual patients in daily clinical routine.

Cortico-Muscular Coherence Is Reduced Acutely Post-stroke and Increases Bilaterally During Motor Recovery: A Pilot Study.

Motor recovery following stroke is believed to necessitate alteration in functional connectivity between cortex and muscle. Cortico-muscular coherence has been proposed as a potential biomarker for post-stroke motor deficits, enabling a quantification of recovery, as well as potentially indicating the regions of cortex involved in recovery of function. We recorded simultaneous EEG and EMG during wrist extension from healthy participants and patients following ischaemic stroke, evaluating function at three time points post-stroke.

Changes in fat mass and fat-free-mass are associated with incident hypertension in four population-based studies from Germany.

Background: We estimated the association of changes in body weight, waist circumference (WC), fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) with changes in blood pressure and incident hypertension using data from four German population-based studies.

Methods: We analyzed data from 4467 participants, aged 21 to 82 years not taking antihypertensive medication and not having type 2 diabetes mellitus or a history of myocardial infarction at baseline and follow-up, from four population-based studies conducted in Germany. Body weight, WC, and blood pressure were measured at baseline and follow-up (median follow-up of the single studies 4 to 7 years).

Dyspnea in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Rasch-Based Development and Validation of a Patient-Reported Outcome (DALS-15).

Context: Dyspnea is a cardinal but often underestimated symptom in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The lack of a satisfying assessment tool leads to diagnostic uncertainty and bears the risk that established life-prolonging and symptom-relieving therapeutic options will not be adequately applied.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to develop and validate a German language disease-specific patient-reported outcome measure to assess dyspnea in ALS by combination of a qualitative and quantitative approach using Rasch analysis.

With Some Help From Others' Hands: Iconic Gesture Helps Semantic Learning in Children With Specific Language Impairment.

Purpose: Semantic learning under 2 co-speech gesture conditions was investigated in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. Learning was analyzed between conditions.

Method: Twenty children with SLI (aged 4 years), 20 TD children matched for age, and 20 TD children matched for language scores were taught rare nouns and verbs.

Observing iconic gestures enhances word learning in typically developing children and children with specific language impairment.

Research has shown that observing iconic gestures helps typically developing children (TD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) learn new words. So far, studies mostly compared word learning with and without gestures. The present study investigated word learning under two gesture conditions in children with and without language impairment.

Predicting risk of substantial weight gain in German adults-a multi-center cohort approach.

Background: A risk-targeted prevention strategy may efficiently utilize limited resources available for prevention of overweight and obesity. Likewise, more efficient intervention trials could be designed if selection of subjects was based on risk. The aim of the study was to develop a risk score predicting substantial weight gain among German adults.

Changes in Waist Circumference among German Adults over Time - Compiling Results of Seven Prospective Cohort Studies.

Aim: This study aims to quantify longitudinal changes in waist circumference (WC) among adults aged 45-64 years in Germany.

Methods: Data of 15,444 men and 17,207 women from one nationwide and six regional prospective German cohort studies were analyzed. The sex-specific mean change in WC per year of follow-up was assessed for each study separately.

Characterization of the metabolic profile associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D: a cross-sectional analysis in population-based data.

Background: Numerous observational studies have observed associations between vitamin D deficiency and cardiometabolic diseases, but these findings might be confounded by obesity. A characterization of the metabolic profile associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels, in general and stratified by abdominal obesity, may help to untangle the relationship between vitamin D, obesity and cardiometabolic health.

Methods: Serum metabolomics measurements were obtained from a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR)- and a mass spectrometry (MS)-based platform.

Effect of waist circumference on the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and serum lipids: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2006.

Objective: To examine the interaction between waist circumference (WC) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level in their associations with serum lipids.

Design: Cross-sectional study. The associations of serum 25(OH)D with total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), LDL-C:HDL-C and TAG were examined using multiple linear regression.

Comparison of different measures of obesity in their association with health-related quality of life in older adults - results from the KORA-Age study.

Objective: As ageing is associated with changes in body composition, BMI may not be the appropriate obesity measure for older adults. To date, little is known about associations between obesity measures and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Thus, we aimed to compare different obesity measures in their association with HRQoL and self-rated physical constitution (SRPC) in older adults.

Socioeconomic status and anthropometric changes-A meta-analytic approach from seven German cohorts.

Objective: To study the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and annual relative change in anthropometric markers in the general German adult population.

Methods: Longitudinal data of 56,556 participants aged 18-83 years from seven population-based German cohort studies (CARLA, SHIP, KORA, DEGS, EPIC-Heidelberg, EPIC-Potsdam, PopGen) were analyzed by meta-analysis using a random-effects model. The indicators of SES were education and household income.