Experimental Models for Cold Exposure of Muscle and .

Work in cold environments may have a significant impact on occupational health. In these and similar situations, cold exposure localized to the extremities may reduce the temperature of underlying tissues. To investigate the molecular effects of cold exposure in muscle, and since adequate methods were missing, we established two experimental cold exposure models: 1) exposure to cold (18°C) or control temperature (37°C) of cultured human skeletal muscle cells (myotubes); and 2) unilateral cold exposure of hind limb skeletal muscle in anesthetized rats (intramuscular temperature 18°C), with contralateral control (37°C).

A man in his forties with acute confusion.

Rapid and thorough assessment of acute neuropsychiatric symptoms is essential for effective treatment. Here we describe a patient with a distinctive but relatively rare disease.

Facet Arthropathy Following Disc Replacement Versus Rehabilitation: A Prospective Study With 8-Year Follow-Up.

Study Design: A prospective study of patients originally randomized to total disc replacement (TDR) or multidisciplinary rehabilitation.

Objective: To assess the long-term development of facet arthropathy (FA) after TDR versus nonoperative treatment, and to analyze the association between FA and clinical outcome.

Summary Of Background Data: FA may appear or increase following TDR, but the natural course of FA is unclear, and no previous study has evaluated the long-term development of FA following TDR compared with nonoperative treatment.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, a clinically diverse and challenging disorder.

The characterizing features of Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) are broad and diverse, making early recognition and diagnosis challenging tasks. To illustrate the heterogeneous nature of PRES, we present three cases and discuss their clinical and radiological presentation.

Facet arthropathy evaluation: CT or MRI?

Objective: To assess the reliability of lumbar facet arthropathy evaluation with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with and without lumbar disc prosthesis and to estimate the reliability for individual CT and MRI findings indicating facet arthropathy.

Methods: Metal-artifact reducing CT and MRI protocols were performed at follow-up of 114 chronic back pain patients treated with (n = 66) or without (n = 48) lumbar disc prosthesis. Three experienced radiologists independently rated facet joint space narrowing, osteophyte/hypertrophy, erosions, subchondral cysts, and total grade facet arthropathy at each of the three lower lumbar levels on both CT and MRI, using Weishaupt et al's rating system.

Major Increase in Microbiota-Dependent Proatherogenic Metabolite TMAO One Year After Bariatric Surgery.

Background: Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is formed in the liver from trimethylamine (TMA), a product exclusively generated by the gut microbiota from dietary phosphatidylcholine and carnitine. An alternative pathway of TMAO formation from carnitine is via the microbiota-dependent intermediate γ-butyrobetaine (γBB). Elevated TMAO levels are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), but little is known about TMAO in obesity.

The European Medicines Agency approval of axitinib (Inlyta) for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma after failure of prior treatment with sunitinib or a cytokine: summary of the scientific assessment of the committee for medicinal products for human use.

Axitinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR-1), VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3. Based on the positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), a marketing authorization valid throughout the European Union (EU) was issued for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after failure of prior treatment with sunitinib or a cytokine. The demonstration of clinical benefit for axitinib was based on a phase III, randomized, open-label, multicenter study of axitinib compared with sorafenib in patients with advanced RCC after failure of a prior systemic first-line regimen containing one or more of the following agents: sunitinib, bevacizumab plus interferon-α, temsirolimus, or cytokines.

Soluble CD14 is associated with markers of vascular dysfunction in bariatric surgery patients.

Background: Chronic endotoxemia has been proposed to contribute to obesity-related complications. We aimed to investigate the potential impact of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and subsequent monocyte activation measured as soluble CD14 (sCD14) on markers of vascular dysfunction in obese subjects undergoing bariatric surgery.

Methods: This was a prospective study of 49 obese patients and 17 controls, assessed by plasma levels of LPS, sCD14, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA).

Plasma lipopolysaccharide is closely associated with glycemic control and abdominal obesity: evidence from bariatric surgery.

Objective: It is of vital importance to elucidate the triggering factors of obesity and type 2 diabetes to improve patient care. Bariatric surgery has been shown to prevent and even cure diabetes, but the mechanism is unknown. Elevated levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) predict incident diabetes, but the sources of LPS are not clarified.

Failure of dry mist of hydrogen peroxide 5% to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

A dry mist of hydrogen peroxide (DMHP; Sterinis), was used to test for surface decontamination of air-dried samples of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 3 x 10(5) cfu/mL in open plastic trays. No significant decontamination effect of DMHP could be observed after three ordinary cycles with hydrogen peroxide or after doubling the effect with six repeated cycles.

Determination of selected pharmaceuticals and caffeine in sewage and seawater from Tromsø/Norway with emphasis on ibuprofen and its metabolites.

Selected pharmaceuticals, among them analgesics, ss-blockers and anti-depressants as well as caffeine, the anti-bacterial triclosan and the insect repellent N,N-diethyl-3-toluamide (DEET) were determined in different sewage samples (sewage treatment plants, hospital effluents) from Tromsø/Norway and in seawater from Tromsø-Sound, into which the sewage is discharged. While caffeine, triclosan, ibuprofen and its major metabolites hydroxy- and carboxy-ibuprofen were present in all sewage samples, additional pharmaceuticals were observed in sewage containing hospital effluents. Concentrations were in the range of 20-293 microg/l (caffeine), 0.