Prognostic nomogram to predict progression-free survival in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer.

Background: Patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer are a heterogeneous group, and it is not possible to accurately predict the progression-free survival (PFS) in these patients. We developed and validated a nomogram to help improve prediction of PFS in patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy.

Methods: The nomogram was developed in a training cohort (n=955) from the CALYPSO trial and validated in the AGO-OVAR 2.

Quantification of human tissue transglutaminase by a luminescence sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) is a calcium-dependent enzyme that catalyzes crosslinking of peptidic glutamine residues with primary amines via isopeptide bonds and hydrolysis of ATP or GTP. The enzyme exerts a variety of functions at the cellular and tissue levels that may be disturbed in disease. Its role in pathoprocesses is poorly understood.

Toll-like receptor 4 is involved in inflammatory and joint destructive pathways in collagen-induced arthritis in DBA1J mice.

In rheumatoid arthritis, a significant proportion of cytokine and chemokine synthesis is attributed to innate immune mechanisms. TLR4 is a prominent innate receptor since several endogenous ligands known to activate the innate immune system bind to it and may thereby promote joint inflammation. We generated TLR4 deficient DBA1J mice by backcrossing the TLR4 mutation present in C3H/HeJ strain onto the DBA1J strain and investigated the course of collagen-induced arthritis in TLR4 deficient mice in comparison to wild type littermates.

CA125 (MUC16) gene silencing suppresses growth properties of ovarian and breast cancer cells.

The tumour-associated antigen CA125 (mucin 16, MUC16) is commonly expressed in ovarian cancer, and can also be detected in other tumour of epithelial origin, but its physiological role is largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of MUC16 gene silencing on the growth properties of ovarian and breast cancer cells. We analysed cellular effects linked to oncogenesis, such as proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis, after transient and stable transfection with MUC16 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in diverse epithelial cancer cell lines with different MUC16 expression.

Increased alpha (8-12 Hz) activity during slow wave sleep as a marker for the transition from implicit knowledge to explicit insight.

The number reduction task (NRT) allows us to study the transition from implicit knowledge of hidden task regularities to explicit insight into these regularities. To identify sleep-associated neurophysiological indicators of this restructuring of knowledge representations, we measured frequency-specific power of EEG while participants slept during the night between two sessions of the NRT. Alpha (8-12 Hz) EEG power during slow wave sleep (SWS) emerged as a specific marker of the transformation of presleep implicit knowledge to postsleep explicit knowledge (ExK).

The Impact of Breast Care Nurses on Patients' Satisfaction, Understanding of the Disease, and Adherence to Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Breast care nurses (BCNs) are specialized caregivers in certified breast cancer center teams. The impact of a BCN's work remains unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The role of BCN care was evaluated in a post-discharge mail survey of 360 patients.

A stereoselective inverting sec-alkylsulfatase for the deracemization of sec-alcohols.

A metallo-β-lactamase-type alkylsulfatase was found to catalyze the enantioselective hydrolysis of sec-alkylsulfates with strict inversion of configuration. This catalytic event, which does not have an analog in chemocatalysis, yields homochiral (S)-configurated alcohols and nonreacted sulfate esters. The latter could be converted into (S)-sec-alcohols as the sole product in up to >99% ee via a chemoenzymatic deracemization protocol on a preparative scale.

Emotional consequences of collective action participation: differentiating self-directed and outgroup-directed emotions.

The present research examines the emotional and behavioral consequences of collective action participation. It demonstrates that "positive" and "negative" emotions can be experienced simultaneously as a result of collective action participation, yet it is important to distinguish outgroup-directed from self-directed emotions. Results of two experiments (N = 71 and N = 101) that manipulated participation in collective action illustrate that whereas collective action participants experience more outgroup-directed anger and contempt, they feel more self-directed positive affect.

Opposite effects of cortisol on consolidation of temporal sequence memory during waking and sleep.

Memory functions involve three stages: encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. Modulating effects of glucocorticoids (GCs) have been consistently observed for declarative memory with GCs enhancing encoding and impairing retrieval, but surprisingly, little is known on how GCs affect memory consolidation. Studies in rats suggest a beneficial effect of GCs that were administered during postlearning wake periods, whereas in humans, cortisol impaired memory consolidation when administered during postlearning sleep.

Intraperitoneal treatment with the trifunctional bispecific antibody Catumaxomab in patients with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer: a phase IIa study of the AGO Study Group.

Objective: The aim of this study was to select the best catumaxomab regimen for further investigation in ovarian cancer based on confirmed tumour response.

Methods: Randomised open-label phase IIa study in women with platinum-resistant or -refractory epithelial ovarian cancer. Catumaxomab (6-hour intraperitoneal infusion on days 0, 3, 7 and 10) was administered at a low (10, 10, 10 and 10 μg) or high dose (10, 20, 50 and 100 μg).

Improved molecular replacement by density- and energy-guided protein structure optimization.

Molecular replacement procedures, which search for placements of a starting model within the crystallographic unit cell that best account for the measured diffraction amplitudes, followed by automatic chain tracing methods, have allowed the rapid solution of large numbers of protein crystal structures. Despite extensive work, molecular replacement or the subsequent rebuilding usually fail with more divergent starting models based on remote homologues with less than 30% sequence identity. Here we show that this limitation can be substantially reduced by combining algorithms for protein structure modelling with those developed for crystallographic structure determination.

A cis-regulatory map of the Drosophila genome.

Systematic annotation of gene regulatory elements is a major challenge in genome science. Direct mapping of chromatin modification marks and transcriptional factor binding sites genome-wide has successfully identified specific subtypes of regulatory elements. In Drosophila several pioneering studies have provided genome-wide identification of Polycomb response elements, chromatin states, transcription factor binding sites, RNA polymerase II regulation and insulator elements; however, comprehensive annotation of the regulatory genome remains a significant challenge.

Guilt-specific processing in the prefrontal cortex.

Guilt is a central moral emotion due to its inherent link to norm violations, thereby affecting both individuals and society. Furthermore, the nature and specificity of guilt is still debated in psychology and philosophy, particularly with regard to the differential involvement of self-referential representations in guilt relative to shame. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in healthy volunteers, we identified specific brain regions associated with guilt by comparison with the 2 most closely related emotions, shame and sadness.

[Genetics of rheumatoid arthritis].

Genetic influences on susceptibility to and clinical course of rheumatoid arthritis have been known for a long time, but have so far eluded systematic, genome-wide analysis. In recent years, the availability of new typing techniques and international consortia with large patient cohorts has generated a wealth of new information on the genetic basis of this autoimmune disease. Newly described associations between immunologically relevant gene polymorphisms and RA susceptibility have already been replicated with great statistical power, and are currently incorporated into new, pathogenetically relevant functional pathways.

[Immune senescence and autoimmunity. Does the immune system really age, or just the organs which supply it?].

Degenerative ageing processes are to a great extent responsible for organ-specific morbidity and mortality among our population. The incidence of many autoimmune diseases also increases significantly with age, as is evident with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for example. From an immunological and pathogenetic perspective, that the changes in the immune system of RA patients is comparable to the physiological ageing process seen in healthy individuals approximately 20 years later is of great interest.

Characterization of the DMAE-modified juvenile excretory-secretory protein Juv-p120 of Litomosoides sigmodontis.

Juv-p120 is an excretory-secretory 160 kDa glycoprotein of juvenile female Litomosoides sigmodontis and exhibits features typical for mucins. 50% of its molecular mass is attributed to posttranslational modifications with the unusual substituent dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE). By that Juv-p120 corresponds to the surface proteins of the microfilarial sheath, Shp3 and Shp3a.

Sleep effects on slow-brain-potential reflections of associative learning.

Previous research has indicated that information acquired before sleep gets consolidated during sleep. This process of consolidation might be reflected after sleep in changed extent and topography of cortical activation during retrieval of information. Here, we designed an experiment to measure those changes by means of slow event-related EEG potentials (SPs).

Immunoassay of in vitro activated human tissue transglutaminase.

Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) is a calcium-dependent enzyme that exerts a variety of physiological functions and is involved in various pathoprocesses. To characterize the role of tTG in disease, simple assays are necessary for detection. We developed a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that combines a transamidation step with immunological detection to determine tTG.

Direct contact as a moderator of extended contact effects: cross-sectional and longitudinal impact on outgroup attitudes, behavioral intentions, and attitude certainty.

Cross-group friendships (the most effective form of direct contact) and extended contact (i.e., knowing ingroup members who have outgroup friends) constitute two of the most important means of improving outgroup attitudes.

Risks in the application of medical devices: human factors in the medical environment.

Objective: The more complex a medical device is, the more difficult it is to control the hazards associated with its use. A substantial percentage of harm or injuries to patients resulting from treatment can be attributed to errors. No one knows exactly how many victims have been claimed by medical errors.

[How do T-cells become activated in joints?].

Activated CD4+ T-cells are found in joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and are involved in the joint destroying autoimmune response. Besides proinflammatory cytokine production T-cells are indispensable for the activation of B-cells, the so-called T-cell help for B-cells. However, the recognition of autoantigens by T-cells seems of utmost importance for the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Neural precursors of delayed insight.

The solution of a problem left unresolved in the evening can sometimes pop into mind as a sudden insight after a night of sleep in the following morning. Although favorable effects of sleep on insightful behavior have been experimentally confirmed, the neural mechanisms determining this delayed insight remain unknown. Here, using fMRI, we characterize the neural precursors of delayed insight in the number reduction task (NRT), in which a hidden task structure can be learned implicitly, but can also be recognized explicitly in an insightful process, allowing immediate qualitative improvement in task performance.

[Stress and rheumatoid arthritis].

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic rheumatic disease of unknown aetiology and variable severity. It is now well known that several risk factors are involved in its pathogenesis, including genetic factors and sex hormones as well as environmental factors, i.e.

Small-area analysis of incidence and localisation of vulvar cancer.

Objective. Vulvar cancer is a rare disease mainly in older women. HPV and non-HPV induced vulvar cancer reflect two types of oncogenesis.