Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance-Spectroscopy-Derived Serum Biomarkers of Metabolic Vulnerability Are Associated with Disability and Neurodegeneration in Multiple Sclerosis.

Purpose: Metabolic vulnerabilities can exacerbate inflammatory injury and inhibit repair in multiple sclerosis (MS). The purpose was to evaluate whether blood biomarkers of inflammatory and metabolic vulnerability are associated with MS disability and neurodegeneration.

Methods: Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra were obtained from serum samples from 153 healthy controls, 187 relapsing-remitting, and 91 progressive MS patients.

Dyslipidemias in multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: To investigate the frequency of dyslipidemia phenotypes in multiple sclerosis and to assess the associations with lipoprotein particle size distributions.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 203 healthy controls (HC), 221 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), and 126 progressive MS (PMS). A lipid profile with total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and apolipoprotein B levels were measured.

Comorbid onset of cardiovascular diagnosis and long-term confirmed disability progression in multiple sclerosis: A 15-year follow-up study.

Background: People with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) have greater prevalence of comorbid cardiovascular diseases (CVD) when compared to the general population despite similar frequency of CV risk factors.

Objective: Determine the impact of comorbid-onset of CVD diagnosis on long-term confirmed disability progression (CDP).

Methods: 276 pwMS (29 clinically isolated syndrome, 130 relapsing-remitting and 117 progressive) were clinically followed an average of 14.

Cognitive function in severe progressive multiple sclerosis.

Cognitive impairment is common in multiple sclerosis and negatively impacts quality of life. Cognitive status has yet to be described in people with severe progressive multiple sclerosis, in whom conventional neuropsychological testing is exceptionally difficult. The objective for the study was to characterize cognitive performance in severe progressive multiple sclerosis and compare them with age-, sex- and disease duration-matched less disabled people with multiple sclerosis using a specifically developed auditory, non-motor test of attention/cognitive processing speed-Auditory Test of Processing Speed.

Neuroimaging assessment of facility-bound severely-affected MS reveals the critical role of cortical gray matter pathology: results from the CASA-MS case-controlled study.

Background: A subgroup of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) will develop severe disability. The pathophysiology underlying severe MS is unknown. The comprehensive assessment of severely affected MS (CASA-MS) was a case-controlled study that compared severely disabled in skilled nursing (SD/SN) (EDSS ≥ 7.

Dynamic disability measures decrease the clinico-radiological gap in people with severely affected multiple sclerosis.

Background: Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is limited when utilized in highly disabled people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS).

Objetive: To explore the relationship between disability measures and MRI outcomes in severely-affected pwMS.

Methods: PwMS recruited from The Boston Home (TBH), a specialized residential facility for severly-affected pwMS and University at Buffalo (UB) MS Center were assessed using EDSS, MS Severity Scale, age-related MSS, Scripps Neurological Rating Scale (SNRS) and Combinatorial Weight-Adjusted Disability Score (CombiWISE).

Relationship between donor-derived cell-free DNA and tissue-based rejection-related transcripts in heart transplantation.

Background: Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB)-based traditional microscopy remains the gold standard for the detection of cardiac allograft rejection, despite its limitation of inherent subjectivity leading to inter-reader variability. Alternative techniques now exist to surveil for allograft injury and classify rejection. Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) testing is now a validated blood-based assay used to surveil for allograft injury.

Paramagnetic rim lesions predict greater long-term relapse rates and clinical progression over 10 years.

Background: Paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs) have been linked to higher clinical disease severity and relapse frequency. However, it remains unclear whether PRLs predict future, long-term disease progression.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess whether baseline PRLs were associated with subsequent long-term (10 years) Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) increase and relapse frequency and, if so, whether PRL-associated EDSS increase was mediated by relapse.

Auditory Test of Processing Speed: Preliminary validation of a smartphone-based test of mental speed.

Background: The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is a gold-standard measure of cognitive efficiency and processing speed for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) but relies on vision and oculomotor function.

Objectives: To develop and validate a new processing speed test with minimal memory involvement and no eye function requirements.

Methods: We created an Auditory Test of Processing Speed (ATOPS).

Relationship between blood and tissue-based rejection-related transcripts in heart transplantation.

Background: The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between blood and tissue-derived rejection-related transcripts from blood gene expression profiling (GEP) and molecular microscope in the setting of allograft rejection in heart transplant.

Methods: All heart transplant patients from August 2021 to May 2022 with both circulating blood GEP (AlloMap) and endomyocardial biopsy with molecular microscope diagnostic system (MMDx) within 4 weeks were included (N = 173 samples). We obtained individual blood GEP-based messenger RNA transcript expression levels of the 11 target genes from CareDx.

Neuroimaging Correlates of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly associated with concurrent and future impairments in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). The structural and pathological relationships with PROs in pwMS have not been elucidated.

Methods: One hundred and forty-two pwMS and 47 healthy controls (HCs) were scanned using 3T MRI and completed a PRO questionnaire named Lifeware that outlines the physical and psychosocial abilities.

Event detection using Twitter: a spatio-temporal approach.

Background: Every day, around 400 million tweets are sent worldwide, which has become a rich source for detecting, monitoring and analysing news stories and special (disaster) events. Existing research within this field follows key words attributed to an event, monitoring temporal changes in word usage. However, this method requires prior knowledge of the event in order to know which words to follow, and does not guarantee that the words chosen will be the most appropriate to monitor.

Evaluating Treatments and Spray Application for the Protection of Grapevine Pruning Wounds from Infection by Eutypa lata.

Eutypa dieback threatens the sustainability of vineyards worldwide and limited treatments are available for control of the disease in grapevine. Following the loss of the effective benzimidazole fungicides, benomyl and carbendazim, there is a need to identify alternatives for the protection of pruning wounds against infection by ascospores of Eutypa lata. In this study, 24 fungicide and natural treatments were evaluated in the laboratory and field.

The influence of climate on foliar symptoms of eutypa dieback in grapevines.

ABSTRACT Foliar symptoms of Eutypa dieback, caused by Eutypa lata, in grapevines, cv. Shiraz, varied from year to year in a 6-year study conducted in South Australia and, although trends were similar for vineyards within geographical regions, differences were observed between regions. We attempted to elucidate the causes underlying this variation and hypothesized that it was influenced by climatic factors.

The Influence of Grapevine Cultivar and Isolate of Eutypa lata on Wood and Foliar Symptoms.

Grapevine cultivar (Vitis vinifera) and isolate of Eutypa lata influence wood and foliar symptoms of Eutypa dieback. Foliar symptoms of Eutypa dieback developed within 8 months of inoculating young grapevines (cvs. Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot) in a shadehouse.

Generalized tonic-clonic seizures detected by implantable loop recorder devices: diagnosing more than cardiac arrhythmias.

Background: Both syncope and seizures are important causes of recurrent, unexplained episodes of loss of consciousness. Implantable loop recorders have identified serious arrhythmias in patients with repeated syncope; however, implantable loop recorder detection of seizures is less well established.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide in-depth analysis of a characteristic myopotential pattern recorded by implantable loop recorders during generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Diaporthe perjuncta Does Not Cause Phomopsis Cane and Leaf Spot Disease of Grapevine in Australia.

In Australia, Diaporthe perjuncta (formerly known as Phomopsis taxon 1) and Phomopsis viticola (Phomopsis taxon 2) have been associated with Phomopsis cane and leaf spot of grapevine. Although P. viticola causes distinct leaf spots, as well as lesions on shoots and canes, the pathogenicity of D.

Use of middle infrared radiation to estimate the leaf area index of a boreal forest.

The leaf area index (LAI) of boreal forest can be estimated using reflected radiation recorded by satellite sensors. Measurements of visible and near infrared radiation are commonly used in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to estimate LAI. However, research, mainly in tropical forest, has demonstrated that LAI is related more closely to radiation of middle infrared wavelengths than of visible wavelengths.

AANA Journal course: update for nurse anesthetists--magnesium homeostasis and deficiency.

Magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular cation in the human body and serves as an obligate cofactor in approximately 300 essential enzymatic cellular reactions. Magnesium is crucial for the generation and use of adenosine triphosphate and is required for oxidative phosphorylation. A wide variety of internal and external stresses have been found to increase a person's requirement for dietary magnesium.

Ropivacaine: an introduction to a new local anesthetic.

Local anesthetic drugs interrupt nerve transmission by inhibiting the passage of sodium ions (Na+) across neuronal membranes. Signal propagation and transmission along central and peripheral nerve pathways are impeded after the injection of these drugs near or on neuronal tissue. This article briefly reviews the basic pharmacology and toxicology of local anesthetic agents as well as recent studies of regional anesthesia performed with ropivacaine, a versatile new amide local anesthetic with a duration of action similar to bupivacaine, but with less systemic toxicity.

The pharmacology of rocuronium bromide (ORG 9426).

Rocuronium is a new nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking drug. Its onset of action is comparable to that of succinylcholine, with good-to-excellent intubating conditions possible 1 minute after doses two times the ED95 (600 micrograms/kg). The ED95 of rocuronium is essentially the same for children as for adults.

Mivacurium chloride.

This brief review summarizes the major research to date involving the clinical use of mivacurium in adults and children. The principle focal points are the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of the drug and the side effects that have been commonly observed with its clinical use. Comparisons and contrasts with vecuronium, atracurium, and succinylcholine are made.

Excision of an arteriovenous malformation.

Arteriovenous malformations (AVM) are congenital vascular lesions consisting of direct communications between associated arteries and veins without an interposed capillary bed. These vessels are typically thin walled, lack an internal elastic intima, and are quite prone to hemorrhage. A previously healthy 17-year-old woman presented with severe, persistent headache.