Psychometric validation of the Danish BREAST-Q reconstruction module.

Aim/background: Patient-reported outcome measurement instruments are important tools in understanding a breast reconstruction's impact on the patients' quality of life. A psychometric validation is essential before applying a patient-reported outcome measurement instrument in clinical practice and research. The BREAST-Q is a specific, validated questionnaire for breast surgery outcomes that has been translated from English to Danish.

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Introduction The use and consumption of "products", such as cosmetic procedures and confectionery, is on a rise in the Danish population. However, it has never been evaluated if the same tendency can be observed among the providers of these products. In view of the upcoming Christmas, we decided to investigate this delicate matter.

Progressive Mitochondrial Dysfunction of Striatal Synapses in R6/2 Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease.

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by synaptic dysfunction and loss of white matter volume especially in the striatum of the basal ganglia and to a lesser extent in the cerebral cortex. Studies investigating heterogeneity between synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria have revealed a pronounced vulnerability of synaptic mitochondria, which may lead to synaptic dysfunction and loss.

Objective: As mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of HD pathogenesis, we investigated synaptic mitochondrial function from striatum and cortex of the transgenic R6/2 mouse model of HD.

Smell and taste in idiopathic blepharospasm.

The pathophysiology of blepharospasm is incompletely understood. Current concepts suggest that blepharospasm is a network disorder, involving basal ganglia, thalamus, cortex, and, possibly, the cerebellum. Tracing, imaging, and clinical studies revealed that these structures are also concerned with olfaction and taste.

Olfaction as a Marker for Dystonia: Background, Current State and Directions.

Dystonia is a heterogeneous group of hyperkinetic movement disorders. The unifying descriptor of dystonia is the motor manifestation, characterized by continuous or intermittent contractions of muscles that cause abnormal movements and postures. Additionally, there are psychiatric, cognitive, and sensory alterations that are possible or putative non-motor manifestations of dystonia.

Danish translation and linguistic validation of the BREAST-Q.

Introduction: The primary purpose of reconstructive and cosmetic breast surgery is to improve patients' quality of life, and patient-reported outcome measurements are important in outcome assessment of breast surgery. The BREAST-Q questionnaire measures changes in quality of life and patient satisfaction in patients undergoing breast surgery. The aim of this work was to translate and linguistically validate all BREAST-Q modules for use in Denmark.

Smell and taste in cervical dystonia.

The pathophysiology of cervical dystonia is not completely understood. Current concepts of the pathophysiology propose that it is a network disorder involving the basal ganglia, cerebellum and sensorimotor cortex. These structures are primarily concerned with sensorimotor control but are also involved in non-motor functioning such as the processing of information related to the chemical senses.

Functional Differences between Synaptic Mitochondria from the Striatum and the Cerebral Cortex.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been shown to play a major role in neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. In these and other neurodegenerative disorders, disruption of synaptic connectivity and impaired neuronal signaling are among the early signs. When looking for potential causes of neurodegeneration, specific attention is drawn to the function of synaptic mitochondria, as the energy supply from mitochondria is crucial for normal synaptic function.

Integrative Characterization of the R6/2 Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease Reveals Dysfunctional Astrocyte Metabolism.

Huntington's disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, where dysfunction and loss of striatal and cortical neurons are central to the pathogenesis of the disease. Here, we integrated quantitative studies to investigate the underlying mechanisms behind HD pathology in a systems-wide manner. To this end, we used state-of-the-art mass spectrometry to establish a spatial brain proteome from late-stage R6/2 mice and compared this with wild-type littermates.

Perturbations in the p53/miR-34a/SIRT1 pathway in the R6/2 Huntington's disease model.

The three factors, p53, the microRNA-34 family and Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), interact in a positive feedback loop involved in cell cycle progression, cellular senescence and apoptosis. Each factor in this triad has roles in metabolic regulation, maintenance of mitochondrial function, and regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Thus, this regulatory network holds potential importance for the pathophysiology of Huntington's disease (HD), an inherited neurodegenerative disorder in which both mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired neurotrophic signalling are observed.

Pressure, temperature, and three-component velocity fields by filtered Rayleigh scattering velocimetry.

The filtered Rayleigh scattering (FRS) technique, extended by the method of frequency scanning, is a powerful tool to characterize thermodynamic, as well as aerodynamic, properties of technical flows. In this Letter, we report on the first application of an FRS velocimeter, which is capable of acquiring time-averaged planar pressure, temperature, and three-component velocity distributions simultaneously. The method is validated by characterizing the near-field, as well as the far-field, of a turbulent jet.

Routine X-ray of the chest is not justified in staging of cutaneous melanoma patients.

Introduction: The incidence of cutaneous melanoma is increasing in Denmark and worldwide. However, the prevalence of distant metastases at the time of diagnosis has decreased to 1%. We therefore questioned the value of routine preoperative chest X-ray (CXR) for staging asymptomatic melanoma patients and hypothesised that routine CXR is not justified.

[Developing and validating of patient-reported questionnaires - part 1].

Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) are often questionnaires which provide and rate the patient's point of view in the measurement of subjective clinical phenomena such as pain or quality of life. In the first of two articles we describe five of the six developmental phases of a patient-reported outcome questionnaire. Adherence to good methodology throughout the process is of utmost importance to ensure reliable and valid results from studies using PROM.

[Developing and validating of patient-reported questionnaires - part 2].

Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) are often questionnaires which provide and rate the patient's point of view in the measurement of subjective clinical phenomena such as pain or quality of life. In the second of two articles we describe field-testing, the psychometric theories Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory, psychometric validation and the measurement properties of a PROM. The latter is based on the COSMIN (consensus-based standards for the selection of health measurement instruments) guidelines, which are developed to assist in development and evaluation of PROMs.

[Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient with multiple myeloma].

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare demyelinating disease in the central nervous system. It is caused by reactivation of John Cunningham-virus and has a grave prognosis. PML occurs most frequently in HIV-patients, but can also be seen in patients with iatrogenic immunodeficiency.

Turbulent boundary layer in high Rayleigh number convection in air.

Flow visualizations and particle image velocimetry measurements in the boundary layer of a Rayleigh-Bénard experiment are presented for the Rayleigh number Ra=1.4×1010. Our visualizations indicate that the appearance of the flow structures is similar to ordinary (isothermal) turbulent boundary layers.

Event-related potentials indicating impaired emotional attention in cerebellar stroke--a case study.

The cerebellum has been implicated in affective and attentional processes, but little is known about corresponding neural signatures. We investigated early and late components of event-related potentials (ERPs) to emotionally arousing pictures, with and without competing attentional tasks, in a patient with an ischemic right posterior cerebellar infarction, at two months post infarct and two year follow-up. The early posterior negativity (EPN) response to highly arousing emotional cues in the competing visual attention condition revealed that the augmentation over occipital areas, as typically seen in normals, was absent post-infarct but was restored after two years.

Cellular MRI as a suitable, sensitive non-invasive modality for correlating in vivo migratory efficiencies of different dendritic cell populations with subsequent immunological outcomes.

The clinical application of dendritic cells (DC) as adjuvants in immunotherapies such as the cell-based cancer vaccine continues to gain interest. The overall efficacy of this emerging immunotherapy, however, remains low. Studies suggest the stage of maturation and activation of ex vivo-prepared DC immediately prior to patient administration is critical to subsequent DC migration in vivo, which ultimately affects overall vaccine efficacy.

Cellular magnetic resonance imaging of monocyte-derived dendritic cell migration from healthy donors and cancer patients as assessed in a scid mouse model.

BACKGROUND AIMS. The use of dendritic cells (DC) as an adjuvant in cell-based immunotherapeutic cancer vaccines is a growing field of interest. A reliable and non-invasive method to track the fate of autologous DC following their administration to patients is required in order to confirm that clinically sufficient numbers are reaching the lymph node (LN).

Labelling dendritic cells with SPIO has implications for their subsequent in vivo migration as assessed with cellular MRI.

An optimized non-invasive imaging modality capable of tracking and quantifying in vivo DC migration in patients would provide clinicians with valuable information regarding therapeutic DC-based vaccine outcomes. Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles were used to label bone marrow-derived DC. In vivo DC migration was tracked and quantified non-invasively using cellular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a mouse model.

In vivo cellular MRI of dendritic cell migration using micrometer-sized iron oxide (MPIO) particles.

Purpose: This study seeks to assess the use of labeling with micron-sized iron oxide (MPIO) particles for the detection and quantification of the migration of dendritic cells (DCs) using cellular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Procedures: DCs were labeled with red fluorescent MPIO particles for detection by cellular MRI and a green fluorescent membrane dye (PKH67) for histological detection. MPIO-labeled DCs or unlabeled control DCs were injected into mice footpads at two doses (0.

Semiquantitation of mouse dendritic cell migration in vivo using cellular MRI.

Despite recent therapeutic advances, including the introduction of novel cytostatic drugs and therapeutic antibodies, many cancer patients will experience recurrent or metastatic disease. Current treatment options, particularly for those patients with metastatic breast, prostate, or skin cancers, are complex and have limited curative potential. Recent clinical trials, however, have shown that cell-based therapeutic vaccines may be used to generate broad-based, antitumor immune responses.

Inclusion of the viral anti-apoptotic molecule M11L in DNA vaccine vectors enhances HIV Env-specific T cell-mediated immunity.

A current goal of vaccine development against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is to develop a strategy that stimulates long-lasting memory T-cell responses, and provides immediate cytotoxicity in response to viral challenge. We demonstrate that the viral antiapoptotic molecule M11L promotes cellular immune responses to the HIV envelope protein. Coexpression of M11L in vitro inhibits gp140-mediated apoptosis and increases gp140 expression levels.

Transcallosal inhibition in patients with and without alexithymia.

Objective: Previous results indicated a facilitated transcallosal inhibition via the corpus callosum (CC) in alexithymic male students. This study investigates transcallosal inhibition in alexithymic and nonalexithymic psychiatric inpatients.

Method: Transcallosal inhibition was elicited by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the primary motor cortex.