Weight Evolution During Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Patients: Effect of Initial Fat Mass Percentage and Previous Adjuvant Treatments.

Background: Weight changes during adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer has been associated with a poor prognosis. The long-term evolution of body composition during adjuvant treatment for breast cancer, in particular, endocrine therapy, is not well known, and new data on this topic are required. The present study assessed the evolution of weight and body composition among 33 postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving endocrine therapy after standard adjuvant chemotherapy that included taxanes.

Development of an ex vivo human-porcine respiratory model for preclinical studies.

Anatomical models to study aerosol delivery impose huge limitations and extrapolation to humans remains controversial. This study aimed to develop and validate an ex vivo human-like respiratory tract model easy to use and relevant to compare to in vivo human data. A human plastinated head is connected to an ex vivo porcine pulmonary tract ventilated artificially by passive expansion.

Leg raise increases pressure in lower and upper esophageal sphincter among patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relation between posturally increased intra-abdominal pressure and lower/upper esophageal sphincter pressure changes in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. We used high resolution manometry to measure pressure changes in lower and upper esophageal sphincter during bilateral leg rise. We also examined whether the rate of lower and upper esophageal sphincter pressure would increase during leg raise differentially in individuals with versus without normal resting pressure.

Impact of acoustic airflow on intrasinus drug deposition: New insights into the vibrating mode and the optimal acoustic frequency to enhance the delivery of nebulized antibiotic.

Aim: We investigated the impact of vibrating acoustic airflow, the high frequency (f≥100 Hz) and the low frequency (f≤45 Hz) sound waves, on the enhancement of intrasinus drug deposition.

Methods: (81m)Kr-gas ventilation study was performed in a plastinated human cast with and without the addition of vibrating acoustic airflow. Similarly, intrasinus drug deposition in a nasal replica using gentamicin as a marker was studied with and without the superposition of different modes of acoustic airflow.

HCN4 mutation as a molecular explanation on patients with bradycardia and non-compaction cardiomyopathy.

A very recent study suggested that HCN4 mutations could be associated with sinusal bradycardia and myocardial non compaction. A French family with 3 affected sisters presenting the same clinical phenotype (sinus bradycardia in combination with non compaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM)) have benefited both from a systematic cardiovascular exploration and molecular investigations. The molecular analysis, performed by NGS sequencing, led to identify only one likely-disease causing variation: p.

Particle deposition in a child respiratory tract model: in vivo regional deposition of fine and ultrafine aerosols in baboons.

To relate exposure to adverse health effects, it is necessary to know where particles in the submicron range deposit in the respiratory tract. The possibly higher vulnerability of children requires specific inhalation studies. However, radio-aerosol deposition experiments involving children are rare because of ethical restrictions related to radiation exposure.

Assessing sinus aerosol deposition: benefits of SPECT-CT imaging.

Purpose: Aerosol inhalation therapy is one of the methods to treat rhinosinusitis. However the topical drug delivery to the posterior nose and paranasal sinuses shows only limited efficiency. A precise sinusal targeting remains a main challenge for aerosol treatment of sinus disorders.

Sonic aerosol therapy to target maxillary sinuses.

Aim: Intranasal aerosol administration of drugs is widely used by ENT specialists. Although clinical evidence is still lacking, intranasal nebulization appears to be an interesting therapeutic option for local drug delivery, targeting anatomic sites beyond the nasal valve. The sonic nebulizer NL11SN associates a 100Hertz (Hz) sound to the aerosolization to improve deposition in the nasal/paranasal sinuses.

Impact of acoustic airflow nebulization on intrasinus drug deposition of a human plastinated nasal cast: new insights into the mechanisms involved.

Purpose: The impact of 100 Hz (Hertz) acoustic frequency airflow on sinus drug deposition of aerosols was investigated using a human plastinated nasal cast. The influence of drug concentration and endonasal anatomical features on the sinus deposition enhanced by the 100 Hz acoustic airflow was also examined.

Methods: Plastinated models were anatomically, geometrically and aerodynamically validated (endoscopy, CT scans, acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry).

Plastinated nasal model: a new concept of anatomically realistic cast.

Background: For many years, researchers have been interested in investigating airflow and aerosol deposition in the nasal cavities. The nasal airways appear to be a complex geometrical system. Thus, in vitro experimental studies are frequently conducted with a more or less biomimetic nasal replica.

Effect of the threat of a disulfiram-ethanol reaction on cue reactivity in alcoholics.

Rationale: Little is known about the effect of disulfiram on subjective and autonomic nervous system cue reactivity in the laboratory. The dissuasive psychological effect manifested as a threat would seem to prevail over the pharmacological effect.

Objectives: The primary objective was to determine whether there was a difference in cue reactivity responses during a threat condition compared to a neutral condition during alcohol cue exposure.

Craving's place in addiction theory: contributions of the major models.

We examine in this paper the unfolding of craving concepts within 18 models that span roughly 60 years (1948-2009). The amassed evidence suggests that craving is an indispensable construct, useful as a research area because it has continued to destabilize patients seeking treatment for substances. The models fall into four categories: the conditioning-based models, the cognitive models, the psychobiological models, and the motivation models.

[Impact of nasal colonization by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among geriatric intermediate care facility patients].

Objective: To evaluate the impact of nasal carriage of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on antibiotic cost, infection morbidity, mortality and length of stay in a geriatric population.

Methods: 341 consecutive elderly patients (mean age 83.4 +/- 8.

Efficacy of bupropion and predictors of successful outcome in a sample of French smokers: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Previous published studies assessed the efficacy of bupropion in smoking cessation only in North American populations of smokers. Results of therapeutic drug trials are not always directly applicable in other populations.

Aims: To confirm the efficacy of bupropion in smoking cessation in European smokers.

Relationship between some biological parameters and plasma testosterone in institutionalized aging men.

Background: The decrease in circulating testosterone levels with advancing age has been shown to be related to biological changes in healthy men.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between total testosterone and several laboratory blood tests (glucose, total cholesterol, total proteins, albumin, RBC) in elderly institutionalized men (mean age: 82.7 years) with chronic illness.

Atrial fibrillation in the elderly: facts and management.

Although atrial fibrillation is not widely known by the general public, in developed countries it is the most common arrhythmia. The incidence increases markedly with advancing age. Thus, with the growing proportion of elderly individuals, atrial fibrillation will come to represent a significant medical and socioeconomic problem.

[Geriatrics and rehabiliation: role of the hospital in healthcare networks?].

Objective: There is no accepted definition of geriatric post-acute or rehabilitation care. The exact role within the healthcare network and the function of units providing such care remain to be clarified. We describe the activity of geriatric post-acute or rehabilitation care units in four French hospitals to identify common features and provide elements of practical interest concerning their role in the healthcare network.