Associations of mental health with vaccination readiness in informal caregivers and the vaccination status of their care recipients during the Covid-19 pandemic - A cross sectional analysis.

Introduction: Vaccinations are important for informal caregivers and their care recipients. Mental health problems are common among care givers. The aim of this study was to investigate vaccination readiness in informal caregivers and associations with mental health issues.

Evaluating the Use of Neonatal Colonization Screening for Empiric Antibiotic Therapy of Sepsis and Pneumonia.

(1) Background: Since 2013, weekly screening for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative (MDRGN) bacteria has been performed in German neonatal intensive care units (NICU). National guidelines recommend considering these colonization analyses for antibiotic treatment regimens. Our retrospective single center study provides insight into the clinical dichotomy of bacterial colonization and infection rates in neonates.

Common Genetic Variants Contribute to Risk of Transposition of the Great Arteries.

Rationale: Dextro-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) is a severe congenital heart defect which affects approximately 1 in 4,000 live births. While there are several reports of D-TGA patients with rare variants in individual genes, the majority of D-TGA cases remain genetically elusive. Familial recurrence patterns and the observation that most cases with D-TGA are sporadic suggest a polygenic inheritance for the disorder, yet this remains unexplored.

Hop-off hop-on: Assimilates on the road.

Solutes are subject of constant release and retrieval processes during long distance transport in higher plants. In the stem, sugars and amino acids are used for storage or for nutrition of parenchymatic tissues. Modification of export/import capacities along the transport phloem might provide a powerful tool to enhance the productivity of crop plants.

Interdisciplinary Surgical Approaches in Vaginal and Perineal Reconstruction of Advanced Rectal and Anal Female Cancer Patients.

Relapsing or far advanced rectal and anal cancers remain difficult to treat and require interdisciplinary approaches. Due to modern standard protocols all patients receive irradiation and neoadjuvant chemotherapy-and in case of a relapse a second irradiation-rendering the surgical site prone to surgical site infections and oftentimes long lasting sinus and septic complications after exenteration in the pelvis. Despite an improved overall survival rate in these patients the downside of radical tumor surgery in the pelvis is a major loss of quality of life, especially in women when parts of the vagina need to be resected.

Decoding Parkinson's disease - iPSC-derived models in the OMICs era.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. In recent years, researchers have started studying PD using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of the disease. Surprisingly, few studies have combined iPSC-technology with the so-called powerful 'omics' approaches.

Interdisciplinary Treatment of Breast Cancer After Mastectomy With Autologous Breast Reconstruction Using Abdominal Free Flaps in a University Teaching Hospital-A Standardized and Safe Procedure.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. The interdisciplinary treatment is based on the histological tumor type, the TNM classification, and the patient's wishes. Following tumor resection and (neo-) adjuvant therapy strategies, breast reconstruction represents the final step in the individual interdisciplinary treatment plan.

Is in vivo and ex vivo irradiation equally reliable for individual Radiosensitivity testing by three colour fluorescence in situ hybridization?

Background: Individual radiosensitivity is influencing the outcome of radiation therapy. A general ex vivo testing is very work-intensive. It is of interest to see if a significant prediction concerning the sensitivity can be made by in vivo irradiation during radiation treatment.

Tumors diagnosed as cerebellar glioblastoma comprise distinct molecular entities.

In this multi-institutional study we compiled a retrospective cohort of 86 posterior fossa tumors having received the diagnosis of cerebellar glioblastoma (cGBM). All tumors were reviewed histologically and subjected to array-based methylation analysis followed by algorithm-based classification into distinct methylation classes (MCs). The single MC containing the largest proportion of 25 tumors diagnosed as cGBM was MC anaplastic astrocytoma with piloid features representing a recently-described molecular tumor entity not yet included in the WHO Classification of Tumours of the Central Nervous System (WHO classification).

Enhancing Safety in Reconstructive Microsurgery Using Intraoperative Indocyanine Green Angiography.

Intraoperative assessing and postoperative monitoring of the viability of free flaps is of high relevance in reconstructive microsurgery. Today different methods for the evaluation of tissue perfusion are known. Indocyanine Green angiography is an emerging technique among plastic surgeons with a broad scope of applications especially in microsurgical free flap transfer.

Setting Mechanism of a CDHA Forming α-TCP Cement Modified with Sodium Phytate for Improved Injectability.

A calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) forming cement with a bimodal grain size distribution, composed of α-TCP and fine grained CDHA at a weight ratio of 9:1, was modified by the addition of sodium phytate (IP6) in variable amounts ranging from 0.25 to 2 wt.%, related to the powder content.

Tspan8 is expressed in breast cancer and regulates E-cadherin/catenin signalling and metastasis accompanied by increased circulating extracellular vesicles.

Tspan8 exhibits a functional role in many cancer types including pancreatic, colorectal, oesophagus carcinoma, and melanoma. We present a first study on the expression and function of Tspan8 in breast cancer. Tspan8 protein was present in the majority of human primary breast cancer lesions and metastases in the brain, bone, lung, and liver.

Multisite measurement of regional oxygen saturation in Fontan patients with and without protein-losing enteropathy at rest and during exercise.

Background: Protein-losing enteropathy (PLE) is a severe complication of Fontan circulation with increased risk of end-organ dysfunction. We evaluated tissue oxygenation via near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) at different exercise levels in Fontan patients.

Methods: Assessment of multisite NIRS during cycle ergometer exercise and daily activities in three groups: Fontan patients with PLE; without PLE; patients with dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA); comparing univentricular with biventricular circulation and Fontan with/without PLE.

Reconstruction of composite defects of the scalp and neurocranium-a treatment algorithm from local flaps to combined AV loop free flap reconstruction.

Background: Reconstruction of cranial composite defects, including all layers of the scalp and the neurocranium, poses an interdisciplinary challenge. Especially after multiple previous operations and/or radiation therapy, sufficient reconstruction is often only possible using microsurgical free flap transplantation. The aim of this study was to analyze the therapy of interdisciplinary cases with composite defects including the scalp and neurocranium.

Hydration mechanism of a calcium phosphate cement modified with phytic acid.

Calcium phosphate cements composed of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and phosphoric acid were modified by addition of 5, 10, 12.5, 15 and 20 wt% phytic acid (IP6) related to the β-TCP content and compared to a reference containing 0.5 M citric acid monohydrate solution as setting regulator.

Monocenter Investigation Micra® MRI study (MIMICRY): feasibility study of the magnetic resonance imaging compatibility of a leadless pacemaker system.

Aims: As in vivo real-life data are still scarce, we conducted a study to assess the safety and feasibility of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with a leadless pacemaker system.

Methods And Results: In this prospective non-randomized interventional trial, we enrolled 15 patients with an MRI conditional Micra® leadless pacemaker system to undergo either a 1.5 T or 3.

The Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire in the German General Population: Psychometric Properties and Normative Data.

Background: The Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ) is a widely used screening instrument assessing dysmorphic concerns ranging from a mild to an excessive level. It is often used in the setting of plastic and aesthetic surgery. The present study aimed at examining the psychometric properties of the DCQ in a random general population sample.

Local recurrence of breast cancer: conventionally fractionated partial external beam re-irradiation with curative intention.

Purpose: To assess the outcome of breast cancer patients with local recurrence who underwent partial external beam re-irradiation (re-RT) either as part of a second breast-conserving therapy or following mastectomy.

Methods: Between 03/2004 and 10/2016, 83 breast cancer patients with local recurrence were treated with surgery followed by re-RT. The re-RT schedules were 45 Gy (1.

Anaplastic astrocytoma with piloid features, a novel molecular class of IDH wildtype glioma with recurrent MAPK pathway, CDKN2A/B and ATRX alterations.

Tumors with histological features of pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), but with increased mitotic activity and additional high-grade features (particularly microvascular proliferation and palisading necrosis) have often been designated anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas. The status of these tumors as a separate entity has not yet been conclusively demonstrated and molecular features have only been partially characterized. We performed DNA methylation profiling of 102 histologically defined anaplastic pilocytic astrocytomas.

Side effects of radiotherapy in breast cancer patients : The Internet as an information source.

Aim: Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among women necessitating adjuvant radiotherapy. As the Internet has become a major source of information for cancer patients, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of websites giving information on side effects of radiotherapy for breast cancer patients.

Methods: A patients' search for the English terms "breast cancer - radiotherapy - side effects" and the corresponding German terms "Brustkrebs - Strahlentherapie - Nebenwirkungen" was carried out twice (5 months apart) using the search engine Google.

Odd-Electron Bonds.

The history and theory of one- and three-electron bonds are presented and discussed. It is shown that the dependence of the odd-electron bond energy on the difference in ionization potentials of the bonding partners must be corrected to include the ion-pairing energy for neutral odd-electron bonded complexes.

Investigation of toxicity and mutagenicity of cold atmospheric argon plasma.

Cold atmospheric argon plasma is recognized as a new contact free approach for the decrease of bacterial load on chronic wounds in patients. So far very limited data are available on its toxicity and mutagenicity on eukaryotic cells. Thus, the toxic/mutagenic potential of cold atmospheric argon plasma using the MicroPlaSter β , which has been used efficiently in humans treating chronic and acute wounds, was investigated using the XTT assay in keratinocytes and fibroblasts and the HGPRT (hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase) assay with V79 Chinese hamster cells.

Treatment of standardised wounds with pure epidermal micrografts generated with an automated device.

In this study, we analysed the effects of pure epidermal micrografts generated with an automated device in a standardised human wound model. Epidermal micrografts were harvested using an automated device. Micrografts were then transplanted onto split-skin donor sites.

The impact of autophagy on peripheral synapses in health and disease.

Alterations of autophagy have been linked to several peripheral nervous system diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Modulation of autophagy by metabolic or pharmacological interventions has been increasingly recognized as a strategy to fight many of these disorders. Cellular processes that are aberrant in case of impaired autophagy and that might lead to these diseases belong to three different categories: (1) clearing of protein aggregates, (2) regulation of vesicle and cargo turnover, and (3) disposal of damaged mitochondria.

The potential role of telocytes in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.

Research and ideas for potential applications in the field of Tissue Engineering (TE) and Regenerative Medicine (RM) have been constantly increasing over recent years, basically driven by the fundamental human dream of repairing and regenerating lost tissue and organ functions. The basic idea of TE is to combine cells with putative stem cell properties with extracellular matrix components, growth factors and supporting matrices to achieve independently growing tissue. As a side effect, in the past years, more insights have been gained into cell-cell interaction and how to manipulate cell behavior.