Barbed Versus Conventional Suture for Uterine Repair During Caesarean Section: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Objective: This study sought to compare the short-term outcome of uterine incision repair during a Caesarean section (CS) using a bidirectional knotless barbed suture versus polyglactin suture.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a university hospital. Participants undergoing a CS were randomly assigned to uterine incision closure by bidirectional knotless barbed suture (group A) or polyglactin (group B).

Targeting protein disulfide isomerase with the flavonoid isoquercetin to improve hypercoagulability in advanced cancer.

Background: Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a thiol isomerase secreted by vascular cells that is required for thrombus formation. Quercetin flavonoids inhibit PDI activity and block platelet accumulation and fibrin generation at the site of a vascular injury in mouse models, but the clinical effect of targeting extracellular PDI in humans has not been studied.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter phase II trial of sequential dosing cohorts to evaluate the efficacy of targeting PDI with isoquercetin to reduce hypercoagulability in cancer patients at high risk for thrombosis.

Radium-223 in asymptomatic patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases treated in an international early access program.

Background: Radium-223, a targeted alpha therapy, is used to treat symptomatic patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and bone metastases. Data for radium-223 in asymptomatic CRPC patients with bone metastases are lacking.

Methods: This was a prospective, single-arm phase 3b study.

Clinical Valve Thrombosis After Transcatheter Aortic Valve-in-Valve Implantation.

Background Limited data exist on clinical valve thrombosis after transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve (ViV) implantation. Our objective was to determine the incidence, timing, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes of patients diagnosed with clinical ViV thrombosis. Methods and Results Centers participating in the Valve-in-Valve International Data Registry were surveyed for thrombosis cases, and clinical valve thrombosis was defined based on a combination of the presence of new valve dysfunction and an imaging evidence of leaflet thrombosis.

Risk of Appropriate Therapy and Death Before Therapy After Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Generator Replacement.

Background The decision to initially implant an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is informed by robust randomized controlled trials, but no such data exist to guide the decision to replace an ICD generator. In this study, we aimed to determine outcomes after ICD generator replacement. Methods All patients with ischemic or nonischemic cardiomyopathy who underwent ICD generator replacement from 2001 to 2011 at Mayo Clinic, MN, or Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, MA, were included.

Cardiovascular safety of oral semaglutide in patients with type 2 diabetes: Rationale, design and patient baseline characteristics for the PIONEER 6 trial.

Aims: To assess the cardiovascular (CV) safety of oral semaglutide, the first tablet formulation of a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist.

Materials And Methods: PIONEER 6 is a multinational, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of CV events (defined as being aged ≥50 years and having established CV disease [CVD] or moderate [stage 3] chronic kidney disease [CKD], or being aged ≥60 years with ≥1 other CV risk factor). Patients were randomized to once-daily oral semaglutide (up to 14 mg) or placebo added to standard of care.

Structural rearrangements in the C-terminal domain homolog of Orange Carotenoid Protein are crucial for carotenoid transfer.

A recently reported family of soluble cyanobacterial carotenoproteins, homologs of the C-terminal domain (CTDH) of the photoprotective Orange Carotenoid Protein, is suggested to mediate carotenoid transfer from the thylakoid membrane to the Helical Carotenoid Proteins, which are paralogs of the N-terminal domain of the OCP. Here we present the three-dimensional structure of a carotenoid-free CTDH variant from () PCC 7120. This CTDH contains a cysteine residue at position 103.

Multicenter Phase II Study of Lurbinectedin in BRCA-Mutated and Unselected Metastatic Advanced Breast Cancer and Biomarker Assessment Substudy.

Purpose: This multicenter phase II trial evaluated lurbinectedin (PM01183), a selective inhibitor of active transcription of protein-coding genes, in patients with metastatic breast cancer. A unicenter translational substudy assessed potential mechanisms of lurbinectedin resistance.

Patients And Methods: Two arms were evaluated according to germline BRCA1/2 status: BRCA1/2 mutated (arm A; n = 54) and unselected ( BRCA1/2 wild-type or unknown status; arm B; n = 35).

Hyperflexion and Femoral Interference Screw Insertion in ACL Reconstruction.

Background: In anatomic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions produced with flexible reamers and no knee hyperflexion, it is unknown whether knee hyperflexion is necessary for femoral interference screw insertion.

Purpose: To compare femoral screw-graft divergence in anatomic ACL reconstructions with endoscopic interference screws placed without knee hyperflexion and with the use of flexible versus rigid screwdrivers.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

MoodNetwork: An Innovative Approach to Patient-centered Research.

Introduction: Research has often been viewed as a passive process by which participants enroll in studies developed by researchers. It is becoming clearer that to understand the nuances of mood episodes and how to prevent them, we need to conduct large clinical trials that have the power to investigate moderators and mediators, or catalysts and mechanisms of change. MoodNetwork, the first online, patient-centered research community for individuals with mood disorders, aims to change the way that traditional research has been conducted by involving patients, their caregivers, and advocates in the process of research.

Risk Factors and Pooled Rate of Prolonged Opioid Use Following Trauma or Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-(Regression) Analysis.

Background: Prolonged use of opioids initiated for surgical or trauma-related pain management has become a global problem. While several factors have been reported to increase the risk of prolonged opioid use, there is considerable inconsistency regarding their significance or effect size. Therefore, we aimed to pool the effects of risk factors for prolonged opioid use following trauma or surgery and to assess the rate and temporal trend of prolonged opioid use in different settings.

Body size and ecological traits in fleas parasitic on small mammals in the Palearctic: larger species attain higher abundance.

We studied the relationships between body size and (a) abundance and (b) host specificity in fleas parasitic on small mammals (rodents and shrews) in the Palearctic taking into account the confounding effect of phylogeny. We tested these relationships both across 127 flea species and within separate phylogenetic clades, predicting higher abundance and lower host specificity (in terms of the number or diversity of hosts used by a flea) in smaller species. We also tested for the relationships between body size and abundance separately for species that spend most of their lives on a host's body (the "body" fleas) and species that spend most of their lives in a host's burrow or nest (the "nest" fleas).

Frequency of Brain Metastases and Multikinase Inhibitor Outcomes in Patients With RET-Rearranged Lung Cancers.

Introduction: In ret proto-oncogene (RET)-rearranged lung cancers, data on the frequency of brain metastases and, in particular, the outcomes of multikinase inhibitor therapy in patients with intracranial disease are not well characterized.

Methods: A global, multi-institutional registry (cohort A, n = 114) and a bi-institutional data set (cohort B, n = 71) of RET-rearranged lung cancer patients were analyzed. Patients were eligible if they had stage IV lung cancers harboring a RET rearrangement by local testing.

Strabismus in retinoblastoma survivors with long-term follow-up.

Purpose: To report the long-term strabismus rate in salvaged retinoblastoma (Rb) patients and investigate possible risk factors leading to strabismus.

Methods: The medical records of patients with Rb presenting at a single institution over a 9-year period were reviewed retrospectively with regard to ocular alignment outcomes after long-term follow-up.

Results: A total of 64 eyes of 42 patients (22 bilateral cases [52%]) were included, presenting with International Intraocular Retinoblastoma Classification (IIRC) in the worse eye as follows: group A (n = 1), B (n = 16), C (n = 12), D (n = 11), no Rb (n = 2).

Effect of artificial redox mediators on the photoinduced oxygen reduction by photosystem I complexes.

The peculiarities of interaction of cyanobacterial photosystem I with redox mediators 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) and N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD) were investigated. The higher donor efficiency of the reduced DCPIP form was demonstrated. The oxidized form of DCPIP was shown to be an efficient electron acceptor for terminal iron-sulfur cluster of photosystem I.

Proactive Infliximab Monitoring Following Reactive Testing is Associated With Better Clinical Outcomes Than Reactive Testing Alone in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background And Aims: Reactive testing has emerged as the new standard of care for managing loss of response to infliximab in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. Recent data suggest that proactive infliximab monitoring is associated with better therapeutic outcomes in IBD. Nevertheless, there are no data regarding the clinical utility of proactive infliximab monitoring after first reactive testing.

Metabolic Clusters and Outcomes in Older Adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background/objectives: Few studies have the requisite phenotypic information to define metabolic patterns that may inform our understanding of the pathophysiology and consequences of diabetes in older adults. We sought to characterize clusters of older adults on the basis of shared metabolic features.

Design: Population-based prospective cohort study.

ILDR2-Fc Is a Novel Regulator of Immune Homeostasis and Inducer of Antigen-Specific Immune Tolerance.

ILDR2 is a member of the Ig superfamily, which is implicated in tricellular tight junctions, and has a putative role in pancreatic islet health and survival. We recently found a novel role for ILDR2 in delivering inhibitory signals to T cells. In this article, we show that short-term treatment with ILDR2-Fc results in long-term durable beneficial effects in the relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and NOD type 1 diabetes models.

Evaluation of clinically and physiologically atypical asthma: If it doesn't wheeze it may still be asthma.

Objective: Children with asthma-like symptoms may not clinically wheeze. The objectives of this study were to evaluate if children, without physician-documented wheeze, wheeze during bronchial-challenge-testing (BCT), and if measurements of OSat and respiratory rate during BCT improve the BCT sensitivity?

Methods: Seven hundred and twenty-four children, who were referred for suspicion of asthma, performed a BCT. Positive BCT was determined by the provocation concentration (PC) which resulted in a 20% decrease in FEV (PC), (in those who were able to perform spirometry, group B), or (in those unable to perform spirometry, group A) a 50% increase in respiratory rate (PC), or a 5% decrease in oxygen-saturation (PC) or appearance of wheezing (PC).

Guidelines and recommendations on yeast cell death nomenclature.

Elucidating the biology of yeast in its full complexity has major implications for science, medicine and industry. One of the most critical processes determining yeast life and physiology is cel-lular demise. However, the investigation of yeast cell death is a relatively young field, and a widely accepted set of concepts and terms is still missing.

The impact of advanced maternal age on the outcome of twin pregnancies.

Purpose: To assess the effect of advanced maternal age on the obstetrics and neonatal outcome of twin pregnancies.

Methods: A retrospective study of 716 dichorionic-diamniotic twin pregnancies delivered at our institute. The study population was divided into two groups: women aged 35-39 years (group A, n = 142) and women aged ≥ 40 years (Group B, n = 48).