Improving diagnosis in patients with obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome through the evaluation of non-criteria antibodies.

Objectives: Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease driven by antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Currently, APS diagnosis requires a combination of clinical manifestations (thrombosis and/or obstetric morbidity) and the persistent presence of at least one criteria aPL: anti-cardiolipin antibodies (aCL), anti-β2-glycoprotein I antibodies (aβ2GPI) or lupus anticoagulant (LA). Patients with suggestive obstetric symptoms but lacking criteria aPL face diagnostic challenges.

Intensive glucose control in critically ill adults: a protocol for a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.

Objective: The optimal target for blood glucose concentration in critically ill patients is unclear. We will perform a systematic review and meta-analysis with aggregated and individual patient data from randomized controlled trials, comparing intensive glucose control with liberal glucose control in critically ill adults.

Data Sources: MEDLINE®, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials, and clinical trials registries (World Health Organization, clinical trials.

A hypoarousal model of neurological post-COVID syndrome: the relation between mental fatigue, the level of central nervous activation and cognitive processing speed.

Background: Knowledge on the nature of post-COVID neurological sequelae often manifesting as cognitive dysfunction and fatigue is still unsatisfactory.

Objectives: We assumed that cognitive dysfunction and fatigue in post-COVID syndrome are critically linked via hypoarousal of the brain. Thus, we assessed whether tonic alertness as a neurocognitive index of arousal is reduced in these patients and how this relates to the level of central nervous activation and subjective mental fatigue as further indices of arousal.

New -fusion transcripts in the spectrum of pediatric fibrotic, lipofibrotic, and mature lipomatous tumors.

The histomorphology of liboblastoma is highly variable and comprises different patterns that are found admixed or in pure form within a tumor. The most important features - mature lipomatous, fibrotic, lipofibrous, and myxoid - overlap with the histomorphology of several other pediatric tumor entities. Regarding the morphologic overlaps, molecular diagnostics with identification of fusion transcripts involving or is essential to identify lipoblastomas.

Patients' attitude towards vaccination after Guillain Barré syndrome.

Background And Aims: Guillain Barré syndrome (GBS) could be triggered by an infectious disease but by vaccination as well. Thus, suffering GBS may influence patients' attitudes towards vaccination.

Methods: An anonymous questionnaire consisting of the Overall Neuropathy Limitations Score (ONLS), the short form-36 health survey (SF-36), and questions addressing patients' attitude towards vaccination was sent to members of a German GBS support group and to patients with GBS diagnosis who were treated at Jena University Hospital.

Cones and sleeves present good survival and clinical outcome in revision total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: The fixation of revision total knee arthroplasties (rTKA) tends to be difficult, leading to a reduction in implant survival. One option for achieving a more stable anchorage is to use metaphyseal cones and sleeves. The objective of the present paper is to provide a current comparative meta-analysis on survival and clinical results of cones vs.

Who is at risk of occupational Q fever: new insights from a multi-profession cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Q fever is a zoonosis caused by the bacterium . It is recognised as an occupational hazard for individuals who are in regular contact with animal birth products. Data from the literature are not comparable because different serological assays perform very differently in detecting past infections.

Mucin-1 expression and localization in epithelial cells shows characteristic and distinct patterns in inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer.

Alterations in colonic mucus secretion are linked to the induction and maintenance of inflammation during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its progression to colorectal cancer (CRC). MUC1, a multifunctional glycoprotein, is the best studied cell surface mucin in mouse models of IBD and CRC. However, little information on MUC1 expression and localization in different types of pathologic human colon mucosa is available.

[The role of laryngeal electromyography in the diagnosis of vocal cord movement disorders].

The development of the therapeutic possibilities of vocal cord immobility necessitated the parallel renewal of diagnostic methods. In the last years, laryngeal electromyography, which was first introduced more than 70 years ago, has been re-discovered. After reviewing the international literature and their own experience, the authors present the indications, technical requirements, method and, particularly, the evaluation of the results of this procedure.

Neuroborreliosis and acute encephalopathy: The use of CXCL13 as a biomarker in CNS manifestations of Lyme borreliosis.

We report the case of an 80-year-old patient with acute onset confusion initially suspected to reflect delirium in incipient Alzheimer's disease. Cerebrospinal fluid tests revealed an unusually severe form of neuroborreliosis, which resolved following antibiotic treatment. This was mirrored in the measurement of CXCL13, which is suggested as a complementary biomarker.

Quantitative facial electromyography monitoring after hypoglossal-facial jump nerve suture.

Objectives/hypothesis: The time course of the reinnervation of the paralyzed face after hypoglossal-facial jump nerve suture using electromyography (EMG) was assessed. The relation to the clinical outcome was analyzed.

Study Design: Retrospective single-center cohort study.

Bacterial Community and PHB-Accumulating Bacteria Associated with the Wall and Specialized Niches of the Hindgut of the Forest Cockchafer ().

A characterization of the bacterial community of the hindgut wall of two larval and the adult stages of the forest cockchafer () was carried out using amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene fragment. We found that, in second-instar larvae, Caulobacteraceae and Pseudomonadaceae showed the highest relative abundances, while in third-instar larvae, the dominant families were Porphyromonadaceae and Bacteroidales-related. In adults, an increase of the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria (γ- and δ- classes) and the family Enterococcaceae (Firmicutes) was observed.

Discovery and Characterization of Diazenylaryl Sulfonic Acids as Inhibitors of Viral and Bacterial Neuraminidases.

Viral neuraminidases are an established drug target to combat influenza. Severe complications observed in influenza patients are primarily caused by secondary infections with e.g.

Novel approach for the prediction of cell densities and viability in standardized translucent cell culture biochips with near infrared spectroscopy.

Near infrared spectroscopy is a rapid and nondestructive method for compositional analysis of biological material. The technology is widely used within bioreactors and possesses potential as a standardized method for quality control in miniaturized microfluidic cell culture systems. Here, we established a method for quantification of cell density and viability of adherent HepaRG cells cultured in a translucent, miniaturized cell culture biochip.

Differential Biphasic Transcriptional Host Response Associated with Coevolution of Hemagglutinin Quasispecies of Influenza A Virus.

Severe influenza associated with strong symptoms and lung inflammation can be caused by intra-host evolution of quasispecies with aspartic acid or glycine in hemagglutinin position 222 (HA-222D/G; H1 numbering). To gain insights into the dynamics of host response to this coevolution and to identify key mechanisms contributing to copathogenesis, the lung transcriptional response of BALB/c mice infected with an A(H1N1)pdm09 isolate consisting HA-222D/G quasispecies was analyzed from days 1 to 12 post infection (p.i).

Evaluating Abstract Art: Relation between Term Usage, Subjective Ratings, Image Properties and Personality Traits.

One of the major challenges in experimental aesthetics is the uncertainty of the terminology used in experiments. In this study, we recorded terms that are spontaneously used by participants to describe abstract artworks and studied their relation to the second-order statistical image properties of the same artworks (Experiment 1). We found that the usage frequency of some structure-describing terms correlates with statistical image properties, such as PHOG Self-Similarity, Anisotropy and Complexity.

HbA1c and Age in Non-Diabetic Subjects: An Ignored Association?

Target HbA values given in the most National Therapeutic Guidelines for patients with diabetes and cut-off HbA values for diabetes diagnosis are usually not taking the age of the respective patients into account; despite the fact that an increase in HbA in subjects without diabetes with age is known for some time. In order to further quantify the association between age and HbA in non-diabetic subjects an analysis of one German register was performed. In this cross-sectional study we analyzed data from 7 699 visits of 2 921 patients without diabetes (age 46.

Dual Acting Neuraminidase Inhibitors Open New Opportunities to Disrupt the Lethal Synergism between Streptococcus pneumoniae and Influenza Virus.

Secondary infections with Streptococcus pneumoniae cause severe pneumonia and enhance lethality during influenza epidemics and pandemics. Structural and functional similarities with viral neuraminidase (NA) suggest that the highly prevalent pneumococcal NAs, NanA and NanB, might contribute to this lethal synergism by supporting viral replication and that dual acting NA inhibitors (NAIs) will disrupt it. To verify this hypothesis, NanA and NanB were expressed in E.

Recruitment of CD16(+) monocytes to endothelial cells in response to LPS-treatment and concomitant TNF release is regulated by CX3CR1 and interfered by soluble fractalkine.

Fractalkine (FKN, CX3CL1) is a regulator of leukocyte recruitment and adhesion, and controls leukocyte migration on endothelial cells (ECs). We show that FKN triggers different effects in CD16(+) and CD16(-) monocytes, the two major subsets of human monocytes. In the presence of ECs a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulus led to a significant increase in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-secretion by CD16(+) monocytes, which depends on the interaction of CX3CR1 expressed on CD16(+) monocytes with endothelial FKN.

Serum S100B Protein is Specifically Related to White Matter Changes in Schizophrenia.

Background: Schizophrenia can be conceptualized as a form of dysconnectivity between brain regions.To investigate the neurobiological foundation of dysconnectivity, one approach is to analyze white matter structures, such as the pathology of fiber tracks. S100B is considered a marker protein for glial cells, in particular oligodendrocytes and astroglia, that passes the blood brain barrier and is detectable in peripheral blood.