The ketogenic diet influences taxonomic and functional composition of the gut microbiota in children with severe epilepsy.

The gut microbiota has been linked to various neurological disorders via the gut-brain axis. Diet influences the composition of the gut microbiota. The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet established for treatment of therapy-resistant epilepsy in children.

Sports participation and physical activity in adult Dutch and Swedish patients with severe haemophilia: A comparison between intermediate- and high-dose prophylaxis.

Introduction: Differences in treatment and outcome have been reported for persons with haemophilia (PWH) on intermediate-dose (Dutch) and high-dose (Swedish) prophylaxis, but the potential influence of sports participation has not been considered.

Aim: To compare sports participation and clinical outcome between adult Dutch and Swedish PWH.

Methods: Self-reported sports participation (type and frequency per week), physical functioning (SF-36 : 100-0), joint status (HJHS: 0-144), perceived limitations (HAL : 100-0) and physical activity (IPAQ) were recorded.

Menopausal hormone therapy and biliary tract cancer: a population-based matched cohort study in Sweden.

Background: This study tested the hypothesis that contemporary menopausal hormonal therapy (MHT) increases the risk of biliary tract cancer. The risk of cancer of the biliary tract (gallbladder and extra-hepatic bile ducts) may be increased following estrogen exposure.

Material And Methods: This was a nationwide population-based matched cohort study in Sweden.

Testing the diagnostic accuracy of [18F]FDG-PET in discriminating spinal- and bulbar-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Purpose: The role for [18F]FDG-PET in supporting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis is not fully established. In this study, we aim at evaluating [18F]FDG-PET hypo- and hyper-metabolism patterns in spinal- and bulbar-onset ALS cases, at the single-subject level, testing the diagnostic value in discriminating the two conditions, and the correlations with core clinical symptoms severity.

Methods: We included 95 probable-ALS patients with [18F]FDG-PET scan and clinical follow-up.

Improved endothelialization of small-diameter ePTFE vascular grafts through growth factor therapy.

Background: Prosthetic vascular grafts in humans characteristically lack confluent endothelialization regardless of the duration of implantation. Use of high-porosity grafts has been proposed as a way to induce endothelialization through transgraft capillarization, although early experiments failed to show increased healing in man.

Objectives: We hypothesized that transduction of tissues around the prosthetic conduit with vectors encoding VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2) ligands would augment transinterstitial capillarization and induce luminal endothelialization of high-porosity ePTFE grafts.

Modeling the Complex Exposure History of Smoking in Predicting Bladder Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of 15 Case-Control Studies.

Background: Few studies have modeled smoking histories by combining smoking intensity and duration to show what profile of smoking behavior is associated with highest risk of bladder cancer. This study aims to provide insight into the association between smoking exposure history and bladder cancer risk by modeling both smoking intensity and duration in a pooled analysis.

Methods: We used data from 15 case-control studies included in the bladder cancer epidemiology and nutritional determinants study, including a total of 6,874 cases and 17,727 controls.

Repurposing of omeprazole for oligodendrocyte differentiation and remyelination.

The efficiency of remyelination determines the degree of neuronal recovery and clinical amelioration of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). However, the lack of drugs facilitating myelin regeneration represents a currently unmet medical need. Herein we utilized public microarray results from the GEO database and analyzed them using Connectivity-Map, which is a database connecting diseases, genes and drugs.

New Algorithm for the Management of Orbital Blowout Fracture Based on Prospective Study.

Despite extensive debate and publications in the management of blowout fracture (BOF), there are still considerable differences in the surgeons' management of BOF due to a lack of reliable evidence-based studies. This article aimed to evaluate which BOF patients require surgical treatment due to functional and/or cosmetic deformities; evaluate which computed tomography (CT) scan findings predict these problems; and provide an algorithm in the management of BOF. Seventy-nine patients with BOF were treated conservatively and followed up prospectively regarding functional and cosmetic deformities for at least 1 year.

Quantitation of ERK1/2 inhibitor cellular target occupancies with a reversible slow off-rate probe.

Target engagement is a key concept in drug discovery and its direct measurement can provide a quantitative understanding of drug efficacy and/or toxicity. Failure to demonstrate target occupancy in relevant cells and tissues has been recognised as a contributing factor to the low success rate of clinical drug development. Several techniques are emerging to quantify target engagement in cells; however, measurements remain challenging, mainly due to technical limitations.

Cervical cancer screening in Sweden 2014-2016.

Background: To enable incremental optimization of screening, regular reporting of quality indicators is required.

Aim: To report key quality indicators and basic statistics about cervical screening in Sweden.

Methods: We collected individual level data on all cervical cytologies, histopathologies, human papillomavirus tests and all invitations for cervical screening in Sweden during 2013-2016.

Vaginal dysbiosis and the risk of human papillomavirus and cervical cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The vaginal microbiota proposedly influence the association between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer. Our aim was to assess whether vaginal dysbiosis affects human papilloma virus acquisition, persistence, and progression to related cervical premalignancy.

Data Soruces: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science (inception until June 2018) were used for this study.

Role of Non-Albicans Candida and Candida Albicans in Oral Squamous Cell Cancer Patients.

Purpose: This study examined the prevalence of Candida species in the saliva of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients and its effect on the mortality rate.

Materials And Methods: One hundred patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma undergoing protocol treatment at Helsinki University Hospital were recruited into the study from March 2011 through 2014. For comparison, 75 age-matched controls with no current or previously treated oral cancer were recruited.

Soluble epoxide hydrolase derived lipid mediators are elevated in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with sarcoidosis: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory multi-organ disease almost always affecting the lungs. The etiology remains unknown, but the hallmark of sarcoidosis is formation of non-caseating epithelioid cells granulomas in involved organs. In Scandinavia, > 30% of sarcoidosis patients have Löfgren's syndrome (LS), an acute disease onset mostly indicating a favorable prognosis.

Achieving Thoracic Oncology data collection in Europe: a precursor study in 35 Countries.

Background: A minority of European countries have participated in international comparisons with high level data on lung cancer. However, the nature and extent of data collection across the continent is simply unknown, and without accurate data collection it is not possible to compare practice and set benchmarks to which lung cancer services can aspire.

Methods: Using an established network of lung cancer specialists in 37 European countries, a survey was distributed in December 2014.

Competitive repopulation of an empty microglial niche yields functionally distinct subsets of microglia-like cells.

Circulating monocytes can compete for virtually any tissue macrophage niche and become long-lived replacements that are phenotypically indistinguishable from their embryonic counterparts. As the factors regulating this process are incompletely understood, we studied niche competition in the brain by depleting microglia with >95% efficiency using Cx3cr1R26 mice and monitored long-term repopulation. Here we show that the microglial niche is repopulated within weeks by a combination of local proliferation of CX3CR1F4/80Clec12a microglia and infiltration of CX3CR1F4/80Clec12a macrophages that arise directly from Ly6C monocytes.

Costs of sialendoscopy and impact on health-related quality of life.

Purpose: To analyse costs related to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with sialolithiasis and sialadenitis managed with sialendoscopy, and to prospectively evaluate the impact of sialendoscopy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a longitudinal follow-up study.

Methods: All patients undergoing sialendoscopy or sialendoscopy-assisted surgery at a tertiary care university hospital between January 2014 and May 2016 were identified from a surgical database, and the direct hospital costs were retrospectively evaluated from 1 year before to 1 year after the sialendoscopy. The 15D HRQoL questionnaire and a questionnaire exploring the use of health care services during the preceding 3 months were mailed to the patients before sialendoscopy as well as at 3 and 12 months after the operation.

Robotic vs laparoscopic rectal tumour surgery: a cohort study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare robotic and laparoscopic rectal surgery in terms of perioperative data, short-term outcome and compliance to the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol.

Method: In this cohort study, 224 patients scheduled for rectal resection for cancer or adenoma between January 2011 and January 2017 were evaluated. In the first time period (12 January 2011 to 23 April 2014), 47 (46%) of 102 patients had laparoscopic surgery.

Microglia Induce PDGFRB Expression in Glioma Cells to Enhance Their Migratory Capacity.

High-grade gliomas (HGGs) are the most aggressive and invasive primary brain tumors. The platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling pathway drives HGG progression, and enhanced expression of PDGF receptors (PDGFRs) is a well-established aberration in a subset of glioblastomas (GBMs). PDGFRA is expressed in glioma cells, whereas PDGFRB is mostly restricted to the glioma-associated stroma.

Galectin-3 Targeting in Thyroid Orthotopic Tumors Opens New Ways to Characterize Thyroid Cancer.

Preoperative characterization of thyroid nodules is challenging since thyroid scintigraphy fails to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions. Galectin-3 (gal-3) is expressed in well-differentiated and in undifferentiated thyroid cancer types but not in normal thyrocytes and benign thyroid lesions. Herein, we aimed to validate gal-3 targeting as a specific method to detect non-radioiodine-avid thyroid cancer in thyroid orthotopic tumor models.

Nationwide Study on Treatment of Mycotic Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms.

Objective: Mycotic aortic aneurysms are rare, life threatening, and complex. This nationwide study aimed to assess outcome after repair of mycotic thoracic aortic aneurysms (MTAAs).

Methods: Patients treated in Sweden for MTAAs between 2000 and 2016 were identified in the Swedish vascular registry (2010-16) and local patient registries (2000-09).

The NASSAU (New ASSessment of cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations yet Unruptured) Analysis: Are the Results From The ARUBA Trial Also Applicable to Unruptured Arteriovenous Malformations Deemed Suitable for Gamma Knife Surgery?

Background: The optimal management of unruptured brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) is controversial after the ARUBA trial.

Objective: To confirm or repudiate the ARUBA conclusion that "medical management only is superior to medical management with interventional therapy for unruptured brain arteriovenous malformations."

Methods: Data were collected from 1351 patients treated with Gamma Knife Surgery (GKS; Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden) for unruptured and untreated AVMs The follow-up was 8817 yr (median 5.

Criteria for self-reported quantitative sleep characteristics of individuals who sought medical help for disturbed sleep - a survey of a representative sample of the Swedish population.

Background: The public often seeks rule-of-thumb criteria for good or poor sleep, with a particular emphasis on sleep duration, sleep latency, and the number of awakenings each night. However, very few criteria are available.

Aim: The present study sought to identify such criteria.

A skewed pool of resident T cells triggers psoriasis-associated tissue responses in never-lesional skin from patients with psoriasis.

Background: Resident T cells are implicated in the maintenance and recurrence of psoriatic lesions. Whether skin that has not yet experienced psoriasis in patients with established disease harbors pathogenic T cells is less investigated.

Objective: We sought to analyze the composition of resident T cells and T cell-driven tissue responses in skin never affected by psoriasis from patients with mild disease.

Stereocilin gene variants associated with episodic vertigo: expansion of the DFNB16 phenotype.

Vestibular disorders comprise a heterogeneous group of diseases with transient or permanent loss of vestibular function. Vestibulopathy is in most cases associated with migraine, Ménière disease, hereditary ataxias, or sensorineural hearing loss. We identified two brothers and their first cousin affected by hearing loss and episodic vertigo.