Comparison of Upper Neck Loading in Young Adult and Elderly Volunteers During Low Speed Frontal Impacts.

Cervical pain and injuries are a major health problem globally. Existing neck injury criteria are based on experimental studies that included sled tests performed with volunteers, post-mortem human surrogates and animals. However, none of these studies have addressed the differences between young adults and elderly volunteers to date.

Thrombectomy for secondary distal, medium vessel occlusions of the posterior circulation: seeking complete reperfusion.

Background: Whether to approach distal occlusions endovascularly or not in medium-sized vessels secondary to proximal large vessel occlusion stroke remains unanswered.

Objective: To investigates the technical feasibility and safety of thrombectomy for secondary posterior circulation distal, medium vessel occlusions (DMVO).

Methods: TOPMOST (Treatment fOr Primary Medium vessel Occlusion STroke) is an international, retrospective, multicenter, observational registry of patients treated for distal cerebral artery occlusions.

EASIX for Prediction of Outcome in Hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has evoked a pandemic that challenges public health-care systems worldwide. Endothelial cell dysfunction plays a key role in pathophysiology, and simple prognosticators may help to optimize allocation of limited resources. Endothelial activation and stress index (EASIX) is a validated predictor of endothelial complications and outcome after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Metabolomic signature of the Dravet syndrome: A genetic mouse model study.

Objective: Alterations in metabolic homeostasis can contribute to neuronal hyperexcitability and seizure susceptibility. Although the pivotal role of impaired bioenergetics is obvious in metabolic epilepsies, there is a gap of knowledge regarding secondary changes in metabolite patterns as a result of genetic Scn1a deficiency and ketogenic diet in the Dravet syndrome.

Methods: A comprehensive untargeted metabolomics analysis, along with assessment of epileptiform activity and behavioral tests, was completed in a Dravet mouse model.

Pretransplant Serum Uromodulin and Its Association with Delayed Graft Function Following Kidney Transplantation-A Prospective Cohort Study.

Delayed graft function (DGF) following kidney transplantation is associated with increased risk of graft failure, but biomarkers to predict DGF are scarce. We evaluated serum uromodulin (sUMOD), a potential marker for tubular integrity with immunomodulatory capacities, in kidney transplant recipients and its association with DGF. We included 239 kidney transplant recipients and measured sUMOD pretransplant and on postoperative Day 1 (POD1) as independent variables.

Platelet-Activating Factor Acetylhydrolase Expression in BRCA1 Mutant Ovarian Cancer as a Protective Factor and Potential Negative Regulator of the Wnt Signaling Pathway.

Aberrantly activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, as well as platelet-activating factor (PAF), contribute to cancer progression and metastasis of many cancer entities. Nonetheless, the role of the degradation enzyme named platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PLA2G7/PAF-AH) in ovarian cancer etiology is still unclear. This study investigated the functional impact of platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase on BRCA1 mutant ovarian cancer biology and its crosstalk with the Wnt signaling pathway.

A Method for the Evaluation of Early Osseointegration of Implant Materials Ex Vivo: Human Bone Organ Model.

In the present work, an ex vivo organ model using human bone (explant) was developed for the evaluation of the initial osseointegration behavior of implant materials. The model was tested with additive manufactured Ti6Al4V test substrates with different 3D geometries. Explants were obtained from patients who underwent total knee replacement surgery.

Anatomy and function of retinorecipient arborization fields in zebrafish.

In 1994, Burrill and Easter described the retinal projections in embryonic and larval zebrafish, introducing the term "arborization fields" (AFs) for the retinorecipient areas. AFs were numbered from 1 to 10 according to their positions along the optic tract. With the exception of AF10 (neuropil of the optic tectum), annotations of AFs remained tentative.

Extrapulmonary symptoms of patients with asthma treated in specialist pulmonary care.

Objective: Patients seeking treatment for their asthma are most likely motivated by a change in their experience of symptoms, but primary complaints are not always related to the pulmonary system. This study aimed to determine the frequency of such extrapulmonary symptoms in asthma outpatients and their association with psychopathology and asthma outcomes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized data collected as part of a nationwide, clinical-epidemiological study.

Effects of the NF-κB Pathway Agonist IL-1β on Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Lines.

Objective: Canakinumab is an interleukin (IL)-1β inhibitory antibody. Recently, a large trial of canakinumab in cardiac patients described lower lung cancer incidence in patients treated with canakinumab compared to controls. This finding is the basis for ongoing clinical trials of canakinumab in lung cancer.

Proteomic signature of the Dravet syndrome in the genetic Scn1a-A1783V mouse model.

Background: Dravet syndrome is a rare, severe pediatric epileptic encephalopathy associated with intellectual and motor disabilities. Proteomic profiling in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome can provide information about the molecular consequences of the genetic deficiency and about pathophysiological mechanisms developing during the disease course.

Methods: A knock-in mouse model of Dravet syndrome with Scn1a haploinsufficiency was used for whole proteome, seizure, and behavioral analysis.

Association of Vitamin D Receptor Gene Polymorphisms with Serum Vitamin D Levels in a Greek Rural Population (Velestino Study).

Background/aim: An alarming increase in vitamin D deficiency even in sunny regions highlights the need for a better understanding of the genetic background of the vitamin D endocrine system and the molecular mechanisms of gene polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR). In this study, the serum levels of 25(OH)D3 were correlated with common VDR polymorphisms (ApaI, BsmI, FokI, and TaqI) in 98 subjects of a Greek homogeneous rural population.

Methods: 25(OH)D3 concentration was measured by ultra-HPLC, and the VDR gene polymorphisms were identified by quantitative real-time PCR followed by amplicon high-resolution melting analysis.

Heterogeneity of bone metastases as an important prognostic factor in patients affected by oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. The role of combined [18F]Fluoroestradiol PET/CT and [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT.

Purpose: To assess the prognostic role of different inter and intralesional expression (heterogeneity) of oestrogen receptor (ER) in bone metastases, as identified by the combined use of [18F]FES PET/CT and [18F]FDG PET/CT in patients with oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) metastatic breast cancer (BC).

Methods: We analysed patients with a new diagnosis of bone metastases who were candidates for first-line systemic endocrine therapy. Before starting therapy, patients underwent baseline [18F]FES PET/CT and [18]FDG PET/CT.

Simultaneous imputation and classification using Multigraph Geometric Matrix Completion (MGMC): Application to neurodegenerative disease classification.

Large-scale population-based studies in medicine are a key resource towards better diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of diseases. They also serve as enablers of clinical decision support systems, in particular computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) using machine learning (ML). Numerous ML approaches for CADx have been proposed in literature.

COVID-19-related cardiac complications from clinical evidences to basic mechanisms: opinion paper of the ESC Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart.

The pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 is a global threat, causing high mortality, especially in the elderly. The main symptoms and the primary cause of death are related to interstitial pneumonia. Viral entry also into myocardial cells mainly via the angiotensin converting enzyme type 2 (ACE2) receptor and excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, however, also make the heart susceptible to injury.

Targeted PI3K/AKT-hyperactivation induces cell death in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Current therapeutic approaches for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) focus on the suppression of oncogenic kinase signaling. Here, we test the hypothesis that targeted hyperactivation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate/AKT (PI3K/AKT)-signaling pathway may be leveraged to trigger CLL cell death. Though counterintuitive, our data show that genetic hyperactivation of PI3K/AKT-signaling or blocking the activity of the inhibitory phosphatase SH2-containing-inositol-5'-phosphatase-1 (SHIP1) induces acute cell death in CLL cells.

A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies in Alzheimer's disease highlights novel differentially methylated loci across cortex.

Epigenome-wide association studies of Alzheimer's disease have highlighted neuropathology-associated DNA methylation differences, although existing studies have been limited in sample size and utilized different brain regions. Here, we combine data from six DNA methylomic studies of Alzheimer's disease (N = 1453 unique individuals) to identify differential methylation associated with Braak stage in different brain regions and across cortex. We identify 236 CpGs in the prefrontal cortex, 95 CpGs in the temporal gyrus and ten CpGs in the entorhinal cortex at Bonferroni significance, with none in the cerebellum.

Late Thrombectomy in Clinical Practice : Retrospective Application of DAWN/DEFUSE3 Criteria within the German Stroke Registry.

Background And Purpose: To provide real-world data on outcome and procedural factors of late thrombectomy patients.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients from the multicenter German Stroke Registry. The primary endpoint was clinical outcome on the modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 3 months.

Comparison of genetic risk prediction models to improve prediction of coronary heart disease in two large cohorts of the MONICA/KORA study.

It is still unclear how genetic information, provided as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), can be most effectively integrated into risk prediction models for coronary heart disease (CHD) to add significant predictive value beyond clinical risk models. For the present study, a population-based case-cohort was used as a trainingset (451 incident cases, 1488 noncases) and an independent cohort as testset (160 incident cases, 2749 noncases). The following strategies to quantify genetic information were compared: A weighted genetic risk score including Metabochip SNPs associated with CHD in the literature (GRS ); selection of the most predictive SNPs among these literature-confirmed variants using priority-Lasso (PL ); validation of two comprehensive polygenic risk scores: GRS based on Metabochip data, and GRS (available in the testset only) based on cross-validated genome-wide genotyping data.

Characteristics and outcome of patients with low-/intermediate-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia treated with arsenic trioxide: an international collaborative study.

The aim of this study was to characterize a large series of 154 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (median age, 53 years; range, 18-90 years) and evaluate real-life outcome after up-front treatment with arsenic trioxide and all-trans retinoic acid. All patients were included in the prospective NAPOLEON registry (NCT02192619) between 2013 and 2019. The acute promyelocytic leukemia was de novo in 91% (n=140) and therapy-related in 9% (n=14); 13% (n=20) of the patients were older than 70 years.

Small molecule inhibitors of the mitochondrial ClpXP protease possess cytostatic potential and re-sensitize chemo-resistant cancers.

The human mitochondrial ClpXP protease complex (HsClpXP) has recently attracted major attention as a target for novel anti-cancer therapies. Despite its important role in disease progression, the cellular role of HsClpXP is poorly characterized and only few small molecule inhibitors have been reported. Herein, we screened previously established S.

Management of COVID-19 in patients with seizures: Mechanisms of action of potential COVID-19 drug treatments and consideration for potential drug-drug interactions with anti-seizure medications.

In regard to the global pandemic of COVID-19, it seems that persons with epilepsy (PWE) are not more vulnerable to get infected by SARS-CoV-2, nor are they more susceptible to a critical course of the disease. However, management of acute seizures in patients with COVID-19 as well as management of PWE and COVID-19 needs to consider potential drug-drug interactions between antiseizure drugs and candidate drugs currently assessed as therapeutic options for COVID-19. Repurposing of several licensed and investigational drugs is discussed for therapeutic management of COVID-19.

Service Robotics in Nursing Care. The Preliminary Results of a Scoping Review.

A scoping review was prepared in the first study phase of the REsPonSe project. The objective was to gain an overview of existing literature and available evidence on the subject of service robotics in nursing care. The systematic literature search took place using the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, Web of Science and IEEE Xplore.