A Retrospective Study of Acoustic Measures of Glottal Stop Production to Assess Vocal Function in Unilateral Vocal Fold Paresis/Paralysis Patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine (a) diagnostic accuracy of acoustic measures of glottal stop production (GSP; intensity differences, slopes, complete voicing cessation) to distinguish between unilateral vocal fold paresis/paralysis (UVFP) patients and controls; (b) if acoustic measures of GSP significantly correlated with an acoustic measure of voice disorder severity, acoustic voice quality index (AVQI); and (c) if acoustic measures from another type of voicing cessation, voiceless consonant production, also significantly differed between groups.

Method: Ninety-seven patients with unilateral paresis/paralysis and 35 controls with normal laryngostroboscopic signs produced two sets of five repeated [i] and four repeated [isi]. Tokens were randomized by type between groups and analyzed blinded using a customized Praat program that computed intensity differences and slopes between vowel maxima and glottal stop minima for inter-[i] tokens and vowel maxima and voiceless consonant minima for intra-[isi] tokens.

The adverse impact of perioperative body composition abnormalities on outcomes after split liver transplantation: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Background: Split liver transplantation (SLT) increases graft availability, but it's safe and effective utilization is insufficiently documented. This study aimed to investigate the association between perioperative body composition abnormalities and outcomes in adult SLT.

Materials And Methods: Two hundred forty recipients who underwent SLT in three centers were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study.

Nilotinib with or without cytarabine for Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

We previously demonstrated that a reduced-intensity chemotherapy schedule can safely replace hyper-CVAD (cyclophosphamide-vincristine-doxorubicin [Adriamycin]-dexamethasone) cycle 1 when combined with imatinib in adults with Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In the present randomized GRAAPH-2014 trial, we used nilotinib and addressed the omission of cytarabine (Ara-C) in consolidation. The primary objective was the major molecular response (MMR) rate measured by BCR::ABL1 quantification after cycle 4 (end of consolidation).

Belgian Recommendations for Analytical Verification and Validation of Immunohistochemical Tests in Laboratories of Anatomic Pathology.

Analytical verification and validation of immunohistochemical (IHC) tests and their equipment are common practices for today's anatomic pathology laboratories. Few references or guidelines are available on how this should be performed. The study of Sciensano (the Belgian national competent authority regarding licensing of medical laboratories) performed in 2016, demonstrated a significant interlaboratory variation in validation procedures of IHC tests among Belgian laboratories.

International Liver Transplantation Society Global Census: First Look at Pediatric Liver Transplantation Activity Around the World.

Background: Over 16 000 children under the age of 15 died worldwide in 2017 because of liver disease. Pediatric liver transplantation (PLT) is currently the standard of care for these patients. The aim of this study is to describe global PLT activity and identify variations between regions.

An Empirical Model Linking Physico-Chemical Biomaterial Characteristics to Intra-Oral Bone Formation.

Facial trauma, bone resection due to cancer, periodontal diseases, and bone atrophy following tooth extraction often leads to alveolar bone defects that require bone regeneration in order to restore dental function. Guided bone regeneration using synthetic biomaterials has been suggested as an alternative approach to autologous bone grafts. The efficiency of bone substitute materials seems to be influenced by their physico-chemical characteristics; however, the debate is still ongoing on what constitutes optimal biomaterial characteristics.

Bio-robotics research for non-invasive myoelectric neural interfaces for upper-limb prosthetic control: a 10-year perspective review.

A decade ago, a group of researchers from academia and industry identified a dichotomy between the industrial and academic state-of-the-art in upper-limb prosthesis control, a widely used bio-robotics application. They proposed that four key technical challenges, if addressed, could bridge this gap and translate academic research into clinically and commercially viable products. These challenges are unintuitive control schemes, lack of sensory feedback, poor robustness and single sensor modality.

Movement characteristics impact decision-making and vice versa.

Previous studies suggest that humans are capable of coregulating the speed of decisions and movements if promoted by task incentives. It is unclear however whether such behavior is inherent to the process of translating decisional information into movements, beyond posing a valid strategy in some task contexts. Therefore, in a behavioral online study we imposed time constraints to either decision- or movement phases of a sensorimotor task, ensuring that coregulating decisions and movements was not promoted by task incentives.

The impact of biological features for a better prediction of posttransplant hepatocellular cancer recurrence.

Purpose Of Review: Morphological criteria (i.e., Milan Criteria) have been considered for a long time to be the best tool for selecting patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) waiting for liver transplantation (LT).

Refining Kidney Survival in 383 Genetically Characterized Patients With Nephronophthisis.

Introduction: Nephronophthisis (NPH) comprises a group of rare disorders accounting for up to 10% of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in children. Prediction of kidney prognosis poses a major challenge. We assessed differences in kidney survival, impact of variant type, and the association of clinical characteristics with declining kidney function.

Glottal Stop Production in Controls and Patients With Unilateral Vocal Fold Paresis/Paralysis.

Purposes: The purposes of this study were to determine whether the acoustic measures from glottal stops distinguished between controls and patients with unilateral vocal fold paresis/paralysis (UVFP) at initial evaluation and posttreatment/observation, to explore the types of false vocal fold (FVF) movement during glottal stop production in UVFP, and to assess the agreement between normalization of various measures and reported voice normalization.

Method: Patients with UVFP and controls were recorded acoustically and laryngoscopically speaking two sets of five repeated /i/s, controls once and patients with UVFP initially and posttreatment/observation. Averaged intensity differences and slopes for offsets (maximum voicing intensity to minimum glottal stop intensity) and onsets (minimum glottal stop intensity to maximum voicing intensity) were measured.

Controversy Over Liver Transplantation or Resection for Neuroendocrine Liver Metastasis: Tumor Biology Cuts the Deal.

Background: In patients with neuroendocrine liver metastasis (NELM), liver transplantation (LT) is an alternative to liver resection (LR), although the choice of therapy remains controversial. In this multicenter study, we aim to provide novel insight in this dispute.

Methods: Following a systematic literature search, 15 large international centers were contacted to provide comprehensive data on their patients after LR or LT for NELM.

Three-dimensional modeling in complex liver surgery and liver transplantation.

Liver resection and transplantation are the most effective therapies for many hepatobiliary tumors and diseases. However, these surgical procedures are challenging due to the anatomic complexity and many anatomical variations of the vascular and biliary structures. Three-dimensional (3D) printing models can clearly locate and describe blood vessels, bile ducts and tumors, calculate both liver and residual liver volumes, and finally predict the functional status of the liver after resection surgery.

Inflammation as a Key Outcome Pathway in Particle Induced Effects in the Lung.

Inflammation is considered a key event in the pathology of many chronic diseases, including pulmonary and systemic particle induced effects. In addition, inflammation is now considered as the key response in standard setting for poorly-soluble low toxicity (PSLT) particles and also the critical endpoint to screen for in OECD based sub-chronic animal inhalation testing protocols. During Particles & Health 2021, an afternoon session was dedicated to the subject and a brief summary of the most important messages are summarized in this paper.

The optimal immunosuppression management to prevent early rejection after liver transplantation: A systematic review of the literature and expert panel recommendations.

Background: The optimal immunosuppression protocol to prevent early acute cellular rejection (ACR) after liver transplantation (LT) avoiding prolonged hospitalization and early hospital readmission is undefined.

Objectives: To identify the most suitable immunosuppression regimen for inclusion in ERAS programs in order to minimize early ACR after LT and to provide expert panel recommendations DATA SOURCES: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Central.

Methods: Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines and recommendations using the GRADE approach derived from an international expert panel.

Enhancing knowledge and awareness of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis and shared decision-making among cardiology team members in Colorado, USA via an online educational initiative.

Objectives: Our project aimed to increase knowledge of noninvasive diagnostic modalities (including bone radiotracer scintigraphy), raise suspicion of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA), and improve cardiology team member's awareness and knowledge of shared decision-making (SDM), as well as the quality of SDM communication between cardiology team members and patients.

Methods: An online educational module and survey was developed and cardiology team members in Colorado, USA, were invited to participate. This online educational module included various important topics related to ATTR-CA (e.

Immunosuppression in liver and intestinal transplantation.

Immunosuppression handling plays a key role in the early and long-term results of transplantation. The development of multiple immunosuppressive drugs led to numerous clincial trials searching to reach the ideal regimen. Due to heterogeneity of the studied patient cohorts and flaws in many, even randomized controlled, study designs, the answer still stands out.