Networking for ovarian rare tumors: a significant breakthrough improving disease management.

Background: Rare ovarian tumors represent >20% of all ovarian cancers. Given the rarity of these tumors, natural history, prognostic factors are not clearly identified. The extreme variability of patients (age, histological subtypes, stage) induces multiple and complex therapeutic strategies.

Alterations of Intrinsic Brain Connectivity Patterns in Depression and Bipolar Disorders: A Critical Assessment of Magnetoencephalography-Based Evidence.

Despite being the object of a thriving field of clinical research, the investigation of intrinsic brain network alterations in psychiatric illnesses is still in its early days. Because the pathological alterations are predominantly probed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), many questions about the electrophysiological bases of resting-state alterations in psychiatric disorders, particularly among mood disorder patients, remain unanswered. Alongside important research using electroencephalography (EEG), the specific recent contributions and future promise of magnetoencephalography (MEG) in this field are not fully recognized and valued.

Glucose deprivation regulates the progranulin-sortilin axis in PC12 cells.

Progranulin (PGRN) is a growth factor implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases, such as frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Despite its important role in the central nervous system (CNS), the mechanisms controlling PGRN expression in the CNS are largely unknown. Recent evidence, however, suggested that several stressors, such as hypoxia, acidosis, or oxidative stress, induce PGRN expression.

Treatment patterns and survival in an exhaustive French cohort of pazopanib-eligible patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (STS).

Background: The French EMS study prospectively collected exhaustive data from STS patients diagnosed in the Rhone-Alpes region from 2005 to 07.

Methods: The database included diagnosis/histology, surgery, radiotherapy, systemic treatments and treatment response. Treatment patterns and outcomes of patients with metastatic disease, excluding adipocytic sarcoma and GIST were analyzed.

Effect of Experimental Hand Pain on Training-Induced Changes in Motor Performance and Corticospinal Excitability.

Pain influences plasticity within the sensorimotor system and the aim of this study was to assess the effect of pain on changes in motor performance and corticospinal excitability during training for a novel motor task. A total of 30 subjects were allocated to one of two groups (Pain, NoPain) and performed ten training blocks of a visually-guided isometric pinch task. Each block consisted of 15 force sequences, and subjects modulated the force applied to a transducer in order to reach one of five target forces.

Mathematical model of T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma: disease, treatment, cure or relapse of a virtual cohort of patients.

T lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) is a rare type of lymphoma with a good prognosis with a remission rate of 85%. Patients can be completely cured or can relapse during or after a 2-year treatment. Relapses usually occur early after the remission of the acute phase.

Studying the neural bases of prism adaptation using fMRI: A technical and design challenge.

Prism adaptation induces rapid recalibration of visuomotor coordination. The neural mechanisms of prism adaptation have come under scrutiny since the observations that the technique can alleviate hemispatial neglect following stroke, and can alter spatial cognition in healthy controls. Relative to non-imaging behavioral studies, fMRI investigations of prism adaptation face several challenges arising from the confined physical environment of the scanner and the supine position of the participants.

Advances and controversies in the management of soft tissue sarcomas.

Intensive clinical research in the sarcoma field has provided insight into the histopathological diversity of soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and led to the introduction of many new agents that promise to play an important role in the management of patients with STS. While an increasing body of scientific data has advanced our knowledge of this complex family of mesenchymal diseases, several controversies remain to be resolved: Is doxorubicin-based therapy still the definitive standard first-line treatment for all patients with unresectable and/or metastatic STS of all subtypes? Is histology-driven therapy beyond gastrointestinal stromal tumors a reality or are we pursuing an unachievable objective? Are we making practical headway in the establishment of sarcoma reference centers? Is it clearly established which is the best parameter to evaluate the efficacy of a new agent in STS?

Focal myositis: A review.

Amongst the heterogeneous group of inflammatory myopathies, focal myositis stands as a rare and benign dysimmune disease. Although it can be associated with root and/or nerve lesions, traumatic muscle lesions and autoimmune diseases, its triggering factors remain poorly understood. Defined as an isolated inflammatory pseudotumour usually restricted to one skeletal muscle, clinical presentation of focal myositis is that of a rapidly growing solitary mass within a single muscle, usually in the lower limbs.

The Pointing Errors in Optic Ataxia Reveal the Role of "Peripheral Magnification" of the PPC.

Interaction with visual objects in the environment requires an accurate correspondence between visual space and its internal representation within the brain. Many clinical conditions involve some impairment in visuo-motor control and the errors created by the lesion of a specific brain region are neither random nor uninformative. Modern approaches to studying the neuropsychology of action require powerful data-driven analyses and error modeling in order to understand the function of the lesioned areas.

Elicitation of Health-related Quality-of-life Concepts Associated with Overactive Bladder: A Qualitative Study.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a symptom-defined disorder. A range of instruments are available for assessing OAB symptom bother, urinary urgency and the effects of symptoms on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), but few have been specifically designed and validated for this condition. HRQoL instruments should capture the concepts that are most relevant to patients.

Bilateral representations of touch in the primary somatosensory cortex.

According to current textbook knowledge, the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) supports unilateral tactile representations, whereas structures beyond SI, in particular the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), support bilateral tactile representations. However, dexterous and well-coordinated bimanual motor tasks require early integration of bilateral tactile information. Sequential processing, first of unilateral and subsequently of bilateral sensory information, might not be sufficient to accomplish these tasks.

Experimental tonic hand pain modulates the corticospinal plasticity induced by a subsequent hand deafferentation.

Sensorimotor reorganization is believed to play an important role in the development and maintenance of phantom limb pain, but pain itself might modulate sensorimotor plasticity induced by deafferentation. Clinical and basic research support this idea, as pain prior to amputation increases the risk of developing post-amputation pain. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of experimental tonic cutaneous hand pain on the plasticity induced by temporary ischemic hand deafferentation.

Changing ideas about others' intentions: updating prior expectations tunes activity in the human motor system.

Predicting intentions from observing another agent's behaviours is often thought to depend on motor resonance - i.e., the motor system's response to a perceived movement by the activation of its stored motor counterpart, but observers might also rely on prior expectations, especially when actions take place in perceptually uncertain situations.

A rare retrorectal presentation of a bronchogenic cyst: A case report.

Introduction: Bronchogenic cysts are rare abnormalities and a retrorectal presentation is exceptional. Its natural history is not known, but malignant transformation is quite rare. Retrorectal bronchogenic cysts are usually asymptomatic.

Psychosocial functioning, quality of life and clinical correlates of comorbid alcohol and drug dependence syndromes in people with schizophrenia across Europe.

Little is known about the correlates of comorbid drug and alcohol dependence in people with schizophrenia outside the USA. We tested hypotheses that dependence on alcohol/drugs would be associated with more severe symptoms, and poorer psychosocial functioning and quality of life. The EuroSC Cohort study (N=1204), based in France, Germany and the UK, used semi-structured clinical interviews for diagnoses, and standardized tools to assess correlates.

Neuromagnetic correlates of adaptive plasticity across the hand-face border in human primary somatosensory cortex.

It is well established that permanent or transient reduction of somatosensory inputs, following hand deafferentation or anesthesia, induces plastic changes across the hand-face border, supposedly responsible for some altered perceptual phenomena such as tactile sensations being referred from the face to the phantom hand. It is also known that transient increase of hand somatosensory inputs, via repetitive somatosensory stimulation (RSS) at a fingertip, induces local somatosensory discriminative improvement accompanied by cortical representational changes in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). We recently demonstrated that RSS at the tip of the right index finger induces similar training-independent perceptual learning across the hand-face border, improving somatosensory perception at the lips (Muret D, Dinse HR, Macchione S, Urquizar C, Farnè A, Reilly KT.

There or not there? A multidisciplinary review and research agenda on the impact of transparent barriers on human perception, action, and social behavior.

Through advances in production and treatment technologies, transparent glass has become an increasingly versatile material and a global hallmark of modern architecture. In the shape of invisible barriers, it defines spaces while simultaneously shaping their lighting, noise, and climate conditions. Despite these unique architectural qualities, little is known regarding the human experience with glass barriers.

The standard diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of gastrointestinal stromal tumors based on guidelines.

Although gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are a rare type of cancer, they are the commonest sarcoma in the gastrointestinal tract. Molecularly targeted therapy, such as imatinib therapy, has revolutionized the treatment of advanced GIST and facilitates scientific research on GIST. Nevertheless, surgery remains a mainstay of treatment to obtain a permanent cure for GIST even in the era of targeted therapy.

Cost of treatment in patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma who respond favourably to chemotherpy. The SArcoma treatment and Burden of Illness in North America and Europe (SABINE) study.

Treatment of metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (mSTS) commonly includes multiple lines of chemotherapy, until a decline in performance status precludes further treatment. The primary objective of this study was to describe the lifetime healthcare resource utilisation and cost among mSTS patients with favourable response to chemotherapy. SABINE was a multi-centre (n = 25), multi-country (n = 9) retrospective chart review study of mSTS patients with favourable response to chemotherapy following 4 cycles.

Nilotinib versus imatinib as first-line therapy for patients with unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumours (ENESTg1): a randomised phase 3 trial.

Background: Nilotinib inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of ABL1/BCR-ABL1 and KIT, platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs), and the discoidin domain receptor. Gain-of-function mutations in KIT or PDGFRα are key drivers in most gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs). This trial was designed to test the efficacy and safety of nilotinib versus imatinib as first-line therapy for patients with advanced GISTs.

Somatotopy and temporal dynamics of sensorimotor interactions: evidence from double afferent inhibition.

Moving and interacting with the world requires that the sensory and motor systems share information, but while some information about tactile events is preserved during sensorimotor transfer the spatial specificity of this information is unknown. Afferent inhibition (AI) studies, in which corticospinal excitability (CSE) is inhibited when a single tactile stimulus is presented before a transcranial magnetic stimulation pulse over the motor cortex, offer contradictory results regarding the sensory-to-motor transfer of spatial information. Here, we combined the techniques of AI and tactile repetition suppression (the decreased neurophysiological response following double stimulation of the same vs.

Ombrabulin plus cisplatin versus placebo plus cisplatin in patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcomas after failure of anthracycline and ifosfamide chemotherapy: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.

Background: Ombrabulin (AVE8062) disrupts the vasculature of established tumours and has shown preclinical synergistic anti-tumour activity when combined with cisplatin. In this phase 3 trial, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of ombrabulin plus cisplatin compared with placebo plus cisplatin in patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcomas.

Methods: We did this multinational, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study at 44 centres in ten countries.