Graded Activity for Older Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain: Program Development and Mixed Methods Feasibility Cohort Study.

Background: Persistent pain is highly prevalent in older adults and can lead to functional limitations in activities of daily living, and to psychosocial distress. There is a lack of established active therapy programs, especially for older adults with chronic pain.

Objectives: To develop a graded activity program and to evaluate its feasibility within a pilot study.

Tuberculosis in newly arrived asylum seekers: A prospective 12 month surveillance study at Friedland, Germany.

Purpose: In the European Union tuberculosis prevalence-rates are among the lowest in the world. The prevalence of active tuberculosis in migrant populations has to be analyzed to get valid data on the risk of tuberculosis and for the decision of screening activities.

Methods: Therefore, we prospectively quantified the risk of active tuberculosis among asylum seekers at time of arrival.

IgM-Enriched Immunoglobulin Attenuates Systemic Endotoxin Activity in Early Severe Sepsis: A Before-After Cohort Study.

Introduction: Sepsis remains associated with a high mortality rate. Endotoxin has been shown to influence viscoelastic coagulation parameters, thus suggesting a link between endotoxin levels and the altered coagulation phenotype in septic patients. This study evaluated the effects of systemic polyspecific IgM-enriched immunoglobulin (IgM-IVIg) (Pentaglobin® [Biotest, Dreieich, Germany]) on endotoxin activity (EA), inflammatory markers, viscoelastic and conventional coagulation parameters.

Heterogeneous Mechanisms of Primary and Acquired Resistance to Third-Generation EGFR Inhibitors.

Purpose: To identify novel mechanisms of resistance to third-generation EGFR inhibitors in patients with lung adenocarcinoma that progressed under therapy with either AZD9291 or rociletinib (CO-1686).

Experimental Design: We analyzed tumor biopsies from seven patients obtained before, during, and/or after treatment with AZD9291 or rociletinib (CO-1686). Targeted sequencing and FISH analyses were performed, and the relevance of candidate genes was functionally assessed in in vitro models.

Post mortem CT scans as a supplementary teaching method in gross anatomy.

Despite increasing the integration of radiologic imaging teaching in anatomy dissection courses, studies on learning outcome of these interventions are rare or have certain shortcomings in study design. In this study, students were randomly allocated to an intervention group (n=53) receiving five weekly CT-courses of 30min duration during a 6-week gross anatomy course. Students in the control group (n=329) received no additional teaching.

Systemic antibiotic therapy does not significantly improve outcome in a rat model of implant-associated osteomyelitis induced by Methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus.

Introduction: Treatment of implant-associated osteomyelitis regularly involves the use of systemic antibiotics in addition to surgical intervention. However, it remains unclear if perioperative systemic application of bactericide substances can improve overall outcome in models of severe intramedullary infection. The present study investigated the use of systemic gentamicin in addition to a controlled local release from a highly lipophilic gentamicinpalmitate compound while the previous study showed efficacy of sole antibiotic implant-coating.

Influence of abiraterone acetate on circulating neuromediators in chemotherapy-naïve castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Background: Abiraterone Acetate (AA) represents a highly effective androgen-receptor (AR) axis targeted agent. Treatment with AA in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) may partly mediate neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) as an escape mechanism, which may have implications for the choice of sequential therapy in CRPC. We evaluated how treatment with AA influences circulating neuromediators chromogranin A (CGA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (Pro-GRP) in chemotherapy-naïve CRPC patients.

Clinical application of low-dose phase contrast breast CT: methods for the optimization of the reconstruction workflow.

Results are presented of a feasibility study of three-dimensional X-ray tomographic mammography utilising in-line phase contrast. Experiments were performed at SYRMEP beamline of Elettra synchrotron. A specially designed plastic phantom and a mastectomy sample containing a malignant lesion were used to study the reconstructed image quality as a function of different image processing operations.

SRC inhibition represents a potential therapeutic strategy in liposarcoma.

Liposarcomas (LS) are the most common malignant mesenchymal tumors, with an overall long-term mortality rate of 60%. LS comprise three major subtypes, i.e.

Monitoring asthma in childhood: lung function, bronchial responsiveness and inflammation.

This review focuses on the methods available for measuring reversible airways obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and inflammation as hallmarks of asthma, and their role in monitoring children with asthma. Persistent bronchial obstruction may occur in asymptomatic children and is considered a risk factor for severe asthma episodes and is associated with poor asthma outcome. Annual measurement of forced expiratory volume in 1 s using office based spirometry is considered useful.

Monitoring asthma in children.

The goal of asthma treatment is to obtain clinical control and reduce future risks to the patient. To reach this goal in children with asthma, ongoing monitoring is essential. While all components of asthma, such as symptoms, lung function, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and inflammation, may exist in various combinations in different individuals, to date there is limited evidence on how to integrate these for optimal monitoring of children with asthma.

Elevated exhaled leukotriene B₄ in the small airway compartment in children with asthma.

Background: Inflammatory processes in the asthmatic lung involve the large and small airway and alveolar sites. Leukotriene B4 (LTB₄) is an important disease marker, but its role in inflammation of the small airways in asthma has not been established yet.

Objective: To distinguish between large and small airway or alveolar LTB₄ concentrations in children with asthma using the new technique of fractionated exhaled breath condensate sampling.

Tumor genotype is an independent prognostic factor in primary gastrointestinal stromal tumors of gastric origin: a european multicenter analysis based on ConticaGIST.

Purpose: Although the mutational status in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) can predict the response to treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, the role of tumor genotype as a prognostic factor remains controversial. The ConticaGIST study sought to determine the pathologic and molecular factors associated with disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with operable, imatinib-naive GIST.

Experimental Design: Clinicopathologic and molecular data from 1,056 patients with localized GIST who underwent surgery with curative intention (R0/R1) and were registered in the European ConticaGIST database were prospectively obtained and reviewed.

Transplantation of bone marrow stem cells during cardiac surgery.

Background: This systematic review with meta-analysis sought to determine the efficacy and safety of intramyocardial transplantation of bone marrow stem cells during coronary artery bypass graft surgery on postoperative cardiac functional parameters such as left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular end-diastolic volume.

Methods: Medline/PubMed, Embase, Elsevier, Sciences online database, and Google Scholar literature search were searched. The effect sizes measured were risk ratio for categorical variables and weighted mean difference with 95% confidence interval for calculating differences between mean values of baseline and follow-up cardiac functional parameters.

Sonography-guided hydrostatic reduction of ileocolic intussusception in children: analysis of failure and success in consecutive patients presenting timely to the hospital.

Unlabelled: In children with ileocolic intussusception sonography is increasingly being used for diagnosis, whereas fluoroscopy is frequently used for guiding non-invasive reduction. This study assessed the success rate of radiation-free sonography-guided hydrostatic reduction in children with ileocolic intussusception, using novel well-defined success rate indices. All children were evaluated who presented from 2005 to 2013 to the local university hospital with ileocolic intussusception.

Quantitative evaluation of a single-distance phase-retrieval method applied on in-line phase-contrast images of a mouse lung.

Propagation-based X-ray phase-contrast computed tomography (PBI) has already proven its potential in a great variety of soft-tissue-related applications including lung imaging. However, the strong edge enhancement, caused by the phase effects, often hampers image segmentation and therefore the quantitative analysis of data sets. Here, the benefits of applying single-distance phase retrieval prior to the three-dimensional reconstruction (PhR) are discussed and quantified compared with three-dimensional reconstructions of conventional PBI data sets in terms of contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and preservation of image features.

Bayesian bivariate meta-analysis of sensitivity and specificity: summary of quantitative findings in 50 meta-analyses.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: Meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy are important elements in evidence-based medicine. However, currently there is no overview of related quantitative findings that were obtained in a large number of real meta-analyses. This study aimed at providing such empirical summary.

Survival in patients with high-risk prostate cancer is predicted by miR-221, which regulates proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion of prostate cancer cells by inhibiting IRF2 and SOCS3.

A lack of reliably informative biomarkers to distinguish indolent and lethal prostate cancer is one reason this disease is overtreated. miR-221 has been suggested as a biomarker in high-risk prostate cancer, but there is insufficient evidence of its potential utility. Here we report that miR-221 is an independent predictor for cancer-related death, extending and validating earlier findings.

Oxidized Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II triggers atrial fibrillation.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a growing public health problem without adequate therapies. Angiotensin II and reactive oxygen species are validated risk factors for AF in patients, but the molecular pathways connecting reactive oxygen species and AF are unknown. The Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) has recently emerged as a reactive oxygen species-activated proarrhythmic signal, so we hypothesized that oxidized CaMKIIδ could contribute to AF.

Cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy correlates to vital parameters during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery in children.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can monitor changes in cerebral regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) and tissue hemoglobin content (HbT). The relation between cerebral NIRS readings and vital parameters has not been analyzed before at a fine temporal scale. This study analyzed this relation during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery in 10 children (0-9 years, 1,770 min of data records) by using a novel random-coefficient model.

A comparison of intraarticular lumbar facet joint steroid injections and lumbar facet joint radiofrequency denervation in the treatment of low back pain: a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial.

Background: Lumbar facet joint degeneration is a source of chronic low back pain, with an incidence of 15% to 45% among patients with low back pain. Various therapeutic techniques in the treatment of facet-related pain have been described in the literature, including intraarticular lumbar facet joint steroid injections and radiofrequency denervation. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of intraarticular facet joint steroid injections and radiofrequency denervation.

Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, vascular endothelial growth factor, and matrix metalloproteinases 1, 3, and 9 in hypertrophied ligamentum flavum.

Study Design: Immunohistological study.

Objective: To elucidate the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the hypertrophied ligamentum flavum (LF) obtained from patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).

Summary Of Background Data: The most common spinal disorder in the elderly is LSS, which results in part from LF hypertrophy.