JC and BK polyomavirus-specific immunoglobulin G responses in patients thymectomized in early childhood.

Background: JC (JCPyV) and BK polyomaviruses (BKPyV) infect 50-90% of the general population and thereafter persist with asymptomatic shedding. Previous studies have revealed a delayed antibody response to neo-antigens in children and adolescents who were thymectomized due to congenital heart defects.

Objectives: The present longitudinal study aimed at analyzing the seroprevalence and the antibody persistence against BKPyV and JCPyV in a 3-years time period in thymectomized patients (TP) compared to healthy controls (HC).

Definition of stereotactic body radiotherapy: principles and practice for the treatment of stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

This report from the Stereotactic Radiotherapy Working Group of the German Society of Radiation Oncology (Deutschen Gesellschaft für Radioonkologie, DEGRO) provides a definition of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) that agrees with that of other international societies. SBRT is defined as a method of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) that accurately delivers a high irradiation dose to an extracranial target in one or few treatment fractions. Detailed recommendations concerning the principles and practice of SBRT for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are given.

Lower CD28+ T cell proportions were associated with CMV-seropositivity in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Background: Alterations in the naive T cell subpopulations have been demonstrated in patients with T cell mediated autoimmune disorders, reminiscent of immunological changes found in the elderly during immunosenescence, including the switch from CD45RA + to CD45RO + T cells and decreased thymic function with increased compensatory proliferative mechanisms, partly associated with latent Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. The present study was aimed to investigate proportions of lymphocytes, their relation to CMV-seropositivity and the replicative history of CD45RA + expressing T cells in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT, n = 18) and healthy controls (HC, n = 70).

Methods: Proportions of peripheral T cells were investigated by flow cytometry.

Value of transcranial Doppler, perfusion-CT and neurological evaluation to forecast secondary ischemia after aneurysmal SAH.

Introduction: This study was conducted to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic value of detailed neurological evaluation, transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) and Perfusion-CT (PCT) to predict delayed vasospasm (DV) and delayed cerebral infarction (DCI) within the following 3 days in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Methods: A total of 61 patients with aneurysmal SAH were included in the study. All patients were amenable for neurological evaluation throughout the critical phase to develop secondary ischemia after SAH.

Indication for allogeneic stem cell transplantation in Glanzmann's thrombasthenia.

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a lack of thrombocyte aggregation due to the absence of thrombocyte glycoproteins IIb and αIIbβ3. The role of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in GT remains controversial. However, HSCT offers the only curative approach for patients with a severe clinical phenotype.

Investigating bioconjugation by atomic force microscopy.

Nanotechnological applications increasingly exploit the selectivity and processivity of biological molecules. Integration of biomolecules such as proteins or DNA into nano-systems typically requires their conjugation to surfaces, for example of carbon-nanotubes or fluorescent quantum dots. The bioconjugated nanostructures exploit the unique strengths of both their biological and nanoparticle components and are used in diverse, future oriented research areas ranging from nanoelectronics to biosensing and nanomedicine.

An experimental protocol for in vivo imaging of neuronal structural plasticity with 2-photon microscopy in mice.

Introduction: Structural plasticity with synapse formation and elimination is a key component of memory capacity and may be critical for functional recovery after brain injury. Here we describe in detail two surgical techniques to create a cranial window in mice and show crucial points in the procedure for long-term repeated in vivo imaging of synaptic structural plasticity in the mouse neocortex.

Methods: Transgenic Thy1-YFP(H) mice expressing yellow-fluorescent protein (YFP) in layer-5 pyramidal neurons were prepared under anesthesia for in vivo imaging of dendritic spines in the parietal cortex either with an open-skull glass or thinned skull window.

Varicella routine vaccination and the effects on varicella epidemiology - results from the Bavarian Varicella Surveillance Project (BaVariPro), 2006-2011.

Background: In 2004, routine varicella vaccination was recommended in Germany for children 11-14 months of age with one dose, and since 2009, with a second dose at 15-23 months of age. The effects on varicella epidemiology were investigated.

Methods: Data on varicella vaccinations, cases and complications were collected from annual parent surveys (2006-2011), monthly paediatric practice surveillance (Oct 2006 - Sep 2011; five varicella seasons) and paediatric hospital databases (2005-2009) in the area of Munich (about 238,000 paediatric inhabitants); annual incidences of cases and hospitalisations were estimated.

Impaired small fiber conduction in patients with Fabry disease: a neurophysiological case-control study.

Background: Fabry disease is an inborn lysosomal storage disorder which is associated with small fiber neuropathy. We set out to investigate small fiber conduction in Fabry patients using pain-related evoked potentials (PREP).

Methods: In this case-control study we prospectively studied 76 consecutive Fabry patients for electrical small fiber conduction in correlation with small fiber function and morphology.

Microvessel density and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in different subtypes of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma.

A proangiogenic micromilieu is associated with a worse prognosis in systemic lymphoma. Hence, targeting the tumour microenvironment and its vasculature has evolved as a promising novel treatment strategy. The role of tumour neoangiogenesis in cutaneous B-cell lymphoma, however, has not yet been elucidated.

Magnesium treatment for neuroprotection in ischemic diseases of the brain.

This article reviews experimental and clinical data on the use of magnesium as a neuroprotective agent in various conditions of cerebral ischemia. Whereas magnesium has shown neuroprotective properties in animal models of global and focal cerebral ischemia, this effect could not be reproduced in a large human stroke trial. These conflicting results may be explained by the timing of treatment.

Radiosensitivity in breast cancer assessed by the histone γ-H2AX and 53BP1 foci.

Background: High expression of constitutive histone γ-H2AX, a sensitive marker of DNA damage, might be indicative of defective DNA repair pathway or genomic instability. 53BP1 (p53-binding protein 1) is a conserved checkpoint protein with properties of a DNA double-strand breaks sensor. This study explores the relationship between the clinical radiosensitivity of tumor patients and the expression/induction of γ-H2AX and 53BP1 in vitro.

Long-term course in type 2 idiopathic macular telangiectasia.

Introduction: To study the long-term course in patients with idiopathic macular telangiectasia and report the effect of anti VEGF and laser treatment.

Methods: A retrospective case series of 19 patients/38 eyes with symptomatic type 2 idiopathic macular telangiectasia was performed. Six eyes received intravitreal injections of bevacizumab (1-3 injections), four eyes received focal laser treatment.

Maternal cigarette smoking and its effect on neonatal lymphocyte subpopulations and replication.

Background: Significant immunomodulatory effects have been described as result of cigarette smoking in adults and pregnant women. However, the effect of cigarette smoking during pregnancy on the lymphocyte subpopulations in newborns has been discussed, controversially.

Methods: In a prospective birth cohort, we analyzed the peripheral lymphocyte subpopulations of smoking (SM) and non-smoking mothers (NSM) and their newborns and the replicative history of neonatal, mostly naive CD4 + CD45RA + T cells by measurements of T-cell-receptor-excision-circles (TRECs), relative telomere lengths (RTL) and the serum cytokine concentrations.

Presentation of floating mass transducer and Vibroplasty couplers on CT and cone beam CT.

Various titanium coupling elements, Vibroplasty Couplers, maintaining the attachment of the Floating Mass Transducer (FMT) of the active middle ear implant Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) to the round window, the stapes suprastructure or the stapes footplate are in use to optimally transfer energy from the FMT to the inner ear fluids. In certain cases it is of interest to radiologically verify the correct position of the FMT coupler assembly. The imaging appearance of FMT connected to these couplers, however, is not well known.

Acute tetraparesis secondary to bilateral precentral gyral cerebral ischemia: a case report.

Introduction: Sudden tetraparesis represents a neurological emergency and is most often caused by traumatic spinal cord injury, spinal epidural bleeding or brainstem ischemia and less frequently by medial disc herniation or spinal ischemia.

Case Presentation: Here we report the rare case of an 82-year-old Caucasian man who developed severe tetraparesis four days after radical cystoprostatectomy. An emergency diagnostic study for spinal cord affection was normal.

Effects of salinomycin on human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

Various hypotheses on the origin of cancer stem cells (CSCs) exist, including that CSCs develop from transformed human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSC). Since the polyether antibiotic salinomycin selectively kills CSCs, the present study aims to elucidate the effects of salinomycin on normal hBMSC. The immunophenotype of hBMSC after salinomycin exposure was observed by flow cytometry.

Comparison of phacotrabeculectomy versus phacocanaloplasty in the treatment of patients with concomitant cataract and glaucoma.

Background: Cataract and glaucoma are both common comorbidities among older patients. Combining glaucoma surgery with minimal invasive phacoemulsification (phaco) is a considerable option to treat both conditions at the same time, although the combination with filtration surgery can produce a strong inflammatory response. Combined non-penetrating procedures like canaloplasty have shown to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) comparable to trabeculectomy without the risk of serious bleb-related complications.

Thrombopoietin modulates the proliferation, migration and cytokine profile of decidual cell subsets during early gestation.

During early gestation, a considerable increase in different leukocyte subsets can be observed in the decidualized endometrium concomitantly to the invasion of cytotrophoblast cells (CTB). To date, it is still in question which factors induce this accumulation of immune cells and whether it is evoked by an in situ proliferation or by a migratory process. Studies on hepatoblastoma cells identified thrombopoietin (TPO) as a novel factor, which elicits dose-dependent chemotactic and chemokinetic effects.

Allergic anaphylaxis due to subcutaneously injected heparin.

Heparins are one of the most used class of anticoagulants in daily clinical practice. Despite their widespread application immune-mediated hypersensitivity reactions to heparins are rare. Among these, the delayed-type reactions to s.

Fast motor axon loss in SMARD1 does not correspond to morphological and functional alterations of the NMJ.

Spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type 1 (SMARD1) is a childhood motoneuron disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding for IGHMBP2, an ATPase/Helicase. Paralysis of the diaphragm is an early and prominent clinical sign resulting both from denervation and myopathy. In skeletal muscles, muscle atrophy mainly results from loss of motoneuron cell bodies and axonal degeneration.

Selecting deep brain stimulation or infusion therapies in advanced Parkinson's disease: an evidence-based review.

Motor complications in Parkinson's disease (PD) result from the short half-life and irregular plasma fluctuations of oral levodopa. When strategies of providing more continuous dopaminergic stimulation by adjusting oral medication fail, patients may be candidates for one of three device-aided therapies: deep brain stimulation (DBS), continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion, or continuous duodenal/jejunal levodopa/carbidopa pump infusion (DLI). These therapies differ in their invasiveness, side-effect profile, and the need for nursing care.

Macrophage migration-inhibitory factor levels in serum of patients with ovarian cancer correlates with poor prognosis.

Ovarian cancer is generally thought of as a cancer with poor prognosis. However, prognostic appraisal of the disease is based on tumor stages, surgical features or sensibility towards platinum-based chemotherapy. There are data that also grant immunological parameters such as CD8(+) T-lymphocyte-(CD8 T-cell) infiltration in tumor tissue, a prognostic role.

Fractionated radiosurgery for painful spinal metastases: DOSIS - a phase II trial.

Background: One third of all cancer patients will develop bone metastases and the vertebral column is involved in approximately 70% of these patients. Conventional radiotherapy with of 1-10 fractions and total doses of 8-30 Gy is the current standard for painful vertebral metastases; however, the median pain response is short with 3-6 months and local tumor control is limited with these rather low irradiation doses. Recent advances in radiotherapy technology - intensity modulated radiotherapy for generation of highly conformal dose distributions and image-guidance for precise treatment delivery - have made dose-escalated radiosurgery of spinal metastases possible and early results of pain and local tumor control are promising.